Hidden History -- In The Making

IS THERE A “LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY TO KILL?”

“I Don’t Think We’re Gonna Necessarily Ask For A Declaration Of War. I Think We’re Just Gonna Kill People That Are Bringing Drugs Into Our Country. Okay? We’re Gonna Kill Them. You Know? …” – Trump

As of now, the Trump administration has launched missile strikes on at least nineteen boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, terminating the lives of more than seventy unnamed persons identified at the time of their deaths only as “narcoterrorists.” The administration has claimed that the homicides are legal because they are battling a DTO or “Designated Terrorist Organization” in a “non-international armed conflict,” labels which appear to have been applied for the sole purpose of rationalizing the use of deadly force beyond any declared war zone.

An increasing number of critics have expressed concern over what President Trump’s effective assertion of the right to kill anyone anywhere whom analysts in the twenty-first-century techno-death industry deem worthy of death. Truth be told, as unsavory as it may be, Trump is following a precedent set and solidified by his recent predecessors, one which has consistently been met with both popular and congressional assent.

The idea that leaders may summarily execute anyone anywhere whom they have been told by their advisers poses a threat to the state over which they govern was consciously and overtly embraced by Americans in the immediate aftermath of the attacks of September 11^th, 2001. Unfortunately, all presidents since then have assumed and expanded upon what has come to be the executive’s de facto license to kill with impunity. Neither the populace nor the congress has put up much resistance to the transformation of the “Commander in Chief” to “Executioner in Chief.” Fear and anger were factors in what transpired, but the politicians during this period were also opportunists concerned to retain their elected offices.

Recall that President George W. Bush referred to himself as “The Decider,” able to wield deadly force against the people of Iraq, and the Middle East more generally, “at a time of his choosing.” This came about, regrettably, because the congress had relinquished its right and responsibility to assess the need for war and rein in the reigning executive. That body politic declined to have a say in what Bush would do, most plausibly under the assumption that they would be able to take credit for the victory, if the mission went well, and shirk responsibility, if it did not.

Following the precedent set by President Bush, President Barack Obama acted on his alleged right to kill anyone anywhere deemed by his targeted-killing czar, John Brennan, to be a danger to the United States. The Obama administration commenced from the premise that the Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) granted to Bush made Obama, too, through executive inheritance, “The Decider.” Obama authorized the killing of thousands of human beings through the use of missiles launched by remote control from drones in several different countries. To the dismay of a few staunch defenders of the United States Constitution, some among the targeted victims were even American citizens, denied the most fundamental of rights articulated in that document, above all, the right to stand trial and be convicted of a capital offense in a court of law, by a jury of their peers, before being executed by the state.

As the Trump administration prepares the populace for its obviously coveted and apparently imminent war on Venezuela, mainstream media outlets have reported a surprisingly high level of support among Americans for the recent missile strikes. According to one recent poll, 70% of the persons queried approve of the blowing up of boats involved in drug trafficking. If true, this may only demonstrate how effective the Smith-Mundt Modernization act has been since 2013, permitting the government to propagandize citizens to believe whatever the powers that be wish for them to believe. Given the government’s legalization of its own use of propaganda against citizens, we will probably never know how many of the social media users apparently expressing their exuberant support for the targeting of small boats on the assumption that they contain drugs headed for American shores are in fact bots rather than persons. None of this bodes well for the future of freedom.

ISRAELI BOMBARDMENTS CONTINUE IN GAZA WITH NEARLY 400 VIOLATIONS AND RISING

Israel Has Carried Out Nearly 400 Violations Of The Ceasefire Agreement, With New Strikes, Rising Displacement, Blocked Aid, And Worsening Health Conditions Across The Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces continued bombing eastern areas of the Gaza Strip late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, wounding a woman and her child in Khan Yunis, in yet another violation of the ceasefire agreement.

Airstrikes targeted eastern parts of Rafah and Khan Yunis, including the town of Bani Suheila in southern Gaza. Additional attacks hit the eastern areas of Gaza City and the Jabalia refugee camp, where residents reported heavy explosions, intense gunfire, and ongoing demolition operations by the Israeli army.

