Saul Leiter Man in straw hat 1955
For those of you interested in the abridged quote about the architect of the Russia hoax, here is the full text of Cicero’s famous assessment of treachery… https://t.co/1CUiTvdOdn pic.twitter.com/HXHctEKdm6
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) July 20, 2025
V
Whoa… look what President Trump just posted. 👀 pic.twitter.com/jNVOrXNLjQ
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) July 20, 2025
Tucker
There are SO MANY reason why Barack Obama belongs in prison
It was Barack Obama and Anthony Fauci who took over the Ukraine biolabs
– Elon Musk just confirmed USAID used US taxpayer money to fund COVID 19 development
– This confirmed why Joe Biden chose the year 2014 for the… pic.twitter.com/ZBoeA6chai— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) July 20, 2025
Bessent
.@SecScottBessent: "What we need to do is examine the entire Federal Reserve institution and whether they have been successful… All of these Ph.D.s over there, I don't know what they do… This is like Universal Basic Income for academic economists." pic.twitter.com/ITzSwQKpjS
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 21, 2025
Fed
Judy Shelton on CNBC: "If American people knew that the Fed was paying billions in 'interest' to foreign banks they would be outraged"
The American people should have known for years: https://t.co/XpBaztiR7L
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 21, 2025
BTC
BREAKING: THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES JUST POSTED A 3 MINUTE EXPLANATION OF #BITCOIN ON SOCIAL MEDIA
ABSOLUTELY EPIC 🔥
— The Bitcoin Historian (@pete_rizzo_) July 21, 2025
Arno
🚨 THEY JUST LOCKED UP THE LAWYER EXPOSING GATES & BOURLA 🚨
🔴 Dutch attorney Arno van Kessel — lead prosecutor in the historic case against Gates, Bourla, Rutte & others — has been thrown into a maximum-security prison.
🗣️ His crime?
“Espousing… pic.twitter.com/TUb2YNy6PW— Jim Ferguson (@JimFergusonUK) July 21, 2025
Tulsi Gabbard has laid it all out, and promises more is on the way. But she can’t arrest or indict anyone. The DOJ and FBI will have to do that. Do Pam Bondi and Kash Patel/Dan Bongino have the same strength and conviction that Tulsi has, and can they defeat the resistance inside their agencies? Which are full of people who worked with the conspirators, and may also be indicted? It’s not so easy. At a minimum, they will need Trump’s full support going forward. It’s encouraging that Tulsi says people in the agencies are coming out of the woodwork.
• Barack Obama Personally Planted the Seeds of the Russia Hoax (Margolis)
When he spoke to the media on December 16, 2016, a week after receiving a classified intelligence assessment that Russian interference had no impact on the election outcome, Obama stepped before the press to quietly plant the seeds of what would become the Russia collusion hoax. With carefully chosen words and insinuations, he laid the groundwork for Democrats, the media, and the intelligence bureaucracy to spend the next four years undermining a duly elected president. Asked directly whether “Clinton lost because of the hacking,” Obama didn’t say “no”—he dodged. “I’m gonna let all the political pundits in this town, uh, have a long discussion about, uh, what happened in the election,” he said, feigning detachment. Then came the bait-and-switch: “We will provide evidence that we can safely provide, that does not compromise sources and methods.”
Translation? Trust us, but don’t expect proof. And that was the essence of the Obama playbook—demand trust in the narrative, even as no concrete evidence was made public. “If we’re gonna monitor this stuff effectively going forward,” Obama insisted, “we don’t want them to know that we know.” He offered a false binary: either trust the CIA and FBI “many of whom, by the way, served in previous administrations and who are Republicans,” or trust the Russians. “Unless the American people genuinely think that the professionals… are less trustworthy than the Russians, then, uh, people should pay attention to what our intelligence agencies say.”
However, based on prior reports, we know that multiple assessments delivered to the administration found no evidence of Russian manipulation of vote counts or election infrastructure, with a September intelligence report and a subsequent Presidential Daily Briefing on December 8 explicitly stating foreign adversaries could not covertly overturn the vote. According to multiple sources familiar with the December 8 briefing, the intelligence community found no evidence that Russia changed any votes or affected the outcome. Their interference amounted to some phishing emails and propaganda—nothing remotely close to altering the electoral result. Obama knew that, yet he pressed ahead with a narrative designed to delegitimize Trump.
Even more revealing was the moral preening that followed. Obama didn’t just imply that Trump had benefited from Russia; he accused Republicans of embracing foreign adversaries out of partisan spite. “You start to see certain folks in the Republican Party and Republican voters suddenly finding a government and individuals who stand contrary to everything that we stand for as being okay because that’s how much we dislike Democrats,” he said. It was a sly way of saying: Republicans who support Trump are betraying America. He drove the point home by alluding to Trump’s campaign rhetoric. “Some of the people who historically have been very critical of me for engaging with the Russians… also endorsed the president-elect, even as he was saying that we should stop sanctioning Russia… and was very complimentary of Mr. Putin personally.”
It was classic Obama—passive-aggressive, vague, with a twist of plausible deniability. There was no outright accusation, but rather a dark insinuation that Trump was too cozy with Putin and that Republicans were complicit. Political operatives, complicit media outlets, and Obama’s own intelligence holdovers would magnify any hint of treason in the coming months. And then came the dagger. Asked directly if Putin authorized the hack to help Trump, Obama chose not to confirm that there was no evidence that there even was a hack. “I think what I wanna make sure of is that, um, uh, I give the Intelligence Community the chance to gather all the information,” he said. But then he added, “Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin.” Again, no direct claim—just a loaded suggestion designed to hang over Trump like a cloud.
