May 072023
 
 May 7, 2023  Posted by at 8:38 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,


Gustav Klimt Litzlberg am Attersee 1914-15

 

Russian Forces Take Control Over 95% Of Bakhmut – Prigozhin (TASS)
Wagner To Hand Bakhmut Over To Chechens – Prigozhin (RT)
Chechen Commandos Wait For Orders To Push Towards Bakhmut – Kadyrov (TASS)
Western Politicians Advise Kiev Not To Attack Crimea – Ukraine Official (RT)
Grain Deal Talks In Deadlock – UN (RT)
Moscow Blasts Kiev Over Use Of Grain Corridor To Attack Russia (Az.)
Tucker Carlson Forced Off Air By Fox Contract – NYT (RT)
The UK vs the ECtHR (VB)
US National Security Advisor To Meet With MbS (Cradle)
IMF Issues Grim Warning About Global Economy (RT)
Pakistan Switching To Yuan To Buy Russian Oil – Media (RT)
De-Dollarization Is Spreading And It’s Not Hard To See (Radhika Desai)
Over 2,000 of 4,800 US Banks Are Insolvent – Telegraph (RT)
MSNBC Spins Possible Hunter Biden Charges In Rare Joe Biden Interview (Turley)
In London, Brazil’s Lula Calls For Efforts To Free Assange (ABC)

 

 

 

 

 

 

RFK Jr. talks to Douglas Macgregor

 

 

 

 

Joe 29(?!)
https://twitter.com/i/status/1654766235027136512

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The remaining 5% do not play any role for the so-called development of progress and the march of the ‘Red Army’ further to the West..”

Russian Forces Take Control Over 95% Of Bakhmut – Prigozhin (TASS)

Russian forces control about 95% of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) and the remaining 5% have no influence on the progress of the special military operation, Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin says. “Almost 95% of the city territory has been captured in Artyomovsk to date. The remaining 5% do not play any role for the so-called development of progress and the march of the ‘Red Army’ further to the West. Two square kilometers do not influence the progress of the military operation at all,” he said, cited by the Prigozhin’s press office in its Telegram channel. Nobody communicated with him about the shortage of ammunition, Prigozhin said. “The personnel of Wagner PMC will be preserved for the next operations in interests of Russia,” he noted. The Wagner PMC founder also said he had no ambitions of leaving his mark as the person “that took Artyomovsk.” “I have ambitions to be of service to our nation and state,” he added.

Chrystia Freeland tells Hillary Clinton

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“Prigozhin said that the operation of the Wagner group had fulfilled its task in Bakhmut. According to him, the goal of the Bakhmut meat grinder was not to take the city, but to grind the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He said that 95% of the territory of Bakhmut is now under the control of Russian forces, and the remaining 5%, according to him, “do not play any role”. He said that he doesn’t care about being in the history books as the one who took Bakhmut, he cares about serving his own people” — RIA

Wagner To Hand Bakhmut Over To Chechens – Prigozhin (RT)

The Wagner Group private military company will withdraw from the key Donbass city of Artyomovsk (known in Ukraine as Bakhmut) on May 10, the group’s chief, Evgeny Prigozhin, has announced. The PMC’s positions will be taken over by the Chechen Special Forces Unit ‘Akhmat’, he said. Prigozhin claimed to have been in contact with Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic, to perform the maneuver. The Wagner leader expressed confidence that the Chechen units will capture Artyomovsk completely, of which just a few blocks in the city’s western part remain under the control of Ukrainian forces.

“I am already in contact with [Kadyrov’s] representatives in order to start transferring positions immediately, so that on May 10, at 00:00, exactly at the moment when, according to our calculations, we will completely exhaust our combat potential, our comrades will take our places and continue the assault on the city of Bakhmut,” Prigozhin said in a statement on Saturday. Later in the day, Kadyrov released a short video address stating that he has already raised the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, notifying him of his willingness to replace the Wagner fighters in the city. The Akhmat fighters are already on standby and ready to be redeployed to Artyomovsk, he added.

“The soldiers are on high alert, we are only waiting for orders. Several units have already set off towards the special military operation zone,” Kadyrov stated. Prigozhin announced the looming withdrawal of his forces from the city earlier this week, citing heavy losses and a shortage of artillery munitions. The group will be redeployed from the frontlines to rear camps to “lick their wounds,”he said. Artyomovsk has seen intense fighting in recent months, with the raging battle commonly referred to as the “Bakhmut meat grinder.”The city is a key road and rail junction in Donbass, with both sides reportedly suffering significant casualties during the struggle for control over it. Kiev has continuously poured reserves into the city, which remains partially surrounded by Wagner and other Russian troops.

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“We have already begun to develop our own strategy for this area together with the Russian Defense Ministry..”

Chechen Commandos Wait For Orders To Push Towards Bakhmut – Kadyrov (TASS)

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said that the Akhmat commando force is ready to move into Artemovsk (Ukrainian name Bakhmut). “Akhmat [commando] units are ready to move to Artemovsk (Bakhmut). I have already signed the corresponding message to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief saying the Akhmat units are ready to take control of the city and to clear it from NATO and Ukrainian satanists. The fighters are in combat readiness. We are only waiting for the orders. Several units are already on the way to the zone of the special military operation,” Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel on Saturday.


The Chechen leader is certain that Artyomovsk will soon be liberated. “In the near future we will liberate the city, despite all sorts of fake news about some terrible counterattack by the Ukrainian army. We have already begun to develop our own strategy for this area together with the Russian Defense Ministry and with due regard for the tactics being used by the enemy and the resources available to us. Believe me, the tactic will yield positive results,” Kadyrov added.

Scott Ritter

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Who’s more likely to use nukes?

Western Politicians Advise Kiev Not To Attack Crimea – Ukraine Official (RT)

Some Western politicians have warned Ukraine against attempting to retake Crimea by force, President Vladimir Zelensky’s representative claims. Tamila Tasheva, who is tasked with Crimea-related issues, says their reservations stem from fears that if faced with losing the region, Russia might respond with tactical nuclear weapons. Speaking to Poland’s PAP news agency on Friday, Tasheva said Kiev’s preparations for a major counteroffensive have sparked discussions among Western elites regarding the potential repercussions. “Some Western politicians – not states – are warning Ukraine. They claim that the recapture of Crimea could lead to a nuclear war,” she said. According to Tasheva, these politicians argue that while an operation like this is feasible, the fallout could be severe.

Other voices have called into question whether Crimea has ever really been a part of Ukraine, she said. “In their opinion, we should completely give up trying to regain it.” Zelensky’s representative dismissed concerns over a potential nuclear response by Russia as unlikely. She went on to insist that there has long been a bond between Crimea and Ukraine, adding that pro-Kiev saboteurs are active on the peninsula. Multiple drone attacks have taken place in Crimea in recent weeks, targeting Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and an oil storage facility. The Russian authorities say they believe Ukraine was behind the strike on the storage facility, which led to a massive blaze last Saturday. The Ukrainian military, while stopping short of claiming responsibility, hinted that the attack was part of preparations ahead of Kiev’s much-hyped counteroffensive.

Speaking to Scandinavian media outlets last Friday, President Zelensky expressed hope that Ukraine’s forces will be able to “de-occupy” Crimea, as well as Russia’s newly-incorporated territories – the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, and Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions. The predominantly-Russian speaking Crimea joined Russia in 2014 following a referendum that was held after the Maidan coup in Kiev that same year.

French journo

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“The deal also requires Western countries to unblock Russian grain and fertilizer exports..”

Grain Deal Talks In Deadlock – UN (RT)

Another round of talks aimed at prolonging the Black Sea grain deal has ended in deadlock, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for UN secretary-general, told the media. Technical personnel from Russia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the UN met in Istanbul on Friday, ahead of a senior-level meeting scheduled for next week. According to the UN spokesperson, the parties failed to agree on the authorization of new vessels to join the Black Sea shipments. Nevertheless, daily inspection work on the previously authorized vessels will continue. “We urge all parties to continue their discussions, overcome operational challenges and work towards the full implementation and continuation of the initiative,”Farhan Haq said. Last year, the UN and Türkiye brokered an agreement which allows the safe export of Ukrainian grain though the Black Sea. The deal also requires Western countries to unblock Russian grain and fertilizer exports.


