Nov 222022
 
 November 22, 2022  Posted by at 9:50 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,


Salvador Dali Nymphs in a romantic garden 1921

 

Zelenskyy Urges West To Support Ukraine’s Accession To NATO, EU (Az.)
NATO Assembly Calls On Members To Declare Russia ‘Terrorist Regime’ (RT)
Peace Talks Would Require More Weapons For Ukraine – NATO chief (RT)
Ukraine Quietly Abolished Corruption Rule (RT)
Duma Speaker Calls for ‘Nazi’ Zelensky to Face War Crime Charges (Celente)
Associated Press Fires Journalist Who Claimed Russian Missiles Hit Poland (CTH)
EU Hoarding Russian Diesel Before Ban – Reuters (RT)
UK Bypassing Its Own Sanctions On Russian Oil – Sunday Times (RT)
EU Struggles To Seize Russian Assets – Politico (RT)
Ukrainian Attacks Risk ‘Nuclear Disaster’ – Rosatom (RT)
UN Responds To Russian Nuclear Request (RT)
The Solemn Stillness Before Winter (Jim Kunstler)
The Perils Facing Trump, Garland, and Smith in DC Legal Arms Race (Turley)
New Trump Special Prosecutor Overturned By Supreme Court (JTN)
The Non-Existent European Identity (Remix)

 

 


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CBS coincidence
https://twitter.com/TheLastRefuge2/status/1594759852043157521

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balenciaga
https://twitter.com/i/status/1594869537144336384

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why doesn’t someone shut him down when he utters such nonsense? Vladimir Zel simply declared there’s no corruption, but the EU can’t afford to accept that kind of BS. Bringing in the most corrupt country in -at least- the western hemisphere would end the EU. And they all know Russia will never accept NATO on its doorstep. We’re just wasting time -and lives.

Zelenskyy Urges West To Support Ukraine’s Accession To NATO, EU (Az.)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the Western countries in a plenary meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to support Ukraine’s applications for membership in the European Union and NATO, Report informs, citing Ukrinform. “All of you can see Ukraine’s significant contribution to the protection of our community. Everyone sees how important it is that we really united in defense after February 24. So, due to this, you also see that Ukraine should become a full member of the European Union and NATO. And I urge you to support our applications for membership in the EU and the Alliance,” Zelenskyy said in his speech at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly via video link.

Read more …

Why does NATO have a Parliamentary Assembly?

NATO Assembly Calls On Members To Declare Russia ‘Terrorist Regime’ (RT)

NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly has adopted a largely symbolic resolution calling on member nations to label Russia a “terrorist” state, claiming Moscow represents a “direct threat” to “Euro-Atlantic security” while demanding more military support to Kiev and an end to restrictions on the “forward deployment of NATO forces.” The non-binding declaration was passed by the NATO PA on Monday, with the body warning that “the Euro-Atlantic area is no longer at peace and that the global security environment has deteriorated rapidly” amid continued fighting in Eastern Europe, going on to denounce Russia’s military operation “in the strongest terms.”

The resolution made a series of requests to NATO members, asking them to “state clearly that the Russian state under the current regime is a terrorist one,” and to “increase military, intelligence, financial, training and humanitarian support to Ukraine,” including by “accelerating” arms shipments. The NATO bloc must “sustain this support for as long as it takes for Ukraine to prevail,” the resolution added, also asking that any existing restrictions on the “forward deployment” of Western forces along Russian borders be declared “null and void.” Washington alone has authorized nearly $20 billion in ‘lethal aid’ to Kiev since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, with much of that approved after Russia’s military operation kicked off in February.

NATO allies have acknowledged concerns that the arms flooding Ukraine’s chaotic battlefield have not been properly tracked, with the new resolution stressing the need to ensure the “traceability of the weapons delivered.” Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky addressed lawmakers from NATO states in a video message before the latest resolution was passed, praising the alliance for its military aid and for helping his country to “defend [itself] in this war.” In addition to declaring Moscow a “terrorist” state and other symbolic measures, the Parliamentary Assembly said NATO countries should work to create an “international tribunal” to prosecute Russian officials for alleged war crimes and compel “full reparation of damage loss or injury” linked to the conflict.

The Parliamentary Assembly’s resolutions are not enforceable among NATO members and are intended to merely advise the alliance on pressing issues. The body has taken an increasingly harsh stance toward Moscow in recent months, with its newly elected president, French Senator Joelle Garriaud-Maylam, insisting on Monday that Russian leaders “must be judged as terrorists in front of international tribunals.” While Monday’s resolution was largely focused on Russia and the conflict in Ukraine, it took more than one detour to single out Beijing, urging the alliance to develop a “common allied response to the increasing assertiveness of China.” The document called for “constructive dialogue,” yet also went on to denounce Beijing’s alleged “systemic challenge to Euro-Atlantic security” and “attempts to subvert the rules-based international order.”

The NATO PA declaration came after a similar resolution was adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) last month. Russia left the European NGO in March, calling it a “convenient platform for NATO’s information and political campaigns.” While Kiev has repeatedly urged the collective West to declare Russia a “state sponsor of terror,” only a handful of countries – including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic – have heeded the call, and their actions have been limited to symbolic gestures. Those with the power to enforce anti-terror sanctions against other states, namely the US, have so far refused to take that step.

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“We need to realize that this war most likely will end at some stage at the negotiating table…” But that’s not what NATO wants. Or Raytheon.

Peace Talks Would Require More Weapons For Ukraine – NATO chief (RT)

The conflict between Ukraine and Russia will likely end in negotiations, which is why Kiev needs to be supplied with more weapons, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has claimed. “We all want this war to end,”Stoltenberg said in his speech at the 68th Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Madrid on Monday, adding that it matters to the US-led military bloc how exactly the conflict concludes. “We need to realize that this war most likely will end at some stage at the negotiating table. But we must also know that the outcome of those negotiations totally depends on strength on the battlefield,” the NATO chief argued. “So, if we want an outcome, which is acceptable for Ukraine… the best way of achieving that is to provide military support for Ukraine,” he said.

NATO members “must be prepared to support Ukraine for the long haul,”Stoltenberg said, urging lawmakers to keep advocating for more aid for Kiev in their own countries. Stoltenberg acknowledged that this assistance “comes at a price” for NATO members. “In our countries, many face cost of living crisis. Energy and food bills are rising. These are tough times for many,” he pointed out. However, the NATO chief argued that Western countries will have to pay “a much harsher price” if Russia is allowed to achieve victory in Ukraine, as it would signal to other “authoritarian regimes” that they can achieve their goals by force, which would “make the world more dangerous.”

Stoltenberg also warned that “it would be a great mistake to underestimate Russia” because Moscow “retains significant military capabilities and a high number of troops.” High-ranking Russian officials have repeatedly said that Moscow is ready to negotiate a settlement with Ukraine, while accusing Kiev of being unwilling to talk, and deliberately putting forward unrealistic conditions for dialogue. Russia has described the conflict in Ukraine as a “proxy war” being waged against it by the US and NATO. Moscow has consistently criticized weapons deliveries to Ukraine by Western countries, saying they only prolong the fighting and increase the risk of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.

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“Ukraine had previously mandated lifetime financial monitoring of “politically exposed persons,” including government officials and lawmakers – until Zelensky signed an amendment last week limiting it to just three years.”

