Nueve embajadas: Derechos Humanos en Panamá

March 16, 2023

Una declaración diplomática poco frecuente

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A problem, about which there are reasonable suspicions but few proofs

March 15, 2023

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The Panama News is and has been since the Martinelli administration under heavy electronic attack. On a day after the high court has confirmed the prison sentences of Martinelli’s bag man and national security director for illegally acquiring electronic hacking equipment and programs that have never been recovered, the editor wonders — but lacks proof.

Among the reasons why The Panama News
is so much a social media publication…

by Eric Jackson

Uh huh. The Martinelli gang got the Pegasus electronic spy system from the Israeli company NOS, and though courts were prevailed upon to rule that Don Ricky knew nothing about it, two of his top guys are going to prison about it. That gear, said to have been last seen in one of Martinelli’s business offices, has never been recovered.

Then, post-Martinelli, WhatsApp messages to and from his successor, Juan Carlos Varela, were intercepted and published. There has been a big international scandal about NSO having a hand in THAT sort of thing, too. It is also said that the messages of the American Embassy here were intercepted, but that’s all very hush-hush, national security and all that. (See, these days you don’t have to breach US security, you can just embarrass the US government and you may be accused of being a spy.)

Means, motive, opportunity, previous methods of operation? These things tend to count for nothing in the Panamanian courts. Is it a holdover from the three qualified eyewitnesses rule of Arab Spain’s Islamic Law? More like corruption of more local and recent vintage, I think.

Whatever the editor might suspect, stating those suspicions as fact would surely draw criminal defamation charges.

But the constant electronic attacks on The Panama News websites? Those are a reality. Which leads to more of our publishing via our Facebook, Twitter and Mastodon feeds, which are not as easily shut down. EXCEPT if a communication from the “right” person or agency gets a shadow ban imposed.

We carry on.

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Legarrea & García de la Parra, Poor Boris — spiders are terribly defamed

March 15, 2023

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Specimen of the spider Thwaitesia nigronodosa. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Why you shouldn’t be scared of spiders

by Saioa Legarrea Imizcoz and Tania A. García de la Parra Bañares, Universidad de La Rioja

A school in Gloucestershire, in the west of England, was closed for several days due to an “invasion of poisonous spiders”. Experts claimed they were not aggressive, but the school was closed, alarm spread and some media outlets were quick to call them “eight-legged monsters”.

In another case, the alleged severity of a spider bite on a woman triggered alarm in Mallorca (Spain). Social networks were flooded with messages and photographs of bites. Although the Conselleria de Salut and the leading hospital on the islands made it public that there was no health alarm and experts explained that no dangerous spiders are present in Mallorca, messages continued for days and days on social media.

Such news is likely to produce fear, a visceral reaction often sought by the most sensationalist tabloids. These stories do not remain in the local or regional press, but are disseminated on a global scale almost immediately.

The news carries with it political or social actions that can be costly, often unnecessarily so. For example, not taking children to school for several days or environmental pollution from unnecessary pesticide treatments. They also fuel a global sentiment based on misinformation: spider panic.

Contrary to the impression we get from reading these news stories, the risk of being exposed to a spider is minimal. Studies in Switzerland estimate that the annual probability of being bitten by a spider is between 10 and 100 cases per million inhabitants. Another study in Australia found that only 6% of confirmed spider bites were of medical importance.

The global spread of misinformation about spiders

A recent study by more than 60 researchers, published in the journal Current Biology, has examined the global spread of misinformation about spiders. This collective effort has resulted in the compilation of more than 5,000 news items on spider-human encounters published on the internet between 2010 and 2020.

The news items were evaluated in terms of their quality (presence or absence of errors) and their level of sensationalism.

A large spider weaving a garden web. Shutterstock / neroski

Reporting errors and sensationalist language

Almost half of the news items analyzed contained errors or inaccurate information, such as incorrect identification of the spider involved. Some articles report species that do not even live in the area, and sometimes there is no certainty that the bite occurred.

In up to 43% of cases, the news stories used sensationalist language. Although the language used in the news was less sensational when experts in arachnology had been consulted.

Errors often started at the regional level, and the story was amplified in national and international media. According to experts, this is a defining characteristic of modern misinformation: the amplification of small errors that support a false narrative. It is as present in spider news as it is in political news.

The likelihood of a country being a distributor of sensational news stories about human-spider encounters was positively related to several factors. These included the proportion of sensational news stories published in the country, the presence of spiders considered deadly, and a high number of internet users.

There are more dangerous spiders in Australia than in almost any other country, yet news about spiders is accurate and rarely emotionally charged. According to the analysis, the UK generates the most misinformation about arachnids, despite having very few dangerous venomous spider species.

