Mar 082025
 
 March 8, 2025  Posted by at 11:05 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  Add comments


Gustave Courbet The man made mad by fear 1844

 

‘Party of Insanity and Hate’: US Democrats Show Their True Colors (Bridge)
Every Vote for a Democrat Is an Attack on America (Paul Craig Roberts)
Bill O’Reilly Reveals the Dark Future Trump Created for the Democrats (MN)
Bill Ackman Says Democrats Need “Complete Reboot” (ZH)
Dems and Blob Together (James Howard Kunstler)
The Geopolitics of Peace (Jeffrey Sachs)
Trump v. Atlanticism: Understanding Russiagate (One-Legged Parrot)
‘We’re Out Of There’ If Ukraine Doesn’t Want Peace – Trump (RT)
Trump Mulls Pulling US Troops Out Of Germany – Telegraph (RT)
US Business Wants Easing Of Russia Sanctions (RT)
EU ‘Can’t Afford’ To Support Ukraine – Orban (RT)
Trump Calls For ‘Getting Rid’ Of Nuclear Weapons (RT)
Poland Should Have Its Own Nukes – PM Tusk (RT)
Musk Fired-Up About Rand Paul’s Rescission Idea To Slash $500 Billion (ZH)
Putin Ceasefire Conditions Unacceptable To Ukraine (ZH)
Ukraine Cut Off From US Satellite Imagery – Media (RT)
EU Militarization A Deep Concern – Kremlin (RT)
New EU Carbon Market Set to Hit Households and Small Businesses (Kennedy)

 

 

 

 

Golden age

Dore

Trump Putin
https://twitter.com/i/status/1898077744313122915

Elon Rogan

Rogan
https://twitter.com/i/status/1897766932914352450

Nap Mearsheimer

War bonds
https://twitter.com/i/status/1897892858092568692

Pepe

 

 

 

 

I collected a few articles on how people view the Democrats’ future. Bill O’Reilly says it may take 5 elections before the Dems can win one. And well, if you go into an election with Kamala Harris as your main asset, helped along by guys in girls’ locker rooms… (Hate of) Trump has become the Democrats’ sole identity. They even complain that Trump wants to be nice for kids with cancer and brain-damage.

On the other side of the pond, Jeffrey Sachs laments that Europe has no voice of its own, the way it did in the early 1990’s. But it does have that voice: it belongs to Ursula von der Leyen and Kaja Kallas. It’s very much pro-war and anti-Trump and anti-Russia. It’s a voice for which peace is a four-letter word. It’s very eerily similar to that of the US dems.

Europe is on course for a major battle with Trump, and his entire administration. He’s working hard for peace, and they want war. There’s even talk of issuing war bonds. Trump will fight them hard.

‘Party of Insanity and Hate’: US Democrats Show Their True Colors (Bridge)

During Donald Trump’s address to Congress, the president made reference to a young man in the audience who survived one of the worst medical scourges of all time. Yet that distinction could not get the Democrats off their feet. “Joining us in the gallery tonight is a young man who truly loves our police,” Trump began. “His name is D.J. Daniel, he is 13 years old and he has always dreamed of becoming a police officer. But in 2018, D.J. was diagnosed with brain cancer; the doctors gave him five months at most to live. That was more than six years ago.” Trump continued, saying he would grant the young man the greatest honor of them all by asking the new Secret Service director to make him an agent of the US Secret Service. Needless to say, it was not the time or place for political grandstanding.

But the Democratic Party reared its ugly head and refused to stand for the young man who was seated in the president’s guest suite accompanied by his father, who held up his son with a proud smile. Social media quickly lit up across the board, condemning the Democrats. “A terminally ill child with brain cancer is given an honorary Secret Service award and the Democrats refuse to stand or clap for the child,” Trump administration official Ric Grennell tweeted regarding the magic moment between the 13-year-old and the president. “Democrats refused to stand for the brain cancer surviving kid! How awful can one party be?” Outkick founder Clay Travis tweeted. Donald Trump Jr. also blasted Democrats for their silence. “If you can’t stand up and cheer for a kid with brain cancer being made an honorary member of the Secret Service, then you might be a deeply disturbed and f—ed up person!!!” he tweeted.

In fact, one of the times that a Democrat rose from his seat came when Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas broke with decorum and heckled Trump so obnoxiously that he was kicked out of the session by security. Indeed, the Democrats came away from the 99-minute address looking once again as the “party of insanity and hate,” as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dubbed them. Refusing to stand for a young cancer survivor was only one of many clues as to what makes the Democratic Party tick these days. They refused to applaud Trump’s remarks on issues including “the capturing of an ISIS terrorist,” “recognizing only two sexes,” “Americans joining the military in record numbers,” “securing our border,” “pursuing peace in Ukraine,” and “defeating inflation.”

In more than one way, Trump owned the moment. He showed the world why the American people put him back in office by a large margin. In the quest for restoring the American Dream, he is bringing back decency and common sense, putting American interests above those of other nations. The Democrats revealed whose side they are on, and it’s not the American people. And it’s going to take a long time for the Republicans to undo the damage that the Democrats have done to the country under the Biden administration. Illegal immigration for one. Under four years of Democratic rule, the US-Mexico border was left wide open, allowing for millions of illegal aliens – many of them violent gang members – to pour into the country.

Trump also paid tribute to the families of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was murdered by an illegal immigrant last year, and Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and murdered by illegal aliens. Trump noted how the men charged for the 12-year-old’s death were a part of Tren de Aragua, a notorious Venezuelan gang. Trump also honored the family of slain firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was shot during the Republican’s July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump described how Comperatore gave his life to defend his family, who were sitting in the balcony in the president’s guest seating area.

“Corey is looking down on his three beautiful ladies right now, and he’s cheering you on. He loves you. He is cheering you on,” he said. “Corey was taken from us much too soon, but his destiny was to leave us all with a shining example of the selfless devotion of a true American patriot,” he continued. “It was love like Corey’s that built our country, and it’s love like Corey’s that is going to make our country more majestic than ever before.” Once again it became apparent where the interest of the audience lay and it was not on the side of love or compassion. As the right side of the gallery rose in salute to the fallen father, most liberals laid back in their seats.

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“The way Democrat grift works is first appropriate money for some cause; then create a bunch of “charities” to receive the money.”

Every Vote for a Democrat Is an Attack on America (Paul Craig Roberts)

America has only one enemy–the Democrat Party, an anti-American party, an anti-white party, a party of national destruction and replacement of America with a Tower of Babel, a party committed to the destruction of normality and its replacement with Sodom and Gomorrah perversity, an ideological party alienated from the country it is destroying. It uses the taxpayers’ money to attack America. A $375 Billion EPA slush fund handled by John Podesta gave billions of dollars to “charities” founded to collect the money and use it to undermine the United States. The way Democrat grift works is first appropriate money for some cause; then create a bunch of “charities” to receive the money.

The “charities” pay high salaries to the Democrats and their families and friends who created the “charities,” and they use the taxpayers’ money to advance woke issues such as transgender advocacy and operations, drag queen shows for school kids, early sexualization of children, teaching white kids they are racists, and to support media lie machines. Corrupt Democrat judges are rushing to prevent Trump from ending the use of taxpayers’ money to attack taxpayers’ beliefs, values, and lives. NY Post reports that Democrat John Podesta handed out $375 billion in this way. Trump’s efforts to stop this blatant robbery of the US taxpayer is what Democrat judges like Amir Ali, a last minute Biden DEI appointee and a dual citizen, are issuing injunctions to kill.

When we have judges who are dual citizens, whose legal system are they representing? Dual citizenship judges and government officials erode national sovereignty. Under Democrat misrule, what sense does it make to have a military to protect the borders when they are kept wide open for immigrant-invaders? Under the corrupt anti-American Biden regime our country was overrun by millions of invaders while taxpayers were forced to spend trillions of dollars on “national defense” that was used to protect the borders of Ukraine and to expand the borders of Israel. Everywhere in the Western world governments are not only equating illegal immigrants with citizens but also elevating immigrant-invaders above citizens. For example, a Chinese Immigrant-invader became mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. She now tells illegals that Boston is your home. “You belong here.”

And still American citizens vote for Democrats. How can a population this stupid be made great again? The Starmer government in the UK is hatching laws that punish immigrant-invaders with lighter sentences than given to white British citizens, thereby creating privileges for immigrant-invaders in place of equality under law. Skin color trumps equality under law. How can white British citizens accept such insults from “their” government? Clearly, it is not their government. It is their enemy. In the UK there is the scandal of both Labour and Conservative governments refusing for 30 years to stop the gang rape of white British children by immigrant invaders.

In Sweden, Norway, Germany women are not safe from rapists, and the governments do nothing about it because it would be “racist” to hold immigrant-invaders accountable to law. In no European country other than Hungary does the government represent the people. The EU is a joke. NATO is a joke. Whatever is being protected, it is not the ethnic citizenships of the countries. The EU and NATO are in fact enemies of the ethnic populations that comprise Europeans. The facts are hidden by governments and media. As George Orwell said, the purpose of the media is “to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” Western governments have spent decades creating The Camp of the Saints. And their insouciant populations have voted for them. How can a mess this large be cleaned up?

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“When you are hating someone, you lose all perspective, you lose all feeling, you’re consumed.”

Bill O’Reilly Reveals the Dark Future Trump Created for the Democrats (MN)

Bestselling political author Bill O’Reilly says Donald Trump has driven the Democratic Party to the edge of total collapse. On Wednesday night’s episode of Cuomo, O’Reilly laid out exactly why the Democrats are in freefall — comparing their current situation to the collapse of the Republican Party in 1931, when Herbert Hoover’s response to the Great Depression left Americans furious. “I think the Democratic Party is on the verge of collapse. And I liken it to 1931, when Herbert Hoover and the Republican Party basically said to the very suffering American people in the Depression, ‘We’re not helping you. You got to do it on your own. It’s all about self-reliance. We’re not going to give you any safety nets.’ That led to five consecutive Democratic wins. Five,” O’Reilly stressed.

“[It wasn’t] until Dwight Eisenhower, 20 years later, did the Republicans recover. I see the same scenario for the Democrats.” What’s the driving force behind the Democrats’ collapse? O’Reilly pointed to their obsessive hatred of Trump, explaining that it has clouded their judgment so much that they’ve lost all sense of reality and purpose. “What happened [to the Democratic Party]?” O’Reilly asked. “What happened was Trump hatred,” he explained. “And that’s what the headline is of the speech [Tuesday] night. When you are hating someone, you lose all perspective, you lose all feeling, you’re consumed.”

O’Reilly even tied this kind of blind hatred to historical evil. “And I wrote a book, it’s going to be out in September, called Confronting Evil. And these people who did all these terrible things, they all had one thing in common. They hated. They were just haters across the board. That’s what you saw in that chamber last night.” If O’Reilly is right, Democrats could find themselves locked out of the White House for 20 years or longer. It turns out that when your entire platform revolves around hating and opposing Trump, you no longer have a platform worth running on. Good riddance.

