Debt Rattle March 9 2025

 

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    Raphael The transfiguration 1520   • A New American Empire: Trump, Russia, and The End of Globalism (Kashin) • U.S. Admits Ukraine Proxy War Defe
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle March 9 2025]

    #183837
    zerosum
    Participant

    Collection of Points of view/Opinions/facts – Irrelevant, change, right/wrong, illusion,
    ———
    • A New American Empire: Trump, Russia, and The End of Globalism (Kashin)

    The American empire extended its reach through growth, financial dominance, leverage, military alliances, and ideological influence.
    This model, however, has become increasingly unsustainable.
    ————-
    • U.S. Admits Ukraine Proxy War Defeat (SCF)
    Marco Rubio made a damning admission.
    In one fell swoop, the narrative justifying the NATO-backed war for the past three years was exposed as a naked lie.
    It is not about “defending Ukraine” from alleged Russian unprovoked aggression.
    It is a proxy war.
    This war has appalling losses.
    Three years of the biggest war in Europe since World War Two has resulted in over one million deaths – mainly on the Ukrainian military side
    – and hundreds of billions of dollars and euros wasted,
    which the American and European public will pay over generations through debts.
    Emptying the inventory of military equipment.
    Modernizing application of warfare: drones, economic, electronic.
    This war is an abominable crime perpetrated by Washington and its European allies.
    The Trump administration has realized that the evil of this fraudulent war must stop.
    ———–
    • Acute Dementia: Europe Declares War On Russia All Over Again (Pepe Escobar
    Allegedly to be financed to the tune of 800 billion euros – money that no one has, and would have to be loaned then repaid with sky-high extorsion interest rates to the usual international financial system vultures.
    In practice, buying more overpriced American weapons – and “rearmament”
    Other than the U.S., NATO simply has no military worth.
    And Washington under Trump 2.0 simply will not be involved in the next European War.
    The U.S. has satellite systems for targeting but no one else in NATO has them.
    ———–
    The King’s letter to President Trump was a diplomatic masterstroke.
    ————
    The UK’s transfer of the proceeds from Russia’s frozen central bank funds to Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has said.
    On Friday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal said that Kiev had received a first tranche worth about $1 billion from the UK, secured by the proceeds from the Russian assets.
    He said the funds would go toward “strengthening” Ukraine’s defense and voiced hope that all frozen Russian assets would be “confiscated and transferred” to Kiev.
    Speaking to reporters later in the day, Volodin said Britain “will have to give back to Russia what they are now so generously giving away,” adding that Moscow has “every reason to respond in kind.”
    ————-
    President Trump on Saturday implored ‘All Republicans’ to vote on a 99-page spending bill that would keep the government funded through September, as a March 14 deadline approaches for the latest government shutdown threat.
    Johnson is setting up the bill for a vote on Tuesday.
    As Bloomberg notes, unlike previous shutdowns, this one would impact all discretionary spending since none of the 12 appropriations bills have been signed into law.
    ————–

    • Federal Judge Denies Request to Block DOGE From Accessing Treasury Data (ET)
    —————-
    • Something Huge for the MAHA Movement Is About To Happen (Margolis)

    Something is poisoning the American people.” Now he’s taking his fight directly to the corporate boardrooms of Big Food.
    ————–
    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Washington’s decision to halt intelligence sharing with Kiev proved that without the West’s direct involvement “Ukraine would not be able to… launch long-range missiles at our territory.”
    Commenting on Tuesday on the halt of US intelligence sharing with Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed cautious optimism, noting that if the US were to suspend supplies altogether, it would “probably be the best contribution to the cause of peace.”
    ————–
    Tusk’s speech followed his recent accusations that Moscow is fueling a new arms race, and calls for fellow EU nations to ramp up defense spending.
    The Kremlin has criticized Tusk’s rhetoric as confrontational and militaristic.
    Moscow has rejected accusations that it poses a military threat to Europe, with President Vladimir Putin dismissing the claims as “nonsense” designed to justify increased military budgets.
    —————-

    #183838
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Dr D is typing……Dr D is typing….. Dr D is typing.

    In the mean time on Unz this morning: Broken Doctors for a Broken Medical System
    In comments, one sad existence goes with:

    A Reminder:
    “Everything the government touches turns to $hit” Ringo Starr.
    Solution:
    Get the government entirely out of “health care” , so individuals are free to make their own health care decisions and to be fully responsible for those choices.

    Oblivious of Medical Industrial Complex and the “guy from the government” who is given a chance to fight it.

    #183839
    Dr. D
    Participant

    It’s not Transfiguration season. My 40 days in the wilderness decorations are still up.

    “”Resign In Disgrace!”: Bill Ackman Says Democrats Need “Complete Reboot”

    Great idea! To what? Unless they know where they’re headed, they won’t know who needs to resign. Some should have HAD SOME PRINCIPLES and joined like Dore’s Worker’s Party. Nope. They’re the War Party.

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

    Capital flows. We don’t have to be great, because they’re awful.

    “Trump Sends Letter To Ayatollah Urging Fresh Nuclear Negotiations

    If you’re wondering at tariffs, no tariffs, sanctions, no sanctions, this is all optics while he’s doing real stuff on the telephone. The other guys are politicians too, they know the deal. For instance here, Trump is a’gonna tell him, boy howdy! No nukes for you!! …For all of us not deranged, not morons, NUKES ARE ILLEGAL in Iran. They issued a Fatwa (iirc that word) saying they are un-Muslim and will avoid if at all possible. Trump is going to sell them what they already own. …Cause: morons in the press. Who then misled the people, not of America but the whole world with ceaseless lies. Now to get the lies BACK on cohesion with the truth, we have to waste all our time on this. But whatever.

    “Putin Said To Be “Ready To Agree” To Ceasefire… With Conditions That Are Unacceptable To Ukraine

    Same. Cosman points out, “We are always ready for peace!” …As Napoleon said, “I love peace! …On my terms.” Yes, if you unconditionally surrender, there can be peace today! …So what are the TERMS? We can pick on Russia, but it’s really Ukraine. Their terms are the unconditional surrender of Russia, them being wiped from the earth, when they’re losing and just lost in Kursk, the fake, fantastical “Bargaining chip” everyone shook their heads at. Really? You think you can trade Kursk…for ANYTHING? How about they shoot you all dead and say no? …Well, that’s what happened. Some 6,000 will surrender today perhaps, with 10k dead til now?

    But Ze makes it up on the volume, you see.

    “Trump Admin Axes $400 Million In Grants To Columbia University Over Antisemitism Inaction

    I’m as thrilled as anyone with cutting off colleges, and especially Columbia, home of world-wide #AntiJournalism but wtf is “AntiSemitism”? That people don’t like you as much as you wanted? Did they commit crimes? Or were they only thinking and feeling the wrongthink and had them a racism?

    Chevron: “NY Times says Musk wants to cut Air Traffic Controllers”. Does he though? Or is this like yesterday with 400 TSA workers and 550 Union guys as their HR laisons.

    “No court may take over that role.”

    What happens when the Courts say “Make me”? The Court SAYS it is the President now, and decides all things. Barrett (among others) says so. So, Congress…you going to impeach some people? Actually they are YOUR laws that Trump can’t execute now, so…

    Bitcoin “would have been worth $17B today.” Yes, but they gave Podesta 20 TIMES that for untracked payouts. So, thanks for looking I guess, but.