The implications of the misinformation generated are no less significant. They reinforce a feeling of public animosity towards these arthropods. This leads to what we mentioned at the beginning of the article: the avoidance of their presence in public or private spaces, and the use of unnecessary pesticide treatments. Moreover, false alarms may lead to school closures or tourism suffering.

*A Jumping Spider. Shutterstock / MR.AUKID PHUMSIRICHAT*

The other side of spiders

The first clear spider-like representations date back to 10,000 years ago. Because of their distribution, occupying all continents and habitats, as well as their biology and ecology, they have been admired and feared in equal measure.

They have often been associated with divinities, with creative powers (due to their great fertility, ability to make and weave silk and their cunning) and destructive powers (related to their hunting ways and the presence of poison).

All spiders, with the exception of the Uloboridae family, produce venom, but this, with rare exceptions, is imperceptible to humans. They use it, along with silk, to trap or immobilize their prey.

Only four genera of spiders have been described whose venom is of medical interest (Phoneutria, Loxosceles, Latrodectus and Atrax), and only 4% of the known species may be dangerous to humans. This means that of the approximately 45,000 known species, more than 43,200 are harmless.

Contrary to popular belief, spiders have many beneficial aspects. Firstly, they contribute to the total biodiversity of the planet, being one of the largest groups of invertebrate animals. In addition, they play an essential role in crop pest remediation due to their status as insect predators and are an important component of bio-indicators of environmental quality.

Once the criminalized view of arachnids has been debunked, the best thing to do when faced with a spider is to be kind to it, because it is a natural treasure.

Saioa Legarrea Imizcoz, Investigadora en Entomología Agrícola, Universidad de La Rioja and Tania A. García de la Parra Bañares, Estudiante de Doctorado, Universidad de La Rioja

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Baker, Definitely a bailout

March 15, 2023

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What happened in 2018 was effectively allowing SVB and other banks to still benefit from insurance without having to pay for it. Economist Dean Baker, from the Beat The Press Facebook page.

This big bank bailout brought to you by Donald J. Trump

by Dean Baker — Common Dreams

There are two key points that people should recognize about the decision to guarantee all the deposits at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB):

It was a bailout
Donald Trump was the person responsible.

The first point is straightforward. We gave a government guarantee of great value to people who had not paid for it.

We will get a lot of silly game playing on this issue, just like we did back in 2008-09. The game players will tell us that this guarantee didn’t cost the government a penny, which will very likely end up being true. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t give the bank’s large depositors something of great value.

If the government offers to guarantee a loan, it makes it far more likely that the beneficiary will be able to get the loan and that they will pay a lower interest rate for this loan. In this case, the people who held large uninsured deposits at SVB apparently decided that it was better, for whatever reason, to expose themselves to the risk by keeping these deposits at SVB, rather than adjusting their finances in a way that would have kept their money better protected.

This would have meant either parking their deposits at a larger bank that was subject to more careful scrutiny by regulators, or adjusting their assets so that they were not so exposed to a single bank. They also could have taken ten minutes to examine SVB’s financial situation, which was mostly a matter of public record.

For whatever reason, the bank’s large depositors chose to expose themselves to serious risk. When their bet turned out badly, they in effect wanted the government to provide the insurance that they did not pay for.

This brings us to the second point; this is Donald Trump’s bailout. The reason this is a bailout is that the government is providing a benefit that the depositors did not pay for. It also is, in effect, a subsidy to other mid-sized banks, since it tells their depositors that they can count on the government covering their deposits, even though they are not insured and the bank is not subject to the same scrutiny as the largest banks.

This is where the fault lies with Donald Trump. It was his decision to stop scrutinizing banks with assets between $50 billion and $250 billion that led to the problems at SVB.

Prior to the passage of this bill, a bank the size of SVB would have been subject to regular stress tests. A stress test means projecting how a bank would fare in various bad situations, like the rise in interest rates that apparently sank SVB.

If regulators had subjected to SVB to a stress test, they would have almost surely recognized its problems. They then would have required it to raise more capital and/or shed deposits.

But Trump pulled the regulators off the job. This is wrongly described as “deregulation.” It isn’t.

Deregulation would mean both eliminating the scrutiny of SVB and ending insurance for the bank. (In principle that would mean ending all deposit insurance, not the just the insurance for large accounts that is at issue here.)

What happened in 2018 was effectively allowing SVB to still benefit from insurance without having to pay for it. It is comparable to telling drivers that they don’t have to buy auto insurance, but will still be covered if they are in an accident. Or, perhaps a better example would be telling a restaurant that it is covered by fire insurance, but it doesn’t have to adhere to safety standards.

