Aug 182022
 


Odilon Redon Fallen angel 1872

 

Something is Looming Geopolitically, We Better Start Taking It Seriously (CTH)
A Eurasian Jigsaw: BRI and INSTC (Escobar)
Russia Urges International Inspection Of Shelled Nuclear Site (RT)
Europe’s Powers Gave Ukraine No New Military Pledges In July (Pol.eu)
Ukraine Could Be Put On ‘Ammo Diet’ – US Military Expert (RT)
Germany Declares War On Europe And Refuses To Ban Russians (CdS)
Putin First, Populists Next – Who To Blame For The Energy Crisis? (RT)
Russia Names Main Victim Of US Energy ‘Victory’ (RT)
Government Must Quickly Start Repairing Purchasing Power – Professor (AD)
Central Bank Warns Gov’t: Be Cautious With Purchasing Power Repairs (NOS)
UK Green Party Calls For Nationalisation Of Big Five Energy Firms (G.)
Audio Tapes In Bill Clinton’s Sock Drawer And Mar-a-Lago Search Dispute (JTN)
FBI Sought Documents Trump Hoarded for Years, Including about Russiagate (NW)
CDC Admits To Botched Covid-19 Responses (RT)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roth

Roth/Ratner

 

 

France

 

 


Gas & electricity bill for a business owner in the South of Italy. – July 2021: EUR 120k – July 2022: EUR 979k In his own words: ”A holiday in July would have been more profitable than running my business with these input costs”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lawyer sundance: “.. the think-tanks and high-minded climate change ideologues do not have the ability to manage a transition and still meet the needs of people..”

Something is Looming Geopolitically, We Better Start Taking It Seriously (CTH)

As a result of western governments’ taking collective action under the auspices of a ‘climate change’ agenda, we are on the cusp of something happening with ramifications that no one has ever seen before. Western governments’, specifically western Europe, North America (U.S-Canada) and Australia/New Zealand, are intentionally trying to lower economic activity to meet the intentional drop in energy production. This is the core consequence of the Build Back Better agenda as promoted by the World Economic Forum. Anyone who says there is a reference point to determine both the short-term and long-term consequences is lying. There is no precedent for nations’ collectively and intentionally trying to reduce economic activity.

Hiding behind the false justification that current inflation is driven by too much demand, central banks in Europe, the Bank of England, Bank of Canada and U.S. federal reserve are raising interest rates. The outcome we are currently feeling is an intentional economic contraction and global recession. The Build Back Better monetary policy is successfully shrinking western economic activity; however, the impacted nations that produce goods for markets in North America and Europe, specifically southeast Asia, Japan and China, are not raising interest rates in an effort to try and offset the drop in demand. China has announced they are dropping their central bank rates in a desperate effort to lower costs and keep their export dependent economy working.

Underneath all of this, is a drop in energy production in the same nations trying to lower economic activity. The political policymakers are attempting to manage this process without informing the citizens of the unspoken goal. Shortages of oil, coal and natural gas are self-inflicted problems, all part of the BBB agenda. Beyond the massive increases in energy costs, which is the true source of inflation and a direct/intentional outcome of the BBB effort, Europe is now facing a looming winter without the energy resources to heat homes and sustain people. Things are going to be very uncomfortable in Europe this winter as roaming brownouts are now predicted.

As the collective west attempts to, using their words, “manage the transition,” they do not have mechanisms to control an outcome of this magnitude. It is simply too big a situation to manage. Where the rubber meets the road, the think-tanks and high-minded climate change ideologues do not have the ability to manage a transition and still meet the needs of people. Beyond the esoteric thinking, there are real consequences from these actions.

Read more …

What would we know about modern Asian politics without Pepe Escobar?

A Eurasian Jigsaw: BRI and INSTC (Escobar)

There’s no question that the proxy war in Ukraine between the US and Russia has been creating serious problems for BRI expansion. After all, the US war on Russia is also a war against BRI. The top three BRI corridors from Xinjiang to Europe are the New Eurasian Land Bridge, the China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor, and the China-Russia-Mongolia Economic Corridor. The New Eurasian Land Bridge uses the Trans-Siberian and a second link through Xinjiang-Kazakhstan (via the dry land port of Khorgos) and then Russia. The corridor via Mongolia is in fact two corridors: one from Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei to Inner Mongolia and then Russia; and the other from Dalian and Shenyang and then to Chita in Russia, near the Chinese border.

As it stands, the Chinese are not using Land Bridge and the Mongolian corridor as much as before, mainly because of western sanctions on Russia. The current BRI emphasis is via Central Asia and West Asia, with one branch then bisecting toward the Persian Gulf and on the Mediterranean. And this is where we see another – highly complex – level of intersection quickly developing: how the increasing importance for China of Central Asia and West Asia mixes with the increasing importance of the INSTC for both Russia and Iran in their trade with India. Call it the friendly vector of the War of Transportation Corridors.

The hardcore vector – real war – is already being deployed by the usual suspects. They are predictably bent on destabilizing and/or smashing any node of BRI/INSTC/EAEU/SCO Eurasia integration, by any means necessary: be it in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Balochistan, the Central Asian “stans” or Xinjiang. As far as the major Eurasian actors are concerned, that’s bound to be an Anglo-American train to nowhere.

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Someone will find excuses not to go. They first need to hide evidence.

Russia Urges International Inspection Of Shelled Nuclear Site (RT)

Russia is calling on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant as soon as possible to fulfill its mandate as the UN’s nuclear watchdog, a senior Russian diplomat said. “We would like such an IAEA mission to take place soon. Russia will do its best to facilitate it,” Igor Vishnevetsky, the deputy foreign minister for arms control, said during a Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty conference on Wednesday. The inspection was supposed to happen sometime ago, he added, but was derailed “not due to a fault of ours.” The diplomat pointed the finger at Ukraine, saying that its regular attacks on the nuclear site was why it was not safe for IAEA monitors to visit it. “People should not attack nuclear sites, should not use artillery or other weapons against nuclear power plants,” Vishnevetsky stressed.


“The Ukrainian side knows it very well, and nevertheless does it, effectively committing acts of nuclear terrorism.” The Ukrainian power plant, the largest of its kind in Europe, comes under regular artillery shelling. One projectile this week reportedly struck ten meters from a container holding spent nuclear fuel. Kiev denies carrying out the strikes and claims that Russian troops are shelling the plant to discredit Ukraine. It also accused Russia of stationing its military forces at the Zaporozhye plant. The UN would neither confirm nor deny allegations by either side and called for a demilitarized zone around the nuclear facility. The US said that Russia had to cede control of the plant and the city of Energodar, where it’s located, to Ukraine, to prevent the risk of a nuclear disaster.

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“..European military aid commitments for Ukraine have been on a downward trend since the end of April…”

Europe’s Powers Gave Ukraine No New Military Pledges In July (Pol.eu)

Throughout all of July, Europe’s six largest countries offered Ukraine no new bilateral military commitments, according to new data — the first month that had happened since Russia invaded in February. The revelation is a sign that despite historic shifts in European defense policy — which have seen once reluctant countries like France and Germany ship arms to Ukraine — military aid to Ukraine may be waning just as Kyiv launches a crucial counteroffensive. The fresh data, covering the U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland and set for release on Thursday, comes from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which has been maintaining a Ukraine Support Tracker throughout the war.

It illustrates a point Ukrainian military officials and politicians have been repeatedly making: That major European powers are not keeping up with the military aid coming from the U.S., and that having led the charge, big-hitting Britain and Poland may be running out of steam. Military specialists and some members of European Parliament have increasingly echoed the point recently. Christoph Trebesch, head of the team compiling the Ukraine Support Tracker, said the organization’s data showed European military aid commitments for Ukraine have been on a downward trend since the end of April. “Despite the war entering a critical phase, new aid initiatives have dried up,” he said.

Western allies did meet last week in Cophenhagen to gather pledges for boosting Ukraine’s military, amassing €1.5 billion in commitments. But Trebesch, who said his team is still analyzing the numbers, cautioned the figure “is meager compared to what was raised in earlier conferences.” Trebesch argued that European countries should be considering the Ukraine war as more akin to the eurozone crisis or the coronavirus pandemic, two events that promoted the Continent to funnel hundreds of billions into emergency funding measures. “When you compare the speed at which the checkbook came out and the size of the money that was delivered, compared to what is on offer for Ukraine, it is tiny in comparison,” he said.