    Sacks: But that’s the truth, so who cares? If we can slander without consequence, that’s what we do. You set the rules. If you’re providing an inch of good faith, that’s you. I just take it and grab more. You see, LOSING $400Million = MAKING $400M. All #Opposites are the #Same. Good, Evil, who can really tell, even?

    “TRUMP: “Under the final two years of Biden, 1 in every 4 jobs created in America was a government job.”

    That’s kind of surprising. Because wasn’t 2:1 jobs created go to illegal immigrants? I thought that was the number. It was at least Zero jobs for Americans, some for immigrants.

    “Daylight time in the US, not for another 3 weeks here in Europe. Always throws me off.

    Please, can Republicans do something useful for once and repeal this? There are like 50 people killed each year.

    “J.D. Vance, recently delivered a speech in Munich that amounted to direct interference in European politics,”

    Huh? Having opinions is “direct interference” now? No wonder they’re starting to put every single German into prison one by one. And here I thought you’d have to vote, stuff boxes, use the NSA to expose dirt, or something like….real? Have ACTIONS?

    Alrighteeeeee then: I hereby sanction and embargo all Europe for all THEIR election interference with us. Don’t they have opinions too? That are on the news? …And MI6 paying for Steele report, with Starmer and Zelensky sending hundreds of staff and personally coming to campaign throughout America? YOU set the rules, dooods. Now pay up. Got some nice assets here, hate for anything to happen to them.

    ““European leaders are desperate.”

    Sometimes it’s hard to tell when they’re so moronic.

    He called the conflict in Ukraine a proxy war between the United States, its NATO allies and Russia.”

    Noooo!!!! What????

    “In one fell swoop, the narrative justifying the NATO-backed war for the past three years was exposed as a naked lie. “

    …All you have to do to pop the bubble is Tell the Truth. That’s it. Somebody, somewhere, tell the G-dd—n Truth, for ONCE. Ever. “Hey we’re stealin’ all Syria’s oil!” Like that.

    That move has thrown the European allies into a quandary and existential crisis. It is a crisis of their own making.”

    What???? Noooo!!!! …All you have to do to pop the bubble is Tell the Truth. That’s it.

    “Now couple this Moliere farce with the fate of the much larger, fatter, pan-European New Model Woke Army regimented by the Fuhrerin SS”

    Uh, no LITERALLY. Sweden has Army recruitment ads using the LGBT flag. With slogan “Worth dying for”. I saw a similar one in Germany, soldiers folding up the rainbow flag with every honor and ceremony, not a German flag in sight. Good idea! I say every gay person goes there and straight people all stay if that’s what you’re selling. Look at it honestly: if they had the flag of the House of HANOVER, the house of STUART, the Flag of ALABAMA, WHO exactly, do you think will, and is expected to rally to it? Well not everyone on the planet, that’s for sure! You mean Clan Stuart. You mean relatives of Hanover. No one else. That’s what “Flags” mean if I have to tell you.

    “The U.S. has satellite systems for targeting but no one else in NATO has them.”

    This retardation cannot be overstated: ALL German, British, top missiles (though 2+ generations behind) are worthless without that ground-terrain data. They’re like lobbing shells. Get your own proprietary data and satellites. Meaning, WE take Stormshadows off the map because Britain couldn’t be arsed.

    “the Prime Minster handing the President a letter from His Majesty, King Charles II. While it has attracted little comment, The King’s letter to President Trump was a diplomatic masterstroke.”

    Ha ha. Whut? Trump said, “Hey should I throw this away or open it now?”(he did) Seriously? You want us to betray our country for dinner with a ruinous, lifelong, mass-murdering, gay pedo like Chuckie? What’s your life expectancy if you stayed at Balmoral for 10 days? THIS is what you’ve got to bargain with now? This?

    Soooo yer boy Yats was 1) Paying to slander me and ruin the entire first administration then 2) Campaigned against me in the most egregious election tampering since the LAST USAID color revolution. Tell you what: Fire Starmer, his whole cabinet, ban Labour as a party and arrest all the Rape Gangs and it’s even.

    I’d pay $5,000 NOT to have dinner with Charles or stay in Balmoral. I don’t know what’s with some people.

    “A federal judge in Washington has refused to block staff from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the Treasury Department’s systems that contain millions of Americans’ personal data.”

    Pretty weird. Here I thought the Treasury was run by the Treasury Secretary, so why don’t we ask him? Oh we ask JUDGES instead?

    “Homan initially outlined plans to prioritize illegal alien violent criminals, namely those tied to gangs such as Tren de Aragua, repeat deportees, and those convicted of crimes.”

    Because, again, we know where all these people are, that they are criminals, but can’t be arsed to arrest them. No wonder they’re here! We’re not worthy of anyone’s respect if that’s the case. Rape away, good sirs! My daughter is right here! Take either of them! (Just like Soddom)

    “Moscow insists that all Western sanctions are illegal”

    Pretty sure that’s true. It’s an act of war that needs Security Council. Or court. Or process. Or a reason. ‘Coz I think you’re guilty is not a reason.

    “• Polish PM Plans To Double Size Of Army (RT)

    Great idea! …Maybe you should have started 10 years ago? Btw, what are they going to train with? Broomsticks? Vespas? They also said they’d call up – unclear, but by training? So that 55 year olds are likely to be pulled first? And no women? Aren’t they first and best on the gay flag? I’m sure everyone will be very, very happy with this.

    “• Ukraine’s Losses Mounting Due To US Intel Freeze (RT)

    Maybe, but it’s more likely all narrative. Duran points out Kursk was all lost days ago, before Donald even threatened shutting anything off. But why let the Truth stop a good Narrative!?! “We Make S—t Up!” It’s HIS fault, honest! Not that there were already no men left in Kursk to die.

    They do this same thing with the economy. All this “aid” that’s stopped is going to take days, weeks, to get through to the front, so shortly, sure. But just like the minute the new President comes in, like the weekly jobs (with a month lag) or the Air Traffic Controllers who no one’s had time to even look at, suddenly are the fault of the new guy.
    Biden kept this up for four years. It was a great economy! Best ever! But if it wasn’t, it was Trump’s economy, four years later. BothNeitherAi.

    “• Trump CDC to Probe Long-Rumored Vaccine-Autism Link (PJM)

    Great. Will anyone believe them now? (A: No. That’s what Mr. Fauci did for “Science”, his 100 year legacy.)
    See Dore, below. “Follow the Science…that follows only the money.” BTW sounds like JB: that’s odd: you say the entire world is ending but China, the Pentagon, WEF, Google servers, GrokAI, none of them have to change? Ten guys in Oslo have to buy slightly newer cars, that’ll help.

    “Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has taken full creative control of the James Bond franchise after longtime producer Barbara Broccoli reportedly called his executives “f**king idiots,”

    Bond is dead. Well, I thought it went out well, mostly. And it’s of it’s time, like the 60s.

    And we were going to cheer over Kathleen Kennedy FINALLY stop killing Star Wars, then digging it up and killing its corpse over and over again. BUT! She found out about it, got pissed, and is staying to ruin MORE. …Because the fans were finally happy at her leaving and she can’t have that.