It is dishonest to describe this as “deregulation.” It is the government giving a subsidy to the banks in question. It is understandable that the banks prefer to describe their subsidy as deregulation, but it is not accurate.

Anyhow, this bailout is the Donald Trump bailout. He touted the 2018 bill when he signed it. We are now seeing the fruits of his action.

Dean Baker is the co-founder and the senior economist of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).

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Editorials: The Mine; and Fox lies

March 14, 2023

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MiAmbiente inspectors investigate a toxic spill from the copper mine. MiAmbiente photo.

The new copper mine contract is a bad deal for Panama

Panama has a new agreement with a company that cheated us for years on the old agreement. Why should they be trusted now?

The serious environmental damage appears unlikely to be mitigated in any serious way. The poisoning of our land and waters appears destined to continue for another generation.

There is no industrial policy to go along with the contract. Nothing requires that some of the ore dug out of that immense hole will be processed into things made out of copper in Panama, creating industrial jobs for Panamanians.

We got rooked.

Highlights from a screenshot of a news feed by another company – to someone who has checked the boxes to say that he’s really not interested in what Fox News has to report. But through others who take a dim view of Fox, and through so many “new media” that have been created so that dishonest ultra-right media get through to people who specifically don’t want their appeals to base emotions, the hate literature is ubiquitous.

Let’s not insult the smart and noble swine by making the comparison

OH! They weren’t there to support freedom of the press when this editor was being prosecuted for criminal defamation for publishing THIS about one of their militia movement buddies who took his hustle to Panama. This editor won that case, but there are still Fox freaks in the gringo community here who take to the Internet to say the opposite.

They’re not there to support freedom of the press against red state book bans today, either.

But now that, caught in palpable lies in lawsuits brought by two voting technology companies – tales that the perpetrators admitted in depositions that they knew were false before they broadcast them – Murdoch, Carlson, Bartiromo, Ingraham, Hannity et al plead for constitutional protection. Now the company complains that the people whom its leading lights knowingly defamed are waging a “PR campaign to smear FOX News and trample on free speech and freedom of the press.”

The January 6 riot, aimed at disrupting the process of inaugurating a duly elected president, was the most notorious offense. But Fox and some lesser wannabes on the far right have for years been using falsehoods to incite violent passions – rages that on that January 2021 day and on a number of other occasions have gotten people killed.

When the guy who adapted an old US advertising strategy to German racist politics, Hitler’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, the genocidal schweinhund made reference to Teutonic traditions to frame himself as the martyr. Except in the Goebbels Nazi Götterdämmerung, that guy also murdered his own six children. No gods died that day in 1945, just an evil and twisted propagandist and one last batch of his innocent victims.

It’s just a pair of civil lawsuits to grind their way through the courts. Just a couple of the many hoaxes. The Australian billionaire who took out US citizenship will surely die of the complications of old age before the legal consequences of what he and his hirelings did become final. And leave it to others, the more direct perpetrators of the January 6 attack on the US Constitution, the rule of law, the power of truth and the persons of a bunch of police officers who were just in their way and members of Congress who were targets of ginned-up fury.

But there should be some other consequences, prior to that, which ought to be quite severe. An already long overdue result should be that the Fox liars get shunned by other journalists. Not allowed to join reputable press organizations, not given seats at White House press briefings, not hired to teach journalism at any university, given ALL DUE RESPECT – which on a professional level is none.

It may be too time-consuming and expensive a legal battle, but one of the consequences should be that, like in the cases of Nazi concentration camp guards who emigrated to the USA and were outed only decades later, the US government ought to move to strip Rupert Murdoch of his American citizenship. The dude lied in the oath that he took to get his US passport.

Albert Einstein becomes a US citizen. Library of Congress photo.

Although I am a typical loner in daily life, my consciousness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has preserved me from feeling isolated.

Albert Einstein

Bear in mind…

Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but, unlike charity, it should end there.

Clare Booth Luce

It is only prudent never to place complete confidence in that by which we have even once been deceived.

Rene Descartes

Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied.

Pearl S. Buck

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Partido Popular, Martín Torrijos

March 13, 2023

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Ilo, Pope Francis connects with Africans

March 12, 2023

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Pope Francis visits Maputo, Mozambique in 2018. Wikimedia photo by Julia Grahl.

The first post-colonial papacy to deliver messages that resonate with Africans

by Stan Chu Ilo, DePaul University

When he was presented to a cheering crowd at St Peter’s Square, Vatican City, on 13 March 2013, few people outside Latin America knew much about Jorge Bergoglio.

But a decade later, based on my work as a scholar of Catholicism, I would argue that most Catholics know and love Pope Francis. They also see a deep connection between his message and priorities, and their dreams and hopes for a better church and a world that is reconciled.

