Debt Rattle July 16 2025

“I spoke to him today. Dan Bongino is a very good guy. I’ve known him a long time,” Trump told reporters

Translation:

Kiss of Death….Mafia style.
Dan Bongino……dead man walking

every day, more and more stories of the operation warp speed victims,

yet,

never a word

about

mr

chrump’s

role in their demise.

look!

we’re number one in

fake

pcr

tests.

¿¡how can you trust these people!?

HOLEE SHIZZLES

A five year long “investigation”, like the Durham Report, of Comey and Brennan that leads to no arrests so as to distract the Sheeple from no Epstein files!

Look! Squirrels!!!!!

The Public Then & Now

Tick Tock…since Jan 2017. Show me.

“If this gets declassified, it could finally blow the whole thing wide open.”

Yes, except as these things go “We all know now”. You know, we know, what we know, before we know, that we didn’t know – a psychopath special. So because we “know” but cut off from emotion and action, no punishment is had, which criminals like a lot.

“NEW: Matt Walsh sends a message to the Trump administration over the Epstein case. “We want those people to be dragged in front of us, weeping and begging for mercy…”

I thought he had flip-flopped with Shapiro, did he get back on the train? I mean, any ally is fine.

“I CALL ON AG PAM BONDI TO CHARGE FAUCI FOR LYING TO CONGRESS!”

At a minimum. This is transparently proven, etc, and he’s getting off easy for a million deaths, half of which are gay guys in the 90s.

“Remember how we were told Jeffrey Epstein made his money in finance, wealth management and trading Charlie Kirk exposes Jeffrey Epstein HAD NO TRADES EVER made under his name”

Barnes of Viva Barnes was all over this. …BECAUSE IT’S SO OBVIOUS. Maxwell is literally Mossad, eg he had a state funeral, with Presidents and Prime Ministers, IN ISRAEL, where he wasn’t born, wasn’t a citizen, and never worked for. Pretty odd! So when you pick up the Epstein story, it’s just a continuation of the Maxwell story: blackmail, money laundering…

They’re all money people, it’s impossible not to know. That’s like saying you’re a sports star, and another NFL player says, “Which team?” and you don’t know. They ask what insider trades are hot now, and you’re like “Trades?” Same as Madoff, Corzine (except he did trade) and others. Hillary, maybe.

“HOUSE REPUBLICANS BLOCK EPSTEIN FILE VOTE: 7-5”

Which one? The first one was the “Release all kiddie porn and contaminate all cases” bill. But since there is no evidence at all, anywhere, according to Bondi, should be easy to release it, right? There are no crimes so no cases, so no evidence to trial-tamper. Oh wait, Congress voted to queer all Epstein cases with this release and the people demanded it? Huh. But there ARE no cases, so it doesn’t matter anyway…

Anyway, back to “We have to make the Democrats Demand it” which Trump has done 4-5 times. Markets crash, governments fall, alliances destroyed…has to be Democrat’s fault. Remember, didn’t care since the mid-90s, when it was all already known, all crimes already committed, FBI already informed and covering it up. But NOW Democrats care. Okey-dokey! Be mad at Republicans, definitely who screamed about this since 1999, risking and ruining all their careers, elections, posts on media, newscaster seats, etc. How naughty of them. They should just have waited, right?

…Or is that a “Shoot all allies” position?

“• Trump’s Ukraine Reversal Represents ‘Complete Betrayal Of America First’ (Sp.)

Yes, but as the Duran says, “Nothing actually happened.” This is the weirdest case in weirdest cases. “NATO” cannot BUY weapons. They are not a thing. That’s like the FDA selling drugs. They are an overseeing bureaucracy, which has no army and no ‘budget’: they direct the army and budget of ACTUAL countries. …So looks like an end-run around every European Parliament, which means all of Europe – the people – are dead set against Ukraine, regardless of what is reported. Even so, they can’t yet figure out a way to “Budget pencils for NATO” and then magic-out Patriot Missiles from the other side. That’s why Trump is saying “Great, let them” bc it will never happen, it’s like your supply chain quartermaster, added a Rube Goldberg in the middle.

