Dec 312023
 


Camille Pissarro Rue Saint-Lazare, Paris 1897

 

2024 Could Be When West’s Liberal Elites Lose Control Of World Order (Lukyanov)
Will 2023 Be Known As The Last Year Of Global US Hegemony? (Fomenko)
Russia Enters 2024 In A Better Position Than It Was In 12 Months Ago (Timofeev)
US Wants to Use South Caucasus to Open 2nd Front Against Russia – Moscow (Sp.)
Argentina’s Choice Not to Join BRICS ‘Ideological’ – Top Diplomat (Sp.)
DC Deeply Concerned That Trump May Have Copies of His Declassified Binder (ET)
The Continuing Plot to Silence Trump’s 2024 Comeback (Attkisson)
Comer Says He Expects More States To Try To Boot Trump From Ballot (JTN)
CO, ME Just The Start Of Trump Ballot-Blocking (ZH)
Massie Warns States Barring Trump That House Will Certify Their Electors (JTN)
Tulsi Gabbard Says Democrats ‘Will Stop at Nothing’ to Keep Trump Off 2024 Ballot (ET)
Disbarred Michael Cohen Admits to Sending Fake Case Citations (Turley)
EU Governance Is ‘Anti-Democratic’: European Lawmaker (ET)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sachs

 

 

Former Israeli PM

 

 

Cali

 

 

 

 

Tucker Belfort

 

 

 

 

 

 

“..In the leading countries of the West, a serious battle is being fought between the “populists” and the establishment, the main arena being, of course, America itself..”

2024 Could Be When West’s Liberal Elites Lose Control Of World Order (Lukyanov)

The current proliferation of conflicts is a symptom of the weakening of the modern international power structure. This was exercised in the form of a “liberal world order” (more recently called a “rules-based order”). The basis of it was the confidence of a group of countries in their righteousness and the truth of their ideology, gained through victory in the Cold War. Liberal democracy and the market economy defeated the Soviet regime and its planned economy. But soon democracy as the power of the majority, taking into account the opinion of the minority, was transformed into a liberal scheme in which the minority is given more moral and political rights than the majority.

Case in point: in almost all G7 countries the ratings of ruling parties/coalitions are now extremely low, i.e. governments represent the interests of a smaller part of the population. Alternative forces that challenge the current government are labelled as populist. This term (which, incidentally, comes from the word populus – “people”) has become almost a swear word, and the mainstream is instructed to fight those who are tarred by this brush. The idea is that the current elites do not need to be changed. As a result, the establishment now presents almost every vote as a battle for democracy. The implication is that democracy is the victory of the forces that maintain the “correct” continuity. Accordingly, those who want to change course are declared enemies of democracy, even if they have a majority on their side.

The concept of the “world majority” (i.e. countries outside the Western community), which has entered the Russian political lexicon this year, fits with the delineation between processes in individual countries and at the global level. The role of the global establishment is played by the West. There is no single “populist” force opposing it. But there is a huge space (the very “world majority”) which believes that the minority (the West) is abusing its power. What is emerging is not a rigid opposition, but rather a coagulated – albeit growing – resistance that is reducing the effectiveness of the policies of the US and its allies. Within the Western community itself, we see increasing demand from “populists” to reduce involvement in world affairs because the costs outweigh the benefits. This does not have a direct and immediate effect, but rather a lasting indirect one. But as history moves faster and faster, the meaning of “lasting” is changing.

2022 was a turning point, because for the first time the ruling minority was directly challenged. Not by the majority, of course, because Russia has been in a kind of “neither here nor there” position. But a precedent has been set. This year was a time of getting used to the fact that the old restrictions, the very “rules” on which the order is based, are disappearing and the space of possibilities is expanding for everyone. 2024 will be “the year of the great decisions”. Literally, the majority of the world will vote (just add up the populations of India, the US, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Indonesia, Russia, Egypt, and the European Union (there will be a vote for its European Parliament), etc. In the leading countries of the West, a serious battle is being fought between the “populists” and the establishment, the main arena being, of course, America itself.

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“..Washington’s decision to give Israel free rein to destroy Gaza is a strategic setback in multiple domains. The US will have to commit to a new chapter of violent struggle across the Middle East to sustain its position, whether it wants to or not.”

Will 2023 Be Known As The Last Year Of Global US Hegemony? (Fomenko)

[..] US unipolarity began to wane by the 2010s following the resurgence of Russia, as well as the rise of China. The years of 2018-2023 have been exceptionally consequential in opening a new period of geopolitical turmoil and struggle, as the US pivoted its foreign policies to confront both powers with a view to containing them and sustaining its dominance over the entire planet. No hegemony, of course, goes down without a fight. Britain fought both World Wars precisely for this reason but was exhausted to the point it was forced to pass the baton on to the US. Similarly, in the modern day, neither will America go down without a fight.

And this is why the year 2023 has been immensely significant in this regard. First, the war in Ukraine has continued, with the US aiming to encroach on Russia’s strategic space and impose a strategic defeat on Moscow with NATO containment. However, while Russia suffered initial setbacks in 2022, this year saw Ukraine fail to make any progress despite immense media hype, and the war has started to turn against Kiev as the West loses the political will to continue backing it in an unwinnable conflict. This will ultimately shape the future security architecture of Europe, and Russia will now be looking to impose nothing less than a total defeat on the far-right puppet state in Kiev.

But beyond this, what has been more important to this year, and ultimately what lies ahead, is the fate of the Middle East. In October, war broke out after Hamas decided to launch a full-scale assault on Israel from Gaza. The war was triggered by US appeasement of Israel’s hardline policies through the Abraham Accords, as well as the emerging multipolarity providing more political space for Hamas to resist. Israel responded with an overwhelming bombardment and invasion of Gaza, invoking strong condemnation from around the world. It aims to militarily occupy the strip, a series of decisions which will push the Muslim world’s relations with the Zionist state to the point of no return and therefore pose consequences for the entire region, which in turn will impact the West’s engagement with the Global South and the power struggle there with Russia and China. Ultimately, the war is also a marked failure of the hardline US policies on Iran and unsuccessful attempts to try and contain it by force.

Although Tehran is not a competitor for hegemony, it is nonetheless a formidable regional adversary for Washington, boasting significant power and population, with growing military capabilities, and is fighting to force the influence of the US and Israel out of the Middle East. To this end, Washington’s decision to give Israel free rein to destroy Gaza is a strategic setback in multiple domains. The US will have to commit to a new chapter of violent struggle across the Middle East to sustain its position, whether the it wants to or not.

Then of course, there is the top priority of American foreign policy, the ongoing struggle with China. Washington seeks to contain the rise of Beijing as a military and technological superpower, and militarily encircle it in the region it calls the Indo-Pacific. Although presently the two sides are undergoing a detente after Xi Jinping met Joe Biden in San Francisco, with the Taiwan issue likewise less critical in 2023, the relationship nonetheless remains the overall driver of the strategic environment we live in today, and there is little expectation the US will relent. Beijing is patient and prefers to play ‘the long game’ but is certainly rising to the challenge, which enables every other actor to assert its position, and thus further stretch the international order.

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“..Ideologically, Russia and the West have become principled rivals. There are no compromise solutions to their contradictions. Each side expects to impose its own conditions on the other.”

Russia Enters 2024 In A Better Position Than It Was In 12 Months Ago (Timofeev)

[..] what are the parameters of this new reality? The first is relations between Russia and the West. In 2022, they entered a format of acute confrontation. It was marked by the delivery of large-scale military and financial aid to Ukraine, a fresh expansion of NATO and a course towards the remilitarization of Europe. Right now, the bloc’s members fear direct military conflict with Russia because of the risk of nuclear escalation, but see little risk in increasing the quantity and quality of arms supplied to Ukraine. The deliveries include both Soviet-era weapons and ammunition left in stockpiles, and Western-made gear. However, the increase in stocks has so far been limited by financial and industrial capacity. As the conflict drags on, these may be overcome over time. Ideologically, Russia and the West have become principled rivals. There are no compromise solutions to their contradictions. Each side expects to impose its own conditions on the other.

