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Near the capital of Apia in the nation of Samoa (formerly Western Samoa, and before that German Samoa) was where Robert Louis Stevenson settled down during the last 5 years of his short life. The fragile genius carved an estate out of the jungle which is now a wonderful museum. 
Just a 10-min drive from downtown Apia, the house/museum provides a vivid glimpse into Stevenson's life and late 19th-c. Samoa. Next to the house is a steep path leading to his grave at the summit of Mt. Vaea, a path made by the locals and called the "Road of the Loving Hearts."
I cover the adventurous life and timeless South Seas works of Robert Louis Stevenson in my lecture series 'South Pacific Stories' which explores the rich literary and cinematic legacy of this fascinating region of our world.
The CIA said it could find no information on Epstein, but it did not deny that it has classified records. It must release them, says @RepNancyMace in a letter to @CIADirector John Ratcliffe. Mace cites evidence suggesting ties between Epstein and the agency going back decades.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) could find no information relating to Jeffrey Epstein, it told the financier convicted of child sex trafficking in 2011. “We searched for CIA-originated responsive records that might reflect an open or otherwise acknowledged Agency affiliation from 5 November 1999,” said the CIA in a letter to Epstein’s attorney, “to 25 July 2011… We were unable to locate any information or records.”
But there are reasons to believe that the CIA does have records on Epstein, says Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) in a letter she sent today to CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
“Epstein did business or had ties to individuals who were involved in the CIA’s Iran-Contra scandal,” noted Mace. “Epstein had contact with powerful diplomats, including former CIA Director William Burns, and representatives of foreign governments, including a UK official who recently was forced to step down after it was revealed that he gave Epstein confidential financial information.”
Mace is one of the four Republican congressmen who broke with President Donald Trump to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which does not require the CIA or other intelligence agencies to disclose what they know. The other members were Thomas Massie, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Public. We will update this story if we hear back.
It may be that the CIA has no information about Epstein, whose emails show him repeatedly contacting many powerful individuals, and it would be wrong to presume guilt simply through an association. In recent days, some figures have been forced to step down from prominent roles without any evidence of wrongdoing. Through a spokesperson, Burns said he recalled meeting with Epstein twice, “more than a decade ago as the Ambassador was preparing to leave government service… He never met with him again. They had no relationship.”
William Burns testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on his nomination to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Capitol Hill in Washington,DC,on February 24, 2021. (Photo by TOM BRENNER / POOL / AFP)
But Burns acknowledged that he was in a powerful State Department role at the time and did not say what they discussed. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2023 that Burns “had three meetings scheduled with Epstein in 2014, when he was deputy secretary of state, the documents show. They first met in Washington and then Mr. Burns visited Epstein’s townhouse in Manhattan.”
And Mace notes that the CIA’s National Resources Division (NR) “would likely have had extensive contact with Epstein over the years, given its focus on debriefing high-level business people and investors who travel frequently abroad, do business with foreign officials, and who have links to restricted areas, which Epstein appeared to have.”
Last September, Rolling Stone journalist Daniel Boguslaw reported in Unherd, “Two former CIA officers and one former intelligence official told me that the NR is conspicuously absent from the Epstein debate. This, even as the NR must have conducted interviews with the man going back decades. The NR should also have maintained records of those conversations, according to all three officials.”
The CIA formed NR, Boguslaw noted, in 1991 to recruit foreigners in the US to spy abroad and to debrief Americans who travel frequently overseas, thereby gathering intelligence.
“It is inconceivable, given Jeffrey Epstein’s travel record and associations, that he was not approached by the NR at some point before his death,” a former CIA officer told Boguslaw. “It would have left the New York NR division in the lurch not to have contacted him…Every walk-in, every contact, every handling, every meeting, every termination — you are supposed to document it in official cable traffic.”
None of this is proof that the CIA worked with Epstein. Some prominent figures have stepped down simply for an association with Epstein, which has given rise to concerns that the Epstein Files have turned into a witchhunt, like occurred during the “#MeToo” era, starting in 2017, and the baseless Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 1990s.
Recently, the Department of Justice, under pressure from Epstein Transparency Act co-sponsors Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, unredacted the names of private people who are not implicated in any crime.