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You won’t see it in the rhetoric, but “we” are withdrawing.

Ukraine Could Be Put On ‘Ammo Diet’ – US Military Expert (RT)

Ukraine’s European backers may be about to put the country on an “ammunition diet”, an American military analyst has claimed in an interview with Germany’s Der Spiegel. Michael Kofman said these nations may already have reached their limit in terms of weapons supplies to Kiev. In an article published on Tuesday, Kofman was quoted as saying it is not in the Ukrainian military’s best interests to bide its time, as the weather will soon begin to worsen, making any counteroffensive more difficult to pull off. On top of that, according to the US expert, Russian troops could use a hiatus to regroup and “solve some of their personnel problems.” He noted that time would be on Kiev’s side if Western support was unlimited. However, that is likely not the case, and the Ukrainian leadership is well aware of this, Kofman suggested.

He added that the “Ukrainians are apparently quite concerned about for how long they can expect further support, especially from the Europeans.” The analyst went on to suggest that Kiev’s European backers may already have “given Ukraine most of the weapons they are ready to give.” “The Ukrainians will likely go on a kind of ammunition diet,” Kofman predicted. The analyst told journalists that, with this in mind, the leadership in Kiev may be concerned that Ukraine “could come under pressure to accept the stalemate” in the absence of any major success by the start of next year. Such a scenario “would be a defeat for Ukraine,” he noted. Kofman concluded that Kiev’s ability to reclaim territories seized by Russia ultimately hinges on the extent of its Western support.

He also acknowledged “some small Russian successes in the southern part of Donbass, like in Peski,” adding, however, that the offensive is largely being carried out by the militaries of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), as well as by “Wagner mercenaries.” When asked about the possibility of a Ukrainian counteroffensive to reclaim the southern city of Kherson, which is currently held by Russian forces, Kofman pointed out that while Kiev has a lot of personnel on paper, only a limited number of units are “really trained and equipped for that.”

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Translated from Le Courrier du Soir. “The European Union on the brink of a new unprecedented political crisis.”

Germany Declares War On Europe And Refuses To Ban Russians (CdS)

The European Union on the brink of a new unprecedented political crisis. Less than a year after the violent crisis over Russian gas which had deeply divided the Union, it is now the thorny issue of the visa granted to Russian citizens which risks provoking a real internal war. Indeed, it all started a few days ago when the Ukrainian President, Zelensky, asked that European countries prohibit access to their soil to all Russian nationals. His wishes seem granted because for three days, EU countries have been working hard to stop granting visas to Russians. But the project risks leading to a total fiasco because Germany, Europe’s leading economic power, is firmly opposed to it. This is at least the information that Lecourrier-du-soir.com obtained on August 16 from several reliable sources including the Euronews media.

Indeed, according to information provided by this press organ, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his disagreement (on this subject) during a trip to Oslo. In front of the press, his remarks were blunt. “This is not the Russian people’s war. It’s Putin’s war and we have to be clear about it,” he said. The German Chancellor also made a point of pointing out that several Russian citizens are fleeing Russia because they are not in phase with the policy of the regime in place. Meanwhile, the subject is already on the table but could trigger a new political crisis within the EU where some believe that banning Russians from entering Europe is a good move. This is at least the opinion of Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia who, in a tweet posted on August 09, did not mince words.

“Stop granting visas to Russians. Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right. Airspace must be closed. This means that while Schengen countries continue to issue visas, Russia’s neighbors bear the burden. It is time to end tourism from Russia immediately”, she reacted. And Estonia is not the only European country to refuse to grant visas to Russians. Because, on August 14, in a tweet posted on his official account, Andriy Yermak, close to the Polish president, also made it known that his country will prohibit access to its territory to all Russian nationals.

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“..close the local swimming pool amid the record summer heat, citing a choice between the cost of feeding school kids increasingly pricy organic food in the cafeteria… or keeping the facility open.”

Putin First, Populists Next – Who To Blame For The Energy Crisis? (RT)

At the outset of the Ukraine conflict, Western officials proclaimed their unity against Moscow and vowed to accelerate their transition away from Russian fossil fuels and towards greener energy. The idea was to deprive the Kremlin of revenues which, in their minds, would result in defunding the military operation in Ukraine. So they went full scorched-earth on their own cheap energy supply – that is, gas from Europe’s largest country – and sanctioned it. It wasn’t long before it became obvious that was something much easier said than done. Soon, officials started making public requests of their citizens to “do their part” by sacrificing their everyday comforts and quality of life, like taking shorter showers – as though that would remedy the fact that industrial representatives were already sounding the alarm about rationing and manufacturing shortages.

Next, Western officials started backpedalling on their pledges to eradicate those forms of energy they had previously considered non-green. It was barely a few months earlier that Germany was chastising France for persisting with nuclear energy. Now, Berlin may potentially be joining Paris in turning back to it as a source, all while it also fires the old coal plants back up. Western Europeans had initially figured that they could at least maybe rely on hydroelectric energy from Norway, but the dry summer heat now threatens that, too, as Oslo considers cuts to its exports. And even liquified natural gas from Britain may not be exportable to the EU, since toxic and even radioactive contaminantshave recently been found in the supply originally sourced from countries like the US and Qatar.

The first flickers of real trouble are already evident – well ahead of the winter heating boom. The British consulting firm, Cornwall Insights, is warning of possible planned blackouts and empty shelves in Britain. Average household energy costs in the UK have reached £4,000 ($4,860) per year and are estimated to go even higher. The Bank of England is warning of a recession amid inflation which, in Germany, has just hit the highest level since reunification in 1990. Countries like Spain and Italy are imposing limits on heating and air conditioning in both public and commercial buildings. The EU’s imposition of a 15% energy cut across all member states has just come into effect, providing yet another pretext to reduce services to taxpayers. The mayor of the French town of Cabriès used it as an excuse to close the local swimming pool amid the record summer heat, citing a choice between the cost of feeding school kids increasingly pricy organic food in the cafeteria… or keeping the facility open.

And whose fault is all this? It should seem obvious, no? Western officials cut themselves off from their own energy source in order to play geopolitics by pulling Ukraine into their orbit – but the blame is squarely on Russia. That’s what they said and that’s what they’re doubling down on. Britain’s Daily Mail refers in a graphic to Putin cutting the gas supply. “Putin’s new gas squeeze condemns Europe to recession and a hard winter of rationing,” according to a CNBC headline. US President Joe Biden has framed it as “Putin’s tax on both food and gas.”Yet these officials did it to themselves – and to their citizens – “for Ukraine.”

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“US attempts to divide the energy markets into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ leads to destabilization, rising fuel prices and inflation..”

Russia Names Main Victim Of US Energy ‘Victory’ (RT)

Europe’s current woes with natural gas supplies are due to US pressure to block the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from coming online, Russian ambassador in Washington Anatoly Antonov said in a TV interview on Wednesday. With this, he said, the US won a victory not so much over Russia, but over European industry, which now has to rely on far more expensive American “molecules of freedom.” “No matter how much Washington tries to present Russia as an unreliable supplier, this is not true,” Antonov told Russia-24 in an interview that aired Wednesday evening. “The problems of our buyers began solely as a result of sanctions and restrictions imposed or inspired by the US,” the ambassador added. “We are ready to sell to everyone who needs inexpensive and high-quality resources.”

He cited the example of Nord Stream 2, the pipeline under the Baltic Sea that was supposed to deliver natural gas from Russia to Germany. It was completed last year but Berlin halted its certification in February – prior to the escalation of hostilities in Ukraine – and refused to make it operational despite appeals from German industry and local officials to do so. “The pipeline was ready to launch and could solve almost all the supply problems that arose with [Nord Stream 1] due to the sanctions confusion,” Antonov said. “The only thing missing is political will, the EU states just need to press the button and the pipeline will start working. But in the EU capitals they gave in to persistent pressure from the White House. As a result, a bet was made on expensive LNG.”

Liquefied natural gas is exported by the US in quantities nowhere near sufficient for the European market. Antonov made a pointed reference to the US Department of Energy calling it “molecules of freedom” back in 2019. Nord Stream 2 was a victory for Washington, which “struck a massive blow not so much against Russia, but against European competitiveness,” Antonov said. Addressing the reports that the US and its allies are trying to impose a price cap on Russian oil and gas exports, Antonov pointed out that such attempts would backfire, as there would be a realignment of commodity markets “not in favor of Western countries.” “US attempts to divide the energy markets into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ leads to destabilization, rising fuel prices and inflation,” Antonov said.