When Pope Francis was introduced in 2013, I was working as an African expert on global Catholicism for Canada Television. I went blank when the new pope was presented to the world on live TV because I had no biographical information on him. So, I ran off the list of what we African Catholics wanted from the new pope.

This included a decentralized and decolonized Catholicism, with more powers given to local church leaders to address local challenges using their own cultural and spiritual resources. There was also the urgent need to give African Catholics more places at the decision-making table in the world church.

Before Pope Francis, many of these challenges were either ignored, spiritualized or papered over through moral platitudes. Pope Francis has taken them on. He is the first post-colonial pope to challenge the system within the church and society that exploits the poor and vulnerable.

Pope Francis’s papacy is anchored on what he calls a “revolution of tenderness,” This reflects two central themes: the courage to dream and the culture of encounter.

These two themes have resonated with African Catholics. They awaken a sense of hope that by collectively tapping into Africa’s human, material and spiritual resources, it’s possible to address the continent’s social, economic and political challenges.

The courage to dream

The word “dream” is a constant in Pope Francis’s vocabulary. It is the title of one of his recent books, Let us Dream: The Path to a Better Future. In it, he invites people to work together as one human family and break the chains of domination driven by nationalism, economic protectionism and discrimination.

He described his recent trip to Africa as a dream come true. It gave him the opportunity to share a message of hope and peace with the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

When he stood alone at St Peter’s Square in March 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis asked humanity “to reawaken and put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of giving strength,” and embrace the courage to dream again.

Reflecting on the question Jesus asked his disciples in the Bible, “Why are you afraid?”. He encouraged humanity not to lose hope because of the fear and despair surrounding the loss of lives from the virus.

Man in a white robe walking towards a set of stairs, a single white and gold seat is at the top of the stairs and a crucifix hangs on the wall behind it.

The culture of encounter

In his speech to the UN General Assembly in 2015, Pope Francis invited the world to embrace a culture of encounter.

This, he said, would lead to a “revolution of tenderness” and the globalization of love and solidarity.

I have argued in my research that the “culture of encounter” is his way of capturing the communal ethics of ubuntu, which encompasses African values of community, participation, inclusion and solidarity.

Under this theme, Pope Francis is challenging people to envision a world freed from violence and war; of a common humanity dwelling in peace in a healthy climate; and of economies that work for all, especially the poor.

In his letter to bishops, Fratelli Tutti (no.195), Pope Francis says the culture of encounter can shatter socially and historically designed narrow structures, systems and institutional practices. The dream of a better world, he says, can be realized if people learn to love rather than hate.

Pope Francis challenges all global citizens to contribute to mending the interconnections that have been ruptured among peoples, nations, cultures, churches and religions. These ruptures, he says, are the result of long years of exclusionary practices, unjust economic and global systems and false ideologies of identity.

Realizing the dream

In his apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis writes about four dreams he has for all people.

First is a social dream, where everyone can live an abundant life in dignity and in a healthy environment. This can be realized, he proposes, through “an arduous effort on behalf of the poor.”

The second is a cultural dream where people’s cultures are affirmed. Their talents are valued, and they can apply their human potential and material resources as free agents. For an African continent that continues to suffer the effects of colonialism in both church and state, Pope Francis proposes a strong resistance to the destructive forces of neocolonialism.

The third dream is the hope for humanity that flourishes through responsible stewardship of Earth’s resources. This invites all peoples to care for, protect and defend the environment.

The fourth dream is Pope Francis’ hope that the Catholic church will become a community of communities, where people seek common ground. This requires the rejection of any forms of exclusionary practices in the church. It advocates the liberation of the poor, and the protection of the rights of the vulnerable and those who have suffered neglect, oppression and abuse.

Realising this dream, in Africa particularly, requires dismantling the structures of neocolonialism, the global structures of injustice, and the dependency cycle that continues to characterize the relationship between the continent and the rest of the world.

It will also require a new crop of transformational leaders who are on the side of the people. Leaders who place the interest of their countries and the continent above selfish, ethnic or partisan interests.

New identity

Pope Francis’s revolution of tenderness can help bring about a new cohesive identity in Africa built on a historical consciousness of who we are, how far we have come, and how we can reach the future of our dream.

The courage to dream and the culture of encounter are capable of ushering in new ethics of co-operation, collaboration and inclusion so that the common good is promoted and preserved for the benefit of all.

Stan Chu Ilo, Research Professor, World Christianity and African Studies, DePaul University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Postergado por mayo el Festival de Artes Escénicas

March 12, 2023

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Desfile La Tribu.

