Global

Almost two years ago, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik made a fool of herself while questioning the presidents of three Ivy League universities, MIT, Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania. She demanded a yes or no answer, in an immature and juvenile way, while trying to paint these institutions and their presidents as supporters of antisemitism for “allowing” the constitutionally protected speech by students supporting the Palestinian plight and condemning the genocide happening in realtime in Gaza.

Stefanik, a Trump loyalist, a MAGA warrior, a supporter of overturning 2020 presidential elections, a promoter of “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, and whose top contributor is AIPAC, all of the above was not enough. Still, President Trump dumped her.

Three dominant narratives contend for the future of Gaza and occupied Palestine, yet only one is being translated into consequential action: the Israeli narrative of domination and genocide. This singular, violent vision is the only one backed by the brute force of policy and fact.

 The first narrative belongs to the Trump administration, largely embraced by the US Western allies. It rests on the self-serving claim that US President Donald Trump personally solved the Middle East crisis, ushering in a peace that has supposedly eluded the region for thousands of years. Figures like Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and US-Israel Ambassador Mike Huckabee are presented as architects of a new regional order.

BANGKOK, Thailand -- The U.S.-trained Royal Thai Navy is gearing up to stop all Thai ships in the Gulf of Thailand transporting fuel and military supplies to Cambodia, the first major use of the artillery-firing navy in the five-month-long border war.

The U.S. Seventh Fleet uses the Gulf of Thailand when its aircraft carriers and other vessels dock near Bangkok at Sattahip port where Thailand's First Naval Area Command is based to secure the gulf, which is peppered with inhabited Thai and Cambodian islands, navy facilities, and oil rigs.

In addition to intercepting Thai ships, including fishing and commercial vessels, the navy said it would stop Thai-owned ships sailing under foreign flags and registrations, if they are suspected of transporting fuel, weapons, ammunition, or other military equipment across the gulf to reach Cambodia's south coast.

Thai shipping companies facilitating their travel, vessels' owners, suppliers, chandlers and others linked to Thai ships violating the ban would also be held responsible, officials said.

President Donald Trump’s end of year speech to the American public that took place on December 17th was full of conceits over how the United States under the new regime in power is moving ahead on all fronts to benefit the American people. The reality is somewhat different with a struggling economy, inflation and growing unemployment as well as wars and rumors of wars. The only economic sector that appears to be doing just fine is the “military industrial complex” (MIC), or should one call it the warfare conglomerate, fattening on the one trillion dollar plus budgeted for military and related spending. For sure, the warfare bill is helping to expand the nation’s debt while providing little in the way of national security due to profound ignorance combined with serial blundering by those in power in and around the White House.

We begin GREEP #251 by commemorating the passing of Rob & Michelle Reiner.

Our own PAUL NEWMAN remembers him as a “really nice guy” & a true environmental activist, who will be deeply deeply missed..

The wonderful JOHN STEINER asks us to find a new term for “president of United States.”

Our engineer STEVE CARUSO suggest such an alternative, as does HEIDI VERTHALLER.

Our Laureate MIMI GERMAN gives us a poem and then introduces Waldport, Oregon’s MAYOR HEIDI…

...along with AMY ANDERSON of Indivisible and local petitioner TONY THIMAKIS, who’re fighting for democracy in this classic American small town.

We’re then joined by legendary election protection expert RAY LUTZ with a deep dive into how we can emerge from 2026 with our democracy in tact.

Among the key pillars of vote derangement are suppression of the popular vote, gerrymandering, ballot counting and audits, all of which demand massive grassroots activism.

In the spirit of our own John Brakey, we discuss the alternative of digital imaging to allow a meaningful count of millions of hand-marked paper ballots.

From what's left of the White House...

...Trump has made it clear that he's thrilled the Reiners are dead...

...and that he wishes the same for all who would dare oppose him...

...re-confirming that Trump Derangement Syndrome festers because he's deranged.

Trump favors corporations over workers. This is one influence that shapes the policies of Trump and his administration. 

Although it has a profound influence on what Trump does, it is not original with him. It is part of a Republican Party bias that extends back to the Gilded Age and the emergence of corporations in the late 19th Century. For in-depth analyses of this issue, among many others, see Sheldon S. Wolin examines this subject in his book, Democracy Inc: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism (publ. 2008), and Thom Hartmann does so in his book “The Hidden History of Monopolies (publ. 2020). 

And Chuck Collins’ new book is an eye-opener. It’s titled “Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Out Lives and Planet” (publ. 2025). Collins writes this in “The Introduction,”

While Accra summoned the chargé d'affaires at the Israeli embassy to lodge a formal protest, the Ghanaian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday that the move was based on the principle of reciprocity and the protection of the dignity of its citizens, confirming that both sides had agreed to resolve the tension amicably. That's how you hold Israel accountable when it does abide by the rules of civilized nations.

The Ghanaian Foreign Ministry had previously announced that Ghanaian travelers had been subjected to "deliberate targeting and harsh treatment" at Ben Gurion Airport since Sunday, describing what happened as "inhumane treatment" that warranted a response.