Obama framed the issue not as foreign interference but as a weakness in America’s political system: “Our vulnerability to Russia… is directly related to how divided, partisan, dysfunctional our political process is.” The implication? Trump and his voters, by being too partisan, were making America more vulnerable to attack. He even equated conservative media with Kremlin propaganda: “If fake news… is almost identical to reports… through partisan news venues… it’s not surprising that foreign propaganda will have a greater effect.” This wasn’t a press conference. It was the soft launch of a lie that would consume Washington, cripple a presidency, and erode public trust. Barack Obama didn’t just sit back and let the Russia collusion hoax unfold—he helped plant the seeds.
Even after receiving intelligence assessments that confirmed Russia had no impact on the 2016 election outcome, Obama chose to play politics. He stood before the cameras, dodging direct answers, carefully framing the narrative, and hinting just enough to give the media and the Democrats a green light to pursue this fake story. He knew the facts but encouraged the fiction, knowing full well it would cast a shadow over Trump’s presidency.
On whose payroll is Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas?
• New Intelligence Authorization Act Seeks to Curb Power of DNI (CTH)
The response from Chairman Tom Cotton and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to the action of DNI Tulsi Gabbard was predictable. The SSCI has now framed the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 to modify the “responsibilities and authorities of the Director of National Intelligence.” [Section 402] We knew this was coming. The Intelligence Community does not like rogue actors amid their ranks, especially if those people have cross-silo access. The silo system is designed to protect the Deep State. Any entity who can cross reference the inserted information becomes a risk to the enterprise.Senator Cotton cannot directly oppose Tulsi Gabbard without exposing himself. Thus someone, not the SSCI, writes the legislative changes to the Intelligence Community rules and procedures and Tom Cotton simply advances them. That’s the way DC operates.
ODNI was intended to be a lean organization to align America’s intelligence resources and authorities, not the overstaffed and bureaucratic behemoth that it is today.
My bill will return ODNI to its original size, scope, and mission. https://t.co/yERnaeiwbb— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) June 27, 2025
Additionally, Chairman Cotton does not want the DNI to investigate or generate its own intelligence. Cotton demands the ODNI just accept and regurgitate the intelligence Tulsi Gabbard would be given by the other agencies; no independent review of analysis permitted. All of these actions push the Intelligence Community power center back into the CIA and away from the prying eyes of the DNI. That’s the SSCI motive.
WASHINGTON DC – “A top Republican senator is proposing a sweeping overhaul of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, slashing the workforce of an organization that has expanded since it was created in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Under a bill by Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the chair of the Intelligence Committee, the ODNI’s staff of about 1,600 would be capped at 650, according to a senior Senate aide familiar with the proposed legislation. ODNI’s workforce was about 2,000 in January, but National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard has already overseen a reduction of about 20% as part of the Trump administration’s drive to shrink the federal workforce. The reduction in the staff Gabbard oversees could weaken her role in the intelligence bureaucracy.
[…] The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, exposed a failure to share information across spy agencies with catastrophic results. As a result, Congress established the ODNI to oversee all of the country’s 18 intelligence services, including the CIA, and manage bureaucratic turf wars from a complex outside Washington, D.C. What started as a relatively small office under the national intelligence director in 2005 has expanded over the last 20 years to include in-house analysis teams and centers focused on counterterrorism and counterintelligence. Cotton has described the ODNI as a bloated bureaucracy that should return to its original mission of coordinating the work of other spy agencies instead of producing its own reports and duplicating other agencies’ efforts.
“Congress in no way wanted yet another unruly bureaucracy layered on top of an already bureaucratic intelligence community,” Cotton said at Gabbard’s confirmation hearing in late January. “Unfortunately, 20 years later, that’s exactly what the ODNI has become.” Gabbard herself expressed support for downsizing the ODNI’s workforce at the hearing, saying she would work with Cotton and other lawmakers to eliminate “redundancies and bloating.” In the lead up to the election I outlined what the DNI could do with untapped power already given to the office. DNI Tulsi Gabbard has been following a path close to that outline. Now, we see Washington DC responding to that affirmed power structure and actively working to neuter the DNI. A very predictable outcome. The only intelligence silo more corrupt than the CIA is the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that oversees it.
“For nearly a decade, the media, the Democrats, and yes—Barack Obama—have treated the Constitution like a speed bump..”
• The Deep State Is in Real Trouble Now (Margolis)
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard just lit a fuse under the deep state—and it’s about time. Appearing Sunday on “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo, Gabbard dropped a stunning accusation: that Barack Obama personally directed a “treasonous conspiracy” to undermine Donald Trump’s presidency before it even began. And now, according to Gabbard, the floodgates are opening—whistleblowers who were sickened by what they witnessed are starting to come forward.n“The implications of this are frankly nothing short of historic,” Gabbard said. She pointed to more than 100 newly released documents that she says show how Obama, just weeks before leaving office, greenlit a coordinated effort to sabotage Trump—after he was elected. “This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. This is an issue that is so serious it should concern every single American.”
According to Gabbard, Obama and his inner circle simply refused to accept the outcome of the 2016 election. Instead of stepping aside and respecting the will of the people, they weaponized the intelligence community and pushed a phony Russia narrative to kneecap Trump before he even took office. “They decided that they would do everything possible to try to undermine his ability to do what voters tasked President Trump to do,” she said. “So, creating this piece of manufactured intelligence that claims Russia had helped Donald Trump get elected contradicted every other assessment… that said exactly the opposite—that Russia neither had the intent nor the capability to ‘hack’ the United States election.”
