M. C. Escher The Tower of Babel 1928
Voting
https://twitter.com/i/status/1829220119437836777
Zuck
NEW: Donald Trump is threatening to throw Mark Zuckerberg in prison for the rest of his life if he cheats in the 2024 election.
The comment was reportedly made in Trump's new book "Save America" which is set to be released in early September.
"We are watching him closely, and… pic.twitter.com/LDurILdX2R
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 28, 2024
Trump2024
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) August 29, 2024
Stossel
https://twitter.com/i/status/1828842472472023063
Benz
The entire Mike Benz Tucker interview was great but this two minute segment was by far the most informative. Why did all the large social media platforms become censorious lunatics over the past five years? Here's the best explanation I've ever heard. Even more importantly,… pic.twitter.com/YolKq3CNUW
— Clint Russell (@LibertyLockPod) August 29, 2024
Rogan
Joe Rogan is pissed off.
Kamala is so unpopular with men that she tried to deceptively edit what Rogan said to make it seem like he praised her. He didn't.
This is typical of a fake campaign.
Men of America – wake up. Kamala Harris hates you and your future. Vote accordingly. pic.twitter.com/jUXtDWDYBN
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 28, 2024
https://twitter.com/i/status/1829213201919099070
Jack Smith
https://twitter.com/i/status/1829092127478890756
Tulsi
JUST IN: ABC rejects Kamala's attempt to change the debate rules as she appears to be increasingly worried about the upcoming debate.
Harris, who was too nervous to do a debate on Fox News, tried making last-minute changes on ABC.
These rules included having a "cheat sheet,"… pic.twitter.com/W63wZTEXMd
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 29, 2024
Fitton
I am a direct eyewitness to Jack Smith and Garland DOJ ABUSING prosecutorial power for political purposes — with @realDonaldTrump as the target. pic.twitter.com/nVdYA2Q05k
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) August 29, 2024
Shit
https://twitter.com/i/status/1828974088817127779
Furniture
Meanwhile in NYC, secret migrant shelters in hotels with trucks full
of free furniture being delivered.Are you getting free furniture? pic.twitter.com/9icqmLsZah
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) August 29, 2024
Not how he said it. But if you believe in God, living in a nation under God, it’s inevitable you try to find a purpose in such a experience.
The craziest thing here is not Trump, it’s the media silence.
• God Wants Me To Save The World – Trump (RT)
US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said it was God who spared his life in last month’s assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The GOP firebrand claimed that he has a mission to save America, and perhaps the whole world. Trump narrowly escaped death when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at him on July 13. The would-be assassin had taken position on a nearby rooftop that gave him an unobstructed view of his target. Crooks fired off several shots, one of which grazed the former president’s right ear. One rally attendee was killed and two others were seriously injured. The shooter was subsequently killed by return fire from the Secret Service. In an interview on Tuesday with psychologist and TV host Phil McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, Trump argued that “there had to be some great power” at play on that fateful day.
“The only thing I can think is that God loves our country and he thinks we’re gonna bring our country back,” Trump explained. “It has to be God. I mean how can you say it’s luck when it’s, you know, twenty million to one?” he insisted. Commenting on the Democrats replacing Joe Biden with Kamala Harris as their presidential nominee for the November 5 election, Trump lamented that he now had to face a “nice fresh opponent.” The Republican went on to suggest that if he prevails, it would mean that “there’s some incredible power up there that wanted me to be involved in saving, and maybe it’s more than saving the nation, maybe it’s saving the world.” Speaking of the Secret Service agents’ performance during the incident, Trump expressed gratitude and admiration for their bravery, but noted that there appeared to have been a lack of communication between them and local law enforcement.
President @realDonaldTrump has only one explanation for why he survived the attempt on his life.#DrPhil #Trump #DonaldTrump #Primetime #MeritTV pic.twitter.com/2itsmXI9wq
— Dr. Phil (@DrPhil) August 29, 2024
The GOP nominee went on to allege that Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden are partly responsible for last month’s attempt on his life. He accused the top-ranking Democrats of “making it very difficult to have proper staffing in terms of Secret Service.” According to the former president, Harris and Biden have also been routinely portraying him as a “threat to democracy,” which “can get assassins or potential assassins going.” “Maybe that bullet is because of their rhetoric,” Trump suggested. The former president doubled down on his claims about alleged voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, telling Dr. Phil that he had won in California. “If Jesus came down and was the vote counter, I would win California,” Trump insisted.
“..deadlines around time..”
