Raúl Ilargi Meijer

Jul 302026
 


Pablo Picasso Girl Before A Mirror 1932


New US Attack Wave On Iran Begins In Overnight Hours(ZH)
Rand Paul Delivers a Cinematic Indictment of Fauci’s COVID Legacy (Queen)
Paul Confirms Plans For Fauci Contempt Vote (JTN)
Hawley Exposed Fauci’s 5th Amendment Charade, Then the Takedown (Margolis)
’Who the F**k Do You Think You Were?’ Moreno Destroys Fauci (Margolis)
Senate Fan Girls for Zelenskyy then Advances Russian Sanction Bill 86-12 (CTH)
Britain Backs Ukraine With New Electronic Warfare Cooperation (RFE/RL)
Trump Admin Asks SCOTUS To Revive Mail-In Voting Order Ahead Of Midterms (AmG)
DOJ and Trump Ask Supreme Court to Review $83.3 Million Carroll Verdict (ET)
Trump Urges SCOTUS To Overturn E. Jean Carroll’s $83M Defamation Verdict (CNN)
CNN Trump Midrerms Poll (CNN)
Welcome to Socialism’: A Clinton Hand’s Stark Warning About Mamdani (Green)
The Mamdani Grocery Grift (Turley)
Laura Loomer Says There’s No Nazi Problem In Ukraine. What She Didn’t See (RT)
The End Of Freedom – The Last Breath Of A Dying Continent (Adams)

 


 

 


 

https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/2082500161914257556?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2082524598277378179?s=20

 


 


Losing Zerohedge support?!

New US Attack Wave On Iran Begins In Overnight Hours

The United States has begun a new round of airstrikes in Iran in the night time and early morning hours (local), according to a senior US official to Axios. The extent of the bombings, or whether they will be sustained, remains unclear: Trump “is in an escalatory mood” but is still contemplating “the depth of that response.”, A senior administration official says – WSJ. Trump is apparently making good on his earlier Wednesday threat: President Trump has told Fox News that he is “going to beat the fucking shit” out of Iran in response to their attack on US forces in Jordan overnight. Speaking to Trey Yingst, he added “we’ll be hitting them hard, they’re going to get a beating.”


There was heavy US refueler activity in regional skies just ahead of the strikes’ commencement – as well as unconfirmed reports of explosions at Riyadh’s international airport, but the cause has remained subject to speculation. But with each attack on Iran, its forces tend to respond in kind against Gulf countries hosting US assets and bases. It is going to be a long night for the region, especially while bracing for the IRGC’s inevitable response.

US is quite clearly stuck, in search of a strategy…

Details of Trump-Netanyahu Meeting at Oval Finally Emerging
After on Tuesday President Trump hosted both Zelensky and Netanyahu in the Oval Office there were no big press conferences or readouts given. But on Wednesday some key statements have begun to emerge concerning what was discussed, but at this point only offered via the Israeli side…

To be expected, Iran and the nuclear question dominated the discussions, according to i24’s Ariel Oseran, with Israeli officials describing a White House focused on three possible paths forward. “Trump is weighing three options: a nuclear deal, maintaining and intensifying the economic blockade, or renewed military strikes,” one official said, adding, “We didn’t tell Trump Israel’s preference is a strike. Our preference is the outcome. The decision is ultimately his.”

…talk about stating the obvious. But Israeli still maintains that the situation is at tipping point inside Iran, which according to more independent ‘realist’ analysts seems highly dubious. Israeli officials argued that Tehran is under mounting internal strain. “Iran is under severe economic pressure” due to fuel and diesel shortages, roughly 90% inflation, and “the beginning of public protests.” They added, “We discussed increasing pressure on Iran, both economically and kinetically.”

On Iran’s leadership, officials said, “We know for certain Mujtaba is alive, but since Operation Rising Lion no one has seen him.” Regarding Iran’s military capabilities, they claimed, “Iran now has only 1,500–1,600 missiles left after we destroyed much of its production capability.” Expletives fly and Trump talks ‘tough’ – but this whole gambit has been a bombing campaign in search of a strategy…

Read more …

Today, Fauci is an 85-year old grandpa. You should have gotten to him when it mattered.

Rand Paul Delivers a Cinematic Indictment of Fauci’s COVID Legacy (Queen)

We’ve seen it countless times: the dramatic courtroom scene. It could be an attorney, or it might be the person testifying. But someone in a courtroom delivers a stirring speech that makes the difference in a case or makes a statement altogether. The courtroom scene is a hallmark of scriptwriting. From To Kill a Mockingbird to A Few Good Men to countless episodes of Law & Order, writers love a good grandstanding courtroom speech. And on Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) delivered a takedown of Dr. Anthony Fauci that screenwriters could easily drool over.


Paul reminded Fauci and everybody watching and listening of the costs of Fauci’s COVID-19 policies: The COVID lockdown could never have been inflicted without you aiding and abetting the crime. Children lost years of education, small businesses built over a lifetime disappeared, patients delayed cancer screenings and other medical care, families were separated from dying relatives, workers were ordered to accept a medical procedure or lose their jobs, worship assembly, employment, education, and travel were restricted in the name of science. While you did not impose every restriction, you used your public authority to justify them.

My own experiences during that period bear witness. My dad was in a hospital with cancer ravaging his body, with family unable to visit him (and a cellphone that went dead because a nurse misplaced his charging cable). By the grace of God, he came home with hospice, and we got to spend his last two days with him as a family. I was on staff at my church at the time, and even in the first state to open back up, we felt compelled to continue weird protocols for months “out of an abundance of caution” — a phrase I never hope to have to utter again.

We can’t ignore the damage that Fauci’s COVID policies did to businesses, churches, and even some families. Some politicians dutifully followed them for months and even years after the danger of the first waves of the pandemic was long gone.

Side note: Keisha Lance Bottoms, who famously declared that “Atlanta Isn’t Ready to Reopen—And Neither Is Georgia,” now wants to run the Peach State. The Atlanta mayor demanded that people wear masks outside long after Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) opened the state back up. We have to hold her accountable by making sure she never holds public office again.

Paul savaged Fauci for his word games on gain-of-function research: On May 11, 2021, you told the Senate the NIH has never, ever, and does not now fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. When I gave you the opportunity to correct the record to reconsider the statement, you responded that you had never before lied to Congress. We were then told that only the government’s narrowest regulation of definition counted here. That you could define gain-of-function in one way in which this was not gain-of-function, in which all of the common sense of the world be thrown out…

The American people were not asking for a semantics debate over what is gain-of-function. They were asking, does common sense say this research was dangerous in Wuhan? They wanted to know whether their money funded experiments in Wuhan that made bad coronaviruses better able to infect humans. The answer is, yes.

https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/2082449192895566181?s=20

Finally, and possibly most devastatingly, Paul pointed out that the biggest thing that Fauci and his league of arrogant scientists did was destroy trust in institutions — possibly rightly so, but it happened under Fauci’s watch nonetheless. “There will be another pandemic. There will be another crisis. And there will again be officials that insist uncertainty must be hidden for the public’s own good. They will demand obedience. They will invoke science. “I am the science!” as though it were a commandment. They will argue that government officials cannot be questioned, because questioning them would undermine public trust. They have it backwards.

It is secrecy that destroys trust. It is arrogance that destroys trust. It is censorship that destroys trust. And it is the refusal to admit error that destroys trust. That loss of trust may be YOUR MOST DAMAGING LEGACY. Trust can’t be ordered. It has to be earned. No scientist is above scrutiny. No government official is beyond accountability. And no public servant has the right to treat suffering of millions of Americans as a footnote to his preferred version of history.”

https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/2082450685337960467?s=20

Of course, we watched as Fauci pleaded the Fifth repeatedly. We gleefully enjoyed Paul ejecting Fauci’s attorney from the chambers. But it’s hard to imagine a more cinematic moment than those opening remarks from Paul. Good stuff.

Read more …

“The question on contempt will be voted on and then there’s the question of whether or not the Department of Justice will take that up,” he said.

Paul Confirms Plans For Fauci Contempt Vote (JTN)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Wednesday confirmed that his Senate committee would hold a contempt of Congress vote against Dr. Anthony Fauci after he invoked the 5th Amendment to avoid answering questions. “We believe… he didn’t need to hide behind the 5th Amendment and that maybe the 5th Amendment doesn’t attach when you have a pardon in place,” he told reporters. “The question on contempt will be voted on and then there’s the question of whether or not the Department of Justice will take that up.”


Fauci appeared before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday and declined to answer questions, citing the 5th Amendment. Multiple senators, including Paul and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., have questioned whether Fauci could legitimately invoke the 5th Amendment due to his pardon from President Joe Biden. Hawley opined that Fauci was improperly invoking the 5th Amendment to avoid answering uncomfortable questions about his increase in wealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci declined to respond.

Read more …

“Fauci, while Americans were dying by the hundreds of thousands during the COVID-19 pandemic, directed his own staff to solicit cash prizes on his behalf..”

Hawley Exposed Fauci’s 5th Amendment Charade, Then the Takedown (Margolis)

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) didn’t just question Anthony Fauci on Wednesday. He dismantled him methodically in front of the entire country, using nothing but public records, a Supreme Court precedent, and a series of questions so basic that a child could have answered them. Fauci had exactly one response prepared for every question senators asked him during the hearing: a canned invocation of his Fifth Amendment rights.The only problem is that Fauci doesn’t have Fifth Amendment protection anymore. President Biden pardoned him in the final hours of his term, which means that Fauci cannot legally “stand upon his privilege,” as the Supreme Court ruled all the way back in 1896.


Hawley knew that. He built his entire line of questioning around forcing Fauci to demonstrate it to the world, starting with the simplest possible setup. “Well, nothing says honesty like taking the fifth, huh, doc?” Hawley asked. “Let’s try something. What day of the week is it today?” “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution,” Fauci said.Hawley asked what color tie Fauci was wearing.Same answer. He asked what color the carpet was in front of him.Same answer again.

Three questions. Zero risk of self-incrimination. Three invocations of a constitutional right that, thanks to his own pardon, Fauci doesn’t legally possess anymore. That’s when Hawley reminded him.”Let’s just get one thing straight, you don’t have any rights under the Fifth Amendment because you’ve been pardoned,” Hawley said. “As you very well know, as the Supreme Court has been clear for a century and more, Brown v. Walker, 1896. When he has been pardoned, he may not stand upon his privilege.” From there, Hawley moved from exposing the absurdity of Fauci’s stonewalling to laying out exactly why Fauci was hiding behind it. The answer, according to Hawley, is money.

Hawley walked through how Fauci, while Americans were dying by the hundreds of thousands during the COVID-19 pandemic, directed his own staff to solicit cash prizes on his behalf, using federal time, federal resources, and federal email accounts. Hawley named the staffers: Greg Folkers and Patricia Conrad, Fauci’s chief of staff and personal assistant. Both, Hawley said, spent government time chasing awards for their boss. One of those awards was the Dan David Award, worth $900,000. Hawley read from an email Folkers sent seeking help padding Fauci’s nomination. “I’m working on this nomination for the Dan David Award for Fauci,” the email read, according to Hawley.

“We need to beef up the COVID part. Do you have language in the can that you can share that delineates how we responded in new ways to COVID?” That wasn’t the only prize on the list. Hawley cited the Partnership for Public Service Award, the Adelson Prize, the Smithsonian Award, the National Academy of Medicine Award, and an award from the CDC Foundation, all pursued using federal employees on the taxpayers’ dime. “You turned your staff into a full-time application machine,” Hawley said. He noted Fauci’s staff didn’t stop at applying. They pressured federal ethics officials to approve the payouts. “We want to get to yes because Fauci wants the money,” one email read, according to Hawley.

Federal law bars government employees from soliciting cash awards or personal benefits, and it bars using subordinates to do it for them. Hawley cited the regulation by number, 5 C.F.R. Section 2635.205(b), and dared Fauci to explain how none of it applied to him. Fauci said nothing. He couldn’t.Hawley closed by putting Fauci’s fortune on the table. Fauci’s net worth now tops $12 million. His pension paid out more than $400,000 in its first year alone. Fauci built all of it, Hawley argued, while a million Americans died and he was busy chasing awards and sitting for glossy magazine profiles.

“You could sit for InStyle magazine, but you can’t answer questions for the American people,” Hawley said. Then came the closing blow. Hawley told Fauci that his silence spoke louder than any answer could have.”Silence is admission,” Hawley said. He accused Fauci of turning the pandemic into a vehicle for personal glory, calling him “a narcissist and a megalomaniac and a liar” who “disgraced” his own profession. “You’ve done more to harm science than anybody in my lifetime,” Hawley told him. “I hope you’ll go home and write that in your diary.”

I bet he will.

Read more …

“..I decided I’m going to give up my businesses, sell them all, run for office, run through the United States Senate. Here I am sitting in front of you, six years later, saying, who the f**k do you think you were for doing that? It is a total disgrace what you did to this country..”

’Who the F**k Do You Think You Were?’ Moreno Destroys Fauci (Margolis)

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) walked into Wednesday’s hearing wanting one thing from Dr. Anthony Fauci: an apology. He didn’t get one. Fauci came to Capitol Hill, read an opening statement, then refused to answer a single question that followed it. He wouldn’t even answer Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) question about whether a folder was sitting right in front of him. Moreno used his time to remind Fauci exactly what the last six years cost him personally, and what they cost the country.


“It was about six years ago, today that I decided I’m going to give up my businesses, sell them all, run for office, run through the United States Senate. Here I am sitting in front of you, six years later, saying, who the f**k do you think you were for doing that? It is a total disgrace what you did to this country,” Moreno said. He turned next to the colleagues who spent years defending Fauci in public. “I hope the voters of the United States of America watch the clips of every one of you doting on a guy who was more interested in being a celebrity than saving American people,” Moreno said. “You may have had a 50-plus-year legacy of public service, but it ends in total and complete disgrace.”

Then Moreno asked the only question that mattered. “Will you apologize, just apologize to the people who you harmed through your actions? Do you have the dignity to just say you’re sorry?” Moreno asked.”On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution,” Fauci said.

Fauci repeated that one sentence over and over again through the rest of the hearing. Moreno asked about service members discharged for refusing the vaccine. Fifth Amendment. He asked about business owners who lost everything during the lockdowns. Fifth Amendment. He asked about parents who strapped masks onto toddlers too young to understand why. Fifth Amendment. He asked about families who buried relatives who trusted Fauci’s word on booster after booster. Fifth Amendment.

Moreno brought up the Ohio mother arrested for watching a football game with her family during the pandemic. Fauci answered the same way. By the end, Moreno stopped asking questions and started making a point. He noted that James Madison, the man who wrote the Fifth Amendment, once lived a few blocks from the hearing room, and wondered aloud what Madison would think of a public health official invoking it to dodge accountability for his own decisions. “It’s no secret why you have to hire the biggest dirtbag attorney on the planet,” Moreno said. “I hope you’re paying him well, and I hope that one way or the other, somewhere, sometime, you answer for your crimes.”

Fauci’s reputation was already shot by the time he showed up on Capitol Hill, but boy did he absolutely destroy his legacy today.

Read more …

“Senators, grown adults awaiting Zelenskyy’s arrival, clinging to every word, clamoring to be first in line for his reception, competing against each other for time standing next to him..”

Senate Fan Girls for Zelenskyy then Advances Russian Sanction Bill 86-12 (CTH)

The behavior of the U.S. senators clamoring to be with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reflects a certain level of disconnect that needs to be witnessed to be realized. Senators, grown adults awaiting Zelenskyy’s arrival, clinging to every word, clamoring to be first in line for his reception, competing against each other for time standing next to him, the entire event was grotesque and creepy.



Shortly after the guided tour of the upper chamber, the Golden Child was carried on a gilded chariot into the viewing chamber while trumpets blared, senators took turns bringing forth their taxpayer funded indulgences, and Senator Jeanne Shaheen knelt down at his feet and peeled Zelenskyy’s grapes. Yeah, that’s the vibe. The “Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026” was then advanced by the Senate in an 86 to 12 procedural vote teeing up the bill for final passage in the Senate later this week. However, I would challenge people to READ THE BILL, it’s only 61-pages.

Within the bill you will note almost everything within the law is left to the enforcement discretion of the President; which normally would not be of great concern, however, given the punishment for violations – things may get sketchy depending on who is in office.A foreign person who “undermines the peace, security, political stability, or territorial integrity of Ukraine;” and/or “undermines the democratic processes of Ukraine,” will be in violation of the U.S. law and subject to fines, travel or visa restrictions. [Page 13, page 28] As a consequence, any person who may be critical of Ukraine -undermining the democratic process via criticism- can be punished by the U.S. President.

Page 36 applies a 100% U.S. tariff against the import of any country’s goods into the USA if that country purchase energy products from Russia (with qualifiers). The intent of that section is to stop China and/or India from purchasing Russian oil and gas. As noted by Politico, ‘the revamped bill expands the number of Russian entities that would be subject to mandatory sanctions — including Russia’s shadow fleet of ships ferrying oil — but it also grants Trump broad waiver authority.’ The House is in summer recess, so things may stall even if the Senate (very pro-Ukraine) passes the bill.

Read more …

Their thought: Once there is war with Russia, nobody will notice the mess they made domestically.

Britain Backs Ukraine With New Electronic Warfare Cooperation (RFE/RL)

President Volodymyr Zelensky met British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on July 27 as he kicked off a key week of talks with officials around the world to bolster Ukraine’s defenses amid a rising civilian death toll from Russian air strikes back home. Zelensky became the first foreign leader hosted by Burnham since he took office one week ago following the resignation of fellow Labour Party member Keir Starmer. The two leaders met at the Portsmouth Naval Base on England’s southern coast as Burnham pledged his country’s “unwavering” support for Kyiv as the war with Russia runs well into its fifth year.


Zelensky said being the first foreign leader to meet Burnham was “an important signal of support.””We discussed our defense for Ukraine, it is important to have sufficient capabilities to protect lives both in the sky and at sea,” Zelensky wrote on social media after the meeting, adding the development of joint defense production was also touched upon.Burnham and Zelensky were later scheduled to meet some of the 200 Ukrainian military personnel who have been in Britain the past three weeks participating in a maritime security and counter-mine exercise in preparation for potential future Black Sea missions.

‘Stone Cloak’ System
Burnham announced the sharing of the intellectual property behind Britain s new Stone Cloak electronic warfare system, enabling Ukraine to produce the technology itself. The jammers, the size of a tablet computer, can be used to prevent Russian air defenses from tracking and targeting drones when attached to the projectiles, officials said.Downing Street pointed out that the United Kingdom’s support for Ukraine has reached 25 billion pounds ($33 billion) since Russia’s full-scale invasion of February 2022, including 16 billion pounds ($21 billion) in direct military assistance.

Following the London visit, Zelensky is scheduled to travel to Washington on July 28 for talks with US President Donald Trump. Zelensky is also expected to attend the funeral of US Senator Lindsey Graham, who died earlier this month. The Republican lawmaker was a vocal Ukraine supporter and had traveled to Kyiv for meetings with Zelensky days before his death.

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Deadly Strikes
Five people, including a child, were killed and eight injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Rostov region, local officials reported on July 27. Rostov Region Governor Yuri Slyusar said rescuers recovered bodies, two adults and one child, from the rubble of an apartment building hit by a drone, while emergency crews continue recovery operations and provide assistance to victims. Zelensky, in a post on X, said that Ukraine’s long-range strikes hit an export terminal in the Rostov region and oil facilities in the Yaroslavl and Udmurtia regions to reduce Russia’s ability to finance the war.

“Last night, our long-range sanctions were effective in the Rostov region. An export terminal approximately 250 kilometers from the front line was hit. Deep strikes also targeted oil facilities in the Yaroslavl region and the Udmurt Republic, which is 1,300 kilometers from Ukraine’s state border,” Zelenskyy wrote. Meanwhile, the death toll continued to rise in Ukraine, with the capital, Kyiv, coming under a Russian ballistic missile attack on July 26, authorities said, while other regions suffered air strikes during the day that led to at least six deaths.

In the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, a Russian drone struck a supermarket, killing two people and wounding 25, Ukraine’s emergency services said. “This is deliberate Russian terror that has no military justification,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said a glide bomb attack killed one person and wounded six in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya, which has been a frequent target of Russian bombardment.

In the frontline city of Slovyansk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, the Naftogaz oil and gas company said two of its employees were killed in a Russian attack while trying to help residents affected by an earlier air strike. One person was killed, and eight others were injured in a Russian strike on the town of Balakliya in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on July 27, regional authorities reported.Russia denies targeting civilian areas despite widespread evidence of such attacks that have killed thousands of people since the start of Russia s full-scale invasion.

Read more …

`What else can they do?

Trump Admin Asks SCOTUS To Revive Mail-In Voting Order Ahead Of Midterms (AmG)

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to let the president’s mail-in voting executive order take effect ahead of the midterms, after a federal appeals court sided with Democrat-led states seeking to keep it blocked just months before Election Day.


Trump signed the order in March, directing the Postal Service to restrict delivery of mail-in ballots in states that refuse to hand over lists of eligible voters. It also orders the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to compile lists of verified absentee voters for the Postal Service to reference, and threatens to withhold federal funds from states that do not comply, part of a larger effort by the president to tighten a mail voting system he has long argued is vulnerable to abuse.

A federal judge in Massachusetts blocked the order in June, ruling that its timing made it impossible for the Postal Service to propose the rule through proper channels and would deny Congress its required chance to weigh in. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling Saturday, rejecting the administration’s appeal and leaving the order blocked in the 23 states and Washington, D.C., that sued to stop it.

In Monday’s filing, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued the injunction improperly impedes the president’s authority over the executive branch, noting the Postal Service falls within it despite its independent structure. Sauer warned that further delay could make the order impossible to implement in time for November even if the administration ultimately wins on appeal. “Every day that the agencies are unable to take steps to carry out the Executive Order as to the November 2026 election makes it less likely that they will, as a practical matter, be able to implement any lists or rules that they ultimately finalize, even if they obtain appellate relief,” the filing states.

The order is one piece of a larger push by Trump to overhaul election security, an effort that has repeatedly run into resistance from federal judges. Trump has also urged Congress to pass his SAVE America Act, which would restrict mail voting and require identification to cast a ballot, though the legislation has stalled on Capitol Hill despite mounting pressure from the president.

Trump devoted a primetime address earlier this month to laying out his concerns about election interference, releasing declassified documents alongside the speech. Trump used the address to direct federal agencies to investigate a Michigan get-out-the-vote operation and to examine whether intelligence officials withheld information about Chinese efforts to influence the 2020 election.

Read more …

“In the new petition, the Justice Department argues Trump’s 2019 White House statements denying the allegations were official acts protected by federal law.”: ”Trump may have to pay almost $100 million in damages and interest “for issuing a press release and answering reporters’ questions, from the White House ..”

DOJ and Trump Ask Supreme Court to Review $83.3 Million Carroll Verdict (ET)

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the U.S. Supreme Court on July 28 to intervene in the defamation dispute between President Donald Trump and writer E. Jean Carroll. The DOJ is arguing in the petition in United States v. Carroll that the federal government—not Trump personally—should be the defendant in the case that led to an $83.3 million verdict against Trump. At the same time, Trump’s private attorneys filed a petition with the high court in the case of Trump v. Carroll, asking the justices to review the same verdict, largely on grounds of presidential immunity.


The DOJ’s petition, a copy of which was obtained by The Epoch Times, focuses on the federal Westfall Act, which shields federal employees from personal liability for common law tort lawsuits arising from their government employment. Common law refers to the body of law developed over centuries by court rulings, as opposed to statutes passed by legislatures. A tort is a wrongful act or infringement of a right that gives rise to civil liability. When the U.S. attorney general certifies that a federal employee—including a president—was acting in an official capacity, the United States is usually substituted as the defendant, and the individual ends up being dismissed from the lawsuit.

The $83.3 million verdict arose from statements Trump made in mid-2019 while he was president, in which he denied Carroll’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her in the mid-1990s. Trump denied the claim in an official White House statement and again when speaking to reporters—statements the jury found defamatory. In 2020, then-Attorney General William Barr, who served in Trump’s Cabinet, certified under the Westfall Act that Trump’s statements were within the scope of his official duties. As a result, the case, which had been pending in New York state court, was transferred to federal court. Then in 2023, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, who served in President Joe Biden’s Cabinet, took the unusual step of withdrawing the certification, the petition said.

This allowed the lawsuit to move forward against Trump personally, after which the jury found for Carroll, rendering the $83.3 million verdict. While an appeal was pending, Trump was reelected, and in April 2025, his attorney general appointee, Pam Bondi, recertified Trump’s conduct and made a motion to substitute the United States as the defendant in the case. The Second Circuit blocked Bondi’s recertification, an action the DOJ argues the court was not entitled to take. The DOJ also argues the Second Circuit misinterpreted the Westfall Act.

“This petition presents the question whether the Westfall Act contains an implicit timing restriction barring the Attorney General’s posttrial recertification. Such a restriction does not exist,” the petition said of Bondi’s action. If the United States replaces Trump as the defendant, Carroll’s defamation claim would almost certainly fail. The Federal Tort Claims Act, which covers lawsuits against the government, specifically excludes defamation claims. The DOJ urged the Supreme Court to take the case, arguing it raises potentially significant institutional stakes.

Trump may have to pay almost $100 million in damages and interest “for issuing a press release and answering reporters’ questions, from the White House, defending against attacks on his fitness for office,” the petition said. Trump’s petition in Trump v. Carroll argues that the Second Circuit was wrong to treat presidential immunity like an ordinary legal defense that can be lost if not raised in time, and that the appeals court didn’t actually decide whether immunity protected Trump’s 2019 statements.

If the Second Circuit’s “mistreatment of Presidential immunity and the Westfall Act” are not corrected, there will be reverberations far beyond this case, as the threat of a single judgment for damages based on official acts will prevent presidents from “fearlessly” executing their duties, the petition said. The $83.3 million verdict is separate from a prior $5 million civil verdict Carroll secured in 2023. In that case, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the 1990s and for defaming her again in 2022 when he was out of office.

The Supreme Court recently declined to take up Trump’s challenge to the $5 million verdict, but Trump has asked the court to reconsider its ruling. It is unclear whether the Supreme Court will take up the two new petitions.

Read more …

“This is the first case in our nation’s history in which a court has imposed damages liability on a president for his conduct in office,”

Trump Urges SCOTUS To Overturn E. Jean Carroll’s $83M Defamation Verdict (CNN)

President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to once again step into his messy legal brawl with magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll, appealing an $83.3 million jury verdict for defamation on the grounds that, as president, he is immune from the litigation.The appeal, which has not yet been docketed at the high court, relies heavily on the court’s 2024 decision granting the president wide immunity for actions taken in office.


“This is the first case in our nation’s history in which a court has imposed damages liability on a president for his conduct in office,” Trump’s attorneys told the high court, according to a copy of the appeal reviewed by CNN. “Yet, in upholding the exorbitant $83.3 million defamation judgment here, the Second Circuit never even decided whether presidential immunity applies.” Trump told the justices that an appeals court decision in Carroll’s favor would “cause significant damage, not only to this president and future presidents” but also the nation.

In addition to raising the prospect that Trump should be immune from the litigation, Trump is also asking the court to review whether the United States government should be the defendant rather than the president. “Here, the president of the United States has been ordered to pay nearly $100 million in damages … for issuing a press release and answering reporters’ questions, from the White House, defending against attacks on his fitness for office,” his attorneys told the court. The latest appeal comes weeks after the Supreme Court declined to take up a separate case from Trump in which the president is seeking to unwind a $5 million civil verdict that found he sexually abused and defamed Carroll at a Bergdorf Goodman department store in the 1990s.

Trump has denied wrongdoing in both cases. The new appeal involves statements Trump made against Carroll in 2019, when he was president, that a jury found were defamatory and ordered him to pay $83 million in damages. A federal appeals court panel affirmed the damages award, finding it “reasonable in light of the extraordinary and egregious facts” and rejected several of Trump’s legal challenges. Among them, the appeals court found that Trump had previously waived any claim of presidential immunity and said the Supreme Court’s decision in 2024 involving presidential immunity did not alter their view.

The full 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals declined to revisit that decision in late April. At that time, one of the appeals court judges who sided with Carroll wrote that Trump had first brought up his immunity claims far too late in the litigation.

Read more …

CNN hates Trump. So they make this of his polls.

Note: The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS from July 23-27 among a random national sample of 1,225 US adults drawn from a probability-based panel. Surveys were either conducted online or by telephone with a live interviewer. Results have a margin of sampling error of ±3.2 percentage points.

CNN Trump Midrerms Poll (CNN)

President Donald Trump, pictured in the Oval Office on July 21, during a meeting with the President of Lebanon
A record-high 73% of US adults say that President Donald Trump hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds, with just 27% saying he’s had the right priorities. That comes amid increasingly bleak views of the Iran war, stagnating economic unhappiness, and broad discontent about Trump’s approach to these challenges.Roughly two-thirds of Americans think that Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions and that his military decisions in Iran have hurt the US. Around three-quarters say the president is not in touch with the problems ordinary Americans face in their daily lives.


Trump’s overall approval rating, 34%, matches the career low he last saw at the close of his first term, following the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Half of Americans now strongly disapprove of him, a high across his terms, with a record-low 15% strongly approving. Within his own party, his approval rating has hit a new low at 78% among Republicans, and just 19% of Republicans say they’re enthusiastic about the rest of his second term, down from 38% last spring. While his ratings are underwater across a range of issues tested, Trump sees his lowest numbers on a trio of interconnected issues:

Just 28% approve of his handling of the situation in Iran, 25% on inflation and 21% on gas prices, with significant pockets of disapproval even among his supporters. With an increasing majority of Americans anticipating a long-term military conflict, only about one-quarter think Trump has a clear plan for handling the situation, down from 40% at the start of the war. And 62% now say Trump is not an effective world leader, up from 54% who felt that way early in his second term. Just one-quarter now say the war has been worth the toll in American lives and dollars, with younger Americans particularly skeptical.

On the most tangible economic fallout of the conflict in Iran, 74% of Americans say rising gas prices have caused them at least some hardship, up from 63% in March, with just under one-quarter believing the president has a plan to address the issue. And 71% say Trump hasn’t gone far enough in trying to reduce the price of everyday goods, up from 58% a year ago. There are few domestic bright spots for the president, whose issue approval ratings top out at 41% for handling voting rights and election integrity – one topic where his supporters have rallied most closely around him.

Just 39% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of immigration, a relative positive at the start of his second term, with 35% approving of his management of the federal government. Following two recent deadly ICE shootings, Americans say by a 20-point margin that the agency is making cities less, not more, safe. And amid the cyclospora outbreak and a surge in measles cases, they say by a 34-point margin that changes to health agencies like the FDA and CDC are leaving the public less, not more, safe.

Trump has never gotten high marks in polling as someone who’s in touch with the problems of ordinary Americans. In the latest poll, just 27% say that description applies to him, while about two-thirds say that he’s someone who does not put the good of the country ahead of his personal gain.

Those numbers reflect broad skepticism about the high-profile projects that would leave Trump’s mark on the nation’s capital. A 58% majority of Americans say they feel dissatisfied or angry about the construction projects Trump has undertaken in Washington, DC, including the effort to build a new White House ballroom and renovate the Reflecting Pool. Just 17% express positive feelings, with another 25% saying it doesn’t matter to them.

At the time of Trump’s second inauguration, nearly half of Americans thought it was at least somewhat likely that Trump would avoid conflicts between his family’s company and his work as president, but a scant 23% think he’s done so at least somewhat well. And 57% say it’s a bad thing that Trump earned more than $2 billion last year while serving as an elected official, including income from cryptocurrency holdings, royalty payments and property investments. Just 7% see that as a good thing, with 36% calling his earnings while president something that doesn’t matter much.

More than 6 in 10 say that Trump has gone too far in pursuing his personal business interests while serving as president and undertaking projects to remodel the White House and other Washington landmarks, with nearly as many saying he’s gone too far in making changes to cultural institutions like the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian.

Construction on President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom is seen on July 14. Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Read more …

Mamdani = taxes.

Welcome to Socialism’: A Clinton Hand’s Stark Warning About Mamdani (Green)

Dem strategist Mark Penn took to X during the wee hours Wednesday morning to warn the public about “the lie of socialism” represented by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, but it’s really a cry for help over what’s happening to his party. Before we get to that, however, you need to understand just what a colossal screw-up Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax really is. Because if what Penn says is correct — and apparently it is — it’s a colossal screw-up by design. And an oh-so-bitter taste of what New Yorkers are stuck with for the next three-and-a-half years.


In a piece headlined “Welcome to Socialism,” Penn wrote that Mamdani’s administration “with fanfare” released its list of “960,000 owners of real estate in New York City that have been determined they could owe the pied-a-terre tax because NYC computers have determined they own what was billed as a market value of $5 million or more.” So far, so socialist, right?But, Penn added, “there are only about one million residential tax lots in New York City so the first question is how did virtually every owner get put on the list?” Welcome to socialism, indeed.

“The answer is that you are subject to the tax in the first two years if your property has a “DOF valuation” of over $1 million. And so the $5 million figure was a fake,” Penn concluded. But here’s where we got to what Penn called “the interesting part” with understatement he must have choked on: “Once you are on the list you have to prove you should not be taxed by showing you are a resident. Or by challenging the valuation.””Good luck fighting the city bureaucrats on both of these counts. The individual litigation will be massive.” Socialism always starts with “soak the rich” but always ends with “stick it to everybody.” Mamdani is notable only for his speed.

But here’s what Penn missed in his piece.The New York Post reminded readers on Monday that “Mamdani threatened to raise city property taxes by a staggering 9.5% in February unless he was allowed to ‘tax the rich’ to cover a $12 billion budget gap that was later revised down to $5.4 billion.”The good news is that the hole in NYC’s budget got revised downward by more than $6 billion. The bad news is that “City Hall estimates the pied-à-terre tax would yield $500 million per year.” The worse news is that “Democratic city Comptroller Mark Levine’s office said the real figure would be closer to $340 to $380 million.” And the worst news is that critics of the tax say that it “could cause property values to plummet.”

“Add a tax of 4 to 6 per cent (yes condos are taxed that high now) a year of its DOF value to a condo or coop and that condo won’t be worth that much,” Penn explained. “And you can forget about out of town buyers. So this will destroy much of the home values that people have built up.” Mamdani’s brand of socialism is taxing everybody for unrealized gains on properties whose value Mamdani will destroy. Nifty, eh? He’s also the fresh new face of a Democratic Party that has grown so corrupt and stands for so little that Democratic Socialists in cities like New York have taken to wearing it like a skinsuit.

They even boast about it, and the most that even an old Clinton hand like Penn can do is whine about it on X. So the initial burst of pied-à-terre schadenfreude was over Mamdani supporters like Anna Wintour, Woody Allen, and Cynthia Nixon finding themselves on his Enemies of the People list. But today I’m standing in a puddle of my own schadenfreude as top-level Democrats like Penn come to realize just how badly the DSA takeover of their party is going to hurt them.

Read more …

“The plan is a multimillion-dollar version of the $5 gold watch grift. The chumps are New York taxpayers who believe that Mamdani can sell them produce at a discount of 30 percent below the market rate and not lose money. Indeed, this could end up the most expensive produce in the Big Apple.”

“The Mamdani con will cost New Yorkers millions, and most will thank him for it.”

The Mamdani Grocery Grift (Turley)

Last week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s short stint as a faux president ended with an embarrassing acknowledgment that he could not, as promised during his campaign, arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. So, this week, Mamdani the Grocer made a reappearance, with details on the five city-run grocery stores that he will open. But rather than deliver discount groceries, Mamdani is selling New Yorkers a bill of goods that will cost them millions.


What Mamdani described was a discount food bank dressed up as a grocery. Standing in front of blackboards saying “REDUCED 30%,” Mamdani sounded like a bodega hawker: “Once a month, our five city-run grocery stores will set prices for this core set of goods at 30% below typical retail prices. No exceptions, no gimmicks” Here’s the most delicious part: the presser was a gimmick from beginning to end. The mayor promised that “The savings will last for the entire month. That means no weekly fluctuations or sticker shock at the checkout line — not for our seniors living on fixed incomes, nor for the parents who rely on a regular supply of apple slices to keep toddler tantrums at bay.”

The Mamdani markets are new variations of an old New York grift: selling gold watches for $5. The dupes want to believe that somehow this street vendor, surreptitiously displaying watches inside his overcoat, actually found a way to sell “solid gold watches” for just a few bucks. The math simply does not add up for Mamdani. Most groceries have an average profit margin between 1% and 3%, one of the smallest margins of any industry. To promise a 30% discount below market rate that cannot be adjusted due to monthly market fluctuations is economically absurd.

It is not a description of a competitive grocery but a public charity. It is a quasi-food bank where taxpayers subsidize the cost. As usual, Mamdani turns this into a class war, demonizing business owners. He suggests that real grocery stores are simply price gougers hoarding windfall profits from consumers. He ignores that they must pay rent, upkeep and fees — all things the city-run stores may simply write off. He proclaimed, “May the most affordable grocery store win.”

Of course, the test is not which grocery is the most affordable, but which is the most sustainable. If you are willing to take a bath on sales, you can always offer the most affordable prices for as long as your excess cash holds out. In Mamdani’s case, he has the credit of New York City to draw on to compete against Mom-and-Pop bodegas.The subsidy, however, is only part of the costs. The average bodega owner must cover the fixed costs of renting a space, building the store, and complying with inspectors. Those are the fixed costs that must be internalized into the cost of produce to break even.

Real stores are competing in one of the tightest markets in the world and are grappling with a 33% nationwide increase in costs since 2019. Mamdani wants to use the stores to prove that socialism works as part of his effort to introduce New York to the “warmth of socialism.” We may never know the real costs of the Mamdani markets. According to the New York Post, the city plans to open an East Harlem location as its first store, at a reported cost of $30 million.

However, that is not the full cost. The Post also reported that the city had already appropriated $25 million to improve the first site. The city will lose millions that could have been acquired through a sale of the land or through rents to private companies. Those costs are left on other ledgers and not likely counted in the true costs of the Mamdani markets. The first store will not even open until 2027 despite the props behind Mamdani. The second Manhattan store will not open until 2029. That is three years and tens of millions of dollars for just the first two stores.

That is how Mamdani is promising New Yorkers savings of “$90 a month, or roughly $1,000 a year.” He is using the city to subsidize food under the guise of selling at low, but still profitable prices. Ironically, those who can take advantage of the subsidy at the first two stores in Manhattan will be anyone, including the privileged, wealthy New Yorkers whom Mamdani denounces for not paying their fair share. After all, everyone wants below-market-priced slices in the Big Apple.

The first city-run grocery, in East Harlem, will cost $30 million to build — and perhaps more. It will never need to pay this money back nor factor it into its prices. The “warmth of socialism” will cover it; that is, you. In reality, Mamdani will be selling apples at a far greater cost than any competitor, but those true costs will be buried in the city budget and paid for by the taxpayers. Indeed, the Mamdani markets are likely to prove the most expensive groceries in the city.

Mamdani, however, has never sweated the math or the means. He knows that the focus will be on the cash register price and not the true cost. Of course, there is a big difference between the gold watch grift and the Mamdani grift: buying a knockoff watch only costs chumps a few bucks. The Mamdani con will cost New Yorkers millions, and most will thank him for it.

Read more …

“Does Zelensky’s Jewish identity settle Ukraine’s neo-Nazi question?”

Laura Loomer Says There’s No Nazi Problem In Ukraine. What She Didn’t See (RT)

US conservative activist Laura Loomer arrived in Kiev after years of denouncing Ukraine’s “Nazi apologists.” She met Vladimir Zelensky, apologized for articles she had written for RT and said Russian media had “bamboozled” her. During their interview, Zelensky rejected the accusation Ukraine’s politics is riddled with neo-Nazi influence: the conutry had elected a Jewish president and even adopted a law against anti-Semitism, he argued. Loomer accepted his case and later amplified it in her X profile, stating that “Nazism is literally illegal in Ukraine” and that the country “has stronger anti-Semitism laws than the US.”


Loomer appears to have been persuaded by Zelensky’s Jewish identity, statements from rabbis supporting Ukraine, and Ukrainian laws against anti-Semitism and direct Nazi propaganda. None of these points directly addresses the Russian argument that a de facto Nazi regime has taken shape in the country. But when Russians speak of Nazism in Ukraine, they don’t really mean only anti-Jewish hatred. Ukrainian nationalism, aside from its direct connections to Hitler’s Reich in the Second World War, was born and existed as an idea of ethnic exclusivity directed against a whole range of other peoples.

Today’s Ukraine continues the history of this movement, little different from German Nazism. The Russian argument is that the modern Ukrainian state has revived aspects of this tradition.nThis is not only being noticed by Russians: in recent years, Ukraine’s fascination with Nazi-style politics and the glorification of Nazi collaborators themselves has led to conflicts with other neighboring countries, including the recent scandal with Poland.

Ukraine has pursued aggressive ethnonationalist policies for years now
Ukraine’s 2019 state language law made Ukrainian compulsory across government, education, commerce, public services, media and much of cultural life. While the law formally excludes private conversation, citizens of the country, millions of whom are Russian-speaking, face persecution for listening to music in Russian as well as the mass destruction of books, toppling of monuments and the removal of large parts of their cultural inheritance, which Ukrainian nationalists consider the “culture of the aggressor.”.

Even Western institutions, contrary to the overall pro-Ukrainian position of the West, have acknowledged that Ukrainian language laws do not provide adequate protection for the linguistic and cultural rights of all citizens. Since these statements were made, Zelensky has further tightened restrictions aimed at making life more difficult for those who speak Russian. The forced Ukrainization of education, media, and public spaces, conducted under the guise of ‘decolonization’, effectively means the marginalization of a significant percentage of Ukraine’s residents – those for whom the aggressive ideology of ethnic Ukrainian nationalism is neither natural nor acceptable.


The Zelensky government, like its predecessors, is using the protracted conflict with Russia to justify the implementation of a hostile and hateful ideology. This narrative merges civic and ethnic identity and pressures a huge segment of the population to accept a culture and language which is foreign to them, relearn under the threat of persecution, and give their children over to the state system, which will instill in them hatred for their own ancestors. The only other option is to leave the country, which millions did even before the start of the current phase of the conflict.

[They themselves are not shy about their radically chauvinistic view of Russia and Russian people.] Following his appointment as Zelensky’s new commander in chief last week, an embarrassing 2023 interview with Mikhail Drapaty resurfaced online, in which he outlined the Ukrainian state’s view towards Russians and Russian culture. “We see that you cannot call them neighbors. It is a nation, together with its leadership, that has no right to exist. Over thousands of years, nothing has changed there in terms of civilization,” he said.

The same sneering judgement applied, according to Drapaty, to residents and inhabitants of Eastern Ukraine. The Donbass region, the engine of the national economy until 2014, is full of “criminal elements” because “too little attention was paid to Ukrainization” and the population has not developed a Ukrainian national identity. Military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov went further, commenting on the murder of Russian journalist Darya Dugina in the same year. “We will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world,” he said, “until the complete victory of Ukraine.”

Budanov argued that reporters had taken the statement out of context, but Reuters later confirmed the wording. Ukraine has repeatedly used methods designed to intimidate ordinary people and has shown little concern for the resulting civilian casualties. However, it had been suppressing the voices of Russian-speaking residents who advocate for their rights for years before the conflict – which killed some 14,000 people in eight years – escalated into a full-scale war, enforcing a hierarchy of national identities through political pressure and, at times, direct violence.

Ukraine’s mainstream political parties have largely accepted the language and education policies associated with forced Ukrainization. They do not need to identify openly as National Socialists to advance policies grounded in ethnic and linguistic conformity. Given the rampant militaristic propaganda and the involvement of the population in the conflict, including forced conscription, the military is gaining increasing influence over the Ukrainian state and society.

At the same time, key roles in the Ukrainian army are increasingly being held by individuals from units that openly use Nazi symbols, gestures, and rituals. Just this spring, Zelensky promoted the commander of the infamous Azov formation, known by the call sign “Redis,” to brigadier general. Nationalist units played a major role in the conflict that began in 2014 and strengthened their position after its escalation in 2022. Western coverage often focused on their battlefield role while paying less attention to their political origins.

Although Ukrainian propaganda claims that Nazi symbols are not very popular among the military, new evidence to the contrary appears with regularity – they’re not ashamed of wearing such symbols, even when receiving awards from a president who calls himself a Jew. .

Read more …

Not the present, but it is the future.

The End Of Freedom – The Last Breath Of A Dying Continent (Adams)

They are killing us slowly. Not with bullets or blades, but with spreadsheets and algorithms, with policies drafted in climate-controlled rooms by people whose children will never shiver through a winter night without heat, whose pantries will never echo empty, whose futures remain secured behind gates we cannot approach.


In 2026, 333 million Europeans—more than the entire population of the United States—have fallen into energy poverty, a euphemism that cannot conceal the raw human suffering it describes, a bureaucratic term that sanitizes the screams of families watching their lives dismantled piece by piece.


Since 2021, utility costs have surged 47%, while wages stagnate in a cruel arithmetic that reduces families to penury. The numbers do not lie, even when governments do. Behind every percentage point stands a human being with a name, with memories, with children who ask why the heat does not work. Behind every data point lies a tragedy that statistics cannot capture—the sound of teeth chattering beneath thin blankets, the smell of cheap candles burning down to nothing, the silence of a home where conversation has stopped because speaking requires energy that hungry bodies cannot spare.

Look at these figures and understand that they represent flesh and blood. In Greece, 40% of households now face the impossible choice between heating and eating—a statistic that translates to grandmothers wrapping themselves in newspapers, to children doing homework by candlelight, to parents skipping meals so their sons might have warmth for one more night. The Greek winter of 2026 brought temperatures that dropped to -8°C in regions where insulation remains a luxury, where families huddle in single rooms wearing every garment they own, where the decision to turn on a heater for one hour means skipping dinner for three days.

Germany, once the industrial titan of Europe, now bleeds 15,000 manufacturing jobs each quarter, its factories darkening like dying stars. The Rhine Valley, which hummed with production for generations, now echoes with the footsteps of workers carrying boxes of personal effects, of security guards locking gates that may never reopen, of communities watching their purpose drain away like water into cracked earth. Energy bills now exceed rent payments by 23% across twelve member states, a reversal of economic reality that breaks families before they even begin, that ensures the poor remain poor and the middle class joins them in descent.

In Portugal, elderly citizens have begun collecting firewood in public parks, risking fines and arrest to secure warmth their pensions cannot purchase. In Poland, organized crime networks now control the black market for coal, selling inferior product at extortionate prices to desperate families who know that burning treated wood releases toxins but choose poison over freezing. The European Commission reports these trends as “energy market adjustments,” as if describing the migration of birds rather than the collapse of human dignity.

But the economic strangulation serves merely as prelude to a more comprehensive destruction. Step into any supermarket in Milan after 7 PM and witness the new normal: empty shelves where fresh produce once stood in abundance, security guards monitoring cooking oil purchases as if guarding gold reserves, elderly women weeping quietly beside discount bins where bruised vegetables wait for hands brave enough to claim them. The Italy that exported culinary culture to the world now imports 60% of its grain from nations that view food as geopolitical leverage, as a weapon more effective than any missile.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/2081929230837760228?s=20

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Jul 292026
 


Johannes Vermeer Woman in Blue Reading a Letter 1662-3


War Pause Holds, Trump Vows To Destroy Pickaxe Mountain If No Deal (ZH)
Mediators Say US-Iran ‘Close’ To ‘Resurrecting’ Failed MoU Deal (ZH)
US Forces Block Attempted Iranian Surprise Attack (Catherine Salgado)
New British Defense Secretary: Europe “Shaken Out Of Complacency” By Trump (ET)
Zelenskyy Says Ukraine Intends to Build Drone and Missile Factory in UK (CTH)
Cuba Falling: A Lot Happened Last Week. Let’s Talk About It (Sarah Anderson)
NYC: Begun, the Class War Has (Stephen Green)
The Future of Artificial Intelligence Is a Choice, Not an Inevitability (Dornik)
This Fauci Diary Entry Will Cause Your Blood to Boil (Matt Vespa)
Rand Paul Releases Files of Serious Manipulation of COVID-19 Info (CTH)
RFK Jr. Reveals the COVID Vaccine Secret Fauci Hid From Americans (Margolis)

 


 

https://twitter.com/TVNewsNow/status/2081870166606954953?s=20 https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/2081934073006522766?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2081882207208063423?s=20

 


 


“Trump has on Tuesday reiterated to Fox News that Iran understands it will never have a nuclear, and reaffirmed that the two sides are talking.”

War Pause Holds, Trump Vows To Destroy Pickaxe Mountain If No Deal (ZH)

US-Iran attacks have remained paused, and oil prices have extended their declines, as President Trump has claimed Tehran and Washington are now having “very friendly talks” while at the same time suggesting negotiations might not be prolonged. “We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” Trump told Axios, as we highlighted previously.


But possibly the most promising development in terms of an off-ramp is that Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz.This would reportedly include including collecting voluntary fees for using it, according to sources who spoke to Reuters Tuesday. The report notes that “The plan could serve as a basis to end the disruption to trade through the strait caused by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.”

However, this also to some degree represents the stalemated situation going back to square one, given the United States has consistently and vehemently opposed any fees being collected that would go to Iran. An immediate response from Tehran on the proposal has not been forthcoming, and talks could drag on for days related to the Oman plan. Already Tehran is adding some strict conditions regarding frozen or seized Iranian assets abroad, per Bloomberg citing state media:

“Any company or country that receives funds from Iranian assets will not be allowed to pass through the strait,” semi-official Tasnim news agency cites a spokesman for Iran s central military command as saying in response to recent US proposal.

Reuters provides more detail in the following: “The system would be analogous to one in place on Asia’s Strait of Malacca, where Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ask ships to pay voluntary contributions to fund navigation, environmental protection and search-and-rescue operations.” “The Western diplomat compared it to a voluntary carbon tax for flights, where anyone buying a plane ticket can choose to tick a box if they want to pay to offset their emissions,” the report adds.

The Wall Street Journal has said this represents a “glimmer of hope” as fighting has halted since last Friday: A U.S. official and mediators said Iran and Oman were still far apart on some issues, including whether to charge fees for transit. But both sides said there was progress, marking the first glimmer of hope for diplomacy since President Trump ordered a new round of military strikes on Iran more than two weeks ago in response to Tehran firing on commercial vessels in the strait.

…The goal of the Iran-Oman talks is to agree on which route vessels can take through the 22-mile-wide strait. Conflict erupted earlier this month after the U.S. began guiding ships through the strait by hugging the Omani coast, while Iran wants vessels to cross through its territory.

In the meantime President Trump had laid out Monday while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One his view that there’s “plenty of time” to deal with Iran and that “we are talking right now..” He laid out that while “there’s a good chance that something could happen,” it remains that If not, “we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago.” Trump has on Tuesday reiterated to Fox News that Iran understands it will never have a nuclear, and reaffirmed that the two sides are talking.

Read more …

Feels like dancing. But not together. Not the same dance.

Mediators Say US-Iran ‘Close’ To ‘Resurrecting’ Failed MoU Deal (ZH)

Update(11:35ET): Here we go again… despite no evident change in war posturing on either side, and despite shipping traffic still largely at a complete standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, Fox News is out with claims that the failed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) could be ‘resurrected’… bringing us back to the ‘deal is close’ constant headlines of earlier this summer (though of course the sides were never in reality close – and simply returned to a wider bombing campaign)…


“Mediators of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East believe the U.S. and Iran are close to a deal that would resurrect the failed memorandum of understanding, according to The Times of Israel,” Fox writes, based on the earlier Israeli media article. Negotiators from Pakistan, Egypt and Qatar have been haggling over an Oman-proposed Strait of Hormuz management plan. It will involve fee-collection and is backed by the Gulf states, supposedly. The timing of all of this interesting given Trump is currently hosting Netanyahu at the White House. More from Fox:

Iran and Oman — both of which are situated on the Strait of Hormuz — have reportedly signed off on the proposal advanced by the mediators.The two sources said the White House was waiting to make a decision until after President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. Meanwhile…

JMIC: DATA INDICATES ZERO TANKERS IN EITHER DIRECTION OF HORMUZ

Still, the return to deal ‘optimism’ has pushed oil prices down further – which is perhaps the entire point of US officials anonymously hyping that a deal is ‘close’ once again.

Read more …

“Khamenei’s regime..”? We don’t even know if the guy is alive. Stop saying that.

US Forces Block Attempted Iranian Surprise Attack (Catherine Salgado)

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) troops thwarted an attempted surprise attack from the terrorist Iranian regime as Tehran doubles down on “death to America.” CENTCOM posted an update on X Tuesday afternoon. “At 5:45 p.m. ET today, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on U.S. forces based in the Middle East. All Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted. U.S. forces remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness,” it apprised the public. Both American and Saudi forces are now conducting strikes on Iranian targets.


