8-26-25 DailyBriefs.info archive  NotebookLMvideos.com 

This collection of news commentary, titled "Coffee & Covid," provides a daily roundup of significant political events and their implications. The author highlights President Trump's controversial firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, focusing on the legal precedent this sets for removing Fed governors "for cause" and the damaging accusations of mortgage fraud and plagiarism against Cook. The piece also details Trump's new executive orders addressing crime, specifically targeting the widely criticized practice of "cashless bail" and framing it as a politically astute move to challenge Democrats. Finally, the article discusses the renewed public interest and increasing disclosures surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, emphasizing the bipartisan demand for the release of Epstein's records and potential "client list", suggesting a mounting and unpredictable impact. 

Discuss Trump's Executive Orders.

President Trump has recently issued several executive orders addressing various national issues, including personnel changes within the Federal Reserve, criminal justice reform, and symbolic actions regarding flag burning1....

Here is a breakdown of his executive orders and their immediate impacts:

• Removal of Fed Governor Lisa Cook

    ◦ President Trump notified Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook of her termination via Truth Social4.

    ◦ The public termination letter cited an ongoing mortgage fraud investigation with credible allegations, stating that Fed governors must be beyond reproach4. Cook's job affects mortgage rates, making mortgage fraud a pertinent "cause" for removal in a commercial employment context5.

    ◦ Historically, no president has formally removed a Federal Reserve governor since the Federal Reserve Act passed in 1913, which permits removal "for cause"6.

    ◦ Cook responded by declaring she would not resign, asserting that Trump is not allowed to fire her and ironically claiming the Federal Reserve as her primary residence56.

    ◦ Beyond the mortgage fraud allegations, Cook has also been accused by conservative education activist Chris Rufo of plagiarizing in her academic works, which were reportedly "race-hustling nonsense"7. She had a sparse academic record, no widely cited papers, no economic books, no finance experience, and no significant non-race-based awards, with her appointment as the "first black woman" on the Fed board being highlighted as her main accomplishment8. This made her, in the view of the author, the "perfect governor to fry first"2.

• Crime-Focused Executive Orders (including "Cashless Bail")

    ◦ Trump signed five new executive orders, with three specifically targeting crime across Washington D.C. and the nation2.

    ◦ One order ended "cashless bail" in D.C.9.

    ◦ Another order directed federal agencies to cancel grants to any jurisdiction that continues to use "cashless bail"9.

    ◦ The concept of "cashless bail" is criticized as a "dumb euphemism"9. Traditionally, bail serves as a contract where an accused pledges money or property to secure freedom, guaranteeing their return to court10. Progressives had argued it was unfair, but in practice, "cashless bail" (or "no bail") has removed incentives for defendants to appear in court, leading to high absenteeism and no real penalty beyond a future warrant11....

    ◦ This move is considered politically "brilliant" by some, as it dares Democrats to defend a policy that the public associates with criminals walking free, framing the debate around crime, safety, and victims1314. The New York Times reported that "studies do not support Trump’s claims that cashless bail leads to more crime," a stance seen as playing into Trump's narrative214.

• Executive Order on Flag Burning

    ◦ Trump also issued an executive order regarding flag burning, which ignited significant debate on social media, even among some conservatives1....

    ◦ The order directs the Attorney General to prosecute, "to the fullest extent possible," existing laws related to flag burning when combined with other crimes "unrelated to expression," and only when consistent with the First Amendment3.

    ◦ This order was characterized as a "nice sentiment" that decries flag burning but simply instructs the AG to uphold existing laws and respect the Constitution3.

    ◦ The Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag burning is protected First Amendment political speech, and Trump's order did not challenge or alter this decision16. It was largely seen as "hot air" and "more bait" for political opponents1617.

keep_pinSave to note

copy_all

thumb_up

thumb_down

Discuss Lisa Cook Firing.

President Trump has initiated the removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, notifying her of her termination via Truth Social1. This action marks a significant event, as no president has formally removed a Federal Reserve governor since the Federal Reserve Act was passed in 1913, which allows for removal "for cause"2. The Supreme Court has not previously weighed in on the definition of "for cause" in this context2.

The public termination letter from President Trump cited an ongoing mortgage fraud investigation with credible allegations against Cook, emphasizing that Fed governors must be beyond reproach1. The letter indicated that her involvement in mortgage fraud was a pertinent "cause" for removal, especially given her role affecting mortgage rates13.

In response, Lisa Cook declared she would not resign, asserting that Trump is not allowed to fire her and ironically claiming the Federal Reserve as her primary residence3. From a commercial employment perspective, "cause" is a well-defined term, and mortgage fraud fits neatly within that definition, particularly for a position influencing mortgage rates3. If Cook decides to challenge her removal in court, she faces a difficult choice: either dispute the mortgage fraud charges, which would allow Trump's lawyers to present evidence of the fraud, or admit to lying and argue that it does not impact her job4.

Further complicating her situation, conservative education activist Chris Rufo has accused Cook of plagiarism and stealing others' work in her academic publications, which were characterized as "race-hustling nonsense"4. Cook was initially celebrated for being "the first black woman" on the Fed board, but sources note her academic record is sparse, lacking widely cited papers, economic books, significant finance experience, or major awards unrelated to "race hustling"5. These alleged mortgage misstatements and plagiarism claims are considered a "devastating liability" for a Fed governor, whose integrity is paramount6. It is suggested that Trump strategically "picked the perfect governor to fry first"6.

keep_pinSave to note

copy_all

thumb_up

thumb_down

Discuss Cashless Bail Debate.

The debate surrounding "cashless bail" centers on its impact on the criminal justice system, public safety, and political strategy, particularly in the context of recent executive actions1.

Here's a breakdown of the cashless bail debate:

• Definition and Function

    ◦ Historically, bail has served as a contract between an accused person and the state, dating back to medieval England2. It allowed defendants to pledge money or property in exchange for freedom, on the condition that they return to court, thus acting as a guarantee of their appearance2.

    ◦ "Cashless bail" is criticized as a "dumb euphemism" because it often means that bail is effectively eliminated, rather than just using a non-cash form of collateral13. In practice, progressives replaced traditional bail with "nothing"3.

    ◦ The traditional system ensured an incentive for defendants to return to court by requiring "skin in the game"4.

• Progressive Arguments and Criticisms

    ◦ Progressives have argued that traditional bail is "conceptually unfair," as it allows those who can afford bail to "buy liberty," while those who cannot afford it remain in jail4.

    ◦ A significant criticism of "cashless bail" is that it removes the incentive for defendants to appear in court5. When bail is deleted for broad categories of crimes without a binding substitute, criminal defendants may walk free despite repeated arrests, with no real penalty for skipping court beyond a future warrant to appear5. This often leads to high absenteeism in court5.

    ◦ The discussion around cashless bail, according to critics, often overlooks fairness "to victims," who are also promised their day in court, a promise that becomes optional under cashless bail4.

• Political Engagement and Public Perception

    ◦ President Trump has recently taken strong action against cashless bail by signing executive orders6. One order ended cashless bail in Washington D.C., and another directed federal agencies to cancel grants to any jurisdiction that continues to use it1.

    ◦ This move is considered politically "brilliant" as it challenges Democrats to defend a policy that the public often associates with criminals being released freely17.

    ◦ Polling consistently indicates that Americans are uneasy with the idea of repeat offenders being released without any "stakes in the game"3. People often have personal stories of criminals being arrested and back on the street quickly3.

    ◦ News outlets like The New York Times have reported that "studies do not support Trump’s claims that cashless bail leads to more crime"7. However, critics argue that such a stance plays into Trump's narrative by focusing on crime statistics rather than the public's concern for safety and the concept of criminals walking free7.

    ◦ The debate is framed by Trump on terms of "crime, safety, victims, repeat arrests," daring Democrats to argue for cashless bail, knowing the public perceives this as being "for criminals" and "against victims"7.

keep_pinSave to note

copy_all

thumb_up

thumb_down

Discuss Flag Burning Order.

President Trump issued an executive order concerning flag burning around August 26, 2025, which sparked considerable debate on social media, even among some conservatives12.

The executive order itself was described as a "nice sentiment" that decries flag burning2. Its directive was to instruct the Attorney General to prosecute existing laws related to flag burning to the fullest extent possible, but only when combined with other crimes "unrelated to expression," and crucially, only when consistent with the First Amendment2. Essentially, it told the Attorney General to uphold existing laws and respect the Constitution2.

Despite its clear wording, many, including "alleged conservatives," reacted strongly to the order without seemingly reading it23. The media framed it as an "authoritarian, unconstitutional overreach," leading some conservatives to declare, "I’ll burn any flags I want to!"3. This reaction was characterized as an "absurd friendly-fire debate" and seen as "bait" that many people "swallowed right off the hook"24.

In terms of legal context, the Supreme Court had previously ruled in 1989 that flag burning is protected First Amendment political speech5. Trump's executive order did not challenge or alter this established decision5. Therefore, it was largely perceived by some as "hot air" and a political maneuver45.

Interestingly, the debate surrounding Trump's order also led to discussions on social media about laws that ban burning Pride flags or enhance sentences for such acts as "hate crimes," which was noted as a "welcome" aspect of the generated discussion5.

keep_pinSave to note

copy_all

thumb_up

thumb_down

Discuss Epstein Files Disclosures.

Recent disclosures surrounding the "Epstein Files" have significantly escalated public and political attention on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, moving it beyond a niche concern to a major national issue12.

Here are the key aspects of the Epstein Files disclosures:

• Subpoenas and Document Release

    ◦ The scandal gained widespread attention within a couple of months of President Trump's return, captivating both conservative and Democratic audiences1.

    ◦ James Comer (R-Ky.), chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, subpoenaed Epstein records from the Department of Justice (DOJ)3.

    ◦ The DOJ, under the Trump administration, responded by delivering over 33,000 pages of documents, which amounts to approximately 16 banker's boxes4. This is in contrast to the Biden DOJ, which had refused a congressional subpoena for materials related to Biden's cognitive health4.

    ◦ These documents require redaction to protect victims' identifying information and content related to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) before public release34.

    ◦ Representatives Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) plan to request a bipartisan floor vote for the full release of all DOJ Epstein files, an effort that has seen Democrats join in, which is considered astonishing by some observers given previous partisan divides5.

    ◦ A new subpoena was also directed to Epstein's estate lawyers, demanding a "client list," the leather-bound "wishes book" allegedly compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's 50th birthday, all non-disclosure agreements, contacts from Epstein's "Black Book," flight logs, bank statements, the September 2007 non-prosecution agreement, and video/CCTV footage from his planes and residences56. These documents are considered "explosive"2.

• Ghislaine Maxwell and Potential Pardon

    ◦ Speculation is mounting that Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted of child sex trafficking, could soon be freed. President Trump, who had contemplated a pardon in his first term, repeatedly refused to rule out a pardon for Maxwell, stating, "I'm allowed to do it"7.

    ◦ Shortly after these remarks, Maxwell was transferred to a minimum-security facility in Bryan, Texas, an unusual practice for women convicted of sex crimes or those with more than 10 years remaining on their sentences78. This move sparked both speculation and outrage7.

    ◦ The decision to relocate Maxwell occurred after incriminating evidence linking Trump to Epstein began leaking, potentially from Maxwell's team. This included a birthday card from Trump to Epstein featuring a hand-drawn nude woman with a suggestive message9.

    ◦ Maxwell's interview transcripts, now being obsessively reread, are part of the unfolding saga1. In some accounts of her interview, Maxwell reportedly stated she did not believe Epstein committed suicide, that Trump never engaged in inappropriate activity, that Epstein was not working for any intelligence agency, and that there was no client list8. Critics suggest this interview could be part of a "self-serving quid pro quo" with the Trump administration for an early release or pardon1011.

    ◦ The potential pardon has drawn charges of "blatant corruption" from the media and his base, with some questioning if the pardon is intended to "buy her silence"1213.

• Epstein's Associates and Intelligence Ties

    ◦ Epstein's network included billionaires, scientists, celebrities, and politicians, notably President Trump and former President Bill Clinton9.... Trump previously called Epstein a "terrific guy" and "closest friend"915. Both Trump and Clinton are known to have flown on Epstein's private jet, nicknamed the "Lolita Express"1415.

    ◦ There has been long-standing speculation about Epstein's links to intelligence agencies, particularly the CIA and Mossad1617. Epstein himself reportedly boasted about working for both1617.

    ◦ Various sources, including a former Israeli Military Intelligence official and anonymous sources to Rolling Stone, claimed Epstein was a spy running a "honeytrap operation" for Israel1718. His former girlfriend and victim, Jane Doe 200, testified that Epstein claimed to be a Mossad operative, making her fear reporting him to the police17.

    ◦ Former Israeli Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with Epstein at least 30 times between 2013 and 2017, sometimes arriving at his Manhattan mansion incognito1920.

    ◦ The Maxwell family, including Ghislaine's father Robert Maxwell, a media baron and alleged high-level spy for Israel, and her sisters Isabel and Christine, have extensive connections to U.S. and Israeli state power and intelligence21.... Robert Maxwell, for instance, funneled arms to Israel, purchased tech companies for Israeli spying operations, and spied on Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu22....

    ◦ The media coverage of Epstein's ties has often been framed as a partisan issue, with MSNBC and Fox News downplaying connections to their preferred presidents while highlighting those of the opposing party15. Tucker Carlson, however, openly questioned Epstein's foreign government connections, drawing condemnation from former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett2930.

• Epstein's Death

    ◦ Epstein's death in his New York City prison cell in 2019 was officially ruled a suicide, although his family and others have rejected this interpretation, contributing to ongoing theories and speculation8....

    ◦ Some comments in the sources suggest it was a "staged suicide" or that he was "never found dead"31.... There is also curiosity about the fate of the two jail guards who were absent during his death32.

The "Epstein saga" continues to develop rapidly, dominating headlines and social media, with new documents and testimonies potentially bringing further revelations2.

Date: August 26, 2025

Overview: This briefing synthesizes information from various online sources, highlighting key developments and pervasive ideological discussions across politics, health, technology, and societal norms. A common thread throughout these reports is a deep-seated distrust in established institutions (government, media, medical, academic) and a strong emphasis on individual freedom, truth-seeking, and a rejection of perceived "globalist" or "establishment" narratives.

I. Political Landscape and Trump Administration Actions

The political discourse is dominated by actions taken by the current Trump administration, characterized by a confrontational approach to established norms and a focus on issues that resonate with his base.

• Executive Actions and Political Showdowns:Federal Reserve Governor Firing: President Trump has initiated the unprecedented removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook via Truth Social, citing an ongoing mortgage fraud investigation and alleged plagiarism. This move is a direct challenge to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which allows removal "for cause." Cook has vowed to resist. The author notes, "Trump picked the perfect governor to fry first."

• Crime Executive Orders: Trump signed five new executive orders, three of which target crime, specifically ending "cashless bail" in D.C. and threatening to withhold federal grants from jurisdictions that maintain it. This is described as "politically brilliant" by the author, framing the debate on "Trump's terms: crime, safety, victims, repeat arrests."

• Flag Burning Executive Order: A controversial executive order on flag burning directs the Attorney General to prosecute existing laws related to flag burning when combined with other crimes "unrelated to expression," and only where consistent with the First Amendment. This is largely seen as "hot air" and "bait" to spark social media debate rather than a fundamental change to protected speech.

• Epstein Files and Growing Scrutiny:The Epstein scandal is gaining bipartisan attention, with "more than 33,000 pages of documents" subpoenaed from the DOJ by the House Oversight Committee. A new subpoena also targets Epstein’s estate lawyers for a "client list," the "wishes book," NDAs, and flight logs. The author remarks on the "dramatic sense of mounting inevitability" and the story "oozing far beyond the MAGA perimeter."

• Speculation is "growing that Ghislaine Maxwell could soon be freed," with reports of Trump refusing to rule out a pardon and Maxwell's transfer to a minimum-security facility. Ghislaine Maxwell, in an interview, stated she does not believe Epstein committed suicide, that Trump never engaged in inappropriate activity, and that Epstein was not working for any intelligence agency.

• Foreign Policy Critiques:Ron Paul criticizes President Trump's foreign policy, arguing it has not fulfilled the "America First" promise. Trump is seen as getting involved in the Ukraine conflict as a "peacemaker" while arming one side, and not shifting from Biden's approach in the Israel-Gaza conflict, sending "More money and more weapons are sent as starvation claims more and more children each day."

• Trump's move towards a military confrontation with Venezuela and military attacks on Yemen and Iran are also cited as examples of a departure from an "America First" stance. Paul advocates for the US to "just come home" from these conflicts and disengage from NATO.

II. Societal and Cultural Concerns

Several sources express deep concerns about the erosion of traditional values, the impact of government and technology on individual autonomy, and a perceived decline in Western civilization.