    Raul: someone suggested https://newsandnews.com/#/ (aggregator) I haven’t checked it out, but sometimes getting a different angle can bring missing stuff to the top. My guess is it will be center-left.

    #183840
    Dr. D
    Participant

    …And that medical thing was working so well for 200 years.

    Welp! I guess physics and human nature are all different now and there’s nothing we can do except have 6-month waiting periods in Canada and England. A thing we never had ever in history before now the government got involved.

    #183841
    Michael Reid
    Participant
    #183842
    Michael Reid
    Participant
    #183843
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    time may reveal the truth or not

    #183844
    phoenixvoice
    Participant

    Medical system

    I don’t believe that there is a “one size fits all” solution. For immediate trauma, we need a system where anyone injured or suffering an acute issue can be seen right away and not be worrying about the cost. In the past 20 years for kids and I this has included: cuts requiring stitches, food impaction, appendicitis, skin infection that required IV antibiotics for 2 days, etc. One option is that the government cover the cost of this, so that low-income folks are not dissuaded from seeking aid. There are other options — however, the private medical insurance tied to a job route is not working all that well.

    Next, there are more minor acute issues: uti, strep throat, jock itch, bronchitis, minor skin infection, pink eye, ringworm, etc. — all that is needed is diagnosis and medication. Often, a simple diagnostic test is all that is required — but these are firewalled behind expensive doctor visits, and the most effective medications are also blocked in the same way. It’s a racket. It would be useful for diagnostic tests to be publicly available for a minor fee (a couple of dollars), so patients could make their own informed decisions, rather than guessing with folk-remedies. I mean, sure, folks might self-medicate with antibiotics for a sore throat that isn’t strep — but my experience is that doctors routinely do this as well, so what is the point?

    Then there are “well visits.” Yes, they have some use, because they can potentially find issues when they are minor and more easily treatable. However, currently the medical industry is using these as a cash cow. At age 40? Get a mammogram every year. 50? Get a colonoscopy. Cholesterol or blood pressure or blood sugar a little elevated? — here is a maintenance med for that. Funky skin thing? Have a biopsy, or two, or ten. Currently, the purpose of “well visits” is to find a “treatable chronic problem” that the medical industry can use to make a recurrent income from. Well visits have a place — but, currently, they are being exploited.

    And then there is treatment of chronic conditions. The way the medical industry responds to these is just like how my ex used to dream of methods of recurrent income — because that is what they are for the medical industry. Why cure someone when their pain causes income? Hence, when I went to a doctor for hip pain years ago I was told it was bursitis, rest it — but not too much, take ibuprofen, and come back if it didn’t go away. Stupid advice. Back in October the bursitis came back and didn’t go away, not with rest, not with ibuprofen. And due to a documentation mixup, my Medicaid was temporarily halted. (I was eligible, and I’d turned in the documents requested, but it would take a few weeks to get through the system.) So, I couldn’t see a doctor, couldn’t follow up on the referral that I already had for physical therapy. I turned to the internet for “physical therapy” and found a yoga instructor on YouTube who had experienced bursitis and had several vids on exercises to do. Three days after starting these mild and brief exercise regimens I was going two and three days at a time with no hip pain — after 6 weeks of having some pain every day. Now I do these exercise routines regularly, and have only minor hip discomfort a few times per month — usually after a busy few days when I skipped the exercises.

    The medical system is broken — it is designed as a holy gatekeeper that brings people in and then tries to get them to never leave. It should serve the people — right now, it is mostly the other way around, with people serving it.

    #183845
    those darned kids
    Participant

    cuba has a better medical system than both the united states and canada.

    #183846
    Michael Reid
    Participant
    #183847

    [paraphrase] The real threat of China is that it sets a good example. [In its efforts abroad].
    Thanks, Michael Reid, for that last video from yesterday.

    The lines are drawn. The hearts will swell
    And band together, and march to hell.
    Disgrace the cowards who shun the fight-
    And make it known that might is right!

    And all because banksters gotta bankst.

    #183848
    John Day
    Participant

    Just Cut Out The Bankers https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/just-cut-out-the-bankers

    When economies change, political alliances may have to change, also. After WW-1, the UK had passed peak-coal, and could no longer provide coal to Italy. Italy had to get coal from Germany, and by WW-2, Italy was Germany’s ally, not Britain’s.
    Peak oil-plus-condensates occurred in November 2018, and by March 2020 the largest global financial bailout ever was happening under cover of “pandemic lockdowns”, which greatly reduced demand for oil and impaired the economies of the world. The inflation was recognized when lockdowns ended.
    Russia has the most natural resources per capita by far, and economy which is still growing in real terms. The United States is second in resources per capita, but has a lot more people. Both of these countries have the potential to be fairly self-sufficient, and both have access to Arctic oil resources, which appear to be the last big oil play. Developing Arctic oil is technically difficult, but the US Oil Majors can do it, have done it in Russia, and would like to go back and do it some more.

    Traditional foreign policy of the British Empire was to keep rivals at war with each other, especially Germany and Russia. After WW-2, the rivalry arrangement was to be that NATO would “keep the Russians out, the Germans down, and the Americans in”.
    The days of empire waned, the cold war ended, but the British balance remained as habit, to sustain the imperial army of NATO, which was repurposed for offensive action outside of Europe, even as Europe suffered economic decline from expensive oil and excessive payments on national debts.
    With declining real economies, borrowing increased in most nations and most private households to sustain necessities and living standards. That is no longer possible, as the debt service burden is too high. A financial crisis looms.
    There was a plan in NATO and western global finance, to destabilize Russia, and resume the neoliberal corpse-picking of the 1990s. Militarizing Ukraine for this was already underway, Slavs against Slavs, in the service of London banking interests. It was a big investment, somewhat risky, but those Russian resources could provide enough collateral to recapitalize western finance.
    The investment scheme failed badly, but cannot be admitted, because the losses are so large as to make London and other interlaced banking centers insolvent. A cascade of calling-in-collateral would be triggered, the definitive second part of the 2008 global financial crisis.

    Why are the Americans against the Russians in favor of London banks? Would it not be a much more favorable game-theory alignment for the US and Russia to become allies and control oil markets and the Arctic together. both being self-sufficient enough overall to withstand trade wars with the rest of the world?
    Presidents Trump and Putin seem to fully comprehend this. Both countries can profit greatly by cutting London and other global financial centers out of their controlling and intermediating financial positions, creating an oil oligopoly and military alliance, forcing the rest of the world to trade on its terms. It does not seem that European bureaucrats, in service of global banking interests, have much potential to resist, but could upset the whole game by starting a nuclear war. This is a dangerous moment in history.