According to Gaza’s Media Office, Israel has committed 393 violations of the ceasefire resolution since it took effect, resulting in the killing of 279 Palestinians.

The Director General of the Health Ministry in Gaza, Munir Al-Bursh, warned of a severe and escalating health catastrophe, reporting an unprecedented surge in anemia among children.

He said 82 percent of children under one year old are now affected, a level he described as life-threatening and damaging to growth and development. Al-Bursh added that Israel continues to block the entry of essential pediatric medicines, calling the situation “an engineered extermination aimed at erasing Palestinian lineage.”

Meanwhile, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher called for the immediate removal of remaining Israeli restrictions on humanitarian access.

He said Palestinians are now facing cold, flooding, and worsening displacement following recent rains: “People in Gaza are wet, freezing, and losing what little they have left. Frustration is growing as floodwaters destroy the last of their belongings.”

The Government Media Office estimates that 1.5 million Palestinians are now displaced, living in dire conditions with limited access to food, medicine, shelter, and basic services under the continued blockade. Despite obligations under the ceasefire agreement, Israel continues to prevent the establishment of alternative housing for displaced families.

THE INSTINCT OF A MAJORITY CONCERNING IRAN IS RESTRAINT

A Report On Public Attitudes Toward The June 2025 American Strikes On Iran Shows That Most Americans Still Prefer Diplomacy In Dealing With The Islamic Republic When Possible.

“Restraint remains a majoritarian instinct.”

Although the “Iran strikes produced a short-lived rally effect,” the data demonstrate that “Americans entered the crisis favoring diplomacy and ended it divided, with increasing doubts about the strikes’ effectiveness.”

An poll before the strikes revealed that a majority of Americans — 61 percent — favored negotiations with Iran, while only 19 percent opposed them. While the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and other proponents of the military action view the strikes as a successful deterrent to Iran’s supposed nuclear weapons ambitions, large numbers of Americans remain unconvinced; in a poll conducted after the American bombing of Iran, only 30 percent said the strikes made Iran less likely to develop nuclear weapons, while 30 percent said the strikes made it more likely.

The report, which aggregated data from multiple polling firms, also recognizes that, while “Republican and older male audiences” are “more likely to favor deterrence or strength-based” approaches to Iran, “younger Americans were consistently less supportive of military action and more likely to express fear of escalation.” In one poll conducted immediately after the strikes, a mere 32 percent of American adults under 30 signaled their approval, compared with 54 percent of Americans age 65 and up.

If most Americans were skeptical of bombing Iran, why did so many Republicans initially embrace the strikes? A report attributes the spike largely to “partisan reflexes.” When asked whether respondents “approve or disapprove of President Trump’s decision to take military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities,” 78 percent of Republicans approved. Yet when asked during the same period whether the United States “should bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities” — without naming Trump — Republican support dropped to 57 percent, indicating that some Republican responses were driven less by enthusiasm for a new war than by loyalty to Trump.

Another factor, unmentioned by the analysis team yet undoubtedly influential, was the Israel lobby’s long media campaign to convince Americans that Iran and its nuclear program, which is perpetually “weeks” or “months away” from producing a bomb, pose a threat to the United States. Their claims ignored a March 2025 report released by Tulsi Gabbard’s Department of National Intelligence, which determined that “Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and that Khamenei has not reauthorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.”

Independents did not have the same partisan reflex as Republicans and Democrats; their views fluctuated, about 20 points depending on whether the strikes were framed as “bombing” or as “launching airstrikes on nuclear facilities,” demonstrating more than anything else the confusion of an American public that was never told why the United States was bombing Iran or what the objective was in the first place.

Their uncertainty grew instantly, and spread beyond independents; within days, more Americans believed Israel benefited from the strikes than believed the United States did. According to a poll cited in the study, only 21 percent of Americans thought the attacks advanced American interests at all, while 30 percent said they mainly helped Israel. Even among Republicans, a relatively narrow majority, 55 percent, believed the strikes reduced the risk of Iran getting a bomb.