That “manufactured intelligence” became the foundation for the infamous Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) that Obama ordered to be published in January 2017—a political hit job disguised as a national security report. Gabbard didn’t hold back in describing just how dangerous that deception really was. “There’s no question in my mind that this Intelligence Community Assessment… contained a manufactured intelligence document,” she said. “It’s worse than even politicization of intelligence—it was manufactured intelligence that sought to achieve President Obama’s and his team’s objective, which was undermining President Trump’s presidency and subverting the will of the American people.” This wasn’t politics—it was a coup. And Gabbard says more is coming.
“Next week we will be releasing more detailed information about how exactly this took place and the extent to which this information was sought to be hidden from the American people,” she said. But the most explosive revelation? The dam may be breaking inside the Intelligence Community. After years of silence, people who saw this treachery unfold are starting to step forward. “We have whistleblowers, actually, Maria, coming forward now, after we released these documents,” Gabbard said. “There are people who were around, who were working within the Intelligence Community at this time, who were so disgusted by what happened. We are starting to see some of them coming out of the woodwork.”
Gabbard says she’s committed to handing over all evidence to the DOJ. “There must be indictments. Those responsible, no matter how powerful they are and were at that time… they all must be held accountable.” She’s absolutely right. For nearly a decade, the media, the Democrats, and yes—Barack Obama—have treated the Constitution like a speed bump. They lied, they manipulated intelligence, and they tried to nullify a lawful election because they didn’t like the result. Now, the truth is starting to catch up with them. And if there’s any justice left in Washington, the days of these Deep-State plotters skating by unpunished may finally be numbered.
“The forces behind this coup have done and will do anything to protect their grasp on illegal & illegitimate power.” — Stephen Miller
• Merry Pranksters on Parade (James Howard Kunstler)
Let’s not pretend that RussiaGate was ever anything but a “treasonous conspiracy” and a “years’ long coup” as bluntly labeled by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on Friday. The election prank launched by Hillary Clinton’s campaign turned into an overt sedition op led by President Barack Obama to overthrow his elected successor, Donald Trump. DNI Tulsi Gabbard went even further and proffered criminal referrals on all this to the US Attorney General. If you think this is not extremely serious, you are not paying attention.
The New York Times was not paying attention in its Sunday edition. Not a word about this historic action on the paper’s website landing page. So now you know why the Harvard law professors, the Martha’s Vineyard chardonnay widows, and all the creative class hipsters of Brooklyn persist in their personal globes of political delusion. Instead, The Times dwelt on the Epstein business, still haplessly hoping to catch the Golden Golem in its golem trap. (Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize committee for rewarding the Time’s RussiaGate coverage is still pending, by the way.)
Meanwhile, DNI Gabbard went on Maria Bartiromo’s Sunday confab and warned of more info releases coming this week. Sooner or later AG Pam Bondi will have to announce that a case based on that referral is under construction. My guess is that this is exactly what Kash Patel’s FBI has been preoccupied with for months with no leaking — you can imagine severe penalties against that. You might also note that there are no higher crimes under our law than treason, as explicitly spelled out in the DNI report. The DNI also stated flatly on Sunday, “There must be indictments.” If you think DNI Gabbard went forward without consulting some crack constitutional lawyers, you’ll be disappointed.
And also meanwhile, Deputy AG Todd Blanche has applied for release of the sealed grand jury transcripts on the 2019 Epstein case from the DOJ’s Manhattan outpost (SDNY). And consider: all that info was completely segregated from the Epstein files that former FBI Director Christopher Wray controlled for years and years, meaning it was not subject to editing and manipulation. You may finally get to see the difference between the “hoax” elements of the story and the actual evidence.
The Russian meddling and collusion story might have seemed like “a thing” to many in the early January days of 2017 before Mr. Trump’s first inauguration. But when they went after the newly appointed National Security Advisor, General Mike Flynn, for having a conversation with the Russian ambassador, you had had to know that something sketchy was afoot. As this blog asked at the time: why are ambassadors from foreign lands here, if not to speak with our government officials? The story was preposterous but, of course, the news media helped run Gen. Flynn out of office and then led the cheering for the DOJ’s malicious prosecution of him afterward in Judge Emmet G. Sullivan’s DC district court.
You also have to wonder if anyone in the news media might be subject to indictment above and beyond the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press. Is there a line between that and acting as an accessory to treason? What did New York Times editor (at the time) Dean Baquet think he was doing, publishing all that patent garbage? Or the producers of CNN and other network news?
The DNI called these activities a “treasonous conspiracy” for a reason. A conspiracy charge that encompasses a skein of persons in a continuous series of crimes extends the statute of limitations to the latest criminal act for all involved. You might also wonder how wide a net the DOJ could cast. Will it include such obvious players as Senator Mark Warner, who schemed to play along on RussiaGate as Vice-chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence? Or then-Congressman Adam Schiff on the House Intel Committee when, for years, he pretended to have “proof” of (i.e., lied about) Trump-Russia collusion? Or FBI Director Wray, who hid evidence, might have tampered with evidence, and apparently lied to Congress about many of these connected matters?
Or Andrew Weissmann, who virtually ran the phony Mueller Investigation as a RussiaGate cover-up op because Robert Mueller was mentally infirm? Or Lawfare Ninjas Marc Elias, Norm Eisen, and Mary McCord who appear liable for 2020 election hackery and the Jan 6 “insurrection” op (including the House J6 Committee fakery afterward) along with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi? Or former AG William Barr, who sat on the Hunter Biden laptop during Trump Impeachment No. 1, when the device was stuffed with exculpatory evidence withheld from Mr. Trump’s lawyers? Or CIA agent Eric Ciaramella, Lt. Col Alex Vindman, and Intel Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who conspired with Rep. Adam Schiff on the “Ukraine phone call” operation that was the basis of impeachment No. 1?