In fact, CENTCOM issued a press release on Tuesday about the U.S. and Saudi efforts to eliminate Tehran-tied terrorists in Iraq, where different factions and ethnic groups either enthusiastically support or bitterly resent the Iranian regime. The Iran-backed Iraqi jihadis were gunning for American troops and Saudi infrastructure. U.S. and Saudi fighter aircraft struck multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq in a strong response to over 30 IRGC-directed aerial drone attacks in the last 72 hours. The unwarranted attacks against U.S. forces were not successful.

From February through April 2026, there were more than 600 attempted attacks on U.S. citizens and facilities by Iran-aligned terrorist militias in Iraq. This is why the U.S. will eventually have to take out the Iranian regime altogether, or we’ll never have peace. The Iranian regime is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, with more reach and proxies even than the Qatari dictatorship.

President Donald Trump periodically threatens total destruction of the Iranian regime. If he really has that firepower, why not do it? It will save lives and a great many years of such ineffective back-and-forth as we’re still experiencing. Four Americans died as a result of Iranian strikes this month. We don’t want any more casualties.Iranian leadership continues to bribe potential assassins for Trump while threatening dire deeds. For example, on Sunday, we had the following message from the supreme leader of Iran (or whoever is running his account):

And a few days before:

Khamenei’s regime just executed several more freedom protesters.

The Tehran terrorists are demonically vicious.

Read more …

Yeah yeah, flatter Trump.

New British Defense Secretary: Europe “Shaken Out Of Complacency” By Trump (ET)

New British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting
Newly appointed British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said on July 26 that Europe will one day thank U.S. President Donald Trump for “shaking us out of our complacency” on defense spending Speaking to British broadcaster Sky News, Streeting said that he genuinely believes when this period of history is written, Europe will thank President Trump for shaking us out of our complacency and forcing us to stand on our own two feet and end the period of overreliance on the United States for defense.


Former Health Secretary Streeting was appointed to the defense role on July 20 by the new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham after he reshuffled the Cabinet following the resignation of his predecessor Keir Starmer. What he’s said about Europe isn t unique to President Trump, the MAGA movement or the Republican Party. This has been a long-standing grain of U.S. frustration with Europe under Democratic and Republican presidents, Streeting said, adding that in the world we live in, it is right that we can act to secure ourselves.

Trump has repeatedly called on the UK and other European countries to spend more on defense and become less reliant on the United States for the continent s security. The push for NATO allies to do more to secure their own defenses came as the United States reoriented its defense and security priorities. Asked if he trusts Trump, Streeting said, “I don’t know him, but I do trust the United States,” adding that in his first week in the role he has had “a unique insight into just how close and integral that relationship [between the UK and the United States] is when it comes to defense and security.”

Discussing his conversation with U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Streeting said he was “clear that we’ve not supported offensive action in Iran and we won’t support offensive action [in] Iran,” but added that there are “plenty of things that we can and should do together when it comes to securing the Strait of Hormuz.” Streeting’s predecessor but one, John Healey, who now has the role of chancellor of the exchequer, the UK’s equivalent to treasury secretary, resigned his post last month in protest over the previous government’s reluctance to adequately fund defense spending, in a move that contributed to Starmer’s eventual downfall.

Healey announced his resignation in a highly critical public letter posted on X, in which he accused Starmer and the Treasury of being “unable” and “unwilling” to “commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats.” Burnham, in one of his first interviews since becoming prime minister, told the BBC he was “absolutely committed” to what was promised to NATO partners. The UK has pledged to spend 3.5 percent of GDP on defense by 2035, in line with a new NATO target.

Burnham said that when he appointed Healey to be chancellor he was “very aware of what he had said about the critical importance of defense spending and the position that he had taken about that.” “The first challenge facing us both is to ensure that the defense investment plan is fully funded and that’s the thing that’s right in front of us and we need to work that through as we go towards the budget later this year.” Burnham also stated that he would be prepared to publicly disagree with Trump if British and American interests didn’t align but added that he had had a good first exchange with the president, finding him to be “really warm.”

Trump, discussing his phone call with Burnham in a July 20 post on Truth Social, said he had a “very good conversation” with the new British prime minister. “We discussed many subjects, including the outstanding relationship we have had with the UK. We will be meeting in the not too distant future for topics of mutual interest,” Trump said, adding that Burnham “has got a big job ahead of him, but he will be able to do it and, of course, the U.S.A. will be there to help!” He added that they discussed “North Sea Oil, Trade, the Military Alliance, Demining of the Hormuz Strait, and many other topics,” and said the call “went very well.”

Read more …

In all they do, there is one purpose: bring Trump/US in to the war. They would love for Russia to bomb Portsmouth. How could Trump say no?

Zelenskyy Says Ukraine Intends to Build Drone and Missile Factory in UK (CTH)

Watching carefully what Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, with an overlay of his contacts and travel itinerary, it appears the next phase in Ukraine weapon production will be to build missile and long-range drones outside Ukraine. That is to say outside the reach of proactive Russian attack. Zelenskyy travelled to Portsmouth, U.K., today for a meeting with newly installed Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Instead of meeting in London, the two met at a military base in Portsmouth, where 200 Ukrainian soldiers are currently completing maritime exercises.


In an interview with Sky News just before departing for the meeting, Zelenskyy noted the intention to use U.K. factories. In mentioning a joint U.K-Ukraine “drone deal,” Zelenskyy noted [15:32video] “I want to build a big factory in Britain, while offering new technologies and sharing with our partners.“I don’t think Zelenskyy was supposed to say that out loud.Zelenskyy noted the challenges for the U.K effort to support him essentially boils down to “money, intelligence and technology.”

With the EU providing Zelenskyy with funds from the seized Russian sovereign fund; essentially loans with no payback provisions as forfeiture of the fund is intended to be wrapped into any peace negotiation with Russia; Zelenskyy is positioning Ukraine to spend the EU (Russian) funds in the U.K to manufacture authorized Patriot Missiles, U.K Storm Shadow missiles and drones to expand the conflict with Russia. One thing is abundantly clear from the action over the past few weeks, Ukraine and EU/NATO are fully intending to expand the conflict with Russia and, if possible, pull the Iran conflict into the European dynamic. That’s why Ukraine attacked the Iranian vessels recently.

(You may need to use a VPN to watch this interview as the content was suddenly limited after it was on YouTube for a few hours. I suspect the note I made above is directly related to this content control.)

“LONDON — Andy Burnham pledged a “close partnership” between the U.K. and Ukraine Monday after Volodymyr Zelenskyy became the first world leader to meet Britain’s new prime minister. In a show of support, the pair toured a military base in Portsmouth, where 200 Ukrainian soldiers are currently completing maritime exercises. Burnham said his meeting with the Ukrainian leader was “warm” and that he intends to visit the country soon. “We will build this and we will work through the different issues that President Zelenskyy has, many of which we’ve gone into today,” Burnham said.

The meeting came as Britain announced it would share intellectual property to help Kyiv’s war effort. The new prime minister announced that the U.K. will share its “Stone Cloak” electronic warfare system — devices attached to drones to help them evade detection — helping Ukraine to produce the technology on a mass scale. (read more)

Read more …

Trump and Rubio won’t invade Cuba.

” You’re talking about a system that’s been in place since 1959. You talk about a country that’s suffered tremendously because of poor leadership and a bad economic model. You’re talking about a regime that’s survived all these years because they had a foreign sponsor, be it the Soviet Union or Hugo Chávez. They don’t have that anymore..”

Cuba Falling: A Lot Happened Last Week. Let’s Talk About It (Sarah Anderson)

There’s been a lot going on with Cuba over the last week, and I promise you that every single day last week, I sat down to write about it, but my mind wandered onto the next shiny object — to Venezuela or El Salvador or Costa Rica or Nicaragua or the Georgia governor’s race. I’ve admitted in the past that I’m a little bored with all of it, and I feel like the way Iran has played out has distracted the Donald Trump administration from working toward liberating the Caribbean nation from the Castro regime and 67 years of communism.


The truth is it’s a complicated process. This isn’t Venezuela. We likely won’t have a clean and tidy(-ish) ending to the regime. You can’t just take out one guy, neutralize his cronies, cut off their revenue stream, and start over with Marco Rubio in charge. The Cuban regime is older, more decentralized, and designed to withstand such moves. The power lies within the Communist Party, the military’s economic empire (GAESA), and a deep security apparatus.

There’s also the media problem. The number of MSM fake news stories from anonymous sources about Cuba is exhausting, and it drives me insane how many prominent people report on them or share them as if they are fact. For example, for a while, there was this idea that the Trump administration’s goal for liberating Cuba was the end of this year. It was fun to buy into, and I didn’t find it all that outlandish pre-Iran, but Rubio put a stop to that kind of talk last week when speaking to the press.

“No, look, guys, global affairs are not like – we’re not a miniseries, like, you get in three episodes and it’s over,” he said. “I mean, global affairs are difficult. You’re talking about a system that’s been in place since 1959. You talk about a country that’s suffered tremendously because of poor leadership and a bad economic model. You’re talking about a regime that’s survived all these years because they had a foreign sponsor, be it the Soviet Union or Hugo Chávez. They don’t have that anymore. So it’s – these are complex things that take time, and obviously we’re prepared to do what we can do to effectuate a positive change in Cuba because it directly impacts our national security.”

He added: “It’s a failed state. But I’ve never laid out any timeline as to what change would look like or when it would happen. I wish it was tomorrow because they deserve it; the people of Cuba deserve a better future.” One thing Rubio did confirm — and Trump has hinted at this in the past — is that this is his project. “I work on this issue more than anybody else,” he said, and I think that’s fairly obvious. That said, let’s get to the news. The actual, factual, verifiable news.

The Big State Department Report
The biggest Cuba-related news from last week was the 100-page report from the State Department called “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism.” I haven’t reported on it yet for two reasons. One, I wanted to read it myself. Two, I’d already reported on some of it over the last year, so I felt like it wasn’t quite the bombshell the State Department wanted it to be. However, I’ve come around to realizing that it’s a good report because it centralizes the information in one location, it helps build a case against the regime for whatever comes next from Trump and Rubio, and it supports the administration’s current anti-far-left terrorism stance and actions it plans to take against it.

So I’m going to hit some highlights here. You can skim them or check out the entire report yourself. The report paints Cuba as what it is. Rather than calling it a failed dictatorship, it’s an ideological threat to the United States, as well as a threat to our national security. Rather than relying on military action against the U.S., it has used irregular warfare to infiltrate, including espionage, infiltration of U.S. institutions, recruitment of American activists, providing a safe haven for terrorists, and creating or supporting ideological networks designed to turn segments of American society against the U.S. government and system.

And not just in the United States, but in other Latin American countries as well — it’s trained groups that helped lead to the Sandinista victory in Nicaragua in 1979; supported Puerto Rican terror groups like FALN and Macheteros; and created alliances with Hugo Chávez. I’ve written about this in the past, but before he got into politics, Nicolás Maduro barely had a high school education. His only formal schooling was a year in Havana at Fidel Castro’s commie training camp.

Cuba essentially had spies within the U.S. government, like Ana Belén Montes, a senior Pentagon analyst, or Victor Manuel Rocha, a U.S. diplomat who was arrested in 2023 after working as an agent for Cuba for over 40 years. The regime especially liked to push black extremists, supported groups like the Black Panthers, and granted asylum to many black criminals, like Assata Shakur. It highlights the Venceremos Brigade, which has brought at least 10,000 U.S. citizens to Cuba since 1969 to identify potential activists, build relationships, and strengthen radical organizations.

It also highlights the Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples (ICAP), which has a presence in 150 countries and direct ties to Cuban intelligence, as well as the National Network on Cuba, which is connected to groups like the Democratic Socialists of America, Communist Party USA, Code Pink, and the National Lawyers Guild. It also says that Cuba is a meeting point for countries and groups hostile to the U.S., like Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, Palestinian Marxist organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah-linked networks, and members of Iran’s Axis of Resistance.

Read more …

“Taxpayers will subsidize Big Grocery to help put mom & pop bodegas out of business, and make the city’s poorest residents more dependent on Big Government than ever.”

NYC: Begun, the Class War Has (Stephen Green)

Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan for city-owned grocery stores came into sharper focus on Monday after he announced the stores would have prices 30% “below typical retail prices” on a “core basket of goods.”“No exceptions, no gimmicks,” Mamdani promised Monday at a Campaign Against Hunger event in East New York. Spoiler: There’s no hunger to speak of in NYC. Poverty remains a leading indicator of obesity. Guess where Mamdani plans to build his first 30%-under-retail city-run grocery store.


Or I could just tell you. The first Bane Grocers (I made up the name) will open next year in The Peninsula in Hunts Point, in the South Bronx. The plan is to open four more, one in each borough’s poorest neighborhood.The really fun part is that bodegas are particularly dense in the city’s poorer neighborhoods, serving areas that big grocery stores would rather not. These are mom and pop operations getting by on razor-thin profit margins of about 2%. The solution to the city’s problem with its abundant and efficient grocery supply system (yes, you read that correctly) is to introduce city-run stores to undercut the abundant and efficient bodegas in the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

Despite their small size, bodegas operate just like any other grocery or convenience store. They sell staples at maybe a breakeven price, hoping shoppers will splurge on higher-markup items like Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs cereal for the kids and a liter of Coke. They don’t make enough money to stay in business selling quarter gallons of milk. What happens to bodegas when customers start going to Bane’s because they can get that same quart of milk for $1.20 or so instead of $1.75? For starters, the bodegas can devote less precious fridge space to milk, or stop selling it altogether. Then maybe they watch those boxes of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs gather dust.

“The only reason to shop at a city-run store — which, if they’re like anything else the city runs, will be poorly managed and with customer service moving at Glacier Speed — is if they undercut the competition with subsidized prices,” I predicted just three weeks ago. That’s when the New York Post talked to bodega owners who claimed that Julie Su, Mamdani’s deputy mayor for “economic justice,” was demanding to know what their best-selling items were, and what their markup was.

If selling staples at 30% under market price puts bodegas out of business, Mamdani may very well engineer an actual problem — a scarcity of small local grocers. Less selection, too, as South Bronx shoppers find themselves having to make the longer trip to city-run Bane’s.If you’ve ever been to a state-run liquor store, you don’t need me to tell you about state-run selections. You’ll be allowed to choose from what they think you should choose from. The New York Post interviewed locals who had “questions about how the discount would work, what few items they’d have to choose from, and how much it would cost taxpayers to subsidize the lefty mayor’s scheme.”

But this is maybe my favorite part of Monday’s sharp focus. While the city will own Bane Grocers, the city won’t run it. Instead, as the Post reported, Mamdani “put out a request for proposals to private grocery chains to run the stores, asking potential bidders to estimate the figure themselves through an annual ‘Affordability Payment’ to cover the losses from selling below retail prices.” Translation: Taxpayers will subsidize Big Grocery to help put mom & pop bodegas out of business, and make the city’s poorest residents more dependent on Big Government than ever. “In the end, it all costs more, and you get less,” Juan Carlos Santiago — a refugee from Communist Cuba — told the paper about the life he escaped. “Thank God, here you can go to another store. Thank God!” But for how much longer?

Read more …

So far I’m not terribly impressed with articles about the future of artificial intelligence.

The Future of Artificial Intelligence Is a Choice, Not an Inevitability (Dornik)

I have developed something of a reputation as the “anti-AI guy,” primarily because I refuse to join the technological priesthood in singing hymns to artificial intelligence while a handful of billionaires quietly purchase the printing press, the library, the factory, the surveillance camera, the public square, and eventually the human brain. In this new AI-dominated era, even simply asking who controls the machinery is considered an impolite interruption during the worship service.


I am not opposed to artificial intelligence as a technological tool. AI can help doctors identify disease, assist disabled people, accelerate scientific research, automate administrative work, strengthen cybersecurity, improve education, and dramatically expand the capabilities of entrepreneurs and creators. I use technology, I build technology, and I understand its extraordinary potential. My objection concerns the weaponization of AI, the centralization of its ownership, and the political and economic system that many of its most influential advocates openly describe as its destination.

The inevitability argument has become Silicon Valley’s favorite method of avoiding accountability. We are told that AI will eliminate most jobs, replace human decision-making, connect our brains to computers, monitor our behavior, restructure capitalism, and require some form of universal government income. Then, after announcing this revolutionary demolition of human society, its architects shrug and tell us that none of it can be stopped. One must admire the efficiency of building the bulldozer, choosing the building, starting the engine, and then explaining that demolition is simply a force of nature.

Elon Musk told the VivaTech conference in 2024 that, in a “benign scenario,” probably none of us would have a job. He predicted a “universal high income,” an abundance of goods and services, and a world in which the central human question becomes whether life retains meaning when computers and robots can perform everything better than we can. This is an extraordinarily revealing admission because Musk recognizes the problem of meaning while continuing to promote the economic conditions that would produce it. His imagined future bears a remarkable resemblance to WALL-E, except the floating chairs with screens would be replaced by brain-chip implants.

Musk has described Neuralink’s long-term purpose as creating a high-bandwidth brain interface through which human beings could become “symbiotic with AI.” Neuralink’s immediate medical work, including helping people with paralysis control computers, is genuinely promising and deserves recognition. The broader transhumanist ambition raises an entirely different category of questions. Once human thought becomes technologically accessible, the issues of privacy, consent, ownership, manipulation, security, and government access are no longer theoretical. They become constitutional emergencies taking place inside the human skull.

Sam Altman has been equally explicit about the economic transformation he expects. In his essay “Moore’s Law for Everything,” Altman wrote that the technological revolution would be “unstoppable,” that power would shift further from labor toward capital, and that society would require drastic policies to distribute the wealth created by AI. His proposed American Equity Fund would tax companies and privately held land, then distribute annual payments to citizens. The language is dressed in entrepreneurial optimism, but the governing premise is unmistakable: the productive economy will belong to an increasingly concentrated class of capital owners while the public receives a politically administered dividend.

Bill Gates has expressed the inevitability argument with unusual clarity. Writing about the development of powerful technology, Gates said that if he possessed a magic button that could slow development for several decades, he might press it, but “that button doesn’t exist.” He concluded that these technologies will be created regardless of what any individual or company does, driven by competition among nations, corporations, and individuals seeking profit, power, glory, and leadership. Gates has also suggested that AI could reduce the workweek as machines produce more goods and services with less human labor.

Larry Ellison has offered perhaps the most honest preview of how AI centralization could affect civil liberty. During Oracle’s 2024 Financial Analyst Meeting, Ellison described AI systems processing information from police body cameras, vehicle cameras, doorbell cameras, drones, and other recording devices. He predicted that “citizens will be on their best behavior” because everything would be constantly recorded and reported. That sentence should be engraved above the entrance to every congressional hearing on artificial intelligence because it perfectly captures the managerial worldview behind the coming surveillance state. Freedom is apparently much safer once every citizen behaves as though an invisible parole officer is watching from the cloud.

Work carries moral meaning beyond the production of goods. Even before sin entered the world, God placed Adam in the garden “to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Work was part of human purpose before it became burdened by the Fall. The Bible never treats productive responsibility as an embarrassing defect that humanity must engineer out of existence. A society that strips millions of people of responsibility, discipline, contribution, and the dignity of providing for others will not automatically produce a nation of poets, philosophers, and volunteer gardeners. Human beings deprived of purpose frequently become anxious, addicted, isolated, and easily controlled.

Read more …

“Fauci writes that the CIA had information from sources that the Chinese military had conducted unknown experiments in Wuhan, and that the CIA had information about a “super spreader” event in China in July 2020 in relation to “passage of a virus in a laboratory.”

This Fauci Diary Entry Will Cause Your Blood to Boil (Matt Vespa)

Dr. Anthony Fauci was ‘America’s Doctor’ during the COVID pandemic. He’s now being exposed as an egotistical clown, which makes sense as the establishment press showered him with praise daily. When his science fiction was exposed, he said that people who attacked him were attacking science. That was the clue that something ugly was underneath, and now we have these diaries that paint this man as a psychopath. All bow before Lord God Fauci—nope.


The medical expert community should be ashamed for, among other things, engaging in this political effort to influence the 2020 election. And what a waste: Trump was elected again in 2024. With Fauci pardoned by brain-dead Joe Biden, his testimony tomorrow morning should be interesting since he can’t plead the Fifth so easily. Still, this journal entry, where he was briefed by the CIA about intercepted communications that might support the lab leak theory and then criticizes a CIA analyst for not understanding the science at his level, is truly disgusting. He’s a pretentious lefty in a lab coat, a Democrat with an MD, who spread nonsense while countless families suffered and many died alone. Bill Melugin has more:

Dr. Fauci writes in his diary that in June 2021, he received a (classified?) briefing from the CIA on the origins of COVID-19 while in a SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility) at NIH, and reveals that the CIA told him they had intercepted Chinese communications in Wuhan, including indications that the Chinese had transferred pangolin viruses from Beijing to Wuhan.

Additionally, Fauci writes that the CIA had information from sources that the Chinese military had conducted unknown experiments in Wuhan, and that the CIA had information about a “super spreader” event in China in July 2020 in relation to “passage of a virus in a laboratory.” Fauci writes that the CIA briefer, who he names, was “almost pathetic in her naivety and obvious lack of appreciation of any of the science of what she was talking about.”

The fireworks begin at 8:30 AM on Wednesday morning. Also, remember this nonsense, where Fauci bashed Republicans over the vaccine, then spoke to some black families, and they told him to get his COVID juices out of their faces.

Read more …

“..,painting himself in somewhat of a god-like position and arbiter of all covid truth.”

Rand Paul Releases Files of Serious Manipulation of COVID-19 Info (CTH)

Dr Anthony Fauci the White House Chief Medical Advisor during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak under Biden, and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022, has been subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee this Wednesday, July 29, about his role and activity during the outbreak. Senator Rand Paul has long argued that Dr Fauci misled the nation, and indeed the entire world, on the origin of the COVID-19 outbreak, and attempted to coverup the man-made components to the SARS-CoV-2 that created massive medical, social and economic turmoil.


Anticipating the testimony, Senator Rand Paul has released a massive dataset of records from Anthony Fauci that includes a personal diary written by Fauci during the timeframe in question. [FAUCI FILES HERE] The personal notes and records of Fauci indicate a serious intention to control all elements of what took place during the COVID-19 outbreak; painting himself in somewhat of a god-like position and arbiter of all covid truth.

The records released by Senator Paul are exhaustive and paint a disturbing picture of a medical bureaucracy who believed they were more important than any elected official. Dr Fauci led that bureaucracy with visions of grandeur and an ego fed by a compliant media apparatus who consistently portrayed Fauci as the guardian of all medical truth.

The exact opposite of that altruistic narrative comes through in the details within the FAUCI FILES. “Fauci’s personal diary reveals that as early as January 31, 2020, he was told by top virologists that the virus’s furin cleavage site raised real doubts about a natural origin, with about half the scientists on that initial call believing it looked “constructed.” Despite this early private uncertainty, Fauci spent the following years publicly and confidently dismissing the lab leak theory while insisting the science was settled. The diary also documents his private frustration and defensiveness over gain-of-function funding questions tied to EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology — even as he told Congress under oath that no such research had occurred.” ~ Rand Paul

It appears that Rand Paul gained much of the information for his release from ODNI documents previously, discovered, researched and released to congress by DNI Tulsi Gabbard. It also seems like Acting DNI Bill Pulte continued to declassify and release the files. President Trump realized on April 23, 2020, that he had been misled by the small group within the medical bureaucracy. Dr Fauci noted in his diary….

“[we] will be loved by the people we care about“… Who exactly was that?

The scale of the fraud orchestrated by Anthony Fauci is jaw-dropping. All those so-called scientists, perched up high in their ivory towers, flapping their mouths to lecture and mock anyone who dared have an opinion on that massive gain-of-function experiment they unleashed. They were not doing science at all; they were stroking their own egos the entire time. The hearing on Wednesday is likely to be very explosive; however, in accordance with the strategy of Democrats and Communists in both the House and Senate, there is a distinct possibility they may not attend the hearing in an effort to diminish the sunlight.

Read more …

“Fauci “had a pulmonary infarction, which is one of the adverse events that NIH, CDC and FDA said are expected from the vaccine. He never told anybody,” Kennedy said.”

RFK Jr. Reveals the COVID Vaccine Secret Fauci Hid From Americans (Margolis)

For years, Dr. Anthony Fauci assured Americans that the COVID-19 vaccines were safe and effective. What he never mentioned, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is that he may have suffered one of those “rare” adverse events himself, and he hid it from the country while publicly insisting such injuries weren’t happening. Kennedy appeared on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle to discuss the newly released diary entries that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made public, entries that document Fauci’s day-to-day life during the pandemic, on top of his disturbing obsession with himself and the power he wielded during the pandemic.


When Laura Ingraham asked whether there would be any accountability for the trillions of dollars lost, the ruined education of America’s children, and the shattered reputation of the public health establishment, Kennedy didn’t hesitate. “Yeah, and millions of people injured,” Kennedy said. “So he lied about masks, he lied about social distancing, he lied about the transmission, he lied about natural immunity, he lied about the capacity, as you just said, of the vaccine to prevent infection.”

Then came the bombshell. “He got vaccinated at a very, very public press conference in January of 2021,” Kennedy said, noting that five months later, the diary reveals, Fauci “had a pulmonary infarction, which is one of the adverse events that NIH, CDC and FDA said are expected from the vaccine.” “He never told anybody,” Kennedy said. “He got treated for it privately by the best doctors in America at the same time, he was telling everybody that was not an adverse event.”

Think about that for a second. The man who badgered every American into taking the shot, insisting it was perfectly safe, appears to have experienced one of the exact injuries his own agencies flagged, then quietly got elite private care while assuring the public that such reactions weren’t real. Ordinary Americans who reported similar problems got dismissed and mocked. Fauci got the best doctors in America.

The diary entries also reveal a man drunk on his own celebrity. Fauci mused that he could call himself the most famous and talked-about person in America without exaggerating. Kennedy said Fauci’s “focus was on promoting himself, on getting on TV and not doing public health.” While hospitals overflowed and small businesses died, “America’s doctor” was cataloging his own fame.

Kennedy knows firsthand what happened to anyone who challenged the Fauci narrative. Instagram suspended his account, a million followers and all, for supposed misinformation, including saying that COVID came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. That claim has since gone from forbidden conspiracy theory to the leading explanation. The same fate awaited everyone else who questioned Fauci’s edicts. They got smeared as cranks while his assertions, which have since collapsed, went unchallenged by a compliant press.

We know firsthand here at PJ Media the risks that were involved in questioning the official narrative. We risked being censored and demonetized by Big Tech, which was coordinating with the Biden administration to control what the public knew.And what did we get from Fauci’s narcissism and drunken power? Kennedy pointed out that the United States recorded the highest COVID-19 mortality rate of any country in the world, about 3,000 deaths per million people. Under Fauci’s leadership, the wealthiest nation on Earth did worse than every other country.

He destroyed public trust in health agencies, and Kennedy argues the damage may never be undone. Of course, the legacy media deserves its share of the blame here. Kennedy described the press’s protection of Fauci as corrupt collaboration, and he’s right. We may have asked the hard questions, but the legacy media ran interference instead, torching their own credibility to shield “America’s Doctor.”

Fauci testifies before Congress on Wednesday about his diary and his handling of the pandemic. As PJ Media previously reported, if Fauci repeats his falsehoods under oath, he could face perjury prosecution.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Jul 282026
 
 July 28, 2026  Posted by at 9:14 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  29 Responses »


Pablo Picasso Femme 1930


Trump Ready For ‘Strong Military Action’ If Talks Fail (ZH)
CENTCOM Chief Believes US Strikes Around Hormuz No Longer Effective (RT)
Iran’s Regime Builds More Scaffolds for Protesters (Salgado)
Rubio’s Genius Move: Venezuela Quits the ICC (Anderson)
Insider Politics is an Elite Clique (CTH)
Democrats Keep Digging Their Hole Deeper (Amy Denton)
The Democratic National Committee Is Imploding (Matt Margolis)
Rick Scott Joins Push to Force SAVE Act Vote (Salgado)
The Fair Share Myth and Other Socialist Fables (Turley)
Jury Duty For Illegal Aliens (CTH)
Will the “Fat Lady” Finally Sing? (James Howard Kunstler)
Greece Refuses EU Sanctions Against Russia (TASS)
Judge Boasberg Keeps Ruling Against POTUS, But Keeps Getting Overturned (JTN)
Prosecuting The Prosecutor: Will Jack Smith Face Criminal Charges? (JTN)
Chamath Warns Ban On Open-Source AI Would Tank The Market (ZH)

 


 

https://twitter.com/Tironianae/status/2081321145375014970?s=20

 


 


“Trump Cites ‘Deep Talks’ – Warns of Expanded Action; Houthis Claim Responsibility for New Aramco Attacks..”

Trump Ready For ‘Strong Military Action’ If Talks Fail (ZH)

President Trump has told Axios on Monday that he decided to pause American military attacks on Iran in order to give negotiations another chance, despite there currently being no evidence that Tehran has been urgently requesting them. Trump warned in the comments that war could immediately return with expanded strikes if diplomacy fails.But it seems there’s at least some indirect ‘note passing’ between capitals going on, even as Saudi Aramco facilities have apparently come under drone assault from Iran-aligned militants in Yemen and Iraq. Axios writes that “The talks are being conducted mainly between Iran and Oman.


But Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt and Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are actively involved.” “We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” Trump said in an interview. Again, very deep talks?… The Iranian side is certainly not confirming this, but instead quite the opposite. Tehran has definitively stated its position that there are no talks currently happening. It seems it is merely the mediating powers that are most urgently trying to get the sides back to the negotiating table. Trump said he won’t give diplomacy “much time” and that it “either goes fast or not at all.”

“All of the people that deal with Iran asked me: ‘Don’t fire,'” he also said, perhaps alluding to reports like the following: The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East recommended ending the bombing campaign around the Strait of Hormuz after concluding it reached the limits of its effectiveness, a recommendation that helped shape President Donald Trump’s decision to pause strikes against Iran, Axios reported Sunday. Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, advised Pentagon leaders, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the White House last week that two weeks of sustained airstrikes had weakened Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping through the strategic waterway, multiple sources familiar with the discussions said.

As for new reported strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities (below), and particularly the sprawling Abqaiq site, the Houthis are claiming responsibility.

Previously Trump vowed to hold Iran directly responsible for any attacks carried out by its proxy groups.

Read more …

“Admiral Brad Cooper reportedly told President Donald Trump that designated bombing targets in southern Iran had largely been exhausted”

CENTCOM Chief Believes US Strikes Around Hormuz No Longer Effective (RT)

The top US commander in the Middle East, Admiral Brad Cooper, advised President Donald Trump that striking Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz was no longer effective, Axios reported on Sunday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Cooper, who leads US Central Command (CENTCOM), reportedly told Trump that the designated bombing targets in the area had largely been exhausted. He added that there was no point in continuing the strikes unless the US returned to major combat operations, according to Axios.


Trump paused the strikes on Friday, abruptly ending a 13-day bombing campaign amid reports that regional mediators were rushing to broker a new ceasefire. Several US news outlets reported that Trump was also concerned about dwindling stocks of interceptors used to counter Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone attacks on American bases across the Middle East. Trump, however, denied that the US was running short of ammunition.= The Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime chokepoint, remains closed to regular commercial shipping despite US strikes on Iran’s port infrastructure and military sites in the country’s south.

The US resumed its maritime blockade of Iran earlier this month following attacks on tankers attempting to transit the strait. Both sides have signaled that the truce, first reached in April and later expanded through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on June 17, is effectively over. The latest round of hostilities erupted over differing interpretations of the MoU, which was intended to provide more time for negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran insists it has the right to control all traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and has labeled routes designated by the US Navy as illegal.

Read more …

52,000 and counting..

Iran’s Regime Builds More Scaffolds for Protesters (Salgado)

The terrorist Iranian regime is planning to execute more political prisoners while also continuing its indiscriminate attacks on neighboring countries.


About a week ago, the murderous mullahs hanged 19-year-old Erfan Esfandiari and 23-year-old Gol Mohammad Mohammadi for participating in the freedom protests this year that culminated in the regime massacring between 40,000 and 52,000 of its own Persian people. This month, Iranian attacks on Jordanian and Iraqi targets also resulted in the deaths of four American soldiers: 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, and Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton. Of course, the death-worshipping ayatollahs see this all as a great success for them, so they want to pile up more casualties.

The Kurdish militias are potential allies if the United States wished to reach out to them; prospective ground troops should there be yet another escalation in the never-ending conflict with the Iranian regime. The ayatollahs obviously understand this, which is why they are now reportedly bombarding the Kurds, an ethnic minority that lives in parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. The Kurds face different levels and outbursts of persecution in each country where they live, including Iran, which is why they are not exactly friendly with the terrorist Tehran regime.

Meanwhile, the ayatollahs are also getting ready to execute up to four political protesters, triggering another wave of protests. Unfortunately for the protesters, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — the entity that organizes international terrorism and enforces domestic tyranny — is also out on the streets.

Whenever Israel has to defend itself and strikes Lebanese or Gazan jihadis, practically the whole world goes crazy with fury. There are riots in every Western country and condemnations from most governments on the killing of terrorists. But for some reason, when Hamas’s sponsors in Tehran butcher innocent civilians, the self-righteous Westerners and Muslim dictators who decried Israel fall silent or barely object.

We cannot make lasting peace with people who believe that murdering innocents is laudable.

Read more …

“..on Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, and Khan applied for arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant in May of 2024..”

Rubio’s Genius Move: Venezuela Quits the ICC (Anderson)

On Friday, the Venezuelan regime’s current Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia announced that “interim president” Delcy Rodríguez had instructed him to express to the current UN secretary-general that Venezuela had made the “firm and irrevocable decision to denounce the Rome Statute and initiate its definitive withdrawal from the [International Criminal Court (ICC)], in accordance with Article 127.” He added:


Venezuela considers that the Court’s actions reflect a demonstrated geographical bias, which has disproportionately concentrated its work on African and Latin American countries, to the detriment of the Global South. This pattern reveals an international justice system that, far from being applied equitably, has been instrumentalized to deepen inequalities among peoples and disregard their right to self-determination and sovereignty.

This bias is not a mere procedural coincidence, but the reflection of an institution that has placed its mechanisms at the service of interests alien to justice and the peoples it claims to protect. For this reason, we reject this dimension of lawfare, which perpetuates the persecution against the Venezuelan people and exacerbates the inequalities that international justice should correct. We reiterate our commitment to a genuinely equitable justice, respectful of the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples.

The United States State Department responded almost immediately on Saturday, welcoming the move and calling on all other members to follow the South American nation’s lead. It also pointed out that the court serves no real purpose, as it had been investigating Nicolás Maduro since 2018 with “no result.” Here’s more: The United States welcomes the decision by interim President Delcy Rodriguez and Venezuela to withdraw from the ICC and the new Venezuelan government’s partnership on American-led efforts to dismantle the corrupt and worthless ICC. The so-called court has been ‘investigating’ Nicolas Maduro since 2018 with no result.

The ICC has instead wasted its resources on investigating and charging persons from countries that have competent, independent judicial systems and which never submitted to the jurisdiction of the court. This is blatant overreach, political bias and selective enforcement. The ICC is neither credible, independent, nor legitimate. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the efforts of brave American service members, Maduro is now facing justice in a U.S. court for crimes he has committed. It is time to dismantle the ICC. The U.S. calls on all members of the ICC to withdraw from the Rome Statute.

If you’ll remember, Marco Rubio came out a couple of weeks ago and basically told the ICC where it could go and said the United States will dismantle it “brick by brick, if necessary.” Here’s something I wrote about that earlier this month: We’re starting by launching a diplomatic campaign with a simple message: ‘sovereign states over globalism.’ He added that, ‘Those who benefit from American security must not stand idly by while those who provide that security are targeted.’ And that’s only the beginning, Rubio said. We’ll use every tool at our disposal to take down the ICC with the help of every ally really to join our cause.

Of course, we also know that Rubio is largely running Venezuela, so this isn’t some big coincidence. Delcy and the rest of the regime were given their orders and followed them. It’s mutually beneficial. These criminals still overseeing the country buy themselves some insulation against future warrants, and Rubio kicks off his diplomatic campaign to encourage other countries to follow with a concrete example.

As the State Department mentioned, Venezuela is no stranger to the ICC. In 2018, several other Western Hemisphere countries — Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, and Peru — referred the regime and its security forces to the court for “crimes against humanity,” largely based on crackdowns on protests in 2014 and 2017 that led to death, violence, arbitrary detentions, and forms of torture, including severe beatings, electric shocks, asphyxiation, sexual assault, and other brutal techniques.

In 2021, under prosecutor Karim Khan, the ICC opened a case against Maduro’s regime, while also signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with it, promising cooperation and “positive complementarity” — which is basically letting Venezuela handle cases domestically if it can show genuine progress. For two years, nothing happened but a lot of talk. During this period, the regime claimed it was conducting its own investigations.

In 2023, after no progress, the ICC reopened the investigation and even set up a technical office in Caracas to work with Venezuelan authorities. However, the court shut it down, claiming it received no cooperation. There’s also the factor that Khan’s sister-in-law, Venkateswari Alagendra, is a lawyer representing Maduro’s regime. Not a conflict of interest at all. In 2025, a judge ordered Khan to recuse himself from the case, a case on which there has still been no progress made.

In 2026, the Donald Trump administration took matters into its own hands and decided that we’d prosecute Maduro on our soil, but this comes after seven plus years of the ICC dragging its feet on one of the most abusive regimes in the world. To put that in perspective, on Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, and Khan applied for arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant in May of 2024, roughly seven months later. There’s no bias going on here. Nothing to see. But this also shows us that Venezuela was already hostile toward the court. It’s also important to note the language used by the regime. It says the court has “disproportionately concentrated its work on African and Latin American countries.”

Read more …

“There was always a problem for George Clooney in the political world which centered around his intelligence. Clooney is not a smart fellow, ..”

“Amal Clooney then went to work for the International Criminal Court (ICC) ..”

Insider Politics is an Elite Clique (CTH)

The relationship between George Clooney and Barack Obama is well known and well documented. However, there are some interesting aspects that fill in a story and highlight how the constructs of U.S. political circles are always managed. The origin of Clooney’s intersection with the Chicago machine likely begins during his time as an actor playing the role of Dr. Doug Ross in the TV series ER (circa mid 1990’s). The show was based in Chicago. Fast forward a few years, and Clooney was considered an alternate fellow traveler for potential as an insurance policy during the 2012 reelection of Obama.


There was always a problem for George Clooney in the political world which centered around his intelligence. Clooney is not a smart fellow, and efforts to educate him on matters of strategic politics were doomed to failure. He was not competent as lead; the male AOC of his time. However, in 2012 those who control the mechanisms of Democrat politics were worried about the reelection of Obama when contrast with the chaos created by the Arab Spring, which he purposefully triggered.

Enter Amal Alamuddin, an international “human rights” lawyer with significant leftist bona-fides. Amal Alamuddin was Lebanese and British. In/around mid-2012, Clooney was told by his lawyer that Amal was coming to his home on the Amalfi coast of Italy; the lawyer said, “This is the woman you need to marry.” Given the frustration of Clooney’s intellectual challenges, the objective was to immerse Clooney in competency and see if it would rub off. Controlled leftism is always following a similar playbook (again, see AOC as a reference).

On June 30, 2012, the overthrow of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarek was concluded. Part of the USAID regime change operation, the part that triggered the original Islamist Spring, worked with great success to install Muslim Brotherhood member Mohammed Morsi. Morsi took power in Egypt and quickly went to work on the platform of extremist Islam. In November of 2012, President Mohammed Morsi issued a provisional constitutional declaration that granted him unrestricted authority and the authority to legislate without the need for judicial oversight or review. The objective was a new Egyptian constitution based on Islamic Law, Sharia Law.

In the background of the Obama administration, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton running the USAID operation supported by CIA Director Leon Panetta, the September 12, 2012, Benghazi crisis in neighboring Libya presented a problem. The U.S administration and the international control agents who supported the Muslim Brotherhood had their hands full. Morsi in Egypt was going fully Islamist at the same time Libya was in turmoil. Back home the Benghazi crisis was filling the headlines as the U.S. reelection loomed large. Clooney was in London and the Amal Alamuddin operation was still ongoing. That’s the context for this video clip.

Listen to George Clooney talk about asking Amal Alamuddin to come meet him and what Alamuddin was working on at the time. The video is prompted; it only takes around 30 seconds to get the point.

Amal Alamuddin was working for the Muslim Brotherhood on the Egyptian constitutional changes in support of the objectives of introducing Sharia Law on behalf of Mohammed Morsi, the hand-selected leader approved by Barack Obama. For those who are only just beginning to realize how candidates, politics and elections are controlled by global elites, you can literally see how the small group was operating through this example. Obviously, Obama won re-election; however, despite getting married to Amal Alamuddin, now Amal Clooney, George Clooney’s intellectual deficiency could never be overcome.

Although, to be fair, there are still Obama operatives at work within the DNC who don’t want to give up on the Clooney enterprise. Six months after Obama’s second inauguration, in June 2013, the Egyptian people had enough of the hardline extremism. The military led by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, dispatched Morsi, closed the border with Libya, outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, put the remaining extremists like Mohammed al-Zawahiri (brother to al-Qaeda #2 Ayman al-Zawahiri) into jail and saved themselves from the Islamist spring.

Amal Clooney then went to work for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and was part of the legal team that assembled the war crimes charges against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that have recently been in the headlines. Clooney was working for ICC lead prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan who has also been in the headlines recently. “:

”(UK Guardian) – The prosecutor of the international criminal court, Karim Khan, has been removed from office after the court’s governing body concluded in June that he had committed serious misconduct in connection to allegations of sexual abuse. The ICC’s member states voted on Friday to oust the British prosecutor in an unprecedented move that concludes a damaging episode for the court two years after the allegations were first raised. According to sources familiar with the result, 82 of the court’s 125 member states voted in favour of removing Khan at a special meeting at the UN’s headquarters in New York. (more)”:

…And now you probably know more than you ever wanted to know about these things.

Read more …

“Someone close to the disaster, who did not want to lose his or her job, spoke to the New York Post, saying, “The midterms are going to come before we know it and then we’re going to be really f****d.”

Democrats Keep Digging Their Hole Deeper (Amy Denton)

Today’s Democrats are so far from the Democrat Party of twenty or thirty years ago that no Democrat back then would be willing to claim them now. The leaders of the Democratic Party of today do not seem to understand that the farther and farther they go to the left, the less people will be willing to donate to them. Putting aside the mess that ActBlue built with its creative fundraising, the Democratic National Committee is in serious financial trouble. Ever since Kamala Harris’ disastrous campaign burned through $1.5 billion—yes, billion with a “b”—the DNC has had the problem of what to do with the remainder of her debt.


In August 2025, the DNC agreed to pay off $20.5 million in campaign debts while Harris agreed to raise money for the DNC to “make the entity whole financially.” Where the money came from to pay that amount off is anybody’s guess. The DNC already had financial problems as of June 2025, with the main fundraising committee looking to borrow money.Wait a minute. If your fundraising committee needs to borrow money, what does that say about how capable the committee is of raising funds? Nothing good.

Because of Harris, because of ActBlue, because of whatever dumpster fire was going on, major donors were pulling back, forcing the fundraising committee to look at borrowing money simply to keep the lights on. While the Republican National Committee has more money than it knows what to do with, the DNC does not. Someone close to the disaster, who did not want to lose his or her job, spoke to the New York Post, saying, “The midterms are going to come before we know it and then we’re going to be really f****d.”

That was last year. This year, the hits keep on coming with the news that the DNC put up its building in Southeast Washington, D.C. as collateral on a $15 million line of credit last year. And yet, the DNC did not declare the building as collateral in its monthly or loan-related filings to the Federal Election Commission. Why not? Was it supposed to and just “forgot”?

The DNC has two goals this election year. First, take back the House and/or the Senate in the midterm elections. Second, win as many gubernatorial and local elections as possible. Both are nearly impossible to do without money. As of June 2026, the DNC had $16 million in its accounts and $18 million in debt. In contrast, over the same period, the RNC had $128 million in cash and no debt. Rather amazing, isn’t it? Completely ignore the electorate, advocate for illegal aliens and genital mutilations of children, and the money starts to dry up. Who would have thought?

The DNC states that using its building as collateral has been done before and was not news. A spokesman for the DNC stated that the building had been used as collateral in 2019, 2018, and 2014, among many other years. Here’s the kicker: the DNC doesn’t own the whole building, only part of it. So, what does it do? Put the part it owns up as collateral?

All of the financial problems have landed firmly on the shoulders of Ken Martin, the Democratic Party chair. Apparently, Martin has not had success in getting donors to maximize their donations, which has led to the low level of cash on hand. Nor has he handled the pressure well. According to an internal human resources inquiry, in early July, he chucked a phone at an aide in frustration after speaking with donors and political allies. The phone did not hit the aide but left other aides who witnessed the incident shaken.

The phone throwing incident on top of the lack of fundraising and the ever-growing skepticism of the Democratic faithful has only led to the deepening of the tense mood in the DNC. Add in the highly edited explanation of what really went wrong in the autopsy of the 2024 presidential election loss, and it becomes obvious why Martin has not been successful in his time as DNC chairman, even though he’s only been chairman since February 2025. In eighteen months, not only have the DNC’s fortunes not reversed, but they’ve also grown worse.

Not so according to Martin. In an op-ed on Substack, he defended the lack of cash on hand, stating that the DNC made the decision to spend more on electoral assets such as more people, earlier organizing, and stronger state parties. Stronger state parties? I don’t know about the rest of the country, but the Texas Democratic Party is a mess. While that is amusing to conservatives and Republicans, it is not helpful to the Democratic Party overall. He ends the editorial with, “A party is not a savings account. Its purpose is to build power.” Wow. If that is indeed the case, the DNC will have quite a time on its hands come November.

Another problem for the DNC is the 2028 Democratic presidential primary schedule. South Carolina is the first state to vote in the Democratic primary, with Nevada and New Hampshire coming next. Dating back to 1972, New Hampshire was the first state to vote in the Democratic primary; it’s a state law. New Hampshire lost the first-in-the-nation primary status in 2022. This year, it came in a distant third. What will happen in 2028 when the primary season begins in New Hampshire? No one really knows.

Having to mortgage the building it only partly owns seems to be the least of the DNC’s problems at the moment. Perhaps the party will find a way to right the ship; perhaps the party will simply make things worse. Considering what has already happened this year in Maine and the appalling lack of decent candidates elsewhere in the country, it doesn’t appear likely. The DNC does look like it is going to go down with the ship instead of righting it. That anonymous source who said that the DNC was f****d could well turn out to be more prophetic than intended.

Read more …

“The DNC has paid more than $700,000 in interest on that $15 million line of credit, averaging over $75,000 a month, and starting in January it owes $1.66 million in principal payments every month.”

The Democratic National Committee Is Imploding (Matt Margolis)

The Democrat Party has spent months promising a blue wave midterm election and projecting confidence, but behind closed doors, the Democratic National Committee is in turmoil. =According to a New York Times report, the Democratic National Committee can’t pay its bills and Chairman Ken Martin is paranoid and unhinged. In other words, the committee is drowning in internal chaos. This is threatening to blunt whatever momentum Democrats thought they had heading into the midterms, which are now just 100 days away.


PJ Media previously reported that the DNC put up its own DC headquarters as collateral for a $15 million line of credit last year. That was bad news on its own. But it’s gotten worse. Party leaders have now asked vendors to hold off sending invoices until after the midterms, according to three people briefed on the discussions. Ouch. And then there’s the issues with Chairman Martin. According to the report, he has become isolated, anxious about his job security, and dependent on a shrinking circle of trusted aides. More than two dozen current and former Democrats and DNC officials described his behavior to the New York Times, most speaking anonymously because nobody wants their name near this dumpster fire.

And who could blame them? Just how unhinged has Martin become? Well, in early July, Martin allegedly threw his phone at a junior aide’s desk while reprimanding him, prompting a formal HR complaint. Accounts differ on how hard he threw it, though everyone agrees it hit the desk, not the aide. Martin later met with HR about his behavior. The DNC declined to comment, and Martin declined an interview request. Martin has also made dark jokes about how long he’ll last as chairman, even though his term runs through 2029, but he still insists he’s committed to the party and hopeful about November.

The big problem for the Democrats, of course, is the money gap with Republicans. President Donald Trump controls a $400 million super PAC. The Republican National Committee reported $128.5 million in cash on hand. The DNC is $2 million in debt. Before filing its July report, the DNC even transferred $1 million out of its 2028 convention fund to prop up its main accounts.The loan hasn’t helped. The DNC has paid more than $700,000 in interest on that $15 million line of credit, averaging over $75,000 a month, and starting in January it owes $1.66 million in principal payments every month. The DNC has funneled money to its House and Senate campaign arms every cycle for more than a decade, but officials have privately told congressional leaders that won’t happen in 2026.

There isn’t any cash left to give, and a big factor in this debacle is Kamala Harris. In 2024, Kamala Harris raised a ton of money in her campaign but left behind millions in debt that the DNC spent much of last year paying down with her help. Last fall, Martin sent $3 million each to Democratic gubernatorial campaigns in Virginia and New Jersey, structuring the loan for those transfers, hoping the wins would revive DNC fundraising. The bet hasn’t paid off yet. Martin’s paranoia bled into his own team. This spring, he confronted the party’s finance director over what he believed was an effort to push him out.

In May, finance chairman Chris Korge was already talking with other officers about an emergency meeting on the party’s finances. Martin read those talks as a plot against him, and when the two finally spoke late one Tuesday night, things got ugly fast. The emergency meeting Korge wanted eventually happened in Pittsburgh in June. For the first time, party officers had to sign nondisclosure agreements just to be in the room. I wrote before that this was the sign of a huge problem. Well, there’s the proof.

Make no mistake about it, the Democratic National Committee is a dumpster fire right now. It’s deep in debt, can’t pay its vendors on time, and its chairman is a paranoid wreck who needs nondisclosure agreements to keep its own board members quiet. We’re 100 days out from the midterms, hardly enough time for things to turn around for the Democratic National Committee. This is gonna be fun to watch.

Read more …

“Right now Senate Democrats enjoy all the benefits of the filibuster with none of the political cost—and without even having to work for it. Enforcing a real talking filibuster would change that dynamic overnight.”

Rick Scott Joins Push to Force SAVE Act Vote (Salgado)

RINO and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) thought he could get to the August recess without having to vote for election integrity legislation or a budget resolution. But two Republican senators have now stepped up to force a roll call vote on the SAVE America Act.


Get-out-the-vote warrior Scott Presler triggered the upset in the Senate by begging one senator — any senator — to request a roll call vote and force senators to go on the record about the SAVE America Act before the recess. This action is in accord with Senate rules and is based on Article I, Section 5, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) responded to Presler by offering to take up the challenge, and then notified Thune, “I hereby object to any effort to put the Senate into recess in August—at least until such time as the Senate has passed the SAVE America Act—and hereby request a roll call vote.”

Then on Sunday Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) joined in the effort. “I stand with [Mike Lee]. I will vote to stay in session unless we have passed the SAVE America Act. The American people expect us to deliver. They deserve secure elections,” Scott wrote on X.

Scott subsequently reposted Presler’s enthusiastic message of gratitude. “Senator Rick Scott, On [sic] behalf of millions of Americans, thank you for being one of the very few Senators that actually care about us,” Presler exclaimed. “Thank you for working tirelessly to pass the SAVE America Act & secure our elections. We are finding illegal aliens on the voter rolls in Pennsylvania. This is a constitutional crisis.” Presler has been going through the non-juror and registered voter data in Pennsylvania.

https://twitter.com/ScottPresler/status/2080797691366240285?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2080797691366240285%7Ctwgr%5E4424297fc6ffead79f47802d5981c97d6cbc9a3c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fcatherinesalgado%2F2026%2F07%2F26%2Frick-scott-joins-in-forcing-save-act-vote-lee-explains-his-plan-n4955475

Thune wants Americans to believe he can’t get the SAVE America Act or any of its provisions through. But Lee has laid out a plan. Back on July 22, Lee posted on X, “We could break the Democrats’ filibuster the old-fashioned way: make them actually speak on the Senate floor, knowing we can ‘call the question’ and pass it at a simple-majority threshold the minute they stop speaking. We could add pressure by working through weekends and recess weeks as needed, with a public commitment to keep the Senate in session until the bill passes.”

He went on, “Right now Senate Democrats enjoy all the benefits of the filibuster with none of the political cost—and without even having to work for it. Enforcing a real talking filibuster would change that dynamic overnight. We could also advance key provisions of the SAVE America Act using budget reconciliation. Or we could nuke the filibuster.”

The House had actually found a workaround to thwart Democrat shenanigans, as the pre-recess House budget resolution included provisions of the SAVE America Act and vital military funding. Unfortunately, Thune, ever the backstabber, delivered a nonsensical lecture about the importance of consulting Democrats—you know, the ones who aim to defund ICE and oppose funding related to the Iran conflict, fund foreign criminals, and kill all election integrity efforts—while coming up with a “bipartisan” funding package. With Republicans like him, who needs Democrats?