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“I would say I’m more optimistic about the economy and the country than I have been in a long time..”

Bill Ackman Says Democrats Need “Complete Reboot” (ZH)

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman called for a “complete reboot” of the Democratic Party, insisting that many of its officials must “resign in disgrace.” Ackman, founder of the hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, made the sharp remarks during a recent interview with Jonathan Boyar on The World According to Boyar podcast. “They really put themselves in a hole. Democratic Party needs a complete reboot,” Ackman said bluntly when asked about the poor state of the party. “The problem is that leadership and people in power generally don’t like to give up power. But this is a case where a lot of people need to resign in disgrace. Party needs a complete reboot. They continue to double down on all of the mistakes and policies that were made before.”

“If I were a member of the Democratic Party, the leadership, I would be saying we love this effort to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in our government. DOJ is great,” the Wall Street titan added. We just want to make sure there are some checks and balances. Please keep us informed as opposed to marching and opposing and telling staff members not to respond to emails, stuff like that. That’s just sort of one of many. I don’t think of myself ever really as a member of a party. I don’t think of myself as a member of the Republican Party. I have had to check a box in order to vote in New York City on occasion. I’ve always been kind of a centrist.” “The Democratic Party has not done itself a service in the last four years and probably longer than that. In terms of the best candidates,” he concluded.

Ackman broke with the Democrats in the 2024 election by endorsing President Donald Trump and has since expressed optimism about the U.S. economy under the new Republican administration. “I’m very bullish on America. I’m kind of bearish on Europe,” the hedge fund manager recently told CNBC. “And I think they need to make some fairly dramatic changes politically and otherwise. One of the more powerful charts, look at the market cap of companies, the number of companies above $500 billion or whatever here versus Europe.” “I would say I’m more optimistic about the economy and the country than I have been in a long time,” he added.

Ackman’s criticism of the Democrats aligns with growing voter dissatisfaction, as many within the party hold it in low esteem. A plurality of voters (40%) believe the Democratic Party has no clear strategy for countering Trump, according to a survey by the liberal firm Blueprint, first reported by POLITICO. Another 24% said the party does have an ineffective plan. “Voters correctly identified that the Democratic Party has lost its way,” said pollster Evan Roth Smith. “The Democratic response [Tuesday] night was more or less a continuation of what we’ve seen from Democrats so far. Which is, there was nothing overtly wrong about it, but it didn’t actually do anything to ameliorate this core issue Democrats face, which is voters aren’t quite sure what we stand for and would like us to get back to the basic principles of the party.”

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“Why be a Democrat if you can’t retire with millions of dollars? Hell hath no fury like a politician exposed!” —Dinesh D’Souza

Dems and Blob Together (James Howard Kunstler)

If the Jacobins of Paris, 1794, had not been bum-rushed to the “national razor,” perhaps they would have acted-out as clownishly in defeat as America’s Democratic Party does right now after their election debacle of 2024. Imagine Robespierre in Harlequin drag riding backwards on a goat over the Pont Neuf to do handsprings and a juggling act in the Parvis de Notre-Dame. Alas, foiled by the guillotine. . . . Now imagine Rep. Al Green (9th Texas Dist) shaking his cane and hollering curses at the rostrum in Tuesday night’s joint session of Congress. Two days later, he carried on again in the well of Congress as Speaker Johnson read out his bill of censure and a motley mob of Mr. Green’s fellow Dems gathered ‘round to sing We Shall Overcome — the once stately Civil Rights movement reduced to abject farce. Such things are really happening.

The Dems’ game has been revealed. The revenue stream for their national wrecking operations is suddenly cut off and it’s game-over. Everybody can see how this worked now. You funnel vast amounts of US taxpayer dollars into Non-Governmental Organizations, NGOs, spin off more NGOs below them, and add extra layers of subsidiary NGOs, and all of them pay their staffs of Dem Party foot-soldiers for do-nothing jobs — leaving plenty of time for riots and real-estate investing — a splendid racket that worked for years to support the insane antics of the Woke-Jacobin revolution. (And you paid for it.) The catch is: an org that gets government money is hardly non-governmental. Wouldn’t you think there’s some law against that? Thus, Exhibit A: in September 2022, Dem luminary John Podesta was put in-charge of a $369-billion fund out of “Joe Biden’s” so-called Inflation Reduction Act, tagged for climate change action.

Conceptualize further: that’s three-hundred-sixty-nine-thousand-million dollars (!), a lot of millions, disbursed among tens of thousands of NGOs and their contractors. It boggles the mind that the government could even manage to cream-off such a fortune out of our nation’s alleged aggregate productivity. It was, in reality, money conjured out of thin air: debt. Before long, you are going to find out where it all went, and the picture will not be a pretty one: Into the NGO laundromat and straight out to Democratic Party members’ bank accounts, one of the greatest grifts in our history. Of course, your grandchildren are on the hook for all the debt behind it. Do you think our DC Federal District judges would serve better presiding over these matters than spending years hunting down J-6 “paraders”?

Without that bonanza of conjured money for laying trips on the rest of us, the Democratic Party has nothing, not a single credible idea, not any plausible leadership, really no reason to exist. It has been for years nothing more than a gigantic grift engine extracting the remaining wealth out of our republic. So, what you are seeing acted out on the DC streets and the well of Congress and on the angst-filled cable news networks is the kind of ghost-dance that attends the death of a great political machine. Buh-bye. . . .

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“This is an edited transcript of Professor Jeffrey Sachs’ speech in the European Parliament at an event titled “The Geopolitics of Peace,” hosted by former U.N. Assistant Secretary General and current BSW MEP Michael von der Schulenburg, on Feb. 19, 2025. The transcript has been edited for clarity and annotated.”

The Geopolitics of Peace (Jeffrey Sachs)

I’ve watched the events very close-up in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine, very closely for the last 36 years. I was an adviser to the Polish government in 1989, to President Gorbachev’s economic team in 1990 and 1991, to President Yeltsin’s economic team in 1991 to 1993 and to President Kuchma’s economic team in Ukraine in 1993 to 1994. I helped introduce the Estonian currency. I helped several countries in former Yugoslavia, especially Slovenia. After the Maidan, I was asked by the new government [in Ukraine] to come to Kyiv, and I was taken around the Maidan, and I learned a lot of things firsthand. I’ve been in touch with Russian leaders for more than 30 years. I also know the American political leadership close-up. Our previous secretary of treasury, Janet Yellen, was my wonderful macroeconomics teacher 52 years ago. We have been friends for a half century.

I know these people. I say this because what I want to explain in my point of view is not second-hand. It’s not ideology. It’s what I’ve seen with my own eyes and experienced during this period. I want to share with you my understanding of the events that have befallen Europe in many contexts and I’ll include not only the Ukraine crisis, but also Serbia 1999, the wars in the Middle East, including Iraq, Syria, the wars in Africa, including Sudan, Somalia, Libya. These are to a very significant extent the result of deeply misguided U.S. policies. What I will say may well surprise you, but I speak from experience and knowledge of these events. These are wars that the United States has led and caused. And this has been true for more than 30 years now. The United States came to the view, especially during 1990-91, and then with the end of the Soviet Union, that the U.S. now runs the world, and that the U.S. does not have to heed anybody’s views, red-lines, concerns, security viewpoints, international obligations, or any U.N. framework. I’m sorry to put it so plainly, but I do want you to understand.

I tried very hard in 1991 to get *financial help for Gorbachev who I think was the greatest statesman of our modern time. (*This became part of a project led by Professor Graham Allison at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government with Gorbachev economic advisor Grigory Yavlinsky and published in the book Window of Opportunity: The Grand Bargain for Democracy in the Soviet Union, Pantheon Books, 1991.) I recently read the archived memo of the National Security Council discussion of my proposal on June 3, 1991, reading for the first time how the White House completely dismissed it, and essentially laughed off the table my plea for the U.S. to help the Soviet Union with financial stabilization and with financial aid to make its reforms. The memo documents* that the U.S. government decided to do the very minimum to prevent disaster, but just the minimum.

(*Richard Darman, at the OMB, put it this way. “In defining the U.S. interest, we need to be somewhat Machiavellian. What is the minimum amount necessary to mollify a regime with which we wish to work on other ma]ers? In other words, what is the bare minimum to keep things moving? I don’t believe we need to worry about the U.S.S.R.’s decomposition. If this is our internal understanding, then we can go ahead publicly.” Later, Darman adds, “I want to seem serious while not fooling ourselves. We have enough ingredients already for a good PR package.” Emphasis in original.) They decided that it’s not the U.S. job to help. Quite the contrary. (See my paper “How the Neocons Chose Hegemony Over Peace in the Early 1990s.”)

When the Soviet Union ended in 1991, the view became even more exaggerated. And I can name chapter and verse, but the view was we [the U.S.] run the show. [Dick] Cheney, [Paul] Wolfowitz, and many other names that you will have come to know literally believed this is now a U.S. world, and we will do as we want. We will clean up from the former Soviet Union. We will take out any remaining Soviet-era allies. Countries like Iraq, Syria, and so forth will go. And we’ve been experiencing this foreign policy for now essentially 33 years. Europe has paid a heavy price for this because Europe has not had any foreign policy during this period that I can figure out. No voice, no unity, no clarity, no European interests, only American loyalty.

There were moments where there were disagreements and, I think, very wonderful disagreements. The last time of significance was 2003 in the lead-up to the Iraq war when France and Germany said we don’t support the United States going around the U.N. Security Council for this war. That war was directly concocted by Netanyahu and his colleagues in the U.S. Pentagon. (See Dennis Fritz’s book, Deadly Betrayal: The Truth about why the United States Invaded Iraq, OR Books, 2024.)

I’m not saying that it was a link or mutuality. I’m saying it was a war carried out for Israel. It was a war that Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith coordinated with [Israeli leader] Benjamin Netanyahu. And that was the last time that Europe had a voice. I spoke with European leaders then, and they were very clear, and it was quite wonderful to hear their opposition an unacceptable war. Europe lost its voice entirely after that, but especially in 2008. What happened after 1991, and to bring us to 2008, is that the United States decided that unipolarity meant that NATO would enlarge somewhere from Brussels to Vladivostok, step by step.

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Atlanticism=Deep State=Blob.

