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Thursday, August 13, 2026
NEXT WEEK! 8/20 Influencing Decision-making in Japanese Organizations - Online
Thursday, July 23, 2026
8/20 Online: Influencing Decision-making in Japanese Organizations
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Saturday, March 7, 2026
State of the Union (exec summary: just the #'s)
4/26 update: The numbers below are accurate to the time of the presidential State of the Union Address, 24 Feb 2026. As such, the figures below do NOT include the US war on IRAN. Therefore, today's numbers are much higher than they were when totaled below a couple months ago.)
These totals are based on the most recent data from reliable sources (e.g., UN, Lancet, Airwars, NGOs like ACLU, CEPR, and government reports) as of February 2026. They represent conservative estimates of deaths attributable to U.S.-funded actions or policies during Trump's second term (January 2025 onward), including direct military involvement (e.g., aid to Israel for Gaza, strikes in Venezuela/Iran) and indirect effects (e.g., sanctions leading to excess mortality from malnutrition, disease, or shortages). Figures are ranges due to underreporting and methodological variations; higher ends include potential excess deaths. ** Non-militant civilians exclude combatants where distinguished in sources - actual death counts would be much higher with combatants included. **
- Non-Militant Civilian Human Deaths: 35,000–50,000
- Gaza: 20,000–25,000 (mostly from airstrikes, shelling, and ground operations pre-ceasefire in early 2025; ~500–700 post-ceasefire Oct 2025 from sporadic strikes on shelters/residential areas, often far from conflict zones).
- Venezuela: 5,000–10,000 (excess from sanctions/blockade causing oil shortages, famine risks; ~150 direct from U.S. boat strikes on alleged traffickers, often in international waters).
- Cuba: 3,000–6,000 (excess from oil blockade/sanctions causing blackouts, medicine shortages, malnutrition and starvation; e.g., infant mortality spiked from 5/1,000 to 14/1,000 live births, leading to preventable deaths in children/elderly).
- Iran: 100–500 direct (from rare U.S./joint strikes on facilities, e.g., nuclear sites with minimal reported civilian impact); 5,000–10,000 excess (sanctions worsening economic crisis, sparking protests with ~6,000–12,000 killed in government crackdowns, plus medicine/food shortages).
- U.S. by ICE: 20–40 (shootings during raids/operations, e.g., ~9 fatal shootings since Jan 2025; custody deaths from neglect, e.g., 6 in Jan 2026 alone across facilities).
- Other (e.g., U.S. drone strikes in Syria, Yemen, Somalia): 1,000–2,000 (civilians from airstrikes/drone blasts, e.g., ~10–20% of ~10,000 total deaths in 573 strikes, including collateral in urban areas or misidentified targets).
- Dogs: 50,000–100,000
- Primarily from Gaza (~90% of remaining strays/pets killed in 2025 strikes or starvation post-ceasefire; e.g., bombed shelters/farms).
- Minimal in U.S. (~20–50 shot during ICE raids, e.g., family dogs in home entries).
- Negligible elsewhere (scattered reports in drone zones or sanctions-induced neglect).
- Cats: 50,000–100,000 (similar to dogs)
- Gaza dominant (~80–90% loss from bombing, starvation, or disease in refugee camps).
- Other regions negligible (e.g., abandoned in U.S. raids but often sheltered, not killed).
- Horses: 5,000–10,000
- Gaza: ~80% of remaining equines lost (bombing of stables, starvation during evacuations).
- Venezuela: Minor from strikes/blockade (e.g., working animals dying from feed shortages).
- Livestock: 50,000–100,000
- Gaza: 95% destroyed (e.g., cows/sheep/goats bombed on farms or starved; ~97% total loss by mid-2025).
- Cuba/Venezuela: ~10,000–20,000 from sanctions (malnutrition/starvation, vet shortages).
- Drone zones: ~1,000–5,000 (herds killed in blasts/pollution).
- Non-Domesticated Non-Human Beings: 1–5 million
- Gaza: Hundreds of thousands (e.g., 95% vegetation/trees razed by strikes/bulldozing; 70–80% loss of birds/fish from pollution/sewage; insects/mammals like squirrels/deer from habitat desertification; minimal marine impacts like dolphins from toxins).
