Well, howdy there, Internet people, it's Bell again. And welcome to the Roads with Bell.

Today is August 24, 2025, and this is episode 105 of the Roads Not Taken, which is a weekly series where we go over the news that was unreported,

underreported, didn't get the coverage

we thought it deserved or we just found it interesting. And then we go through some questions

from y'all. Today is August 24th and today is Pluto demoted day. Dana demanded I use that one.

And on this date in 1891, Thomas Edison's team filed the patent for his version of the

motion picture camera.

And starting with foreign policy.

Trump threatened tariffs against Russia, a country the U.S. barely

does any trade with. This would be completely ineffective. Meanwhile, Ukraine has broadened

its hits against Russian refineries, and parts of Russia are facing shortages, and the cost of fuel is surging. Trump seems to be

very upset that Putin embarrassed him. Foreign policy is hard. European and Indian postal

services have suspended service to the U.S. over Trump's import taxes. North Korea's leader

honored the country's forces who were killed fighting for Putin in Ukraine. Trump's trade war

continues to hammer America with a decline in tourism. The integrated food security phase classification

declared famine in the area around Gaza City. To be clear, this is the international

declaration of famine in Phase 5. Their projection is for it to spread beyond Gaza City. In U.S. news, the Admiral over

Naval Special Warfare Command appears to have been pushed out. There's no known reason as of yet.

This, paired with the removal of the DIA chief, is sparking speculation

and rumors about readiness issues within the special operations and intelligence communities.

A judge blocked the Trump administration's attempt to withhold funding from jurisdictions

it claims are sanctuaries.

...