5th Amendment Archives - The Automatic Earth

Journalist Nick Bryant explains why the federal government actively covers up the Jeffrey Epstein case:

"Epstein had cameras in all of his homes. Epstein was definitely a blackmail artist."

"The government wants to make sure that that does not come out. A huge part of our… pic.twitter.com/5cyMe2EAHp

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 8, 2025

1 AUG may begin the full on crash. Why? DT’s 25% tariffs against Japan will cause Tokyo to retaliate with a massive US bond dump.

Bessent is headed to Tokyo now with the goal of stopping it, but unless we halt the Tariff War the Japanese will proceed.

This may explain why…

— Douglas Macgregor (@DougAMacgregor) July 9, 2025

Giuffre

EVERY NAME MENTIONED IN THE EPSTEIN CASE FILES. There are no coincidences. Just the truth, lies, and propaganda on a digital battlefield. The one thing for sure is that this was most definitely an intelligence blackmail operation.

The amount of evidence already released, along… pic.twitter.com/JRRsXIpXV5

— The SCIF (@TheIntelSCIF) July 9, 2025

John McAfee, who apparently k*lled himself, speaks out on Epstein before his death. pic.twitter.com/eXJIiMjpUt

— Joe Rogan Podcast News (@joeroganhq) July 9, 2025

MUST-SEE: "This Is All About Prince Andrew & It's All About Ehud Barak… This Is About Israel & It's About The UK… This Is The Heart Of Their Control System"

Alex Jones Breaks Down Which High Profile Politicians & World Leaders Can't Allow Their Epstein Blackmail To Be… pic.twitter.com/NJUcEUpVZN

— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) July 9, 2025

"Jeffrey Epstein tr*fficked underage girls for 25 years…Sarah Kellen was one of Epstein's procurers, aka pmps… and Maxwell was the leading one. But right below her was Epstein's number two lieutenant, Sarah Kellen. And this woman has led a lot of lambs to the slaughter. She… pic.twitter.com/pOIhIl7ZFs

— Shawn Ryan (@ShawnRyan762) July 9, 2025

This guy has an interesting take on the Epstein case. pic.twitter.com/SRGfgKv4Ao

— The Disrespected Trucker (@DisrespectedThe) July 9, 2025

Scott
https://twitter.com/jayplemons/status/1943018055396622353

“The cage is invisible because you were born inside it —
and they taught you to love the bars.”
– Mark Twain

The Patriot missiles, completely useless against hypersonics, are the only thing the US has, and they can’t even produce enough of them.

• US Patriot Missile Stockpile a Fraction of What Pentagon Needs (Anzalone)

The ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine have depleted US stockpiles of missile interceptors. The Pentagon has just a quarter of the Patriot missiles it needs. According to the Guardian, “The United States only has about 25% of the Patriot missile interceptors it needs for all of the Pentagon’s military plans after burning through stockpiles in the Middle East in recent months, an alarming depletion that led to the Trump administration freezing the latest transfer of munitions to Ukraine.” US weapons manufacturers can only produce approximately 500 Patriot missiles per year. The US used dozens of interceptors to defend Israel from Iranian retaliatory attacks last month.

Additionally, the Pentagon engaged in its largest Patriot battle in history to repel a symbolic Iranian missile attack on the US airbase in Qatar. The US stockpile of air and missile defenses has been drained to aid Ukraine during the war with Russia. Missile interceptors are in short supply in the West. In May, Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio told Congress that “The Ukrainians asked for air defense systems – Patriot systems, which, frankly, we don’t have.” “In fact, if the Ukrainians asked for anything additional, they asked for air defense systems, Patriot systems, which, frankly, we do not have. But we cannot produce them fast enough. And one of the problems we face in Ukraine is that ammunition is being used up much faster than we can produce it,” Rubio emphasized.

It is unclear if Trump reversed the Pentagon order to halt some arms transfers to Ukraine, including Patriot Missiles. During Monday’s dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump told reporters that he would “send some more weapons” to Ukraine. Patriot systems have been a crucial part of Ukraine’s air defenses. However, Russia has developed missiles to counter Patriot interceptors with increasing effectiveness

“We’re gonna have to take a look” at the Ukrainian request, Trump added, noting that “it’s a shame that we have to spend so much money” on supporting Kiev.”

• Patriots ‘Very Expensive’ – Trump (RT)

US President Donald Trump has said that the Patriot air defense system, another unit of which Ukraine has reportedly asked for, is “very expensive.” He added that the request was under consideration, stopping short of revealing whether Washington would accommodate it or not. Trump has repeatedly criticized his predecessor, Joe Biden, for writing a blank check to Ukraine with respect to weapons deliveries. When asked by a reporter on Wednesday whether he was considering providing Ukraine with another Patriot unit, Trump replied that the air defense system is “very rare… [and] very expensive.” “We’re gonna have to take a look” at the Ukrainian request, Trump added, noting that “it’s a shame that we have to spend so much money” on supporting Kiev.

That same day, Germany’s n-tv media outlet quoted a spokesperson for US arms manufacturer Raytheon, which produces Patriots and accompanying missiles, as saying that it intends to ramp up monthly production of PAC2 GEM-T rockets by 150% by 2028 due to “unprecedented demand.” According to the publication, as of early 2024, around only 240 were being produced per year. Each Patriot missile is said to cost approximately $4 million. Earlier this week, Axios, citing anonymous sources, claimed that the US had promised to send more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, though the number would presumably be very limited. The report came shortly after the Pentagon announced a halt to weapons deliveries to Ukraine as part of a “capability review.”

However, on Monday, Trump appeared to go back on the military aid suspension. Commenting on the apparent reversal of the decision by the US president, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov criticized the conflicting statements coming out of Washington. Earlier this month, he suggested that the US apparently “simply cannot produce [Patriot] missiles in the necessary quantities.”

His remark seemed to be corroborated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assessment in late May, according to whom “we can’t make them fast enough.” Around the same time, Trump said that “Biden emptied out our whole country giving [Ukraine] weapons.” According to Germany’s Kiel Institute, the US has sent nearly $115 billion in military and financial aid to Kiev since the conflict escalated in 2022. Russia has repeatedly condemned Western arms shipments to Ukraine, arguing that they only serve to prolong the bloodshed without changing its course and increase the risk of broader escalation.

They know about the corruption. But still another €100bn comes their way. What does that tell us?

• EU Could Hand Another €100bn To Ukraine – Bloomberg (RT)

European Union officials are weighing a proposal to provide Ukraine with another €100 billion ($117 billion) in grants and low-interest loans, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The plan involves establishing a dedicated fund within the bloc’s upcoming seven-year budget framework, the unnamed insiders told the outlet. Disbursement would begin in 2028 if the proposal is approved. The move would further shift the financial burden onto Western European taxpayers of what Moscow has condemned as a US-triggered NATO proxy war. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in April that officials in Brussels “view possible suspension of Ukraine assistance as confirmation of the EU’s strategic inviability” and are pushing for continued funding to protect their reputation.