POSPONEN PARA MAYO FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE ARTES ESCÉNICAS

por Roberto Enrique King

La Fundación pro Artes Escénicas y Audiovisuales informó en comunicado reciente que se ha visto en la necesidad de posponer para fechas que van del 15 al 20 de mayo, la realización del 12° FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE ARTES ESCÉNICAS – FAE 2023, que tenían previsto realizar del 14 al 19 de abril, con agrupaciones y maestros invitados de 8 países, incluyendo Panamá, y que cuenta al momento, en lo estatal, solamente con el respaldo confirmado del Ministerio de Cultura, el Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y el GECU de la Universidad de Panamá.

Las razones para la posposición son económicas, puesto que la respuesta a la gestión de patrocinios que llevan adelante desde hace meses ha estado muy lenta y poco positiva, lo que ha atrasado la confirmación de la programación internacional y demás segmentos del proyecto, conformado por una selección de las mejores obras teatrales y dancísticas nacionales y extranjeras en salas, actividades formativas para estudiantes y artistas escénicos, teatro infantil para niños de las escuelas públicas y entretenimiento al aire libre para toda la familia, todos gratuitos o a precios muy accesibles.

La Fundación FAE apunta a dedicar este mes extra que ganará con el cambio de fechas, a multiplicar esfuerzos para poder concretar la plataforma financiera necesaria para hacer el FAE 2023 como está planificado o en su defecto ajustarlo a las circunstancias del caso. Y agradece el respaldo y la comprensión de su público, medios de comunicación, aliados, colaboradores y amigos, invitándolos a cerrar filas para hacer posible una vez más esta gran fiesta del teatro y la danza contemporánea del mundo.

Progresivamente se irán dando los detalles y confirmaciones de teatros, componentes y programación del festival, el único en el país que cubre lo mejor del teatro y la danza contemporánea del mundo, a través de los medios de comunicación, de su web www.faepanama.org y de sus redes sociales FAE Panama en Facebook, Twitter e Instagram.

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Ben-Meir, Waxing satirical about Bibi and The Donald

March 12, 2023

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Trump And Netanyahu Behind Prison Bars—A Satire

by Alon Ben-Meir

We are living in a time of extraordinary political chaos and instability here in the US and in Israel precipitated by two notorious culprits, Trump and Netanyahu. Thousands of cogent and analytical articles have been written about them and the incalculable damage they have already inflicted on their respective nations. I thought perhaps it’s a good time for a bit of levity especially because it is about these two nauseating characters who are willing to burn their countries down to the ground only to stay in power and out of prison.

Trump: How are you, Bibi? I guess it’s okay to call you Bibi?

Netanyahu: Oh, hi, my goodness, I can’t believe it, they finally got you too! Yes, of course you can call me Bibi. Can I call you Donald, is that alright with you?

Trump [hesitating]: Well, my subjects call me Your Highness or Your Excellency, but what the heck, we can be informal here for a bit, you can call me Donald I guess—but only here.

Bibi: Okay, thank you, but what do you mean subjects, you are not a King or some kind of Emperor.

Donald: Not yet, but I will be. I don’t know when, but I will.

Bibi [laughing]: Okay, okay Your Highness, very kind of you. So, what’s going on otherwise, how are you and how is the family?

Donald: The family is okay, really, Melania is doing her thing, I don’t know what she really does all day, who cares. Ivanka and her Jewish boy, I mean husband, are staying away from me after all that I have done for them.

Bibi: Oh, so sorry, that’s bad, what about Don Jr. and Eric?

Donald: Well Don Jr. thinks he is like me, well, you know he is my son and I love him, but he is not like me, he doesn’t have that conspiratorial streak in him.

Bibi: Yeah, I can see how that’s an important skill he should quickly hone.

Donald: And my son Eric, he is… well what shall I say, he is okay, neither of my sons have my smarts, you know.

Bibi: Very few people do, but they are still doing okay, right?

Donald [flustered]: They are trying to keep the business going, but they try to run the business by the book, ha, they don’t understand that this is not how you make money, I mean real money.

Bibi: But you have plenty of money, you don’t have to worry about money.

Donald: That’s what people think, but between you and me, my net worth is way, way overinflated if not an outright lie.

Bibi: With all the bankruptcies, businesses, the wheeling and dealings, you must have stashed lots of money in Swiss banks and all of that.

Donald: I don’t want to talk about it, you never know, they must have tons of cameras around here with listening devices.

Bibi: Oh, yeah, I forgot about that, how could I, you are right. I install cameras everywhere, so I know what people say behind my back.

Donald: I hate those hidden cameras, they give me the creeps.

Bibi [frowning]: You said it.

Donald: They got us these bastards, but not for long, they don’t know who they are dealing with.

Bibi [laughing]: We are a pair of wizards; they don’t know what’s coming.