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Google translate from Dutch. Don’t think this guy buys his own groceries.

Government Must Quickly Start Repairing Purchasing Power – Professor (AD)

The passive attitude of the cabinet to protect the purchasing power of citizens is incomprehensible, says Tilburg economics professor Harald Benink. “A lot was possible quickly during the corona pandemic, now it is going very slowly.” High inflation, especially the high prices for energy and food, will become a huge problem, Benink predicts. “It is unprecedented what is happening with purchasing power. Energy bills that go from 2000 euros to 6000 euros per year. New families are confronted with this every day. And then the groceries are also 10 to 20 percent more expensive,” says Benink. High inflation threatens to put millions of households in financial trouble. And that will lead to more problems, Benink fears. “There will be a great demand for debt relief. But the municipalities do not have the capacity to help all those people at all.”

Benink foresees major economic damage if nothing is done to repair purchasing power. Sooner or later people will have to cut their spending. An economic contraction of more than 4 percent is then possible. And it’s not just about low-income people, middle-income people are also affected by the declining purchasing power.” Added to this is the consequential damage of problematic debts. People get stressed by money problems and that leads to illness, failure and reduced productivity. According to Benink, the government is probably so passive because they underestimated the increase in energy prices. “It was immediately clear during the corona pandemic that it was a major problem. A package of tens of billions of aid was quickly rigged. Now it is less than 10 billion euros.”

While it is the government’s turn, the professor believes. “It is a classic government function to protect people against uninsurable risks. And that’s inflation. You cannot get vaccinated against that. It’s a tsunami that’s hitting the people.” Benink thinks the cabinet will have to come up with a mix of measures to repair purchasing power. Targeted support for lower and middle incomes. I am thinking of the proposal from the Eneco director who wants an income-related energy discount. But it will also be possible to take generic measures, such as a further reduction in VAT or lower income tax.” Money is not the problem. “For example, if we spend 8 billion extra, the government debt will increase by one percentage point. We can have that easily. Doing nothing costs a lot more.”

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Ha! Also Google translate from Dutch. The Central bank plays with fire. Not a matter for a central bank. The government should talk to Russia.

Central Bank Warns Gov’t: Be Cautious With Purchasing Power Repairs (NOS)

The government is under great pressure to do something about sky-high inflation and high energy bills and is considering measures to compensate for rising prices and save purchasing power. However, the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) warns the cabinet against excessively generous financial support measures, because this could be counterproductive and actually fuel inflation. In NRC, DNB director Olaf Sleijpen argues for restraint in compensating companies and households for the increased prices. It is true that companies and households were kept afloat during the corona crisis in 2020 and 2021 with aid measures costing billions of euros, but the current price crisis works differently. “Large-scale support is now unwise and even counterproductive”, says Sleijpen. “During the corona crisis, we benefited from broad financial support – and therefore a decisive role for the government. Now we are not. As difficult as that message is, we can’t get around it.”

The cause of the high inflation is not in demand but in supply, because there is a scarcity and shortage of products and energy. Financial support does not remedy scarcity, but it does stimulate demand and thus fuel prices. “The ECB is trying to slow down demand with its interest rate policy. If the government presses the accelerator at the same time, it does not help to reach the destination (lower inflation),” Sleijpen told the newspaper. On the other hand, DNB shares the concerns about the major economic and social consequences of the rising prices of energy and groceries. Payment problems are looming for low-income households. “It goes without saying that the government will at least address the worst needs, and really focus on the hardest hit households.”

However, generic measures, such as lower energy taxes and fuel taxes, mainly benefit the higher incomes who do not need them. Additional income support measures should also not lead to a larger budget deficit. “Financing income compensation with a higher government debt means that the bill is passed on to the next generations,” says Sleijpen. The idea of asking employers to raise employees’ wages to keep up with rising inflation has raised eyebrows at DNB. It must be “an appropriate wage increase”. “We do not benefit from the full effect of inflation on wages”. There is as yet no sign of the feared wage-price spiral, DNB notes. and so there is room for stronger wage growth for the time being.

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Saw a pic of this on Twitter. Went looking on the Guardian frontpage, nothing. Their UK page: nada. Went through Google search in the end. So they finally publish something useful, and then try to hide it. But it’s not about the Green Party, or even the UK: we will see this discussion in many European countries.

UK Green Party Calls For Nationalisation Of Big Five Energy Firms (G.)

The Greens have called for the permanent nationalisation of the main energy supply companies and for domestic fuel bills to be reduced to the level of last autumn, describing this as a solution to the failed experiment with a market-based energy system. In a proposal that goes well beyond Labour’s idea for a freeze on energy bills for at least six months, the Greens said nationalising the main five energy firms was a necessary part of a plan sufficiently ambitious “to avoid a catastrophe this winter”. The scheme would be based on one proposed by the TUC last month. This was based on a cost of about £2.85bn to nationalise the big five supply firms – British Gas, E.ON, EDF, Scottish Power and Ovo. As a comparison, the government spent £2.2bn bailing out another firm, Bulb.

The Green plan would also involve the energy price cap – the maximum households can pay – being put back to the level of last autumn, before this April’s increase of nearly £700 a year for the average household. Putting this in place throughout the autumn and winter would cost about £37bn, the party said, compared with the £29bn estimated cost of Labour’s proposal to keep the cap at its current level. The cost would be paid for in part by tightening up the government’s windfall tax on oil and gas firms’ extra profits from higher global prices, and the party also proposes higher taxes for very wealthy people. Carla Denyer, a co-leader of the Greens alongside Adrian Ramsay, said the party would also aim to create more energy efficiency by introducing differential tariffs under which households that use a lot of power face proportionally rising prices, with exceptions for people with disabilities or chronic health conditions.

The party is already committed to a mass programme of home insulation to improve energy efficiency. “This experiment with an energy supply market has failed,” Denyer said. “Only the government can intervene at the scale required to avoid a catastrophe this winter.” She said there was “nationwide anxiety about the prospect of unpayable energy bills”, adding: “Other parties have only offered to fix energy prices at current levels, but we know these are already unaffordable. We would return energy prices to an affordable level.” s

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I sense a link with Melania’s underwear.

Audio Tapes In Bill Clinton’s Sock Drawer And Mar-a-Lago Search Dispute (JTN)

When it comes to the National Archives, history has a funny way of repeating itself. And legal experts say a decade-old case over audio tapes that Bill Clinton once kept in his sock drawer may have significant impact over the FBI search of Melania Trump’s closet and Donald Trump’s personal office.= The case in question is titled Judicial Watch v. National Archives and Records Administration and it involved an effort by the conservative watchdog to compel the Archives to forcibly seize hours of audio recordings that Clinton made during his presidency with historian Taylor Branch. For pop culture, the case is most memorable for the revelation that the 42nd president for a time stored the audio tapes in his sock drawer at the White House. The tapes became the focal point of a 2009 book that Branch wrote.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington D.C. ultimately rejected Judicial Watch’s suit by concluding there was no provision in the Presidential Records Act to force the National Archives to seize records from a former president. But Jackson’s ruling — along with the Justice Department’s arguments that preceded it — made some other sweeping declarations that have more direct relevance to the FBI’s decision to seize handwritten notes and files Trump took with him to Mar-a-Lago. The most relevant is that a president’s discretion on what are personal vs. official records is far-reaching and solely his, as is his ability to declassify or destroy records at will.

“Under the statutory scheme established by the PRA, the decision to segregate personal materials from Presidential records is made by the President, during the President’s term and in his sole discretion,” Jackson wrote in her March 2012 decision, which was never appealed. “Since the President is completely entrusted with the management and even the disposal of Presidential records during his time in office, it would be difficult for this Court to conclude that Congress intended that he would have less authority to do what he pleases with what he considers to be his personal records,” she added.

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FBI cover-up.

FBI Sought Documents Trump Hoarded for Years, Including about Russiagate (NW)

The FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago last Monday was specifically intended to recover Donald Trump’s personal “stash” of hidden documents, two high-level U.S. intelligence officials tell Newsweek. To justify the unprecedented raid on a former president’s residence and protect the source who revealed the existence of Trump’s private hoard, agents went into Trump’s residence on the pretext that they were seeking all government documents, says one official who has been involved in the investigation. But the true target was this private stash, which Justice Department officials feared Donald Trump might weaponize. “They collected everything that rightfully belonged to the U.S. government but the true target was these documents that Trump had been collecting since early in his administration,” says the source, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.