“• Trump Under ‘Improper Pressure’ From EU and NATO – Lavrov

There you go. And blackmail, certainly. …But not for him or they’d use it. But if they can lever 20 Congressmen and a few generals, Cheeto needs those pieces on the board and has to play.

“NEARLY 3 MINUTES MISSING FROM “RAW” EPSTEIN PRISON VIDEO, METADATA REVEALS”

Again, like Bondi in that restaurant, too stupid to be stupid. It’s child’s play not to release this, like Bongino could say “Yeah, case is huge, we’re looking into it” and shut up, fine. 2 years go by. Instead he says “What case???” which we all know is a lie, getting everyone going, headline news for weeks. That’s the god-d—ned #OPPOSITE of settling it down. Obviously. So it’s on purpose. Obviously.

“Financial Times reports that Donald Trump privately urged Ukraine to strike deep inside Russian territory — even asking Zelensky if Kiev could target Moscow and St. Petersburg if the U.S. supplied long-range weapons.”

YGTBFKM.

OR, He is feeling out what kind of guy Ze is, encouraging him to speak freely. Ze then says he’d nuke all Russia to powder in two seconds if given a chance, and it’s like “Huh, thanks for telling us!”

“EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has welcomed US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Russia’s trading partners unless a deal with Ukraine is reached within 50 days,”

Again, Duran, WTF. WHAT, Specifically, is Russia supposed to do to prove this? Nothing. What, specifically, are the trading partners supposed to do to prove this? Nothing. What, specifically, is the 50 days? Nothing. No idea. Uh-huh. Yeah, just keeping the Idiot press hoppin’.

“• EU Tells US To ‘Share The Burden’ For Ukraine Weapons (RT)

Every day, in Every way, America is supposed to fight the entire Ukraine war FOR FREEEEEEEEEEE.

And no wonder I checked out and not listening. Every Duran, Nixon, Jamal, etc. “We don’t have the weapons” “We can’t make them” “We don’t have the industrial capacity”.
CoughBullshitCough. We could have those online in 9 months, maybe 6. We could have since 2014. Everyone knew we were doing a war with Russia, Hillary promised it in 2016. Others before then, like 1979. WE DIDN’T. On purpose. WHY? America “Can’t” make weapons, what are you, retarded? We could out-industry Russia in no time, a few years or so. They don’t WANT to make weapons, and it’s for a reason. Even while they claim all this, they do, etc, and you idiots are playing along!

Jamal is also TDS – retarded. His every argument is “Trump wants war, ackshully, because he’s a pathological liar,” then Krainer points out he scammed the war to avoid both Iran and Ukriane and Jamal is like “Trump does NOT want war, ackshully, and that’s still a dumb, weak failure, TACO…” WTF and JHC? IT CAN’T BE BOTH! Pick One! Whatever sentence I construct is a “Trump is stupid” sentence. That the argument is self-opposite never even occurs. All logic, reason, principle, tossed out the window.

Duran does this but are smarter so their blind spots are a lot more subtle. But Alex will say “Why he would do this is incomprehensible to me…” well he IS doing it, and your JOB is to hypothesize why it’s comprehensible, like Luongo and Krainer do. He doesn’t. So it’s a “Trump is dumb, ackshully” argument, when he’s punk’d you for a decade straight. No Trump has PROBLEMS. He’s SURROUNDED. Not a single agency or ally will take orders and obey him. Yet he has to move forward on it despite 99 99% opposition.

“• Tick Tock Co-Pilot John Solomon Says FBI Currently Investigating “Conspiracy” (CTH)

How about this: if they were doing anything, you could hear the screaming on Pluto and there’d be a new Butler every week. That’s what’s setting us off, being sus.