Adnan Khashoggi (2nd left) at an evening event with Alfonso Prince of Hohenlohe Langenburg in Marbella, Spain, 1985. (Photo by Wolfgang Kuhn/United Archives via Getty Images)
And the CIA did not deny the existence of classified records, noted Mace. The CIA, in its letter to Epstein,” said it could “neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of responsive records,” noted Mace. “This amounts to a refusal by the CIA to acknowledge whether records existed to link the CIA to Epstein, going as far to say even acknowledging if they exist or is not ‘classified.’”
Epstein’s ties to CIA-linked people go back decades. “One of Epstein’s first clients was Adnan Khashoggi,” notes Mace, “the Saudi arms dealer who was the central middleman in the CIA’s illegal Iran-Contra operation. Epstein oversaw the repurposing of CIA front/contractor ‘Southern Air Transport’ for Leslie Wexner. Epstein worked for Douglas Leese, an arms dealer who introduced Epstein to Khashoggi. Epstein appears to have been an intermediary to Norinco, the Chinese state-owned defense company. and Epstein held ties with the cofounder and owner of US military contractor DynCorp.”
US Middle East peace envoy William Burns (L) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, as Foreign Minister Shimon Peres looks on, before their meeting in Jerusalem 09 June 2001. As international diplomatic efforts to restore calm in the Middle East grow, Israel and the Palestinians prepared their answers to US proposals on a way out of their crisis after tense security talks with CIA chief George Tenet the previous day. AFP PHOTO/Menahem KAHANA (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
Drop Site News reported in December, “investigators in both the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and Ohio’s Office of Inspector General were looking into Southern Air Transport amid rising public scrutiny of the Iran-Contra affair—and sources in both offices identified Jeffrey Epstein as having a pivotal role in relocating the planes.”
Mace notes that one of Epstein’s attorneys, Kathryn Ruemmler, “who was also White House counsel under President Barack Obama, received the highest honor from the CIA from then-Director John Brennan, and told Epstein about it.”
Kathryn Ruemmler
Wrote Mace, “All of this suggests that not only does the CIA have information on Epstein, it should have a large amount of information, over several decades, and covering many issues…. We respectfully request the CIA search all records, classified and unclassified, to identify any records” and “to the maximum extent allowable by law, should be disclosed to the public.”
But there are reasons to believe that the CIA does have records on Epstein, says Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) in a letter she sent today to CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
“Epstein did business or had ties to individuals who were involved in the CIA’s Iran-Contra scandal,” noted Mace. “Epstein had contact with powerful diplomats, including former CIA Director William Burns, and representatives of foreign governments, including a UK official who recently was forced to step down after it was revealed that he gave Epstein confidential financial information.”
Mace is one of the four Republican congressmen who broke with President Donald Trump to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which does not require the CIA or other intelligence agencies to disclose what they know. The other members were Thomas Massie, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Public. We will update this story if we hear back.
It may be that the CIA has no information about Epstein, whose emails show him repeatedly contacting many powerful individuals, and it would be wrong to presume guilt simply through an association. In recent days, some figures have been forced to step down from prominent roles without any evidence of wrongdoing. Through a spokesperson, Burns said he recalled meeting with Epstein twice, “more than a decade ago as the Ambassador was preparing to leave government service… He never met with him again. They had no relationship.”
William Burns testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on his nomination to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Capitol Hill in Washington,DC,on February 24, 2021. (Photo by TOM BRENNER / POOL / AFP)
But Burns acknowledged that he was in a powerful State Department role at the time and did not say what they discussed. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2023 that Burns “had three meetings scheduled with Epstein in 2014, when he was deputy secretary of state, the documents show. They first met in Washington and then Mr. Burns visited Epstein’s townhouse in Manhattan.”
And Mace notes that the CIA’s National Resources Division (NR) “would likely have had extensive contact with Epstein over the years, given its focus on debriefing high-level business people and investors who travel frequently abroad, do business with foreign officials, and who have links to restricted areas, which Epstein appeared to have.”
Last September, Rolling Stone journalist Daniel Boguslaw reported in Unherd, “Two former CIA officers and one former intelligence official told me that the NR is conspicuously absent from the Epstein debate. This, even as the NR must have conducted interviews with the man going back decades. The NR should also have maintained records of those conversations, according to all three officials.”