The propaganda campaign that preceded the Iran strikes, the temporary spike in public support they produced, and the rapid ebb in enthusiasm echoed the Iraq War. In the run-up to the 2003 invasion, majorities of Americans said they believed Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, was tied to terrorism, and had even helped orchestrate 9/11. That war’s popularity reached a peak of 74 percent support at the time of Bush’s “Missions Accomplished” speech, before plummeting on a consistent trajectory every year since, as Americans realized they had been deceived and bankrupted. By 2019, most Americans, including 64 percent of American veterans, concluded the war had not been worth fighting.

If Trump truly believes the Iraq War was one of the greatest American regime’s foreign policy disasters, he should rediscover the instinct for negotiation that set him apart from the neoconservatives he defeated.

THE AMERICAN REGIME’S ATTACK ON VENEZUELA IS DRIVEN BY OIL NOT DRUGS

Colombian President Gustavo Petro Says Venezuela’s Vast Oil Reserves, Not Democratisation, Or Curbing Narco-Trafficking, Cause The Tensions With The Trump Administration.

Petro argued on Tuesday in an interview that Venezuela’s vast oil reserves are central to American policy.

“(Oil) is at the heart of the matter,” he said, adding that President Donald Trump is “not thinking about the democratisation of Venezuela, let alone the narco-trafficking.”

The accusations came amid ramped-up American military activity in the Caribbean and the Pacific. The Colombian leader has been at odds with Trump since the American president returned to the White House in January.

Petro compared American actions to imperialism, accusing the American regime of trying to impose its will on neighbours.

The Colombian president has recently faced numerous actions from the American regime, including the revocation of his visa in September and sanctions by the Treasury Department in October, which accused him of playing a “role in the global illicit drug trade.”

Petro, who was a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement that was active in the 1970s and 1980s, has rejected the claims.

He said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s “problem is a lack of democracy,” but indicated that no Colombian investigation has found evidence linking Maduro to drug trafficking.

Petro said that his administration has seized more cocaine than any other in history, arguing that crop expansion has been far outpaced by the rise in seizures.

Petro also rejected allegations that Colombian officials have ties to dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) – the guerrilla group that fought against the state for more than 50 years.

The American regime on Monday formally designated Venezuela-based Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).

Tensions between the American regime and Venezuela have been on the rise since Trump ordered a military deployment in August in the Caribbean to attack drug cartels and stop drug trafficking routes, which are linked to Maduro.

Caracas maintains that what is being sought is regime change.

Since early September, the American military has carried out 21 strikes on vessels it claimed were loaded with drugs, killing 83 people.

Trump has signalled that he could attack alleged drug trafficking targets on the ground in Venezuela.

It should be obvious to you how the armed robbers are trying to take other peoples resources to enrich their satanist buddies.

WE’VE GOT TO SAVE OURSELVES BECAUSE NOBODY’S COMING TO HUMANITY’S RESCUE

AI Isn’t Going To Save Us. Tech Innovation Isn’t Going To Save Us. Your Favorite Politician Isn’t Going To Save Us. The Epstein Files Aren’t Going To Save Us.

China isn’t going to save us. The aliens aren’t going to save us.

No one is coming to save us. There is no deus ex machina resolution to the plotline of the human story.

We’re going to have to save ourselves.

In ancient Greek theater they used to resolve plays by having gods come in at the end to punish the villains and reward the heroes. The actors playing the gods would either be lowered onto the stage by a crane or raised by machine from a trap door below, hence the term deus ex machina. Today it’s used to refer to any lazy plot resolution where the protagonists are rescued out of the blue by an external force rather than by the fruit of their own struggles and character development; if the gods just come in to save them at the end, then nothing they did up until that point mattered, leaving the audience dissatisfied and staring at the writer instead of at the story.