- Sanctions areas (Cuba/Venezuela/Iran): Thousands (poaching/trafficking rise from economic collapse; pollution affects fish/birds).
- Drone zones: Tens of thousands (blasts contaminate soil/water, disrupting birds/fish/wildlife like butterflies/deer). Includes plants/trees (millions destroyed in Gaza alone).
Addendum: Real Stories Behind the Numbers
- Non-Militant Civilian Human Deaths (35,000–50,000):
- In Gaza, entire families are buried alive under rubble from airstrikes, their bodies mangled and pulled from debris by hand amid the smell of decay;
- in Cuba, infants suffocate in failed hospital incubators during blackouts or waste away from malnutrition with skin clinging to bones;
- ICE raids end in point-blank shootings or neglect in custody, like recent cases where detainees die from untreated conditions while shackled.
- Dogs (50,000–100,000):
- Gaza's stray and family dogs starve to emaciation, ribs protruding as they whimper and collapse in bombed camps;
- many are crushed under debris or abandoned, their bodies bloating with flies;
- in U.S. ICE raids, pets are shot at close range, convulsing in blood while children watch in horror.
- Cats (50,000–100,000):
- In Gaza's ruins, cats starve in alleys, poisoned by sewage and dying slowly with internal bleeding;
- once-agile survivors now curl silently in hidden corners from disease like parvovirus;
- scattered survivors suffer fractures and starvation, their meows fading into the chaos.
- Horses (5,000–10,000):
- Gaza's working horses and donkeys are bombed in stables, legs shattered amid screams as owners try mercy-kills;
- others starve during evacuations, collapsing under loads with glazed eyes;
- in rural Venezuela, they drop from feed shortages, hearts failing in exhaustion.
- Livestock (50,000–100,000):
- Gaza herds—cows with swollen udders, sheep in terror—are charred in craters or starved en masse (97% destroyed);
- Cuban and Venezuelan cattle bloat from parasites and malnutrition, collapsing in mud with open wounds swarmed by flies;
- Drone blasts scatter limbs across fields, survivors limping with exposed bones before infection claims them.
- Non-Domesticated Non-Human Beings (1–5 million):
- Gaza's ancient olive trees are bulldozed to splintered stumps, sap staining the earth like blood;
- flocks of birds are shredded mid-flight by shrapnel, feathers raining down;
- fish gasp in sewage-thick waters, scales peeling as toxins cause slow death;
- butterflies and squirrels are crushed under rubble or convulse from poisons in desertified habitats;
- deer and other mammals vanish as ecosystems turn silent, with marine life like dolphins choking on pollution plumes—turning vibrant lands and seas into wastelands that may take decades to heal.
- In Gaza, entire families are buried alive under rubble from airstrikes, their bodies mangled and pulled from debris by hand amid the smell of decay;
- in Cuba, infants suffocate in failed hospital incubators during blackouts or waste away from malnutrition with skin clinging to bones;
- ICE raids end in point-blank shootings or neglect in custody, like recent cases where detainees die from untreated conditions while shackled.
- Gaza's stray and family dogs starve to emaciation, ribs protruding as they whimper and collapse in bombed camps;
- many are crushed under debris or abandoned, their bodies bloating with flies;
- in U.S. ICE raids, pets are shot at close range, convulsing in blood while children watch in horror.
- In Gaza's ruins, cats starve in alleys, poisoned by sewage and dying slowly with internal bleeding;
- once-agile survivors now curl silently in hidden corners from disease like parvovirus;
- scattered survivors suffer fractures and starvation, their meows fading into the chaos.
- Gaza's working horses and donkeys are bombed in stables, legs shattered amid screams as owners try mercy-kills;
- others starve during evacuations, collapsing under loads with glazed eyes;
- in rural Venezuela, they drop from feed shortages, hearts failing in exhaustion.
- Gaza herds—cows with swollen udders, sheep in terror—are charred in craters or starved en masse (97% destroyed);
- Cuban and Venezuelan cattle bloat from parasites and malnutrition, collapsing in mud with open wounds swarmed by flies;
- Drone blasts scatter limbs across fields, survivors limping with exposed bones before infection claims them.