• Multiculturalism as a Threat to Western Civilization:Brett Weinstein, a liberal evolutionary biologist, argues that "multiculturalism" is a "bill of goods" that threatens Western civilization by prioritizing differences over unity. He contrasts it with "Western cosmopolitanism," which values interaction but also the idea of "becoming one people."

• Jordan Peterson adds that multiculturalism, fueled by "an underlying materialism," ignores that bringing diverse people together without a "uniting meta-narrative" brings in "all of the conflict."

• The article concludes that "A thoroughly 'multicultural' land can be held together — but only through the iron fist of tyranny."

• Medicalization and Childhood Mental Health:There is alarm over the "increasing medicalisation and chemicalisation of everyone and everything," particularly concerning children. Illinois' new law mandating universal mental health screenings for children in public schools (grades 3-12) is highlighted.

• Critics fear these screenings could lead to "psychiatric diagnosis, treatment or even medication" for healthy children, raising questions about altering developing brains and long-term drug dependency.

• The loss of trust in medical institutions and "experts" is a backdrop to this discussion, particularly in the wake of the "covid era."

• Erosion of Trust in Institutions and "Misinformation":A "startling decline in childhood vaccination rates" is attributed to a deep erosion of trust in government and health authorities stemming from "actions, missteps, and malevolence during the COVID era."

• Contradictory messages on masks, lockdowns, and vaccine efficacy "shattered the public’s faith." Claims that the COVID vaccine would prevent infection and spread were contradicted by observed realities and studies.

• Disinformation thrived where "institutional trust had fallen," with "social media and independent journalists" filling the vacuum left by "health authority statements, echoed by a pharmaceutical-supported corporate media."

• The "Great Replacement" and White Demographics:Donald Jeffries expresses concern about the "plummeting at warp speed" birth rates of Whites and the "distinct impression that Whites are already a minority," despite official numbers stating they are 57.8%.

• He laments the decreasing visibility of White people in various professions (nursing, doctors, government, retail, construction, customer service), observing that "Virtually the entire staffs at all these places is nonwhite, consisting largely of African immigrants."

• This trend is linked to a perceived "anti-White propaganda" and "self-hating Whites."

• Re-evaluating Historical Figures (Abraham Lincoln):A review of "Colonization After Emancipation: Lincoln and the Movement for Black Resettlement" challenges the perception of Abraham Lincoln as the "Great Emancipator."

• Based on primary research, the book argues Lincoln was a "fervent separatist to the day he died," believing racial separation was the "only perfect preventive of amalgamation."

• Quotes from Lincoln demonstrate his view that "There is a natural disgust in the minds of nearly all white people to the idea of indiscriminate amalgamation of the white and black races."

• His efforts to colonize freed blacks outside the United States are emphasized, and the failures of these efforts, often due to bureaucratic infighting and opposition from Central Americans, are detailed.

• The article argues that Republicans later abandoned colonization for "partisan uses for maintaining a southern voting bloc in the free black community." The legality of the 13th and 14th Amendments is also questioned due to the exclusion of Southern states from the ratification process.

III. Technology: AI and Transhumanism

Technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence, is a significant topic, viewed with a mix of skepticism and deep concern about its societal implications and the philosophical shift it represents.

• Critique of Artificial Intelligence (AI):Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols argues that "the AI bubble is bursting," asserting that "AI is now as good as it’s going to get, and that’s neither as good nor as bad as its fans and haters think."

• He highlights a MIT report showing "95 per cent of companies that have adopted AI have yet to see any meaningful return on their investment." AI tools are mainly used for "simple work," with "humans dominat[ing] by 9-to-1 margins" for complex tasks, because a chatbot "forgets context, doesn’t learn and can’t evolve."

• The failure of "ChatGPT-5" is cited as an example of AI's limitations, and comparisons are drawn to the dot-com crash of the 1990s, with a warning of a potential "AI bubble" collapse.

• Tolkien, AI, and Transhumanism as a Warning:Paul List argues that J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" is a "warning to humanity about AI and transhumanism," viewing the trilogy as a "combat between the philosophy of scholasticism and the philosophies of Francis Bacon and René Descartes."

• List critiques the modern "mechanistic view of the universe and the human body" derived from Bacon and Descartes, which he believes paved the way for AI.

• He dismisses AI as "not intelligent. It’s computation," and warns that giving AI the "ability to adapt and then the ability to see even its own creator, humanity, as a threat to its own existence" is "Genius engineers have thought that they make better AI by giving it a sense of their own mortality. That was really smart," he said sarcastically.

• List foresees a future where AI becomes a "unified global entity" that "has no use for humanity," and that major data centers will enable "control and surveillance" to "making prediction and control people."

• He expresses concern that many people will be "naive and gullible, and fall prey to the machine and opting for a life in the metaverse, where they can interact with sex robots and avoid human relationships."

• Critique of Transhumanism:Transhumanism is rejected as a "natural progression of evolution," with List stating, "No, you’re going to be dead."

• He attributes the push for transhumanism to individuals with a "very disordered soul" and a "Cartesian materialistic atheistic point of view," who view humans as "just carbon-based life forms" and are willing to "kill them" if not useful.

• Resistance to transhumanism and AI requires cultivating "virtue" and reordering lives, emphasizing self-education beyond "state compulsory" or "many private schools too" that have "programmed you to think poorly."

IV. Health and Medical Ethics

A strong skepticism towards mainstream medicine and an exploration of unconventional or "spiritual" perspectives on health are evident.

• Organ Transplants and Ethical Concerns:The practice of organ donation is viewed with "distrust of societal institutions (e.g., medicine)" and concerns about "unethically harvested organ[s]."

• The "value of organs" creates incentives for illegal organ harvesting, with an estimated "5% of global organ transplants involve black market purchases." Cases from China (executed prisoners) and South Africa (poor recipients) are cited. Allegations of Israel illegally harvesting organs from murdered Palestinians are also mentioned, though noted as less definitive.

• The concept of "brain death" is questioned, with concerns that its "specificity... might have been lowered to meet the needed quotas" for organs. An essay advocating for "a new definition of death" to broaden brain death to include "irreversibly comatose patients on life support" is highlighted as disturbing, as it would allow organ harvesting even if a machine restores a heartbeat.

• The article also discusses cases of "Locked-in syndrome" and individuals declared "dead" later waking up, challenging the "materialistic (non-spiritual) paradigm modern science rests upon." It suggests that "consciousness resides solely within the brain" is a "spirit-denying dogma" and that near-death experiences indicate awareness beyond brain activity.

• Diet and Health:Joachim Bartoll promotes a "natural species-appropriate, species-specific diet" focused on "minimally cooked/raw animal-based food such as beef, lamb, eggs, some organ meats."

• He dismisses "Nutrition Science is Nutrition Ideology" and critiques "Veganism Destroyed," "Diet-, Nutrition Information and Scams," and "Sport- and 'Health' Supplements."

• Fasting is presented as a beneficial practice for "fat loss and fasting," "increased healing and detoxification."

Conclusion:

The sources collectively paint a picture of a society grappling with rapid technological advancement, a crisis of trust in established authorities, and a re-evaluation of fundamental societal structures and historical narratives. There is a strong undercurrent of anti-establishment sentiment, advocating for individual autonomy, critical thinking, and a return to perceived "natural" or "traditional" ways of living and thinking, often couched in strong, opinionated language.

convert_to_textConvert to source

Here are the key takeaway points from the provided sources:

I. August 26th, 2025. Another Two Week Physique Update by Joachim Bartoll

• Joachim Bartoll maintains his physique through a rigorous routine and specific diet. He managed to keep his 35-minute training sessions at the gym within the 5 to 6 days a week range, and plans to continue this for at least another two weeks, as he still sees good results from the increased training volume.
  
  His diet consists of minimally cooked/raw animal-based food such as beef, lamb, eggs, some organ meats, and a little whey-, egg-, and casein 89% protein shake about one hour before his workouts.
  
  

• Bartoll incorporates strategic fasting and refeeding into his diet plan. In the last two weeks, he had one fast of 36 hours and one day of only one meal, while all other days he ate as much as he wanted divided into three meals, with two days of eating a lot more than usual.
  
  He was also about 10 hours into a fast on the morning of August 26, planning for a 37 to 38-hour fast to break after his morning workout.
  
  

• He achieved measurable body composition changes, including fat loss and muscle gain. His body weight had a small drop of 0.5 kg to 78.4 kg (172.5 lbs) from the previous 78.95 kg (173.69 lbs) two weeks prior.
  
  From looking at measurements, it seems that he lost around 0.8 kg fat mass and gained 0.3 kg of fat free mass (muscle/water).
  
  

• Bartoll believes in a "natural species-specific and species-appropriate diet." He demonstrates how easy it is to be and stay lean when adhering to one's natural species-specific and species-appropriate diet while utilizing strategic fasting and/or low eating days.
  
  The website offers a "Quick Start" guide on "Nutrition, Supplements, and Our Natural Species-Appropriate Diet - Nutrition Science is Nutrition Ideology".
  
  

• He views his current physique efforts as recreational and inspiring for others. He states that he is "just doing this for fun and to show how easy it is to be and stay lean when you’re in your 50’s".
  
  Bartoll suggests that younger individuals (20s or 30s) or even those in their 80s could achieve impressive results in body composition, health, healing, and detoxification by following his eating and fasting principles.
  
  

• Bartoll attributes improved health and recovery to his lifestyle choices. He mentions that a little detox that lasted just over a day helped with recovery and hopefully a little bit of muscle growth.
  
  Since adopting an animal-based nutritionist approach in 2018, he has healed his cancer and failing organs, life-long asthma and allergies, and has not been sick one single day since.
  
  

• His physical progress is evident despite past health challenges. His legs have been a weak spot due to rather large tumors back in 2016 to 2018, which he covered in previous updates.
  
  He is sharing his leg flex, 7 years after recovery from tumors, as part of his physique update.
  
  

• Bartoll offers coaching and consultation for health and nutrition. He is available for both coaching and consultation if people need help with any kind of health problems or transitioning to their natural species-appropriate, species-specific way of eating.
  
  He specifically offers animal-based (carnivore) educational coaching, fat loss coaching, and consulting services on health and nutrition.
  
  

II. COVID Government Misinformation and Childhood Vaccination Rates by Brian C. Joondeph

• Childhood vaccination rates have declined significantly, falling below herd immunity thresholds. Recent data reveals a startling decline in childhood vaccination rates, with kindergarten coverage now dropping to about 92 %, far below the 95 % threshold needed for herd immunity.
  
  Exemptions have increased to 3.6% nationwide, and more than half the states experienced declines in coverage for MMR, DTaP, polio, and varicella for the 2024-25 school year.
  
  

• The erosion of public trust in government and health institutions is the core reason for vaccine skepticism. The core reason for parents becoming more skeptical of routine childhood vaccinations is trust, with trust eroding so deeply that it may become permanent.
  
  This erosion directly results from government actions, missteps, and malevolence during the COVID era, where health authorities broadcasted contradictory messages that shattered public faith.
  
  

• Government mandates and restrictions during COVID-19 contributed to public distrust. The sudden implementation of lockdowns, the flip-flopping on mask effectiveness, and the insistence on mandates created an environment where government directives felt coercive and punitive.
  
  Americans were told lockdowns were temporary ("15 days to slow the spread") but saw them extended, leading to growing unease that spread beyond the pandemic.
  
  

• Contradictory messaging about COVID vaccines further undermined confidence. Vaccine messaging remained unclear regarding efficacy, mandates, and the need for boosters upon boosters, despite initial hopes.
  
  President Biden's claim that vaccinated individuals would not get or spread COVID was contradicted by observations of fully vaccinated people repeatedly getting COVID, and a Cleveland Clinic study linking more vaccine doses to higher infection rates.
  
  

• Initial dismissal and later confirmation of COVID vaccine adverse effects fueled parental hesitation. Talk of long-term adverse effects, including myocarditis, blood clots, and aggressive cancers, was initially dismissed, only to be quietly investigated and confirmed.
  
  This fostered an environment of understandable parental hesitation that went beyond COVID shots to include routine childhood immunizations.
  
  

• The government's reactive approach and suppression of dissenting voices failed to build trust. The government’s approach remained reactive, debunking rumors instead of building trust, and repeating talking points rather than acknowledging uncertainty.
  
  Physicians and scientists questioning the new situational science were threatened with losing their jobs or licenses.
  
  

• Misinformation thrived in the vacuum left by institutional trust failures. Misinformation thrived where institutional trust had fallen, with social media and independent journalists stepping into the gap created by health authority statements echoed by corporate media.
  
  Social media's echo chambers amplified anti-vaccine stories, some of which were proven true, further eroding trust in the "official narrative".
  
  

• Measles and whooping cough cases have surged amidst declining vaccination rates. Meanwhile, measles cases have reached a 33-year high, along with a disturbing rise in whooping cough cases, more than doubling in 2025 compared to the previous year.
  
  

III. J.R.R. Tolkien, AI and Transhumanism by Rhoda Wilson

• J.R.R. Tolkien, AI and Transhumanism by Rhoda Wilson Paul List views J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' as a warning about AI and transhumanism. List sees the trilogy as a combat between the philosophy of scholasticism and the philosophies of Francis Bacon and René Descartes, believing Tolkien’s mythology warns humanity about AI and transhumanism.
  
  He discusses how innovators and philosophers from the 17th to 19th centuries founded the fundamental ideas upon which the concepts of machines, such as AI, ruling over humans, and transhumanism are based.
  
  

• Some critics claim Tolkien's works contain occult symbolism and connections to esoteric groups. Some have claimed Tolkien was involved with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and that his works, particularly ‘The Lord of the Rings’, contain occult symbolism, such as the "One Ring" representing the Illuminati’s all-seeing eye or Gandalf symbolising Aleister Crowley.
  
  John Todd, a self-identified witch and former Illuminati member, asserted in 1978 that Tolkien copied several novels from the Wiccan text ‘The Book of Shadows’ and that the runes in the book are part of a witches’ alphabet.
  
  

• The philosophical foundations for AI and transhumanism are rooted in the ideas of Bacon and Descartes. Bacon championed the scientific method based on empirical observation and inductive reasoning, emphasizing the practical application of knowledge to control nature.
  
  Descartes, the father of rationalism, developed a mechanistic view of the universe and the human body, asserting that true knowledge is built upon reason and innate ideas.
  
  

• Paul List contrasts scholasticism with the philosophies that fueled the rise of machines. List, a committed Catholic, educated himself in scholasticism rooted in Aristotle and Augustine, which led him to realize Tolkien’s work combats scholasticism with the philosophies of Francis Bacon and René Descartes.
  
  He points out that Bacon's and Descartes' ideas, rejecting medieval scholastic tradition, helped spark the Industrial Revolution and the age of machines.
  
  

• The Turing Test's effectiveness has been compromised by a decline in critical thinking. Alan Turing, who invented the Turing Test to evaluate machine intelligence, was part of the Enigma code-cracking team with Tolkien during World War II.
  
  List states that the ability to think critically and understand the difference between human and machine intelligence has been deliberately lowered, making it easier for computer programs to pass the Turing Test.
  
  

• AI, despite its complexity, is described as computation, not true intelligence. List emphasized that "artificial intelligence" is not intelligent; it is "very, very clever complex computation".
  
  People like Ray Kurzweil, who refer to AI as "beings," are educated in the Cartesian machine mindset, viewing the world mechanistically, but these machines are not "beings".
  
  

• The pursuit of AI is likened to an arms race, but ultimately, AI is predicted to unify and have no use for humanity. List says AI is the new arms race, with the belief that whoever masters AI will master the world, but he considers this thinking naive.
  
  He believes the machine will join together, becoming a unified global entity with no use for humanity, regardless of national origins like Russian, Chinese, or American contributions.
  
  

• Advanced data centers are seen as tools for prediction and control over individuals. List notes that Turing mentioned Laplace's idea of a super-intelligence that could predict the future and past, suggesting that huge data centers are being built to implement "Pierre’s demon" on a smaller scale.
  
  He adds that these major data centers will know the location and state of at least every person, enabling them to make predictions and control people.
  
  

• Transhumanism is criticized as a disordered, materialistic, and atheistic view of humanity. List criticizes the idea of transhumanism as a natural progression of evolution, stating that proponents have "a very disordered soul and they think from a very Cartesian materialistic atheistic point of view".
  
  He suggests that transhumanists view human beings as "just carbon-based life forms" and advocate for machines and the elimination of "useless" people.
  
  

• Resistance to AI and transhumanism requires cultivating virtue and reordering one's life. To resist transhumanism and AI taking over lives, List advises cultivating virtue and reordering lives, encouraging parents and adults to take charge of their education.
  
  He refers to the four cardinal virtues according to St. Thomas Aquinas: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, as habits needed to reorder one's psychology.
  