When you look at the existential crises facing humanity today, it’s tempting to find hope in some belief about external forces coming to our rescue without our having to struggle and change ourselves. You see such salvation stories everywhere:

Elon Musk is going to automate everything so we don’t have to work and then help humanity become an interplanetary species.
Artificial superintelligence is right around the corner and it will explode our scientific understanding of the universe and give birth to transformational new technologies.
The release of the Epstein files will expose all the corruption that’s been poisoning our society and lead to the arrest and disempowerment of all the evil bad guys.
Electing progressive Democrats or populist Republicans can put heroes into office who will transform the American political system for us.
The rise of China is going to reshape the world order and help bring about the end of capitalism.
UFO disclosure is happening any minute now and it’s going to bring in alien technologies that will save humanity from destruction.

And it never happens. The Greek god never makes his entrance. The actors are left standing there in a long, awkward silence while the set collapses around them.

It’s never gonna happen, folks. Apollo missed his entrance and Zeus is a no-show.

Nobody’s going to save us but us. We’re going to have to change. We’re going to have to act. We’ll keep hurtling in the direction of tyrannical dystopia, environmental catastrophe and nuclear armageddon until we do.

We’re going to have to help each other snap out of the hypnotic trance of propaganda and awaken to the truth of what’s really going on in our world, and show each other that real change is both necessary and possible.

We’re going to have to wake up enough that we can use the power of our numbers to force our rulers to stop stealing from us, oppressing us, killing our biosphere and murdering people.

We’re going to have to awaken from the trance of ego and become a truly conscious species, so that we can build a healthy world without falling back in to our self-destructive patterning when the revolution is over.

Everyone wants change, but no one wants to change. That’s why the deus ex machina plot resolution is preferable in our minds.

It’s just a fantasy, though. Change is coming from nowhere but ourselves. Maintaining hope in the fantasy is the first obstacle preventing us from waking up to reality.

Every species eventually hits a juncture where it must either make adaptations to changing conditions or go extinct. We are at that juncture today. We’ll either pass that test or we won’t, and if we pass it, it will be because of our own efforts, sacrifices, and self-transformations.

Nobody’s going to do it for us but us.

THE BARBARITY AGAINST WOMEN IN GAZA HAS NOT RECEIVED THE REACTION IT DESERVES

“Identities Of Perpetrator And Victim Once Again Determined The Tone Of Response,” Says Turkish President Erdogan. Of Course, Racism Is An Intrinsic Feature Of Israeli Behavior.

“The identities of the perpetrator and the victim have once again determined the tone of the response,” Erdogan said at an event in the capital Ankara, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Erdogan said that the pressure on Israel has not been proportionate to the gravity of the crimes it has committed.

He said: “Two-thirds of the 70,000 Palestinians martyred in the Gaza genocide were, unfortunately, women and children. These are alarming numbers for those with a conscience.”

“We will defend what is right regardless of the identity of the oppressor or the oppressed, and we will voice the truth loudly on every platform,” the Turkish president said, adding that those who base their reactions on the identities of the victims and perpetrators are as complicit in the oppression and injustice as those who committed the crime.

“Yet, every attack on women’s life, property, and dignity is an inhumane act that must be resisted without reservation. Combating these acts is our duty to one another as human beings,” Erdogan noted.

“We do not approve of an inherently human issue such as violence against women being used as fodder for ideological battles or as a tool in turf wars,” he added.

Erdogan said that violence against a human being, especially against women and children, is a betrayal of humanity itself, adding: “Anyone who raises a hand against a woman has darkened both his hand and his conscience.”

“As president and father of two daughters, I will continue to be at the forefront of combating violence against women and children, as I have always been,” Erdogan stressed.

THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE EMPIRE IS NOT AN EASY FIGHT

Good People Fight Them Because What The Hell Else Are You Going To Do? Even If The Treads Of The Machine Are Going To Roll Over Us All In The End, At Least You’ll Go Down Knowing You Tried To Stop It.

There are no easy fights in the struggle against the empire. Lots of losses and no clean wins.

You spend years protesting the genocide in Gaza, and you get a fake, crappy “ceasefire” deal that’s just designed to shut you up while Israel continues creating hell for the Palestinians and carving off more pieces of their territory.