The CIA formed NR, Boguslaw noted, in 1991 to recruit foreigners in the US to spy abroad and to debrief Americans who travel frequently overseas, thereby gathering intelligence.
“It is inconceivable, given Jeffrey Epstein’s travel record and associations, that he was not approached by the NR at some point before his death,” a former CIA officer told Boguslaw. “It would have left the New York NR division in the lurch not to have contacted him…Every walk-in, every contact, every handling, every meeting, every termination — you are supposed to document it in official cable traffic.”
None of this is proof that the CIA worked with Epstein. Some prominent figures have stepped down simply for an association with Epstein, which has given rise to concerns that the Epstein Files have turned into a witchhunt, like occurred during the “#MeToo” era, starting in 2017, and the baseless Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 1990s.
Recently, the Department of Justice, under pressure from Epstein Transparency Act co-sponsors Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, unredacted the names of private people who are not implicated in any crime.
Adnan Khashoggi (2nd left) at an evening event with Alfonso Prince of Hohenlohe Langenburg in Marbella, Spain, 1985. (Photo by Wolfgang Kuhn/United Archives via Getty Images)
And the CIA did not deny the existence of classified records, noted Mace. The CIA, in its letter to Epstein,” said it could “neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of responsive records,” noted Mace. “This amounts to a refusal by the CIA to acknowledge whether records existed to link the CIA to Epstein, going as far to say even acknowledging if they exist or is not ‘classified.’”
Epstein’s ties to CIA-linked people go back decades. “One of Epstein’s first clients was Adnan Khashoggi,” notes Mace, “the Saudi arms dealer who was the central middleman in the CIA’s illegal Iran-Contra operation. Epstein oversaw the repurposing of CIA front/contractor ‘Southern Air Transport’ for Leslie Wexner. Epstein worked for Douglas Leese, an arms dealer who introduced Epstein to Khashoggi. Epstein appears to have been an intermediary to Norinco, the Chinese state-owned defense company. and Epstein held ties with the cofounder and owner of US military contractor DynCorp.”
US Middle East peace envoy William Burns (L) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, as Foreign Minister Shimon Peres looks on, before their meeting in Jerusalem 09 June 2001. As international diplomatic efforts to restore calm in the Middle East grow, Israel and the Palestinians prepared their answers to US proposals on a way out of their crisis after tense security talks with CIA chief George Tenet the previous day. AFP PHOTO/Menahem KAHANA (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
Drop Site News reported in December, “investigators in both the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and Ohio’s Office of Inspector General were looking into Southern Air Transport amid rising public scrutiny of the Iran-Contra affair—and sources in both offices identified Jeffrey Epstein as having a pivotal role in relocating the planes.”
Mace notes that one of Epstein’s attorneys, Kathryn Ruemmler, “who was also White House counsel under President Barack Obama, received the highest honor from the CIA from then-Director John Brennan, and told Epstein about it.”
Kathryn Ruemmler
Wrote Mace, “All of this suggests that not only does the CIA have information on Epstein, it should have a large amount of information, over several decades, and covering many issues…. We respectfully request the CIA search all records, classified and unclassified, to identify any records” and “to the maximum extent allowable by law, should be disclosed to the public.”
Here is @RepNancyMace letter to @CIADirector Ratcliffe.
I've been microdosing for 9 years. 4 of those, I was a wildland firefighter — where getting the dose wrong meant people could get hurt.
I just built the thing I wish existed when I started.
It's free.
I just built the thing I wish existed when I started.
It's free.
It's called Stealing Fire.
A free community + resource vault for people who are serious about psychedelics but tired of the corporate wellness bullshit and the $5,000 retreat gatekeeping.
A free community + resource vault for people who are serious about psychedelics but tired of the corporate wellness bullshit and the $5,000 retreat gatekeeping.
Inside the free Vault: harm reduction guides, contraindication info, legal status by state, testing protocols, dosing frameworks — everything I learned in 9 years, organized and accessible.
No paywall on any of it.
No paywall on any of it.
FT: Zelenskyy at Munich said he'd hold elections but only after two months of ceasefire and with security guarantees in place.