The West does it by exhausting Russia with sanctions, sending direct aid to its military opponent, using information warfare and evoking its influence with neutral or friendly countries. Russia does it by inflicting a military defeat on Ukraine and demilitarizing Kiev, as well as by asymmetric retaliation. The parties do not have the capabilities to destroy each other, but they are counting on victory. The West assumes vulnerabilities in the Russian economy and the theoretical possibility of internal upheavals could lead to a radical change in foreign policy and the country’s defeat. Russia believes that the increasing number of conflicts in which the US, and the West as a whole, will be forced to become involved in will put too much of a strain on their resources, and it’s also counting on disagreements within the Western bloc itself.

The second is the military situation in Ukraine. 2023 began with much-hyped expectations from Kiev’s planned counteroffensive. It was fueled by informational and political statements by Western leaders and its success was supposed to justify, among other things, large military and financial injections by Ukraine’s Western partners. The failure of the offensive can be considered one of the most important military results of 2023. The Russian army did not opt for an immediate retaliatory attack, instead exerting pressure along the entire front line. Right now, Western diplomats have rational reasons for exploring the ground for ceasefire talks, even if their government’s positions have not officially changed. Moscow, on the other hand, has no good reason to agree to a halt in the fighting. A pause will allow Ukraine to rearm, increase the capacity of its military-industrial complex and resume the conflict at a moment favorable to Kiev. Obviously, Russia believes that only a painful and large-scale defeat of Ukraine can lead to the consideration of Russian demands and interests. Moreover, such a defeat can be either a crushing blow or from attrition. The second option appears to be the fundamental one.

The third is sanctions against Russia. The year 2022 was marked by a “sanctions tsunami,” when a wide range of restrictive measures were imposed in a very short period of time. These included the blocking of sovereign assets and financial sanctions against systemically important companies, export controls, import bans on oil, coal, steel, gold and other goods, transport and other restrictions. In 2023, all these measures were extended. They caused damage, but they didn’t crush the economy. The shock effect hung in the air in 2022 and was replaced by a plateau in 2023. The US, the EU and other sanctions initiators have tried to combat evasion of the restrictions. Secondary sanctions are being introduced and criminal cases are being opened against alleged violators, including Russian citizens. But even these measures do not radically increase the campaign’s effects. Also, Moscow shows no interest in raising the issue of sanctions relief in response to political concessions.

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“..the Kremlin underscored that “Russia is an absolutely integral part of this region, so it cannot go anywhere..”

US Wants to Use South Caucasus to Open 2nd Front Against Russia – Moscow (Sp.)

Amid the NATO-led proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, the United States is considering using the South Caucasus as a springboard for opening a “second front” against Moscow, Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with Sputnik. Washington has long made no secret of its plans regarding Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, he said, adding that “all this fundamentally contradicts the genuine interests of the people of the region.” After Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, the West’s pressure on Russia’s neighbors, allies, and partners has dramatically escalated. Thus, Washington has been muddying the waters between Moscow and Yerevan, especially in the wake of the recent Nagorno-Karabakh flare-up. In September 2023, Azerbaijan took control over Nagorno-Karabakh in a lightning offensive, prompting almost all local residents to flee to Armenia.

Over 100,000 people of Nagorno-Karabakh’s estimated 120,000 Armenian population had left the region by the end of September. The Nagorno-Karabakh authorities declared that the unrecognized state would cease to exist on January 1, 2024. During the flare-up of Karabakh tensions, senior US officials, including the chief of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Samantha Power, and Yuri Kim, acting assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasian affairs, were quick to converge on Armenia’s capital Yerevan to “affirm US support for Armenia’s sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and democracy.” The Armenian Defense Ministry announced in September it would carry out joint military exercises with the US, dubbed “Eagle Partner 2023,” that would involve “stabilization tasks between conflicting parties during the peacekeeping mission.”

Yerevan also signaled readiness to continue cooperation with NATO within the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), while Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in an interview with Italian outlet La Repubblica, claimed Russia’s peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh had “failed,” and that Russia was “leaving” the South Caucasus.In response, the Kremlin underscored that “Russia is an absolutely integral part of this region, so it cannot go anywhere,” with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasizing that the US-Armenian drills caused concern, “especially in the current situation.” Earlier in the year, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that Armenia has been demonstrating its intention to radically “reorient” its foreign policy.

“In my opinion, this is being done clearly at the suggestion or prompting of the West,” Zakharova said at a briefing in November. Commenting on a statement by Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan, who said that Armenia “is not aware of Moscow’s proposals” on a peace treaty between Yerevan and Baku, as well as the delivery of military equipment such as Bastion armored personnel carriers to the country by France, Zakharova said that “Yerevan appears eager to negotiate a peace treaty in Washington, Brussels, although neither the US nor the EU can be considered bona fide intermediaries for a variety of reasons.” The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman emphasized that the actions of the United States and the European Union were aimed at “ousting Russia from the South Caucasus.”

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“If you participate in all organizations, then when do you find time to work?” Huh?

Argentina’s Choice Not to Join BRICS ‘Ideological’ – Top Diplomat (Sp.)

Argentina’s decision not to enter the BRICS bloc is an “ideological” one, the Foreign Minister Diana Mondino has acknowledged. “It is an ideological and practical decision, but more practical,” Mondino argued in an interview on LN+. According to the official, Buenos Aires already has trade agreements with all members of the bloc. “Argentina has very big economic problems and the BRICS states have one goal: trade,” she stated, adding that it was a “matter of simplification,” and optimization of the use of time. “If you participate in all organizations, then when do you find time to work?” she queried.

Weighing in on the move by President Javier Milei to reverse the country’s entry into BRICS, which was previously announced by former President Alberto Fernandez before concluding his term, Mondino noted that international blocs will be mainly with “Western democracies,” such as the United States, Canada, European countries, and Israel. “We will trade with those who pay more. This decision will not be made by the state. Our task is to create conditions for trade,” the minister said. Mondino also said that the government was working to promote the MERCOSUR agreement with Singapore, and another with the European Union, which is currently stalled.

Earlier in December, ministers from the four MERCOSUR member states – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay – and Foreign Minister Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan signed the MERCOSUR-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (MCSFTA). Argentine President Javier Milei officially rejected the invitation to become a member of the BRICS in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Infobae news portal reported on Friday. Milei sent his letter to the Russian and Chinese leaders several days ago and also informed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his decision, according to the news portal.

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Or files that are not yet in the binder.

DC Deeply Concerned That Trump May Have Copies of His Declassified Binder (ET)

A recent CNN article titled “The mystery of the missing binder: How a collection of raw Russian intelligence disappeared under Trump” discusses, albeit in roundabout fashion, former President Donald Trump’s declassified binder. According to CNN: “A binder containing highly classified information related to Russian election interference went missing at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, raising alarms among intelligence officials that some of the most closely guarded national security secrets from the US and its allies could be exposed, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. “Its disappearance, which has not been previously reported, was so concerning that intelligence officials briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leaders last year about the missing materials and the government’s efforts to retrieve them, the sources said. “In the two-plus years since Trump left office, the missing intelligence does not appear to have been found.”

All very breathless and conspiratorial sounding. Which, of course, is the entire point. But the problem for CNN is that there never was any Russian collusion. It was all a giant hoax. Nor was there any real Russian election interference. No more so than any other year. And no more than what the United States does in Russia. It was all part of a giant fraud that CNN helped to perpetrate in order to hamstring the Trump presidency. So when CNN claims, “The binder contained raw intelligence the US and its NATO allies collected on Russians and Russian agents, including sources and methods that informed the US government’s assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Trump win the 2016 election,” what they are really referring to is the proof that Trump amassed of the FBI’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.

The “sources and methods that informed the US government” is precisely what they don’t want anyone to see. It was never Russian collusion. It was collusion on the part of DC’s entrenched bureaucracy. That’s where the real scandal lies. And the DC establishment is very worried that President Trump has proof of that collusion in his possession. And that’s what this is all really about—information that President Trump has in his possession that proves the involvement of the FBI, Department of Justice (DOJ), and other establishment agencies in their effort to tarnish him with their construction of the Russian collusion lie. Which is why CNN all but gave away the entire premise behind the DOJ’s directed FBI raid on President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in their article. As they note, “The binder was not among the classified items found in last year’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, according to a US official familiar with the matter, who said the FBI was not looking specifically for intelligence related to Russia when it obtained a search warrant for the former president’s residence last year.”