Donald: Well, you are damn right. I am making a list of my enemies, I run out of paper though. How about you, how about your political adventures, misadventures?

Bibi: Listen, I put together the craziest, insanely religious, extremist government in Israel’s history just to take back power. I do whatever it takes, just like you.

Donald: Yeah, but your ministers are criminals.

Bibi: What are you talking about, only three Ministers in my Cabinet are criminals. It’s nothing, its less than 10 percent of my Ministers. That is quite a good average, and of course you know, I am very innocent.

Donald: Innocent, my foot! But first, I don’t understand, why are you in an American prison?

Bibi: Well, you see, I was indicted a couple of years ago, and while visiting here the trial was proceeding and this lunatic extra liberal judge—he must be a communist, I swear—sentenced me to jail for one year and two more on probation.

Donald [chuckling]: I guess you deserve it. You should sue the judge. If I were you, I would sue the bastard. So, what’s going to happen now?

Bibi [grimacing]: This is not funny Donald; Israel’s justice department wants me extradited to Israel.

Donald: Well buddy, I will tell my people to fly you in my own jet, you will have massages and all that, you know, like I do, wow. We’ll take care of you. I have lots of connections.

Bibi: I know, that’s why I feel lucky to be with you, to have a cellmate who knows what it’s like to be falsely accused. All I want is to play for a little time, so my attorneys settle on a game plan.

Donald: I know what you mean, this is my special talent, playing for time. But you really must have good lawyers. Boy, do I miss the Oval Office.

Bibi: Me too, you have no idea how much I miss the prime minister’s residence.

Donald: Have you ever wanted something so bad you could taste it?

Bibi [grinning]: The first thing that comes to my mind is power.

Donald: Ain’t that the truth. I don’t know about you, but I wake up every morning with a terrible hunger for power that can’t be satisfied.

Bibi [nodding]: I know exactly what you mean, power is like a drug, the more you have the more you want.

Donald: But you know Bibi, you have to be ruthless in this world to get what you want and I say if you can’t be the most powerful, be the most feared. This my specialty too, I know how to scare people to death.

Bibi: Ah. The old Machiavellian approach, I like it.

Donald: You have to do whatever it takes to gain power; you lie, cheat, threaten, conspire, bribe, intimidate. Oh, yeah, and collect dirt on everyone so that you can blackmail them when you need to, so they keep their mouth shut.

Bibi [nodding]: You are so right; I feel the same way. I do a lot of that myself, but not like you, they say power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, so what!

Donald: I like to think of it as power corrupts, but I am already corrupt, so I might as well have more power.

Bibi: You know what they say, behind every successful man there is substantial amount of corruption.

Donald: We are like twins, we lie, we cheat—but we always get away with it.

Bibi [smiling]: Right on. But you know Donald, unfortunately, there is always someone more powerful than you.

Donald: No, no, not in my case, you know I am technically still the president and even though they stole the election from me, I am still the most powerful man.

Bibi [laughing]: Well now, let’s not exaggerate.

Donald [irritated]: Who’s exaggerating?! But what troubles me is that I often dream that I am the emperor of the world, but then I wake up screaming realizing it was just a dream.

Bibi [laughing]: So what happens after that? Do you go back to sleep?

Donald: Poor Melania, she tries to calm me down, finally I go back to sleep hoping that at least I will have the same dream again. It gives me the chills.

Bibi: I can imagine, I probably would get the chills too. Do you dream the same dream again when you go back to sleep?

Donald: Yes, sometimes I do, the problem is that Melania gets so upset, after a few weeks she decided to sleep in a different bedroom.

Bibi [grinning]: That’s too bad, it must be hard on you.

Donald: Don’t be sarcastic. But it’s okay, between us, she wanted to sleep in a different bedroom for some time, she claims I snore all night. I don’t believe her, but you know women, they get tired of you. By the way, how is your out-of-control son?

Bibi: I put him on a short leash, you know, because of my troubles right now, He can be wild, but I am afraid to say that to my wife Sara. You know Sara…

Donald [smirking]: Of course, I know Sara, who doesn’t know your Sara, she is the boss, ruthless, isn’t she? I hear that she has been involved in some shady deals as well.

Bibi: Well, not really, but any way, she too sleeps in another bedroom. She is a good wife, so to speak, and a good mother, but what can I say, she gets off the rail once in a while.

Donald [laughing]: I don’t blame her, poor thing, who wants to sleep next to you…

Bibi: C’mon now, she makes the same claim, that I snore. She can be a real pain in the butt sometimes.

Donald [laughing loudly]: Only some time? Like I told you, women are all the same.

Bibi: Not all women are the same.