He's pushing back hard on US pressure to hold votes by May 15. 1/
He's pushing back hard on US pressure to hold votes by May 15. 1/
Washington wants elections and a peace deal by mid-May, with security guarantees contingent on the broader settlement. Kyiv insists security guarantees must come before any peace deal is signed. 2/
White House is pressing — “hold presidential elections and a referendum on any peace deal by May 15 or risk losing US security guarantees entirely.” That's the ultimatum hanging over Zelenskyy in Munich. 3/
Xi Jinping purged 5 of 6 generals in China's top military body over past three years. He reaches back to Maoist tactics of "rectification."
Only two members left in Central Military Commission: Xi and Vice Chairman who oversees purges — The NYT. 1/
Only two members left in Central Military Commission: Xi and Vice Chairman who oversees purges — The NYT. 1/
In January, Xi called on China to remember Yan'an, where Mao transformed guerrilla fighters into disciplined force through campaign of political terror that eliminated rivals and cemented his absolute authority. 2/
Last year 983,000 officials punished for violating party rules — highest number on record.
John Garnaut, Garnaut Global founder: "Xi believes he needs to build foundation of absolute ideological unity and personal loyalty for future battles." 3/
John Garnaut, Garnaut Global founder: "Xi believes he needs to build foundation of absolute ideological unity and personal loyalty for future battles." 3/
Finland Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen: Russia has most of its biggest strategic capabilities in nuclear, submarines, and long-range bombers in the Kola Peninsula area.
They are building new military facilities along our border, same as in the Cold War — United24. 1/
They are building new military facilities along our border, same as in the Cold War — United24. 1/
Kola Peninsula hosts most of Russia's sea-based strategic nuclear arsenal — submarines and long-range aviation assets.
Häkkänen: "It would be wise to watch the Arctic and build Arctic capabilities for deterrence. High North should have been treated as priority years ago." 2/
Häkkänen: "It would be wise to watch the Arctic and build Arctic capabilities for deterrence. High North should have been treated as priority years ago." 2/
Finland's forces are "fully Arctic" and ready to share expertise with allies. Finland requested funding under $177.8b EU defense loan scheme.
$1.19b approved by European Commission last month. Big part of money will go to land forces: armored vehicles and drones. 3X
$1.19b approved by European Commission last month. Big part of money will go to land forces: armored vehicles and drones. 3X
As always, it's a good idea for ACNA ppl to read through @ArlieColes' meticulous documentation.
You may think this is a non-issue, but Title IV impacts how allegations against *bishops* will be adjudicated, so here's how I see it mattering, but I'd love to hear from others too🧵
You may think this is a non-issue, but Title IV impacts how allegations against *bishops* will be adjudicated, so here's how I see it mattering, but I'd love to hear from others too🧵
I always encourage ppl to review their *diocesan* canons b/c that is where you are going to find info re: training your clergy receives & how concerns in your parish will be handled.
This advice still holds. Find out if your diocese cares about a trauma-informed framework.+
This advice still holds. Find out if your diocese cares about a trauma-informed framework.+
Same with your parish. Most ppl (speaking broadly) are going to be most impacted by things at the parish & diocesan level.
That being said, what happens at the provincial level does trickle down, esp if you have concerns about a bishop, as we have ample recent evidence. +
That being said, what happens at the provincial level does trickle down, esp if you have concerns about a bishop, as we have ample recent evidence. +
The problem for an independent EU nuclear deterrence force is sheer numbers, the EU lack of them.
What the Putinists have proven is that Western deterrence assumptions about "acceptable losses" were naive mirrored thinking, attributing Western values to Russia.
1/
What the Putinists have proven is that Western deterrence assumptions about "acceptable losses" were naive mirrored thinking, attributing Western values to Russia.
1/
The assumption of credible "deterrent effect" has to be shifted into the loss band of annihilation of threat forces - anything less than that, as the Ukraine war proves, is an acceptable loss for the Putinists.
We are at over a million Russian casualties to date.
2/theguardian.com/world/2026/jan…
We are at over a million Russian casualties to date.
2/theguardian.com/world/2026/jan…
That means a 200 kiloton nuke in either St. Petersburg or Moscow, or dozens of tactical nukes into airfields & missile fields across Western Russia as an EU nuclear response to a Russian first strike are acceptable at a minimum.