Read more …

“.. his promised “warmth of collectivism.”

The Fair Share Myth and Other Socialist Fables (Turley)

New York City socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani is back in his element. After admitting that he cannot fulfill his campaign pledge to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mamdani returned to his class warfare narrative. This week, he taunted the city’s highest-earning taxpayers with a letter informing them of another special tax awaiting them in the Big Apple.As wealthy citizens flee the city, Mamdani strongly suggests that those who remain are going to get burned by his promised “warmth of collectivism.” In doing so, he repeated a socialist myth about how the wealthiest taxpayers are not paying “their fair share.”


Mamdani went on X to tell those with second homes in New York City worth more than $5 million that “you’ve got mail” and a “new pied-a-terre tax.” He gleefully declared, “The best city in the world deserves the best p arks, libraries, and schools in the world. That’s only possible when we all pay our fair share.”The fair share myth is a virtual mantra among socialist and Democratic leaders, from Mamdani to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). In my book, “Rage and the Republic,” I address the false claim that the wealthy are not “paying their fair share.” In fact, the top 10 percent already pay more taxes than the bottom 90 percent combined.

In 2023, the top 1 percent paid an estimated 38.4 percent of all federal individual income taxes. One can certainly raise the need for additional taxes to support public works, but it is simple demagoguery to claim that the wealthy do not pay their fair share when the top 10 percent pay an estimated 75 percent of federal income taxes. The U.S. income tax system is already the most progressive in the developed world, even before additional New York state and city taxes are added in.=The demonization of the wealthy is one of the oldest tactics of politicians seeking to empower themselves by harnessing mob rage.

Combined with pledges of free stuff under socialism, it creates a dangerous delusion among disgruntled citizens. Another common fable has been repeated by socialists such as Darializa Avila Chevalier, the prison abolitionist who won a recent primary for Congress in New York. This radical, who once boasted how she wiped her hands on the American flag in lieu of a napkin, was pressed on whether there has ever been a “successful model of socialism anywhere in the world outside the U.S., in terms of both human rights and widespread economic justice.”

She responded by citing Sweden and Norway, as other figures such as Sanders have done before her. Indeed, the claim of successful Scandinavian socialist systems is a sort of Marxist bedtime fairytale, told to children about a workers’ paradise in quaint Nordic fishing villages. But Sweden’s experience only shows the limits of socialism even in a relatively small nation. Decades ago, after disastrous results to its economy, Sweden turned away from the very kind of socialist theories increasingly fashionable in the U.S. today.

Norway has large public welfare systems, it is true. But there is a very specific reason for that: It has enormous direct oil revenues supporting a very small population. The Norwegian state produces about 120 barrels of oil for every man, woman and child living in the country. If the U.S. could produce that much oil per person through a state-controlled entity, it would be more oil than the entire world produces today and worth enough money to replace all federal individual and corporate income tax revenue. In truth, countries like Denmark and Sweden strongly embrace capitalist principles today.

They are listed among the most capitalist nations on Earth — in some rankings ahead of the U.S. Indeed, many of their leaders have expressed disbelief or amusement at longstanding claims by American leftists about their being socialist nations. In 2015, Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen observed, “I know that some people in the U.S. associate the Nordic model with some sort of socialism. Therefore, I would like to make one thing clear. Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy.” Likewise, the former Swedish Social Democratic Minister of Finance Kjell Olof Feldt said, ” That whole thing with democratic socialism was absolutely impossible. It just didn’t work. “

Read more …

“The Scale of Ineligible People Called for Jury Duty Starts to Highlight Number of Illegal Aliens Currently on Voter Rolls”

Do you want your court case decided by people who have no right to be in the country?

Jury Duty For Illegal Aliens (CTH)

In most states the jury duty summons process comes from registered voter rolls. As a consequence, when a person is called for jury duty and is then disqualified as a non-citizen, we have another way to judge the scale of non-citizens on the voter rolls.


Reviewing lists of disqualified non-citizen jurors is now taking place in many counties led by citizen inquiry. The disqualification records, “non-juror” lists are public records in many states and counties. These reviews are turning up tens-of-thousands of non-citizens who are on juror lists, which means they are also on voter rolls.

(New Jersey Globe) – About 75,000 noncitizens are summoned for jury duty in New Jersey each year, based on data from three state government agencies, including the Motor Vehicle Commission — a stunning figure that widens the scope of a growing controversy over government databases that may incorrectly identify noncitizens as eligible voters and jurors.While the number is alarming, there’s no indication that noncitizens have served on a jury since the judiciary implemented additional guardrails to prevent it.

“Prospective jurors are asked about their citizenship and other qualifications when they complete the mandatory juror qualification questionnaire,” said Pete McAleer, a spokesman for the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts. “Those who advance are reminded of the eligibility requirements during jury orientation and are directly questioned about their citizenship during jury selection by the judge and, as permitted, the attorneys.” In between, potential jurors watch a training video that includes the citizenship requirement.

The revelation of noncitizens making their way into jury pools comes three days after Gov. Mikie Sherrill disclosed that an alleged software glitch at motor vehicles led to the inclusion of roughly 6,600 noncitizens on New Jersey’s voter rolls; Sherrill blamed the vendor, IDEMIA, and said less than 400 noncitizens have voted in recent elections. According to McAleer, the judiciary processes more than one million summonses annually for potential jury service and randomly selects records provided from the Division of Elections, the Division of Taxation, and the MVC. (read more)

That 75,000/yr number are just those summoned people who disqualified themselves by being truthful about their status. I firmly believe the average non-pretending American will soon to realize/admit that many non-citizens actually remained on juries and passed judgement during trial.

Illegal aliens voting in elections is happening, we all know it and even though the media is still trying to retain their lies, you can tell that stance is softening against the reality. However, illegal aliens sitting as jurors in trials, will create a big-time constitutional mess that is something the communist left and media will never admit.

Read more …

“The Fauci diary is amazing. He monologues like a Scooby Doo villain.” El Gato Malo on “X”

Will the “Fat Lady” Finally Sing? (James Howard Kunstler)

Remember Covid-19? Seems like long ago in a world that time forgot. Well, you get to revisit the whole sketchy business on Wednesday, July, 29, when Dr. Anthony Fauci is called to testify about it to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). Though half the USA is still psychotic and unable to process reality, the other half of the country understands that Dr. Fauci has some ‘splainin’ to do.


Dr. Fauci was initially invited but declined to appear (didn’t feel like it), so the committee issued a subpoena compelling him (under penalty of up to a year in jail for failure to show). Because Dr. Fauci was given a peremptory pardon by “Joe Biden,” he cannot legally invoke the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. He will have to answer the questions. Of course, Dr. Fauci has demonstrated in previous appearances that he is a world champeen of failing-to-recall stuff and, at age 85, one might expect him to work that angle to the max.

One big question hanging over the whole proceeding is whether Covid-19 was concocted in the Wuhan Institute of Virology or “jumped from animals to humans” as Dr. Fauci posited around the 2:14 mark (near the end) of this video from a White House press conference, April, 13, 2020:

The Intel Community now kind of leans toward the lab leak theory. Anyway, that all leads to another question as to whether Dr. Fauci directed his agency, the NIAID, to arrange funding for gain-of-function research at Wuhan on coronaviruses found in Asian bats. IOW, did they make the chimeric virus on-purpose? In past testimony, Dr. Fauci has equivocated and dissembled about that, played word games that led to raised voices between himself and Sen. Paul.

As it happened, then-Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard recently unearthed the paper trail of emails and memoranda between Dr. Fauci and his colleagues / partners in other corners of the epidemiological world that show how, at the time, they were all scrambling to cover their collective asses in the Covid-19 business. One partner in particular, Peter Daszak of the New York based EcoHealth Alliance, which had channeled many grants to Wuhan since 2014, was especially active in fabricating alibis and ruses — including a major paper in the UK’s leading medical journal, The Lancet (the article was later nullified).

Behind that smokescreen of confabulation lies the wreckage of American society by the evil Covid-19 business. It was even evident at the time (spring 2020) that President Trump suspected he was being played by the committee of “experts” that had been set up to make Covid-19 policy. His body language suggested as much in news conferences where he shifted uncomfortably from side to side, watching while others spoke at the podium, as if rehearsing his later YMCA dance. At one point, April 23, 2020, (Fauci wrote in an email) President Trump called advisor Deborah Birx (“Scarf Lady”) into the Oval Office and yelled at her: “You and Fauci have destroyed the country and the economy. I should never have listened to you. You have completely destroyed us.” (Thanks to @JeffreyTucker on “X” for citation.)

And that was only the beginning of an event that led to a more momentous string of operations against the welfare of the American people, including the mass shutdown and ruin of small businesses, the orchestrated George Floyd riots, the year-plus of no school, and the mass mail-in ballot policy that enabled widespread voting fraud, ushering-in the election of Deep State tool “Joe Biden,” with the epic fuckery his handlers later laid on the body politic — including the open border, universal DEI, transsexuals celebrated on the White House lawn, the Ukraine money-laundry, weaponization of law and intel, build-out of the USAID-NGO grift matrix to fund Democratic Party operations, and much more.

Read more …

“EU may abandon current sanctions mechanism against Russia due to Greece’s position.”

The LNG ships are often Greek.

Greece Refuses EU Sanctions Against Russia (TASS)

The European Union may revise its mechanism for imposing sanctions on Russia after Athens delayed the adoption of the latest package of measures for several weeks, securing exemptions for a Greek shipping company, the Financial Times reported.


Athens refused to support the new sanctions package until the remaining EU countries agreed to grant an exemption for the company Dynagas, according to the report. The Greek side reportedly sought to ensure that the company’s vessels could continue transporting Russian liquefied natural gas to countries outside the bloc. This marks the first instance of the EU’s collective economic sanctions regime against Russia being relaxed, the publication said. At the same time, the existing strategy allowed capitals to see that many EU member states would face the economic consequences of sanctions decisions, the newspaper said.

Now, new approaches to imposing restrictions are being discussed in Brussels, according to the FT. Officials are considering the possibility of approving sanctions individually or in small thematic batches. This approach is expected to reduce the risk of a national veto by a single country delaying the approval of other measures. Greek officials, for their part, argued that the ban on LNG transport had been agreed to by mistake, would harm the company Dynagas rather than the Russian economy, and would benefit rival shipowners from China and other non-EU countries, the publication said.

Read more …

“In April 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit shut down Boasberg’s contempt inquiry, with the majority describing it as an improper “judicial intrusion into the autonomy of a coequal department.”

Judge Boasberg Keeps Ruling Against POTUS, But Keeps Getting Overturned (JTN)

A controversial federal judge keeps ruling against President Donald Trump and then consistently gets overturned by higher courts. James “Jeb” Boasberg, the chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, has seen some of his highest-profile decisions stayed, overturned or sent to appellate courts for review. Boasberg, 62, was appointed to the federal bench by President Barack Obama in 2011 after serving nearly a decade on the District of Columbia Superior Court, and has decided several cases connected to the Trump administration in the areas of immigration and executive authority.


In March 2025, he temporarily blocked the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to rapidly deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua without traditional immigration proceedings. When deportation flights continued, Boasberg later determined that he found probable cause to pursue criminal contempt proceedings against administration officials. That contempt effort ultimately did not survive after appellate review.

Boasberg’s problem: Accepting separation of powers
In April 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit shut down Boasberg’s contempt inquiry, with the majority describing it as an improper “judicial intrusion into the autonomy of a coequal department.” Boasberg also ordered the administration to provide due-process protections for Venezuelans deported under the Alien Enemies Act. The Supreme Court vacated that order on April 7, 2025. He also directed the U.S. government to facilitate the return of more than 130 deportees so they could challenge their removals. That order is reportedly still under appellate review.

Roberts: Impeachment not the answer to activist judges
Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment after one of his deportation rulings, which led to Chief Justice John Roberts deciding to issue a rare public statement. “Impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” he said. Attorney General Pam Bondi later directed the U.S. Justice Department to file a judicial misconduct complaint alleging Boasberg made inappropriate comments about the administration during a Judicial Conference meeting. The complaint was ultimately dismissed by another federal judge, who concluded it did not establish misconduct.

Read more …

“Allegation stems from Smith’s closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee on December 17, 2025.”

Prosecuting The Prosecutor: Will Jack Smith Face Criminal Charges? (JTN)

Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith spent years investigating and prosecuting Donald Trump. Now, with Trump back in the White House as the president, Smith has become the subject of a potential criminal investigation of his own. Earlier this month, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan referred Smith to the DOJ for potential criminal prosecution, alleging he made false statements during congressional testimony. President Trump has repeatedly argued that Smith should be held accountable for what he has described as politically motivated prosecutions.


Whether Smith will indeed face criminal charges remains uncertain. Although Congress can recommend prosecution, the decision ultimately rests with the Justice Department, and any case would face significant legal and evidentiary hurdles. On July 22, Jordan, an Ohio Republican, sent a formal referral letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, asserting that there is “strong evidence” that Smith violated 18 U.S.C. § 1001, the federal statute prohibiting materially false statements to the federal government. The allegation stems from Smith’s Dec. 17, 2025, closed-door deposition before the Judiciary committee.

During the deposition, Smith testified that his office had sought only lawmakers’ “toll records” – that is metadata such as call logs – and had not sought warrants for the contents of members’ text messages. Jordan contends in his letter that Justice Department records produced this month contradict that testimony. According to the referral, Smith’s investigation ultimately obtained text messages from 44 members of Congress, with some records reportedly acquired through the National Archives rather than by subpoena. Jordan argues that Smith’s testimony created the misleading impression that investigators had never obtained the substance of lawmakers’ communications.

Smith’s attorneys, Peter Koski and Lanny Breuer, rejected the allegation, arguing that Smith answered the specific question posed to him truthfully and was under no obligation to volunteer information beyond its scope. They contend the referral itself acknowledges that Smith did not make a false statement but instead criticizes him for failing to provide additional, unrequested information.

Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the committee’s top Democrat, likewise dismissed the referral, arguing that Republicans characterized Smith’s testimony by conflating questions about subpoenas with questions about presidential records maintained by the National Archives. “This referral, if ever brought before a judge, will get laughed out of court,” Raskin said in a statement. A DOJ spokesperson confirmed receipt of the referral and said the department “will investigate all evidence of criminal conduct.”

A Long-Running Conflict
Jordan’s referral is the latest development in a years-long dispute between congressional Republicans and Smith, who in November 2022 was appointed special by Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee two high-profile criminal investigations involving Trump. The Judiciary committee began investigating Smith’s office in 2023, and Smith testified publicly before the committee in January 2026. Republicans have repeatedly questioned the conduct of Smith’s investigations into Trump, while Democrats have defended his work as consistent with the rule of law.

The possibility of criminal liability was also raised during Blanche’s confirmation hearing, when Missouri GOP Sen Josh Hawley asked whether Smith could be prosecuted for false testimony. He responded only that testimony before Congress is taken “very seriously.” Trump has long characterized Smith’s investigations as politically motivated “witch hunts,” while Smith has maintained that the evidence supported criminal charges against Trump and that any investigation into Smith himself would amount to political retaliation. Smith resigned from the Justice Department shortly before Trump’s second inauguration after overseeing the federal prosecutions involving classified documents and alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Could Smith Actually Be Prosecuted?
The referral alone does not initiate criminal charges. Under federal law, Congress may recommend prosecution, but the Justice Department retains exclusive authority to decide whether to investigate and bring a case. To secure a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, prosecutors generally must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant knowingly and willfully made a materially false statement. An answer that is incomplete, imprecise, or arguably misleading may not satisfy that standard, particularly if it is responsive to the specific question asked.

Supporters of Jordan’s referral argue that newly disclosed records contradict the overall impression Smith left during his testimony.Smith’s defenders counter that his statements were literally accurate because they addressed only the subpoenaed toll records discussed during questioning, not every method by which investigators obtained communications. As with many alleged false-statement cases, the precise wording of both the questions and the answers could become central to any prosecution.

Read more …

“Tank The Market … and crater Anthropic and OpenAI ..

It would seem to me that someone stealing your AI model is inevitable.

That said, how do you know which model something is stolen from?

Chamath Warns Ban On Open-Source AI Would Tank The Market (ZH)

Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya warned that any U.S. move to ban open-source AI would blow a hole in corporate balance sheets and drag the stock market down. “If the United States government intervenes, it will tank the stock market. Not debatable,” Palihapitiya said on the “All-In” podcast released over the weekend. “Now, you can debate which companies get tanked. For example, if they said, ‘No more open source. American companies cannot use open source.'”


“Okay, let’s take an average normal company, Coca-Cola,” Palihapitiya continued. “‘Hey, Coca-Cola, you’re trying to use AI to improve your business. You know what? You can only use these two options. And those things cost 50-100x more than your other best alternative that you may use otherwise.'” “That will eventually show up in your costs. And so this incredibly important input into your cost model is now orders of magnitude, multiples greater than your competitors that are outside the United States, simply because you’re in the United States,” he added. “You’re forced to absorb costs that aren’t rational nor market-driven. So then Coca-Cola has to get re-rated.”

Palihapitiya then turned on the labs themselves, arguing that their revenue depends on government-erected barriers rather than real market demand. “But then you look at the people who are selling those tokens, and this is where Anthropic and OpenAI need to understand, if the government comes in and actually tells you that there’s no open source, their valuation will crater,” he said. “Why? Because all of that revenue is artificially being propped up. It’s not being driven by market demand where you’re being forced to compete. It’s because of regulatory capture where you now get an artificial constraint. But it only works in one market.

“All roads lead to market chaos if anybody gets involved, so we should just not get involved.” Palihapitiya’s co-host, former AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks, went further, accusing Anthropic of running to Washington for regulatory cover.

“If you say that American companies can’t use what’s in the public domain, or that somehow it’s tainted with IP theft, you are basically going to put a dagger through the heart of the entire American open source ecosystem,” he added. The fight has consumed Washington since Moonshot AI’s release of Kimi K3. The Beijing startup’s open-weight model beat Anthropic’s Fable 5 and OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol in blind front-end coding tests, according to Axios, and unlike its closed American rivals, anyone can download it.

Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, Palantir and more than 20 other companies fired off a joint letter on Friday urging policymakers to avoid “premature restrictions” on open-weight models, warning that such limits would “stifle competition or drive innovation overseas,” CNBC reported.

Anthropic did not sign.

If the letter was meant to cool things off, it didn’t. The Trump administration spent the week accusing Moonshot of stealing American technology outright. White House science chief Michael Kratsios said Wednesday that Moonshot built Kimi K3 by distilling Anthropic’s technology, and accused the startup of obtaining restricted Nvidia GB300 chips through servers in Thailand.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/2081565782534680581?s=20

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Jul 272026
 


Paul Cézanne Les (Grandes) Baigneuses 1905


Zelenskyy Pledges Ukraine Satellite Intel to Assist NATO/USA in Iran (CTH)
Iran Lashes Out at “Freeloader” Zelensky for Caspian Sea Attack (ZH)
Iran, Oman Hold Hormuz Talks As US Pauses Airstrikes For Second Day (ZH)
Britain’s New Cabinet Of Fakers, Fraudsters And Hangers-On (Newsome)
Why Is National Review Pretending Barack Obama Was a Moderate? (Margolis)
GOP Senator Kennedy on the SAVE America Act (Matt Vespa)
Mike Lee to Force Roll Call Vote on SAVE Act Before Recess (Salgado)
Tucker Carlson Wants Trump Tried for Treason (Matt Margolis)
It’s Going to Be JD and Kamala, So Calm Down (Kurt Schlichter)
Why Every Young DSA Member Needs to See ‘Star City’ (Rick Moran)
Foreign Nationals Now Nearly Half of Germany’s Prison Population (Salgado)
Fauci Files: A Megalomaniacal Egomaniac (Tom Elliott)

 


 

https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2081059184104370325?s=20

 


 


“Zelenskyy Pledges to Share Exclusive Ukraine Satellite Intelligence to Assist NATO/USA in Defeating Iran..”

Zelenskyy Pledges Ukraine Satellite Intel to Assist NATO/USA in Iran (CTH)

If you thought Ukraine was busy defending itself and launching counterattacks against Russia, think again. Apparently, unbeknownst to the rest of the world Ukraine was launching geo-synchronous satellites over the Middle East, deploying proprietary signals intelligence intercepts between Russia and Iran, and conducting covert surveillance operations, in addition to weaving sweaters for homeless kittens from Zelenskyy’s hair… or something. But seriously, read this:


Isn’t he just the most magnanimous little fella? Not only is he singlehandedly going to win a war against Russia, but he’s going to take a few minutes break and win the war against Iran for everyone. What a guy. The last few weeks have been a tidal wave of weird and sketchy stuff that indicates some form of NATO intelligence operation is underway.

This round of sketchy started with that trip to London to meet the coalition of the willing and King Charles; followed two days later with the surprising “drone” attack on the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, which bore all the same hallmarks as the Nordstream pipeline attack, which was immediately before the G7 meeting in Paris and perfectly set up the horrible Russia theme for the summit.

Someone then launched hundreds of simultaneous long-range drones into Russia hitting oil/gas refining facilities shortly before the NATO summit in Turkey, that set up the “vulnerable Russia” theme. A few days later, Zelenskyy fires the young Defense Minister responsible for the recent success of the modern Ukraine drone program; then following public backlash fires the Commanding General of the military while simultaneously proclaiming everything was awesome.

A few more days pass and suddenly Laura Loomer is in Ukraine begging forgiveness for saying bad things about Zelenskyy and promoting the horrible Putin / innocent Ukraine narrative. (MAGA cleaving) To wit, 12 hrs later Tucker Carlson is giving a Russia-centric podcast -targeted exclusively to a U.S. audience- a horrible Trump / Glory to Putin narrative. (More MAGA cleaving) Somehow, despite Zelenskyy’s exceptionally busy calendar, he found a few hours to sit down with Loomer and talk about the resilience of the Ukraine people who are ducking a weaving through air raids while Zelenskyy stormtroopers try to capture them on the street and push them into the Eastern Ukraine meatgrinder.

But wait, there’s more… This weekend, Ukraine holds a very public, outdoor, open-air drone exhibition and Military Drone Exposition that drew military hardware companies from around the world to Kiev and put a bullseye on the location of many Military contractors and vendors. Not surprisingly, Russia targeted the well-publicized drone exposition, hit the venue with multiple ballistic missiles and killed hundreds of military drone dealers/vendors.

Following the strike on the Drone Exposition, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now saying he has the time to help NATO defeat Iran by sharing information gathered from Ukraine intelligence operations on Russian satellite orbits. Join in when you feel comfortable. These joint NATO intelligence constructs are difficult to keep up with. When it sounds crazy, it’s ALWAYS an intelligence operation!

Read more …

“Iran Blasts ”Freeloader” Zelensky For Ordering Deadly Attack On Caspian Vessel ”At Israel’s Behest”..”

Zelensky’s nazis use him to get close to Israel. Oh irony.

Iran Lashes Out at “Freeloader” Zelensky for Caspian Sea Attack (ZH)

Iran has accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, which it says resulted in an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another. As we previously reported of the Saturday maritime incident, Ukraine seems to be openly boasting of this escalation. President Zelensky himself announced soon after on X, “We also have very good results from long-range strikes in the waters of the Caspian Sea. In particular, these are vessels that were involved in transporting military cargo from Iran, and a warship.”


Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Ukraine’s charge d’affaires in Tehran to severely protest the “hostile and criminal” attack on Saturday, IRNA reported. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has further warned that the “blatant UN Charter violation” which was “done at Israel’s behest” could serve to “drag Europe into its war”. Araghchi also denounced and attacked Zelensky personally, calling him the “freeloader in Kyiv”…

The risk of the Russia-Ukraine conflict merging with the US-Iran conflict seems plausible, but still remains low, and yet the Caspian Sea situation shows that it is actually possible. The Iranians have sought alternative trade and shipping routes via the Caspian, and early in Operation Epic Fury Israeli warplanes reportedly targeted and took out Iranian naval vessels there. This isn’t the first time that FM Araghchi has called out Zelensky. Back in January of this year, for example, he called Zelensky a “confused clown”, and said that the Ukrainian leader had been “rinsing American and European taxpayers to fill the pockets of his corrupt generals.” The two countries have previously clashed over Iran supplying Russia with Shahed suicide drones.

Iran Will Halt Tit-For-Tat Strikes If US Maintains Pause The diplomatic track appears to have opened with the Trump administration’s move to pause strikes as a goodwill gesture ahead of the weekend – now in its second day. That created space for Omani officials to meet their Iranian counterparts over the weekend, with Tehran reporting “some progress.” The talks have now produced a reciprocal stand-down, under which Iran would halt retaliatory strikes on US bases as long as the US maintains its pause in airstrikes.

Reuters reports: Iran will halt its own attacks as long as the United States maintains its latest pause on air strikes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday, after President Donald Trump abruptly called off his two-week-old bombing campaign. After 13 nights of intensifying U.S. air strikes on Iran, the Pentagon abruptly suspended the campaign late on Friday, with no U.S. attacks reported on either Saturday or Sunday. Iran, which had been following each night of U.S. attacks with its own strikes on neighboring countries that host U.S. bases, has also so far held fire for two days.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, told Fox News on Sunday that Trump had decided to pause U.S. attacks to allow more time for diplomacy. “He’s giving talks some space, he’s giving it a little bit of room,” Waltz said, without providing further details. The senior Iranian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters: “Iran’s position remains ‘attack for attack’: if the attacks stop, Iran will also halt its operations. That message has already been conveyed to the United States.” The source added: “However, Iran is prepared to mount a broad response should the U.S. launch another attack.”

Asked about the pause, a senior official in Trump’s administration said on Saturday that the president “has always been clear that his preference is diplomacy, but he has shown Iran what will happen if they fail to come to the table in a serious way.” The senior Iranian source said Tehran did not hold much hope that Trump’s decision to pause strikes represented a major shift in the U.S. negotiating position. “There is more skepticism than optimism about the halt in attacks. The prevailing view is that the pause is tactical rather than genuine. Iran has accumulated enough bitter experience with what it sees as U.S. deception,” the source said.

Read more …

“The pause offers the clearest signal yet that a diplomatic off-ramp may be emerging, with Iranian and Omani officials reporting progress in talks to reopen the critical waterway.”

Iran, Oman Hold Hormuz Talks As US Pauses Airstrikes For Second Day (ZH)

The US military paused its air campaign against Iran for a second consecutive night after nearly two weeks of tit-for-tat strikes. US strikes were aimed at degrading Tehran’s one-way attack drone and missile capabilities around the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran hit US bases in the region. The pause offers the clearest signal yet that a diplomatic off-ramp may be emerging, with Iranian and Omani officials reporting progress in talks to reopen the critical waterway.


Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a Telegram post that he met with the Omani deputy foreign minister and held talks on Friday and Saturday about restoring safe transit for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. Baghaei said the officials exchanged views on principles and operational mechanisms for managing safe maritime navigation through the strait. “The talks were constructive, and some progress was made,” he added, noting that technical and political consultations remain ongoing. The Omani delegation left Tehran on Saturday evening.

The talks coincided with the US military’s two-day pause in strikes and came as Brent crude futures surged into triple-digit territory and the national average for regular gasoline jumped above the politically sensitive $4-a-gallon mark. JPMorgan’s head of Global Commodities Research and Strategy, Natasha Kaneva, told clients last week that Brent prices at this level could increase pressure on Washington to reopen diplomatic channels. Meanwhile, Iranian Army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia appeared on state television on Sunday and warned the US that any further strikes would widen the conflict.

“I believe that if the Americans once again fall for the Zionists’ deception, or move in line with them, and insist on continuing the war, particularly through air strikes, geographically this will expand further,” Akraminia warned. Akraminia said the conflict has already expanded to the Bab al-Mandab Strait on the southern Red Sea, referencing the recent Houthi attacks on tankers. “The scope of our operations now encompasses the entire region, from US bases in Jordan to the countries along the Persian Gulf,” he said. Earlier, United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported an incident in the southern Red Sea after a “tanker witnessed a splash from an unknown projectile in proximity to the vessel.” Details are scant at the moment.

Read more …

Can’t post the entire article here. But do read, I learned a lot.

“Burnham is an out-and-proud socialist who had already signaled that his government would spend and tax more.”

Britain’s New Cabinet Of Fakers, Fraudsters And Hangers-On (Newsome)

Britons are struggling to characterize their new Cabinet, following the arrival of a new prime minister on Monday. The Cabinet is not as northern or female as Andy Burnham signaled. Most members have certainly changed. Most are not loyalists to Keir Starmer, even less so to Tony Blair. Like Burnham, many hark back to a mythical golden age of socialism in the 1970s. Like him, most are alarmingly deficient in popular mandate, external qualifications, and even political trust for their new responsibilities.


Let’s start with Burnham himself, a man born in Liverpool who pretended to be Mancunian to win the mayoralty of Manchester. He claims to represent the north but has not lived north or east of Manchester. At best, he represents a narrow part of west-central England, just north of the Midlands. Burnham has always looked south while talking up the north. Burnham was most newsworthy for agitating for changes in national government, despite sharing a party with Starmer.

As Starmer continued to trip himself up with both feet, Burnham was one of the Labourites who prevailed on ministers to brief against their PM. After Starmer blocked Burnham’s candidacy for an accidental by-election in February, Burnham prevailed on a local MP to resign from Makerfield to force a by-election in June, which Burnham won easily, to return to Parliament, which would allow him to challenge Starmer for the leadership (less than two years into Starmer’s five-year term). Starmer initially vowed to fight on but announced his intent to quit this month. No MP stepped up to challenge Burnham’s presumptive run.

Thus, Burnham has no popular mandate to be PM, even within the party, except in the form of pledges by more Parliamentary partisans in support than against. Opposition parties rightly called for a general election to confirm his premiership, but the constitution does not oblige him.

Burnham’s supporters pretend that his easy rise proves the strength of his candidacy. In reality, it proves the weakness of his party. It could not find a new leader within its own MPs, despite a whopping majority. It triggered an expensive by-election and a more expensive mayoral election to reach outside of Parliament. Meanwhile, Burnham unwittingly poured scorn on that same Parliamentary party by criticizing normal politics and the London elite. (Since then, he has aired the idea of moving the Cabinet from London to Manchester. His current plan is to spend at least one day per work week there. That’s neither efficient nor effective.)

In the many weeks that Burnham enjoyed as rising PM, he remained vague about his Cabinet and his policies. On Monday, he spent hours appointing just the highest roles in the Cabinet. The other appointments look set to continue for days. Of the first day’s picks, I must start with the only selectee who can be coded as qualified and mandated (although not loyal).

John Healey becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer, the second most powerful position in government. He had quit as defense secretary six weeks ago, over Starmer’s procrastination on filling a hole in defense spending. Healey said that Britain should spend 3 percent of GDP on defense by 2030, which means he will need to find a couple dozen billion pounds per year. Previously, he advocated issuing “war bonds,” but who would buy them when the government is running record debt? He will need to cut other departments or raise taxes (probably both). On Monday, Healey said “fiscal control” would be his “first duty.” You could see the markets’ confidence decline immediately.

Healey’s resignation suggests a certain loyalty to Burnham, but otherwise they barely know each other. More usefully, he was a minister in the Treasury under Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Yes, Healey is actually qualified by experience! This is remarkable given that his predecessor, Rachel Reeves, falsified her CV, couldn’t add, and quickly became the most U-turn-prone and hated chancellor ever, as well as the most tearful.

Healey remains constrained by record government debt and his party’s suicidal unwillingness to cut spending. Remember that Starmer increased spending on welfare and benefits, after backbenchers rejected his proposal to cut them. (That was within Starmer’s first year of premiership.)

Burnham is an out-and-proud socialist who had already signaled that his government would spend and tax more. By Tuesday, his administration revealed plans to cut VAT (a sales tax) on electricity, to be funded by cutting the Starmer administration’s planned digital ID. But the minister responsible for that plan, Darren Jones, revealed, after being fired by Burnham, that digital ID was never funded. So Burnham is either ignorant or dishonest. This . . . doesn’t . . . bode . . . well.

In any case, scrapping VAT on electricity doesn’t make much difference to a household electricity bill in which most of the pricing goes to fund green initiatives, debt, stealth taxes, and administration. Burnham already looks unprepared and unreliable. Confirmation comes in the form of his deviation from his team’s prior briefings that he would appoint either Ed Miliband or Shabana Mahmood to the Treasury.

Red Ed goes to the Foreign Office, for which he is woefully unqualified and an undoubted liability. He infuriated the U.S. (and most Britons) as energy secretary, with his absolutism about reaching net-zero carbon by 2030, at whatever cost to the consumer. Ed also, by the way, reminds everybody of the weakness of the party’s leadership selection. He was leader from 2010 to 2015, when he literally and metaphorically stumbled at every election husting. Yet Burnham thinks Miliband is the best person to articulate British interests abroad? This won’t last long.

Miliband is already hurt. He has been denied the job he wanted, even though he was the first senior minister to call for Starmer to go, and he helped Burnham with an economic plan. (Some plan: it remains as vague as ever, except for the Soviet-style time horizon of 10 years.)

Meanwhile, Mahmood stays at the Home Office. Under-informed (or biased) souls read this as confirmation of her competence in pushing through controls on illegal immigration in the face of majority opposition from civil servants and backbenchers. In fact, she is hurdling a low bar after decades of government failures to control immigration, despite popular demands and almost every party’s commitments to lower net immigration.

Worse, Mahmood is duplicitous. She tells the right wing that her tweaks to the benefits and the timeline of asylum applications will dramatically control immigration. She tells the left wing that she will make the refugee route easier (which is the route by which almost all illegal immigrants get residency, with more privileges than citizens).

Also concerning is Mahmood’s long history of Islamocentrism, which is bizarrely ignored by mainstream media. She tars normative Britons as racists (whites and Jews in particular: isn’t that racist?), campaigned against Israel, played up her status as the first Muslim home secretary, promised that her promotion would serve “her” community, and railed against supposedly routine experiences of racism in her hometown of Birmingham, where her demographic is the largest.

I doubt Mahmood will last much longer than Miliband within Team Burnham. He favors the left of the party, which has characterized her (ridiculously) as a Nigel Farage in Labour colors. For now, Burnham needs to be seen to reward her, if only because one of her allies in Parliament, Josh Simons, was the MP who resigned from Makerfield to make way for Burnham.

So the highest three officers in the land will not last as long as normal, in my estimation. Burnham’s administration will not bring the stability that Britons crave, let alone the competencies that the markets and foreign governments crave.

Read more …

“..he built the most sweeping left-wing agenda of any modern president, yet somehow convinced people like Klein to call it “moderation”..

Why Is National Review Pretending Barack Obama Was a Moderate? (Margolis)

National Review Online editor Philip Klein wants you to believe Barack Obama was some kind of political moderate. That’s the only way to read his reaction to a viral clip of the former president telling Caitlin Clark not to let “media nonsense” get her down and reminding her she’s a great player. Klein called it “a perfect example of why Obama is hated by the far Left & also why he won two elections comfortably.”


Set aside the Caitlin Clark moment for a second. The framing is the real story here. Klein wants readers to believe Obama was more moderate than John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012. He wasn’t.

Sean Davis, cofounder of The Federalist, made the point with numbers Klein conveniently left out. “Obama was adored by the far Left when he left office (95% approval rating among Democrats) and he remains adored by the far Left today because he is the most left-president in modern American history (89% approval rating from self-identified liberals in a CNN poll last month vs. 28% approval from self-identified conservatives, which means the left-wing loves him even more than the right-wing hates him),” Davis wrote.

I’ve written a few books about Obama, and I can tell you exactly why the far left worshipped him then — and still does: he built the most sweeping left-wing agenda of any modern president, yet somehow convinced people like Klein to call it “moderation” just because he said a few kind words to Caitlin Clark. Let’s run through what he actually did as president, since Klein seems to have misplaced the receipts.

Obama ran in 2008 promising to “fundamentally transform” the United States, and then he did exactly that. The 2009 stimulus was one of the largest government interventions into market activity in American history. Obamacare handed Washington unprecedented control over the nation’s healthcare system, and its Medicaid expansion extended federal-state coverage to millions more people, with Washington footing most of the bill. Dodd-Frank buried the financial industry under new federal regulations.

Obama didn’t stop at legislation. When Congress refused to pass the DREAM Act, he unilaterally shielded hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who arrived as children from deportation through executive action alone, an end run around Congress that was blatantly unconstitutional. He committed the United States to international greenhouse gas targets the same way, through executive fiat instead of Senate ratification, because he knew the votes weren’t there.

His administration also nationalized the student loan industry, cutting private lenders out of the market entirely. He reinterpreted Title IX to smuggle “gender identity” into federal law, a decision that eventually opened women’s sports and locker rooms to biological men. He repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” ordered his Justice Department to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court, and later endorsed same-sex marriage after running in 2008 as a supporter of traditional marriage. Obama also helped transform the Democrat Party into an antisemitic party.

And don’t even get me started on what Obama did to race relations in this country. That last part tells you everything about how Obama operated. He knew exactly where the country stood in 2008, so he told voters what they needed to hear. Nobody who was paying attention actually believed him. He was too shrewd a politician to show his full hand before he had the power to play it.

None of this is moderate. None of it is centrist. It’s the most aggressive leftward lurch this country has taken in modern presidential history, and Obama pulled it off while much of the press corps treated him as a reasonable, above-the-fray statesman.

So when the editor of National Review holds up a clip of Obama being nice to a basketball player as proof of ideological balance, ask yourself why a supposedly conservative magazine is doing PR for one of the most radical presidents this country has ever had. Obama didn’t win over the far left by accident. He earned every ounce of that adoration by delivering exactly what they wanted, one executive order at a time.

Read more …

“BRENNAN: “The SAVE Act, as you know, or even some version of it, is highly partisan, highly controversial.”

“Bigger picture, isn’t it going to hurt faith in our election process if a Republican-only policy to change how elections are run is rammed through 100 days…less than 100 days out from the election?”

GOP Senator Kennedy on the SAVE America Act (Matt Vespa)

President Trump criticized Sen. John Thune (R-SD) for his weak, unimpressive effort to pass the SAVE America Act, a key priority for the president and a top demand of the GOP base. The bill will be a significant step toward improving election integrity, specifically making sure only Americans vote in U.S. elections. It represents everything conservatives have fought for regarding election security.Yet, CBS News’ Margaret Brennan thought it could undermine faith in our elections, because why wouldn’t an establishment outlet go down that rabbit hole? Yet, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) was the one interviewed for this segment, and he wasn’t having any of this nonsense. His response to her first question was great, with a simple “no.”


BRENNAN: “The SAVE Act, as you know, or even some version of it, is highly partisan, highly controversial.”“Bigger picture, isn’t it going to hurt faith in our election process if a Republican-only policy to change how elections are run is rammed through 100 days…less than 100 days out from the election?”

KENNEDY: “No.”

“In my opinion, for both sides to have credibility in our elections, we need to do two things and only two things.” “Number one, you have to prove you are who you say you are in order to register to vote and to vote.” “And number two, however you decide to vote, that’s up to the states. We need to go back to having an election day, not an election month.” “We’ve got to know the results of elections that night or shortly thereafter, if it’s close.” “That, to me, is what the SAVE Act is all about.” “And I think we can pass it. And I think we can craft it in a way to survive a birdbath, but we’re not going to know if we don’t try!”

BRENNAN: “Grants, in other words, to states to incentivize. Not requirements for states to action…that’s your version.”

KENNEDY: “That’s not the only thing.” “I’ve been contacted by some really smart people about a way to do it in addition to the grants. I’m not saying it will work. But you’re not going to know unless you try.”

Read more …

Forcing the vote appears to be the only way. BRENNAN: “The SAVE Act, as you know, or even some version of it, is highly partisan, highly controversial.

Mike Lee to Force Roll Call Vote on SAVE Act Before Recess (Salgado)

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has openly promised to be the one senator necessary to force a roll call vote exposing who will or will not vote for crucial election integrity legislation just before the August congressional recess. Congressional rules acknowledge that the ability of any senator to demand a roll call vote is grounded in Article I, Section 5, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which states that “the yeas and nays of the members of either house on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the Journal.” Therefore, it requires only one senator to start the process for such a vote.


Notably, election reform is wildly popular not only with Republican but even with Democrat voters. The SAVE America Act has bipartisan voter support. Scott Presler begged that one senator “to object to unanimous consent & ‘ask for the yeas and nays.’” Mike Lee replied on X:


Lee subsequently reshared Presler’s message while tagging Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.). “I hereby object to any effort to put the Senate into recess in August—at least until such time as the Senate has passed the SAVE America Act—and hereby request a roll call vote,” Lee wrote, making it clear to the whole country what he was doing and putting Thune on the spot. “Do not assume you have my consent. You do not,” Lee warned Thune.

The House had actually found a workaround to avoid the blocks the Democrats set up, as provisions of the SAVE Act were really included in the budget resolution that the lower chamber had put together before the recess, a resolution that also included vital military funding. Unfortunately, Thune, ever the backstabber, delivered a nonsensical lecture about the importance of consulting Democrats — you know, the ones who aim to defund ICE and the Iran conflict, fund foreign criminals, and kill all election integrity efforts — and coming up with a “bipartisan” funding package.

The last thing Thune wants is to be put on the record with a roll call vote, exposing him and his lack of efforts to pass the SAVE America Act. On Saturday, President Donald Trump made one last push for the legislation. “The all Republican Senators! Terminate the Filibuster, which the Democrats will do as soon as they get the chance, and PASS THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, and everything else, including the Budget, and upcoming Debt Ceiling. Do it now, before it is too late!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Lee endorsed Trump’s call.

Sadly, Republican senators keep forgetting they’re supposed to work for We the People, the ones who elect them and pay their salaries. Hopefully Lee can galvanize some Senate action before the August recess. Most Americans across the political spectrum support voter ID, so We the People definitely want action.

Read more …

What does Tucker say about October 7?

Tucker Carlson Wants Trump Tried for Treason (Matt Margolis)

It’s been coming for a while, but this week, the once-conservative firebrand Tucker Carlson has doubled down on a version of reality that would make Iran’s mullahs blush. Carlson used an appearance on the East Meets West with Olga and Tara podcast to unload on a provision in the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act that would expand defense-technology cooperation between the United States and Israel. His verdict? Lawmakers who back the measure are acting against America’s own interests, effectively merging our nations’ militaries.


Carlson didn’t stop at policy disagreement. He accused the Republican Party of handing the country’s sovereignty to a foreign government, sparing only two members from his contempt. “The Republican Party has decided that the interest of Israel is more important than the interest of the United States,” Carlson said on the podcast. “There are a couple of exceptions Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie, and they were driven out of the Republican Party. So it tells you what the priority is. The priority is serving Israel.”

Coming from a man who has spent years cozying up to authoritarian regimes and excusing Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, that’s rich. But consistency has never been Carlson’s strong suit. He then accused Israel’s Mossad of feeding American policymakers fabricated intelligence for decades. “Mossad has fed, repeatedly, disinformation lies to American policymakers over decades, including the lie that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction,” Carlson said. “That fundamentally came from Israel. There’s no dispute about that.” There’s plenty of dispute about that, because it’s false.

British intelligence, French intelligence, German intelligence, and Spanish intelligence all concluded Iraq likely possessed chemical and biological weapons and was in defiance of the United Nations. From there, Carlson’s rhetoric went from conspiratorial to unhinged. He called the defense-technology partnership a “generational disaster” and framed it as proof Americans no longer control their own country.”It’s the definition of treason,” Carlson said. “This is treason. This is acting against your own nation, on behalf of a foreign nation.”

Then came the real bombshell. Carlson wants President Donald Trump and the Republicans who support the NDAA provision put on trial for it. “The idea that the Republican Party would support merging U.S. and Israeli intelligence, IDF and Pentagon is so deranged that you have to root for treason trials, for Nurnberg trials at some point,” Carlson said. “And the president could veto it; he won’t because he’s a slave to Israel.” Let’s be honest here. Comparing a defense-cooperation bill to the crimes of Nazi Germany while demanding war-crimes-style tribunals against your own president isn’t principled dissent.

This is full-on loony talk here. He sounds no different than the socialist candidates running for Congress nationwide… and, let’s be honest, some Democrats in Congress today. Carlson closed out his rant by accusing anyone who defends Israel of defending genocide. “We’re against genocide, we’re against book burning, that’s what we learned from the Nazi period,” Carlson said. “And all of a sudden you wake up and we’re like, ‘No, no, genocide’s totally fine, as long as Israel’s doing it.’ In fact, if you call it genocide, you’re the bad person.” I don’t know what happened to Tucker. I remember being excited when he started his show on X, but now, he’s become indistinguishable from far-left crazies. Calling for treason trials against a sitting president over a defense bill is the sign of an absolute meltdown.

Read more …

We have two years of these bets ahead of us. Yay!

It’s Going to Be JD and Kamala, So Calm Down (Kurt Schlichter)

Everybody who wants to gobble popcorn while watching exciting POTUS primary races in 2028 is going to be disappointed, at least in terms of the final outcome. We know how this story ends, but what leads up to it may be hilarious, particularly on the Democrat side. Every weirdo, loser, and mutation in their party intends to try to get the nod, knowing that the fix is already in; it’s just going to be a chance for folks like Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and Pete Buttigieg to try to raise their profiles or maybe get picked to be VP. Neither of those two will.


But right now, it’s obvious who is going to go head-to-head against each other in the general election. You can deny it, you can argue it, you can cope all you want, but barring some unforeseen turn of events, we know how this is going to play out. It’s going to be JD versus Kamala, and that’s just the way it is. Well, that’s not technically correct. On the Republican side, the guy who’s going to be nominated is the guy who Trump says is going to be nominated, and right now that’s Vice President JD Vance. People are fantasizing that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is going to jump in and fight the veep for the top of the ticket, but that’s crazy talk.

And the least crazy guy involved is Marco Rubio himself, who has made a magnificent and fantastic 180° turnaround since his unfortunate dalliance with amnesty under the influence of a bunch of Bushie loser Senate colleagues a decade ago that nearly sank his political future. He knows that Donald Trump is going to pick the next nominee, and Donald Trump is already sending up smoke signals that it’s going to be JD. Marco is young. He has time. And he has no political death wish. He has stepped on the Donald Trump land mine before, and he does not want to be blown to little bits. But you can be sure that if JD stumbles, Marco Rubio will be right there to pick up the ball and run it in for the big win.

Will JD Vance stumble? He’s getting a lot of heat from some people on the Republican side, particularly those who think that he is insufficiently committed to destroying our enemies and protecting Israel. It’s annoying. Never-Trump has-been Brett Stephens, whose self-seriousness is inversely proportional to how seriously he should be taken, said, “Vance is MAGA at its absolute worst. Able to still sound reasonable while defending the indefensible.” Sounds like a rave review. Others cited his role in the Senate to essentially blame him for Capitol Hill dysfunction. Come on. Vance got grief for referring to the organized haters as an op; the organized haters of the op were outraged he called their transparent op an op.

JD terrifies those with the fantasy of returning to the good old days of submissive GOP-managed decline; they know he’ll carry the Trump message forward – which is a selling point. JD certainly doesn’t have the same view of war as a lot of traditional Republicans do, no doubt, in part, because, unlike most of them, he actually went and fought in one. He has seen firsthand the failure of America’s foreign policy establishment, and if he’s a little bit gun-shy about gunboat diplomacy, he’s got good reason to be. After all, his homeland in Appalachia has traditionally been one of America’s premier fields for growing crops of cannon fodder.

The consequences of the hawks’ prerogatives fall on people like JD Vance. Though a fellow son of that region and a veteran, I tend to be a little more on the “Bomb the bastards back into the Stone Age” side. Still, JD has earned his right to be skeptical about the overextension of American military power.Then there’s Israel, and while many of the people who are critical of him are very much aligned with me—my objection to Israel is that we’re not giving the Jewish state enough money and they’re not killing enough terrorists—they are misguided. JD Vance is not a groyper. If you actually listen to what he says instead of watching carefully curated podcast clips, you’ll see that what he’s saying is true.

The Venn diagram representing the interests of the United States and Israel is not a circle. Israel has its interests, and we have ours, and there’s nothing wrong with saying that. It’s obvious, and it’s important that we acknowledge this reality. Israel has a terrible image problem in the United States, partially because many Americans are stupid and weak, and because Democrats are cowardly and weak. The proper answer to terrorists is to kill them all and lay waste to their homes. That’s aesthetically displeasing to many people. Israel has chosen being aesthetically displeasing to being genocided out of existence by semi-human seventh-century barbarians, and a lot of fools hold that against it.

JD Vance does not hold that against Israel. He simply points out, correctly, that sometimes what Israel needs to do conflicts with what the United States needs to do, and a president of the United States should do what the United States needs to do. As for Iran, if you think he somehow believed that the Iranians were going to completely change who they are and become nice guys, I really can’t help you. This guy is a lawyer. He knows a little something about negotiating. And when you’re negotiating, you rarely describe your obnoxious opponent in the harshest possible terms. You talk nice about them. That’s how negotiations work.

Now, he may not choose to run for president in 2028. He’s got a very young family, including a newborn. It’s not clear his wife loves being in the limelight. She’s an incredibly smart woman; spend five minutes with her, and you’ll see. JD is even younger than Rubio. He’s got time. The bottom line is he may choose not to run. If he does choose to run, right now he’s got Trump’s endorsement, which means he’s the nominee. Certainly, he could lose Trump’s endorsement—Trump is notorious for spectacular breakups with former allies—but if you’ve got chips, put them down on JD.

Maybe there will be competition. There are rumblings about Ted Cruz jumping in, but I don’t think Ted Cruz is going to do that because Ted Cruz is smart and he doesn’t want to be humiliated by being utterly destroyed in the primary. There will probably be some dorky Never Trump geebos going for it, like Mike Pence, which would be hilarious. The Ned Flanders of American politics would be humiliated, but for Pence, you get the vibe that that might be a plus for him. Look, the GOP nominee in 2028 is going to be JD Vance about 80 percent of the time, so everybody needs to get their feelz under control and get ready to back him. Maybe he’s not 100 percent with you, but the alternative is 0 percent with you. Get over your panty twist, people.

And the Democrat nominee is going to be Kamala Harris. That’s just the way it’s going to be, because the Democrat Party’s biggest constituency is not failson and disappointment daughter, Democrat Socialists, but black women. Kamala is a black woman; ergo, she’s going to get nominated. You’re not going to get the Democrats to nominate someone who’s not a black woman. We’re seeing what happens when you do that in Texas. That blasphemous imp James Talarico is just not winning over black voters after beating Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX-30)

One of the benefits of Kamala is that she’s also DSA-friendly; she’s a communist and was recently sucking up to the Hamas wing. The socialists will swallow hard and take her. A bunch of others will run, and they’ll lose. There’s some talk about AOC, but she’s going to take noted burger chef Chuck Schumer’s Senate seat. AOC’s sell-by date is fast approaching anyway. Believe it or not, she’s not left enough for the socialists, and here’s a hard truth some people don’t want to hear: she’s getting hefty.

Part of the attraction of AOC was that she was a cute young woman. Remember, they literally auditioned her for the job, and key to that was that she was attractive. Between losing her hotness and the fact that every time she opens her mouth, she says something stupid—like how the Senate was constituted to enshrine Jim Crow about a century before Jim Crow—this clownette peaks at junior senator from the Empire State. .

Read more …

A different history. What if the Russians won?

Why Every Young DSA Member Needs to See ‘Star City’ (Rick Moran)

How the Soviets got to the Moon first is only hinted at in Star City, a tense, cold-blooded sci-fi spy thriller, also on Apple TV, that trades the optimism of its parent show for a bleak, paranoid look at the Soviet space program in a paranoid country. The Soviet Moon landing a few weeks before Apollo 11’s is simply accepted as fact, with no sense of how the Soviets won the race. That small omission can be forgiven because the rest of this nightmare scenario is truly high-quality TV.


Critics widely praised it as a gripping, high-stakes expansion of the FAM universe. Told from the Soviet point of view, in Star City, the Americans are the bad guys and Soviet paranoia has a logical basis. Of course, the Communists misinterpret many American actions, which feeds their paranoia. The action in Season 1 takes place in the 1969-71 timeframe. The high-risk trip to Venus, planned by the Chief Designer, played with great humanity and brilliance by Rhys Ifans, knows that the Central Committee will never give the go-ahead for the mission and hides his intention from all but a few engineers and astronauts.

The Chief Designer is never named. We also saw the nameless Chief Designer in Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff, appearing in the film as a laughing, bald-headed stand-in for insufferable Soviet superiority. The real “Chief Designer” of the Soviet space program was Sergei Korolev (Sergei Pavlovich Korolev). During his lifetime, his identity was kept as a closely guarded state secret by the Soviet government to protect him from potential assassination by foreign intelligence and to maintain state security.

