by John Helmer, Moscow 
  @bears_with

It’s called the selfish herd reflex.

In experiments with minnows, biologists have discovered that after removing the brain of a single minnow and dropping him back into the water, the brainless fish will move erratically, unable to sense the direction of his shoal, but drawing the other minnows to follow him instead.   The reason for this, ichthy neurologists believe, is that individual minnows are safer from predatory fish attacks if they stick together in large shoals.   The herd reflex is dominant because it’s protective; the brainlessness of the leader doesn’t matter.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have realized that in their war with Russia, they are safer to follow President Donald Trump, whether he has a  brain or not.

Macron demonstrated this realization in the Oval Office on Monday by reassuring hand and leg gestures with Trump, guiding him in the direction of French warfighting strategy while Trump made remarks which appeared to mean the opposite.  Macron also realized that whatever Trump says will be corrected, contradicted, then countermanded by the officials he has appointed for their loyalty in following him.

Trump can sense loyalty, but because he cannot read words, he does not understand that the text of the $390 billion payback minerals agreement with the Ukraine he voiced repeatedly in front of Macron has now disappeared on the paper his officials have agreed with the Ukraine

Listen to the podcast by clicking here at Minute 31:00.   

Source: https://gradio.substack.com/p/gorilla-radio-with-chris-cook-dimitri-eda 

For the text of the US-Ukrainian minerals agreement in the Gorilla Radio discussion,  click to read the Ukrainian government’s leaked version here.  

The military security guarantees which the Ukrainians have sought from Trump can be found at Article 5, which declares that  “the Participants [the US Government, the Ukraine Government] reserve the right to take such action as necessary to protect and maximize the value of their economic interests in the Fund”; and Article 10: “Participants will seek to identify any necessary steps to protect mutual investments, as defined in the Fund Agreement.”

Article 8 implies that if Russia’s end-of-war terms impose a demilitarized zone and other restrictions on the Ukrainian territory remaining after armistice or capitulation, the US has already agreed to evade them:  “The Fund Agreement will pay particular attention to the control mechanisms that make it impossible to weaken, violate or circumvent sanctions and other restrictive measures.”  

The Ukraine Government’s text hints that the Kiev regime has outwitted Scott Bessent, the newly appointed US Treasury Secretary, in redrafting the original proposals he presented in Kiev last week. For analysis of the text, click to read.

The background record for Trump’s introduction, alongside his appointee, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik, of a “gold card” for wealthy foreigners to bribe their way into US residency and citizenship,  can be followed here.  Reuters asked if  Russian oligarchs would qualify for the gold cards: “Yeah, possibly,” Trump replied. “Hey. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.”

The New York Post explains how the proposed change in the EB-5 investment visa programme raises “corruption concern”.  

THE TRUMP LOYALISTS WHO ARE CAREER WARFIGHTERS AGAINST RUSSIA

Left to right: Louis Bono, Assistant Secretary of State for Europe & the UK; Elbridge Colby, nominee to be Under Secretary of Defense;  Sebastian Gorka, Deputy National Security Advisor; Thomas Williams, Associate Director for Defense at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); and Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, Associate Director for Intelligence, OMB.

For the warfighting careers of the new Office of Management and Budget (OMB) appointees, click to read what the White House has disclosed.  

Fox Kennedy,  married to Robert Kennedy Jr’s son, claims to have spent a career in covert CIA operations, although she has also been publicly accused of faking  the details.   With her father-in-law’s lobbying, she was a candidate to be Trump’s appointee as deputy director of the CIA but lost out to a higher ranking lawyer,  Michael Ellis.   At  OMB, Fox Kennedy will control the CIA budget.  

For the introduction to this broadcast, for access to the 20-year Gorilla Radio archive, and for Chris Cook’s blog, click here and here.   

by Editor - Wednesday, February 26th, 2025