Ukraine’s military and defense institutions have faced a string of corruption scandals during the conflict with Russia, including overpayments for rations and shady arms procurement contracts. This week, Ukrainian outlets reported that anti-corruption investigators searched a property belonging to former Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov. Reznikov resigned in 2023 following allegations of financial misconduct in his department. The proposed fund is reportedly one of several avenues under consideration, with a final decision expected by July 16 or possibly later, according to Bloomberg. The report added that last month, the European Commission briefed EU finance ministers on Kiev’s intention to increase this year’s defense spending by $8.4 billion using domestic sources.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal said in June that defense expenditures had risen 34% year-on-year during the first five months of 2025. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko warned in May that Kiev’s national debt is nearing $171 billion, approximately equivalent to the country’s GDP. Ukraine continues to rely heavily on external financial aid to sustain its national budget. Earlier this year, the government failed to restructure a portion of its sovereign debt issued in 2015 and declined to honor a $665 million repayment to private investors in early June. The country’s economy is also feeling the strain of a labor shortage, as millions have fled to Western nations offering them protection and social benefits. Many men of military age who remain in Ukraine have evaded conscription, which usually means avoiding formal employment and by extension, income taxes.

“..the“bone-crushing” legislation spearheaded by hawkish Senator Lindsey Graham would impose a 500% tariff on countries buying oil, gas, uranium, and other goods from Russia.”

• Trump Ready To Back New Russia Sanctions Bill – Politico (RT)

US President Donald Trump is ready to sign a bill aimed at eliminating Russia’s trade under certain conditions, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing a senior administration official. If adopted, the “bone-crushing” legislation spearheaded by hawkish Senator Lindsey Graham would impose a 500% tariff on countries buying oil, gas, uranium, and other goods from Russia. Although the bill grants the president the power to exempt nations from the tariff for up to 180 days, Trump reportedly wants Congress to give him sole authority to decide on the sanctions. “The administration is not going to be micromanaged by the Congress on the president’s foreign policy. The bill needs a waiver authority that is complete,” an official told Politico. The source added that otherwise, “conceptually there’s an openness” to signing the legislation.

Graham said on Tuesday that the Senate would soon vote on the draft. “The Senate bill has a presidential waiver to give President Trump maximum leverage,” he wrote on X. According to The New York Times, the vote could take place as soon as this month. The push for tougher sanctions has gained momentum after Trump stepped up criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as restarted negotiations between Moscow and Kiev have so far failed to produce a ceasefire. Moscow has insisted that any lasting settlement must address the “root causes” of the conflict, including NATO’s eastward expansion and Ukraine’s aspirations to join the US-led alliance, which Russia views as a threat to its national security.

“We don’t need a pause, which the regime in Kiev and its foreign handlers would like to use to regroup their forces, continue mobilization, and strengthen their military potential,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet on Monday. Putin has demanded that Ukraine recognize Russia’s new borders and adopt permanent neutrality with a legally limited army. Lavrov said this week that Moscow is working to arrange a third round of direct talks with Ukraine in Türkiye.

They pretend to be ready for war, but they have no troops or weapons.

• Ukraine Diplomacy ‘Exhausted’ – German Chancellor (RT)

There are no viable diplomatic options remaining to settle the Ukraine conflict, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has claimed, doubling down on his policy of providing weapons to Kiev. Berlin has been the second largest arms supplier to Kiev since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, surpassed only by the US. Russia has consistently denounced Western weapons deliveries, saying they do not change the overall course of the conflict and merely serve to prolong the bloodshed and risk further escalation. Speaking in the German parliament on Wednesday, Merz claimed that the “means of diplomacy are exhausted” regarding the conflict, but that he would aim to prevent a Russian victory.

“We will continue to assist Ukraine, even despite the resistance from the political left and the Russia-friendly right here in the house,” the chancellor said, apparently referring to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the Left party. He denounced AfD co-chair Alice Weidel for not commenting on the latest Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine, which, according to Merz, was the largest since the escalation of the conflict in 2022. Last week, German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius confirmed that “intensive discussions” were taking place with Washington regarding the possibility of Berlin purchasing air defense systems and munitions from US manufacturers and handing them over to Ukraine.

In May, the Germany Defense Ministry announced that it would provide €5 billion ($5.6 billion) to “finance the production of long-range weapon systems in Ukraine.”mKremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov condemned the decision, claiming that Germany is “competing with France for primacy in further provoking war.” The same month, Kiev agreed to direct talks with Russia following pressure from US President Donald Trump, marking the first such negotiations in three years. However, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has accused some EU member states of seeking to undermine the negotiations and prolong the conflict. Speaking last month, Ryabkov cited Merz as an example, accusing him of providing weapons to Kiev and attempting to push Trump toward a more aggressive pro-Ukraine stance.

In late May, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that Berlin’s “direct involvement in the war is now obvious.” “Germany is sliding down the same slippery slope it already followed a couple of times in the last century – down toward its own collapse,” he warned. Around the same time, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called into question the credibility of French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements in support of the Ukraine peace process.

“This war will be long. And the United States – with Trump or without him – will remain our adversary. The outcome will shape not just the fate of Ukraine, but the future of Russia itself.”

• The West’s War On Russia Will Go Beyond Ukraine (Trenin)

The trademark style of the current US president, Donald Trump, is verbal spectacle. His statements – brash, contradictory, sometimes theatrical – should be monitored, but not overestimated. They are not inherently favorable or hostile to Russia. And we must remember: Trump is not the ‘king’ of America. The ‘Trump revolution’ that many anticipated at the beginning of the year appears to have given way to Trump’s own evolution – a drift toward accommodation with the American establishment. In that light, it’s time to assess the interim results of our ‘special diplomatic operation’. There have now been six presidential phone calls, several rounds of talks between foreign ministers and national security aides, and sustained contact at other levels.

The most obvious positive outcome is the restoration of dialogue between Russia and the United States – a process that had been severed under the Biden administration. Crucially, this revived dialogue extends beyond Ukraine. A range of potential areas for cooperation have been mapped out, from geopolitical stability to transportation and sport. These may not carry immediate strategic weight, but they lay the groundwork for future engagement. Under Trump, the dialogue is unlikely to break off again – though its tone and pace may shift.

One visible result of this diplomacy was the resumption of talks with the Ukrainian side in Istanbul. While these negotiations currently hold little political substance – and the recent prisoner exchanges occurred independently of them – they nonetheless reaffirm a core tenet of Russian diplomacy: we are ready for a political resolution to the conflict. Still, these are technical and tactical achievements. The strategic reality remains unchanged. It was never realistic to expect Trump to offer Russia a deal on Ukraine that met our security requirements. Nor for that matter would Russia accept one that compromised its long-term security interests. Likewise, any notion that Trump would ‘deliver’ Ukraine to the Kremlin, join Moscow in undermining the EU, or push for a new Yalta agreement with Russia and China was always fantasy.

So the page has turned. What comes next? Trump will almost certainly sign the new US sanctions bill into law – but he’ll try to preserve discretion in how those measures are applied. The sanctions will add friction to global trade, but they will not derail Russian policy. On the military front, Trump will deliver the remaining aid packages approved under Biden, and perhaps supplement them with modest contributions of his own. But going forward, it will be Western Europe – especially Germany – that supplies Ukraine, often by buying US-made systems and re-exporting them.

Meanwhile, the United States will continue to furnish Kiev with battlefield intelligence – particularly for deep strikes inside Russian territory. None of this suggests the conflict will end in 2025. Nor will it end when hostilities in Ukraine eventually wind down. That’s because the fight is not fundamentally about Ukraine. What we are witnessing is an indirect war between the West and Russia – part of a much broader global confrontation. The West is fighting to preserve its dominance. And Russia, in defending itself, is asserting its sovereign right to exist on its own terms. This war will be long. And the United States – with Trump or without him – will remain our adversary. The outcome will shape not just the fate of Ukraine, but the future of Russia itself.