Like I say all the time, when they can release smallpox you have to win accidentally, while looking like you’re losing. Like Russia is doing. Pressure exactly right to keep dumping money in, collapsing, like we over-extended the USSR. Art of War, “Be strong looking weak” etc Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

“Over time, this overcorrection stigmatized moderate conservatism—national flags or religious appeals were red flags, dissent from EU norms labeled “anti-democratic.”

While the historical reality was the #Opposite. So this was all carefully engineered, and not by Conservatives, etc, which leaves who? Yes, the Left, Socialists. Navigating with a flawed map, but they’ve corrupted the very word the map is marked with. Anything short of mass-murder is Hitler winning, Treason, end of all life on earth with CO2.

“Trump suggested that nothing in the Epstein files “could have hurt the MAGA Movement.”

True, but would hurt the f— out of the GOP. To which we would all laugh.

“Polly Tommey’s passion for the vaccine-injured is UNDENIABLE.”

Yet nothing happens anywhere. So firings? Arrests? Massive change in medical policy? Mild embarrassment? Surely, you jest.

Kash, my Man!

@TDK: More or less, YEAH!

HOUSE REPUBLICANS BLOCK EPSTEIN FILE VOTE: 7-5

Well, at least now we know 7 more names who are on Epstein’s list…

Well, at least we can all agree how it is much, much easier to discuss some distant and irrelevant country like Venezuela, its Maduro, and even more so the “real socialism that has never been tried” ….and so on….

@Noirette, from my 11/10/19 post https://www.johndayblog.com/2019/11/relating-ideas.html
​America’s Gorbachev?
​International Man: Last year, President Trump took the unusual step of bypassing his advisors to announce his intention to withdraw all US troops from Syria quickly. The decision rattled Washington and the mainstream media. It caused former Defense Secretary Mattis to resign. Almost a year later, the US has withdrawn only a token number of soldiers. It still has thousands of troops occupying the part of the country where oil fields are located. What is going on here?
David Stockman: Well, that’s the Deep State at work.
Donald Trump is all by his lonesome. He’s home alone in the Oval Office. Now, half of it, he can blame himself. If he hires someone, a known idiot like John Bolton, what does he expect is going to happen except that everything he wanted to do is going to be undermined…
​ ​When you have a regime change policy—and this was the one real positive thing Trump brought to the table. He said regime change has failed; we’re not going to do it under my policy.
​ ​Why do you think the North Koreans are quasi-starving? And I know the Communist elite and Kim’s family and so forth live a pretty fat life, but nevertheless they’re in dire straits economically.
​ ​Why do they invest all this money in developing nuclear capability and missile capability? Because they don’t want to be regime changed. Kim is a young man, he’s in his mid-30s, and he doesn’t want to be another Muammar Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein.​..
…I think the stock market is in its last days of bubble excess. I think the economy is slouching toward recession within a matter of a few quarters or months. If that happens, Trump is toast. Elizabeth Warren becomes president, and then that’ll be a whole new ball game that is hard to figure.​..
…Foreign policy has been totally taken over by the Democratic paranoia about Russia and Putin and meddling in our elections.
​ ​Now it’s extended to the whole impeachment inquiry and Ukraine-gate. That’s what the whole debate is going to be about. The debate is going to be about a sideshow.​..
​ …​It’s not even mentioned because, as I say, the Warfare State machinery essentially squelches any kind of debate, suffocates any kind of thought that at all deviates from the status quo.
​ ​The big issue in the world today is war and peace, and we’re facing a campaign in 2020 where it won’t even be mentioned.

David Stockman on How the Deep State Really Works

It makes me feel Gas Lit just by tolerating the question.

I mean about Epstein and PizzaGate, and P Diddy, and all the rest of the so-called scandals where utimately no one did nuffin and nobody got punished for it, and in fact “it” was never really openly spoken of, much less investigated. And the idea of prosecuting? Forget about it. Never going to happen. You can’t prosecute a crime which no one will even say.