Humanity manages to avoid nuclear conflict at the most dangerous points of the Ukraine war, but the country continues getting torn apart for years in an idiotic bloodbath that could have been easily avoided with a little diplomacy and common sense.

Assange gets free, but only after he agrees to plead guilty to doing journalism, and only after years of cruel treatment have made an example of him for all the world to see.

Public trust in the mainstream media finally gets obliterated, only for the imperial perception managers to come up with Silicon Valley algorithm manipulation and plutocrat-owned AI chatbots to retain control of the narrative.

The capitalists get everything they want, and succeed in advancing any ecocidal, dystopian agenda of their choosing so long as it generates profits or bolsters the imperial power structure.

Republicans win and they still act like underdog victims. Democrats win and they act like Republicans. Meanwhile any real political opposition which starts getting its legs underneath it gets stomped into the dirt in its infancy.

Your heroes let you down. Your allies die. The geopolitical developments you hope to see never quite pan out. Whenever there’s a moment of relative calm the dissident factions get restless and start cannibalizing themselves with counterproductive infighting and lateral-punching.

And the treads of the imperial juggernaut keep rolling forward.

Some days it makes you feel like a crippled child throwing a rock at a tank.

There are no easy fights. No wins by first-round knockout. At best it’s a grinding slog from bell to bell where you’re spitting out blood between rounds and sucking wind through your gum shield with broken ribs and a busted nose.

But you fight on anyway.

Not because you enjoy it. Not because you’re good at it. Not because you feel like you’re going to win. You keep biting down on your mouthguard and throwing hands for no other reason than because that’s all you can do.

These freaks are killing our planet. They’re committing genocide. They’re waving armageddon weapons around like cocks and playing chicken with the lives of every terrestrial organism. They’re driving us further and further into a tyrannical mind-controlled dystopia while doing everything they can to choke off our artistic brilliance and poison all the best things about our species.

You fight them because what else are you going to do? Even if the treads of the machine are going to roll over us all in the end, at least you’ll go down knowing you left it all in the ring.

So you fight on. You give it everything you’ve got, even when it feels like you’re throwing haymakers at a mountain. You eat some leather, you spit out a tooth, and you return fire.

Because there’s nothing else you can do.

And there’s nothing that matters more.

LEGAL CONCERNS WITH THE DEADLY STRIKES ON DRUG BOATS WERE IGNORED BY TRUMP

The Trump Administration Sidestepped Skeptical Lawyers Across National Security Agencies As It Pursued A Military Campaign Against Alleged Narcotraffickers, Officials Say.

Donald Trump and his top White House aides pushed for lethal strikes on Western Hemisphere drug traffickers almost as soon as they took office in January, and in the past 10 months have repeatedly steamrolled or sidestepped government lawyers who questioned whether the provocative policy was legal, according to multiple current and former officials familiar with the debates.

As Trump weighs what could be imminent military action against Venezuela and its leader, Nicolás Maduro, while striking at alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, new details are emerging about the evolution of a strategy that involves unprecedented American military force against the narcotics trade — and, critics say, outsize legal risk.

But early on, according to two people familiar with the matter, the administration proposed having the CIA use its unique covert authorities to conduct the lethal strikes on drug traffickers that Trump and Stephen Miller, his powerful homeland security adviser, wanted.

The spy agency, under Director John Ratcliffe, was rapidly ramping up its counternarcotics arm, consciously modeling the effort to mirror the post-9/11 American regime’s war against “terrorists.”

White House officials initiated proposals that envisioned the CIA taking the lead, and work began on drafting a presidential authorization for covert action, known as a “finding.”

Lawyers at the spy agency and elsewhere in the government were skeptical. Was killing civilian drug traffickers defensible under domestic law, they asked, if the cartels do not actually seek to attack Americans, even if the product they smuggle might lead to deaths in the United States? Was it legal to kill drug traffickers, many of them apparently low-level, without knowing their identities?