    ​ Ukraine “rare earths” deal: the empire’s fatal mistake​ , Alex Krainer
    Rare earths deal is a very British hustle, a cheap rerun of Winston Churchill’s playbook to ensnare the US in World War 2. Now Starmer’s doing it for WW3.
    ​ I first wrote about the “rare earths” deal between the US and Ukraine last week, on Tuesday, 25 February and I intended to follow up with this report in a day or two. However, the situation continued to evolve and the rabbit hole presented new discoveries. The affair appears to be a deceitful ploy contrived by the British ruling establishment to lure Donald Trump into providing security for Ukraine and ultimately to go to war against Russia. However, this could prove to be the British Empire’s fatal mistake that will probably accelerate its final collapse.
    ​ Yes, the British Empire is still a thing. It’s an undead empire of money, bankers and money laundering; it’s an empire of secret intelligence networks and covert diplomacy; of illicit influence, bribery and corruption; it’s an empire of false narratives and co-opted governments of degenerates, morons and incompetent bureaucrats. It’s a parasite that has infected humanity centuries ago and turned it into a radical perversion of itself.
    ​ It’s also a dying empire, wounded and extremely dangerous as it is prepared to set the world on fire to preserve itself.​..
    ..It seems extraordinary that Zelensky, who is desperate for continued US financial and military support would antagonize President Trump in such a brazen manner, which included insulting him and embarrassing his Secretary of State. The explanation may have emerged from a Czech publication AENews, citing leaks from Ukraine’s intelligence. AENews reported that Zelensky is unable to cut the deal with the U.S. because he already signed over Ukraine’s resource wealth to Britain…
    ..Back in late September 2024, two months before the US elections, Zelensky paid a visit to Trump in New York and proposed the minerals deal. Perhaps he wanted to win Trump over to Ukraine’s cause just in case he won the elections and became the new president. The $500 billion figure came from Zelensky, not from Trump, and I very much doubt that Zelensky came up with the idea himself…
    ​..To preempt Trump and secure Ukraine’s resources for Britain, Sir Keir Starmer rushed to make the deal with Zelensky under the framework of the “One Hundred Year Partnership…” The new partnership was signed on 16 January of this year, only four days before Donald Trump’s inauguration. In Article 4, the agreement sets out its purpose: to “strengthen conditions for investment and trade … and cooperate across a range of sectors, including but not limited to transport, infrastructure, and energy to make both their economies more modern, resilient and prosperous.”
    ​ According to the intelligence leaks from Ukraine, the agreement includes a secret Appendix, which provides that after the end of hostilities, the UK would gain control of all of Ukraine’s ports, power plants, natural gas deposits, storage facilities and pipelines, titanium deposits and more.
    ​ Apparently, Zelensky signed over these resources in exchange for the UK’s commitment to Ukraine’s security, support for her NATO membership and “no less than £3 billion a year,” for “as long as needed to support Ukraine.”​…
    ..According to Pravda News report on 17 January, Zelensky corroborated as much himself: in a video message on Telegram, Zelensky referred to the 100-year partnership stating that, “There is also a closed, secret part of this agreement,” which would add to Ukraine’s “resilience and the opportunity to develop.”​…
    ..It would appear that the British have already secured the lion’s share of Ukraine’s wealth, but it can’t protect it without the Americans doing the dirty work and all the heavy lifting. To get the Americans into the game, the British presented bait in the shape of the “rare earth minerals” deal to be implemented through some future fund from which the US will receive a portion of the proceeds. It is likely that this bait was contrived already in September of last year, when Zelensky first offered the deal to Trump.
    ​ Obviously, the arrangement has a massive downside for the United States: in addition to the cost in blood and treasure of providing security, there would also be the likelihood of a nuclear war with Russia.​ https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/ukraine-rare-earths-deal-the-empires