In Star City, the Soviet apparatus of oppression is the star of the show. The Communists never let anyone breathe without their knowing. Everyone—I mean everyone—is followed, recorded, and surveilled. The most terrifying character on television today is Anna Maxwell Martin, who plays KGB Colonel Lyudmilla Raskova. A cold-blooded killer, torturer, and intimidator, Raskova stands in the middle of a web of Soviet oppression that uses all the tools of state intimidation and fear to maintain a level of control that is unbearable to citizens. Instead of fighting it, they try to stay out of its way as much as possible.

Her quiet, fanatical devotion to the Soviet state (and her own career) makes her casual brutality and scheming seem not only logical but necessary. Raskova is a composite character, but she represents the logical extreme of socialism. How many times have we heard from socialism’s apologists that the reason it’s never worked isn’t the system; it’s the people who run the governments who are the problem. Castro, Pol Pot, Lenin, and Mao—these were the “wrong” people to be leading any country. The theory of socialism is sound and will work if the “right” people are implementing it.

The logic of oppression leads inevitably to socialism as a national economic and social template. There simply is no better way to control people than mandating the actions of the citizenry based on what’s “good for everybody.” Imposing controls on how people act is only the beginning. In order to impose socialist dogma on the people, the state must control how they think as well. This means censorship to ensure homogeneous thinking, surveillance to ensure “proper” actions, and punishment for anyone who steps outside the socialist boundaries established by the government through anti-state thoughts, words, and deeds.

Putting someone in jail for listening to rock music? The Soviets outlawed rock as “degenerate.” Certain writers who published “dangerous” ideas were also locked up. Young people enamored of socialist ideology should think long and hard about the kind of society created by adopting socialist principles. They are not only unrealistic, but they’re also impossible. Human beings do not act the way that the socialists say we must act to create their utopia. Until we do, the imposition of socialism will always—always—result in brutality, poverty of mind and spirit, oppression, and death.

Read more …

Mutti Merkel is/was the uitimate globalist. And she destroyed what was once West-Germany, a country she grew up neighboring from her dirt-poor communist East-Germany. Was this her revenge?

Foreign Nationals Now Nearly Half of Germany’s Prison Population (Salgado)

A statistic you won’t find in the mainstream media, because it totally undermines the idea that mass immigration is in any way beneficial to Europe, is the number of foreign nationals in Germany’s prisons. Remix reported on July 24 that foreign nationals account for 45% of the prison population in Germany, and that in the cities of Hamburg and Berlin, the proportion of foreign nationals in prison is almost 60%. When you consider that many migrants have become citizens or have children who are German citizens, the number of criminals due to mass migration could be much higher.


The majority of the foreign criminals reportedly came from either Eastern Europe or Arab countries. To put more precise numbers on it, Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung found that 27,000 of the 60,408 people in German jails in March 2026 were not citizens of the country. Notably, as recently as 2015, the percentage of foreigners in German jails was 30%, so the number has increased dramatically since then. Remix also reported that dual citizens and foreign-born German citizens are not included in the above statistics, arguing that the actual share of inmates with a migration background is likely even higher than the reported 45%.

I always point out that European and other Western nations’ governments do not import persecuted Christians or Jews, nor do they import freedom-loving political prisoners. They do not bring people in to assimilate them or demand that they accept Western moral standards. No, Western governments import masses of violent Third Worlders, many of them Muslims, whom politicians then encourage not to assimilate. That has led to the crime wave sweeping the West. In fact, while the foreign population of Germany is only around 17%, according to Remix, foreign nationals possibly comprise a majority of the country’s criminals.

The German Association of Prison Officers’ chairman, René Müller, complained that translators are increasingly necessary in the prison system and that they are not always available to meet the needs of the number of prisoners who require them. He believes this raises the risk of aggression from inmates and the possibility of Muslim prisoners becoming increasingly radicalized and isolated.

Bavaria’s Justice Ministry attributed aggressive behavior by inmates towards staff to language issues and “culturally determined behaviors.” If only the German authorities had examined the cultures of these migrants before welcoming them into the country without any language skills or shared values to make assimilation possible.

Remix News reported on this back in 2024, when it was estimated that German prisons cost taxpayers approximately €4.14 billion annually, with around €1.82 billion spent incarcerating foreign nationals. At the time, foreign prisoners already made up more than half of the inmate population in several states.

Alternative for Germany lawmaker Martin Hess said those figures demonstrated the consequences of the country’s migration policies. … The former police officer called for stricter deportations and a complete reversal of Germany’s migration policy, arguing that foreign criminality imposes both a security risk and a major financial burden on taxpayers.

Unfortunately, woke German authorities like their current system of arresting citizens for free speech while lavishing money on foreign criminals.

Read more …

“…Milking Covid For Everything It’s Worth ..”

If they try again, we should be better prepared.

Fauci Files: A Megalomaniacal Egomaniac (Tom Elliott)

On May 28, 2021, Anthony Fauci learned that the Department of Health and Human Services would refer EcoHealth Alliance – the New York nonprofit that had routed NIAID money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology – to its inspector general. That night he wrote in his diary:


“I am certain that there will be some deficiencies that the IG will find as is always the case with IG audits. Certainly, whatever they find it will be misconstrued by those who want to make a case for our involvement in the outbreak. I am starting to feel that it is important for me to write an editorial or an opinion piece giving our side of the story.” (p. 753)

Our involvement in the outbreak. Followed closely by a plan to get out in front of it. That instinct – get ahead of it, control the story, decide what the public needs to believe and then saturate every channel with it – is the organizing principle of these documents. It shows up in the origins fight. It shows up in masks, transmissibility, and boosters. It shows up in how he handled the people who disagreed with him. And it shows up, most revealingly, in what he chose to write down.

What was released
On July 24, Senator Rand Paul’s committee published two documents that have not been reported in any depth.The first is Fauci’s personal diary, 1,141 pages, running from late 2019 through his retirement in December 2022. It is partly a journal and overwhelmingly a scrapbook: he pasted hundreds of articles about himself into it, frequently in full. The second is 136 pages of internal email about his awards – nominations, ethics clearances, and the disposition of prize money. Fauci does not date the composition of his entries, so we cannot always distinguish what was typed the same evening from what was assembled later. Page numbers refer to the released PDFs.

I. What they thought at the start
Page 13 of the diary covers two important events from January 31, 2020. The first is that Fauci is handed the mic to serve as Covid’s point person. He writes: “White House is now fully convinced that I be the science/health spokesperson for the USG. Bob Redfield just does not come across very weel. He takes forever to say something and it is usually wondering. This drives the WH and HHS comms people crazy and so they are putting me out on all the requests.” The director of the CDC was not sidelined for being wrong, but for being slow on camera. The selection criterion was not who’s the most credible scientist, but who performs best on TV.

Redfield’s own account of that period, given under oath in 2023, is worth recalling. Asked why he had been excluded from the origins discussions, he pointed to ideological differences: “Because it was told to me that they wanted a single narrative, and that I obviously had a different point of view.” The second thing happens after he gets back to his office. Jeremy Farrar of the Wellcome Trust calls, sounding “very concerned,” with Kristian Andersen of Scripps conferenced in and Eddie Holmes in the background from Sydney. Fauci writes down what they told him:

“The people on the phone felt that the mutations around the furine cleavage site of the spike protein could not have occurred naturally since it would require an evolutionary ‘jump’ that they found nowhere in bat isolates.” Deliberate insertion, they said, followed by release – accidental release being the most likely. The next day Fauci convened a larger call of twelve experts in epidemiology. His entry characterizing it (p. 14) is the probably the single most consequential paragraph in the whole diary. There was “not total agreement about the likelihood of deliberate insertion,” he writes.

Ron Fouchier was certain it could have arisen naturally and said they shouldn’t waste time. Christian Drosten agreed with Fouchier. And then, in Fauci’s own words: “the rest felt that deliberate insertion was possible.” Ten of twelve thought it must be manmade. And he admits the person driving the zoonotic theory perspective, Ron Fouchier, was “expected of him since he was the original GOF [gain of function] person with Yoshi Kawaoka.”

II. What happened next
Three days later, four of the scientists from that call were circulating a draft arguing the opposite. “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2” appeared in Nature Medicine on March 17, concluding that the virus was not a laboratory construct. Andersen told the journal in his cover note that the paper had been prompted by Fauci and Francis Collins. Drafts went to both men before publication. Fauci’s reply to Andersen: “Nice job on the paper.” Two months after Proximal Origin published – Fauci’s institute approves an $8.9 million grant for Andersen.

On April 16, Collins wrote to Fauci asking whether NIH could help “put down this very destructive conspiracy.” The following day, Fauci cited Proximal Origin from the White House briefing room podium – the most watched platform on earth at that moment. Three weeks after that, on May 4, 2020, he told National Geographic that the evidence was “very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated,” citing “a number of very qualified evolutionary biologists.” The doubt referenced in his diary never reached the public. And his account of that February call has never stopped changing.

A June 7, 2021 diary entry (p. 767), recounting the same meeting: “About half of the people felt that this was possibly a constructed virus and the other half were convinced that this was a natural occurrence.” In a June 3, 2024 sworn opening statement to the House Select Subcommittee, Fauci said he joined a call with about a dozen international virologists, that the discussion was “lively, with arguments for both possibilities,” and that after further examination several who had been concerned about lab manipulation became convinced the virus was not deliberately manipulated.

The June 2021 retelling contains another problem: he says “a few weeks later” Andersen and colleagues re-examined the data and concluded natural origin. The draft was circulating on February 4 – three days after the call. The June 2021 entry shows how he’s trying to mould history into something different for posterity.

III. Habit becomes routine
Origins is where this pattern is most consequential, but it is not where it started or where it stopped. The diary shows the same strategy applied to every contested question of the pandemic: decide what the public needs to believe, then flood the zone. Consider masks. Fauci’s public reversal in the spring of 2020 is well known, and he has explained it as a response to shortages and to emerging evidence on asymptomatic spread (p. 375). But watch what happens when the question comes back around in February 2021, when he begins pushing double-masking (p. 619):

“CDC starting to do practical things that I have actually been pushing for some time. For example: Wearing 2 masks could be better than just one. They did a dummy study and showed that a cloth mask over a surgical mask actually gives a more complete fit and keeps out aerosols.” Note the order of operations: He had been pushing it “for some time,” the evidence arrives afterward, and the evidence is a mannequin. That is the entire evidentiary basis for double-masking in a 1,141-page diary kept by the government’s chief spokesman on the subject during the month he was urging 330 million people to adopt it.

We see every time Fauci is turned to for guidance, he makes bold proclamations without feeling burdened to verify any scientific basis. We see it in the numbers.Across 1,141 pages by the nation’s senior infectious disease official during the largest public health event in a century, here is how often certain terms appear. Never once: “peer review.” “Meta-analysis.” “Risk-benefit.” “Learning loss.” “Mental health.” Once: “N95.” “Seroprevalence.” “Cost-benefit.” Twice: “Cloth mask.” “School closure.” “Natural immunity.”

Against which:
“Award” – 80
“Hero” – 49
“Instagram” – 36
“Bobblehead” – 23
“Selfie” – 19
Entries headed “PRESS:” – 641

The question of whether prior infection conferred meaningful protection – the question underpinning the vaccine mandates that cost people their jobs – is never worked through anywhere in these pages. It appears twice, both times as an attack to be repelled.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Jul 262026
 
 July 26, 2026  Posted by at 9:43 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , ,  25 Responses »


Pablo Picasso The Bull state VII 1945


Trump Pursues Diplomatic Off-Ramp As Omani Delegation Arrives In Tehran (ZH)
Russia Guaranteed To Win Ukraine Conflict – John Mearsheimer (RT)
Elon Musk Just Exploded One of the Left’s Favorite Smear Tactics (Spencer)
The Real Reason Why The Media Hates Elon Musk (ZH)
Trump Orders Signs Outside Smithsonian Warning Of Woke Exhibits (JTN)
Will Trump be the First American Caesar? (Paul Craig Roberts)
Is Zohran Mamdani Mentally Ill? (Robert Spencer)
Mamdani’s Netanyahu Arrest Plan Has No Legal Basis (Victor Davis Hanson)
‘Show Must Go On’: Trump Delivers Remarks at Correspondents’ Dinner (ET)
Democrats Are Worried The GOP’s Cash Advantage Could Hurt Their Chances (ZH)
Top NIH Official Wanted to Halt Research Into COVID-19 Vaccine Injuries (ET)

 


 

https://twitter.com/ElephantSignal/status/2080655638154129432?s=20

 


 


Let Oman try. For two days.

Trump Pursues Diplomatic Off-Ramp As Omani Delegation Arrives In Tehran (ZH)

JPMorgan’s head of Global Commodities Research and Strategy, Natasha Kaneva, told clients: “In the previous round of escalations, negotiations were initiated once US gasoline prices reached $4.20 and became materially more urgent as prices neared $4.50. Oil may be a global commodity, but political tolerance for high energy prices remains overwhelmingly domestic.”


US Pauses Iran Bombing Campaign As Saudi-Houthi Red Sea Front Erupts
Brent crude surged 27% over two weeks to settle at $96.78 a barrel on Friday, briefly breaching $100 this past week as traders priced in a higher war-risk premium into energy markets amid simultaneous chokepoint threats to the Strait of Hormuz and the southern Red Sea.


Meanwhile, the US appeared to pause its 13-day campaign of daily overnight strikes against Iran. While there was no indication that the operational halt would extend into next week, the pause certainly reinforces the diplomatic signals highlighted in our US-Iran wrap on Friday. However, there was an escalation overnight with Saudi-led strikes on Iran-backed Houthi targets in Hodeida. This comes after the terror group attacked multiple Saudi-linked tankers in the southern Red Sea area.Houthis escalate with attacks against Saudi Arabia:

The confrontation threatens to open a second major front in the Gulf conflict. With traffic through Hormuz largely paralyzed, sustained Houthi attacks on Yanbu or ships entering Bab al-Mandab Strait could disrupt millions of barrels of Saudi exports, raise shipping costs, and further tighten physical markets.

Read more …

“No amount of Western weapons can overcome Moscow’s “massive advantage in air power,” the international relations expert has said..”

Russia Guaranteed To Win Ukraine Conflict – John Mearsheimer (RT)

Russia is guaranteed to win the Ukraine conflict, and no amount of Western weaponry – including Patriot air defense systems sought by Kiev – can change that, international relations scholar John Mearsheimer has said. Ukraine is “highly vulnerable” to Russian strikes that can cripple its economy and leave it a “dysfunctional” state, the University of Chicago professor told the Daniel Davis Deep Dive podcast on Thursday.


Kiev has relied heavily on Western military aid throughout the conflict, now in its fifth year. Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly pressed allies for more weapons, particularly Patriot systems, while blaming delays in deliveries for Ukraine’s battlefield setbacks. According to Mearsheimer, the belief that more Patriots or other Western arms can reverse the course of the conflict is an illusion. “The Russians are pretty much free to attack any target in Ukraine and they don’t have to worry at all about a Patriot missile or any other kind of missile knocking down the incoming missiles or the incoming drones,” he said.

With Russia enjoying a “massive advantage in air power” and Ukraine struggling with manpower shortages, “the Russians are going to win this war” and “Ukraine is going to emerge as a dysfunctional rump state,” he argued. Mearsheimer pointed to recent Russian strikes on the Ukrainian port of Odessa as evidence of Moscow’s strategy. “It looks to me like the Russians have basically cut off Odessa as a port of exit for Ukraine,” he said.

Earlier this week, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had struck fuel depots and port infrastructure in Odessa, Nikolaev, Izmail and Chernomorsk used to receive and store military cargo, claiming nearly 30 vessels serving the Ukrainian military were hit. On Thursday, Ukrainian outlet Strana reported that maritime traffic had effectively stopped, with no ships entering the country’s Black Sea ports the previous day. It said the Russian strikes were retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian Black Sea ports.

The attacks have made shipping to Ukraine increasingly risky, Strana added, noting that shipping giant Maersk recently suspended operations at the port of Chernomorsk. Mearsheimer also argued that the US conflict with Iran would further reduce European military and financial support for Kiev. “I think events in Iran and just the course of the war between Ukraine and Russia is creating a situation where Ukraine’s future looks highly bleak,” he said.

Read more …

The smear is labeling someone as far right. It’ll be a rebel name soon.

“That we should have secure borders? That we should have safe cities? That we should have sensible spending? Which of those three are far right fringe?”

Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of 32 books, including many bestsellers, such as The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), The Truth About Muhammad, The History of Jihad, The Critical Qur’an, and Muhammad: A Critical Biography. His new books are Intifada on the Hudson: The Selling of Zohran Mamdani; Holy Hell: Islam’s Abuse of Women and the Infidels Who Enable It; and The Tragedy of Islam: Failure and Excuses.

Elon Musk Just Exploded One of the Left’s Favorite Smear Tactics (Spencer)

Elon Musk has just dared to shine the light of truth and accuracy upon one of the left’s favorite weapons of propaganda and manipulation.Whenever mainstream media “journalists” want to make people dislike someone and reject whatever their victim may stand for, they start calling the person they want to destroy “far right.” The idea is to associate the victim with Hitler and fascism without saying anything that could end up being legally actionable, and the leftists have not hesitated to use the label for anyone and anything they don’t like, no matter how far from anything genuinely “far right” their target may be.


One notorious example is the media’s use of “far right” to try to defame everyone who dares to oppose its favorite religion, Islam, and to speak out against jihad violence and Sharia oppression of women. And so the late Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, who was a gay activist with leftist positions on everything except his refusal to accept the Islamization of the Netherlands and Europe, was “far right.” So is his political heir in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, whose party’s program aligns with the left on almost everything except its opposition to mass Muslim migration into Europe, and so he, too, is “far right.”

I myself believe in free speech, free enterprise, and free society, and reject racism, fascism, and the like, but when I started writing books about how Islamic jihad is a historic and present-day threat, I, too, became “far right,” and was placed on the blacklists of the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League, and defamed and deplatformed accordingly.

The whole thing has gotten so absurd that in a December 2024 article published in the aftermath of an Islamic jihad attack upon a Christmas market in Germany, the Daily Mail warned: “This Christmas market carnage will make a dangerous situation even uglier – and the Far Right will grow even stronger.” Yeah, that’s the biggest takeaway from a jihad attack that killed six people and injured over 300 others: the “far right” may take advantage.

The idea that anyone at all would have been worrying about the “far right” at that moment demonstrated how avid the establishment media is to divert attention away from Islamic jihad violence. If that required warning about a nonexistent threat and once again smearing people who were simply trying to stand against the prevailing madness, so be it.Now, however, Elon Musk has had enough. The Hill reported Friday that in a recent interview, The Economist’s Editor-in-Chief Zanny Minton Beddoes claimed that Musk “supports not just the populist right, but the far right — in fact, very fringe parties in some countries.”

Musk took issue with this characterization, saying: “No, I support the normal people. What you call the far right, falsely. Literally, you could go back 10 or 15 years and these policies were completely normal.” That was perfectly true, but Beddoes is a leftist, and so she took issue with it. She granted that “the center of gravity in this country has shifted, certainly the Democratic Party shifted to the left,” but then continued, “but that’s not what I’m talking about.” Then, says The Hill, “she said she was discussing figures such as Rupert Lowe, a member of the United Kingdom Parliament who leads the far right political party Restore Britain.”

Lowe wants to stop the mass migration into Britain that threatens to make the native people of the island into a minority in their own homeland before the end of this century. And so Musk responded: “It’s just normal people. Here are the principles, and tell me, which of these sound terrible. That we should have secure borders? That we should have safe cities? That we should have sensible spending? Which of those three are far right fringe?”

That’s what passes for “far right” today. If people in the various nations of the West want to preserve their own country’s culture and national character, that’s “far right.” If they don’t want to support millions of migrants who arrive and immediately go on welfare, that, too, is “far right.” If they don’t want to see their once-stable and prosperous countries become Third World hellholes, they’ve joined the “far right.” Musk told Beddoes that he wanted to “admonish” her, and the establishment media as a whole, for its “absurd characterization of the far right. It is false and misleading and nonsense.” Yes, that’s what it is, all right, and worse.

Read more …

” The front page headline for this very Economist interview was: “Should You Be Afraid Of Elon Musk?”

When Musk bought X, they lost their strangle hold. Of course they hate that.

The Real Reason Why The Media Hates Elon Musk (ZH)

Some would say that Elon Musk is an enigma; a billionaire entrepreneur with a focus on green tech and environmental impact who used to support Democrat fixtures like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, only to become one of the progressive establishment’s biggest opponents. What happened? As Musk readily admits, the progressive movement changed and he did not. One could argue that the progressive movement didn’t change, it just pulled the mask off and revealed the monstrous face underneath. Either way, anyone who saw that ugly face during the despotic insanity of the pandemic era and refused to adapt and embrace it was deemed an “enemy of democracy”.


Musk got a real good look and was clearly repulsed. After 2022 when Musk declared his total separation from the Democrats as the “party of division and hate”, the leftist media descended like so many flying monkey’s from a wicked witch’s castle. The attacks have been relentless. When Musk made a move to purchase Twitter and fundamentally disrupt the political left’s dominance of the social media landscape, they shrieked with rage and spit venom. It was glorious.

In a recent interview with The Economist the venom was on full display, but the tactics of media disinformation agents and provocateurs have become tired, repetitious, tedious. You could see Musk’s exasperation with the exercise. He’s heard all these leading questions and biased insinuations a thousand times before. Online and Swiss-owned far-left outlet Gizmodo published a hatchet job article covering the interview and described Musk as “melting down” over “normal questions”. This kind of gaslighting from the left is standard, and the projection is palpable. Gizmodo’s reaction is the true meltdown; they simply can’t handle the idea of the media being exposed for their dishonesty.

The most dishonest of people with the most nefarious of intentions often make accusations by disguising them as “questions”. The front page headline for this very Economist interview was: “Should You Be Afraid Of Elon Musk?” Musk has been directly and indirectly accused of promoting racism, fascism, sexism, and even genocide. Through DOGE and the much needed shutdown of the corrupt USAID institution, he is now accused of “killing millions” by withholding humanitarian funding.

https://twitter.com/mattvanswol/status/2080417854201975212?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2080417854201975212%7Ctwgr%5Efab28861c8ccf5dcbf54046d86a9fae1fa344e10%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fmeltdown-real-reason-why-media-hates-elon-musk https://twitter.com/mattvanswol/status/2080427381463118215?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2080427381463118215%7Ctwgr%5Efab28861c8ccf5dcbf54046d86a9fae1fa344e10%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fmeltdown-real-reason-why-media-hates-elon-musk


The real agenda is embedded in this line of questioning. The global elites and the far-left present a false narrative of consensus – The notion that they represent the majority and the “majority” is very angry with Elon for his trespasses against the liberal order. Perhaps more than Twitter, they are specifically sensitive about the closure of USAID.

Why? Not because they care about poor little starving children with AIDS in Africa. It is questionable how many US dollars were actually going into these humanitarian projects versus the amount of dollars going into the hungry pockets of Democrat politicians and leftist NGOs. The reality that the media doesn’t want to address is that USAID was a central funding hub for the spread of woke ideology and propaganda around the globe.

Without endless cash supplied by USAID fraud, the multicultural and intersectional vision of the far-left is greatly hindered. Just look at how quickly, for example, Pride and transgender activist movements dissipated once federal funding through organizations like USAID dried up. What about mass immigration? Do Americans really need to be funding shelters and services for migrants traveling through Mexico seeking to enter the US illegally? Because this is what USAID was doing.

DOGE dislodged an organization that was a cancer on the entire world, including the US. This is what the media is truly upset about. And it should be noted that the US is not responsible for the well-being of the entire world. If people in third world countries can’t survive without US subsidies, maybe they should learn how.

But Musk’s most egregious crime was the leave the liberal plantation. Leftists are radical collectivists and they see each individuals personal success as a platform to serve the interests of the greater movement. Any individual who walks away from the collective and takes his platform with him is viewed as a traitor, but also a thief. Progressives see Musk as their property. They see everything he builds as their property. They believe that Musk owes them.

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2080429870505468064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2080429870505468064%7Ctwgr%5Efab28861c8ccf5dcbf54046d86a9fae1fa344e10%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fmeltdown-real-reason-why-media-hates-elon-musk


The assertion by Economist editor Zanny Minton Beddoes that her outlet and her comrades are “traditional liberals” promoting limited government and individual liberty is perhaps the most laughable claim a journalist has uttered in recent memory. The Economist is a globalist news platform, and was partially owned by the Rothschild family for decades, right up until March of this year when they sold their share.

The Economist aggressively promoted anti-freedom policies during the Biden Administration including mandatory vaccinations during Covid. They also supported, in theory, the idea of vaccine passports, which would have resulted in the most oppressive shift away from personal liberty in modern history. They consistently attacked people who opposed the mandates for “spreading misinformation” and defended the concept of government pressure on the public.

Of course, none of the mandates enforced by liberal governments proved to make any difference in the spread of covid, and the Infection Fatality Rate remain relatively static at an average of 0.23%. All that hysteria and tyranny over a virus that 99.8% of the population would easily survive.

Traditional liberalism in the media is long dead. It does not exist. It has been replaced by woke authoritarianism. This is why, as Musk notes, no one trusts the media and most people hate them. In 2025 over 70% of US adults said they have low trust or no trust in the mainstream media. These companies might have incredible amounts of money behind them, but it’s all irrelevant without the public trust.

Full interview again:

Read more …

National Museum of American History, to be precise.

The New York Times doesn’t like it at all.

Trump Orders Signs Outside Smithsonian Warning Of Woke Exhibits (JTN)

The signs would even redirect potential visitors to places where American history is more accurately presented, according to the order, though it did not give examples of what those locations and resources would be. President Donald Trump escalated his battle against wokeness at the Smithsonian Institution on Friday, ordering his administration to place signs outside the National Museum of American History to warn visitors that some of its exhibits have been made “inaccurate.”


The signs would even redirect potential visitors to places where American history is more accurately presented, according to the order, though the order did not give examples of what those locations and resources would be.“Because the museum has failed to appropriately honor the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence during this 250th anniversary year of the founding of our country,” the order reads, government agencies “shall install temporary exhibits or signage on N.P.S.-maintained sidewalks, walkways, and land used by the public that corrects inaccurate information presented in the museum.”

The order comes after the White House Domestic Policy Council released a 162-page report on the museum, accusing its director of using the museum as a “political instrument” to accomplish her own ideological goals at the expense of the museum’s original mission.The museum was first approved by Congress in 1955 to tell the national story of the United States, to “place before” visitors “a stimulating permanent exposition that commemorates our heritage of freedom and highlights the basic elements of our way of life.” The museum’s director, Anthea Hartig, defended the museum’s changes to American history, stating in a congressional hearing this week that the museum was representing history in all of its complexity, according to the New York Times.

“When historians talk about reframing a traditional narrative, we don’t mean erasing it,” she said in her testimony. “We mean adding the evidence, the voices, the objects that earlier tellings left out so that more Americans can see themselves reflected in the national story.”House Republicans, however, accused her of hijacking history with woke ideology to suggest even Mickey Mouse was racist. The order also follows Trump’s March 27, 2025, executive order aimed at purging “revisionist” and ideological materials from U.S. history references and exhibits at federally funded museums and sites.

Read more …

We’re supposed to think he wants to be.

Will Trump be the First American Caesar? (Paul Craig Roberts)

Journalism as an honest career has been wrecked by journalism schools teaching that the purpose of journalism is to change society, not to report facts, by bought and paid for narratives that serve organized lobbies, by government and Israel Lobby censorship, and so on. When you read a news report today you not only cannot trust it, but the writing is so poor that often you cannot ascertain what the journalist is saying. I have done my best to understand reports I have read of the attempt of the US Congress to use the 1973 War Powers Act to stop Trump’s use of US lives and money to turn Iran into a second Gaza for Israel.


Normally, it would be reprehensible for the US government to sacrifice the lives of American military men and women in order to advance Israel’s agenda of Greater Israel. Why are Americans dying and paying for conquests for Israel’s agenda of Israeli rule from “the Nile to Pakistan?”Israeli-owned Trump pretends that the war he is forcing Americans to fight for Israel’s territorial expansion is being fought to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. This is a blatant lie, just like the one Colin Powell told the UN about Iraq’s “weapons of mass destruction.”

Iran signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and has not enriched uranium to the level that could be used for nuclear weapons. All investigatory agencies attest to this fact. Trump’s assertion that he is protecting Americans from “weapons of mass destruction” is identical to the lies the George W. Bush regime told when Secretary of State Colin Powell was sent to the UN to lie through his teeth about Saddam Hussein’s non-existent “weapons of mass destruction.” As the lie worked on dumbshit Americans before, Trump and his Zionist allies assume it will work a second time. Trump might be correct that Americans never learn from being repeatedly bamboozled. Americans fall for whatever is made to sound patriotic.

As best as I can tell from “journalists” who never learned how to write, the US House of Representatives voted 214-208 in favor of a War Powers Act Resolution to cease military action in Iran. This required some Republican help, such as Republican Representative Thomas Massie, who thinks the American people are more important than Trump’s service to Israel, and Republican Representatives Tom Barrett, Warren Davidson, and Brian Fitzpatrick who apparently see it the same way as Massie. You can see why Israel spent $32 million to remove Massie from Congress. And dumbshit Americans think they are a sovereign nation. Only Russia and Venezuela interfere in American elections. Never Israel.

Initially the US Senate passed the War Powers resolution to halt Trump’s war against Iran, but the Republican supporters reversed it when Israel’s man–Donald Trump–confronted them. In the re-vote, the US Senate rejected the resolution to end the illegal and unjustified war 47-49.

The War Powers Act of 1973 was the US Congress’ last attempt to restrain the US executive branch from overriding the US Constitution, which requires a declaration of war by Congress before going to war. The executive branch had eased America into a war in Vietnam without Congressional approval. That Congress did not impeach and remove the president, who had voided his oath of office by his unconstitutional war, was the first sign that America, like the Roman Republic, was transitioning into a Caesarship. It was Democrat Lyndon Johnson, not Republican Richard Nixon, who was responsible for the Vietnam war.

Trump Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “the War Powers Act is unconstitutional, 100 percent.” What does Rubio know about the Constitution? Nothing. It is the Trump regime’s initiation of war without a declaration of war by Congress that is unconstitutional. What Mark Rubio is saying is that any limitation on the power of the executive branch is unconstitutional.

This theory of the American state has been developing for some time. In 1992 Terry Eastland published a book, Energy in the Executive: The Case for the Strong Presidency that argued that the three branches of government–executive, legislative, and judicial–were not exactly equal and that the executive branch held the upper hand. We have actually experienced America’s wars and restrictions on the US Constitution’s ability to protect American citizens consistently evade the Constitution for decades.

As I have made the case, America, the United States, is the Constitution. When the Constitution is shredded, so is America. Without the Constitution, America no longer exists as America. So now we have Caesar Trump, unconstrained by Congress, the Judiciary, and the people, at war with Iran in the service of Israel. This is the behavior of a Caesar, not the behavior of a US president as defined by the US Constitution who is sworn into office by his oath to protect the US Constitution. Trump protects Israel. Israel is not America. Trump does not protect America.

There is no attempt to impeach Trump, and there are no complaints from law faculties, from bar associations, presstitutes, organized interest groups, university presidents, corporate leaders, Christian denominations. Just complaints from a few of us whose voices won’t be heard above the noise of “Iranian Nukes.”

Is Trump Caesar or Octavian? Who will be the next Caesar?

Read more …

” Mamdani is a Twelver Shi’ite, an adherent of the official religion of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Is Zohran Mamdani Mentally Ill? (Robert Spencer)

Surprisingly, New York City’s Marxist Muslim Mayor Zohran Mamdani admitted that the man who stabbed two people on the Upper West Side on Thursday “yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ during both attacks.” This was not, however, an indication that the mayor was ready to acknowledge the reality of Islamic jihad terrorism. Almost immediately after noting that the perpetrator screamed the jihadi war cry, Mamdani added: “The NYPD’s initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor.”


Ah, of course. Claiming that obvious Islamic jihadis are mentally ill is the common practice of authorities in Europe, and we have seen it in the U.S. as well. Officials don’t want to acknowledge the reality of Islamic jihad, as that would raise uncomfortable questions about why they’re doing so little (if anything) to stop the jihadis, and so they pretend that each and every violent Muslim screaming “Allahu akbar” is mentally ill.

This may exonerate Islam for the crimes done in its name and in accord with its teachings, but it creates new problems of its own: Why do only Muslims seem to contract this particular mental illness? Why does it so often result in their being violent toward non-Muslims, rather than toward their fellow Muslims? With jihadis filling up mental hospitals, are the genuinely mentally ill people safe there?And in this particular case, it raises more problems for Zohran Mamdani himself, for the attacker has not one, but two belief systems in common with the boy mayor. Is Mamdani mentally ill, too? The mind reels.

The New York Post revealed Saturday that “the madman who screamed ‘Allahu Akbar’ while stabbing an Asian and Jewish man in separate harrowing hate attacks on the Upper West Side was a fan of Karl Marx, with police finding one of the communist author’s books inside his apartment.” Cops searching the apartment of Raul Morales found Marx’s writings, along with “two Qurans, a Jehovah’s Witness Bible, and a book on Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara.”

The Jehovah’s Witness Bible aside, the Qur’ans and the Commie writings make it sound as if the police got lost, and ended up searching Gracie Mansion instead of Raul Morales’ place. For despite his denials, Mamdani is most certainly a Marxist. In late Feb. 2021,

Mamdani was a featured speaker at the online Winter Outreach Conference of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, and reminded his audience of “the end goal of seizing the means of production.” That is a quintessential Marxist imperative; Mamdani, amid all his claims that he is not actually a communist, has never retracted this statement, or addressed it at all.

Then there are the Qur’ans. What sect Raul Morales belongs to has not been revealed, but Mamdani is a Twelver Shi’ite, an adherent of the official religion of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Islamic Republic has for 47 years now made no secret of its intention to make its oft-repeated chant of “Death to Israel” a reality, and the Qur’an that both Mamdani and Morales revere as the perfect and eternal word of Allah states: “You will find the Jews and the idolaters the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe.” (5:82)

Of course, not every Marxist or every Muslim is mentally ill, and sane and insane people can hold the same beliefs. Nevertheless, if the shoe were on the other foot, the media would be slavering to destroy Mamdani’s political career. Skeptical? Don’t be. Imagine if Mamdani and Raul Morales were both Christians and registered Republicans, and Morales had screamed “Jesus is Lord!” while stabbing people. Don’t you think the media would be spending all its days since that attack demanding that Mamdani condemn the attack in stronger terms and explain what he plans to do in order to stop Christian and Republican violence?

To ask such a question is to answer it. Yet in the present case, no journalist, not one, will dare to ask Mamdani if he is going to call on the mosques in New York City to start teaching against antisemitism and violent jihad. The very idea would be “Islamophobic,” and hence inconceivable. For the media, Morales’ alleged mental illness ipso facto means that Islam has nothing whatsoever to do with his screaming “Allahu akbar” while stabbing a Jewish man who was coming out of Jewish services. So what if he and Mamdani have the same beliefs? That doesn’t mean that Mamdani is insane, too. Of course it doesn’t. And most likely, Morales isn’t, either.

Read more …

But lots of sympathy.

Mamdani’s Netanyahu Arrest Plan Has No Legal Basis (Victor Davis Hanson)

Sami Winc: So, let’s turn to the International Criminal Court. And [Mayor Zohran] Mamdani wants to enforce its laws in New York City. When Bibi Netanyahu shows up, he says he’s going to arrest him because they have a warrant out for Bibi for war crimes and crimes against humanity. I want to just note one thing about those war crimes.They are starvation as a method of warfare. They’ve been accusing the Israelis of stealing or subverting supplies that are supposed to go to Gazans. And we just had the U.N. admit that, in fact, it is Hamas doing that. So I’m not sure why we haven’t seen war crimes


Victor Davis Hanson: I’m really surprised. I know people are going to be shocked by this, but Mamdani, with that socialist smile and that oozy, unctuous personality, I thought he wouldn’t be so stupid to admit that he’s an absolute antisemite and hates Israel. Because any person who listened to his video and read what he wrote, the first question is, OK, you have a policy that anybody that you think, in your infinite wisdom, committed genocide can’t come into your city. He said, you can’t come into our city.

It’s not your city. You’re an interloper. You had about 11% of the resident population vote for you. And it’s not your city, I’m sorry. You may think it is. You’re the mayor for a while, but it’s not your city. And then the question everybody has is, though, I know our listeners are saying, well, of course, when the Palestinians come in, because they aided and abetted Hamas in many cases, you’re going to arrest them given Oct. 7. You’re going to arrest the Iranian delegation because they were responsible, that government, for killing 40,000 to 50,000 of their own well after Gaza. Oh, wait a minute, you’re not going to do that because members of your staff were secretly planning to meet with them as a friendly little chat.

Are you going to go after the Pakistani government? Because they have, they’ve killed a lot of people, a lot of people. They also had bin Laden, right, harboring the world’s greatest terrorist on their own territory and protected him. Are you going to go after the Chinese government? They’ve got a million people in a re-education—I shouldn’t say that—in a labor camp, concentration camp.

You’re going to go after the Muslim Azerbaijanis because they ethnically cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian, what, thousand-year enclave in Azerbaijan? No, you’re not going to do any of that because you’re an antisemite and you only want to focus on Jews. And so he looks–and then he, I don’t know, he’s–I’m not a lawyer, but most of our listeners aren’t lawyers, but they all know that a mayor in charge of the boroughs of New York can’t enforce federal law that says what? What is federal law? What federal law is–take a pause. Mamdani, there is a statute that we’ve signed onto that says that people who come to the U.N. that are authentic, genuine diplomats cannot be arrested by the United States.

You understand that? They cannot be. No. 2, do you really think the International Criminal Court has any jurisdiction? We’re not a signee to that court. They have zero, zero jurisdiction. Did you know that the head of the International Criminal Court was just fired for sexual harassment? It’s a corrupt organization.

Don’t you understand that? It has no authority in the United States. You have no authority to interfere with federal law. And I have a feeling that if all of that didn’t stop you and you went ahead and you called up the chief of police—she was standing right by him—and said, go get NYPD and cut off the Israeli motorcade. We’re going to put him in Rikers until we formally charge him. They wouldn’t do it. And so he knows that.

Winc: Did you notice that Rubio took the opportunity to say, Not only do we–everything you said about the International Criminal Court, but we want to dismantle the International Criminal Court?

Hanson: I hope so. We shouldn’t give a dime to the U.N. Actually, we should get the U.N.–they always give these platitude speeches, and then their diplomats, for the first and only time in their life, in the case of about 90 countries, come over here and they vote. You know, they vote in the General Assembly on resolutions, half of which, until recently, were just about condemning Israel. And you think, well, if you don’t vote in Somalia, and you don’t vote in Egypt, and you don’t vote in, I don’t know, you don’t have a fair vote in Uganda till recently, why would you vote over here? And what would that mean? The first time in your life you’d live it up. And they’re always getting caught for not paying parking tickets, speeding, because they have exemption.

And they’re always giving lectures to us about the Global South versus the Global North, about people of color. I’ve said that in print twice. Why don’t we take the U.N.—we don’t have to fund it. We just say to them, Go, take your pick. You could put it in Cambodia. You could put it in Peru. You could put it in Nigeria, and there would be among the people of the world, and you wouldn’t have to see those awful Americans anymore.

And they won’t do it, because they won’t be, after they make some denunciation of Israel on the floor of the Security Council or the General Assembly, they won’t, three hours later, walk down the street to NPR and be told, well, why did you say that speech, Ambassador Kinte-Wata? Well, you know. And that’s what they love. They love all the global media. They love the restaurants. They love the hotels. They love the Western lifestyle that they hang out all night at, and then they trash the United States during the day, and it’s just so boring. Just go away. You know what I mean?

I just say go away. I was the biggest supporter of legal immigration. I still am, but this latest iteration of all these people coming in here from third-world countries, and whether it’s the illegal 40,000 illegal truck drivers—those are illegal—or it’s people like [Melat] Kiros or [Darializa] Chevalier or [Rep. Rashida] Tlaib, their parents, first- or second-generation, or Mamdani or Pi—and they all lecture us, lecture us about how awful we are.

Read more …

‘Largest Group Of TDS Sufferers Ever Put Together’

“When I’m gone, you’re all going to be broke. Your business model is going to be finished…”

‘Show Must Go On’: Trump Delivers Remarks at Correspondents’ Dinner (ET)

President Donald Trump attended the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington on July 24. The event that was originally held on April 25 was abruptly canceled due to an assassination attempt against him. “I am delighted to be here,” Trump said as he began his speech, which lasted an hour. “Amazing people, a lot of people that I like. Some I don’t like at all, but I respect most of them. I must say that you do a great job, amazing job, and it’s an honor. As I said three months ago, the show must go on.”


Trump continued his speech with jokes and said, “This place is really the largest group of Trump derangement syndrome people ever put together.” The rescheduled gala took place at the Waldorf Astoria. During his speech, Trump said he is the most transparent president in history and took several jabs at the media, joking that many media organizations would be “broke” once he leaves the White House. “When I’m gone, you’re all going to be broke. Your business model is going to be finished,” the president said. He took direct aim at CNN’s Kaitlin Collins (and ‘Fake Tapper’):

“I want to personally congratulate CNN’s Kaitlan Collins… I thought she had really made it big with a major new sponsorship, but then I informed her that it wasn’t her on the Bud Light can, it was Dylan Mulvaney.” CNN released a statement during Trump’s speech defending its reporters, writing in part:”Honest, accurate journalism may sometimes irritate politicians, but our right to report and present that reporting without government interference is fully protected by the U.S. Constitution.”He also joked that, in order to save the media, he would announce a fourth presidential run.

“That’s why tonight, to show just how much I care about the press,” Trump said, “I’m pleased to announce my intention – and this is somewhat of a scoop – my intention to run for a fourth term as president of the United States.”He then put on a “Trump 2028” hat, drawing laughs from the audience.


This was his first time attending the dinner as president, except for the April event, which was canceled after a shooting occurred just outside the main ballroom. Trump joked about the dinner itself, saying it was “far worse” than he expected. At the same time, he acknowledged that he and the reporters who attended the April dinner “went through a period of trauma” that created a unique bond between them. He said he would attend next year’s dinner. Throughout the speech, Trump occasionally praised the media, saying he respected most reporters and liked some of them. However, he also said that much of the coverage of his administration and policies had been unfair.

The president also criticized his opponents, targeting individual journalists before shifting to Democrats and other public figures. Trump rebutted the longstanding claim that he decided to run for president after former President Barack Obama mocked him at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. He said Obama’s remarks were not a factor in his decision to enter the race in 2016. “I just decided that I wanted to make America great again. This had nothing to do with that dinner,” he said.


After Trump’s remarks, mentalist Oz Pearlman took the stage and performed mind-reading tricks for the audience, concluding the event. White House Correspondents’ Association outgoing President Weijia Jiang delivered the opening address at the dinner.

“Whatever may divide us, we stand together against political violence,” she said. “An assassination attempt on our president is an attack on democracy itself,” she added, drawing applause from the crowd. “Tonight, our message is this: We are back. We will not be intimidated.” The dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel on April 25 was interrupted when gunshots were fired outside the ballroom. Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old man from California, allegedly got past security with a shotgun and shot at a Secret Service officer who was wearing a bulletproof vest. Security officers quickly responded and arrested Allen. The officer was not injured, and no one else was hurt.

The Secret Service immediately evacuated Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and several Cabinet members from the venue. Allen is charged with attempting to assassinate Trump at the event. He also faces one count of transporting a firearm across state lines with intent to commit a felony and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. He has pleaded not guilty. At the event, the White House Correspondents’ Association presented special awards to Secret Service Police Officer Victor Gonzales and to the staff of the Washington Hilton to honor their exceptional service during the shooting. The association plans to return to Hilton for next year’s dinner.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is a black-tie gala attended by media personalities, business leaders, celebrities, lawmakers, and Cabinet officials to celebrate the Fourth Estate and White House reporters. The association said the logistical challenges in organizing a second dinner led it to scale back the event, resulting in a smaller gathering with a reduced guest list. The Washington Hilton’s ballroom can hold 3,000 people, while the Waldorf Astoria only fits 700.

As part of the enhanced security measures, each guest was required to present a unique QR code and a government-issued photo ID to get through the ticketing. The guests then went through layers of [..]security to access the ballroom. The White House Correspondents’ Association was founded in 1914 to protect press freedom and preserve journalists’ access to the White House. It held its first dinner in 1921, and the first president to attend was Calvin Coolidge in 1924.

Full speech::

Read more …

Without a face to vote for, who will donate?

Democrats Are Worried The GOP’s Cash Advantage Could Hurt Their Chances (ZH)

The Democratic Party heads into the midterms with generic congressional ballot polling and historical precedent on its side. It is nevertheless worried that the majorities it so desperately wants could still slip away.Politico reported this week that Democratic strategists increasingly fear their favorable political environment could be overwhelmed by a Republican cash stockpile that dwarfs their own.


Federal Election Commission filings through the end of June show the three main GOP national committees and their affiliated congressional super PACs sitting on a combined $657 million. Their Democratic counterparts held $334 million. Add President Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC, which reported more than $400 million on hand several weeks earlier, and the Republican reserve runs to more than three times what Democratic Party committees and congressional super PACs can muster between them.

That gap matters more this cycle than it would have in any previous one. On June 30, the Supreme Court ruled in NRSC v. FEC that federal limits on coordinated party spending violate the First Amendment, overturning a 2001 precedent and freeing national party committees to spend without ceiling in direct coordination with their candidates. Committee money that once had to be routed through independent expenditures can now be aimed straight at a race.

Democratic strategist Morgan Jackson, an adviser to former Gov. Roy Cooper’s Senate campaign in North Carolina, calls the imbalance the central threat to his party’s hopes this cycle. “What is putting the House majority and the Senate majority, nationally, in danger is the Republicans’ massive stockpile of resources that they’re putting together to push back,” Jackson said.


He warned that the spending gap could erode the advantage Democrats have built everywhere else. “If you get outspent five to six to eight to one, that can alleviate the environmental advantage that Democrats have this cycle,” Jackson said.

The committee-level numbers are lopsided almost everywhere. The Republican National Committee reported $128 million in cash against $16 million for the Democratic National Committee, which is also carrying $18 million in debt. The National Republican Senatorial Committee held $55.9 million to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s $41 million. The National Republican Congressional Committee held $92.7 million to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s $79 million.

The super PAC gap is wider still. Senate Leadership Fund, the leading Republican Senate super PAC, reported roughly $112 million more on hand than the Democratic-aligned Senate Majority PAC. Congressional Leadership Fund, its House counterpart, held about $51 million more than House Majority PAC.

The national totals obscure a more complicated picture in the marquee Senate races, where the money runs the other way. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff holds roughly $40 million more on hand than Rep. Mike Collins in Georgia. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico has nearly $20 million more than Attorney General Ken Paxton. In North Carolina, Cooper is about $17 million ahead of former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley. In several of the contests that will decide both chambers, individual Democratic candidates are burying their opponents even as the national party apparatus falls behind.

The picture inside the party gets messier once primary season is factored in. A wave of insurgent challengers aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America has forced sitting Democratic incumbents into costly primary fights this cycle, draining accounts well before anyone gets near a Republican opponent.

Senate Majority PAC spokeswoman Lauren French rejected the idea that the committee gap tells the whole story. “Republicans can crow all they want about getting massive checks from donors and businesses and billionaires, but we’re going to win because we have the actual support from people who are voting,” French said.

Other Democratic strategists are less confident that grassroots enthusiasm can offset a structural disadvantage. Jesse Ferguson argued that the media environment itself has made the shortfall more expensive than it would have been in past cycles. “Too many people think that fragmentation of media meant more efficiency and spending less. Wrong – it means you have to spend more,” Ferguson said. The proliferation of streaming platforms, social media, and other digital outlets has driven up the price of political advertising, strategists say, raising the stakes for whichever side can deploy the deepest reserves of outside money.

What should worry Democrats most is that the Republican advantage has barely been touched. Trump political director James Blair said last month that Republican spending would begin “very soon,” without offering a timetable. The fear on the Democratic side is that the bulk of MAGA Inc.’s $400 million war chest is being held back deliberately, to be dumped into competitive House and Senate races in the closing weeks – at the exact moment undecided voters start paying attention and Democratic committees have the least room left to answer.

Read more …

“It is gut-wrenching to read these emails. Our lives were in Dr. Nath’s hands, and we were carelessly tossed away without a care…”

Top NIH Official Wanted to Halt Research Into COVID-19 Vaccine Injuries (ET)

Top officials with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) expressed misgivings about researchers with the agency studying people with neurological issues after they received COVID-19 vaccines, according to newly released emails. Dr. Avindra Nath, a senior investigator with the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, was studying people with post-vaccination neurological problems in 2020 and 2021. In an email on April 10, 2021, he sent a draft of a paper to the institute’s director, Dr. Walter Koroshetz, that outlined what he had found.


“Early recognition and treatment with corticosteroids can reverse the symptoms,” Nath wrote. The following day, the institute’s director sent the manuscript to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who at the time was director of another NIH institute.“There have been steady slow stream of reports to me of post vaccination neurologic conditions, seem to be mostly peripheral nerve disorders … maybe an occasional spinal cord issue,” Koroshetz told Fauci. “Avi has been collecting a bunch. He has a report sent out to publish. Hard to know not due to chance but are timed to the vaccination.”

Another NIH employee sent the manuscript to then-NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins and Dr. Lawrence Tabak, a second top NIH official, and shared that the New England Journal of Medicine rejected the paper. “What do you make of this?” Collins wrote in response. “The draft letter doesn’t explain how these 32 patients were referred—leaving one to wonder whether this is common or rare.” Koroshetz told Collins that many reports had been lodged with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and that Nath had been attracting referrals because he had appeared on a podcast to discuss neurological problems following COVID-19 vaccination.

Koroshetz also said that Nath, and another employee at his institute, had suffered tinnitus after receiving COVID-19 vaccines, and that Nath had hearing loss. Collins said the approach taken by Nath’s team was “very troubling,” adding, “collecting anecdotes and then trying to build a case isn’t scientifically compelling—and will have the main consequence of feeding vaccine hesitancy and social media overreaction.” Tabak wrote privately to Collins, telling him, “I don’t understand why Walter does not shut this down.”

“While the emails do not prove that Collins, Tabak, or Fauci expressly ordered Nath to abandon the manuscript, they raise serious questions about whether NIH leadership viewed its potential effect on vaccine confidence as a compelling reason to suppress its publication,” the Informed Consent Action Network, which released the missives on July 22, said in a statement.mCollins, Fauci, and Nath did not return requests for comment by the time of publication. Tabak could not be reached. The paper was never published in a journal. It was released as a preprint, or without peer review, in May 2022, more than one year after Nath sent it to Koroshetz.

Dr. Danice Hertz, a retired gastroenterologist who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shortly after it was authorized in 2020 and suffered severe problems, was one of the patients who was examined by Nath’s team. “I have always believed that Fauci must have told Nath to stop talking to us, as we were all abruptly dismissed from Nath’s care without explanation. Now I know that my suspicions were true,” Hertz told The Epoch Times in an email after reading the newly released missives.

“It is gut-wrenching to read these emails. Our lives were in Dr. Nath’s hands, and we were carelessly tossed away without a care. This is unlike any medical care that I have ever witnessed in my 33 years practicing as a gastroenterologist. Shame on them. This deep corruption needs to be exposed.”

Read more …

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/WallStreetApes/status/2080971332880085476?s=20 https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/2080811807233720817?s=20

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Jul 252026
 


Théodore Géricault The Raft of the Medusa 1819


Oil Slides Despite Unraveling ‘Diplomacy’ In Iran (ZH)
Trump Sparked the Counterrevolution to End the Destruction of America (VDH)
Struggle Session (James Howard Kunstler)
EU Wants To Board Russian Shadow Fleet Tankers In The Indian Ocean (ZH)
Trump’s Plan to Make Data Centers Bring Their Own Energy (DS)
USTR Greer Calls Tariffs on 60 Countries Incl. Canada, Mexico, Europe (CTH)
Germany Paying Five Times More For Gas After Ditching Russian Imports (RT)
Elon Musk Tells Economist Editor-in-Chief : Britain Civil War Inevitable (MN)
Trump Notes Europe’s Refusal to Accept Elimination of Marshall Plan (CTH)
The South Carolina Supreme Court Again Rules Against Tattoo Speech (Turley)

 


 

https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/2080373149192049087?s=20 https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/2080405643429601645?s=20

 


 


Hit them where it hurts. It’s the only way.

