Aah Prof Jiang.  I’ve not had time to check him lately.

REQUEST FOR EMERSONRETURN

Only if you feel good and can do it otherwise I’ll pick up but I have some personal issues to attend to today and part of tomorrow.

There is a Sahel Revolutionary Soldier running a very good Twitter feed on the Sahel .. Would you scroll through there and pull out for the Africa thread whatever you find appropriate please?  And truly, only if you are able.

Here is the link:  https://x.com/cecild84

And let me just repeat how to stick a tweet.

So, open the tweet by clicking on it – just anywhere.

Then click on the three little dots on the right hand top corner and select Embed Post

It will give you a screen with 2 options .. embedded video and embedded post.  Choose embedded post

Copy the code and paste it back in here .. On the right hand top here in this window, you have to be in code mode.  There is visual and code .. just see that you are in code mode.

Presto you are done.  Do that six times and you can do it with your eyes closed.

Dont do too many, as we will have to refresh that thread otherwise it goes stuck on us.

Only if you can!

.

I’m so serious about Mario Nafal. I hope Pepe never speaks to him again. Check it out

Fake news https://t.co/2t0o4Y0nLa

— Seyed Mohammad Marandi (@s_m_marandi) February 23, 2026

Mario Nafal is an idiot.

Jalisco, Guanajuato and some unrest in Veracruz.  Schools and Universities in the affected states will be closed tomorrow and airports will be decided upon in the next hours.  The rest is peaceful and as usual.  Today I read that the major collection for Cuba at the square (zocalo) in Mexico City was massively successful.

People that write stuff like this:  “Pretty close to a full on WAR in Mexico” just do not know what they are talking about.  Puerto Vallarta is a tourist town and the tourists are going nuts seeing cars burning and busses burning.  So the rhetoric is over the top.  We will see in a few hours what Claudia Sheinbaum has to say in her morning review.    DD Geopolitics is not so bad.  They have this taco stand that is continuing to operate with customers waiting right in Puero Vallharta.  I was there when this little tourist town was just beginning to develop and it was sweet then – still a local flavor.  Now I don’t know.

I don’t see Mexicans reporting about violence in this night.  The tourists are going bananas. Mexicans are calling US interference.

At least CartelWatch is not too bad this time but usually they are feral:

Chaos erupts across parts of Mexico, particularly in Jalisco, following the confirmed killing of CJNG leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias "El Mencho," in a Mexican military operation. El Mencho, the elusive and long-sought head of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel… pic.twitter.com/wva7ksbnFv
— Cartel Watch (@CartelWatchNet) February 22, 2026

It was Mexico Federales that took out a cartel leader .. ‘El Mencho’, leader of the Jalisco ‘New Generation’ cartel.

Of course the cartel is kicking up violence but it looks like this was planned and La Journada says they’ve already nabbed some cartel soldiers.    Translate La Journada:  https://www.jornada.com.mx/

No idea who is going to jump on the current violence for a stab at a quick regime change or something.  They say it was a joint operation.

Mexico City. The Ministry of National Defense (Defense) confirmed that, with information provided by U.S. authorities and in coordination with intelligence and justice, federal forces killed Ruben Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, alleged leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) cartel, as well as three other alleged members of the organization, during an operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco

(Many Americans in Jalisco and surrounds).

Oh Periol, so sorry to hear about the double health emergency.  I saw you were quiet, but life is so messy that we all need such times.  I wish and hope and pray for the best outcome for your patients.

Historically I stepped away from US party political issues and also from most US crap.  We had to start touching it again, when Trump started attacking the world.  I don’t think he is alone in his quest, and of course the greater Israel is important and this is proceeding.  Nowadays, we cannot split US and Greater Israel.  In a sense, we are forced to pay attention.  But I hardly touch Europe and oh man .. Zelenski No Way.  Like Lavrov said – what he says depends on what he smoked, sniffed, injected and drank in the previous hours.

What is getting to be difficult is good information.  I have a wonderful video here from the leader of Russia’s negotiating team, but in Russian.  And then a second one with up to the minute Venezuela analysis, but in Spanish.  People are beginning to avoid English and also, hide behind paywalls like substack.  Even Francesca Albanese went behind a paywall with her latest, but we will see it, as she has just completed her last report and we will see it when available.

Let me know if you need days to deal with issues of hearth and home.  We are good here and intrepid.  Everyone will stand in.

Not sure if the visit invite will be withdrawn.  China puts emphasis on ‘leader to leader’ diplomacy.  Perhaps Trump loses it and decides to decline the invite.  It is not in the bag in my thinking.   We will wait though for commentary as China is still on new year or spring vacation … the Chinese spox people are also on vacation.

It is now we need Seun!

Check it out … The raiders are already planning.

Howard Lutnick’s sons, Brandon and Kyle — now running Cantor Fitzgerald after Lutnick became Commerce Secretary — have been buying up rights to potential Trump-era tariff refunds from U.S. importers at steep discounts, reportedly around 20–30 cents on the dollar.

Cantor structured the deals as litigation finance: companies get immediate cash, while Cantor takes the upside if courts force Washington to return the tariffs.

If substantial refunds are approved, firms that accumulated these claims cheaply could see MASSIVE returns.

He is livid! And oh man … it is everyone else’s fault. Now the rest of the world must pay? This is the beginning of major court cases and the end of trade. It was foreign interference yeah.

I think in this context it is laissez faire – more of an economic term.