Trump v. Atlanticism: Understanding Russiagate (One-Legged Parrot)

Last month, President Trump bypassed Europe, NATO, and the entire postwar order and opened a conversation directly with Russia. In doing so, he defied Washington’s established foreign policy paradigm that had been in place since the 1940s. “They” always feared he would go there, and “they” tried to prevent it by a never-ending string of investigations, prosecutions, and impeachments. The “they” Trump defied is called on X “the Deep State” which is a colorful nickname. It has a real name, too: “Atlanticism,” after the Atlantic Charter entered by Roosevelt and Churchill. It is the “A” in “North Atlantic Treaty Organization.” In high-toned treatises, Atlanticism described a form of empire built upon American hegemony. The moral justification was ostensibly based on American benevolence, a projection of virtue that relied on propaganda. It’s closest historical analog, though, was colonialism.

The lands occupied by Atlanticist ideology traded in American currency. NATO existed to deter the Soviet threat. But it was also an occupying army. There were not colonial governments. There was, instead, strict control of information, puppet governments, and election interference. When Trump questioned the continuing need for NATO in 2016, institutions with a financial stake in Atlanticism performed a Cold War soft power operation against him. Western intelligence agencies mobilized to connect Trump to Russia, leading to a series of political dirty tricks. Russiagate was not merely bureaucratic haplessness masquerading as foreign intrigue. It was, instead, the sclerotic postwar spy apparatus targeting an American presidential candidate and then president.

In 2024, Trump won the presidency again, in part out of the electorate’s disgust over the dirty tricks. Upon returning to the Oval Office, he deliberately refocused foreign policy on the American hemisphere. He Truth Socialed aggressively about Canada, Mexico, Greenland, and Panama, sending his new Secretary of State on his first diplomatic mission to negotiate better rates on passage through the Panama Canal after threatening to take it back by force. President Trump was steering the ship of state back to the foreign policy of The Monroe Doctrine, in which America’s focus was on problems in its own hemisphere – and not on “democracy” movements abroad. The new Trump administration made clear that Ukraine would not be invited into NATO, which would have obligated the United States to send troops half a world away to fight Russia. There is credible reporting that President Trump has also started to deny the NATO proxy warriors in Ukraine encryption codes needed to attack Russia with drones and missiles.

With no American cavalry coming to save the day and President Trump cultivating an independent diplomatic relationship with Russia, the most rational path in Ukraine is to negotiate a ceasefire. Whatever its intentions – and they were arguably altruistic – Atlanticism became a Frankenstein monster that took its initial design to its rational conclusion that threatened existence. We scratched the surface of what that means in USAID, Soft Power, And How Solzhenitsyn Predicted This Crisis. The following is based on a compilation of essays written between 2016-2020 connecting Russiagate to Atlanticism. It includes links to original sources and some updates. To understand the malevolence of Atlanticism, it is essential to grasp the wild details of the putsch it attempted in President Trump’s first term. Following is the craziest story ever told in the history of American politics. Now that President Trump has closed the circle by embarking on a new foreign policy, it is relevant to revisit the story from beginning to end with the benefit of additional context.

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“I have to know that they want to settle [the conflict]..” “If they don’t want to settle, we’re out of there, because we want them to settle.”

‘We’re Out Of There’ If Ukraine Doesn’t Want Peace – Trump (RT)

Washington will cease all assistance to Kiev if it fails to demonstrate its commitment to reaching peace with Moscow, US President Donald Trump has said. Trump also stated that Russia has been more cooperative than Ukraine when it comes to a potential settlement of the conflict. “I have to know that they want to settle [the conflict],” Trump told journalists on Friday in response to a question about US military aid to Kiev. The president said that he did not currently know if Kiev was truly committed to peace. “If they don’t want to settle, we’re out of there, because we want them to settle.”

Washington has so far had more productive communication with Moscow on a potential resolution of the conflict, even though Russia “has all the cards” and Ukraine has none, the president said. Trump added that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin does want peace. “I think we’re doing very well with Russia,” the US president said, adding that he was “finding it more difficult … to deal with Ukraine.”

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“Trump is angry that they [Europe] appear to be pushing for war..”

Trump Mulls Pulling US Troops Out Of Germany – Telegraph (RT)

US President Donald Trump is considering withdrawing American troops from Germany and redeploying them to Hungary, The Telegraph reported on Friday, citing a person close to the White House. The US has more than 35,000 personnel stationed in dozens of bases in Germany. The NATO member also hosts American nuclear weapons. Trump reportedly could remove the troops or move them elsewhere, as his administration has split with many of its allies in Europe over how to deal with Russia and resolve the Ukraine conflict. While the US president stressed the need to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible and blamed Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky for the hostilities, the UK and many EU members reaffirmed their commitment to back Kiev.

“Trump is angry that they [Europe] appear to be pushing for war,” a source told The Telegraph. US national security spokesman Brian Hughes told the newspaper that “while no specific announcement is imminent, the US military is always considering the redeployment of troops around the world to best address current threats to our interests.” Trump has repeatedly accused Germany of not spending enough on its own defense, while his adviser, tech billionaire Elon Musk, openly endorsed the opposition Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the recent parliamentary election. Vice President J.D. Vance also ruffled feathers last month when he criticized Germany’s free speech laws during a high-profile conference in Munich.

Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor-designate, has argued that Trump deliberately escalated his contentious February 28 meeting with Zelensky in the Oval Office. After winning the election last month, Merz stated that Germany could no longer rely on the US for its defense. “We must now show that we are in a position to act independently in Europe,” he said. Earlier this week, Hungary blocked a joint EU statement promising more military aid for Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban sided with Trump during his public spat with Zelensky. “Today, President Donald Trump stood bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest,” he wrote on X.

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“..US companies lost more than $300 billion by leaving the Russian market..”

US Business Wants Easing Of Russia Sanctions (RT)

The American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (AmCham) has called on the US government to ease the sanctions on Russia, according to its chief, Robert Agee. He argued that restrictions in aviation, investment, and banking are harming both American and Russian businesses. In an interview with the Russian business daily RBK on Friday, Agee welcomed the dialogue between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, after a three-year hiatus in ties due to tensions over the Ukraine conflict. In light of US signals that it is willing to normalize relations with Moscow, the AmCham is preparing a report for the US government outlining challenges for American businesses in Russia, as well as exploring possibilities for lifting some of the sanctions, Agee said.

One of the AmCham’s main requests is to remove sanctions in the aviation sector, including the supply of spare parts and technical support, with Agee stressing that the restrictions in this field mostly affect ordinary citizens. He also called for the lifting of investment restrictions, which he said have prevented American companies from expanding their operations in Russia. Banking sanctions remain another key concern, as they have made cross-border transactions increasingly difficult and costly, the AmCham head said. He also criticized the sanctions on imports of luxury goods, including American cosmetics, to Russia, calling them counterproductive and harmful to US companies that have lost market share.

While these represent the chamber’s top priorities, Agee noted that other issues also require attention. He did not rule out the return of US businesses to Russia, adding that companies which maintained a skeleton presence in the country or retained buy-out options would have an easier time re-entering the market compared to those that completed an asset sell-out when emotions were running high. Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, earlier estimated that US companies lost more than $300 billion by leaving the Russian market. Agee suggested that this figure could be correct, depending on the metrics that were taken into account.

Agee’s comments come after Reuters reported earlier this week that the White House had directed the State and Treasury departments to draft proposals for easing certain restrictions on Russia. The potential relief could reportedly apply to specific Russian entities and individuals, including some business leaders. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Moscow has yet to receive official statements from Washington regarding sanctions relief, while stressing that Russia has always viewed Western sanctions as “illegal.”

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“..more nations are beginning to realize that there are no available funds..”

EU ‘Can’t Afford’ To Support Ukraine – Orban (RT)

The EU does not have the financial capacity to continue aiding Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned in an interview with Kossuth Radio on Thursday. He argued that the bloc’s budget will be stretched too thin if it moves forward with all its planned initiatives, including another support package for Kiev, financing its EU membership bid, and ramping up European defense spending. Orban’s remarks came after he vetoed the EU’s proposed €30 billion ($32 billion) military aid package for Ukraine at an emergency European Council meeting earlier in the day. Despite support for the proposal from the other 26 EU leaders, Orban argued that it effectively greenlighted the continuation of the conflict.

In his interview, the prime minister outlined the mounting financial burdens the bloc faces if it does not change course. First, he said, the EU would be responsible for funding Ukraine’s military, as “the Ukrainians don’t have a penny for that.” Second, Brussels would have to bankroll the Ukrainian government, including salaries and pensions, because “Ukraine, as a state, is not functioning.” Third, the bloc would need to fund Ukraine’s EU membership bid, with no clear estimate of how much it could cost. Lastly, Orban pointed out that the EU has approved the ReArm Europe initiative, which calls for up to €800 billion in new defense spending. “If I add all this up, there isn’t that much money in the bloc. So this won’t work like that… I think the bottom line is that we can’t afford this,” Orban stated, urging EU leaders to reconsider their stance on Ukraine.

The bloc’s Ukraine support package is expected to be revisited at the next EU leaders’ summit later this month. However, Orban suggested that even then, the proposal is unlikely to pass, as more nations are beginning to realize that there are no available funds. Orban’s remarks come as EU leaders grow increasingly concerned over the impact of US President Donald Trump’s recent policy shift on Ukraine. According to media reports, the White House has frozen new military aid to Kiev, a move Trump had been warning about for weeks. He also urged European nations to take on greater responsibility for Ukraine’s war effort and their own defense, repeatedly stating that he wants the conflict to end as soon as possible so he can focus on domestic policy.

Orban

Read more …

“We’re all spending a lot of money that we could be spending on other things that are actually, hopefully, much more productive.”

Trump Calls For ‘Getting Rid’ Of Nuclear Weapons (RT)

US President Donald Trump has said all countries should abandon nuclear weapons instead of engaging in an arms race. “It’d be great if everybody would get rid of their nuclear weapons,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, according to Anadolu. “Russia and us have by far the most. China will have an equal amount within four or five years, and it would be great if we could all denuclearize, because the power of nuclear weapons is crazy. It’s crazy.” “I would very much like to start those talks,” Trump added. “Denuclearization would be incredible.” Last month, Trump argued that a nuclear arms race would be wasteful and that the US has “no reason” to build new weapons. “We’re all spending a lot of money that we could be spending on other things that are actually, hopefully, much more productive.”

The comments come amid tensions between Russia and NATO, as well as Trump’s trade war with China. In a speech earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron labeled Russia “a threat to France and Europe” and suggested that France could extend its nuclear umbrella to protect other EU member states. The Kremlin has condemned his words as “highly confrontational.” During Trump’s first term in office, the US withdrew from the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed in 1987 by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. Russia has condemned the withdrawal and denied Washington’s accusations that it was secretly violating the accord.

In 2023, Russia announced the deployment of its nuclear weapons in Belarus, citing tensions with NATO. A year later, President Vladimir Putin revised Russia’s official nuclear doctrine, lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons. Moscow also warned that it could resume nuclear tests if the US does it first. In January, the US announced the deployment of upgraded nuclear bombs in its bases in Europe. According to media reports, the Pentagon also plans to station nuclear weapons in the UK. Russia has urged all nuclear powers to act responsibly. “We have never started discussions on what to do with nuclear weapons or whether they can be used,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in December. “There can be no winners in a nuclear war, which is why it should never happen.”