• Kamala Blows Pre-Taped Interview Question With Walz Right Next To Her (ZH)
Kamala Harris had one job – don’t blow your first sit-down interview with the press. No word salad. No ‘unburdened by what has been’ mantra. Don’t cackle to cover up for a lack of brain cells. She couldn’t even do that… Sitting down with running mate Tim Walz for a pre-taped CNN interview set to air at 9 PM Thursday, a preview clip reveals she’s still an absolute moron. Dana Bash (whose CIA ex-husband signed the Hunter Biden disinfo letter) tossed Harris what should have been a well-rehearsed softball; asking how voters should “look at some of the changes you’ve made.”
Kamala: "The climate crisis is real that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time." pic.twitter.com/xjTVwcUfLZ
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 29, 2024
“Is it because you have more experience now and you’ve learned more about the information? Is it because you were running for president in a Democratic primary? And should they feel comfortable and confident that what you’re saying now is going to be your policy moving forward?” In other words, why shouldn’t you believe you’re full of shit over your dramatic shift in positions towards moderate policies? There are a million ways to answer that spoon-fed question, but Harris chose more word salad. “I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed,” she replied. “You mentioned the Green New Deal. I have always believed – and I have worked on it – that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time.” Yes, deadlines around time.
Recap of Kamala Harris' interview with CNN's Dana Bash:
1. Kamala said Trump is to blame for why she didn't take action on the southern border for three years.
2. Kamala says she wants to Drill Baby Drill.
3. Tim Walz says he is proud of his service after getting called out… pic.twitter.com/qeD477T5DY
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 30, 2024
DANA: "You said you carried weapons in war but you have never deployed actually in a war zone."
WALZ: "The one thing I'm never going to do is.. I'll never demean another member's service."
WOW. pic.twitter.com/9vUQnIv29u
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 30, 2024
NEW – Harris is asked why her admin waited 3.5 years to implement asylum restrictions, she then blames Trump for killing border bill; “Because he believes that it would not have helped him politically, he told his folks in Congress, don’t put it forward.”pic.twitter.com/q7wU3OwQcP
— Overton (@overton_news) August 30, 2024
Right at the center of decentralization.
• US Will Be ‘Crypto Capital Of The Planet’ – Trump (RT)
US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has promised to unveil a plan that will make America the world cryptocurrency capital. In a post on X on Thursday, the former US president shared a video of himself with the voiceover: “This afternoon, I’m laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet.” “They want to choke you. They want to choke you out of business,” Trump says in the video, without specifying who “they” are. “We’re not going to let that happen,” he concluded. The post included a link to World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance project that his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, have been promoting recently. Trump Jr. has said previously that the platform would rival the traditional banking system. The project’s Telegram channel has been quickly gaining subscribers, with more than 53,000 followers as of Thursday.
Trump is the first major presidential candidate to accept donations in cryptocurrency. He was the featured speaker at a Bitcoin conference last month, where donors were asked to pay $844,600 for a seat at a round table with him. Trump has said that crypto is essential to his vision of America in the future. Last month, he pledged to ensure that the US government never sells off its Bitcoin holdings and creates a Bitcoin “strategic reserve,” if he returns to the White House. On Tuesday, Trump launched a fourth collection of nonfungible tokens (NFTs), which feature images ranging from the former president in a superhero costume to figurative Bitcoins. The NFTs sell for $99 each. According to CNBC, the crypto platform and the NFTs are a private Trump family enterprise in the digital currency space, and are not officially connected to Trump’s presidential campaign.
Trump, who in 2019 wrote on social media that Bitcoin’s value is “based on thin air” and in 2021 warned that cryptocurrencies were a “disaster waiting to happen,” made a U-turn in his rhetoric early in the current election campaign. The Republican candidate’s embrace of crypto has led to endorsements from some well-known venture capitalists and executives in the sector, such as Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.
“The political appointments determine the political agenda in terms of trade for financial services and more..”
• UK Bankers Hoping Trump Regains White House – Politico (RT)
British business would prefer to see Republican nominee Donald Trump prevail over Vice President Kamala Harris in the US presidential election in November, Politico has reported, citing finance experts from the City of London. While there are concerns that a Trump presidency could bring a protectionist approach towards global trade, his “laissez-faire” policies could make access to the US market easier for British companies, the outlet said on Tuesday. This is something the City of London is reportedly looking for as it seeks avenues for growth after losing a major share of its EU business after Brexit. “You could have a White House that may want to have a less restrictive regulatory framework for financial services, which might indirectly engender more financial flows across the Atlantic,” a senior UK financial lobbyist told Politico on condition of anonymity.
A senior City of London lawyer described Trump as “pro-business,” noting that Harris’ policies are expected to be “less helpful” to British business. Even though the former US president was “wild and unpredictable” in his first term, his financial policies “did not lead to a run on the dollar or any major problems in financial markets even though a number of his policies were controversial.” Meanwhile, a Harris presidency is “the big unknown” and her economic agenda reportedly involves attacking big business for alleged price gouging, according to the lawyer. Earlier this month, Trump blasted his Democratic rival over the current administration’s record on inflation, which has consistently remained at over 3% since Joe Biden became president. City of London experts also hailed the appointments to top regulatory roles Trump made during his first term, highlighting their competence and experience in the industry.