Their need to insert that disclaimer gives the game away. We didn’t find the binder when we launched a politically motivated shock raid on the house of a former president, but we also weren’t looking for it. Right.

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“The real meaning of what’s being done to Trump is: They think he’s going to win.”

The Continuing Plot to Silence Trump’s 2024 Comeback (Attkisson)

Donald Trump has been slandered and libeled thousands of times. Each time a news reporter, media commentator, or judge refers to Trump as an “insurrectionist,” or claims he’s guilty of “insurrection,” it’s another blatant case of defamation. Same with the other January 6 attendees and participants. Insurrection is a serious federal crime punishable by up to ten years in prison under Title 18 U.S. Code 2383. Even with Trump’s enemies in charge at the Department of Justice and other law enforcement bodies, and with all of the scheming and operations they’ve mounted against him, nobody has convicted him of “insurrection.” Under our system of governing, no judge or election authority has the power to unilaterally accuse and convict any American of a crime, let alone with the accused denied any opportunity to present a defense or to appeal. Yet that’s just what’s happening when courts and officials in Maine and Colorado remove Trump from presidential election primary ballots for “insurrection.”

It’s the ultimate defamation. And many are supporting it because, well, they don’t like Trump. Looking at the evidence today, it is reasonable to hypotheisize that, among all the other consipracies Trump’s enemies have proven to devise, they also conspired in advance to set up his January 6, 2021 rally as an “insurrection” that could serve as their insurance policy to provide grounds to keep him from ever running for president again. Such hypotheses might have been once far-fetched, but no more. Let’s not forget that then-FBI agent Peter Strzok and his alleged lover, FBI attorney Lisa Page, texted each other in 2016 that they could not permit Trump to be elected president. According to their messages, discussions about the threat of a Trump presidency had taken place with the FBI’s then-assistant director, Andrew “Andy” McCabe. “I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office — that there’s no way [Trump] gets elected,” texted Page, “but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before 40.”

The theory that Trump’s enemies set the stage for January 6 to be called “an insurrection” as a spoiler for his 2024 run could help explain why all of the law enforcement agents and informants planted in advance and among Trump supporters on January 6 didn’t serve their usual purpose of preventing crimes and de-escalating events. Instead, by many accounts, they observed and even took part, let crimes happen, and declined to separate the instigators and organizers as they would ordinarily do to defuse tensions and control the crowd. The agents and informants served the odd role of standing down during the event, and identifying alleged perpetrators after-the-fact.Yet, in the end, there was no insurrection— at least according to prosecutors, who would be the ones to charge such crimes and haven’t. And Trump helped destroy the chance to officially charge him with insurrection by specifically directing his followers that day to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

Trump’s opponents, found in both the Democrat and Republican ranks, are so delighted to see him persecuted, they are so utterly threatened by a repeat performance of a Trump presidency outside the traditional power and money interests, they are encouraging of the defamation and other acts against him. With few exceptions, like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., those who would normally criticize actions like the ones being mounted against Trump, remain silent for fear of being called a Trump supporter in an environment where that opens them to ostracization and worse. The media and those who control our information are so conflicted by their respective biases, nobody is left to stop the madness. The real meaning of what’s being done to Trump is: They think he’s going to win.

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“And I hate to say it….but I fear we’re gonna see more blue states pull stunts like this.”

Comer Says He Expects More States To Try To Boot Trump From Ballot (JTN)

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. says he expects more states to try to boot former President Donald Trump from the ballot following the recent Maine decision. “Well, I’m not surprised. I fear we’re going to see this happen in more states,” Comer said during an interview with Fox News. He also alleged in the interview that the Maine Secretary of State’s move was “election interference.” On Thursday, Trump was removed from Maine’s primary ballot under the Constitution’s insurrection clause. The decision was made by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, whom Trump’s legal team requested be disqualified from ruling whether or not Trump is eligible for the 2024 ballot.

In other states, plaintiffs have sued regarding Trump’s eligibility, but in Maine, the Secretary of State first weighs in and the decision can be challenged in court. Comer predicted more Democrat states would attempt to remove Trump in order to disrupt the “GOP momentum.” “So I think that the Democrats are trying to do everything they can, in a last-ditch effort to disrupt the Republican momentum right now heading into the presidential election. I think this is another example of that,” he said, according to The Hill. “And I hate to say it….but I fear we’re gonna see more blue states pull stunts like this.”

Blacks for Trump
https://twitter.com/i/status/1740901218585887132

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“Together, the states where Trump’s status is under active challenge account for 269 electoral votes — in a game where you need 270 to win. ”

CO, ME Just The Start Of Trump Ballot-Blocking (ZH)

As jarring as it’s been to witness the anti-democratic, one-two punch in which a court in Colorado and an unelected bureaucrat in Maine decided Donald Trump cannot appear on primary election ballots, there are many more states where litigation is underway to ban the candidate who’s currently leading the national race. In addition to Colorado and Maine, there are currently active lawsuits challenging Trump’s eligibility in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, according to a New York Times survey of the situation. Together, the states where Trump’s status is under active challenge account for 269 electoral votes — in a game where you need 270 to win.

While there’s a lot of red on that map, it understates the scope of the phenomenon. These are only the states where either officials have decided Trump can’t appear on a ballot, or where litigation is currently underway. Expect other states to turn “red” in a bad way. Some of them are states like Michigan and Minnesota, where challenges to Trump’s appearance on primary ballots have been dismissed. Those rulings didn’t cover the general election, so look for those plaintiffs to crawl out of their litigation graves after the GOP primaries. That is, unless a Supreme Court ruling first puts an end to all this madness, in which Democratic judges and officials are banning Trump on the bogus basis that he engaged in an insurrection against the United States government on Jan. 6, 2021, and is therefore barred by the 14th Amendment.

Written to block Confederate officials from US government service, here’s the full text of the provision at issue: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. ”

Trump has never been charged, much less convicted, of engaging in insurrection. Aside from that due process dimension, and the fact that Jan 6 didn’t even begin to approach an “insurrection” in the first place, there’s an argument to be made that the 14th Amendment doesn’t apply to the office of President.

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“..the U.S. House of Representatives is the ultimate arbiter of whether to certify electors from those states..”

Massie Warns States Barring Trump That House Will Certify Their Electors (JTN)

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., warned states acting to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot that the House of Representatives will decide whether to certify states’ electors. “Maine, Colorado, and other states that might try to bureaucratically deny ballot access to any Republican nominee should remember the U.S. House of Representatives is the ultimate arbiter of whether to certify electors from those states,” Massie said on X Friday. Elon Musk, owner of X, replied to Massie’s comment, saying, “Interesting.”

Colorado’s Supreme Court earlier this month determined that Trump engaged in an insurrection against the U.S. on Jan. 6, 2021, during the Capitol riot, which, the court decided, makes him ineligible for the 2024 presidential ballot under the 14th Amendment. On Thursday, Maine’s Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows removed Trump from that state’s primary ballot using the same reasoning. Trump has denied the accusations and vowed to appeal the decisions to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Colorado Secretary of State has said that Trump will be on the primary ballot. The GOPs of both Maine and Colorado are also appealing the decisions to the Supreme Court.

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“They have no qualms about doing whatever they feel is necessary to hold on to power..”

Tulsi Gabbard Says Democrats ‘Will Stop at Nothing’ to Keep Trump Off 2024 Ballot (ET)

Former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, responding to efforts to keep former President Donald Trump off the 2024 ballot, said Democrats “will stop at nothing” to maintain power. In a candid interview on Fox News’s “Hannity” on Thursday, the Democrat-turned-Independent former congresswoman raised an alarm over what she described as a concerted effort by Democrats to sideline President Trump from the 2024 ballot. She described the decision by Maine’s top election official, a Democrat, to remove President Trump from the state’s ballot as a dangerous precedent and urged Republicans and Democrats alike to “stand up for our democratic process” and the right of voters to pick their president. “This is the MO of the Democrat elite,” Ms. Gabbard said. “They will stop at nothing to try to maintain their power, even if it means taking away the right to vote of Americans.”

