Feb 022025
 


Pablo Picasso Les Demoiselles d’Avignon 1907

 

Musk Reveals Treasury Has Been Auto-Paying Everyone, ‘Even Known Terrorists’ (ZH)
USAID Website and X Account Go Dark (RT)
Trump’s Overhaul of Federal Bureaucracy Backed by Recent Survey Research (RCW)
US Federal Workers Told To Remove Pronouns From Email Signatures (RT)
NYT, NBC, NPR, Politico Evicted From Pentagon Press Offices (ZH)
Chuck Schumer Is Now Under Federal Investigation (Margolis)
Ric Grenell Scores Big Win For Trump In Venezuela (ZH)
Border Encounters Plummet 94% Under Trump (ZH)
Mexico Announces Retaliation Against US (RT)
Canada Strikes Back With Tariffs (RT)
Musk Sank $288 Million Into Trump Campaign – WaPo (RT)
Can Trump Make A Peace Deal With Putin? (SCF)
White House Wants Zelensky To Hold Elections – Trump Envoy (RT)
The Chihuahua Energy Policy: It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas (Pepe Escobar)
Russia and China Boost NVIDIA Performance 800-Fold (Sp.)
Norway Clears Russian-Crewed Ship In Sabotage Probe (RT)
Global Green Spending Is Falling Short of Net Zero Targets (OP)

 

 

 

 

AfD
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885741075509252315

 

 

 

 

What a story…: “..a handful of career officials within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service” … control “the US government’s payment system”, which includes Social Security, Medicare, federal salaries, payments to government contractors, tax refunds, grant recipients, and more. No payment is ever refused, and $6 trillion per year is disbursed this way. The Treasury Department’s highest-ranking career official flees the scene when Musk comes close.

I would take a good look at these guys’ bank accounts and other assets over the past 10 years. And it looks like DOGE can find a lot of savings here.

Musk Reveals Treasury Has Been Auto-Paying Everyone, ‘Even Known Terrorists’ (ZH)

Update (0942ET): Well, well, well – DOGE moves into the Treasury, triggering their longest-serving, highest-ranked career official to quit in a huff, and they find that department has essentially been auto-paying everyone, according to Elon Musk. “The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups,” said Musk in a Friday night tweet. “They literally never denied a payment in their entire career.”

***
The Treasury Department’s highest-ranking career official quit after a clash with aides of Elon Musk over access to sensitive payment systems, according to the Washington Post, citing (of course), three anonymous sources. David A. Lebryk, a decades-long Treasury official who President Trump named as acting secretary upon taking office last week, announced his retirement in a Friday email to colleagues. According to the report, Lebryk had a dispute with Musk surrogates over access to the US government’s payment system used to disburse trillions of dollars every year. [Imagine Musk and team uncover decades of improper payments and shady dealings?] The Musk surrogates are affiliated with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and have been asking since the election for access to the system, according to the report. The requests were reiterated after Trump’s inauguration.

After Trump pick Scott Bessent was confirmed as Treasury Secretary on Monday, Lebryk ceased to be acting agency head. The payment system in question is run by a handful of career officials within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service – which controls the flow of more than $6 trillion annually to households, businesses, and other entities nationwide – and includes Social Security, Medicare, federal salaries, payments to government contractors, tax refunds, grant recipients, and more. The clash is the latest incident involving career ‘deep state’ bureaucrats vs. the Trump administration. And of course, WaPo, the CIA’s favorite tentacle, frames it as follows:

“The clash reflects an intensifying battle between Musk and the federal bureaucracy as the Trump administration nears the conclusion of its second week. Musk has sought to exert sweeping control over the inner workings of the U.S. government, installing longtime surrogates at several agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management, which essentially handles federal human resources, and the General Services Administration, which manages real estate. (Musk was seen on Thursday visiting GSA, according to two other people familiar with his whereabouts, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal matters. That visit was first reported by the New York Times.) His Department of Government Efficiency, originally conceived as a nongovernmental panel, has since replaced the U.S. Digital Service.”

Translation: “Unfortunately for the career bureaucrats, Trump signed an executive order instructing all agencies to ensure DOGE has “full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems,” which appear to include the Treasury payment systems. Musk has previously slammed rising national debt as an existential threat to the country, while DOGE has already made progress in rooting out bullshit programs established by Democrat administrations.

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“About 98 percent of USAID grants pay for activities and not results..”

USAID operates like the typical NGO of today. A vehicle to ‘silently’ dole out money. Ukrainian media are fully dependent on such vehicles, to name an example.

USAID Website and X Account Go Dark (RT)

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) website has gone offline following an executive order by President Donald Trump that pauses most American foreign aid programs for three months to reassess US overseas spending. The website became inaccessible on Saturday afternoon, displaying a message stating that the “server IP address could not be found.” Later that day, the agency’s X account also disappeared. The outage follows reports that the Trump administration is considering placing USAID under the control of the State Department. Last week, Trump signed an executive order freezing most US foreign aid for 90 days, citing the need for a comprehensive review of how funds are allocated.

The order states that “billions of taxpayer dollars flow to programs that do not serve American interests and, in many cases, actively work against them.” The White House has framed the move as part of Trump’s “America First” policy, aimed at cutting wasteful spending and redirecting resources toward domestic priorities. USAID, which oversees humanitarian and development programs abroad, has been significantly impacted. The agency spent over $60 billion on foreign assistance in 2023 alone. On Friday, Reuters reported that the Trump administration is planning to strip USAID of its independence and place it under the control of the State Department. According to sources familiar with the discussions, the National Security Council has hosted meetings on the issue, and legal options are being explored for Trump to issue an executive order formalizing the merger.

Some officials believe the order could be signed as early as this weekend. Photographs of USAID headquarters reviewed by Reuters showed that signs bearing the agency’s official seal had already been removed. Critics have condemned the proposed reorganization, with Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warning that such a move could face legal challenges. “A president cannot eliminate an appropriated federal agency by executive order. That’s what a despot – who wants to steal the taxpayers’ money to enrich his billionaire cabal – does,” Murphy wrote in a post on X on Friday. US-based billionaire Elon Musk, who is advising Trump on downsizing the federal government, reacted by saying: “Live by executive order, die by executive order.”

USAID was created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy through an executive order, consolidating various foreign assistance programs under one agency. Its mission has been to promote economic growth, respond to humanitarian crises, and advance U.S. national security interests globally. However, the agency has faced growing criticism over its effectiveness, with experts questioning whether its assistance programs achieve their intended goals. “About 98 percent of USAID grants pay for activities and not results,” Walter Kerr, co-executive director of Unlock Aid, said earlier this month. “Less than 10 percent of our foreign assistance dollars flowing through USAID is actually reaching those communities.”

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“..just 45% of Federal Government Managers would follow a legal order from President Trump if they thought the order was bad policy, and instead would do what they thought was right.”

Trump’s Overhaul of Federal Bureaucracy Backed by Recent Survey Research (RCW)

Since returning to office for a second term, President Trump has taken aggressive action to overhaul the federal bureaucracy. After a week in office some of Trump actions towards federal workers include: removing employment protections for civil servants, firing 17 inspectors general, reassigning career officials in the Department of Justice, sending home 160 staffers from the National Security Agency and firing the lawyers at the Department of Justice who prosecuted Trump under special counsel Jack Smith. Trump’s efforts have been met with hostility and criticism from the media and predictably from his political opposition. Opinionist Phillip Bump at the Washington Post writes Trump’s actions are “a sharp disruption of how the government works.” Bump laments that “Trump is clearly interested in…seeding loyalists throughout the executive branch.”

At Axios, Zachary Basu and Dave Lawler explain that Trump is “transform[ing] the federal bureaucracy into an army of loyalists.” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who represents 140,000 federal workers in Virginia, told reporters “This gleeful hatred of the federal workforce will lead to nothing good. “But are Trump’s efforts to transform the government workforce justified by a real concern that his policy platforms–which earned him a presidential victory–will be thwarted by anonymous bureaucrats? Recent survey research suggests Trump is right to be concerned. Napolitan Institute found that just 45% of Federal Government Managers would follow a legal order from President Trump if they thought the order was bad policy and instead would do what they thought was right.

Among managers who voted for Kamala Harris that figure jumps to nearly three-quarters (69%.) The survey also found a majority (52%) of the federal managerial class voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Those current survey results are consistent with events that developed in the first Trump Administration, where we learned how bureaucratic opinions on “right” policy interfered with the power of the duly elected executive officer. Former diplomat Jim Jeffrey revealed that his team routinely mislead the Trump Administration after the president had ordered the withdrawal of troops from Syria. “What Syria withdrawal? There was never a Syria withdrawal,” Jeffrey said. “When the situation in northeast Syria had been fairly stable after we defeated ISIS, [Trump] was inclined to pull out. In each case, we then decided to come up with five better arguments for why we needed to stay. And we succeeded both times. That’s the story.”