“The motion needs a two-thirds majority and support from an absolute majority of the European Parliament’s 720 members to pass—a threshold observers say is unlikely to be met.”

• ‘Time To Go’: Orban Demands Von Der Leyen’s Departure (RT)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called for the resignation of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, posting a parody image ahead of a scheduled no confidence vote in the European Parliament. The motion, set for Thursday, targets her handling of COVID-19 vaccine procurement. On Tuesday, Orban shared an image stylized as a Time magazine cover, depicting a red background and a retreating von der Leyen under the caption “time to go.” The image was a spoof on a Biden-themed cover of the magazine from 2024 which followed the then-US president’s announcement that he would withdraw from the election campaign.

Orban has long been one of von der Leyen’s harshest critics, accusing her of undermining EU institutions and interfering in the domestic affairs of member states. He has frequently clashed with Brussels over rule-of-law disputes and sanctions policy, and has claimed the bloc’s leadership has tried to isolate Hungary politically. Within the EU, von der Leyen has faced growing criticism, particularly over her conduct during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her refusal to release private texts exchanged with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during vaccine procurement talks has fueled ongoing controversy. A European court ruled earlier this year that her office had failed to provide a legitimate justification for withholding the messages.

Time to go. pic.twitter.com/utLYFKQz6b

— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) July 9, 2025

Critics from both the political left and right, as well as Eurosceptic factions, have accused her of centralizing power, bypassing traditional Commission procedures and parliamentary oversight, as well as overriding national sovereignty in sensitive matters. Thursday’s no confidence vote was initiated by Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea, who cited a pattern of “institutional overreach” in von der Leyen’s conduct. The motion needs a two-thirds majority and support from an absolute majority of the European Parliament’s 720 members to pass—a threshold observers say is unlikely to be met.

In response, von der Leyen has lashed out at her opponents, labeling them “conspiracy theorists” and “anti-vaxxers” backed by Russia. Speaking at a plenary session this week, she claimed some of her critics were acting “on behalf of their puppet masters in Russia.” Moscow has repeatedly accused von der Leyen of harboring Russophobic views. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this year referred to her as “Führer Ursula” and accused her of pushing militarization across the EU while deflecting attention from pandemic-era financial mismanagement. Kremlin officials have also criticized her support for Ukraine and her role in expanding sanctions targeting Russia, calling her one of the key drivers of the EU’s confrontation with Moscow.

“..in NATO-EU Europe, the true measure of power now is the ability to spoil whatever sorry remnants of democracy are still standing. And in spite of very tough competition, von der Leyen is the worst, most corrupting spoiler of them all.”

“..The EU’s real core function is to extinguish democracy in Europe by shifting genuine power from nation-states with some, if already meagre, popular participation in political decision-making to an unelected bureaucracy..”

• How The Unelected Queen of the Union Plans To Keep Her Grip On Power (Amar)

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission that runs the EU is finally facing a long overdue no-confidence vote. Its chances of success, all observers agree, are very small. And yet, this is an important moment. That’s because the single most powerful politician in the EU is not, for instance, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz or French President Emmanuel Macron (notwithstanding their own delusions of grandeur), but Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission. Because in NATO-EU Europe, the true measure of power now is the ability to spoil whatever sorry remnants of democracy are still standing. And in spite of very tough competition, von der Leyen is the worst, most corrupting spoiler of them all.

This is due to three facts. The first is structural: The EU was designed not to be a ‘democracy’ – however flawed – but one big, entrenched, and growing ‘democracy deficit’. Its purpose has never been to shaft the US, even if American President Donald Trump can’t stop whining about that. The EU’s real core function is to extinguish democracy in Europe by shifting genuine power from nation-states with some, if already meagre, popular participation in political decision-making to an unelected bureaucracy, of which the Commission is the center and top. The second fact is a matter of individual character and hence responsibility: Ursula von der Leyen is the embodiment of an insatiable lust for personal, unaccountable power. She won’t admit it, of course, but her behavior speaks volumes: Von der Leyen does not see herself as a public servant but firmly believes that it is the public that must serve her.

Think of these two factors – the structural and the individual – if you wish, as broadly similar to what happened during the rise of Joseph Stalin in the former Soviet Union: Like the EU, the post-revolutionary Communist party was built to restrict political decision-making to a small and self-selecting group of true believers. And only those confessing the correct “values” were even offered a chance to join. Like von der Leyen, Stalin managed to turn this deliberately created “democracy deficit” to his own advantage by basing his personal despotism on it. If you think that analogy is far-fetched, consider that in both cases, the rise of the Soviet despot and that of the European Commission president, real power has been concentrated in an overbearing and invasive bureaucracy that, formally, should only be an executive organ. There is a reason why, if you take one tiny step back, “general secretary” sounds rather similar to “commission president.”

And then there is the third fact that has facilitated von der Leyen’s performance as NATO-EU’s top spoiler. In this respect, she certainly does not resemble Stalin at all, but rather one of the many Eastern European satraps of Cold War Eastern Europe. Like trusty Walter Ulbricht of early East Germany or Poland’s Boleslaw Bierut who suffered a heart attack when Khruschev made Stalin the fall guy, von der Leyen is a vassal leader, just working for another outside empire. So obviously, so shamelessly that even Politico has – rightly – labeled her the EU’s “American president.” The charges that her political opponents in the EU parliament have just used to initiate the current no-confidence vote are less fundamental – while still reflecting stunning misbehavior – and more specific, as they have to be.

In essence, they target von der Leyen’s – and the whole Commission’s – scandalous handling of the Covid-19 crisis (scandalous by the way from any angle, whether you approve or disapprove of vaccines); her subsequent and illegal refusal to provide key information on what she and the CEO of big pharma company Pfizer were up to during that period in messages that were private but should not have been; waste (to say the least) in the handling of a 650 billion-euro post-Corona crisis recovery fund; the misuse of a legal loophole to boost armaments spending via the EU; and last but not least, the weaponization of digital legislation to interfere in the recent Romanian, as well as German elections.

What all these transgressions have in common is not only that they may very well be criminal. They are also all variants of the same, fundamentally simple ruse: the manipulation or even fabrication of “emergencies” that are then exploited as cover for constantly escalating abuses of power. If there is one main principle of von der Leyen’s power grab, this is it. Again, Stalin knew a thing or two about that trick.In sum, the sponsors of the no-confidence vote conclude “that the Commission led by President Ursula von der Leyen no longer commands the confidence of Parliament to uphold the principles of transparency, accountability, and good governance essential to a democratic Union.” They call on the Commission “to resign due to repeated failures to ensure transparency and to its persistent disregard for democratic oversight and the rule of law within the Union.”

“..on Tuesday, von der Leyen accused China of “de facto enabling Russia’s war economy,” adding that the EU “cannot accept this.”

