Aug 272022
 
 August 27, 2022  Posted by at 8:09 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,


Felix Vallotton Verdun 1917

 

An Ill Wind (Jim Kunstler)
UK Facing ‘National Disaster’ – London Mayor (RT)
Power Costs In Germany Hit Historic Highs (RT)
Ruling German Party Split On Ukraine (RT)
EU Nation Bulgaria Wants To Resume Buying Russian Gas (RT)
It’s Time To Worry About Greece Again (R.)
Zaporizhzhia: World Narrowly Avoided Radiation Accident – Zelensky (BBC)
Only One In Three UN Members Back Ukraine’s New Anti-Russia Resolution (RT)
Americans To Get Medals For Ukraine (RT)
Not Even Pope Francis Is Safe From Kiev’s Wrath (Robert Bridge)
Moderna Sues Pfizer And BioNTech Over Coronavirus Vaccine (G.)
WaPo And WSJ Slam Biden Student Loan Handout (ZH)
Student Loan Cancellation Latest In Long Line Of Biden Legal Overreaches (JTN)
Stakeholder Interests Within FBI Affidavit Justifying Raid on Trump (CTH)
Dramatic Timeline of Political Corruption Within the FBI (CTH)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Putin 2014

 

 

Zhirinovsky
https://twitter.com/i/status/1562771184051437569

 

 

 

 

Vast majority of young Americans remain unvaccinated

 

 

 

 

“The regime that has turned our world inside out in its Satanic pursuit of comfort and power will be stripped naked and judged..”

An Ill Wind (Jim Kunstler)

We’ve heard ad nauseam that the Washington DC insiders, the denizens of that demi-mythic Deep State in the wealthiest metro area of all the land, look down on the rest of America. Why is that? I’ll tell you. Because the DC confederacy of grifters has gotten fat off your suffering as they have systematically wrecked and looted that rest of America, the sinking middle-class. They are living in fabulous comfort off your bamboozlement and ruin. Their contempt for you grows on your tragic breakdown like fungus on a once-mighty fallen tree. They prevailed in this world and you didn’t. You chumps are in Palookaville on your way to the bone orchard, and therefore they are better than you, ha ha ha.

There is another side of this life, in case all that has got you demoralized. That is the side where human beings say things that comport with reality, where people mean what they say and use language as if it evolved to describe things and doings with some exactitude — as in this is this and that is that… and not the inverse or opposite. That is the side of life where pretending is not the highest-and-best use of human intelligence. I know, these days it’s hard to imagine that side of life, but it’s actually still there, waiting to be reanimated. The regime that has turned our world inside out in its Satanic pursuit of comfort and power will be stripped naked and judged, if not by official judges, then by an unstoppable consensus.

The sore-beset public will take an inventory of what has been lost and begin reconstructing a scaffold of shared life that rewards fidelity to the way things actually work. It will be a rough passage out of what amounts to a hostage crisis. There will be friction and heat. You will not be comfortable, but you will be dauntless. You will certainly not have nothing or be happy about that. You will have, at least, a restored memory of what it was like to strive honorably for a life worth living. We’re in the crucible of all that just now, where everything is white hot. Do not bend or melt. Soldier through. Be men and be women (there is truly nothing in-between, and do not fall for faithless inducements to doubt that). You are brothers and sisters in an enterprise worth saving and you have a history worth defending. Believe it.

Read more …

“..there is “no actual cap” on the maximum that can be paid, and that the figure is just the cap for “those on average use.”

UK Facing ‘National Disaster’ – London Mayor (RT)

The UK is facing a “national disaster” if the government fails to act immediately to solve the energy crisis, London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned after energy regulator Ofgem announced that the price cap on the average energy bill would increase to £3,549 ($2,323) from October. Khan made the comments on Friday after Ofgem announced the 80% hike in the price cap, as struggling British households face what the mayor said would be a “bleak winter.” The new price cap is almost triple what it was last October when it was raised to £1,277 ($1,505). “With energy prices soaring and more families struggling to make ends meet, this government needs to step up and take urgent action now,”Khan said, arguing that the government has “consistently failed” to intervene and ministers “must act now to prevent this cost of living crisis becoming a national disaster.”


Brits “desperately need to know” what Westminster’s plan of action is, Khan added. Khan called for an immediate bill freeze and the introduction of a ‘Lifeline Tariff’ to ensure the most vulnerable in society receive a certain amount of free energy. The mayor also pointed out on Twitter that there is “no actual cap” on the maximum that can be paid, and that the figure is just the cap for “those on average use.” Consumer champion Martin Lewis echoed that concern, saying nothing is stopping some households from paying £10,000 ($11,821) a year. Lewis also said a movement is growing for Brits to refuse to pay energy bills, telling Good Morning Britain on Friday that if the government does not implement emergency measures, the ‘Don’t Pay’ movement “are going to become a louder voice in this country.”

Read more …

Germany is set to drag down the entire EU with it.

Power Costs In Germany Hit Historic Highs (RT)

German benchmark power prices for next year soared above €800 per megawatt hour on Friday, nearly 10 times higher than the same period last year, Bloomberg reports. Prices gained as much as 7.6% on Friday to reach €805.15 per megawatt hour on the European Energy Exchange, up 39% this week. Costs have been smashing records on an almost daily basis as the winter heating period approaches. The rally is being driven by growing concerns over Russian natural gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.


Berlin previously required gas operators to fill underground storage facilities while adhering to a strict schedule, to ensure the country has enough fuel to last the winter. The plan states that storage must be 85% full by October 1, and 95% full by November 1. Experts doubt the goal is achievable. The spike in energy costs is fueling inflation and hurting households and businesses across Europe. European countries have started introducing drastic measures to limit energy use, such as banning outside lighting for buildings and lowering indoor heating temperatures.

Read more …

“..a “ceasefire as soon as possible as a basis for comprehensive peace negotiations.”