Read more …

“..Tusk also called for Poland to withdraw from international treaties banning anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions.”

Poland Should Have Its Own Nukes – PM Tusk (RT)

Poland should pursue the acquisition of nuclear weapons, possibly through participation in France’s nuclear umbrella initiative, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said. On Friday, Tusk told the Polish parliament that the country needs to access advanced military capabilities to bolster national defense. His remarks come after French President Emmanuel Macron proposed earlier this week extending France’s nuclear deterrent to other EU members in order to address the supposed “threat” posed by Russia. According to Tusk, Warsaw is already having “serious discussions” with Paris about the nuclear umbrella idea. “Poland needs to pursue the most modern capabilities related to nuclear weapons as well as modern unconventional weapons,” he stated.

Warsaw does not care about being criticized over its military buildup and will take whatever steps it deems necessary to strengthen its defense, the prime minister declared. Tusk also called for Poland to withdraw from international treaties banning anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions. If enacted, this would allow the Polish military to reintroduce such weapons into its arsenal, despite widespread international opposition to their use. On Wednesday, Tusk urged the EU to ramp up military spending in order to outpace Moscow in an arms race, suggesting on X that “Russia will lose it like the Soviet Union 40 years ago.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also recently called for a significant increase in EU defense spending, further reinforcing the trend toward military expansion.

Moscow has vehemently condemned Tusk’s recent statements, stressing that Russia will not engage in any sort of arms race. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that the “confrontational, even militaristic” rhetoric coming out of Paris and Warsaw was regrettable. Russia has repeatedly rejected claims that it poses a military threat to any European countries. President Vladimir Putin has dismissed such suggestions as “nonsense” being perpetuated by EU leaders to scare their populations and justify larger military budgets. Calls for more defense spending in the EU come as US President Donald Trump has urged European NATO members to play a larger role in ensuring their own defense. At the same time, he has also criticized the idea of an arms race and suggested that all countries should completely get rid of their nuclear weapons.

Read more …

“Rescission offers a means by which presidents can collaborate with Congress to cancel previously-appropriated spending..”

Musk Fired-Up About Rand Paul’s Rescission Idea To Slash $500 Billion (ZH)

Seeking to codify spending cuts pursued by his Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk held a closed-door lunch with Republican senators on Wednesday. Musk was said to be “elated” with Sen. Rand Paul’s recommendation to make the cuts stick with a relatively expeditious budget-slashing technique called “rescission.” The approach could guide DOGE cuts around federal judges who consider executive-branch-initiated spending cuts as exceeding constitutional authority. Rescission offers a means by which presidents can collaborate with Congress to cancel previously-appropriated spending. Enabled by Title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the rarely-used process starts with the president sending a special message to Congress, providing specific details about which budgetary authorities he wants to rescind.

With Republicans holding a narrow 53-47 Senate majority, one of the most attractive aspects of rescission is that it doesn’t require 60 votes — a simple majority suffices to grant the president’s wish. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley told reporters that Musk was “elated” with Paul’s proposal: “I think he didn’t realize it could be done at 51.” According to South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham, it was the first time Musk had heard of the rescission process. He said Musk reacted by triumphantly lifting his arms into the air. The approach promises to immunize DOGE spending cuts from federal judges who are skeptical about the executive branch’s power to cut spending that was duly authorized by Congress. This week has seen two major developments that demonstrate the strength of that judicial headwind:

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court rejected the administration request that it negate a lower court’s temporary injunction against Trump’s freezing of almost $2 billion in foreign aid. In effect, the ruling compels the White House to re-open the spigots, as directed by Judge Amir Ali. On Thursday, a Rhode Island US District Judge indefinitely blocked President Trump’s freeze on federal grants and loans, arguing in his ruling that the White House had “put itself above Congress” and undermined democracy. Rescission is an alternative to “impoundment,” by which presidents unilaterally delay Congressionally-directed spending. First used by Thomas Jefferson, the method was restricted by the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA) after Democrats felt President Nixon was abusing it. Trump has called ICA “a disaster of a law” and vowed to “do everything I can to challenge [it] in court, and if necessary, get Congress to overturn it.”

However, as noted above, the same law provides the opportunity for rescission, which means Trump can use ICA to his advantage. Up to this point, Trump has pursued impoundment, but Paul says that increasingly looks like a dead end. Pointing to the Supreme Court’s fresh ruling against the administration, Paul said, “My message to Elon was, let’s get over the impoundment idea. Let’s send it back as a rescission package, because then we’ll get … 51 senators, or 50 senators [plus the tie-breaking vote of Vice President JD Vance] to cut the spending.” That’s not to say rescission will be a layup. The move was attempted once during Trump’s first administration, only to be derailed by two nay votes from Republican senators. One of them, Maine’s Susan Collins, now chairs the Appropriations committee (the other, Richard Burr, left office.) Last time around,

Collins said she felt rescission took too much power from Congress — despite the fact that the rescission process itself springs from an act of Congress. Paul suggested that Trump will need to push harder than he did in 2018: “We lost that battle. But I don’t think they tried very hard. I don’t think they came and lobbied us. I don’t think they came and talked to us.” Paul told reporters that the lunch discussion with Musk focused on the concept rather than nailing down dollar amounts. However, Paul said the White House and Republican legislators should strive to slash at least $100 billion and perhaps up to $500 billion from a budget that’s currently around $7 billion — or about 23% of GDP.

Talking to Reason last month, leading deficit-Hawk Paul scoffed at critics who claimed DOGE’s initial several-billion-dollar saving opportunities were insignificant against the backdrop of such a huge budget: “Why would we still not start with the most egregious stuff and get rid of it? Ultimately, how do you get to better spending? You get better people in government, or you give them less money. I don’t think we can really expect to get better people, less bureaucrats in government….The only way you get less waste is to give them less money to spend.” Now, Paul is working hard to put up numbers that will silence critics on the right — and trigger wailing and gnashing of teeth on the left. More power to him.

Read more …

Been obvious for 3 years. But make impossible demands, and you keep the war going…

Putin Ceasefire Conditions Unacceptable To Ukraine (ZH)

The game of headline pong is firing on all cylinders this morning, because moments after stocks slumped and oil spiked after Trump threatened new tariffs on Russia (even though virtually every possible product and service out of Russia is already sanctioned and tariffed by Western nations), Bloomberg reported the opposite, claiming that Putin is “willing to discuss a temporary truce in Ukraine, provided there is progress toward a final peace settlement” citing Russian sources. Algos read “temporary truce” and immediately slammed oil, the same oil they had spiked just an hour earlier after Trump’s threat. The only problem is that they did so before reading the rest of report which basically said… well, nothing new at all, to wit:

In the first signal of a positive response from President Vladimir Putin to US counterpart Donald Trump’s call for a ceasefire, the offer was conveyed at last month’s talks in Saudi Arabia between top Russian and American officials, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing internal policy. In order to agree to a cessation of hostilities, there would have to be a clear understanding about the framework principles of the final peace accord, two people with knowledge of the matter said. … and the punchline: Russia will insist in particular on establishing the parameters of an eventual peacekeeping mission, including agreement on which countries would take part, said another person familiar with the issue.

Russia has said it won’t accept the presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian soil, rejecting a proposal by European countries to put together a “coalition of the willing” to help monitor any peace accord. It doesn’t object to countries such as China that have been neutral in the conflict deploying forces to Ukraine, the two people said.In other words, this is about as actionable as Zelensky saying he will resign as president the moment Ukraine enters NATO, which of course is a non-starter to Russia. Likewise, Russia’s “conditions” for a ceasefire are completely unacceptable (at least as of this moment) to Europe. And just to underscore this, Russia on Thursday rejected a Franco-British plan for a partial one-month truce covering air and maritime operations including a halt to strikes targeting energy infrastructure.

The details emerged as the US and Ukraine plan to meet in Saudi Arabia next week for their first direct talks since Trump’s Oval Office bust-up with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week. US special envoy Steve Witkoff said the meeting aims to reach “a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire.”Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has overturned US policy on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to try to bring a rapid end to the three-year-long war that’s Europe’s worst conflict in 80 years. He held phone talks with Putin last month and the pair agreed to hold a summit, though no date has been set yet. Trump abandoned US support for Ukraine’s eventual entry into NATO, and his top officials said it was unrealistic to expect a return of all Ukrainian territory seized by Russia since 2014.

After the confrontation with Zelenskiy at the White House, Trump paused military aid to Ukraine and has suspended some intelligence-sharing with Kyiv, shocking European allies who say the US risks rewarding Russia’s aggression in starting the February 2022 invasion. Putin has repeatedly brushed aside Trump’s bid for a quick halt to the war. During his annual news conference in December, he said: “We don’t need a truce — we need peace: long-term, durable, with guarantees for the Russian Federation and its citizens.”

Earlier: US and Russian delegations have in the last three weeks had two rounds of ‘successful’ face-to-face talks, but President Trump is trying to keep up the pressure on Moscow, also as preparations are reportedly moving fast toward a landmark Trump-Putin bilateral meeting. Trump sent a strong warning and message on Friday, writing on Truth Social, “Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED.” Of course, there are already far-reaching sanctions on Russia’s banking sector, but the threat of more punitive action to come on top of what Biden put in place was accompanied by a warning to get to the table before it’s “too late”. “To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late,” Trump added. This message seemed also geared toward building or maintaining leverage. These “large-scale” sanctions would be on top of an already significant and unprecedented sanctions regimen applied as a result of the Ukraine war.

Yet Trump plainly spoke the reality during last Friday’s meeting with Zelensky at the White House – stressing multiple times that Ukraine has “no cards” to play. Indeed as far as battlefield momentum goes, Russia holds all the cards. Much of the international media has been focused on back-and-forth statements on the diplomatic front, but the Kremlin has continued proclaiming consistent gains in the Donbass area. As for the latest TASS reports Friday:Russian troops liberated four communities in the Donetsk region over the week of March 1-7 in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday. “Battlegroup Center units improved their tactical position and liberated the settlement of Andreyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic… Battlegroup East units kept advancing deep into the enemy’s defenses and liberated the settlements of Skudnoye, Burlatskoye and Privolnoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the ministry said in a statement.

Overnight also saw more major Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. This included more drone assaults. Russia’s defense ministry newly states that “Last night, the Russian Armed Forces delivered a combined strike by air-launched, sea-and ground-based long-range precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles on facilities of gas and power supply infrastructure of Ukraine’s military-industrial sector. The goal of the strike was achieved. All the targets were struck.” As for potential new Russia sanctions, the timing is a bit ironic and Moscow is likely to pass over it in silence, seeing in it a ‘bluff’ toward building up negotiating leverage. After all Trump actually started the week by drawing up options for sanctions relief on Russia. He’s doing a carrot-and-stick approach for both the Moscow and Kiev sides, it appears. The Kremlin is unlikely to take this new threat very seriously.

