The Empire Strikes Backpain
The placebo that cured everything, and the latest news.
Hey Friends,
According to the New York Times, a study has found that among 56 treatments of lower back pain, none have worked better than a placebo.
This means that after decades of back pain, I've been treating it the wrong way–and I could have been getting better results by taking sugar pills.
No cure is better than thinking that you found one.
Let's get to The News.
Hot Takes
Week 12 of 2025
No Chief Justice. No Peace.
To quote myself from above, "No cure is better than thinking that you found one."
This applies so well to our day. We have a government whose usefulness only goes as far as our belief in it. Without our belief, it may not even exist.
Over the last 200 years, we have had a democracy as effective as the sugar pills I'll now be taking for my lower back pain. When we believed in it, it was the ibuprofen of the masses. We took two (and sometimes four) and the moment we swallowed it, we started feeling better. We continued taking it and recommending it to others, as long as it appeared to be working. But some stopped believing in it and insisted they needed something stronger. Then they switched to heroin, the DOGE of the masses, and all the hype that came with it was enough to convince them the government was becoming better, even if by removing all the people who know how to make it work. But even for DOGE, or MAGA — its power only exists if we believe in it, like we once believed in laws.
Let's take a moment to think about judges. They wear robes with shrouded pleats from head to toe; they carry a gavel carved of rich timbers and sit upon a throne that towers them above the subjects they rule over. Yet all of these mythical features have no magical powers. They are simply symbols, there only to create the appearance of their power. Power that does not exist except that we all agreed we needed someone to make sure we were reasoned people who followed laws.
Until a few weeks ago, we had a system of judges, governors, state legislators, and federal members of Congress, all chosen through the course of elections, local and national, and the only powers they had was that which we gave to them. Because we believed in our vote, in the office, and in the laws that governed them.
But it was nothing more than a placebo, that worked because we were convinced enough. Then someone decided he could replace that cure with a new placebo — his power alone was the only cure. But for a cure to work, one must first want to be cured.
Over the last week, Trump deported several Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, citing the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as justification. The circumstances were suspect, and a judge said they may have been against the law, after which he ordered the planes carrying the immigrants to return. Trump defied the ruling and called for the judge to be impeached.
Even the conservative Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court rebuked these actions, saying publicly, without saying names, that impeachment when a judge rules against you is not the answer. The law is.
This is only true if we believe it to be.
This is the reason I have railed on Trump in these pages. I used to be a fan of Trump when he was a mythical figure for entrepreneurs. But now, if you believe I am too frequently critical of Trump here in these posts, you are correct.
It is not because of his policies regarding immigration in general or because of his policy positions on DEI, the economy, or foreign relations. Some of those ideas I can even agree with in the moments I look past the rhetoric and spin from the media covering him. But even for those I don't align with, it is not his policies that I take issue with. It is because he does not have respect for the law. And if The President of The United States does not respect its laws and its government, we may cease to believe that it ever existed.
And soon enough, it will not.
John Fritze
Don’t Testla Me.
And on to other news: terrorism is up even if immigration is down. First, it was the World Trade Center. Now, it’s Tesla dealerships. So Pam Bondi has stepped in to warn us all that there are serious consequences for what she is calling domestic terrorism – people burning up cars at Tesla dealerships. She's right; blowing up a Tesla is not a cool thing to do; it's best to let them do that on their own. Hopefully, Pammy can pull George Bush out of retirement – and, if we’re really lucky, Jack Bauer – to torture the suspects until we get the information we need out of them. George will demand more waterboarding, and Jack will repeat himself at increasing volume and will no doubt take the whole operation down in no time. (more)
Israel Strikes Back
In modern-day Star Wars move, the Rebel Forces (led by Hamas Solo) have refused to comply with Israel's demands. So, under the direction of Darth Netanyahu, the Empire strikes back, and R2D2 and C3PO, back in Gaza, are gonna need repairs. To be more precise, Israel has stepped up attacks after an extended ceasefire. Netanyahu says attacks will continue until Hamas releases all hostages. Science fantasy references aside, it's important for me to point out one view on this – when you invade any country, that country will do everything it can in response to eliminate the threat. I think zero deaths is ideal, but focusing on the moral solution through any one person's eyes is harder than you think. The "easy solutions" are usually the hardest to achieve. I wrote about it back in November of 2023, when this war started. You can read that here.
WWJFKD?
Actually, it was still Lee Harvey Oswald who killed President John F. Kennedy. This week, Trump released several files about the assassination of JFK, and in a twist, all the movies were better, including the one with Kevin Costner. There was little revealed in the 80,000 pages released, at least so far. No big findings or conspiracies bolstered. We didn’t even get a big reveal about the Marilyn Monroe affair, whether Kennedy was against vaccines like his nephew or if he liked egg salad sandwiches. Nothing – other than a little evidence that the CIA was behind his killing. Fine. Sources inside the government have said, and I quote, "Yawn." But tabloids are leaning in, so here's more on that.
The World is a Goodwill
And a gently used Donbas region is for sale. Ukraine has become the thrift store for Russian oligarchs. In a call with Trump, Putin agreed to stop targeting Ukraine's energy, but attacks on energy bars and energy drinks are still on the table. Trump still believes he has cards to play and is putting pressure on Putin to arrive at some sort of peace deal. To learn more, just Google "cheap deals on wheat farms and 'raw earth' minerals" or just catch up here for more.
That's it for this week.
Remember: The Lorem Ipsum makes everyone feel better, but clinical studies have not been able to verify its effectiveness in a double-blind placebo trial with complete certainty. Doctors recommend you share with friends to find out!
Have a great weekend!