Ruling German Party Split On Ukraine (RT)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing dissent within his own party ranks from those who want Berlin to stop providing Kiev with weapons, Der Spiegel has claimed. The outlet suggests the left wing of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has also called on Scholz to engage in dialogue with Russia. In its article published on Friday, Der Spiegel said the chancellor’s decision to beef up the German military, sever ties with Russia, and ship heavy weaponry to Ukraine earlier this year was hard to swallow for many in a political party that had for decades stood for disarmament and a policy of detente. According to the outlet, a group of SPD members representing the party’s left wing have penned a letter to Scholz, titled “The weapons must fall silent!”

In it, they advocate a diplomatic offensive as a means of ending the Ukraine conflict. Among the signatories are multiple members of the Bundestag and the European Parliament, as well as prominent party figures from several German regions, the article claims. “A continuation of the war will only bring more deaths and destruction,” the appeal seen by Der Spiegel reportedly says. The SPD members are also quoted as calling for a “ceasefire as soon as possible as a basis for comprehensive peace negotiations.” They allegedly want Berlin to engage countries that could act as mediators, with China mentioned as a good candidate for that role.

The letter reportedly goes on to argue that, while a fundamental improvement in relations between Germany and Russia would only be possible in a “post-Putin era,” Berlin has to establish a “modus vivendi” for the time being that would help to prevent “further escalation of the war.” The German government is also urged to acknowledge “realities,” however unpleasant they may be, the article claimed. The ‘peace camp’ within the SPD also warned Scholz of the risk of a nuclear conflict breaking out, and cautioned him against crossing the “red line” that would mean Germany’s direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict, the outlet says. The lawmakers allegedly argued that attempts to establish a no-fly zone over the Eastern European country, as well as the shipment of battle tanks or fighter jets, could trigger such an apocalyptic scenario.

Read more …

Not everyone wants to be dragged down.

EU Nation Bulgaria Wants To Resume Buying Russian Gas (RT)

The Bulgarian government is considering holding talks with energy giant Gazprom on resuming Russian natural gas imports, Energy Minister Rosen Hristov told Nova TV on Friday. “There are still no active talks with Gazprom… but we have given an indication that we want to start negotiations, or rather to continue them to clarify some controversial terms of the contract. We simply sent information that we were ready to negotiate and asked them to resume contact,” he said, specifying that Sofia expects a response from the Russian supplier on Friday, or Monday next week at the latest. The minister stressed: “We are only talking about the old contract; we will not re-sign or negotiate a new contract.”


According to Hristov, Sofia is seeking to extend the deadline to supply the remaining volumes of gas under the contract until 2023. In April, Bulgaria rejected the ruble-for-gas payment method introduced by Russia in response to Western sanctions. Under the new regulation, buyers from countries that imposed restrictions on Moscow are obliged to pay for Russian natural gas in rubles. Sofia’s refusal to accept the new terms prompted Gazprom Export to halt fuel supplies to its Bulgarian partner, Bulgargaz.

Read more …

Ruling party uses secret service to spy on opponents. Sound familiar?

It’s Time To Worry About Greece Again (R.)

It is only a few years since the Grexit horror movie ended. But sadly Greece’s creditors, investors and allies need to start worrying about the country again. A bugging scandal threatens Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government and prolonged political instability. This is not a re-run of the crisis that threatened to eject Greece from the euro. But the state’s high deficit and debt – which is 189% of GDP – are a cause for concern at a time of soaring energy prices and rising interest rates. Earlier this month the leader of Pasok, one of Greece’s opposition parties, accused the country’s intelligence service of bugging his phone. There had also been an unsuccessful attempt from an unknown source to infect his phone with spyware, called Predator.

Mitsotakis, leader of the centre-right New Democracy party, said he was unaware of the phone tapping and wouldn’t have approved it if he had known read more . He fired the head of the intelligence service. The government’s general secretary, to whom the intelligence service reported and who is Mitsotakis’ nephew, also quit. The government denies purchasing or using Predator. Nevertheless, the Greek parliament has reconvened to debate the issue today. sAlthough Mitsotakis has a solid majority, he has to call an election at the latest by August 2023. This will be fought under proportional representation, with the result that no party will get an overall majority. There will then be a second election, under a new law, which will give the leading party a large number of bonus members of parliament.

Opinion polls previously suggested Mitsotakis would win a majority in this second election – or come close to doing so. But following the eruption of the bugging scandal, this no longer seems likely. What is more, it will be hard for him to form a coalition, as his obvious partner was Pasok, the centre-left party whose leader’s phone was tapped. It will be extremely reluctant to do a deal with Mitsotakis. However, it will also be hard for Greece’s largest opposition party, the left-wing Syriza, to form a coalition. Though it would try to cut a deal with Pasok, the two groups probably wouldn’t have a majority. They might only be able to get one via a fanciful coalition including the communists and the far-right.

There are other possibilities. New Democracy might replace Mitsotakis with a leader more appealing to Pasok. Another is that Greek parties might form a grand coalition, led by a technocrat. But none of the scenarios looks terribly stable. Meanwhile, many questions about the bugging scandal remain unanswered. If there are further damaging revelations, Mitsotakis may struggle to hang on until the election.

Read more …

The BBC knows it’s Ukraine shelling the plant.

Zaporizhzhia: World Narrowly Avoided Radiation Accident – Zelensky (BBC)

Europe faced the prospect of a radiation disaster on Thursday when a Russian-occupied nuclear plant was disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid, President Volodomyr Zelensky has said.It was only due to back-up electricity kicking in that the Zaporizhzhia plant was able to operate safely, he added.Fires had earlier damaged overhead power lines, cutting the plant off. There is growing concern over fighting near the complex, which is the largest nuclear plant in Europe.”If the diesel generators hadn’t turned on, if the automation and our staff of the plant had not reacted after the blackout, then we would already be forced to overcome the consequences of the radiation accident,” President Zelensky warned on Thursday night.