Ukraine Quietly Abolished Corruption Rule (RT)

President Vladimir Zelensky harmed Ukraine’s hopes of joining the EU by signing an amendment that reduced financial oversight of politicians, anti-corruption activists in Kiev said on Monday. The measure “practically kills” efforts to combat money-laundering, claimed the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC). Ukraine had previously mandated lifetime financial monitoring of “politically exposed persons,” including government officials and lawmakers – until Zelensky signed an amendment last week limiting it to just three years. Officially, the law is supposed to “protect Ukraine’s financial system from Russia and Belarus,” but the AntAC says it will harm the country’s interests instead.

“With this law, politicians destroyed the system of financial monitoring of their loved ones, which means they actually blocked negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU,” AntAC head Vitaly Shabunin said on social media. The amended law “practically kills the system of preventing money-laundering by Ukrainian politicians,” he added. AntAC’s executive director Daria Kaleniuk pointed out that the law also breaks Kiev’s promise to the European Union, one of the seven commitments made by Zelensky to Brussels in June. “In order for us to be able to convince our European partners that we are serious about joining the EU and are implementing all the necessary reforms for this, we need to correct this,” she told Hromadske.

After signing the law on Thursday, Zelensky told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum – via video link – that he’d basically ended corruption in Ukraine. “No one will be able to forgive corruption in the future Ukraine,” he said, adding that all the corrupt officials had fled the country while those that remain will not be tempted to “interfere in business operations” because all government services had gone electronic. The old law provided for lifelong financial monitoring of the president, prime minister, ministers and their deputies, members of parliament, management of the national bank, senior security officials, key judges and prosecutors, as well as military commanders.

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The video is very clear, but of course they deny it. The claim is that the unarmed Russians fired first, and only then were executed. But executing unarmed soldiers is still as illegal as it comes.

Duma Speaker Calls for ‘Nazi’ Zelensky to Face War Crime Charges (Celente)

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s lower house, called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to face war crime charges over a video that claimed to show Ukrainian forces opening fire and killing a dozen Russian POWs. “Everyone has seen evidence of Ukrainian Nazis shooting our soldiers lying down, without weapons. This is how the Nazis behave,” Volodin said in a statement posted to Telegram, The Jerusalem Post reported. “The Kyiv regime deserves the most severe punishment for its atrocities.” Video purportedly shows Ukrainian troops executing a dozen captured Russian troops has faced some media scrutiny in the U.S., which would have been unheard of at the start of the war.


The New York Times reported that the video was first circulated by news outlets in Ukriane in an effort to “laud the military prowess” of the country’s military. The paper said the videos sparked a “fierce response” in Russia and Moscow has called for an investigation. The paper said the killings occurred in Makiivka, in the Luhansk region. “Countries cooperating with the Kyiv regime must understand that they support the Nazi state, sadists whose hands are up to the elbows in blood,” Volodin said. Russian President Putin’s critics say the Kremlin is loose with the Nazi designation and uses it to win support from the public against adversaries. In fact, in his 9 May Victory Day speech, Putin said that the purpose of the military action was to purge Ukraine of its “Nazi” nationalist leadership.

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Official retraction? Apologies?

Associated Press Fires Journalist Who Claimed Russian Missiles Hit Poland (CTH)

The Associated Press received a lot of international scorn for reporting incorrectly that Russia fired missiles into Poland. As soon as the AP attributed the missile attack to Russia almost immediately other media outlets began promoting calls for a NATO led war against Russia. Additionally, the G20 summit was taking place and various international leaders began discussing an article-5 convention against Russia. However, the single source of the AP report was wrong, a senior U.S. intelligence official, if there actually was a source. It was the Ukraine military who fired the missile into Poland, not Russia. The Daily Beast notes today that the Associated Press has fired James LaPorta, the journalist who made the claim of Russian origin.


(Via Daily Beast) – The Associated Press scared much of the world last Tuesday when it alerted readers that “a senior U.S. intelligence official” said “Russian missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, killing two people.” That report, which was widely cited across the internet and on cable news, was taken offline the following day and replaced with an editor’s note admitting the single source was wrong and that “subsequent reporting showed that the missiles were Russian-made and most likely fired by Ukraine in defense against a Russian attack.” On Monday, the AP fired James LaPorta, the investigative reporter responsible for that story, Confider has learned. The piece, which was originally co-bylined with John Leicester (who is still working at the AP), attributed the information to a single “senior U.S. intelligence official,” despite the AP’s rule that it “routinely seeks and requires more than one source when sourcing is anonymous.”

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“The EU will have to secure around 500,000 to 600,000 barrels per day of diesel to replace the Russian volumes..”

EU Hoarding Russian Diesel Before Ban – Reuters (RT)

European traders are boosting purchases of Russian diesel ahead of the EU embargo on the country’s oil products, which comes into force in February, Reuters reported on Monday, citing cargo tracker Vortexa. According to the report, Russian diesel shipments headed to the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) storage region surged to 215,000 barrels per day from November 1 to November 12. It is a 126% increase from October, according to Pamela Munger, Vortexa senior market analyst. Moreover, according to Refinitiv data, so far in November Russian diesel made up 44% of the bloc’s imports of the fuel, against 39% last month. This means that Russia remains the region’s largest diesel supplier, despite the fact that overall imports of Russian fuels to the EU dropped significantly over the past months due to Ukraine-related sanctions.


The EU embargo on Russian oil comes into force next month, while the ban on petroleum products will take effect on February 5. Analysts warn it will be difficult for the region to find alternative sources for diesel once this happens, as they are scarce and more costly, while Europe’s domestic diesel production falls short of the region’s consumption. “The EU will have to secure around 500,000 to 600,000 barrels per day of diesel to replace the Russian volumes; replacements will come from the US as well as east of Suez, primarily the Middle East and India,” Eugene Lindell, market analyst at energy consultancy FGE, told Reuters.

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“The UK has purchased at least 39 shipments of Russian oil since February, although the cargoes were registered as imports from other countries..”

UK Bypassing Its Own Sanctions On Russian Oil – Sunday Times (RT)

The UK has purchased at least 39 shipments of Russian oil since February, although the cargoes were registered as imports from other countries, the Sunday Times has reported, citing tanker traffic data and trade statistics. Russian-origin oil shipments, worth about £200 ($236) million, were reportedly delivered to UK ports after ship-to-ship transfers, a practice widely used when large tankers that are unable to dock due to their size transfer their cargo to smaller vessels. According to the Sunday Times’ findings, this practice gives the shipping companies a way to register their cargo without providing the actual origin of the shipments, stating instead the country of dispatch as the source of the cargo. In this way a shipment of Russian-made goods can be registered as originating in Germany if it is brought to a UK port by a German firm.

The news outlet was able to track dozens of shipments of Russian oil that have arrived at UK ports since March, logged as originating in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, France and other countries. At least 13 of those reportedly arrived in June and July. However, official figures on oil imports from the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the country did not receive any oil from Russia in those months. According to maritime experts, ship-to-ship transfers have become more popular since Western nations began targeting Russian oil exports this year, as part of sanctions over Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine. “Ship-to-ship transfers have become a really useful method to obfuscate the destination and the origin of the cargo.

The Iranians started it, the Venezuelans perfected it, the Russians picked it up and ran with it,” Michelle Wiese Bockmann, energy and shipping analyst at the shipping journal Lloyd’s List, told the news outlet. According to Refinitiv, which monitors ship-to-ship transfers, there have been some 267 such transfers around the world involving Russian oil since March. A UK embargo on maritime Russian oil imports is scheduled to come into force on December 5. However, according to maritime experts, given the registration loophole and ship-to-ship transfer practices, it will be difficult for the UK to actually stop Russian oil from arriving in the country, even after that date.

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“Legal experts have expressed doubt it is possible to unilaterally confiscate another country’s assets under existing international law.”

