August 29, 2026: Daily Feature Links

1. Glenn Diesen:   Trita Parsi: Why the World Is Quietly Taking Iran's Side in the War
2. Paul Krugman:   Talking Interest Rates with Ricardo Caballero
3. Dialogue Works:   Seyed M. Marandi: Iran Activates War Economy & Military Surge as All-Out Conflict Becomes Inevitable
4. Corruption (your's truly's attempts at being helpful)
5. Corruption (docx format)
6. Corruption (old Word format)
7. Trump's 'LOSING' Iran war at 6 months | MS NOW REACTS
8. The use of the assertion that you should not interrupt your enemy when he / she is making a mistake, is, in politics and diplomacy, a mistake. In very few exceptions should any interlocutor, neighbor, or other associate, be considered an enemy. Taking the mistake of presuming someone an enemy is always a mistake. The whole idea of civilization is that fellow denizens do not, by default, exist as enemies unless they have exhibited excessive aberrant and abusive behavior which has unmistakeably framed them as a person of dire danger. I don't mean becoming a competitor of concern. I mean a serious, perilous danger. Almost nobody has this position in life. Nixon knew this when he went to China to talk with Mao. Trump, despite all his limitations, realized this when he talked with Putin and Kim Jong Un. You can make an enemy, but that is your fault. A person intentionally engaging in unabashed corruption and criminality does make themselves an enemy of the people, but even then usually diplomacy is more effective than conflict. I would have a very hard time engaging in any conflict to start with with people like Anastazio Somoza, Idi Amin, Ben Netanyahu, or Donald Trump. However, even in these cases I would not start by making them enemies. Doing so itself is an act of corruption, because it is stupid, and likely to hurt people needlessly. As such, we shoul be communicating with each other, not trying to trip each other by hoping for mistakes. We should mitigate behavior, not drive people down. We should incrementally forestall bad actions, not wait for the actions to make things worse.
9. Purcell Principle Wikipedia Entry
10. Takes™ by Jamell Bouie:   Donald Trump's presidency is a conspiracy against the Constitution
11. Jeffrey Sachs Live | Sachs' Trump Warning Goes Viral Amid Iran War | Jeffrey Sachs Speech
12. 'THIS IS IMPERIALISM!': Fmr. Amb. McFaul on U.S. move to control portion of Venezuela oil reserves
13. Janta Ka Reporter:   Iran beats Trump's blockade: transfers $7.5b oil revenue to central bank | Janta Ka Reporter
14. Let's Be Clear with Ana Kasparian:   This Stat Brings Back Worries Of A 2008-Era NIGHTMARE Scenario
15. The Rachel Maddow Show 8/29/26