The damage was caused by fires which Ukraine’s state nuclear agency said had interfered with power lines connecting the plant on Thursday, temporarily cutting Zaporizhzhia off from the national grid for the first time in its history. “As a result, the station’s two working power units were disconnected from the network,” Kyiv officials said. On Friday afternoon, the state nuclear company said the plant had been reconnected to the electricity grid, with one of its six reactors providing power. Satellite images taken on Wednesday showed an extensive fire burning in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear complex. President Zelensky blamed the damage on Russian shelling, and in his nightly address accused Moscow of putting Ukraine and Europe “one step away” from disaster. But local Russian-appointed governor Yevgeny Balitsky blamed the Ukrainian military for the strikes, accusing them of causing power outages to the region as a result.

Read more …

Meanwhile, in the real world …

Only One In Three UN Members Back Ukraine’s New Anti-Russia Resolution (RT)

Ukraine’s latest proposal to condemn Russia has attracted the backing of just 58 out of 193 UN member states, a far cry from the number that symbolically supported Kiev in the General Assembly in March. Kiev’s envoy to the UN Sergey Kislitsa heralded the proposed resolution on Wednesday, following the Security Council meetingconvened on Ukraine’s independence day. The session featured a video address by President Vladimir Zelensky, for which the council had to override protocol requiring in-person appearances, and a series of statements by Western governments denouncing Russia.


Moscow’s envoy Vassily Nebenzia provided the counterpoint by introducing evidence of Ukrainian atrocities into the record and even naming Kiev’s western backers as accomplices in specific instances. Kislitsa’s resolution also fell short of the support Kiev had back in March, right after the start of the Russian military operation. At the March 2 General Assembly session,141 member countries – or 73% of the UN – voted for a nonbinding resolution to condemn Moscow. This week, however, that support stood at 30%, with no African, Persian Gulf or BRICS countries on board – and only two Latin American governments, Colombia and Guatemala, standing with Ukraine.

Read more …

It’s no longer a proxy war.

Americans To Get Medals For Ukraine (RT)

The US government intends to officially name its military mission to aid Kiev and appoint a general to command it, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Biden administration officials. This would formalize the operation that predates the escalation of hostilities in Ukraine and allow the Pentagon to award ribbons, medals, and special pay to its participants. Giving the operation a name is “significant bureaucratically,” the Journal explained, as it “typically entails long-term, dedicated funding and the possibility of special pay, ribbons and awards for service members participating in the effort.” The US has previously named its operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The original intervention in Afghanistan was dubbed “Enduring Freedom,”replaced by the nation-building “Freedom’s Sentinel” in 2015.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq was called “Iraqi Freedom,” while the 2014 redeployment to Iraq and Syria to fight Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists was designated “Inherent Resolve.” A two-star or three-star general will be appointed to command the effort, in what the Journal described as “a shift from the largely ad hoc effort to to provide training and assistance to the Ukrainians for years.” While the US has sent Ukraine almost $11 billion worth of weapons and ammunition since February, Washington and its NATO allies have provided Kiev with military aid since the 2014 coup that put a US-backed government in power and set off the civil war in Donbass. Former Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko admitted in June that his signature on the Minsk armistice was intended to buy Kiev time to build up a powerful military.

Aleksey Danilov, who currently chairs Ukraine’s National Security Council, revealed on Tuesday that Kiev had been “preparing for the war since December 2019.” In April, the White House appointed retired US Army General Terry Wolff as coordinator for military assistance to Ukraine. Wolff, a veteran Pentagon policy planner, had retired in February 2014 as director of strategic plans and policy (J-5) for the Joint Staff. He was previously in charge of US efforts to arm and train militants in Syria.

Read more …

“..it was telling how the Pope’s use of the word “innocent” when applied to Darya Dugina triggered such a powerful response from someone who calls himself a diplomat.”

Not Even Pope Francis Is Safe From Kiev’s Wrath (Robert Bridge)

After mentioning the death of Darya Dugina, a young Russian journalist and political activist, Pope Francis has faced the anger of Kiev, which apparently thinks it has the monopoly on “innocence.” For the past six months, Kiev has lashed out at various government leaders and international organizations, like Amnesty International, for example, which reported on Ukraine’s violations of international law on the battlefield. So it was just a matter of time before the Catholic Church got an earful, too. And that’s what happened this week when Pope Francis, addressing a congregation in the Vatican, mentionegd the death of Darya Dugina, whose life was cut tragically short by a car bombing. But before uttering the name of the deceased Russian woman, the Pope acknowledged the innocent victims on both sides of the conflict.

“Whether they are Ukrainians or Russians … I think of so much cruelty, of the many innocents who are paying for the madness, the madness of all sides because war is madness,” Pope Francis told his flock. “I think of the poor girl (Darya Dugina) who was blown up by a bomb under her car seat in Moscow. The innocent pay for the war.” That seems to be a fair assessment of the horrors of warfare that few could find fault with. While government leaders are ultimately responsible for leading their people into the “madness of war,” it is the “innocent” people – from soldiers on the frontlines to civilians back home – who suffer the brunt of the consequences. Yet, like a true politician, Ukraine’s Vatican ambassador Andrey Yurash politicized the Pope’s words, saying it was impossible to call Dugina “innocent” when she – together with her prominent father, the political philosopher Aleksandr Dugin – advocated on behalf of Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine.

There are several problems with Yurash’s peculiar brand of moralizing, the first one being that he, much like the Western world in general, conveniently fast-forwarded past eight years of bloodshed in Donbass that has caused millions of people – not just “political ideologues” – to support Russia’s intervention in eastern Ukraine in the first place. I’m not sure what Mr. Yurash was tweeting about in 2014, but somehow I doubt it had anything to do with the unprovoked attacks on Russian speakers in Donbass that have killed thousands. Second, it was telling how the Pope’s use of the word “innocent” when applied to Darya Dugina triggered such a powerful response from someone who calls himself a diplomat. What’s more, in his tweet, Yurash went on to apparently insinuate that it was the Russians themselves that killed her in order to make her a martyr.

Read more …

Sales are down?