In March, Russia agreed to extend the deal by 60 days, to May 18. The Kremlin has said that not all parties are fulfilling their part of the agreement. Moscow has also complained that wealthy countries, rather than those at serious risk of food shortages, receive the majority of agricultural goods from Ukraine. Among its conditions, Moscow has demanded that the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) be reconnected to the international SWIFT payment system. Earlier this week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the possibility of allowing the bank to return to SWIFT is part of the discussions on extending the grain deal. According to Cavusoglu, while the parties are actively collaborating, there are no guarantees that the deal will be extended.

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“..unfortunately, it was used by the Ukrainian side, in particular, to organize terrorist attacks against Sevastopol, which is absolutely unacceptable.”

Moscow Blasts Kiev Over Use Of Grain Corridor To Attack Russia (Az.)

Ukraine’s attempts to exploit the Black Sea grain corridor to stage terrorist attacks on Crimea, Russia cannot be tolerated, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said in an exclusive interview with RT released on Saturday. Speaking after talks with the United Nations Trade and Development chief on the renewal of the landmark UN- and Türkiye-brokered grain deal with Ukraine, which is set to expire on May 18, Vershinin signaled that Russia is not satisfied with the way the agreement is being implemented. He said that while the talks turned out to be useful, as they allowed the headway being made to be measured, Russia “is not happy with the progress.” Vershinin explained that the part of the agreement unblocking Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea has yielded “real results,” but not without caveats.

“We are drawing attention to the fact that the grain… is probably being exported to the most developed countries… However, the very idea that was put forward by the UN secretary general [Antonio Guterres] to ensure food security in the world, as it turns out, is not actually happening.” Vershinin said the parties to the deal are working on the international humanitarian corridor to export grain, “but everyone knows that, unfortunately, it was used by the Ukrainian side, in particular, to organize terrorist attacks against Sevastopol, which is absolutely unacceptable.” The deputy foreign minister went on to tout Russia’s potential in ensuring global food security. “It is well-known, if we remove barriers for our agricultural exports, and for the exports of our fertilizers, many countries of the world will benefit.”

Concluded last July, the landmark grain deal with Ukraine has since hit some stumbling blocks. Russian officials have repeatedly complained that while the deal indeed unblocked Ukrainian grain exports, it failed to unblock deliveries of Russian food and fertilizers to global markets, mostly due to the Western sanctions. The deal has also been marred by several Ukrainian attacks using the grain corridor, resulting in Russia briefly suspending its participation in the agreement in October 2022. In April, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that Ukraine had broken its promise not to use the grain corridor for military purposes after several unmanned boats attacked the Black Sea Fleet bases in Sevastopol, as well as civilian infrastructure on two occasions, potentially threatening the deal’s renewal.

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“..he has no choice but to stay off the airwaves until after the 2024 election unless he is able to negotiate an exit.”

Tucker Carlson Forced Off Air By Fox Contract – NYT (RT)

Recently-fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson may be sidelined from television news entirely until after the 2024 election unless he can extricate himself from his previous employment contract, according to multiple sources who spoke to the New York Times on Friday. The anchorman is restrained by a common clause known as ‘pay or play’ that restricts him from working for a competitor until the contract expires, an inside source told the outlet. Carlson’s contract is valid through January 2025, meaning he has no choice but to stay off the airwaves until after the 2024 election unless he is able to negotiate an exit. Carlson has reportedly retained entertainment lawyer Bryan Freedman to work out a settlement with his former employer.

Numerous outlets, both traditional and internet-based, are said to be courting the conservative pundit, including Rumble, the Daily Wire, Newsmax, and One America News. Carlson was let go last month hours before he was scheduled to go on the air, supposedly at the request of Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corporation, and Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media, according to a source who spoke to the Times. Media outlets including the Times have suggested his ouster was due to a text message discovered while the network was preparing for Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit to go to trial in which Carlson acknowledged the humanity of an Antifa protester. He had enjoyed watching the “creep”get beaten up, he admitted, even though “it’s not how white men fight.”

Other leaked texts from Carlson show him calling Trump lawyer Sidney Powell “cruel and reckless” for pushing the theory that Dominion was flipping votes for then-candidate Joe Biden. The network ultimately did not allow the Dominion suit to go to trial, settling with the voting machine manufacturer for $787 million. Carlson has remained largely silent about the circumstances of his departure, save for a two-minute clip he posted to Twitter decrying how “unbelievably stupid” most TV news content was and lamenting the absence of “undeniably big topics” on the airwaves. The clip has garnered over 24 million views in just two weeks, while Fox’s own ratings have plummeted, with the network losing half its audience in the coveted 25 to 54 demographic.

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The Bill of Rights Bill

“Anatomy of A Politically Engineered Collision Course”

The UK vs the ECtHR (VB)

In recent months, the UK government has tabled two Bills before Parliament which would have the consequence – and almost certainly have the intention – of setting the UK on a collision course with the Council of Europe, and especially the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Both the Bill of Rights Bill and the Illegal Migration Bill, introduced on 22 June 2022 and 7 March 2023 respectively, contain provisions that openly flout the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). While the former is currently in parliamentary limbo, the Illegal Migration Bill will probably become law, following extensive amendment by the House of Lords, which will debate it on 10 May.

This post details how the Bills serve to undermine the UK’s obligations under the ECHR and explains their significance within the larger debate surrounding the UK’s possible withdrawal from the Convention. It places this debate in the context of the rarely-convened Council of Europe summit of heads of state and government in Reykjavik in May 2023, whose ambitious agenda is to protect the ‘common heritage’ of respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law in the face of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and other existential threats. The Bill of Rights Bill would repeal and replace the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998, which gives effect in UK law to most of the rights and freedoms in the Convention. It is the product of a near decade long fixation by the – now former – Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab, with abolishing the HRA and loosening the UK’s ties with Strasbourg, dating back to his 2011 polemic on the prisoner voting issue.

Several of the Bill’s provisions would create significant divergence between the UK and Strasbourg. The Bill would remove the current requirement under section 2 of the HRA for the UK courts to take relevant case law of the ECtHR into account and would encourage a more originalist reading of the Convention. The interpretive duty found in section 3 of the HRA would also be removed. This requires courts to interpret Acts of Parliament so that the rights, duties and powers they establish are exercised in ways that are compatible with Convention rights. Further, it would prevent UK judges from interpreting Convention rights in ways that create positive obligations on public authorities – and even discourage them from applying positive obligations that have already been identified in previous cases, creating inevitable contradiction with Strasbourg case law.

The Bill also instructs UK courts not to have regard to any interim measure (or urgent injunction) issued by the ECtHR, which would directly contravene the UK’s obligations under the Convention. The parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) urged the Government not to proceed with the Bill, since: ‘it weakens rights protections, it undermines the universality of rights, it shows disregard for our international legal obligations; it creates legal uncertainty and hinders effective enforcement; it will lead to an increased caseload in Strasbourg; and will damage our international reputation as guardians of human rights’.

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MbS cannot go back.

US National Security Advisor To Meet With MbS (Cradle)

White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan will visit Saudi Arabia this weekend for talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), as the White House seeks to improve ties with Riyadh, Reuters reported on 5 May. Speaking at the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), Sullivan said he would be traveling to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks with Saudi leaders. Sources speaking with Reuters said Sullivan would meet with Crown Prince MbS. Sullivan said the Biden administration seeks a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program and criticized the Trump administration’s 2018 decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by President Obama in 2015. The deal placed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

“Yes, we will take the necessary action to ensure that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon,” Sullivan said in his WINEP speech. Iranian leaders say they have no intention to develop nuclear weapons and that the country’s nuclear program is for peaceful civilian purposes. Oil production cuts by Saudi-led OPEC+ last October and differences between the US and Saudi Arabia over the 2018 assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi –carried out by agents close to MbS — hurt relations between the two historical allies. White House officials have also viewed Saudi Arabia’s recent decision to resume ties with Iran and Syria negatively. Representatives from India and the UAE will also join Sullivan’s trip to discuss “new areas of cooperation between New Delhi and the Gulf as well as the United States and the rest of the region.”