“We were always playing shell games to not make clear to our leadership how many troops we had there,” Jeffrey said in an interview.While Jeffrey’s revelation came after Trump had left office from his first term, there was a real time revelation of a policy conflict between President Trump and the “interagency consensus” that would become foundation of the first Trump impeachment.The policy difference originated from a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when Trump requested Zelensky open an investigation into possible corruption at the Burisma energy company before receiving a military aid package. Trump’s 2020 election opponent Joe Biden’s son was on the board of Burisma. A central part of the subsequent impeachment case was testimony from Lt. Alexander Vindman (ret.), who had been detailed to the National Security Council and present for the phone call.

Vindman explained in his opening statement to the House impeachment committee he was concerned the president chose to wield his executive authority in a way that was at odds with the “interagency consensus.” Vindman testified “…a false narrative of Ukraine inconsistent with the consensus views of the interagency,” Vindman said in his opening statement. “This narrative was harmful to U.S. government policy. While my interagency colleagues and I were becoming increasingly optimistic on Ukraine’s prospects, this alternative narrative undermined U.S. government efforts to expand cooperation with Ukraine.” But Vindman and the “interagency consensus” have no authority to determine or execute their interpretation of U.S. government policy or in other words, “do what they thought was right.”

The New York Times editorial board supported and encouraged the usurpation of executive authority in favor of the “right” bureaucratic opinion by praising the government bureaucracy overriding or ignoring President Trump’s lawful authority. “…patriotic public servants — career diplomats, scientists, intelligence officers and others…have somehow remembered that their duty is to protect the interests, not of a particular leader, but of the American people.” There is no way to know exactly how extensive bureaucratic resistance interfered with Trump’s ability to govern in his first term, but we do know 46% of current Federal Government Managers would ignore the legal order of President Trump and instead do what was “right.” Trump is making the correct move to overhaul the federal bureaucracy in order to deliver on the campaign promises that got him back in office.

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How did we ever get here?

US Federal Workers Told To Remove Pronouns From Email Signatures (RT)

Employees at US federal agencies have been ordered to remove pronouns from their email signatures, according to internal memos obtained by several media outlets. The directive reportedly cites two presidential executive orders seeking to curb diversity and equity programs across the government.On his first day back in office, US President Donald Trump repealed 78 executive orders signed by his predecessor, Joe Biden. They included several measures to protect transgender rights and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The orders also set a 60-day timeframe for federal agencies and departments to cease DEI-related practices.The memos on removing pronouns from signatures reportedly set Friday afternoon as the deadline.

“Pronouns and any other information not permitted in the policy must be removed from CDC/ATSDR employee signatures by 5 p.m. ET on Friday,” ABC News cited one such message as saying. It was sent to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees on Friday morning. The outlet reported that a similar notice urging the removal of DEI “language in Federal discourse, communications, and publications” had been received by federal employees with the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation on Thursday.

Several federal government agency websites, including the Federal Aviation Administration and the Census Bureau, temporarily went down on Friday, according to The Guardian. Some pages displayed as blank before reappearing later that day. The British newspaper noted that the Bureau of Prisons had renamed a webpage called “inmate gender” to “inmate sex” and stopped displaying a list of trans inmates. Donald Trump declared in his inaugural address on January 1 that the US would officially recognize only two genders. ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’, one of the orders signed by the president later that day, states that “there are only two genders, male and female,” and orders agencies to update official documents such as passports and visas in accordingly.

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Legacy no more: “The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media that are seated in this room..”

NYT, NBC, NPR, Politico Evicted From Pentagon Press Offices (ZH)

The innumerable consequences of the 2024 election keep gushing forth at a pace that’s hard to keep up with. Here’s a new gem: On Friday evening, the Department of Defense told The New York Times, NBC News, National Public Radio and Politico that they have two weeks to vacate their long-held and treasured offices inside the Pentagon. Three of their four replacements skew decidedly to the Trump-friendly sector of the political spectrum: the New York Post, One America News Network and Breitbart. Throwing a bone to leftists, HuffPost news snagged Politico’s old slot. The Pentagon Press Association said it was “greatly troubled by this unprecedented move by DOD to single out highly professional media.”

The short-notice evictions from the hallowed “Correspondents’ Corridor” spring from the launch of a “new annual media rotation program for [the] Pentagon Press Corps,” according to a memorandum sent by DOD spokesman John Ullyot on Friday and posted by CNN Pentagon correspondent Haley Britzky. The program seeks to “broaden access to the limited space…to outlets that have not previously enjoyed the privilege and journalist value of working from physical office space in the Pentagon,” said Ullyot. The booted outlets will retain their status as full members of the Pentagon Press Corps, entitled to attend briefings and be considered for travel with officials. “The only change will be giving up their physical workspaces in the building to allow new outlets to have their turn to become resident members of the Pentagon Press Corps,” wrote Ullyot.

Make no mistake: Those physical workspaces are a big deal. “Kicking out reporters HURTS coverage. If you can’t file your stories from inside the building you are disadvantaged. If you don’t have a work space you are disadvantaged,” wrote former Pentagon Press Corps VP Kevin Baron on X. That commentary was part of a thread condemning the development as “the erasure of journalism at the Pentagon.” The Pentagon Press Corps comprises more than two dozen outlets. The program calls for one outlet from each press medium to rotate from the premises every year. As if Breitbart’s invitation into the Pentagon weren’t enough to outrage establishment media types, the fact that it’s taking the “radio” slot from NPR only compounded the indignation. In a Friday night article, CNN’s Brian Stelter called foul:

“Breitbart – a well-known web site for pro-Trump coverage and commentary – barely has a radio operation of its own. The word ‘radio’ doesn’t appear on its home page at all. The media outlet has a distribution deal with SiriusXM and one big podcast, Breitbart News Daily. Its footprint pales in comparison to NPR, which provides news coverage for local stations all across the country.” In another hilarious, leftist-pummeling swap, One America News Network will be sliding into NBC’s slot. Expressing sympathetic disbelief, CNN’s Britzky emphasized that NBC “has an entire booth w/ cameras etc.” NBC News promised to soldier on, telling Reuters, “We’re disappointed by the decision to deny us access to a broadcasting booth at the Pentagon that we’ve used for many decades. Despite the significant obstacles this presents to our ability to gather and report news in the national public interest, we will continue to report with the same integrity and rigor NBC News always has.”

For the many Americans who are still angry about legacy media’s aggressive role in working to derail Trump’s 2020 re-election bid, Politico’s punishment is perhaps the most satisfying. The outlet took the lead in spreading the consequential, Deep State lie that Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” — first reported by the New York Post — was part of a Russian misinformation scheme. That lie helped ignite unprecedented censorship of the Post’s coverage. Fittingly, the Post — the country’s longest-running newspaper — is among the outlets graduating to space in the Pentagon.

“The National Press Club is deeply concerned by the Defense Department’s decision to remove certain media organizations from their dedicated spaces in the Pentagon,” club president Mike Balsamo said in a statement. “Any action that restricts the ability of journalists to report on the operations of the U.S. government should alarm all who value transparency and press freedom.” Balsamo pointed to the Pentagon press corps’ history of “diversity,” yet the announced swaps inarguably increase viewpoint diversity. The Pentagon’s shot across the bow of legacy media follows Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s announcement that the White House will significantly broaden media access, with an emphasis on alternative media. “The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media that are seated in this room,” she said in her first press conference. Never a dull moment in Trump II: The Revenge. What’s next?

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“I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price,” Schumer said to a chorus of cheers..

Chuck Schumer Is Now Under Federal Investigation (Margolis)

Interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. has made a bold move, dismissing about 30 federal prosecutors involved in the Capitol riot cases. This decision, announced on Friday, signals a significant housecleaning of the top prosecutor’s office in Washington, D.C., as Martin gears up to purge partisans who weaponized the Justice Department against Joe Biden’s political enemies, including Trump, pro-life activists, and others. But he’s also taken another bold step, effectively launching an investigation into Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over comments he made back in March 2020 during a #MyRightMyDecision rally outside the Supreme Court. During the rally, Schumer blatantly threatened Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch over their potential votes in the first abortion case before the Supreme Court with the new conservative majority.

“I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price,” Schumer said to a chorus of cheers. “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” According to 18 U.S. Code ß/ 115, whoever threatens a federal official, with intent to impede, intimidate, or interfere with such official, judge, or law enforcement officer while engaged in the performance of official duties, or with intent to retaliate against such official, judge, or law enforcement officer on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment of as much as ten years. Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, has been calling on Schumer to be federally prosecuted for years. “Schumer should have been (and should be) criminally prosecuted for his threats targeting two Supreme Court justices,” Fitton wrote.