Moderna Sues Pfizer And BioNTech Over Coronavirus Vaccine (G.)

Moderna is suing its US pharmaceutical rival Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for patent infringement in the development of the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in the United States, alleging they copied technology that Moderna developed years before the pandemic. The lawsuit, which seeks undetermined monetary damages, was being filed in US district court in Massachusetts and the regional court of Düsseldorf in Germany, Moderna said in a news release on Friday. “We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the Covid-19 pandemic,” Moderna’s chief executive, Stéphane Bancel, said in the statement.

Moderna Inc, on its own, and the partnership of Pfizer and BioNTech were two of the first groups to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus. Just a decade old as a company, Moderna, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, had been an innovator in the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology that enabled the unprecedented speed in developing the Covid-19 vaccine after the coronavirus pandemic began in late 2019 and spread around the world. An approval process that previously took years was completed in months, thanks largely to the breakthrough in mRNA vaccines, which teach human cells how to make a protein that will trigger an immune response.

[..] Moderna alleges Pfizer/BioNTech, without permission, copied mRNA technology that Moderna had patented between 2010 and 2016, well before deadly Covid-19 emerged in 2019 in China and exploded into global consciousness in early 2020. Early in the pandemic, Moderna said it would not enforce its Covid-19 patents to help others develop their own vaccines, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. But in March 2022 Moderna said it expected companies such as Pfizer and BioNTech to respect its intellectual property rights. It said it would not seek damages for any activity before 8 March 2022.

Read more …

“..Student-loan debt won’t appear to swell even as it does. What a fabulous accounting trick.”

WaPo And WSJ Slam Biden Student Loan Handout (ZH)

After the Biden administration announced its ham-fisted scheme to eliminate $10,000 in student loans for borrowers making less than $125,000 per year, and $20,000 for Pell grant recipients, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal editorial boards independently wrote about what a stupid idea it is. “This is easily the worst domestic decision of his Presidency and makes chumps of Congress and every American who repaid loans or didn’t go to college,” writes the Journal editorial board. “Democrats said these plans would reduce defaults. They haven’t. Federal student debt has ballooned because many borrowers don’t make enough to cover interest and principal payments, so their balances expand. Student debt has nearly doubled since 2011 to $1.6 trillion, though the number of borrowers has increased by only 18%.

Now Mr. Biden is cutting undergrad payments to a mere 5% of discretionary income. The government will also cover unpaid monthly interest for borrowers so their balances won’t grow even if they aren’t paying a penny. This will mask the cost to taxpayers of the Administration’s rolling loan write-off. Student-loan debt won’t appear to swell even as it does. What a fabulous accounting trick.” -WSJ The Post, meanwhile, said that Biden “Has generally embraced sensible reforms over flashy gimmicks. But his Wednesday student loan announcement did just the opposite,” adding that the plan to forgive both the $10K and $20K levels are “ill-conceived and misdirected.”

“The unemployment rate for people with bachelor’s degrees and higher is just 2 percent. It’s hard to make the case that college graduates are still facing an unprecedented crisis. The loan-forgiveness decision is even worse. Widely canceling student loan debt is regressive. It takes money from the broader tax base, mostly made up of workers who did not go to college, to subsidize the education debt of people with valuable degrees. Mr. Biden’s student loan decision will not do enough to help the most vulnerable Americans. It will, however, provide a windfall for those who don’t need it — with American taxpayers footing the bill.” -WaPo. Ouch!

Read more …

“..Biden “is using COVID emergency powers to allow people not to repay their loans,” he asked, “[Does] that make any sense?”

Student Loan Cancellation Latest In Long Line Of Biden Legal Overreaches (JTN)

Since President Biden entered office, federal courts across the country have repeatedly struck down administration policies as unconstitutional. According to critics, there may soon be another addition to this long and growing list: Biden’s announcement Wednesday that he will unilaterally cancel $10,000 of federal student loan debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 per year and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. The Justice Department released a legal opinion stating the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act gives the education secretary the “authority to reduce or eliminate the obligation to repay the principal balance of federal student loan debt.” The opinion also found the debt could be forgiven on a “class-wide” basis in response to COVID-19.

Advocates of student loan forgiveness have made similar arguments, pointing to language in the Higher Education Act of 1965 that empowers the education secretary to “enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand, however acquired, including any equity or any right of redemption” to argue Congress isn’t needed to cancel student loan debt on a large scale. However, critics counter that the language refers just to settling loans on a case-by-case basis and doesn’t give the executive branch the power to implement large-scale student loan cancellation. These critics note all executive branch spending must first be appropriated by Congress and contend canceling student debt for millions of Americans via executive action violates the separation of powers fundamental to the Constitution.

In January 2021, when former President Trump was still in office, the Department of Education issued a legal memo saying the education secretary “does not have the statutory authority to cancel, compromise, discharge, or forgive, on a blanket or mass basis, principal balances of student loans, and/or to materially modify the repayment amounts or terms thereof.” The memo has been taken down from the department’s website since Biden entered the White House. None other than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a Biden ally, told reporters last year that Biden didn’t have the power to cancel student debt. “That has to be an act of Congress … the president can’t do it,” said Pelosi. “That’s not even a discussion.”

Biden himself has previously expressed reluctance about using executive authority to enact widespread student loan forgiveness, saying in December 2020: “I think that’s pretty questionable. I’m unsure of that. I’d be unlikely to do that.” Critics of Biden’s announcement are expected to launch legal challenges to stop it from being implemented. Arguing that “the president does not have the authority to do this,” economist Steve Moore told the “Just the News, Not Noise” TV show, “I think that Supreme Court is going to rule against Biden.” Noting that Biden “is using COVID emergency powers to allow people not to repay their loans,” he asked, “[Does] that make any sense?

Mike Davis

Read more …

“..the institutions that illegally targeted President Trump are the same institutions who control the specific evidence of their unlawful targeting.”