Under the Trump administration (2017-2021), former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin was appointed secretary of the Treasury, while Randal Quarles, a private equity investor and Treasury veteran, was given a key banking oversight position at the Federal Reserve. “The political appointments determine the political agenda in terms of trade for financial services and more,” Angus Canvin, director of international affairs at UK Finance, which represents British banks, told Politico. Trump and Harris are currently neck-to-neck in most polls, with Harris holding a narrow lead over the former president, according to recent surveys.
“..Andy Yen warning that if they are sustained, he doesn’t see “how tech founders could possibly travel to France, much less hire in France.”
• Jim Rogers: Durov’s Arrest Could End France’s Appeal for High-Tech
The fallout from Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s surprise arrest in France over the weekend continues to reverberate, with observers asking what the move means for free speech in Europe. But money talks too, and right now it’s saying that the French Republic is no longer a safe place for business, especially in the tech sector. Pavel Durov was transferred to a Paris court for “initial questioning and possible indictment” on Wednesday, days after his arrest at Paris’s Bourget Airport Saturday in connection with a long list of dubious charges, from looking the other way on fraud, money laundering and illegal cryptography to abetting or facilitating drug trafficking and child pornography, to refusing to respond to requests by authorities in criminal investigations. The charges against Durov have been slammed by some in the tech world with Proton VPN founder and tech entrepreneur Andy Yen warning that if they are sustained, he doesn’t see “how tech founders could possibly travel to France, much less hire in France.”
“This is economic suicide and is rapidly and permanently changing the perception of founders and investors” toward France, Yen wrote in an X post on Tuesday. Macroeconomist and UnHerd contributor Philip Pilkington echoed these concerns, warning in an article this week that Paris’s move could drive investors of all stripes out of France, and Europe in general. “The damage that this could do to France’s image in the eyes of the technology and entrepreneurial communities is profound,” Pilkington wrote, pointing out that Durov’s detention has opened a Pandora’s Box in which the French state begins to systematically bring criminal charges against the developers of internet communication platforms. “Europe is already destroying its international competitiveness in its manufacturing sector through sanctions and counter-sanctions on Russian energy.
Now, it seems, securocrats in the European bureaucracies want to turn the continent into a place where technologists fear the creation of platforms that allow for communications,” Pilkington warned. The Durov case will likely lead to an exodus of entrepreneurs from Europe – a far cry from French President Emmanuel Macron’s promises in 2017 to make France a “startup nation,” the observer added. “Whenever a country starts arresting high-level executives, especially [in] technology, or in an industry which is international and usual, it attracts attention, and many people will think it is unjustified and many people will say it’s unjustified,” Jim Rogers, renowned investor and chairman of Beeland Interests and co-founder of Quantum Fund, told Sputnik.
“So I don’t know, I hope that France knows what it’s doing. If France has an ironclad 100% case, then it probably will not hurt them. Otherwise, many people will say ‘wait a minute, we don’t want to do anything in France. It is too dangerous,’” Rogers stressed. “I don’t know the facts. I don’t know if anybody’s guilty or not, but I will say this will make many people wonder about doing business in France. This will make many people check to see that everything they are doing in France is okay. It’s an added level of expense. It’s an added level of operation. Nobody wants to be caught doing something wrong in the country. And if people now worry about France, it’s another expense. Another level of caution,” the veteran investor and predictor of global financial trends said.
“It is now hard to tell where the Democratic Party ends and the national-security state begins.”
• The Sound of Enforced Silence (Patrick Lawrence)
Is there some connection, — not quite official but it may as well be— between censorship and presidential politics? I pose the question as a survivor of the Russiagate years, when illiberal liberals started talking about “free-speech absolutists,” and when corporate journalists cheered the censoring of unincorporated journalists so long as it was called “content moderation.” I cannot answer my own question, honestly. But as this November’s elections draw near, a new and aggressive campaign to suppress dissent — in social media, at airports, on campuses, and elsewhere — is hard upon us. This is a trans–Atlantic, trans-national operation. Let us not fail to take note. Straight off the top, you probably noticed that the Democratic Party’s openly undemocratic elite refused to allow any speaker of Palestinian background to address the convention in Chicago last week.