The sought-after documents deal with a variety of intelligence matters of interest to the former president, the officials suggest—including material that Trump apparently thought would exonerate him of any claims of Russian collusion in 2016 or any other election-related charges. When Trump left the White House in January 2021, many of the normal processes of transition were not followed, especially because the president would not admit that he had lost the election or that he would be leaving office. As a result, we now know, some 42 boxes of documents were shipped to Mar-a-Lago by mistake: officials papers under U.S. law, which the National Archives is supposed to take custody of and catalog.

Over the past 18 months, the Trump camp and the Archives were engaged in a back-and-forth which resulted in the return of 15 boxes (and some additional documents). As late as June 3, when officials from the FBI and Justice visited Mar-a-Lago to serve a Grand Jury subpoena for specific documents, these negotiations were largely cordial. But in the course of its investigation, the FBI and Justice became aware of Trump’s private collection. As Newsweek previously reported, a confidential human source revealed that the former president wasn’t planning to divulge that he had possession of some of his own documents and that he did not intend to return them.

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Disband. First fire Walensky.

CDC Admits To Botched Covid-19 Responses (RT)

The CDC has acknowledged flaws in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic and announced plans to restructure the agency to rehabilitate its public image and better respond to future public health crises. “For 75 years, CDC and public health have been preparing for COVID-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Wednesday. “As a long-time admirer of this agency and a champion for public health, I want us all to do better.” The overhaul announcement follows an internal review that found the CDC’s “rigid, compartmentalized bureaucracy” undermined its response to Covid-19 and slowed its data analysis and releases of public advisories. When pandemic guidance was offered, it was often “confusing and overwhelming,” the review found.

The US leads the world in Covid-19 cases and deaths, by far, and the CDC has been criticized for confusing messaging and slow response times. The agency also held back much of the data it collected, in some cases because it feared the information could be “misinterpreted.” For instance, it withheld dataon Covid-19 infections among fully vaccinated Americans and the efficacy of vaccine booster shots for 18- to 49-year-olds. “Our public health infrastructure in the country was not up to the task of handling this pandemic,” Walensky told CBS News on Wednesday. She added, “We learned some hard lessons over the last three years, and as part of that, it’s my responsibility, it’s the agency’s responsibility, to learn from those lessons and do better.”

The CDC also has drawn criticism for its handling of the monkeypox outbreak. The reorganization plan, which will require approval from higher-ups in President Joe Biden’s administration, aims to get information to the public more quickly and speak about health issues in plain English, rather than scientific jargon. Walensky also plans to make the CDC more streamlined, with fewer reporting layers, and to develop a nimbler workforce that is prepared to respond to crises. “We need to have special forces, if you will, to deploy during pandemic times,” she said. Plans also call for creating a new office to promote “equity in health care,” though Walensky didn’t clarify how that would improve pandemic response.

Brilliant Sagan

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Britain’s railways
https://twitter.com/i/status/1559944313055989761

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Mark Morris: My family owned an iconic restaurant, Bens Deli, in Montreal for 100 years. This is Leonard Cohen entering its doors in 1965. What a beautiful picture and legacy.

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle August 18 2022

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  • #113686

    Odilon Redon Fallen angel 1872   • Something is Looming Geopolitically, We Better Start Taking It Seriously (CTH) • A Eurasian Jigsaw: BRI and IN
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle August 18 2022]

    #113687
    oxymoron
    Participant

    Things are going to be very uncomfortable in Europe this winter as roaming brownouts are now predictedplanned

    there fixed it
    .

    #113688
    oxymoron
    Participant

    “It is a classic government function to protect people against uninsurable risks. And that’s inflation. You cannot get vaccinated against that. It’s a tsunami that’s hitting the people.”

    I nearly died laughing when I read that. The older I get the more people seem like little children to me. People really don’t understand power and the sure as hell don’t know when they gittin’ played – looking at you Mark Twain.

    #113689
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Liz lost sooooooooooooooo catastrophically, by 60 points, that she’s going to run as President and Win!!! ‘Cause that’s what incumbents who can’t win in a 3rd tier state (no offense) do, which all makes sense because she says she’s President Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln the Third, I think, since Obama was Lincoln too.

    Okie-dokie then. So who’s going to vote for her? Democrats? I can’t figure out her charade, since she has nothing going at all. Is she, they, really that clueless? It doesn’t even work to be President to pardon her war-crime family, to be a gadfly, like…nothing. She’s simply the poster child for how repulsive neocons are. So: freedom of speech, Liz, never stop talking.

    So I hear the CDC is going to “restructure” and change. Change 1) purge all the heretics and unbelievers who spoke out. 2) (literally) write fewer things down so we can’t embarrass them by pointing to failed research that flip flops weekly. We are in the perfect present, where the Party is always right and will focus on messages, not research. 3) (Literally) White guys bail out with golden parachutes in the name of “diversity” so the right people will be holding the upcoming bag.

    Got it. Win.

    “German Official Trashes Cost of Living Protesters as “Enemies of the State”

    To be fair, ALL citizens are the enemies of the State and always have been.

    “Moderna to Commence Construction of World’s First mRNA Factory on Australian College Campus”

    Note Moderna can do this although they’ve never had a successful product, ever. Even their vaccine was banned in 5 nations for deadly harm.

    Since it’s all distraction right now, reminding that we’re year 21 in the “Temporary” lowering of Greenspan’s Interest rates beginning Nasdaq 1999. The economy is wonderful, fabulous, never been better, although rates are 20% of their long-term average, budget stimulus alone is $2,000,000,000,000 and they’re not in “Emergency” bailout territory at all. Gee, did somebody warn us about they’d never be able to raise rates, it would be QE to Infinity, and the system is “Inflate or Die”? Somebody should have warned us. Oh wait, EVERYONE did. And were right. And CNN, NYT, BBC, CBC, and Krugman were all dead wrong. They have the Pullitzer-Nobel prizes in being wrong, wrong, wrong.

    With 10% inflation, AVERAGE rates should be 15%, so I’m sure Powell will do the responsible thing and raise 12,000 basis points next meeting. Or why wait? Tomorrow at 9am.

    This will totally not upset the $30T national debt, the $1T State debt, the $16T private consumer debt, or the many quadrillion in derivative liabilities, all of which increase debt servicing by trillions on a single 1% of interest rates.

    Nor the value of those assets should the % rise, which are collateral foundation for the entire worldwide financial system. A $300k house, which is now common if not universal, carries a $2,000 monthly. At 10% rates that house would fall $100k in value, insuring it will be nearly $100k underwater, and that isn’t the only variable. The bank would also fail, along with a recession and unemployment that would stop 20% of those borrowers.

    In fact, $500 a month in gas prices – which is likely in many places as it includes gas and heating oil – would reduce the home’s value by $100,000. (Subtract $500 from the mortgage monthly and see what value home is possible even at 5% rates)

    Of course these things take time, and we have yet to see the end of the unthinkable things they will try to hold the system together. Another direct $8,000 per car to every auto manufacturer? But that math is pretty simple.

    “A holiday in July would have been more profitable than running my business with these input costs”

    Target had a 90% decline in profits. NINETY. As in: ZERO profits now or for the foreseeable future. The Economy’s great! Never been better! No inflation at all Biden sez.

    As a result of western governments’ taking collective action under the auspices of a ‘climate change’ agenda, we are on the cusp of something happening with ramifications that no one has ever seen before.”

    Nah, we’ve seen it before, The Great Rehash, it’s SSDD. SNAFU. And 100M people died last time the Progressives went militant too. 3% of the population which is about 240M today. Their intention is to establish a wonderful new Utopia, scientific, logical, and efficient, a “technocracy” if you will. Like last time this will kill everybody it touches until it is put down and stopped with violent force.

    Of course this time it may not take much force since this is a clever, scientific, logical government that makes no food, no oil, and no tanks. More or less it’s bombed and shelled itself. Out of raw hatred for…itself. As its national body is also composed of human beings which are its sworn enemy, but a whole lot easier to get at than the humans in Vladivostok.

    The situation is a war of banks and governments against the People, as has been quoted many times for 100 years and is established in the German quote above. YOU are the carbon they are planning to reduce. YOU are the enemy. If you are on the internet, speaking, using food, or breathing.

    “the proxy war in Ukraine between the US and Russia has been creating serious problems for BRI [Belt and Road] expansion.”