Stakeholder Interests Within FBI Affidavit Justifying Raid on Trump (CTH)

Chris Steele, Igor Danchenko and Rodney Joffe were also interviewed by the FBI. Those 302’s were never released. Presumably John Durham has stakeholder equity in that part of the Trump-Russia hoax, but the documentary evidence prior to January 20, 2021, that exists outside the special counsel could also be records at Mar-a-Lago. Then we get to the big stuff…. The records and evidence in unredacted and declassified state, that would drive the DOJ-NSD to claim vital national security interests. The NSA compliance officer notified NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers of unauthorized use of the NSA database by FBI contractors searching U.S. citizens during the 2015/2016 presidential primary. That 2016 notification is a classified record.

The response from Mike Rogers, and the subsequent documentary evidence of what names were being searched is again a classified record. The audit logs showing who was doing the searches (which contractors, which agencies and from what offices), as noted by Director Rogers, was preserved. That is another big-time classified record. In addition, we would have Admiral Rogers writing a mandatory oversight notification to the FISA court detailing what happened. That’s a big and comprehensive classified record, likely contained in the documents in Mar-a-Lago… and then the goldmine, the fully unredacted 99-page FISA court opinion detailing the substance of the NSA compromise by FBI officials and contractors, including the names, frequency and dates of the illegal surveillance. That is a major classified document the Deepest Deep State would want to keep hidden.

These are the types of documents within what former ODNI John Ratcliffe called “thousands of pages that were declassified by President Trump,” and given to both John Durham and Main Justice with an expectation of public release when the Durham special counsel probe concluded. In short, President Trump declassified documents that show how the institutions within the U.S. government targeted him. However, the institutions that illegally targeted President Trump are the same institutions who control the specific evidence of their unlawful targeting. These examples of evidence held by President Donald Trump reveals the background of how the DC surveillance state exists. THAT was/is the national security threat behind the DOJ-NSD search warrant and affidavit.

Read more …

Strong video.

Dramatic Timeline of Political Corruption Within the FBI (CTH)

BACKGROUND on FBI – As we discovered in January of this year, the FBI was fully aware of the terrorist who was planning to shoot the synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, and yet they did nothing. The FBI knowledge of the shooter, Malik Faisal Akram, who was known as Faisal Akram was confirmed by The Daily Mail. Akram ranted, prior to his travel to the U.S, that he wished he had died in the 9/11 terror attacks. He was a regular visitor to Pakistan, and reportedly a member of the Tablighi Jamaat group set up to ‘purify’ Islam. To say the U.S. intelligence system knew Faisal Akram would be an understatement. The FBI was also fully aware of the Boston Marathon bombers, the Tsarnaev brothers, before they executed their plot. The FBI took no action.

The FBI knew about the San Bernardino terrorists, specifically Tashfeen Malik, and were monitoring her phone calls and communications before her and Syed Farook executed their attack killing 14 people and leaving 22 others seriously injured. The FBI took no action. The FBI knew Colorado grocery store shooter Ahmad Alissa before he executed his attack. The FBI took no action. The FBI knew in advance of the Pulse Nightclub shooter (Omar Mateen) and were tipped off by the local sheriff. The FBI knew in advance of the San Bernardino Terrorists (Tashfeen Malik). The FBI knew in advance of the Boston Marathon Bombers (the Tsarnaev brothers) tipped off by Russians. The FBI knew in advance of the Parkland High School shooter (Nikolas Cruz). The FBI knew in advance of the Fort Hood shooter (Nidal Hasan), and the FBI knew in advance of Colorado grocery store shooter Ahmad al-Aliwi Alissa. The FBI took no action.

The case of the first recorded ISIS attack on U.S. soil was in Garland, Texas in 2015. The FBI not only knew the shooters (Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi) in advance, BUT the FBI ALSO took the shooters to the venue and were standing only a few yards away when Simpson and Soofi opened fire. Yes, you read that correctly – the FBI took the terrorists to the event and then watched it unfold. “An FBI trainer suggested in an interview with “60 Minutes” that, had the attack been bigger, the agency’s numerous ties to the shooter would have led to a congressional investigation.”

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Tucker 4-sigma
https://twitter.com/i/status/1563030107572568068

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steller’s sea eagle

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle August 27 2022

Viewing 36 posts - 41 through 76 (of 76 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #114404
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    I’ve heard a lot of excuses in my day but I’ve got to admit that’s a new one. Moderna’s alibi is that they did it.

    #114405
    John Day
    Participant

    @PhoenixVoice: Thanks for the story of indigenous self-government at the level of 20.000 people. It is a lot like Athenian Democracy, though all are free, no slaves.

    #114406
    John Day
    Participant

    The student loans are government guarantied, which is to say the government holds the (sucker) borrower forewver responsible to the bak that lent the money. no risk profit for the bank. We pay to enforce it. Let’s not enforce it.
    Let the numbers rack up in a $US global economy that everybody walks away from.
    Got a better plan? It’s happening anyway. Don’t keep feeding the parasites.

    #114407
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    This happens sometimes. It’s a major ingredient in what keeps us alive, keeps us going. It happened to me this morning, and not just in a small bright spark of a way, but more like a small nova of the soul. I met someone and stepped into another world, one where sanity and kindness aggressively prevailed:

    Someone Smiling

    When it happens, we typically feel empowered to lard obnoxiously excessive encouragement onto others in our determination to convincingly remind them that it can and probably will happen to you too. Again.

    But maybe this time you’ll REALLY need it, like I did.

    Makes a feller feel blissfully manic.

    I love it when that happens.

    P.S. So we’re going through a bottleneck dieoff and many, including maybe us, will suffer horribly. Oh well. Let’s not let the future damn the present

    #114408
    Armenio Pereira
    Participant

    Humans are in control – that’s why things are going our way…

    The Everlasting Dissatisfaction is in control; you can pray, or curse. Regardless, if peace of mind is something you treasure, you can try radical acceptance (“I cannot change how I am and, crucially, others can’t change the way they are.”)

