Don't become one of Hitler's children 🇵🇸🍉🇨🇺

This is probably the most important article of the month: an op-ed by Oman's Foreign Minister, who mediated the talks between the U.S. and Iran, in which he writes that the U.S. "has lost control of its foreign policy" to Israel. He repeats that a deal was possible as an outcome of the talks (something confirmed by the UK's National Security Advisor, who also attended: x.com/i/status/20341…) and that the military strike by the U.S. and Israel was "a shock." Interestingly, given he is one of Iran's neighbors and given that Oman has been struck multiple times by Iran since the war began (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran…), he writes that "Iran’s retaliation against what it claims are American targets on the territory of its neighbours was an inevitable result" of the U.S.-Israeli attack. He describes it as "probably the only rational option available to the Iranian leadership." He says the war "endangers" the region's entire "economic model in which global sport, tourism, aviation and technology were to play an important role." He adds that "if this had not been anticipated by the architects of this war, that was surely a grave miscalculation." But, he adds, the "greatest miscalculation" of all for the U.S. "was allowing itself to be drawn into this war in the first place." In his view this was the doing of "Israel’s leadership" who "persuaded America that Iran had been so weakened by sanctions, internal divisions and the American-Israeli bombings of its nuclear sites last June, that an unconditional surrender would swiftly follow the initial assault and the assassination of the supreme leader." Obviously, this proved completely wrong, and the U.S. is now in a quagmire. He says that, given this, "America’s friends have a responsibility to tell the truth," which is that "there are two parties to this war who have nothing to gain from it," namely "Iran and America." He says that all of the U.S. interests in the region (end to nuclear proliferation, secure energy supply chains, investment opportunities) are "best achieved with Iran at peace." As he writes, "this is an uncomfortable truth to tell, because it involves indicating the extent to which America has lost control of its own foreign policy. But it must be told." He then proposes a couple of paths to get back to the negotiating table, although he recognizes how difficult it would be for Iran "to return to dialogue with an administration that twice switched abruptly from talks to bombing and assassination." That's perhaps the most profound damage Trump did during this entire episode: the complete discrediting of diplomacy. If Iran was taught anything, it is: don't negotiate with the U.S., it's a trap that will literally kill you. The great irony of the man who sold himself as a dealmaker is that he taught the world one thing: don't make deals with my country. Link to the article: economist.com/by-invitation/…

I analyzed data from the #HamOnt @HamiltonPolice Hate Crimes Unit. In the seven years of data that I received, there were hundreds of complaints about "anti-Jewish" hate incidents. All were "property" incidents, i.e. graffiti, except for exactly one incident per year, which was "verbal". I personally had a pro-Palestine lawn sign stolen from my front yard. Because I reported it to the police and they knew I'm a rabbi, they reported as an "anti-Jewish" hate incident!! We must NOT accept reports of anti-Jewish incidents at face value without investigating further.

A common misperception among Westerners is that ordinary Chinese people have no right to criticize the government. Here is a thread detailing how anyone, including foreigners in China, can lodge complaints with the authorities and get answers.   Westerners who think Chinese citizens cannot criticize the government are referred to by Chinese netizens as "cyber pets" because of the fun they derive from such ridiculous remarks.   I sometimes shared such remarks on Chinese Weibo, and many people there told me they've used the "12345 hotline" or the "mayor's hotline" to communicate with the government and resolve their problems (see screenshots below).   Anyone in China, even foreign tourists, can connect to the local authorities and submit concerns through the "12345 hotline," a public service implemented nationwide for years.   The service is available 24/7, and all calls are answered within 15 seconds, with a promise that your concern, query, or complaint will be addressed within seven days. The calls are forwarded to local authorities as needed to resolve the issue.   Many different things have been asked of the government, from fixing broken heaters to collecting trash from the street and demanding that businesses pay their employees on time.   My mother used the hotline to report about a pit on the road outside our home, and she received a response within a day. After the call was made, the road was fixed promptly.   Another channel for the Chinese citizens to contact the local authorities is "领导留言板" (Message Board for Leaders), an online platform where any Chinese citizen can complain about their local governments. Ministers and members of the State Council are also reachable to the public, and they will respond to suggestions and critiques from the general public. In China, most local governments are obligated to respond to complaints made on Message Board for Leaders.   On a monthly basis, the website will provide statistics on the amount of cases resolved and the satisfaction rating for each province. It will also include details about the officials nationwide who have resolved the most people's issues. 

This system encourages governments and provinces to improve their service to the public by fostering healthy competition.
 liuyan.people.com.cn   As of July 2024, 388,055 complaints have been addressed through this channel in 2024.   And here's one example:   On June 9th, 2024, a citizen of Jilin Province complained to the government that the local library's air conditioner had broken and no one had arrived to repair it.   Three days later, the local tourism and culture officials addressed the netizen's concerns, explaining the delay in fixing the AC and confirming that the problem had been remedied.   You can even rate the government's performance and response.   liuyan.people.com.cn/threads/conten…   Democracy like this is what I seek. The nation will not progress if its citizens take pleasure in pelting the government with insults while receiving no actual help and if the government ignores its citizens' plight while promising them a fake "democracy."

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if infrastructure like this 👇 gets blown up, as of this moment it will take at least a decade to recover from this war - and the truth is that the world's energy picture is probably changed forever. This single facility 👇produced roughly 20% of global LNG supply (aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/18…) and, as of 2011, had taken $70 billion to build (energyintel.com/0000017b-a7be-…). What makes this even worse is that Iran's strike on this was retaliation after Israel attacked their South Pars gas field which draws from the same natural gas reservoir, which is the world's largest by far (9,700 km² - about the size of Qatar itself). Heck, on the list of the 25 largest natural gas fields (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_n…) this single reservoir holds roughly 40% of their combined recoverable reserves - and is nearly 6 times bigger than the 2nd biggest field in the world. And, unlike many of the others on the list, it's only at 10% depletion (meaning 90% of the gas is still there). Which means that, probably for many years, a huge share of the gas from the world's largest reservoir simply won't be extractable, as infrastructure on both sides - Qatar's and Iran's - has now been blown up. From a global energy supply perspective, we're deep into worst-case scenario territory.

How did the right transition so seamlessly—so submissively—from "no new wars" to total global warfare? The answer is simple: they are deeply, truly soy, all the way down to the bone marrow. Now, their pathetic insecurities are wrecking the global economy. ettingermentum.news/p/the-soy-righ…