• EU’s von der Leyen Issues Threat To China Over Russia (RT)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has warned that ties between the EU and China could further deteriorate if Beijing refuses to condemn Russia over the Ukraine conflict. Speaking at a European Parliament session in Strasbourg on Tuesday, von der Leyen accused China of “de facto enabling Russia’s war economy,” adding that the EU “cannot accept this.” “How China continues to interact with Putin’s war will be a determining factor for EU-China relations going forward,” she stated. Von der Leyen called on Beijing to “unequivocally condemn Russia’s gross violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders.” In the same address, she accused China of engaging in unfair trade practices, such as “flooding global markets with cheap, subsidized goods” in an effort to “wipe out competitors.”

Beijing has consistently denied supplying weapons or otherwise supporting Russia in its conflict with Ukraine. “China is not a party to the Ukraine issue. China’s position on the Ukraine crisis is objective and consistent, that is, negotiation, ceasefire and peace,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said earlier this month. “A prolonged Ukraine crisis serves no one’s interests. China supports a political settlement to the crisis as early as possible,” Mao added. China has also opposed “unilateral” sanctions on Russia and has offered to help mediate a ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev. In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Moscow, pledging to deepen the countries’ “strategic partnership” and expand bilateral trade.

“..the existence of an imminent risk of irreparable harm to a right protected by the Convention or its protocols has not been establishe..”

• European Court Rejects Le Pen’s Bid To Suspend Election Ban (RT)

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rejected French right-wing veteran politician Marine Le Pen’s request to suspend the five-year ban on standing in elections, including the 2027 presidential race, which stems from an embezzlement conviction. “In any event, the existence of an imminent risk of irreparable harm to a right protected by the Convention or its protocols has not been established,” the court wrote in its press release on Wednesday. In March 2025, a French judge found the former leader of the biggest opposition party National Rally (RN) guilty of misusing public funds intended to pay for assistants to the RN members of the European Parliament.

Le Pen has denied any wrongdoing and appealed the verdict, which she calls politically motivated. Le Pen ran for president in 2017 and 2022, losing both times in a runoff to President Emmanuel Macron. The National Rally is currently the third-largest party in the National Assembly. On Wednesday, police raided the RN headquarters in Paris as part of an investigation into alleged campaign finance violations and fraud. RN leader Jordan Bardella denounced the searches as an attempt to “destabilize the party and drive it into financial ruin.” US President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance have publicly voiced support for Le Pen, which the French authorities dismissed as meddling in domestic affairs.

The European Court of Human Rights rejects her request, and the French police sweeps in. The cradle of [modern, European] democracy.

• French Investigators Raid HQ of Biggest Opposition Party (RT)

French financial investigators raided the Paris headquarters of the right-wing National Rally (RN) party on Wednesday. Its leader accused the government of conducting a campaign of harassment. The early morning search targeted documents and communications related to the party’s political campaigning, according to RN President Jordan Bardella. The party is closely associated with former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who was previously barred from running in the 2027 race. Bardella criticized the search as “a new harassment campaign” and a blow to democratic principles. ”This display of force has only one purpose: to provide a spectacle for news channels, to rummage through the private correspondence of the leading opposition party, to seize all our internal documents,” he wrote on X.

“Nothing to do with justice, everything to do with politics.” Wednesday’s raid came roughly three months after a French court found senior RN figures, including Le Pen, guilty of embezzling European Union funds. The ruling imposed an immediate five-year ban from seeking public office, controversially offering no delay for appeal. The party has condemned the verdict as an undemocratic attempt to sideline its co-founder and former leader from the 2027 presidential race. Le Pen narrowly lost to French President Emmanuel Macron in the 2022 runoff election. The Paris prosecutor’s office said the search was part of an investigation into loans the RN received from private individuals. The party reportedly turned to private lending after being denied traditional bank financing, according to Le Parisien.

French campaign finance laws impose strict limits on party loans, including maximum values and repayment conditions. Investigators are reportedly searching for potential violations but have not filed any charges. Christian Charpy, head of the French campaign finance watchdog CNCCFP, previously suggested that some loans may have amounted to undeclared donations. The RN has grown in prominence in recent years and now holds the largest single faction in France’s parliament. During last year’s snap elections, mainstream parties coordinated to block the anti-immigration, Euroskeptic party from securing enough seats to form a government. President Macron has had to contend with a more challenging domestic political environment since losing his legislative majority in 2022.

“This team has worked relentlessly from groundbreaking innovations like Community Notes, and, soon, X Money to bringing the most iconic voices and content to the platform..”

• Linda Yaccarino Steps Down As CEO Of X (ZH)

Linda Yaccarino announced on Wednesday that she’s stepping down as CEO of X, offering little in the way of an explanation. “After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of X. When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company. I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App. I’m incredibly proud of the X team – the historic business turn around we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable.

We started with the critical early work necessary to prioritize the safety of our users—especially children, and to restore advertiser confidence. This team has worked relentlessly from groundbreaking innovations like Community Notes, and, soon, X Money to bringing the most iconic voices and content to the platform. Now, the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with @xai. X is truly a digital town square for all voices and the world’s most powerful culture signal. We couldn’t have achieved that without the support of our users, business partners, and the most innovative team in the world. I’ll be cheering you all on as you continue to change the world. As always, I’ll see you on X.”

According to the NY Times, which had an article queued up to publish 3 minutes after her tweet – and authored by Musk-hater Mike Isaac;”Yaccarino’s exit caps a tumultuous period at X, which has been remade in Mr. Musk’s image since he bought the platform for $44 billion in 2022. Since then, Mr. Musk has shed three quarters of the company’s employees, loosened speech restrictions on the platform and wielded X as a political megaphone. Advertisers to X were at one point spooked by the changes and the social media company’s ad business declined.

In March, Mr. Musk said he had sold X, which is a privately held company, to xAI, his artificial intelligence start-up, in an unusual arrangement that showed the financial maneuvering inside his business empire. The all-stock deal valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, Mr. Musk said. Since then, xAI has been in talks to raise new financing that could value it at as much as $120 billion. The rest of the article essentially suggests Yaccarino’s job was partly to handle Musk, who has “frequently made her job more difficult, including using expletives to tell advertisers that he would not be changing his ways.”

“I don’t believe that he can hide behind doctor-patient confidentiality because this is the president of the United States, and people expect the White House physician to be truthful and transparent about the president of the United States’ health.”

• Biden’s White House Doctor Invokes 5th Amendment (ZH)

After requesting to delay his testimony, Kevin O’Connor – former President Biden’s White House doctor, refused to answer questions during a deposition in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday, according to a statement from his legal counsel that cites doctor-patient privilege and constitutional rights against self-incrimination. “Earlier today, Dr. Kevin O’Connor asserted the physician-patient privilege, as well as his right under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in declining to answer questions from the staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding his service as Physician to the President during the Biden Administration,” reads the statement.

“On the advice of his legal counsel, Dr. O’Connor refused to answer questions that invaded the well-established legal privilege that protects confidential matters between physicians and their patients. His assertion of his right under the Fifth Amendment to decline to answer questions, also on the advice of his lawyers, was made necessary by the unique circumstances of this deposition.” O’Connor appeared for the deposition after House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) subpoenaed him last month to compel his testimony as part of the panel’s investigation into the massive coverup of Biden’s cognitive decline – as well as whether Biden was aware of documents signed using his “autopen” signature.