3/
3/
The 'Real Life Mulan', Cathay Williams.
Cathay had to pose as a MALE to be enlisted as a union soldier, becoming the only documented Black woman to serve as a Buffalo Soldier.
A THREAD
Cathay had to pose as a MALE to be enlisted as a union soldier, becoming the only documented Black woman to serve as a Buffalo Soldier.
A THREAD
Cathay was born and enslaved in 1850 in Jackson County, Missouri. In September 1861 Union troops impressed Cathay and she joined the Army to work as a cook and washerwoman for Union Army officers.
On November 15th, 1866 Williams disguised herself as a man and enlisted as William Cathey, serving in Company A of the 38th Infantry, a newly-formed all-black U.S. Army Regiment, one of its earliest recruits.
The United States has no obligation to host criminals who endanger the American people. A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right.
In this Trump Administration’s first year, we revoked over 100k visas from the Worst of the Worst - DUI, child abuse, and assault. A few examples:
In this Trump Administration’s first year, we revoked over 100k visas from the Worst of the Worst - DUI, child abuse, and assault. A few examples:
One foreign national was arrested multiple times for domestic violence and public intoxication, PLUS violating bail. No regard for decency -- or our laws.
Visa revoked.
Visa revoked.
Another foreign national came to the U.S. to teach young students -- then was arrested for sexually assaulting one.
Visa revoked.
Visa revoked.
🚨 Just learned about a 2300-year-old concept I can't stop thinking about
The Empty Boat Theory
It explains why Elon Musk fights strangers on X at 2 am
Why Michael Jordan turned his Hall of Fame speech into a revenge list
Once you understand it, your life will never be same:🧵
The Empty Boat Theory
It explains why Elon Musk fights strangers on X at 2 am
Why Michael Jordan turned his Hall of Fame speech into a revenge list
Once you understand it, your life will never be same:🧵
A Chinese sage named Zhuangzi wrote it.
Imagine crossing a river.
Another boat crashes into yours.
You explode in anger.
But when you look closely… the boat is empty.
No one to blame.
Your anger suddenly looks foolish.
Imagine crossing a river.
Another boat crashes into yours.
You explode in anger.
But when you look closely… the boat is empty.
No one to blame.
Your anger suddenly looks foolish.
Zhuangzi’s point was brutal.
We suffer more from the story in our head than from the event itself.
An empty boat still hits you.
The damage is the same.
Only your interpretation changes.
Meaning creates the wound.
We suffer more from the story in our head than from the event itself.
An empty boat still hits you.
The damage is the same.
Only your interpretation changes.
Meaning creates the wound.
🧵1/10 Let's talk about United Vision for Idaho (UVI), a progressive nonprofit coalition based in Boise. Founded in 1994, it's Idaho's largest statewide group pushing for social, economic, and environmental justice.
They focus on uniting rural, urban, and suburban communities to fight inequality and build "inclusive democracy." Their mission: dismantle oppression and advocate for equitable power distribution.
They focus on uniting rural, urban, and suburban communities to fight inequality and build "inclusive democracy." Their mission: dismantle oppression and advocate for equitable power distribution.
UVI is tax-exempt under 501(c)(3), with EIN 82-0481853. Their latest Form 990 Schedule O (submitted April 2025) shows they received a $35,000 affiliate grant from People's Action Institute (PAI) for general operating expenses. PAI's 2023 990 also lists total support to UVI affiliates at $137,500.
Source: PAI 2023 Form 990 PDF → peoplesactioninstitute.org/wp-content/upl…
Source: PAI 2023 Form 990 PDF → peoplesactioninstitute.org/wp-content/upl…
2b/10 PAI's 2023 major contributors (from Schedule B of their Form 990) include: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ($8,925,000), JPB Foundation ($2,750,000), Democracy Fund ($1,750,000), BuildUS Economy Fund via Amalgamated ($1,560,000), Wellspring Philanthropic Fund ($1,500,000), and The Heartland Foundation ($675,000). These large foundation grants fueled PAI's operations and affiliate support like the UVI grant. Source: peoplesactioninstitute.org/wp-content/upl…