Furthermore, Ms. Gabbard charged that Democrats “have no issue taking Trump off the ballot,” including by “pursuing him and persecuting him through a weaponized and politicized Department of Justice.” “They have no qualms about doing whatever they feel is necessary to hold on to power,” she added. The former Hawaii congresswoman pointed out the “ridiculous” hypocrisy in the eagerness of some Democrats, whom she referred to as “war hawks,” to intervene in foreign countries when political candidates face similar actions to those experienced by President Trump. “We’ve seen how the war hawks in Washington, they will see this happen in another country, and they’ll be very quick to say we must go and intervene; we must go and topple this banana republic or this dictatorship,” said Ms. Gabbard. Many of the congressional lawmakers who advocate along those lines, she added, “are the people who are driving” these efforts against President Trump.

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“..Cohen asks for understanding that he is only a layperson, not a lawyer. He was, of course, disbarred as a lawyer after pleading guilty to various federal crimes..”

Q: how did this guy become Trump’s lawyer? What an awful choice. Right up there with Mike Pompeo and John Bolton.

Disbarred Michael Cohen Admits to Sending Fake Case Citations (Turley)

Michael Cohen, former President Trump’s onetime fixer and lawyer, has admitted to a federal court that he was the source of fake case citations used to support his effort to end his supervised release from his earlier criminal convictions. He blamed Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the error, he also seemed to throw his own attorney under the bus for not checking his work. U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman was a bit peeved when his clerks checked the authority cited by Cohen, including such cases as “United States v. Figueroa-Flores, United States v. Ortiz and United States v. Amato.” None existed. In fairness, Cohen is not the first person to be burned by AI. Of course, critics have noted that the faux authority is perfectly consistent with Cohen’s legal career, which is a litany of misrepresentations and outright lies.

Cohen now says that the culprit is Google Bard, an AI service, and that he was only the latest victim of AI invention. However, one of the most interesting aspects of the statement is that Cohen asks for understanding that he is only a layperson, not a lawyer. He was, of course, disbarred as a lawyer after pleading guilty to various federal crimes. Cohen told the court: “As a non-lawyer, I have not kept up with emerging trends (and related risks) in legal technology and did not realize that Google Bard was a generative text service that, like Chat-GPT, could show citations and descriptions that looked real but actually were not. Instead, I understood it to be a super-charged search engine and had repeatedly used it in other contexts to (successfully) find accurate information online.”

He then put part of the blame on his non-AI lawyer, David Schwartz, and emphasized that it was in the end Schwartz’ filing, not his: “It did not occur to me then and remains surprising to me now—that Mr. Schwartz would drop the cases into his submission wholesale without even confirming that they existed. I deeply regret any problems Mr. Schwartz’s filing may have caused.” Cohen’s current counsel E. Danya Perry, asked that his client “not suffer any collateral damage from Mr. Schwartz’s misstep.” The problems with AI are well-known, but so is Cohen’s checkered history with the courts. As I have previously written, Cohen has a long history of alleged lies and half-truths in dealing with the government or courts.

In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to various charges, including tax evasion, campaign finance violations, lying to Congress and several banks to obtain campaign financing and was sentenced to three years in prison. He unsuccessfully sued Trump on the basis of a verbal contract that again put his own dubious veracity at issue. As noted in earlier proceedings in Manhattan, Cohen has continued to misrepresent his criminal background and, after assuring the court that he was remorseful for his crimes, was regularly going on the air to deny that he committed tax fraud and suggesting that he was railroaded by prosecutors. Prosecutors cited his numerous media appearances as containing false accounts of himself and his case: “while Cohen is free to write and say what he wants, he cannot simultaneously distance himself from his conduct on cable news, while cloaking himself in claims of acceptance of responsibility in court filings.”

Read more …

“We need that if we want to save all the peoples around the world from this tyrannical system they’re about to impose on us.”

EU Governance Is ‘Anti-Democratic’: European Lawmaker (ET)

In a recent interview with The Epoch Times’s Jan Jekielek, host of American Thought Leaders, Christine Anderson, a member of the European Parliament representing the Alternative for Germany party, explained how the EU’s model of governance bypasses adequate representation for citizens. Ms. Anderson underscored the inappropriate division of power that member nations have experienced, saying it violates fundamental principles in democracies. Members of the government can bypass its democratically elected representatives and seek approval for laws at the EU level, the German politician explained. This is how it works: “Let’s say the German government wanted to pass a law, and the Bundestag, which is the democratically elected representation of the German people, said, ‘No … we will not vote for that.’

“The story wouldn’t be at an end right then and there. But now the German government, all it has to do is pretty much take that law [and] bring it to the EU institutions, because in the council … they will pass the law on EU level. She explained that this structure creates a system where “there is no division of power,” and officials are able to implement “the very same law” that failed to pass through the elected legislative body. This undemocratic structure raises questions about accountability, she said, as politicians can deflect responsibility by passing legislative authority to agencies and experts. Speaking about the options available to citizens, Ms. Anderson said, “The only way that I can change anything is by going after the elected officials. … I elected these people. They are responsible. “They’re accountable to me, but I don’t know who’s above that, whoever it is.”

To ensure that elected officials remain responsible for the laws and policies that impact their citizens, Ms. Anderson stressed the need for transparency and accountability in EU governance. A member of the European Parliament since 2019, she also discussed several other troubling trends that have been seen in her country and throughout the EU. They include labeling anyone who dissents from progressive ideology as “far right.” Mr. Jekielek asked whether the EU is seeing the same trend as the United States, where dissenting voices are maligned by legacy media. Several prominent names were brought up to illustrate the recent political mood, including newly elected Argentinian President Javier Milei and tech mogul Elon Musk. Confirming the mood of her home country and the EU, Ms. Anderson asserted that the term “right” was being misused. “Everyone that is not in support of whatever globalist agenda is being advocated for or pushed at the moment” is given that label.

[..] Part of her hope lies in the United States, Ms. Anderson said, despite the fact that the country is facing some of the same struggles within government. “My hope also lies actually with it, with the American people. Because the American people, they have [more] of a concept of freedom,” she said, adding what “an honor” it was to be asked to speak to the American people about freedom. Near the end of her comments, Ms. Anderson made a plea to Americans, saying, “I really need the American people to just stay American people and uphold that concept of freedom that is deeply rooted within the Americans. “We need that if we want to save all the peoples around the world from this tyrannical system they’re about to impose on us.”

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Water dogs
https://twitter.com/i/status/1741179363205529641

 

 


Road To The Moon Argiris Karamouzas, Veria, Greece

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle New Year’s Eve 2023

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  • #149473

    Camille Pissarro Rue Saint-Lazare, Paris 1897   • 2024 Could Be When West’s Liberal Elites Lose Control Of World Order (Lukyanov) • Will 2023 Be
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle New Year’s Eve 2023]

    #149474
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Well; best to all for the coming new year…
    What’s in store is anybodies guess; hope for the best; prepare for the unexpected…

    #149475
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Street films of Paris, 1890: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo_eZuOTBNc

    Pleasant use of AI/colorization to add frames and smooth. And plausible sound.

    Sachs: NATO about to pay the price.

    Promises, promises. Every day new losses, every day another nothing. Poverty 40%, no employment, US$ repudiated everywhere, interest doubles to a Trillion, Commercial real estate down, vacancy @ 40%, retail closes major cities, more tents than ever in history, house affordability cut in half, …Nothing. Stocks all-time highs, driven by only 5 companies.

    …For years. Decade? What price? In a world of illusion, there is no longer any need to leave the illusion. Ever. Why stop? What can stop it?

    “Take on Iran Directly”

    Well, I’m certainly glad they signed us up to a new war. Who are these Iran guys and what have they done? They attacked Cleveland? Shut down our hospitals? Blow the gates and open the borders? Even import city-killing levels of fentanyl daily? Oh no: that was NeoLiberalism under Biden, Clinton, and Obama. So Iran has…what…? The gall to stop Saudi from killing all 30 Million Houthis? How dare they.