Sullivan said the US was working hard to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. “Ultimately getting to full normalization is a declared national security interest of the United States. We have been clear about that,” he said. “Now as a sign of my seriousness about how much we’re focused on this, and how seriously we are taking this, I am not going to say anything further lest I upset the efforts we are undertaking on this issue,” he added.

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Maybe it should be “Global Economy Issues Grim Warning About IMF”.

IMF Issues Grim Warning About Global Economy (RT)

The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the world is on the edge of geo-economic fragmentation, which she believes could add more “cold water” to already anemic global growth. Speaking by video-link at the Brussels Economic Forum on Wednesday, Kristalina Georgieva called for cooperation at a time when growth across the globe is extremely weak by historical standards. “After decades of increasing global integration, there is a growing risk that the world may split into rival economic blocs,” the IMF chief said. “And that’s a scenario that would be bad for everyone, including for people in Europe.” She warned that growth prospects were increasingly bleak at a time when the global outlook is weak both in the near and medium term.

The IMF projects growth to remain around 3% over the next five years, the lowest medium-term forecast in more than three decades. “And yet, central bankers cannot take their eyes off the ball until stubborn inflation is firmly under control,” Georgieva pointed out. “The required monetary tightening is weighing on growth and exposing some financial vulnerabilities.” Reviving multilateral cooperation is vital for long-term growth everywhere, according to the official, who warned that trade fragmentation could cost up to 7% to the global economy in the long term. That’s “roughly equivalent to the combined annual output of Germany and Japan,” she said, adding that some nations could see GDP losses of up to 12% if technological decoupling is added.

“We cannot ignore these costs,” Georgieva stressed. The IMF boss had previously said that the shocks of the past few years, including the Covid pandemic, Russia-Ukraine conflict, and spike in interest rates after years of loose monetary policy, have been a drag on the global economy.

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“The deal is expected to provide relief to cash-strapped Pakistan, which is facing a balance of payments crisis and critically low foreign exchange reserves.”

Pakistan Switching To Yuan To Buy Russian Oil – Media (RT)

Pakistan is likely to pay for shipments of crude oil from Russia in Chinese yuan, local media reported on Saturday, citing government sources. The first cargo of 750,000 barrels is expected to dock as soon as in June. An unnamed official from the Ministry of Energy told The News International that the transaction would be facilitated by the Bank of China. The sources haven’t provided details about the mode of payment or the exact discount that Pakistan will receive, saying that making the information public is not in the interest of either buyer or seller. “Russia will provide URAL crude in the test cargo and most probably Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) will be tasked to refine the Russian crude,” the official said.


Other sources told the media that Pakistan has agreed a per-barrel price of around $50-52, compared to the G7 price cap on Russian oil of $60 per barrel. In December, the EU, G7, and their allies introduced a collective ban on Russian seaborne oil exports, along with a price cap of $60 per barrel. Another embargo banning almost all imports of Russian oil products, as well as introducing price caps on diesel and other petroleum products, kicked in on February 5. In January, Moscow and Islamabad reached “conceptual” agreements on supplies of Russian oil and petroleum products to Pakistan. The deal is expected to provide relief to cash-strapped Pakistan, which is facing a balance of payments crisis and critically low foreign exchange reserves.

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“..the larger the US deficits, the greater the downward pressure on the dollar..”

De-Dollarization Is Spreading And It’s Not Hard To See (Radhika Desai)

New sources of non-dollar finance are emerging. There are new bilateral agreements to trade and lend in currencies other than the US dollar. Even more importantly, major oil trade buyers and sellers – Moscow and Riyadh as much as Beijing and New Delhi – are agreeing to trade it in non-dollar currencies. These deals are destroying one of the main pillars of dollar dominance since OPEC quadrupled and then doubled oil prices in the 1970s, giving countries around the world a major reason to demand and hold dollars. However, many analysts continue to write as if the dollar’s dominance remains intact. Of course, these arguments are based on all sorts of false assumptions. For instance, they claim the dollar will continue dominating until another country’currency replaces it or that this will only happen if other countries pursue forms of internationalization that mimic that of the US dollar today.

In a sense, the discussion is a little like that depicted in The Big Short, a film about a small band of bankers who bet against the housing market and the securities resting on it in the 2000s. Having made their bets, they waited for the market to collapse. It did. However, for a time, while mortgage defaults increased, the securities they are based on continued to rise in value. Prices were buoyed by investors primed by Alan Greenspan’s famous claim that there could not possibly be a housing market bubble. Nor were the securities downgraded. The rating agencies had not only given high scores to investment rubbish, they had come to believe their own lies. Only when the losses piled up and actually began to filter through the system in the form of payment shortfalls was the truth acknowledged.

De-dollarization also has its equivalent of the losses and payment shortfalls. Consider the recent Financial Times story, ‘China’s ‘men in black’ step up scrutiny of foreign corporate sleuths’. It describes the Chinese Ministry of State Security using “methods familiar to spies and private detectives” to crack down on “foreign corporate sleuths” performing “due diligence” on investments. They cite the process of checking whether a supply chain involved “forced labor from Xinjiang” as an example, stating that such due diligence is critical for attracting US investment. The piece adds that earlier, “the due diligence groups felt they had ample space to operate and that authorities understood their importance,” but now Beijing has stepped up scrutiny of these scrutineers on grounds of national security. They lament that “spy companies were the gatekeepers for money,” but now, “[t]hat sense of a mutually beneficial relationship is gone.”

Now, the Chinese government has no shortage of reasons for stepping up its scrutiny of the information being gathered by foreign, particularly US entities. After all, it is the target of a US hybrid war whose fronts multiply daily. However, this is not the only significance of the story. It goes deeper than that and testifies to de-dollarization. Since 1971 the US currency’s global role has rested on the claim that the dollar-denominated financial system was the world’s most sophisticated, with the broadest and deepest pools of capital from which the rest of the world’s investors could drink their fill. Certainly, the expansion of financial activity, also known as financialization, has been critical. By increasing financial demand for the dollar, it counteracted the Triffin Dilemma caused by the US deficits that provided the world with liquidity, meaning that the larger the US deficits, the greater the downward pressure on the dollar.

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Pick them off one by one..

Over 2,000 of 4,800 US Banks Are Insolvent – Telegraph (RT)

Almost half of the 4,800 banks in the US are nearly insolvent, as they have burned through their capital buffers, The Telegraph reported earlier this week, citing a group of banking experts. According to Professor Amit Seru, a banking expert at Stanford University, around half of US lenders are underwater. “Let’s not pretend that this is just about Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic,” he said. “A lot of the US banking system is potentially insolvent.” Last week, First Republic was seized by US financial regulators and acquired by JPMorgan, the country’s biggest bank. The San Francisco-based lender had previously received a $30-billion rescue shot from a group of Wall Street banks in the form of deposits. The sale of First Republic Bank followed massive deposit runs in March, which caused two regional lenders, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, to fail within days.


On Thursday, shares of Los Angeles-based PacWest and Arizona’s Western Alliance were suspended after their prices fell dramatically. Earlier in the week, shares of several regional US lenders plunged by at least 15%, triggering investor concerns about the financial health of other mid-sized banks. Around 2,315 banks across the US are currently sitting on assets worth less than their liabilities, according to a Hoover Institution report by Professor Seru and a group of banking experts, as cited by the media. The market value of the loan portfolios of these lenders is reportedly $2 trillion lower than the stated book value. Professor Seru raised questions over the steps taken by US financial watchdogs to tackle the problems faced by crisis-hit mid-sized lenders. The regulators can contain the immediate liquidity crisis by guaranteeing all deposits temporarily, according to Seru, who said, however, that this would not address the greater solvency crisis.

