Hélène Orphanos- Sainte-Anne-des-Monts

THREAD Trump calls Alaska “russia”. As a person who was born and socialised in russia, I tell you what Putin and russia think about having a meeting in Alaska.
It means Putin goes to... russia. Let me explain why. First, you need to know that the "Alaska myth" is essential for russia /1

"If you live in Alaska, I need you to buy a Ukrainian flag and turn any area that Putin is going to be into a sea of Ukrainian flags - so many that, when Putin lands, all he's going to see is just yellow and blue."

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte:

"It is crucial to know that when it comes to the future geopolitical situation of #Ukraine, their sovereignty, there will be no infringements on that,that it is always Ukraine itself deciding on what they want to do or not want to do in terms of a peace deal."

Deals are generally reached between two parties who each want something. When one of the parties' desire is "to not be arbitrarily punished by the power of the state" that is not a deal, that is extortion.

The idea that President can negotiate/dictate bilateral “deals” by using the full force of the federal government to punish and humiliate his perceived enemies goes against the whole idea of the rule of law. That should be the story, rather than normalizing this authoritarian behavior.

My thoughts exactly, given that all the evidence in the article shows that the Trump administration is not even pretending to be following legal procedures. The Times never steps back to highlight this fact.
bsky.app/profile/vsla...

“I think there’s still a deal to be had, but from our perspective, at the end of the day, Harvard has a $53 billion endowment,” she said. “They don’t need federal funds. And even if they win a lawsuit, great. But what happens next year? What happens the year after?”

This former Trump administration official, who is still working closely with Miller’s “task force,” is all but saying, “Great university you have there. Shame is anything happened to it.”

But Harvard has a more antagonistic relationship with the Trump admiinistration, as the university has sued the administration to stop its retribution campaign against the school That dynamic has fueled worries at Harvard that the White House is seeking a far higher financial penalty as punishment for fighting, not because the schools troubles alone warrant $500 million.

Trump is acting like a mob boss. The administration cannot legally treat Harvard more harshly “as punishment for fighting.” At no point in this article is a legal predicate for these extortionist schemes mentioned.

Harvard also has much more federal money at stake. The Trump administration has warned that it could ultimately strip $9 billion in funding for Harvard; it threatened $510 million in funding for Brown.

ON WHAT LEGAL BASIS IS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MAKING THESE ‘THREATS’ AND ‘WARNINGS’?
Trump could just as easily demand the John Harvard statue in Harvard Yard for the new White House ballroom.

The Trump administration has repeatedly castigated Harvard for its $53 billion endowment, which is loaded with restrictions that limit how it may be sued, but is has made far less fuss about Brown’s similarly tied-up $7 billion fund.

It is one thing to report on the Trump adminstration’s actions, but it is another to parrot their language in this way. Since when is making “less of a fuss” a term of art in discussions of administration actions. It is very clear that Trump and his team are following no legal guidelines.

But no matter the structure, White House officials have made clear that an extraordinary sum will be required to reach a settlement.

A logical follow-up to the statement that “White House officials have made clear that an extraordinary sum will be required to reach a settlement,” is wtf. Why parrot extortionist language that reflects Trump’s personalist quest for dominance rather than acting on the basis of legal precepts?

It’s very strange that the Times is normalizing the fact that the whims of the president and the far-right ideologues who staff his “crusade against top schools” have become a predicate for “deals.” This is authoritarian behavior and should be covered as such.

Trump’s Deal-Making With Other Elite Schools Scrambles Harvard Negotiations

It is not “deal-making.” It is extortion built on Christopher Rufo’s idea of “taking down” one or more elite university.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/u...

Medvedev has warned to wait for "further steps" from Russia regarding the deployment of short- and medium-range Russian missiles.

He wrote this to comment on yesterday's statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry that Russia was withdrawing from the moratorium on the number of these missiles⤵️

Friends,

May we never forget that while negotiations,speeches,statements, addresses&the rest of the diplomacy track are happening,exhausted Ukrainian men&women in military uniform are holding back evil on the frontlines

📌 Hope this soul follows him

everywhere . A true hero 🐥

Scotland

Page One in Scotland.

American Kompromat review: Trump, Russia, Epstein … and a lot we just don't know A new book on the old president is titillating but scattershot, a compendium of wild stories and salacious accusations

Craig Unger's book on Trump is really interesting on this. As the review says, it's a bit of an uneven read, but I hadn't heard about Maxwell's espionage involvement before reading it - just though he was a scumbag tycoon who stole his employees' pensions:

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021...

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers spin her childhood as a tale of neglect and abuse The socialite’s defense team seek a reduced sentence by depicting a woman made vulnerable to Epstein by a domineering father

Robert Maxwell used his children as extensions of himself, including engaging them in his interests and vocations.

As for Ghislaine, the family says he took her “under his wing” and controlled her life’s direction. She was immersed in his network from childhood.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022...

imo bad people require bad people around them to protect their bad deeds. it’s a gross. compromised club. everyone of these advisors to Trump is full up with skeletons, by design.

RFK Jr. Pictured Partying With Child Sex Predator Jeffrey Epstein The renewed scrutiny on the HHS Secretary comes amid an ongoing firestorm over the Epstein files.

“As Trump tries desperately to quell the firestorm surrounding the Epstein files, RFK Jr has also come under scrutiny over trips he took on Epstein’s private plane, his late wife’s links with Ghislaine Maxwell, and his past association w/former industry titans such as Harvey Weinstein & Bill Cosby.”

Trump is trying to divert attention away from the Epstein story
(animation from the archives)

anntelnaes.substack.com

This was an excellent assessment by Jeff Daniels.

📝

Ever wonder what happened to the boys from Epstein Island? They were experimented on and then sold off and into slavery. Release #EpsteinFiles. Or #StepDown our children deserve justice

Trump brutally trolled with UK poster stunt ahead of dinner with King Charles

It would be such a shame for Donald if this photo of Trump with Jeffrey Epstein appeared absolutely EVERYWHERE
on his tour of the UK. It would truly be such a huge shame if everyone donated to make that happen 👀

The Internet wins again 💀😂😅🤣

i don’t even like baseball and suddenly i’m a huge Phillies fan