    In our path, we sometimes crush an ant or two. Is it because we are cruel? We are just too big and, moreover, we are compelled to keep on moving.
    At some point, The Universe will crush us. Is it cruel, unfair? No, The Everlasting Dissatisfaction is way too big, and it won’t be stopped.

    #114409
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    First they tell everyone that their lives will be shitty from now on, and then they work on systems to repress dissent -more riot police, more control on information, more doubling down on control of media…

    Somewhere there’s going to be a smash. Sooner or later a massive breakdown of the economic system.

    #114410
    willem
    Participant

    @aspnaz: The stupid idea is giving money to the plebs when they could give it to the billionaires as they usually do.

    I think what is missed is that they DID give it to the billionaires again. The student loan bubble was close to bursting–who do you think would be the ones who would really lose money if that happens?

    #114411
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    Apparently the Russians have changed their battle tactics. No longer do they engage in assaults on well-defended positions which can result in Russian casualties, but have switched to longer range attacks on cannon fodder placed in position by the maniacs in Kiev.

    Apparently it goes like this. The Ukrainians move soldiers and equipment to positions just back from the actual contested zones, and the Russians fire artillery and rockets at them and kill a few hundred people and destroy a few dozen military vehicles.

    The Ukrainian military commanders then force another lot of fresh cannon fodder into the killing zone.

    Presumably the plan is to keep repeating this process until there are no people or vehicles left to send.

    Temperatures are starting to drop, and there are certain military objectives the Russian military need to achieve before the winter. In particular, then need to drive the fascists back so that the fascists can no longer attack the nuclear power station. Taking Nykolaiv would also be desirable some time in the next few weeks in order to throttle the vipers in Kiev somewhat faster.

    #114412
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    Many truth bombs about Ukraine and the US involvement/interference in Ukraine here:

    #114413

    Would this student loan “gift” be taxed?

    #114414
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    The sore-beset public will take an inventory of what has been lost and begin reconstructing a scaffold of shared life that rewards fidelity to the way things actually work.

    You will not be comfortable, but you will be dauntless. You will certainly not have nothing or be happy about that. You will have, at least, a restored memory of what it was like to strive honorably for a life worth living.

    You are brothers and sisters in an enterprise worth saving and you have a history worth defending. Believe it.

    #114415

    I mentioned this a long time back- if you’re going to make a poison, wouldn’t you want an antidote?
    “miRNAs (microRNAs) can bind to target messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts of protein-coding genes and negatively control their translation or cause mRNA degradation. It is of key importance to identify the miRNA targets accurately.”
    This is from the wiki article.

    #114416
    Farmer McGregor
    Participant

    @Germ Wow, You da Man!
    Thank you, Thank you, Thank you (Thank you cubed) for all your research.

    #114417
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    Pakistan. 45 million people affected by nature’s wrath. How ironic; get onto the motorway for safety:

    #114418
    willem
    Participant

    @afewknowthetruth: I’ve been following the Military Summary channel almost since the beginning. This is not a change for Russia; they’ve been doing pretty much the same thing almost since Mariupol (at least). They just shell the hell out of the Ukrainian positions until they destroy them or until they abandon their positions, and then move in when the resistance is essentially gone. The only thing that has really changed recently is that the Ukrainians have gotten a little more insistent on sending fresh troops up to refill the fortifications after the initial ones are killed. So the Russians just “rinse and repeat”.

    @MPSK: I read today that yes, indeed, the student loan forgiveness is likely to be considered a taxable event to many recipients.

    #114419
    zerosum
    Participant

    The student loan forgiveness is an illusion, its a carrot to get your vote.

    Student:
    Where is the application form for my parents to get a $10,000 refund for my education

    #114420
    Bill7
    Participant

    At the small apartment complex where I live there is a slightly-raised concrete pad where there used to be a laundry room, delineated with safety stripes so that one does not trip. Yesterday those
    stripes were repainted in #Ukraine colors. Meanwhile, needed repairs here go undone..

    The conditioning never does stop.

    #114421
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    I have been busy harvesting wood and I am not up to date.

    Spartacus is pissed off

    From Aug 26, 23 minute listen, Spartacus’s fourth spartacast

    https://iceni.substack.com/p/spartacast-04

    #114422
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    I’m gob-smacked. For once, Veracious Poet posted something that wasn’t sneeringly smug and sanctimonious, but actually honest, and meaningfully uplifting:

    “The sore-beset public will take an inventory of what has been lost and begin reconstructing a scaffold of shared life that rewards fidelity to the way things actually work.

    “You will not be comfortable, but you will be dauntless. You will certainly not have nothing or be happy about that. You will have, at least, a restored memory of what it was like to strive honorably for a life worth living.

    “You are brothers and sisters in an enterprise worth saving and you have a history worth defending. Believe it.”

    Great Balls of Fire

    #114423
    zerosum
    Participant

    Yep! Spartacus is describing our reality that few will identify as facts.

    #114424
    aspnaz
    Participant

    Afewknowthetruth said

    Pakistan. 45 million people affected by nature’s wrath.

    Why wrath? What has flooding got to do with wrath, or do you see this as punishment for treating the earth badly, a sort of looney left karma?

    #114425
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    willem

    ‘The only thing that has really changed recently is that the Ukrainians have gotten a little more insistent on sending fresh troops up to refill the fortifications after the initial ones are killed.’

    I wonder if you missed the point.

    From what I understand about what is being reported, the Russians are increasingly launching attacks deep into Ukrainian-held territory, way behind the fortifications, with the object of starving out those in the heavily fortified positions via lack of food and ammunition.

    It is also said that the Russians are no longer considering conscription because they have an excess of volunteers (of the order of 140,0000) who cannot wait to get into Ukrainian-held territory and liberate it.

    Most amusing (if you are not a conscript in the Ukrainian army) is that the weapons being sent by the US are inferior to the Soviet-era weapons that the Ukrainians have lost or used up. And the total number of artillery shells is less than what Russia fires in two weeks.