Or DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who botched his investigation (on purpose?) of FISA court criminal irregularities, or Judge James Boasberg who presided over those criminal irregularities and issued many of them? Or Special Counsel John Durham who took years to overlook the salient elements of the RussiaGate coup? Or many other figures involved one way or another. . . McCabe, Strzok, Page, Pientka, Thibault, Baker, Rice, Yates, Rummler, Halper, Pompeo, Haines, Bruce and Nellie Ohr. . . . Are they all rounded-up and sent to court together, like a Nuremberg proceeding? Or do they get their own separate cases? Or will the DOJ only go after the top dogs: Obama, Brennan, Clapper, and Comey?
Finally, consider this: demonizing Vladimir Putin set the stage for the Ukraine War — which was initially kicked off in 2014 under President Obama and his State Department / CIA group led by Victoria Nuland orchestrating the Maidan revolt. The official disclosures now by the DNI should make it clear that Mr. Putin did not deserve the treatment he got for years on end, and that the overall effect of it has been catastrophic for world peace. Half the people in the USA still believing all the manufactured bullshit about Mr. Putin has made it extremely difficult for President Trump to end the war in Ukraine that has killed millions.
RussiaGate had the gravest consequences, and now there can be consequences for the merry pranksters who started it and kept it going, one way or another, for a decade.
“This is all about preparing for war. Everybody should start getting ready for drafts, to start going that way.’ They want war. They are not backing off.”
• 100% Chance of Nuclear War – Martin Armstrong (USAW)
Six weeks ago, legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong was signaling a big turn toward war. Now, Armstrong says, “The chances of war with a nuclear exchange is at 100%. . .. Plan on it, this is coming.” Can the world avoid nuclear war with President Trump’s 50-day deadline given to Russia to make peace in Ukraine? Armstrong says, “You do not threaten your adversary that is at your same level, publicly. If you want to say something like that, you do it privately in a phone call…” “Now, what will happen is Putin cannot possibly sign a peace deal. What, are you crazy . . . to do this in 50 days? We have staff in Germany, and I was told by my staff that a friend 60 years old was told to report to duty.
I had a friend who was at the Vienna Peace Conference, and he called me when it was over and said, ‘Holy crap, this has nothing to do with peace anymore. This is all about preparing for war. Everybody should start getting ready for drafts, to start going that way.’ They want war. They are not backing off.” Armstrong’s computer “Socrates” is signaling war as early as next month. Armstrong says, “Starting in August, this whole thing is going to be escalating up. Our computer has what we call a ‘Panic Cycle’ with our war cycles for 2026. That is not good. I don’t know what the hell Trump is smoking… My computer has been projecting war, and it is projecting war going into 2026. This is not looking good, and Europe will lose. It is as simple as that.”
The other big event that happened that will change the economic system forever is the House just passed the so-called GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins). The bill is now headed to President Trump to sign into law. Armstrong contends that US debt is being sold by big holders of Treasuries, and we have to find a new market for our huge Treasury debt or we default. Treasury bonds will supposedly backstop stablecoins that the banks will control. Armstrong says, “This is really a repeat of 1863. In the Civil War, they issued national bank notes. The banks were told to buy the bonds. They could buy bonds to fund the war, and they were allowed to issue currency backed by the bonds. This is the same exact thing. These stablecoins are the same thing as the 1863 National Bank Act.”
Stablecoins and the GENIUS Act are not good news for financial freedom or any other kind of civil liberty. Armstrong says, “The government will say we don’t like this guy, debank him. The government cannot do it directly. So, they indirectly do it the other way…””I know guys that are gun dealers and bullion dealers, and they have been debanked. This is the world we are going into. They know they are losing power. Europe is far worse. Spain now says you cannot take out $3,000 without government permission. They are trying to eliminate cash. . .. The forms of government we have today are going to collapse. Republics are the most corrupt form of government — period.”
“..a ‘50-day drive’ to arm Ukraine on the battlefield and force Putin to the negotiating table..”
• UK Wants ‘50-Day Drive’ To Arm Ukraine (RT)
UK Defense Secretary John Healey is set to urge Ukraine’s backers to launch a “50-day drive” to arm Kiev, local media have reported. The plan follows US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose secondary sanctions on Russia’s trading partners within 50 days if no progress is made on resolving the conflict. Healey is expected to make the appeal when he leads a virtual session of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) on Monday. The minister is also poised to back Trump’s plan and pledge the UK’s support to “bolster Ukraine’s immediate fight.”
“The US has started the clock on a 50-day deadline for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to agree to peace or face crippling economic sanctions… We need to step up in turn with a ‘50-day drive’ to arm Ukraine on the battlefield and force Putin to the negotiating table,” he is expected to say. Earlier this month, Trump imposed a 50-day ceasefire deadline on Russia, warning of “very severe” new sanctions, including 100% “secondary tariffs” on countries buying Russian oil. He also announced new weapons deliveries to Ukraine, noting that the EU will foot the bill. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Trump’s remarks “will be perceived by the Ukrainian side not as a signal toward peace, but as a signal to continue the war.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stressed that Moscow will not cave in to any ultimatums but is still open to talks.