- Gaza's ancient olive trees are bulldozed to splintered stumps, sap staining the earth like blood;
- flocks of birds are shredded mid-flight by shrapnel, feathers raining down;
- fish gasp in sewage-thick waters, scales peeling as toxins cause slow death;
- butterflies and squirrels are crushed under rubble or convulse from poisons in desertified habitats;
- deer and other mammals vanish as ecosystems turn silent, with marine life like dolphins choking on pollution plumes—turning vibrant lands and seas into wastelands that may take decades to heal.
These aren't abstract stats—this is preventable suffering tied to policies funded by U.S. tax dollars.
He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder. ~ Einstein
Using midpoints of our prior conservative estimate ranges, updated with recent sources (e.g., Lancet Global Health surveys showing ~75,200 violent deaths in Gaza Oct 2023–Jan 2025, with post-ceasefire Oct 2025 adding lower but ongoing tolls; Airwars for U.S. strikes; ACLU/Guardian for ICE; CEPR-style excess for sanctions):
- Biden (Jan 2021–Jan 2025): ~103 murders of innocent people per day
- Heavy weighting from Gaza escalation peak (Oct 2023–early 2025: thousands per month in intense phases).
- Sanctions/drone effects more gradual/excess-based (e.g., Cuba/Venezuela malnutrition, Iran medicine shortages).
- ICE: Steady low dozens/year from custody neglect/shootings.
- Trump second term (Jan 2025–Feb 2026): ~105 murders of innocent people per day
- Gaza: Lower intensity post-Oct 2025 ceasefire (sporadic strikes adding ~500–1,000/month, far below peak; many post-rubble recoveries/indirect).
- New/renewed elements: Venezuela boat strikes (~150 direct), rare Iran facility hits, intensified ICE (record 32 custody deaths in 2025; 6+ in Jan 2026, plus shootings).
- Sanctions continuations + economic pressures (e.g., Cuba blackouts, Venezuela famine risks) add excess deaths steadily.
- Human deaths interpretation: The per-day rates are essentially identical (~103 vs. ~105), with substantial overlap in plausible ranges. No statistically significant difference—Biden's term captured Gaza's peak warfare intensity, while Trump's includes post-ceasefire lower daily tolls plus new elements (e.g., Venezuela strikes, ICE spikes).
Killings Per Day (Non-humans)
- Dogs
- Biden: ~120 per day
- Trump second term: ~185 per day
- % difference: +54.2%
- Cats
- Biden: ~120 per day
- Trump second term: ~185 per day
- % difference: +54.2%
- Horses
- Biden: ~10 per day
- Trump second term: ~19 per day
- % difference: +90.0%
- Livestock
- Biden: ~86 per day
- Trump second term: ~185 per day
- % difference: +115.1%
- Non-Domesticated Non-Humans
- Biden: ~3,765 per day
- Trump second term: ~7,407 per day
- % difference: +96.7%
Animal/non-human interpretation: Trump shows notably higher per-day rates across categories, driven by concentrated short-term impacts (e.g., Gaza habitat/starvation residuals, new executive order operations affecting farms/wildlife). Looks like we're getting ever more efficient in our slaughter of non-human life - now that's real, objective progress we can be proud of! ;-)
BONUS Addendum: Killings PER DAY for Non-Domesticated Non-Human Beings (Including Non-Military, Tax-Funded Operations)
These estimates incorporate deaths from non-military government-directed operations, such as habitat loss and pollution from fossil fuel expansion, executive orders halting renewables (e.g., wind/solar pauses leading to more fossil reliance), corporate pollution allowances, repealing endangered lands protections, weakening clean air/water safeguards, fast-tracking drilling in pristine/coastal areas, and dismantling clean-energy incentives. Other factors include mining expansions, relaxed logging, and reduced conservation (e.g., 30x30 goal under Biden vs. deregulation under Trump). Data from sources like WWF (73% wildlife decline 1970-2020, accelerated by fossils), IPBES (biodiversity loss as economic risk), and studies on fossil impacts (e.g., 14.5M bird deaths/year from power plants; oil spills/pollution killing millions marine species). Trump's policies (e.g., ANWR drilling, ESA weakening) projected to increase rates 50-100% via habitat destruction; Biden's (e.g., protections for 26M acres) mitigated some, but high fossil production continued. Figures are midpoints; overlaps reflect uncertainties.