“The president is the most powerful person in the world. The American people have a right to know the health condition of the president, both physical and mental,” Comer said before the interview, adding “I don’t believe that he can hide behind doctor-patient confidentiality because this is the president of the United States, and people expect the White House physician to be truthful and transparent about the president of the United States’ health.” O’Connor’s lawyers had requested a postponement over the weekend – raising concerns over doctor-patient privilege, and asserting that the committee had declined to rule out any limitations as to the scope of the deposition. ‘Biden’ has strongly denied that he was not in a right state of mind while he was president, calling the claims “ridiculous and false.’

Watch the moment Biden's WH doctor, Kevin O'Connor, announced he was pleading the 5th to ALL questions at his deposition about Biden’s condition.

He’s part of the cover-up and knows it’s indefensible. pic.twitter.com/ZRD8aDEsYJ

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 9, 2025

“In the long ago days of the 1950s, or perhaps it was the 1960s, Mad Comics produced an issue in which everything worked for humans without their participation. Then one day the system broke, and no one knew how to repair the system. They all died.”

• Two Possible Fates Waiting in the Wings (Paul Craig Roberts)

I often wonder which of two possible fates waiting in the wings will be ours. Will Washington/Israeli hegemonic ambition, together with Russian/Chinese/Iranian denial, or perhaps avoidance, of reality, destroy us in nuclear war, or will the digital revolution and its bastard child–Artificial Intelligence–lock up humanity in endless tyranny? I read idealistic accounts of AI in which we all have an AI assistant that manages our daily schedules, our health, diet, weight, and what we eat and drink, manages our investments, protects us against fraudulent bills, keeps watch over our identity and bank account, and ensures all bills are paid, all the while greatly increasing our productivity in our jobs and delivering entertainment.

The propaganda makes people feel secure and comfortable, especially really busy people and elderly people. But in fact it makes them insecure and unaware of how insecure they are. All of their information is in one place where it can be hacked or erased along with their identity by an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). Technology’s true believers see technology in an unrealistic way. It is always an improvement in human existence. But that is not true. Initially technology improved human performance, but eventually it displaces human performance as AI and robotics are doing. In the long ago days of the 1950s, or perhaps it was the 1960s, Mad Comics produced an issue in which everything worked for humans without their participation. Then one day the system broke, and no one knew how to repair the system. They all died.

Already today, education is training students not to think for themselves, not to learn how to solve math, physics, chemical, biological, and other problems, but how to ask AI to do it for them. Students now hand in assignments written for them by AI. Students no longer need to know language or how to use it to write a theme. They just give the assignment to AI. Education today amounts to learning how to use AI. But what or who is AI? AI is the ability to peruse information in a data base much faster than a human and to arrive at a conclusion faster than a human can think. The accuracy of the AI conclusion depends on the accuracy off the information supplied to AI. In other words, the outcome depends on who controls the information base.

We already live with this problem. The information base consists of the official narratives. Censorship kept truthful information about the dangers of the Covid “vaccine” and truthful accounts of “Russiagate,” Ukraine conflict, and most other events off of social media and unable to find with a Google search. If you are outside the official narratives, you are not included in the information base. AI makes Orwell’s Big Brother universal and unchallengeable. For now the official explanations are in the hands of the American Establishment and their whore media. Perhaps in order to protect their own histories, cultures, and ways of thinking, other countries will develop their own AI system in order to escape being ruled by Washington’s data base. Otherwise, Washington’s official narratives will become every country’s official narratives.

What we have at this time is indoctrination disguised by the language of neutrality and presented as truthful information. Liberal-left ideologies, such as transgender theory, the alleged racism of white ethnicities, and Jewish and black victimization are default settings. But it is worse than this. Who controls the algorithm controls the menu not only of explanations but of what events actually happened. All countries are in danger of being subsumed into Washingtons’ explanations, just as they have been left powerless by being subsumed into the SWIFT bank clearing system and the US dollar as world money. Many will accept Washington’s free ride to the obliteration of their memory of themselves.

“Big Pharma is so accustomed to totally controlling American health policy for so long that the Big Pharma executives believe that they, not the federal health agencies, have the right to control vaccination policy.”

“The only way to fix this is to remove money from politics. This would require Congress to vote against their political campaign contributors and leave Congress without a source of election funds..”

• American Doctor Organizations Are Shills for Big Pharma (Paul Craig Roberts)

Scientific research independent of Big Pharma money has proven conclusively that the Covid “vaccines” caused enormous health injuries and deaths. One producer of the vax withdrew it from use. Data show beyond all doubt that the vax is particularly deadly for young children whose immune system it destroys and pregnant women. Faced with the overwhelming evidence about which there is no doubt whatsoever, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy removed the CDC’s recommendation of the dangerous vax for kids and pregnant women. The vax is just as dangerous for everyone, but Kennedy left the recommendation in place for everyone else as it proved impossible to buck Big Pharma except in a minor way.

Nevertheless, Big Pharma sicced its shills –the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association and four other groups– on Kennedy with a lawsuit filed against the US government. Big Pharma is so accustomed to totally controlling American health policy for so long that the Big Pharma executives believe that they, not the federal health agencies, have the right to control vaccination policy. Big Pharma is now attempting to use the federal judiciary to institutionalize their control over American health regulations.

This is a prime example of what happens when money takes over democracy. Political decisions are made not in the public interest, but in the interests of those who provide the campaign contributions. Federal agencies become shills for interest groups. The only way to fix this is to remove money from politics. This would require Congress to vote against their political campaign contributors and leave Congress without a source of election funds. Try to imagine politicians competing by debating values and policies in front of an audience instead of slinging mud and alleging scandals.

IVM

According to Dr. William Makis, ivermectin cream can effectively treat multiple skin ailments, including rosacea, cystic acne, eczema, psoriasis, and even skin cancer.

"You can literally use it for any inflammatory or autoimmune skin condition." pic.twitter.com/dULeoEfG0A

— Joe Tippens (@JoeTippen) July 8, 2025

Flash floods
https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1943117899012473302
https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1943080668277411944

13 states have reported flooding in the last week. pic.twitter.com/4e0vlyEI4h

— Mr. Nobody (@MmisterNobody) July 10, 2025

MTG
https://twitter.com/NewsTreason/status/1943052568806199392

https://t.co/n966Lcce27 pic.twitter.com/go7YFXnB22

— Joe Rogan Podcast News (@joeroganhq) July 9, 2025

https://twitter.com/sheislaurenlee/status/1942982067815317630

Atoms

You're looking at the sharpest image of atoms ever taken. Scientists zoomed in 100 million times to capture the atomic world. pic.twitter.com/5rY0ljbxrJ

— All day Astronomy (@forallcurious) July 9, 2025

Orca
https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1943163270371647956

claw
https://twitter.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1942990528649531419

Cub

His cub interrupted a very important meeting, for a hug
pic.twitter.com/BrnqZ6wvOT

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) July 9, 2025

Greece
https://twitter.com/DiogenisSinopis/status/1943161343647084670

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Debt Rattle April 18 2022

Apr 182022

April 18, 2022 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 8:48 am Finance Tagged with: 5th Amendment, Donbass, Elon Musk, Jacques Baud, social credit, user created, Zelensky 42 Responses »

Pablo Picasso Les Demoiselles d’Avignon 1907

• Zelensky’s Campaign of Assassination, Kidnapping And Torture of Opposition (GZ)

• Zelenskiy Says Russia Wants To ‘Destroy’ Ukraine’s Entire Donbas Region (G.)