We can read this, disgraceful in itself, as an indication of how the Democrats intend to deal with the Gaza crisis and other such foreign policy matters if they succeed in extending their power another four years. Yes, they will continue supporting terrorist Israel and the Nazi-infested regime in Ukraine just as they have to date, but they will avoid talking to you and me about the imperium’s gruesome business as they conduct it. Silence on such matters will be as gold to these people, especially between now and Nov. 5. Kamala Harris, or the cynical operatives busily inventing Kamala Harris, are selling “joy” this political season, not any kind of sober, responsible view of our circumstances. Harris is supposed to ride into the White House on a carpet of good vibes. Gaza, the war in Ukraine, Washington’s provocations at the other end of the Pacific: Nah: All such questions are bad vibes.
One of the things the Russiagate years exposed was the close collaboration between the Democratic Party and the national-security state. People who know their history have long understood that “the intelligence community” — so odious, this term — has been, from its beginnings in the late–1940s, more liberal than conservative in its culture and sensibilities. Hillary Clinton’s embarrassing defeat in 2016 consolidated this relationship. It is now hard to tell where the Democratic Party ends and the national-security state begins.
I have been, since the Russiagate years, perfectly comfortable with the term “Deep State.” And here it comes again, reliant as always upon its appendages in the Big Tech social media platforms and the more repellant quadrants of corporate media as they attempt to extinguish all other-than-approved opinions and perspectives. Of the many recent incidents of censorship, suppression and intimidation, the one that got me to the keyboard concerns Sharmine Narwani, who founded, three years ago this month, an online journal of news and comment called The Cradle, as in “the cradle of civilization.” Narwani, based in Beirut, now writes columns regularly and edits features for the English-language version of the site. She calls The Cradle a collective effort, “an online magazine covering the geopolitics of West Asia from within the region.” Those last four words are the ones that matter most to me.
Last week — on the first day of the Democratic National Convention, indeed — Meta permanently banned The Cradle from Facebook and Instagram, the holding company’s most trafficked social media properties. Narwani now stands accused of “praising terrorist organizations” and engaging in “incitement to violence.” This ruling came without warning. All Narwani got was this: Your account, or activity on it, does not follow our community guidelines. No one can see or find your account and you can’t use it. All your information will be permanently deleted. You cannot request a review of this decision. How’s this for the sound of liberal authoritarianism? Big Brother could not have got down the poetry of fascistic finality any better.
Not possible. Israel killed 40,000 in ten months in Gaza. They were going to do it in an afternoon? “..using knives as well as a homemade explosive device..”?
• Terrorists Planned To Kill ‘Tens Of Thousands’ At Taylor Swift Concert – CIA (RT)
Terrorists aimed to kill “as many people as possible” using homemade explosives and knives at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna earlier this month, CIA Deputy Director David Cohen has said, adding that the US spy agency warned the Austrian authorities about the impending attack. According to Cohen, the attackers, who are said to have been connected with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), “were plotting to kill a huge number – tens of thousands of people, including, I am sure, many Americans – and were quite advanced in this.” He noted that Austrian security forces were able to arrest the suspects because the CIA and “our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do.”
“I can tell you within my agency, and I’m sure in others, there were people who thought that was a really good day for Langley, and not just the Swifties in my workforce,” he said, speaking at an intelligence summit outside Washington D.C. The plotters reportedly planned to attack one of three Swift concerts in Vienna, which were set to begin on August 8 as part of the European leg of her Eras Tour. However, the shows were canceled by the event organizers, Barracuda Music, after the authorities informed them of the foiled plot. The main suspect in the alleged plot was taken into custody on August 6, along with a 17-year-old accomplice, according to Austrian officials. On August 8, another suspect, 18, was also detained.
The authorities said the unnamed mastermind behind the attack, reported to be 19 years old, had pledged allegiance to IS after being self-radicalized online. The attack was supposedly set to take place outside the stadium where as many as 65,000 people were expected to attend the show. The terrorists are said to have been planning to carry out the attack using knives as well as a homemade explosive device, police said after reportedly finding chemical substances and special technical devices at the home of the 19-year-old. The main suspect is also said to have confessed to planning to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert,” according to Austrian officials.
“Twenty-one million walking pilgrims..”
• ‘Karbala Is The Path To Al-aqsa’: An Iraq Diary (Pepe Escobar)
Arriving in Baghdad today comes as an electric shock to any visitor who remembers recent, somber Iraqi history. There are virtually no checkpoints, apart from sensitive government areas. None of those ghastly cement blocks from the time of the American occupation, forcing a slow slalom every few minutes. No sense of unpredictable danger capable of striking at any minute. Lush greenery thrives all over the capital city. Haifa Street has been rebuilt practically from scratch. Bustling commerce, from non-stop action in Karrada to a complex of restaurants by the Tigris called (most appropriately) Thousand and One Nights. After over three decades of unspeakable horrors inflicted on the cradle of civilization, for the first time, Baghdad exudes a sense of normalcy. This has much to do with the new administration, led by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, that has been in power for just over two years.