“If I had said that, I’d have two U.S. marshals in my office, or frankly, probably in my home in the least, questioning me, questioning my family, questioning everyone here at Judicial Watch,” he said back in 2022. “Anyone else I had talked to about that threat on the Supreme Court, Justice Roberts responded, rightly so, said that type of language is dangerous.” “We take threats against public officials very seriously. I look forward to your cooperation,” Martin wrote Schumer in a letter obtained by the Washington Post.

According to the Post, while Martin’s actions are “likely to be welcomed by Trump and allies, who assert they were unfairly targeted by the past administration,” but “career prosecutors who have served under presidents of both parties say Martin is politicizing the office and potentially breaking with 50 years of Justice Department policy and practice intended to shield criminal prosecutions from political considerations.” That’s cute. I wonder what those “career prosecutors” had to say about the various cases the Biden administration launched against Donald Trump.

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Grenell truly is a special envoy. When the going gets tough…

Ric Grenell Scores Big Win For Trump In Venezuela (ZH)

Update (1815ET): The government of Venezuela has agreed not only to release six detained Americans, who arrived home Friday evening with Trump envoy Richard Grenell, the Maduro government has will take back tens of thousands of migrants, President Trump said on Saturday. “It is so good to have the Venezuela Hostages back home, and, very important to note, that Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their Country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S.,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that Venezuela would take back members of the Tren de Aragua transnational gang that has recently expanded into America from various Latin American countries. According to the WSJ, Maduro’s government will provide transport for its citizens to return.”This is good news for all who care about ensuring that Venezuelans with removal orders actually get sent home,” said Kevin Whitaker, a former U.S. ambassador to Colombia who also had served as deputy chief of mission in Venezuela.

* * *
More of the Trump effect: six imprisoned Americans have been freed by Venezuela after President Trump’s envoy Richard Grenell visited the country this week. They were released and flown home on a State Dept. aircraft on Friday. “Just been informed that we are bringing six hostages home from Venezuela,” Trump announced on social media. “Thank you to Ric Grenell and my entire staff. Great job!” This comes amid reports of some significant behind-the-scenes deal-making with Venezuela, as Washington demands the Latin American country receive back illegal migrants in the US.The six men were not named, but previously the White House had called on Venezuela to release what it dubbed “US hostages” or else suffer consequences. Grenell had reportedly met directly with President Maduro.

At least nine people with American citizenship or residency had been detained in Venezuela, after authorities accused them of planning to kill President Nicolás Maduro. According to the NY Times: Relatives of three detained U.S. citizens said they had gotten very little information from the American government and had not heard from their loved ones for months since they had disappeared. David Estrella, 64, who worked in quality control for pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey, was among those released, according to his family. “After such horrible moments that we and David have suffered unjustly, we look forward to welcoming him home and taking care of him until he fully recovers and leaves all this unfortunate incident behind him,” said Elvia Macias, Mr. Estrella’s former wife and close friend.

He had entered Venezuela from Colombia to visit friends, Ms. Macias said. Another reason this is such an unexpected positive development is that the United States has no diplomatic presence or embassy in Venezuela, and also has sanctions against the country and its top officials.As for what could be a factor in the release, Financial Times speculated that “a deal could involve an easing of US sanctions on Venezuela and dropping a US reward offered for Maduro’s capture in return for Caracas taking back thousands of [Venezuelan] migrants from the US, shipping more oil to American Gulf Coast refineries and releasing US nationals held in Caracas.” The jubilant freed Americans thanked President Trump in a phone call on the plane ride home:

The US State Department special envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, has meanwhile said the discussions and this new initiative with Caracas will not change Washington’s overall Venezuela policy. “President Trump expects Nicolás Maduro to take back all of the Venezuelan criminals and gang members that have been exported to the US, and to do so unequivocally and without condition,” he said.

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Now add the threat of Guantanamo. It’s ugly, but it may work.

Border Encounters Plummet 94% Under Trump (ZH)

Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, illegal alien encounters at the southern US border have plummeted an average of 94% during his first 9 days, compared to President Biden’s last 19 days in office. During Trump’s first 9 days in office, after new border measures were implemented, there were an average of 126 daily encounters at the border vs. 2,087 per day during the last 2.5 weeks of the Biden administration.

As Rasmussen’s Mark Mitchell put it last week, “It’s like a switch was flipped.” During his 2024 campaign, Trump vowed to crack down on illegal immigration by continuing construction on the border wall, conducting the largest mass deportation in US history, slapping tariffs on Canada and Mexico until they control the situation from their end, and increasing penalties for illegal aliens.

To that end, there were more than 3,500 illegal immigrants who were arrested during Trump’s first week in office, including over 1,100 in a single day. As American Greatness notes further, on Wednesday, shortly before signing the Laken Riley Act into law, the 45th and 47th President announced his intention to send 30,000 of the most dangerous criminal illegals to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Laken Riley Act, named after the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was murdered by a Venezuelan illegal, is the first bill signed into law during President Trump’s second term. It gives federal immigration authorities broader power to arrest illegals who commit dangerous crimes, including drunk driving and assaulting police officers.

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Pete Hegseth is talking about US military action against cartels inside Mexico.

Mexico Announces Retaliation Against US (RT)

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has accused the United States of fueling cartel violence by allowing powerful firearms to flow south, pushing back against President Donald Trump’s claims that Mexico is failing to stop illegal migration and drug trafficking. Sheinbaum’s comments late Saturday came as she ordered retaliatory tariffs on US goods in response to Trump’s sweeping 25% duties on imports from Mexico and Canada. “We categorically reject the slander made by the White House against the Government of Mexico, accusing it of having alliances with criminal organizations,” Sheinbaum wrote in a fiery post on X. “If such an alliance exists anywhere, it is in the armories of the United States that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups – as demonstrated by the US Department of Justice itself.”

Her remarks apparetly referred to a recent report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which indicated that a significant number of military-grade firearms used by Mexican cartels originate in the United States. Sheinbaum also touted her administration’s anti-narcotics efforts, stating that in just four months, Mexican security forces have seized over 40 tons of drugs, including 20 million doses of fentanyl, and arrested more than 10,000 people linked to organized crime. She criticized the US government’s approach to the drug crisis, arguing that if Washington were serious about combating drug abuse, it would “start a massive campaign to prevent the consumption of these drugs and take care of its young people, as we have done in Mexico.”

Trump’s new tariffs, set to take effect on February 4, impose a 25% duty on goods from Mexico and Canada and a 10% duty on imports from China. The US administration justifies these measures by citing concerns over illegal immigration and drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl entering the United States. In response, Sheinbaum has instructed the Ministry of Economy to “implement the Plan B that we have been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests.” While details have not been disclosed, sources indicate that Mexico aims to impose measures targeting key US industries, particularly agriculture, while seeking to avoid further escalation.

The Mexican leader called for bilateral cooperation to address the drug crisis but insisted on equal footing. ”If the United States truly wants to combat the criminal groups that traffic drugs and generate violence, we must work together comprehensively,” she said. “But always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration, and, above all, respect for sovereignty, which is non-negotiable.”

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Trudy is far too woke for Trump, and far too close to “Joe Biden”. That will never work.

Canada Strikes Back With Tariffs (RT)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced retaliatory 25% tariffs on American goods, hours after US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping trade restrictions on Canadian imports. “Tonight, I am announcing Canada will be responding to the US trade action with 25% trade tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods,” Trudeau said at a news conference on Saturday. The first wave of tariffs, covering $30 billion worth of US goods, will take effect on Tuesday, with broader measures following in 21 days to allow Canadian companies to adjust.

“These tariffs will be far-reaching and include everyday items,” the Canadian leader said, listing alcohol, fruits, vegetables, clothing, and shoes. In addition to direct tariffs, Ottawa is exploring “several non-tariff measures,” which could include restrictions on critical minerals, energy procurement, and other trade partnerships. “We will stand strong for Canada,” Trudeau said. “We will stand strong to ensure our countries continue to be the best neighbors in the world,” he added, urging citizens to support domestic businesses.

Trump’s 25% tariffs on nearly all Canadian goods were announced earlier on Saturday, with the White House citing concerns over illegal drug trafficking and immigration. “The extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, constitutes a national emergency,” a White House fact sheet read. “President Trump is taking bold action to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.”

The US president claimed that Canada has played “a central role” in America’s fentanyl crisis and failed to “devote sufficient attention and resources” to combat the flow of illicit drugs. In an effort to avert the tariffs, Ottawa introduced a $1.3 billion spending plan aimed at strengthening border surveillance and tackling drug trafficking. Trump said on Friday, however, that there is “nothing Canada can do right now” to avoid the new tariffs. Economists warn that the escalating trade dispute could lead to rising consumer prices and economic disruptions in both countries.