Read more …

“..the restriction had been introduced “in response to an administrative request.”

Ukraine Cut Off From US Satellite Imagery – Media (RT)

Ukraine has lost access to US satellite imagery after American space technology company Maxar blocked Kiev’s use of its services, a local media outlet reported on Friday. The move follows Washington’s recent decision to freeze military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Ukrainian media outlet Militarnyi has claimed that several anonymous Maxar users have confirmed that they have been denied access to the service. The company has reportedly explained that the restriction had been introduced “in response to an administrative request.” The outlet noted that the limit appears to apply to both government and private users, adding that the request cited by the company likely refers to US President Donald Trump’s order to cease all intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

Maxar, according to Militarnyi, has been one of the leading providers of high-resolution commercial satellite imagery to Ukraine’s armed forces who used it to track the movements of Russian troops, assess battlefield conditions and damage to key infrastructure. The US company has not yet confirmed the alleged restriction of services. The report comes as Washington has halted the delivery of billions of dollars worth of military aid to Ukraine, while the CIA has confirmed that intelligence sharing with Kiev has been suspended. The decision to freeze military support for Ukraine follows last week’s heated meeting between Trump, US Vice President J.D. Vance and Zelensky at the White House. During the exchange, Trump accused Zelensky of ingratitude and “gambling with World War III” by refusing to seek peace with Russia.

The Ukrainian leader was asked to leave the US capital and return only when he was ready for serious negotiations. On Wednesday, during his address to the US Congress, Trump claimed that he had received a letter from Zelensky in which he had apparently agreed to come to the negotiating table in the near future in order to work towards a peace agreement. Moscow has welcomed Washington’s suspension of military aid to Kiev, noting that such steps could potentially encourage Ukraine to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict. At the same time, the Kremlin has expressed cautious optimism about Zelensky’s supposed U-turn on negotiations with Moscow, noting that the Ukrainian leader has yet to lift his legal ban on such contacts.

Read more …

“..Macron claimed on Wednesday that Russia poses a direct threat to France and the entire EU. He echoed von der Leyen’s calls for a significant increase in defense spending..”

EU Militarization A Deep Concern – Kremlin (RT)

The Kremlin has condemned the EU’s plan to increase defense spending across the bloc, calling it a path towards confrontation that hinders peace efforts with Ukraine. During an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday, EU leaders endorsed a €800 billion plan to “rearm Europe” proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. ”The European Union is actively discussing its militarization, specifically in the defense sector,” the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Friday. The measures are “primarily aimed at Russia, which is, of course, a matter of deep concern,” he added.

French President Emmanuel Macron claimed on Wednesday that Russia poses a direct threat to France and the entire EU. He echoed von der Leyen’s calls for a significant increase in defense spending to counter perceived danger posed by Moscow. Macron’s comments adhered to the conventional Western narrative portraying Russia as the unprovoked aggressor in the Ukraine conflict and claiming that Moscow has ambitions of conquest in Ukraine and beyond into EU and NATO states. Russia has repeatedly and categorically denied the claims. Moscow will however, take measures to safeguard its security in response to the bloc, Peskov has warned.

“The kind of confrontational rhetoric and confrontational plans that we are now seeing in Brussels and in European capitals strike a seriously discordant note with intentions to find a peaceful resolution in Ukraine,” Peskov added. Russia and the United States launched negotiations last month to try and settle the Ukraine conflict, sidelining the EU. The move sparked condemnation from the bloc. Moscow has argued the EU’s aggressive stance made it unfit to take part in peace talks. Trump has also reportedly halted American military aid to Ukraine, leaving Brussels jostling for funds to support Kiev. Moscow maintains that Western aid prolongs the war without altering its outcome.

Read more …

Borrow ¢800 billion for warfare, and then make life much more expensive. Golden.

New EU Carbon Market Set to Hit Households and Small Businesses (Kennedy)

The European Union’s new emissions trading system, expected to take effect in 2027, is set to hike prices for home heating and transportation, research firm BloombergNEF says in a new report. The new EU Emissions Trading System for buildings, road transport, and small industry, dubbed ETS2, is scheduled to become fully operational in 2027. ETS2 will cover and address the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fuel combustion in buildings, road transport, and additional sectors, mainly small industry not covered by the existing Emissions Trading System – EU ETS. “So far, emission reductions in those sectors have been insufficient to put the EU on a firm path towards its 2050 climate neutrality goal. The carbon price set by the ETS2 will provide a market incentive for investments in building renovations and low-emissions mobility,” the European Commission says.

Although it will be a ‘cap and trade’ system like the existing EU ETS, the ETS2 will cover emissions upstream. This means that it will be fuel suppliers, rather than end consumers such as households or car users, that will be required to monitor and report their emissions. User may not pay directly, but fuel suppliers are likely to pass on the higher costs due to the carbon emissions trading. Two years after the 2027 launch, the price of CO2 could jump to as much as $161 (149 euros) per metric ton in 2029, according to BloombergNEF’s analysis. This would be more than double the current price of CO2 under the existing EU ETS trading system for emissions from industry and power plants.

The carbon price in EU ETS2 could hike costs for road transportation by 27%, while bills for home heating could spike by as much as 41%, BNEF’s analysis has found. “Ambitious targets and high costs risk making households and small businesses the losers,” the report reads.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Statins

 

 

Kory

 

 

Wifi

 

 

Paws

 

 

Parrot
https://twitter.com/i/status/1897986664590348732

 

 

Gazelle

 

 

Fountain

 

 

Kaprekar
https://twitter.com/i/status/1897991996620370205

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle March 8 2025

Viewing 36 posts - 1 through 36 (of 36 total)
  • Author
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  • #183778

    Gustave Courbet The man made mad by fear 1844   • ‘Party of Insanity and Hate’: US Democrats Show Their True Colors (Bridge) • Every Vote for a D
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle March 8 2025]

    #183780
    chooch
    Participant

    #183781
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    Here’s a big one, another monumental step toward Peace and Tranquility. Come to think of it. Whatever happened to Tranquility? Even The Verbose One rarely mentions Tranquility anymore.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-admin-axes-400-million-grants-columbia-university-over-antisemitism-inaction

    (((They))) got this Whole Task Force. My god!

      Members of the US Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, including the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Education, and the US General Services Administration,

    No DOGE for you ((plural form of you)) Task Force…transparently. Jeaus!
    Where there’s a will there is always away or is it a way???

    There’s no mention of DOGE, Musk or Big Balls yet. Look out Columbia. Fuck ’em. They wait-listed my kid Go. To. Hell. No matter who takes you there, Semites or antisemites.

    No doubt, Linda, no doubt.

    Linda:

      Since October 7, Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment on their campuses – only to be ignored by those who are supposed to protect them,” stated Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

    Here it’s written often that Israel is unfairly conflated with Jewish and Jewish unfairly conflated with Israel. Yet, SecEdu Linda McMahon exercises her Zionist bonafides, right, without mentioning Zionism’s role in her, his, and their decision to have an October 7th or protest thereof.

    Onward…”chaos” and its twin sibling “anarchy” ride with The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

       The review follows reports of “chaos” and “anti-Semitic harassment” on campus since Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023.

    While The Russia special operation in The Ukraine continues against The Ukraine, where no mention is ever made of Anti-Christian Bigotry’s role in provoking 61.8% of Russia’s population or Orthodox Christian white guys to kill several hundred thousand of 74.4% of The Ukraine’s population of Christian white guys.
    How do dey do dat time and again?

    That’s an awkward sentence.
    Dying is awkward too…..

    ….but Linda McMahon is on it and Big Balls can’t be too far behind.
    DOGE, uber alles!
    There’s probably no anti-Christian bigotry there or else we’d read about it here and in Linda’s press releases, daily

    #183782
    zerosum
    Participant

    TAE/RIM found Words of insight/wisdom from many bloggers

    • ‘Party of Insanity and Hate’: US Democrats Show Their True Colors (Bridge)

    Democrats: Peace is a four-letter word. Hate & Anger is their main motivator.
    “When you are hating someone, you lose all perspective, you lose all feeling, you’re consumed.”
    obsessive hatred of Trump
    The Democratic Party has lost its way, it no longer represents the people, its all about secrets and lies.

    ————-
    Trump; decency and common sense, working hard for peace, and they want war.
    President Trump has closed the circle by embarking on a new foreign policy,
    • ‘We’re Out Of There’ If Ukraine Doesn’t Want Peace – Trump (RT)
    Washington will cease all assistance to Kiev if it fails to demonstrate its commitment to reaching peace with Moscow.
    • Trump Mulls Pulling US Troops Out Of Germany – Telegraph (RT)
    ———–
    “..more nations are beginning to realize that there are no available funds..”

    • EU ‘Can’t Afford’ To Support Ukraine – Orban (RT)
    ————-

    DOGE is battling a Tower of Babel, ancient perversity, Sodom and Gomorrah.

    Under the corrupt anti-American Biden regime our country was overrun by millions of invaders while taxpayers were forced to spend trillions of dollars on “national defense” that was used to protect the borders of Ukraine and to expand the borders of Israel.

    It boggles the mind that the government could even manage to cream-off such a fortune out of our nation’s alleged aggregate productivity.
    It was, in reality, money conjured out of thin air: debt.
    ————–
    “Rescission offers a means by which presidents can collaborate with Congress to cancel previously-appropriated spending..”

    • Musk Fired-Up About Rand Paul’s Rescission Idea To Slash $500 Billion (ZH)
    ———–
    • The Geopolitics of Peace (Jeffrey Sachs)

    … what I want to explain in my point of view is not second-hand.
    It’s not ideology.
    It’s what I’ve seen with my own eyes and experienced during this period.
    I want to share with you my understanding of the events that have befallen Europe in many contexts and I’ll include not only the Ukraine crisis, but also Serbia 1999, the wars in the Middle East, including Iraq, Syria, the wars in Africa, including Sudan, Somalia, Libya. These are to a very significant extent the result of deeply misguided U.S. policies.
    What I will say may well surprise you, but I speak from experience and knowledge of these events.
    These are wars that the United States has led and caused.
    And this has been true for more than 30 years now.
    The United States came to the view, especially during 1990-91, and then with the end of the Soviet Union, that the U.S. now runs the world, and that the U.S. does not have to heed anybody’s views, red-lines, concerns, security viewpoints, international obligations, or any U.N. framework.
    I’m sorry to put it so plainly, but I do want you to understand.
    ————
    I wonder WHY. Looking for more info.
    https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1897991996620370205?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1897991996620370205%7Ctwgr%5E70fd45ebe4c6519b1b0ebbdf49fa40dc6ed34e2b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theautomaticearth.com%2F2025%2F03%2Fdebt-rattle-march-8-2025%2F
    The uniqueness of 6,174, also known as Kaprekar’s constant
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6174
    ————-

    #183783
    zerosum
    Participant

    Suddenly, the MSM and Ukraine are reporting that Russia is “Bombing the Hell out of Ukraine”
    Trying to say,” It’s all the fault of Trump for not helping.”