Last week, the Office of the Prime Minister sponsored a unique conference titled The Road to Al-Aqsa Flood, inviting popular bloggers and influencers from the Arab world – Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, Sudan, and Lebanon, among others – and only a few westerners. The bloggers were all young; most had never been to Iraq and, thus, had no memories of Shock and Awe and the occupation – at best, some hazy recollection of the ISIS years. They were all stunned by the hospitality, the dynamism, and, most of all, the hope now firmly embedded in Baghdad life. The Iraqi government actually came up with a titillating concept, tying a serious discussion about all aspects of today’s ongoing Palestinian tragedy not only to Baghdad but to Arbaeen in Karbala.
Arbaeen marks the 40th day after Ashura, the Shia rite to honor the martyrdom of Hussein Ibn Ali, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, who was brutally murdered alongside his entire family by the Umayyad Caliph Yazid Ibn Muawiya. For Shia Muslims, this dishonorable slaughter represents the ultimate embodiment of injustice and betrayal, considered foundational evils by the religious sect. It’s all about Resistance – without explicitly mentioning the Axis of Resistance. The martyrdom of Imam Hussein at the Battle of Karbala was – in Baghdad today – directly tied to the ongoing Israeli genocide of tens of thousands of Palestinians, in a “twenty-first-century Karbala.” lying right before sunset on a Soviet helicopter from a military base by the Tigris in Baghdad to a mini-base in Karbala, some 10 kilometers away from the magnificent Hazrat Abbas shrine, is an astonishing experience.
Irrepressible commander Tahsin, in Karbala, had ordered the pilot to follow the Arbaeen pilgrim route – one of the multiple axes crisscrossing Iraq and leading to the shrine. The feeling is of a long cinematic traveling shot. Rows and rows of pilgrims, mostly dressed in black, with their backpacks, carrying banners, walking at a steady pace, going through a collection of stalls, resting places, and mini-restaurants, mingling with volunteers offering free water bottles and free drinks to quench the thirst on this spiritual, yet, arduous journey during a scorching Iraqi summer. As we approach Karbala, the crowd gets much thicker. It’s a sort of community spirit moveable feast. Spontaneous chants pop up, punctuated by infectious rhythm, and above all, there’s this relentless drive to keep walking, to try get as close to the shrine as possible.
Darth Vader is pretty crazy.
• X Warns Of Brazil Shutdown ‘Soon’ (ZH)
On Thursday night, X’s Global Government Affairs account posted a dire warning over service availability in Brazil, after dictatorial Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes punished them for not complying “with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents,” according to the post. “When we attempted to defend ourselves in court, Judge de Moraes threatened our Brazilian legal representative with imprisonment. Even after she resigned, he froze all of her bank accounts. Our challenges against his manifestly illegal actions were either dismissed or ignored. Judge de Moraes’ colleagues on the Supreme Court are either unwilling or unable to stand up to him. We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States.
The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that. In the days to come, we will publish all of Judge de Moraes’ illegal demands and all related court filings in the interest of transparency. Unlike other social media and technology platforms, we will not comply in secret with illegal orders. To our users in Brazil and around the world, X remains committed to protecting your freedom of speech.” Meanwhile, Musk says that SpaceX is going to continue to provide Starlink in Brazil to schools and hospitals for free…
* * *
One day after Brazillian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes threatened to suspend social media platform X unless Elon Musk appoints a new legal representative in 24 hours, the judge – dubbed “Brazil’s Darth Vader” by Musk – issued a subpoena against the company. Today, he blocked the financial accounts of Musk-owned Starlink Holdings, due to the absence of an attorney. According to Moraes, the companies are a “de facto economic group” commanded by Musk. On August 18, Moraes sanctioned X’s bank accounts in order to guarantee the payment of fines imposed by the Brazilian justice for refusing to censor content, Metropoles reports. According to information published by the G1 and confirmed by the Metropolis, advisors to the office of Minister Alexandre de Moraes said that another company under Musk in the country, Starlink Holding, responsible for the sale of satellite internet services, also had the finances blocked. All Starlink managers in Brazil received notifications and were subpoenaed to answer for the values due to the Brazilian Justice by the network X. -Metropoles (translated)In response, Musk called Moraes a dictator, and said “this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words.” Earlier this month, Moraes ordered an investigation into Musk after the billionaire vowed to defy a court order as part of an ongoing probe into social media accounts allegedly spreading misinformation and ‘hate’ speech. “The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian justice, incitement of crime, the public threat of disobedience of court orders and future lack of cooperation from the platform are facts that disrespect the sovereignty of Brazil,” wrote de Moraes. While X initially said in a they would comply, blocking certain popular accounts in Brazil – Musk said an hour later, after the release of the “TWITTER FILES BRAZIL,” that they would not, noting that “As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there.”
in a post the next day, Musk said that Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had “brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil,” and should “resign or be impeached.” De Moraes said that as part of his decision to open an inquiry, that “X shall refrain from disobeying any court order already issued, including performing any profile reactivation that has been blocked by this Supreme Court,” Reuters reports. The justice said that Musk would face a fine that equates to approximately $20,000 each time an account is reactivated on X.