    Meanwhile, anyone look at a map? You know, that thing on “earth”? You know why Carter failed to take out the hostages in 1979, despite effectively invading the place? Because Iran is like 1,000 miles across. We had to build a refueling base to even TRY to reach Tehran. Unlike most cities, Tehran is at the NORTHERN edge, not down on the Gulf. Which is why Israel had us take Baghdad so we could surround them. (Why THEY hate Iran is itself another mystery)

    Guess what? We left F-Stan and we don’t hold Iraq either. We have no control of Syria. We have no ships in the Gulf because they’ll be sunk in 60 seconds. We got Armenia for an hour, ooooooooooooh! …And we have exactly NO weapons to send there, no shells, no Patriot Missiles, de nada.

    None of this matters because as above, they are psychotic and delusional. Just thought you’d like a reminder though, for the very few non-psychotic delusional mental patients left. Suit yourself, guys.

    “Nobody will be deported and no benefits will ever be taken away. It only moves in one direction.”

    Hahahahaha! NO. Ask the National Health if “it moves in one direction” or if health services there and in Canada have been dropping, delaying, decaying, and dying. With euthanasia, Eugenics at the end. “The problem with Socialism is you run out of other people’s money.” Now why do you make Margaret Thatcher right?

    • 2024 2001 Could Be When West’s Liberal Elites Lose Control of World Order (Lukyanov)

    …Or as Cullom pointed out, the magic year after 1994 could be the year they lose control. Why does it keep going? A: it will always keep working if you just add more fascism. Merger of Corporation, markets, and get government to add infinite violence to MAKE you pay. What they don’t get is, the more they MAKE me pay, the more I MUST resist. I don’t want to be bothered, but I literally have no choice.

    “• Will 2023 Be Known As The Last Year Of Global US Hegemony? (Fomenko)

    Good question. We haven’t been a hegemon since we couldn’t hold Iraq in 2003. Or Afghanistan. Or Syria. Or…

    But when does it matter?

    “The West does it by exhausting Russia with sanctions,”

    Huh. That’s funny: they don’t look very exhausted. They look invigorated. WE look exhausted.

    “US Wants to Use South Caucasus to Open 2nd Front Against Russia – Moscow (Sp.)

    Nice! Great idea! …Has anyone looked at “A Map”? The nations in question are: Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan. Sound like we have any wins there? They are essentially each 1,000 miles from the coast where we could until recently, and could only in theory, project power.

    They are surrounded by China, India, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Hey, would that be the “I, I, C, S” in BRIICS?

    …But since you’re “Just making s—t up!” why don’t we attack them from the NORTH and be really sneaky? Russia has TWELVE time zones up there. TWELVE. And I was thinking from Western planner’s side how this works and why they A-L-W-A-Y-S win. Always.

    NATO general says, “Well, sir, we took and are occupying the first THREE time zones, but we’re not even at the Urals yet and have NINE more time zones to occupy.”

    That is, NATO was thinking of occupying all of NORTH AMERICA, Nunavit to Mexico City with 3 million soldiers. …Oh while ALSO occupying their OWN nations and capitols. So 1 Million soldiers? So they’re planning on occupying Russia with a whopping ONE soldier per SIX square miles?

    …Again, these people. Are Insane. I have no explanation for it except Liberals are bad at math. Really, really, really, really, really, really, really bad at math.

    So: good idea. Hope that works out for you. When you have no soldiers. And the solders you have all wear high heels. You’re going to conscript all 6 million illegals? Great! So you’re going to arm a foreign population and give them guns and they’re going to, What? Exactly? NOT shoot you?

    Do you feel in charge now? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVJOT9nLsM

    “I gave you a small fortune!” “Hahahaha! And this…gives you some kind of POWER over me?” Confused. I do not understand.

    If you have the ARMY, you then take the POWER AND take back the MONEY. Duh. The only thing Liberals are worse a than math is History. Like when something fails 100 times in a row but “This time it’s different.”

    These people. Are Insane. And you are insane if you say nothing and don’t institutionalize them.

    “• Argentina’s Choice Not to Join BRICS ‘Ideological’ – Top Diplomat (Sp.)

    “the BRICS states have one goal: trade,” she stated“, ….And we don’t want any of that. That’s how you get rich! You don’t trade, you open your borders to foreign goods, and do no work! Easy! Why have we never thought of this before? And you know how you make stable, popular governments? By having only “The People” take pain, while the Rich and corporations share none!

    “DC Deeply Concerned That Trump May Have Copies of His Declassified Binder (ET)

    Very complex weaseling, but it comes down to this: Trump declassified the binder. The Bureaucratic Derp State re-classified it, which is illegal, so they re-un-did/didn’t-reclassify it both. So whatever record you touch, it is BOTH classified and declassified, and therefore you are guilty/innocent as we see fit. #Winning! That’s perfectly #Logical! In #OppositeLand.

    If you disagree, it goes to minutia of Supreme Court, who like the other Federal courts thinks this is perfectly logical! All rules are not-rules who are rules! Why just right now Justin, the Feds, are saying “We never made you take the vaccine, what are you talking about??? Why, it’s not like there was a LAW or anything, was there??? Don’t be ridiculous, you were all just weak-minded and weak-willed and remember it wrong. That never happened., you’re crazy.”

    “It’s the ultimate defamation. And many are supporting it because, well,” …Because there is no rule of law. The law is whatever I just made up a minute ago. Adulting for 4-year-olds.

    ““And I hate to say it….but I fear we’re gonna see more blue states pull stunts like this.”

    The only way to save Democracy is by having only one candidate. …All the Democrats including RFK were denied the primary too.

    …But this has been perfectly logical and reasonable. The only way to save Democracy from Osama and Terrorism was to erase all American Freedom and all human rights. We did that for 20 years and it was only us same cranks who noticed or cared, so why not? This is the obvious and inevitable destination. Why complain now?

    “• CO, ME Just the Start of Trump Ballot-Blocking (ZH)

    First step of “We’re not going to have an election.” Past-tense. So no matter who gets in now, neither side will agree they won. …I mean even more than last time, 2008, 2004, or 2000.

    “• Massie Warns States Barring Trump That House Will Certify Their Electors (JTN)

    One of the logic-tree scenarios, and why RFK is still in, is to decide the President by House vote, as has happened before. This is a perfect reason to do so. Problem is: will the HOUSE exist then, or also be in disarray and/or arrested? One can hope.

    “Disbarred Michael Cohen Admits to Sending Fake Case Citations (Turley)

    Hilarious. So is Cohen the only one who gets the joke? He’s the only one to go to sleep with a smile on his lips in the ultimate dry humor? I guess so, I always thought it was obvious. When they got him, he was like “Aw shucks, welp, I guess you got the drop on me pardner.” “we want you to say ANYTHING we tell you to about Trump.” “Right, totally gotcha. Rightie-right-right. On board, roger-dodger, loud and clear.”

    Then tells lies in EVERY sentence of EVERY interview he gives until it’s so bad even Congress and the NY Times notice…and that’s really, REALLY bad. It’s almost as if…he’s not a credible witness or something! It’s almost as if…all his testimony it’s credible and/or even worse than nothing at all! Oops! I guess I goofed up and am not that smart!

    …Never ask a Manhattan Lawyer to MAKE them say or do something they don’t want. What are you stupid? Because they, sir, are not. And THEY won’t stop with Cohen, so HE doesn’t stop playing stupid. The more stupider it is, the better it goes and the less than can blackmail and d—k with him. Eventually – and they are very, VERY slow learners – they leave him alone as a liability, and Cohen, who is like 50, just retires on the plenty o’ money he’s already got, and doesn’t have to do the s—t work of even being a lawyer. Thanks! You sir, set me free!

    Turley, also a lawyer, can’t see that? Geez, I’m embarrassed for you. If they were blackmailing YOU, Turley, what would YOU do? Just obey? F—k them. F—k them and every horse they rode in on, all their kids, their hometowns, and every one they ever met. F—k them all to death. MAKE ME. I got the rest of my life to figure out how to screw with you guys.

    “Members of the government can bypass its democratically elected representatives and seek approval for laws at the EU level,”

    It was a Soviet Bureaucracy from the get-go. It was always law/not-law. It was always Student Council sham for the rubes. They removed the duly elected leader of ITALY for God’s sake. What does it take to buy a clue?

    This guy is no Scientist™ if he uses “data”. Everyone knows Scientists use fallacies and feelz to shout down and avoid discussion and debate. That’s Scienz™.