    #183784
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Trump. Pause:

    So is that a ceasefire? Sort of. It’s a good-faith effort on our part even if Ukr, EU are going around it.

    So much on this last week, they tried 50 things, but one was (and related to the non-existent ‘resources’ where we learned the $500B value was invented by Zelensky) but the whole thrust, the end state, was a ceasefire, agreement, where if Russia does ANYTHING, EVER, then the U.S. attacks them and they automatically go into NATO.

    Sirs, we are trying to have a DEAL here. You don’t get a deal by advancing your plan and insulting their intelligence. You have to GIVE something. That did not happen of course, because it’s FECKING RETARDED. And bloodthirsty, which Europe is demonstrating now. Ok, they look serious, how long before “reality” catches up with them making bombs and bullets? As usual they’re making a lot of 5-star catered committee meetings, who’s going to tell them they have no chemical precursor industry?

    The plan was always to NUKE them. Go straight to nukes. First strike. 0-to-Genocide in one. That’s why they don’t have anything.

    “Trump is overriding the entire establishment structure right now to bring peace in Ukraine. Russia was aiming for a complete surrender but is now willing to negotiate. But the opposition are hurdles are numerous as the attacks on Trump will keep being”

    From all the hysterical clickbait videos yesterday, “End of the World!!!” Peace Breaks out. “Terrifying Scramble” as Peace Breaks Out. Must Attack Trump!!! …To Stop Peace Breaking out.

    Elon, explaining what literally everybody knows. Like he’s a smart guy or something. They’re corrupt? Like Maine, make $50M first year? Who knew?

    “No, it’s just a bunch of friends you f**king idiots. We do each others podcasts. They’re trying to figure this out.”

    Genius! And Rogan IS on the Left. They don’t have “Friends” on the left? They need this thing where they don’t ruthlessly and instantly backstab each other.

    “On the other side of the pond, Jeffrey Sachs laments that Europe has no voice of its own, the way it did in the early 1990’s. But it does have that voice: it belongs to Ursula von der Leyen and Kaja Kallas. It’s very much pro-war and anti-Trump and anti-Russia. It’s a voice for which peace is a four-letter word. It’s very eerily similar to that of the US dems.”

    It’s inexplicable, isn’t it? It’s the “Orientation” I call it. It’s either Up, to God, or …elsewhere, but basically that means Man, they are “humanists.” This is associated with say, the Masons and the Enlightenment, on the good side. …But if you have only Man as your reference point, then morality is pinned to nothing. This decays rapidly but at least within a generation. The aspirations of a man-based world are so high and so genuine (while some, the…let’s call them “Satanists” who DO believe in God but reverse it know all along) and logically, there are no flaws with the system, so they keep doing it. Socialism is a man-based, “Science”-based system for example. On Paper there’s no reason it shouldn’t work and work better. That’s just too compelling to intellectuals, the kind of people who are active, persuasive, and like to get things done. So what they get done is killing everyone. …And this tiny cadre that rides at the top knows it.

    Is your orientation Up? Or Down? That is, is it SELF focused, Ego? Or are you small and humble, grasping how small your limits are? It doesn’t have to be God. It can be Nature. It can be the Math of Complex systems. But you have to admit you’re an idiot and Egos can’t do that.

    “• Every Vote for a Democrat Is an Attack on America (Paul Craig Roberts)

    If only that weren’t true, and it hasn’t always been so. It’s only at the end-state here that it becomes both true and apparent.

    NY Post reports that Democrat John Podesta handed out $375 billion in this way”

    Again, that’s $1,000 per American on this ONE thing. This ONE theft. You think that could propagandize a few people to go insane with that? What’s so amazing is how well we resisted it. So if this is only ONE, how many others? Was it $10,000 per person thrown at us? And for 10, 20, 60 years? Uh, yes? Warren Commission, Church Committee?

    “And still American citizens vote for Democrats.” Do they though? Remember us counting how many off-the-cuff votes are probably illegal, like 20 Million, pretty easily proven?

    “ How can a population this stupid be made great again?” Kind of a long question. I see this all the time “This will never happen, if there is a hollowing out, if there is a “Thucydides Trap”, that’s it, it’s over!” No, things run in cycles. All these nations came back. So you CAN, if you want, stop. Obviously people recover. We’ve had geez like 5 Great Depressions, many worse than the 30s?

    We’ve had Utopian Religious manias several times. In the 1770s, 1840s, 1880s, 1960s, all is shows is that the author doesn’t know any history. Can they recover? Sure. But those times didn’t demonstrate any magic bullets about reforming them. Those Hippie Cults broke up and became what, and how? Well, like this:

    “Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.” 1841 book, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

    And all this time…the River flowed, from the Romans, to the Kings, to us.

    (Speaking of Copeland, I saw him on a drumming channel and he said, uncharacteristically, that he just does something different each time. He has a hard time remembering what was done on the recording at all. Interesting approach, but I guess someone would be in that category)

    In the UK there is the scandal of both Labour and Conservative governments refusing for 30 years to stop the gang rape of white British children by immigrant invaders.”

    Since England, being consumed with the DOWN Orientation, is Godless, Nihilistic, and therefore deathly suicidal, is STILL refusing to stop the gang rapes. They are posting WHITE mug shots to point out that “Ackshullly,” it is all WHITE guys doing this. Falsely, if you hadn’t guessed. They were indeed criminals and not AI so that’s a pleasant change, but like one raped a horse and that’s not the sort of thing we’re talking about here. Some passed photos and that’s not the sort of thing we’re talking about here. We’re talking about RAPE. GANGS. RACIALLY. motivated. No equivalence at all, and England is going to go down with the ship defending it.

    …And I used to think this “Self-hating X” was a myth.

    “In Sweden, Norway, Germany women are not safe from rapists, “

    Not safe from Rapists? They’re not safe from BOMBS.

    ““When you are hating someone, you lose all perspective, you lose all feeling, you’re consumed.”

    It’s your overall life orientation.

    ““What happened [to the Democratic Party]?” O’Reilly asked. “What happened was Trump hatred,” Just, Hatred. Remember, IT’S NOT TRUMP. They hate US. He’s just in the way. That’s what being that sort of religious fundamentalist and extremist MEANS. Dried up, joyless, loveless, nagging scolding, lemon-sucking church ladies. Tammy Fae Baker looks like a free-love flower child compared to them. You’re outlawing JOKES?

    YOU WENT FURTHER THAN CROMWELL for God’s sake.

    Democratic Reboot: They’re still talking about it, but you see the Party of Old White men again in their DNC head voting, and also put up Hogg as their stirring young blood. And that was WITH them calculating everybody’s race to two digits of representation. The Base, who I’m listening to now, ALSO has no idea, as they are 50% Mao Communists, who as first act of power will burn it all down. Good sales! I’m sure America will love that! If you get in, you’ll kill us? Shut up and take my money! The others are 1) There’s nothing wrong, you just need to vote right and DO WHAT YOU’RE TOLD. 2) We hate everyone, and Trump too 3) We need a change, but I don’t know what and 4) Twenty flavors of “how do we do something practical on the ground” which are all dislocated from each other.

    …That’s not covering their unending ethnic hatred for EVERYONE, Muslims in MI, or white people, or Jews, Cubans, African immigrants, black boys with cancer or whatever. ANY protest or action that has a SINGLE one of these dips present flies right off the rails, so they can’t even March Uselessly™ anymore. I got nothing. I think I said that six months ago, with a Pool video. There’s like literally no way to glue these pieces together. I can’t scrap two and pile the rest, can’t 50-50, can’t start with and exciting, viable core, nothing. It’s going to have to evolve out of itself over time. Essentially what O’Rielly, Carville are saying.

    “When the Soviet Union ended in 1991, the view became even more exaggerated. And I can name chapter and verse, but the view was we [the U.S.] run the show. [Dick] Cheney, [Paul] Wolfowitz, and many other names that you will have come to know literally believed this is now a U.S. world, and we will do as we want.”

    This has a different character when you realize that Reagan ENDED the Cold War, by not Winning it. That was the White Hat’s plan at that frightening time, to get the toys away from a Dulles-like CIA who was CONSTANTLY feeding fake intel to Presidents to make them push the Button. And we know of like 3 near-launch situations, including that sub off Hawaii that sunk on launch. This was right after they all knew the CIA took out Nixon right after taking out St. John. Reagan and the White Hats expended everything to END this escalating standoff, including torching the budget. By changing the rules and NOT winning it, which made eternal enemies of Cheney, Rummy, and the “Crazies in the Basement” Papa Bush and the Neocons. …Problem being, they’re not stupid and are going to figure it out, and no one lives forever…especially when they live in the same house as HW. What are the odds of “Sudden onset dementia” drugs? AFTER another assassination. But HW was the CIA head, I shouldn’t be suspicious like that. What have they ever done? I mean, what did he do after except say NWO on camera 100 times?

    Anyway, I’m sure Russia realized they were sort of cornered, and COULD probably continue, chose not to and re-aligned internally to end the Soviet plan, which wasn’t working out. Who knew? Maybe someday real Socialism will be tried. So seeing the White Hats on our side, they did what they did, to return to being a NORMAL European country, pick themselves up, and so on. NOPE. The Neocons made a desperate rush out of BOTH parties – where they were pretty strong in either – and did what we now know. Quite probably the USSR would have done something else if they had known, but too late. And so seeing that, they then wrested power away from THEIR people, and THEIR White Hats consolidated in secret (probably mostly ex KGB) people inside. And picked Putin, who the West enthusiastically approved of.

    But getting control of the ship – one, broken ship — is not like taking on the now-united Anglo HyperPower. But, being Russian, they shrugged, went to work, and kicked our -sses with one broken ship. So here we are today, with Cheney going down on the dumbest, most pointless acts ever (J6/Kamala), and Russia being able to level all Europe while drinking tea.

    Sachs brings in Israel? It’s not “Israel”. They’re the Khazars. This is their homeland. This is their old score to settle. If you think they’re Jews, they’re Semites, you won’t understand anything at all. And that’s relevant right now as they’re literally saying they want to set up a literal Israel II in Ukraine. …Using racist, Jew-hating Azovs, you fools? Yes, using that. That is to say, they’re not Jews. Their people never met Moses. They never lived in the Middle East for a single hour until 1948. They are entirely unrelated to the Roman Jews.

    “Trump is angry that they [Europe] appear to be pushing for war..”