    ​It’s those bankers at work again, trying to get a war to part-out Russia so they’ll collect the profits. Thanks Eleni. The agony of the “political West”​ by Thierry Meyssan
    I take the same elements, and many others that followed, to show that the divorce of Europeans from each other and of the EU from the United States has become a reality…
    ..The United Kingdom and France are competing to take the place of the United States on the continent and not to reform​…​
    ..For the moment, the EU, the G7 and the G20 have not yet been dissolved, but these three structures are already dead. The World Bank and the United Nations could follow.
    Let’s look back at these events, which happened so quickly that almost none of us followed them and understood their consequences​:
    ​ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12
    ​ The major European powers (i.e. Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom and the European Union), who feared what the Trump administration might decide, met in Paris on February 12 to develop a common position on the Ukrainian conflict. In this case, they agreed to continue what they have been doing for three years…
    ..Meanwhile, in Kiev, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent presented the US aid bill: $500 billion and proposed paying it by exploiting the rare earths of which the country is proud… However, from a European point of view, what was going on was frightening: if the United States seized these so-called riches, they excluded the Europeans from benefiting from the sharing they had agreed upon. Without informing their fellow citizens, they shared Ukraine between them during its reconstruction: to the British, the ports, to the Germans, the mines, etc.​..
    ​..While Washington and Moscow were exchanging prisoners, the American presidents, Donald Trump, and Russian presidents, Vladimir Putin, spoke by telephone for an hour and a half. This summit was preceded by a conversation, in the Kremlin, between President Putin and Steve Wilkoff, President Trump’s special envoy who came to organize the prisoner exchange. Wilkoff had given his president a report on his mission that shattered everything NATO claimed to know about Ukraine.​ Both bosses now had the same information.​..
    ​..THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14
    ​ On February 14, the Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, addressed the diplomatic and military elite of the EU at the Security Conference in Munich. He drew up an indictment against the autism of European leaders: They refuse to respond to the concerns of their fellow citizens in terms of freedom of expression and immigration. However, if they are afraid of their people, the United States will be able to do nothing for them, he asserted, making the president of the conference, the German ambassador Christoph Heusgen, cry.​..
    ​..MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17
    ​ A second meeting was held on February 17, still in Paris, with the same participants, plus Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO. They agreed to stand together against Donald Trump and not to accept any questioning of Western policy towards Russia.​.. Also on February 17, the Ukrainian army attacked US, Israeli and Italian interests in Russia. It bombed facilities partially owned by Chevron (15%), ExxonMobil (7.5%) and ENI (2%). Around twenty drones caused serious damage to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which supplies Israel with Russian oil… The Europeans reacted no more to this operation than when the CIA sabotaged the Nord Stream gas pipeline (September 26, 2022), although it is owned not only by the Russian Gazprom (50%), but also by the Germans BASF/Wintershall and Uniper, the French Engie, the Austrian OMV and the British Royal Dutch Shell. This sabotage has thrown Germany into an economic recession…
    ​..TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18
    ​ The European powers learned with astonishment that, at their first meeting in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), on February 18, the US and Russian delegations agreed:
    to denazify and neutralize Ukraine,​ to respect the commitments made during German reunification and to withdraw NATO troops from all countries that joined the Atlantic Alliance after 1990.
    ​ President Trump had suddenly abandoned the plan of General Keith Kellogg, his special envoy for Ukraine, as it had been published in April 2024 by the America First Foundation. On the contrary, he had used the plan of his friend Steve Witkoff, special envoy for the Middle East, who had met Vladimir Putin in Moscow​… Kellogg reasoned with NATO’s ideas, while Witkoff listened, heard and verified the validity of the Russian position.​..
    ..The European powers were quickly able to verify that the order to withdraw had been transmitted to certain US troops, in the Baltic countries and in Poland. The security architecture in Europe, that is to say the system ensuring peace, was destroyed…
    ​..WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19
    ​ On February19, EU ambassad​ors approved the 16th package of unilateral coercive measures (misleadingly called “sanctions” by Atlantic propaganda) against Russia. It was to be officially approved on 24 February by the Foreign Affairs Council on the occasion of the third anniversary of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.​.. Meanwhile, on the same day, February 19, President Donald Trump vented his anger at his unelected Ukrainian counterpart, calling him a “modestly successful comedian” and an “unelected dictator,” and then accusing him of provoking the wa​r…
    ​..SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22
    ​ Without waiting, Polish President Andrzej Duda went to Washington uninvited on February 22. He managed to meet President Donald Trump for ten minutes, not at the White House, but on the sidelines of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He asked him not to withdraw US troops from his country, giving Poland time to complete its military restructuring. Since Warsaw has already initiated a profound internal revolution by reestablishing universal military service and building a very large army, he managed to get him to postpone, not cancel, his order​…​ His Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, had promised in Paris not to negotiate separately with the United States.​ So, whatever one might say, the united front of the Europeans was broken. It had only lasted ten days.​..
    ​..MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24
    ​ On the third anniversary of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, on 24 February, Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, António Costa, President of the European Council and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, issued a completely out-of-place joint statement. In it, they called for “a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the Ukrainian peace formula”, meaning they stuck to the old narrative: there are no Nazis in Ukraine and Russia is the aggressor.​..
    ​..On the same day, French President Emmanuel Macron travelled to Washington, on behalf of all Atlanticist Europeans. Before receiving him, President Donald Trump had his chief of staff take him to a wing of the White House to participate in a G7 video conference that he was chairing… from another room.
    ​ For two hours, the heads of state and government of the G7, plus the Spanish Prime Minister and the unelected Ukrainian president, tried in vain to make their overlord relent. He would not budge: the Ukrainian conflict was not started by Russia, but by the Ukrainian fundamentalist nationalists hiding behind Zelensky alone.​..
    ..Donald Trump refused to sign the final communiqué prepared by the Europeans and announced to them that, if this text were published (it had already been distributed under embargo to journalists), he would deny it and his country would leave the G7.
    ​ Only after this scandal did he receive President Emmanuel Macron.​ The latter chose not to confront him, but to celebrate transatlantic friendship.​..
    ​..Meanwhile, in New York, the UN General Assembly was debating a resolution proposed by Ukraine. It denounced “the total invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation” and demanded that it withdraw “immediately, completely and unconditionally all its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within the internationally recognized borders of the country and that the hostilities conducted by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in particular all attacks against civilians and civilian objects, cease immediately.”
    ​ For the first time in history since World War II, the US delegation voted against a text, along with that of Russia, against those of Canada, the Europeans and Japan who approved it.​..
    ​..TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25
    ​ Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, travelled to Washington to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The meeting, which had been announced for a long time, was cancelled at the last minute by Mr Rubio’s secretariat, officially due to his overbooked schedule.​.. After EU members voted against the US at the UN, the Secretary of State refused to meet his European counterpart.​
    ​ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26
    ​ At a press conference in ​Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelensky assured on February 26 that without security guarantees from the United States and NATO, any peace agreement would be unfair and there would be no real ceasefire.
    ​ THURSDAY 27 FEBRUARY
    ​ Before leaving Washington, Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, gave a lecture at the Hudson Institute on February 27. She said: “We need to put pressure on Russia to also want peace. It is in a position where it does not want peace.”
    ​ Keir Starmer, British Prime Minister, went to the White House, carrying an invitation from King Charles III for a second state visit to the United Kingdom. Her Majesty’s diplomats believe that President Trump greatly enjoyed the premiere and that, given his pride, he would be sensitive to the pomp of the Crown.
    ​ During the two leaders’ press conference, President Trump… expressed openness to the idea of the 25% tariff hike not affecting the United Kingdom and to London returning the Chagos Islands (including the Diego Garcia base) to Mauritius.
    ​ On the substance, Keir Starmer managed to renew his country’s “special relationship” with the United States.​..
    ..Meanwhile, US and Russian negotiators met for six and a half hours at the US Consulate General in Istanbul for a second round of negotiations, at a “technical level”. It was not a question of progress on the substance, but of resolving problems that had been addressed by the ministers in Riyadh. Namely, the operating conditions of the respective embassies in Washington and Moscow, which President Joe Biden had considerably suspended and to which Moscow had responded identically.
    ​ FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28
    ​ The unelected Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, visited the White House on February 28. President Trump and Vice President Vance received him, not to listen to his version of events, but to sign an agreement on rare earths that Ukraine claims to possess.​..
    ​ The welcome press briefing will be remembered. The Western press was shocked by the altercation between President Trump and his guest… During the fifty minutes of this press briefing, President Donald Trump constantly recalled that he was not aligned with either party, Russian or Ukrainian, but that he was negotiating with Russia to defend the interests of his country and, ultimately, for all of Humanity… Volodymyr Zelensky has constantly accused Russia of aggression since 2014, of murders, kidnappings and torture. He even claimed that President Vladimir Putin had violated his own signature 15 times.​..
    ..It escalated when Vice President Vance noted that his guest’s narrative was “propaganda,” then returned to the charge, declaring of both versions of the facts: “We know you’re wrong!” Ultimately, President Trump noted that Ukraine was in bad shape and that his guest not only was not grateful for U.S. support, but did not want a ceasefire. Exasperated, he observed that Vladimir Putin had never violated his signature, neither with Barack Obama nor with him, but only with Joe Biden because of what the latter did to him. He then recalled the repeated false accusations made against Russia by President Biden.
    ​ SUNDAY, MARCH 2
    ​ British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Europe is “at a crossroads of history” as he welcomed to Downing Street the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania, as well as the Turkish foreign minister, the NATO secretary general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council.
    ​ The UK and France are competing to replace the US and guarantee peace on the European continent. Both countries are said to be prepared to guarantee the security of others with their nuclear weapons. However, no one seriously considers that these would be sufficient to ensure peace in the absence of serious conventional forces, which neither London nor Paris has.​..
    ​..After the meeting, which aimed to create a “coalition of the willing”, Keir Starmer said on behalf of all participants:
    ​ “Today I welcomed to London counterparts from across Europe, including from Türkiye, as well as the Secretary General of NATO and the Presidents of the European Commission, the Council of the EU and Canada, to discuss our support for Ukraine.
    ​ Together, we reaffirmed our determination to work towards a permanent peace in Ukraine, in partnership with the United States. Europe’s security is our primary responsibility. We will tackle this historic task and increase our investment in our own defence.​.. In addition, many of us have expressed our readiness to contribute to Ukraine’s security, including through a force of European and other partners, and will intensify our planning. We will continue to work closely together to advance next steps and make decisions in the weeks ahead.”
    ​ The participants in this summit have not changed their analysis of the Ukrainian conflict at all. They remain deaf to the United States and, as a result, no longer understand it. They managed to unite not to deploy a peace stabilisation force in Ukraine, but to protect critical infrastructure in western Ukraine or in similar strategic areas. They agreed not to make fragmented national efforts, but to take advantage of the economic power of the European Union (EU) by redirecting its recovery funds. They therefore convened a special European Council on March 6. However, to transform the EU from a common market to a military alliance, they will need not a majority, but the unanimity of the 27 Member States, including Hungary and Slovakia.
    ​ And yet, already, Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister, has responded to the draft final declaration of the European Council by stressing that there are “strategic differences” between the EU states. He therefore advocates that there should be no written conclusions, because “any attempt to do so would project the image of a divided European Union.”​ https://www.voltairenet.org/article221886.html