“There is no actual threat justifying self defense — there are not organized armed groups seeking to kill Americans,” said one person familiar with the legal debate, who like others interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution and because of the matter’s sensitivity.

Though the hand behind covert actions is supposed to be hidden, Miller and his team wanted to publicize any strikes on what Trump has deemed “narcoterrorists,” including through videos of drug labs or boats being blown up, one person familiar with the matter said.

Amid pushback on CIA action from lawyers in the late spring, the administration forged ahead with an alternative plan that was already under discussion: to use the military. And it came up with a legal justification that national security law experts inside and out of government have said does not stand up to facts: that the country was in a “non-international” armed conflict with “designated terrorist organizations.”

This account of the evolution of the Trump administration’s lethal counter-drug strategy is based on interviews with almost 20 current and former officials and other people familiar with aspects of the discussions.

“President Trump is prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding in to our country and to bring those responsible to justice,” a senior administration official said in an email in response to questions, noting that operations have been given careful legal scrutiny and were deemed lawful.

By midsummer, the administration was considering boat strikes and a second set of Venezuela-focused options, which included the seizure of oil fields and a “snatch and grab” of Maduro, said one former official.

“President Trump has been clear in his message to Maduro: Stop sending drugs and criminals to our country,” said the senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

THE AMERICAN REGIME ONLY DE-ESCALATES CONFLICT IN ONE AREA SO THAT IT CAN ESCALATE IN ANOTHER

The Violence Of The Empire Remains Constant. Peace Is Never The Goal. Peace Is Never Pursued For Its Own Sake, Because There’s Nothing In It For The Empire.

Just as things cool down a bit in the middle east, the American regime has relocated the USS Gerald Ford from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean while the Trump administration discusses plans to bomb Venezuela.

The violence of the empire remains constant. Peace is never the goal. You get happy they’re pulling the world’s largest aircraft carrier away from Iran, then it turns out they’re only doing it so they can move it to Venezuela. You get happy they’re pulling out of Afghanistan, then suddenly they’re waging a proxy war in Ukraine.

These days whenever you see the imperial war machinery getting pulled from one area, you know it’s just going to be sent someplace else.

Peace is never pursued for its own sake, because there’s nothing in it for the empire. There’s too much power and money in nonstop warmongering for peace to be allowed to become the norm.

Which is just insane if you think about it. Every normal person wants peace in their own lives. None of us want our time on this planet to be disturbed by violence, chaos and bloodshed.

The western world has created a machine whose behavior goes against every healthy human impulse. The American regime led world order has given birth to an out of control monster with an insatiable appetite for human flesh.

It was reported that in 2024 the Biden administration had intelligence showing that the IDF was using Palestinians as human shields in Gaza. But Biden continued shipping genocide weapons to the Israelis the entire time he was in office.

You’ll still periodically see online liberals trying to shame leftists for not voting for Kamala, but the more information comes out about what the Biden administration was up to during that time the more genocidal they look. Biden-Harris are looking worse with time, not better.

When you see what a large-scale power broker Jeffrey Epstein was for Israeli intelligence, you understand why it’s entirely reasonable to suspect that extensive state resources would be put toward an elaborate plot to murder him in his prison cell and make it look like a suicide.

Vice President JD Vance and Fox News propagandist Sean Hannity spent some time furiously agreeing with each other during a recent interview about how wonderful Elon Musk’s Grok AI is.

“I’m a Grok guy. I think it’s the best. It’s also the least woke,” the veep said.

It’s wild how Musk just openly showed the entire world in real time how powerful people can build political biases into AI services for their own benefit. He won’t be the only one doing this. Just as trust in the legacy media collapses, the ruling class has created a replacement to retain control of the narrative.

AI stuff only looks impressive to mediocre people for the same reason a chess novice couldn’t tell you whether they were playing against a Grandmaster or just someone who’s pretty good at chess. We can only appreciate something up to the level of our own adeptness.

