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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret)

@portlandken.bsky.social
23K followers 443 following 5.2K posts

Retired former US Ambassador, NSC Director for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, NSC Director for Nuclear Materials Security, and Deputy Exec. Dir. of the International Energy Agency

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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 4h
Trump: "Under my leadership, America is the most respected country on earth." EU Parliament: "Here's a token of our esteem."
Gold-gilt statue of an obese Trump holding a long golf club riding on the shoulders of an emaciated man.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 4h
Companies linked with Trump's two eldest sons have received over $6 billion in government contracts. Some are established companies that invited the sons to join their Boards, but more are new start-ups with zero experience that are *magically* receiving massive contracts. Corruption gone wild.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 22h
Under Trump, more than 500 Americans have been grabbed off the street and sent to DHS concentration camps. Many have been filmed screaming that they are American citizens. DHS doesn't care; they just toss them into detainment until some family member or lawyer is able to prove their citizenship.
projects.propublica.org
More Than 500 U.S. Citizens Have Been Detained, Including Handcuffed or Held at Gunpoint, in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown — ProPublica
The government doesn’t track how often immigration officers detain U.S. citizens. So ProPublica did. We’ve found more than 500 Americans who were held against their will during this Trump administrati...
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Reposted by Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret)
The Mouthy Renegade Writer @mouthyrenegade.bsky.social · 23h
James Talarico is so wise at such a young age. And then you have fuxking 80-year-old Baby Huey, toddling around in a shitty diaper and babbling about bullshit.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Karoline Leavitt, who delivered countless diatribes against working from home while serving as Trump's spokesperson (attack dog), has just accepted a job with Fox News. She will be working from home.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
It is now almost certain that the 28-year old Russian bio-weapons lab researcher who suddenly died succumbed to pneumonic plague, the most dangerous and easily transmittable of all plague variants. This means that Russia continues to produce, and likely enhance, weaponized pneumonic plague. 1/3
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
From 2012 to 2016 (under Obama), home mortgage rates ranged from about 3.7% to 4%. Using a mid-point of 3.85%, that means a family that could afford a $2,000 monthly payment could buy a $534,000 home assuming a 30-year loand and 20% down. Under Trump, that family can only afford a $363,000 home.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
For 30 years under five different Presidents, I served my country 11 overseas postings plus the USA in a completely non-partisan fashion. I served R and D Presidents alike and always did my best to promote US interests and the Administration's policies. Under Trump, I cannot remain nonpartisan. 1/2
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
By focusing on "core" inflation, which exludes food and energy, the Trump Admin and most media are ignoring the fact that the top drivers of economic distress for average Americans are food and energy prices. Including food and gas, inflation in Sept was 3.6% -- much higher than wage growth.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Just FYI: Inflation did NOT decline last month. Instead, the Trump Administration adopted a new method of calculating inflation to make it look lower. Americans know what they are paying. They know that prices are rising faster than wages. Trump expects his base to believe his lies.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Authoritarian dictators always use government resources to boost their own image and ego. I've seen it happen in Russia, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Vietnam, and elsewhere. Trump is now running 13 different campaign ads (including come he ran in is 2024 campaign) at taxpayer expense. State propaganda.
cnn.com
‘God made Trump’ ad and at least 12 others are part of controversial taxpayer-funded ad campaign | CNN Politics
The Trump administration has created at least 13 campaign-style ads as part of its controversial taxpayer-funded, multi-million-dollar effort to promote President Donald Trump and his policies.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
As Hegseth forges ahead with is plan to turn the entire US military into a testosterone-hyped, mindless version of the Mojo Dojo Casa House from the Barbie movie, a genuine military professional, veteran, and wounded war hero reminds us what is really needed to sustain the world's best military.
nsl4a.substack.com
A Fresh Start at West Point
Time to refocus on producing young officers prepared to enter the profession of arms.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Just a reminder that the few remaining experts at the CDC's food-borne illness division identified Taylor Farms as the source of the cyclospora outbreak very early on, but because the owner of Taylor Farms is a big Trump donor, he was able to prevent a recall for weeks as thousands fell ill.