While the UK has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, Luke Pollard, the country’s armed forces minister, warned last autumn of dwindling stockpiles due to years of military deliveries. Moscow has consistently denounced Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, warning they only prolong the conflict without changing its outcome. It has also accused the EU and UK of impeding ongoing peace efforts. Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday voiced concern over what he described as declining interest among the British public in the Ukraine conflict. He added that the current government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer is “distracted” by “a lot of domestic issues.”
“There are a lot of domestic issues that are very difficult right now, and you can see why they’re distracted.”
• Boris Johnson ‘Quite Sad’ Brits Losing Interest In Ukraine (RT)
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he is “quite sad” about what he describes as waning interest in the UK in supporting Ukraine. Speaking to The Telegraph at the Ukrainian embassy in London on Saturday, he lamented that support for Ukraine in the UK is declining. “The interest in Ukraine and the appetite is so low nowadays. I find it quite sad,” Johnson said. When asked to evaluate how well current Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration has handled the Ukraine conflict, he responded: “There are a lot of domestic issues that are very difficult right now, and you can see why they’re distracted.” Support among the British public for aid to Ukraine has fallen in recent years, polls suggest.
A YouGov poll from February 2023 showed that nearly three-quarters of respondents believed the UK was not providing Kiev with enough aid, whereas only 3% thought it was giving too much. However, an Ipsos survey from this past February indicated that just over half of Britons supported the current level of aid, whereas nearly one in five said too much support was being provided. The UK has committed £18.3 billion ($24.5 billion) in total aid to Ukraine, including £13 billion ($17.4 billion) in military assistance. London has increasingly lobbied to deploy “peacekeeping” troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire as part of a so-called “coalition of the willing.”
Last week, Starmer’s government announced that the coalition would set up permanent headquarters in Paris to coordinate with Kiev to “regenerate land forces” for Ukraine and “secure” its skies with fighter jets if there is a cessation in the hostilities. Moscow has stressed that it views the initiative as preparation for a military intervention and warned that it views any NATO troops – under the guise of peacekeepers or not – in Ukraine as hostile. Johnson resigned as UK prime minister in 2022, a few months after the escalation of the conflict. He torpedoed the first peace talks between Moscow and Kiev in Istanbul that year by convincing the latter to withdraw from the negotiations, according to the Ukrainian head negotiator at the time, David Arakhamia.
This is why they want to ban them: they have common sense.
• German Opposition Slams Ukraine Aid (RT)
Frustration is growing in Germany over increased aid to Ukraine while domestic spending lags, co-chair of opposition party Alternative for Germany (AfD) Alice Weidel has said. Berlin has been one of Kiev’s largest military backers since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Earlier this year, the German Defense Ministry announced that it would provide €5 billion ($5.6 billion) to finance long-range weapons production in Ukraine. In an interview with the broadcaster ARD on Sunday, Weidel criticized the allocation of funds to Kiev, citing unmet domestic needs. Asked about alternative uses for public funds, she pointed to a shelved proposal to abolish electricity taxes, which would have cost the state €5.4 billion – comparable to what Berlin is spending on weapons for Ukraine, she argued.
“And then our government, the Friedrich Merz government, gives Ukraine nine billion in German tax money and now wants to buy Patriot missiles for Ukraine for five billion. Nobody understands that anymore,” Weidel said. She was referencing a US-backed plan to funnel Patriot air defense systems to Kiev via NATO members, with Germany covering the costs. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said after meeting US counterpart Pete Hegseth in Washington last week that the terms of the arrangement could be finalized “within days or weeks,” though the actual transfer of the missile systems to Ukraine might take months. Berlin has indicated its readiness to cover the cost of at least two Patriot batteries to Ukraine – estimated at approximately $1 billion each.
Since taking office in May, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pursued a hardline stance against Russia. Earlier this month, he declared that diplomatic options in the Ukraine conflict were “exhausted” and doubled down on his policy of providing weapons to Kiev. In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Merz of choosing escalation by abandoning diplomacy. Last week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested that European nations are funding the “death” of Ukraine by paying for weapons sent to Kiev. Russia has consistently denounced Western weapons deliveries, saying they do not change the overall course of the conflict and merely serve to prolong the bloodshed and risk further escalation.
“..the attempt to “ruin” Russia is a “life-threatening idea.”
• Russia Sanctions Have ‘Completely Backfired’ – German Ex-EU Commissioner (RT)
The EU’s sanctions aimed at crippling Russia’s economy and isolating it politically have backfired, instead harming their architects, former European Commission Vice President Gunter Verheugen has said. Western governments have imposed an unprecedented slew of sanctions on Moscow since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Last week, the EU imposed its 18th sanctions package, targeting the country’s energy and banking sectors. The restrictions include bans on transactions with 22 additional Russian banks and the Russian Direct Investment Fund, as well as prohibiting the use of the damaged Nord Stream pipelines.
Verheugen, who served as EU commissioner for enterprise and industry from 2004 to 2010, said the EU’s sanctions have rebounded on their creators, with the West bearing the heaviest costs. “There are few examples of a political goal – namely, bringing an adversary to its knees economically and wreaking havoc in a ‘warlike’ manner – backfiring so completely. The economic war against Russia is one such example,” Verheugen wrote in an op-ed for Switzerland’s Die Weltwoche journal, published on Friday.
“Objective data shows that the sanctions policy primarily harmed its originators, especially Germany,” he noted, warning that the attempt to “ruin” Russia is a “life-threatening idea.” The EU has not acknowledged this outcome, he added. Moscow has condemned the sanctions as illegal, arguing they have inflated EU energy prices and forced reliance on costlier imports, undermining the bloc’s competitiveness. Germany, which prior to the Ukraine conflict sourced 55% of its energy from Russia, remains mired in a two-year recession.