Oil Slides Despite Unraveling ‘Diplomacy’ In Iran (ZH)

Oil Eases by Week’s End on Signs of ‘Diplomacy Lite’
Somewhat surprisingly, oil prices are pushing lower by week’s close, especially after a succession of perhaps ‘diplomacy-lite’ headlines; however, the reality still remains is that the bombing campaign is escalating… and typically the region witnesses the biggest bombs away on a weekend, with markets closed:
• Pakistan exploring path toward resuming US-Iran talks: Reuters
• Pakistan’s push to resume talks follows pressure from China: Reuters
• Houthis say they don’t seek to close key Bab al-Mandeb Strait (only for Saudi shipping, they say)
• Trump to meet Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday amid Iran escalation


President Trump took to Truth Social to warn China and Russia against giving or selling arms to Iran, saying: “If they did, it would be very bad for them”. However he also sought to clarify: “In my opinion, (they are) not participating.” Doing so was “certainly not in their best interests” – the president added. The president addressed a Reuters report that alleged Iranian strikes on CIA targets in the Gulf earlier in the war is being investigated, on concerns that Russia or China may have helped with such targeting. Xi “told me he would not,” Trump wrote. Was there a pinky promise?…


Iraqi Prime Minister Denies NYT Report on Ceasefire Offer
The latest little peace overture by Washington widely reported Thursday night was apparently a big nothingburger, as on Friday the Iraqi prime minister’s office has denied a New York Times report claiming that Iran rejected a US ceasefire proposal delivered to Tehran by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.

The fresh statement from the prime minister’s office said what was published in the Times was “entirely unfounded” and had “no relation to reality.” The statement underscored the temporary nature of the proposal and that it was the “only offer on the table” and still left the question of control over the Strait of Hormuz unresolved – and so Tehran was uninterested.It’s also the reality that Tehran wants to see Trump sweat and impose economic and political costs particularly ahead of the midterms in November, where Congressional Republicans must face voters over failing to rein in Trump’s Iran war. The Iranians continue to openly voice this, for example in the following from the parliament speaker:

13th Straight Night of US Bombing
Meanwhile, in what is becoming a brutal, nightly routine, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has wrapped up its 13th consecutive wave of airstrikes against Iran. The Pentagon said it targeted military command centers, drone storage facilities, communication networks, and coastal surveillance sites.

Iranian state media reported overnight into Friday heavy explosions rocking major hubs across the country, including Khorramabad, Jask, Ahvaz, Bandar Abbas, and the strategic outpost of Qeshm Island. Iranian media further said a US missile strike left four dead and five injured in the key industrial and transportation hub of Ahvaz. As the bombs fall, Tehran is still signaling that military pressure won’t force a cheap surrender – with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi lashing out at the US escalation, warning that “mindless aggression” will only see Trump pay a “heavier price” for a deal to end the war.

More Iran Retaliation on Gulf
Iranian retaliation on US-linked sites in the Gulf have continued at the same steady pace, with on Friday Bahrain’s military having intercepted “several treacherous Iranian air attacks” – according to the general command of the Bahrain Defense Force.

The Bahraini military further denounced Iran’s “systematic hostile approach” and “criminal attacks targeting civilians”. The statement emphasized, “The general command emphasises that the deliberate use of missiles and drones to target civilians and private property constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”Throughout the morning the Iranian military’s targets also included locations in Jordan, Kuwait, and northern Iraq. Sky News is reporting that “Explosions were also heard near a base hosting the US in Iraq, near the Erbil International Airport.”

Fox Poll says Iran War More Unpopular Then Ever
Fox feeding its Boomer audience some Freedom Viagra with a helping of war crimes on the side:

But Fox News also reports the results of its latest poll which finds 56% oppose the ongoing American military action against Iran, including 40% who “strongly” oppose. “Disapproval of President Donald Trump’s handling of Iran hit a record high in July,” Fox writes. “A majority of voters oppose U.S. military action, and nearly two thirds think the conflict will last at least a year,” the report says.

Read more …

Victor Davis Hanson

Long excerpt, sorry. It’s just that he’s very right.

“He’s trying to undo the entire half-century progressive project within four years. That’s an impossible task. And yet he’s trying to do it. “

Trump Sparked the Counterrevolution to End the Destruction of America (VDH)

I’d like to speak today about revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries. Whether we realize it or not, we’ve been in a progressive revolutionary cycle for about 50 years. And by that I mean there has been the effort of most of the Democratic Party, and now the radical elements to accelerate that efforts as emblemized by the democratic socialists to take control of government, expand it, redistribute income so that many people in blue states especially are paying over 10% of their income, in addition to 38% of their federal tax or two or three percent in Obamacare tax and other add-ons.


And it’s not very difficult to pay 50% of your income or more for the taxpayer who’s salaried without much write-offs. And the welfare state, which has distributed over twenty trillion dollars since this started under the Great Society, is getting bigger and bigger, at least until Donald Trump. And this progressive revolution doesn’t believe in borders. It has let in—we have now 53 million people that were not born in the United States, and in California, it’s over a quarter of the population. It’s all-time high percentage-wise, 16% foreign-born.

They don’t have confidence that you, the people, will buy into the progressive project. And so, they want to import a demographic that is poor and needy on the idea that they will be constituents that will trade their votes for subsidies. And we saw that with the Somali community in Minnesota, and we’ve seen it with other communities here in California. And so, the progressive project has given us a real revolution. We never imagined that there were going to be more than two genders or sexes. We never imagined that they would try to normalize biological men taking over women’s sports or dressing among young teenage girls. We never imagined that.

We never imagined that prosecutors would let out career felons who had committed violent acts the same day they were arrested. We didn’t know we were gonna empty the prisons because we felt that punishment, penal punishment was too mean. We never really felt that our only real democratic country and ally in the Middle East, Israel, we would try to disassociate ourselves, and we would try to romanticize terrorists like Hamas. But what I’m getting at, this was the progressive project. It was anti-American, it was anti-Western, and it glorified other modes of civilization, so to speak: socialism, communism, anarchism. And it was very critical of the very society who had enriched most Americans.

I say most—the middle class of America is the largest middle class in the world and the most affluent, and our poor are better off than most middle class and upper middle class in other places. It’s important to remember that there has not been a counter-revolution. Ronald Reagan was the first and really last Republican president that had an economic counterrevolution. It was quite successful. He lowered the tax rate. He deregulated the economy, and by 1983-84, he was growing the economy at 7% GDP growth.

And then, of course, that was watered down in subsequent years. But the two Bushes, candidates like John McCain, Bob Dole, Mitt Romney, their agenda was to slow down the revolution, but not to try to overturn it. What do I mean by slow down? Kind of advise Hollywood that they didn’t have to be so anti-American and have movies that talked about race, class, and gender ad nauseam. Try to tell professional sports not to be weaponized. Try to tell K-12, calm it down a little bit. We don’t need sex education in the first grade, and there’s nothing wrong with a teacher occasionally giving a prayer that she inadvertently forgot was illegal.

Calm down. You don’t need to send the FBI to school board meetings, that kind of thing. We don’t need to take the knee at sports and ridicule “The Star-Spangled Banner.” So, this revolution had infiltrated K-12, the corporate boardroom, the universities especially, the media, the foundations, and popular culture. But the Republican and conservative movement had just tried to slow it down. And then came Donald Trump. He was not—he’s surely not a revolutionary. We were in the middle of a revolution, but he was not a trimmer either. He was a true counterrevolutionary.

The first term, he was not familiar with Washington. He made appointments with people who did not agree with him—not just they did not agree with his methodology, but they didn’t agree with his counter-revolutionary agenda. But it was still in places working. And what was the result? The result was COVID-19 and the COVID-19 lockdown, and it was aborted. The second time he came around, he tried to finish the counterrevolution. So he pretty much demolished the subsidies for green energy and re-emphasized oil and gas production, and we became the greatest producer of oil and gas in the history of civilization.

He sort of said, “We’re not going to regulate AI and robotics, cryptocurrency, genetic engineering, drone. We’re not gonna legislate them out of business. We’re not gonna have antitrust and complete investigations of all these people. We’re gonna promote it. We’re going to promote these new innovations and new technologies.” And lo and behold, we’re ahead of the Chinese in almost all of them now. He didn’t just say, “I am worried about the military. It may be that DEI has discouraged a particular demographic that over generation after generation has provided the largest percentage of our combat units, namely white males.”

He did away with DEI. And what was the result? All of a sudden, we have met all of our recruitment figures. He didn’t just say, “Well, the border’s been open. I know that we’ve let in 10 million people a year over four years. I know that 10,000 were coming a day under Biden. I understand that, so maybe I’ll say no more catch and release. Or maybe you have to apply for refugee status in, say, Mexico.” No, no. He said, “I’m going to finish the wall. I’m not gonna let anybody stop me. This time there’s going to be a wall, and we are going to deport people. We’re gonna deport a million people in my first year, and we’re gonna make sure a million others self-deport, and we’re gonna go after 500,000 with criminal records.”

He didn’t just say, “I am very worried about Latin America. “Under [Barack] Obama and under [Joe] Biden, we saw a wave of left-wing governments, and the Panama Canal is in danger. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves really in the Western Hemisphere, if not the world, and they are exporting convicts and drugs to the United States.” He didn’t just say that. He went down there and basically threatened Panama that we would take over the canal unless they honored our Panama Canal treaty and expelled the Chinese from trying to control the entry and exits of the canal.

He said to [Nicolas] Maduro, “You better stop because you’re exporting terror and communism and bullying your neighbors.” He didn’t, and he extradited him and ended that threat. And now as we look at Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, I could go on, they’re mostly center right. So, he staged a strong counterrevolution by reinforcing the Monroe Doctrine that had been rejected by the Left, and he made South America and Central America now a free market and, for the most part, a society that’s pro-American, with some notable exceptions.

For example, in Nicaragua, a beleaguered Daniel Ortega and a beleaguered Castroite government in Cuba that are both now for the first time in years isolated. In addition to that, he made our allies stronger. He used unorthodox methods. He was the proverbial gunslinger who came in to help the townspeople who were ossified and couldn’t deal with the robber barons or the cattle barons or the outlaws, and then he cleaned up the town, and then they got tired of him because of his methodology and rhetoric.

But nonetheless, he said to our allies, “We’re not gonna be in NATO unless you’re real NATO members. You’re not NATO members. You’re not arming yourself. You’re not abiding by your commitments.” Same held true to Canada. And lo and behold, now we have much stronger allies, and the alliance is stronger than ever. What am I getting at? Donald Trump is not a revolutionary. He’s a counterrevolutionary.

And what is he trying to do? He’s trying to undo the entire half-century progressive project within four years. That’s an impossible task. And yet he’s trying to do it. He’s the first authentic counterrevolutionary since Andrew Jackson.

Read more …

“. . .there is no saving the Left. There is only saving America from them.” — Sasha Stone

Struggle Session (James Howard Kunstler)

The polycrisis of 2026 whirls like a demon-infested storm overcoming this human project of ours like a medieval panorama of the world’s end. Everything is fraught, tilting toward hazard, menace, ruin. Even under a summer sun, the mind sees only darkness everywhere it looks. Apocalypse now, it seems like. You almost can’t blame the doomers, the black pill-ers, lost in their transports of dread. But I tell you, we will get through this.


Is it a surprise that the IRGC has a death wish for its host, Iran? They’ve been advertising it loudly for half a century, yearning for martyrdom, the bliss of paradise, marriage to multiple perfumed virgins, all the pomegranates you could ever want, and perpetual dreamtime beside a gently burbling fountain in the palace of eternity. Trouble is, to get there you must have your head blown off.

That’s exactly what the IRGC is asking for, though the millions of ordinary Iranians probably have their doubts about the ask. They are hostages of the IRGC regime, which refuses to just stop being a problem for the world. Mr. Trump’s proffer for Iran still abides: become a normal nation, sovereign and all, only without atom bombs. Let ships sail through Hormuz unmolested. Sell your oil, make some money, trade with the other fellas across the Persian Gulf, have a nice civilized life with all the refinements of age-old Persian culture, even with its Islamic overlay. Be happy!

The USA does not seek to occupy Iran, steal its resources, subjugate its people, force them to buy Minnie Mouse plush toys, play baseball, eat Jimmy Dean sausage for breakfast, strum banjoes, or wear cowboy hats. Just stop projecting violence and discord all over the Middle East.

You can’t make us, the IRGC says. Yes, we will, the USA replies. And so it goes. Next up: bridges and power plants. Plus, every ship you damage, we’ll deduct the cost of repair from your frozen assets held in our banks. This is where things stand after the thirteenth night of strategic bombing against the IRGC’s launch sites, drone factories, missile storage caverns, and shoreline military installations. Iran prepared assiduously for this death-scene for decades, building hidey-holes here, there, and everywhere. But every time they launch something now, our satellites mark the coordinates, and boom, now there’s one less hidey-hole.

Iran’s currency, the rial, has an exchange rate against the US dollar of about 1,900,000 to one dollar. There is hardly a functioning economy left. The people are flat broke. Everyday life must be hell now. Could be the IRGC was getting tons of munitions and material for free from China, but days ago we blew up the railroad bridge at Aq Tekeh-Khan that was China’s main connection to Iran, so that’s over with.

You must doubt that Russia is capable of sending arms to Iran at this point. Russia needs every drone and missile it can fabricate now that Ukraine is sending drones clear into Moscow and St. Petersburg on a regular basis. Of course, that war is being stoked by NATO, which perforce includes the USA. A bill (H.R. 2913 — the Ukraine Support Act) that would furnish $1.3-1.8 billion in direct security, military, and reconstruction assistance for Ukraine plus $8 billion in loans was passed by the House in June, but languishes in the Senate. President Trump has threatened to veto it, as running counter to the administration’s preference for negotiations with Russia to end the Ukraine War rather than extend it.

These two conflicts must seem intractable for now, but the mojo driving them has clear and present limits. If the USA does not underwrite Ukraine’s war effort, then that leaves the EU nations, who are increasingly broke, and for all their idle talk are really incapable of mounting a major arms production campaign. The UK especially is skating on thin ice these days as Mr. Trump methodically cancels its long-running command and control of global finance through the City of London (as its “Wall Street” is called). In fact, it looks as if the floundering UK — with dopey Andy Burnham rolling in as Britain’s seventh Prime Minister in a decade — has passed the ball of globalist leadership to its forward striker (and all-purpose fixer) Mark Carney the Prime Minister of Canada.

Carney, who was previously chief of the Bank of England, has played a series of losing games against President Trump the past year, while Mr. Carney is busy wrecking the Canadian economy for the sake of the globalist “green” flimflam, a sustained high volume of third world immigration, and outlandish DEI activism that includes giving vast tracts of real estate back to Canada’s First Nations people, their Indians. Carney has also very actively played footsie with the CCP to a degree that is seriously pissing off Mr. Trump. Among all the other shocks and surprises upcoming, you might imagine him having to send the 82nd Airborne up to Ottawa to inform PM Carney that there will be no globalist seat of operations in North America.

Yes, things are getting that strange. And then, continuing the clean-up operation south of our border, there is Cuba to straighten out. Cuba is obviously next. Our patience with that failing state’s communist export project is particularly thin, now that the Democratic Party here is entertaining Marxist-Leninist dreams of glory.

Read more …

And when Russia defends itself, they’ll come crying to Trump.

EU Wants To Board Russian Shadow Fleet Tankers In The Indian Ocean (ZH)

The European Union has authorized its naval mission in the Indian Ocean (apparently there is one) to stop and board Russian shadow fleet tankers suspected of operating under false flags, the bloc announced on Wednesday.

The Spanish Navy frigate Santa María F81, deployed as part of the European Union Naval Force Operation ATALANTA, seen off the coast of Mogadishu, Somalia, on April 24, 2025.


EU member states have authorized Operation Atalanta, the union’s counter-piracy naval mission off the Horn of Africa, to begin conducting flag-verification boardings of vessels suspected of belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet in the western Indian Ocean, DefenseNews reported. The decision, announced this week by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, extends to Atalanta a power already exercised by the EU’s Mediterranean mission, Operation Irini.

Kallas made the announcement alongside news that Irini forces had boarded the sanctioned oil tanker MV South Star on July 20, acting on suspicion that the vessel was sailing under a false flag. “Every illicit voyage helps sustain Russia’s war machine. We are matching our sanctions with action at sea,” Kallas said, adding that the Atalanta authorization “further tightens the net.”

The move considerably widens the EU’s geographic reach against the shadow fleet, a loosely defined network of tankers with opaque ownership structures that Moscow uses to sell oil above the Western-imposed price cap. While Irini patrols the Mediterranean, Atalanta operates across the Somali Basin, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez, the Gulf of Aqaba and waters around Oman, and was launched as the EU’s first-ever naval mission in 2008 to combat piracy.

It is separate from the EU mission ASPIDES, which is designed to protect shipping in the Red Sea from attacks by the Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels. One look at the exploding price of oil shows just how much the market thinks of Europe “defending” this particular waterway. The corridor where the mission operates is a critical transit route for tankers carrying Russian crude toward buyers in Asia. Brussels has already sanctioned more than 600 vessels suspected of belonging to the network.

Generally, ships on the high seas cannot simply be stopped and boarded by any third country. However, Article 110 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea permits warships to stop and inspect a vessel only where there is reasonable suspicion it is stateless or flying a flag to which it is not entitled. This falls short of a blanket authority to stop any sanctioned or Russia-linked ship, but flying false flags has been a frequent practice on Russian shadow fleet vessels.

The council decision, the operational plan and the rules of engagement that would spell out exactly how far Atalanta’s new powers extend have so far not been made public. The approach has already produced results elsewhere. Irini’s flag checks contributed to pressure that culminated in a Cameroon purge of 39 vessels from its shipping registry after investigators uncovered fraudulent paperwork and fake registry websites used to disguise shadow fleet tankers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously denounced such interceptions as “piracy,” underscoring how the expanded mandate is likely to further sharpen tensions between Brussels and Moscow over enforcement at sea. One caveat to all this: unlike oil, Russian LNG (which Europe is absolutely desperate for) will remain exempt from EU sanctions. Which prompted Rabobank’s Michael Every earlier today to ask rhetorically “realpolitik or real weakness?”

Read more …

Why has that not been done from the get-go?

Trump’s Plan to Make Data Centers Bring Their Own Energy (DS)

President Donald Trump said 23 governors have signed his pledge to protect everyday Americans from the energy costs associated with new artificial intelligence data centers.Governors, companies, and stakeholders who sign the pledge agree to “protect American consumers from price hikes due to data center energy and infrastructure requirements, and lower electricity costs for consumers in the long term.”“We know that the data centers and AI are dramatically increasing the demand for electricity,” Trump said Thursday.


“It’s only fair that the cost of building the new infrastructure required to meet the demand should be borne by the corporations themselves, not by the American American patriots, American citizens.” While Daniel Cochrane, senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies’ Family First Technology Initiative, thinks this is a step in the right direction, he doubts the pledge will be enough to quell the rising sentiment against data centers for AI. Seven in 10 Americans oppose the construction of data centers in their community, according to a May 13 Gallup poll. Nearly half are strongly opposed.

Opponents of the rapid buildout of data centers reportedly held 142 protests across 42 states on Saturday. Some public officials are taking action. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, announced a one-year pause on data center construction in her state.“The bigger point is that the public opposition to data centers in general goes beyond just their localized impacts,” Cochrane told the Daily Signal. “It really goes to the public’s growing concern that AI as a technology, and the companies behind it, are diminishing human agency.”

It’s critical to recognize “the public’s larger resentment and concern with technology as a force and larger economic, social phenomenon,” Cochrane said. He said the question remains of how the pledge will prevent households and small businesses from bearing the brunt of higher prices when data centers begin operation, before their generation capacity is supplying additional energy to the grid.

“The companies say they’ll pay for additional generation capacity, but the generation capacity takes another five years to come online between the time that the data center actually begins operation and the time that their generation capacity is supplying additional energy to the grid,” Cochrane said. “Well, in the interim, who’s covering the costs of that?”

Nathan Leamer, executive director of the pro-AI advocacy group Build American AI, thinks blue-state policies, not data centers, are to blame for high electricity prices.“President Trump is doing the right thing, which is thinking creatively about how to protect ratepayers across the country, including in states where bad energy policies are leading to increased energy and electricity prices as as our nation relies more on electricity and energy,” Leamer told the Daily Signal.

Brendan Steinhauser, CEO of The Alliance for Secure AI, thinks the ratepayer protection plan will help some with anti-data center sentiment, but concerns remain.“The concerns are not just about energy and water, they’re about the nature of the technology itself,” he told the Daily Signal. “There’s still a lot of questions there. I think this is good policy, good politics. But I think the president and governors around the country are going to have to do more to kind of get at the crux of the matter regarding AI.”

Politicians must do more to calm people’s fears about the catastrophic risks associated with AI, Steinhauser said. He thinks Vice President JD Vance has done the best job addressing concerns about jobs and the economy. “Bring it up proactively,” he advised. “Like we hear you, we understand you’re worried about this. I’m worried too. We have to get this right.”

Read more …

What they try now is “forced labor practices”.

USTR Greer Calls Tariffs on 60 Countries Incl. Canada, Mexico, Europe (CTH)

As expected, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has completed the Section 301 review of “forced labor practices” in manufacturing and trade.


As a result of the findings, a tariff rate of 10% to 12.5% is being added to the goods from a host of countries evaluated. These 301 duties are in addition to currently existing tariff rates. [FACT SHEET] Trading partners that have made commitments to adopt, and effectively enforce, forced labor import prohibitions will have a 10% tariff, and trading partners that have failed to adopt a forced labor import prohibition will have a 12.5% tariff rate.

• The following 54 economies have failed to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor:

Algeria; Angola; Argentina; Australia; the Bahamas; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Brazil; Cambodia; Chile; China, People’s Republic of; Colombia; Costa Rica; Dominican Republic; Egypt; El Salvador; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; Hong Kong, China; India; Iraq; Israel; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kuwait; Libya; Malaysia; Morocco; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Norway; Oman; Peru; the Philippines; Qatar; Russia; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; South Africa; South Korea; Sri Lanka; Switzerland; Taiwan; Thailand; Trinidad and Tobago; Türkiye; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; Uruguay; Venezuela; and Vietnam.

• The following six economies have failed to effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor:

Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan.

After consideration for current Free Trade Agreement parameters and Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) reciprocity internals, the basic outcome is this

• 10 percent is the appropriate rate of Section 301 duties for investigated economies that (i) impose a forced labor import prohibition; (ii) have committed to impose and enforce such a prohibition through an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade; or (iii) have imposed a partial regime with the effect of preventing the importation of certain forced labor goods. These economies are: Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom;

• 10 percent or 12.5 percent, net of Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) rate is the appropriate rate of Section 301 duties for certain products of the European Union, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Switzerland that are not otherwise exempted, as explained in greater detail in the Federal Register Notice; and

•12.5 percent is the appropriate rate of Section 301 duty for all other investigated economies. :

Read more …

“Long-term contracts with Moscow were not vulnerable to external shocks or market fluctuations, Berliner Zeitung has said..”

Germany Paying Five Times More For Gas After Ditching Russian Imports (RT)

Germany is now paying five times as much for imported gas than it did before abandoning its long-term Russian supply contracts as part of the EU sanctions, Berliner Zeitung has reported.Berlin now has to rely on the volatile international energy market, which is reeling from the de-facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran, the newspaper wrote on Wednesday.


Once Europe’s industrial powerhouse, Germany abandoned cheap Russian gas imports in 2022 as part of the EU’s sanctions campaign against Moscow following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict. Combined with the phaseout of nuclear power in favor of renewables, this self-imposed embargo has dealt a major blow to Germany’s industrial sector.Before the embargo, Russia supplied 55% of the country’s natural gas imports. Germany now sources its gas from Norway (44%), the Netherlands (24%) and Belgium (21%), with American liquefied natural gas (LNG) accounting for most of the remainder.

According to Berliner Zeitung, Germany’s gas import price has risen from €12 ($13.65) per megawatt-hour in 2020, when long-term contracts with Russia were still in force, to more than €60 ($68.25) this week amid the continued exchange of strikes between Washington and Tehran.“The old Russian contracts were cheaper than the market price,” the media outlet said, adding that Germany would also be unable to increase gas imports if needed since “the pipelines from Norway are at their [full] capacity” and “cannot handle much more.”

The decision to abandon cheap Russian energy played a major role in slowing down the German economy. It contracted in both 2023 and 2024, its first back-to-back annual decline in more than two decades, and is forecast to grow by just 0.5% this year. Corporate insolvencies also rose by more than 22% in each of those years, according to official data.On Monday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz openly admitted that the ongoing energy crisis was caused by “the lack of Russian gas.”

Moscow has repeatedly said it is ready to resume gas deliveries through the Nord Stream pipeline string that survived the 2022 sabotage attack but has received no response from Berlin. Instead, Germany plans to impose new tariffs on its already struggling industrial sector to fund the construction of a national gas reserve. The EU also pledged to end all Russian gas imports by 2027, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stating in March that Brussels would stick to this course even in the event of physical gas shortages or the threat of power cuts.

Read more …

Because of your position, and your magazine, you get an exclusive interview, and this is what you do with it? You attack him?

Elon Musk Tells Economist Editor-in-Chief : Britain Civil War Inevitable (MN)

During a terse exchange, Elon Musk told the virulently leftist editor-in-chief of The Economist that civil war in Britain is inevitable on current trends – driven by rapid migration of people whose beliefs clash with Western civilisation. In response, Zanny Minton Beddoes accused Musk of supporting the “far right,” and amplifying racists. Musk called the coming confrontation a “reckoning,” rejected the racist smear, and turned the tables on an interviewer determined to paint secure borders and opposition to rape and murder as fringe extremism.


When the interviewer insisted she lived in Britain and called the claim “nonsense,” he shot back: “You live a very closeted existence!” He expanded: “If you have a large and growing, rapidly growing, group of people whose beliefs are antithetical to western beliefs, at some point there will be a reckoning.” Musk described the prospect as inevitable and called it a “crying shame” that mainstream outlets refuse to recognise the threat to Western civilisation. Pressed on whether he was racist or anti-Muslim, Musk answered directly:

“My partner is half-Indian and I have four children with her. One of them was named after a famous Indian physicist. So I would say I’m not racist.” He continued: “If people are coming to a country with antithetical views, I am against that. I’m against rape and murder, I’m against the imposition of rules and laws that are contrary to what we’ve come to accept in the West.” The interviewer’s line of attack was clear. She framed Musk’s support for parties defending borders and cultural continuity as backing for the “far right” and even “very fringe parties.” Musk refused the frame. “No, I support the NORMAL people,” he said. “What you call the far right FALSELY.”

He pointed out that the same positions – secure borders, safe cities, sensible spending – were mainstream only 10 or 15 years ago. Speeches by Obama or Hillary Clinton on these subjects would today be denounced as Trumpian extremism by the “lunatic left.” When Beddoes claimed people “loathe” him, Musk was unmoved, firing back “I don’t care, but the fact that, as you pointed out, a quarter billion people follow me is that I think a lot more people actually like me than don’t. And I think a lot more people hate you and the media more than you realize.”

https://twitter.com/JayTC53/status/2080389346125852916?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2080389346125852916%7Ctwgr%5E864d1a24468e62a96932b660f95a133912e1531d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmodernity.news%2F2026%2F07%2F24%2Felon-musk-tells-snooty-leftist-interviewer-civil-war-in-britain-is-inevitable%2F

OOF. Feel the burn.

https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/2080385244771836119?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2080385244771836119%7Ctwgr%5E864d1a24468e62a96932b660f95a133912e1531d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmodernity.news%2F2026%2F07%2F24%2Felon-musk-tells-snooty-leftist-interviewer-civil-war-in-britain-is-inevitable%2F

The pattern is familiar. Positions once held by centre-left politicians are now labelled extreme so that any defence of Western norms can be pathologised. Musk called it out without apology.

The full interview, spanning AI, Europe, politics and the rest, is available here (for now):

Musk’s warning with regards to Britain is not abstract theorising. It lands against a backdrop of UK government moves that look like quiet preparation for internal fracture.Last year Professor David Betz of King’s College London warned that official talk of a Russian invasion threat was a convenient cover for hardening infrastructure and building a citizen’s militia against domestic conflict. Low trust, political factionalism and demographic change, he argued, are pushing Britain toward civil strife.

Just days ago the UK government urged households to stockpile long-life food, water, medicines and wind-up radios while announcing the largest home-defence wargame in decades—Operation Albiston Shadow—again framed around hybrid Russian threats. Betz’s analysis remains the same: the real concern is internal, not external. Musk’s latest comments connect those dots in plain language.

The UK has seen repeated outbreaks of disorder linked to migration failures—Southport, Southampton and beyond. Official responses have often appeared two-tier. At the same time, the state is stockpiling resilience messaging and running large-scale domestic defence exercises while insisting the danger is primarily Russian. The academic critique from Betz and others is that this is politically safer language for a deeper problem: a society whose cohesion has been eroded by rapid demographic change and elite refusal to confront incompatible values.

Musk is simply saying the quiet part out loud. Large-scale importation of populations that reject core Western principles—equality under the law, free speech, protection of women and girls—creates friction that does not magically resolve. When media and political classes treat any discussion of that friction as “far right,” the pressure only builds. Britain’s leadership can keep pretending the only threats come from Moscow or from citizens who notice the transformation of their own towns. Musk is not pretending. Neither should anyone else who values the civilisation that still, for now, allows such interviews to happen.

Read more …

1952.

Trump Notes Europe’s Refusal to Accept Elimination of Marshall Plan (CTH)

Most casual EU observers have missed the connection between President Trump eliminating the U.S-Europe Marshall Plan via entirely new trade and tariff policies, and the aggregate financial collapse of the European Union. Over four years (1948-1952), the United States provided $13.3 billion (equivalent to approximately $137 billion in 2025) directly to 17 Western European countries, including the United Kingdom, France, West Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. The intent was to rebuild Europe after World War II. However, included in the plan was a later system of one-way tariffs, where EU Countries would high-tariff U.S. goods and the U.S. would not tariff EU goods imported.


The direct funding ended in 1952, but the indirect funding via tariffs never ended until President Donald J Trump triggered reciprocal tariffs against Europe thereby removing the one-way benefit. This created an immediate and growing problem for Europe – particularly noted in the EU industrial base.Simultaneous to this EU tariff reset, President Trump levied tariffs against China. To offset the possibility of economic losses, and specifically to fund Beijing’s subsidies to impacted Chinese manufacturing, China stopped purchasing European industrial machines. [That’s the source of the picture above at the G7 in Canada]

This trade and tariff approach hit Europe twice as hard. First from American tariffs and second from diminished Chinese industrial purchasing. Immediately, Europe started looking for alternate sources of funds. That’s where the idea to tax American tech companies entered the discussion in Brussels. Today, President Trump addressed this directly.

TRUTH SOCIAL – “The European Union is at it again and, as usual, taking direct aim at GREAT American Companies! After having fined Apple, for no reason at all, 15 Billion Dollars, Meta, 3 Billion Dollars, Amazon 2.5 Billion Dollars, and many others, we have just been informed that Google, a truly advanced and amazing group, has been fined yet another 1 Billion Dollars, without explanation. This brings the Google total to over 18 Billion Dollars!

This illegal and highly discriminatory practice started at these high levels during the first year of the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration, but it’s not going to continue during the Trump Administration. The United States of America is not a “PIGGYBANK” for Europe, nor will we allow it to be! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that we will immediately initiate a 301 Investigation into the practice of “ROBBING” American Companies and, in turn, the American Taxpayer.

The European Union will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about. The penalties will be entirely reversed and, we anticipate, a substantial TARIFF to be placed on them at the earliest possible moment. Stay tuned!”

~President DONALD J. TRUMP

Keep in mind, all of this EU regulatory and compliance control is at the forefront of another element, the AI race.

In the USA we do not want a singular AI model to win support of the United States government and then end up with an AI regulatory system where the govt can start defining terms of “safety” to eliminate information adverse to the interests that regulate it. However, we can almost guarantee that Europe will select an approved singular AI model, predictably regulating it and taxing the use of it accordingly.

Read more …

“Lydia the encyclopydia..”

The South Carolina Supreme Court Again Rules Against Tattoo Speech (Turley)

There is an interesting free-speech case filed in South Carolina brought by a tattoo parlor challenging a state law that not only bars tattoo facilities from 1000 feet of churches, schools, or playgrounds, but also bans tattoos on the face, neck, or head. The case presents a common challenge for free speech advocates like myself. I have a visceral dislike for tattoos (particularly on the face), but I believe that they are a form of free expression. I, therefore, view the South Carolina law, S.C. Code Ann. § 44-34- 100, as unconstitutional under the First Amendment. (The litigants include claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the 14th Amendment).


The lawsuit was brought by Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of a New York tattoo shop, Tiny Zaps, that is interested in opening a location in South Carolina. Tiny Zaps argues that “Tattoos are a form of artistic expression protected by the First Amendment. They communicate ideas, commemorate milestones, express beliefs, and allow people to present themselves to the world through permanent artwork created in collaboration with tattoo artists.”

It notes that the limits on store location make it difficult to open a store given the many churches, schools, and playgrounds in the state. However, it is the limits on the placement of the tattoo itself that is most interesting from my perspective. It argues that “Tattoo artists do not merely apply ink to skin. They collaborate with customers to create artistic works that often carry deeply personal expressive significance. The resulting artwork derives meaning not only from its design, but also from its placement on the body.”

It also argues that South Carolina has long been distinctly anti-tattoo expression: “South Carolina has long treated tattooing as disfavored expression. Until 2004, South Carolina was one of only two states that outlawed tattooing.”

In 2002, I wrote about a South Carolina challenge in the Los Angeles Times about the unconstitutionality of a state law barring tattooing. However, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that “the danger associated with the activity of tattooing, whether artwork or not, is a legitimate reason to regulate it.” In my criticism of the Court, I disagreed with the premise that “a tattoo might be a form of protected expression, the ‘process’ of tattooing was not protected.” I noted that “this is akin to treating the Declaration of Independence as protected speech but not Benjamin Franklin’s printing of the document.”

As Meagan O’Rourke has noted, that case was declined by the Supreme Court in a disappointment for many of us, but later courts have reached contrary decisions from the South Carolina Supreme Court’s opinion in White v. State. This will now give us a second bite at the apple to get this right. Despite my aversion to tattoos, they are clearly expressive. Indeed, some would say that they are downright educational:

“Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclopydia Oh Lydia the Queen of Tattoo On her back is the Battle of Waterloo Beside it the wreck of the Hesperus, too And proudly above waves the red, white, and blue You can learn a lot from Lydia”

In support of the free speech case, I call on the ultimate counsel for the challengers to explain the cultural and educational value of tattoos. I give you Groucho Marx:

Read more …

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/2080415502707388909?s=20

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Jul 242026
 
 July 24, 2026  Posted by at 10:01 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  33 Responses »


Pierre-Auguste Renoir The Return of the Boating Party 1862


Trump “Close” To Ordering “Massive Attack Greater Than Anything Before” (ZH)
Oil Soars As Trump Warns Iran Will Pay For Future Houthi Shipping Attacks (ZH)
Houthis Threaten Saudi Aramco (ZH)
There Are Only Two Possible Endgames for Iran (A.j. Christopher)
Jim Jordan Refers Jack Smith to DOJ for Prosecution (Bryan S. Jung)
Judge Boasberg Under Renewed Scrutiny Over Unilateral Actions (Turley)
DSA Think America Is Worse Than Mao Zedong (Victor Davis Hanson)
Wiring Kiev for war: Palantir’s Greatest Salesman (RT)
Why Were Americans Funding Jobs for Transgender Workers in Nepal? (David Manney)
James Carville Calls On Democrats To Cave On Voter ID (ZH)
Elon Vows AI-Made ‘Odyssey’ After Blasting Nolan’s Take on Homer (AmG)
Cheap AI Models are a Game-Changer (MKTCONTEXT)

 


 

https://twitter.com/QuantumGuard17/status/2079717427626045525?s=20 https://twitter.com/mitchellvii/status/2079906536189464682?s=20

 


 


Trump has fallen into the Iraqi trap of a war of threats. They’ve been doing it for 47 years.

Trump “Close” To Ordering “Massive Attack Greater Than Anything Before” (ZH)

After being at the White House just last week, Iraq’s new “Washington approved” prime minister is apparently now the new shuttle diplomacy guy, after Qatari and Pakistani peace efforts on Iran have come to naught. The NY Times is reporting Thursday afternoon that “Iraq’s prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, is in Tehran carrying a proposal for a cease-fire between Iran and the United States, according to Iranian and Iraqi officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about matters of national security.”


But the messaging apparently went the other way to, from Tehran to Washington, per more from the Times: Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told local news media that the Iraqi leader had shared with Iranian officials his “insights and impressions” from his recent meeting with Trump. Araghchi added that Tehran and Washington don’t have a problem when it comes to finding mediators, “the problem is America’s attitude.” At the moment, Trump is threatening new, massive attacks on Iran, which could come tonight or at any time, with the whole region on edge and the State Department telling Americans to urgently find flights out of the Middle East.


President Trump has newly been cited in Axios as saying he’s seriously considering restarting major combat operations in Iran. He’s previewing strikes that would be bigger than anything before, including in the opening days of Operation Epic Fury, when dozens of Iranian government and military leaders were killed, including the Ayatollah. There’s also chatter that Israel could rejoin the attacks this time, after Israeli jets have been absent in the past twelve days of renewed bombing raids.

However, Axios stipulated that Trump has yet to make a final decision. Mideast regional Al Hadath and Israel’s Channel 12 are separately reporting that US officials have told regional allies to “be prepared” for such a new major assault on Iran. Axios writes, “In a brief interview, Trump acknowledged that such a decision would have consequences and stressed he hasn’t made a determination yet.” This as Brent Crude has climbed past $100 per barrel on Thursday, and as the prospect of all-out war remains unpopular among American voters, especially with months to go ahead of the midterms.

“I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it,” the president said. And more via the Axios interview: Trump said Israel “would join in two minutes if I ask them to,” but added that “we don’t need anybody” to launch a new operation against Iran. He also said there would be “consequences” for Israel joining the strikes, hinting at Iranian retaliation against Israel. Trump said the Iranians “want to negotiate” but are not ready to make a deal at the moment. “They haven’t received enough pain yet,” he said.

Two regional sources with knowledge of mediation efforts said Iranian leadership hasn’t accepted the latest proposal put forward. “We are trying, but the Iranians are not being helpful,” one of them said. The Houthis have meanwhile been ratcheting their involvement, apparently having been called upon by Tehran to help it keep leverage over key oil transit chokepoints. All the while, there have been widespread reports of the Pentagon surging large aircraft, especially refueling tankers, from Europe to the CENTCOM area.

Read more …

More of that..

Oil Soars As Trump Warns Iran Will Pay For Future Houthi Shipping Attacks (ZH)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that Iran is “begging for a deal” and “they need to come to their senses,” adding that Tehran will “pay a very heavy price for the things they are doing.” Speaking on the sidelines of the ASEAN conference in Manila, he claimed that “Iran is begging us, both directly and indirectly, ‘Let’s do a deal. Let’s talk.'” But the reality remains that there’s no public indicators showing this; instead, the Iranians have pretty aggressively sought to enforce their red lines, this week attacking a series of international ships in the Hormuz Strait.


Rubio tried to blame an alleged fracturing of the Iranian government, and a takeover by the ‘hardline’ faction of leadership. “The problem with Iran is every time they make a deal, the people in charge either break it or they want to change it. So it looks like they’re not ready to make a deal, so they’re going to continue to pay a price, and every night the price gets higher and higher,” he asserted. Rubio then characterized Iran and its policies as “run by radical clerics” – calling them “oblivious” to its economic problems. In the background is the fact that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent months ago boasted that US policies and sanctions engineered a currency collapse in hopes that the January economic protests would topple the regime.

This never materialized and now people in the Trump administration seem perplexed. Rubio continued the blame-game while suggesting that if Tehran were to play ball on negotiating a deal for the Hormuz Strait, it could receive major economic benefits. “Iran can be the richest country in the Middle East if they wanted to be. But instead, they take their money, and they use it and they give it to Hezbollah. They give it to Hamas. They give it to the Houthis. They give it to Shia militias. They give it to sponsored terrorism all over the world,” he said.

Iran “will pay a very heavy price for the things they are doing. They are already paying a heavy price,” he said. Rubio also responded to recent statements of the Iranians talking about exacting “an eye for an eye” in terms of military approach. The US top diplomat then asserted that President Trump’s approach was “a head for an eye”. He described that currently Iran’s military-industrial base is being “decimated” – suffering “billions” of dollars” in damage. This as…

The US bombs Iran for the 12th consecutive night, killing at least two people and wounding 11 others in an attack on the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iraq. Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait have reported retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Iran. But what’s happening in the Red Sea right now does suggest that the Iranians have more cards to play. Their allies, the Houthis of Yemen, have initiated closure of the Bab al-Mandab Strait to all Saudi shipping. At least two vessels were attacked, with unconfirmed but widely circulating video showing one on fire and in distress:

Read more …

War is spreading.

Houthis Threaten Saudi Aramco (ZH)

After the Iranian-aligned Houthis confirmed they struck two Saudi oil tankers as part of a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, as a second chokepoint on global oil supplies opens alongside the Strait of Hormuz, on Thursday the Shia militant group is now openly threatening Aramco facilities inside the kingdom… or at least some unnamed officials are telling regional media. The Houthis have characterized their campaign as “a blockade for a blockade,” saying it is intended to pressure Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have already been blockading Houthis controlled-ports in Yemen for years, which hearkens back to a Gulf vs. Houthi chiefly aerial war that opened in 2015.


The group is threatening to carry on with attacks even if Saudi vessels seek to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. US regional allies are currently scrambling to establish alternative energy shipping routes that avoids the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint.Al Jazeera has cited unnamed Houthis sources who say that Saudi Arabia’s Aramco oil facilities could be next:”The ship, confirmed by both the Houthis and British maritime organisations, was struck on its top deck, which caught fire – a less severe outcome than a hull strike, which typically causes a vessel to sink. The Houthis claim both ships were hit, though British monitors say the second tanker made a U-turn and redirected toward the Suez Canal.

At least 10 vessels attempting to cross Bab el-Mandeb strait have been forced to reroute towards the Suez Canal instead, facing a much longer journey around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope. The two targeted vessels had been heading to India and China.The Houthis describe the campaign as “a blockade for a blockade”, warning that Saudi Arabia must lift its blockade on Yemen or face further consequences. Houthi officials say they plan to escalate operations to target Saudi oil tankers and ships even when not crossing Bab el-Mandeb – meaning vessels rerouting via the Suez Canal could still be at risk.

Houthi sources also say Aramco oil facilities could become a future target if the blockade on Yemen is not lifted.” The Houthis have until this week largely remained on the sidelines of the US-Israel war on Iran, but are now clearly ratcheting their involvement, helping Tehran with keeping leverage over global oil shipping. It was in March of 2022 that the last major strike on Saudi Aramco facilities was reported. Prior to that, 2019 saw the major Abqaiq–Khurais attack.

However, which group was ultimately behind some of those past, historic attacks remained somewhat of a mystery, also amid speculation that it could have been pro-Iranian groups out of Iraq. This as Brent Crude has on Thursday returned to the $100 per barrel mark.

Read more …

“The only reason they “negotiated” over the past few months was to give themselves breathing space ..”

There Are Only Two Possible Endgames for Iran (A.j. Christopher)

“The strikes are designed to further degrade…” This is the copy-and-paste headline I’ve read for the past week about Iran. We’re degrading their radar, we’re degrading their naval capabilities, we’re degrading their ability to disrupt shipping. That’s all fine and dandy, but we need to “further degrade” a lot more. And we need to “further degrade” from the top down, not the bottom up. The Iran War ends one of three ways:


Option A: The Iranian regime is toppled, its leaders killed or forced to flee, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is completely dismantled. Whatever government arises from the ashes is friendly to the West, or at least not openly hostile.

Option B: We eventually tire of the cat-and-mouse game, pack up our military, and go home. The status quo reasserts itself, albeit with an Iranian regime that can claim it defeated the Great Satan. We accept another 47 years of the same, though Iran will have acquired a nuclear weapon well within that timeframe.

Option C: We pound the current regime into compliance. They finally agree to give up their pursuit of nukes, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and cease funding regional terrorism. And I have bad news for those banking on Option C. That option doesn’t exist. For anybody not whistling past the graveyard, it should be abundantly obvious at this point that the IRGC thugs and their cardboard cutout mullahs have absolutely no intention of ending the jihad so long as their bodies draw breath. The only reason they “negotiated” over the past few months was to give themselves breathing space from which to resume their headlong rush.

President Donald Trump is keeping the “negotiations” door open while bombing them nightly, in a Hail Mary attempt to get them to come to the table in good faith. But we all know where that route leads, i.e., another few months of fruitless talks that will lead us to the same dead end, all the while Iran continues to lob missiles at our allies and attack shipping. I know it. You know it. President Trump knows it.

In 1941, our government did what needed to be done. And the American people supported our government and the troops to the best of their abilities. They cut back on meat and bread. They planted victory gardens. They bought Victory Bonds to help fund the campaign. The men answered the draft. The women headed off to the factories to replace the men. And nobody whined. And this was on the tail end of the Great Depression.

Nowadays? GAS PRICES ARE TOO HIGH!!! MY LIFE IS INCONVENIENCED BECAUSE GAS PRICES ARE TOO HIGH!!! I DEMAND THE GOVERNMENT DO SOMETHING ABOUT GAS PRICES SO I CAN GET BACK TO STARING AT MY iPhone 24/7!!! Imagine what the “resolve” of the American public will be 47 years from now.

At this point, President Trump has little choice but to follow through with Option A. He is a master negotiator and has been able to maneuver his way around roadblocks that would have paralyzed other presidents. But sometimes the forces of history box you in and narrow your path. His best path forward is to topple the regime and deal with whatever replaces it. And he needs to explain this to the American people, some of whom openly root against us, and others who still fail to grasp both the severity of the situation and the rare opportunities it presents. The 2026 midterms will not define Trump’s legacy. His handling of Iran will.

The biggest mistake we can make at this point is if the Iranian leaders stop firing missiles for a couple of days and express interest in restarting talks, and our government takes the bait, immediately stops the current bombardment, and winds up in exactly the same place we are today, but a week before the midterms.Option B means the can is kicked down the road. Option B means our kids get to deal with nuclear-armed ayatollahs who never let something so trivial as a sense of self-preservation deter them.

Option B means that, when that happens, we run the risk of it happening during a Democrat administration which, at best, will do nothing but make laughably empty threats (think Biden) or, at worst, openly side with the ayatollahs (think Obama). But hey, at least we’ll be able to tell our kids that the price of gas came down in the fall of 2026, right?

Read more …

Lawfare casts long shadows.

Jim Jordan Refers Jack Smith to DOJ for Prosecution (Bryan S. Jung)

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has formally referred former Special Counsel Jack Smith to the Department of Justice for possible criminal prosecution, alleging that Smith made false statements under oath to Congress about the scope of his investigation into President Donald Trump. According to Fox News, in a July 22 letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Jordan alleges that Smith intentionally misled the House Judiciary Committee during a December 2025 deposition by testifying that his office obtained only telephone toll records and did not seek or review the contents of lawmakers’ text messages.


Jordan contends newly released records contradict that testimony and amount to obstruction of Congress. “All individuals have an obligation to comply with a duly authorized congressional inquiry. Mr. Smith is no different,” Jordan writes, accusing the former special counsel of making “intentionally false statements” designed to impede congressional oversight. The referral follows the release of documents by Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, who says Smith’s investigative team accessed and reviewed text messages involving 44 members of Congress from both political parties, along with current and former Trump administration officials, during an investigation known as “Operation Arctic Frost.”

Grassley also alleges investigators viewed some communications before a Justice Department “filter team” completed its privilege review, raising concerns about compliance with procedures intended to protect privileged information. During his December deposition, Smith testified that his office sought telephone toll records containing historical routing information — including call numbers, dates, times and durations — but not the contents of calls or text messages. Republicans argue the newly released records show Smith’s team obtained and reviewed message content, directly contradicting his sworn testimony.

The Justice Department confirms receipt of Jordan’s criminal referral and says it will investigate any evidence of criminal conduct. No criminal charges have been filed, and the referral itself does not constitute a criminal prosecution. Smith denies wrongdoing.

Last week, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Smith should be “prosecuted.” “What did he do with the text messages? We don’t know that yet. What we do know is he absolutely read them. He absolutely shared them with members of his team and all of that illegally,” Hawley alleged. “The Justice Department requires that there be screening for any members of Congress [regarding] their text messages. Jack Smith said under oath that he didn’t seek the text messages of members of Congress, but in fact, we know that he did. So he lied, he violated the law, he violated the Constitution. This guy ought to be prosecuted.”

Democratic House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin condemns the referral as “baseless and vindictive,” arguing Republicans misrepresent Smith’s testimony. Raskin says committee investigators never specifically questioned Smith about presidential records or members’ text messages during more than 13 hours of testimony and maintains Smith truthfully answered the questions that were asked regarding telephone toll records rather than message content.

The referral marks the latest escalation in congressional Republicans’ scrutiny of Smith. In November 2025, Jordan separately referred Smith’s former deputy, Thomas Windom, to the Justice Department for alleged obstruction of Congress. Jordan told then-Attorney General Pam Bondi that “Congress cannot perform its oversight function if witnesses who appear before its committees corruptly refuse to provide information that the law requires them to furnish. The obstruction of a committee investigation undermines Congress’s core constitutional oversight obligations.”

Jordan’s latest referral asks the Justice Department to determine whether Smith’s testimony warrants prosecution for perjury or making false statements before Congress.

Read more …

After 10 years of anti-Trump, it becomes normal.

Judge Boasberg Under Renewed Scrutiny Over Unilateral Actions (Turley)

Chief Judge James Boasberg is frustrated … and he is not alone. Recently, the D.C. federal judge reportedly “groused” that the D.C. appellate court had ordered him to reconsider a case about whether the D.C. government engaged in biased enforcement against political graffiti. Conversely, the litigants are equally irked over what they see as Boasberg’s bias after he responded by, again, dismissing their claims without a trial.


For a second time, Boasberg has barred pro-life groups from access to a jury after members were arrested for writing in chalk “Black Pre-Born Lives Matter” on a sidewalk while Black Lives Matter writings were left untouched. I wrote earlier about the emerging body of “Boasberg’s Law,” cases in which the judge has increasingly shown an untethered and expansive view of his own authority. Recently, Boasberg was found to have committed an “abuse of discretion” in twice finding that the Trump Administration was in contempt of court for failing to turn around deportation flights.

My disagreements with Boasberg are not over the underlying issues, but rather the court’s rejection of basic limits on its own authority. While chastising President Trump for exceeding his authority, Boasberg has been reversed for exceeding his own. In the earlier case, Boasberg dismissed grand jury subpoenas in the probe of Fed Chair Jerome Powell. I have been critical of that probe, but Boasberg’s refusal to allow the subpoenas to be executed was based on an opinion that was rife with open hostility for President Trump, dubious sources, and biased observations.

I have similar reservations in this latest case. During the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, streets in Washington were covered with BLM graffiti and the police watched as protesters wrote slogans and slurs on stores, streets, and sidewalks. The government itself even commissioned a massive painting of the message on a street near the White House.However, when Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America wrote their pro-life version of the slogan, they were immediately arrested and the chalk protest removed.

The D.C. Circuit’s reversal of Boasberg in the case was a major victory for free speech. Boasberg had applied the wrong standard to kill the case, holding that the group could not challenge the selective enforcement of the laws. In reaching that conclusion, Boasberg applied the wrong standard, imposing the heavy burden of proving that the city was engaged in “invidious enforcement.” While that standard was used correctly to dismiss an equal protection claim, it is not the standard for a free speech challenge. The Court did not hide its dissatisfaction with the thrust of Boasberg’s opinion in dismissing the First Amendment claim:

“The First Amendment prohibits government discrimination on the basis of viewpoint. ‘To permit one side … to have a monopoly in expressing its views … is the antithesis of constitutional guarantees.’ The protection for freedom of speech applies not only to legislation, but also to enforcement of the laws.”The appellate court sent the case back to Boasberg with the opportunity to apply the correct standard and to create a substantive record before issuing a ruling on the free speech claim.

Boasberg took the case and ruled again that the groups would not be allowed a trial. The new dismissal was issued despite the standard that, in seeking such a dismissal before a trial, the court must accept all material facts in favor of the nonmoving party or, in this case, the pro-life and pro-free speech litigants. Boasberg rejected the factual claim that they were “similarly situated” to the BLM protesters. The litigants presented the results of discovery on the point, but Boasberg dismissed the claim on his own subjective view of the evidence. They have now filed again with the appellate court to appeal his order.

Some of Boasberg’s factual findings are baffling. For example, he maintains that the groups did not show that MPD officers “even witnessed any specific defacement during [Black Lives Matter] protests.” However, the groups presented such evidence as bodycam video of officers watching as a protester spray-painted ‘I can’t breathe’ on the street near the White House two weeks after the arrests of the pro-life protesters. They submitted other video evidence of officers watching protesters spray-painting BLM messages outside of the Department of Justice.