When someone brings it up, act surprised.
• Ukrainian Army Shoots Down Its Own F16 Jet, Pilot Killed (ZH)
It appears that the US-made F-16 fighter jet, which was handed over to Ukraine earlier this year, was downed by a Ukrainian Patriot air defense system in a friendly fire incident, Ukrainian lawmaker Maryana Bezuglaya said cited by TASS. “According to my information, the F-16 of the Ukrainian pilot Alexey ‘Moonfish’ Mes was shot down by the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system due to a lack of coordination between the [military] units,” she wrote on Telegram. The lawmaker criticized the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for falsely describing the incident as “a crash.” “The culture of lies in the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as in other higher military headquarters, leads to the fact that the system of managing military decisions does not improve on the basis of truthful, consistently collected analytics, but deteriorates and even collapses, as is happening in the other directions,” she wrote.
In her words, none of the generals was punished over the incident that led to the loss of both the aircraft and its pilot. Earlier, an unidentified US official told the Wall Street Journal that Ukraine had lost a donated F-16 fighter jet in the first such case. According to the official, the jet was not shot down, and the crash was likely due to pilot error. Later, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the death of a Ukrainian F-16 pilot, Alexey Mes. The man was trained to fly F-16, according to CNN. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said the pilot was killed in an aerial fight, when his plane crashed on August 26.
They’re getting creative with their alternative truths.
• Suspected Nord Stream Bomber Used Ukrainian Gov’t Car To Flee – Spiegel (RT)
The Ukrainian diver allegedly behind the sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines managed to escape a German arrest warrant with the help of Ukraine and possibly Poland, Der Spiegel has claimed. The pipelines under the Baltic Sea were damaged in a series of explosions in September 2022, ending the flow of natural gas from Russia to Germany. No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, but some media outlets in the West have blamed a group of Ukrainian nationals. Earlier this month, German media revealed that Berlin had issued an arrest warrant for “Vladimir Z,” a former Ukrainian military diver who they alleged had planted the explosive charges on the pipeline. Russian outlets have identified the suspect as Vladimir Zhuravlev. According to an investigation by Der Spiegel published on Thursday, Zhuravlev was actually in Germany in May and in Poland at the time the warrant was issued.
Polish authorities did nothing to detain him, the outlet claimed, and Zhuravlev was able to cross into Ukraine on July 6 in a car belonging to the Ukrainian embassy in Warsaw. “Why should we arrest him? For us, he is a hero!” Der Spiegel quoted German security officials as paraphrasing their Polish counterparts. The German outlet noted that Zhuravlev and his family entered Germany in May, on their way to Denmark. They even found the exact apartment in Copenhagen where the Zhuravlevs stayed, in the Bryggen Syd neighborhood. On May 26, the family takes the ferry to Rostock and stops in Berlin, on their way back to Warsaw.
Zhuravlev was already on the German authorities’ radar, but they had yet to issue a warrant for his arrest. Berlin only acted in the first week of June, and it took until June 21 for a European arrest warrant to be forwarded to Poland. Warsaw, however, did nothing. Zhuravlev fled the country on July 6, crossing the border into Ukraine at Korczowa at 6:20am. Security sources told Spiegel that he was in a vehicle with diplomatic plates, used by the Ukrainian embassy in Warsaw.
Spiegel’s security sources claim that Germany is “very angry” with Poland and will not forget Warsaw’s “foul play.” Responding to media reports about the attack, former head of German intelligence August Hanning claimed earlier this month that Poland and Ukraine likely worked together. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk responded by telling all “initiators and patrons” of Nord Stream to “apologize and keep quiet.” Reports about a group of Ukrainians working off a rented yacht – with or without Vladimir Zelensky’s blessing – being responsible for the Nord Stream sabotage surfaced only after Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed that the US government was behind the blasts.
“Borrell has previously called on the West to lift all restrictions on Kiev’s use of the weapons it has provided [..] He argued that this would “help advance peace efforts.”
