Participants: John Steppling, John Bower, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Dennis Riches. Topics covered: US proxy war in Ukraine more likely a war against Europe (F. the EU from beginning to end), deaths in custody of people seized by ICE agents, Israel's conflicting messages in its attempt to polish its image, Pirates of the Caribbean: US seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker, Belgium says no to the EU plan to seize Russian assets, hospitals disappearing from US counties, the films of Jean-Marie Straub, neocons never were the sharpest knives in the drawer, Ikkyu Sojun (1394–1481), Zen monk of the 15th century. See Aesthetic Resistance on Substack for the links related to this episode. Music track: “Where did you sleep last night?” by Leadbelly (public domain).