Moreover, they presented what they claimed is guidance from Assistant Chief of Police Jeffery Carroll, in charge of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Special Operations Division, in the application of different treatment for graffiti. Carroll reportedly admitted to being “present” at BLM protests featuring “defacement” of property, public and private and Lt. Jason Bagshaw admitted that he also saw defacement “related to” BLM protests. This does not mean that a jury would rule for these litigants but rather that court cannot substitute its judgment for a jury when a credible and supported claim has been made by litigants.

Boasberg declares that no such credible evidence was presented. The fact is that a reasonable jury could conclude that there was a different treatment shown in the enforcement of these laws based on the content of the speech. The biased enforcement of laws is a common reality in other countries where courts enable such selective enforcement. In countries such as Iran and China, no level of evidence is sufficient to overcome the bias of courts in showing a preference for one side.

Judge Boasberg has had a distinguished career that is now being undone by a lack of restraint in these decisions. Again, I believe that the judge has been on solid ground in some of these conflicts, including criticizing the use of “intemperate and disrespectful” language in filings and demanding compliance with his orders. However, while Chief Judge Boasberg has described the President’s claim of expansive powers as “awfully frightening,” the same can be said about a judge who substitutes his own judgment for juries and disregards legal standards for disfavored groups.

Read more …

DSA = Democratic Socialists of America = rich kids.

DSA Think America Is Worse Than Mao Zedong (Victor Davis Hanson)

We’re hearing more and more from the Democratic Socialists of America about all of the sins of America and very little of the good things we’ve done to ourselves and to the world at large on our 250th birthday. What is it, the nature of this DSA, Democratic Socialists of America, and the diversity, equity, inclusion criticism that we were racist, sexist, nativist, cruel, ruthless, etc., etc. But my question is, compared to what? Mao Zedong? He killed 70 million people. He was the greatest mass murderer in history, and that government is still communist in an unbroken chain from [Chinese leader] Xi [Jinping] all the way back to Mao. Do we ever talk about that or the million people who are in concentration camps in China?


Compared to historically to the Aztecs? We’re told the Aztecs were great people. They had an empire, but they crushed over a million people to create their empire. Some years, they sacrificed up to 10,000, maybe 15,000 a year of conquered tribes of fellow Indigenous people. Do we remember Shaka Zulu, the 19th-century creator of the Zulu nation? He was responsible for a genocide in crushing his enemies that probably cost over a million lives. Do we really think that the Native Americans were living in paradise until Europeans came? The story of Native Americans was conquest, enslavement, butchery of rival tribes. So, what is going on?

We have a tradition in the West of self-criticism. That’s what makes us different. Rationalism, self-criticism, improvement. But when that goes to an extreme, it ventures from self-criticism and self-reflection to nihilism, and it’s quite destructive. So, let’s just take a look at where the United States is compared to the rest. Look at immigration. Why do a million people, or 2 million people, 10,000 a day under Joe Biden, from very poor countries, most of them from what we would call the former Third World that were victims of socialism, why do they risk their lives coming here every year?

Why do all these critics of the United States … [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], why did her parents want to come here? Why did [Rep.] Ilhan Omar’s father want to come here? Why did [Rep.] Rashida Tlaib’s father want to come here? Why did [New York City Mayor] Zohran Mamdani’s parents want to come? Was it so bad? Can’t they ever acknowledge that they came here because they had greater security, they had greater freedom, they had greater economic opportunity? And if they had criticisms, it was never enough that they wanted to go back to the places that they praised, but only from a distance and in the abstract.

The truth is that the poor in the United States are better off than most of the middle classes in every other country. We saw that in the World Cup when middle- and upper-middle-class Europeans came over, and unlike … to watch the games, and unlike most tourists, they didn’t just stick on the coasts. They went to places in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, the South, and the Midwest. And they found two things. One, Americans were amazingly friendly and open, upbeat, not downers and drab, and everything’s terrible, which they expected from their experiences in Europe.

And more importantly, they were affluent. They had big homes. They had air conditioning. the poor had appurtenances. Everybody has a cell phone. Nobody worries about the cost, apparently. There’s also then the hypocrisy of a lot of our critics. And let me just give you an example of a few of them.

Hasan Piker is a child of very, very wealthy Turkish immigrants that became U.S. citizens. He grew up for much of his life in Turkey. He gave a talk the other day in a Mao suit to Democratic Socialists of America. Think about that. He put on the uniform, so to speak, of the greatest mass murderer in history, and then he denounced capitalism. But he didn’t denounce capitalism in his own life because his parents are multimillionaires. He is a multimillionaire, and he drives a, what? $120,000 Porsche. Isn’t that a luxury of the bourgeoisie?

And then there’s Zohran Mamdani, of course. His family, as I pointed out numerous times, was the elite of the elite of the elite in Uganda, a community of expatriates, Indians, from India that control 60% of the wealth, and they’re only 1% of the population. And he grew up in privilege here. He had a very nice home. He has a family estate on Lake Victoria, of all places. Ro Khanna, the congressman from California, he always is pointing out the evils of Republicans, and as he looks at the drift of the Democratic Party, he puts his finger in the wind, and he says socialism is the answer. Ro Khanna does.

But he’s a multimillionaire. His father-in-law is one of the wealthiest members of the Indian American community, probably worth $500 or $600 million. His own children have been deeded golf courses. His wife drives a $190,000 Range Rover, and he’s lecturing us about our shortfalls? And then, of course, we come to [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom. He wants to get in on the socialist craze, so he said the other day, as is his wont, moving his arms around and being very slick and glib, that capitalism fails. It didn’t work. It worked for you, Gavin. You have a $9 million home. You are the, basically, the quote-unquote, “protégé” of the Gordon Getty oil for- fortune, who backed all of your business opportunities.

Read more …

How do you close down the most lucrative trade in the world? Even if it’s already killed a million people?

Wiring Kiev for war: Palantir’s Greatest Salesman (RT)

Palantir’s reported job offer to former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov demonstrates how Kiev’s defense establishment has become a recruiting pool for the Western military-industrial complex, where vibes, not results, are rewarded. Fedorov was fired by Vladimir Zelensky on July 16, ostensibly over a long-running conflict between him and the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Aleksandr Syrsky. A self-styled ‘digital innovator’ and architect of Ukraine’s transition to a primarily drone-based war footing, Fedorov has since blamed his dismissal on Syrsky, an unpopular Soviet-trained general who was fired several days after Zelensky sacked Fedorov.


Immediately after his dismissal, Fedorov claimed that he had already been offered a new job. “Even tech giants have called with job offers,” he said. “Alex Karp, the head of Palantir, suggested we do something together, but I told him, ‘let’s talk about it later’.” Fedorov’s reluctance to accept Karp’s offer may have something to do with his political ambitions – it’s widely acknowledged that Zelensky sees Fedorov as a political rival who could relieve Brussels of its Kiev-corruption problem – but Karp’s offer was likely made for one reason: Mikhail Fedorov has been Palantir’s greatest salesman in Ukraine.

Fedorov first met with Karp in June of 2022, when he was still serving as Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation. Palantir opened an office in Kiev shortly after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict and signed memoranda of cooperation with the country’s Defense, Digital Transformation, Economy, and Education ministries the following year.

Appointed defense minister in January of 2026, Fedorov aggressively courted Palantir, pushing its AI-powered command-and-control software at the expense of homegrown alternatives. Fedorov marketed Ukraine as “the best training ground” for contractors like Palantir, and offered the company and its competitors – including Anduril Industries, ShieldAI, and AeroVironment – tax breaks, favorable regulations, and unprecedented access to battlefield data.

By early 2026, Karp claimed that Palantir was “responsible for most of the targeting in Ukraine.” Fedorov hyped up the partnership, claiming in June that Karp “was just shocked by how we use Palantir. He was shocked by our vision, what we do and what we plan to do.” Fedorov oversaw Ukraine’s expansion of medium- and long-range strikes against Russian infrastructure, winning praise from Western media for “turning the tables” in the conflict – in the words of the Financial Times. Palantir’s software has been instrumental in “planning deep strike operations,” Fedorov said in May of 2026.

While his vision of an AI-powered, high-tech military is hugely popular in Silicon Valley boardrooms and among Ukrainian officials tired of the Russian military’s inexorable, grinding advance in Donbass, it has been questioned by Ukrainian troops and commanders. Every new wave of strikes on Russian commercial warehouses seems to invite a retaliatory storm of missiles and drones on Kiev, and frontline troops told Ukrainska Pravda that the ‘deep strike’ campaign has had no measurable impact on the progress of the conflict.

“I don’t know where we seized the initiative; there was simply a wave of PR activity in some areas,” an officer operating near Donetsk told the newspaper. Even mid-range strikes (<150km) on Russian command posts have had “no effect, not a drop” on the front, an officer near Konstantinovka added. Former Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny has warned that deep strikes are “expensive, technologically demanding, and ultimately reciprocal. Russia retains the ability to strike back with equal or greater force and neither side can rely on this form of warfare to produce a decisive strategic outcome.”

Shortly before he was sacked from the same position, Syrsky published a lengthy article insisting that drones alone do not win wars. “You need artillery, mortars, engineering means, air defense, electronic warfare and dozens of other items,” he wrote. “You need to buy everything, not just what is currently in style.”

At least two of Fedorov’s predecessors in the defense ministry – Aleksey Reznikov and Rustem Umerov – used their positions to enrich themselves through graft and embezzlement. Corruption carries consequences, however, and both Reznikov and Umerov have been investigated for wartime profiteering. Fedorov’s de-facto lobbying for Palantir is a safer and more legal path to riches, and one that has become more popular among Ukrainian defense and military officials. They include:

All of these companies depend on contracts with the Ukrainian government – contracts that Shevchenko, Danilyuk, Honcharuk, and Matveichenko can leverage their connections to secure. For Western investors, this proximity to power amid an ongoing war represents a potential goldmine, particularly in the case of UFORCE and Trypilian. The former counts former British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace among its board members, and the latter is part owned by former British MP and minister Brooks Newmark. With the EU pouring €6 billion into Ukraine’s domestic drone industry this year alone, Honcharuk, Matveichenko, Wallace, and Newmark stand to profit handsomely.

Read more …

Plus the rest of the world…

Why Were Americans Funding Jobs for Transgender Workers in Nepal? (David Manney)

Former HIV outreach worker and biological male Rubi Lama lost a job he’d held for nine years when U.S. funding vanished from a health program in Nepal. He tested people, counseled those at risk, and helped sex workers avoid infection. Months later, unable to find other work, he joined them along a highway outside Hetauda. Fox News:


“An Associated Press social media post about transgender aid workers in Nepal turning to sex work after losing their jobs due to U.S. foreign aid cuts sparked a wave of conservative backlash, with critics arguing the video made the case for defunding USAID rather than saving it. The AP post said that in Nepal, where “a conservative culture leaves openly transgender people with few legal job options,” around 100 LGBTQ aid workers left jobless by U.S. funding cuts had turned to sex work to survive. An accompanying video focused on Rubi Lama, a former HIV outreach worker who said USAID-funded programs had provided free condoms, lubricant and HIV-prevention medication before the cuts.

“When USAID funding was there, condoms were free, lubricant was also distributed … for free,” Lama said in the video, adding that HIV treatments, including PrEP, were also available without cost. “But, now it is gone.” The framing quickly drew criticism from conservatives who said the story raised the opposite question: why American taxpayers were funding those programs in the first place.”

His story is painful on a human scale; it also raises a question many Americans are asking: why was the United States expected to keep paying his salary?Lama worked for Friends Hetauda, part of a network connected to the Blue Diamond Society. The society received 85% of its funding from USAID, operated 20 clinics, and employed 350 people. Associated Press (cue the maudlin music):

“For nine years, Lama — who is transgender — had devoted her life to conducting HIV outreach in Nepal’s marginalized communities, including the LGBTQ+ sex workers who wait by this highway each night. But after the United States slashed its foreign aid funding last year, Lama and more than 280,000 aid workers worldwide found themselves out of a job.Much has been written about the devastating impacts the U.S. foreign aid cuts have had on the millions of people the funding once helped. Far less is known about the impacts on the helpers themselves.

In impoverished Nepal, where a conservative culture leaves openly transgender people with few legal job options, the impact on aid workers’ lives was particularly crushing. Starving and scared, Lama and around 100 other LGBTQ+ aid workers left jobless by the funding cuts have turned to sex work to survive, walking the streets alongside the very people they once fought so hard to help.”

When the money stopped, 262 employees lost their jobs, and the organization says 35% to 45% of those former workers later entered sex work.The clinics provided HIV tests, condoms, counseling, antiretroviral drugs, and PrEP. More than 1,200 clients reportedly lost access to PrEP after the shutdown. Those are real health services, and the people affected aren’t punchlines. The political reaction followed a familiar script: President Donald Trump cut foreign aid, vulnerable workers suffered, and American taxpayers were cast as villains for refusing to continue the arrangement.

Trump’s Executive Order:

Section 1. Purpose. The United States foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values. They serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries.

Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of United States that no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States.

Sec. 3. (a) 90-day pause in United States foreign development assistance for assessment of programmatic efficiencies and consistency with United States foreign policy. All department and agency heads with responsibility for United States foreign development assistance programs shall immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds to foreign countries and implementing non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors pending reviews of such programs for programmatic efficiency and consistency with United States foreign policy, to be conducted within 90 days of this order. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shall enforce this pause through its apportionment authority.

Critics spoke as though Washington had fired public employees in Ohio rather than ended overseas grants in Nepal.Foreign aid can serve American interests; HIV prevention can reduce disease, improve stability, and protect people who travel across borders. Compassion also has limits when one country becomes the permanent source of salaries and program funding for organizations half a world away. Nepal has a national government; it has health agencies, wealthy residents, international charities, and neighboring countries with their interest in regional health.

Fox News: “USAID later told partners to pause new funding obligations and issue stop-work orders or suspensions for existing awards, while critics have said the review led to major disruptions, staff reductions and the cancellation of critical foreign-assistance awards. But Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway argued the AP post exposed misplaced priorities, particularly among the media, saying the outlet presented U.S. tax dollars flowing to a “trans Nepalese job protection program” as though it was a good use of public money.

Read more …

Carville on preference for voter ID: ”I guess you could say it exists, anything could exist, it exists on such a minuscule scale, and it’s been proven time and time and time again.“..

James Carville Calls On Democrats To Cave On Voter ID (ZH)

The SAVE America Act, which would mandate proof of citizenship along with valid ID for federal elections and tighten mail-in voting rules, remains stalled in Congress due to the Democrats’ filibuster in the Senate, even though the underlying idea is among the most popular in American politics.


Gallup found 84 percent of Americans favor requiring photo identification at the polling place, and 83 percent favor proof of citizenship for first-time registrants – including 98 percent of Republicans, 84 percent of independents, and 67 percent of Democrats. Pew Research Center put photo-ID support at 83 percent, with 95 percent of Republicans and 71 percent of Democrats behind it and only 16 percent opposed. Rasmussen found 77 percent of likely voters calling photo ID a reasonable measure to protect election integrity. Thirty-six states already request or require identification for in-person voting.

As CNN’s Harry Enten put it: “The bottom line is this: Voter ID is NOT controversial in this country.” A bill with that kind of consensus isn’t controversial, yet Senate Democrats keep blocking it. Now longtime Democratic strategist James Carville is looking at those numbers and has decided his own party needs an exit ramp. On his podcast, Politics War Room, he told Democrats to stop fighting voter ID and find a way out of a fight he believes is already lost.

The trigger for the conversation was New Jersey. Carville’s co-host Al Hunt opened by noting the right had seized on Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s disclosure that roughly 6,600 noncitizens were registered to vote in the state, fewer than 400 of whom cast ballots. “Voter fraud in the United States is an infinitesimal problem,” Carville said. “I don’t even… to the extent, I guess you could say it exists, anything could exist, it exists on such a minuscule scale, and it’s been proven time and time and time again.”

That is where most Democrats stop – the problem is too small to bother with. Carville kept going. “But I don’t know if we’re not better off saying, okay, we’ll take that alternative ID, bring your gas bill or your light bill or something,” he said. “Because for whatever reason, it polls at 75%.” He pointed to his home state of Louisiana, where voters already have to show a driver’s license at the polls, and asked why the national party keeps treating that standard as an emergency. A rule allowing alternative documents such as a gas or electric bill still polls at 75 percent – a number that should give pause to a party that has spent a decade calling identification requirements a modern poll tax.

“We are not gonna win the war” on some kind of ID, Carville said. “I never had a problem with it. I’m just saying of all the things… if every poll shows 75 or better, saying we should have some kind of ID to vote… just quit fighting it and go along with it and move to the next thing.”Hunt pushed back, arguing that most states already have ID requirements and criticizing the SAVE America Act directly. Carville was quick to draw the same line. “I’m not talking about the SAVE Act, I’m not talking about the SAVE Act at all,” he said. His proposal was narrower: “Whatever the law in Louisiana is, make it the national law.”

It is worth being precise about what the New Jersey episode actually was, because it is not quite the case for the policy Carville is conceding. Those 6,600 people had pressed “no” when a Motor Vehicle Commission keypad asked whether they were U.S. citizens, and a software defect registered them anyway. They held valid state identification – that is why they were at the MVC. An ID check at the polling place catches someone voting under another person’s name. It does not catch a state agency overriding what an applicant told it.

Which is rather the point of Carville’s argument. He is not claiming voter ID would fix anything. He is saying it costs Democrats nothing and they are losing the fight anyway – that a party cannot win by declaring war on a basic expectation shared by nearly every voting bloc, and that the energy would be better spent on arguments it can win. The concession is notable coming from this particular program. Politics War Room has hosted the Brennan Center’s Michael Waldman to argue that widespread voter fraud is a myth and to pick apart the SAVE Act. Carville still believes the first part. He has simply stopped believing it matters.

Read more …

I get the sentiment, but do realize the Odyssey is Greek mythology, not a history document.

Why do we want Helen of Troy to have pale skin? Did Homer explicitly give her that?

Elon Vows AI-Made ‘Odyssey’ After Blasting Nolan’s Take on Homer (AmG)

Elon Musk says he’ll beat Hollywood at its own game, pledging that his artificial intelligence venture will produce a full-length film of Homer’s “The Odyssey” by year’s end, one he insists will stay faithful to the ancient text in a way Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation has not. Musk, believed to be the first trillionaire in modern history, unveiled the project Tuesday evening on X, posting AI-generated footage from Grok Imagine depicting a scene from the epic poem. “Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of ‘The Odyssey’ that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer,” he wrote, offering no further details on production, casting or distribution.


In a follow-up post, Musk said he was “down” with a fan’s pitch to instead hand the project to actor and director Mel Gibson, backed by $100 million, to produce “an Odyssey adaptation with painstakingly historically accurate ships, armour, weapons and casting, with all dialogue taken straight from the original poem and delivered in Homeric Greek.”The announcement is the latest salvo in Musk’s long-running feud with Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” a Matt Damon-led adaptation Musk has criticized repeatedly over its casting choices. In January, Musk wrote that “Chris Nolan lost his integrity,” responding to a post that called the film “an insult to the author” over the casting of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy.

In May, after conservative commentator Matt Walsh suggested Nolan cast Nyong’o only to avoid being labeled “racist,” Musk replied with a single word: “True.” Musk’s criticism hasn’t dented the film’s commercial performance, however. The R-rated, three-hour epic pulled in a $120 million opening weekend, according to Breitbart News, far exceeding pre-release industry projections of $80 million to $90 million.

Read more …

Maybe this realization will help keep down costs as well. You don’t need your Lamborghini to do groceries..

Cheap AI Models are a Game-Changer (MKTCONTEXT)

Last week, Chinese startup Moonshot AI released one of the largest AI models ever built. Within 24 hours, the model “Kimi-K3” climbed to the top of the leaderboard for coding, beating Anthropic and OpenAI:


The announcement reminds us of DeepSeek’s entrance back in Feb 2025. The combination of cutting-edge capabilities, aggressive pricing, and open distribution is threatening the US players. Moonshot doesn’t need to be the best; only close enough, cheap enough, and accessible enough to make customers question why they are paying several times more for American systems.K3 itself is a marvel of AI engineering. It is efficient in routing queries to specific parts of the model, allowing enormous scale without the full computation cost. It supports a context window of 1M tokens for input, enough to analyze a large codebase or document collection. This underscores just how rapidly China’s AI developers are closing the gap with US rivals.

What do we make of this announcement? Investors will be more concerned about this than DeepSeek. Given the industry’s unprecedented spending spree, they need every dollar of revenue to justify the capital spending. Competition and substitutes erode the ROI of that spending. It is only a matter of time before Trump bans the use of Chinese AI models on the basis of national security concerns (feeding inputs to state actors and such). This will further strain an already-frail trade relationship between the US and China, potentially sparking Trade War 3.0.

Cheap Models are a Game Changer It’s worth asking why cheap models like Kimi-K3 are so impactful to the AI discussion. Companies are racking up massive expenses from their employees’ AI usage. Rather than capping usage (which hampers productivity), CEOs are trying to be more efficient with tokens. In practice, this means routing routine tasks to cheaper, open-source models like DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, and Llama. Only the genuinely hard queries get escalated to expensive frontier models. This chart shows just how much open-source models have grown:

As a direct result, token usage continues to skyrocket (black line) but the cost of those tokens are collapsing (colored bars):

The vast majority of the world’s AI workloads can be done by cheaper, open-sourced models which don’t rely on expensive compute from Nvidia. The essence of commoditization. This is bad news for the frontier model makers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta) but great news for hyperscalers because even lagging models need to run on someone’s data centers. The cloud providers (Microsoft, Google, Amazon) provide that infrastructure.

Remember, cheap tokens don’t shrink usage. It proliferates it. That means more revenues for the cloud providers that help enterprises deploy AI widely. This realization is why Mag 7 stocks have moved opposite of the broader AI sector.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Jul 232026
 


Kathimerini Trump and Evolution Jan 25 2017


IRGC: Strike Iran’s Infrastructure, We’ll Shut Off The Gulf’s Power (ZH)
Ukraine’s Army Chief Latest To Fall Victim To Zelensky’s Risky Reshuffle (ZH)
Zelenskyy Removes and Replaces Leading Military Officials (CTH)
Congresswoman’s Blunt Message for the MSM on Democratic Socialism (Anderson)
It’s Hammer Time! The Violent Left’s New Weapon of Choice. (O’Brien)
New York City Hall Has No Business Running Its Own Foreign Policy (David Manney)
House Democrat Blows the Whistle on Socialist, Antisemitic Takeover (Margolis)
Why Aren’t the Democrats Walking Away With the Midterms? (Rick Moran)
American Manufacturing One Year After One Big Beautiful Bill (Chris Queen)
Ontario Premier Doug Ford Promises “to Dismantle the U.S” Economy (CTH)
USTR Jamieson Greer Outlines Details of Talking Points With Canada (CTH)
The Death of the Cash Cow (Thomas Kolbe)
Billion-Dollar Data Centers And The Growing Opposition (Janet Levy)

 


 

https://twitter.com/GOP_is_Gutless/status/2079537430412038619?s=20 https://twitter.com/AdamMoczar/status/2079630710390784310?s=20

 


 


“Iran [..] has not backed down in the face of Trump’s fresh threats… “

Of course not. Threats are Iran’s language. They react to threats with threats.

They react to the reaction to threats, provided those are not more threats.

IRGC: Strike Iran’s Infrastructure, We’ll Shut Off The Gulf’s Power (ZH)

Oil gained after Iran-backed Houthi militants said they targeted two Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea, escalating the Middle East conflict and threatening deeper supply disruptions. Brent spiked above $95 in post-settlement trading. The Houthis attacked the two vessels with missiles and drones for violating a blockade imposed in the Red Sea, identifying the tankers as Encelia and Layla, the rebel group said. UK Maritime Trade Operations said a vessel was hit southwest of Saudi Arabia’s Al Shuqaiq, causing a fire on board. UKMTO didn’t identify the ship.


The first attacks on tankers in the Red Sea opens up a new front in the Middle East conflict, which has snarled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz following a flare-up in violence.

Iran Responds to Trump Ultimatum: We’ll Turn The Lights Off In Gulf
A top IRGC official has responded to Trump’s Bridge attack for each shipping attack ultimatum. Iranian IRGC Aerospace Commander Mousavi has threatened that Iran will cut off electricity to America’s Gulf Allies if Iranian bridges or power plants are attacked, Tasnim News Agency. “If the Americans target an Iranian bridge or power plant, Iran will respond by striking infrastructure and bridges across the region, including energy facilities in which the United States has interests,” the official said according semi-official news agency Tasnim.

“The Americans should by now, after these past ten days, be fully convinced that Iran strikes wherever it decides to strike. Therefore, any such gamble by Trump will once again end in his embarrassment,” the IRGC commander added. Separately, Iran’s deputy foreign minister briefed 25 European ambassadors and charges d’affaires in Tehran on the status of the conflict. “I reminded them that in the 40-day war, we imposed a severe defeat on the aggressors. In this new round of military aggression as well, we will resolutely defend our homeland and national interests,” Kazem Gharibabadi posted on X.

“These wars have created no strategic gains for America and only endanger regional and global peace and security. I also said that Europe is expected to safeguard the United Nations Charter and international law and to condemn aggression,” he added. Iran has continued to sound an “eye for an eye” theme, and has not backed down in the face of Trump’s fresh threats…

More telegraphing of intent from President Trump in the below Truth Social Post… he said the US military will “bomb and destroy” one bridge or power plant – including in Tehran – each time the Iranian military shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. This comes a day after he unveiled the US military plans to conduct a large bombing of Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain nuclear complex, which is heavily fortified.

But the Iranians have already long demonstrated they won’t alter course in the face of such threats, especially bluster from Trump over social media, and so this unlikely to be any kind of fix for Washington, as Tehran has vowed to keep control of Hormuz at all costs. The Pentagon has argued that things like bridges are ‘dual use’ as the Iranian military uses them to get supplies from one region to another, while international monitors have highlighted the potential for war crimes. The Iranians have in turn widened attacks on Gulf states to include key civic infrastructure, like water desalination plants (in Kuwait) – each time their own infrastructure gets hit.

* * *

Amid continued fighting which has included explosions heard in Tehran overnight and in the south, Iran’s leadership has condemned the Trump administration’s “obsessive focus on Kolang Kouh where no nuclear activity is taking place is nothing more than a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage,” according to Foreign Minister spokesman Esmail Baghaei in a post on X, referring to Pickaxe Mountain.

He pointed out that all of Iran’s nuclear activity has long been fully declared to the IAEA, and so the repeat threats out of Washington to mount a major attack on it is a “flagrant violation” of UN charter and international law. Trump had said the day prior that the US military will be hitting Pickaxe mountain “pretty soon very heavily and there is nothing they can do about it.”Even some supporters have quested why the US Commander-in-Chief would so casually telegraph his intentions, saying the Pentagon loses an operational edge in revealing such plans.

There’s been a lot of sudden focus on Pickaxe Mountain, though it had largely been absent from all prior media coverage of the war, due to Israeli intelligence feeding it to US mainstream press. “Israeli intelligence believes Iran moved thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges into tunnels deep inside a mountain last fall, Israeli and U.S. officials say, a development that would heighten concerns that Tehran could reconstitute its nuclear program,” The Wall Street Journal wrote Tuesday.

“Israel passed along the intelligence findings to the U.S., saying the centrifuges were transferred to the Pickaxe Mountain site last fall after the 12-day war in June when American and Israeli strikes pummeled Iran’s three main nuclear sites,” it added. And now, by all accounts, more aircraft, refueling planes, and heavy military hardware continue to be transferred from Europe and into the Central Command area of responsibility.

Read more …

Who do you think pulls the strings here?

Ukraine’s Army Chief Latest To Fall Victim To Zelensky’s Risky Reshuffle (ZH)

Zelensky strikes again in another major military firing, amid his promised big cabinet and military ‘reshuffle’. The Ukrainian president announced Tuesday that he was dismissing Oleksandr Syrsky, commander-in-chief of country’s army, and appointing joint forces commander Mykhailo Drapaty in his place. Syrsky was in the post for nearly two-and-a-half years, since February 2024. “I have decided that the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be Mykhailo Drapaty… I am grateful to Oleksandr Syrsky and to each of our warriors for Ukraine’s strong front-line positions,” Zelensky unveiled in a post on Telegram.


The decision comes just days after popular 35-year old defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov was sacked, despite his reputation for orchestrating the ramped-up drone war on Russia. And the defense chief’s removal had come soon on the heels of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko’s surprise ousting last week, upon which Zelensky in a suggested a broader government overhaul was underway. “Ukraine is changing its political strategy,” he made clear. President Zelensky’s Tuesday evening address included mention that he had offered former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov a “decent post” to oversee the technological ‘component of the state.

The remark of taking care of Fedorov is a clear attempt to calm masses of Ukrainians who took to the streets in a rare wartime protest over his shock removal. Zelensky has said he is doing all of this as part of a new strategy to take the war to Russia and its territory. “A significant path has been walked, Ukraine’s defense continues, and every soldier deserves proper respect,” Zelensky said. “I am grateful to Oleksandr Syrsky and to every one of our soldiers for Ukraine’s strong front-line positions.”

“Tomorrow we will formalize all decisions. Ukraine must emerge from this situation stronger, and it will become harder for Russia,” he said. The past week has witnessed some high drama within the top echelons of defense ranks, as Kyiv Post explains:

Fedorov said after his dismissal that he had pushed for Syrsky’s removal, accusing the commander-in-chief of blocking military reforms, and calling for changes in the military’s top leadership while defending his own record on robotics, drones and air defense. Under Fedorov’s tenure, Ukraine deepened its reliance on unmanned systems for dangerous frontline missions. Since January, the military has carried out more than 50,000 logistics and evacuation missions using ground robotic complexes (GRCs) in order to preserve soldiers’ lives in high-risk situations.

In a rare personal column, Syrsky broke silence and apologized to ousted Fedorov, saying he had no knowledge of their conflict before it spilled into public view. “For me, it was a surprise to learn that the minister and I had a conflict. I saw our relationship as a working one, with difficult questions and different positions” Syrsky wrote. “If I offended someone with something: Mykhailo Albertovych [Fedorov], I’m sorry. I can be tough,” he continued.

When you’ve lost The Economist…

All of this raises serious questions for Ukraine’s current narrative that it now has the momentum against Russia. If things are going so well, then why undergo risky and drastic leadership changes. It could be that things are actually not going well and the nature of Ukraine’s drone warfare is necessarily limited in scope. It might get media-capturing hits on Russian oil depots, but Russian forces by many accounts keep grinding forward slowly and methodically on the front lines in the east.

Read more …

Sundance says Zelensky firing popular figures makes no sense.

But:

Zelensky has nothing to say in Kiev, he doesn’t do the firing. The nazis control the country.

Their No. 1 concern is the corruption money flow. They shsre this concern with the western donors, who take their -growing- share.

Perhaps Ukraine is not doing nearly as well as we are led to believe.

NOTE: This is not Russia vs Ukraine, but Russia against the West.

Zelenskyy Removes and Replaces Leading Military Officials (CTH)

I have not written about the recent events in/around Ukraine because none of it makes sense and all of the information flows through the prism of ‘western’ intelligence propaganda. According to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy {SEE HERE}, he has removed and replaced the entire leadership apparatus of the Ukraine military. This follows his removal of 35-year-old Mykhailo Fedorov from the defense ministry last week {CITATION} that led to massive protests against Zelenskyy and armed forces Chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy, who was also eventually replaced.


As the story is told the young Defense Minister Mykailo Fedorov was very well regarded and was the person responsible for the successful technological advancements in military drone use. 35-year-old Fedorov was a close working partner with Palantir head Alex Karp who is assisting Ukraine in their drone development and deployment. If the drone development and deployment was such a massive success, as pronounced in all western and Ukraine statements, then why would Zelenskyy remove such a critical and effective Defense Minister? This makes no sense.

Additionally, if Chief General Oleksandr Syrskiy was such an effective combatant commander, and if Russia was indeed pushed back on their heels by both Syrskiy’s campaign and Fedorov’s drones, then why would Ukraine disrupt their entire military leadership apparatus while they are winning such well publicized victories. Again, none of this makes sense.bThese moves by President Zelenskyy are akin to President Trump firing Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine, while saying they were doing an exceptional job on Operation Epic Fury in Iran. See the problem?

None of these moves by Ukraine President Zelenskyy make any sense against the background story of them having incredible success against Russia. You don’t replace the entire military leadership apparatus if things are going swimmingly. However, it seems that no one in western media even fathoms the obvious conflicts in the narrative. The young defense minister Fedorov, responsible for the well-publicized and celebrated victories in the use of drone warfare does not summarily get dispatched unless there is some underlying reason. Something is not adding up.

ZELENSKYY –” Today, the decisions on the changes in the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be formalized – the relevant decrees are in preparation. Together with Mykhailo Drapatyi and Yevhenii Khmara, we determined that Major General Ihor Skybiuk will become the new Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He is a highly experienced officer who defended Ukraine shoulder to shoulder with the new Commander-in-Chief. It is important that all components of our Armed Forces continue to function in complete coordination. We also determined together how Oleksandr Syrskyi and Andrii Hnatov will continue serving in the defense of our country.”

Wall Street Journal – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the country’s armed-forces chief in a major reversal after initially siding with Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy in a row with a young defense minister closely associated with Ukraine’s growing prowess in drone warfare.

The Ukrainian leader announced his abrupt shift Tuesday evening following days of street rallies after he removed Mykhailo Fedorov from the defense ministry last week. After several meetings with senior military commanders, he replaced Syrskiy with another experienced officer, Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatiy, who previously signaled his willingness to take a more innovative approach to breaking the deadlock on the battlefield. It could prove a pivotal moment in Ukraine’s four-year-long defense since Moscow’s full-scale invasion. {MORE}

Additionally, at the exact moment when 35-year-old Mykhailo Fedorov was fired from the Defense Ministry, U.S. influencer Laura Loomer, a woman of generally unstable disposition, set off to begin a propaganda campaign in Ukraine telling her audience it was time to defeat the Russian propaganda.What followed from Loomer’s arrival in Ukraine (still unfolding) is transparently an intelligence community assist paid propaganda effort to reverse her position on Ukraine and begin supporting the Zelenskyy regime.

Less than 24 hours after Loomer arrived in Kiev to begin broadcasting her pro-Zelenskyy propaganda effort, it was announced that FBI Director Kash Patel will be traveling to Russia {Citation}. “FBI Director Kash Patel is planning to visit Russia later this year, likely in mid-October, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the situation.” … “Patel is scheduled to visit Russia on Oct. 14-15, first stopping in Moscow and then St. Petersburg.”

Read more …

“We have Mayor Mamdani, who pushed and is pushing an agenda of government-run supermarkets, abolishing private property rights, and seizing the means of production,” she continued. “…And that is exactly what they did in communist Cuba.”

Congresswoman’s Blunt Message for the MSM on Democratic Socialism (Anderson)

“This is what radical leftism is. It may wear various different slogans and ideologies across place and time. They call themselves anti-capitalist or anti-imperialist, communist, anarchist, Marxist, but the fundamental character is always the same,” Marco Rubio said last week when he hosted the leaders of over 60 different countries to a ministerial on the “resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism.” He left out “democratic socialism,” but let’s face it. It’s all the same. And Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) spoke out about that today at a House Republican leadership press conference, warning about the rise of so-called “democratic socialists” and the reality for voters and the media.


Malliotakis would know. Her mother fled Cuba in 1959 as Fidel Castro took power. The Castro regime stole her family’s home and their small business, a gas station owned by her grandfather. She says her mother never saw her grandfather again after that. I’ve heard countless stories just like that from Venezuelan friends and acquaintances. Communism ruins families. “Communism destroys. It steals from the people,” Malliotakis said. “…people end up living in squalor and lack the basic needs that human beings need, and the people that run the regime live as kings. That’s the reality. It’s about power. It’s about consolidating power for a select few.”

She pointed out that, sadly, that’s exactly what we’re starting to see here in the United States with the winners of several recent primaries and elections. “We have Mayor Mamdani, who pushed and is pushing an agenda of government-run supermarkets, abolishing private property rights, and seizing the means of production,” she continued. “…And that is exactly what they did in communist Cuba.”

The congresswoman pointed out that her Cuban mother says socialism is basically just a step toward communism. The government steals property and wealth and uses it to redistribute and create better lives for themselves, while their constituents suffer. She also pointed out that Democrats want to pack the Supreme Court, but that’s a move straight out of Hugo Chávez’s playbook. As I wrote yesterday, that’s one reason why Venezuela can’t have elections right now. The country’s Supreme Court is stacked in favor of the regime, and it will require dismantling the court, among other institutions, to get there.

Malliotakis also points out that voters are going to be in for a rude awakening if we continue to allow this type of behavior here in our country. “They can call themselves Democrat socialists, but the reality is that the Commie Caucus is coming to Congress,” she warned. But her best message, in my opinion, was for the press in attendance: “It’s going to be a rude awakening if we don’t all pay attention, and that includes the press. Think about what’s happening in those countries, where they’ve had socialism and communism. The press is the first one to go. When they finally consolidate that power, the media is the first one to go, and it [becomes] a state-run media.

The congresswoman concluded that it’s important for all of us to stand up to these radical threats, and she’s right. Our regular readers know that I spend most of my weeks knee-deep in Venezuela and Cuba, and I’ve gotten to know many people who lived in and had to leave these countries. They all tell the same tale: families destroyed, loved ones dying due to lack of food or medicine, friends arrested for daring to speak out, no jobs, poverty, malnourished infants and children, extended power outages, lack of clean drinking water, regime harassment, arbitrary detentions, and kangaroo courts, etc. Why on earth would anyone want to live like that? And don’t tell me it just wasn’t done correctly. The outcome is always the same.

Here are Malliotakis’ full remarks. They’re worth a watch. And I hope she and many other people in this country continue to speak out in the days ahead.

Read more …

“In a country with some of the strictest gun laws in the world, we’ve seen a rise in leftists and radical Islamic violence in the UK using alternative means. Up until now, it’s been “knife violence,” which we all know means there is an epidemic in the UK of knives jumping out of their drawers on their own and stabbing people…”

It’s Hammer Time! The Violent Left’s New Weapon of Choice. (O’Brien)

Ann Widdecombe was a 78-year-old former member of Parliament (MP), pro-life advocate, Reform UK spokesperson, and a conservative. Security video taken from inside her home in Haytor, Devon, which is in rural southwest England, captured her quietly sitting down by herself for lunch on July 8 around 12:30 p.m. That’s when 28-year-old UK citizen Joshua Kerry from South Yorkshire entered the picture. It seems he just walked into the home through the front door, a stranger to Widdecombe, approached her, and said, “Don’t suppose you have bank cards and ID?”


Without giving her much of a chance to respond, British prosecutors say he smashed the hammer into Widdecombe’s skull 21 times as she sat in her chair, after which he tipped her out of the chair and onto the floor of her house. Prosecutors say that Kerry spent two minutes in the house, wearing black gloves, before approaching and murdering Widdecombe in her kitchen and then taking her wallet before leaving the scene. Was this a random killing? It doesn’t seem to be.

While Kerry is alleged to have committed robbery, and so far there have not been any significant revelations of Kerry’s religious or political leanings, prosecutors say he did drive nearly 300 miles to carry out a very targeted attack. As my colleague Catherine Salgado reported previously, British law enforcement had been investigating the crime as an act of terrorism. This leaves us to conclude at the very least that Kerry had a problem with Widdecombe’s politics, making him a leftist. The Blaze is reporting that this was a targeted assassination.

In a country with some of the strictest gun laws in the world, we’ve seen a rise in leftists and radical Islamic violence in the UK using alternative means. Up until now, it’s been “knife violence,” which we all know means there is an epidemic in the UK of knives jumping out of their drawers on their own and stabbing people. It’s not like people should be held to account for their own actions and motivations, right? You do remember how the innocent, young, British Henry Nowak died, don’t you?

Nowak died as he bled out in handcuffs, while British police made sure his knife-wielding killer was OK. Since guns aren’t as available to the British citizenry to defend themselves, nor as accessible to their would-be killers, the murdering class has had to innovate. While knives have been the murder weapon of choice, another throwback to more barbaric times has emerged – the hammer. That’s what Kerry allegedly used against Widdecombe, and it’s what a group called Palestine Action is promoting as a new means to employ “direct action.”

It’s probably no coincidence, but the hammer in the group’s graphic looks an awful lot like the hammer and sickle of the old Soviet Union, the hammer of communism, and the hammer that leftists from around the world rally around. If recent events are any indication, it seems that the hammer has transitioned from mere symbol to preferred weapon. (By the way, don’t try to log onto PalestineAction.org. My anti-virus software warned me of a potential phishing threat there. You don’t want to risk having someone invade your computer and wreak havoc.)

CNN described Palestine Action as “a UK-based organization that aims to disrupt the operations of weapons manufacturers connected to the Israeli government.” “It was founded by Huda Ammori and climate activist Richard Barnard in 2020, when the group took its first action to shut down the UK operations of Elbit Systems – Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer – and stated its commitment to ‘ending global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime,’” CNN reported.

So, while in America the left continues its ongoing and long-term campaign to disarm gun owners and kill the Second Amendment, you can see that in other countries gun confiscation hasn’t stopped the left from perpetuating the dark savagery that is in its heart. The left knows that it will never win and hold power through popularity. Instead, it will win power through deception and violence, and it will hold power through force and violence. At the moment, that force has come in the form of its favorite tool, the hammer.

Read more …

Mamdani knows this. But he can score cheap points.

New York City Hall Has No Business Running Its Own Foreign Policy (David Manney)

New York City communist Mayor Zohran Mamdani spent months promising to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His lawyers finally delivered the answer anybody familiar with American law could see coming. “We do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant,” Mamdani admitted Tuesday.His administration reviewed “every avenue” for using the International Criminal Court warrant if Netanyahu visits New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September. City lawyers found no legal path, proving that Mamdani’s campaign pledge was never within the mayor’s power.


Mamdani still called Netanyahu a war criminal and demanded that the federal government join the ICC and execute the warrant, while also declaring Netanyahu unwelcome in New York. I hate to be the one to break it to the Democratic Socialist, but mayors don’t decide who enters the United States. They don’t join international courts, recognize foreign warrants, conduct diplomacy, or set federal criminal policy.All Mamdani can do is offer his opinion, but City Hall has no separate foreign policy.

Neither the United States nor Israel is a party to the Rome Statute, which created the ICC. Congress also barred state and local agencies from cooperating with ICC requests, providing support to the court, or helping surrender people to its custody.

(2) shall not prohibit—(A) any action permitted under section 7427 of this title; or (B) communication by the United States of its policy with respect to a matter. (b) Prohibition on responding to requests for cooperation

Notwithstanding section 1782 of title 28 or any other provision of law, no United States Court, and no agency or entity of any State or local government, including any court, may cooperate with the International Criminal Court in response to a request for cooperation submitted by the International Criminal Court pursuant to the Rome Statute.

(c)nProhibition on transmittal of letters rogatory from the International Criminal Court

Notwithstanding section 1781 of title 28 or any other provision of law, no agency of the United States Government may transmit for execution any letter rogatory issued, or other request for cooperation made, by the International Criminal Court to the tribunal, officer, or agency in the United States to whom it is addressed.

The ICC issued its warrant in November 2024, alleging Netanyahu committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza war. Israel rejects the court’s jurisdiction and denies the allegations. The warrant doesn’t charge Netanyahu with genocide, even though Mamdani repeatedly calls him the “architect” of one. UN week creates another legal problem. The 1947 United Nations Headquarters Agreement requires federal, state, and local authorities to avoid obstructing representatives traveling to and from UN headquarters. Reuters:

Netanyahu traditionally travels to New York every September for the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly. Israel responded to Mamdani’s comments on Sunday in an X post that called the ICC a kangaroo court and the arrest warrant against Netanyahu bogus. “Mamdani appears interested in diverting public attention from his follies and attacking the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East,” it said.

The ICC was established in 2002 and has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The United States and Israel are not members of the court. Mamdani, who took office in January, said during his mayoral campaign that he would have police arrest Netanyahu if he set foot in New York City. Last November, shortly after Mamdani’s election victory, the mayor-elect and Trump held an unexpectedly friendly meeting in the White House even though they had previously traded insults. New York City can’t invite the world’s governments to Manhattan and then let its mayor select which leaders may safely attend.

President Donald Trump ended any remaining uncertainty Monday. Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form,” while in the United States, Trump said. Mamdani’s admission should close the matter. Instead, he used his retreat to demand federal action, preserving the political theater after conceding he couldn’t deliver his promise.New Yorkers were told their mayor would direct the NYPD to arrest a foreign prime minister. Months later, he acknowledged he lacked the authority from the beginning. Lawyers had to study a campaign pledge before Mamdani would admit that municipal power ends well before international diplomacy begins.

City Hall already has enough work. New Yorkers expect police protection, clean streets, safe subways, working schools, affordable housing, and competent public services. They didn’t elect a secretary of state. The U.S. government already has one. Mamdani can condemn Netanyahu as often as he chooses; he can support the ICC, criticize Israel, and urge Congress to change federal law. He still can’t turn personal ideology into municipal authority. His own legal review settled the issue. City Hall has no business running its own foreign policy, and Mamdani now admits he has no power to carry out the threat that helped build his political brand.

Read more …

“It had become more the socialist caucus, and most of the leadership was socialist Democrats. I didn’t feel comfortable in it.”

House Democrat Blows the Whistle on Socialist, Antisemitic Takeover (Margolis)

I’ve said before that I don’t like using the term “progressive” to describe the Democrat Party, its ideology, or its positions. Why? Because it suggests improvement or progress. At the very least, it’s a poor euphemism, but it’s more deliberately deceptive if you ask me. “By calling itself progressive,” it implies every position it takes is a positive one. Sorry, I can’t do that.


CNN’s Van Jones noted this very thing earlier this week. The commentator and former Obama administration official argued that Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidates and their agenda are “regressive,” not “progressive.” Jones warned that the party’s drift toward socialism, hostility toward police, and open contempt for Israel is scaring off the centrist voters Democrats need to win elections. Even a guy who spent years defending this party on cable news can see the cliff it’s walking toward.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) also figured this out last year, and he did something about it. Cohen revealed to CNN this week that he left the Congressional Progressive Caucus last year. “I just found it to be not the same caucus I joined in 2007,” Cohen said. “It had become more the socialist caucus, and most of the leadership was socialist Democrats. I didn’t feel comfortable in it.”

That’s not a stray complaint from a bitter retiree. Cohen came to Congress in 2007 and aligned himself with J Street, a left-leaning Jewish organization that supports a two-state solution and has long rivaled the traditional pro-Israel lobby. Even that didn’t keep him in step with where his caucus went. “There certainly were not people who were so anti-Israel when I started, and there are within the progressive caucus now,” he said, describing a party that traded coalition politics for ideology.

Cohen announced last year that he wouldn’t seek re-election after the new district drawn and approved by Tennessee’s Republican legislature made his chances of reelection nearly impossible, but it’s quite clear he saw a much bigger problem brewing. “I foresaw it getting really nasty and antisemitism getting into it,” he said. He’d already watched that antisemitism spread through his party’s rank and file up close, which is exactly why the socialist caucus stopped feeling like home.

Cohen was one of only 22 Democrats willing to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib after she defended the “from the river to the sea” chant in a video accusing President Joe Biden of enabling a Palestinian “genocide.” Tlaib hasn’t spoken to him since. A sitting congresswoman froze out a colleague for objecting to genocide rhetoric aimed at Israel, and her own party barely blinked.

Make no mistake about it: Cohen didn’t quit his caucus over redistricting maps. He quit because the socialists took over and brought their antisemitism with them. The Democrat Party didn’t get more “progressive.” It got more socialist, and more left-of-center people are noticing and doing something about it. Not only did Cohen leave the House Progressive Caucus, but Bill Maher says his vote is up for grabs in 2028. And if Democrats fail to win the House in November, you’ll know why.

Read more …

The Dems have no face. Mamdani is New York, not America.

Why Aren’t the Democrats Walking Away With the Midterms? (Rick Moran)

By all rights, Democrats should be blowing Republicans out of the water in these midterm elections. Donald Trump’s approval numbers are underwater, and on issues, Democrats hold an advantage on which party is better able to handle the economy. The Iran War is becoming more unpopular by the week, and inflation is beginning to tick up as a result. Republicans are trusted far more on immigration, but in a true, bitter irony, Trump has slowed the illegal wave at the border to a trickle, making it far less of an issue. So why aren’t the Democrats winning big? Ron Brownstein, a veteran political reporter, is noticing it too.

This gentleman has the answer for Brownstein and any Democrat who actually wants to win in November (LANGUAGE WARNING):

Voters may not love Republicans. They may not like what’s happening in the economy, in Iran, and with inflation. They may not like Trump very much. But there’s one reason that, against all odds, Republicans could very well end up holding their slim majority in the House and even increase their margin in the Senate. Voters hate Democrats more. In an election where all of the issues are breaking the Democrats’ way, Republicans have two huge issues they can throw at Democrats that may very well scare enough voters to give the GOP an advantage.

The first is a gift from the Democrats: their acquiescence in an attempted coup of their party by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Republicans will call them “communists.” The DSA doesn’t care what you call them as long as you vote for them.The Democrats are gambling, like all mainstream parties in history faced with a radical left surge, that once the kooks help the rest of them get elected, they will control them, tame them, and channel their energy into productive, constitutional avenues. Good luck with that because it worked so well in Russia and Germany in the 20th century.

Meanwhile, Republicans are going old school with a 1950s-era, genuine anti-communist “Red Scare” campaign. b“We’re fighting right now in Congress over whether we’re going to maintain our status as a constitutional republic or we’re going to trade that in, dismantle the foundations, and go down this dark road of death to communism,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a press conference at the Republican National Committee. b“These crazy little mini-Mamdanis who are popping up all around the country, they are a danger to you and your family.”

The Hill: bHouse Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) drew attention to the Democratic Party’s ideological battle in those primaries, with the insurgent left-wing candidates defeating those favored by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). He was clear that Republicans saw those leftist candidates as useful to campaign against. “In swing districts, it draws an incredibly sharp contrast between our incumbent Republicans who are working to make life more affordable for working families against these communists who want to literally defund the police,” Scalise said.

He was referencing the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) platform, which calls for “steps towards fully abolishing the police and prison system which protects the rich and jails the poor” and “amnesty for all immigrants regardless of status.” bI really hope they bring back Doo-wop and Elvis (yes, he’s still alive). While they’re at it, making my crew cut popular again would be fine with me. Democrats are doing all the heavy lifting for Republicans. The GOP doesn’t have to demonize the Democrats when the donks are doing a darn fine job of it on their own.

The trick for Republicans will be to find a way to get their supporters to the polls. Right now, the enthusiasm gap is concerning, but why isn’t it larger, asks one political science professor. “I don’t think that things are looking very good for Republicans,” said Rob Alexander, a political science professor at Bowling Green. “The enthusiasm gap that we’re seeing is unsurprising. Maybe the most surprising thing is that it’s not higher in favor of Democrats.”

The professor also noted what the GOP isn’t saying in the campaign. “It’s just all negative, negative, negative. There’s very little ‘we’re building the American dream, and things are better.’ It’s more ‘those guys are bad,’” Alexander said. “It seems to be the tactic that we’re settling into as we move on, and it’s going to be a really ugly fall throughout the country.”

Read more …

“This is what America needs to be strong, successful, and resilient. “

American Manufacturing One Year After One Big Beautiful Bill (Chris Queen)

It’s been about a year since President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law, and over that 12-month period, we’ve seen the positive outcomes from the act. One of those is an American manufacturing renaissance. A new report from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) demonstrates how the tax cuts from this bill have spurred growth in manufacturing: Manufacturing is the economic engine of the United States. Led by the 13 million people who make things in America, manufacturing succeeds when backed by policies that make it easier to build, hire, and expand.


H.R. 1 embodies that commitment. By signing H.R. 1 into law, President Trump gave manufacturers the foundation, competitiveness, and certainty to invest—in new facilities and equipment, jobs and wage growth, cutting-edge research, and our global competitiveness.This law is a once-in-a-generation investment in manufacturers, and it did not happen by chance. As pro-growth tax policies approached expiration, putting 6 million jobs at risk, manufacturers rallied to make our voices heard. Congress not only kept every one of the 10 major provisions for which the NAM advocated—they even added new provisions, all to strengthen manufacturing.

One year after H.R. 1 became law, manufacturers have much to celebrate. Manufacturers in all 50 states are using H.R. 1 to invest in America. By NAM’s count, the Trump tax cuts have supported 6 million American jobs, saved $540 billion in wages for hardworking Americans, and contributed $1.1 trillion in GDP. “That’s the manufacturing economy a permanent, pro-growth tax code helps sustain — and manufacturers are delivering on the promise,” NAM says. The Working Families Tax Cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill have seen concrete benefits in all 50 states. Investments in research and development, full deductions for facility expansion, and incentives to build in the U.S. have all spurred growth that’s hard to ignore or explain away.