EU Struggles To Seize Russian Assets – Politico (RT)

The European Commission is investigating how it might go about confiscating hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian state and private assets, according to a document seen by Politico on Monday. The initiative’s goal is reportedly “identifying ways to strengthen the tracing, identification, freezing and management of assets as preliminary steps for potential confiscation.” The bloc has its eyes on almost $300 billion in Russian central bank assets currently frozen, plus the assets of Russians on the sanctions list. The European Council last month reminded the Commission that it had been tasked with presenting “options in line with EU and international law” for using those frozen Russian funds “to support Ukraine’s reconstruction.” Legal experts have expressed doubt it is possible to unilaterally confiscate another country’s assets under existing international law.

With an eye toward changing that law, Brussels has proposed making sanctions evasion a crime in the EU, a decision which would require unanimous assent by member countries. However, even if that agreement was forthcoming, the bloc would have to litigate each individual seizure, proving a clear link between the owner of the assets in question and Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. Foreign investments are protected against confiscation without compensation under international law. In the document seen by Politico, the EC acknowledged that central bank assets were “generally considered to be covered by immunity.” While the seizing of the assets of state-owned enterprises would avoid violating such immunity “in principle,” the Commission noted that it would “need to demonstrate a sufficient connection to the Russian state” for every case.

Less invasive would be an “exit tax” targeting the assets of sanctioned individuals attempting to transfer their property out of the EU. However, University of Amsterdam professor Stephan Schill told Politico that those individuals could claim that, as a targeted group, their human right to non-discrimination had been violated, or invoke the human right to property. Under the current rules-based international order, the EC is unable to legally expropriate Russian property, according to Schill: “The EU and member states are trying to introduce new criminal law.” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged as much in May, pointing out that confiscating Russian central bank assets was “not something that is legally permissible in the United States” or many other countries. Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic states have nevertheless continued to push the EC to find a way to seize the frozen funds.

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Nobody’s talking about Russia doing the shelling anymore….

Ukrainian Attacks Risk ‘Nuclear Disaster’ – Rosatom (RT)

Renewed Ukrainian artillery attacks on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP) have created a risk of a nuclear disaster, Rosatom director-general Alexey Likhachev told reporters on Monday. Moscow has called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to name and shame the attacker so Kiev would stop bombing the facility. “We were in talks with the IAEA all night,” Likhachev told reporters during the Atomexpo-2022 in Sochi. After a “relatively calm” period since September, at least 30 projectiles struck the facility over the weekend, damaging the backup generators and the spent fuel storage facility, he added. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been under control of Russian troops since February 28.

While the reactor blocks are strong enough to withstand shelling, damaging the spent fuel containers risks a release of radioactive material into the atmosphere, with unpredictable consequences. The Ukrainian military has repeatedly targeted the facility with Western-supplied artillery, while claiming Russia was staging “false flag” incidents to make Kiev look bad. The Ukrainian general staff eventually admitted to striking the area around the ZNPP, however. The weekend attacks amounted to the first major incident since the IAEA established a permanent observation mission at the ZNPP in early September. On Sunday, IAEA Director-General Mariano Grossi called for an immediate end to the shelling, saying that the world “got lucky” that a “serious nuclear incident” did not happen this time. However, he once again did not name the culprit.

On Monday, both the Kremlin and the Foreign Ministry called on the IAEA to do its duty to the fullest and identify those responsible for the shelling. IAEA specialists completed their inspection of the facility on Monday afternoon and sent their report to headquarters, Likhachev’s top aid Renat Karchaa told Russia’s Channel 1 TV. “They were accompanied by a highly qualified ballistics specialist we provided, and once again it was convincingly shown that the origin of these artillery strikes was Marganets,” a city in the Ukrainian-held Dnepropetrovsk region, Karchaa said. Karchaa also told reporters that Rosatom was “taking steps” to fortify the spent fuel storage facility and other parts of the ZNPP, though he did not offer any details.

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…but the IAEA still claims they can’t figure out who’s doing the shelling, i.e. it could still be the Russians.

UN Responds To Russian Nuclear Request (RT)

The UN doesn’t have the capability to identify those behind the attacks on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP), a spokesman for the secretary-general said on Monday. Russia has called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to do its job properly and acknowledge that the shelling came from the Ukrainian side. Around 30 projectiles struck the ZNPP over the weekend, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The nuclear energy corporation Rosatom said the damage caused to the facility’s spent fuel storage came close to triggering a disaster. Moscow said it was clear the fire came from the Ukrainian-held town of Marganets, but the IAEA has avoided naming any names. “We have no way to determine” who carried out the attacks, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters on Monday.

“We would like these attacks to stop,” Haq added, noting that the Secretariat “shares the concerns” of IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and “joins him in calling on all parties to cease fire” around the ZNPP. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been under Russian control since February. Damage to the spent fuel containers risks a release of radioactive material into the atmosphere, with unpredictable consequences, Rosatom has warned. Both Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday that the IAEA should fully do its duty and name names. “As an authoritative and independent international body, [the IAEA] must finally move away from abstract condemnations and demands to stop the shelling of the ZNPP without addressing the culprit, and clearly and unambiguously point at those carrying out the attacks,” Zakharova said.

“This requires determination and responsibility. We really hope that they will be shown.” Zakharova also accused Western governments of giving a “blank check” to the government in Kiev for “continuing their reckless attempts to cause irreparable damage” to the ZNPP. This weekend’s attacks were the first major incident at the ZNPP since early September, when the IAEA stationed permanent observers at the site. According to Rosatom official Renat Karchaa, the IAEA inspectors surveyed the damage on Monday, accompanied by a Russian ballistics expert, and were able to see that the attack had come from the Ukrainian side. That report was transmitted to the IAEA headquarters.

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“By early 2023 the evidence of excess all-causes deaths and disabilities resulting from Pfizer and Moderna shots will be overwhelming..”

The Solemn Stillness Before Winter (Jim Kunstler)

Now Mr. Garland has activated one particular federal attorney, Jack Smith, with a long record as a partisan attack dog, as special counsel to finally get the job done against Mr. Trump, the proverbial indictment-worthy ham sandwich awaiting a DC District grand jury. Any cockamamie charge will do as long as it’s a felony. Mr. Garland’s strategy is two-fold: 1) to negate Mr. Trump’s remaining political career; and 2) set up a situation that will permit all DOJ attorneys and FBI officers to demur from questioning before Republican majority congressional committees about everything-under-the-sun on the grounds that the questions are germane to “ongoing investigations” that can’t be compromised. That’s the game.

By the time that game kicks-off, early January 2023, the country is liable to be punch-drunk and stumbling from a financial market crash that signals the start of an economic depression more consequential than the calamity of the 1930s. Meanwhile, Russia’s cleanup of the US-instigated mess in Ukraine will be nearly complete, to the ignominy of “Joe Biden,” at the same time that the putative president’s crimes of bribery and treason — should he still be among the living — get aired in Congress without any help required from Mr. Garland’s Justice Department — the evidence from Hunter’s laptop having already been well-perused and catalogued by an army of outside independent investigators. FTX will be in that mix somewhere.

This will all occur against the background of the now-unraveled Covid-19 story. By early 2023 the evidence of excess all-causes deaths and disabilities resulting from Pfizer and Moderna shots will be overwhelming and the nation will know it got played by a scheme between the corrupt public health authorities, the pharma companies, and the corporate medical establishment, including its discredited journals. Nobody in America will ever trust a doctor again. We’ll also probably know a good deal more about the dark and dirty deeds around the 2022 midterm election as the FTX scandal spools out and the probably hundreds of millions of FTX investor’s dollars that were express-delivered into Democratic Party coffers for ballot harvesting operations are revealed, along with the exact methods used to accomplish the mega-fraud.