Look, we ALL know what’s going on. We just don’t want to talk about it, or think about it or even furtuvely glance in “it’s” direction because if we did that for more than a nanosecond we would soon have to admit what “it” is, and seemingly NOBODY is willing to do that.

Well, almost nobody. I’m about as close to a “nobody” as it’s possible to get and still have a name and mailing address. So, I guess that leaves it to me to say what it is.

It is the stone fact that we are led, and knowingly allow ourselves to be led, by the most profoundly evil and despicably perverse psychopathic criminals that our species is able to produce. And we do literally nothing about it. Because we’re afraid for ourselves and so selfishly intent upon preserving our own pathetic little fraction of life that we go along to get along. We could speak or act but we don’t, because it’s safer and easier to let the victim suffer or die than it is to put ourselves at risk in any meaningful way whatsoever.

Trump, for example, (and I could easily provide you with a list of literally thousands of others) is 100% certain that the government he’s at the top of is run on a day to day basis almost exclusively upon theft, lies, murder, rape, blackmail (about grotesque perversions) and genocide. I’m understating the seriousness of the criminality, in the interests of saving space by not telling you what you already know (if you have the grit to face facts).

Dealing with any other issue is a distraction and far far worse than a waste of time. It’s suicide.

Peaceful approach/attempt.
Eliminate the enemies.
Israel strikes Syrian capital Damascus.

@DrDRich

“I spoke to him today. Dan Bongino is a very good guy. I’ve known him a long time,” Trump told reporters
Translation:
Kiss of Death….Mafia style.
Dan Bongino……dead man walking”

You nailed it!

Trump talks like a gangster. Because he simply is a gangster. Old school. Nothing too creative about it. Like you would see in a movie.

It’s so damned CORNY that it operates like Herr Goebbels “Big Lie”. No one believes that he’s apulp fiction style gangster because we think no one would POSSIBLY be that brazen (or stupid.)

THAT’S who Donald Trumps speech patterns remind me of! Don Corleone.

You get a big Gold Star on this one, Doc. Thank you.

“Deadpool” is human barbarism and stupidity neatly rolled up into 108 minutes of absolute filth.

The immediate deaths and injuries from the notavax were awful.

The consequences from injuries and disablements, the cancers and so on, are awful.

These are NOT the worst things to come from the notavax. I haven’t seen anyone yet discussing the worst thing. We KNOW the mRNA reverse-transcribes into the DNA. We’ve discussed some of the problems from this – it made people into genetic chimeras and that’s bad when some of the sequences in the mRNA are specifically those of cancer.

But for adults AND children taking the shots, you’re looking at a human being who has developed based on the blueprint of their original DNA. And the changes come to specific cells in the body, not ALL cells in the body. (my understanding is, the cells it affects produce spike protein, not more mRNA)

If quite a lot of males are being made infertile or nearly so (interesting that fertility came up as an issue in the latest election campaign, my reaction being WTF why is this being made such a big deal…) then the mRNA is probably reaching the testes. Is it reaching the eggs? Maybe not so much? The eggs are already there and have a more than usually protective outer wall, but sperm are produced new, continually.

What will a child look like who develops from the original fertilized egg on the blueprint of the reverse-transcribed RNA? EVERY cell containing the reverse-transcribed DNA and development progressing completely along its blueprint?

Moreover, if the genetics are recessive and existing eggs can be expected to be mostly unmodified, then are we waiting two generations to see what the notavax REALLY did? 35 or so years before any significant number of babies in that generation start arriving and another what, 4-16 years before anyone starts to say hey, these kids are real different?

There’s a variety of possibilities
–it’s just a fuckup – awful congenital diseases, mutations, stillbirths etc
–our lizard overlords wanted to be genghis khan – their Y chromosomes will be in all the children
–modifications to make humans, what? Better? Worse? Obedient? Gifted? Subservient troglydytes? Art Bell stuff like alien dna? Immortal? Live only 20 years max? Who knows.