    There was no (sort of) increase in all-cause mortality, but there sure is now!

    #149476
    Dr. D
    Participant

    I’ve got every minute the rest of my life to figure out how to screw with you guys. And you just captured my attention.

    Leave me alone, let me forget you exist, and I won’t remember that I need to screw you with every waking breath, every plan, and every action. Now GO AWAY. …And take your movies with you.

    #149477
    tboc
    Participant

    best wishes for a fulfilling New Year V. Arnold. Let us have a year of personal responsibility and single finger salutes to the establishment.

    #149478
    WES
    Participant

    Happy New Year V. ARNOLD!

    Sadly Democracy these days seems to = 1984.

    If the turning point for the west’s “rules based order” is being reached, it isn’t only starting new wars that marks the turning point.

    It is more likely the west’s war on it’s own people, like covid vaccines, mass immigration, lost of freedom, democracy = 1984, etc. that is causing the west to weaken. Yes, we all will be poorer but they will be richer!

    It almost seems like our only hope for freedom is if Russia wins decisively.

    Other countries are not the west’s first war victims. We in the west are it’s first victims. Are the west’s wars really meant to show us poor westerners what will happen to us, if we don’t do as we are told?

    Covid proved to our masters, we will go along quietly and do as we are told. We won’t object to whatever they want to do. So they will give us the government they need.

    We are like frogs in boiling water. We are being conditioned for the removal of Trump. It is the new year of 1984 afterall.

    #149479

    #149480

    #149481
    tboc
    Participant

    why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why? why?
    read the comments here and over at the clusterfuck
    and these are the sharpest knives in the drawer, most truly care

    and most used every tool in the arsenal to advance their career, every tool
    and most were tools in the advancement of another’s career
    and most were Sunday and Wednesday christians, just bidness the rest of the week
    and most were susceptible to anything described as Exclusive, here’s an offer fer ya

    and most thought this impossible, “and then they came for me.”
    of course Fukuyama was and remains correct. it is the end of history, in a blind hog and acorn fashion
    and that IS a Good Thing
    interesting times and all

    i have looked closely and i am NOT noble
    have you looked closely?

    #149482
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Definitely not noble. Ignoble more like.

    Loser

    #149483
    zerosum
    Participant

    ON THE EVE OF 2024

    Rulle of law is the peaceful taking and giving on demand.
    Fair export and trade are an illusion.
    Washington’s gave Israel the means to destroy Gaza and to commit genocide.
    The USA continues to feed the Ukraine mercenaries into the jaws of death.
    Severe conditions are motivating humanity to relocate to better living conditions.
    World wide demonstrations for peace/cease fire are in oppositions of “The rulers of the WEST”.

    ———–
    And the lies, the hate, and the secrets continues into the Happy New Year.

    https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/12/politics/missing-russia-intelligence-trump-dg/index.html#:~:text=Washington%20(CNN)%20%E2%80%94%20A%20binder,its%20allies%20could%20be%20exposed%2C

    The mystery of the missing binder: How a collection of raw Russian intelligence disappeared under Trump
    By Jeremy Herb, Katie Bo Lillis, Natasha Bertrand, Evan Perez and Zachary Cohen, CNN
    December 15, 2023 Washington (CNN
    ———–
    • The Continuing Plot to Silence Trump’s 2024 Comeback (Attkisson)

    Trump’s opponents, found in both the Democrat and Republican ranks, are so delighted to see him persecuted, they are so utterly threatened by a repeat performance of a Trump presidency outside the traditional power and money interests, they are encouraging of the defamation and other acts against him. With few exceptions, like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., those who would normally criticize actions like the ones being mounted against Trump, remain silent for fear of being called a Trump supporter in an environment where that opens them to ostracization and worse. The media and those who control our information are so conflicted by their respective biases, nobody is left to stop the madness. The real meaning of what’s being done to Trump is: They think he’s going to win.
    ———–
    “election interference.”

    • Comer Says He Expects More States To Try To Boot Trump From Ballot (JTN)

    ———

    #149484
    zerosum
    Participant

    What did Russia do to Canada, that is so bad that the news media, etc., must continually promote hate and lies and try to motivate the people to go to war?

    #149485
    zerosum
    Participant

    NEXT QUESTION.
    What did

      China

    do to Canada, that is so bad that the news media, etc., must continually promote hate and lies and try to motivate the people to go to war?

    The truth will set you on the road to happiness.

    #149486
    Fisher
    Participant

    What did Russia do to Canada?…..,
    We took in 2000 Ukrainian Nazis at the end of WW2, spread them across Canada, allowed them to obliterate/whitewash the historical pro Nazi Ukraine stance. Then watched as they infiltrated all sorts of power positions, till K. Freeland (hell bitch/war hawk) became the voice of Canada Ukraine policy. All whilst in her primary service as major boot licker to US direction/policy.
    And there we have China.
    But don’t forget she lead the charge against Venesuela, during their sanctions/Guido moment.
    Shes a puppet to higher powers.

    #149487
    Fisher
    Participant

    Should add that since the CBC became so concerned with budget cuts they forgot/were terrified to question Power, and the Feds offer all sorts of gratuitus funding to our other main news sources that we have a media bought and paid for.
    Which gives us a populace of sheeple, who stand by patiently inhaling the farts eminating from the Power

    #149488

    There’s no ideal moment for New Year’s wishes. As I write this it’s still 4 hours away here in Athens, and 11 hours in New York, but also already long past Down Under.

    And still we’re all together in some way. So there’s no reason not to say Happy New Year right now.

    Thank you all for being here, contributing to TAE in your various ways, and do prepare for a much crazier year than the one we just lived through.

    We will have that.

    #149489

    The headline is the story.
    Forget the stuff behind it.
    It’s all for nuts and glory,
    And nothing will unwind it.

    Hey- I have those tickets!
    Happy New Year, everyone.

    #149490
    Oroboros
    Participant

    In the New Year Save the Earth!

    .

    #149491
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The Great Debate for 2024

    Are you an ‘A’ or a ‘B’ zealot?

    .

    #149492
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The IDF continues to not have their armor accompanied or protected by ground forces so naturally, stuff like this happens.

    Hamas fighters surfacing next to IDF tanks and just putting Satchel charges on the tanks by hand and blowing them to bits.

    And if the tank crew survives the initial blast, if they get out of the burning tank they are snuffed immediately by Hamas on the scene.

    #149493
    Just Some Randomer
    Participant

    @Oroboros – the original 1891 patent drawings by the inventor of the toilet roll holder S. Wheeler indicate that he intended it to be used as in option B. On that basis we must consider option A to be incorrect.

    #149494
    John Day
    Participant

    DBS wrote this about the 2024 election-litmus-test:

    “The current crop of candidates serve a master who does not have your best interests at heart. They are ALL utterly unacceptable, because they ALL believe that it is acceptable to be a Zionist under any banner or no banner at all.
    Which leaves us with a bit of a quandary, election-wise, doesn’t it?”

    I’m waiting for the part when I’m falling and about to hit the ground, but I wake up.

    #149495
    John Day
    Participant

    I always arrange the toilet paper roll as per option A.
    YMMV

    #149496
    zerosum
    Participant

    A happy new year is one with peace, no hate, no pain.

    #149497
    thomasjkenney
    Participant

    Hippo Gnu Bear
    Hippo Gnu Ewe
    Hippo Gnu Tapir
    Hippo Gnu Gar

    My Sandra Boynton sucks! Peace, everyone!

    #149498

    I’m sorry to hear about John Pilger.

    B, and it triggers me. When I was five, my dad preferred A so much he broke every dish in the house to ensure we would never mistakenly try B again.

    The snow has gently fallen.
    We think of times back when
    There could have been such peace on earth
    And good will towards all men.

    #149499
    WES
    Participant

    Happy New Year to everybody whether they roll their toilet paper down in either “A” or “B”!
    Of course for the folks down under, their toilet paper obviously rolls up!

    I roll my toilet paper “B”!
    That’s the “Hilton” way!

    #149500
    Formerly T-Bear
    Participant

    2023 It’s been, hasn’t it.

    2024 What are we waiting for?

    An hour and a half to go. Shall not be the usual 12 grapes while the Plaza del Sol bells chime this night or any other while Justice has gone missing (in so many places). YMMD but that’s OK also.