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“There will be ample support for both sides to fulfill their respective narratives — and no shortage of legal weapons — in this political war of attrition.”

The Perils Facing Trump, Garland, and Smith in DC Legal Arms Race (Turley)

Smith faces the unenviable task of investigating a presidential candidate less than two years before the election. Given the advanced stage of prior investigations, he could bring charges before Sept. 5, 2024 (or roughly 60 days before the election under Justice Department guidelines for election year filings). It is unlikely, however, that a charge against Trump could be tried in that time. However, Smith’s first test will be to avoid the initial mistakes of a predecessor, Mueller. Like Smith, Mueller was considered a natural choice as special counsel, given his extensive experience as a career prosecutor. However, Mueller’s investigation was undermined by his selection of a team — starting with his top aide, Andrew Weissmann, a controversial prosecutor who was accused of political bias.

The investigation was further undermined by FBI personnel, including Special Agent Peter Strzok, who was later removed from the team and fired by the Justice Department; Strzok has since filed a wrongful termination lawsuit. Smith can avoid tripping a similar explosive wire by selecting a team that is defined by its prior professional expertise, not its prior political views or associations. He also needs to be wary of creative avenues to indict Trump. Smith was part of the prosecution team that convicted former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (R) on federal corruption charges in 2014. The Supreme Court unanimously overturned that conviction as having stretched the law beyond its breaking point. If Smith is going to be the first prosecutor to indict a former president, he needs to do so with unimpeachable evidence of an unchallengeable crime.

Only one thing is certain in any of this: It will not end well. With both sides loading up staff and subpoenas, the start of the 2024 campaign season has all of the makings of an utter bloodletting. There will be ample support for both sides to fulfill their respective narratives — and no shortage of legal weapons — in this political war of attrition.

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Talk about a swamp…

New Trump Special Prosecutor Overturned By Supreme Court (JTN)

The special counsel named by the Biden administration to investigate Donald Trump oversaw a Justice Department unit rebuked by the Supreme Court for its prosecution of a prominent Republican and was linked by Congress to the IRS scandal that targeted conservative groups. Jack Smith, a war crimes prosecutor in The Hague and former chief of the DOJ public integrity section, was named Friday by Attorney General Merrick Garland to take over two investigations of Trump related to Jan. 6 and classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago. In 2014, the House Oversight Committee concluded that during Smith’s earlier stint at DOJ he set up a critical meeting between his department and IRS official Lois Lerner that set in motion the targeting of conservative nonprofits that became one of the signature scandals of the Obama administration.

The Oversight Committee obtained testimony from a DOJ official named Richard Pilger in 2014 that showed Smith set up a meeting with Lerner to discuss more aggressive enforcement of regulations prohibiting tax-exempt groups from engaging in politics in the aftermath of the landmark Citizens United free speech Supreme Court case. “According to Mr. Pilger, the Justice Department convened a meeting with former IRS official Lois Lerner in October 2010 to discuss how the IRS could assist in the criminal enforcement of campaign-finance laws against politically active nonprofits,” the committee wrote in a 2014 letter to DOJ. “This meeting was arranged at the direction of Public Integrity Section Chief Jack Smith.”

The letter concluded: “It is apparent that the Department’s leadership, including Public Integrity Section Chief Jack Smith, was closely involved in engaging with the IRS in wake of Citizens United and political pressure from prominent Democrats to address perceived problems with the decision.” The letter, which sought a transcribed interview with Smith, was signed by then Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who is now in line to become House Judiciary Committee chairman when the GOP takes over the House in January. The Treasury Department Inspector General ultimately concluded that the ensuing IRS pursuit of conservative nonprofits was inappropriate. “The IRS used inappropriate criteria that identified for review Tea Party and other organizations applying for tax-exempt status based upon their names or policy positions instead of indications of potential political campaign intervention,” the report concluded.

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It can only hold in times of plenty and peace.

“What did Ursula von der Leyen say about Italy? If Italy elects the wrong parties during parliamentary elections, the EU “has tools” to coerce them, as in the case of Poland and Hungary.”

The Non-Existent European Identity (Remix)

A top-down approach to forcibly create a common identity has never worked, and it never will. Despite the spasmodic efforts of the leftist media dictatorship, its dominance has up until now failed to force the public opinion of European countries into believing the old continent is united. Few in the West dare to contradict this, while the opinions of the East are ignored. This pretentious outlook — detached from the reality of the world — is presented to Europeans on a daily basis, but it instead serves as clear proof that those who are pushing the cause the most aggessively do not themselves believe in the thesis they claim is their own. What did Ursula von der Leyen say about Italy? If Italy elects the wrong parties during parliamentary elections, the EU “has tools” to coerce them, as in the case of Poland and Hungary.

This is what European unity looks like per the left-liberal authoritarian concept. We have heard many and varied answers to the question of why, but very few have tackled the question regarding the lack of European identity. Brussels, the left-liberal media, and the NGO networks that dictate EU policy are not the only ones who have tried and failed to forge a common European identity. Notably, Tito tried to forge a unified southern Slavic nation-state out of the diverse Yugoslavia, and his one-party dictatorship did its best to stifle dissent. The party leader, born a Croatian-Slovenian, even divorced his Serbian wife when she warned him that greater autonomy for the member republics — which Tito believed would quell the nationalist fervor that was smoldering everywhere — would tear Yugoslavia apart. The Serbian woman was right because Tito’s measures had inflamed rather than quelled nationalist sentiment.

The powerful leader forgot one thing. There was no real substance behind the party and state propaganda, which constantly talked about a united Yugoslavia. Indeed, Yugoslav identity had not emerged in the seven decades of the South Slav state. How did the philosopher John Lukacs put it? The most powerful builder of identity for people is belonging to a nation, and ignoring such basic truths in politics has fatal consequences. At the last census of Yugoslavia, only 20,000 people identified themselves as Yugoslavs. For a country of 23 million people, this is an extremely low number and would have a negligible social impact.

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Arizona voting

 

 

 

 

Peacock
https://twitter.com/i/status/1594925565781643265

 

 

Family Walk
https://twitter.com/i/status/1594652358658736131

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle November 22 2022

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  • #121596

    Salvador Dali Nymphs in a romantic garden 1921   • Zelenskyy Urges West To Support Ukraine’s Accession To NATO, EU (Az.) • NATO Assembly Calls On
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle November 22 2022]

    #121597
    Germ
    Participant

    Did you know that UK excess deaths (non-covid), are currently running at about 2000 per WEEK – that’s higher even than during the pandemic ! And not a peep in the media.

    Not too long ago we were bombarded daily with death data on TV – now crickets!
    This guy had better take out some life assurance, he’ll be disappeared.

    36 secs:

    https://tinyurl.com/4mbvvyvy

    #121598
    Germ
    Participant

    Finally released:

    “World Premiere: Died Suddenly”

    https://rumble.com/v1wac7i-world-premier-died-suddenly.html ☠️☠️☠️

    Almost impossible to watch in full if you’ve been death vaxxed. ☠️☠️☠️

    #121599
    Afewknowthetruth
    Participant

    The demolition of the NZ economy and the impoverishment of the bulk of the population by the corporation that manages the business called New Zealand on behalf of the City of London corporation [that set up the NZ corporation] continues at an accelerating pace:

    ‘HUGE DETERIORATION IGNORED

    Lower export volumes (of dairy products) isn’t helping, but we aren’t yet adjusting to our excessive import appetite. In October 2020, we ran a merchandise trade deficit of -$471 mln. In October 2021, that had jumped to -$1.3 bln. Now in October 2022, that has raced down to a deficit of -$2.1 bln. All this is being driven by surging imports, especially of cars (switching to NEVs comes with Government support via subsidies). Imports are up +24% from the same month a year ago, totaling $8.3 bln in the month, our largest splurge ever. The Government agency that reports this worrying data didn’t even bother to put out a news release about it (just a standard “information release”). But it is a track that really should worry policymakers. For the year to October, our imports were $84 bln, our highest ever, and our imports were $71 bln. At some point our creditors will notice.