Did they NOT study their own thing before releasing it? They threw it out there and forced millions and millions to take it because they DIDN’T know what it does?? REALLY? Incompetent shysters would release a super high tech drug that reverse transcribes new DNA into your cells instead of selling you fucking vials of distilled water?

I understand “all the studies” that WE know are studies that look incompetent and incomplete or got hidden, but you don’t think that hiding the results or preventing proper study would be something people who KNOW what the results would be would do???

And maybe they wanted to do just 1 thing to humanity. Or maybe they wanted to do 10 things. Or maybe there was 1 thing they really wanted and it is hidden amongst 9 other recipes with 18 different results to statistically cloud matters and in 45-50 years or so, even if a lightbulb goes off and someone says “Hey, weren’t you modifying everyone’s DNA?!?!?!” they’ll be looking through masses of data that suggest it generally fucked everyone up as opposed to 1 or more specific intended things hidden in a cloud of ostensible fuckups.

Think Globally Kill Locally https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/think-globally-kill-locally

What Does the US’ Increasing Emulation of Israel Augur for the Country’s Future? Conor Gallagher
The wars always come home. The early days of the never-ending ‘War on Terror’ under Bush the Younger built the foundation of the police state and institutionalized torture and illegal aggression. The Obama years gave bipartisan blessing to this monstrous architecture. And the Trump and Biden years are doing the interior decorating with heavy input from neo-Nazis and Zionists.
On the issues of support for genocide and aggression abroad and the police state at home there is near-universal support across the two-party system despite the heavy public opposition. And should Israel restart its war with Iran tomorrow and Tehran be successful in fulfilling Bob Vylan’s viral Glastonbury chant, Zionism would still be with us as Israel is only the tip of fascist spear.
And unwavering US support for Israeli policies across the board have helped usher in an America of heirarchalism and eugenics. The Trump administration, in its many desperate attempts to rebuild American supremacy, has first and foremost overseen the wedding of Silicon Valley and Zionism.
Israel helped show the techno-fascists and other US oligarchs a world of possibilities—one they are eager to duplicate everywhere. It’s what Bibi calls “authoritarian capitalism”, i.e., fascism. In both Israel and the US there are obvious religious, racial, and I.Q. branding to this ideology that is above all about the embrace of economic plunder and the idea that those who are more ruthless, with the bigger guns and better tech should simply take what they want by any means necessary…
..Israel tests out surveillance, population control, and military technology on the captive population. It has been reported that the Israeli Defense Forces’ use of artificial intelligence has aided in the current brutal war against Palestinians. Israel testing out new technologies to surveil and kill Palestinians is unfortunately nothing new, as described by Antony Loewenstein in his book, “The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World.”
Israel benefits from having a captive population on whom to constantly test its weapons and surveillance technology. We see this burgeoning system in the US as Americans are increasingly surveilled using the very same technologies that Israel uses on Palestinians and Silicon Valley tech billionaires dream of a world where democracy is stamped out. There’s also the embrace of AI and algorithmic decision-making at all levels of government, and items like Anduril taking over autonomous border surveillance, social media policing, Waymo cars spying on protestors, rounding up people based on algorithms and throwing them in illegal hellholes. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/07/u-s-emulation-of-israel-deepens.html

Trump Wants Gaza Deal ‘Straightened Out’ Within The Next Week
President Trump on Sunday said he hopes a ceasefire deal in Gaza can be finalized within this week, in comments made to reporters before boarding a flight to attend yesterday’s FIFA Club World Cup Final.
When asked about the ongoing crisis in Gaza, he responded, “We’re talking, and hopefully we’ll get that straightened out over the next week. Let’s see what happens.”
While there had been anticipation in Israel for a deal announcement during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent visit to Washington DC last week, recent days have seen the typical non-committal, ambiguous statements out of both Washington and Tel Aviv. The war looks to have no solutions, given the stated goals of Israel and the United States. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-wants-gaza-deal-take-shape-within-next-week