From 11,000 jobs protected in Alaska to 708,000 jobs supported in California, every state is reaping the benefits of this unprecedented investment in the American workforce. NAM’s report gives case studies for all 50 states.The One Big Beautiful Bill’s provisions aren’t just for large corporations. Even small businesses like Winton Machine Company in Suwanee, Ga., are seeing the benefits. The 38-employee company is able to reinvest in its operations and innovate in its industry.

“As manufacturers, our ability to reinvest drives job creation, advances new technologies and supports our communities,” says CEO Lisa Winton. “I am committed to continue to help drive innovation and invest in the future manufacturing workforce here in the USA.” Louisiana’s Martin Sustainable Resources used the tax cuts, credits, and incentives to expand its facilities, upgrade its equipment, and make long-term investments. It’s planning for the future, thanks to these pro-growth policies.

“The Working Families Tax Cuts are helping to fuel modernization at our company,” says CEO E. Scott Poole. “Full expensing for facilities and equipment strengthens our ability to keep making long-term investments, and estate tax relief helps protect the continuity of a family-owned company rooted in Louisiana for generations.”“These results demonstrate the undeniable power of President Trump’s America First economic agenda,” reads the White House press release. “By putting American families and businesses first, the Working Families Tax Cuts are rebuilding American industrial strength, creating opportunity in every community, and delivering real results for real Americans.”

This is what America needs to be strong, successful, and resilient. It’s what can help sustain our economy in good and bad times. And I definitely voted for this. Trump’s tax cuts are helping American manufacturers build new facilities, upgrade equipment, create jobs, and plan for the future. That’s what an America First economy looks like, when policy moves beyond slogans and starts producing results.

Read more …

“Considering the economy of the USA is ten-times larger than Canada, that’s quite a threat from Premier Doug Ford.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford Promises “to Dismantle the U.S” Economy (CTH)

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has a message to President Trump and to all Americans. Premier Ford promises to dismantle the U.S. economy if President Trump continues to threaten tariffs and trade sanctions.Considering the economy of the USA is ten-times larger than Canada, that’s quite a threat from Premier Doug Ford. WATCH:


Personally, I think all this back-and-forth banter is no longer worth the surface effort. It would be much easier, and now affirmed as constitutionally appropriate by the Supreme Court, if President Trump just executed a full trade embargo against all Canadian goods for a period of 60-days. Perhaps that way Canada will recognize just how vulnerable they are. Perhaps not, but it’s worth the effort. Just ban all imports and exports for 60-days and let’s see what happens.

Read more …

“Donald Trump wants Canada to go and try to cut more favorable trade deals, so they will learn how good they had it.”

USTR Jamieson Greer Outlines Details of Talking Points With Canada (CTH)

In the first half of this CNBC interview with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer, the Ambassador walks through the reasoning, purpose and intent of the recently announced 50% tariff rate against Canadian imported goods. As noted by USTR Greer the Canadians are applying two separate metrics within their trade agreement with Europe and the USA. Toward Europe there are no limits and quotas on dairy products, toward the USA there are severe limits and quotas applied by third party brokers (co-ops owned by Canadian dairy farms) leveraged by the Canadian government. This is one example of Canadian duplicity.


Additionally, by the various provincial governments of Canada banning the import and/or sale of U.S. products, and with Canada putting caps and limits on automobiles, these USA trade actions are being confronted by the 50% countervailing duties against Canadian imports. Greer also calls ‘bulls**t’ on Carney’s double speak. WATCH:

The trade discussion with Canada returns at the 10:00 minute mark. Jamieson Greer notes we have always had trade issues with Canada for decades. There was a significant percentage of the population who are against offshoring jobs, which is what NAFTA essentially did in North America. It is also worth emphasizing that President Trump wants Canada to diversify. Both U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra and President Trump have said, repeatedly, President Trump wants Canada to go make other bilateral deals with other nations. Why? Two main reasons.

#1) If Canada has to enter a bilateral trade agreement with another country, suddenly they learn what reciprocity means. They have to give something in order to get trade benefit. This is a completely new concept for Canada who have taken advantage of the USA for a long time with ZERO reciprocity in mind. This is what former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was talking to Trump about in Mar-a-Lago (December ’24). In essence, Donald Trump wants Canada to go and try to cut more favorable trade deals, so they will learn how good they had it.

#2) If Canada cuts a trade agreement with, say, Europe, the terms of that FTA purchase in/out then become a standard in their trade allowances. This permits team USA to turn to Canada and say, “wait, we want the same terms”. We might even ask for most favored nation terms due to scale and scope. Canada is not prepared for this type of bilateral relationship at all. The CUSMA trade negotiator Dominic LeBlanc just discovered the problem following the current Canadian effort to diversify FTAs. Suddenly, LeBlanc has admitted quietly they have no response.

For around 40+ years (USTR Greer would argue 60+ years) Canada has benefitted from the U.S. economy purchasing their goods, allowing their businesses unlimited access to the U.S. market and yet simultaneously restricting the Canadian market from similar reciprocity. Those terms are no longer acceptable.

Read more …

“Looking at the global automotive market, one conclusion is unavoidable: the end of the combustion engine is nowhere in sight.”

The Death of the Cash Cow (Thomas Kolbe)

Looking at the global automotive market, one conclusion is unavoidable: the end of the combustion engine is nowhere in sight. The ideological crusade against Germany’s industrial backbone has merely led to the slaughter of the country’s automotive cash cows. The reasons behind the decline of Germany’s automotive industry will remain subject to debate. But one thing is clear: an energy policy detached from economic reality, driven by climate-apocalyptic ambitions, has harmed the industry at least as much as strategic mistakes at the management level.


A lack of cost flexibility and a German labor system rooted in the moral foundations of the post-war economic boom have made the adjustments necessary in the face of fierce competition from China, the United States and increasingly India far more difficult. German corporatism has also done companies a disservice by narrowing technological choices according to a familiar ideological compass. The end of the combustion engine is a collective product. Political leaders and institutional actors share the same conviction: pave the way with subsidies and taxpayer money toward a fully electric golden age.

Meanwhile, almost quietly and somewhat embarrassingly, the industry has begun relocating production of its traditional combustion-engine models abroad. It is simply unhealthy for an economy to stand too close to the political fire. In times of crisis, companies are left exposed to the harsh winds of global competition — and so are the workers whose jobs disappear by the hundreds of thousands. The reality looks different from the political narrative. Around 95 percent of vehicles worldwide are still powered by traditional combustion engines. Among new registrations last year, fully electric vehicles accounted for roughly one quarter. Nearly two-thirds of newly registered vehicles still have a combustion engine under the hood. The remainder are hybrids.

There is no doubt that the long-term technological path is moving toward hybrid drive systems. Traditional combustion engines offer limited prospects for new investment. Nevertheless, this enormous market would have been the necessary cash cow for German automakers and their suppliers. The profits generated from combustion-engine vehicles could have provided the financial strength needed to invest in new technologies according to actual market developments.

This transformation would have taken place at the German home base if an ideological fervor among saturated urban elites had not emerged — a fervor that turned against the country’s own automotive industry and initiated a form of industrial self-destruction.The fundamental mistake lies in Germany’s corporatist model. The country rushed into an immature technology with flags flying high, encouraged by politicians who believed the future lay entirely beyond fossil fuels. The theory sounds attractive: borrow cheaply, pool government debt at Germany’s favorable financing conditions, create the necessary technological foundations and production capacities, and secure pole position in electric mobility from the beginning.

But the devil, as always, lies in the details. It would be the first time in economic history that a centrally planned strategy permanently moved ahead of market reality. The pressure on German manufacturers has grown since China succeeded not only in closing the technological gap with European producers, but in reopening it in certain areas to its own advantage. Beijing is also fighting the emerging weakness of its domestic economy with massive subsidy programs. It is therefore hardly surprising that German manufacturers have come under enormous pressure in the most important automotive market in the world.

At the same time, the consequences of Germany’s energy transition, sky-high energy costs, excessive regulation and rigid labor laws have made the domestic location increasingly unattractive for additional investment. The cash cows that policymakers had already written off are now grazing elsewhere. It is not the combustion engine that is disappearing — it is the value creation surrounding it. Volkswagen’s Passat is now produced in Slovakia rather than Emden. The new Volkswagen Transporter is built at Ford Otosan’s plant in Turkey, while Audi produces the Q3 in Hungary. Mercedes has moved a significant part of its compact-car production to Kecskemét.

Large premium SUVs from German manufacturers have for years largely rolled off production lines in the United States or Slovakia. The truth is simple: production takes place where the combustion engine generates the highest returns — and Germany is clearly no longer one of those locations. Around 130,000 jobs have been eliminated in Germany’s automotive industry in recent years. Once second-round effects are included, roughly half a million jobs may have been affected by the crisis. A lost position in core automotive production typically leads to two, if not three additional job losses along the supply chain and through declining purchasing power in the surrounding regions.Eastern Europe, economically held back by socialism until the end of the Cold War, now benefits from capital flowing out of the West.

Read more …

“Across almost all 50 states, there’s a move toward moratoriums on building data centers as concerns about their potential impact grow…and they remain a political liability as the midterms approach.”

Billion-Dollar Data Centers And The Growing Opposition (Janet Levy)

Nestled between the sere hills east of Sparks, Nevada, and a little off the U.S. Parkway (SR-439), Switch’s Citadel Campus is a Las Vegas company specializing in data centers. One building is already operational: Tahoe Reno 1, a high-security, futuristic industrial shed standing on endless rows of girders, with a roof designed to withstand 200-mile-per-hour winds.


Inside, thousands of servers process data for businesses that pay for space, bandwidth, and security. To dissipate the enormous heat from the servers and the generators powering the unit, several million gallons of water are circulated through hundreds of miles of tubing—this in the driest state in the U.S., where groundwater is declining at an alarming rate. The low-frequency hum and noise from the center can be heard nearly a mile away.

Switch describes it as “the single largest colocation data center facility on the planet.” It has a footprint of 1.3 million square feet, roughly equivalent to 23 American football fields. Its power capacity—a metric of processing ability and the equivalent backup supply and cooling required—is 130 MW. For perspective, one megawatt can power 75 racks, each holding 21–42 servers, and power 500–1,000 homes.

When the eight planned buildings are ready, the 2,000-acre Citadel Campus, bounded by concrete walls, will offer a whopping 7 million square feet of server space and 650 MW of power capacity, making it the world’s most powerful data complex. Switch plans to develop it into an exascale ecosystem—with computers capable of quintillions of calculations per second, needed for AI and high-speed work, and power capacity running into several gigawatts.

As AI, cloud computing, and digital services touch all lives and demand for processing power grows exponentially, data centers are proliferating across the U.S. Over 3,000 centers are now operational, with 1,500 slated for development. While 87% of current centers are in urban areas, 67% of the newer ones are planned in rural areas, and 39% in counties with no centers.

In Nevada and elsewhere, communities, local and city governments, and legislatures are raising concerns about the significant environmental and quality-of-life impacts of data centers. In fact, Reno has a moratorium until August 2027 on approving data centers within the city. Surveys show that most Americans oppose data centers in their neighborhoods. The biggest concerns are acreage and water use; strain on power grids; air pollution from backup generators, although many centers claim to rely on green backups; and noise pollution, with the low-frequency buzz affecting humans even when it is inaudible.

Give Us Your Acres
Data centers of the future require vast acreage, so construction is naturally shifting toward rural areas. Concerns are mounting over the rapid conversion of farmland into industrial sites because farmland loss is usually permanent and significantly affects food production. In addition, profligate water use will affect the water table, and the arrival of power grid infrastructure and industrial activity could lead to the destruction of wetlands, grasslands, and ecosystems.

Farmers are reporting—and refusing—tempting offers for their land, a generational asset to which they are deeply attached. Offers from Fortune 100 companies run into the double-digit millions. One offer for a Kentucky farm, where an undisclosed industrial development was planned, was $10 million, five times what the owner paid 30 years ago. Another farmer was told to name any price. Yet another was offered $33 million and told that details about the project would be provided if she signed a non-disclosure agreement.

The question is: How long will they be able to resist? With President Trump pushing for America to become an AI superpower, data centers are unlikely to be stalled. Staunch Trump supporters and Republicans in rural areas, already hurt by retaliatory tariffs from China and Canada, are unhappy. They are questioning and opposing this relentless encroachment. Even in cities and suburbs, data centers compete directly with residential development, driving up land prices and reducing the number of viable housing sites. In northern Virginia, data centers accounted for a disproportionate 30% of land development between 2013 and 2021. These trends, which will likely be seen in all states soon, will jeopardize the housing supply.

Give Us Your Power
Data centers are the most energy-intensive building types, consuming 10–50 times more energy per square foot than a typical commercial office. A single AI data center can use as much power as 100,000 homes, but the massive ones coming up can use up to 20 times that amount. In fact, by 2030, power demand is projected to reach 130 gigawatts—a gigawatt equals a million megawatts—about 13 times New York City’s peak summer power demand and 25-30% of the United States’s average power usage.

Data center power consumption is set to triple, from 4% of U.S. usage in 2023 to 12% in 2028. Data centers aim for a PUE of 1.4–1.5 (power usage effectiveness), which is easier to understand as 67% of total consumption going to IT equipment. This is much better than general computing centers, where PUE is 2, meaning only 50% of the power consumed powers IT equipment. But general computing uses only 10–50 kW for smaller centers, up to 2 MW for campus-level hubs, and up to 5 MW for corporate centers.

Take Pollution in Return
The thousands of server racks in data centers must be cooled to prevent overheating and failure, requiring massive cooling systems of two types: immersion and water circulation. The first immerses equipment in special dielectric fluids, which can pose health risks from exposure. Water-based systems pollute the environment because their discharge contains coolants, biocides, corrosion inhibitors, concentrated minerals, and heavy metals. Noise from data centers reaches 96 decibels (dB) inside facilities, while generator noise can reach 105 dB, comparable to a jet flying overhead.

By comparison, noise levels in quiet neighborhoods are 45–55 dB, and in mixed-use neighborhoods, 55–65 dB. Chronic exposure to noise above 65 dB can cause hypertension, headaches, nausea, insomnia, dizziness, and cardiovascular issues. Diesel-fueled backup generators at data centers emit nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide, and particulate matter (PM2.5), all linked to asthma, respiratory disease, and heart disease. Communities near these facilities experience higher air pollution levels than the rest of the country. The power supply will be slow to meet demand, so data centers may rely more on backup generators, increasing pollution. P

roliferation and Opposition
The proliferation has begun. Virginia, which has 320 data centers, the most in the U.S., expects a total of 954. Texas will eventually surpass Virginia with 962. Northern Virginia houses 50 million square feet of data center space, has earned the moniker Data Center Alley, and serves as a backbone for Big Tech and AI development. The opposition has also begun. People have protested the noise and the constant hum from data centers in northern Virginia. There is also a surge in efforts to block data center construction, especially projects planned near residential areas. In northern Virginia, Blackstone was forced to abandon its 22 million-square-foot facility at the Prince William Digital Gateway.

Time for a Rethink
A Reuters/Ipsos survey found that 57% of respondents opposed data centers, while a Gallup survey found that seven in 10 opposed them. Across almost all 50 states, there’s a move toward moratoriums on building data centers as concerns about their potential impact grow. New York, Georgia, Oklahoma, Vermont, and Virginia have introduced legislation to impose moratoriums or bans on new data centers.President Trump has strongly advocated data center development as a means to make America the AI leader. Other politicians have promoted data centers to drive economic growth. But they must reconsider, as data centers are now a political liability with voters.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/DRPOOLQ17/status/2079351525286023495?s=20

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Jul 222026
 


Michelangelo Pietà 1498


Trump Weighs Massive Escalation in Iran (Rick Moran)
The Perfect Metaphor for What’s Happening to the Democrat Party (Margolis)
The Revolutionary Upside to Arresting Netanyahu (Scott Pinsker)
The Democrats’ Financial Situation Appears To Be Worse Than We Knew (ZH)
Democratic Leaders Join Socialists in Criticizing Capitalism (Turley)
Trump Admin Slaps 50% Tariffs On Wide Range of Canadian Goods, Imports (CTH)
An Uncomfortable Change in Perspective (CTH)
Darrell Issa Wants Both of Trump’s Impeachments Expunged From The Record (JTN)
US Intel Views Targeting of Voter Data As Election Interference (JTN)
Court: ‘Smithers, Release The Biden Tapes!’ (Stephen Green)
Rand Paul Discloses Evidence FBI Blocked CBP Interview Of Fauci Ally (JTN)
The Great American Demographic Shift (Eric Florack)
What Happens Next in Venezuela Could Define Rubio’s Legacy (Sarah Anderson)

 


 

https://twitter.com/OpenSourceZone/status/2079627032032354378?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2079640465423396915?s=20

 


 


Trump is like Putin: doesn’t want to, but can’t escape it.

Trump Weighs Massive Escalation in Iran (Rick Moran)

Iran has escalated attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, putting three tankers out of commission while continuing to attack U.S. and allied bases in the region. Meanwhile, the U.S. delivered several massive strikes on Iranian infrastructure on the 10th consecutive day of retaliatory attacks.


Now, Iran’s tribal Houthi allies in Yemen have announced a blockade on Saudi Arabia’s oil shipments through the Red Sea’s Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The Saudis were using the Red Sea to ship some of their oil, avoiding the mess in the Strait of Hormuz. Located at the southern end of the Red Sea, it connects the Gulf of Aden (and the broader Indian Ocean) to the Red Sea.

If the Houthis are successful (most analysts don’t think they have the capability to blockade the Strait), it would cut world oil supplies by an estimated 7%. According to the Washington Post, “Already, 10 percent of global oil shipments are halted by disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely shut by Iranian threats and mines since the U.S. and Israel launched the war five months ago.”

The strategic situation facing the president is extremely tricky. His options have been shrinking since the end of the ceasefire two weeks ago. Iran’s riverboat gamble in closing the Strait, hoping the pressure on the U.S. from allies to open the Strait would give them ceasefire terms better than they deserve, would require a capitulation from the U.S. that President Donald Trump can’t accept. Meanwhile, Iran is hurting itself more than the U.S. in closing the Strait, as the halt to Iranian imports of fertilizer and refined oil products is making a collapse of the Iranian economy imminent.

Trump knows this and is increasing the pressure on Tehran by a series of escalating attacks on Iranian infrastructure. Now that the Houthis have all but joined the war, the situation threatens to spin out of control and war could engulf the entire region. One option Trump is reportedly considering involves “a massive joint military campaign with Israel to force Tehran’s capitulation,” according to Axios. This “all in” option has been urged by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for some weeks, and given the strategic choices facing the president, it might be his best option. But not quite yet. Trump appears to be giving diplomacy one last shot.

Axios: “Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan and other regional mediators have presented the U.S. and Iran with a proposal for a 10-day ceasefire, two regional sources with direct knowledge of the effort told Axios. The Trump administration is exploring the proposal and has urged Israel to avoid steps that could close the diplomatic window, U.S. officials said. But Washington is simultaneously preparing for the talks to fail. The U.S. military has sent dozens of fighter jets and refueling aircraft to the region in recent days, assembling the forces needed for a major escalation.

Israeli sources said the IDF is on high alert and preparing for a possible expansion of the war into a full-scale, coordinated campaign within days.Ten straight nights of U.S. bombing have failed to break Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, dragging Trump deeper into a war he has repeatedly declared won. At least three U.S. service members have been killed in the renewed fighting. Trump said Monday he had ordered the Pentagon to make Iran pay “many times over” for every American death.

“As long as American hostilities in the region continue, the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in remarks carried by the semiofficial Tasnim News Agency. This adds a sense of real urgency to the talks. It also makes a massive military action by the U.S. more likely. Iran is still trying to find a way to collect “reasonable service fees” for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. It’s hard to overstate how terrible that would be, not just for Hormuz but for international shipping around the world.

Iran has no legitimate claim to ownership of the Strait. The tankers would not be crossing in their sovereign waters. Accepting Iran’s claim that it can legally charge ships for using the Strait of Hormuz is tantamount to piracy. The best outcome of the war at this point is to inflict so much damage on Iran that it is forced to drop its silly notion of collecting tolls and other ludicrous stipulations regarding its claims of sovereignty over the Strait and adopt a reasonable negotiating posture.

Iran has not yet adopted anything “reasonable” in negotiating with the U.S., so the next best option is to force the Iranian economy to collapse. The fallout from that — including a nation of 90 million people starving and flooding neighboring countries with refugees — would be unacceptable in the short term. That leaves forcing Iran to the negotiating table to sign a deal beneficial to the U.S. and our allies in the region.

Read more …

“..eliminating the U.S. Senate outright, replacing the presidency and the Supreme Court with executive and judicial bodies that Congress picks, granting mass amnesty to every illegal alien currently in the country, and defunding the Department of War…”

The Perfect Metaphor for What’s Happening to the Democrat Party (Margolis)

Democrats have spent months trying to convince voters that theirs is a “big tent” party with a coalition roomy enough for everyone from suburban moderates to democratic socialists. It is a nice story. It also is not true. There is far less diversity of thought on the left right now than there is on the right, and the gap is only getting wider as the socialist wing tightens its grip on the party’s machinery.


Fox News host Kennedy captured that dynamic perfectly on Monday’s episode of The Five. She compared the Democrat Party’s “big tent” to a Trojan horse, except for the fact that the socialists riding it aren’t hiding inside waiting to be let in. They are already sitting on top, reins in hand, openly announcing what they plan to do once they’re through the gate.

“Talk about a fort, and all these people, from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), all the establishment Democrats are talking about this, the idea of a big tent,” Kennedy said. She pointed to the Trojan horse from Homer’s The Odyssey (oh yeah, I guess it’s a movie now, too) as the perfect visual. “The Trojan horse, they built it, but they’re riding on top of it, they’re not even inside of it.”

From there, Kennedy laid out exactly what the socialist left intends to do once it has full control of the party. “The commies have a giant saddle, and they’re on the horse, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, we’re coming in to take your party. And we’re burning the fort down. We’re burning all of it down,'” she said. The goal, as she described it, is not incremental reform. “That means that the Constitution, as we know it, does not exist; nor does capitalism,” Kennedy said.

https://twitter.com/TheFive/status/2079348125513154633?s=20

That’s the whole plan.

The Democratic Socialists of America unveiled a new platform earlier this month that has some of the most insane, woke policies you could imagine. It calls for eliminating the U.S. Senate outright, replacing the presidency and the Supreme Court with executive and judicial bodies that Congress picks, granting mass amnesty to every illegal alien currently in the country, and defunding the Department of War. It wants deportations ended entirely and migration between countries left unrestricted. It would also extend voting rights to noncitizens and violent criminals, mandate a 32-hour workweek with no cut in pay or benefits, enact Medicare-for-All, cancel all student loan debt, eliminate cash bail, and impose universal rent control.

That platform is real, and it is precisely the kind of agenda establishment Democrats keep insisting their party doesn’t actually stand for.

This is why the socialist insurgency in the Democrat Party is a real problem for them. The Democrats don’t have a substantial lead in the generic congressional ballot, which means they may not win the House, despite everything that should be working in their favor. The bottom line is that the Democrats had every historical advantage walking into this midterm. Voters usually punish the party in the White House. Instead, the Democrat Party is handing persuadable voters a reason to vote Republican.

Read more …

For one thing, the UN would no longer be in New York.

The Revolutionary Upside to Arresting Netanyahu (Scott Pinsker)

Conventional wisdom says that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is bluffing. After all, that’s what a normal, typical politician would do. The United States isn’t a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Neither is Israel. There’s no legal standing for an American politician to order the arrest of a foreign head of state based on an ICC ruling. (In fact, it would directly conflict with established international law, including the United Nations Headquarters Agreement and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.)


Which is why, conventional wisdom says, Mayor Mamdani is merely virtue-signaling to his left-wing base. One of the mayor’s more memorable 2025 campaign promises was pledging to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “war crimes” in Gaza. From the New York Times (Sept. 12, 2025): Mr. Mamdani had said earlier in the mayor’s race that he would arrest Mr. Netanyahu. In the interview on Thursday, he did not back down and offered new specifics, affirming that he would order the police to make the arrest upon Mr. Netanyahu’s arrival in the city. “This is something that I intend to fulfill,” Mr. Mamdani said.

Mr. Mamdani, a state assemblyman who leads in the polls ahead of the November election, said that state and local Democrats needed to show that they would take action where the federal government will not. He cited a decision made by Gavin Newsom, now the governor of California, in 2004, when, as mayor of San Francisco, he defied federal law and issued marriage licenses for same-sex couples. “This is a moment where we cannot look to the federal government for leadership,” Mr. Mamdani said. “This is a moment when cities and states will have to demonstrate what it actually looks like to stand up for our own values, our own people.”

So Mamdani catered to the anti-Israel crowd by promising to arrest Netanyahu. Big freaking deal! Hey, he’s certainly not the first politician who won an election by promising something unrealistic and undeliverable. You kiddin’ me? Broken campaign promises are a dime a dozen. They’re practically an American tradition! And that’s why conventional wisdom assumes Mayor Mamdani is going through the motions right now. When reality forces a politician to abandon a memorable-yet-undeliverable campaign promise, he finds an excuse/legal pretext and moves on. That’s how you’re supposed to play the game! If that’s your assumption, Mayor Mamdani’s recent New York Times interview makes all the sense in the world:

”Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration was still discussing whether to arrest the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, if he comes to New York City as expected for the U.N. General Assembly in September. “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mr. Mamdani told Lulu Garcia-Navarro this week on “The Interview,” a New York Times show, referring to the home of the United Nations’ International Court of Justice. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mr. Mamdani added. “And what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.”

The mayor said it was unclear to him whether he has the legal authority to order the Police Department, which he oversees, to detain a foreign leader like Mr. Netanyahu. He said he was in “an active conversation” with the city’s Law Department about the matter. On the surface, it’s the perfect fig leaf: Mamdani didn’t break his campaign promise because he wanted to. But golly gee — curses and drat — his city’s Law Department (which, y’know, is probably controlled by AIPAC and Zionist Jews) wouldn’t give him permission. And since Mamdani — unlike that “war criminal” Bibi Netanyahu — is such a stickler for following the rule of law, his hands are tied. “I tried my best, guys!”

Not only would this get him off the hook for his (absurdly) undeliverable campaign pledge, but it also establishes a political pretext for Mamdani’s next act: After he “saves” New York City from capitalism with the warmth of collectivism, voters must send him to Washington, D.C. so he can rewrite federal law — and hold Netanyahu accountable for his horrible “genocide.” This will be the dominant theory between now and September. Conventional wisdom will recite it, chapter and verse. Netanyahu won’t be arrested. The mayor is paying lip service to a broken promise. Trouble is, this theory assumes that Zohran Mamdani is a normal, typical politician. But what if he’s not?

Read more …

No-one gives money to a lost cause.

The Democrats’ Financial Situation Appears To Be Worse Than We Knew (ZH)

The Democratic Party’s money problems have been an open secret for months. Federal Election Commission filings from around six months ago showed the Democratic National Committee entering the final stretch of last year with barely $12 million in its campaign account and nearly $16 million in debt, most of it stemming from a loan the committee took out the previous month. Donations had slumped just as the party needed them most.


Since then, the political environment has arguably been extremely beneficial for Democrats, with President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings, the war with Iran, and high gas prices. Any one of those should have been enough to give the party the momentum necessary to get them out of their financial slump. Now, instead of turning the financial picture around, the DNC appears to be doing something stranger: hiding it.


According to a report from Axios, DNC officials required senior leadership to sign non-disclosure agreements before a private meeting on the party’s finances, a departure from the committee’s usual practice. Two people familiar with the conversations said the DNC requested the NDAs ahead of the recent finance meeting. The DNC asked its officers, high-ranking members of chair Ken Martin’s own team, to sign the agreements, the kind of people who typically never sign confidentiality paperwork before sitting down to talk numbers.

The senior officers’ meeting took place on June 25, five days before the Supreme Court handed down a ruling that upended the rules governing how parties fund their candidates. The timing alone tells its own story about how the DNC is managing its message heading into a midterm cycle it can’t afford to fumble.

Martin has spent months fending off a quiet but persistent crisis of confidence among Democratic donors, operatives, and even members of his own committee, all of them watching the Republican National Committee build a fundraising advantage heading into the Nov. 3 midterms that keeps getting harder to explain away. The numbers through the end of May make the gap plain. The DNC held just under $15 million on hand against $18 million in debt, while the RNC sat on $125 million with no debt at all.

The DNC declined to comment on why it required only its officers to sign confidentiality agreements before the finance meeting, and they’re trying to pass it off as inconsequential. Chris Lowe, the committee’s national finance co-chair, claimed that requiring officers and board-meeting attendees to sign NDAs is standard practice in the corporate world. Lowe added that senior DNC staff already operate under confidentiality agreements and argued it would be poor practice to discuss finance and political strategy at the highest levels without them in place.

A DNC official claimed that Martin’s committee has raised more money this cycle than the DNC did in 2017 and 2018, the last time Democrats headed into a midterm without the White House; however, it’s not clear whether that accounts for inflation.

Ultimately, the NDA strategy will not keep the party’s finances hidden, since those numbers will become public through Federal Election Commission filings. The agreements clearly exist for other reasons, such as protecting the internal deliberations, party infighting, donor threats, doubts about Martin’s leadership, and any strategic response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in NRSC v. FEC. The financial numbers clearly aren’t good, but what the party plans to do about them is likely what they’re really trying to hide.

Read more …

Look at me! I’m so modern!

Democratic Leaders Join Socialists in Criticizing Capitalism (Turley)

“Imagine the end of capitalism.” Those words in the Democratic Socialists of America manifesto offer Americans a world without landlords, debt, mandatory work hours, and “food, education, energy, medicine, and transportation… are common goods and utilities.” The left often refers to radical changes as “reimagining” everything from police to the Supreme Court to prisons to borders. However, the rise of socialists in the Democratic Party has moved such claims from the merely rhetorical to the outright revolutionary.


The release of the DSA platform on Bastille Day, July 14, was fitting since the Jacobins pushed for the same unicameral system that the socialists are now advocating.The platform promised to change the constitutional system and end the rule of “the same criminal class of billionaires and war profiteers.” The DSA, which counts various Democrat figures such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, includes a plan to eliminate the Senate, the Supreme Court, the presidency and other institutions in remaking the American constitutional system.

In my new book “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution,” I discuss the rise of socialism and the move among professors and pundits to scrap key aspects, or the entirety, of our constitutional system on the 250th anniversary of the republic. The book compares many of these proposals to identical policies of the Jacobin movement in the French Revolution. It is a book about revolutions and how they can consume those who start them. Both the American and French revolutions arose during the same period, but one became the world’s oldest democracy while the other became a blood-soaked tyranny known as “The Reign of Terror.”

Notably, the Jacobins pushed for the same unicameral system that the socialists are now advocating. Even figures such as Thomas Paine (one of two figures who played a significant role in both revolutions) supported such measures to allow for more direct democracy. It was an approach that the Framers expressly rejected. Great students of history, they did not want to replicate the elements that led to the destruction of past democracies going back to ancient Athens. Benjamin Rush, a signatory to the Declaration of Independence, referred to it as democracies becoming “mobocracies.”

The DSA is the direct descendant of the Jacobins in seeking to tear down moderating institutions and replace the president and justices with democratically elected figures by a Congress composed only of the House of Representatives. However, many of these suggestions are also found among leading academics and influencers. As with the original Jacobins, those demanding these changes are not the working class but professors, pundits and young college-educated voters. Mainstream figures such as Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley Law School, have published books such as “No Democracy Lasts Forever: How the Constitution Threatens the United States.”

The media eagerly publishes these radical views, such as the New York Times column, “The Constitution Is Broken and Should Not Be Reclaimed,” in which Ryan D. Doerfler of Harvard and Samuel Moyn of Yale call for the nation to “reclaim America from constitutionalism.” It was an approach that the Framers expressly rejected. Great students of history, they did not want to replicate the elements that led to the destruction of past democracies going back to ancient Athens. As discussed in “Rage and the Republic”:

“Those who want to remain in favor often pander to the extremes. Radical leftist sites like the Jacobin have grown in popularity… They use some of the same words and symbols but still seem improvisational and inauthentic, like a child’s game of dress-up with oversized outfits. Indeed, that is precisely the danger.

“There is little knowledge, let alone memory, of what such radicalism became under the real Jacobins. There is the same blissful ignorance that allowed Rousseauian dilettantes to mutate into monsters, escalating radical agendas with every failure… As the popular slogans became disastrous policies, the momentum would carry them beyond any point of recognition or return. The new Jacobins show the same blind ambition and abandon in striking out at institutions and the Constitution itself.”.

Read more …

Playing around with SCOTUS.

Trump Admin Slaps 50% Tariffs On Wide Range of Canadian Goods, Imports (CTH)

It is very obvious from the construct and details of this announcement that U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has completed a comprehensive review of the retaliatory action by Canada that followed the U.S. Section 232 tariffs on Steel and Aluminum. Last year two countries retaliated against the U.S. for the 232 (steel and aluminum) tariffs, China and Canada. The USTR office has now quantified the tariff and non-tariff barriers triggered by Canada in 2025 and provided President Trump with a financial quantification of the trade impact.


The three Canadian retaliatory sectors highlighted include: (1) Alcoholic Beverages, (2) Motor Vehicles, (3) Dairy Products. These are the three segments quantified by USTR Greer that form the baseline for the U.S. to retaliate with countervailing duties. Effective 30 days from now, August 16, 2026, President Trump has established a 50% tariff rate against a wide variety of Canadian imports. Essentially three major Annexes: under the authority of Section 338.

Section 338 authorizes the President, if he determines it will serve the public interest, to offset any burden or disadvantage placed on the commerce of the United States by an unequal imposition or discrimination by a foreign country by specifying and declaring additional duties not to exceed 50 percent ad valorem (or its equivalent) and not to take effect earlier than 30 days after the President’s proclamation finding that a foreign country imposes an unreasonable charge, exaction, regulation, or limitation that is not equally enforced on the like articles of every foreign country, or discriminates in fact against U.S. commerce in a way that places the commerce of the United States at a disadvantage compared to the commerce of any foreign country.

Section 338 also authorizes the President to suspend, revoke, supplement, or amend any proclamation under section 338 whenever the President deems that the public interests require such action. Further, section 338 authorizes the President to exclude products of the foreign country if the foreign country maintains or increases the discrimination against the commerce of the United States and the President deems the exclusion to be consistent with the public interests and the interests of the United States.

The 50% tariffs apply to food, alcohol, beer, clothing, chemicals, electronics, flowers, fragrance oils, chemical raw materials and importantly wood products.mThe wood products are a big hit to the Canadian export sector. This includes paper goods, cardboard, plywood and fabricated pulp wood derivatives like particle board (MDF). This is a huge export sector for Canada that will now trigger a 50% tariff rate. Essentially, the list is very long and includes almost every assembled component part created by Canadian manufacturing.

We can surmise the baseline is part of the non-negotiable trade calculation done by President Trump and USTR Greer, that will carry forward into any further trade agreement inside or outside the USMCA construct. Meaning if the trilateral agreement holds (USMCA), these valuation targets will be part of the expectation from the USA side of the discussion toward Canada. However, in the more likely scenario a bilateral trade agreement is preferred, this now quantifies the tariff reciprocity anticipated by the USA, in addition to the elimination of non-tariff barriers

Read more …

“Do we really think valid and secure elections are in the interests of a corrupt FBI organization?”

An Uncomfortable Change in Perspective (CTH)

I would strongly suggest interested readers or researchers to go back and look carefully at the very public comments from Senate Intelligence Community Vice-Chairman Mark Warner, as they relate to the seizure of Fulton County, GA, election records. What you might notice forms the background of an uncomfortable change in perspective. In nearly all of Warner’s remarks, his main argument centered on opposing DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s presence at the Fulton County election records warehouse. He wasn’t worried about the FBI seizing the records; rather, he was deeply concerned about Gabbard observing the seizure.


Here’s part of the bigger problem. When wrongdoing, fraud, corruption, or criminal activity occurs within a federal agency, including the Intelligence Community, the FBI is the institution tasked with investigating it. That’s the problem. People ask repeatedly, why has there been no accountability for the obvious corruption? Perhaps we really don’t want to accept the obvious answer. The FBI is doing corrupt, criminal and fraudulent stuff because the institution of the FBI is comprehensively corrupt. As a consequence, they are allied -directly or through willful blindness- with operatives in other agencies doing criminal, corrupt and fraudulent stuff.

Think about “security clearances.” Which agency or institution determines the outcomes of Security Clearance reviews or investigations? Who is responsible for approving or denying security clearances? The same FBI. The same FBI agency who took possession of Hillary Clinton’s missing emails, Huma Abedin/Anthony Weiner’s laptop and Hunter Biden’s laptop. The same FBI agency who took custody of Jeffrey Epstein’s safe contents. The same FBI agency who raided James O’Keefe to retrieve the Ashley Biden diary. That’s the same FBI agency now with custody of the Fulton County election evidence.

The same agency who investigated the J6 pipe bombing, the Las Vegas mass shooting, the various Trump assassination attempts and even the TWA-800 explosion. That’s the same agency that seemingly cannot stop Antifa terrorist attacks yet can pour over 1,500 agents into a J6 investigation. The FBI now has the physical ballots and machines from the Fulton County election offices. Do we think the FBI wants honest elections?… that could result in larger ranks of honest, elected officials?… that could then hold oversight over the FBI? Do we really think valid and secure elections are in the interests of a corrupt FBI organization?

While leading the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and overseeing the revocation of security clearances from dozens of career intelligence operatives, Tulsi Gabbard was in a unique position to uncover the motives and intentions of the FBI as a governmental institution. FBI agents and analysts were assigned to desks inside the ODNI. Do you remember the leaks against Tulsi Gabbard?

Perhaps now we can contextualize why Tulsi Gabbard was in Fulton County, GA. And, more importantly, why the SSCI was going bananas when they found out she was there. Senate Intelligence Committee Vice-Chairman Mark Warner was not apoplectic the FBI was in Fulton County, Georgia, taking control of election machines and ballots. Warner likely already knew what the FBI was doing there. The same motive and intent behind all the mysteriously missing laptops (Clinton, Abedin, Weiner, Awan, Biden) of evidence that seemingly vaporized from the public psyche. No, Senator Mark Warner was apoplectic because Tulsi Gabbard followed the FBI to Fulton County, to watch them take custody of evidence with the motive to watch their intent.

The FBI was forced into action because Garland Favorito was annoyingly and methodically winning the painstakingly slow legal arguments, and there was a full summer of concern before the next election was scheduled. Someone was going to be looking at those raw election ballots, those physical receipts, records and factual tabulation outcomes. The FBI took over.

Do you remember when Fulton County commission chair, Robb Pitts, said at a press conference he received a phone call –two days before the FBI served a criminal warrant to seize 2020 election documents– to warn that he, Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, former Raffensperger deputy Gabriel Sterling and others in the state were at risk of imminent arrest by federal agents. {SOURCE} Robb Pitts was tipped off by someone in DC.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard said she went to Fulton County, to watch events as approved by the White House. There is every reason to believe her statement. Recently, there was a reported considerable disparity between what Acting DNI Pulte wanted President Trump to outline in his speech on election manipulation, and what the White House insiders were comfortable with {SOURCE}. The final outcome within the Trump speech was ‘smoothed’ by the Intelligence Community.

If we modify our perspective to consider the DNI was not a participant to law enforcement activity, but rather the DNI was bearing witness to a crime taking place; then suddenly, Senator Mark Warner’s apoplexy makes a lot more sense.

Read more …

“.. making sure that we recognize and validate that false information and withheld information caused a Congress to think they could vote to impeach him,”

Darrell Issa Wants Both of Trump’s Impeachments Expunged From The Record (JTN)

Republican allies hoping to erase Trump impeachment votes including California’s Darrell Issa California GOP Rep. Darrell Issa said he is pressing ahead to have President Donald Trump’s two impeachments expunged, arguing Democrats wouldn’t have voted so easily had the evidence of falsehoods been public. “I intend on doing just that, making sure that we recognize and validate that false information and withheld information caused a Congress to think they could vote to impeach him,” Issa told the Just the News, No Noise TV show on Monday.


“Knowing what we know now, even many of the Democrats would have had a much harder time facing the voters, knowing that they had willfully used false information.” Trump is discussing plans to seek to have Congress pass a resolution to expunge both of his impeachments from his first term and his allies want to help him do so. Trump told the Wall Street Journal on June 11 that the expunging “should be done because I did nothing wrong.” In 2019, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives impeached Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. These charges were based on his alleged withholding of military aid to Ukraine to pressure the country into investigating Joe Biden.

Trump was impeached a second time in February 2021 on an article of incitement of insurrection following the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.In both impeachments, the Senate fell short of the two-thirds majority necessary to convict Trump.Issa, who represents San Diego and Riverside counties, is a former U.S. Army Captain and successful businessman. He stands with other congressional leaders who agree with expunging the Trump impeachment votes. Mike Johnson, R-La., told the Wall Street Journal that Trump’s impeachments should be erased.

“I think it makes a lot of sense. The more the evidence comes out, the more we know they really were sham impeachments,” Johnson told the Journal. “We were saying it at the time, now we know. And they make a very compelling case that it should be expunged from the record, because it was a hyperpartisan attack job.”

Read more …

“Passing the Save Act would certainly make a big difference,” [..] “At the end of the day, there will be no question at all elections, the outcome, will be in doubt unless we pass it.”

US Intel Views Targeting of Voter Data As Election Interference (JTN)

President Trump presented evidence last Thursday night that China had compromised and obtained 220 million American voter registration files but media have been downplaying it ever since. When the Biden Justice Department announced that Chinese hackers had gotten their hands on Great Britain’s publicly available voter files in 2024, American news media clamored with stories claiming it was a “dangerous” breach. The same, too, when U.S. officials announced Russia and Iran had hacked small numbers of U.S. voter files in 2020 and 2021. The reason was simple: U.S. intelligence agencies believe the targeting and acquisition of voter registration files is an act of election interference.


“Election interference is a subset of election influence targeted at the technical aspects of the election, including voter registration, casting and counting of ballots and reporting of results,” an October 2020 National intelligence Council report on election interference explains. In other words, the compromising of election voter registration data, is, by the definition of intelligence agencies, an act of election interference.

Nothing to see here, move along, legacy media now says
When President Donald Trump presented confirmed evidence last Thursday night that China had compromised and obtained 220 million American voter registration files, the news media swung 180 degrees in the opposite direction. They argued it was old news (it was not) and not a big deal because you can buy limited data in America related to voter registration commercially. According to security experts, that limited data accessibility is not the same thing. The intelligence agencies in the very documents that Trump declassified and made public for his announcement show the voting integrity and security concerns.

In 2022, the National Security Agency became especially concerned that China had escalated its exploitation of voter data by assigning a “CNE.” That’s a person or unit who are hackers and cyberthieves. Legacy news media have ignored this fact, while center-right-leaning publications were not as quick to dismiss the accuracy or impact of the data breach.

The Washington Times reported that “Trump said during his primetime address on Thursday that the People’s Republic of China acquired 220 million U.S. voter files containing names, addresses, phone numbers, political party preferences, and other sensitive information. Shortly after the speech, the White House released to the public dozens of declassified documents containing partially redacted findings, including data showing nearly 278,000 noncitizens who are registered to vote in federal elections and details over a “slow-walked” 2020 FBI investigation in Michigan.”

Great Britain’s voter files are commercially available in limited form like America’s. But China got versions of the British that caused the Biden administration to indict China for hacking 40 million British voter files. According to the BBC, the British government called it “malicious” interference in their election. In 2021, the Biden Justice Department indicted two Iranian hackers for accessing just 100,000 voter files from a single state where it is also commercially available. They were charged with criminally interfering in the 2020 election even though voter files are commercially available in limited form.

If China’s acquisition of 40 million files in Great Britain and Iran’s acquisition of 100,000 files in America were both charged as criminal election interference, it would seem the acquisition of 220 million voter files almost certainly would be considered by the intelligence community to be an act of interference.

At this point, what difference does it make?
Whether the data breach would have or could have flipped the election is beside the point. Experts interviewed by Just the News agreed. Former CIA operations officer Rick de la Torre called the news media’s dismissal of Trump’s claims “absurd.” “Of course, this is election interference,” he added. “With that information, with that data, you know the Chinese government can exploit it. They can target specific individuals. They can do all kinds of things. They could request ballots. They could change people’s identifications. They know now how they vote. They know what their political parties are. They know how often they vote.”

“Imagine if China hacked into the Pentagon and stole every military service member’s personnel file,” he told Just the News. “You know, you wouldn’t say, ‘Oh well, that’s not really a big deal. That’s not a threat from a national security standpoint.’ You know, that’s absurd. Mike Davis, a former top lawyer for the Senate Judiciary Committee, which dealt with major data breaches in the past, said the media is disserving the public by downplaying or ignoring what Trump reported and that the intelligence analysts who hid the data breaches from Trump and Congress years back could be prosecuted.

“They obstructed, and they conspired to provide doctored evidence to the President of the United States about a foreign invasion of our elections, and they must be held accountable. They must be arrested. They must be charged,” Davis said. Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., was Secretary of State of Florida from 2019 to 2022 and said she was never notified as the election chief in one of the largest battleground states about China’s acquisition of voter files. She said Trump’s revelation was “a big deal.”

“There are a number of different components to conducting good elections,” she told the Just the News, No Noise television show on Monday evening. “Of course, we have our voting tabulation systems, but we also have to maintain voter rolls, public information, public-facing websites. And all of these things are things that can be targeted by our foreign adversaries in their attempt to either interfere with our process and procedure or affect voter belief and confidence in our system.” Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., agreed and said Trump’s rush to better secure voter data is essential.

Restoring confidence in an honest democratic process
“There is still a lot of work to be done. Passing the Save Act would certainly make a big difference,” he told Just the News. “At the end of the day, there will be no question at all elections, the outcome, will be in doubt unless we pass it.

Read more …

Robert Hur.

Court: ‘Smithers, Release The Biden Tapes!’ (Stephen Green)

“The US Appeals Court for DC has DENIED Joe Biden’s emergency request to block the release of his FIVE HOUR interview with Special Counsel Hur in 2023,” Nick Sortor posted late Monday night, finally giving the public a good, hard look at Biden’s fitness. “In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Biden’s attempt to stop the Heritage Foundation from getting the material,” CBS News reported through clenched teeth Tuesday morning. The majority wrote, “We conclude that Biden has not shown a likelihood that the requested materials must be withheld from disclosure.”


Prepare yourself for the Mother of All I-Told-You-Sos. If you’ll recall, the interviews were held way back in 2016 and 2017, when Biden’s Promise Me, Dad biographer, Mark Zwonitzer, conducted hours’ worth of interviews with the former veep. This was years before Biden even entered the 2020 Democrat primaries, and decades after anyone with eyes and ears had concluded that the Delaware senator was about as sharp as an over-boiled turnip. The recordings “gained interest from the Heritage Foundation several years later following an investigation by former special counsel Robert Hur into Biden’s handling of sensitive government records after his vice presidency,” as CBS put it.

You know, the exact same thing that the Biden cabal would later dispatch armed FBI agents to Mar-a-Lago for. The White House was doing a pinky-swear investigation of itself because of that time when the former Obama veep accidentally left boxes and boxes of classified docs in his garage with his Corvette. At first, Biden was prompted to tell people that his garage is a secure location because, unlike the Trump compound on many well-guarded acres at Mar-a-Lago, Biden’s garage door has one of those twisty lock handles on it. That garage was practically a SCIF, they claimed. But flash forward again to February 2024, when Hur declined to press charges in the most damning way possible.

“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Hur concluded at the time. “Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him—by then a former president well into his eighties—of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.” Translation: The President of the United States is too senile to be held accountable.

More from CBS: The special counsel’s report, released in 2024, included passages that referenced Biden’s conversations with Zwonitzer. The special counsel wrote the recordings showed the former president’s “diminished faculties and faulty memory,” and said his conversations with Zwonitzer were “painfully slow, with Mr. Biden struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries.” Which, of course, raises once again the question conservatives have asked since roughly Jan. 21, 2021: Who was running the country while Presidentish Joe Biden slurped his ice cream, slurred his words, and auto’d his pen?

Democrats and the Complicit Media spent years covering up Biden’s lack of fitness for office, and only his incoherent performance at his June 2024 debate with Donald Trump broke the spell. That’s when conservatives shouted, “THIS IS WHAT WE’VE BEEN TELLING YOU FOR YEARS!” Has there ever been a Democrat former president that Democrats have tried so hard to ignore? Jimmy Carter, probably… and even him they did their best to rehabilitate after he’d been out of office long enough. But Biden? There’s no rehabilitation for our first (and hopefully last) Zombie President, thanks to a federal appeals court and the video interviews we should have seen years ago.

Read more …

Peter Daszak. Remember Him?

BTW, CBP=Customs and Border Patrol

Rand Paul Discloses Evidence FBI Blocked CBP Interview Of Fauci Ally (JTN)

Senate Homeland Security Chairman Rand Paul released new documents Monday that he said revealed the FBI stopped Customs and Border Patrol from searching and questioning Peter Daszak upon his return to the United States from China. The latest documents come just over a week before former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci is set to testify in front his panel on whether he lied to Congress during the pandemic about whether his office had funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.


Paul said that CBP was prepared to stop Daszak, who was the president of EcoHealth Alliance at the time, when he landed in New York in February 2021, but was told by the FBI days before Daszak landed not to question him and the inspection never took place. CBP was reportedly expected to ask Daszak about his contacts at the Wuhan lab, whether he collected or transported biological samples, and what happened during his trip to China. Paul said the documents can be found on a new database his team has put together called the “Reading Room,” which is now accessible to the public so they can review the documents themselves. The database will be updated as the investigation continues.

Read more …

“Nobody’s forcing the melting pot to melt anymore—it just sits there, lukewarm, while everyone pretends it’s still working.”

The Great American Demographic Shift (Eric Florack)

Are culture and demography destiny? I say yes, and suggest that it’s hard to argue otherwise. A nation isn’t lines on a map or a stack of statutes. It’s the people who live there, the values they bring, and the institutions they either sustain or slowly gut. Swap enough of a population—say, trade native-born Americans steeped in the country’s traditional culture for large numbers of newcomers from, say, Islamic cultures—and you swap the politics, the economy, and the outcomes that follow. That’s not a hot take. That’s arithmetic, and arithmetic doesn’t negotiate.


Import the third world’s populations without assimilation, and you import the third world’s problems along with them. Nobody should clutch his or her pearls over this. Countries differ wildly in educational attainment, institutional trust, corruption, civic participation, family structure, and cultural expectations—and none of that magically dissolves the moment someone crosses a border. Some immigrants assimilate fast and become genuine assets to the country. Others don’t bother trying. Either way, that’s a choice the immigrant makes, not a mystery anyone needs to solve.

Push migration past the speed a society can actually absorb, and the receiving country doesn’t just gain people. It inherits the statistical baggage those populations carry with them, whether anyone wants to admit it over dinner or not.

America has run one of the largest demographic experiments in its own history over the last 50 years, and nobody put it on a ballot. Census data shows non-Hispanic whites made up roughly 83 percent of the country in 1970. By 2022, that number had cratered to about 59 percent, while the foreign-born share hit nearly 14 percent—the highest in over a century. Pew Research Center’s breakdown lays out the same trend in granular detail, for anyone who wants the receipts instead of the vibes. Outside of literal territorial conquest, this country has never reshuffled its population this fast, and pretending otherwise doesn’t make the numbers move back. Nor does it negate the effects of those changes.

Institutions feel it whether pundits admit it or not. Schools scramble to teach in a dozen languages instead of one. Public services stretch to cover populations growing faster than anyone planned or budgeted for. Communities that once shared a civic backbone now can’t agree on what “American” even means anymore. National identity, once assumed, gets litigated at every dinner table and school board meeting in the country—which is exactly the kind of national pastime nobody asked for.Numbers matter for assimilation, too, and not in the feel-good way.

It’s quite true that in the past, we have had many years of success with immigration in large numbers, Thing is, those earlier immigrants landed in a country whose culture dominated without apology. English wasn’t optional. American customs won by default, and schools, churches, neighborhoods, and workplaces that all pulled in the same direction reinforced them. Today’s migration levels, paired with smartphones, satellite TV, and neighborhoods that never require anyone to leave their home language at the door, let newcomers stay culturally untethered for generations. Nobody’s forcing the melting pot to melt anymore—it just sits there, lukewarm, while everyone pretends it’s still working.

The fallout doesn’t stop at language. Social trust erodes when communities fragment along cultural lines instead of knitting together. Political fights increasingly split along ethnic and cultural interest groups, instead of shared national priorities. Public schools burn resources on remediation instead of excellence. Cities buckle under the fiscal weight of rapid growth, housing shortages, and social services stretched thinner every year. Ask yourself honestly: were these problems anywhere near this bad before the border opened under President Biden?