• Hungarian FM Slams EU’s Borrell Over Ukraine (RT)
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has slammed the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, over his recent remarks on strikes deep into Russian territory. Borrell suggested that Ukraine should be allowed to use Western-supplied weapons to conduct these attacks. Commenting on Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Kursk Region, Russia in early August, Borrell told Kiev that it has the “full support” of the EU. Also this month, the bloc’s top diplomat said, “we are not a party to the war, but we are part of the conflict.” In a post on Facebook, the Hungarian foreign minister described the Ukraine conflict as “madness” that “must be put to an end.” “However, if more and more weapons are sent to this region, if depth strikes arrive on the territory of Russia, then the danger of escalation will only increase and this war will become even more serious,” Szijjarto warned, apparently referring to Borrell’s recent statements.
Budapest’s top diplomat added that to avoid this, his country will “continue to represent the pro-peace position” during an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday.In a separate post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, Zoltan Kovacs, the spokesperson of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s office, wrote that Szijjarto “criticized the European Union’s outgoing High Representative for Foreign Affairs, who is calling for more weapons to be sent to Ukraine and even suggesting that these Western-supplied arms should be used for deep strikes on Russian territory.” Borrell has previously called on the West to lift all restrictions on Kiev’s use of the weapons it has provided, particularly with regard to long-range strikes. He argued that this would “help advance peace efforts.”
Last week, the head of the prime minister’s office, Gergely Gulyas, characterized Kiev’s actions on Russian soil as “wrong” and not conducive to a peaceful settlement of the conflict. In July, Szijjarto also criticized the top EU diplomat over his reported scheme to undermine Hungary’s efforts to organize an informal foreign affairs summit, calling the supposed plan childish. He went on to accuse Borrell of overseeing the “most unsuccessful period of European foreign policy” ever.
Nobody’s telling them nuke plants are off limits.
• Ukrainian Impunity Could Result In Major Nuclear Incident – Moscow (RT)
The refusal to hold Ukraine accountable for attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant has emboldened Kiev to target the Kursk NPP in the same way, Russia’s deputy envoy to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, has said. Speaking at a UN Security Council session in New York on Wednesday, Polyansky denounced the Western powers for failing to acknowledge the escalating Ukrainian threat to nuclear safety. The Zaporozhye plant is located in the city of Energodar in Zaporozhye Region, Russia, which Kiev claims under its own sovereignty. Moscow has accused Ukrainian forces of targeting the city and the facility itself on multiple occasions with artillery fire and drone attacks. An incendiary device deployed by a Ukrainian drone caused a major fire at one of its two cooling towers earlier this month, according to the plant’s management.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has an observer mission at the location, has confirmed that the blaze did not start at the base of the structure and that the tower may need to be dismantled. Russia has urged Western backers of Ukraine to use their leverage to stop attacks on the Zaporozhye site. Polyansky said Kiev’s impunity for these actions has put another nuclear power plant, in Kursk Region, in its crosshair. Ukrainian forces have shelled the plant and attempted to seize it during their incursion into the Russian region, he explained. “This kind of recklessness, which potentially could trigger a nuclear incident with tragic consequences for the whole of Europe, is the best rebuff” to people who ignored the situation in Zaporozhye Region, Polyansky said. “This is what your unprincipled ostrich-like stance leads to.”
Senior Russian officials have previously accused Kiev of engaging in “nuclear terrorism” by attacking Russian reactors. President Vladimir Putin specifically mentioned this when he stated that peace talks with Ukraine have been ruled out in the wake of the incursion into Kursk Region. He also cited Kiev’s attacks on civilians as a reason that negotiations are no longer possible. Following the incident with the Zaporozhye plant’s cooling tower, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned that Ukrainian forces would target the Kursk facility, and urged the IAEA to denounce these actions.
“This does not mean that we cannot interact with the same enemy in certain situations. There is no harm in that, but do not place your hopes in them. Do not trust the enemy..”
• The Lies of the US Empire Will Be Its Undoing (DeMartino)
On Tuesday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei opened the door to negotiations with the United States, saying there was “no harm” in talking with the “enemy.” The decision opened the way for Iran’s new reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian to fulfill a campaign promise to be more open to the West. While speaking to his President, Khamenei told him not to trust the United States. “This does not mean that we cannot interact with the same enemy in certain situations. There is no harm in that, but do not place your hopes in them. Do not trust the enemy,” Khamenei told Pezeshkian. Iran has significant reasons to distrust the United States. In 2015 the United States, Iran and several other countries signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iranian nuclear deal. The deal placed significant restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of Western sanctions on Iran.
In 2018, former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal. In 2022, current US President Joe Biden rejected an offer to return to the deal. Since the US withdrawal, Iran is believed to have significantly advanced their nuclear program. “I think this is just to placate the new president. He’s a reform president. He ran on that ticket to try to open up more avenues to the West,” former senior security policy analyst at the Office of the Secretary of Defense Michael Maloof told Sputnik’s The Final Countdown. “But [JCPOA] is clearly dead, as far as I’m concerned, simply because for three and a half years they tried through the Biden administration and got nowhere. And if Trump comes in, you can almost be guaranteed that he will cancel any agreements.” For countries around the world, the US reneging on deals is nothing new, it is nearly par for the course.