theguardian.com
Cyclospora found at Mexican farm linked to lettuce outbreak, FDA says
Announcement from US officials comes after CDC declared end to outbreak that infected nearly 13,000 people
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
A short lesson on diesel exports: Each day, the US produces about 1.3 million more barrels of diesel than it consumes and ranks among the world’s largest exporters of diesel. The high price of diesel in the USA is NOT due to a shortage. The price is high because it is set by world markets. 1/3
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
While I am not a huge fan of NY Gov Horchul, this is clearly a master class lesson in how to slap Trump and the MAGA right upside the face. Appointing Letitia James to take over the investigation simultaneously signals faith in the person attacked by Trump and a commitment to uncovering the truth.
cnn.com
What we know about what Jane Doe told Cornell officials and friends about the alleged rape – and what the DA says he knew | CNN
Snapchat messages exchanged during the alleged assault at Cornell University include a photo of then-student Jane Doe in a room at the fraternity house, according to images of the chain obtained by CN...
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Article 1, Section 9, Clause 2 of the US Constitution is perfectly clear: "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." No matter what lies Trump tells, asylum seekers are NOT "an invasion."
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
During his annual foreign policy speech, Putin prepared the ground for a false-flag attack on Kaliningrad by "warning" Europe that Russia would respond to any attack on the enclave with "all available military resources," a euphemism for nuclear war. The EU is NOT threatening Kaliningrad. 1/2
bbc.com
Putin warns West that Russia is ready to use every weapon to protect Kaliningrad
The Russian leader insists Moscow is "not threatening anyone" and is merely responding to statements by Western leaders.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
In lawsuits trying to keep an entire class of American citizens from voting, the GOP has openly admitted that the reason they want to disenfranchise the Americans is that they don't tend to vote for Republicans. The most anti-American, anti-Constitutional cult ever.
In lawsuits, GOP officials have argued state laws and other rules permitting voting by never-resided citizens violate state constitutions. They also have claimed in court filings that these U.S. citizens are disproportionately registered as non-Republican voters and allowing them to cast ballots hurts GOP chances of winning elections.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There are currently 94 nuclear reactors operating at nuclear power plants in the United States. Just company wants to build 456 new reactors on a parcel of public land to power a single monster data center. That's a 450%+ percent increase in nukes for just a single data center. Let that sink in.
npr.org
A startup wants to build a massive nuclear-powered data center on public land in Utah
Valar Atomics wants to place over 450 reactors on more than 9,500 acres in Utah to power a huge data center project.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
GOP really does stand for "Guardians of Pedophiles." Trump-backed Ken Paxton is defending himself against charges that he let a notorious convicted pedophile out of prison after only one day by pointing out that it was 60 days. Yep, rape multiple kids and that's what you get if you're MAGA.
newrepublic.com
Ken Paxton Defends One-Day Plea Deal Offered to Child Sex Predator
The Texas attorney general (and Republican Senate candidate) apparently thought this was a good argument.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The fact that Alito is ethically compromised is not shocking. The fact that he is actually going to recuse himself is very shocking indeed. He has voted on dozens of cases which impacted him and his family personally. Finally, public pressure is forcing him to do the right thing -- at least once.
cnn.com
Alito recuses himself from major Supreme Court climate change case | CNN Politics
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito announced Monday that he will recuse himself from a major climate change-related case the court is set to hear next week, following weeks of pressure from environmen...
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
More proof that Trump and his MAGA minions are the real source of election fraud. Uber-MAGA candidate and devoted Trumpist Gaea Powell ran for a key election-related position on a platform of "election integrity." She was just convicted of 9 felony counts of election fraud.
sfgate.com
MAGA candidate in small Calif. town convicted on 9 counts of election fraud
It turns out this conservative candidate wasn't following election laws herself.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Amind the hoopla over RFK Jr's MAHA movement and his and Hegseth's fixation on testosterone levels, the reality is that the 2nd most widely used pesticide in the USA has been proven to cause chemical castration and even sex change in various animals. Naturally, no research on people.