    #183849
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ Gilbert Doctorow, Transcript of WION ‘Game Plan’​: Macron’s nuclear umbrella
    The idea that Trump will remove the United States from NATO is a certainty.​ Russia has no interest in possessing the whole of Ukraine.​..
    ..His ​[Macron’s] idea of France taking a leading role in the peace initiative for Ukraine by making available its boots on the ground in Ukraine to provide a security guarantee to whatever peace is arrived at — that is spun out of thin air and was completely ignoring the reality of the world we live in, which is that the Russians will not accept any, any foreign troops in Ukraine, as has been explicitly stated by President Putin and by his minister of foreign affairs, Lavrov…
    ..I can tell you, the Russians have been sniggering. The latest remarks are that Russia is not threatened in any way…
    ..The idea that Trump will remove the United States from NATO is a certainty.​ This is not something that may happen; it’s something that will happen. And the Europeans are bringing this down on themselves by their repeating collectively the disastrous mistake that Volodymyr Zelensky made in the Oval Office last Friday. That mistake is lèse-majesté. You do not insult, you do not challenge directly the opinions of the president of the United States before cameras, and expect to survive politically. Now, Europe has done that…
    ..I think that the people who are making these statements will be swept from power in the coming months. The net result of their present efforts to stand up directly to defy present-day United States will be the withdrawal of US participation in NATO, after which NATO is an absolutely hollow and useless instrument.
    ​ Therefore, by their actions today, which are– nominally the argument is that defending Ukraine means defending European security, the net result of what they are doing is a much more serious threat to European security, because it removes the Americans from the equation…
    ..As to standing up to Russia, once it is clear that Europe has no proper defense– which it hasn’t​… they simply don’t have the armaments, and without the United States, they have no overall capability to stand up to Russia– when that sinks in, then they or their successors in office will approach the Russians to do a general settlement and new security arrangements…
    ​..I do believe that at the end of the day, common sense will prevail, because what we’re seeing now is nonsense, not common sense. And Mr. Macron is among the leaders in the nonsense alliance. Everything that he says, yes, France arguably is the best positioned of European countries to provide a nuclear umbrella… But they would not be suitable for extension of missile coverage across Europe, which is what, if I understand you properly, Macron’s argument seems to include.​.. Moreover, it ignores entirely Russia’s strategic developments in nuclear and non-nuclear weapons of destruction. It has with its hypersonic missiles the ability to decapitate all of the participating countries in any alliance directed against itself…
    ​..Europe needs some unifying theme. Europe is falling apart, for good reason. The European Union does not deserve to continue its [existence] in its present form, which is a dictatorship.
    ​ Ursula von der Leyen, seeing around her the completely cowardly leaders, so-called leaders, and parliamentarians coming from European countries has grabbed power and is using it in a way that is not foreseen in the European constitution. Therefore, Europe is falling apart. And the only way that Ursula and others like Macron and Starmer from outside the EU hope to keep Europe together is a unifying cry, “We have to save ourselves from Russia.”
    ​ As I was saying, Russia has no interest in possessing the whole of Ukraine, not to mention moving west to Lisbon. It does not have the means and is not intending to expend its valuable resources, its funds and its arms to hold on to territory that is hostile to it.​ The rest of Ukraine is hostile to Russia, and always will be. So Russia doesn’t want to move west to the Dnieper, let alone to move into the hostile Baltic states, which have no economic or demographic value to anybody, or to Poland, which is a wonderland of political, what can I call them, they live in a Disneyland. They are, the Poles are wonderful people, and have a magnificent culture, but their political elites are as they were since the 18th century, out of touch with reality​. https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2025/03/07/transcript-of-wion-game-plan-macrons-nuclear-umbrella/

    ​ Pepe Escobar, Paralyzed by acute dementia, Europe declares war on Russia all over again
    Let’s start with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Road to Damascus moment:
    ​ “Frankly, it’s a proxy war between nuclear powers, the United States helping Ukraine and Russia, and it needs to come to an end”.​..
    ​..Now cut to panic. Total European panic.
    ​ Le Petit Roi, as popular in France as nighttime mosquitoes in a five-star beach resort, has declared that peace in Europe is only possible with a “tamed” Russia – and that Russia is a direct threat to France and Europe…
    ​..Le Petit Roi ​Napoleonically all but declared war on Russia. Well, the fact remains that the overwhelming majority of France would gladly agree that mini-Napoleon should be dispatched to the battlefields in the black soil of Novorossiya right away – where he would surrender in less than 5 minutes, waving a rainbow flag, as he realizes he’s about to be turned into an instant steak tartare.
    ​ Now couple this Moliere farce with the fate of the much larger, fatter, pan-European New Model Woke Army regimented by the Fuhrerin SS von der Lugen out of Brussels, allegedly to be financed to the tune of 800 billion euros – money that no one has, and would have to be loaned then repaid with sky-high extorsion interest rates to the usual international financial system vultures.​..
    ​..Sy Hersh conclusively proved that the Nord Streams were bombed under orders of the previous Crash Test Dummy regime in Washington. Now Nord Stream 2, at least, could be back in business via a not-so-secret U.S.-Russia deal involving Gazprom and American oligarchs.
    ​ All that while fanatics in Berlin assure right and left they want to explore every possible way to prevent the Nord Stream system from being repaired – because after all no one, especially the new BlackRock chancellor, can deviate from the official policy of destroying the German economy by all means necessary.​..
    ..Europe is geopolitically – and geoeconomically – dead and buried. No Teutonic Gods – complete with fat lady singin’ – will be able to resurrect it.​ https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/03/07/paralyzed-by-acute-dementia-europe-declares-war-on-russia-all-over-again/

    Putin warns Europe against sabotaging US-Russia rapprochement​ http://www.defenddemocracy.press/putin-warns-europe-against-sabotaging-us-russia-rapprochement/

    ​ A top Canadian politician wants European nukes as protection from the US
    After spearheading her own country’s sovereignty erosion, ​(​Galician) Chrystia Freeland is suddenly militant about a supposed threat to its independence​ https://www.rt.com/news/613875-canada-eu-nukes-trump/

    Macron’s Remarks on Possible Use of Nuclear Arms a Threat to Russia – Lavrov​ https://sputnikglobe.com/20250306/macrons-remarks-on-possible-use-of-nuclear-arms-a-threat-to-russia—lavrov-1121619968.html

    #183850
    John Day
    Participant

    Lavrov weighs in on US decision to halt intel sharing with Ukraine​
    Kiev cannot strike targets inside Russia without direct assistance from its Western backers, the foreign minister has said​ https://swentr.site/news/613826-lavrov-us-intel-sharing-ukraine/

    France Steps Up Its Military Intelligence To Ukraine After US Halt​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/france-steps-military-intelligence-ukraine-after-us-halt

    ‘We Can’t Stop Them’ – Thousands Of Ukraine Troops Suddenly Face Encirclement In Russia’s Kursk​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/we-cant-stop-them-thousands-ukraine-troops-suddenly-face-encirclement-russias-kursk

    ​ Here’s why: The Russians repurposed a shut-off gas pipeline to move troops far behind Ukrainian lines, behind the backs of the northernmost Ukrainian forces, panicking them. The Complete Defeat Of The Ukrainians On The Sudzha Direction Has BegunMilitary Summary 2025.03.09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwRvsLpmeaQ