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Is that him, or the PAC?

Musk Sank $288 Million Into Trump Campaign – WaPo (RT)

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk was “the biggest political donor” of the 2024 election cycle, contributing at least $288 million to Donald Trump’s presidential bid, the Washington Post has reported, citing an analysis of new Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. Trump appointed Musk to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to cut federal spending and regulations. In an article published on Friday, the Washington Post said, “the staggering 2024 political spending by Musk” cemented his influence within Trump’s political network, with some critics calling him a “de facto, unelected co-president.”

Musk’s political spending largely flowed through America PAC, a super PAC he helped establish to support Trump by mobilizing low-turnout voters in key battleground states. The group raised $263 million, backed not only by Musk but also by his close allies, including Tesla board member Antonio Gracias, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, and Sequoia Capital investor Shaun Maguire. According to the report covering the period from November 26 to the end of the year, Musk contributed $11.2 million on December 31, which was described as “petition incentives.”

The billionaire launched the initiative in October, pledging “$1M to someone in swing states who signed our petition to support free speech & the right to bear arms.” Those who signed the petition could also receive $47 for referring a registered voter in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. With earlier FEC filings showing an in-kind contribution of nearly $40.5 million, the total spending for petition incentives alone amounts to at least $52.7 million.

Musk’s “investment in the 2024 election has already paid off enormously,” the newspaper said, with his net worth surging by more than $200 billion since Trump’s victory on November 5. This is primarily attributed to the soaring stock price of Tesla. Shares of the electric vehicle manufacturer have risen approximately 70% since the election, significantly boosting Musk’s wealth. His fortune was estimated at around $442 billion as of mid-December. Musk, who previously positioned himself as politically neutral, publicly endorsed Trump shortly after the failed assassination attempt on the Republican nominee on July 13.

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“The U.S. is a party to this war, not a peace broker..”

Can Trump Make A Peace Deal With Putin? (SCF)

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to open talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to end the war in Ukraine. Trump has spoken about the urgency of bringing the conflict to a peaceful conclusion. Fair enough. For his part, President Putin has magnanimously reciprocated, saying he is ready to engage in talks with Trump. So far, so good. At least the American side is no longer encumbered with the stupid intransigent, hostile mentality of the Biden administration, which refused to have any diplomatic contact with Russia. Russia, for its part, has always been willing to negotiate a genuine way to not just end the conflict but to avoid future conflict.

Before the war in Ukraine erupted three years ago in February 2022, Moscow put forward a comprehensive proposal for a security treaty in Europe in December 2021. The proposal stipulated that the U.S.-led NATO military alliance desist from aggressive expansion on Russia’s borders and, in particular, for Ukraine never to be a member of NATO. Those proposals were rejected out of hand by the U.S. and its European partners. At the earliest stage of the Ukraine conflict, in March 2022, Russia negotiated a potential peace settlement with the Kiev regime in Istanbul, only for that proposal to be rejected by Washington and its British surrogate. The result has been three years of bloodshed and destruction, with millions of Ukrainian casualties and refugees. Ukraine has been destroyed thanks to the intransigence of its NATO sponsors.

If diplomacy is the art of making politics work then anything is possible. Opening talks is at least a start to exchanging ideas and demands to bring the conflict to an end and stop it from spiraling into a catastrophic global war between nuclear powers. President Trump says he wants to end the conflict. But does he understand what the conflict is really about? If a problem is not correctly defined, then a solution is elusive.Trump has a showman style of doing politics. He bragged about ending the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of being elected. Now he is talking about ending it in 100 days. There are some positive indicators of good intentions. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said this week that he believed the Trump administration is determined to do a peace deal.

Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, told senators during confirmation hearings for the post that her “priority would be to support President Trump’s efforts to get Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table.” (She may not be confirmed, however.) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an interview this week, repeated his calls for the war in Ukraine to end. In a telling comment, Rubio said the onus was on Russia and Ukraine to make compromises. Here’s where the problems emerge. The Trump administration seems to think that a resolution is a matter for two sides – Russia and Ukraine – and that the U.S. is acting as a mere peace broker instead of being the instigator. This was reflected in Trump’s own recent comments when he boorishly and stupidly warned Russia that if it did not come to the negotiating table, he would impose crippling sanctions on the Russian economy.

Trump is delusional if he thinks he can bully Russia or threaten the Russian economy. Such a fatuous attitude is out of order and counterproductive. The fact is the American and European sanctions against Russia have already failed. Russia’s economy has strengthened by being more independent and developing new trade relations with the rest of the world. It is now ranked 4th in the world, above Germany and other European nations. More importantly, Russia is decisively winning the war in Ukraine despite the colossal arming of the Kiev regime by the U.S. and its NATO partners. Ukrainian military lines are crumbling amid mounting losses. Even the Western media are reporting on the disarray and mass desertion of Ukrainian soldiers. The notion that Russia can be pressured to the negotiating table by the Trump administration is a fallacy and a serious misconception about the nature of the conflict.

Furthermore, the two parties that need to negotiate are not the corrupt puppet regime in Kiev and Russia. It is the United States and Russia. The U.S. is a party to this war, not a peace broker. If Trump’s administration is serious about making a peace deal, then it will have to be understood that the United States must accept Russia’s terms. A mere ceasefire and freezing the hostilities in Ukraine, which is what Trump aides are touting, is far from adequate as a solution. As we pointed out in our editorial last week, the conflict in Ukraine has deep roots in the imperialist machinations of the U.S. and its NATO proxy toward Russia. The history of this goes back decades, not just a few years. Only by addressing the root causes of the conflict can an authentic peaceful resolution begin.

Russia’s terms have been adumbrated clearly for a long time. The United States and its NATO war machine need to respect Russia’s national security interests. The security treaty that Moscow proposed in December 2021 is a basis for negotiation. So too are the realities on the ground. Russia’s new territories of Donbass, Kherson, Zaporozhye, as well as Crimea – all historic lands of Russia – are not negotiable. Neither is Russia’s insistence that Ukraine can never be part of the NATO alliance.

Read more …

Get rid of Zelensky first, then hold elections.

White House Wants Zelensky To Hold Elections – Trump Envoy (RT)

Washington wants Kiev to have presidential and parliamentary elections, potentially by this year’s end, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Ukraine conflict, Keith Kellogg. According to the report, Kellogg and other White House officials have discussed asking Kiev to hold the votes as part of a potential truce deal with Moscow. Speaking to the agency, Kellogg said that both the presidential and parliamentary elections “need to be done.”“Most democratic nations have elections in their time of war. I think it is important they do so,” the special envoy said. “I think it is good for democracy. That’s the beauty of a solid democracy, you have more than one person potentially running.”

Parliamentary and presidential elections in Ukraine scheduled for October 2023 and March 2024 were not held after Vladimir Zelensky announced in December 2023 that they would not take place while martial law imposed during the conflict with Russia remains in force. Martial law was declared after the escalation of hostilities between Kiev and Moscow in February 2022 and has been repeatedly extended ever since. In November 2024, it was prolonged once again and is now expected to continue at least until February 7, 2025. US President Doland Trump has repeatedly vowed to swiftly end the Ukraine conflict. On Friday, he claimed that the US was “having very serious discussions about that war” with Russia – something that Moscow has not confirmed so far.

The American president also stated on multiple occasions that he was ready to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as possible to negotiate an end to the fighting. Moscow has repeatedly stated it its ready for dialogue at any time, but has received no specific signals from the US. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, no such talks are currently planned and all communications are being conducted at the embassy level. If the US plan eventually involves a temporary ceasefire deal prior to a more permanent agreement, the winner of the Ukrainian presidential election could be responsible for negotiating the terms of the final treaty, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing discussions in the White House.

Moscow has questioned Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s legitimacy and said that he is no longer qualified to sign international agreements on behalf of Ukraine as his presidential term officially expired in May 2024. Earlier this week, Putin said that although Zelensky could take part in any potential negotiations, he could not be part of a final deal. “It’s possible to negotiate with anyone,” the Russian leader said, adding that any agreement would be a “very serious question” and must “guarantee the security of both Ukraine and Russia” for a “serious” period of time.Putin had previously stated on multiple occasions that the Ukrainian constitution does not envisage any extensions of the president’s term, only authorizing this for the parliament. Moscow has also said it will not agree to a temporary truce and that a settlement must include “reliable, legally binding agreements eliminating the root causes of the conflict.”

Read more …

“..the European logic is completely different from the American logic: one is the logic of war and the other is the logic of peace.”