    OUR ‘FRIENDS’ ARE LUNCHING ON US – I

    In October, our usual trade surplus with China turned into a big deficit (NEV car imports again, like MGs, Havals, Teslas, etc.). Our surplus with the US turned into a deficit (other Tesla models), and our deficit with Japan swelled further. We are going broke in the ‘energy transition’. Year on year, the China surplus fell from +$3.9 bln to just +$700 mln. Our trade with Australia is going bad too, going from +$100 mln to -$700 mln. Our trade with the US has gone from a surplus of +$870 mln to +$270 mln on that same basis. Our net trade with Japan has gone from -$900 mln to -$1.1 bln in the year to October. These four trading partners are out top four and represent 57% of all merchandise exports. At some point our creditors will notice. The next current account deficit is likely to be a shocker (due out on December 14, 2022 for Q3-2022).’

    https://www.interest.co.nz/business/118561/review-things-you-need-know-you-sign-tuesday-waiting-rbnz-milk-flow-drops-trade

    The response of the average person to the burgeoning catastrophe known as shopping for groceries is to stop buying certain items altogether, and to reduce the quantity purchased of other items.

    The managers of the business called New Zealand intend to cause more economic pain by raising interest rates at a time when house prices are falling substantially.

    On could be forgiven for thinking that the managers are trying to provoke civil disobedience so that they have a pretext for declaring martial law, or civil war so that they can increase the rate at which they murder people.

    #121600
    Red
    Participant

    Watching RT news is banned in most western countries, however I’ve been watching all along in Canada at:

    https://rumble.com/c/RTNews

    For anyone interested.

    #121601
    Dr. D
    Participant

    CME CEO Terry Duffy Recalls First Meeting Sam Bankman-Fried in March 2022:

    “Duffy went to Congress and told them FTX was a bankrupt business model and he was ignored just like he was ignored when he said Corzine knew he had used customer funds and knew where the missing $1.6 billion was.”

    And Harry Markopolis on Madoff. And they investigated all of ’08 and “Subprime was contained”. Seems like every time there’s a multi-billion dollar transparent open fraud, it’s pretty hard to hide. Billionaires aren’t stupid: they know what it takes to get and move a billion dollars. And these guys can’t, which means they just steal it. It’s fraud. And if there’s fraud, there’s just payoffs and fraud payoffs.

    “The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, led by Damian Williams, spent several months poking into FTX’s massive exchange operations. It failed to find any fraud or crime before the exchange collapsed.

    Yup. All clear! Thanks SDNY, the greatest center of fraud outside of Ukraine.

    This is that short clip of SBF calling Elon in the lurch (again, trying to draw more people and money in), and claimed he had billions. Elons says, “$3 Billion – Liquid?” Yes. …And he knew he was a fraud. Only a child would think, or rather answer in that way. NOBODY is $3 Billion “liquid”. If you called the Federal Reserve to transfer the Swiss National Bank they would hold up, delay, cut into tranches your $3 Billion, because movement of that kind of money anywhere would destabilize the system. It has to be done carefully, with warning. That’s why it’s not “liquid” by definition.

    Elon was probably looking for an answer like “Well, not exactly, I can probably raise $1B in 30 days from various sources, and can give you a $1B stock interest in the company, plus a $500M agreement in another company.” Like, easy, fast, pretty equivalent, but you know: realistic. As if the person in question has ever dealt with more than a $500 hotel bill. SBF had not, and he was the supposed front man? Running it? No. This tells you he also didn’t establish it and wasn’t running it. That he was a fraud, exactly as these two said, and directly told Congress.

    “Taliban Quits Twitter to Protest Return of Trump” – BBee

    And from 2018: “Democrats Shudder at Idea of Having to Legislate through Congress Should Supreme Court Lean Right

    Nope, still haven’t. 4 more years. Not looking good for the next two either. It’s so important we won’t do it!

    “AP Fires Reporter Who Risked Triggering WWIII with Polish Missile Misinformation”

    Yes, but the probably fired him for FAILING to trigger WWIII. Just kidding, for a change this is probably right. If so, this marks a watershed where the first time in 50 years America begins to take things seriously.

    “USA Wins,” Morans! Now let’s see who’s bad at math!

    ““the Euro-Atlantic area is no longer at peace and that the global security environment has deteriorated rapidly” …Because of the unprovoked bombing of the NordStream Pipeline. Unfortunately, their Euro-Atlantic enemy is the NeoCons and Brits.

    “Russian leaders “must be judged as terrorists in front of international tribunals.”

    Again, no definition. “Words mean whatever what I wish them to mean” because they decide “Which is to be master”. Terrorists generally by definition cannot be nation states. Nation states make war instead because they’re not useless, pointless, helpless nobodies and have real power. Terrorists don’t or they’d use tactics that function.

    This NATO article is bookmarked by a new and evolving media narrative highlighted by Lira here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUW2SLz6_dk

    Official NY Post (!) front page, transparently false propaganda from one end to another. Like wtf is this ygtbfkm false. Key takeaway: NATO is still after Crimea. Because they know they can’t beat Russia without it, why I’m not sure since above-water navies are about as viable as steam dreadnaughts, but hey, they wrote “The Plan” in 1910, and they ain’t gonna alter it now! But since it keeps them preoccupied with an outdated, unworking, losing plan, never change! Your desperate incompetence is probably saving the world.

    “Peace Talks Would Require More Weapons for Ukraine – NATO chief (RT)”

    We’ve done it! War = Peace!

    “UK Bypassing Its Own Sanctions on Russian Oil – Sunday Times (RT)”

    Well of course! Rules for thee but not for me. Signaling. We said it, so it was a lie. All of the above.

    “It will be difficult for the UK to actually stop Russian oil from arriving in the country”

    Yup, the Brits just aren’t that smart! Totally impossible. We can find it with the most illiterate glue-sniffers on the island: reporters, but MI6 and the BoE can’t even. Guess we have no choice to go on being warm and eating then. P.S. If any oligarch crosses them, suddenly they will be TOTALLY able to tell where the oil came from.

    Legal experts have expressed doubt it is possible to unilaterally confiscate another country’s assets under existing international law.”

    But they’re doing it anyway. “Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!” They’re broke, and need to steal money: your money is here, almost like Fate! This is how they haven’t collapsed yet under Powell’s 400% rate increase. That and Biden’s direct injections to Davos, only some of which circle back to FTX. Any questions?

    Speaking of: “Fed’s Daly: Currently expect fed funds rate to top out around 5%”

    No, Powell already said he’s up to 7%. They’re still ignoring him “Fighting the Fed”, just like ’01, ’08 and every other time. Painful to watch. “BuyBuyBuy” — Jim Cramer.

    Ukrainian Attacks Risk ‘Nuclear Disaster’ – Rosatom (RT)”

    Another day the UN, IAEA, NATO, Biden, and World Bank love it. Along with every Blue-and-Yellow flag in the U.S. and worldwide. Signaling! Signaling that we love to bomb nuclear power plants and cause Chernobyls! That’s Green. Empathy: so caring!