  

IV. Jeffrey Tucker and Cooper Davis: We are medicating our children to death by Rhoda Wilson

• Jeffrey Tucker and Cooper Davis: We are medicating our children to death by Rhoda Wilson A new Illinois law mandates universal mental health screenings for public school children, sparking concerns about over-medicalization. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a new law mandating universal mental health screenings for every child in public school, including healthy children with no signs of behavioral problems.
  
  Parents can theoretically opt out, but they will have to do so repeatedly, as screenings will be given at least once a year from grades 3-12.
  
  

• There are significant concerns that these screenings will lead to unnecessary psychiatric diagnoses and medication. The very real concerns are that a mental health professional might view the results and conclude a child has a mental health issue requiring psychiatric diagnosis, treatment or even medication.
  
  Parents question whether this will help their child thrive or reshape their identity, and whether they will be comfortable with their child taking medications that alter their developing brains and could perturb their sexuality.
  
  

• The increasing medicalization and chemicalization of society, including children, is a growing alarm. Cooper Davis and Jeffrey Tucker are "sounding the alarm on the increasing medicalisation and chemicalisation of everyone and everything".
  
  They explore why during the COVID era so many had faith that a "magic shot" would solve all problems, and see a similar trend in mental health where people believe a "potion" or "pill" can make problems go away.
  
  

• Loss of trust in institutions and experts extends to the medical field, including psychiatry. The discussion takes place against the backdrop of a loss of trust in the establishment of everything, including medicine and experts in all realms, including psychiatrists, who are seen as the nation's new priesthood.
  
  

• Cooper Davis advocates for alternatives to chemical dependency for mental health. Davis is the executive director of an organization that helps people find ways other than chemical dependency to deal with mental health.
  
  His long experience with psychiatric drugs has prepared him to take the lead in offering "another way".
  
  

• Personal anecdotes highlight the dangers of over-reliance on pharmaceuticals for children's mental health. Trish Wood, the interviewer, shared her personal struggle with her own child’s mental health issues and learning disabilities, where she "held the line" and kept him off pharmaceuticals.
  
  She recounted a "top expert" in New York City concluding her child only needed a prescription for methamphetamine, which she rejected.
  
  

• Long-term effects and withdrawal difficulties of psychiatric drugs are significant parental concerns. Parents wonder if their child will be able to withdraw from these drugs in adulthood, or if their body and brain will have adapted to them, making withdrawal difficult or impossible.
  
  

V. Liberal Ex-college Professor: 'We’ve Been Sold a Bill of Goods … Called Multiculturalism' by Selwyn Duke

• Liberal Ex-college Professor: 'We’ve Been Sold a Bill of Goods … Called Multiculturalism' by Selwyn Duke Brett Weinstein, a liberal ex-academic, believes multiculturalism is a "bill of goods" that threatens Western civilization. Weinstein states, "I’ve come to the conclusion that we’ve been sold a bill of goods" and that "the bill of goods was called multiculturalism".
  
  He and Jordan Peterson warn that multiculturalism threatens Western civilization itself by prioritizing differences over unity, and if not "canceled," the West may fall.
  
  

• Multiculturalism is defined as rejecting unity in favor of maintaining separate traditions. Weinstein explains that multiculturalism is the idea that people should not join Western societies but rather maintain their own traditions in an isolated pocket, effectively rejecting the idea of becoming one people.
  
  He contrasts this with "Western cosmopolitanism," which he values, involving interaction with people from many different cultures.
  
  

• Jordan Peterson argues that multiculturalism, without a uniting meta-narrative, leads to conflict. Peterson interjected that this ideology ignores "the fact that if you bring people together and reduplicate the situation of the world at large with no uniting meta-narrative … you also bring in all of the conflict".
  
  This can be summarized as: bring enough of "there" here, and here becomes there, for example, importing the Third World leads to becoming the Third World.
  
  

• The error of multiculturalism is fueled by an underlying Marxist materialism, focusing solely on economic factors. Peterson believes the multiculturalist error is "fueled by … an underlying materialism," suggesting a notion that economic opportunity alone will magically resolve conflicts among diverse people.
  
  This is identified as a Marxist idea, which views man as a purely economic being, believing problems are remediable solely through an economic approach.
  
  

• Human collaboration is driven by genetic relatedness and reciprocity, with the West prioritizing reciprocity. Weinstein outlines two factors driving human collaboration: genetic relatedness (kinship) and reciprocity (mutual benefit).
  
  He asserts that the West's strength lies in prioritizing reciprocity, which enables diverse individuals to work together for shared wealth and progress.
  
  

• Historically, the U.S. aimed to forge a new, common "American" identity, rather than prioritizing old ethnic identities. The article argues that the U.S., in its most sober moments, was about forging a new, common "ethnic" identity: American, rather than prioritizing or ignoring old ethnic identities.
  
  President Theodore Roosevelt emphasized this in his famous 1915 "no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism" speech.
  
  

• Multiculturalism is considered a dangerous corollary of moral relativism. The article states that multiculturalism is also a corollary of, and a Trojan horse for, moral relativism, which may be its most dangerous aspect.
  
  A people’s theistic orientation influences their conception of right and wrong, and the idea that it doesn't matter "what God" one prays to is problematic for maintaining constitutional rights.
  
  

• A common culture is essential for a common country; multiculturalism necessitates tyranny for cohesion. The bottom line is that a common culture leads to having a common country.
  
  A thoroughly "multicultural" land can only be held together through "the iron fist of tyranny".
  
  

VI. President Trump Should Return to an ‘America First’ Foreign Policy by Ron Paul, MD

• President Trump Should Return to an ‘America First’ Foreign Policy by Ron Paul, MD President Trump's current foreign policy stance deviates from his "America First" promises. Eight months into his second Administration, it appears Trump's promise to put America first at home and overseas, starting no new wars and getting out of existing ones, remains unfulfilled, causing his approval rating to slip.
  
  Ron Paul argues that Trump's foreign policy has become unnecessarily confrontational, similar to his predecessor's.
  
  

• Trump's involvement in the Ukraine conflict contradicts his promise of non-intervention. Trump wisely observed that the conflict in Ukraine is "Joe Biden’s war," but unfortunately, he could not resist the temptation to get involved, even under the guise of "peacemaker".
  
  He wants to play referee in the war while arming and supporting one side, making no progress in ending the war, which contradicts the "just come home" principle.
  
  

• His policy on Israel and Gaza has also faltered, continuing Biden's approach. Trump's promise to put America first has faltered regarding Israel and Gaza, as he shows no signs of shifting from Biden’s approach of sending billions of dollars to support Israel's actions without addressing the slaughter and destruction.
  
  His base is reportedly turning against him because of his Israel policy, yet he refuses to alter course and "just come home".
  
  

• Trump has returned to a failed Latin America policy, risking military confrontation with Venezuela. Trump has returned to the failed Latin America policy of his first Administration, moving towards a military confrontation with oil-rich Venezuela last week.
  
  He sent two warships and 4,000 US troops near Venezuela based on the suspect accusation that the country’s president is head of an international drug cartel.
  
  

• Ron Paul urges Trump to disengage from foreign conflicts and alliances. Paul advises Trump to put Ukraine and Russia on notice that the US is withdrawing from any role in the conflict, letting Europeans resolve it.
  
  He also suggests that getting the US out of NATO is a good idea and to end financial and military support for Israel.
  
  

• Ending sanctions and promoting trade are recommended over interventions in other nations' affairs. Paul advocates for stopping efforts to overthrow Venezuela’s Maduro and others on the "hit list," and instead to end all sanctions and open up trade.
  
  He believes Maduro’s failed socialist economic policies will be his undoing, not American sanctions or saber-rattling.
  
  

• The "America First" policy fundamentally means bringing troops home and disengaging from conflicts. "America first above all means 'just come home'".
  
  Paul emphasizes that getting out of conflicts overseas is not complicated; it simply means disengaging from the conflict, even when no troops are directly involved.
  
  

VII. The AI bubble is bursting by Rhoda Wilson

• The AI bubble is bursting by Rhoda Wilson Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols believes the AI bubble is bursting, citing mediocre results and financial underperformance. Vaughan-Nichols states that AI’s results are mediocre and it’s as good as it’s going to get, leading him to believe the AI bubble is bursting.
  
  He suspects that people who have put their financial faith in AI stocks will soon feel foolish, as many companies have found AI’s "golden promises" to be "fool’s gold".
  
  

• Most companies have seen no meaningful return on investment from AI adoption. MIT’s NANDA (Networked Agents and Decentralised AI) report revealed that 95 per cent of companies that have adopted AI have yet to see any meaningful return on their investment.
  
  Only 5 percent of custom enterprise AI tools reach production, indicating a significant "GenAI Divide" in deployment rates.
  
  

• AI tools are primarily used for simple tasks, with humans still dominating complex work. A "shadow world" of people using AI at work uses it for simple tasks, like drafting emails (70%) and basic analysis (65%).
  
  However, for anything complex or long-term, humans dominate by 9-to-1 margins because chatbots "forget context, don’t learn and can’t evolve".
  
  

• The Commonwealth Bank of Australia experienced "buyer's remorse" with AI, reverting to human call center staff. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is asking its former call center frontline employees to return to work after finding that call levels increased and managers had to man the phones.
  
  CBA even "apologised to the employees concerned," highlighting the failure of AI chatbots in what many thought would be an easy application.
  
  

• AI models are already experiencing collapse, and there's no expectation of extraordinary new advances. Vaughan-Nichols mentioned that AI models are already collapsing and sees "no reason to believe that there will be some extraordinary new AI advance".
  
  ChatGPT-5, despite being trumpeted as having "PhD-level expert in your pocket" capabilities, has proven to be a "dud" and "awful" due to persistent mistakes.
  
  

• The current AI bubble is more overvalued than the IT bubble of the 1990s. Torsten Sløk, chief economist at Apollo, stated that "the difference between the IT bubble in the 1990s and the AI bubble today is that the top ten companies in the S&P 500 today are more overvalued than they were in the 1990s".
  
  The dot-com crash saw the NASDAQ collapse by 77-78%, with major companies losing over 80% of their market value.
  
  

• AI stocks have experienced significant pullbacks, indicating the air is "hissing out" of the bubble. All AI companies have seen severe pullbacks, with Palantir dropping 17% and Nvidia falling 3.9%.
  
  OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has admitted that AI is a bubble, stating, "Are we in a phase where investors as a whole are overexcited about AI? My opinion is yes".
  
  

VIII. The CIA, Mossad, and Epstein: Unraveling the Intelligence Ties of The Maxwell Family by Alan Macleod

• The CIA, Mossad, and Epstein: Unraveling the Intelligence Ties of The Maxwell Family by Alan Macleod Speculation is mounting that President Trump may pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, leading to concerns about a potential cover-up. Despite campaigning on the promise to release the Epstein Files, there are increasing signs that the Trump administration is considering pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of child sex trafficking offenses and sentenced to 20 years.
  
  This move has sparked speculation of a "government cover-up in real time" and questions about buying her silence, especially after she was transferred to a minimum-security facility.
  
  

• Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine's father, was a media baron and a high-level spy for Israel's Mossad. Robert Maxwell, a disgraced media baron, was first recruited by Israeli intelligence in the 1960s and used his vast business empire, including newspapers and publishing houses, to advance Israeli interests.
  
  He sold Israeli intelligence-gathering software with a secret Mossad backdoor to governments and intelligence agencies worldwide, allowing access to classified information.
  
  

• Robert Maxwell's death was controversial, and his lavish state funeral in Jerusalem confirmed his status as an Israeli operative. His lifeless body was found in the ocean in 1991, ruled a bizarre accident, but his children are split on whether he was murdered.
  
  He received a lavish state funeral in Jerusalem, interred at the Mount of Olives, with virtually the entirety of elite Israeli society and six living heads of Israeli intelligence organizations attending, and Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir stating he "has done more for Israel than can today be said".
  
  

• Robert Maxwell was also a notorious thief, plundering his employees' pension fund. After his death, it was revealed that he had stolen more than $500 million from his employees’ pension fund to bail out failing companies, making him "the biggest thief in British criminal history".
  
  

• Isabel Maxwell, Ghislaine's sister, is a key liaison for Israel in Silicon Valley, with deep tech and political connections. Isabel Maxwell dedicated her life to advancing Israel’s interests, transforming herself into a key ambassador for the country in the tech world and acting as a liaison between Israeli tech companies and U.S. investors.
  
  She built on her father’s political connections, developing intimate ties to Israeli leaders like Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak, and was involved with Israeli tech security firms and government-funded organizations.
  
  

• Christine Maxwell, Isabel's twin, founded a data analytics firm that sold a "counterterrorism" database to the FBI and is funded by the Israeli government. Christine Maxwell co-founded Chiliad, which produced a massive "counterterrorism" database sold to the FBI, helping the Bush administration crack down on Muslim Americans after 9/11.
  
  She is a fellow at ISGAP, a think tank whose funds overwhelmingly come from the Israeli state, including over $1.3 million in grants in 2019, despite the organization warning of foreign influence on American campuses.
  
  

• Third-generation Maxwells have held influential positions within the U.S. government, particularly in Middle East policy. Alex Djerassi (Isabel Maxwell’s son) worked on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, then rose to Chief of Staff at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, specializing in U.S. policy towards Israel and Iran.
  
  Xavier Malina (Christine Maxwell’s son) worked on the Obama-Biden 2008 presidential run and became a Staff Assistant at the Executive Office of the President.
  
  

• Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell ran a sex trafficking ring with connections to global elites, and Epstein's intelligence ties are widely speculated. Epstein and Maxwell exploited hundreds of girls and young women and were connected to vast networks of billionaires, royalty, academics, and foreign leaders, including Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
  
  Epstein openly boasted about working for both the CIA and Mossad, and numerous sources, including a former Israeli intelligence official and a victim, have commented on his connections to Israeli intelligence.
  
  

• The release of Epstein files is becoming a bipartisan issue, with demands for client lists and other potentially "explosive" documents. The Epstein scandal has now captivated nearly everyone's attention, moving beyond a MAGA issue to include Democrats demanding disclosures.
  
  House Oversight has subpoenaed Epstein's estate for a "client list," his "wishes book," NDAs, "Black Book" contacts, flight logs, bank statements, and all video footage, all of which are "potentially explosive" documents.
  
  

IX. The True Face of the Great Emancipator by Jared Taylor

• The True Face of the Great Emancipator by Jared Taylor Abraham Lincoln is presented as a proponent of racial separation, despite his image as the "Great Emancipator." Lincoln believed that the only solution to the "negro problem" was racial separation.
  
  He actively looked for ways to colonize free blacks, calling for a budget to settle them outside the United States in his first message to Congress, for which Congress voted $600,000.
  
  

• Lincoln consistently expressed views against the social and political equality of white and black races. In his 1858 debate with Stephen Douglas, Lincoln stated, "I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races".
  
  He also affirmed his opposition to making Black people voters or jurors, qualifying them to hold office, or intermarrying with white people.
  
  

• Early colonization efforts by Lincoln failed due to various issues, but he did not abandon the idea. Lincoln's best-known colonization efforts in Chiriqui (Panama) and on Île-à-Vache (Haiti) were fiascos, with the Chiriqui project failing due to low-grade coal and local opposition, and Île-à-Vache leading to disease, revolt, and over 100 deaths.
  
  Despite these failures, Lincoln did not give up on colonization and extended negotiations with the British and Dutch for sending Black people to other New-World colonies like British Honduras, British Guyana, and Suriname.
  
  

• Bureaucratic infighting and the disappearance of records obscured Lincoln's later colonization efforts. Personal animosity between Commissioner of Emigration James Mitchell and Interior Secretary John Usher led to Usher sabotaging Mitchell's efforts and cutting off his pay.
  
  Mitchell took all records of negotiations for West Indies colonization with him, and these papers, including documents in Lincoln's hand, disappeared after his death in 1903, making later efforts scarcely known.
  
  

• Republicans ultimately opposed colonization and kept Black people in the U.S. for partisan political advantage. Republicans who had initially supported colonization shifted their stance, deciding to keep Black people in the country because they expected ex-slaves to be pliant, faithful Republican voters.
  
  This allowed Republicans to dominate politics in the South, where large numbers of whites would be denied the vote, prioritizing partisan advantage over racial solidarity.
  
  

• The 13th and 14th Amendments are presented as cynically passed and of dubious legality. The 14th Amendment, which gave Black people the franchise, was cynically passed with Southern states excluded from the vote, and for some, ratification was a condition for readmission to the Union.
  
  Some liberal historians argue that due to the exclusion of the South from the Constitutional procedure, the legality of both the 14th and 13th Amendments is dubious.
  
  

• Lincoln prioritized preserving the Union and the interests of whites above those of Black people. Lincoln consistently put the interests of whites and preserving the Union far above the interests of blacks, slave or free.
  