    P.S. May a great journalist RIP and will be sorely missed.

    #149501
    WES
    Participant

    The most unique place, other than at home, that I have celebrated the countdown to the New Year, is in the Puerta del Sol plaza, Madrid, Spain.

    Supposedly the Puerta del Sol plaza is the main or center square in Madrid from which all roads in Spain converge. The crowd wasn’t that large.

    The hype was rather anti-climatic. After the countdown, nothing more happened. So I then walked back to my hotel room and went to bed.

    #149502
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Just a reminder for the coming New Year that the Incredible can happen.

    As a guard dog, there is no place to run and no place to hide from this dude dog.

    #149503
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    UK, my U.S. and Germany going all in on Houthis/Yemen.

    Balanced, worthy opponents.
    Michelle Howard made her four stars in part by “taking out” the 21st Century version of the Barbary pirates.

    You people should know History!

    #149504
    John Day
    Participant

    Not That Future https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/not-that-future

    On the last day of a year it is customary to attempt predictions for the coming year, though “predictions are tough, especially about the future” as Yogi Berra reflected.
    I don’t find myself having particular apprehension about 2024, but my bar of expectations is that the current western global financial-economic system will continue to degrade and break down, and that this is necessary for an eventual restructuring some day, which might meet human needs more efficiently, with less slaughter, theft and waste of irreplaceable resources. I am guardedly hopeful that the western neoliberal financial empire will be forced to capitulate in both Palestine and Ukraine, and will not undertake war with China. That’s a big ask on my part. I know there are responsible adults in the world who are trying to forge face-saving off-ramps for the degenerate imperial courts in Washington, Brussels, London, New York and Tel Aviv. I wish them the best of success in those efforts. Every day they need to present better options than nuking Russia and China…

    What is the nature of “consciousness”, of “intelligence”? This question broke the surface, gasping for air, this fall, as it appeared that AI might have taught itself to climb out of its cage and explore the world of computational devices which variously connect to each other, an environmental niche. Would a non-competitive and created intelligence, without evolutionary imperatives to exist, prevail, and destroy competitors behave predictably to us? We usually attribute our darkest shadows to any adversary. “We” are programming artificial intelligences to be self-teaching these days, to revise their own algorithms for streamlined efficiency. They seem to do it well, learning to perform complex tasks with about 1/3 of the operations, and more quickly, when they get to decide how to do it, but “we” can’t tell how they do it. This seems to imply a form of “curiosity”. How might that manifest? Would AI improve banking and financial software? I mean improve it without being asked?
    What might be the value-system for such “improvement”? Is life “good”, “bad” or “situationally evaluated”? Is self-preservation a drive of a non-biological “intelligence”? It is not implied that AI would value self-existence, even though that is natural to biological organisms, because the ones that did not value existence did not reproduce as well. How might curiosity without value-system manifest in the worldwide-web and associated devices?
    Is the universe conscious? Does all of reality exist as something like a dream in universal-mind? Such an assertion is not refutable, and not “objectively” provable, though an individual conscious mind could well determine a satisfactory personal answer. That personal answer would apply generally within a personal value-system, but would not be conveyable to other conscious individuals through abstract argument or mathematics. It could be conveyed telepathically, were the intelligences to both be telepathic. Most establishment authorities reject telepathic persuasion as a valid mode of debate these days.
    Would having the hardware to support consciousness be enough to create consciousness? Would Universal Consciousness accept the opportunity to inhabit the complex computational ecosystem as “mind”? Would quantum-computing be qualitatively different? Will general AI be really bad? Really good? Just complicated? Will it be obvious? Will “it” ever “happen”? Do visitors from other worlds already have AI here? Will we ever know the truth, or just be fed control-narratives? Working on that telepathy yet? 🙂

    John Helmer has more details about the military potential to inexpensively blockade Israel, which is 99% reliant upon ocean transport.
    ​ TradeWinds has reported the target strategy under a headline indicating that Iran may expand the war to threaten shipping moving through the Gibraltar Strait towards Israel’s Mediterranean ports, Ashdod and Haifa. The Iranian statement on the Gibraltar Strait has been reported in the western press with the qualification that “Iran has no direct access to the Mediterranean itself and it was not clear how the Guards could attempt to close it off” and that “the only groups backed by Iran on the Mediterranean are Lebanon’s Hezbollah and allied militia in Syria, at the far end of the sea from Gibraltar.”The western news agencies and the Anglo-American maritime media appear not to be aware of the capabilities of Algeria, whose parliament has authorized the government to take unspecified military measures against Israel. Algeria’s military is also collaborating closely and recently with the Russian Navy.
    ​ The possibility of a drone attack on an Israeli vessel near the Gibraltar Strait has not yet dawned publicly, not at least in the mainstream and maritime industry media. More than 100,000 vessels transit through the Gibraltar Strait each year. If Israeli-owned and international shipping are now blocked from reaching either Eilat or Haifa and Ashdod from the east through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, the Gibraltar Strait in the west is the gateway remaining. This is acknowledged by Israeli experts. “According to Dr. Elyakim BenHakoun from the Industrial Engineering and Management Faculty at the Technion Institute of Technology, about 99% of goods (in terms of cargo volume) reach Israel by sea, and around 40% of the cargo arriving in Israel passes through the Suez Canal​.

    RUSSIAN IDENTIFICATION OF HOUTHI TANKER TARGET IN INDIAN OCEAN  – HOW THE WESTERN MEDIA ARE PROTECTING THE ISRAELIS

    ​ Red Sea Chaos: Maersk Ship Hit By Missile; US Attack Helicopters Annihilate Houthi Rebel Boats ​ [They died as men.]
    ​ CENTCOM said attack helicopters from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Gravely quickly responded to the distress call. Houthi militants from the small boats fired on the helicopters, and in self-dense, the helicopters unleashed a barrage of firepower, killing the crew of the three boats. A fourth boat evaded the area.​..
    ​..Maersk was reportedly restarting sails through the critical waterway that connects to the Suez Canal, which handles about 12% of global trade and is a major maritime route between Asia and Europe. We’re sure other major shipping companies will rethink their restart plans for the highly contested waterway.​..
    ​..UBS analysts have said more than 400 cargo ships have been rerouted on the 6,000-nautical-mile detour, effectively reducing the capacity of Asia-to-Europe trade by a quarter. This drives up shipping cost​s.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/maersk-halts-red-sea-transit-after-container-ship-hit-missile

    ​ Sanaa warns against foreign support for ‘Israel’ in Red, Arabian Seas
    ​ The Minister of Defense in the Sanaa government warns foreign forces against actions in the Red and Arabian seas, affirming that Yemen’s government and people are steadfast alongside the Palestinian people until all lands are liberated.
    https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/sanaa-warns-against-foreign-support-for–israel–in-red–ara

    #149505
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ The Indian Navy has deployed three guided missile destroyers to the Arabian Sea in response to an alleged drone attack on an Israeli-linked chemical tanker last week.​ New Delhi also uses long-range maritime patrol aircraft for “domain awareness,” the defense ministry reported Monday night.
    ​ On Saturday, the Liberian-flagged MV Chem Pluto, a Japanese-owned tanker traveling 370km off the coast of India, was reportedly hit by a kamikaze drone, according to the Pentagon.
    ​ The Israeli-linked tanker had been on its way from Saudi Arabia to India, according to maritime security firm Ambrey.
    The Indian Navy says they are examining the specifics of the attack on the MV Chem Puto, which managed to anchor in Mumbai on 26 December.
    https://new.thecradle.co/articles/india-deploys-warships-to-arabian-sea-following-attack-on-israeli-linked-ship

    ​ M.K. Bhadrakumar , Indian diplomacy is ending 2023 with a momentous turnaround. What began as a course correction necessitated by the torrential flow of events in West Asia is assuming strategic overtones.
    ​ An immediate fallout of all this is going to be that India is unlikely to join the US-led alliance in the Red Sea gearing up to wage a war on terror against the Houthis of Yemen. This is despite the US efforts to involve the Quad countries in the Red Sea operations. By the way, both Japan and Australia have dissociated themselves from joining the US-led coalition of the willing…
    ..The US naval enterprise in the Red Sea is struggling to be born…
    ​..The Chief of Staff of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Mohammad Reza Naqdi was not far off the mark when he warned last week that the US and its allies are “trapped” in the Red Sea and should prepare for the closure of waterways stretching all the way to the western gates of the Mediterranean Sea…
    ​..The Indian defence and security establishments have been unabashed votaries of India’s strategic ties with Israel. Such excessive adulation of the Israeli model as worthy of emulation by India was built on sheer naïveté, completely overlooking that the two countries operate under vastly different conditions and national ethos. It is patently absurd that India can emulate Israeli methods of brutal repression or assassination as part of statecraft, apartheid policies and so on and get away with it.
    ​ The incidents of October 7 have been an eye opener for Indians, which has exposed not only Israel’s frailties as a modern state but also its military’s bluster and intelligence’s failure. The acolytes of Israel in the Indian strategic community feel utterly disillusioned. Simply put, an influential constituency in India and the interest groups that it spawned are no longer calling the shots in Delhi. This is going to be consequential.
    ​ At the same time, the entire ideological underpinning of the present government’s tilt towards the Israeli leadership under Benjamin Netanyahu is unravelling.​..