    ​ From a (timid) Russian academic: A new American empire: Trump, Russia, and the end of globalism , Vasily Kashin, Political Science PhD
    ​ Trump’s return marks a fundamental shift in global power dynamics. The US is moving away from being a liberal empire and toward a more transactional, power-based foreign policy. For Russia, this means fewer ideological conflicts with Washington but continued competition in key areas like the Arctic.
    ​ For China, Trump’s policies present a direct challenge. The question is whether Beijing can adapt to a world where the US is no longer just containing it but actively trying to roll back its economic influence.
    ​ For Western Europe, the picture is bleak. The EU is losing its privileged status as America’s primary partner and is being forced to fend for itself. Whether it can navigate this new reality remains to be seen.
    ​ One thing is certain: The world is entering a period of profound transformation, and the old rules no longer apply. Trump’s America is rewriting the playbook, and the rest of the world will have to adjust accordingly.​ https://swentr.site/news/613905-new-american-empire-trump-russia/

    #183851
    John Day
    Participant

    Gilbert Doctorow, Latest news from Donald Trump​
    Yesterday’s breaking news in The Financial Times included an article from their Washington correspondent James Politi telling us that:​ US President Donald Trump has threatened Russia with additional ‘large scale’ sanctions and tariffs, as he seeks to pile pressure on Moscow in an effort to broker a peace deal in Ukraine…
    ​..What these colleagues miss is that the latest threats to punish Russia were meant for the ears of Trump’s opponents, who are uninterested in the effectiveness of sanctions against Moscow and only want to hear that more sanctions are coming so that the Kremlin will finally be broken and submit to Washington’s will. Put in simple language, what Trump was doing was neutralizing his enemies, nothing more.​ https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2025/03/08/latest-news-from-donald-trump/

    Trump mulls pulling US troops out of Germany – Telegraph​ https://swentr.site/news/613891-trump-troops-from-germany/

    EU ‘can’t afford’ to support Ukraine – Orban​ https://swentr.site/news/613854-eu-ukraine-aid-hungary/

    ​ EU seeking to bypass opponents of Ukraine aid – Kallas
    The bloc is working on ways to continue providing Kiev with more military assistance despite Hungary’s opposition​ https://swentr.site/news/613829-kallas-hungary-ukraine-aid/

    ​ Тrump wants to sideline EU – Politico
    The bloc is scrambling to prove its relevance without US support, the publication has claimed​ https://swentr.site/news/613836-trump-wants-to-destroy-eu/

    #183852
    John Day
    Participant

    Freezing and choking Europeans: New EU Carbon Market Set to Hit Households and Small Businesses​ https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/New-EU-Carbon-Market-Set-to-Hit-Households-and-Small-Businesses.html

    ​ US business wants easing of Russia sanctions
    Priority areas include aviation, investment, banking, and luxury goods, Chamber of Commerce chief Robert Agee has said​ https://swentr.site/russia/613853-us-business-easing-russia-sanctions/

    ​ Ukraine cut off from US satellite intel – media
    Aerospace firm Maxar Technologies has reportedly blocked Kiev’s access to its services​ https://swentr.site/russia/613879-ukraine-us-satellite-imagery-restriction/

    High Level US-Ukraine Meeting Set For Riyadh After Zelensky ‘Apologizes’​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/high-level-us-ukraine-meeting-set-riyadh-after-zelensky-apologizes

    ​What about Israel? Trump calls for ‘getting rid’ of nuclear weapons
    The US president has floated denuclearization talks with Russia and China​ https://swentr.site/news/613844-trump-getting-rid-nukes/

    #183853
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ Poland should have its own nukes – PM
    Donald Tusk made the state​ment just a day after calling for an arms race against Russia​ https://swentr.site/russia/613882-poland-own-nukes-tusk/

    ​Biden wet-signed one document during his tenure: Could a Bombshell Discovery Render All of Biden’s Presidential Actions ‘Null and Void’? https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/03/06/bombshell-discovery-could-make-all-of-bidens-presidential-actions-null-and-void-n4937648

    “NO DISSENT”: Trump Asks “All Republicans” To “Give Us A Few Months” And Approve GOP Continuing Resolution​ https://www.zerohedge.com/political/no-dissent-trump-asks-all-republicans-give-us-few-months-and-approve-gop-continuing

    Obama Judge Indefinitely Blocks Trump Admin Funding Freeze, Says White House ‘Put Itself Above Congress’, Undermined Democracy​ https://www.zerohedge.com/political/obama-judge-indefinitely-blocks-trump-admin-funding-freeze-says-white-house-has-put

    How to get those budget cuts around the court: Musk Fired-Up About Paul’s Rescission Idea For Slashing Spending Up To $500 Billion​ https://www.zerohedge.com/political/musk-said-be-elated-over-pauls-rescission-idea-slashing-budget-500-billion

    #183854
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ Economic stimulus: SSA Confirms Over $7.5 Billion In Retroactive Social Security Payments
    ​ Last week, the agency said that it will start paying retroactive payments to people whose benefits have been affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). Through March 4, “SSA has already paid 1,127,723 people more than $7.5 billion in retroactive payments,” the agency said in a March 4 statement. “The average retroactive payment so far is $6,710.”
    ​ The WEP and GPO provisions “reduced or eliminated the Social Security benefits for over 3.2 million people who receive a pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security (a non-covered pension).”
    ​ In January, former President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA) which ended both GPO and WEP. Since the provisions no longer applied as of January 2024, millions of Social Security beneficiaries became eligible for retroactive payments.
    ​ “President Trump made it very clear he wanted the Social Security Fairness Act to be implemented as quickly as possible,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security.​ https://www.zerohedge.com/political/ssa-confirms-over-75-billion-retroactive-social-security-payments

    ​ Trump begins CIA cuts – NYT
    The firing process has reportedly started with the agency’s newest employees​ https://swentr.site/news/613820-cia-trump-staff-cuts/

    ​ What happens to the Middle East if Russia and the US stop being enemies?​
    ​ On Wednesday, the Kremlin said that future talks between Russia and the US would include discussions on Iran’s nuclear programme. Spokesman Dmitry Peskoa appeared to acknowledge a report that Russia offered to mediate between the Islamic Republic and the Trump administration.
    ​ Trump says he wants a diplomatic deal with Iran over its nuclear programme. On Friday, he said he sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, asking for talks.
    ​ The Obama administration, which tried its own so-called reset with Russia, leaned on the Kremlin during the 2015 nuclear talks.
    “Obama gave Russia a lot of concessions for its mediation in the 2015 nuclear deal,” Anna Borshchevskaya, a Russia expert at the Washington Institute For Near East Policy, told MEE.​ https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/what-happens-middle-east-if-russia-and-us-stop-being-enemies

    ‘Civil War Is Now Official’ – Syria Erupts Into Worst Bloodshed Since Assad’s Fall​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/civil-war-now-official-syria-erupts-worst-bloodshed-assads-fall

    West-Backed Jihadists In Syria Massacre Over 1000 Alawite & Christian Men, Women & Children​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/uk-lifts-sanction-jolani-regime-syrian-army-barrel-bombs-civilians

    #183855
    John Day
    Participant

    Why Israel wants Syria to become a failed state​:​ Netanyahu is pursuing an expansionist agenda under the pretext of minimising any potential threats in the post-Assad era​ https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/why-israel-wants-syria-become-failed-state