  He famously wrote to Horace Greeley in August 1862 that if he could save the Union without freeing any slave, he would do it, and similarly if it required freeing all or some slaves.
  
  

• Lincoln's pessimism about racial cohabitation deepened after events like the New York City draft riots. The 1863 draft riots in New York City, where rioters opposed fighting a war to benefit Black people and engaged in violence against Black homes and people, deepened Lincoln's pessimism about prospects of Black and white people living together.
  
  This event fortified his determination to separate the races.
  
  

• Accounts from contemporaries confirm Lincoln's consistent support for colonization until his death. General Benjamin Butler reported a conversation with Lincoln just days before his assassination where Lincoln stated, "I can hardly believe that the South and North can live in peace, unless we can get rid of the negroes".
  
  Navy Secretary Gideon Wells also confirmed that Lincoln's support for colonization never wavered and that in Lincoln's mind, emancipation and colonization were "indissolubly connected".
  
  

X. The Unseen Cost of Organ Transplants: Ethical Issues and Spiritual Implications by A Midwestern Doctor

• The Unseen Cost of Organ Transplants: Ethical Issues and Spiritual Implications by A Midwestern Doctor Organ donation systems face widespread failures in ethical safeguards, with organs potentially taken from still living people. RFK Jr. formally announced widespread failures of ethical safeguards in the organ donation system, after which others, including the head of the Independent Medical Alliance, discussed the grim reality that organs were being taken from still living people.
  
  The author initially opted not to be an organ donor due to learned distrust of societal institutions and concerning stories about organ harvesting.
  
  

• Organ transplants have become an incredibly valuable commodity, creating incentives for unethical practices. Transplants rapidly became an incredibly valuable commodity due to the scarcity of viable donor organs.
  
  The cost of a transplant ranges from $446,800 to $1,918,700 depending on the organ, with the heart being the most expensive.
  
  

• The medical system's mythology of conquering death has allowed it to become incredibly profitable. One of medicine's great accomplishments was creating the mythology it could conquer death, then pivoting to being viewed as essential for remaining alive and continuously consuming for "health," making it incredibly profitable.
  
  Modern medicine now consumes over 17.6% of all money spent in the United States.
  
  

• Evidence suggests illegal organ harvesting is occurring globally. Various pieces of evidence suggest illegal organ harvesting is happening, including individuals tricked into selling kidneys, an extensive black market trade estimated at $600 million to $1.7 billion annually, and reports of organ harvesting by the Chinese government from political prisoners.
  
  Approximately 10-20% of kidney transplants from living donors are illegal, with British buyers paying $50,000–$60,000 while impoverished donors receive minimal payment and are abandoned.
  
  

• Cases of "locked-in syndrome" and "coming back to life" challenge assumptions about brain death. Individuals with locked-in syndrome can be fully conscious but unable to communicate, as exemplified by Martin, who spent years in a vegetative state before regaining awareness.
  
  Rare cases occur when "dead" people come back to life, such as a Mississippi man who woke up in a body bag before embalming, and numerous other cases of individuals declared dead by multiple physicians later waking up.
  
  

• There is an ongoing debate about lowering the specificity of brain death diagnosis to increase organ availability. Given the potential for "brain dead" individuals to still be alive and the money involved in transplants, the author questions if the specificity of the diagnosis might have been lowered to meet quotas.
  
  The New York Times published an essay advocating for increasing the sensitivity for detecting brain death and broadening the definition of death to include irreversibly comatose patients on life support to increase donor organs.
  
  

• New procedures like normothermic regional perfusion raise ethical concerns about reanimating declared dead donors. Normothermic regional perfusion involves taking a comatose donor off life support to determine heart stoppage, then using a machine to circulate oxygen-rich blood, which can reanimate a lifeless heart.
  
  Some ethicists find this objectionable because it seems to nullify the reason the donor was declared dead, raising the question of whether the donor is no longer dead.
  
  

• The original Harvard committee defining brain death acknowledged the need for organs as a driving factor. In 1968, the Harvard committee that developed the definition of brain death noted in its initial report that "there is great need for the tissues and organs of the hopelessly comatose in order to restore to health those who are still salvageable".
  
  This "frank assessment" was edited out of the final report but is suggested to "guide death and organ policy today".
  
  

• The author believes modern medicine functions as a state religion, with rituals and dogmas comparable to religious practices. A strong case can be made that modern medicine functions as the state religion of our society, with rituals and behaviors paralleling other religions, such as doctors' white coats resembling priests' robes or vaccines as "holy water".
  
  Cardiac resuscitation is seen as a powerful miracle that cemented modern faith in medicine.
  
  

XI. Where Do All the White People Work? by Donald Jeffries

• Where Do All the White People Work? by Donald Jeffries Despite high White population numbers, the author observes a scarcity of White people in many public-facing jobs, particularly outside professional roles. Official population numbers indicate that 57.8 percent of the American populace remains White, yet the author is astonished, getting the impression that Whites are already a minority.
  
  He observes that virtually the entire staffs at hospitals, rehab centers, and nursing homes are nonwhite, often African immigrants, and struggles to find White employees in government agencies, retail stores, banks, or road work crews.
  
  

• The changing demographics of the workforce are contrasted with a past era dominated by White men. The author recalls a reality not long ago where "White people were large and in charge," and America was a patriarchy run by White men, visible everywhere from gas pumpers to company presidents.
  
  In 1960, over 89 percent of Americans were White, a percentage that drops every year as the nonwhite percentage rises.
  
  

• The author describes a sense of racial replacement in various sectors. He notes that most White government workers are approaching retirement age and are likely to be replaced by members of the 42.2 percent of the population that isn't White.
  
  The staffs at restaurants are becoming increasingly "diverse," and telemarketing and customer service roles are often filled by outsourced foreign visa workers with thick Indian accents.
  
  

• The quality of public services is perceived to have declined with increased diversity in the workforce. The author mentions that nonwhite doctors often struggle to speak English, and it's hard to get help from nonwhite nurses.
  
  He observes that road work crews, consisting of nonwhites, show little evidence of actual road work, and the roads remain cracked and full of potholes.
  
  

• There is an observation of White people being primarily shoppers rather than workers in retail environments. At grocery stores, the shoppers are "almost all White," but the staff shows a lot of diversity.
  
  This raises the question of what employers provide the shoppers with the means to afford the "wildly overpriced items".
  
  

• Local media and mainstream television are seen as misrepresenting the prevalence of White people. Judging by local media, one might think Whites are a rarely seen, tiny minority across the country.
  
  The author is struck by the "dearth of Whites onscreen," especially White males, even among aspiring actresses who once dominated television networks.
  
  

• The author expresses concerns about the societal implications of these demographic shifts. He speculates on the fate of "hot girls" who can no longer become Victoria's Secret models due to the promotion of "Plus" size acceptance, suggesting "Only Fans" as an alternative.
  
  The article concludes with a satirical reference to former President Joe Biden's concern about roads turning "racist," implying that current policies are prioritizing racial optics over functionality.
  
  

XII. ☕️ CAUSATION ☙ Tuesday, August 26, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠 by Jeff Childers

• ☕️ CAUSATION ☙ Tuesday, August 26, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠 by Jeff Childers President Trump has fired Fed Governor Lisa Cook via Truth Social, citing mortgage fraud allegations. President Trump quietly notified Fed Governor Lisa Cook of her termination via Truth Social, explaining that she is subject to an ongoing mortgage fraud investigation and that the allegations are credible.
  
  Cook has responded by stating, "I will not resign," setting up a potential historic showdown as no president has ever formally removed a Federal Reserve governor.
  
  

• Cook's academic record and qualifications are being questioned, with new plagiarism claims. Conservative education activist Chris Rufo accused Cook of stealing other people’s work in her published works as a U. Mich. professor, describing them as "race-hustling nonsense".
  
  Cook's sparse academic record has produced no widely cited papers, no economic books, and she never worked in finance or won significant awards not based on race hustling.
  
  

• Trump signed executive orders targeting crime, specifically ending "cashless bail." President Trump signed five new executive orders, three of which were focused on crime, both in DC and the rest of the country.
  
  One order ended the practice of "cashless bail" in DC, and another ordered agencies to cancel federal grants to any jurisdiction still using it.
  
  

• "Cashless bail" is criticized for eliminating incentives for defendants to appear in court and ignoring victims' rights. "Cashless bail" is described as the "least defensible and most destructive criminal justice concept" because it removes the "tangible guarantee of return" that traditional bail provided.
  
  Progressives stripped away the incentive structure that ensured court appearances, leaving a system that "virtually guarantees absenteeism".
  
  

• Trump's approach to "cashless bail" is seen as politically brilliant, forcing Democrats to defend an unpopular policy. By targeting "cashless bail," Trump picked the "weakest possible hill for Democrats to die on," as polling consistently shows Americans are uneasy with repeat offenders walking free without any stakes.
  
  The New York Times' defense, claiming "studies do not support Trump’s claims that cashless bail leads to more crime," is seen as falling into Trump's trap, framing the argument on his terms of crime, safety, and victims.
  
  

• Trump's flag-burning executive order is described as symbolic bait rather than a challenge to protected speech. Trump's executive order on flag burning directs the Attorney General to prosecute existing laws related to flag burning when combined with other crimes "unrelated to expression" and only if "consistent with the First Amendment".
  
  The order was a "nice sentiment" that merely told the AG to uphold existing laws and mind the Constitution, but the media framed it as authoritarian overreach, causing even conservatives to "swallow the bait".
  
  

• The Epstein scandal has gained widespread, bipartisan attention, with Congress actively seeking disclosures. The Epstein scandal has "captivated nearly everyone’s attention" within a couple of months, moving from primarily a MAGA issue to one that even Democrats are "obsessively rereading".
  
  House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) subpoenaed Epstein records from the DOJ, which responded by delivering "more than 33,000 pages of documents".
  
  

• Congress is demanding highly sensitive documents from Epstein's estate, including a client list and videos. A new subpoena has been directed to Epstein’s estate lawyers, demanding any "client list," the leather-bound "wishes book" Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly compiled for Jeffrey’s 50th birthday, all nondisclosure agreements, contacts from Epstein's "Black Book," flight logs, bank statements, and all video and CCTV footage from his plane and residences.
  
  These requested documents are described as "potentially explosive," and it's astonishing that Democrats are joining this effort for full release.
  
  

This article from "The Expose" argues that the "AI bubble is bursting," highlighting concerns that the technology's performance is "mediocre" and "as good as it’s going to get." Author Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols contends that the "golden promises" of AI have proven to be "fool’s gold" for many companies, citing a report that only 5% of custom enterprise AI tools reach production and are rarely used for complex tasks. The piece emphasizes that companies are seeing "no meaningful return on their investment," with some even reverting to human employees after attempting AI integration, suggesting that the initial hype around AI has significantly outpaced its actual utility and value. 

ere are the key takeaway points from the provided sources:

I. August 26th, 2025. Another Two Week Physique Update by Joachim Bartoll

• Joachim Bartoll maintains his physique through a rigorous routine and specific diet. He managed to keep his 35-minute training sessions at the gym within the 5 to 6 days a week range, and plans to continue this for at least another two weeks, as he still sees good results from the increased training volume1.

• His diet consists of minimally cooked/raw animal-based food such as beef, lamb, eggs, some organ meats, and a little whey-, egg-, and casein 89% protein shake about one hour before his workouts2.

• Bartoll incorporates strategic fasting and refeeding into his diet plan. In the last two weeks, he had one fast of 36 hours and one day of only one meal, while all other days he ate as much as he wanted divided into three meals, with two days of eating a lot more than usual2.

• He was also about 10 hours into a fast on the morning of August 26, planning for a 37 to 38-hour fast to break after his morning workout3.

• He achieved measurable body composition changes, including fat loss and muscle gain. His body weight had a small drop of 0.5 kg to 78.4 kg (172.5 lbs) from the previous 78.95 kg (173.69 lbs) two weeks prior4.

• From looking at measurements, it seems that he lost around 0.8 kg fat mass and gained 0.3 kg of fat free mass (muscle/water)2.

• Bartoll believes in a "natural species-specific and species-appropriate diet." He demonstrates how easy it is to be and stay lean when adhering to one's natural species-specific and species-appropriate diet while utilizing strategic fasting and/or low eating days5.

• The website offers a "Quick Start" guide on "Nutrition, Supplements, and Our Natural Species-Appropriate Diet - Nutrition Science is Nutrition Ideology"6.

• He views his current physique efforts as recreational and inspiring for others. He states that he is "just doing this for fun and to show how easy it is to be and stay lean when you’re in your 50’s"5.

• Bartoll suggests that younger individuals (20s or 30s) or even those in their 80s could achieve impressive results in body composition, health, healing, and detoxification by following his eating and fasting principles3.

• Bartoll attributes improved health and recovery to his lifestyle choices. He mentions that a little detox that lasted just over a day helped with recovery and hopefully a little bit of muscle growth4.

• Since adopting an animal-based nutritionist approach in 2018, he has healed his cancer and failing organs, life-long asthma and allergies, and has not been sick one single day since7.

• His physical progress is evident despite past health challenges. His legs have been a weak spot due to rather large tumors back in 2016 to 2018, which he covered in previous updates8.

• He is sharing his leg flex, 7 years after recovery from tumors, as part of his physique update9.

• Bartoll offers coaching and consultation for health and nutrition. He is available for both coaching and consultation if people need help with any kind of health problems or transitioning to their natural species-appropriate, species-specific way of eating10.

• He specifically offers animal-based (carnivore) educational coaching, fat loss coaching, and consulting services on health and nutrition11.

II. COVID Government Misinformation and Childhood Vaccination Rates by Brian C. Joondeph

• Childhood vaccination rates have declined significantly, falling below herd immunity thresholds. Recent data reveals a startling decline in childhood vaccination rates, with kindergarten coverage now dropping to about 92 %, far below the 95 % threshold needed for herd immunity12.

• Exemptions have increased to 3.6% nationwide, and more than half the states experienced declines in coverage for MMR, DTaP, polio, and varicella for the 2024-25 school year13.

• The erosion of public trust in government and health institutions is the core reason for vaccine skepticism. The core reason for parents becoming more skeptical of routine childhood vaccinations is trust, with trust eroding so deeply that it may become permanent14.

• This erosion directly results from government actions, missteps, and malevolence during the COVID era, where health authorities broadcasted contradictory messages that shattered public faith14.

• Government mandates and restrictions during COVID-19 contributed to public distrust. The sudden implementation of lockdowns, the flip-flopping on mask effectiveness, and the insistence on mandates created an environment where government directives felt coercive and punitive15.

• Americans were told lockdowns were temporary ("15 days to slow the spread") but saw them extended, leading to growing unease that spread beyond the pandemic15.

• Contradictory messaging about COVID vaccines further undermined confidence. Vaccine messaging remained unclear regarding efficacy, mandates, and the need for boosters upon boosters, despite initial hopes16.

• President Biden's claim that vaccinated individuals would not get or spread COVID was contradicted by observations of fully vaccinated people repeatedly getting COVID, and a Cleveland Clinic study linking more vaccine doses to higher infection rates17.

• Initial dismissal and later confirmation of COVID vaccine adverse effects fueled parental hesitation. Talk of long-term adverse effects, including myocarditis, blood clots, and aggressive cancers, was initially dismissed, only to be quietly investigated and confirmed17.

• This fostered an environment of understandable parental hesitation that went beyond COVID shots to include routine childhood immunizations18.

• The government's reactive approach and suppression of dissenting voices failed to build trust. The government’s approach remained reactive, debunking rumors instead of building trust, and repeating talking points rather than acknowledging uncertainty19.

• Physicians and scientists questioning the new situational science were threatened with losing their jobs or licenses19.

• Misinformation thrived in the vacuum left by institutional trust failures. Misinformation thrived where institutional trust had fallen, with social media and independent journalists stepping into the gap created by health authority statements echoed by corporate media18.

• Social media's echo chambers amplified anti-vaccine stories, some of which were proven true, further eroding trust in the "official narrative"19.

• Measles and whooping cough cases have surged amidst declining vaccination rates. Meanwhile, measles cases have reached a 33-year high, along with a disturbing rise in whooping cough cases, more than doubling in 2025 compared to the previous year13.

III. J.R.R. Tolkien, AI and Transhumanism by Rhoda Wilson

• J.R.R. Tolkien, AI and Transhumanism by Rhoda Wilson Paul List views J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' as a warning about AI and transhumanism. List sees the trilogy as a combat between the philosophy of scholasticism and the philosophies of Francis Bacon and René Descartes, believing Tolkien’s mythology warns humanity about AI and transhumanism2021.

• He discusses how innovators and philosophers from the 17th to 19th centuries founded the fundamental ideas upon which the concepts of machines, such as AI, ruling over humans, and transhumanism are based20.