theguardian.com
Hormone-disrupting herbicide contaminating 25% of continental US rivers, report finds
Atrazine, banned in 60 countries, polluting rivers at levels that can harm wildlife and may threaten human health
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
As Trump and his Republican minions revive the language of the "Red Scare" and "threat of communism" in the elections, Trump is actively supporting the world's largest communist dictatorship, including by offering to sell them American weapons. Insanity is too mild a word.
theguardian.com
Trump asked Xi Jinping if China would like to buy US weapons, American ambassador says
David Perdue’s remarks come after a Taiwanese minister spoke of the ‘severe’ military threat posed by Beijing to the self-ruled island
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I served in multiple authoritarian states, both communist and otherwise--Russia, Vietnam, Iraq, the Sultanate of Oman, and Ukraine before the Orange Revolution brought in democracy. One common thread among all of them is government spending on propaganda to glorify the dictator/sultan.
cnn.com
White House airs another government-funded ad, this time with Trump warning of ‘final battle’ | CNN Politics
The Trump administration is set to launch another overtly political campaign ad funded by taxpayer dollars, attacking the “fake news media” and “the sick political class that hates our country.”
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Just a reminder that Trump started the war by bombing Iran in the middle of ongoing negotiations. Now Walz says Iran is "negotiating in bad faith." Complete lack of self-awareness, or honesty.
theguardian.com
UN ambassador Waltz says Iran was not negotiating ‘in good faith’ to end war
Waltz says Trump rejected Iran’s proposal to end war because they ‘were asking for everything up front’
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Tagless Pete Hegseth's Pentagon is either too incompetent or too corrupt to accurately report on US service members killed and wounded in the war against Iran. The American people and service members deserve better.
nsl4a.substack.com
National Security Leaders for America Calls for Full Accounting of U.S. Military Deaths in the Middle East
Pentagon must follow the law and longstanding policies in reporting every service member killed, wounded, or injured
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
DHS used a hastily-built "citizenship verification tool" to declare that over 14,000 Nevada voters are not citizens. Later, they revised that down to 185. This week, Nevada announced that they had contacted every person flagged by DHS and proved that they are ALL citizens. That's a 100% error rate.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Trump is now running campaign ads paid for with our tax dollars. Think about that.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Weird facts: 1 - Trump wore a heavy winter coat and black gloves in 64 degree weather to greet Xi. 2 - The White House photoshopped the arrival to remove one of Trump's gloves and to erase both first ladies. 3 - Trump winced and ducked during the B-1 flyover that he himself had requested. Why???
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Trump is trying to replicate China's state-controlled and censored press here in the USA. Flaunting a valid federal court order, Trump is denying multiple major news outlets access to the Xi dinner arrival unless they allow the White House to select the journalists and dictate their reporting.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
National Security nonsense. Trump claims that CNN, Politico, and MS Now represent a "national security threat" because they reported on a possible Iran war ceasefire before the White House announced it. The information was presented "on background" by JD Vance to a large crowd on reporters. 1/2
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Hurting the man-child's incredibly fragile ego is now defined as a "matter of national security." Under Trump, America has become a banana republic with zero respect for the law, American's rights, our our Constitution.
cnn.com
Defending reporter ban, Justice Department argues stories on Trump’s ballroom project, Iran war threaten national security | CNN Politics
The Justice Department said late Tuesday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico can be shut out from areas of the White House at the president’s will. The lawyers argue that the outlets’ coverage of the Iran w...
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Because Trump is mad at our closest ally, Canada, he decided to buy potash (a key fertilizer ingredient) from one of the world's most notorious cruel dictators, Belarus' Lukashenko. Typical for Trump, he didn't bother to check before announcing his big deal. Belarus doesn't have any potash to sell.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
With Trump once again gaslighting America by falsely claiming that the price of "almost everything is way down," it is worth repeating this reality check.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
In the past, ownership of American broadcast media was limited to Americans. Trump's FCC just approved the takeover of CBS, CNN, HBO, MTV, Paramount, and a dozen others by a group largely controlled by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. Yeah, that's the world we're living in now.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The accounting is in: In Oregon there are 111 data centers. The TOTAL number of people employed at data centers is just 2,630, or 0.1% of the labor force. Those 100 data centers consumer 23% of all electricity used in Oregon. Meanwhile, electricity rates skyrocket as more centers are built.