Donald: Oh, spare me; I know women. I must have known hundreds of them from the time I was a teenager through my marriages, while I’ve been married and in between. Name it, they are all the same, except maybe Stormy Daniels.

Bibi: I wish I had that kind of experience.

Donald: Nah, it takes a special talent, and money, and of course you have to be really handsome.

Bibi: Are you implying I am not handsome enough? You don’t know, I had my own escapades with women too. Boy, if Sara knew about that, she would lynch me, I mean literally.

Donald: My women, even my wives knew that I chase other women, but you see, I am so rich and famous, powerful, and, of course, so sexy they don’t care, they still stick around.

Bibi: Sexy? You? I think you are a lot of stuff, but sexy? I think I am charming and powerful too, but I must admit not like you.

Donald: Well, that’s obvious, I will tell the story about what happened in Moscow during the beauty pageant, that was something else, I mean crazy.

Bibi: I’d love to hear about that, you know there are all kinds of rumors, weird rumors about that beauty pageant and you.

Donald: Well, you know after the contest was finished, just imagine with all those beauties around, I invited a few of them to my presidential suite in the hotel, wow they were so impressed. What can I tell you, it was a wild, really wild night.

Bibi: Please, tell me, tell me more, please.

Donald: What I did not know was that the KGB installed several cameras from every angle of the suite, they took six hours of video—six hours. Imagine what went on for six hours, with five or six gorgeous chicks around.

Bibi: So, what happened?

Donald: Now you can understand why I had to do pretty much whatever Putin wanted me to do. He has these damn tapes in his hands, he could hang me with them if he wanted to.

Bibi [laughing]: I get it, now I know why you have become so fond of him.

Donald: Don’t be ridiculous, I am not fond of him, I hate him, he can blackmail me any time, but I also envy him because of his absolute power. I just pretend we are friends.

Bibi: I know Putin very well; he is dangerous with no scruples. I don’t think he likes me.

Donald: I told you that, nobody does. Anyway, he helped me a lot in my campaign in 2016 and I actually became the president, do you believe it? The president.

Bibi: Oh my, I did not think that anything like that could have happened, hard to believe.

Donald: Putin wanted to have that kind of influence on the President of the United States, and he still will when I formally become the president again.

Bibi: I don’t know about that, how can you become the president again when you are under such indictment?

Donald: You don’t get it. When you are in such trouble you run for president and make it hellish for the Justice Department to chase you.

Bibi: You said it, actually, I did that exactly. Tell me though, some people think that you are a Russian agent, or a puppet of the Russians.

Donald: People say all kind of things. I am not a secret agent, but I shared with them some intelligence that I got from your Mossad and other intelligence agencies.

Bibi: That can get you in real trouble! Is this why you took so many secret documents with you when you left the White House?

Donald: Actually, this is what the Russians were hoping to get from me, but I haven’t given them anything yet.

Bibi: Yet, ha! I never thought that you would go that far. Tell me, what about this thing, they accuse you of being behind the insurrection.

Donald: Insurrection, what insurrection? It was such a peaceful demonstration, beautiful, did you see the footage that Tucker Carlson showed on Fox the other night? The demonstration was so peaceful.

Bibi: But it wasn’t so peaceful, they say six people were killed and scores injured.

Donald: Nonsense, they were climbing the fence trying to hang more of our magnificent flags and just fell down and sadly were killed at the Capitol during the insurrection, I mean the beautiful peaceful demonstration. They are heroes, and the demonstrators are all patriots. They just wanted to protect the integrity of the elections and our freedom. I am so proud to be their spiritual leader.

Bibi: Spiritual leader? You? I don’t buy your story but what can I say, you are funny and terrific when you are in your element, Mr. President. [aside] What a moron.

Donald [interrupting]: What do you mean, you don’t buy my story?! Do you think I would lie about something like this?

Bibi [smirking]: I mean, listen, you are indicted for conspiracy to usurp power by force, basically, this is tantamount to treason.

Donald: Treason? What are you talking about?

Bibi: Look, you are sitting here awaiting trial. They won’t let you out even if you posted $10 million bail.

Donald: You don’t understand, I am staying here because I want to. I want my people, I mean my subjects, to be enraged, angry like hell, and if this leads to a civil war and thousands of people get killed, so what?

Bibi: You really mean that? You don’t care? Well, on second thought I would do the same. If the liberal idiots in my country continue to demonstrate and a civil war breaks out, well, they asked for it.

Donald: You see, that’s what I’m saying. If half the country burns down, so be it. When I get out of here, I will go straight to the White House.

Bibi: I think this is bit of a pipedream.

Donald: You know Bibi, what irritates me about you, you always second guess me.

Bibi: No, all I am saying is that this will not be so easy.