- Non-Domesticated Non-Humans (ie, nature creatures who walk, swim, fly, slither, blossom or root into the Earth)
- Biden: ~4,000 per day
- Trump second term: ~9,000 per day
- % difference: +125%
These totals are conservative estimates based on reliable sources (e.g., UN, Gaza Health Ministry, Airwars, Lancet studies, CEPR, ACLU, and government reports) of deaths attributable to U.S.-funded actions or policies, including military aid (e.g., to Israel), sanctions (e.g., on Cuba, Venezuela, Iran), and domestic enforcement (e.g., ICE). Figures are ranges due to underreporting; Gaza dominates post-Oct. 2023, while pre-2023 conflicts and sanctions contributed excess deaths. Non-militant civilians exclude combatants where distinguished.
- Non-Militant Civilian Human Deaths: 120,000–180,000:
- Gaza: 60,000–80,000 (mostly since Oct. 2023; ~80% civilians from airstrikes, shelling, ground operations; U.S. aid funded weapons used in operations killing families under rubble or in shelters).
- Cuba: 5,000–12,000 (excess from embargo; blackouts caused hospital failures, infant suffocation in incubators, elderly wasting from malnutrition/untreated infections).
- Iran: 8,000–18,000 (sanctions excess; medicine shortages led to preventable deaths, protests crackdowns killed thousands amid economic isolation).
- U.S. by ICE: 80–150 (custody deaths from medical neglect, shootings in raids/operations; e.g., untreated conditions while shackled).
- Venezuela: 30,000–50,000 (sanctions excess; oil shortages caused famine, starvation with bloating/edema before collapse).
- Other (U.S. drone strikes in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Somalia): 8,000–15,000 (civilians from blasts; e.g., misidentified targets, collateral in urban areas like wedding parties vaporized by shrapnel).
- Dogs: 150,000–200,000
- Primarily Gaza (~90% of pre-war pets/strays starved, crushed by debris, or bombed in camps—emaciated bodies bloating with flies);
- minimal elsewhere (e.g., ~50–100 shot in ICE raids, family pets convulsing in blood).
- Cats: 150,000–200,000
- Gaza dominant (~80–90% loss from sewage poisoning, starvation in alleys, disease like parvovirus—meows fading in ruins);
- negligible in other areas.
- Horses: 10,000–20,000
- Gaza: ~90% of working equines bombed in stables (legs shattered, groaning in pain) or starved during evacuations;
- minor in sanctions zones (feed shortages causing collapse).
- Livestock: 100,000–150,000
- Gaza: 97% destroyed (cows/sheep/goats charred in craters, starved with swollen udders/ribs protruding);
- Cuba/Venezuela: ~20,000–40,000 from malnutrition/parasites (cattle bloating, open wounds swarmed by flies);
- drone zones: scattered herd losses.
- Non-Domesticated Non-Human Beings: 3–8 million
- Gaza: Millions (olive trees bulldozed to stumps with sap like blood; birds shredded mid-flight, feathers raining; fish gasping in sewage-thick waters, scales peeling from toxins;
- butterflies/squirrels/deer crushed or convulsing in desertified habitats—ecosystems silent wastelands);
- sanctions/drone areas: Thousands–tens of thousands (poaching rise, pollution killing fish/birds/wildlife).
These reflect patterns under Biden's policies (e.g., continued aid/sanctions with some relief attempts).