opb.org
Oregon data centers by the numbers: 111 facilities consume nearly one-quarter of state’s power, according to new report
A first-of-its-kind report details the footprint of the controversial facilities.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Just a reminder that anti-vaxx'ers are a threat to us all. Some people (newborns, those with compromised immune systems, etc.) CANNOT be vaccinated. While healthy vaccinated people have a 95% less chance of catching measles, that is still less than 100%. Herd immunity is the key to safety.
theguardian.com
California warns of measles exposure in six counties from unvaccinated train passenger
Health authorities work to notify people who were exposed to person who traveled through at least six counties
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Denmark & Greenland have figured out that all they have to do is allow Trump to brag and he'll give them anything. Trump is now touting his "amazing" new agreement, that is no different than the 1951 Greenland Defense Agreement, under which the US could have unlimited bases. 1/2
avalon.law.yale.edu
Avalon Project - Defense of Greenland: Agreement Between the United States and the Kingdom of Denmark, April 27, 1951
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
If the US had attacked a Chinese ship for no reason (and there was none), it easily could have started a major war with a nuclear weapons country. This is one of the many ways AI could doom humanity, particularly with idiots like Trump and Hegseth in charge.
cnn.com
Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say | CNN Politics
The episode shows the risks of using this new, relatively poorly understood technology in the middle of the Iran war
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
With every passing day, Trump gets a step closer to turning the USA into something more akin to Putin's Russia. Trump now rules by decree, rarely bothering with Congress at all. His latest move is to ban from the White House any press that do not fawn over him as they repeat his lies verbatim.
theguardian.com
Trump bans CNN, MS Now and Politico from White House
President has overseen an unprecedented restriction of access for major news media since start of second term
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Taking another page from the authoritarian playbook as he works toward the destruction of our Constitution.
theguardian.com
Trump vows to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House, repeating familiar ‘fake news’ attacks – live
President also threatened that other media outlets were soon to face the same punishment
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Not sure who the original poster was, but the "Trump prices" quoted are from late May or early June of 2026. We should pass this around to remind people of reality.
Table showing how the prices of various products has changed since Trump took office, using prices from the end of the Biden Administration as a point of reference.  All prices increased. The amounts are:

Gas (from $3.13 to $4.59 per gallon)
Electricity (from 17.5¢ to 22.7¢ per kWh)
Oil (from $70 to $124 per barrel)
Heating Oil (from $2.50 to $4.99)
Coal (from $116.35 to $158.40 per ton)
Beef (from $5.50 to $8.49 per pound)
Bread (from $2.00 to $2.69)
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Just in case anyone still had any questions, today Trump proved beyond all doubt that has absolutely no idea how the economy, trade, or finance work. It would be genuinely difficult to cram more falsehoods, backwards statements, and sheer gibberish into his statement.
Trump social media post declaring "Interest Rates in the United States should be 1%, or less, because we are the Best Credit in the World – BY FAR. Our Country is BOOMING with new Investment! If we stopped Trading with every country that we have a Deficit with, which is most of them, we would make, at least, 1.5 Trillion Dollars a year. The word ‘Deficit’ is nothing more than a fancy word for LOSS. We are ‘carrying’ almost every country in the World, and that cannot go on any longer. LOWER THE INTEREST RATES FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND FAST!"
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The bad news is that the last time the US faced a "Covid-style pivot moment" Trump was President and a million Americans died has he completely botched the response. He literally ordered the shredding of the pandemic response guide, just as he is shredding US regulatory bodies today.
theguardian.com
‘Godfather of AI’ says tech regulation is nearing Covid-style pivot moment
Safety crisis makes it more likely that governments will be spurred into action, says Yoshua Bengio
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Trump declared on social media that his Trumpapallooza fiasco was so popular that "The overall numbers beat the NFL." Reality: Trump's vanity act drew 3 million viewers while the NFL opener drew 25 million. Only true MAGA loyalists could believe that 3 > 25 because Trump told them to believe it.
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Summary: "Nice arts center you got there. Put my name or it or I'll blow it up."
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