"Putin is Winning."

On this day:

1531
The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City.
1917
World War I: In Palestine, Field Marshal Edmund Allenby captures Jerusalem.
1937
Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanjing – Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Asaka Yasuhiko launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanjing.
1946
The “Subsequent Nuremberg Trials” begin with the “Doctors’ Trial”, prosecuting doctors alleged to be involved in human experimentation.
1950
Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
1965
The Kecksburg UFO incident: a fireball is seen from Michigan to Pennsylvania; witnesses report something crashing in the woods near Pittsburgh. In 2005 NASA admits that it examined the object.
1979
The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction.
2008
The Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, is arrested by federal officials for a number of crimes including attempting to sell the United States Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama’s election to the Presidency.

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“With $1 million, you could earn 50% a year, but you have to be in love with the subject. You can’t just be in love with the money.” --Buffett

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Ilhan Omar is worth $30 million. Read that again.

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Looters in politics wearing different uniforms are on the same team: themselves.

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China just put a 13% VAT on birth control meds and devices.

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"Putin is Winning"

There is a narrative on the Left that "Putin is winning," in a general, international way. Biden's weird, observant non-response fit well with Europe's dithering. Trump's position is hard to understand, even if you assume he is 'philosophy-unburdened'. 

These are excerpts (sort of) from The Telegraph on their assessment of the situation Russia and Putin are in with their Ukrainian invasion. They think Trump is foolish in his efforts, but their opinion of Putin is worthwhile.

After two years of growth artificially fuelled by higher defence spending, Russia’s oil and gas income, representing up to 50% of state revenue, is down 27% year-on-year, and recession looms. Inflation is up, at 8%; interest rates top 16%. The budget deficit is rising, more than half of Russia’s liquid sovereign wealth fund has been squandered since 2022, state monopolies face huge debts, foreign investment has plunged, import costs of strategic goods have risen by 122%, and consumer taxes are soaring, all to fund Putin’s war. Russians must even pay more to drown their sorrows: the price of vodka is up 5%.

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Ukraine has identified a weak spot: Russia’s refineries, pipelines and “shadow fleet” of oil tankers carrying illicit exports. A third tanker was set ablaze in the Black Sea last week by naval drone strikes. Kyiv is regularly hitting energy facilities deep inside Russia, causing panic and fuel shortages. Meanwhile, Russia’s two energy giants, Rosneft and Lukoil, are reeling as Asian buyers, including in China’s vital market, rush to avoid secondary US sanctions.

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Syria, a prized Middle East ally, turned to the west and Iran came under US and Israeli attack. Now Venezuela, too, looks in vain for support. Ties with China have been upended, with a humiliated Russia relegated to the role of dependent junior partner. Visiting India last week, Putin cut a needy figure in a country that, following US pressure, now boycotts Russian oil.

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Despite his surprise, full-scale invasion and overwhelming advantages in manpower and materiel, Putin has utterly failed to subjugate Ukraine – a failure measured in shocking Russian casualty figures: more than 280,000 killed or injured in the first eight months of 2025; about one million in total. The average Russian frontline life expectancy is 12 days.

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The latest US negotiating fiasco has once again exposed Trump’s idiotically lopsided Ukraine “strategy”. Appeasing Russia from the start, he has undermined Ukraine by attacking Zelenskyy and halting arms supplies. Trump’s egotistic eagerness to play peacemaker and make a quick buck, choice of inept relatives and cronies as amateur envoys, and attempts to sideline and pillory Europe assist and embolden Putin.

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Trump’s meddling is prolonging the war. He should butt out before he does more damage – and Europe (and Nato) must step in with more weapons for Ukraine, reparation loans using seized Russian assets, fully enforced energy sanctions, tougher kinetic responses to sabotage and cyber-attacks, and a more united determination to help end Putin’s age of terror.