    I know there is a huge ‘fog’ when it comes to war but I have learned not to believe a single thing any western politician or western ‘analyst’ says. about the war, or what they say about anything else.

    Trust and credibility are at zero.

    #114426
    Bill7
    Participant

    Michael Reid said: “I have been busy harvesting wood and I am not up to date.”

    A good way to be these days. Sleep well; that’s some real work, there.

    #114427
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    aspnaz

    I know its is the game you play, to contradict or question what I write, just for the sake of provoking an argument.

    And love just love to thrown in insults and ad hominen attacks. .

    Here’s something for you to refute and argue about:

    When US dollar system goes under -some time in the next two years- Taiwan, with its 23 million people on a land mass smaller than the North island of NZ will be unable to buy the fossil fuels it needs to keep its transport system running and will be unable to import the massive amount of imported food it needs to feed its populace. Around 22 million people will starve to death.

    When the last of the sea ice in the Artic melts and planetary overheating really kicks in, the rise is sea level will inundate the entire coastal plain where all the cities are. (I spent quite a lot of time in Taiwan). That probably won’t matter much because the cities will be largely empty, as a consequence of the starvation..

    As the overheating of the Earth generates ever-worse torrential rain episodes, c.f. Pakistan, hillsides in the mountainous region in the centre of the island will collapse and will crush settlements on the hillsides and in the valleys: I saw that kind of thing first when a tropical cyclone during one of my visits.

    The population overshoot ‘problem’ will be will solved, and whatever remnant remains alive may be able to scratch a living for a short time, bearing in mind that the waters around Taiwan are so polluted as to support little life.

    #114428
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Afewknowthetruth

    When the last of the sea ice in the Artic melts and planetary overheating really kicks in, the rise is sea level will inundate the entire coastal plain where all the cities are.

    Surely you meant the Antarctic; and sea ice melting doesn’t raise sea levels; it’s the glaciers on the land melting that cause sea level rise… 😉

    #114429
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    Considered to be one of the greatest minds of his era. James Lovelock, inventor and genius, wrote this

    ‘The Revenge of Gaia Earth’s Climate Crisis and The Fate of Humanity’

    in 2007.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revenge_of_Gaia

    Since then, industrial humans have added approximately 800 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and oceans, via the burning of fossil fuels and conversion of limestone into calcium oxide [for the manufacture of cement].

    And aspnaz thinks the term ‘natures wrath’ is harsh???

    How about revenge, then, aspnaz?

    #114430
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    V Arnold.

    No, I do mean Artic ice. Obviously you have not been following the science. Most people, even really interested people, don’t follow the science.

    Whilst it is true that the loss of sea ice does not alter the depth of the oceans, loss of ice allows more incident sunlight and heat to be absorbed by the waters of the Arctic. Absorbed light ends up as heat.

    As long as there is ice present, that additional heat converts ice into water, and temperature of the water does not rise..

    When all the ice has melted, the heat absorbed in the Artic manifests as an increase in temperature of the water.

    The increased water temperature in the Arctic destablises the methane clathrates that reside on the [shallow] sea floor, causing them to release the methane, potentially as a ‘methane burp’ of enormous size.

    With methane having a global warming potential of around 300 times that of CO2 over time frames that matter, this would more than double the rate of overheating of the entire Earth and cause the temperature of the oceans to rise much faster than they already are.

    The less ice there is, the more heat is absorbed, melting more ice… a self-reinforcing feedback

    I have known about this and written about it since the year 2000, and highlighted the great danger in the book I wrote and published in 2001.

    The message does not get through because the controllers -the bankers, the corporations, the fake politicians, the fake media etc. do not want it to get through.

    ‘The Mechanism leading to Collapse of Civilization and Runaway Global Warming’

    http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/p/the-mechanism.html

    By the way, the Antarctic sea ice cover is at a record minimum.

    That is called doubly screwed.

    #114431
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    The question on everyone’s fore-brains (those who have them) is, “When is the collapse, the big smash up, finally going to happen?” Almost everyone feels that it’s real close now. They wanna know, “When do the lights go out? When do the cars stop rolling and the furnaces go cold? When will the taps run dry and mobs riot and genuine starvation begin?” They want an actual date for when the disappearance of all normality will actually take place in a completely non-vague or ambiguous way.

    What hasn’t occurred to them yet is that it has already happened but the shock wave and heat (although on their way!) has not reached them yet. Events do not consist of a just one instantaneous Flash! Bang! All events are a series of consequences involving numerous things. Even asteroid strikes and bomb explosions are composed of cause and effect events that progress over a span of time. If all that you really want to know is “When does it REALLY arrive? When does the music actually DIE?” The only short answer for that one is that the music doesn’t stop for you, until it stops FOR YOU.

    For example, the Ukrainian artillery shell (compliments of the USA and NATO), that landed on the Donetsk grade school, ended the music for those children a dozen years ago. That was when it stopped for them. For those kids it was the end of the world. Collapse had occurred, and the collapse of civilization that happened to them is the same collapse of civilization that is happening to the rest of us.

    So, when does the collapse happen, and how long will it take?

    Well the short answer is simply that it already has, but these things take time.

    #114432
    aspnaz
    Participant

    Afewknowthetruth said

    And aspnaz thinks the term ‘natures wrath’ is harsh???

    How about revenge, then, aspnaz?

    You are part of nature: when you fail to run fast enough do you get all emotional with your legs? Your concept of nature – some sort of emotional entity that gets annoyed with the humanity part of itself – is somewhat pathetic. It appears to be a disingenuous attempt by you to project yourself or humanity at large as seperate from nature, as if you/we control nature and that nature is angry at us, as if we/you are some sort of equal to nature.

    But thanks for the run down of your beliefs: I always find it nice to have mt suspicions confirmed.

    #114433
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    aspnaz

    You really should stop the nonsense because you are totally wrong about practically everything and you are 100% wrong in every assumption you make about me.

    But I know you won’t stop because it is a component of your personality to always want to have the last word.