Orban: US Now Seeks Peace In Ukraine, While EU Wants War To Continue (TASS)

The new US administration and the EU leadership have different approaches to the conflict in Ukraine: Washington now favors a peaceful settlement, while Brussels wants to continue the war, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said during a Kossuth radio broadcast. “The Europeans are saying that sanctions must be maintained and even tightened in order for the Ukrainians to win the war against Russia. Yesterday US Secretary of State [Marco Rubio] said in a big interview that it would be unfair to fool everyone by saying that the Ukrainians can win this war. Well, thank him for that interview, because it showed that the Americans want peace, not sanctions, and the Europeans want sanctions, not peace,” the prime minister said.

He emphasized that now “the European logic is completely different from the American logic: one is the logic of war and the other is the logic of peace.” Orban reiterated that the Hungarian government still favors a negotiated settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, and is counting on US President Donald Trump in this endeavor.

Read more …

The Chihuahua Strategic Victory Plan. For Pepe, Europeans are chihuahua’s.

The Chihuahua Energy Policy: It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas (Pepe Escobar)

As highlighted before, the U.S. – via fracking – has enough gas for domestic consumption, but not enough to export en masse to the EU, because of liquification problems. That explains why even buying more American energy for exorbitant prices, the EU de facto remains largely dependent on Russian LNG – and non-U.S. sources – since the sabotage of the Nord Streams, unveiled in detail by Sy Hersh. Even at full capacity, the Empire of Chaos simply cannot deliver all the gas the EU needs; add to it virtually no investment in both badly needed extra exploration plus the infrastructure necessary to meet increased EU demand. On the domestic U.S. oil market, things do get positively Kafkaesque. U.S. trucking – a massive service industry – is dependent on imported Russian diesel, which needs to be mixed with Made in America oil in order to be suitable for trucks.

Now cut again to Davos, which came and went barely registering a blip. Toxic EC Medusa von der Leyen told Davos that Europe had “substantially reduced”, and “in record time”, its dependency on Russian fossil fuels. Nonsense. Europe’s energy reality is bleak. Russian LNG from Novatek is currently priced at around $4.5–$4.7 per MMBtu. That’s more expensive than pipeline gas but still much (italics mine) cheaper than American LNG. Every industry pro from the Persian Gulf to Antwerp knows that Europe is now importing Russian LNG like it never did before. That’s it – or a dry death. In parallel, Russia will triple its LNG supply capacity by 2035. End result: whatever those “energy commissioners” in Brussels may come up with, Russia will remain essential when it comes to European energy security.

There are no limits – even stratospheric – for Eurocracy stupidity, which corrodes the system like a plague. The Europeans not only have managed to shut off their own gas pipelines but are still “investigating” the Nord Stream de facto terror attack. End result: they are now importing more (italics mine) Russian gas, but by different means, from third-party suppliers, and paying a fortune. This is what can be described as the Chihuahua Strategic Victory Plan. Russia’s LNG exports hit a record high last year, growing by 4% – and delivering 33.6 million tons. The monthly record was 3.25 million tons in December 2024 – 13.7% more than November. The largest Russian exporter is Yamal LNG: 21.1 million tons, 6% more than in 2023. Now cut to proverbial American rumble, in the form of Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt ordering the “full termination” of Russian gas exported to Europe.

To hell with what nations like Hungary, Austria and Slovakia may think – and do need. Pyatt told the Atlantic Council, “Today we are the largest LNG exporter in the world, and by the end of the Trump administration, we will have doubled what we’re doing today […] The decision has clearly been made in Brussels to get to zero [gas supplies from Russia] by 2027…and the United States strongly supports that goal.” Oh dear. Do these people even read the basic headlines? As reported by Politico, the EU is “devouring” Russian gas at unprecedented levels since the start of 2025, importing 837,300 metric tons of LNG just in the first two weeks of the year. The Ukraine transit deal was shut off for good – at least for now – starting on January 1st. The action now is on the maritime routes.

Enter the U.S. Treasury with a new – what else – sanctions package against Russian oil trade, targeting up to 5.8 million barrels a day shipped by sea. As it stands, the global oil market is experiencing a surplus of about 0.8 million barrels a day. Oil prices for 2025 should remain at around $71 for a barrel of Brent crude (as it stands, it’s $76.2). Not exactly what Mr. Disco Inferno wants. So let’s assume these 5.8 million barrels of Russian oil – under stiff sanctions – would vanish from the global market. In this case we would have oil prices skyrocketing to an average of $150 to $160 a barrel. Once again, not what Mr. Disco Inferno wants: he vociferously promised – and keeps promising – a MAGA oil superpower, while lowering oil prices to max $50 a barrel.

Read more …

“The algorithm allows gaming GPUs to be used for scientific computing..”

Russia and China Boost NVIDIA Performance 800-Fold (Sp.)

Scientists from the two countries have developed a breakthrough algorithm using information from reverse engineering video card accelerators. The algorithm allows gaming GPUs to be used for scientific computing. The innovation was achieved by specialists from Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, co-founded by Lomonosov Moscow State University and Beijing Institute of Technology. This enables Russia and China to reduce their reliance on NVIDIA GPUs, weakening the impact of US sanctions.

It also means that Russia and China need to buy less NVIDIA GPUs, which likely led to the collapse of NVIDIA stock price, Russoft association President Valentin Makarov tells Sputnik. He believes ongoing research includes new machine learning algorithms and a next-gen GPU being developed in Russia. These advancements highlight Russia’s technological expertise, allowing collaboration with China and potential future partnerships with India.

Read more …

“It is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason.”

Norway Clears Russian-Crewed Ship In Sabotage Probe (RT)

Norwegian police have released a Russian-crewed vessel after finding no evidence linking it to recent damage to an undersea fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and Sweden. The Norwegian-owned Silver Dania, which operates between St. Petersburg and the northern Russian port of Murmansk, was detained on Thursday night following a request from Latvian authorities and a ruling from a local court. Norwegian police said that the ship, which was escorted to the northern port of Tromso, could have damaged a critical fiber optic link belonging to Latvia’s state broadcaster and connecting the Baltic nation and Sweden’s Gotland island. It added that the law enforcement is “conducting an operation on the ship to search, conduct interviews, and secure evidence.”

However, less than a day later, the police stated that Silver Dania “will be able to leave Tromso already on Friday evening.” They added that while the investigation will continue, “no findings have been made linking the ship to the act,” and the crew had been cooperative. The cable sabotage case is the latest in a string of incidents involving damage to critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, with speculation rife that Russia could have played a role. Short of any proof, however, Western officials have refrained from leveling direct accusations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed allegations of Moscow’s involvement. “It is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason.” The Washington Post, citing Western intelligence sources, reported earlier this month that the damage to Baltic Sea infrastructure likely stemmed from maritime accidents involving poorly maintained ships and inexperienced crews rather than deliberate sabotage. NATO has launched a mission dubbed “Baltic Sentry” to enhance surveillance and protection of critical undersea infrastructure in the area and address concerns about possible sabotage.

Read more …

The only thing that will reach net zero is the spending.

It’s all just a money grab delusion: “..the world needs to pour in $5.6 trillion each year..”

Global Green Spending Is Falling Short of Net Zero Targets (OP)

Global investments in green energy solutions topped $2 trillion last year, for the first time ever, but the world needs to pour in $5.6 trillion each year into low-carbon energy to get on track for global net zero by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement, BloombergNEF said in a new report on Thursday. Last year, green energy investments reached a record high globally, but the pace of growth has slowed from the 2021-2023 period, according to BNEF’s report Energy Transition Investment Trends 2025. The world invested a total of $2.1 trillion in low-carbon energy in 2024, up by 11% compared to 2023, the report found.

However, the pace of growth has slowed. In the years 2021 to 2023, global investment in clean energy jumped by between 24% and 29% each year, according to BNEF. Electrified transport continued to be the top segment for low-carbon energy investment, drawing in $757 billion in 2024. China remained the single biggest market with $818 billion of investment, up by 20% from 2023 and increasing investment in all sectors. China’s total investment last year was greater than the combined investment of the U.S., the EU, and the UK. However, investment was stagnant in the U.S., at $338 billion, and fell in both the EU and UK, hitting $381 billion and $65.3 billion, respectively, BNEF said.

The research provider also noted that energy transition investment will have to average $5.6 trillion each year from 2025 to 2030, in order to get on track for global net zero by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. The current investment level of $2.1 trillion implies that the world is only at 37% of what is required to get on track, BNEF said. “There is still much more that needs to be done, especially in emerging areas like industrial decarbonization, hydrogen and carbon capture, in order to reach global net-zero goals,” commented Albert Cheung, Deputy CEO of BNEF.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Bats

 

 

Orca
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885682013589414176

 

 

Elephant
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885538600085053571

 

 

Daddy
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885737803666825299

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle February 2 2025

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 79 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #181085

    Pablo Picasso Les Demoiselles d’Avignon 1907   • Musk Reveals Treasury Has Been Auto-Paying Everyone, ‘Even Known Terrorists’ (ZH) • USAID Websit
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle February 2 2025]

    #181087
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “They literally never denied a payment in their entire career.”