    I don’t think “Angry”? “Angry” happens when you’re surprised? Nothing could be more predictable. They like the “Furious” “unhinged” “Bizarre” as adjectives when Trump orders a taco. He’s not angry, he’s probably as bored to tears as I am.

    • Trump Mulls Pulling US Troops Out Of Germany – Telegraph (RT)

    More than mulling, we made actions on the ports there to pull out of Poland too. This is where “We’re Invading CANADA and Greenland Gaahaaaaah!!!!!!” …while moving Not. One. Man. No. We are NOT doing that, because WHEN you do that, troops move. You fecking infantile blubbering blobs. In Germany? He IS moving men, ships, positions… That doesn’t mean it’s over, but it’s the very first step of it being “Reality”.

    We need Greenland (‘s permission) to put our missiles on that are right now in Germany. That’s the other part where we ACTED.

    “• US Business Wants Easing Of Russia Sanctions (RT)

    Show of good faith, like shutting off our satellite data. Russia may have to give something first though.

    “• EU ‘Can’t Afford’ To Support Ukraine – Orban (RT)

    There’s no such thing as “Money”. They “can” print the “money” and tank the currency. Because: Europe, even THAT is too complicated as the ECB isn’t like the Fed and needs buy-in from member states, I forget the details right now. But in theory if Europe – or what seems now to be ONLY Northern Europe – no Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal – wants to, they can TRY to borrow it all by printing with the ECB buying all the bonds these nations issue.

    They could get to €8,800B Euros. None of that will matter a tiny, tiny bit, as they have no steel, no rubber, no chemicals, no neon, no titanium, etc…

    Okay suppose they BUY all that stuff from us and we let them. We’re on a deal with Russia and that would be bad blood, but suppose we sold them everything up to 1995, sadly outdated and useless. What would Europe BUY it with? If they go “war footing” then there are no more domestic retail goods to trade to us with. You want to buy a VW and Audi when Germany may not exist and no parts for 10 years? They need the retail goods as trade to get the other stuff, but if those factories are lit, there are no Factory Part II to build the military goods. Even if they HAD it, the Euro would spiral ever-down, and U.S. would then buy Europe’s Bud and Europe’s Harley and Europe’s Disney at fire-sale unless they totally won against Russia. …Which they can’t, for eleven more reasons I can’t get to.

    Like Ukraine, Europe really needs to know, Hey, we can’t win this. We’ll have to go underground. See you on the flip side, 30-40 years from now. Nope. They ‘can’t” (they would and will collapse, right now) but they also won’t, because they are psychotic retards devoid of reality, locked in an air-tight fart tower.

    I mean, Orban, etc is telling them the very MILDEST stuff. All Britain wants is NOT TO BE RAPED. And no, they are the enemy, imprisoned on sight. They’re being arrested for THINKING THOUGHTS, in their home, too close to an live abortion.

    “The war in Eastern Europe Is a stupid war that only benefits those who aren’t willing to fight”

    No, they need an excuse to DEFAULT. That’s the only thing that matters. Soros has already told us, they will reissue “Perpetual” bonds, that is, bonds that never pay. Honest! They only pay interest, never principle. Armstrong points out, what’s the difference? Government never pay, never intend to, and always default anyway. This is just being honest about the theft.

    “US President Donald Trump has said all countries should abandon nuclear weapons instead of engaging in an arms race.”

    I mean, Obviously what every Hitler says. And cutting army 50%. …Those nukes almost certainly don’t work anyway, so I don’t care. Oreshnik makes them obsolete, so So What?

    “• Poland Should Have Its Own Nukes – PM Tusk (RT)

    Tusk has lost his mind or actually just admitting that he lost it in childhood. He said

    “Europe will have no trouble defeating Russia in EVERY capacity.”

    Oh, so not just winning but SUPER-Winning? Breathtaking.

    Recission = Recession. Well, a big problem. GDP is de-facto all government spending. That’s it right now. But LOWER GDP could lead to GREATER Citizen happiness. Like, GDP was half in 1980, you think people were more satisfied then, letting their kids out to play on bikes like in “Stranger Things”? And it wasn’t all that great then.

    But the NUMBERS, — you optimize what you measure – is the GDP # and the Stock Market. Lose $1 Trillion you have to think those go down, and in a debt-trap that’s self-enforcing. That’s why Europe has to collapse for us so we can cannibalize them with global money flows.

    HOWEVER: We’re talking about money all WASTED. The other money is used to STOP all Industry. Other money is used AGAINST us. The last category is money we never see, is spent all overseas, probably a Trillion. That could vanish and NOT hit us. So what happens there? This is stupidly, like supercomputer complicated, but suppose you were God and had, I dunno, Grok3 and could measure this. You’re SAVING so much money that you then offset the GDP loss with $5,000 checks. So $5k lost domestically, $5k lost overseas, and $5k lost by crushing industry. You can pay $5k with no income tax and still come out $5k ahead – with jobs – because the $5k overseas zeroes out.

    Getting some kind of drift here? We don’t have, not invented the language to describe this yet. Recission is one means. But it needs to be offset completely, and we don’t have time for a test run. Argentina was our test run, and it’s working, but that’s not much to go on.

    “Russia has said it won’t accept the presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian soil, rejecting a proposal by European countries to put together a “coalition of the willing”

    No Russia is not having a ceasefire so Kiev can rearm. And Europe is so broke they had to recycle the PR “Coalition of the willing” from Gulf I because “Certain Death Suicide Tripwire Force” was kind of too on-point.

    “..Macron claimed on Wednesday that Russia poses a direct threat to France and the entire EU. He echoed von der Leyen’s calls for a significant increase in defense spending..”

    Let me repeat this: the end state for the NATO plan — the EU’s Army – was to NUKE Russia. …But it was supposed to be Russia’s / United States’ fault. Poor wee damsel Europe never dun no wrong. That’s why what are the key words for Europe now? Nukes. Forward deploy French Nukes (which ALSO probably don’t work) into 5 minutes from the border. They were supposed to be AMERICAN nukes, so now they’re scrambling.

    What happens then? Russia NUKES somebody, Kiev. Remember all those power plant false flags, etc? Then Europe goes, “Alas! This is beyond the pale! Why I say sir, why, whyever must ye do this to us yon evil communist empire?” (The Left is LITERALLY still calling Russia “communist” for the love of God make it stop) Then NATO activated, force majeure on bonds, world war, 3B dead, reset.

    #WINNNNNNING!!!!!!

    Deagel level activated. Or just imagine if their bioweapon had worked. At all. That many fewer in Europe, with that less commodity demand, Chinese goods demand. Oops. That’s how bad you suck and how much you glue-sniffers can’t even KILL people competently. Instead, no nukes: Oreshnik.

    Anyway: American Army = NATO = Free EU Army. Now all Europe has to raise their OWN army with their OWN nukes.

    Keep meaning to bring it up, but remember that John Wick 4 movie? We haven’t played out the Chinese side of that yet, but wasn’t that really something? That EuroTrash Black Nobility totally got screwed because he didn’t want to take the honorable measure of fighting his own battles, then that totally backfired on him and he died. Funny, what?

    “• New EU Carbon Market Set to Hit Households and Small Businesses (Kennedy)
    The European Union’s new emissions trading system, expected to take effect in 2027, is set to hike prices for home heating and transportation

    WHO does this hit? The Gilet Jeunes. The RURAL, farmers, poor. But they ain’t mad or nothin’, in France, Holland, UK.

    “Do statins really work ? Who benefits? Who has the power to cover up the side effects ?”

    So far as I can tell, NO. And they have a constellation of side effects so the people don’t realize they’re all sick and dying because of the Statins. WHO can cover that up? It’s not covered up, it’s all out there, officially a decade solidly known, 20 years suspected. They just keep prescribing anyway.

    WiFi: He may be more careful, it’s quite possible SOME wavelengths and types do and some don’t.

    Math, I think this is the interview where he talks about math, if not it’s useful anyway, 2/2 Willie

    Problem, math – and he may say that here – the mid math boy can crush the top math girl. For whatever reason, and I’m sure we all grew up with seeing that. It’s probably related to men seeing patterns that aren’t there, in certain paranoias or conspiracy theories: you can see patterns, but you have to be able to test if they’re projected, not real. I’ve met MilIntel guys who were spooky at this. Like, take the letters of their—electric bill or something, turn them into a magic square, adds up to “Kilroy” or “MKULT” or something that has to be totally irrelevant, coincidental and not there. But that same bent of mind seems to be math as well. So you would have Girl Valedictorians struggling to 4.0 math, but boy valedictorians struggle to 4.0 English. Which is exactly what you see.

    On that, so we need ONLY girls in STEM. …I was just reading the stats, it was like, statistically men are 1/10th of the hirings for their demographic size. So it’s 90% weighted against white men right now. Statistical proof, official numbers. ….But not in Colorado of course, I’m sure no one has seen anti-hiring like that anywhere here. This is like how any boy’s Jr Varsity can beat the woman Olympic soccer team. Way, WAAAAAY worse than anyone expected. So IF you move women into STEM, you have instant incompetency. Because you’re going to get all the competent ones in the first half of the first draft pick. Everyone after that is dismal and you’ve got 80% to go before you’ll hire a man. …So say the stats anyway.

    This is part of the woman pilots problem. Let’s just dismiss all past evidence, that they also have slower reactions, poor spatial relations etc, fine. There are like 10x more male pilots for all sorts of reasons, but basically ex-military. So you’re going to run out of top woman pilots before the first hour of the first day. That’s just math. If you have ANY amount of woman pilots represented, then you almost certainly have an incompetent one who should be replaced by a man with slightly more merit. …Not that there aren’t great female pilots, that’s not the issue; the issue is they’re RARE. So anyway, the usual retards that we can aggregate an ethnic group, and then back-conclude to any individuals, which is Logic 101. Something women also fail, statistically.

    Of course, I just added the liability men have for having a divided, math-mind. I could add dyslexia too. No one cares. Women have to be The MOSTEST BETTER EVAH, at EVERYTHING, ALWAYS, you misogynistic bigot. Making fun of or pointing out men’s failings is just average, below average, natural, universal. You need to hate men MOAR than that, sir. You need to just shout it out, randomly, throughout the day, unprompted.

    “Why Is Elon Musk So Obsessed With ‘Ghost Employees’?
    When Musk took over Twitter, he launched a payroll audit to root out dead workers getting paid. Now, Musk is launching the same campaign across the federal government.” NPR

    Please keep not understanding this. P.S. NPR can’t understand why the government can’t up their funding by a few more million.

    #183785
    Dr. D
    Participant

    AI Vance as the Master-Blaster?

    #183790
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Trump now says he is close to imposing more sanctions on Russia instead

    He, I guess, realized that he can’t talk (down) to Putin. So, despite his boast, he “doesn’t know how to talk to him”.
    It is still early in Trumps presidency, so we should judge each policy after being fully implemented, so let’s not go over our heads with “so much winning”.