Bank crisis
https://twitter.com/i/status/1654823464853708802

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Set up to let Joe distance himself from the mess.

MSNBC Spins Possible Hunter Biden Charges In Rare Joe Biden Interview (Turley)

Last night, President Joe Biden did what is a relatively rare thing. He sat down with an actual reporter ostensibly to answer questions. While earlier promising a “major press conference” for the media as a whole to ask him questions, Biden instead did a low-risk interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle. In the interview, Ruhle briefly touched on the possible criminal charges awaiting Hunter Biden. Despite reports of a whistleblower alleging a bribery scandal involving the President, Ruhle assured the President (and the viewers) that the still unknown charges will involve “no ties to you.” Moreover, the interview is most interesting for what it did not address. It was a vivid example of what I previously called “the art of scandal implosion.” During the interview, Ruhle asked “Sir, there is something personal that’s affecting you. Your son — while there [are] no ties to you — could be charged by your Department of Justice. How will that impact your presidency?”

Biden answered, “First of all, my son’s done nothing wrong. I trust him. I have faith in him. And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.” Note the framing: it is a “personal” not a “criminal” matter for the President that involves only his son. We still do not know what the charges might be, though there have been steady leaks indicating that the Delaware U.S. Attorney is focusing on tax and gun charges. Yet, there are mounting allegations over the President’s involvement in his son’s influence peddling and recent allegations of potential criminal conduct by the President. It would seem worthy of some inquiry or curiosity. This framing is only possible because the Justice Department and the media have worked tirelessly to avoid ties between Hunter Biden’s foreign dealings and the President. While influence peddling may not be a crime in itself, it often involves crimes to cover up the schemes from tax violations to false statements to unlawful financial transfers.

Last year, I wrote about a shift in the media after it was forced to belatedly acknowledge the authenticity of the Hunter Biden laptop: “Due to the continued work of a small number of media outlets like the New York Post, it is no longer possible to bury the story or continue the false claim that it is “Russian disinformation.” The hope now appears to be a “controlled demolition” where Hunter is indicted on limited grounds without causing collateral damage to the political and media establishment. Scandal implosion is as much an art as it is a science and could be the most brilliant achievement in this ongoing scandal.”This effort has been greatly advanced with the help of Attorney General Merrick Garland who has inexplicably refused to appoint a special counsel despite mounting evidence of influence peddling by the Biden family with Joe Biden as the object of those efforts.

Garland has effectively blocked the risk of a report on the extensive influence peddling, including the repeated references to President Biden as the “Big Guy” in emails who stood to gain from a 10 percent cut on a deal with a Chinese energy firm as well as other benefits. Emails also refer to Hunter Biden paying portions of his father’s expenses and taxes. Witnesses have come forward that directly link the President to these deals. Yet, none of that remotely interests reporters and MSNBC is not alone. The media continues to struggle to avoid even referencing the allegations against the Bidens. NPR had to correct a story that attempted to dismiss the entire laptop story as disinformation even after media acknowledged the authenticity of the laptop. This is why the narrow focus of the Justice Department is critical to imploding this scandal.

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“He said he had forgotten to discuss the matter with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak..”

In London, Brazil’s Lula Calls For Efforts To Free Assange (ABC)

After attending the coronation of King Charles III in London, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva denounced the lack of concerted efforts to free WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has spent four years in Britain’s Belmarsh Prison. “It is an embarrassment that a journalist who denounced trickery by one state against another is arrested, condemned to die in jail and we do nothing to free him. It’s a crazy thing,” Lula told reporters. “We talk about freedom of expression; the guy is in prison because he denounced wrongdoing. And the press doesn’t do anything in defense of this journalist. I can’t understand it.” Lula offered the remarks in response to a question about Assange, who is a native Australian. He said he had forgotten to discuss the matter with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, but that he would write to him upon returning to Brazil.


Assange has been fighting extradition to the United States, and Lula’s comments come at a moment that he has shown little reluctance to voice his differences of opinion with Washington regarding geopolitical matters, particularly in his opposition to providing arms to Ukraine for its war against Russia, and accusing the US and Europe of encouraging the fighting. His stance and repeated statements have drawn sharp rebukes from the White House and Europe. For its part, Australia has been stepping up diplomatic pressure on the US government to call off its prosecution of Assange. On Friday, Australia’s Prime Minister Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. in an interview that “ enough is enough. There is nothing to be served by his ongoing incarceration.” Last November, Albanese told Parliament that his “position is clear and has been made clear to the U.S. administration: That it is time that this matter be brought to a close.”

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Badger

 

 

 

 

Manes
https://twitter.com/i/status/1654766110724734977

 

 

Baby shark
https://twitter.com/i/status/1654899065023283210

 

 

 

 

King
https://twitter.com/i/status/1654821347812585473

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle May 7 2023

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    Gustav Klimt Litzlberg am Attersee 1914-15   • Russian Forces Take Control Over 95% Of Bakhmut – Prigozhin (TASS) • Wagner To Hand Bakhmut Over T
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle May 7 2023]

    #134758
    aspnaz
    Participant

    The Wagner Group private military company will withdraw from the key Donbass city of Artyomovsk (known in Ukraine as Bakhmut) on May 10, the group’s chief, Evgeny Prigozhin, has announced. The PMC’s positions will be taken over by the Chechen Special Forces Unit ‘Akhmat’, he said. Prigozhin claimed to have been in contact with Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic, to perform the maneuver.

    There are alot of Muslims in the South East of the ex-Ukraine and in Crimea, although I do not know whether there are many in Artyomovsk. Kadyrov is a giant in the Muslim world, he is feared and respected in equal measure. Islam is the second religion in the ex-Ukraine and those Muslims will be more than happy to have Kadyrov defending them. This is a political coup as it shows the Muslims that Putin is not just going to defend the Orthodox Christian Russians but he will also defend the Muslim Russians. It also shows the same to the BRICS+ countries.

    #134759
    aspnaz
    Participant

    “A lot of the US banking system is potentially insolvent.”

    Every business is potentially insolvent, so that is meaningless, what matters is whether they are actually insolvent and that depends on whether they have to actually liquidate their assets to meet their obligations. In banking that depends on government facilities for the different tiers and there are lots of them, some hardly ever used, probably more to be created.

    #134760
    aspnaz
    Participant

    Carlson was let go last month hours before he was scheduled to go on the air, supposedly at the request of Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corporation

    This is the problem with inheritance. Rupert Murdoch inherited his money from his father, a press baron. He has basically never created anything in his life and has consistently behaved like a middle manager, not a billionaire. Now his son, an equally useless person takes on the mantle of running the Murdoch empire. Idiots with money.

    #134761

    They’re fucking with your mind:

    Kamala Harris to run AI taskforce

    In tomorrow’s Debt Rattle.

    #134762
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Castro: Is that photoshopped? He looks so much like Justin it’s startling.

    Speaking of: does that Hillary look 76 to you? Or should we play “What Age is Hillary Clinton Today?”

    “Some Western politicians have warned Ukraine against attempting to retake Crimea by force,”

    But they’re not in charge. It has been well-established at this time that Ukraine gives the orders and is the new world capital and government.

    “there has long been a bond between Crimea and Ukraine, adding that pro-Kiev saboteurs are active on the peninsula.”

    Uh-huh. And doing nothing at all for 15 months. Boy those Kiev guys sure are tricky! No one expected them not to attack ever. Didn’t see that coming.

    “• Grain Deal Talks In Deadlock – UN (RT)”

    That’s okay, we already know all the grain goes to Europe anyway.

    “…he has no choice but to stay off the airwaves until after the 2024 election unless he is able to negotiate an exit.”

    Exactly. Legal election tampering. So if I were him, I’d run for VP. You’d have to. I think it would be the only loophole that allows you to speak to crowds.

    “The UK vs the ECtHR (VB) “

    This is very complex. Translation? I’ve not been following inside baseball this side of the pond.