None of this means every immigrant is a problem—plenty succeed, build businesses, wear the uniform, and become model citizens, and good for them, and us. But nobody builds sound public policy on anecdotes, heartwarming or otherwise. The truth is, policy runs on aggregate effects, and large-scale demographic change moves every statistical needle there is: education, income, welfare participation, language proficiency, incarceration, health outcomes. When those numbers move, asking why isn’t bigotry. It’s the due diligence this country apparently forgot how to do, and I believe that to the largest of degrees it was a conscious choice on the part of the left.

Critics love to slap the “xenophobia” label on this conversation and call it a day—case closed, argument won, no further thinking required. Funny though, how demographics matter in literally every other policy discussion. Governments track age, education, family structure, employment, and income because all of it predicts future strain on schools, hospitals, infrastructure, and budgets. Population composition matters everywhere except, apparently, the one place it’s most politically inconvenient to admit it. That’s not principle. That’s a dodge dressed up as compassion.

The real question was never whether immigration changes a country. Of course it does—only a fool, or someone trying to hide something from you, argues otherwise, and fools, as I’ve often noted, are in no short supply these days. The real question is how much change a nation can absorb before it loses the institutions, culture, and social cohesion that made it worth immigrating to in the first place. Every nation gets to ask that question out loud, and asking it isn’t a crime. Pretending arithmetic stops working because the topic makes people uncomfortable isn’t compassion. It’s cowardice with somewhat better PR.

I have said this before and it’s still important: The primary task of any government that has any ideas of lasting, is to support, nurture and where possible, extend the influence of the culture that gave it life. So, then, what we are seeing is a failure of government in that primary task. The Brits are an example of what happens when government intentionally chooses not to fulfill that responsibility. They are the coal mine canary. The alarming thing is, we’re not far behind them. I have long since begun to wonder if we actually have the courage to address these issues head-on.

Read more …

This is a book, not just an article. Good luck. Take the day off! Bring lunch! Dress well!

What Happens Next in Venezuela Could Define Rubio’s Legacy (Sarah Anderson)

My point is that Rubio, going into this situation, started out with a really bad hand. And, fortunately, no one in our government knew that better than him. He’s built his entire political career around attempting to remove tyranny and corruption from the Western Hemisphere, and in 2025, when he became Donald Trump’s secretary of state, he finally had the tools — and a boss — that would allow him to make that happen. Rubio has said from the beginning that the goal was stabilization first. Would there be a civil war? Mass migration? That didn’t happen.


Goal two was recovery of the oil industry and other resources to help the country have an economy once again. “Their natural resources are going to allow Venezuela to be stable and prosperous moving forward,” Rubio said in January at a congressional hearing. “And so we created the – what we hope to do is transition to a mechanism that allows that to be sold in a normal way, a normal oil industry – not one dominated by cronies, not one dominated by graft and corruption.” The final goal was — and still is — the transfer of power to fairly elected leaders, a “friendly, stable, prosperous Venezuela.”

While the process was never meant to be easy, it was going pretty well. Commercial airlines now fly from the U.S. to Caracas for the first time since 2019. Oil exports are on the rise, and revenue is held in a U.S. Treasury account, not in regime pockets and bank accounts. Investment opportunities have been opened up to private companies from the United States and other countries. Hundreds of political prisoners were released from detention centers. The U.S. reestablished diplomatic relations and reopened our embassy. Some opposition figures were able to return, and their parties’ offices reopened.

College students and workers have marched largely without fear, demanding freedom and a real government. The flow of cheap oil to Cuba stopped, and there’s been a visible reduction in Iranian, Russian, and Hezbollah operations within the country. High-profile criminals have been taken out or extradited to the United States. That’s a lot for six months, and Rubio should be commended. We’ve known from the beginning that he’s running the show. No one else could do it so well. If the New York Times and its sources are to be believed, you don’t just have to trust my intuition:

Mr. Rubio now effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its government, according to interviews with more than a dozen officials and people close to both governments in Washington and Caracas, who provided details about his involvement in steering the country’s policies. Many spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private interactions and internal discussions.

While he has not visited Venezuela in person since the U.S. took over, the secretary of state is deeply involved in the country’s day-to-day operations, keeping in close contact with Delcy Rodríguez, who was Mr. Maduro’s vice president and now leads her country on an acting basis, with the imprimatur of the United States. The two exchange messages in Spanish on WhatsApp, trading gossip, birthday greetings and selfies. Despite the banter, the relationship between Mr. Rubio and Ms. Rodríguez is far from a partnership. It is a manifestation of Trump-era American power, in which the winner takes all regardless of sovereignty and international law.

Rubio reportedly tells the regime how to spend its money — the Times compares it to a parent handing out allowance. He oversees sanctions, decides who can do business in Venezuela, and approves Delcy’s government appointments, etc. According to the article, shortly after Maduro’s capture, “Rubio told her that she had a choice between working with the United States or witnessing a broader attack targeting Venezuela’s infrastructure, military bases and senior officials.” She agreed to the former.

I was almost positive that the newspaper meant this to be a hit piece, but it actually painted Rubio as a powerful and competent figure, even if it didn’t mean to. A newer article in The New Yorker goes even further. It claims that Trump officials regularly tell Delcy, “Don’t get too comfortable, because at any moment I can send María Corina after you.'” It’s referring, of course, to María Corina Machado, beloved opposition leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and the most popular politician in Venezuela — the country’s “Iron Lady” and the woman who would be, should be president right now. But we’ll get back to her in a second.

So Rubio’s the “viceroy,” as the media now wants to call him. He’s making some progress, but for the people on the ground who were thrilled when Maduro was gone, it was not visible enough. The oil is moving faster, the money is coming in, but where are the jobs and living wages? Where is the food and medicine? Hundreds of political prisoners were released, but why weren’t all of them freed? Delcy praises Trump and the United States one day, but brings back her anti-democracy and imperialism rhetoric the next. Trump praises Delcy, even though she was literally Maduro’s vice president. And why in the hell is Cabello, potentially the biggest crook of them all, still in charge of anything?

Read more …

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/DRCharlieWardsQ/status/2079316665284898855?s=20

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Jul 212026
 


Wassily Kandinsky Autumn Landscape with Boats 1908


Trump: Iran Will Pay ‘Many Times Over’ For US Troop Deaths (ZH)
Border Czar Warns New York City That ‘ICE Surge’ Is Coming (Hyde)
Trump Insists Netanyahu Will Not Face Arrest In The US (Ben Whedon)
The 2026 NATO Summit Confirmed A New Transatlantic Bargain (Ruel Domi)
Come Meet Britain’s Next Worst Prime Minister Ever (Stephen Green)
The Unelected Monarch Creates the Unelected U.K Prime Minister (CTH)
About Those Burn Bags President Trump Mentioned in His Address (O’Brien)
Democrats Dismiss Our Constitutional Traditions as ‘Nostalgia’ (Turley)
War, Over There, Over Here (James Howard Kunstler)
Here’s How the Democrats Are Blowing the Midterms (Margolis)
Why Democrats Can’t Do Better Than Kamala Harris in 2028 (Daniel McCarthy)
Don Lemon Wants the White House and Thinks MAGA Is the Nazi Party (Manney)
“I’m Not Living In Communist America”: Bill Maher Blasts DSA Democrats (ZH)
China’s Fake US Driver’s Licenses Tampered With the 2020 Election (O’Brien)
Can Elon Musk Really Put ONE MILLION Data Center Satellites in Orbit? (Green)

 


 

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2079000563333939440?s=20 https://twitter.com/ivan_8848/status/2079122207796548037?s=20

 


 


“Air war alone cannot dislodge a large military/regime, hence the dilemma of restraint vs. quagmire and new forever war…”

Trump: Iran Will Pay ‘Many Times Over’ For US Troop Deaths (ZH)

After at least three more American troops were reported killed in Iranian attacks on Jordan and Iraq, President Trump has newly warned Monday that “Every time Iran kills an American soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!” The Commander-in-Chief says further he’s given “directives” on a presumably impending US military response to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, as well as his generals. Trump had on Saturday said the deaths of service members in Jordan are “a very sad thing.” He stated: “We hate to see it happen.” In follow-up he described that the retaliation on Iran would be in ‘honor’ of these fallen ‘patriots’.


Greek Tankers Hit, Also as Iran Targets Bahrain
Iran’s IRGC continues to insist that it along is in control of the Strait of Hormuz, as it continues firing on foreign vessels seeking to traverse the Strait of Hormuz outside of Iran’s ‘approved’ zone and protocol. According to some of the latest developments on this front, via regional media: One of two Greek-owned tankers hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz has been abandoned by its crew after fire was reported on the vessel. The crew was rescued by a tugboat after abandoning the Maltese-flagged Kavomaleas owned by Greece’s Dynacom Tankers.

Earlier, UKMTO reported fire onboard the tanker north of Kuzmar, Oman. It had been stranded in the Arabian Gulf after spending months offshore of Saudi Arabia. It appeared to exit the Strait of Hormuz on July 2 although its AIS tracking was turned off. Various locations across Iran meanwhile continued to get pummeled by US aerial attacks. Iran in turn has been heavily targeting Bahrain on Monday. “The US launched an aerial attack on one of the areas in Shiraz, it resulted in no casualties, and the situation is under control,” IRIB reports. Currently, FM Araghchi is said to be en route to Pakistan, as mediators scramble to contain the war.

Air war alone cannot dislodge a large military/regime, hence the dilemma of restraint vs. quagmire and new forever war…

Bahrain statement: “Bahrain’s Civil Aviation Affairs said Monday that an Iranian drone attack targeted civilian air navigation systems used to manage the country’s Flight Information Region as military escalation continues to rage on between Iran and the US.” Latest from CENTCOM: The US military says it has disabled one ship and redirected seven in its continuing blockade of Iranian ports. “As of July 20, the US military has redirected 7 commercial vessels and disabled 1 to prevent the ships from leaving or entering Iranian ports,” CENTCOM wrote on X.

Read more …

Trump confronting Mamdani.

Border Czar Warns New York City That ‘ICE Surge’ Is Coming (Hyde)

Federal Border Czar Tom Homan has announced that an unprecedented surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents is coming to New York City in response to the city’s sanctuary policies. Homan told Fox News on Sunday, “It’s coming,” citing the Trump administration’s refusal to be hampered by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s vow to champion the city’s sanctuary status and to continue resisting federal immigration enforcement. Homan refused to discuss specifics as to where and when enforcement actions would occur so as to avoid tipping off the various leftist groups who have organized to oppose ICE actions.

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2078838491388031146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2078838491388031146%7Ctwgr%5Eaf9f5cf6ec9507f23d141bbd7943e1b2278b5c8f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fborder-czar-warns-new-york-city-ice-surge-coming-enforcement-expanding


Homan told Fox News that “there needs to be a surge” and added, “But I am not going to show our hand because there are… well-funded groups who will try to impede, interfere. We’re not going to give them any upside on this.” The border czar’s comments followed statements Mamdani made during a New York Times interview on Saturday, in which the mayor expressed “pride” regarding the city’s refusal to cooperate with immigration enforcement and vowed to protect immigrant communities.

Mamdani told the Times, “What we are unwilling to do is to participate in civil immigration enforcement with a federal government that has said openly it wants to deport a vast majority of people for crimes that we will never even know.” According to Fox News, Homan fired back at Mamdani’s statement, saying that the mayor can have his stance but he will not prevent ICE from doing its job, noting, “That’s called the rule of law. If he doesn’t like it, call your members of Congress, tell them to change the law.”

The federal surge is also tied to New York state budget legislation signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul that strictly curbs local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration officials and bans ICE agents from wearing masks during community operations. Homan has also argued that blocking ICE access to municipal jails removes operational efficiencies, forcing federal teams out onto the streets to conduct widespread community arrests. The border czar said that President Trump’s campaign promises to address border security and to impose mass deportations are a large reason why he is the president today.

Read more …

“The International Criminal Court (ICC) previously issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu amid the Gaza conflict.”

Trump Insists Netanyahu Will Not Face Arrest In The US (Ben Whedon)

President Donald Trump on Monday strongly asserted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not face arrest while in the United States as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reportedly weighs options to bring him into custody. The International Criminal Court (ICC) previously issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu amid the Gaza conflict. The U.S. is not party to the Rome statute and is under no obligation to arrest Netanyahu. However, Mamdani has mulled doing so amid the Iran war.


“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others,” he added. “The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented SPIRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION, something that should have been dealt with years ago, by previous Presidents!”

Mamdani’s authority and ability to arrest Netanyahu without the consent of Washington, D.C., is dubious at best.

Read more …

“President Trump has been clear: As China becomes a rising threat, America cannot single-handedly carry the burden of Europe’s defense.”

The 2026 NATO Summit Confirmed A New Transatlantic Bargain (Ruel Domi)

For three decades after the end of the Cold War, the transatlantic relationship rested on an implicit bargain: America guaranteed European security while the EU and its satellites concentrated on economic and political integration and drastically expanded their generous welfare states. The latest NATO summit in Ankara demonstrated that this bargain is falling apart. A new one is emerging, one in which Europe is expected to assume far greater responsibility for its own defense while the United States increasingly shifts its strategic focus toward containing China in the Indo-Pacific. Europe appears reluctant to accept it, but eventually, it will need to get used to it. NATO’s latest summit demonstrated such a need.


Firstly, the new bargain rests upon the fundamental assumption that Europe cannot continue to outsource its security indefinitely. During his first campaign for president, stretching for the entirety of his first term, President Trump demanded that America’s allies on the other side of the Atlantic spend more on their defense.

Up until that point, NATO’s 2006 defense minister agreement established a 2% of GDP requirement for all members to spend on defense. And despite that agreement, only Poland and the United States had achieved that goal, leaving behind powerful and wealthy European states such as Germany, France, and even the United Kingdom (at the time, an EU member). Such a discrepancy suggests deep-rooted and structural unfairness, as wealthier and more influential countries must be willing to spend more on defense, which hasn’t happened until this summit.

While the American left idolized European welfare states and the robust social safety nets that came with them, it was clear that those welfare states would have been impossible to finance without the American taxpayer bankrolling European defense. Needless to say, when America needed Europe the most, in the aftermath of Operation Epic Fury, European allies repeatedly refused to join the United States in military activity designed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz from the Iranian blockade—which, ironically enough, would benefit Europe more than it would America—due to Europe importing much of its oil and natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz. When a conflict began with Iran, Europe once again proved reluctant to shoulder a larger share of the burden.

Donald Trump understood that this posture is unsustainable, which is why he asked Europeans to raise their defense spending in his first term, while raising the requirement to a historic 5% of the GDP for all NATO members throughout this ongoing second term. The bargain is clear: Europe must not be allowed to outsource its defense spending to the United States, at least not without increasing defense spending and implementing serious changes to its economic, political, and social model.

The current American administration correctly understands that a weak Europe is a threat to the future of the transatlantic alliance and to the alliance’s security in the face of looming threats from Russia, China, and growing competition from the Global South.

Secondly, as outlined in the 33-page national security strategy of the United States published in early December, the U.S. is diverting its attention away from continental Europe to the Indo-Pacific. There, Chinese control of the South China Sea and a looming invasion of Taiwan are seen not just as geopolitical inconveniences but as real and existential security threats to the United States and its strategic interests in the region.

For that reason alone, Europe must spend more on its defense to deter potential Russian aggression, while the United States deals with China. The notion that the United States should be left dealing with the Sino-Russian axis alone, while the EU goes down the drain of unfettered leftism, at the expense of its civilization and the NATO alliance at large, represents an absurd and unsustainable model of alliance maintenance—and, I should add, grave political malpractice.

If the United States were to continue on the liberal path of relationship building with Europe, it would have to concede the chips race to China, as a successful Chinese invasion of Taiwan would give the CCP control of over 80% of the world’s semiconductors, leading to almost complete Chinese control of global supply chains and a consequent economic disaster for America and Europe alike.

It is clear that the liberal bargain of the US-EU relationship needs to be replaced by a pragmatically realist approach that preserves the alliance while deterring foreign adversaries. The latest NATO summit did exactly that.

Read more …

“As mayor, he promised to end homelessness in Greater Manchester by 2020. He didn’t. But he sure spent a lot of money on it.”

Come Meet Britain’s Next Worst Prime Minister Ever (Stephen Green)

Following King Charles III’s formal request to form a new government on Monday, new U.K. Labour Leader Andy Burnham takes Keir Starmer’s place as Britain’s next worst prime minister ever. “I now pass the baton to Andy Burnham, I wish him every success. He has my full support,” Starmer said to anyone still listening. It won’t be easy topping — bottoming? — Starmer’s record of increasing Islamification, two-tier justice, and economic decline, but I have faith in Burnham’s ability to do so. At the very least, there’s certainly no doubting his willingness to try.


It seems like just last month [It was just last month, Steve —Editor] I wrote that “The U.K.’s most destructively feckless prime minister (since the last one)” would soon be history, but that Burnham “could prove Britain’s final undoing.” I hate to be so pessimistic when it’s only Monday, but take a look at this guy. Burnham hasn’t worked in the private sector in 30 years — as a writer, yuck! — serving in Parliament for two decades, both in and out of power. He held positions we don’t even have here, like Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Shadow Secretary of State for Health, and Undersecretary for Taxing of Things We Haven’t Yet Taxed.

Then he served as Mayor of Greater Manchester (2017-2026), until returning to Parliament earlier this year following a by-election (kind of like a special election year), seemingly for the sole purpose of taking a run at Starmer. Mission: Accomplished. As of this writing, Burnham is busy sacking various members of Starmer’s cabinet, including Rachel Reeves as Chancellor, Steve Reed as Housing Secretary, Lord Hermer as Attorney General, Peter Kyle as Business Secretary, and the execrable David Lammy from his dual roles as Justice Secretary and Deputy PM.

But as one commenter on X warned: “Many people are loving all Burnham’s sackings because of what they think about the politicians he’s getting rid of. But don’t cheer too enthusiastically because it’s not at all clear that the new appointees will be any better.” The situation remains fluid, as they say, but Burnham has yet to name any replacements to serve in his cabinet. The name to keep an eye on — as I warned you last month — is the woman often called “the brains” behind Burnham’s time as mayor, the Liberian-born daughter of lefty radicals: Miatta Fahnbulleh.

CutMyTaxUK reported last year that Fahnbulleh “was born in Liberia as part of a prominent leftist revolutionary family, has served as a junior energy & housing minister in the Starmer government before resigning to support Burnham.” Previously, as the “former head of the far-left New Economics Foundation,” she proved “adept at churning out socialist policy proposals.” Or as CMT-UK put it, “Keir Starmer has appointed a Housing Minister who hates private housing.” And guess what? Before even naming Fahnbulleh as Permanent Undersecretary for Ending Private Property, Politics UK reported that Burnham is considering introducing rent controls as part of his cost of living announcement on Tuesday. “We are looking at measures that could make a difference this year,” Burnham said.

Tell me if this next item rings any bells, particularly for readers in California. “We ran a [homelessness] scheme every night. 600 beds,” Burnham said Monday. “But we were the only place doing it. It taught me the only way is to do this together.” As mayor, he promised to end homelessness in Greater Manchester by 2020. He didn’t. But he sure spent a lot of money on it. Now he’s taking his program nationwide, presumably. What Britain needs is a national election that might correct Labour’s lopsided majority in Parliament despite the party’s massive unpopularity. What they’ll get is the country’s next worst prime minister. Until the next one, I’m afraid.

Read more …

He’s just the next one.

The Unelected Monarch Creates the Unelected U.K Prime Minister (CTH)

There is absolutely nothing democratic within the political schemes of the communists, leftists and Nazis’. Just as Ukraine is led by an unelected authoritarian under the guise of the ‘new democratic norms’; just as Kamala Harris was installed as a presidential nominee under those same anti-democracy norms; so too is U.K Prime Minister Andy Burnham now installed without any election by the British citizens. nThe unelected monarch, King Charles, appoints the unelected Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, and the first pledge of the unelected leader is a promise to make life better for the people who are denied a voice in his agenda.


THE BACKGROUND – Former communist Prime Minister Kier Starmer was facing a massive amount of opposition, his policies and party platform had collapsed, and the people of Britain were revolting against him. Starmer’s Labour party lost more than 1,400 seats in the country’s local elections, and the non-communist, nationalistic Reform Party was winning. Something urgent was needed. Polls showed communist Mayor Andy Burnham was popular as his mask still had still not fully dropped, and the illegal immigrants on the streets of Manchester were only raping a few girls each month which was still easy to hide.

However, the problem was that Burnham could not replace Starmer unless he was a Member of Parliament (MP). With urgent payments for future indulgencies quickly afforded, the communist MP for Makerfield, a district within Greater Manchester, resigned from his job so that communist Andy Burnham could run for his MP position. A few days later, exactly at the moment communist Burnham was being sworn in to the MP job, communist Starmer announced his exit. The plan had worked seamlessly.

The Communist Labour Party of the U.K then coalesced quickly to replace Starmer with Burnham, and today Communist King Charles appointed Communist Andy Burnham to lead the country. No election needed; i.e. ‘The New Democratic Norm’ again fulfilled. Great Britain’s Bernie Sanders is now in charge of things. …”I have just come from Buckingham Palace where I have accepted his Majesty the King’s invitation to form a government”…

Read more …

“These bags were supposed to be at a different level, by different people, incinerated…but it never happened. Maybe we got lucky.”

About Those Burn Bags President Trump Mentioned in His Address (O’Brien)

In addition to its general corruptibility, one thing you can be sure of when it comes to the federal government is that it’s probably not a good idea to trust federal employees to conceal your misdeeds. In the bureaucracy, “good enough” is the standard for quality work And so, when President Donald Trump delivered his address to the nation on July 16, he brought attention to something we should know much more about but don’t yet: the discovery of “burn bags,” which Trump said contained sensitive documents from the Obama administration.


Trump said, “Recently, we found significant numbers of burn bags… and this is a group of bags that were used to destroy information given by President Barack Hussein Obama to be burned….These bags were supposed to be at a different level, by different people, incinerated…but it never happened. Maybe we got lucky.” As the term implies, burn bags contain material that is slated for destruction, sending all of the former administration’s secrets into that big shredder in the sky. But someone “dropped the bag,” and more than a few of them were left to be discovered by the second Trump administration in the FBI building.


Now that Trump is sitting on a political treasure trove of data and information that can be used to expose the left, expect a distraction or two. Whenever the left panics, you start to see ginned-up controversies over allegations of Trump “stealing our democracy,” “climate change,” “Christian nationalism,” or all of the above. Given the seriousness of the potential contents of those burn bags, it wouldn’t surprise me if the left goes even harder with its lies and wrap-up smears to try to take Trump out using the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.

As a result of the Trump administration’s discovery of those burn bags, the president ordered the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the CIA to review the documents, analyze them, and see if any laws were broken. That analysis will focus on the handling of the sensitive information and the chain of custody of the documents themselves, and the contents of the documents that were never destroyed. It must be noted that simply finding some old burn bags doesn’t mean something improper was done. The federal government uses burn bags as a matter of course to destroy sensitive materials that will no longer be kept on file.

The president believes that the bags of documents could unearth critical information that has been concealed from the public eye. He bases this viewpoint on his past experience with both the Obama and Biden administrations and their pattern of not preserving, or not providing access to, certain important intelligence information. In other words, Trump knows what he doesn’t know, and he wants answers. Could those bags contain more proof of the deep state covering up election schemes? Do any contain information that implicates specific members of the Obama or Biden administrations? If Trump knows, he’s not naming names or providing details just yet.

Trump’s mention of those burn bags was in the context of his larger address on election integrity failures and questionable activities on the part of Democrat administrations, their political operatives, and others. As leftists circle the wagons to protect their favorite former Democrat presidents and their people, leftist central messaging is already testing the following key messages:
• “Alleging foreign interference in an election is not proof (evidence) that a foreign government successfully controlled the outcome.” This is like saying, “Sure he had a gun and shot at ya, but he missed ya, so he didn’t do anything wrong.”
• “Criminal charges require more than political accusations.” Of course, this is true, but where do criminal charges themselves come from? They come from accusations that can be supported by evidence.
• “Even if you find some incriminating information in those burn bags, you’re going to need to prove that the person implicated knowingly violated federal law.” Depending on the situation, that would be a matter for the courts to decide, but this key message gets at understanding and intent, which in a PR sense can be a straw man. For example, it doesn’t matter whether you intended to kill someone with your car; if you ran over them, intentionally or not, you likely broke a law or two. In other words, “I did not know there was a law against this” is no excuse.
• “The discovery of documents alone would not establish a criminal conspiracy.” Another straw man. No one is saying “discovery of documents” is all you need. If the documents contain words and sentences that do establish a criminal conspiracy, someone’s goose may be cooked.
• “As for China, investigators must have direct evidence of coordination, communication, or actions that link actual people to the effort to tamper with an election.” Once again, this is just a description of the legal and justice process. All of this is true, but stating it does not get anyone off the hook.

Back in 2020 and 2021, when Trump sought to use the court system to contest the manner in which the 2020 election was conducted, he literally had no time left in his term to go the legal route as president. By the time the courts would consider some of his claims, he was essentially an outsider without access to much of the information that he now has. After election day in 2020, Trump was shut out of the system long enough to ensure that he would live the rest of his life in political exile after one term in office. But in 2024, Trump shocked the world and won. His administration now has access to what it needs to better determine what happened in 2020, to address it, and, hopefully, to tap the justice system to ensure such corruption never happens again.

Read more …

“California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) last week also declared that “nostalgia is not working” and, while refusing to embrace socialism, added that “capitalism as we know it doesn’t work.”

Democrats Dismiss Our Constitutional Traditions as ‘Nostalgia’ (Turley)

It appears that the Madisonian democracy has joined shackets and combat boots as embarrassingly outdated for many on the left. In calling for radical changes to our constitutional system, leading Democrats are now calling the lingering loyalty to our traditions as mere “nostalgia.” To be nostalgic in today’s parlance is to be a dupe of the oligarchs and an enemy to reform. “Nostalgia” has become the new coded term for reactionaries among Democratic figures, who are trying to convince Americans to accept radical changes to our republic after 250 years.


Kamala Harris recently insisted that opposition to ideas like packing the Supreme Court is mere “nostalgia” for a system that is no longer working. “I would caution us against talking about rebuilding with any sense of nostalgia about how things work, because even before, they weren’t working so well for a lot of folks,” she said. That “nostalgia,” according to Harris, is preventing us from doing things like packing the Supreme Court with an instant liberal majority. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) last week also declared that “nostalgia is not working” and, while refusing to embrace socialism, added that “capitalism as we know it doesn’t work.”

Morris Katz, a political strategist for Zohran Mamdani, spoke to CNN’s Dana Bash about looking beyond the label of democratic socialism and instead simply to accept that “our government does not work.” They are joining socialists who have long promised revolutionary changes without “introspection, nostalgia or regret.” It is an all-too-familiar pitch. Sixty years ago, a call to break free of “old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits” revolutionized a nation. That call was heard in a Chinese paper that would help lay the foundation for Mao Zedong’s bloody Cultural Revolution. Marxists had long rejected calls to preserve institutions and citizens’ rights as “nostalgia” and “sentimentality,” standing in the way of needed progress.

For the Democratic Socialist of America organization, nostalgia stands in the way of getting rid of the Senate, presidency, and the Supreme Court to fundamentally change the republic. The effort is to condition Americans to adopt radical changes to our core institutions that professors and pundits say will guarantee Democrats never lose power again. That is not an easy task for a people who have benefited from the oldest and most prosperous democracy for 250 years. They have to be very angry or very afraid to take such a radical course.

The Soviets understood that about the U.S. After Yuri Bezmenov, a KGB agent working in the media, defected in 1970, he revealed the four stages by which the Soviets hoped to bring about revolutionary change in the U.S. It began with undermining our institutions and values, with the help of journalists and academics. With establishment figures lining up behind radical changes, including packing the Supreme Court, the public is hearing a constant drumbeat of how our system is broken. Even Democratic judges are joining the chorus. Indeed, some appear to be auditioning for the slots promised by Democratic leaders to take over the court with a reliable liberal majority.

This week, the Hawaii Supreme Court issued an unhinged diatribe against the U.S. Supreme Court that abandoned any semblance of judicial restraint or decorum. It declared the majority as effectively racists, saying that “The Roberts Court sees only white.” It portrayed the court as a rogue institution that “overrides what Congress passed. It overrides what the people chose. All to serve its own ends.” It is an opinion that would make an MS NOW host blush. But it follows a pattern on the left to get people to turn against our institutions and even against the Constitution itself.

Others are telling the public that they are being repressed by the Constitution, which must be scrapped. In a New York Times op-ed — “The Constitution Is Broken and Should Not Be Reclaimed” — law professors Ryan Doerfler of Harvard and Samuel Moyn of Yale called for the nation to “reclaim America from constitutionalism.” In yet another New York Times editorial, Jennifer Szalai denounced “Constitution worship” and claimed that “Americans have long assumed that the Constitution could save us. A growing chorus now wonders whether we need to be saved from it.”

Berkeley Dean Erwin Chemerinsky insists that it is time to trash the Constitution in favor of “radical changes.” These voices are seeking to remove all of the moderating elements of our system —the safety features that have produced the world’s most successful and stable republic. They are the very constitutional elements protecting us from the tyranny of the majority, protecting us from ourselves.

Without those protections, we will unleash the self-destructive forces that have been tearing apart other democratic systems since Athens. It is our constitution that spared us from that fate. As James Madison observed, “Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates, every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob.” Of course, history has shown that such radical proposals ultimately produce not democracy, but what the Framers called mobocracy. If we let that happen, many Americans will indeed look back at the last 250 years with a tragic sense of nostalgia.

Read more …

“The left’s goal is always to break human reason. . . .” —Elizabeth Nickson

War, Over There, Over Here (James Howard Kunstler)

You ask: Why did Achilles drag Hector around the city of Troy three times? Answer: He was just that pissed.


So it goes with President DJ Trump and the intransigent jihadi maniacs running Iran down a rat hole. Mr. T is just that pissed, too. “War is Hell,” the savvy Union general WT Sherman observed after he torched Atlanta, setting a precedent for moral clarity in the service of tactical fortitude. And thus, a century-and-a-half later, this is Iran’s hard time. Iran can make it stop at any time by. . . stopping. But the catch is, they really have to stop it, no more head fakes, ruses, jukes, dodges, and ploys. Just stop it.

Don’t doubt that they will have to stop it. We are going to make them stop. In the meantime, there is plenty else to concern those of us who care about our country, and Western Civ more generally, on the home front. Here comes the Insane Clown Posse of the Democratic Socialists. Their platform: abolish the police; no more jail for criminals; open borders; amnesty for all border-jumpers; abolish the Senate; Abolish the electoral college (House of Representatives to elect the president); defund the War Department, voting rights for all non-citizens; “wealth” taxes; free housing, food, medical care for all; green new deal laws; free Palestine (which is more important than any place else on Earth)!

Oh, and they are quite out-front about merely using the Democratic Party as a means to acquire power. Yeah, you noticed that already? Nobody actually had to read the quiet part out-loud. (Well, it wasn’t all that quiet.) Question is: how is all this going to work in practice (or in the praxis, as the Gramscian Marxists like to say — because it sounds like some occult power), as they roll over every institution in the land.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are our own jihadistas. They aim to make their program work by jamming it down America’s throat, starting with the throats of the plain old Democratic Party, the party of FDR, JFK, and HRC, currently fronted by Hakeem Jeffries (the House) and Chuck Schumer (the soon-to-be-abolished Senate). These two appear to be totally buffaloed by the DSA’s Insane Clown Posse. It’s their own Frankenstein monster, stitched together in their laboratory from the tatters of the 20th century. And like in the original by Mary Shelley, this monster is fixing to abolish its maker. Hakeem and Chuck are just standing by like a couple of credulous clucks waiting to see how things develop as the calendar marches implacably toward the catastrophic midterm election.

Last week’s Maine Senate primary debate was instructive. A more pitiful conclave of political losers had not been observed on continental US soil since Millard Fillmore led the Know-Nothing party into oblivion in 1856. (And, of course, five years later the American Civil war ignited.) Remember the old maxim: “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.” Well, Gawd help us, then. See for yourself.


The fellow on the right pretending to be a woman is one Ashley Webb (formerly James Charles Webb) who cited “her” reasons for joining the race as: running for office before (unsuccessfully), being a songwriter, writing books, and being an “angry citizen” who would be an “angry senator.” Perfect! You might ask: why wasn’t Punch the Monkey onstage with the rest of this bunch?

Here is your very picture of Progressivism, the larval form of DSA — and, as you read this, there are Progressive larvae yet metamorphosing into full-blown DSAs all over these fifty states. Mamdani in New York. . . Brandon Johnson in Chicago. . . Katie Wilson in Seattle. . . Michelle Wu in Boston. . . Karen Bass in LA, etc. And here come DSAs Claire Valdez, Darializa Avila Chevalier, Brad Lander, taking House seats in New York and Melat Kiros out in Colorado (yes, the lady who likes to wipe her hands on the US flag) who are expected to join The Squad (AOC, Jayapal, Pressley, Tlaib) next January. Plus, over on the soon-to-be-abolished Senate side, one Dr. Abdul El-Sayad running in Michigan. They all promise to keep the punishment coming until American morale improves!


Looming over this Insane Clown Posse of — oh, let’s just say it — feckless communists, is the ancient visage of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — like F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg — the old war-horse’s long-cherished dreams finally coming true. Remember, in 1988 Bernie took his new wife on a honeymoon to the Soviet Union? Like. . . to witness how well that system was working. . . exactly three years before it collapsed. You can say the Democratic Socialists of America have got exactly the avatar they deserve.

The question is: will the DSA drag the Democratic Party into oblivion? Most assuredly they will. We are going to get election reform one way or another this year. There will be no more mail-in ballot harvesting or voting by non-citizens or vote tabulation machines. It might be that a substantial demographic in our country is insane, say, generously, maybe forty percent. But a firm majority of Americans are not insane and they are going to put a stop to this communist insurrection just as President DJ Trump — who is really pissed — will put end to the forty-seven-year Iranian jihad. What a week it has been!!! More thrills and chills ahead, you can be sure.

Read more …

“In 2018, 90% of Democrats disapproved of him. In 2026, that number sits at 69%.”

Here’s How the Democrats Are Blowing the Midterms (Margolis)

It can’t be said enough that history is on the Democrats’ side, but they seem determined to blow it. Precedent alone should hand Democrats a comfortable advantage this year. Only three midterms in nearly a century broke the pattern. In 2002, George W. Bush’s Republicans held their ground just over a year after the 9/11 attacks, when national security dominated everything else. In 1998, Bill Clinton’s Democrats benefited when Republicans overplayed their hand chasing impeachment over the Monica Lewinsky scandal. In 1934, Franklin Roosevelt’s Democrats rode the enduring popularity of the New Deal through the depths of the Great Depression. Each exception had a distinct, extraordinary set of circumstances behind it.


On the surface, it looks like Democrats should be able to win easily. Aside from precedent, Donald Trump’s polling gives them even more room to work with. Yet recent surveys suggest Democrats are underperforming badly enough that the wave they were counting on might not materialize. That underperformance could cost them control of the House. If Republicans hold the House this November, the reasons will be obvious: a socialist insurgency reshaping the party from within, and a singular obsession with opposing Trump that has crowded out everything else voters actually care about. The evidence is already sitting in the polling.

On the generic congressional ballot, Republicans are either tied with Democrats or ahead by three to four points, nowhere near the margin Democrats need to flip the House. A recent Washington Post/Ipsos poll put Democrats up just 48% to 45% on that same generic ballot question. Asked which party they agree with more on the issues that matter to them, voters split 41% Republican to 40% Democrat. Asked which party they trust more to handle the economy, the gap widened: 39% for Republicans to 35% for Democrats.Analysts at The Wall Street Journal have said a Democratic edge of anything under four points on election night is good news for Republicans trying to hold the majority. Right now, Democrats aren’t clearing that bar.


Here’s the part that should really worry them. Trump’s disapproval rating among Democrats is far lower than it was during his first term. In 2018, 90% of Democrats disapproved of him. In 2026, that number sits at 69%. Despite those low approval numbers, most surveys still don’t show Democrats building a clear advantage in the races that will actually decide who controls the House. Democrats have assumed that being anti-Trump is enough. But the fact is, they aren’t giving voters a reason to vote Democrat, and the party’s growing tolerance for socialism isn’t helping them. Socialism remains deeply unpopular with the broader electorate, and its visible presence inside the Democrat Party is giving persuadable voters a reason to back Republicans they might not have otherwise supported.

Every historical tailwind is blowing in Democrats’ direction this year, and still, Democrats may fail to capitalize on any of it. Make no mistake about it, if they blow this midterm, they won’t be able to blame the map, the money, or the message alone. They will have blown the most favorable set of conditions a minority party could ask for, and they will have done it to themselves.

Read more …

He may well be right.

Why Democrats Can’t Do Better Than Kamala Harris in 2028 (Daniel McCarthy)

There are only two lanes to the Democratic presidential nomination two years from now, and one of them is already blocked — by Kamala Harris. Get ready for the Kamala comeback, followed, in all likelihood, by a replay of her crushing defeat by the Republican nominee. Believe it or not, the ex-VP occupies what counts as the “center lane” within the party, and for most of the last three decades that’s the one that’s led to the nomination. Republicans used to be the party of orderly succession, even if the candidate whose turn had come looked like a certain loser: think Bob Dole in ’96.


But recently, it’s been Democrats who’ve tended to pick a party elder as their nominee: Al Gore, as a sitting VP, might not have been remarkable in 2000, but in ’04 it was John Kerry, in ’16 Hillary Clinton, and in 2020 Joe Biden — with only Barack Obama butting ahead of the line in 2008. Democrats like a known quantity, a reliable liberal who isn’t too overtly radical; the radicalism can wait until after Election Day.= So they’re leaning to running Harris again, even if donors aren’t happy about it: They blew nearly $2 billion on her campaign and aligned PACs in 2024, only for Harris to lose every battleground state to Trump.

It won’t be donors who decide the party’s 2028 nominee, though, and ordinary Democrats actually find Harris reassuring. She’s a familiar face, after all, commanding practically universal name recognition. Harris checks the identity-politics boxes that may be as important as winning to Democratic primary voters: Their ticket must have a woman, and it can’t be all white. And after being vetted as a VP and undergoing the trial-by-fire of the ’24 campaign, Harris isn’t likely to surprise voters with any extremist tattoos or sexual-assault allegations — things that can’t be taken for granted among Democrats nowadays.

Then there’s the revenge motive: What better way to repudiate the Trump era and reverse the ’24 humiliation than by making the woman he defeated president? Democratic primary voters are still smarting from Hillary Clinton’s drubbing in 2016: by 2028, the election of America’s first female president will have been postponed 12 long years, and feminists in the party aren’t willing to wait any longer. These are the reasons Harris tops almost all polls of 2028 Democratic hopefuls, with an 11.6-point lead in the RealClearPolitics polling aggregate as of mid-July.

“She comes in with 99 percent name ID and everyone else is going to have to raise money and buy it,” a former Harris aide tells New York’s David Freedlander. The donors might prefer just about anyone else, yet they’d have to pour an enormous amount of cash into another candidate just to make him or her recognizable. This has led one longtime Democratic strategist with donors’ ears to welcome the inevitable: “I hope she runs,” Alex Hoffman told New York, “Because then she will lose and we will never have to hear from her again. She will never win an election at a national scale. Never.” But if Harris is hopeless, why does she seem inevitable?

She has seniority no one else can match, but what about the other lane that leads to the nomination? That’s the left lane — the far left lane. The one Bernie Sanders occupied in 2020 and 2016, and that a candidate like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might fill in 2028. Young Dems keep moving leftward, with the Democratic Socialists of America making deeper inroads into the party. Harris is not nearly left-wing enough for them — but then, anyone who is would be upsetting to the old guard. It’s not that the old-timers aren’t also well to the left on economics, but they don’t want to be labeled “socialists”— while the insurgent left is proud of the brand. The party’s mainstream wants to have it both ways on the Israel-Palestine conflict — while the young left, increasingly, is explicit about its anti-Zionism.

There are still enough baby boomers and suburbanites in the Democratic Party to make the left lane an unlikely road to the nomination. For now. Harris can expect a challenge from the left, but the party is still probably one more presidential cycle away from nominating someone who openly represents where Democrats are headed. In fact, a Harris defeat in 2028 would be the perfect prelude to the socialist and anti-Zionist left’s takeover, discrediting the old guard for forfeiting the election to Donald Trump’s successor. Insider Democrats know Kamala Harris is a terrible candidate, but the party they built can’t tell her no — even if this is the last nomination they get to make before DSA takes over.

Read more …

For now far left field, but despair works miracles.

Don Lemon Wants the White House and Thinks MAGA Is the Nazi Party (Manney)

Don Lemon believes America may need him in the White House. Days after saying he might run for president in 2028, the independent “journalist” and podcaster offered a sample of his judgment. “MAGA is the closest thing to the modern version of the Nazi Party.” He softened the smear with “without the Holocaust and all that stuff.” Lemon then claimed MAGA supporters remain loyal because they want white supremacy and power. From the New York Post:


“Lemon – who also revealed he is considering a presidential run in the 2028 election, saying he’d be a “really good” commander-in-chief – argued MAGA supporters have stuck by the movement in an effort to promote white supremacy. “Most intelligent people or logical people, when they get new information and that information is negative or not factual, then they change their minds and go, ‘Oh, well I wish I’d known better, and now that I have this information, then I can readjust,’” Lemon said.

“No matter how many facts and how much information you give them about this presidency, about the policies, they don’t change their minds,” he continued. “Because they’re really not voting for the price of eggs – they’re voting for white supremacy, they’re voting for power, they’re voting to have a preeminent voice.” Speaking as one of the millions of Americans who voted for President Donald Trump, Lemon is a bloody fool! He doesn’t know us, speak for us, or understand why the country rejected the left’s lectures in 2024. The Nazi Party was a racist, antisemitic movement that destroyed German democracy, established a one-party dictatorship, and murdered six million Jews along with millions of other victims.

Lemon’s qualifications empty the comparison of its defining horror while preserving every ounce of the insult. MAGA is a broad American political coalition that won an election. Trump’s 2024 voters were more racially and ethnically diverse than in either of his previous campaigns. He received 48% of the Hispanic vote and 15% of the black vote. From Pew Research: Trump won with a voter coalition that was more racially and ethnically diverse than in 2020 or 2016, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of the 2024 electorate. Among Hispanic voters, Trump battled to near parity in 2024 (51% Harris, 48% Trump) after losing to Joe Biden 61%-36% in 2020. Trump won 15% of Black voters – up from 8% four years earlier.

Trump also did better among Asian voters. While a majority of Asian voters (57%) backed Harris, 40% supported Trump. This was a narrower margin than Biden’s in 2020 (70% to 30%). These shifts were largely the result of differences in which voters turned out in the 2020 and 2024 elections. As in the past, a relatively small share of voters switched which party’s candidate they supported. Lemon can dislike their choice, but branding those voters as supporters of white supremacy strips them of thought, motive, and agency. The insult grows more absurd beside Lemon’s presidential musings. He said people keep asking whether he’ll run and declared he could lead the country better than Trump.

A man seeking presidential stature should be able to describe his political opponents without reaching for Hitler. Lemon treats tens of millions of Americans as morally diseased, then wonders whether they might welcome him as their president. From the New York Post: “Lemon made the eyebrow-raising declaration on “Can’t Be Censored” podcast hosted by Karman Wong and Travis Dhanraj, insisting that everyone wants to know if he has White House aspirations. “Do you have political ambition? Is that true?” Dhanraj asked on Wednesday’s show. “No, but people keep asking me if I’m running for president,” Lemon answered. “And I don’t know. I might. I’m serious. I don’t know. I might, because people keep asking me to do it, or if I’m going to do it.”

Lemon, 60, argued that experience isn’t necessarily a requirement to be commander-in-chief, citing President Trump’s lack of a political background before his election win in 2016. I can already hear many of you who are saying we should ignore Lemon. Silence has its place, but repeated public smears gain power when decent people shrug and move on. Sharing his words exposes the contempt behind them. Lemon wants attention, influence, and perhaps political power. The public should know how he speaks about Americans who vote differently.

Read more …

“Establishment Democrats are freaking out over the Democratic Socialists of America’s attempted hijacking of their party ..”

“I’m Not Living In Communist America”: Bill Maher Blasts DSA Democrats (ZH)

“I’m not living in Communist America… I’ve read the quotes from the DSA platform, from their own mouths. Don’t tell me I’m not seeing what I am seeing,” Bill Maher told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl in an exclusive interview that aired on Sunday.


Karl asked Maher, “Could you see yourself voting for JD Vance?” Maher responded: “Yes. If this is the Democratic side, yes.” Establishment Democrats are freaking out over the Democratic Socialists of America’s attempted hijacking of their party because this anti-American, far-left Marxist movement, with possible ties to foreign subversion, risks dooming the party in the midterms and beyond.

The problem for Democrats is that years of letting socialists and Marxists into their DEI kingdom have only now produced dire consequences. Status quo Democrats are watching their power evaporate as DSA candidates defeat mainstream Democrats in primaries across New York, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and other states.

Read more …

That’s a lot of licenses.

China’s Fake US Driver’s Licenses Tampered With the 2020 Election (O’Brien)

When President Donald Trump talked about some of the things China has done to literally steal our democracy by seeing to it that, in 2020, its Manchurian candidate was elected in the form of a semi-comatose Joe Biden, many of the things he mentioned had already been in the news, but they may not have been covered by the legacy media. Case in point: Trump mentioned in his July 16 address to the nation that China stole TikTok data to create fake U.S. driver’s licenses.


If you follow conservative media, you may have known this. If you get your news from the legacy media, you most likely didn’t know it, and if you heard it now, you won’t believe it. That’s the group Trump was targeting in his address. His national address strategy was to speak past the legacy media and to begin the process of planting the seeds of the truth in the minds of those who rely on the CNNs, ABCs, and NBCs of the world. Strategically, Trump is now trying to break through the information barrier that the legacy media and the left have created to keep the majority of Americans in the dark on what’s really happened to corrupt our elections.

A year ago, Brooke Singman published a lengthy piece on the Fox News website that detailed just how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) executed its TikTok data theft scheme. Her primary source for the story was the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The Senate Judiciary Committee launched its own investigation into this after the FBI had announced its own investigation in July 2025. As Singman reported, the CCP allegedly worked to get “fake driver’s licenses to Chinese sympathizers in the U.S. who would cast a vote for candidate Biden.” It is not clear how successful the CCP was in getting its ballots for Biden to count.

In July 2025, a Grassley spokesperson told Fox News, “Chairman Grassley is in receipt of an FBI document (response) to a request he made based on legally protected whistleblower disclosures…. The document alleges serious national security concerns that need to be fully investigated by the FBI.” As stated in that document, the intent of the alleged scheme was for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to produce and export fraudulent U.S. driver’s licenses to Chinese sympathizers in the U.S., so as to create “tens of thousands of fraudulent mail-in votes for US Presidential candidate Joe Biden, in late August 2020.”

According to the document at the center of these investigations, by August 2020, “the Chinese government had produced a large amount of fraudulent United States driver’s licenses that were secretly exported to the United States,” Fox News reported. The fraudulent drivers licenses would allow tens of thousands of Chinese students and immigrants sympathetic to the Chinese Communist Party to vote for US Presidential Candidate USPER Joe ((Biden)), despite not being eligible to vote in the United States… China had collected private US user data from millions of TikTok accounts, to include name, ID and address, which would allow the Chinese government to use real US persons’ information to create the fraudulent driver’s license, the document states.

Reporting on the investigation indicates that the fake IDs included true ID numbers and the true addresses of U.S. citizens, which made the fraud difficult to detect. “China planned to use the fraudulent driver’s licenses to account for tens of thousands of mail-in votes,” according to the document.] What’s not clear is how specifically the PRC accessed the TikTok data and got all the information it needed to create those fake driver’s licenses. TikTok, for example, does not require a physical address when users register for an account. Did the creators of the fake IDs use the physical addresses of those Chinese sympathizers? This is fuzzy.

FBI Director Kash Patel and Grassley had been working closely on this case prior to the president’s speech on July 16.In another uncanny development from around the same time, in July 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents at the International Mail Facility (IMF) at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport announced that in the first half of that year, they had seized 1,513 shipments of fraudulent documents, which included 19,888 fake U.S. driver’s licenses. Most of those shipments originated in China and Hong Kong, as well as Great Britain and South Korea.

According to the CBP statement on the matter from 2020, “The driver’s licenses were for various people in different states with a vast majority destined for neighboring states. Most were for college-age students, and other licenses would share the same picture but have different biographical data. Another concern was the bar code attached to the Michigan licenses worked.” In typical fashion, the Democrats’ propaganda machine known as the Associated Press reported at the time, “There is no evidence to suggest they were linked to voter fraud.” Case closed, I guess.

Maybe leftist newswire Reuters had a different take: “Facebook posts shared thousands of times claim that 19,888 fake driver’s licenses were seized at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport after being ordered by people ‘all registered to vote, all Democrats.’ Suggesting that the licenses were part of a voter fraud conspiracy, this claim is partly false. While it is true that U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 19,888 counterfeit licenses at O’Hare in late July, they had no apparent connection to Democratic Party registration or the upcoming election.”

Read more …

Will Jamie Dimon finance it?

Can Elon Musk Really Put ONE MILLION Data Center Satellites in Orbit? (Green)

Now that you’ve read the headline, I’ll show you the numbers, and you’ll probably say, “OH NO WAY!” But indulge me, won’t you. Ars Technica’s senior space guy Eric Berger looked at how much it might cost SpaceX to fulfill Elon Musk’s stated goal of putting ONE MILLION DATA CENTER satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for the company’s artificial intelligence division, xAI. I don’t want to bother you with all the background math — you can click the link for the full MEGO effect, should you desire — but you do need to see the final totals for putting all those birds in orbit:


ª Optimistic: $350 billion in launch costs; $1 million per satellite; all-in cost of $1.45 trillion • Neutral: $1.85 trillion in launch costs; $1.5 million per satellite; all-in cost of $3.45 trillion • Pessimistic: $7.7 trillion in launch costs; $2.0 million per satellite; all-in cost of $9.8 trillion

The median scenario is $3.45 trillion dollars, or roughly 70% of what the U.S. spent waging World War II. Honestly, I felt the need for a shot of tequila after going through those figures. “Daunting” doesn’t even begin to cover the expense and complexity of such lofty goals. “Unimaginable” perhaps comes closer. But things become less daunting and more imaginable when viewed from the proper perspective.

The question isn’t, “Can Elon Musk really put one million data center satellites in orbit?” The correct question is, “Can he put enough data center satellites in orbit at a low enough cost to generate positive cashflow?” It’s all about the money, honey — because once you’re making more than you spend, the sky’s the limit. Literally, in this case. And while one can say for sure whether Musk can make the economics work, this is an area where SpaceX enjoys hard-won expertise. You might have heard of a little space-based internet service provider called Starlink.


The first operational batch of 60 satellites went up in May 2019, and Starlink beta service went live near the end of 2020 with fewer than 1,000 in orbit. By the end of 2024, with around 6,400 satellites, Starlink turned cash flow positive. That was the key metric, not whether Starlink had achieved its longterm goal of having a constellation of 42,000 operational satellites. “The key takeaway I want everybody to walk away with is, if SpaceX was building the Starlink system to pay for a Mars colony, we’ve got evidence that the company will generate the type of free cash flows from the business that could pay for said endeavor,” Quilty Space president Chris Quilty said at the time.

Today the end goal has changed — the Moon and data centers, not Mars — but the means remain the same: using orbital operations-at-scale to turn a profit doing the previously impossible. It took roughly 6.5 years for SpaceX to launch the 10,000th Starlink bird, and for the division to start raking in serious profits. So I tend to think of roughly 10,000 satellites — an unimaginable number not that many years ago — as the number required for sustained operations at a return worthy of the effort.

And Another Thing: Naysayers were all doom-and-gloom that SpaceX lost money in 2025, entirely on data center buildouts. But now the company leases server space to companies like Google and Anthropic for about $2 billion a month. xAI isn’t quite cash flow positive, but it’s closing in. Assuming SpaceX makes Starship work, the launch economics improve considerably. If the company doesn’t make it work, the entire project falls apart.

Also, Starlink enjoys a built-in audience, as it were, of people in rural or underdeveloped areas who had no other means of getting affordable high-speed internet service. Plus previously unfulfilled demand from airlines, cruise ships, and the Department of Defense. There’s no similar built-in demand for orbital data, so it’s my assumption that xAI will have to compete with terrestrial data centers on price. If Musk can overcome the serious technical and financial challenges to achieve positive cash flow, then SpaceX can continue putting data center satellites into LEO until they’ve hit one million… or 100,000, or 10,000. Or whatever number the market will allow.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/Chicago1Ray/status/2079010414445130084?s=20

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.