    Lover left quadrant of Courbet’s painting belongs, rather, to “40’s” of the XX century. Premature hatch….

    #183791
    Michael Reid
    Participant
    #183792
    Doc Robinson
    Participant

    Kunstler – “Jacobins of Paris, 1794… Robespierre… the insane antics of the Woke-Jacobin revolution.”

    The French Revolution initially rejected religion, preferring what was called the Cult of Reason, which had “scandalous scenes” and “wild masquerades” attributed to its practice.

    However, Robespierre rejected atheism, and was instrumental in establishing the Worship of the Supreme Being as the state religion of France in 1794.

    The French People recognize the existence of the Supreme Being and the Immortality of the Soul.

    They declare that the best service of the Supreme Being is the practice of man’s duties.

    They set among the most important of these duties the detestation of bad faith and tyranny, by punishing tyrants and traitors, by caring for the unfortunate, respecting the weak, defending the oppressed, doing unto others all the good one can, and not being unjust towards anyone.

    Less than three months later, Robespierre was executed, and the Cult of the Supreme Being “lost all official sanction and disappeared from public view.”

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

    #183793
    zerosum
    Participant

    Using a scalpel
    https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-public-service-loan-forgiveness/

    Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness
    The White House
    March 7, 2025
    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

    Section 1. Purpose. In 2007, the Congress established the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program to encourage Americans to enter the public service sector by promising to forgive their remaining student loans after they completed 10 years of service in those jobs while making 10 years of minimum payments.

    The prior administration abused the PSLF Program through a waiver process, using taxpayer funds to pay off loans for employees still years away from the statutorily required number of payments. Moreover, instead of alleviating worker shortages in necessary occupations, the PSLF Program has misdirected tax dollars into activist organizations that not only fail to serve the public interest, but actually harm our national security and American values, sometimes through criminal means. The PSLF Program also creates perverse incentives that can increase the cost of tuition, can load students in low-need majors with unsustainable debt, and may push students into organizations that hide under the umbrella of a non-profit designation and degrade our national interest, thus requiring additional Federal funding to correct the negative societal effects caused by these organizations’ federally subsidized wrongdoing.

    As President of the United States, I have a duty to protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution and our national security, which includes ending the subsidization of illegal activities, including illegal immigration, human smuggling, child trafficking, pervasive damage to public property, and disruption of the public order, which threaten the security and stability of the United States. Accordingly, it is the policy of my Administration that individuals employed by organizations whose activities have a substantial illegal purpose shall not be eligible for public service loan forgiveness.

    Sec. 2. Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The Secretary of Education shall propose revisions to 34 C.F.R. 685.219, Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury as appropriate, that ensure the definition of “public service” excludes organizations that engage in activities that have a substantial illegal purpose, including:

    (a) aiding or abetting violations of 8 U.S.C. 1325 or other Federal immigration laws;

    (b) supporting terrorism, including by facilitating funding to, or the operations of, cartels designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations consistent with 8 U.S.C. 1189, or by engaging in violence for the purpose of obstructing or influencing Federal Government policy;

    (c) child abuse, including the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children or the trafficking of children to so-called transgender sanctuary States for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents, in violation of applicable law;

    (d) engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination; or

    (e) engaging in a pattern of violating State tort laws, including laws against trespassing, disorderly conduct, public nuisance, vandalism, and obstruction of highways.

    Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
    (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
    (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

    #183794
    Noirette
    Participant

    Dr. D surpassed his ‘length of post’ today.

    Debt Rattle March 8 2025

    He makes some good points but it becomes hard to pick and choose, respond.

    #183795
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Sorry, there’s too much going on, and those were philosophical.

    So Robespierre realized they needed God again, and re-inserted him, but sort of a God they made on the spot with no real roots. I’m seeing this right now as every psychologist is popularizing “If only we could just make up a religion as religion is associated with like every good outcome!” …But! Too bad since God isn’t real and Spirit doesn’t exist. Isn’t it like Weinstein or someone associated with him that is ACTUALLY literally trying to do this, invent a new religion that they don’t believe in?

    Newsflash: I’m not going to get off drugs and reject all my sex and hedonism for something that doesn’t exist. Christianity and stuff may be a very mixed bag, but its track record is appropriately long, and the acolytes of it at least say it exists.

    #183796
    jb-hb
    Participant

    Nature is messy rather than perfect – the idea of spoilt perfection or precarious, super fragile “balance” seems to be an obsession for Leftists. Too much citing of “perfection” in nature.

    …when Nature is constantly using total kluge solutions. Good enough. ALMOST good enough, like that.

    Human nature is a kluge solution. It naturally follows that a religion that would fit to that would look kluge-ish.

    Basically you have a haphazard nuclear reactor built on a coal plant built on a steam plant built on a wood pizza oven. Pipes going everywhere. Various necessary considerations based on not only the mission of a nuclear reactor, but safety concerns over its own structure, mechanics.

    Christianity works pretty well with all the safety valves, alarms, and feedback loops. A tangle. Disjointed, messy, hard to believe on a literal basis. But for instance, taking the human instinct for scapegoating and both using it for its intended purpose AND making you feel guilty yet fulfilled for doing so AND making the scapegoat not your inferior, your outcast unclean, but your hero, savior, king. Like a lightning rod grounding the worst of the bad energy.

    How could a simple logical system be expected to work that only accounts for 3 variables when there are thousands, for the right sort of people when there are all sorts of people, for a logical, blank slate human when that does not, has not, and will never exist? The prosthetic, to fit the patient, has to be a certain shape. Which will not be some fine-machined standard BMW or Kimber part.

    You are breaking bones, cutting off circulation, driving people mad with misery trying to force what you think ought to be the logical prosthetic. So…anti human then. Policies that kill all humans. Replace humans. (with other humans? how does that fix anything?) Make humans robots. Anything but give humans and human nature consideration.

    #183797
    jb-hb
    Participant

    For cuteness. Little insignificant positive things are awesome

    #183800
    jb-hb
    Participant

    https://i0.wp.com/www.barnhardtmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img_3034-1.jpg?w=635&ssl=1

    #183801
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    James Kunstler does it again. Smacks the ball over the fence where it hits a light-pole and bounces back into a fielders mitt who throws it back into the game for a neat triple-play. What could have been a bases loaded homer turns into three Outs, one man left on base, no runs, and inning over.

    C’mon Jim! Your description of the Democrat Grift Machine (biggest fraud in HISTORY, Just LOOK at that! Nothing else to see here by golly!) leaves out the part about the Democrats (and their RINO accomplices) being mere middle managers of a much much larger and nastier Franchise. Who’s running the Dems, James? Who’s running the Dems?

    I shouldn’t give Kunstler such a hard time. He does good work. But he just “won’t go there” when the bread crumbs (loaves? Bread Trucks? BAKERIES?) start leading to a centralized, organized, deliberate Cabal. I reckon it’s because so many of the Cabal hail from the same tribe. Don’t worry James! They’re not all J**ish. Just most of them. And they’re not actually Jewish in the first place. They are Satanists. They’re hiding behind the cloak of religion because they’ll get strung up for crow bait if they don’t, but they don’t actually believe a word of it, and they’re no more “Semitic” than my Sainted Irish mother.

    #183802
    jb-hb
    Participant
    #183803
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #183804
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #183805
    Maxwell Quest
    Participant

    Trump now says he is close to imposing more sanctions on Russia instead

    I suspect much of what we see on the surface is for public consumption, while the real work goes on behind the scenes. Putin, who miraculously was able to slowly raise his nation off its knees, while keeping both internal and external enemies in check, is no dummy. He knows the predicament that Trump is in, because he’s been there himself.

    “Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, Here I am, stuck in the middle with you”

    Trump, on the other hand, must say a lot of bizarre things to act as lightening rod for the media (a role he relishes), while his agents pursue his MAGA-ANTI-WWIII-MULTIPOLAR agenda unmolested. He must also throw out the occasional anti-Russian threat to keep the black hats in his own camp off balance, not to mention an unstable population that is still under the spell of eight years of Russia-gate anti-Trump brainwashing. Trump must thread the needle if he wishes to succeed. Attempting to turn the ship of state too quickly could be fatal. Putin knows this, so will play Punch and Judy to the spotlight, while he, Trump, and other sovereigntists, reshape the post-WWII order off stage.

    #183806
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #183807
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    Trust me and take note the following video is not shared to deliberately incite D and the groupies to riot, but rather to illuminate just how much of a difference beard and mascara make in a mank’s life….
    ….and who took a look and listen to that guy abd said to The Howling Wilderness, “that’s our guy!”

    “take note” is solely for The tdk

    #183808
    jb-hb
    Participant

    The beard makes a huge difference for sure!

    One can find various interviews, speeches, debate clips, of him saying “I was wrong” and giving reasons why.

    The past couple decades have really lowered my expectations

    From leaders that mean what they say to leaders who aren’t so retarded or evil or isolated that they have no idea what things to say that would even make sense to normal people

    There was a time when I watched Putin speak extemporaneously for HOURS on various subjects, sounding like he had some kind of grip on reality and morality — as if is all I could say for sure

    Vs the entire west leadership that might as well have been emitting pterodactyl noises – that would have been BETTER than what they were actually saying. In terms of having no grip on reality or morality or how to even properly LIE.

    #183809
    Maxwell Quest
    Participant
    #183810
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    For mikeR’s TruthQwest

    Most *verb* “crs” (verb) what they did to Him, CEO Qwest when he said, “No”. To. Them.
    Well Joseph Nacchio was the only guy who demanded on what legal authority the NSA was conducting surreptitious mass surveillance.
    Lesson learned never be That Canary in the Coal Mine or Canary Mission will get you for antisemitism.

    Thems you know as Bondi, SOTH Mike “closeted” John’sSon, Elise Stefanik and a few person’s high school sweetheart Tulsi who we now know all like that FISA as much as The Dems…namely the recently beatified and yet to be canonized One 1978 era Blessed J Carter.

    https://mises.org/mises-wire/new-administration-same-old-support-fisa

    #183811
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #183812
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Germ

    #183813
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Right

    #183814
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Cap

    Damned greedy Capitalists!

    #183815
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #183816
    jb-hb
    Participant

    https://i0.wp.com/www.barnhardtmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img_3100.jpg?w=540&ssl=1

    #183817
    those darned kids
    Participant

    mr vance is the “right wing” (hahahaha) barack obama, built from the ground up the way disney builds a new “star”.

    mr trump is but a placeholder. mr vance is his minder.

    for now.

    #183818
    those darned kids
    Participant

    #183828
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #183894
    Noirette
    Participant

    … there’s too much going on, and those were philosophical. Dr D posted.

    Yes, you can say that again, Dr D. But this thread is dead I suppose.

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