    “White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan”

    Who? I only deal with relevant people.

    Pointing out, that’s who we are now. Also, did they have no transgender people at all they could send? Because I guess after that transgender mercenary and Navy director, that’s how things are now.

    “International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the world is on the edge of geo-economic fragmentation,”

    Translation: The End of Globalism. And therefore Globalists. Wait: isn’t this what Trump said before all this happened? Your time is over now? How’d that work out? Wasn’t that within a few months of asking Germany why they got no Army, no troops, no spending, but only a thin straw called NordStream holding up the whole country? Gosh, what a maroon! Well, must be all one, big, accident.

    The IMF projects growth to remain around 3% over the next five years,”

    Lie! But by omission, misdirection, and statistics. The WORLD may have 3% (argued on inflation) but that’s because +15% in China, Russia, India with NEGATIVE GDP of 12% in every place that follows the IMF. That averages out – ta-dahhh! — to +3%. Just like “there’s no oil” except in Russia, Iran, and THEIR hemisphere. Therefore there’s no oil at all! If it’s not ours to sell, it’s like it doesn’t exist!

    No global trade = no international power. The present oligarchs are all chopped up, and the Oceana’s US Navy control of trade is powerless. The banks get no vig because there’s no (forced) world trade to skim off. Add your own effect here.

    Pakistan Switching To Yuan To Buy Russian Oil – Media (RT)

    Boy all those hundred-billions to Pakistan while they created a nuclear bomb with our technology (sold via Israel) sure paid off! I’m so glad we did that instead of having drinking water.

    “the discussion is a little like that depicted in The Big Short,”

    Or more likely, the one in “Rollover” 1981. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1aQ-XGWors And that had to do with the Saudis. “All our oil is gone, and we find that all we have is pieces of paper…” And big fish not moving big sums and cause a bank run. “In two months you’ll have bread lines in Detroit. Riots in Pittsburgh. In six months you’ll see grass right over Rodeo Drive.” Oops! Too late. This is not the collapse that was advertised, but it is the real collapse we already had, just slowly and not everywhere at once. “Money has a life of its own, this whole thing with Arabs and Gold – it’s inevitable. And the system will be fine…as long as nobody panics.”

    Actually the movie was about this very attempt in 1980 Hunt Brothers run, where the Saudis attempted after Nixon’s default, to re-back the US$ with silver…like it should be and was only a year or two previous.

    “A bankrupt world seems to be teetering on the very edge of bankruptcy.” Pictures of empty Lehman Brothers trading floors contrasted with street riots and fires. Worldwide, with marches and fires in Madrid, Paris, etc. No oil exports because no sound monetary system.

    Yes, they knew. So they had Plans. And other people let them run some of their Plans, rather than have that collapse then. And now, knowing this for so long, they activated other Plans that cause the Collapse to happen to YOU first. In small towns, unimportant states, unwanted cities, while preserving what functions remain to US. — All top ten richest zip codes are in D.C., etc. But it’s the same collapse, the same “Rollover” because it had to happen. We issued too many fake promises and someone can’t get paid. Nothing can ever change that. Someone doesn’t get paid, and you have no power, so it’s YOU. BOTH sides want and need it to fail, they’re just maneuvering to who controls it after.

    “De-dollarization also has its equivalent of the losses and payment shortfalls.”

    Payment shortfalls. Like “Somebody doesn’t get paid” so there is a “Collapse – fast or slow – of worldwide trade and import of goods.” So suddenly ships off Long Beach mysteriously stop being loaded? Suddenly supply chain disruptions are everywhere? Suddenly food packers are shut off? Like that, except we need to BLAME SOMEBODY ELSE. Anyone except the system – our system – which is the actual problem. Because then we would lose a little money and power and have to do some work.

    “Over 2,000 of 4,800 US Banks Are Insolvent – Telegraph (RT)”

    Hard to say what they mean by this. All banks are always insolvent from the minute they open. Luongo points out they are still trying to take out the U.S. Banking system as they only way to save Europe, by forcing world money flows. Inside baseball has the attacked mostly in occupied California, the Davos colony and therefore well-known s—thole. As they are taken out, the NY Fed therefore gets control over them, cleans them, and backfills them. Which no one is happy about, but would you like a nationwide bank run that sends all money to Davos and sinks all North America instead? Your choice.

    Ruhle briefly touched on the possible criminal charges awaiting Hunter Biden”

    You mean how Joe was never involved in any business dealings with Hunter and they never spoke of it ever in their adult lives? While sharing a bank account together and Hunter flying on Air Force 2 into Ukraine while collecting $1M from Moscow? But Joe categorically denied all this. And the laptop. And China. And the guns. And the daughter. And everything else. …But he can still have an interview?

    “Biden answered, “First of all, my son’s done nothing wrong.”

    That’s not the point. YOU said YOU knew nothing about it. YOU said YOU weren’t involved, had no personal, business, or financial connections to him. Ah well, as Nietzsche said, “God is Dead.” Translated: “Reality,” and all Truth, are dead. YOU are the liar in question here, not Hunter.

    #134763
    aspnaz
    Participant

    RIM said

    Kamala Harris to run AI taskforce

    Given her ability to think and speak, ChatGPT seems to be way ahead of her in terms of ability. Maybe AI is already too clever and too intelligent to be the VP. Giving her responsibility for AI makes me think that AI has already taken over the government.

    #134764
    John Day
    Participant

    That long, excerpt from Hannah Arendt, edited by Phoenixvoice last night, explains very well that the breakdown of social strata and the mass displacement of people(s) after WW-1 led to weakening of well-ordered political parties, which had served specific interests before, and led to the formation of mass-movements, based on shared “Feelz”, as Dr.D would put it.
    I hadnot seen this analysis before (and I am officially geriatric now).
    It sure explains a lot, even “Hope & Change”.
    Where’s Trotsky’s ghost?

    #134765
    John Day
    Participant

    Everybdy Wants To Rule The World https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/everybody-wants-to-rule-the-world

    Pretend To The End, James Kunstler
    The creatures of the underworld running our country must think the public is awfully stupid. You are expected to take at face value the claim that “Joe Biden” is actually up for re-election. Could it be more obvious that he’s pretending? (Just as he’s been pretending to serve as CEO of our government.) Meanwhile, we are not supposed to notice that the entities behind him are scrambling to dismantle, demolish, and asset-strip what remains of the USA in body and spirit. But enough of us are noticing to make it a problem for them.
    First, who are these entities? They are exactly who you think they are. What you see around you is not just a complex system (Western Civ) unwinding and breaking apart — though that is part of the story. It is also the appearance of a controlled demolition by desperate, frightened, and crazy people who want to be the ones left standing when the demolition is complete. The catch is, they are pretending, too. They are control-freaks who cannot keep things under control.
    This power underworld is a coalition of large public and private organizations, here and out there in the world, and the folks in charge of them, and they are all out of control, too, pretending that their operations are coherent and efficacious.​..
    ​.. ​There is also the matrix of banking, including the international regulatory agencies such as the IMF, the World Bank, the Fed, the European Central Bank, and the banks themselves. And the bankers — Powell, LeGarde, Dimon, et. al — and the money managers, Fink, Soros, and their nefarious activities. They are all pretending to be in charge of a money system so burdened with fakery and legerdemain that it’s in the process of flying up the cosmic wazoo and vanishing, leaving Western Civ, functionally, broke.
    My guess is that the nominal leader of this underworld in the USA — more like a master-of-ceremonies than an actual director — is Barack Obama. He has been running “Joe Biden” since the 2020 coup against Mr. Trump.​..
    ​..​For now, they’ll just try ignoring RFK, Jr., since he wants to turn the Democratic Party upside-down and inside-out while rinsing it with Drano.
    ​ ​Who will they slot in when “Joe B” gets the hook? Michelle Obama, of course. Seems ridiculous, I know. (Actually, it’s completely ridiculous.) But our country has become so marinated in recycled products, celebrities, and narratives that Mr. Barack Obama (and cohorts) might just be bold enough to try it.