• US, EU Sacrificing Ukraine To ‘Weaken Russia’: Jacques Baud (Maté)

• Ukraine Conflict Marks End of Era Dominated by Western Power (SCF)

• Chinese-Style Social Credit Comes To The Heart Of Europe (CP)

• China’s Home Sales By Volume Down 25.6% Y-o-Y (DJ)

• New EU Sanctions May Backfire and Benefit China (Lacalle)

• 5 Witnesses In Clinton Campaign’s False Russian Claims Take the 5th (Turley)

• CIA Concluded Dems’ Trump-Russia Allegation ‘User Created’ (JT)

• Elon Musk Slams Mark Zuckerberg’s Control Over Meta (NB)

• ‘Crazy Elon’ Musk Now Facing Federal Heat (Gasparino)

Is unexpected death the #1 cause of death for 2022?

Big differences.

Jimmy Dore WMD
https://twitter.com/i/status/1515957337462390784

“There is one less traitor in Ukraine..”

• Zelensky’s Campaign of Assassination, Kidnapping And Torture of Opposition (GZ)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has framed his country’s war against Russia as a battle for democracy itself. In a carefully choreographed address to US Congress on March 16, Zelensky stated, “Right now, the destiny of our country is being decided. The destiny of our people, whether Ukrainians will be free, whether they will be able to preserve their democracy.” US corporate media has responded by showering Zelensky with fawning press, driving a campaign for his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and inspiring a flamboyant musical tribute to himself and the Ukrainian military during the 2022 Grammy awards ceremony on April 3. Western media has looked the other way, however, as Zelensky and top officials in his administration have sanctioned a campaign of kidnapping, torture, and assassination of local Ukrainian lawmakers accused of collaborating with Russia.

Several mayors and other Ukrainian officials have been killed since the outbreak of war, many reportedly by Ukrainian state agents after engaging in de-escalation talks with Russia. “There is one less traitor in Ukraine,” Internal Affairs Ministry advisor Anton Geraschenko stated in endorsement of the murder of a Ukrainian mayor accused of collaborating with Russia. Zelensky has further exploited the atmosphere of war to outlaw an array of opposition parties and order the arrest of his leading rivals. His authoritarian decrees have triggered the disappearance, torture and even murder of an array of human rights activists, communist and leftist organizers, journalists and government officials accused of “pro-Russian” sympathies.

The Ukrainian SBU security services has served as the enforcement arm of the officially authorized campaign of repression. With training from the CIA and close coordination with Ukraine’s state-backed neo-Nazi paramilitaries, the SBU has spent the past weeks filling its vast archipelago of torture dungeons with political dissidents. On the battlefield, meanwhile, the Ukrainian military has engaged in a series of atrocities against captured Russian troops and proudly exhibited its sadistic acts on social media. Here too, the perpetrators of human rights abuses appear to have received approval from the upper echelons of Ukrainian leadership.

While Zelensky spouts bromides about the defense of democracy before worshipful Western audiences, he is using the war as a theater for enacting a blood-drenched purge of political rivals, dissidents and critics. “The war is being used to kidnap, imprison and even kill opposition members who express themselves critical of the government,” a left-wing activist beaten and persecuted by Ukraine’s security services commented this April. “We must all fear for our freedom and our lives.”

Yesh, the Russians want to kill all the Russians.

• Zelenskiy Says Russia Wants To ‘Destroy’ Ukraine’s Entire Donbas Region (G.)

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of wanting to “destroy” the entire eastern region of Donbas, as the last remaining forces in the strategic port of Mariupol prepared on Monday for a final defence. While also shelling the capital Kyiv and second-city Kharkiv in the past 24 hours, Moscow is pushing for a major victory in the southern city as it works to wrest control of Donbas and forge a land corridor to already-annexed Crimea. But Ukraine has pledged to fight on and defend the city, defying a Russian ultimatum on Sunday that called on the remaining fighters inside the encircled Azovstal steel plant to lay down their arms and surrender. Ukrainian authorities have urged people in Donbas to move west to escape a large-scale Russian offensive to capture its composite regions of Donetsk and Lugansk.

“Russian troops are preparing for an offensive operation in the east of our country in the near future. They want to literally finish off and destroy Donbas,” Zelenskiy said in an evening statement, in which he also repeated a plea for foreign governments to send weapons for his troops. Mariupol has become a symbol of Ukraine’s unexpectedly fierce resistance since Russian troops invaded the former Soviet state on 24 February. “The city still has not fallen,” the prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said on Sunday. “There’s still our military forces, our soldiers. So they will fight to the end,” he told ABC’s This Week. “We will not surrender.” While several large cities were under siege, he said, not one – with the exception of Kherson in the south – had fallen, and more than 900 towns and cities had been recaptured.

Following Ukrainian fighters’ refusal to surrender Mariupol, Russian troops will reportedly close the city for entry and exit on Monday and issue “movement passes” to those who remain, an adviser to the mayor has said. [..] Meanwhile, Ukraine has completed a questionnaire that will form a starting point for the European Union to decide on its membership. “Today, I can say that the document has been completed by the Ukrainian side,” Ihor Zhovkva, the deputy head of Zelenskiy’s office, told the Ukrainian public broadcaster on Sunday. The European Commission would need to issue a recommendation on Ukraine’s compliance with the necessary membership criteria, he added “We expect the recommendation … to be positive, and then the ball will be on the side of the EU member states.”

Macgregor
https://twitter.com/i/status/1515686972009893891

“They were aware that an operation was to be launched against the Republics of the Donbas..”

• US, EU Sacrificing Ukraine To ‘Weaken Russia’: Jacques Baud (Maté)

JACQUES BAUD: Well, I think we have to understand, as you know, that the war in fact hasn’t started on 24 February this year. It started already in 2014. But I think that the Russians always hoped that this conflict could be solved on a political level, in fact; I mean the Minsk agreements and all that. So, basically what led to the decision to launch an offensive in the Donbas was not what happened since 2014. There was a trigger for that, and the trigger is two things; I mean, it came in two phases, if you want.

The first is the decision and the law adopted by [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy in March 2021—that means last year—to reconquer Crimea by force, and that started a build-up of the Russian armored for…not the Russian, [rather] the Ukrainian armored forces in the southern parts of the country. And so, I think the Russians were perfectly aware of this build-up. They were aware that an operation was to be launched against the Republics of the Donbas, but they did not know when, and, of course, they were just observing that, and then came the real trigger.

You may remember that—I think it was on the 16th of February—Joe Biden, during a press conference, told that he knew that the Russians would attack. And how would he know that? Because I still have some contacts, and nobody actually thought that the Russians—before end of January, beginning of February—I think nobody thought that the Russians would attack Ukraine. So, there must have been something that made Biden aware that the Russians would attack.

And this something, in fact, is the intensification of the artillery shelling of the Donbas starting on the 16th of February, and this increase in the shelling was observed, in fact, by the [Border] Observer Mission of the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe], and they recorded this increase of violation, and it’s a massive violation. I mean, we are talking about something that is about 30 times more than what it used to be, because the last eight years you had a lot of violations from both sides, by the way. But suddenly on the 16th of February you had a massive increase of violation on the Ukrainian side. So, for the Russians, Vladimir Putin in particular, that was the sign that the operation—the Ukrainian operation—was about to start.

And then everything started; I mean, all the events came very quickly. That means that if we look at the figures, you can see that there’s, as I said, a massive increase from the 16th-17th, and then it reached kind of a maximum on the 18th of February, and that was continuing.