    What did SBF say? “I feel bad for those guys who get f—ed by it, by this dumb game we woke westerners play where we say all the right shibboleths and so everyone likes us.”

    It’s okay to bomb nuclear power plants and irradiate Europe if you’re for the caring free sterilization of children. …Or something.

    “…but the IAEA still claims they can’t figure out who’s doing the shelling, i.e. it could still be the Russians.”
    “We would like these random attacks from somewhere to stop,” Haq added,” as an open letter to the world.

    Note, this is all AFTER Ukraine (Britain) tried to attack and take hostage their own IAEA inspectors en masse. We approve of that too! So sad no one was killed! The IAEA is hiring! Apply today!

    By early 2023 the evidence of excess all-causes deaths and disabilities resulting from Pfizer and Moderna shots will be overwhelming..”

    Hahahaha! He’s kidding right? It’s been overwhelming for two years: Zero. Zip. Nada. They have “American Soccer” levels of bad at math. Again, a fantasy that 1) Americans have the brains of a slug 2) They will do something about it. Clearly neither is true, so adjust your map and trajectory. From here, they could have quadrupled daily deaths from here and no one would notice.

    “Smith faces the unenviable task of investigating a presidential candidate less than two years before the election.”

    I thought that was election interference! Not when WE do it! And Biden was NOT a candidate at all, and they weren’t investigating him but his family, with whom he never once talked about business matters. Right?

    So now being RELATED to anyone in government – or FORMERLY in government, completely retired and too old to run – makes you immune to investigation. …And you wonder how we get titled nobility and an oligarchy. This position of related birth is then a life-long free card.

    Meanwhile, after 6 years of investigations, no discoveries, they are opening ANOTHER investigation because a conspiracy theory that Mueller is a Russian Agent? Whoops: Logic. We don’t do that. It works COMPLETELY and perfectly. No one notices a single one of this long list of things.

    1) He’s guilty.
    2) Of what? Don’t know.
    3) We should open our (first) investigation and,
    4) Impeach
    5) A guy who isn’t in office and
    6) Is a declared candidate which is
    7) Not election tampering when one party arrests all the members of the other party.
    8) This is all laudable and will not have any consequences at all, be it political, legal, financial, or military as our country becomes the laughingstock banana republic of the universe.

    Sounds good to me. Free speech: now we all know who you are. I can’t save you from yourselves. If the country is composed of reckless idiots, then the only thing that can happen is we endure the consequences of our reckless, immoral, idiotic actions. Go forth.

    “If Italy elects the wrong parties during parliamentary elections, the EU “has tools” to coerce them,”

    Submit or die. This is how we’re all together as one thing: You all have the freedom to do exactly what I say. We are all one under my ego.

    World Cup: Qatar, an anti-gay state uses open slavery to build the arenas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMqLDhl8PXw (John Oliver) Teams joyfully agree but wear rainbow colors to “signal” while giving FIFA and Qatar 100% of their money. Qatar then double-crosses on both gays AND beer. Teams “Signal” by backing down even this tiny, pointless token of protest. FIFA crows about how much they have caused Qatar to progress in human rights. Next year do it all over again for another $1M/per FIFA board member, choosing China, Russia, and Pinochet’s Argentina.

    Yay!

    ““I feel bad for those guys who get f—ed by it, by this dumb game we woke westerners play where we say all the right shibboleths and so everyone likes us.” –Sam Bankman Fried, biggest con artist in world history.

    Yogurt: To make this clear, they are so removed from food – and reality, especially as an adult human female – that she thinks milk comes from “Cows”. “Cows” itself having already lost all meaning as “Adult FEMALE Bovine”, specifically excluding “bulls”. “Cattle” is the general term, distinguished from “calf”, “heifer” “ox”, etc. That is, Bulls do not give milk. Human males do not give milk. Only adult females give milk, a fact she might be aware of, being an adult female.

    Also, entirely ignored, overlooked, not known, completely forgot: Adult Females cannot give milk unless they recently gave birth. To calves or human babies for instance. Thus formula shortage: you can’t just start up again or hire the local cleaning lady.

    It is unfathomable how detached we have become from basic reality, and how deep into abstractions we are lost. I guess it’s a death sentence and this young girl will die of stupid.

    Adding: if you think being a COW is bad, you should try being a newborn male calf, which has no purpose in life, either in a domestic or a wild herd. But we must not kill them. We must raise them to old age. Which is completely unnatural and never found in the wild.

    Ask questions, you might learn something. But their violence and arrogance prevents it. A violence and arrogance directed at me each day.

    #121602
    Mister Roboto
    Participant

    I’ve heard it said that quite a few hospital-nurses have taken to referring to Remdesivir as “rundeathisnear”.

    https://twitter.com/JohnLeePettim13/status/1594723313108008961

    #121603
    teri
    Participant

    The Martens at wallstreetonparade have quite a few good articles up about FTX. (I hope this comment goes through. I tried to leave a comment a couple of days ago, and it never appeared.)

    The latest article is very good – and a good warning:

    FTX’s Latest Casualties: Federally Insured Crypto Banks

    FTX’s Latest Casualties: Federally Insured Crypto Banks

    #121604
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    @Germ: “World Premiere: Died Suddenly”

    Thank you for the link. Watched it this morning. Brutal. 🙁

    #121605
    The Markster
    Participant

    @Germ

    Thank you for the link to the Died Suddenly video on Rumble. Helluva way to start the day, but a lot better than spinning around in circles during a cardiac arrest that ends your life.

    Puts paying $1800 for a dental crown after losing insurance into perspective. And more kindling for the bonfire that will hopefully result in Nuremberg 2.0.

    ☮️

    #121606
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    The yogurt meme exceeded my ability to extract meaning from absurd yet dire info. Weirdly and worst of all, the silly girl post may be someone trolling for the lolz, sarcasm being the only way we seem able to introduce these topics online lest we be perceived as being one of Them and not one of Us.

    I will be mostly quiet again for some time as my noggin recovers.

    I’ve posted this one numerously before, but it says so much. (The Hillary joke to follow.) It is about 12 years old, btw, from a liberal-oriented political humor sire called the Keyboard Kommandos. The heads of Sifu Tweety FIsh and The Editors (co-writers of The KK) must have exploded by now.

    ‘We were only JOKING, people! Don’t take us seriously!’Hillary Speaks

    ‘After all, denying abortion to gay men is a violation of their non-reproductive rights, right?

    A surefire Karaoke Hit for this weekend’s Thangsgiving revels.

    I will be back when the heavenly messengers tell me to.

    …like a stone…

    #121607
    zerosum
    Participant

    Slow and steady
    Don’t rock the boat

    CME Group’s CEO Called FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried an ‘Absolute Fraud’ When They Met in March
    https://news.bitcoin.com/cme-groups-ceo-called-ftxs-sam-bankman-fried-an-absolute-fraud-when-they-met-in-march/

    When a powerful CEO told Sam Bankman-Fried, ‘You’re an absolute fraud’
    https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/cme-group-ceo-terry-duffy-told-sam-bankman-fried-youre-an-absolute-fraud-9579221.html
    FIRST PUBLISHED: NOV 22, 2022 12:49 PM

    “The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, led by Damian Williams, spent several months poking into FTX’s massive exchange operations. It failed to find any fraud or crime before the exchange collapsed.”