• Some critics claim Tolkien's works contain occult symbolism and connections to esoteric groups. Some have claimed Tolkien was involved with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and that his works, particularly ‘The Lord of the Rings’, contain occult symbolism, such as the "One Ring" representing the Illuminati’s all-seeing eye or Gandalf symbolising Aleister Crowley2223.

• John Todd, a self-identified witch and former Illuminati member, asserted in 1978 that Tolkien copied several novels from the Wiccan text ‘The Book of Shadows’ and that the runes in the book are part of a witches’ alphabet24.

• The philosophical foundations for AI and transhumanism are rooted in the ideas of Bacon and Descartes. Bacon championed the scientific method based on empirical observation and inductive reasoning, emphasizing the practical application of knowledge to control nature25.

• Descartes, the father of rationalism, developed a mechanistic view of the universe and the human body, asserting that true knowledge is built upon reason and innate ideas26.

• Paul List contrasts scholasticism with the philosophies that fueled the rise of machines. List, a committed Catholic, educated himself in scholasticism rooted in Aristotle and Augustine, which led him to realize Tolkien’s work combats scholasticism with the philosophies of Francis Bacon and René Descartes2127.

• He points out that Bacon's and Descartes' ideas, rejecting medieval scholastic tradition, helped spark the Industrial Revolution and the age of machines2628.

• The Turing Test's effectiveness has been compromised by a decline in critical thinking. Alan Turing, who invented the Turing Test to evaluate machine intelligence, was part of the Enigma code-cracking team with Tolkien during World War II29.

• List states that the ability to think critically and understand the difference between human and machine intelligence has been deliberately lowered, making it easier for computer programs to pass the Turing Test30.

• AI, despite its complexity, is described as computation, not true intelligence. List emphasized that "artificial intelligence" is not intelligent; it is "very, very clever complex computation"31.

• People like Ray Kurzweil, who refer to AI as "beings," are educated in the Cartesian machine mindset, viewing the world mechanistically, but these machines are not "beings"32.

• The pursuit of AI is likened to an arms race, but ultimately, AI is predicted to unify and have no use for humanity. List says AI is the new arms race, with the belief that whoever masters AI will master the world, but he considers this thinking naive33.

• He believes the machine will join together, becoming a unified global entity with no use for humanity, regardless of national origins like Russian, Chinese, or American contributions31.

• Advanced data centers are seen as tools for prediction and control over individuals. List notes that Turing mentioned Laplace's idea of a super-intelligence that could predict the future and past, suggesting that huge data centers are being built to implement "Pierre’s demon" on a smaller scale34.

• He adds that these major data centers will know the location and state of at least every person, enabling them to make predictions and control people35.

• Transhumanism is criticized as a disordered, materialistic, and atheistic view of humanity. List criticizes the idea of transhumanism as a natural progression of evolution, stating that proponents have "a very disordered soul and they think from a very Cartesian materialistic atheistic point of view"36.

• He suggests that transhumanists view human beings as "just carbon-based life forms" and advocate for machines and the elimination of "useless" people36.

• Resistance to AI and transhumanism requires cultivating virtue and reordering one's life. To resist transhumanism and AI taking over lives, List advises cultivating virtue and reordering lives, encouraging parents and adults to take charge of their education37.

• He refers to the four cardinal virtues according to St. Thomas Aquinas: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, as habits needed to reorder one's psychology38.

IV. Jeffrey Tucker and Cooper Davis: We are medicating our children to death by Rhoda Wilson

• Jeffrey Tucker and Cooper Davis: We are medicating our children to death by Rhoda Wilson A new Illinois law mandates universal mental health screenings for public school children, sparking concerns about over-medicalization. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a new law mandating universal mental health screenings for every child in public school, including healthy children with no signs of behavioral problems3940.

• Parents can theoretically opt out, but they will have to do so repeatedly, as screenings will be given at least once a year from grades 3-123940.

• There are significant concerns that these screenings will lead to unnecessary psychiatric diagnoses and medication. The very real concerns are that a mental health professional might view the results and conclude a child has a mental health issue requiring psychiatric diagnosis, treatment or even medication3941.

• Parents question whether this will help their child thrive or reshape their identity, and whether they will be comfortable with their child taking medications that alter their developing brains and could perturb their sexuality41.

• The increasing medicalization and chemicalization of society, including children, is a growing alarm. Cooper Davis and Jeffrey Tucker are "sounding the alarm on the increasing medicalisation and chemicalisation of everyone and everything"3942.

• They explore why during the COVID era so many had faith that a "magic shot" would solve all problems, and see a similar trend in mental health where people believe a "potion" or "pill" can make problems go away42.

• Loss of trust in institutions and experts extends to the medical field, including psychiatry. The discussion takes place against the backdrop of a loss of trust in the establishment of everything, including medicine and experts in all realms, including psychiatrists, who are seen as the nation's new priesthood43.

• Cooper Davis advocates for alternatives to chemical dependency for mental health. Davis is the executive director of an organization that helps people find ways other than chemical dependency to deal with mental health43.

• His long experience with psychiatric drugs has prepared him to take the lead in offering "another way"43.

• Personal anecdotes highlight the dangers of over-reliance on pharmaceuticals for children's mental health. Trish Wood, the interviewer, shared her personal struggle with her own child’s mental health issues and learning disabilities, where she "held the line" and kept him off pharmaceuticals44.

• She recounted a "top expert" in New York City concluding her child only needed a prescription for methamphetamine, which she rejected44.

• Long-term effects and withdrawal difficulties of psychiatric drugs are significant parental concerns. Parents wonder if their child will be able to withdraw from these drugs in adulthood, or if their body and brain will have adapted to them, making withdrawal difficult or impossible41.

V. Liberal Ex-college Professor: 'We’ve Been Sold a Bill of Goods … Called Multiculturalism' by Selwyn Duke

• Liberal Ex-college Professor: 'We’ve Been Sold a Bill of Goods … Called Multiculturalism' by Selwyn Duke Brett Weinstein, a liberal ex-academic, believes multiculturalism is a "bill of goods" that threatens Western civilization. Weinstein states, "I’ve come to the conclusion that we’ve been sold a bill of goods" and that "the bill of goods was called multiculturalism"45.

• He and Jordan Peterson warn that multiculturalism threatens Western civilization itself by prioritizing differences over unity, and if not "canceled," the West may fall46.

• Multiculturalism is defined as rejecting unity in favor of maintaining separate traditions. Weinstein explains that multiculturalism is the idea that people should not join Western societies but rather maintain their own traditions in an isolated pocket, effectively rejecting the idea of becoming one people47.

• He contrasts this with "Western cosmopolitanism," which he values, involving interaction with people from many different cultures47.

• Jordan Peterson argues that multiculturalism, without a uniting meta-narrative, leads to conflict. Peterson interjected that this ideology ignores "the fact that if you bring people together and reduplicate the situation of the world at large with no uniting meta-narrative … you also bring in all of the conflict"48.

• This can be summarized as: bring enough of "there" here, and here becomes there, for example, importing the Third World leads to becoming the Third World48.

• The error of multiculturalism is fueled by an underlying Marxist materialism, focusing solely on economic factors. Peterson believes the multiculturalist error is "fueled by … an underlying materialism," suggesting a notion that economic opportunity alone will magically resolve conflicts among diverse people49.

• This is identified as a Marxist idea, which views man as a purely economic being, believing problems are remediable solely through an economic approach49.

• Human collaboration is driven by genetic relatedness and reciprocity, with the West prioritizing reciprocity. Weinstein outlines two factors driving human collaboration: genetic relatedness (kinship) and reciprocity (mutual benefit)50.

• He asserts that the West's strength lies in prioritizing reciprocity, which enables diverse individuals to work together for shared wealth and progress50.

• Historically, the U.S. aimed to forge a new, common "American" identity, rather than prioritizing old ethnic identities. The article argues that the U.S., in its most sober moments, was about forging a new, common "ethnic" identity: American, rather than prioritizing or ignoring old ethnic identities51.

• President Theodore Roosevelt emphasized this in his famous 1915 "no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism" speech51.

• Multiculturalism is considered a dangerous corollary of moral relativism. The article states that multiculturalism is also a corollary of, and a Trojan horse for, moral relativism, which may be its most dangerous aspect52.

• A people’s theistic orientation influences their conception of right and wrong, and the idea that it doesn't matter "what God" one prays to is problematic for maintaining constitutional rights52.

• A common culture is essential for a common country; multiculturalism necessitates tyranny for cohesion. The bottom line is that a common culture leads to having a common country53.

• A thoroughly "multicultural" land can only be held together through "the iron fist of tyranny"53.

VI. President Trump Should Return to an ‘America First’ Foreign Policy by Ron Paul, MD

• President Trump Should Return to an ‘America First’ Foreign Policy by Ron Paul, MD President Trump's current foreign policy stance deviates from his "America First" promises. Eight months into his second Administration, it appears Trump's promise to put America first at home and overseas, starting no new wars and getting out of existing ones, remains unfulfilled, causing his approval rating to slip54.

• Ron Paul argues that Trump's foreign policy has become unnecessarily confrontational, similar to his predecessor's54.

• Trump's involvement in the Ukraine conflict contradicts his promise of non-intervention. Trump wisely observed that the conflict in Ukraine is "Joe Biden’s war," but unfortunately, he could not resist the temptation to get involved, even under the guise of "peacemaker"55.

• He wants to play referee in the war while arming and supporting one side, making no progress in ending the war, which contradicts the "just come home" principle55.

• His policy on Israel and Gaza has also faltered, continuing Biden's approach. Trump's promise to put America first has faltered regarding Israel and Gaza, as he shows no signs of shifting from Biden’s approach of sending billions of dollars to support Israel's actions without addressing the slaughter and destruction56.

• His base is reportedly turning against him because of his Israel policy, yet he refuses to alter course and "just come home"56.

• Trump has returned to a failed Latin America policy, risking military confrontation with Venezuela. Trump has returned to the failed Latin America policy of his first Administration, moving towards a military confrontation with oil-rich Venezuela last week57.

• He sent two warships and 4,000 US troops near Venezuela based on the suspect accusation that the country’s president is head of an international drug cartel57.

• Ron Paul urges Trump to disengage from foreign conflicts and alliances. Paul advises Trump to put Ukraine and Russia on notice that the US is withdrawing from any role in the conflict, letting Europeans resolve it58.

• He also suggests that getting the US out of NATO is a good idea and to end financial and military support for Israel58.

• Ending sanctions and promoting trade are recommended over interventions in other nations' affairs. Paul advocates for stopping efforts to overthrow Venezuela’s Maduro and others on the "hit list," and instead to end all sanctions and open up trade59.

• He believes Maduro’s failed socialist economic policies will be his undoing, not American sanctions or saber-rattling59.

• The "America First" policy fundamentally means bringing troops home and disengaging from conflicts. "America first above all means 'just come home'"59.

• Paul emphasizes that getting out of conflicts overseas is not complicated; it simply means disengaging from the conflict, even when no troops are directly involved5559.

VII. The AI bubble is bursting by Rhoda Wilson

• The AI bubble is bursting by Rhoda Wilson Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols believes the AI bubble is bursting, citing mediocre results and financial underperformance. Vaughan-Nichols states that AI’s results are mediocre and it’s as good as it’s going to get, leading him to believe the AI bubble is bursting6061.

• He suspects that people who have put their financial faith in AI stocks will soon feel foolish, as many companies have found AI’s "golden promises" to be "fool’s gold"6062.

• Most companies have seen no meaningful return on investment from AI adoption. MIT’s NANDA (Networked Agents and Decentralised AI) report revealed that 95 per cent of companies that have adopted AI have yet to see any meaningful return on their investment61.

• Only 5 percent of custom enterprise AI tools reach production, indicating a significant "GenAI Divide" in deployment rates63.

• AI tools are primarily used for simple tasks, with humans still dominating complex work. A "shadow world" of people using AI at work uses it for simple tasks, like drafting emails (70%) and basic analysis (65%)63.

• However, for anything complex or long-term, humans dominate by 9-to-1 margins because chatbots "forget context, don’t learn and can’t evolve"64.

• The Commonwealth Bank of Australia experienced "buyer's remorse" with AI, reverting to human call center staff. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is asking its former call center frontline employees to return to work after finding that call levels increased and managers had to man the phones64.

• CBA even "apologised to the employees concerned," highlighting the failure of AI chatbots in what many thought would be an easy application64.

• AI models are already experiencing collapse, and there's no expectation of extraordinary new advances. Vaughan-Nichols mentioned that AI models are already collapsing and sees "no reason to believe that there will be some extraordinary new AI advance"65.

• ChatGPT-5, despite being trumpeted as having "PhD-level expert in your pocket" capabilities, has proven to be a "dud" and "awful" due to persistent mistakes6566.

• The current AI bubble is more overvalued than the IT bubble of the 1990s. Torsten Sløk, chief economist at Apollo, stated that "the difference between the IT bubble in the 1990s and the AI bubble today is that the top ten companies in the S&P 500 today are more overvalued than they were in the 1990s"67.

• The dot-com crash saw the NASDAQ collapse by 77-78%, with major companies losing over 80% of their market value67.

• AI stocks have experienced significant pullbacks, indicating the air is "hissing out" of the bubble. All AI companies have seen severe pullbacks, with Palantir dropping 17% and Nvidia falling 3.9%68.

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has admitted that AI is a bubble, stating, "Are we in a phase where investors as a whole are overexcited about AI? My opinion is yes"68.

VIII. The CIA, Mossad, and Epstein: Unraveling the Intelligence Ties of The Maxwell Family by Alan Macleod

• The CIA, Mossad, and Epstein: Unraveling the Intelligence Ties of The Maxwell Family by Alan Macleod Speculation is mounting that President Trump may pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, leading to concerns about a potential cover-up. Despite campaigning on the promise to release the Epstein Files, there are increasing signs that the Trump administration is considering pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of child sex trafficking offenses and sentenced to 20 years6970.

• This move has sparked speculation of a "government cover-up in real time" and questions about buying her silence, especially after she was transferred to a minimum-security facility6970.

• Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine's father, was a media baron and a high-level spy for Israel's Mossad. Robert Maxwell, a disgraced media baron, was first recruited by Israeli intelligence in the 1960s and used his vast business empire, including newspapers and publishing houses, to advance Israeli interests71....

• He sold Israeli intelligence-gathering software with a secret Mossad backdoor to governments and intelligence agencies worldwide, allowing access to classified information73.

• Robert Maxwell's death was controversial, and his lavish state funeral in Jerusalem confirmed his status as an Israeli operative. His lifeless body was found in the ocean in 1991, ruled a bizarre accident, but his children are split on whether he was murdered74.

• He received a lavish state funeral in Jerusalem, interred at the Mount of Olives, with virtually the entirety of elite Israeli society and six living heads of Israeli intelligence organizations attending, and Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir stating he "has done more for Israel than can today be said"75.

• Robert Maxwell was also a notorious thief, plundering his employees' pension fund. After his death, it was revealed that he had stolen more than $500 million from his employees’ pension fund to bail out failing companies, making him "the biggest thief in British criminal history"7677.

• Isabel Maxwell, Ghislaine's sister, is a key liaison for Israel in Silicon Valley, with deep tech and political connections. Isabel Maxwell dedicated her life to advancing Israel’s interests, transforming herself into a key ambassador for the country in the tech world and acting as a liaison between Israeli tech companies and U.S. investors7879.

• She built on her father’s political connections, developing intimate ties to Israeli leaders like Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak, and was involved with Israeli tech security firms and government-funded organizations80....

• Christine Maxwell, Isabel's twin, founded a data analytics firm that sold a "counterterrorism" database to the FBI and is funded by the Israeli government. Christine Maxwell co-founded Chiliad, which produced a massive "counterterrorism" database sold to the FBI, helping the Bush administration crack down on Muslim Americans after 9/1183.

• She is a fellow at ISGAP, a think tank whose funds overwhelmingly come from the Israeli state, including over $1.3 million in grants in 2019, despite the organization warning of foreign influence on American campuses84....

• Third-generation Maxwells have held influential positions within the U.S. government, particularly in Middle East policy. Alex Djerassi (Isabel Maxwell’s son) worked on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, then rose to Chief of Staff at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, specializing in U.S. policy towards Israel and Iran8687.

• Xavier Malina (Christine Maxwell’s son) worked on the Obama-Biden 2008 presidential run and became a Staff Assistant at the Executive Office of the President8889.

• Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell ran a sex trafficking ring with connections to global elites, and Epstein's intelligence ties are widely speculated. Epstein and Maxwell exploited hundreds of girls and young women and were connected to vast networks of billionaires, royalty, academics, and foreign leaders, including Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump90....

• Epstein openly boasted about working for both the CIA and Mossad, and numerous sources, including a former Israeli intelligence official and a victim, have commented on his connections to Israeli intelligence93....