    For not trampling student’s rights: Trump Admin Axes $400 Million In Grants To Columbia University Over Antisemitism Inaction​ https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-admin-axes-400-million-grants-columbia-university-over-antisemitism-inaction

    “Maximum Security For US”: DoE Head Plans $20 Billion Refill Of Depleted SPR After Biden Drain​ https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/maximum-security-us-doe-head-plans-20-billion-refill-depleted-spr-after-biden-drain

    Doing some ​public scientific research: US CDC plans study into vaccines and autism, sources say​ https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-cdc-plans-study-into-vaccines-autism-sources-say-2025-03-07/

    #183856
    John Day
    Participant

    ​Looking forward to Canadian Froot Loops ? : RFK Jr. To Meet Leaders Of Processed Foods Industrial Complex https://www.zerohedge.com/political/rfk-jr-meet-leaders-processed-foods-industrial-complex

    Maybe a quick negotiated settlement on chemical additives and seed oils? Something Huge for the MAHA Movement Is About To Happen​
    What’s particularly interesting about this whole situation is that the Consumer Brands Association—the very group representing these food giants—initiated the meeting proposal back in February.
    ​ This could be a sign they’re willing to do what it takes to make foods healthy again, or they’re going to play offense against the changes Kennedy wants to make. So what’s going to happen with to their precious seed oils and chemical additives? Will Big Food capitulate to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement?​…
    ​..One thing’s certain: Monday’s meeting won’t be your typical corporate kumbaya session. With Kennedy’s track record of calling out food conglomerates for their role in increasing childhood chronic illnesses, these executives better bring more than their usual PR talking points to the table.​ https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/03/08/rfk-jr-makes-a-huge-move-to-make-america-healthy-again-n4937706

    Meryl Nass MD, Mandates for cattle and chicken vaccines are off the table and culling has decreased https://merylnass.substack.com/p/mandates-for-cattle-and-chicken-vaccines

    #183860
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Healthy food is expensive and cooking from scratch is beyond the ability for the many people handling the multiple jobs.
    We need to recognize reality out there.

    #183861
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Rogan, in that video, is holding hard not to out-pour an utter contempt for the “Dr” to which the idiot is completely unaware and conducting the interview as some kind of friendly giggle-like event.

    #183862
    those darned kids
    Participant

    “banksters gotta bankst.”

    #183863
    kultsommer
    Participant

    True invisible hand of the market.

    #183864
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    “Hospitals are Bank!”

    ctzx’s crs already hit HCA.

    “Physician heal thyself” contemplate that one tdk!

    It’s Cold comfort doctors receive the worst medical treatment and that has been known for a long time long before The Unz.com article worth reading. Ditto for corpsmen and their families in Hegseth’s Navy.

    So proxy War in The Ukraine and American boots on the ground means The United States turned off ALL satellite imagery/StarLnk etc to The Ukraine because Pete Hegseth SecDef, NatGuard withdrew all U.S. military personnel from The Ukraine already

    Sure and “capital flows”, “free markets”, “price seeking” will whatever……..and folk wonder what happened To HealthCare except not capitalism, profit motive, MBAs, nurse administrators, physician administrators, hospital general counsels, medical monopolies UPMC-UW Medicine, Johnese Spisso UCLA Medicine, an EMR called Epic ad nauseam

    #183865
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Speaking of health care delivered with class:

    #183867
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    Regarding Trump and where it may be going:
    Please watch starting at 1:37:00

    Jacob Nordangård: It’s a Rockefeller World Order!

    #183868
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #183869
    jb-hb
    Participant

    Healthy food is expensive and cooking from scratch is beyond the ability for the many people handling the multiple jobs.

    nah.

    https://www.azurestandard.com/

    casseroles, beans & rice, lasagna, there are lots of ways to make food for the week or month in a relatively short amount of time. These are only examples of MANY traditional meals suited to the common people, passed on generation to generation, only lost when those trying to reach a new Year Zero win.

    I got a small chest freezer for $99. I mass produce 30 En Papillot meals, throw em in there, fish them out as needed.

    Popping a pre-assembled thing in the oven means it requires essentially zero labor or time.

    Or I pile up a bunch of beans & rice in meal sized containers. Or I buy a big hunk of cheap red meat, soak it in cheap boxed wine, and roast it, then slice it myself instead of buying ridiculously expensive $/lb deli meat.

    I watched prices like a hawk and got a good (Zojirishi) bread machine heavily discounted. Organic flour is “expensive,” but baking your own brings the per loaf price below normal bromide and roundup enriched store bread. Parchment paper is cheap and not toxic compared to plastic packaging.

    I haven’t worked on making organic tortillas yet (there is a weird shortage of certain sizes at the store – WHY?) but I will figure it out.

    Or I’ll use bulk raw ingredients to make 4-8 dozen waffles at once and freeze those. pop em in the toaster while getting ready for work.

    There are super simple dead easy recipes available for free online. Bulk ingredients are available in all grocery stores. Everybody, essentially, still has a stove, oven, refrigerator, and freezer. The kind of chest freezer you can buy for $99 and take home in your economy car still exist.

    The problem isn’t time or money because you can SAVE time and money with the right method – take it from a call center rat. Lowest of the low. If anything the need is to get people not feeling de-territorialized, helpless, pointless, disconnected. I mean, YES knowing the various tricks to be cheap and eat healthy are good, but people need some basic level of encouragement– encourage = to be given courage. Demoralization is why people eat crap.

    And who has been pushing demoralization for decades, that Long March? We’re for the workers – except after they let us down in the mid 1800’s, at which point we decide they’re soul-less animals and stuff. Everything is downstream from culture, and culture was the wealth the poor people had, so definitely smash THAT. Gotta have our year zero.

    #183870
    Michael Reid
    Participant

    #183871
    Celticbiker
    Participant

    Problem, PedoJoe, jewhore. Reaction, Trumpigula, jewhore. Solution Eviscerate the Goyim.

    #183872
    poppie
    Participant

    Dr D ? Dr Demento ?

    #183875
    Dora
    Participant

    Today’s US medical training.

    #183876
    kultsommer
    Participant

    Healthy food is expensive and cooking from scratch is beyond the ability for the many people handling the multiple jobs.

    Again
    By genuinely healthy, I think of ingredients that are certified organic, grass fed, wild-caught or single source cold-pressed. Do I need to elaborate the cost of such items?
    There is a reason why ramen noodles, TV-dinner in the supermarket or “dollar-crap” at the gas station is taken as a food – it’s dirt cheap! Yes and true, many people do not bother to understand what they are eating.

    casseroles, beans & rice, lasagna, (or pastas)…..and breads

    As much as I love them and make them just as you do with exception of bread, they do not occupy that much of my plate surface as they did in the past since I am cutting on carb intake. Meets and vegetables, while home prepared from the scratch, mostly come from the shelves not marked as organic, grass fed or wild caught. For cooking I use virgin olive oil, which is probably more like “virgin olive oil”, and lard that is a side product of slow-frying bacon strips.
    I recently learned that eggs, while labeled as from “pasture raised” are not necessarily so and such a label is meant as a “rather an intent”?!?!
    Such is the most likely the picture of most pantries throughout the country.

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