If you had the caring and fortitude to make it this far, and allow it to register in your heart, I send you my deep gratitude, admiration, and appreciation! You may be the only one!! Here is some heart medicine that helps me to balance out these harsh realities.... May it be a nourishing, healing, and rebalancing song of hope to carry in your heart, along with the current state of affairs that's so hard to hold alone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmFgEFjsZDE
Sunday, December 28, 2025
Safer Browsing/Searching + Remove Ads in 2026
(https://search.brave.com/ -> gear icon -> "Answer with AI" OFF)
Qwant search engine (Brave Preferences -> Search engine -> Change -> Qwant)
If Qwant fails or doesn't give good local results, next best is a manual Brave search:
(except maybe for heavy lifting where you want highest speed; Examples: big downloads, video chatting)
(via Brave’s Private Window with Tor: Opt+Cmd+N or File -> New Private Window with Tor)
Or, if someone doesn't like you and wants to dig up dirt on you, or maybe wants to get you fired or evicted from where you live or knock you out of the running for something, they might also attack you on that basis... taking facts out of context to derive suspicion from an innocent life... and paint anyone as "a wrong-doer." This could be quite difficult and costly to reverse - not just in monetary terms, but also jobs, relationships, other opportunities, etc. Even more so if it's a government, corporate, bank, or other large entity doing the digging/profiling/smearing. ]
How far down the rabbit hole do you want to go, Alice...?
~~
(for IP leak protection)
In addition to browsing recommendations above, you can also install ProtonVPN standalone app on your computer and have it running in the background.
Reasons to use one
Reduce IP-based tracking: Websites, ad networks, and data brokers can use an IP address to associate visits, infer an approximate location, and link activity from the same network. A VPN makes that association less direct. norton
Keep browsing less visible to your ISP: Without a VPN, your ISP can generally see the sites/services you connect to, even when HTTPS protects the exact content. With a VPN, it sees an encrypted connection to the VPN server instead; the VPN provider becomes the party you must trust with more of that visibility - so use one of those I've listed below or research your choice well! protonvpn
Protect yourself on untrusted Wi‑Fi: On hotel, airport, café, school, or shared-network Wi‑Fi, a VPN encrypts traffic between your device and the VPN server, reducing what local network operators or nearby attackers can inspect. HTTPS already protects most modern web content, but a VPN adds coverage for DNS and other traffic.
Avoid exposing your home IP: Your IP can reveal your ISP and approximate area. Masking it is useful when you do not want every website, game server, or unfamiliar service to see the IP associated with your home connection. windscribe
Use region-dependent services while traveling: A server in your home country may help you reach services that reject foreign IPs. Only do this consistently with the service’s rules and applicable law. norton
Reduce some ISP-based throttling or filtering: A VPN can make it harder for an ISP to classify traffic by destination, though it cannot guarantee better speed. nordvpn
What it does not do
A VPN does not stop tracking if you:
Log in to Google, Amazon, Facebook, or another identified account.
Accept tracking cookies or allow browser fingerprinting.
Share personal information, permit precise location access, or use an app tied to your identity.
Use a VPN provider that logs, sells, leaks, or poorly protects data.
Websites still see a VPN IP, and they can often recognize it as belonging to a VPN. Your VPN company can also see your IP and, depending on its setup and policies, potentially connection or traffic metadata. Thus, a VPN shifts trust from your ISP to the VPN provider; it does not eliminate the need for a privacy-focused browser, tracker blocking, HTTPS, software updates, and good account security. windscribe
Practical example
Without a VPN at a coffee shop, the Wi‑Fi operator sees that your device is connecting to many internet services, while the websites receive your normal public IP. With a VPN, the coffee shop primarily sees an encrypted connection to the VPN, and sites generally see the VPN server’s IP instead. If you then sign in to your personal account, however, that site still knows it is you.
When it is most useful
Use one regularly if you value reducing routine IP exposure or often use shared networks. It is especially worthwhile on public Wi‑Fi and when accessing sensitive work or personal services away from home. For ordinary home browsing, it is an optional privacy layer—not a complete safety solution.
You can also install/use the ProtonVPN browser extension to cover your tracks by masking your IP address. This is not as robust as the standalone ProtonVPN, and it only protects you while you're using that browser and have it enabled. A desktop VPN protects all internet traffic from your computer; a browser extension usually protects only that browser’s traffic—leaving apps, updates, other browsers, and background connections exposed.
ACCESSING REGION-RESTRICTED SITES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES:
As mentioned above, certain VPNs can also allow you to view "region-restricted" content from other countries:
- Example: "!br what time does costco in novato close today?" (don't include the quotes)