To someone who’s not very bright, an AI’s imitation of reasoning looks sharp. Someone with no aptitude for writing or appreciation for great literature will think its prose reads brilliantly. Its poetry looks good to those who don’t understand poetry. Its “art” looks great to those with no artistic sensibility. It’s music sounds awesome to those with no musical depth. Only those who are emotionally stunted and incapable of meaningful human connection will find them to be stimulating conversationalists and companions.

Like so much else capitalism produces, it’s a product that’s designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator. For everyone else it looks vapid and gross, just like daytime talk shows, Hollywood blockbusters, and trashy tabloids always have.

That’s just how it works in a society which only elevates that which can generate profits. The food is designed to induce craving rather than facilitate health. The entertainment is designed to distract and sedate rather than to edify. The social media is designed to be addictive rather than to help people connect with each other. It’s all geared to appeal to our baser instincts rather than to improve and inform us.

Anyone who is interested in actually growing as a person will have less and less use for anything AI has to offer. Past a certain point of personal development, it simply cannot satisfy.

ABDUCTIONS DURING ISRAELI INCURSIONS STOKE FEAR IN SYRIA’S OCCUPIED GOLAN HEIGHTS

When Syrians Gather To Record Israeli Incursions, Soldiers Point Their Guns At Them. Israeli Military Incursions Have Become More Brazen, More Frequent And More Violent.

This has happened since Israel expanded its occupation of southern Syria following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Across Quneitra province, the Israeli military’s tanks have established checkpoints and patrols, even setting up gates. They stop and search civilians, and some are abducted.

Khadija Arnous’s husband and brother-in-law are among those taken from their home in July. Her brother-in-law was released from Sednaya prison, and now he is in Israeli custody.

At 3 am one day, Israeli soldiers ordered both men to leave the house and blindfolded them.

“We’ve had no news about them since,” Arnous said, covering her face for fear of reprisal. “We contacted the Red Cross, but to no avail.”

“I have four children – my husband was the sole provider. I urge the government to find a solution for us. Why are the Israelis coming and taking whoever they want?”

SYRIA’S OCCUPIED GOLAN HEIGHTS

Described by Israel as security operations, Syrian authorities and human rights groups refer to such incidents as abductions or unlawful arrests. As many as 40 people have reportedly been detained in recent weeks.

Israel first seized territory in the Golan Heights following the 1967 war. But after the fall of al-Assad, it claimed its 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria was void and has widened its occupation in Syria by some 400sq km (155sq miles).

Mohammad Mazen Mriwed, an elder from Jubata al-Khashab village, said that people are living in fear of Israeli incursions and can no longer work their land.

“Since the fall of the regime, many are no longer building or cultivating,” he said. “We don’t know how the government will respond, but true relief will come only when the occupation ends.”

In addition to taking Syrians, Israeli forces are also fortifying their positions with large berms and watchtowers. It has verified that Israel has established nine new Israeli military camps in Syria since December 2024.

SYRIA’S OCCUPIED GOLAN HEIGHTS

Local elders estimate 1,700 acres (688 hectares) of land seized by Israeli forces includes orchards, fields and grazing lands.

Israeli forces have flattened entire areas, uprooting trees believed to be hundreds of years old, to build more military presence on Syrian soil, villagers and shepherds say.

Mohammad Makkiyah went too close to a watchtower and was shot by an Israeli sniper. He says the first shot missed his head, but as he ran from a volley of fire, a bullet hit his leg.

In a nearby house, Hussain Bakr’s son and brother were taken five months ago.

“We complained to the UN and the Red Cross, who told us that they will ask the Israelis, but there is no response,” Bakr told Al Jazeera. “They are innocent, taken for no reason.”

Residents say interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa should remember his own family’s displacement when Israel occupied the Golan Heights. The president has previously said his grandfather was forced to flee the area in 1967.

Government representatives say they are trying for solutions through diplomacy.

But until the missing come home, words offer little solace.

“The situation is painful for the families and for us as a government,” Jamal Numairi said. “To the families, I say: the government will spare no effort to resolve the issue. I consider them kidnapped, not as prisoners.”