Silicon Curtain

Silicon Bites Ep400 | 2026-09-15 | A Putin-decorated oligarch paid for Don Jr's wedding party. Jared Kushner was a guest. Four months later, Kushner spoke remotely to an event in Kyiv and explained that the obstacle to peace is Ukraine. He is clearly upset that Ukraine won’t surrender, won’t capitulate to the aggressor, acquiesce to be erased. Both stories are crashing into our timelines today, in waves of disbelief, outrage and nausea. These are simply the worst people, dragging us to hell. Fireworks launched from a barge over the Caribbean. A five-tier cake airlifted in from Florida. Helicopters and seaplanes landing on a pair of ultra-exclusive private islands. The president's eldest son lifting his bride into the air on the sand. ----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.org----------Dedicated to the bravest person I know - who has set their will implacably against the enemy, who would stop at nothing to defend their land, their language, their family and their freedom. May they see live to see Ukraine liberated, and the enemy defeated and ground to dust. SOURCES:ProPublica — Donald Trump Jr.'s Bahamas Wedding Was Secretly Bankrolled by Russian Oligarch Close to Putin, 14 September 2026 (full text as syndicated): https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-jr-2677854200/Meduza (English) — Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund Donald Trump Jr.'s Bahamas wedding, 14 September 2026: https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/09/14/russian-oligarch-umar-kremlev-spent-hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars-to-help-fund-donald-trump-jr-s-bahamas-weddingCBS News — Donald Trump Jr.'s wife says Russian oligarch hosted post-wedding festivities as a "gift", 14 September 2026: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-jr-wife-wedding-russian-umar-kremlev/Forbes — Donald Trump Jr. And Wife Defend Lavish Wedding 'Gift' From Russian Oligarch, 14 September 2026: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2026/09/14/donald-trump-jr-and-wife-defend-lavish-wedding-gift-from-russian-oligarch/Axios — What we know about the Putin ally who allegedly funded Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding, 14 September 2026: https://www.axios.com/2026/09/14/umar-kremlev-donald-trump-jr-wedding-bahamasThe Washington Times — Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding partially funded by Russian oligarch, ProPublica reports, 14 September 2026: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/sep/14/donald-trump-jrs-wedding-partially-funded-russian-oligarch-propublica/The Hill — Top Oversight Democrat wants answers on Russian oligarch's role in Trump Jr.'s wedding, 14 September 2026: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/6088330-garcia-questions-russian-oligarch-funding/Rolling Stone — Don Jr.'s Wife Confirms Putin Ally Paid for Huge Portion of Wedding, 14 September 2026: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/putin-ally-umar-kremlev-paid-don-jr-wedding-1235626155/Ukraine War & Sanctions register (GUR) — entry for the All-Russian public movement "Healthy Fatherland", kidnappers section: https://war-sanctions.gur.gov.ua/en/kidnappers/companies/11460Proekt (English) — investigation into Umar Kremlev and Alexei Rubezhnoi: https://www.proekt.media/en/guide-en/kremlev-rubezhnoy/----------

Jason Jay Smart is a political adviser who has lived and worked in Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Latin America. Due to his work with the democratic opposition to Vladimir Putin, Smart was made persona non grata for life by Russia in 2010. Jason is a Special Correspondent at the Kyiv Post. It’s the state of US support for Ukraine that we will discuss today.----------LINKS:https://jasonjaysmart.com/ https://www.kyivpost.com/authors/5 https://americanpoliticalservices.com/https://www.facebook.com/jasonjaysmarthttps://twitter.com/officejjsmart ----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------ACTIVE CAMPAIGN:We are raising funds for 5 of 15 Vampire DronesSilicon Curtain for Kupiansk Vampires. Dzyga’s Paw, together with Jonathan Fink, is joining forces to raise $40,000 to provide the Khartiia Brigade with Vampire Drones.https://dzygaspaw.com/silicon-curtain-for-kupiansk-vampiresThese heavy bombers are designed to destroy manpower and equipment, as well as for remote mining. The Vampire UAV, manufactured by Skyfall, has proven itself to be one of the most effective weapons in the Kupiansk direction. Skyfall is one of Ukraine’s largest defense tech companies, producing Vampire bomber drones, various modifications of Shrike FPV drones, P1-SUN, Shahed drone interceptors, communication systems, and components.----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Car4Ukrainehttps://car4ukraine.com/en-US/campaignsDzyga's Pawhttps://dzygaspaw.com/projectsSuperhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/----------PLATFORMS:Substack: https://substack.com/@siliconcurtainTwitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSiliconLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqm----------

Silicon Bites Ep399 | 2026-09-13 | Putin's terror reaches the EU's doorstep — and Washington's answer is not to ask Russia to stop committing war crimes daily, but to ask Ukraine to stop hitting Russian diesel. We are seeing moral and political bankruptcy in real time. Putin is scaling up his terror campaign against Ukraine and sending messages to its allies. Border crossings are being struck regularly, passenger trains and petrol stations in the Kyiv area. What was confined to frontline areas, and fortress cities such as Kharkiv, is now being seen in Kyiv and the extreme Western end of Ukraine. The scale of Russia's terror campaign is increasing in scale, lethality, criminality and vindictiveness. These are war crimes, every single act of Russian violence, of course.But there's also a purpose to it. To make Ukrainian cities unliveable, and life intolerable. To bleed the economy white and destroy Ukraine’s export potential. It’s also designed to discourage foreigners from visiting and deter allies from supporting Ukraine. And it’s not Russia alone that is escalating in a vacuum – it has impunity, permission even to do so. The lethargy, weakness and duplicity of some in the West, the greed and selfishness, especially the Trump regime, is becoming starker and more revolting with each day passing, each crime. ----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.org----------Dedicated to the bravest person I know - who has set their will implacably against the enemy, who would stop at nothing to defend their land, their language, their family and their freedom. May they see live to see Ukraine liberated, and the enemy defeated and ground to dust. SOURCES:----------

Silicon Bites Ep398 | 2026-09-12 | Prepare for an oil shock, and economic reverberations. We are living in a bubble of stability that is going to be shaken to its core, but a sequence of events triggered by Trump’s war against Iran, and of course it is likely linked to Putin’s attempts to erase Ukraine since 2022. Let’s unpack this story that is being dramatically under reported in the world’s media. Saudi Arabia's escape route from the Straits of Hormuz is burning, the Houthis have taken Bab al-Mandeb, and the tactical genius in the White House has just handed Vladimir Putin a chunk of his war budget back, through a spike in world oil prices. Prepare for chaos and pain. ----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.org----------SOURCES:----------

​Rick's Last Campaign Before Joining The Army: https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/ricks-last-campaign-before-joining-the-army----------@ricktheukrainian is from Ukraine, and every Sunday gets together with his community online (the Rick Rollers), to make video content and raise funds for the Defense Forces of Ukraine. Rick is originally from Makiivka in the Donetsk area, and lived under Russian occupation for several years following the 2014 invasion of Crimea and Donbas. His weekly streams are attended by different Ukrainian and pro-Ukrainian guests. He talks about the Russian war against Ukraine and its culture, music and historic places. Rick translates and dubs Zolkin and Karpenko's interviews with Russian POWs into English, making them accessible to a Western audience, and providing extraordinary insights into the Russian mindset.----------LINKS:YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ricktheukrainianBuy Me a Coffee (or become a member): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ricktheukr/membership----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Car4Ukrainehttps://car4ukraine.com/en-US/campaignsDzyga's Pawhttps://dzygaspaw.com/projectsSuperhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/----------PLATFORMS:Substack: https://substack.com/@siliconcurtainTwitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSiliconLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqm----------