    MacKinder. Do not let Europe and Asia unite, or indeed let Asia do anything to develop. Cause famines in, oh, say, British India 1943 instead. But Idiot Bush (papa this time) decided to open China and develop them to modern standards, and suuuuure they’d have no trouble controlling China who would be happy to be ruled and controlled by a bunch of maniacal, pinheaded gaijin. NOT. Now China can’t be stopped and has teamed with Russia, and essentially Europe, their base, has already fallen. Life’s hard but it’s harder when you’re stupid, George. How’s it feel to be the guys who lost Europe?

    “to fulfill its mandate as the UN’s nuclear watchdog,”

    The same UN that was human trafficking and fabricating OPCW evidence for the nightly news? Yes, but this was only after approving every war in the last 20 years. “Yellowcake!” “Mushroom Clouds!”

    “Europe’s Powers Gave Ukraine No New Military Pledges in July (Pol.eu)”

    Are we really going to track the pledges and not the actual weapons? The reason for the billions is that Ukraine is the worldwide center for money laundering. That’s why all Congressional money makes its first stop there. And the guns stop there before being sold to Russia, as they now own more Javelins than we do, as well as some HIMARs and French Caesars.

    “given Ukraine most of the weapons they are ready to give.”

    Because we found out the entire West is incapable of making weapons. That’s unexpected and still not fully reported. As last week, it will take them 5 years to make a couple guns and a few tanks. At the same time, the guns they sent are unusuable. Not tactically, but in that “They fire no shells”. Our vaunted Howitzers shoot shells for about one day, then must be shipped back to the factory for expensive technical re-work. No joke, literally true. This was of course to maximize profits for monopoly corporations who are incapable of doing their jobs. But yes, literally BAE thinks you can run a war while rotating your guns to the front lines every other day or so. I’m sure that’ll go great and at $2M/pc there’s no downside at all.

    No wonder they want our AR-15’s, they may be the only weapons the U.S. makes that work at all, and that after 30 years of fixing their innate flaws. …And they’re not made by the military, or for military use.

    So not reported on: the war is showing the RoW that if you attacked any Western country, your chance of success is 99%. We have about 20 shells at any given time and can’t make any more.

    “Zelensky, asked that European countries prohibit access to their soil to all Russian nationals.”

    Because we must always obey open racists on their openly racist agendas. Gee, why didn’t we do this for the KKK? Make one for the home team, amirite?

    “This is not the Russian people’s war. It’s Putin’s war”

    This is one of those universal lies that never gets attention because it’s followed in a pack of lies that darken the skies like passenger pigeons. “Putin” is elected. “Putin” has an 80% approval rating. “Putin” refers to his parliament, Prime Minister, Generals, and courts just as we do. There is no “Putin’s War” nor is Putin now, or at any time in the past, ever a “Dictator.”

    So this is directly NOT Putin’s war, but IS the Russian People’s War. …But you knew that, because he opened his mouth, so lie came out. The only enemy is the Truth. If they told the truth their mouths would alight and burn with everlasting hellfire.

    Stop granting visas to Russians. Visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right.”

    I totally agree. We should build a wall to protect our citizens from people trying to visit or flood our country illegally and who call it a human right. Apparently they believe in national sovereignty again and are going to expel all the recent migrants from Africa and MENA. No? They’re the hand grenade capital of the world, but they’re worse than a Russian Cellist?

    “So they went full scorched-earth on their own cheap energy supply people” by attacking their food, energy, and freedom. No foreign invader has ever done more to destroy the West than the West itself is doing right now. We’re suffering 100 Pearl Harbors a year. I remind you that 30,000 deaths is OPIATES ALONE, and not counting OTHER overdoses, nor the far higher death from correct and legally prescribed drugs, legal poisonings, nor the 40,000 deaths you get for every 1% increase in unemployment.

    The Enemy of the State is The PEOPLE. Their citizens. Those Deplorables too stupid to get a job in government and become part of The Club. Minioning their $100k/yr jobs into $50k retirements in 20 years. (Just heard this fact for low-level state positions this weekend. While our houses fall down and our kids have no food at home. They’re very proud and feel perfectly right and deserving.)

    “Western officials cut themselves off from their own energy source”

    This is just Iraq all over again. “A Million dead children were worth it.” It’s the same because the argument there was they are embargoing (an act of war) the PEOPLE, while the leaders are unaffected. Same here. “Western Officials” are not cutting themselves off from anything. They’re still flying private jets with 12-year olds on board, eating Wagu steaks, and live in 10 of the best, most heated/cooled Versailles-like estates in Germany, France, and England. They’ve cut off the energy and food to US, the Dutch, German, French, and Spanish PEOPLE. WE are the target. WE are the war. WE are the ration.

    the US won a victory not so much over Russia, but over European industry,”

    Yup, we’re destroying Europe. On purpose. Why are you cooperating?

    “An economic contraction of more than 4 percent is then possible.”

    Along with his bad, made-up numbers. I think he dropped “0” there. FORTY percent contraction.

    “According to Benink, the government is probably so passive because” …YOU are the target. They’re passive because they are TRYING to kill you, and this is succeeding. Denial of battered wives. When you are the enemy of the state, how is your destruction not good for them? Attack every farmer, who are citizens, that will murder every citizen who aren’t part of the State. The UniParty. The “Big Club and you ain’t in it.”

    “The ECB is trying to slow down demand with its interest rate policy.”

    Actually, no they’re not, and neither is the Fed. Keynesian Economics was discredited and debunked 50 years ago when “Stagflation was impossible.” So they know this, and they know rates won’t fix it but will make it worse. The Fed is destroying Europe. The ECB must raise rates to complete or be destroyed right now, instead of shortly after. They vote for soon from now, rather than “Right now” because you never know, they might think of something. A worldwide epidemic or war might start and save them. The only thing that’s sure is that the ECB is not, and does not believe they will reduce prices or slow demand with interest rates in a patent supply disruption.

    BTW: what’s the interest-rate-equivalent to energy prices going 6x? Like ECB interest rates of +20%?

    The Greens are puppets and punks one wing of the Left-Right vulture. First: have corporations misbehave by grinding the nation until the customers choke. CEOs parachute out with money. Then: Nationalize the Industry, handing the smoldering heap to the taxpayers to fix. After they’ve reinjected money into the tottering hulk, the State then “Privatizes” the Industry and Ministers parachute out with the money. CEOs then liquidate the taxpayer repairs and parachute out with the money and hand it back to government.

    The Green Party is essential to getting this accomplished, as they are on the “Nationalize” (but don’t ask any questions) wing. I’m not sure worldwide there IS any other structure anymore. Banking? Nope. Fannie Mae? Nope. AIG? Nope. GM and Toyota? Nope. McDonalds and Harley Davidson? Nope. Amazon and Boeing? Nope. All companies that exist via the taxpayer injections. No markets, no bankruptcy, no consequences: non-capitalism.

    That goes with the Rail ad. Again, not that they’re wrong, but the magic is that whether you Privatize or Nationalize the same people get paid and leave with the money. That’s “Corruption” and it knows no party nor affiliation. Your partisan and paradigm is what allows it to blossom so fully and universally.

    Yes, you’re a child who’s never read anything about Governments if you believe that. But if you have, you’ll want the smallest possible government pushed to the lowest effective level. That is, you’ll be a Conservative, a Libertarian, and an American.

    #113692

    Liz lost sooooooooooooooo catastrophically, by 60 points, that she’s going to run as President and Win!!! ‘Cause that’s what incumbents who can’t win in a 3rd tier state (no offense) do, which all makes sense because she says she’s President Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln the Third, I think, since Obama was Lincoln too.

    Liz is taking the Kamala route.

    #113694
    oxymoron
    Participant

    That is, you’ll be a Conservative, a Libertarian, and an American.
    I wish. For now I am the Ozzy life-hacktivist who wants someone to be able to vote for (ricardo bossi perhaps).