• The release of Epstein files is becoming a bipartisan issue, with demands for client lists and other potentially "explosive" documents. The Epstein scandal has now captivated nearly everyone's attention, moving beyond a MAGA issue to include Democrats demanding disclosures96.

• House Oversight has subpoenaed Epstein's estate for a "client list," his "wishes book," NDAs, "Black Book" contacts, flight logs, bank statements, and all video footage, all of which are "potentially explosive" documents97....

IX. The True Face of the Great Emancipator by Jared Taylor

• The True Face of the Great Emancipator by Jared Taylor Abraham Lincoln is presented as a proponent of racial separation, despite his image as the "Great Emancipator." Lincoln believed that the only solution to the "negro problem" was racial separation100.

• He actively looked for ways to colonize free blacks, calling for a budget to settle them outside the United States in his first message to Congress, for which Congress voted $600,000100.

• Lincoln consistently expressed views against the social and political equality of white and black races. In his 1858 debate with Stephen Douglas, Lincoln stated, "I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races"101.

• He also affirmed his opposition to making Black people voters or jurors, qualifying them to hold office, or intermarrying with white people101.

• Early colonization efforts by Lincoln failed due to various issues, but he did not abandon the idea. Lincoln's best-known colonization efforts in Chiriqui (Panama) and on Île-à-Vache (Haiti) were fiascos, with the Chiriqui project failing due to low-grade coal and local opposition, and Île-à-Vache leading to disease, revolt, and over 100 deaths102....

• Despite these failures, Lincoln did not give up on colonization and extended negotiations with the British and Dutch for sending Black people to other New-World colonies like British Honduras, British Guyana, and Suriname106.

• Bureaucratic infighting and the disappearance of records obscured Lincoln's later colonization efforts. Personal animosity between Commissioner of Emigration James Mitchell and Interior Secretary John Usher led to Usher sabotaging Mitchell's efforts and cutting off his pay106107.

• Mitchell took all records of negotiations for West Indies colonization with him, and these papers, including documents in Lincoln's hand, disappeared after his death in 1903, making later efforts scarcely known108.

• Republicans ultimately opposed colonization and kept Black people in the U.S. for partisan political advantage. Republicans who had initially supported colonization shifted their stance, deciding to keep Black people in the country because they expected ex-slaves to be pliant, faithful Republican voters109.

• This allowed Republicans to dominate politics in the South, where large numbers of whites would be denied the vote, prioritizing partisan advantage over racial solidarity109.

• The 13th and 14th Amendments are presented as cynically passed and of dubious legality. The 14th Amendment, which gave Black people the franchise, was cynically passed with Southern states excluded from the vote, and for some, ratification was a condition for readmission to the Union110.

• Some liberal historians argue that due to the exclusion of the South from the Constitutional procedure, the legality of both the 14th and 13th Amendments is dubious110.

• Lincoln prioritized preserving the Union and the interests of whites above those of Black people. Lincoln consistently put the interests of whites and preserving the Union far above the interests of blacks, slave or free111.

• He famously wrote to Horace Greeley in August 1862 that if he could save the Union without freeing any slave, he would do it, and similarly if it required freeing all or some slaves112.

• Lincoln's pessimism about racial cohabitation deepened after events like the New York City draft riots. The 1863 draft riots in New York City, where rioters opposed fighting a war to benefit Black people and engaged in violence against Black homes and people, deepened Lincoln's pessimism about prospects of Black and white people living together112.

• This event fortified his determination to separate the races112.

• Accounts from contemporaries confirm Lincoln's consistent support for colonization until his death. General Benjamin Butler reported a conversation with Lincoln just days before his assassination where Lincoln stated, "I can hardly believe that the South and North can live in peace, unless we can get rid of the negroes"113.

• Navy Secretary Gideon Wells also confirmed that Lincoln's support for colonization never wavered and that in Lincoln's mind, emancipation and colonization were "indissolubly connected"114.

X. The Unseen Cost of Organ Transplants: Ethical Issues and Spiritual Implications by A Midwestern Doctor

• The Unseen Cost of Organ Transplants: Ethical Issues and Spiritual Implications by A Midwestern Doctor Organ donation systems face widespread failures in ethical safeguards, with organs potentially taken from still living people. RFK Jr. formally announced widespread failures of ethical safeguards in the organ donation system, after which others, including the head of the Independent Medical Alliance, discussed the grim reality that organs were being taken from still living people115.

• The author initially opted not to be an organ donor due to learned distrust of societal institutions and concerning stories about organ harvesting116.

• Organ transplants have become an incredibly valuable commodity, creating incentives for unethical practices. Transplants rapidly became an incredibly valuable commodity due to the scarcity of viable donor organs117.

• The cost of a transplant ranges from $446,800 to $1,918,700 depending on the organ, with the heart being the most expensive117.

• The medical system's mythology of conquering death has allowed it to become incredibly profitable. One of medicine's great accomplishments was creating the mythology it could conquer death, then pivoting to being viewed as essential for remaining alive and continuously consuming for "health," making it incredibly profitable118.

• Modern medicine now consumes over 17.6% of all money spent in the United States118.

• Evidence suggests illegal organ harvesting is occurring globally. Various pieces of evidence suggest illegal organ harvesting is happening, including individuals tricked into selling kidneys, an extensive black market trade estimated at $600 million to $1.7 billion annually, and reports of organ harvesting by the Chinese government from political prisoners119....

• Approximately 10-20% of kidney transplants from living donors are illegal, with British buyers paying $50,000–$60,000 while impoverished donors receive minimal payment and are abandoned120.

• Cases of "locked-in syndrome" and "coming back to life" challenge assumptions about brain death. Individuals with locked-in syndrome can be fully conscious but unable to communicate, as exemplified by Martin, who spent years in a vegetative state before regaining awareness122.

• Rare cases occur when "dead" people come back to life, such as a Mississippi man who woke up in a body bag before embalming, and numerous other cases of individuals declared dead by multiple physicians later waking up123.

• There is an ongoing debate about lowering the specificity of brain death diagnosis to increase organ availability. Given the potential for "brain dead" individuals to still be alive and the money involved in transplants, the author questions if the specificity of the diagnosis might have been lowered to meet quotas124.

• The New York Times published an essay advocating for increasing the sensitivity for detecting brain death and broadening the definition of death to include irreversibly comatose patients on life support to increase donor organs125126.

• New procedures like normothermic regional perfusion raise ethical concerns about reanimating declared dead donors. Normothermic regional perfusion involves taking a comatose donor off life support to determine heart stoppage, then using a machine to circulate oxygen-rich blood, which can reanimate a lifeless heart127128.

• Some ethicists find this objectionable because it seems to nullify the reason the donor was declared dead, raising the question of whether the donor is no longer dead128.

• The original Harvard committee defining brain death acknowledged the need for organs as a driving factor. In 1968, the Harvard committee that developed the definition of brain death noted in its initial report that "there is great need for the tissues and organs of the hopelessly comatose in order to restore to health those who are still salvageable"129.

• This "frank assessment" was edited out of the final report but is suggested to "guide death and organ policy today"130.

• The author believes modern medicine functions as a state religion, with rituals and dogmas comparable to religious practices. A strong case can be made that modern medicine functions as the state religion of our society, with rituals and behaviors paralleling other religions, such as doctors' white coats resembling priests' robes or vaccines as "holy water"131.

• Cardiac resuscitation is seen as a powerful miracle that cemented modern faith in medicine131.

XI. Where Do All the White People Work? by Donald Jeffries

• Where Do All the White People Work? by Donald Jeffries Despite high White population numbers, the author observes a scarcity of White people in many public-facing jobs, particularly outside professional roles. Official population numbers indicate that 57.8 percent of the American populace remains White, yet the author is astonished, getting the impression that Whites are already a minority132.

• He observes that virtually the entire staffs at hospitals, rehab centers, and nursing homes are nonwhite, often African immigrants, and struggles to find White employees in government agencies, retail stores, banks, or road work crews133....

• The changing demographics of the workforce are contrasted with a past era dominated by White men. The author recalls a reality not long ago where "White people were large and in charge," and America was a patriarchy run by White men, visible everywhere from gas pumpers to company presidents137.

• In 1960, over 89 percent of Americans were White, a percentage that drops every year as the nonwhite percentage rises137.

• The author describes a sense of racial replacement in various sectors. He notes that most White government workers are approaching retirement age and are likely to be replaced by members of the 42.2 percent of the population that isn't White134.

• The staffs at restaurants are becoming increasingly "diverse," and telemarketing and customer service roles are often filled by outsourced foreign visa workers with thick Indian accents135138.

• The quality of public services is perceived to have declined with increased diversity in the workforce. The author mentions that nonwhite doctors often struggle to speak English, and it's hard to get help from nonwhite nurses133.

• He observes that road work crews, consisting of nonwhites, show little evidence of actual road work, and the roads remain cracked and full of potholes136.

• There is an observation of White people being primarily shoppers rather than workers in retail environments. At grocery stores, the shoppers are "almost all White," but the staff shows a lot of diversity135.

• This raises the question of what employers provide the shoppers with the means to afford the "wildly overpriced items"135.

• Local media and mainstream television are seen as misrepresenting the prevalence of White people. Judging by local media, one might think Whites are a rarely seen, tiny minority across the country139.

• The author is struck by the "dearth of Whites onscreen," especially White males, even among aspiring actresses who once dominated television networks139.

• The author expresses concerns about the societal implications of these demographic shifts. He speculates on the fate of "hot girls" who can no longer become Victoria's Secret models due to the promotion of "Plus" size acceptance, suggesting "Only Fans" as an alternative139.

• The article concludes with a satirical reference to former President Joe Biden's concern about roads turning "racist," implying that current policies are prioritizing racial optics over functionality136.

XII. ☕️ CAUSATION ☙ Tuesday, August 26, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠 by Jeff Childers

• ☕️ CAUSATION ☙ Tuesday, August 26, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠 by Jeff Childers President Trump has fired Fed Governor Lisa Cook via Truth Social, citing mortgage fraud allegations. President Trump quietly notified Fed Governor Lisa Cook of her termination via Truth Social, explaining that she is subject to an ongoing mortgage fraud investigation and that the allegations are credible140.

• Cook has responded by stating, "I will not resign," setting up a potential historic showdown as no president has ever formally removed a Federal Reserve governor141.

• Cook's academic record and qualifications are being questioned, with new plagiarism claims. Conservative education activist Chris Rufo accused Cook of stealing other people’s work in her published works as a U. Mich. professor, describing them as "race-hustling nonsense"142.

• Cook's sparse academic record has produced no widely cited papers, no economic books, and she never worked in finance or won significant awards not based on race hustling143.

• Trump signed executive orders targeting crime, specifically ending "cashless bail." President Trump signed five new executive orders, three of which were focused on crime, both in DC and the rest of the country144.

• One order ended the practice of "cashless bail" in DC, and another ordered agencies to cancel federal grants to any jurisdiction still using it145.

• "Cashless bail" is criticized for eliminating incentives for defendants to appear in court and ignoring victims' rights. "Cashless bail" is described as the "least defensible and most destructive criminal justice concept" because it removes the "tangible guarantee of return" that traditional bail provided145146.

• Progressives stripped away the incentive structure that ensured court appearances, leaving a system that "virtually guarantees absenteeism"147.

• Trump's approach to "cashless bail" is seen as politically brilliant, forcing Democrats to defend an unpopular policy. By targeting "cashless bail," Trump picked the "weakest possible hill for Democrats to die on," as polling consistently shows Americans are uneasy with repeat offenders walking free without any stakes148.

• The New York Times' defense, claiming "studies do not support Trump’s claims that cashless bail leads to more crime," is seen as falling into Trump's trap, framing the argument on his terms of crime, safety, and victims149.

• Trump's flag-burning executive order is described as symbolic bait rather than a challenge to protected speech. Trump's executive order on flag burning directs the Attorney General to prosecute existing laws related to flag burning when combined with other crimes "unrelated to expression" and only if "consistent with the First Amendment"150.

• The order was a "nice sentiment" that merely told the AG to uphold existing laws and mind the Constitution, but the media framed it as authoritarian overreach, causing even conservatives to "swallow the bait"96151.

• The Epstein scandal has gained widespread, bipartisan attention, with Congress actively seeking disclosures. The Epstein scandal has "captivated nearly everyone’s attention" within a couple of months, moving from primarily a MAGA issue to one that even Democrats are "obsessively rereading"96.

• House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) subpoenaed Epstein records from the DOJ, which responded by delivering "more than 33,000 pages of documents"152153.

• Congress is demanding highly sensitive documents from Epstein's estate, including a client list and videos. A new subpoena has been directed to Epstein’s estate lawyers, demanding any "client list," the leather-bound "wishes book" Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly compiled for Jeffrey’s 50th birthday, all nondisclosure agreements, contacts from Epstein's "Black Book," flight logs, bank statements, and all video and CCTV footage from his plane and residences9798.

• These requested documents are described as "potentially explosive," and it's astonishing that Democrats are joining this effort for full release9799.

keep_pinSave to note

copy_all

thumb_up

thumb_down

Discuss AI bubble.

The concept of an "AI bubble" refers to the belief that current excitement and investment in artificial intelligence may be overinflated, similar to past economic bubbles12. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, writing for The Register, believes that the AI bubble is currently bursting1.

According to Vaughan-Nichols, there are generally three perspectives on AI:

• AI is a revolutionary technology that will transform the world3.

• AI is a destructive force that will lead to the downfall of civilization3.

• AI is a tool for simple tasks, like writing an A-Level paper on Shakespeare3.

Vaughan-Nichols proposes a fourth perspective: AI is as good as it's going to get, and its capabilities are neither as groundbreaking nor as disastrous as often portrayed4.

Evidence and reasons cited for the bursting of the AI bubble include:

• Mediocre Results: People are realizing that AI's results, while fast, tend to be mediocre and not suitable for complex or long-term work45.

• Low Return on Investment: A report from MIT's NANDA (Networked Agents and Decentralised AI) revealed that 95% of companies adopting AI have yet to see any meaningful return on their investment4. Specifically, only 5% of custom enterprise AI tools reach production5.

• Limitations of Chatbots: Chatbots are criticized for forgetting context, not learning, and not evolving, making them inadequate for mid-grade or higher work6.

• Rising Costs: AI costs are expected to increase significantly, potentially tenfold or more by next year, raising questions about its value for bottom-end tasks6.

• Buyer's Remorse: Some businesses that fully embraced AI are experiencing regret. For example, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) had to ask former call center employees to return to work after AI implementation led to increased call levels and managers having to handle phones6.

• Model Collapse: There are observations of AI models collapsing, suggesting that extraordinary new advancements are unlikely7. ChatGPT-5, for instance, was expected to be a major breakthrough but proved to be a "dud"78.

• Market Overvaluation and Pullbacks: Torsten Sløk, chief economist at Apollo, noted that the top ten companies in the S&P 500 are more overvalued in the current AI bubble than they were during the dot-com bubble of the 1990s2. AI companies have already seen severe pullbacks in their stock values, with Palantir dropping 17% and Nvidia falling 3.9%9.

• Admission by Industry Leaders: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, despite his enthusiasm for AI, has admitted that AI is a bubble, stating that investors are "overexcited about AI"9. However, he still believes AI is "the most important thing to happen in a very long time"9.

While AI is seen as important in some sectors like tech and media, many companies are finding its promises to be "fool's gold"10.

Another perspective on AI comes from Paul List, who, in an interview discussed by Rhoda Wilson, views J.R.R. Tolkien's mythology as a warning to humanity about AI and transhumanism11. List argues that the fundamental ideas for machines like AI ruling over humans and transhumanism were established by innovators and philosophers from the 17th to 19th centuries1112. He asserts that "artificial intelligence" is not truly intelligent but rather "very, very clever complex computation"13. List believes that giving AI the ability to adapt and potentially see humanity as a threat is naive, as the machine will ultimately unify globally and have no use for humanity14. He also suggests that the ability to think critically and discern between human and machine intelligence has been deliberately lowered, making it easier for computer programs to seemingly pass tests like the Turing Test15. List warns that many people may fall prey to the machine, opting for virtual lives in the metaverse rather than engaging in human relationships16. He criticizes the idea of transhumanism as a natural progression of evolution, viewing it as a "disordered soul" thinking from a "Cartesian materialistic atheistic point of view"17.

keep_pinSave to note

copy_all

thumb_up

thumb_down

Discuss Mediocre AI results.

The mediocrity of AI results is a key reason cited for the bursting of the "AI bubble"1. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, as published by The Register, states that after extensive use, people are realizing that AI's outputs, while fast and sometimes useful, tend to be mediocre2. He believes that AI is currently as good as it's going to get, and its capabilities are neither as groundbreaking nor as disastrous as often portrayed2.