    Pretend to the End

    ​Tears For Fears, Everybody Wants To Rule The World​ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGCdLKXNF3w

    ​ ​Red and Christine linked to some organizational charts that make it clear who the global financial institutional players are, and who the globalist players in US Government have been, at varius levels, including presidents. This is easy to peruse, and you wil probably not be too surprised, but it is remarkably tidy and well organized.
    ​ ​Who Runs the World? – Organized Crime’s Front Groups & Secret Societies
    ​ ​Who Are the World Economic Forum, The Council of Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, Freemasonry, Bohemian Club, Skull & Bones and the Bilderberg Group
    https://artofliberty.substack.com/p/who-runs-the-world-organized-crimes?nthPub=261

    I hope to make the point here that the power relationships in the world are not primarily between “nations” as we conceive of them, though some nations such as Russia, China, Iran, Turke(i)y, etc. can be seen to behave as such internationally. The glbally powerful financial fiefdoms are transnational. They typically corrupt national-government officials to varying degrees, to facilitate the corporate wealth-extraction from those countries, at the expense of citizens, the environment, and local manufacturers and productive enterprises. This weakens the economies and the social-contracts of all of the parasitized nations.
    The US became a center of the western empire during WW-1, and at Bretton-Woods in 1945, became the primary global financial center. Since then, American gold, oil, other resources and manufacturing have been extracted to feed international financial interests, and to support the $US-based global financial system, the medium for extraction of wealth from anywhere, into the global banking system, which is nowhere, yet everywhere.
    The actual wealth of nations has been diminished, not just in numbers, but in social cohesion, quality of life, and especially resilience capacity to shocks and disruptions. In being diminished and abstracted, the financialized “wealth” of the world has come to represent both real-potential for construction of factories and roads, canals and electrical generators, but also a predominance of false promises, which can never be kept in the physical world. Those who “own” the financial wealth seek to secure it in real-assets, such as productive farms, railways or fleets of ships, while still playing the global wealth game until the music stops.
    Global financial crises are typically managed with wars, which excuse any emergency measures. The COVID-Pandemic was used in that way, under the auspiices of a global health emergency, especially within the $US-centric global financial system.
    I often see presentations of national-interests which arouse emotions and frustrations, but which seem to be false and manipulative portrayals of the processes actually playing out. Globalist finance has gutted countries, economies, and notably the French retirement system, recently turned-over to BlackRock, a huge, global hungry-ghost financial entity, which has very little in the way of owned-reserves, but manages vast trillions of $US across the world.
    There are going to be losers among the giants of global finance, because the notional wealth is some multiple of real wealth, and real wealth has begun a long contraction, while notional wealth continues growing exponentially.
    The time of “imposing losses” has begun. The Fed raising interest rates and arranging buyouts, bailouts and shotgun-weddings of regional banks is the beginning of that. It stresses the system which has been maintained by negative real interest rates, and central bank purchase of junk assets for nominal-value, to keep the fake financial expansion going.
    Tom Luongo has a view of the power-centers which differs from what you will hear from NPR and other mainstream financial media. Luongo sees nationalist interests and globalist interests facing-off on the chessboard. “The Davos Crowd” is his name for European globalist interests, which he sees diverging from American commercial banking interests. The globalists are extracting Europe in a colonialist manner, and are moving to destabilize and extract the US economy along the same lines by creating chaos, crashing the values of real assets, like productive factories, farms, roads and railways, and gobbling them up, leaving debt levels undiminished, but greatly increasing extraction from the population. Globalists control the current administration and Treasury Secretary Yellen.
    US national banking interests seem intent on keeping the economy operating within the US, even if they have to retreat some from global financial extraction.
    Luongo has described this power contest between New York banking and the Federal Reserve, and “The Davos Crowd” and ECB for a couple of years now.
    In this essay he posits that JP Morgan and J.Powell at the Fed have been moving to deny BlackRock the purchase of First Republic Bank, for which it bid, in order to keep it from being declared a “SIFI” Systemically Important Financial Institution in the US, by Treasury Secretary Yellen, which would shift its risks onto American taxpayers (not just French pensioners). He sees BlackRock failing as a non-bank to be easily managed, despite its vast size and scope, because all of those asset portfolios can be “managed” elsewhere, and those managenment fees collected elsewhere in banking/finance.
    Luongo sees this debt ceiling showdown as being different from others, because of the great stress in western finance, and the hidden stress between the competing EU banking system and US banking system. He sees the Biden-admin position of “no spending cuts or we will veto” as threatening US banking interests, as the “Davos crowd” want unlimited US deficit spending to maintain European finance, which he argues is more stressed than US finance/banking.
    Luongo argues that any spending cuts which are agreed will be seen as a positional victory for US national banking interests and a weakened position for BlackRock and the ECB. Luongo’s thesis has been holding together pretty well in my opinion.
    This Debt Ceiling Fight is Truly Different This Time​ , Tom Luongo
    ​https://tomluongo.me/2023/05/04/this-debt-ceiling-fight-is-truly-different-this-time/

    ​ Financial crises are managed by wars, and all wars are “banker’s wars”. Anecdotally, there is more money to be made in the ruin of a nation, than in it’s construction. I see globalist interests behind the push do divide Ukraine, divide Russia and divide the US. The people who are pushing citizens to quarrel with each other are not crazy. They seek to profit from the breakdown of civil societies, and they seek to be protected from the concerted action of a nation-state in the interest of its citizens and productive industries. I see the Russian leadership resisting this patiently, even as they reluctantly carry out the Special Military Operation in Ukraine/Novorussia.
    The US has some politicians who seek to act in the national interest, whatever their own strengths, weaknesses, foibles and histories may be, and they are grab-bags of lived-life. From myperspective, a presidential race between Trump and Kennedy would signal that some lossof power had already taken place, and the globalist courtiers now exercising power in Washington​ were relinquishing their positions as managers-of-empire. That would be some kind of best-case scenario.

    #134766
    John Day
    Participant

    Consider who makes decisions for US foreign policy, and how those “deciders” might value millions of American lives, as they put those lives at risk. 🙁
    Russia and US on verge of ‘open armed conflict’ ​… It is time for Washington to think about its own safety, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov
    https://www.rt.com/russia/575836-ryabkov-us-russian-war/

    Washington responsible for attack on Kremlin – Moscow
    Ukraine’s actions are coordinated and approved by the US, Putin’s spokesman has claimed
    https://www.rt.com/russia/575777-peskov-washington-kremlin-attack/

    ​ ​Moscow accuses EU’s top diplomat of ‘colonialist mindset’​ (Borrell is not ignorant. Borrell is a wholly-factotum.)
    Josep Borrell is geopolitically ignorant, the Russian Foreign Ministry has suggested
    https://www.rt.com/russia/575842-zakharova-borrell-china-remarks/

    ​ ​Was the Tucker “Take Down” a Deep-State Hit?
    ​ ​According to former Fox host Megyn Kelly, Carlson is not free to negotiate with other potential employers because he’s still technically under contract with Fox. Check out this blurb from Red State website:
    ​”​There’s a report from 19FortyFive from John Rossamondo that Tucker Carlson texted them, “I’m still employed by Fox,” that he had not been fired. Now, we’re not seeing anyone else reporting on that, so we relate that report with that proviso. That report does, however, fit with what Kelly said. 19FortyFive also said Carlson did not explain the reasoning for the parting of ways, just as Kelly said.​”​​..​
    ​ ​What Kelly seems to ignore is that “silencing” Carlson was the primary objective from the get-go. The fact that he is still under contract simply makes it easier for his enemies to control and censor him. Many readers have noticed that Carlson has not posted another video on his Twitter account since last week’s 2-minute blockbuster that raked in over 70 million views. That probably means that he’s been advised by his attorney that anything he produces will be construed as a violation of his contract with Fox. In other words, keeping Tucker on the payroll may be the most effective way to shut him up which is precisely what they want.
    https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/was-the-tucker-take-down-a-deep-state-hit/