    #113695
    Dora
    Participant

    VAERS data on covid by Jessica Rose, PhD.

    https://www.jessicasuniverse.com/

    #113696
    Redneck
    Participant

    Re the Russian special military operation in Ukraine and Russia winning or a negotiated settlement.
    The war will end when NATO , that is the US decides it will end , Russia does not have a say in it and I think the US is pretty happy with how it is progressing presently.
    It now has Russia in two wars , the one in Syria has kept them occupied for seven years and will go on indefinitely with Israel, the US and Turkey all playing a part.
    Ukraine can go as long or longer. The attacks inside Russia will most likely expand , it will be very hard to stop them with such a long border and with Russian Ukranians ready to act.
    Russia can only decide the peace in Syria or Ukraine by withdrawing.
    Any time Russia declares an end to hostilities and establishes a new border that border will quickly resemble the old border in Donbass with continuous shelling and rocket attacks across it. If Russia goes too far West they will be in hostile territory and be faced with an insurgency.
    Putin has a curious approach to both wars , letting Turkey , Israel and the US do as they like in Syria and restraining the Russian forces in Ukraine with this virtue signalling war , war with a nice face , allowing his enemies to meet and decide on weapon supplies and party on with his foe in Kyiv and continuing to supply his enemies in Ukraine and all of Europe with Russian energy , energy that is being used to sustain the fight against the Russian people.
    Putin is a disappointment , he is forcing his armies to fight without any end game , tolerating his enemies, lacking the killer instinct , unable to finish the fight , facing a decades long war in Syria and and no exit in Ukraine either.
    Russia now has troops in fourteen countries , Mali being the latest. Is Russia going to replace the Western hegemony with it’s own?
    I am still a supporter of Putin and Russia but not as bullish as I was, I fear they are over extending and risk losing the Russian people’s support.
    A large part of the neocon’s confrontation with Trump is because if elected they are afraid he will bring the war to an end , his election prevented them from going ahead with the war a lot sooner , certainly Hillary would have made it a priority.
    If I was a Russian I would be furious with him and vote him out , we hear that he has eighty percent support but some Russian media don’t reflect that.
    As we say , time will tell.

    #113698
    John Day
    Participant

    The Sundance piece says what we generally accept, that total energy available has rolled over and is declining, and everything else is excuses and fake patches.

    Something is Looming Geopolitically, and We Better Start Taking It Seriously


    I’ll point out that if population declines as fast as energy declines, there will be some sort of balance.
    I’ll presume that this has occurred to the owners, but that theyll have to catch up to that curve.

    I personally think total energy use peaked around mid 2018. Please prove me wrong.
    The Repo-Crisis of September 2019, COVID, Ukraine war, bilouts-bailouts-bailouts, famine and freezing follow.
    We are the enemy of the owners, or at least a lot of us are, those that eat without feeding them, especially.
    This will be the case for awhile, maybe until we diae.
    The multipolar world folks have a better take on this, more distributed and flexible, and it will impose massive notioanl and real property losses on “owners”, which will better align economic reality with financial representations.
    It’s the necessary path, but it will also play catch-up. I hope that the financial regime-change can continue modifying itself to adapt to reality. Some of us might see that unfold for awhile.
    Grow veggies.
    Live where they grow and there is water, not too many people, and the weather does not try to kill you, if it is possible for you.

    #113700
    John Day
    Participant

    @Redneck: Russian army is doing little of the fighting in Ukraine lately. they are still holding back.
    Ukraine is too depleted to mount a real counteroffensive, and know they would take massive losses. Kherson is a city they would have to take with untrained troops fighting door-to-door.
    It looks like Russia is running a marathon, and expects others cannot keep going.
    We are naturally impatient, but history is unfolding.
    Meanwhile, western military industry can’t keep Ukraine supplied, even as Ukraine uses 1/3 of the artillery (orless) than Russia uses, while Russia seems fully supplied.
    In Syria, the Syrian Kurds will have to align firmly with the Syrian government, and Russia, and Iran, not the US. At that point Turkey will have an easy choice to declare that the problem is solved and get out. The US will have to get Americans out of NW Syria, but can still keep American-funded jihadis in the south. They have been drawing-down American military in South Syria quietly, though.

    Eventually Israel will need tomake peace with Syria. Eventually.

    #113701
    WES
    Participant

    I wonder when we will see the statistics showing declining average life expectancy since the covid vaccines are doing an excellent job of killing off younger people?

    #113702
    Mr. House
    Participant

    “That goes with the Rail ad. Again, not that they’re wrong, but the magic is that whether you Privatize or Nationalize the same people get paid and leave with the money. That’s “Corruption” and it knows no party nor affiliation. Your partisan and paradigm is what allows it to blossom so fully and universally. ”

    Makes me think of Atlas Shrugged, which is sad because the book was only average with me skipping the overly longwinded speeches given by characters about 90% of the time.

    #113704
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    Interest free loans for food…
    Now THAT’s an old playbook. Pharaoh of ancient Egypt and his seer, Joseph, Son of Jacob…food gathered in the “years of plenty,” sold back to the people during the “years of famine”…leading to the people being enslaved…”own nothing and be happy.”

    High energy bills…
    Sobering. Leading to more indebtedness of the people.
    Although…
    Energy bills that high make homeowner solar panels economically viable.

    the former president wasn’t planning to divulge that he had possession of some of his own documents and that he did not intend to return them
    Um…one “returns” a book to the library, because the book is borrowed, and belongs to the library. But documents that belong to Trump are HIS, and could be “turned over” or “turned in”…but using the word “return” is inaccurate.

    #113705
    TDub
    Participant

    Last night John Day posted a few links that got me thinking about the next stage of events.

    https://jessicar.substack.com/p/do-the-covid-19-injections-contain

    https://www.globalresearch.ca/pfizergate-official-government-reports-prove-hundreds-thousands-people-dying-every-single-week-due-covid-19-vaccination/5790262

    They are both good articles (not necessarily new for readers of TAE), but what they are convincing me of is the intended malice. The first points to the fact that those jabbed but still alive will likely develop cancer and other serious health problems. Even if only affecting 10%, that would be 25 million in the US. The second shows that the data is concrete and that the government knows this.

    I’ve been ‘optimistic’ (for lack of a better word), that the last two years are best explained by greed. Pharma, media, politicians, etc. were all making money through selling fear and vaxxes. Do not ascribe to malice that which can be explained by greed. But the data is screaming that the vaxxes kill and that those in power know. So even if it was an ‘oops’ initially (idiot sons of idiot sons doing what they do), the continued push must be to cause harm.

    However, those who have refused the vaxx seem to be the sort that will cause the most problems for The Great Reset – don’t tread on me, second amendment supporting types. If you were going to cull the population, wouldn’t you need to get rid of the folks that own guns and don’t trust the government rather than having them be the ones left? This leads me to believe that the next move has to be pretty big in order to keep the trouble makers squarely under their thumb.

    There are several big milestones this fall that will put real pressure on those in charge. First is the US midterm elections and predicted ‘red wave.’ I’m less confident this is a real concern for them as republicans taking congress could just be a smoke screen for the Uniparty. But winter is coming and there isn’t enough energy to heat homes in Europe (and possibly North America too). That cant be hidden by fake politics.

    Perhaps the biggest pressure will be people waking up to how terrible these vaxxes are. We all know people who have had serious side effects and study after study is showing how widespread this damage is (second link above says 1 in 250 Brits died within 60 days of vaxx). Eventually the data will become undeniable to the middle third (those vaxxed but not ‘true believers’). The timing of this wakeup call is unknown, but I think there is less than 12 months shelf life.

    To me, this all suggests that the next form of control will be even bigger than what we’ve seen to date and will come this fall as ‘they’ need to be fully in control when the energy shock starts killing people. TPTB will need to get ahead of these failures in order to maintain the controlled demolition. There is also pressure from the winddown in Ukraine, energy and food costs, FBI politization, a likely stock market crash, etc.

    Thoughts?

    #113706
    WES
    Participant

    I don’t suppose the FBI’s raid to seize all of Trump’s papers might have something to do with protecting Hillary since Trump is suing her and company in court?

    #113707
    Mr. House
    Participant

    “However, those who have refused the vaxx seem to be the sort that will cause the most problems for The Great Reset – don’t tread on me, second amendment supporting types. If you were going to cull the population, wouldn’t you need to get rid of the folks that own guns and don’t trust the government rather than having them be the ones left?”

    Honestly dude, i don’t think they “respect” their followers and don’t care either way if they live or die.

    #113708
    Mr. House
    Participant

    https://www.the-sun.com/health/6022957/warning-covid-side-effect-two-years-later/

    Covid side effects can get ya two years later!?!?!?!

    No cover up here, not at all.

    #113709
    Mr. House
    Participant

    Here is a question:

    How many covid jabs given were placebos?