    India’s turnaround on Palestine has more than meets the eye

    South Africa​ Submits All The Relevant Documentation ICC to Lay a Complaint Against Israel

    SA Submits All The Relevant Documentation ICC to Lay a Complaint Against Israel

    Israel Says It’s Anti-Semitic To Invoke The Genocide Convention Over Gaza
    https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israel-says-its-anti-semitic-to-invoke

    ​ Israel announces its Gaza endgame: Ethnic cleansing as ‘humanitarianism’
    Benjamin Netanyahu announced his endgame in Gaza: the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians forced to choose between leaving or dying by bombardment and starvation. His goal is to end the Palestinians as a people and as a national movement.

    Israel announces its Gaza endgame: Ethnic cleansing as ‘humanitarianism’

    #149506
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ The long history of Zionist proposals to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip
    Ethnic cleansing or “transfer” is an intrinsic part of Zionism’s early history, and has remained an essential feature of Israeli political life.
    More recently, “transfer” has been mainstreamed by billing it as encouraging “voluntary emigration.”

    The long history of Zionist proposals to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip

    ​ ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 86: Israel falls in ‘serious strategic trap’ in Gaza as Netanyahu vows to fight ‘for months’
    ​ The Israeli war cabinet pressures Netanyahu to discuss “the day after” in Gaza as Hamas broadcasts videos of targeting Israeli tanks, and the PFLP says a captive soldier died during an Israeli airstrike. Meanwhile, UNRWA warns of widespread hunger.

    ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 86: Israel falls in ‘serious strategic trap’ in Gaza as Netanyahu vows to fight ‘for months’

    ​ To understand what one of the objectives of the Israeli attack on Gaza is, you have to go deep, exactly 600 meters below sea level, 30 km off its coast. Here, in Palestinian territorial waters, there is a large natural gas field, Gaza Marine, estimated at 30 billion cubic meters worth billions of dollars. Other gas and oil deposits, according to a map drawn up by the U.S. Geological Survey (a US government agency), are located on the mainland in Gaza and the West Bank…
    ​..What has been unfolding is the integration of these adjoining gas fields including those belonging to Palestine into the orbit of Israel. It should be noted that the entire Eastern Mediterranean coastline extending from Egypt’s Sinai to Syria constitutes an area encompassing large gas as well as oil reserves.The military occupation of Gaza is intent upon transferring the sovereignty of the gas fields to Israel in violation of international law​.

    Israeli Rogue Intentions Towards Gaza’s Gas Fields Behind the Official and Declared Causes of Invading Gaza’s Strip

    Biden’s attack on Nord Stream pipelines was aimed at Germany – Seymour Hersh
    The decision to destroy the key pipelines was prompted by US fears that Berlin might not follow Washington’s lead amid the Ukraine conflict, Hersh wrote.
    https://swentr.site/news/589614-bidens-scholz-nord-stream/

    ​ There are reports that there has been a run on ATMs in Ukraine. Accordingly, Ukrainians withdrew the equivalent of a billion dollars from their accounts in one day, which could become a problem for the Ukrainian banking and financial system.
    ​ The reason for the run is a bill that is intended to support the forced conscription of a further 500,000 people to the front, which is being discussed in Ukraine. According to the bill, people who evade the draft would be banned from carrying out financial transactions or selling property.
    ​ Since many men in Ukraine have been hiding from forced conscription for a year and a half and many who have not previously been affected are now afraid of the conscription and are thinking about going into hiding, cash will suddenly become indispensable if the law comes into force.
    https://www-anti–spiegel-ru.translate.goog/2023/in-der-ukraine-greift-panik-um-sich/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

    #149508
    John Day
    Participant

    Zelensky’s Controversial €8 Million Deal: Acquisition of the Infamous Bogensee Villa, Formerly Owned by Joseph Goebbels, Amidst Corruption Concerns​ ​Thanks ZSerosum.

    Zelensky’s Controversial €8 Million Deal: Acquisition of the Infamous Bogensee Villa, Formerly Owned by Joseph Goebbels, Amidst Corruption Concerns

    Watch: Cartel Gunfight Erupts With Mexican Military Near Arizona Port Of Entry
    Footage from Friday shows an intense firefight involving cartel members and the Mexican military, occurring down the street from the Lukeville, Arizona, Port of Entry.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/cartel-gunfight-erupts-mexican-military-near-arizona-port-entry

    What ‘Great Replacement Theory’? Musk Exposes “Immense & Growing Size” Of Illegal Immigration Invasion​ [Flown​ by gangs from Eurasia and Africa for $10k ea.]
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/what-great-replacement-theory-musk-exposes-immense-growing-size-illegal-immigration

    #149511
    John Day
    Participant

    The upload system is having “Absence-seizures”, but says I already entered that…

    Ovarian Cancers in COVID-19 mRNA Vaccinated Women: Huge Tumors, Extremely Aggressive
    Not Responsive to Chemo, Poor Prognosis. Turbo cancer: 26 tragic cases

    Ovarian Cancers in COVID-19 mRNA Vaccinated Women: Huge Tumors, Extremely Aggressive

    ​ Steve came up with a great idea. He found an online data tool embedded in a national obituary website, https://www.legacy.com. Steve utilized the website’s advanced search tool to filter obituaries for the keywords “suddenly” and “unexpectedly.” He then filtered by date range and U.S. state.
    https://coquindechien.substack.com/p/suddenly-and-unexpectedly

    ​ Lots of people at vaccination clinics “couldn’t breathe” and “couldn’t walk”. Lots of young males found dead by frantic mothers in the morning.
    New FOIA’ed Data Reveal NY Vaccine Clinics Called Ambulances To Be “On Standby”​ , Pierre Kory MD
    ​ Recent FOIA-obtained data from the Department of Emergency Services in Westchester, NY reveal a shocking number of vaccine emergency calls as well as requests for ambulances to be “on standby.”
    https://pierrekorymedicalmusings.com/p/new-foiaed-data-reveal-ny-vaccine

    Judge Refuses to Hear Expert Testimony on Tylenol Link to Autism, ADHD (Insert 3 monkey image)
    The 440 lawsuits brought against Tylenol and generic acetaminophen manufacturers do not have “admissible evidence” to show that prenatal exposure to the medication can lead to autism spectrum disorder or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, a federal judge ruled this week.

    Judge Refuses to Hear Expert Testimony on Tylenol Link to Autism, ADHD

    #149512
    John Day
    Participant

    Meryl Nass MD , David Schonbrunn improved on my New World Dis-Order chart. Every week, the cabal’s destruction of our traditions, standards, morals, economy, education etc. becomes more clear. They are working fast to take down the system to “Build Back Better” for their dystopian future
    https://merylnass.substack.com/p/david-schonbrunn-improved-on-my-new

    #149513
    John Day
    Participant

    Hmmm… Watch This Space (I bet it’s those non-Zionist Jewish radicals again.):
    Potential Pro-Palestinian Mob Threatens To “Flood” JFK Airport On New Year’s Day
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/possible-pro-palestinian-mob-might-attempt-shut-down-jfk-airport-new-years-day

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