Well, I guess “we” will be “helping” with that, too… Israeli plan for Gaza ‘concentration camp’ to cost billions: Report
The Israeli military and defense establishment have expressed opposition to the plan over fears it would drain the army’s resources https://thecradle.co/articles-id/31934

Israeli airstrike kills at least 10, including six children, at Gaza water station, say health officials
Nine killed in separate bombing of a home on Sunday and 31 others shot dead near aid distribution site on Saturday https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/13/dozens-of-palestinians-killed-in-latest-israeli-attacks-near-food-aid-distribution-sites-medics-and-witnesses-say

Syria signs $800m Tartous Port deal with DP World
The deal follows a wave of western-backed reintegration moves, with the UAE as a key broker in Syria’s return to global markets
Syria has signed an $800-million agreement with Dubai-based DP World to redevelop the Tartous Port, state media reported on 13 July.
The deal was signed in Damascus in the presence of self-appointed Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa. https://thecradle.co/articles/syria-signs-800m-tartous-port-deal-with-dp-world

Dmitry Trenin: World War III has already begun, In the West’s eyes, Russia must be destroyed. That leaves us no choice.
The new world war is already underway – it’s just that not everyone has recognized it yet.
For Russia, the pre-war period ended in 2014. For China, it was 2017. For Iran, 2023. Since then, war – in its modern, diffuse form – has intensified. This is not a new Cold War. Since 2022, the West’s campaign against Russia has grown more decisive. The risk of direct nuclear confrontation with NATO over the Ukraine conflict is rising. Donald Trump’s return to the White House created a temporary window in which such a clash could be avoided, but by mid-2025, hawks in the US and Western Europe had pushed us dangerously close again.
This war involves the world’s leading powers: the United States and its allies on one side, China and Russia on the other. It is global, not because of its scale, but because of the stakes: the future balance of power. The West sees the rise of China and the resurgence of Russia as existential threats. Its counteroffensive, economic and ideological, is meant to put a halt to that shift.
It is a war of survival for the West, not just geopolitically but ideologically. Western globalism – whether economic, political, or cultural – cannot tolerate alternative civilizational models. Post-national elites in the US and Western Europe are committed to preserving their dominance. A diversity of worldviews, civilizational autonomy, and national sovereignty are seen not as options, but as threats. https://swentr.site/news/621486-dmitry-trenin-world-war-iii/

Gilbert Doctorow, ‘Judging Freedom’: New Pressures on Putin
I am aligned with Macgregor in looking for logic in Trump’s actions, though I go several steps further than Macgregor has done. To be specific, I stress the timeline for imposition of the 100% secondary tariffs. Fifty days! That just happens to cover what remains of summer 2025 while a major Russian offensive is underway. And, like so many of Trump’s deadlines we may assume that it will be extended if necessary.
In the meantime, Trump has bought off the most dangerous critic within his own party, Senator Lindsey Graham, who is obliged to say that his pressure for sanctions on Russia has paid off even if he may be disgruntled that it is not going into effect tomorrow. Moreover, critics of Trump within Europe also are left speechless, now that officially Washington is resuming arms shipments to Ukraine and is cooperating on their plans to supply advanced weapons systems to Kiev including the Patriot from their own arsenals while scheduling replacements produced for them in the USA against payment.
My read-out is that in effect Trump is saying to Vladimir Putin: ‘just get on with it. Finish up this war in the coming 50 days and we will be friends!” This is, I suggest, a repetition of what Trump told Netanyahu about his Gaza war on Hamas: “Do what you like but be fast about it!” …
..It bears mention that the moneyed classes in Moscow were very satisfied with Trump’s ‘surprise’ message. The BBC yesterday reported that the Moscow stock exchange rose 4% on the news.
Since Macgregor reports from information provided to him by friends in Washington that the latest behind closed doors talks between U.S. and Russian officials remain cordial, we may assume that Trump remains on track to pursue détente with Russia and hopes that the Kremlin will do what has to be done expeditiously and effectively. https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2025/07/15/judging-freedom-new-pressures-on-putin/