    #113710
    Susan C
    Participant
    #113711
    WES
    Participant

    Mr. House:

    TPTB all received placebos but since the TPTB want to kill as many of us “useless eaters” we got the real Kool aid.

    I guess you could say we few unvaxxed got placebos too.

    Here in Canada, Trudeau probably managed to vax 90% of the gullible. Certainly 100% in Ottawa.

    #113712
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    ‘To be fair, ALL citizens are the enemies of the State and always have been’

    I like that statement but it’s not true. The state has many fifth-columnists and saboteurs as agents, and they live in communities throughout the land -well they do in NZ.

    On the other hand, the state is the enemy of the ALL the citizens, including those who do the state’s short-term bidding because the state is destroying civilisation and.is destroying any prospect of a long-term future.

    Of course a large sector of the populations of western nations still cannot see that obvious truth. But I think they will by the end of this year.

    #113713
    hexadec
    Participant

    Liz lost sooooooooooooooo catastrophically, by 60 points, that she’s going to run as President and Win!!! ‘

    Trouble is, here in the US people always seem to fail upwards.

    I wonder when we will see the statistics showing declining average life expectancy since the covid vaccines are doing an excellent job of killing off younger people?

    I’m pretty sure statistics showed declining US life expectancy before Covid.

    #113714

    Europe- with its socialistic background- is the first place in the west where overwhelming debt will be used to enslave the general population with UBIs and CBDCs.
    Russia waits to see if Europe’s foolish leaders will keep disarming themselves for the sake of Zelensky. Disarmed, demoralized and indebted, Europe would be a pushover. It seems everything works for the new world order.

    A sociopath came up with the malice/greed/stupidity saying. It’s that “duping delight”.

    The un”vaxxed” will be a source of organs. Let’s face it, getting rid of the PMCs and entitled masses is a big boost to any society that wants to get leaner and meaner. Oh, and we will no doubt finally adopt universal healthcare here in the US- so we can tax everyone into debt as we care for the slowly dying masses.
    Considering Pharma’s stellar record of greed and fraud, there’s no reason to think that all shots were “active”. Saline is cheap.

    WES- that was my first thought. He wanted to clear himself of russiarussiarussia.

    If men or women find that their decisions make no sense
    When it comes to their own interests, I would bet
    Their opinions are distorted by their creditor’s intents:
    It’s amazing how we’re warped when we’re in debt.

    #113715
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    About nine months ago I began wondering whether the jabs/masks/lockdowns were a kind of intelligence test. The NZ ‘health authorities’ came up with a ridiculous set of rules, including that masks had to be worn at bars and restaurants when standing up but not when sitting down. ‘Social distancing was required (2 metres) except when sitting down at a restaurant table -possibly with people one hardly knew.

    We had all the rigmarole of queueing up outside stores, many of which had been shut down at short notice ‘to prevent infection’ and then reopened with all kinds of barriers and lines of tape on the floor. Fear was fed by incessant messaging about ‘Covid’ numbers, even on the classical music radio network. People rushed to get jabbed. Paranoia reigned supreme, with only a small sector of society keeping level heads.

    And then the second round of jabbing commenced.

    And by the time the third round of jabbing was underway more and more people were saying: “This is bullshit. I don’t want it!”

    However, the sector that believes the government exists to help them and protect them still drove around alone in vehicles wearing masks, and still got their ‘boosters’.

    I found it profoundly amusing that unjabbed and never wearing masks (except when carrying out work that creates nasty dust) I have had no respiratory illness in the past three years -and that despite being in close proximity to people who did have ‘a bit of a cold’- whereas triple jabbed mask-wearers went down with the thing.

    We are yet to witness the full consequences of all the jabbing that went on prior to the government’s fake Covid narrative falling to pieces…all that nasty messenger-RNA floating round bodies and messing up immune systems and potentially triggering cancers etc. But so much of it has fallen to bits: contact tracking systems abandoned, quarantine systems abandoned, jabs abandoned, masks largely abandoned (except by the really stupid)..

    The NZ government’s fake Ukraine narrative will fall to pieces a lot faster than the fake Covid narrative: I see that Russia has made significant advances against the most heavily fortified sector of the frontline, whilst at the same time decimating the reserves a little back from the actual fire zone. “Cracking a difficult nut,” as the Military Summary channel puts it.

    The NZ government’s fake economic-financial narratives will clearly fall to pieces between now and the end of 2023, and may well unravel before the end of this year, depending on the oil markets and the shenanigans of the central banks.

    #113716
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant
    #113717
    willem
    Participant

    Liz lost sooooooooooooooo catastrophically, by 60 points, that she’s going to run as President and Win!!! ‘

    I doubt if that is the plan–if so, she’s as delusional as DeBlasio.

    More likely, she will run in the hope that she can siphon enough “never-Trump” votes away from Trump to keep him from winning. That is what she and her ilk will count as success.

    #113718
    Bishko
    Participant

    My sister and her husband got jabbed to keep their jobs. He now has a pacemaker, she had a stroke. Two dear friend were in cancer remission. Both got the jabs and now both have had their cancers return with a virulence that is breathtaking. Neither will make it to the end of the year.

    What Dr. D has been saying is pretty much straight on truth as far as I can tell. If you want to survive what’s coming you had better have about 5,000 square feet in plant leaves per person per year. Like I always say: Plant potatoes.

    #113720
    Mr. House
    Participant
    #113721
    John Day
    Participant

    T-dub, considering that this may be the intentional culling of the human herd by the owners, said:

    “To me, this all suggests that the next form of control will be even bigger than what we’ve seen to date and will come this fall as ‘they’ need to be fully in control when the energy shock starts killing people. TPTB will need to get ahead of these failures in order to maintain the controlled demolition. There is also pressure from the winddown in Ukraine, energy and food costs, FBI politization, a likely stock market crash, etc.
    Thoughts?”

    War, Pestilence and Famine are for culling and controlling. Driving desperation and AI bots dominating social media are part of the plan. Censorship with AI characteristics is well underway and can always be increased.
    The elites are not of one mind. There are schisms, especially in the “not agreement capable” west, especially between globalist varieties and nationalist varieties.
    I think a global-financial-reset is upcoming, and that there are different action plans, which will compete. This should get ugly and it may also get chaotic, with factions better able to deny each other “victory” than to prevail.

    #113722
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    The only thing worse than the “Balance of Power” . . . . is perhaps simply Power itself.

    As you know, Power is the imposition of will, over the will of another, against that other person’s will.

    Does that sound like a good thing?

    Depends a lot on which end of the “imposition” you’re on, doesn’t it?

    Further, power tends to accrue to those who want it and work to get it.

    That’s why smart people usually prefer a BALANCE of power, rather than allowing too much of it accumulate in the hands of an exceedingly small but disproportionately nasty pack of greedy psychos obsessively fixated on acquiring and retaining as much power as they possibly can, in total disregard of whether others like it or not.

    When that happens (that is, when the power hungry consume their own bullshit) those delusional idiots also lose sight of the rest of reality as well. For example: they don’t comprehend of how ridiculously outnumbered they are. For second example: they are blithely unconscious of how dreadfully little they are able to do for themselves. And to cap it all off they adore themselves as being the most brilliant, the most righteous, and the most deserving . . . when the exact opposite is so demonstrably true

    Before long, and as a consequence of the psychological tailspin they’re in, they believe that everything actually does belong to them because they are just so damn much BETTER than everyone else by some murkily presumed standard, and therefore it is their right to own it all and simply take whatever they want. Frequently (and especially in extreme cases) they are just stupid, blind, greedy and crazy enough to TRY, in earnest, to do just that. Right afterwards is when the Natural Universe sends them the wake-up call.

    In other words, the corrupt seek power and power corrupts, and then they go mad and then they lose, in one of the nastiest feedback loops the Universe has to offer. Destruction preceded by madness as the old quote goes.

    So what can be done about that? Well, one thing that seems to work fairly well (although messy as hell when the situation has already got too lopsided) is to garner and develop the POTENTIAL of power, but assiduously not use it overtly except as the absolute last resort in the most dire circimstance.

    Sometimes the sheer massive visibility of that potential is sufficient to persuade power freaks to ease up or back off . . . . but that stratagem only works if they are still sane enough to recognize the fact of the overwhelming oppositional power, and see it as mere reality which is not in itself literally threatening anyone. Suggest to them that it is wise to let sleeping lions go on snoozing. But if too far gone in its psychosis, unfortunately, totalitarian power can only see the power potential of others as a proactive threat to their own. Once the Powerful are past that threshold, and so self-centered that they’re not even capable of seeing or appreciating the welfare of anyone but themselves, they will view such potential as an active threat by its mere existence.