    Hey, would that be a scandal? Not even the illegal ones? Other levels: so…you came into work and did what exactly? I want all those years back pay returned. Never occurred to you to tell anybody? CNN…Congress…

    And see how we can never replace good human workers with AI? A job like this is much too subtle and complicated.

    Last: Yeah, they walked right in and knew exactly what they were looking for. Good, and as per my theory.

    Still more: then when we say we can balance the budget and not go bankrupt, bond buyers will believe us. Before I can point this out, saving $1T sounds like blowing smoke.

    “Musk has previously slammed rising national debt as an existential threat to the country,”

    Huh. And WHO would want the United States to “Cease to exist”? Would any such person or entity be by definition an enemy?

    Theory: much of that is over the COLONIES. The battle of control over EURODOLLARS. If the Treasury isn’t handing EUROPE $1T in U.S. dollars there will be a worldwide Dollar shortage there that brings them to heel. …No wonder we couldn’t get them to go bankrupt with the Ukraine war + gas. No wonder they mostly weren’t worried. Our people are such traitors they were fighting us with our own treasury.

    “Phil Kerpen USAID was created by executive order.”

    See what I mean by E.O.s not being law? But I also sort of don’t believe this, it was a funded agency. Nevertheless, if Congress hands boxcars of cash this loosely IN ORDER TO FLOUT THE LAW, then exactly this reversal can happen.

    BTW, top agency – but far too small to be top of the list – is FEMA. Everyone who’s dealt with FEMA even before W. and Katrina said they not only do nothing, they are worse than nothing. They are the disaster recovery prevention team. …As we just saw, arresting workers and blowing up equipment with helicopters, on camera, with people stuck in trees and dying.

    “removing employment protections for civil servants, firing 17 inspectors general, reassigning career officials in the Department of Justice, sending home 160 staffers”

    Still no answer to why. Still on chat I see people saying “We’re all resisting. It’s happening! Heroes, Walls are closing in!”

    ““This gleeful hatred of the federal workforce will lead to nothing good.”

    Well, Trump is reflecting the gleeful hatred of the American people for them. And also the Federal workers for us. In fact, he’s remarkably restrained as usual. The American people would be way harder on them. Offering posh retirement after not working for three years and in fact working a second job during work hours?

    ““What Syria withdrawal?
    ““We were always playing shell games

    So they were declaring/running wars. Would that possibly be treason to run a war against the express will of Congress and the President? If not, explain to me where that word could ever be applied.

    “• US Federal Workers Told To Remove Pronouns From Email Signatures (RT)

    Chat boards: “This is illegal. The genocide has started.” Yup, and that’s why most of America thinks you’re profoundly mentally ill. It’s not illegal: please feel free to continue using WORDS on your Private correspondence. Just not on the letterhead we pay you for. This, of course, is the same as being thrown into ovens or firebombed with white phosphorus on the ground in Gaza. …When they make 6 figures for not working, get full health care, and run politics with that money both on and off the clock. …Just like the Jews did in Dresden, I remember it well. They put on a gold star…then toddled down to the Himmler’s office to collect $4,000/week in pay.

    ““The National Press Club is deeply concerned by the Defense Department’s decision to remove certain media organizations from their dedicated spaces in the Pentagon,”

    That’s odd. Since they only swapped names, which they’ve been doing for decades. How can that be an offense? Because all media is equal but “Some media organizations are more equal than others.”

    “Venezuela has agreed not only to release six detained Americans,”

    Are those the six idiot mercenaries running a violent coup there? F those guys. I mean, if they’re not, fine, but…
    “after authorities accused them of planning to kill President Nicolás Maduro”

    “dropping a US reward offered for Maduro’s capture in return for Caracas taking back thousands of [Venezuelan] migrants from the US, shipping more oil to American Gulf Coast refineries”

    Sounds like Venezuela won this round. They got rid of Tren for years, and by invading America openly, now Trump is negotiating merely to get BACK to normal by erasing the hit-job and having them sell oil at good prices. U.S. lost – but that’s essentially bc Biden let them all in on purpose to create the weakness.

    Big Picture: Trump signed Rubio because we are dealing with LATIN America. …We are removing from Ukraine, etc. Europe is cut to the wind. We don’t care. Bigger picture? “We have always been at war with Estasia, Eurasia, Oceana”

    “Now add the threat of Guantanamo. It’s ugly, but it may work.”

    Yes, my complaint “It’s not big enough” was not the point. These are very rough guys who DGAF. So the only way to communicate with them is not that they’ll be deported, but FAFO here and you’ll 99% more likely to 20-to-Life in Gitmo. Don’t test me. What he’s counting on is that this communication will tip behavior and he won’t have to jail the full measure, just let some high profile heads roll. …This is a good bet.

    “including over 1,100 in a single day.”

    Sounds impressive, but with 10M here, that’s only 365,000 a year. Not even close. He won’t even return 1M at this rate. Biden 9-0 score so far.

    “Pete Hegseth is talking about US military action against cartels inside Mexico.”

    This will happen.

    • Mexico Announces Retaliation Against US (RT)

    Look out! They might send an armed population of millions, trained soldiers and bloodthirsty gangs!

    And she’s not wrong….Fast and Furious proves she’s completely correct. But gurl Puh-lease. You think the guns are coming from Minnesota? And the grenade launchers they have? Is that from Ma Kettle in Oklahoma too? They’re from the CIA, yes, but trafficked out of further South like Brazil, or I’m a taco.

    “• Canada Strikes Back With Tariffs (RT)

    So!!! Happy!!! Please, Justin, you’re a dream come true!!! Like Ukraine, please, please never stop going tit for tat with a nation 10x your size! It’s going to work out WONDERFULLY! If they do this, they really will end up as U.S. states bc there’ll be nothing left of you.

    “Is that him, or the PAC?
    • Musk Sank $288 Million Into Trump Campaign – WaPo (RT)

    WaPo, so “We Make S—t Up”. For instance, reporting on Chik-fil-a. Remember? Out there in the gestalt for 10 years now? Yeah, Chik-fil-a NEVER DID A THING. Ever. Not once. A PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL, who WORKED for them made a political donation once. That’s it. How dare he? Still going on today. So with those standards of journalism and discourse, just assume it’s all made up until the evidence trickles in.

    Zuck and getting out the (Biden) vote, anyone? That never happened, but if it did happen it was a good thing. And also your fault.

    “• Can Trump Make A Peace Deal With Putin? (SCF)

    Wtf kind of question is this? Yes, he can unconditionally surrender. Other levels yet to be determined, but of course. Because we aren’t in the war that we’re in, they also don’t need a Senate vote to end the war we’re not in. See how that works? See how #AntiLogos, BothNeitherAi for maniacs?

    “Get rid of Zelensky first, then hold elections.”

    How would we do that? Ukraine is an independent country and we’re not in the war. It’s illegal to go around toppling leaders. Surely the UN would not allow.

    “• Orban: US Now Seeks Peace In Ukraine, While EU Wants War To Continue (TASS)

    Sure, exactly nothing will happen to us, but Europe will collapse. So, back-rev that. Who does that say the war was for? It was started because we’d get nothing out of it? How does that logic work?

    ““It is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason.” The Washington Post,

    Odd. We always lied before. WaPo reporting this makes me think it’s true and Russia did do it.

    “• Global Green Spending Is Falling Short of Net Zero Targets (OP)

    Remember when they said they needed ANOTHER $500 TRILLION for this? Ah, good times, good times. That was only a few years ago. And the net energy gain from that would have been zero or less as well. Again, Europe has no energy. Their plan was to make the REST of the world refuse to use energy too. All they needed was to make up the most ridiculous story ever. (then enforce with banking, “Market access” and by destroying US and Russia from within). Boom, world compliance. Except they are such morons that all four legs of that plan misfired. Starting with Green Energy providing nothing, being a net liability. I mean, even if they broke even some countries might have tried it.

    “first time a single orca was captured on camera killing a great white shark.”

    Just you, me, and the camera. ….6 feet away. I don’t see the cameraman from the drone footage. And his supporting ship. Explain?

    #181088
    those darned kids
    Participant

    cuba is a terrorist state?!?!?

    wtf, america is like that dude who thinks everybody else is the asshol problem.

    #181089
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #181090
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #181091
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #181092
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #181093
    Oroboros
    Participant

    As Musk proved with Twitter, even the private section SUCKS at efficiency, it’s not just the government.

    He fired 80%+ of Twitter employees and the company still functioned just fine.

    Take Duh’merican ‘health care’

    Most of it is Private Sector

    Takes 25% of the nations resources and delivers the worst health outcomes in the ‘developed’ world.