    FTX’s Latest Casualties: Federally Insured Crypto Banks
    By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: November 21, 2022 ~

    On August 1 of this year, we penned this headline at Wall Street On Parade: Brace Yourself for Federally-Insured Bank Failures Caused by Crypto. Our research for that article was so stomach-churning and frightening that we emailed the article to key staff for the Senators who sit on the Senate Banking Committee. One of the banks we researched for that article was Silvergate Bank. We wrote:

    FTX’s Latest Casualties: Federally Insured Crypto Banks

    Hahahaha
    Need electricity to follow the money
    Hunter’s laptop and FTX
    ————
    Zelensky told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum – via video link – that he’d basically ended corruption in Ukraine, because all government services had gone electronic.
    • Ukraine Quietly Abolished Corruption Rule (RT)
    ———-
    The Iranians started it, the Venezuelans perfected it, the Russians picked it up and ran with it,” Michelle Wiese Bockmann.
    • UK Bypassing Its Own Sanctions On Russian Oil – Sunday Times (RT)
    ——–
    The European Commission is investigating how it might go about confiscating hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian state and private assets, according to a document seen by Politico on Monday. Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic states have nevertheless continued to push the EC to find a way to seize the frozen funds.
    • EU Struggles To Seize Russian Assets – Politico (RT)

    ———-
    Found a solution to not enough Russian oil.
    Did you know that UK excess deaths (non-covid), are currently running at about 2000 per WEEK – that’s higher even than during the pandemic ! And not a peep in the media.
    ——–

    #121609

    As I watched “Died Suddenly” the number of viewers went from just over 2 million to 2.3 million. In just over one hour.

    #121610
    Noirette
    Participant

    *Ukranian fatigue* and *doubting Zelensky,* in the shape of reducing, drawing down, super support for the Zelensky-Kiev Régime, has been growing steadily all around the ‘Collective West.’ (See several articles in top posts.)

    A positive gloss is that the US is seeking an off-ramp, and will come to some kind of “Peace” agreement with Russia, while framing the débacle as the fault of Zelensky, who is crazy, thereby crediting the US-uk with achieving ‘a deal’ in this ‘volatile’ region where ‘oligarchs’ reign.

    Meyssan writes that the US-R are already in secret negotiations. I doubt he would post that if it wasn’t a consistent rumor (so maybe fanciful.)

    The efforts to ‘radicalise’ the neighbors at the ‘W’ border of Russia in an anti-R direction worked fine in the Baltics, Poland (see history..) bombed out (sic) in Serbia (ok, tiny powerless etc.), but the most vital territory was Ukraine: huge geographically, massive agri land, rich in ressources, an important ex-Soviet territory, etc.

    A Color Revolution, Orange, in Ukr. as a first step. took place. Pres. Yuschenko (poisoned with Dioxin, so he made headlines..) after the Fall of the Wall (Berlin) was the ‘supporting figure’ ..

    The efforts didn’t furnish rapid, satisfactory, results. Yanukovitch was legit. elected, then chased out, the ante was upped! Poroshenko and ‘our man Yats’ were installed. Yet, it turned out to be necessary (imho..) to fund and encourage ‘terrorists’ to attack and kill ethnic Russians, R speakers in the Donbass, to impell the Rada to approve stiff anti-Russian legislation, and to ensure that the Minsk accords were not respected.

    Poking the Bear into some kind of radical action in the borderlands, Ukraine, a military one..which worked.

    Potted history, so it goes.

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

    https://www.voltairenet.org/article218426.html

    #121611
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @DrD you lamented, “It is unfathomable how detached we have become from basic reality, and how deep into abstractions we are lost. I guess it’s a death sentence . . . ”

    I share your angst, but in reality (and I use that particular word very advisably) it is completely and easily fathomable.

    People detach from reality when they choose to, literally, detach themselves from what is real and true and instead choose an alternative attachment to something that is NOT reality. To lies, or fantasy, or hate, or materialism for examples.

    Reality is pretty hard to miss. There it is, and be careful, because hot stoves and sharp edges can hurt incautious fingers. So far so good. Then, since reality does exist, let’s move on to the question of how best to operate within that reality. A sane and logical first step in such operation would be to conclude that things which are the same as reality are true (and are thus workable) and that things which are NOT the same as reality are thereby untrue, and thus NOT workable. Indeed, such error is certain to fail when engaging with reality. No exceptions.

    Those who operate in the belief that reality itself (the Universe Entire) was caused by material energy is pretty damned detached from reality, because that belief is about as opposite to (different from) reality as it’s possible to get. It’s false. Transparently and obviously false. It is, in other words, “detached from reality,” and the behaviors which derive from such idiocy can be expected to be about as crazy as crazy can get.

    Like the idea that for mankind to survive it is necessary to kill as many humans as possible and “trans” the survivors into various types of non-humans, all enslaved to a soulless “artificial intelligence” mechanism bereft of free will of any kind.

    Yep. That’s who’s crazy. Maybe not as humorously entertaining as the reality-detached girl who expects milk from transgendered “cows”, but still the same kind of crazy.

    Those who know there is God are not the quaint (humor their harmless delusion) lunatics. It’s the other way around. The materialists are the ones detached from reality. The implications of these REAL fact could hardly be bigger. They are not inconsequential. They are revolutionary.

    #121612
    Cetzer
    Participant

    “Associated press fires journalist who claimed russian missiles hit poland”
    Well if this poor guy (lass ?) had always worked diligently, checking everything twice and never quick-shooting click bait, he would have been fired a long time ago, probably never been hired.

    “EU struggles to seize russian assets”
    And another basic principle of justice gets thrown in the rubbish bin: No retroactive punishment (for deeds before the specific law was passed, Nulla poena sine lege). Seems like Ursula von der Leyen morphes into a kind of female ‘Immortan Joe’ (Mad Max Fury Road, 2015), who doesn’t care about laws, because he doesn’t know any beyond The Right of the Strongest¹.

    ¹At least in the EU’s headquarter in Brussels

    #121613
    teri
    Participant

    Here’s died suddenly and a dose of reality:

    59 years ago today they killed John Kennedy.

    #121614
    Germ
    Participant

    The gig is up. They know.

    “HUGE – Norway does massive U-turn on boosters…”

    https://petersweden.substack.com/p/norway-booster

    Well done to those who held their ground!

    #121615
    jb-hb
    Participant

    The weirdest thing is how the self-proclaimed “materialists” seem to be the ones who retreat into an irreality of word salad.

    And the ones wanting to “bring justice” and “make things fair” through a cutting-edge, better-reasoned, materialist system are the ones who retreat to the oldest governmental systems — the ones that Sargon, Cyrus, Nebuchadnezzar, Clovis, or Alaric would have no trouble recognizing, understanding, and running. The most unfair, corrupt types of systems, ultimately based almost purely on pecking order and pull. And kickbacks and bribery. And nepotism.

    …justified by, essentially, religious moralistic excuses. At least Odovacer recognized he was taking over useful sophisticated structures. Obvious to an invading barbarian but not a “materialist.”

    It’s almost as if self-proclaimed materialists get frustrated at the nuance and complexity of balance of powers, live and let live, rights… the sophisticated structures, the complexity of interrelation, the constant need to give-and-take, is what “materialists” seem to truly rebel against.

    …which makes things awkward for an atheist such as myself. 2020, more than any previous year, I looked around and thought about who I am definitely NOT with. Apparently that includes people screeching that they are “materialists.”

    #121616
    zerosum
    Participant

    EU warned to expect 3 million refugees this winter.
    Class #1 – Expats (rich)
    Class #2 – Tourists (well to do middle class)
    Class #3 – immigrants (poor)

    #121617
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @jb-hb

    I think that God and religion are too often erroneously conflated. Not the same things. One of them is the creator of the Universe and the other is a big complicated basket of human endeavor within that Universe, in forms, languages and translations far too numerous to count. The best two thing one can say about religion is that it’s an attempt to connect with God, and that it’s the thought that counts

    #121618
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    Health of Pure Bloods Threatened by Shedding of mRNA and Spike Protein

    Why the Unvaccinated are Concerned about Close Contact with COVID-19 Vaccinated

    By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

    https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/health-of-pure-bloods-threatened

    #121619
    WES
    Participant

    I am not sure why I feel this way, but I have the feeling that we are being distracted by a “Oh, look there is a bird, squirrel, a shiny object, over there”!