    Putin is seen by them as a terrorist (for example) and Russia a behemoth which must be destroyed (for example) and not because either poses a threat to the Empire of Death & Lies, but merely because the other HAS THE CAPABILITY. Same could be said of how the Deep State perceives conservatives, Constitutionalists, and Donald Trump.

    Oh the irony! Too much power results in fear.

    #113723
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    D Benton Smith

    I agree on much of that but not the part about Putin and Russia.

    Apart from having masses of untapped resources that the psychopaths who trade under the banner of ‘freedom and democracy’ would just love to get their greedy hands on, a united Russia led by Putin is a direct threat to the Empire of Death & Lies.

    Russia has already:

    1. demonstrated that western sanctions geared to bringing down the Russian economy have not only strengthened it but have also damaged the economies of the perpetrators.

    2. demonstrated that Russia (and many other nations) can get along better without the Washington-London based financial system

    3. demonstrated that NATO is a paper tiger in the face of modern weapons operated within a framework of superb electronic command of the battle zone

    4. exposed the pure nastiness of the west in its establishment of bioweapons laboratories in Ukraine

    5. exposed the war criminal element of the west, in the supply and use of ‘banned weapons’ such as anti-personnel mines fired into civilian areas, plus the made-up stories about Russian atrocities whilst the west ignores the actual atrocities committed by Ukrainians and mercenaries. .

    Whether the maniacs who control western societies are prepared to up the ante to the use of tactical nuclear weapons is yet to be seen. But one reason they may not is because Russia is way ahead of the west in that technology too.

    Renowned military analyst Andrei Martynov (who lived in the US for 20 years) has done a great job exposing the extraordinary poor quality of both US weapons systems and the people who operate them.

    #113724
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @AFewKnowTheTruth

    Oh I agree with you on that point from the git go. Russia is not merely a “proactive threat” to the Empire of Death & Lies . . . it is the administrator of the coups de grace, for which the world should be grateful and appreciative.

    The difficult-to-articulate point I was trying to make with written words (always a challenge) is that it was the paranoia inherent to Power that degraded the intellect and emotional maturity of the West into fearing and hating and attacking Russia for no other reason than the fact the Russia had the capacity to defend itself.

    #113725
    aspnaz
    Participant

    The passive attitude of the cabinet to protect the purchasing power of citizens is incomprehensible, says Tilburg economics professor Harald Benink. “A lot was possible quickly during the corona pandemic, now it is going very slowly.” High inflation, especially the high prices for energy and food, will become a huge problem, Benink predicts.

    Incomprehensible I say, totally incomprehensible: incomprehensible because you are paid to not say the obvious which is that it is intentional. He could mention that the German government policies are the direct cause of these problems, but instead he implies it is God’s fault. Obviously this guy is paid to pretend that this is an act of God and that the politicians are not to blame, other than for being too passive, but certainly not to blame for causing and continuing to cause the problems, after all they were caused by God. What a load of crap these people speak, but he is a specialist in crap, I am surprised “economics” professors still feel that they can talk about anything without shame, the total mendacity.

    #113726
    aspnaz
    Participant

    The cause of the high inflation is not in demand but in supply, because there is a scarcity and shortage of products and energy. Financial support does not remedy scarcity, but it does stimulate demand and thus fuel prices.

    The cause is politics, please do not blame the good workers of the world for problems created by the rent seeking classes. Deceiving people by stating otherwise is typical of these ticks on society, demonstrating their redundancy in society by continuing to lie to us and continuing to destroy society as best they can. Obviously they have no skin in society, they feel happy to destroy society and lie to all those who actually benefit from society. This is why the Nancy Pelosi, George Soros, Bill Gates types never retire, they have no use for society, they do not understand the concept of “friends” or “community”, they are leeches killing society for their own personal gain, because all they know and want is MOAR.

    #113727
    aspnaz
    Participant

    The Greens have called for the permanent nationalisation of the main energy supply companies and for domestic fuel bills to be reduced to the level of last autumn, describing this as a solution to the failed experiment with a market-based energy system.

    In case anyone did not know that green is synonymous with communist. Note how they totally avoid the cause of the problems: nominally caused by greens, but really caused by the society-destroyers that the greens have adopted as patrons. Patrons are always good when you are a looney left winger but you crave power and see patrons as an opportunity to gain that power and force people to obey you while you pretend that you care about them, as you live in the lap of luxury and they starve: the green dream.

    #113728
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    aspanz

    The ‘greens’ may be communists where you live, but in NZ they are firmly entrenched in the capitalist loot-pollute and-exploit camp -just another phony political party, taken over long ago by the controllers to siphon what little opposition there is to rampant exploitation back into rampant exploitation.

    The greeds (not a typing error) are a joke amongst the critically thinking community…which comprises about 2% of the population.

    REM. My mistake in thinking you were based in the upper South Island region, which is still being hammered:

    ‘ Over 60 Nelson homes uninhabitable, power out for thousands, slips and flooding cut off Far North town’

    Bishko

    ‘If you want to survive what’s coming you had better have about 5,000 square feet in plant leaves per person per year.’

    I’m working on it!

    I like trees, vines and canes because their productivity can exceed that of a ground crop in the same square foot/square metre area. And there is no digging.

    An important (crucial) point is that most of the ‘sheep’ have already missed the window of opportunity to prepare for the mayhem that will arrive shortly -assiduously ignoring every warning given (as required by the controllers). (:

    #113729
    Fully_caffinated
    Participant

    @AFewKnowTheTruth I’m in NZ too, the only unjabbed in .y family friends an coworkers, and pretty much the only one who has not caught the deadly covid, nor the flu this winter.

    I should probably get in touch with the local sperm donor clinic as my boys may be worth their weight in gold soon.

    #113730
    aspnaz
    Participant

    Redneck said

    Putin has a curious approach to both wars , letting Turkey , Israel and the US do as they like in Syria and restraining the Russian forces in Ukraine with this virtue signalling war , war with a nice face , allowing his enemies to meet and decide on weapon supplies and party on with his foe in Kyiv and continuing to supply his enemies in Ukraine and all of Europe with Russian energy , energy that is being used to sustain the fight against the Russian people.
    Putin is a disappointment , he is forcing his armies to fight without any end game , tolerating his enemies, lacking the killer instinct , unable to finish the fight , facing a decades long war in Syria and and no exit in Ukraine either.

    I believe Putin is using a very sensible strategy, he is letting the west collapse on its own, its own suicide while keeping his army and other military resources safe. The west’s decline will appear with even more in-fighting in the winter, with even more politicians losing their nerve. The people will also get restless and will be asking “Why don’t we ally with Russia”. This is his end goal, to get Russia, China and Europe together with the BRICS and cut out the USA completely and, just as importantly, rid himself of the European oligarchs.

    The other side to this is BRICS politics, he cannot be seen to be the bullying warmonger, the dictator who does not care about the little people etc. In the BRICS he can be seen to be facilitating the west’s suicide without doing anything bad himself, he is not doing anything that could cause other BRICS countries to question whether BRICS should be their home.

    #113731
    aspnaz
    Participant

    My search for the Liz Cheney car crash gory details listed a NYT article entitiled “In the Ways That Count, Liz Cheney Won” …. I am not in the slightest bit surprised, as Dr D says, they open their mouths and out come lies, lies and yet more lies.

    It is a demonstration of absense of coherent intelligence. It kind of reminds me of the child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, adamantly denying that they were taking a cookie: I was looking for my homework in the cookie jar, because I wanted so much to do my home work. You are so dumb that you think that making up some dumb story somehow makes you look good to me?

    #113732

    The cycle turns, and with our brains we plentify the crevasses of earth.
    Our predators homemade, we keep them simmering below, like fallen angels.
    Who else could take us down except ourselves?
    Yet mortal wounds give birth to newlyweds
    Who give us chubby-footed babes with fiercer brains than ever we once had.

    There. Free verse for a late night, It comes from a bottle of Tyrell’s Brokenback Shiraz 1998. Most people don’t know (even “connoisseurs” who think wine is about taste) that each individual grape- each vineyard- produces a certain kind of thinking and conversation.
    I guess I’m a snob. And I’ll probably cringe if I read this again in the morning.

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