    Fire 80% of the people involved and it probably couldn’t do any worse.

    .

    #181094
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Putting the DUH in Duh’merica one child at a time….

    .

    #181095
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #181096
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .
    .
    .
    .

    #181097
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #181098
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Hahahahahahahahahaha!

    So True!

    .

    #181099
    John Day
    Participant

    Yesterday, Dima at Military Summary said that while Ric Grenell was negotiating in Venezuela, a Russian diplomat had also flown there at the same time, like maybe THEY talked, too… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNmdWugn3pQ

    #181100
    zerosum
    Participant

    Don’t Panic. Its only about money.
    Get a better accountant.

    Tariffs are a business expense.
    Tariffs are paid at the border.
    Tariffs are taxes and are deductible expenses.
    Taxes are paid when reporting.
    Therefore, governments will get less revenues from business, not more.
    ————
    • Mexico Announces Retaliation Against US (RT)
    • Canada Strikes Back With Tariffs (RT)
    • Musk Reveals Treasury Has Been Auto-Paying Everyone, ‘Even Known Terrorists’ (ZH)
    • USAID Website and X Account Go Dark (RT)
    • Trump’s Overhaul of Federal Bureaucracy Backed by Recent Survey Research (RCW)

    “interagency consensus.”
    execute their interpretation of U.S. government policy or in other words, “do what they thought was right.”
    bureaucratic resistance interference

    ———–
    • NYT, NBC, NPR, Politico Evicted From Pentagon Press Offices (ZH)

    Mesenger, evictions, lost Monopoly/Legacy no more: “The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media that are seated in this room.”
    ———-
    • Global Green Spending Is Falling Short of Net Zero Targets (OP)
    ————-

    #181101
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Pocahontas Threatens the Donald

    .

    #181102
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The United States of Sugar Cookies

    .

    #181103
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Hunt the Pedo Intel Blobs down Elon

    The Treasury data base is where all the skeletons are buried

    .

    .

    #181104
    Oroboros
    Participant

    One Word:

    MKultra

    “Sen. Ron Johnson suggests the Blackhawk Helicopter INTENTIONALLY slammed into the airliner at Reagan International:

    “It looked like that helicopter purposely ran into the airliner. Did the pilot close their eyes? How can you not see an airplane by International airport?”

    .

    #181105
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #181106
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    *sigh* A lot of the produce around here comes from Mexico. Some could be instead sourced locally, but avocados just don’t set well in the Phoenix area — the trees grow, but no fruit. I’m not looking forward to small avocados at $1 each. We eat a lot of avocados in my home….

    Regarding Cuba and Venezuela…the US needs to stop hating on these two countries simply because their governments are socialist/communist. If we expect the rest of the world to respect OUR form of government (there was a time when it was considered odd and strange), then we need to respect the forms of government in other countries. Yes, there are always groups in every country that don’t have so much power, and are very upset about it, claiming that they are “oppressed.” Just like the government-employed wokesters are having hissy fits in the US at being told to remove pronouns from email signatures may claim oppression, the wealthy capitalists who no longer have power in Cuba and Venezuela claim oppression. Look, oppression is what the Gazans are experiencing — it isn’t just a reversal of economic fortunes or a change in “the rules of the game” that makes the old rules (which benefitted a specific minority) not work any longer. (Now, there are surely some groups and individuals in Cuba and Venezuela that are being minorly oppressed by the governments — but that is the case in nearly every country, including the US, and the people of the country need to address it. This sort of small oppression still does not approach the level oppression of the Gazans by the Israeli government, which is exponentially higher — it does not approach the level of oppression experienced by Donetz and Lugansk from 2014-2022.)

    Venezuela is a tiny country and — let’s be honest — the reason why the US keeps meddling with it is because it has vast oil reserves, not because of its form of government. The Venezuelan government is not compliant to the US — that is why the US keeps meddling. And Cuba? Its natural resources aren’t so great, but it has strategic importance, and when the US snubbed it during the Cold War, it turned to the USSR, and the US is still sore about it.

    #181107
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @oroboros

    I generally like (nay, LOVE) the memes that you post here. They’re generally right on the mark and either enlighten me, give pause for thought or produce a good strong laugh. However, and nevertheless, the one just put up about generalization, abstraction, short Asians and IQ is just plain wrong.

    In fact, the guy who created the text isn’t just wrong, He’s got it exactly backwards. The surest evidence of high intelligence is the ability to discern one thing from another, just as the surest sign of low intelligence is the inability to tell things apart.

    I get the guys point. Abstract reasoning capacity is closely associated with intelligence. To imply that people who point out that failure to differentiate are dumb is, well, kinda dumb. And to conclude that this single action “proves” that they are unable to grasp abstract concepts is also simply not true, because it doesn’t prove anything of the kind. It’s just one very small piece of very inconclusive evidence.

    But the guy really puts a bow on it when he then lumps all such persons into the broad sweeping category of “low IQ”, and unequivocally states that you the reader should do that too. That kind of “logic” is just further evidence of , you guessed it, low IQ.

    #181108
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Cuba as terr’ist (as the speech impaired moron would have said) state.
    Two questions that Amers are incapable of to answer:
    1. What is to you if some country has a different socio/political system, but you are so worked-up about?
    2 Why, after the people foot-voted for preference in which system they want to live in and, technically, made the “West” an ideological winner but not preventing it to stop stomping on the beaten-up “competitor”?

    Could it be that “competitor” in its ideology carries “seed of justice”, if you will, albeit unattainable
    but, just in case, not allowed to “poison the minds” and is drowned in drumbeat that likes of Larry Fink, Bezos….and other “captains of the industry that create jobs” – and while insanely rich and even a bed people are actually your friends?Accompanying brass fanfare runs the theme that likes of Castro, Maduro….. want to reach over the Southern border straight into American heartland and take your “hard earned money”.

    #181109
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    400 Billionaire Elon(((gated))) Musk is the most acquisitive of all acquisitive shits ((go ahead and look that one up Mikey, give you a few moments)) and displays avariciousness 4 standard deviations beyond the mean…..AND yet y’all trust this venal fox should be trusted with his hand in the henhouse of The Treasury.

    You do know there are ppl who can do the job better for free, a collateral duty so to speak. Ask DBS. He knows

    #181110
    those darned kids
    Participant

    all this is totally incongruent:

    # of americans killed in america by rampant somalis in the last 50 years = probably some, but probably fewer than the unfortunate number of high schoolers deceased through gunfire in the same period

    # of americans killed in somalia in the last 50 years. a bunch, i imagine, but most are “swept under certain rugs”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-orders-first-airstrikes-foreign-soil-taking-office

    ““WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!”

    •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

    this is most worrisome. those are the words of a [insert troubling adjective] mind.

    i fear mr trump, through extensive modeling and training, has become what he was portrayed to be over the last eight years,

    AND

    he has also learned what he was “supposed” to do as ¡comandante-in-chief!.

    he

    has

    become (¿the ultimate?)

    A I

    behold! TRUMPBORG

    #181111
    those darned kids
    Participant

    can someone please put that above post in one of them fancy a i picture makers?

    thanks,

    tdk

    (by the way, i meant to write “those MEDDLING kids” as me moniker, but i got the tagline wrong. ruh roh.)

    #181112
    zerosum
    Participant

    Evaluate. Tariffs are a business expense. Tariffs are paid at the border. Tariffs are taxes and are deductible expenses. Taxes are paid when reporting. Therefore, governments will get less revenues from business, not more.

    Interesting thought process! Let’s break it down.
    (Warning: Word salad from copilot)
    Tariffs are a business expense. True, tariffs are costs incurred by businesses importing goods.

    Tariffs are paid at the border. Yes, they are collected at the point of entry into the country.

    Tariffs are taxes and are deductible expenses. Tariffs are indeed taxes, but whether they’re deductible depends on specific tax laws. Typically, tariffs become part of the cost of goods sold and can reduce taxable income.

    Taxes are paid when reporting. Regular business taxes are paid when filing tax returns, usually annually or quarterly.

    Here’s the interesting part: deductible expenses reduce taxable income, which may lower tax liabilities for businesses, thus affecting government revenues. However, tariffs are a direct source of revenue for governments as they are collected at the border. So the immediate revenue from tariffs is certain, while the impact on tax revenues is indirect and depends on business profitability and other factors.

    In conclusion, while the net effect may reduce the taxable income for businesses, the government still gains immediate revenue from tariffs. It’s a bit of a balancing act, not necessarily leading to less overall revenue for the government.

    Impact on Business profits and need to pass on cost to consumers
    When tariffs are imposed on imported goods, businesses face higher costs as they must pay these tariffs at the border. These costs can have several impacts:
    Impact on Business Profits:
    Increased Costs: Tariffs raise the cost of imported goods, reducing profit margins for businesses that rely on these imports.