Some European officials have conceded that the EU’s sanctions on Russia have inflicted greater damage on European businesses than on their Russian counterparts, industry leaders say. Ferdinando Pellazzo, head of the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce, warned that the measures have severely impacted small and medium-sized enterprises. Siegfried Russwurm, president of Germany’s BDI industry association, cautioned that the country faces growing deindustrialization risks as high energy costs – driven by the cutoff of cheap Russian supplies – squeeze competitiveness.
“..If we buy everything with the oil and gas [revenues] – and now they [the West] are trying to cut us off from oil and gas – then Russia will simply lose its competitiveness, and with it, its sovereignty..”
• Putin Speaks of Threat To Russian Sovereignty (RT)
Russia would inevitably lose its sovereignty if it relies solely on oil and gas revenues and abandons domestic production in favor of imports, President Vladimir Putin has said. In an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin released on Sunday, Putin defended Russia’s decades-long effort to localize automobile manufacturing, saying it was essential for protecting the country’s economic and political autonomy. He recalled that in the 1990s many of his government colleagues wanted to abandon efforts to develop the car industry and instead rely on foreign-made vehicles, a view that he opposed. “We must talk about technological independence… If we buy everything with the oil and gas [revenues] – and now they [the West] are trying to cut us off from oil and gas – then Russia will simply lose its competitiveness, and with it, its sovereignty,” he said.
According to Putin, efforts to improve the domestic car industry began with cooperation with Western partners that were licensed to build assembly plants in Russia. Starting in the early 2010s, the authorities gradually tightened localization requirements, demanding that automakers produce more components domestically. “This was serious work. We were essentially creating our own cars,” Putin remarked, adding that the effort paid off after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, which saw an exodus of Western companies from Russia as Kiev’s backers introduced sanctions against Moscow.
Russia sold about 1.571 million new passenger cars in 2024 (up 48%), with Lada accounting for roughly 28% (436,155 units) and remaining the market leader, according to the analytical agency Autostat. However, all others spots in the top ten were occupied by Chinese brands. Russia’s Kamaz also distributed the most trucks in the country last year, despite an overall drop in sales, the agency said. Putin has personally promoted the domestic automobile industry and has often been seen driving Lada and Kamaz vehicles. He also uses a limousine from the Russian luxury brand Aurus as his presidential car. In 2024, he gifted Aurus limos to North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
“Anderson was “walked off the premises and was so upset that she crashed her car into the Secretary’s government-provided vehicle.”
NOTE: what is Marty Makary doing? He was brought in by RFK.
• FDA Approved Moderna COVID Shot for Kids Behind Kennedy’s Back (Fleetwood)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) quietly granted full approval to Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 injection for children while Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was on vacation—and without his knowledge or consent. As head of the department overseeing the FDA, Kennedy should have been directly informed of any decision involving pediatric mRNA shots—especially one as politically and medically sensitive as full approval for children as young as six months. On July 10, Moderna, Inc. announced the FDA approved the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for Spikevax®, the Company’s COVID shot, in “children 6 months through 11 years of age who are at increased risk for COVID-19 disease.”
The approval was made despite Moderna’s own scientists’ admission that there are “unacceptable toxicity” levels in mRNA vaccines, and that “lipid nanoparticle structural components, production methods, route of administration and proteins produced from complexed mRNAs all present toxicity concerns.” It was also made without Secretary Kennedy’s knowledge. According to multiple sources, neither Kennedy nor his Deputy Chief of Staff Stefanie Spears were briefed or consulted ahead of the decision, raising alarm over internal operations at one of the nation’s most powerful health agencies. Only July 16, White House correspondent and media host Emerald Robinson reported on Twitter/X that FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary “did not inform @RobertKennedyJr (who was on vacation) or his office that FDA was going to approve the mRNA shots for children,” citing sources familiar with the matter.
On July 17, CNN reported that Secretary Kennedy had fired two of his top aides “in an abrupt shakeup of the leadership at the nation’s sprawling health department,” also citing unnamed sources. “Kennedy’s chief of staff, Heather Flick Melanson, and deputy chief of staff for policy Hannah Anderson left HHS after only a handful of months on the job, following internal clashes that culminated in both of their removals this week,” the report explained. The CNN article didn’t connect the firings to the FDA’s decision to approve Moderna’s jab for kids. However, the MAHA PAC (Make America Healthy Again Political Action Committee)—a pro-Trump super PAC founded by RFK Jr.’s former staff to promote his health-focused agenda—corroborated Robinson’s account and connected the firings to the FDA’s Moderna decision.
On July 20, MAHA PAC cited Dr. Robert Malone—now serving on the newly restructured ACIP vaccine panel—as confirming that neither Kennedy nor Spears were informed of the FDA’s decision regarding Moderna and that a major HHS leadership purge unfolded upon their return. “The unfortunate facts are that this decision… was made public when both the Secretary of HHS and his trusted deputy Chief of Staff Stefanie Spears were on vacation,” said Dr. Malone, citing insider knowledge. “Neither Sec. HHS nor his deputy Chief of Staff (dCOS) were briefed or read in on this decision.” The move apparently set off a chain reaction. According to Malone, shortly after Kennedy and Spears returned, “a major reorganization of HHS leadership occurred.”
Dr. Robert Malone just revealed the FDA approved Moderna’s new Covid shot without RFK Jr.’s knowledge or sign-off.
He was on vacation and never briefed on the decision.