The bigger picture.

“..and the unacceptable assaults the Kiev regime was inflicting on the Russian-speaking population in the Donbass region..”

• Ukraine Conflict Marks End of Era Dominated by Western Power (SCF)

A sure sign of the bigger dimensions is the way the U.S., NATO, and European allies have rapidly deployed a total hybrid war on Russia, in an attempt to destroy the latter’s economy. The Western claims about “defending democracy, sovereignty, and international law” are contemptible and fraudulent. By funneling weapons to a repressive, corrupt regime whose military is infested with Nazi regiments? No, the U.S. and its Western allies are using the conflict – one which Russia assiduously tried to avoid by making reasonable appeals for security treaties with NATO – as an opportunity to crush Russia. And it’s not simply about crushing Russia. It’s about crushing any challenge to the Western order. That inevitably involves confrontation with China and others who seek to defy the “Washington Consensus”.

The draconian censorship of Russia’s international media outlets and the blockade on Russia’s economy indicates a full-court campaign of hostility from Western powers that were ready to go. Russia’s intervention in Ukraine on February 24 – based on plausible principles of self-defense – provided the launchpad for pent-up Western hostility. But this hostility is not merely towards Russia. It is aimed at confronting the emergence of a multipolar world order that is beyond the control of U.S.-led dominance. That dominance – or hegemony – is based on U.S. control of the global financial system as well as on brute American military power, assisted by its NATO adjuncts.

Russia’s immediate concerns about Ukraine were based on the increasing threat that this western neighboring country posed from its treacherous involvement with NATO and the unacceptable assaults the Kiev regime was inflicting on the Russian-speaking population in the Donbass region over the past nearly eight years. But by defending those national concerns, the military intervention in Ukraine has also challenged the entire system of the U.S.-dominated Western order. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov remarked on this end-of-era development. He told Russian media this week: “Our special military operation aims to put an end to the unfettered expansions and unfettered course towards total domination of the U.S. and other Western states under it on the international arena.” It is worth reflecting on his reasoning of why the duplicity and hypocrisy of Western powers had become intolerable, and why such unipolar arrogance was, and is, destroying the international order.

Google translation from French.

• Chinese-Style Social Credit Comes To The Heart Of Europe (CP)

I am fully aware that when I mentioned the establishment in the medium term of a “compulsory citizen wallet” in the pipeline in Europe and in France, with all the possible inherent “improvements” (rewards and sanctions), this could naturally to be excessive for some: “A virtuous citizen rewarded versus a bad citizen stigmatized or penalized, none of that with us! Not in a democracy, land of free thought, freedom of conscience and free will (under cover of respect for the law!)” It does not please me at all to quote Lenin: “Facts are stubborn! Unfortunately, both for myself and for those who could rightly doubt the foresight of my remarks, the Chinese-style social credit that I was announcing will set a first foothold in our European democracies. The first Europeans to try the experiment were our Italian neighbors and cousins… The local Italian press is starting to talk about it. Social credit rewarding “the virtuous citizen” will soon be introduced in Bologna with the so-called smart citizen wallet .

Naturally it will initially be on a voluntary basis, of course it will initially be on an experimental basis… It is however mentioned that the proposed portfolio will aim to give maximum benefits to virtuous citizens … When we remember that the Chinese-style restrictions were introduced in Europe through Italy, as China continued to put pressure on one of the most dramatically affected European countries , is there no what to be a little more alarmed about? As reported by the Corriere newspaper in Bologna , the establishment of the Portfolio of the Virtuous Citizen is planned after the summer of 2022. Massimo Bugani who had worked on the project with the Raggi administration explains that the idea is similar to the mechanism of a collection of supermarket points:

“Citizens will be recognized if they sort waste, if they use public transport, if they manage energy well, if they do not take sanctions from the municipal authority, if they are active with the culture card” . These behaviors defined as virtuous will correspond to a score that the Bolognese can then spend in prizes, currently “being defined. » These facts are sad, they are there: the sorting by public authorities of the good and the bad citizen, according to their own criteria, is taking shape in Europe. As for defining what comes under virtue, this is a very audacious enterprise! Should we understand that those who do not comply with the criteria of the dominant ideologies, or of what will be considered virtuous by some politicians will first be penalized by the deprivation of advantages, before being marginalized? What will become of those who will not comply, those who persist in wanting to exercise their inalienable right to free will?

That’s a lot.

• China’s Home Sales By Volume Down 25.6% Y-o-Y (DJ)

Home sales in China continued to fall in March as Beijing’s easing policies failed to revive the property market and stimulate home buyer demand amid a fresh Omicron outbreak across the country. Home sales by volume, a key indicator of demand, fell 25.6% in the first three months of 2022 from a year earlier. This compared with a 22.1% decrease during the January-February period, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. New construction starts measured by floor area dropped 17.5% during January-March from a year earlier, widening from the 12.2% fall in the first two months of the year. Real-estate investment in China rose only 0.7% in the January-March period, slowing from the 3.7% increase for the first two months of the year, according to the statistics bureau.

Blowback.

• New EU Sanctions May Backfire and Benefit China (Lacalle)

The proposals of the European Union and the United States to implement a complete energy embargo on Russia must consider the reality: Asia is importing all that Russia can offer. China, India, and the main Asian economies will send Russian exports to a decade high, according to the Financial Times. In fact, Russia’s trade account surplus was expected to reach $28 billion in March, an all-time high, according to Reuters. That doesn’t mean that sanctions don’t work. Estimates of Russia’s GDP fall range between 10 and 15 percent for 2022 and inflation is close to 20 percent, according to Business Insider. However, the European Union and the United States must note that the sanctions will likely fade away, as Asian countries are purchasing all available Russian production at significant discounts.

The European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States must not make the mistake of thinking that they can bear 100 percent of the energy embargo when China is increasing its imports from Russia. The escape route from the sanctions is China, which maintains a neutral position and, although this doesn’t prevent Russia’s economic difficulties, without China’s collaboration there can’t be a successful embargo. In 2022, Russia’s exports to China, Asian, and emerging countries are estimated to exceed $170 billion, according to Goldman Sachs, significantly more than the 2021 figure for exports to the European Union of $158 billion. Russia is expected to export some $103 billion to China, well above the $79 billion figure for 2021.

The evidence is clear. Without China, there is no real energy embargo. China accounts for 15.4 percent of Russia’s total crude oil exports, with only Saudi Arabia selling more, according to Reuters. We’re talking about 1.6 million barrels per day last year that’s expected to reach 3 million barrels per day in 2022. As for coal, Russia was the second-largest supplier of coal to China in 2021, some 57 million tons last year or 17.6 percent of its total coal imports. Russia is also China’s third-largest gas supplier. The Asian giant accounted for 6.7 percent of Russian natural gas exports in 2021, 16.5 billion cubic meters (bcm), the equivalent of 5 percent of China’s demand.

” The Alfa Bank hoax and Sussmann’s efforts paralleled the work of his partner Elias at the law firm Perkins Coie in pushing the Steele Dossier in a separate debunked collusion claim.”