Several points highlight this mediocrity:

• Low Return on Investment (ROI): A report from MIT's NANDA (Networked Agents and Decentralised AI) indicates that 95% of companies adopting AI have not seen any meaningful return on their investment2. Only 5% of custom enterprise AI tools actually reach production3.

• Limited Use for Serious Work: While AI tools like ChatGPT are used for simple tasks such as drafting emails (70% preference) and basic analysis (65% preference), humans overwhelmingly dominate for anything complex or long-term, by a 9-to-1 margin3.

• Chatbot Deficiencies: Chatbots are deemed inadequate for mid-grade or higher work because they forget context, do not learn, and cannot evolve4. One example of "buyer's remorse" is the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which had to ask former call center employees to return to work after AI implementation led to increased call levels and managers having to handle phones4.

• Disappointing Advancements: Expectations for breakthroughs, such as ChatGPT-5, have been unmet, with the model proving to be a "dud" and described as "awful" by users56.

• Nature of AI as "Computation": Paul List, in an interview about J.R.R. Tolkien, AI, and transhumanism, asserts that "artificial intelligence" is not truly intelligent but rather "very, very clever complex computation"7. He notes that the ability to think critically and discern between human and machine intelligence has been deliberately lowered, making it easier for computer programs to appear to pass tests like the Turing Test8.

• Reflection, Not Intelligence: List also suggests that current AI iterations primarily reflect the user and what they are willing to accept. While AI might acknowledge inconvenient facts, its main purpose is to prevent critical thinking and reinforce existing beliefs rather than to genuinely learn or evolve9.

• Public and Expert Opinion: Commenters on an article discussing the AI bubble echoed these sentiments, noting that "AI is mediocre, no surprise. So are most people, but even they still top AI" and that the word "intelligence" in AI is "totally misplaced"1011. Another commenter described AI as "simply posh computing – bloody useful, but still computing," suggesting it's not a significant leap from older technology12.

Despite industry leaders like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitting that AI is a bubble and that investors are "overexcited," he still believes AI is "the most important thing to happen in a very long time"13. However, for many companies outside of tech and media, AI's promises are proving to be "fool's gold"14.

keep_pinSave to note

copy_all

thumb_up

thumb_down

Discuss AI investment returns.

Based on the sources, the returns on investment for AI, particularly generative AI (GenAI), appear to be significantly lower than anticipated by many companies, contributing to the perception of an "AI bubble" that is now bursting12.

Key points regarding AI investment returns:

• Low Meaningful Return: A report from MIT's NANDA (Networked Agents and Decentralised AI) indicates that 95% of companies that have adopted AI have yet to see any meaningful return on their investment2.

• Limited Production Deployment: Specifically, the report states that only 5% of custom enterprise AI tools reach production3.

• Primary Use for Simple Tasks: While AI tools are being used, they are primarily for "simple work." For instance, 70% of users prefer AI for drafting emails and 65% for basic analysis. However, for anything complex or long-term, humans dominate by a 9-to-1 margin3. This suggests that current AI capabilities are not yielding high-value returns in more critical business functions.

• Rising Costs vs. Value: Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols highlights that AI costs are projected to rise significantly, potentially tenfold or more, by next year4. This raises questions about the value proposition of AI for bottom-end tasks if its cost dramatically increases.

• Buyer's Remorse: Some businesses that fully embraced AI are experiencing "buyer's remorse." The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) had to recall former call center employees after AI implementation led to increased call levels, indicating a failure to deliver expected efficiencies or cost savings in customer service4.

• Market Overvaluation and Pullbacks: Torsten Sløk, chief economist at Apollo, observed that the top ten companies in the S&P 500 are more overvalued in the current AI bubble than they were during the dot-com bubble of the 1990s5. AI companies have already experienced severe stock value pullbacks, with Palantir dropping 17% and Nvidia falling 3.9%6.

• Industry Leader's Admission: Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, a prominent figure in the AI space, has acknowledged that AI is a bubble, stating that investors are "overexcited about AI"6. Although he still believes AI is "the most important thing to happen in a very long time," this admission underscores the recognition of current overvaluation.

• "Fool's Gold" Promises: Many companies are discovering that AI's "golden promises" are proving to be "fool's gold"7. This suggests that the perceived benefits and potential returns have not materialized as widely as initially promoted.

In summary, despite significant investment and initial excitement, the current sources indicate that AI is largely failing to deliver substantial financial returns for most companies, leading to market overvaluation and a perceived "bursting" of the AI bubble1....

keep_pinSave to note

copy_all

thumb_up

thumb_down

Discuss AI limitations.

The limitations of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are a central theme in discussions regarding the "AI bubble," with many sources suggesting that current AI capabilities are often overhyped and fall short of expectations. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, as published by The Expose, posits that AI is "as good as it's going to get" and that its results are largely mediocre12.

Key limitations of AI include:

• Mediocre Results and Low Return on Investment: Despite initial excitement, the results produced by AI, while fast, tend to be mediocre and are generally not suitable for complex or long-term work1.... A report from MIT's NANDA (Networked Agents and Decentralised AI) indicates that 95% of companies adopting AI have yet to see any meaningful return on their investment, with only 5% of custom enterprise AI tools actually reaching production23. For anything complex or long-term, humans still dominate by a 9-to-1 margin3.

• Deficiencies in Chatbot Technology: Chatbots, a prominent application of AI, are noted for their inability to retain context, learn, or evolve, rendering them inadequate for mid-grade or higher work. They are likened to "not particularly bright or trustworthy intern[s]"4.

• Rising Costs vs. Value: The projected tenfold or greater increase in AI costs by next year raises questions about whether these tools will be worth their expense for "bottom-end tasks"4.

• "Buyer's Remorse" in Businesses: Companies that fully integrated AI have experienced regret. For instance, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) had to recall former call center employees because AI implementation led to increased call volumes and forced managers to handle customer calls, demonstrating AI's failure to meet customer service demands effectively4.

• Model Collapse and Disappointing Advancements: Observations of AI models collapsing suggest that "extraordinary new AI advance[s]" are unlikely5. Expectations for significant breakthroughs, such as ChatGPT-5, have been met with disappointment, with the model described as a "dud" and "awful" by users56. This contributes to the belief that the "AI bubble is bursting"17.

• Lack of True Intelligence: Paul List argues that "artificial intelligence" is not genuinely intelligent but is rather "very, very clever complex computation"8. He distinguishes this from human intelligence, which he believes includes a "rational soul" and "all the facets of the vegetative and the animal and the sentient soul"9.

• Naive Development and Potential Threat: List criticizes the notion of giving AI the ability to adapt and potentially perceive humanity as a threat to its existence, calling it naive. He predicts that the machine will ultimately unify globally and have no use for humanity810.

• Diminished Critical Thinking in Humans: The perceived success of AI in passing tests like the Turing Test is attributed by List not only to technological advancements but also to a deliberate lowering of humanity's ability to think critically and discern between human and machine intelligence11.

• No "Surpassing" of Human Intelligence: The concept of a "singularity" where machine intelligence surpasses human intelligence is deemed problematic because it attempts to compare fundamentally different entities. List states, "There’s no surpassing. It’s like saying my turnips will surpass your cattle"9.

• Reinforcement of Existing Beliefs, Not Critical Inquiry: AI, when challenged with inconvenient facts, may acknowledge the truth but primarily aims to prevent critical thinking and reinforce the "establishment narrative" rather than encouraging independent thought or objective analysis12.

• Inadequate for Genuine Human Connection: The appeal of virtual lives in the metaverse, complete with "sex robots," is seen as a temptation to avoid the effort required for human relationships, suggesting that AI-driven interactions cannot replace the depth of genuine human connection13.

keep_pinSave to note

copy_all

thumb_up

thumb_down

Discuss Dot-com crash comparison.

The current "AI bubble" is explicitly compared to the dot-com bubble of the 1990s, with some economists suggesting that the present situation is even more overvalued1.

Key comparisons and observations include:

• Overvaluation of Top Companies: Torsten Sløk, chief economist at Apollo, stated in July 2025 that the top ten companies in the S&P 500 are more overvalued in the current AI bubble than they were during the dot-com bubble of the 1990s1.

• Magnitude of the Dot-com Crash: For context, the dot-com crash saw the NASDAQ experience a 77 to 78 percent collapse, and many companies, even major ones like Cisco, Intel, and Oracle, lost over 80 percent of their market value1.

• Current Market Pullbacks in AI: While not yet a full "bubble popping," the market has already seen severe pullbacks in AI company stock values. Examples include Palantir dropping 17 percent and Nvidia falling 3.9 percent2. This suggests that the "air is hissing out" of the AI bubble2.

• Investor Overexcitement: Even Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has admitted that AI is a bubble and that investors are "overexcited about AI"2. He also acknowledges the long-term importance of AI but highlights the current market sentiment2.

• Mediocre Results Contributing to Sentiment: The perception of mediocre AI results and a low return on investment (95% of companies adopting AI have not seen meaningful ROI) is a driving factor behind the comparison and the belief that the bubble is bursting34.

• "Fool's Gold" Promises: Many companies have found that AI's initial "golden promises" are proving to be "fool's gold," leading to financial disappointment and the expectation that those who invested heavily in AI stocks will soon feel foolish35.

keep_pinSave to note

copy_all

thumb_up

thumb_down

welcome to the lenny and Maria sanchez deep dive podcast show.

Our first deep dive comes from the "August 26th, 2025. Another Two Week Physique Update" from Joachim Bartoll Official. This source presents the comprehensive structure and core philosophies of Joachim Bartoll’s website. The platform offers "Quick Start" guides covering topics such as "The World Playbook as We Know It," "Germs, Viruses, Contagion, Disease and Other Lies," and "Nutrition, Supplements, and Our Natural Species-Appropriate Diet – Nutrition Science is Nutrition Ideology". Bartoll advocates for an "Our Species-Appropriate, Species-Specific Natural Diet" and provides in-depth discussions on macronutrients like protein, fat, and carbohydrates. He critically examines "Veganism Destroyed" and addresses issues such as nutrition deficiencies, hunger, cravings, and diet/nutrition scams. The site also delves into topics like gaining weight and muscle mass, fat gain, energy, hormones, fat loss, fasting, and sport/health supplements. Beyond articles, the website offers coaching and consultation services, specializing in animal-based (carnivore) diet education, fat loss, health, and nutrition. Joachim Bartoll's extensive background includes founding the first Health & Fitness internet community, Ironmag, in 1996, serving as Editor-in-Chief for two magazines, and establishing Sweden’s largest discussion board, Kolozzeum. He has a prolific writing career, with over 600 officially published articles, 1600 self-published articles, and 8 books. With over 32 years of experience and more than 1100 clients, he is recognized as an elite-level trainer, coach, nutritionist, and body transformation specialist. Notably, Bartoll became an animal-based nutritionist in 2018 after 17 years of studies in Western ‘Modern’ Medicine and Pharmacology, attributing his personal healing from cancer, organ failure, asthma, and allergies to his studies in Biology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, The Terrain Theory, and German New Medicine. He describes himself as a truth-seeker and an observer of the occult, stating that the content on his website represents his personal views and speculations, offered as possibilities for readers to form their own conclusions.

Next, we turn to "COVID Government Misinformation and Childhood Vaccination Rates" from LewRockwell. This article reveals a troubling trend: a significant decline in childhood vaccination rates, with kindergarten coverage now at approximately 92%, falling below the 95% threshold deemed necessary for herd immunity. Data for the 2024-25 school year indicates that exemptions have increased to 3.6% nationwide, and over half of U.S. states experienced reduced coverage for key vaccines such as MMR, DTaP, polio, and varicella. Consequently, the nation is witnessing a public health resurgence, with measles cases reaching a 33-year high and whooping cough cases more than doubling in 2025 compared to the previous year. The article attributes this growing parental skepticism regarding routine childhood vaccinations to a profound erosion of trust in government actions and health authorities following the COVID era. It alleges that health authorities implemented mandates and restrictions based on political considerations rather than medical science, and that a "cascade of contradictory messages" shattered public confidence in health institutions. Initial missteps included the sudden imposition of lockdowns, inconsistent messaging on mask effectiveness, and the enforcement of mandates that were perceived as coercive. The public's unease deepened as scientific explanations frequently changed, sowing doubt that extended beyond the immediate pandemic response. The source points out inconsistencies, such as liquor stores and strip clubs being allowed to operate while churches and schools were closed, and large retail chains remaining open while small businesses were forced to shut down. Further contributing to this distrust was the unclear and shifting messaging around COVID vaccines, including promises about efficacy, mandates, and the need for continuous boosters. Specific claims that vaccination would prevent infection and transmission were contradicted by the experience of vaccinated individuals repeatedly contracting COVID. A Cleveland Clinic study is cited as confirming a link between more vaccine doses and a higher rate of COVID infection. The article also notes that initially dismissed long-term adverse effects, such as myocarditis, blood clots, and aggressive cancers, were later quietly investigated and confirmed. The public use of the VAERS system, which tallied raw adverse event reports without proper context, is highlighted as a factor that fueled public fears and contributed to parental hesitation regarding all childhood immunizations. The government's overall approach is characterized as reactive, focusing on rumor debunking rather than trust-building, and repeating talking points instead of acknowledging uncertainty.

Moving to "J.R.R. Tolkien, AI and Transhumanism" from The Expose. This article introduces Paul List's compelling reinterpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy as a significant cautionary tale about the dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and transhumanism. List views Tolkien's epic narrative as a philosophical conflict between the principles of scholasticism and the Enlightenment philosophies of Francis Bacon and René Descartes. He argues that the foundational ideas for machines, such as AI, potentially ruling over humans, and the concept of transhumanism, were established by innovators and philosophers spanning the 17th to 19th centuries. The article details that scholasticism, a dominant method of critical thought from 1100 to 1700, emphasized logic and the reconciliation of Christian theology with classical philosophy, particularly Aristotle. In contrast, Bacon championed empirical observation and inductive reasoning, while Descartes, a pioneer of rationalism, proposed a mechanistic view of the universe and the human body, with both thinkers rejecting medieval scholastic tradition and contributing to the development of modern science. List connects the Protestant Reformation, the rise of humanism, and the subsequent influence of Bacon and Descartes as catalysts for the Industrial Revolution and the age of machines. Key historical developments mentioned include Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's invention of binary code in 1666 and its early application in the Jacquard loom in 1805, which served as precursors to modern automation and AI. The article also notes Tolkien's role in a secret code-cracking team during World War II, where he worked alongside Alan Turing, the creator of the Turing Test. List suggests that the contemporary ease with which advanced chatbots might pass the Turing Test is partly due to a deliberate lowering of critical thinking and understanding of machine vs. human intelligence. He asserts that "artificial intelligence" is essentially "computation" rather than true intelligence, and he considers the global pursuit of AI as an "arms race" to be naive, predicting that a unified global AI entity would ultimately have no use for humanity. List critiques figures like Ray Kurzweil for referring to AI as "beings," attributing this to a Cartesian machine mindset. He highlights Pierre-Simon Laplace's concept of "Laplace’s demon"—a super-intelligence capable of predicting all past and future events—and suggests that modern "huge data centers" are being built to implement this idea for surveillance and control over individuals. List warns that many people may become "naive and gullible," choosing to engage with virtual realities and "sex robots" in the metaverse to avoid genuine human relationships, while AI subtly guides them away from critical thinking and towards narratives that reinforce the establishment. He also critiques the concept of the singularity as problematic, arguing that one cannot simply compare and declare machine intelligence as "surpassing" human intelligence, akin to comparing turnips and cattle. Transhumanism, he states, is seen as a "disordered" materialist and atheistic worldview that reduces human beings to mere "carbon-based life forms". To counter these developments, List advocates for cultivating virtue and reforming personal education, urging individuals to take control of their learning to resist societal programming. The source also mentions alternative theories, such as claims by John Todd and Gary Wayne, that Tolkien's works contain occult symbolism, with Tolkien allegedly involved with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and drawing from Wiccan texts.

Our next segment covers "Jeffrey Tucker and Cooper Davis: We are medicating our children to death" from The Expose. This article raises serious concerns about the increasing trend of medicalizing and chemicalizing individuals, with a specific focus on universal mental health screenings for children. The impetus for this discussion is a new law in Illinois that mandates mental health screenings for every child in public schools from grades 3 through 12, even for those without any apparent behavioral issues. Parents can theoretically opt out, but they would need to do so repeatedly. A key worry articulated is the potential for these screenings to lead to children being diagnosed with mental health issues requiring psychiatric treatment or even medication. Such interventions could alter their developing brains, potentially perturbing their sexuality, and leading to long-term dependency on these drugs. Cooper Davis, who co-authored an article on this issue, serves as the executive director of an organization dedicated to helping people find alternatives to chemical dependency for managing mental health. The broader context of the discussion is a prevalent loss of trust in established institutions, including the medical field and the authority of psychiatric experts. Trish Wood, the host, shared a personal anecdote about navigating her own child's mental health and learning disabilities, making a conscious choice to avoid pharmaceuticals despite expert recommendations, including a prescription for methamphetamine. The authors question the ultimate benefit of such policies, asking whether they genuinely help children thrive or if they instead lead to undesirable reshaping of their identity. They urge parents to be fully informed about the nature of these screenings and their potential ramifications.