In 1990, as East and West Germany were in the process of unification, then-US Secretary of State James Baker assured Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev that “neither the President nor I intend to extract any unilateral advantages from the processes that are taking place,” and that the US Government understood that “not only for the Soviet Union but for other European countries as well it is important to have guarantees that if the United States keeps its presence in Germany within the framework of NATO, not an inch of NATO’s present military jurisdiction will spread in an eastern direction.” However, over the next three decades, NATO continued to expand eastward, eventually resulting in the Ukraine conflict.
[..] The Iran nuclear deal is a moot point at this juncture. “[The International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA)] discovered that the Iranians had actually exceeded 60% and had gone up to 90% enrichment, ‘accidentally.’ So, they have that capability. So, what’s the point of an IAEA inspection any longer?” But the effects of the United States Empire’s lies will be much more profound than a rapidly advancing Iranian nuclear program, they will destroy its geopolitical influence, decimate its economy and isolate it from much of the rest of the world. The first to go will be the end of effective unilateral sanctions from the West, a phenomenon that has already begun. “That’s why you see Iran now a prominent member of BRICS, a prominent member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SGO),” Maloof said. “They have learned to get around Western sanctions and it’s going to increase, and that’s why they’re flourishing in many respects.” It is not only Iran.
The West has imposed as many sanctions as it could muster against Russia following the start of its special operation in Ukraine. Despite this, Russia grew its economy to the largest in Europe and the fourth largest in the world in purchase power parity (PPP). While sanctions were never effective in their stated goal of removing leaders from power, they were able to limit the economic growth of that country at the expense of the population living there. Now, even that tool is leaving the American cupboard. “Over time, they have learned to find ways around [sanctions] and it has actually strengthened them. It’s allowed them to become more self-sufficient to build more indigenous industries, which Iran has done,” explained Maloof.
I think I read it’s 4x the Exxon Valdez.
• Houthis To Allow Salvage Crews To Access Oil Tanker They Hit In The Red (OP)
The Iran-aligned Houthis have agreed to allow salvage crews including rescue ships and tugboats to access an oil tanker that the Houthis hit with a missile in the Red Sea earlier this month. “Several countries have reached out to ask Ansarullah (the Houthis), requesting a temporary truce for the entry of tugboats and rescue ships into the incident area,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said, as carried by Reuters. The Houthi movement has agreed to this request, “in consideration of humanitarian and environmental concerns,” the Iranian mission to the UN added. Reports last week said a tanker on fire was drifting in the Red Sea. It later emerged that the vessel had come under attack by armed groups traveling on small vessels some 90 miles from the Yemeni port city of Hodeida. The tanker was also reportedly struck by missiles or drones.
“The vessel reports being not under command,” the UK Maritime Trade Operations office said at the time, likely meaning it lost all power. “No casualties reported.” The Greek-flagged oil tanker, the Sounion, had 25 crew members and was traveling from Iraq to Cyprus. The crew was rescued by a European warship and transported to Djibouti. Earlier this week, U.S. Pentagon officials said that the Greek tanker that the Yemeni Houthis struck in the Red Sea a week ago is now leaking oil. “The MV Sounion now sits immobilized in the Red Sea, where it is currently on fire and appears to be leaking oil, presenting both a navigational hazard and a potential environmental catastrophe,” Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder said, as quoted by the Maritime Executive. The oil tanker holds close to a million barrels of crude oil and if it spills as a result of the strikes, it could become one of the largest oil spills from a vessel in recent history.
Vax injuries
If you take away nothing else from our X account, take this:
“The United States government has paid out more than $5.22 billion to vaccine victims through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, or the VICP.
And as of June 28th, 2024, there were 48,101 deaths, and… pic.twitter.com/IrD986scv8
— Children’s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) August 30, 2024
Shanahan
https://twitter.com/i/status/1828635192317354114
RFK health care
https://twitter.com/i/status/1828869075209961964
RFK pharma
https://twitter.com/i/status/1828880387478552752
RFKJFK
JFK was dedicated to making Americans the healthiest people on earth. Now, RFK Jr. Is making that his mission.#MAHA pic.twitter.com/oCOzbdllrL
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 29, 2024
Shelter
https://twitter.com/i/status/1829191897061171603
Cheap engine
REMINDER – Everyone who has built a cheap or free energy device has been killed. pic.twitter.com/f5aYpkGlA3
— illuminatibot (@iluminatibot) August 29, 2024
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