    ​ Andrew Korybko, via The Automatic Earth, where many of my links may often be found.​ (Does RFK Jr. know about Gonzalo Lira? Has he heard of him?)
    ​ ​Dual American-Chilean national Gonzalo Lira was recently arrested by Ukraine’s secret police on charges pertaining to “wartime propaganda”, for which he faces the possibility of 5-8 years in jail. The US Government’s (USG) silence on this incident completely contrasts with its hysteria over Wall Street Journal (WSJ) employee Evan Gershkovich’s arrest in Russia last month on charges of espionage after he was caught red-handed soliciting classified military-industrial information from a regional lawmaker.
    ​ ​This is a betrayal of American principles since the freedom of speech is regarded as a sacred right of all its citizens no matter where they might be at any given time. Regardless of whatever one might think about Lira’s views and the particular piece of Ukrainian legislation that was cited as the basis for arresting him, the USG is supposed to support the rights of its nationals abroad. This is especially so whenever they’re arrested for expressing an opinion and/or practicing journalism like he was.
    ​ ​Its silence in the face of this scandalous incident suggests a degree of complicity in, or at the very least tacit approval of, Lira’s arrest since nothing else cogently explains the conspicuous lack of any response. These suspicions are further reinforced by the fact that one of the USG’s leading information warfare assets in Ukraine, transgender mercenary Michael John Cirillo, admitted to the Daily Beast that he colluded with the SBU on its case against Lira and even plans to testify against him.
    ​ ​In his exact words, “I’ve already given my sworn statement to SBU about Gonzalo Lira several months ago and expect to be called as a witness in his prosecution.” Cirillo also added on Twitter that “When I’m on Capitol Hill in 10 days, no doubt the arrest of Gonzalo Lira will be a prime topic of conversation.” Instead of seeking his release, the USG is relying on one of its top propagandists in that country to pursue Lira’s conviction, prior to which their proxy brazenly plans to boast about this to Congress.

    US vs Gonzalo Lira

    #134768
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ ​The FBI has been sitting on a report detailing a scheme involving then-Vice President Joseph R. Biden to accept money in exchange for policy decisions on behalf of a “foreign national,” two senior Republicans said Wednesday.
    ​ ​Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, and Rep. James Comer, Kentucky Republican, said their information was “highly credible” and came from whistleblowers who pointed to a confidential human source report that the FBI has had for several years.
    ​ ​They did not say when the alleged dealing occurred nor what country was involved.They did say the information that the FBI obtained was detailed enough to have been verified.
    ​ ​“Based on those disclosures, it has come to our attention that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) possess an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions. It has been alleged that the document includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose,” the lawmakers wrote.
    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/may/3/fbi-file-ties-biden-criminal-scheme-trade-money-po/

    Former Intel Heads Brennan, Clapper To Testify To House Panel Over Role In Hunter Biden Laptop Letter​ (Careful; these guys have license-to-lie.)
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/former-intelligence-heads-brennan-clapper-testify-house-panel-over-role-hunter-biden

    ​ This is a long, good, informative interview with RFK Jr. answering so many questions about his life, long years of heroin addiction, the assassinations of his father and uncle, but I will only pick out this. He knows. Bobby Jr. knows this truth. Thanks Christine.
    ​ ​I was in the environmental movement for many years, and I had many friends who were soul-crushed. If you’re an environmentalist, every victory you have is temporary, and every loss is permanent. You lose a species, it’s not coming back. You lose a piece of landscape, it’s gone forever. And people would get just destroyed by the losses, and burn out.
    ​ ​And I learned at that time that the only thing I control is this little piece of real estate inside my own shoes. And that’s literally the only thing I control.
    ​ ​So I have to let go of the outcomes and not get invested in them, and I just have to keep fighting. The outcomes are in God’s hands. They’re not in my hands.
    ​Q: ​Was that a lesson that came out of recovery?
    ​ ​A lot of my lessons come out of recovery. I go to a lot of meetings, I go to nine meetings a week, and that keeps me spiritually centered. I do an hour of meditation every day, and I do it while hiking in the wilderness with my dogs. And I do other stuff. I know all my strength comes from that spiritual center, and that is the one thing that I really need to put effort into.
    https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/robert-f-kennedy-jr-interview-david-samuels

    #134770
    John Day
    Participant

    This also came from a link at TAE, and it is long, but you might scroll to headers to read details. Itis chock full of details, particularly all of the vessels that would directly be instrumental in the complicated task of explosive demolition of the Nordstream pipelines, and everything else. It’s all there, just like Hersh said, and there is a good section at the end about “who benefits”. It’s not things that I knew. It is new information, and casts the destruction in a fuller light.
    PART 2 – Smoking Guns: Nord Stream Sabotage ‘Secret Teams’ Revealed
    https://21stcenturywire.com/2023/05/03/part-2-smoking-guns-nord-stream-sabotage-secret-teams-revealed/

    Steve Kirsch: The data in VAERS can be used to prove the vaccines are killing people. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Here’s how to respond to all their arguments and turn the tables on them.
    [Image not taking]
    https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/dont-let-anyone-gaslight-you-on-vaers

    ​ ​Risk assessment of retinal vascular occlusion after COVID-19 vaccination​ Thanks Jeremy.
    ​ ​Individuals with COVID-19 vaccination had a higher risk of all forms of retinal vascular occlusion in 2 years after vaccination, with an overall hazard ratio of 2.19 (95% confidence interval 2.00–2.39). The cumulative incidence of retinal vascular occlusion was significantly higher in the vaccinated cohort compared to the unvaccinated cohort, 2 years and 12 weeks after vaccination. The risk of retinal vascular occlusion significantly increased during the first 2 weeks after vaccination and persisted for 12 weeks. Additionally, individuals with first and second dose of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 had significantly increased risk of retinal vascular occlusion 2 years following vaccination, while no disparity was detected between brand and dose of vaccines. This large multicenter study strengthens the findings of previous cases. Retinal vascular occlusion may not be a coincidental finding after COVID-19 vaccination.
    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41541-023-00661-7?s=08

    ​ If you live in Texas you can call and email the Govorner in support of getting this bill to a vote before the end of the session. I think it should be good for Texas, good for Texans, and may be very useful as an easy way to “hold” physical gold through a more trustworthy counterparty, who would always hand it over if you came to the depository to get it. (I called and emailed.)​ It should eliminate capital-gains taxation upon re-conversion to $US, also.
    ​ ​On May 2, a Texas House committee passed a bill to create 100% reserve gold and silver-backed transactional currencies. Enactment of this legislation would create an option for people to conduct business in sound money, set the stage to undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money, and possibly create a viable alternative to a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
    Rep. Mark Dorazio (R) introduced HB4903 on March 10 and it has since garnered a bipartisan coalition of 42 cosponsors. The legislation would require the state comptroller to establish and provide for the issuance of gold and silver specie and also establish digital currencies that are 100% backed by gold and silver, and 100% redeemable in cash, gold, or silver.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/texas-committee-passes-bill-create-100-reserve-gold-and-silver-backed-transactional

    #134772
    zerosum
    Participant

    Dilemma of the Truth Seekers

    ( A situation that requires a choice between options that are or seem equally unfavorable or unsatisfactory. )

    1. The web – gave access to many more opinions and facts. (contrary to the wishes of the manipulators)
    The web became more than a Liberator of truth

    2. A.I. – (liar – word salad makers) can sows uncontrolled confusion & disruption
    Kamala Harris to run AI taskforce
    ———-
    Sample
    A dictator – Against democracy – (the people expressed their wish)

    Zelensky expressed hope that Ukraine’s forces will be able to “de-occupy” Crimea, as well as Russia’s newly-incorporated territories – the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, and Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions.( they voted to not be part of Ukraine and to be part of Russia).
    The predominantly-Russian speaking Crimea joined Russia in 2014 following a referendum, (voted), that was held after the Maidan coup in Kiev that same year.
    ———-
    Chose the liar
    1. My son’s done nothing wrong
    2. I did not rape that woman.
    ——–

    #134773
    zerosum
    Participant

    Life and death are intertwined.
    My garden – The planted seeds are sprouting.

