| Kensington Review |
12 December 2025 |
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Cogito Ergo Non Serviam |
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Latest Commentary: US Seizes Venezuelan Tanker, Does Not Bomb It -- The US Navy seized a Venezuelan tanker in the Caribbean on Wednesday, claiming it was transporting oil in violation of US sanctions. This is the latest provocation from the Trump administration as it tries to find a fight that Mr. Trump can win to look like a great leader. Venezuela appears to be the target for this campaign. What is interesting here is that, rather than bomb it to bits as with the drug boats, the White House took the ship and cargo into custody. Mr. Trump will take the oil for the US, while the crew may face trial. The policy is consistent only because Mr., Trump wants a fight. [12 December] Fed Cuts Rates 25 BP -- The Federal Reserve cut the US Federal Funds Rate 25 basis points yesterday to a range of 3.5-3.75%. Three Fed governors dissented from the decision. Stephan Miran, a Trumpist, wanted a 50 bp cut to boost job growth. Austen Goolsbee and Jeffrey Schmid, two competent economists, wanted to hold rates steady to keep inflation in check. As this journal has said repeatedly, the Fed is attacking the stagflation under which America suffers by trying to boost the job market first and addressing inflation later. That is probably backwards, but the economy does not care. Voters do, however. [11 December] Why Hegseth Killed Shipwrecked Sailors -- The Pentagon is led by an alcoholic with a raging case of inferiority. Pete "Kegsbreath" Hegseth just does not know what he is doing, or perhaps he does, and he is an evil prick. In his latest blunder or stroke of genius, he made sure that there were no survivors of an attack on a South America fishing boat he claimed was laden with drugs heading to America. There were two men who survived the first strike, so 40 minutes later a second attack killed them. Those who saw the video of the second strike say it was almost vomit-inducing. They had to die, however, to protec the Kegsbreath Doctrine, that these alleged drug smugglers never get a US trial because the US would lose the case. [10 December] Trump Mocks Affordability at Rally -- Donald Trump has responded to the several shocking defeats the Republicans have had in special elections the last while by hitting the campaign trail. He went to Pennsylvania (the Alabama part in the middle) to tell the mob that "affordability is a Democrat [sic] hoax." He went on a 15-minute verbal walkabout before ever mentioning the word in his 90-minute tirade. But the fact that prices are not falling just proves that affordability is a problem, and he ran on making paychecks stretch farther. His party has both houses of Congress, the White House and a 6-3 majority on the Supremely Political Court. Whatever happens is his fault, and he hates responsibility. [9 December] Trump Has Strategic Hallucination, Not Vision -- The White House has issued the new National Security Strategy of the United States of America. While the administration claims this sets out a new vision for the country, it really is just an old hallucination. It shreds the last 80 years of success in the name of putting America first. What it fails to appreciate is that the American-created post-war arrangements had America first, last and always. The IMF, the World Bank, NATO and so on are all tools of American power. Instead, the Trump administration is withdrawing from the world, leaving a power vacuum. China is likely to fill most of it. [8 December] © Copyright 2025 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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23 Years Online Volume XXIII, Number 187
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