• 5 Witnesses In Clinton Campaign’s False Russian Claims Take the 5th (Turley)

Special Counsel John Durham continues to drop bombshells in filings in the prosecution of former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann. Just last week, Durham defeated an effort by Sussmann to dismiss the charges. He is now moving to give immunity to a key witness while revealing that the claims made by the Clinton campaign were viewed by the CIA as “not technically plausible” and “user created.” He also revealed that at least five of the former Clinton campaign contractors/researchers have invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to cooperate in fear that they might incriminate themselves in criminal conduct. Finally, Durham offers further details on the involvement of Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias and former British spy Christopher Steele in the alleged false claims.

Recently, Durham revealed extremely damaging evidence against Sussmann. However, this is the first full description of the Clinton associates refusing to cooperate under the Fifth Amendment. Durham noted that he gave immunity to an individual identified only as “Research 2.” He then noted that this was made necessary by the refusal to cooperate by key Clinton associates: “The only witness currently immunized by the government, Researcher-2, was conferred with that status on July 28, 2021 – over a month prior to the defendant’s Indictment in this matter. And the Government immunized Researcher-2 because, among other reasons, at least five other witnesses who conducted work relating to the Russian Bank-1 allegations invoked (or indicated their intent to invoke) their right against self-incrimination. The Government therefore pursued Researcher-2’s immunity in order to uncover otherwise-unavailable facts underlying the opposition research project that Tech Executive-1 and others carried out in advance of the defendant’s meeting with the FBI.”

For his part, Sussmann and the Clinton associates have sought to use attorney-client privilege to keep evidence from Durham. Durham also detailed how the false Russian collusion claims related to Alfa Bank involved Clinton General Counsel Marc Elias and Christopher Steele. Indeed, the new requested immunized testimony would come from a Tech executive who allegedly can share information on meetings with Elias and Steele. The Alfa Bank hoax and Sussmann’s efforts paralleled the work of his partner Elias at the law firm Perkins Coie in pushing the Steele Dossier in a separate debunked collusion claim. The Federal Election Commission recently fined the Clinton Campaign and the DNC for hiding the funding of the dossier as a legal cost by Elias at Perkins Coie.

“Durham notes that both the CIA and FBI were sent on an effective wild goose chase by the Clinton campaign. He notes that the government found the allegations to be manufactured and not even technically possible. He refers to the CIA in the following passage: Agency-2 concluded in early 2017 that the Russian Bank-1 data and Russian Phone Provider-1 data was not “technically plausible,” did not “withstand technical scrutiny,” “contained gaps,” “conflicted with [itself],” and was “user created and not machine/tool generated.”

“..data was not ‘technically plausible,’ did not ‘withstand technical scrutiny,’ ‘contained gaps,’ ‘conflicted with [itself],’ and was ‘user created and not machine/tool generated..'”

• CIA Concluded Dems’ Trump-Russia Allegation ‘User Created’ (JT)

The CIA determined that data behind Trump-Russia collusion allegations from Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussman was “not technically plausible” and was “user created,” according to the latest court filing from Special Counsel John Durham. The 35-page filing responded to Sussmann’s defense after they objected to some evidence as being admissible at their client’s trial. Sussman, whose trial is slated to begin next month, faces charges of lying to the FBI about the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, which reportedly has ties to the Kremlin. Durham wrote in his most recent filling that “the FBI and Agency-2 concluded that the Russian Bank-1 allegations were untrue and unsupported.” “Agency-2” is the CIA.

“[W]hile the FBI did not reach an ultimate conclusion regarding the data’s accuracy or whether it might have been in whole or in part genuine, spoofed, altered, or fabricated, Agency-2 concluded in early 2017 that the Russian Bank-1 data and Russian Phone Provider-1 data was not ‘technically plausible,’ did not ‘withstand technical scrutiny,’ ‘contained gaps,’ ‘conflicted with [itself],’ and was ‘user created and not machine/tool generated,'” Durham wrote. “The Special Counsel’s Office has not reached a definitive conclusion in this regard,” he added. Durham stressed the importance of the evidence that the collusion was allegedly fabricated. He explained that “evidence concerning the steps the FBI and Agency-2 took to investigate these matters is critical to establishing materiality because it will enable the jury to evaluate those steps which, in turn, will inform their conclusions about whether the defendant’s alleged false statement was material and could tend to influence or impair government functions.”

“I’m not saying that I have all the answers here, but I do think that we want to be just very reluctant to delete things..”

• Elon Musk Slams Mark Zuckerberg’s Control Over Meta (NB)

Elon Musk said that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has too much power over the platform. Business Insider on Friday reported that Musk, the richest man in the world, was asked if his influence was a conflict of interest for his offer to buy Twitter for $43 billion. He responded and said Twitter would be nothing like Facebook if he owned it. “As for media sort of ownership, I mean, you’ve got Mark Zuckerberg owning Facebook and Instagram and WhatsApp, and with a share ownership structure that will have Mark Zuckerberg the 14th still controlling those entities,” he said.

“Like, literally,” Musk added. “We won’t have that at Twitter.” He said that his offer to buy Twitter was “not a way to make money” but was instead about promoting freedom of speech. “I’m not saying that I have all the answers here, but I do think that we want to be just very reluctant to delete things,” he noted, referring to biased content moderation and permanent bans. “And just be very cautious with permanent bans. Timeouts, I think, are better than permanent bans.”

Predictable. Freedom is the new F word

• ‘Crazy Elon’ Musk Now Facing Federal Heat (Gasparino)

Now I get why he’s called “Crazy Elon.” Bankers who cover Elon Musk — the electric-car, space-travel and now, possibly, social-media impresario — tell me his own board members came up with that name a few years ago, long before he made a seemingly improbable $43 billion bid for Twitter. It was around the time he was juggling about 10 things at once, including opening new factories, fending off short sellers and regulators, and trying to keep his EV car company Tesla out of bankruptcy. As it turned out, Musk was going crazy in a visionary way. His bid to buy Twitter, the most powerful media platform in existence today, and take on the progressive social-media establishment will only enhance his reputation among his many admirers.

[..] Maybe that’s why, on the eve of Musk doing something even more outlandishly nonconformist (and maybe even crazier in his bid to buy Twitter, the seemingly ubiquitous social-media outfit that he calls the world’s “de facto town square”), the government overseers let it leak to me and Fox Business’s Eleanor Terrett that Musk is in their crosshairs. His old pals at the Securities and Exchange Commission and now the Justice Department have launched a joint investigation into Musk’s business activities, a source close to the matter says. Exactly what they’re looking at isn’t known, but here are some clues: Lawyers say he didn’t file the right paperwork when accumulating his 9%+ stake in Twitter; he may not have come clean early enough on his intentions to try taking over the entire company. (Remember how for a hot minute he was on the Twitter board, which would have prevented a takeover?)

He appears to continue to flout his settlement with the SEC over his tweeting and there have always been questions over the accuracy of his disclosures about EV production rates. These might make for a case against Musk. But he isn’t acting like a guy worried he’s guilty of something. He keeps taking on the woke corporate status quo (and the SEC, which he called “bastards” last week), something that I understand has riled up Dems who at least for now control Congress and thus the various federal regulatory agencies. Are they looking to derail Elon from owning maybe the most important social-media platform on the planet? Are they afraid he might reinstate Donald Trump on Twitter, the politician the left hates even more than Vladimir Putin? Are they worried conservative voices might get equal billing as those on the left with Elon running the show? You know the answers to those questions, so you shouldn’t be surprised Crazy Elon is in the crosshairs.