    #134774
    Noirette
    Participant

    On Gonzalo Lira.

    I’m not surprised he was arrested and taken away, after his first brief (?) arrest about a year ago, I don’t remember exactly. I guess he was tolerated because he is an American citizen.

    Ukraine, at WAR + under Zelensky-USuk, has banned opposition pol. parties, banned independent media (note, some of Zelensky’s shows / appearances before his presidency were forbidden because they were in Russian), banned all things Russian, TV shows, news, classic literature, etc. and looks about ready to totally destroy / loot / usurp the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

    (What about radio? I wondered..is that jammed?)

    Cancel Culture with a massive armed threatening punch … of course there are some horrific historic examples… And all that is without going into the killings of individuals in Ukr. who in some way opposed the KIEVUS régime.

    For Lira, if the US does not intervene to save him, which imho they will not, the outlook is not good, though being a ‘media’ pawn can always hold some surprises, one becomes a card in the hands of more powerful ppl, so who knows.

    #134775
    chooch
    Participant

    Early days, Lira and Ritter have short lived podcast bromance and crack-up. Today, Lira is in jail and Ritter is in St. Petersburg speaking. That’s some crazy quantum entanglement. It says Lira was married. That apartment he has arrested in looked like a bachelor pad shithole.

    #134776
    Noirette
    Participant

    On RFK Jr. talks to Col. MacGregor.

    MacG. talks some straight talk, from his POV, Ok, he is doing this all over the intertubes universe, obviously trying to influence present policy, and/or trying to save his own self-esteem, you have to do something, etc.

    Is this ‘last Kennedy’ guy against the proxy war in Ukr?

    What does RFK propose to get out of it, withdraw, give up, change the balance of power in the world? Or win quickly, once and for all?

    What actions does he try to create, promote, endorse, advise, etc. ? Or promise to implement should he be elected Prez?

    In this posted piece RFK says nothing re. these questions at all…..

    MacG speaks his ‘truth’, and his challenges / questions at the end to RFK are well-aimed.

    #134777
    zerosum
    Participant

    Why do I believe that my POV true and that your POV a lie?
    Why do you believe that your POV is true and that my POV a lie?

    #134778
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #134779
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Bank failures on a timeline

    Think of them as hemorrhoids

    Ouch

    .

    #134780
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #134781
    morongobill
    Participant

    Evidently Gonzalo signed a guilty plea. The photo is supposedly Lira sitting in a prosecutor’s office after the paperwork signing.

    https://twitter.com/SarahAshtonLV/status/1654901119867404288/photo/1

    #134783
    John Day
    Participant

    Gonzalo Lira would have no reason to resist torture, knowing what he knows about the workings of the machine. He would be tortured to death.

    #134784
    zerosum
    Participant

    If the world population is still increasing, then more depopulation tools will be activated.
    (Sudan will consume an estimated + 800,000)

    #134789
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #134790
    citizenx
    Participant

    Early days, Lira and Ritter have short lived podcast bromance and crack-up. Today, Lira is in jail and Ritter is in St. Petersburg speaking. That’s some crazy quantum entanglement. It says Lira was married. That apartment he has arrested in looked like a bachelor pad shithole.

    Choo choo-

    – speaking of your “bromances”, wheres your Bandera loving Ukronazi praising bitch boyfriend Redneck? You two are quite a lovely butt buddy pair.

    – you write like a retarded bot

    – the only thing you have to say about a journalist being arrested by Ukronazi for “propaganda” is about his apt and work relationship ? No criticism regarding Ukronazis? Bet you’re glad Assange is being tortured too eh fuck face?

    FOAD Choo Choo

    At least Lira and Ritter have the balls to speak truthfully, which for that they have both paid dearly. You on the other hand are just a cowardly lying brainwashed lobotomized quasi retarded pos.

    #134791
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Calvin Klein used to be hot

    Now he’s not

    Sure, advertising has always sold fantasy, but now it’s selling demented nightmares

    .

    #134792
    citizenx
    Participant

    Stayin Alive !

    Epic mix of Cutlists berating my body / my choice Hippocratic Oath Nuremberg Code supporting realists.
    Great collection of cult members vilifying Pure Bloods only to be killed by their precious fake vax-
    They Virtue signaled their own Death – while killing children.

    Ashes to Ashes all fall down-

    #134793
    zerosum
    Participant

    Reality check

    The script writers for Justin Trudeau and Christiane Lalande are using A.I. to produce word salad (lies)

    #134795
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    Final installment of As The U$ofA Circles The Drain:

    MPSK, you should write up your knitting needle tale to help out a home-girl dats pumping up infanticide, da VP likes ChatGPT for dat…

    Top comment:

    As an American, I humbly apologize to the world for the horrifying mistake made by the Democrat voters 28 months ago in my once great country.

    Look like someone a needin’ to get bum-rushed ~ Snitches get stitches, dun’t cha know…

    We’re not going to increase the debt dat every American president has done for the last 6 million years here, nev..nevah…never done dat (derp!)

    Doesn’t that give you goosebumps?

    I’m sure all you #nevertrump geniuses are so proud of your party’s dynamic duo…

    Once you vote democrat there’s no going back…

    Hoc est vale.

    #134797
    zerosum
    Participant

    Texas shooter in Allen …. Ukraine/nazi/supremacist sympathizer????

    #134798
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Gotta love those Canadian Nazis

    #134799
    zerosum
    Participant

    Those Canadian Nazis only want the 1.5 million Ukrainian votes

    #134800
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #134801
    Celticbiker
    Participant

    The ones who must never be questioned nor critciized are the ones running this freakshow circus in the West.. The truth is painfully obvious, there for all to see. Small hats lead to big, big problems.

    #134802
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Canada apparently loves Nazis now

    Canadians tolerate neo-nazi Chrystia Freeland in their country

    She loves the AZOVs in Ukronaziland

    But during WWII, one of the worst war crimes in Canadian history occurred in June, 1944, during the Battle of Normandy, following the D-Day landings.

    As many as a 156 Canadian soldiers taken prisoner by German forces after the Normandy landing were executed by the German 12th SS Panzer Division during various incidents in the Normandy countryside.

    The atrocities by the 12th SS Panzer Division were executions that occurred long after the battle was over.

    At the Abbaye d’Ardenne, they put a pistol to each of the Canadian soldiers and shot them through the back of the head.

    So Canada, keep honoring the memory of those men by allowing the Nazi demon witch bitch Chrystia Freeland to roam free in your country spewing her vomit of fascist propaganda out her diseased piehole.

    We salute you, oh Canada!

    Honoring your soldiers

    .

    .

    #134803
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Russian T-80 Annihilates Ukrainian T-64 At Close Range

    Ukronazis apparently didn’t realize they were approaching a Russian tank point blank

    Live & Learn does not apply in this situation

    #134804
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Unlike Canadians, Russians still honor the memory of their grandfathers from WWII

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1655238652778217472

    #134805
    WES
    Participant

    Regarding the Wagner’s head latest video rant.

    The best explanation I have seen, is he is making his case for why Wagner’s recent casualty losses have been so high. There is a direct correlation between the number of shells fired and infantry losses.

    It is exactly what you would expect.

    The fewer shells fired, the higher the infantry losses.
    The more shells fired, the lower the infantry losses.

    When a unit losses reach 30% to 35%, it is finished as an operating unit and must be pulled out from front line combat.

    #134806
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Kamala Harris Named AI Czar… LOL We’re Screwed Aren’t We?

    My daily snark from Styxhexenhammer666

    He thinks the Neonazicons don’t want ‘the public’ having access to AI to counter their propaganda monopoly

    The Neonaziconjobs regard AI as a potential adversary to their control, they’re not afraid of SkyNet

    https://www.bitchute.com/video/QfDhw5fwpgY/

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