Simplicius, Trump’s Weapons Magic Show is Smoke & Mirrors Masterclass
Let’s dig in to see whether there is actually more meat on the bone of Trump’s scary threats than people give credit for.
Firstly, the timing: Axios now reports that Putin allegedly told Trump he plans to ‘intensify’ the Russian summer offensive in the next 60 days, with the goal—according to some sources—purportedly being to capture the remainder of nominal Russian territory, i.e. Donetsk, Lugansk, and Zaporozhye oblasts…
..The basic interpretation of that could be that Trump is giving Russia two months to capture whatever territory it claims belongs to it, then “the hammer” will come down…
..On the weapons side, as always, is where the biggest cloud of ambiguity lies. No one seems to know precisely what weapons and from what package will be sent, but according to CNN, it all sounds like more of the same, but just ‘repackaged’ with a new price tag…
..Now NATO countries will foot the bill. Prior to that, under Biden’s PDA, the US was sending weapons directly to Ukraine from its own stockpiles, and then replenishing those stockpiles with new orders to the MIC, from taxpayer funds. Now, it will come from European taxpayer funds—a win for the US…
..The biggest focal point were the Patriot ‘systems’. Again, the cloud of confusion—no one quite knows what the numbers represent: Patriot launchers, batteries, battalions, etc. Trump once mentioned the word ‘batteries’, but the numbers being discussed do not appear to realistically jibe. For instance, he mentioned sending “17” to Ukraine, but the US itself only has something like a total 50-70 active batteries, and obviously sending a third of its entire Patriot stock is unlikely.
When you really read between the lines, what Trump appeared to intimate was that the eventual goal is to scrounge up a larger amount of ‘systems’ for Ukraine, but “initially” only a tiny fraction will be sent…
..In a new FT article German Defense Minister Pistorius admitted that Germany will not be sending any Patriots nor Taurus missiles… He goes on to say that Germany could purchase two systems from the US for Ukraine, instead. This is a kind of puerile shell game which is really meant to bolster the PR narrative that Ukraine is being ‘supported’ in order to keep hopes alive…
..The sanctions threat was likewise fraught with double-meaning. Trump called them ‘tariffs on Russia’, but in reality they are merely tariffs on US’ own allies…
..Russia exports virtually nothing to the US which can be ‘tariffed’. The threat here is meaningless as these other heavyweights will not put up with Trump’s threat, forcing him to back away at the last moment as usual, then claiming “victory” after securing some other secondary fig leaf ‘deal’.
In conclusion: the entire charade appears to be a sneaky but brilliant act of jugglery by Trump, wherein he once again gives the appearance of major ‘action’ against Russia to silence critics and placate neocons, while in actuality doing little to further Ukraine’s war efforts, apart from plugging the previous status quo back onto life support…
..When asked what would happen after the 50 day mark if Putin refuses to back down, Trump told a reporter: “Don’t ask me that question.”
The bigger debate is whether Trump has now officially taken ownership of the war, despite his feeble attempts to impute his continued failings to Biden; many think so. But I still suspect Trump is trying his hardest to playact the stern and impatient taskmaster to signal ‘toughness’ against Putin for his deep state audience, all while actually trying to mitigate damage to US-Russian relations. https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/trumps-weapons-magic-show-is-smoke

​ This is just remarks at a podium. EU tells US to ‘share the burden’ for Ukraine weapons
​ “If we pay for these weapons – it’s our support, it’s European support,” Kallas explained when asked to clarify what she meant by sharing the burden. “We are doing as much as we can to help Ukraine, and therefore the call is that everybody would do the same. It’s, you know, if you promise to give the weapons but say that somebody else is going to pay – it’s not really given by you, is it?”​ https://swentr.site/news/621543-eu-us-pay-ukraine-weapons/

Anybody catch how Sen Lindsey Graham just threatened Moscow like some crude mafia goon in a “B” grade gangster flic threatens the owners of a small shop that needs their “protection”?