“The unfortunate facts are that this decision… was made public when both the Secretary of HHS and his… pic.twitter.com/BJLxfmHBVe
— MAHA PAC🗽 (@MAHA_PAC) July 20, 2025
Anderson was “walked off the premises and was so upset that she crashed her car into the Secretary’s government-provided vehicle.” Melanson, a veteran of the Trump-era HHS, claimed she resigned voluntarily. CNN sources say otherwise, alleging she was fired after Kennedy lost confidence in her leadership following the dismissal of Anderson. A spokesperson for HHS said that Matt Buckham, the department’s White House liaison, will serve as acting Chief of Staff. The FDA’s end-run around Kennedy not only signals potential deeper insubordination within HHS, but also highlights a promising shift under his leadership—one where incompetence, secrecy, and disloyalty are no longer tolerated, and where restoring integrity, transparency, and public trust could be the new standard.
The little emperor strikes again.
• X Blasts French Criminal Probe As ‘Politically Motivated’ (RT)
Social media network X has accused the French authorities of a “politically motivated criminal investigation,” over a probe launched against the platform for alleged algorithm manipulation and “fraudulent data extraction.” X’s Global Government Affairs team said on Monday that the investigation was instigated by Eric Bothorel, a French MP and member of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party. The probe itself kicked off in January after Bothorel and another senior French official alleged that the company’s algorithm was being used for the purposes of “foreign interference.” X has denied all of the accusations against it. Bothorel has previously been critical of X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, claiming that the network spreads “an enormous amount of hateful, racist, anti-LGBT+ and homophobic political content” which allegedly influences France’s political discourse.
According to the platform, French authorities had asked X to grant them a “recommendation algorithm and real-time data about all user posts” to be handed over to experts who were overtly hostile to the platform.X also protested being investigated as an “organized gang,” a classification that allows French police to use extensive powers, including wiretapping employees’ devices. The platform stressed it has refused the authorities’ demands. X remains in the dark as to the specific allegations made against the platform. However, based on what we know so far, X believes that this investigation is distorting French law in order to serve a political agenda and, ultimately, restrict free speech.
The probe echoes another high-profile case in France involving Telegram founder Pavel Durov. The Russian-born tech billionaire was arrested in the country last summer and charged with offenses linked to Telegram’s handling of illegal content, including child exploitation material and narcotics trafficking. Durov has dismissed the allegations as “baseless.” Commenting on the reports on X being in the crosshairs of the French authorities, Durov accused Paris of pursuing a “crusade” against free speech and progress itself while warning that the probe could end up damaging the French economy.
When you’re losing, find a sympathetic victim role. BTW: who made the deal uneven?
• EU Prepared To ‘Stomach’ Uneven Deal With Trump – Bloomberg (RT)
EU officials are ready to “stomach” an unbalanced tariff agreement favoring the US in order to resolve the standoff between the two sides before a deadline set by President Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Negotiations between Brussels and Washington have been ongoing since early April, when Trump announced a series of measures – dubbed “Liberation Day” policies – aimed at shielding American manufacturers. The plan included a sweeping 10% tariff on all imports from the EU and most other US trading partners. While the duties have been put on hold pending the talks, Trump warned they could escalate to 30% if no deal is reached by August 1.
]The new tariffs would be in addition to existing sector-specific levies, including 50% duties on steel and aluminum and 25% on auto imports, which the US imposed earlier this year. With the risk of a no-deal outcome rising, the EU is accelerating preparations for potential retaliatory measures, the outlet said. EU envoys could meet as early as this week to draft a response in case talks with the US collapse, the sources familiar with the discussions told the outlet. The move comes as Trump’s stance on tariffs appears to have hardened ahead of the August 1 deadline, leaving Brussels bracing for a potential trade confrontation.
“These negotiations are difficult,” French Finance Minister Eric Lombard said ahead of a meeting with business federations in Paris, as quoted by Bloomberg. “If we do not reach a balanced agreement with the United States of America, then we reserve the right to take countermeasures that are balanced, of course, but aimed at upholding the interests of the European Union.” Any significant countermeasures could escalate the transatlantic trade conflict, as Trump has warned that targeting US interests would prompt even stronger retaliation from his administration, the outlet noted.
The EU has already approved €21 billion ($24.5 billion) in retaliatory tariffs on US goods – including soybeans, poultry, and motorcycles – targeting politically sensitive states such as Louisiana, home to House Speaker Mike Johnson. It has also drafted €72 billion in additional tariffs on products such as Boeing aircraft, cars, and bourbon, should Trump impose reciprocal or auto levies. Beyond tariffs, the bloc is considering export controls and procurement restrictions. Washington has so far largely avoided retaliation for its tariffs, while collecting a record high of $64 billion in customs duties in the second quarter of 2025, according to the US Treasury.
Not sure he should. Then again, they’ve haunted him for 10 years. Let him have his fun.
• Trump Posts AI Video of Obama Being Arrested (RT)
US President Donald Trump has posted an AI-generated video depicting former President Barack Obama being arrested and jailed. The post comes amid allegations that Obama and his senior officials had intentionally fabricated the Trump-Russia collusion narrative. Last week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified over 100 pages of documents, which are described as “overwhelming evidence” that officials in the Obama administration manipulated intelligence to initiate the Russiagate investigation. She alleged that the aim was to delegitimize Trump’s 2016 election win. According to Gabbard’s memo, the officials involved included former CIA Director John Brennan, former DNI James Clapper, and Obama himself.
https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/1947083821293482197
On Sunday, Trump shared a video on his Truth Social account featuring real footage of Obama and other Democratic leaders saying, “No one is above the law.” The scene then shifts to an AI-generated sequence showing FBI agents handcuffing Obama in the Oval Office while Trump watches and laughs. The video ends with an animated Obama pacing in a jail cell. Trump also posted fake mugshots of Obama and members of his former cabinet under the caption “The Shady Bunch.”