    Reduced Competitiveness: If businesses cannot pass on these costs to consumers, they may struggle to compete with firms not subject to tariffs, potentially leading to lower sales and profits.

    Supply Chain Adjustments: Companies might need to seek alternative suppliers or shift production domestically, which can involve additional costs and investments.

    Need to Pass on Costs to Consumers:
    Price Increases: Businesses often pass on the higher costs resulting from tariffs to consumers by raising prices. This helps maintain their profit margins but can lead to decreased demand if consumers find the products too expensive.

    Inflation: Widespread price increases can contribute to inflation, affecting the overall economy and consumers’ purchasing power.

    Consumer Behavior: Higher prices might push consumers to look for alternative products or cheaper substitutes, potentially impacting businesses that cannot easily pass on the costs.

    In summary, tariffs can squeeze business profits unless companies successfully transfer the added expenses to consumers. However, this shift can trigger inflationary pressures and alter consumer behaviors, introducing a ripple effect across the economy.

    How do you see tariffs impacting the industries or products you care about?

    cost of tariff will be passed on to gov

    Evaluate. Tariffs are a business expense. Tariffs are paid at the border. Tariffs are taxes and are deductible expenses. Taxes are paid when reporting. Therefore, governments will get less revenues from business, not more.
    Interesting thought process! Let’s break it down.

    Tariffs are a business expense. True, tariffs are costs incurred by businesses importing goods.

    Tariffs are paid at the border. Yes, they are collected at the point of entry into the country.

    Tariffs are taxes and are deductible expenses. Tariffs are indeed taxes, but whether they’re deductible depends on specific tax laws. Typically, tariffs become part of the cost of goods sold and can reduce taxable income.

    Taxes are paid when reporting. Regular business taxes are paid when filing tax returns, usually annually or quarterly.

    Here’s the interesting part: deductible expenses reduce taxable income, which may lower tax liabilities for businesses, thus affecting government revenues. However, tariffs are a direct source of revenue for governments as they are collected at the border. So the immediate revenue from tariffs is certain, while the impact on tax revenues is indirect and depends on business profitability and other factors.

    In conclusion, while the net effect may reduce the taxable income for businesses, the government still gains immediate revenue from tariffs. It’s a bit of a balancing act, not necessarily leading to less overall revenue for the government.

    What are your thoughts on this?

    Impact on Business profits and need to pass on cost to consumers
    When tariffs are imposed on imported goods, businesses face higher costs as they must pay these tariffs at the border. These costs can have several impacts:

    Impact on Business Profits:
    Increased Costs: Tariffs raise the cost of imported goods, reducing profit margins for businesses that rely on these imports.

    Reduced Competitiveness: If businesses cannot pass on these costs to consumers, they may struggle to compete with firms not subject to tariffs, potentially leading to lower sales and profits.

    Supply Chain Adjustments: Companies might need to seek alternative suppliers or shift production domestically, which can involve additional costs and investments.

    Need to Pass on Costs to Consumers:
    Price Increases: Businesses often pass on the higher costs resulting from tariffs to consumers by raising prices. This helps maintain their profit margins but can lead to decreased demand if consumers find the products too expensive.

    Inflation: Widespread price increases can contribute to inflation, affecting the overall economy and consumers’ purchasing power.

    Consumer Behavior: Higher prices might push consumers to look for alternative products or cheaper substitutes, potentially impacting businesses that cannot easily pass on the costs.

    In summary, tariffs can squeeze business profits unless companies successfully transfer the added expenses to consumers. However, this shift can trigger inflationary pressures and alter consumer behaviors, introducing a ripple effect across the economy.

    How do you see tariffs impacting the industries or products you care about?

    cost of tariff will be passed on to gov

    When businesses pass the costs of tariffs on to consumers, they can help maintain their profit margins. However, if consumers push back against higher prices and demand decreases, the government might see a secondary effect: reduced sales taxes or other consumer-related tax revenues.

    Moreover, some businesses might struggle to fully pass on these costs and choose to absorb them instead. This can lead to lower profitability, which in turn means lower corporate income taxes paid to the government.
    So, while the immediate revenue from tariffs goes directly to the government, the broader economic implications can indirectly affect other tax revenues. It’s a complex dynamic that governments and businesses need to carefully navigate.

    why would businesses NOT pass on the tariff cost as a tax deduction

    It’s not that businesses can’t account for tariffs as part of their expenses; they can. When tariffs are paid, they’re usually added to the cost of goods sold (COGS) or inventory value, which ultimately affects the company’s taxable income. Here’s why businesses might not view it as a simple tax deduction:

    Reasons Businesses Might Not Pass Tariff Costs as Tax Deductions:
    Cash Flow Impact: Tariffs are paid upfront at the border. This can create immediate cash flow challenges that might not align with the timing of tax benefits.

    Accounting Complexity: Businesses need to accurately account for tariffs in their financial records, which can add complexity and require additional administrative resources.

    Partial Absorption: Some businesses might absorb a portion of the tariff costs to remain competitive, thus not fully passing the cost on to consumers or deducting the entire amount.

    Market Sensitivity: Depending on market conditions and consumer sensitivity to price changes, businesses might be cautious about raising prices and prefer not to rely solely on tax deductions to offset tariffs.

    Tax Deductions and Business Strategy:
    Indirect Impact: While tariffs can be included in deductible expenses, the immediate impact on cash flow and the need to manage pricing strategies may take precedence in business decision-making.

    Profitability Focus: Businesses might prioritize strategies to maintain profitability and market share over relying on tax deductions that occur later.

    In essence, while businesses do account for tariffs in their expenses and potentially reduce taxable income, the immediate operational and strategic considerations often influence how they handle these costs.

    Why are the MSM not communicating this info

    It’s a good question. The mainstream media (MSM) often focuses on the immediate, tangible impacts of tariffs,
    such as price increases for consumers and potential trade wars. However, the more nuanced aspects of tariffs, like their impact on business expenses, tax deductions, and overall economic implications, might not always make headlines because they can be complex and less sensational.

    Additionally, media outlets have limited space and time to cover stories, so they might prioritize what they believe will engage their audience the most. Complex economic analyses might not always fit that bill.

    Do you think there should be more coverage on these topics, or is it just the nature of media to focus on more immediate impacts?
    (Lying is also not telling the whole truth)

    #181113
    zerosum
    Participant

    .

    #181114
    zerosum
    Participant

    Do your critical thinking skills.
    List of products getting Tariffs is there for accountants to inspect. More list to come.

    You remember the covid19 lies.
    Its happening again.
    Consumer are going to get screwed.
    Business will laugh all the way to the bank.

    #181115
    morongobill
    Participant

    The dancing bats reminded me of Buffalo Bill in Silence of the lambs.

    #181116
    John Day
    Participant
    #181117
    zerosum
    Participant

    https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/blog/impact-of-potential-tariffs-how-to-get-your-business-ready?form=MG0AV3
    Logo – Business Development Bank of Canada – BDC
    The impact of potential tariffs: How to get your business ready
    Published January 31, 2025
    Buyers are usually responsible for paying tariffs.

    Export Development Canada (EDC) has more information on how tariffs work and how they can affect international trade.
    https://www.edc.ca/en/article/how-tariffs-work-for-business.html

    If you export, you will probably want to calculate the potential impact on sales caused by the tariffs imposed to U.S. importers.

    The simplest way to do this is to add the proposed tariff percentage to your current export price. For example, if the tariff is 25%, multiply the current price by 1.25; therefore, a good currently sold for US$100 would now by purchased by your client for US$100 X 1.25 = US$125.

    #181118
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The National Park Service is next in the Crosshairs for reform

    .

    #181119
    Oroboros
    Participant

    This has got to be a Hate Crime or at least some type of culinary desecration

    Make Duh’merica Healthy Again

    .

    #181120
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Woketard World Agenda against the western culture every bit as destructive physical violence.

    Controlling the “Information Space”

    Like burning witches and Tulip Mania

    .

    #181121
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Make Duh’merica Healthy Again

    Just came from the supermarket. Not much different what I’ve seen before and after me on check-out. Ubiquitous Coke is missing in the picture caption.
    People mingle “taste”, which they think “as good” with idea of healthy food.

    #181122
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #181123
    jb-hb
    Participant

    https://images3.memedroid.com/images/UPLOADED197/6777b08a4628a.webp

    #181124
    jb-hb
    Participant

    https://img.ifunny.co/images/c71ae30e24cfa23bf64a69259d3f56e61973d281b4f421182956dd2f38d6915c_1.webp

    #181125
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Your heroes, Steve (doing good) Job(s), and Tim Cook(ing you alive financially) while keeping the change:

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