Donald: You keep forgetting Bibi, I get away with anything, from any trouble, any time. You keep forgetting I am Trump, Trump, remember?

Bibi: Anyway, things are getting tough though for you and me.

Donald: You know what they say, when the going gets tough, the tough get tweeting. I kept everybody glued to my Twitter account first and now to my Truth Social account.

Bibi: I must admit, you are a master manipulator alright.

Donald: That’s why I have tens of millions of followers. [quietly] They are stupid you know; they believe in anything I say.

Bibi: Funny you say that. My people follow me too, just like blind sheep.

Donald: You said it, that’s my forte, and may be yours, not quite.

Bibi: Tell me, I am eager to know, what about that famous phone call you made to Georgia’s Secretary of State asking him to switch some 12,000 ballots from Democrats to Republicans?

Donald: Oh, c’mon now, this was a perfect phone call. What’s wrong with that, the elections were stolen from me, and I just wanted to make things right.

Bibi: They are about to indict you on charges of conspiracy and violation of elections laws…

Donald: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s all bogus, nothing will come out of that.

Bibi: But these are very serious charges.

Donald: You think I’m just going to wait and see what’s going to happen? I made sure that the Republican legislators in Georgia pass new laws so they can fire any prosecutor at will, and this Black woman in the District Attorney’s seat will soon be gone, gone, gone. All charges will be dropped.

Bibi: My situation is almost like yours. I am charged with taking a bribe, but the rich businessman who gave the money enjoyed giving it to me and I enjoyed taking it. Nobody got hurt, it was a perfect bribe.

Donald: I guess we are both too perfect for our own good, we’ll be more than okay. The liberals in your country and the Democrats here will pay the price. I am the master of retribution.

Bibi: Sure, I hope so. But let me ask you, you just said this Black woman, this sounds terribly racist.

Donald: So? Everybody knows we white people are shrinking; Blacks, Hispanic, Asians, and what have you are taking over. We white supremacists—uh, I mean white people, must protect ourselves.

Bibi: But being so openly racist…

Donald: Look who’s talking about being a racist! You are as racist as they come. You hate every Palestinian. Every day your settlers, your soldiers, kill 5, 6 Palestinians.

Bibi: Your name should be Mr. Hyperbole. We kill on the average only 2 Palestinians a day, what’s the matter with you? But whatever, you are a genuine racist, you probably hate the Jews too.

Donald: Listen, you don’t understand. We have to do whatever it takes. By the way I have many Jewish friends. Remember, my son in law is Jewish, and my daughter converted to Judaism.

Bibi: Nice, nice cover. You are antisemitic, disgusting.

Donald: I am against lots of things. You are anti-Palestinian in your soul, and you know it.

Bibi: That is something else altogether.

Donald: Yeah, yeah, yeah, even though you do not deserve it, I promise you when I am released, I will come and visit you. Can you imagine, you are going to get a Presidential visit.

Bibi: That will be great, but you never know, I might get out of here first.

Donald: Don’t be ridiculous. First of all, you are not me, and second you did not collect enough dirt on a lot of people, like I did, to keep them loyal to you.

Bibi: Listen, the fact that I have been accused of all kinds of stuff, I don’t know, bribery, breach of trust, fraud, whatever, it’s all lies. I will prove it.

Donald [nodding]: These liberals can’t stand people like you and me just because we want to restore some sanity to our countries.

Bibi: You said it, you said it, Donald. I still think that I will be out of here without a scratch.

Donald: Cut the crap now, you are in a lot of trouble, man. You want to destroy the judiciary and what’s left of your democracy. Unlike in the USA, presidents and prime ministers go to jail in your country.

Bibi: Frankly, that what actually frightens me the most. Even though everything I am trying to do is for the good of my country, they just hate me, they love to hate me. I don’t understand.

Donald [laughs]: I can see why they hate you, in fact, I don’t like you either.

Bibi [smirking]: Well, why, are you jealous or something, because I have been in politics longer than you and I know all the tricks? Anyway, I hope you don’t mean that.

Donald: Yes, I do because you really think that you are smarter than me, don’t you?

Bibi: I never said that.

Donald: You don’t have to, it’s all over you face.

Bibi: Anyway, it’s getting late, I am going to sleep.

Donald: Me too.

Bibi: Hey, don’t have one of those crazy dreams of yours that you are the emperor and then wake up screaming because you realize it was just a dream. I want to sleep.

Donald: You are such a self-centered person, narcissist to the core, worse even than me, if that is at all possible. Now I know for sure why I really dislike you. Go have your own nightmares. [to himself] Hell, how am I gonna sleep tonight? Stormyyyyyy, Stormy, where are you when I need you?!

Trump: How are you, Bibi? I guess it’s okay to call you Bibi?