    One of my favourite songs, and what I aspired to before I got too old:

    #114434
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    I’m sorry to have to say it, but uninformed fuckwit incapable of logical thought fits the bill.

    Now just F.O. until you are prepared to discuss real issues instead of your silly opinions.

    Troll.

    #114435
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    D Benton Smith

    You are absolutely right!

    Collapse comes one person at a time, one family at a time, one community at a time, one district at a time, one nation at a time.

    What the maniacs [politicians, bankers, industrialists, economists, lawyers etc.] who have been messing with geochemistry and ecology for decades have achieved is the set of conditions that ensure complete worldwide collapse is inevitable in the near future.

    #114436
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    “William Catton’s book ‘Overshoot’, the most important book I have ever read in my life. Nothing else even close to it,” said Michael Dowd.

    I read Jared Diamond’s ‘Collapse’ around 15 years ago -a bit long and repetitive but on the ball- and could see exactly where we were headed.

    We do not have a set of physical predicaments: we have a cultural predicament that prevents even the slightest societal movement towards preparation for the inevitable.

    #114449
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    It is not just scientists who point out that we are on the road to extinction via looting, polluting, exploitation and overshoot.

    Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and great thinker Chris Hedges said the same recently.

    Brilliant!

    …”five centuries of reckless economic and environmental plunder.”

    #114451
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    AFKTT:

    #114462
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Ouch. No interviews? I hear the same split personality, half list (too low) and can’t get applicants to show, half are listed (we’re on the outside here) and never fill. For many years now companies have advertised, even with temp agencies, then when you call (bc “Manpower” is on the inside) they say “Corporate allowed us to list, but froze the money for the hiring. Maybe sometime they will unfreeze so we keep it posted”. For YEARS. I’m sure the total lack of management competency hasn’t changed.

    The Zap shelling I’ve heard is from HIMARs? I find this unlikely but…? That would mean the U.S. is the specific approver and targeter of nuking Europe? Another reason it’s hard to credit.

    AfewKnow: Pretty standard AGW line, I’m sure we’ve all heard it a lot. However, none of the models worked and 40 years later it is still wrong and not happened. Where is the falsifiable part of your Scientific Theory? If oceans don’t rise for lifetimes, does science re-calibrate and wonder why? Rain is evidence, but dry is evidence too? Since none of the previous models worked worth half a hoot, I’m in no concern at the moment that the models on Taiwan specifically will occur.

    This is a shame since there are real problems, and the solution to most of the problems are generally the same, common sense local ecology we agree on. However, if the problem is CO2, then it’s the Perfect Problem™ because it can’t be solved. First of all, you and I don’t have to take any action because nothing we do will affect it. So I can shop on Amazon and eat 2,000 mile ceasar salads all day with the benefit of feeling guilty as a Catholic, and going to St. Greta and the WEF to remove my original sin. …Of breathing. This is a well-worn control tactic, but not a success and action tactic. It drives people insane, and to personal violence, and it provably has this time too — no surprise. “Killin’ neighbors: It’s Good for the Earth.”™ It’s the other “Perfect Problem” because the only solution is to reduce CO2, which will kill nearly every human on the face of the earth, and the faster we act, the more that die. So you can die; OR you can die. Yay! And you bought one half, or the other of that Morton’s Fork. And the People are the ones demanding that they die, faster, fast as possible. Then kill themselves and each other by the hundred thousands, as we shall see in Europe this year. I do not find this a logical method of ‘saving the earth’ or what they actually say, that we must make change so we don’t have to move a few coastal cities back 5 miles every 100 years. Fewer would die if you flooded every city and sent migrant to NJ back to Ohio. Saving the Earth that doesn’t need to be saved that is fine? Or saving the humans on the earth? And we save the village by killing the village? I’m sorry: restate your goals again here? Is it to save us, or something else?

    Otoh, NOTHING is done for gardening. For the grid. For decentralization. For farming. For banking. For unity. For ecology. For sustainability. So even if the theory is true, it’s a MASSIVE strategic bust in every way, and will get nothing but resistance from every one, on every side. Or are they really going to say, as the kids do: “Ooh! Ooh! Kill me first!!! Erase my job! I want the bridge on 49th street, that’s my goal! In a VAN, by the RIVER!”

    Meanwhile, if you DON’T do that, stick to saving humans, improving their lies, and avoid evangelizing un-falsifiable religious claims, you gain all the non-believers to your banner, AND grow more food, decentralize the economy, firewall the financial collapse, and make more jobs that are more resilient. Your choice, sir. Personally, every model being wrong every day of my entire sorry life, plus science being dead wrong about all OTHER science for 2 years — or 20 — was enough to convince me. I was keeping a list of catastrophic “Science being wrong” stories. Don’t make me post it. This month was, “SSRIs unrelated to Depression.” After 30 years of prescribing profits. Just like Statins, cholesterol…and this the same month BJM prints “All scientific studies are paid-garbage unless proven otherwise”. And we can TEST drugs, with control groups. How much less Climate where we can’t?

    And wave the banner of “Science”, her majesty and objective reliability after this and after years of such articles in “Lancet”, “NEJM”, and 300 published papers of AI-generated pure gibberish? At this point, anyone who trusts “Science” or uses the word is Suspicious and cut out on the face of it, just another 7th Day Adventist with a brochure pulled up in a Tesla telling me how I have to walk now. I see NO reform in Science. None. More revelations about how they were killing kids in the back alley, with a needle and a checkbook, worse than the Pope could fathom, and still at it! Can’t stop/Won’t stop. “Trust Us!” Trust me Billy, what have I ever done and when have I ever been wrong before?” You mean, except EVERY. TIME.? 100% of the time wrong? Since Before Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein in 1815? Wrong every day since then? Science working maniacally to destroy me and the ecology every day since then? Nope. Admit nothing. Deny everything. Make counter accusations. But let’s be practical instead.

    I’m not about to sign up for another guilt religion on purpose. It’s just not productive. It’s like rolling up to Mother Theresa and asking her if she’s heard about Jesus Christ today.

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