    Meanwhile really important things like; food, fuel, inflation, illness, deaths, corruption, etc. are being totally ignored.

    I guess I will just go bury myself in my latest mini sun room project!

    #121620
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    John Whitehead: The Future Is Everything the Science Fiction Writers Have Prophesied


    John Whitehead discusses the Deep State (the 7th Floor Group) and how the future of America and the world will become everything the great science fiction writers have prophesied. The collapse of the United States is akin to the collapse of the Roman Empire where we could very well see people being taken away and put to death. The coming of Singularity in 2029 and takeover of AI is very likely. We are very similar to Nazi Germany, the police state is expanding, and people need to get up and get active in their governments. We only have a small window of time left.

    John Whitehead: The Future Is Everything the Science Fiction Writers Have Prophesied

    #121622
    upstateNYer
    Participant

    WES: “…I have the feeling that we are being distracted by a “Oh, look there is a bird, squirrel, a shiny object, over there”!

    Meanwhile really important things like; food, fuel, inflation, illness, deaths, corruption, etc. are being totally ignored.”

    Agree 100%. Cannot believe we spend time considering what a former comedian, Zelensky, is spouting on any given day. And then add to that the celebrities visiting and spouting about Ukraine on any given day (celebrities have war zone and battle experience?) Wtf is going on? Vacation destination? War zone? [shrugs shoulders]

    Not to mention all the other crap that is *supposedly* important. To Someone. Somewhere. Maybe. If *they* say so.

    #121623
    Redneck
    Participant

    Michael Reid
    “We are very similar to Nazi Germany, the police state is expanding, ”
    “We are very similar to the Soviet Union , the police state is expanding,

    #121624
    Maxwell Quest
    Participant

    Watched the Died Suddenly documentary last night. I agree, it was brutal. While I continued to cringe from scene to gruesome scene, I wondered, “If it was difficult for me to watch, knowing what I do about the plandemic and its misanthropic backers, having had 2 ½ years to gradually come up to speed with its complexity and goals, what are that chances that the people around me who are fully vaxxed and boosted could watch this and have the media spell broken, or at least challenged?”

    Answer: Maybe one in a thousand. Most don’t have the courage, strength of heart, intellect, or love of truth to endure having their boat capsized and thrown into the icy cold waters of reality. Then, when they turn to friends or family for a life preserver they are smacked in the head with oars and told “go ahead and drown you crazy conspiracy theorist”. Ah, the joys of exiting the Matrix, “why oh why didn’t I take the blue pill?”

    I just finished watching Part 1 of WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT MR GLOBAL that Michael Reid posted the other day. I watched Part 3 yesterday. Anyway, I was always a little leery of Catherine Austin Fitts even though I enjoyed listening to her ideas. Maybe it was because she always seemed to present an air of certainty about topics that were edgy, like she has a crystal ball or high-level access to global plans. Some of her ideas seemed like a bridge too far.

    After watching Part 1, however, in which she talks a bit about her own personal journey and motivations, my trust and comfort level with her took a quantum jump. Now, she seems more like a kindred spirit. I sense that she often dreams, as I do, about how wonderful life could be on this planet if self-interest was supplanted with community interest. And she appears willing to dedicate her life to this aim despite all the forces arrayed against it – all those currently working toward the global centralization of wealth, power, and governance.

    #121625
    zerosum
    Participant

    Meanwhile really important things like;…… Biden, TSXare still being ignored by MSM

    #121626
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Don’t mean to pick on this guy but “We are very similar to Nazi Germany, We only have a small window of time left.”

    “Canadian Government Literally Proposes State Execution of Living Babies”

    Yeah, if we don’t look out, we could be killing thousands with eugenics and funding/supporting/arming/joining Nazis.

    And also if we don’t look out, we could end up in a Recession where we have 2 quarters of declining growth and the biggest yield curve inversion ever with 100M people out of work, housing stops fastest ever, and even Amazon crash-halts their construction.

    If we don’t look out, snow could be white and water could be wet.

    Will they ever notice “When it happens here”?

    #121627
    Bishko
    Participant

    The singularity will need a tremendous amount of electricity which is the “lifeblood” of AI. With the sorry state of our electrical grid and the looming blackouts, I doubt that AI will be safe from repeated “reboots” which will not do well for their consciousness. Ain’t no AI’s in my potato patch. Yet.

    On another note, this continual “excess death” march will slowly reduce the consumption of fossil fuels in a new form of “Demand Destruction”. It looks like everything is going according to their plan.

    My friend has a saying: “I hope the end of the world comes while I am still young enough to enjoy it.”

    #121628
    Bill7
    Participant

    I’ve been looking for The Part that’s Not Theater for some time now. As far as I can tell, it’s not reported on this here DarpaNet. Lots of photos of and diktats from comic Zelensky and his ilk, though.

    Ever get the sense that you’re being trolled, and pummeled by nonsense-news?

    #121629
    Bill7
    Participant

    In other news, Novak Djokovic d Casper Ruud on Sunday in the final of tennis’s year end Championships in two fairly tight sets, 7-5 6-3. I’ve been reading a biography of Roger Federer lately, and Djoker comes off quite well in it. Ruud we’ll be hearing more of, I think, along with the young Dane, Holger Rune.

    #121630
    boscohorowitz
    Participant

    1
    2

    #121631
    Dora
    Participant
    #121632
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    “World Premiere: Died Suddenly”

    Brutal describes it; and macabre to say the least…

    Where to go from here?

    #121633
    Bill7
    Participant

    Ockeghem’s Requiem bacame a focus after listening to quite a bit of Josquin Desprez, mostly as recorded by A Sei Voci. I wanted to get a little bit in touch with music before Josquin, dipping my toe in, so got the Hilliard Ensemble’s 1985 recording. It seemed like a good place to start, and sometime seems like it will be a good place to finish, too. The sound is deep, blended, with top-notch intonation, and emphasis on the long line. Despite that blending, the voice leading is clear. Who knows what the composer intended, but I got the idea that more was still to be found in this piece.

    #121634
    Bill7
    Participant

    Our rulers are driving us quite deliberately into a New Dark Age, with “Wokeness” being quite a useful wedge for that job. They are not, in my estimation, “stupid”, or “incompetent”; to the contrary, I think their plans are
    working well. Those who plan seem to do better than those who don’t.

    #121635
    Bill7
    Participant

    “FTX” = “Look Over There!”

    What are we not looking at, while we’re looking at “FTX” ? In other news. Mister Stoltenberg intones that there
    will have to be a “negotiated settlement” regarding The Ukraine (and other places, just watch).

    Gawd, it’s all so predictable- that’s because it was decided long ago. See “script”..

    #121636
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    To err is human
    But to really put an end to that
    You need A.I.

    #121637
    Bill7
    Participant

    The next recording I got (I’d love to hear Ockeghem’s Requiem in concert, but have not) was Pro Cantione Antiqua’s from 1973 with Bruno Turner (Archiv). For now it’s my favorite, despite its midrangey sound. Less perfect than the Hilliards by a long way, it has the breath of life, rather than reeking of Heaven. I’m tempted to get some kind of EQ-stuff to try to give it more sound on each end, but probably won’t. It’s good.

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