“Hey, nice little national capital yooze got here. Be a real shame if something happened to it. It happens. Just ask the Ayatollah what happened to him when he didn’t do what we told him to do.”

Trump, Graham, Netanyahu, the whole gang of them. They talk and act just like crass cheap hoodlums out of a graphic novel. Because that’s exactly what they are.

we really, really need to bring back government funded arts.

you know like these cats:

### **Musicians & Composers**

1. **Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)**
– **Patron:** Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar; Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen
– **Role:** Court organist and Kapellmeister
– **Output:** Composed the *Brandenburg Concertos* and sacred cantatas under princely salaries .

2. **Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757)**
– **Patron:** Portuguese and Spanish royal courts (Queen Maria Barbara)
– **Role:** Royal harpsichordist
– **Output:** Created 555 keyboard sonatas for the queen’s private study .

3. **Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687)**
– **Patron:** Louis XIV of France
– **Role:** Surintendant de la Musique de la Chambre du Roi
– **Output:** Pioneered French opera (*tragédies en musique*) like *Armide*, aligning with royal propaganda .

### **Painters**

4. **Titian (c. 1488–1576)**
– **Patron:** Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor), Philip II of Spain
– **Role:** Court portraitist
– **Output:** *Equestrian Portrait of Charles V* (1548); mythologies for Philip II like *Diana and Actaeon* .

5. **Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)**
– **Patron:** Duke of Mantua; Marie de’ Medici (Queen of France); Charles I of England
– **Role:** Diplomat-artist
– **Output:** *Marie de’ Medici Cycle* (21 canvases glorifying the queen); *Allegory of Peace* for Charles I .

6. **Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825)**
– **Patron:** Napoleon Bonaparte
– **Role:** Premier Peintre de l’Empereur
– **Output:** Propaganda works like *The Coronation of Napoleon* (1807) .

7. **Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641)**
– **Patron:** Charles I of England
– **Role:** Principal court painter
– **Output:** *Charles I in Three Positions* (1635–1636), defining the king’s image .

### **Architects**

8. **Christopher Wren (1632–1723)**
– **Patron:** Charles II of England
– **Role:** Surveyor-General of the King’s Works
– **Output:** Rebuilt St. Paul’s Cathedral and 52 London churches post-Great Fire, funded by state coal taxes .

9. **Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680)**
– **Patron:** Pope Urban VIII; Louis XIV of France
– **Role:** Papal architect; invited to Versailles
– **Output:** Colonnade of St. Peter’s Square (Vatican); unrealized Louvre redesign for Louis XIV .

10. **John Vanbrugh (1664–1726)**
– **Patron:** Queen Anne; 1st Duke of Marlborough
– **Role:** Playwright-architect
– **Output:** Blenheim Palace (1705–1722), a Baroque monument to the Duke’s military victories .

### **Writers & Poets**

11. **Pierre Corneille (1606–1684)**
– **Patron:** Cardinal Richelieu (under Louis XIII)
– **Role:** State-subsidized playwright
– **Output:** Tragedies like *Le Cid* (1637), aligning with French absolutist ideals .

12. **Jean Racine (1639–1699)**
– **Patron:** Louis XIV
– **Role:** Court historiographer
– **Output:** *Phèdre* (1677); official histories of the king’s wars .

13. **Torquato Tasso (1544–1595)**
– **Patron:** Alfonso II d’Este (Duke of Ferrara)
– **Role:** Court poet
– **Output:** Epic poem *Jerusalem Delivered* (1581), celebrating Crusader heroism .