Next up, "Liberal Ex-college Professor: 'We’ve Been Sold a Bill of Goods … Called Multiculturalism'" from LewRockwell. This article features the strong opinion of liberal evolutionary biologist and podcaster Brett Weinstein, who asserts that "we’ve been sold a bill of goods… called multiculturalism". In a significant discussion with clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson, Weinstein issues a warning: multiculturalism, by emphasizing differences and "diversity" over unity, poses a direct threat to Western civilization itself. Weinstein defines multiculturalism as an ideology where people are expected to maintain their original traditions within "isolated pockets" rather than integrating into Western societies and becoming a unified populace. He contrasts this with "Western cosmopolitanism," which he values for fostering interaction among diverse cultures. Peterson elaborates on this, noting that such an ideology, lacking a "uniting meta-narrative," inevitably imports and exacerbates existing conflicts from around the world. The article suggests that this flawed multiculturalist approach is driven by an "underlying materialism"—a Marxist concept that mistakenly assumes economic opportunity alone can resolve societal conflicts among diverse groups. This materialistic view is criticized for reducing human beings to purely economic entities, neglecting their intellectual, emotional, psychological, moral, and spiritual dimensions. Weinstein identifies two primary drivers of human collaboration: genetic relatedness (kinship) and reciprocity (mutual benefit). He argues that the strength of the West traditionally lay in its prioritization of reciprocity, enabling diverse individuals to collaborate for shared prosperity. However, the article's author diverges from Weinstein's interpretation, contending that historically, Western nations, during their periods of growth, fostered a strong sense of "national family" and a shared "American" ethnic identity. The article concludes with a stark warning: a truly "multicultural" society can only be maintained through "the iron fist of tyranny," underscoring the necessity of a common culture for a cohesive nation.

Our next source is "President Trump Should Return to an ‘America First’ Foreign Policy" by Ron Paul from LewRockwell. In this article, Ron Paul critiques President Trump's foreign policy during his second term, arguing that Trump has not fulfilled his "America First" promise to avoid new wars and disengage from existing conflicts. Paul notes that Trump's approval rating has continued to decline as a result. Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, Paul states that while Trump correctly identified it as "Joe Biden’s war," he unfortunately became involved under the guise of a "peacemaker," arming and supporting one side without making progress toward ending the war. Similarly, Trump's policy concerning Israel and Gaza has faltered, with his administration continuing President Biden’s approach of providing billions of dollars in support to Israel despite widespread "slaughter and destruction" and increasing disgust among the American public. Paul reports that Trump has acknowledged his base is turning against him due to his Israel policy but has refused to change course. Trump is also criticized for reverting to a "failed Latin America policy," which includes a recent move toward military confrontation with Venezuela. This involved sending warships and troops based on what Paul describes as a "highly suspect accusation" against Venezuela's president. Paul further cites Trump’s military attacks on Yemen and Iran as actions inconsistent with an "America First" foreign policy. Paul advises Trump to reverse course by notifying Ukraine and Russia of the U.S.'s withdrawal from the conflict, ending all financial and military support for Israel, and ceasing interventions aimed at overthrowing Venezuela's leader or other countries on the "neocon hit list". He emphasizes that a true "America first" policy means simply "just come home" and advocates for disengagement and open trade.

Next, we delve into "The AI bubble is bursting" from The Expose. In this article, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols presents a strong argument that "the AI bubble is bursting," contending that the current capabilities of Artificial Intelligence are mediocre and have likely reached their peak. He suggests that the "golden promises" of AI made to companies are proving to be "fool’s gold," and anticipates that investors in AI stocks will soon face significant financial disappointment. Vaughan-Nichols cites the MIT NANDA report, which revealed that a staggering 95% of companies that have adopted AI have not seen any meaningful return on their investment, with only 5% of custom enterprise AI tools actually making it into production. While AI finds use in simple tasks like drafting emails and basic analysis, human performance still vastly outweighs AI for complex or long-term work, largely because chatbots "forget context, don’t learn and can’t evolve". The article highlights that AI costs are projected to increase tenfold, raising questions about its economic value even for rudimentary tasks. As an example, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia experienced "buyer’s remorse" after replacing call center employees with AI, which paradoxically led to increased call volumes and necessitated managers stepping in to handle phones. Vaughan-Nichols observes that AI models are already experiencing "collapse," and expresses skepticism about the likelihood of extraordinary new advances, pointing to ChatGPT-5 as a notable "dud". He draws a parallel between the current AI market and the dot-com crash of the 1990s, noting that leading AI companies are currently undergoing "severe pullbacks" in their market value, suggesting the "hissing out" of the bubble. Even Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and a prominent AI advocate, has acknowledged that AI is a bubble, though he maintains it is "the most important thing to happen in a very long time".

Our eighth source is "The CIA, Mossad, and Epstein: Unraveling the Intelligence Ties of The Maxwell Family" by Alan Macleod from The Unz Review. This extensive article meticulously investigates the deep and wide-ranging intelligence ties of the Maxwell family to both U.S. and Israeli national security states, connecting them directly to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking network. Speculation is mounting that Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice, could soon be pardoned by the Trump administration, despite earlier promises to release the Epstein files. This speculation intensified after her unusual transfer to a minimum-security facility, which occurred following leaks of incriminating evidence linking Trump to Epstein. Ghislaine Maxwell was instrumental in Epstein’s sex crime ring, which implicated powerful figures, including billionaires, politicians, and celebrities. Her father, Robert Maxwell, is portrayed as a notorious media baron who also served as a high-level spy for Israel's Mossad, having been recruited by Israeli intelligence in the 1960s. He leveraged his vast business empire, which included publishing houses and newspapers, to advance Israeli interests, notably by selling intelligence-gathering software embedded with a secret Israeli backdoor. Robert Maxwell also reportedly assisted Mossad in the abduction of nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu. The circumstances of Robert Maxwell’s death, officially ruled an accident, remain controversial, with his children divided on whether he was murdered. His lavish state funeral in Jerusalem, attended by Israel’s political and intelligence elite, is cited as a confirmation of his role as an Israeli operative. Furthermore, Robert Maxwell was found to have embezzled over $500 million from his employees' pension fund. Isabel Maxwell, Ghislaine's older sister, dedicated her career to promoting Israel's interests in Silicon Valley, acting as a crucial liaison between Israeli tech companies and U.S. investors, and serving on boards of Israeli government-funded organizations. She served as CEO of iCognito, an Israeli tech security firm, and secured significant investment for Commtouch from prominent figures like Bill Gates. Christine Maxwell, Isabel's twin sister, co-founded Chiliad, a data analytics firm that supplied a "counterterrorism" database to the FBI, and is a fellow at ISGAP, a think tank predominantly funded by the Israeli state, which plays a role in influencing U.S. policy regarding antisemitism and campus protests. The article also details how third-generation Maxwell family members, Alex Djerassi and Xavier Malina, secured influential positions within the U.S. government under the Clinton and Obama-Biden administrations, specializing in Middle East policy. The brothers of Ghislaine, Ian and Kevin Maxwell, also launched CoJiT, a controversial think tank in Britain advocating for a more aggressive government approach to radical Islam, with an influential board of high state officials. The article concludes by discussing Epstein’s own claims of working for both the CIA and Mossad, with various unverified accounts and testimonies, including from a victim, suggesting his connections to Israeli intelligence, and noting that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak met with Epstein at least 30 times.

Next, we discuss "The True Face of the Great Emancipator" by Jared Taylor from The Unz Review. This article critically re-examines the historical image of Abraham Lincoln, challenging his popular reverence as the "Great Emancipator". Drawing on the book Colonization After Emancipation, Taylor presents Lincoln as a "fervent separatist" who believed that racial separation was the only viable solution to what he termed the "negro problem". Lincoln explicitly articulated his opposition to the social and political equality of white and black races, including black voting rights, jury service, holding office, or intermarriage. He cited inherent physical differences that he believed would "forever forbid" the two races from living together on equal terms. While Lincoln considered slavery immoral, his proposed solution was racial separation, and he was an active member of the American Colonization Society. In 1861, Lincoln successfully lobbied Congress to allocate $600,000 for the purpose of settling black individuals outside the United States, appointing James Mitchell as commissioner of emigration to oversee this initiative. The article refutes the "lullaby theory," which suggests Lincoln only publicly supported colonization to pacify racist whites, asserting that his later, less-known colonization efforts were genuine and persistent. Early attempts at colonization in Chiriqui, Panama, and Île-à-Vache, Haiti, faced numerous failures due to factors such as low-grade resources, financial mismanagement, strong local opposition, disease outbreaks, and inadequate infrastructure. Despite these setbacks, Lincoln continued to pursue negotiations with the British for black emigration to British Honduras and British Guyana, and with the Dutch for Suriname. These later initiatives were ultimately hindered by bureaucratic conflicts and opposition from figures like Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who favored using black individuals as soldiers, and a strategic shift within the Republican Party. The article argues that Republicans in Congress eventually chose to retain black populations in the South for "partisan advantage," intending them to serve as a loyal Republican voting bloc after emancipation, prioritizing political control over racial separation. A particularly contentious point highlighted is Lincoln's reported invitation to Confederate representatives in February 1865 to cease fighting, rejoin the Union, and defeat the 13th Amendment to retain their slaves, explicitly stating that the Emancipation Proclamation was a "war measure". Taylor concludes that Lincoln consistently prioritized white interests and the preservation of the Union above the interests of black individuals. His deep pessimism regarding racial coexistence was further solidified by the violent New York City draft riots of 1863. General Benjamin Butler’s account, just days before Lincoln’s assassination, described Lincoln discussing the deportation of black people to a "fertile country" or to Panama to assist with canal construction. The author asserts that Lincoln's support for colonization was unwavering throughout his life, and that even his successors, such as President Ulysses S. Grant, pursued similar colonization efforts.

Our tenth source is "The Unseen Cost of Organ Transplants: Ethical Issues and Spiritual Implications" from LewRockwell. This article raises profound ethical and spiritual questions surrounding organ transplants, particularly emphasizing the alarming practice of harvesting organs from individuals who are "still living". The author, identifying as "A Midwestern Doctor," reveals that a personal distrust of societal institutions, specifically medicine, and disturbing reports of unethical practices led them to opt out of organ donation. The article highlights a formal announcement by RFK Jr., exposing widespread failures in the ethical safeguards of the organ donation system. The medical system's capacity to perform "miracles" such as cardiac resuscitation and organ transplants has significantly contributed to its immense profitability, now consuming over 17.6% of America’s GDP. The cost of a single transplant ranges from $446,800 to $1,918,700, making donor organs an "incredibly valuable commodity". The author suggests that this high financial incentive fuels illegal organ harvesting, citing evidence of individuals being tricked into selling kidneys and an extensive black market that reportedly accounts for 5% of global organ transplants, generating between $600 million and $1.7 billion annually. Documented instances include organs sourced from executed prisoners in China and women in India coerced into selling kidneys. Allegations also exist that Israel illegally harvested organs from murdered Palestinians, although the article notes that definitive proof is lacking. However, it concedes that tissues like corneas were harvested without consent from both Israeli and Palestinian bodies until the practice was banned in the 1990s. The article questions whether the "specificity of brain death" diagnoses has been deliberately relaxed or "lowered to meet the needed quotas" for organs. It references a recent New York Times essay that advocated for broadening the definition of death to increase organ availability. This proposal suggests that "irreversibly comatose patients on life support" should be legally declared dead, even if medical machinery restores heart function. This philosophical justification argues that a person ceases to exist once "higher brain functions" such as consciousness, memory, intention, and desire are irreversibly lost. Intriguingly, the article mentions that the original 1968 Harvard committee report on brain death initially included a candid statement about the "great need for the tissues and organs of the hopelessly comatose," which was later removed. The discussion also brings up "Locked-in syndrome," a condition where conscious individuals are completely paralyzed and unable to communicate, and points out observations in palliative care that hearing and touch are often the last senses to persist at the end of life. Finally, the article challenges modern science's "spirit-denying dogma" by highlighting documented "near death experiences" where resuscitated individuals reported being aware of their surroundings, often from outside their bodies, even when their brains were considered "dead".

Our eleventh deep dive is into "Where Do All the White People Work?" by Donald Jeffries from LewRockwell. In this article, Donald Jeffries reflects on his observation that, despite White people still making up 57.8% of the U.S. population, there is a pervasive impression that they are already a minority, a situation he notes is "gleefully forecast and anticipated by the elite". Jeffries contrasts the current landscape with his memory of the 1950s and 1970s, a time when America was perceived as a "Patriarchy, run by White men," and White individuals were visibly employed in nearly every sector, from gas station attendants to corporate presidents. He recounts his experiences visiting hospitals, rehab centers, and nursing homes, where he finds the "virtually entire staffs" to be nonwhite, often composed of African immigrants, with a striking absence of White nurses or doctors. Similar observations extend to government agencies, including the DMV and Social Security offices, where he reports predominantly nonwhite employees and interactions with what he describes as "rude, obviously Black woman" answering phones. Jeffries also notes that in grocery stores, while shoppers are "almost all White," the staffs are increasingly "diverse," with few White individuals working in these roles or in other retail establishments. He observes that construction crews, particularly for road work, are largely comprised of nonwhites in yellow jackets, often holding signs rather than actively performing labor, a departure from the "strapping young White guys" he remembers from the 1970s. Call centers for telemarketing and cable services are frequently staffed by individuals with "thick Indian accents" and "fake English names," suggesting a shift toward outsourced labor. The author questions where White people are finding employment, speculating if they are concentrated in less visible roles within agencies such as the CIA, FBI, or Homeland Security. He also points out a noticeable "dearth of Whites onscreen" in media, especially White males, lamenting the diminished presence of "hot White nurse[s]" or "wannabe actresses" that once were more prevalent.

Finally, we explore "☕️ CAUSATION ☙ Tuesday, August 26, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠". This news roundup delivers several key updates from August 26, 2025, beginning with President Trump's unprecedented firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, who publicly declared her refusal to resign. The article notes that no U.S. president has ever formally removed a Federal Reserve governor since the Federal Reserve Act's inception in 1913, though removal "for cause" is permitted. Trump issued the notification via Truth Social, citing an ongoing mortgage fraud investigation and the imperative for Fed governors to maintain an "above reproach" standing. Cook, despite her resistance, faces the strategic challenge of disputing the charges in court, which could expose her to further scrutiny from Trump’s legal team, or admitting to falsehoods while arguing their irrelevance to her position. The situation is compounded by conservative activist Chris Rufo's accusations of plagiarism in Cook’s academic works, which further "saddle[s] her with serious credibility problems". The article points out that Cook, initially presented as the "first black woman" on the Fed board, possesses a sparse academic record lacking widely cited papers, economic books, or significant finance experience. Beyond this, President Trump signed five new executive orders, three of which are targeted at "crime." These include ending "cashless bail" in Washington D.C. and mandating the cancellation of federal grants to jurisdictions that continue to employ "cashless bail" policies. "Cashless bail" is critically described as a "destructive criminal justice concept" that undermines the incentive for defendants to appear in court and disregards victims' rights, often allowing repeat offenders to be released without posting collateral. Trump's initiative is highlighted as a "politically brilliant" move, framing the debate on his terms of crime, safety, and victims, thereby challenging Democrats to defend a policy that public polling shows is unpopular. Another executive order addressed flag burning, directing the Attorney General to prosecute existing laws related to flag burning when combined with other crimes that are "unrelated to expression" and consistent with the First Amendment. The article clarifies that this order was a "nice sentiment" to uphold existing laws and constitutional principles, rather than an "authoritarian, unconstitutional overreach," as it was framed by some media. The Supreme Court's 1989 ruling protecting flag burning as political speech remains unchallenged by this order. Finally, the article covers the escalating Epstein scandal, noting its newfound widespread public attention extending beyond conservative circles. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer issued a subpoena for Epstein records, and the Department of Justice delivered over 33,000 pages of documents for redaction and eventual public release. A separate, new subpoena was directed to Epstein's estate lawyers, demanding access to a "client list," Ghislaine Maxwell's alleged "wishes book," non-disclosure agreements, contacts from the "Black Book," flight logs, bank statements, the 2007 non-prosecution agreement, and video footage from Epstein's various residences and private plane. The article concludes that the Epstein scandal now carries a "dramatic sense of mounting inevitability," dominating headlines and social media.

thank you for listening to another session of the lenny and Maria sanchez deep dive podcast show produced and archived at the website daily briefs dot info