Trump endorsed the DNI’s calls to investigate the former president, praising Gabbard and her team as “fantastic on prosecuting Obama and the ‘thugs’ who have just been unequivocally exposed on highest level Election Fraud.” According to Gabbard, internal intelligence assessments in 2016 repeatedly found that Russia lacked both the capability and intent to influence the US election. These conclusions were later suppressed, she said, when Obama ordered a new intelligence assessment that blamed Russia for helping Trump defeat Hillary Clinton. This assessment was based on discredited sources such as the Steele Dossier, according to Gabbard.
— Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) July 20, 2025
“This was not intelligence gathering. It was narrative building,” the DNI said, asserting that Obama officials leaked false claims to the press and politicized classified information. “Every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she stated. Russia has consistently denied allegations that it interfered in the 2016 US election. The Kremlin has described the Russiagate affair as a politically motivated smear campaign intended to justify sanctions and worsen relations with Moscow.
“Trump signaled on Sunday that the stadium deal could be tied to the team name. “I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back to the original ‘Washington Redskins…'”
• Trump Wants Washington Commanders To Change Name Back To Redskins (JTN)
President Donald Trump on Sunday called on the Washington Commanders owners to return to their Redskins name and floated linking the change to the new stadium deal. The team recently announced a new stadium to be built on the shuttered RFK Stadium site. “The Washington ‘Whatever’s’ should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past. Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen,” Trump wrote on Sunday on Truth Social.
“Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!” he added. In April, the owner of the team, Josh Harris, said the Redskins name would not come back with the new stadium. Trump signaled on Sunday that the stadium deal could be tied to the team name. “I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back to the original ‘Washington Redskins,’ and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, ‘Washington Commanders,’ I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington,” he wrote. “The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone,” he added.
Trump called for the Cleveland Guardians to do the same. “The Owner of the Cleveland Baseball Team, Matt Dolan, who is very political, has lost three Elections in a row because of that ridiculous name change. What he doesn’t understand is that if he changed the name back to the Cleveland Indians, he might actually win an Election,” Trump wrote. “Indians are being treated very unfairly. MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN (MIGA).”
Killing women and children on command is not for everyone.
• Five Israeli Soldiers Kill Themselves In Two Weeks (RT)
At least five Israeli soldiers have taken their own lives over the past two weeks, including conscripts and reservists recently discharged after extended combat deployments in Gaza and other active conflict zones. Suicides within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ranks have surged since the Jewish state deployed troops to Gaza following the deadly Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Seven soldiers died by suicide by the end of 2023, followed by 21 cases confirmed in 2024, and at least 20 incidents since the start of this year. The most recent case, confirmed on Sunday, involved a 19-year-old Norwegian immigrant who immigrated to Israel to join the IDF less than a year ago and was still undergoing training.
Four others have ended their lives in the past two weeks, including a Golani Brigade serviceman who shot himself at the Sde Teiman base, and reservist Daniel Edri, who self-immolated after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Most cases involve active-duty reservists, with military officials attributing the rise to combat-related trauma rather than personal or family circumstances. “One cannot breathe in the face of this statistic,” opposition leader Yair Lapid said. “This war also kills souls.” The IDF has confirmed that thousands of reservists have withdrawn from combat roles due to psychological stress. The true number of suicides due to service-related mental health issues may be higher, with Haaretz reporting at least 12 non-combat veterans whose deaths were not included in the army’s official statistics in recent years.
Now in its 21st month, the Gaza conflict has placed intense strain on Israeli forces, with prolonged deployments and mounting losses. Since the start of the operation, 893 Israeli soldiers have been killed, according to official data, in addition to nearly 1,200 Israeli civilians killed during the October 7 Hamas raid. The retaliatory offensive has resulted in nearly 59,000 Palestinian deaths, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Beyond Gaza, Israel has conducted airstrikes and limited ground operations in Lebanon, expanded its military presence in Syria, and bombed Iran. It has also escalated its activities in Iraq, Yemen, and the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is fighting on seven fronts “to defend ourselves against… barbarism.”
Shiong
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong Issues Urgent Warning: COVID-19 is Not Just a Respiratory Virus—It’s Like cancer
"This virus has beaten us."
In a chilling revelation, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong—renowned surgeon, scientist, and billionaire biotech pioneer—warns that COVID-19 is far more… pic.twitter.com/mpktyhsIZm
— Camus (@newstart_2024) July 21, 2025
Caretaker
Elephants react to seeing beloved caretaker for first time in over a year (warning: loud!) pic.twitter.com/jK40R0cQLC
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) July 21, 2025
Peyo
In France, Peyo, a beautiful 15-year-old stallion, often comes to comfort and soothe terminally ill patients at the Techer Hospital in Calais. The horse always chooses which patient he wants to see, kicking his hoof outside the door pic.twitter.com/VyM5y50ZiW
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) July 20, 2025
Great escape
Cub’s great escape instantly canceled by Mum pic.twitter.com/1ko0mxsqmZ
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) July 20, 2025
Bench
Possibly the best bench in the entire world pic.twitter.com/nh5GyoxyyH
— Dudes Posting Their W’s (@DudespostingWs) July 21, 2025
https://twitter.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1947177291697541242
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