Nov 042024
 
 November 4, 2024  Posted by at 9:22 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  42 Responses »


Berthe Morisot After luncheon1881

 

Trump Could Become Second JFK – Medvedev (RT)
Can A Tsunami of Trump Votes Give Power Back to the American People? (PCR)
Trump’s Supporters Deserve A “Smack” – Biden (RT)
I Shouldn’t Have Left The White House – Trump (RT)
Rogan Exposes Democrats’ Plan To Destroy American Democracy (ZH)
The Latest Harris Campaign Gaslighting Is Comedy Gold (Margolis)
“We’re Not Going to Allow Them to Steal it”: Raskin (Turley)
AI Will Kill Writing – Scientist (RT)
The Internet Is Getting Flushed Down Orwell’s Memory Hole (ZH)
The BRICS Summit Should Mark the End of Neocon Delusions (Jeffrey Sachs)
Ukraine’s Territorial Losses Are Its Own Fault – Lavrov (RT)
101 Staff Members Accuse BBC of Pro-Israel Bias – Media (RT)
UK FM Blames Civil Unrest In Europe On “Russian Disinformation” (ZH)
Zakharova: Ukraine Took Back Just 279 POWs, Although 935 Were Offered (TASS)
British King ‘Making Millions’ From Secret Property Empire – The Times (RT)

 

 

 

 

Polls

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“..if he really attempts to [end the Ukraine conflict], he could become a new JFK..”

Trump Could Become Second JFK – Medvedev (RT)

Should Donald Trump be elected US president and attempt to end the Ukraine conflict in earnest, he could end up sharing the fate of John F. Kennedy, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has claimed. He also argued that relations between Washington and Moscow will likely remain highly strained regardless of who comes out on top in the November 5 presidential election. During the course of his campaign, the GOP candidate has repeatedly vowed to put an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine in short order, if elected. However, he has not provided any specifics. His Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, has suggested that Trump would essentially force Kiev to surrender. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also expressed skepticism regarding the Republican nominee’s ability to stop the conflict overnight, noting that no “magic wand” exists with which he could do so.

In a post on his Telegram channel on Sunday, Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote that Moscow does not have high expectations regarding the outcome of Tuesday’s US presidential election. He argued that “for Russia, the election won’t change anything, as both candidates’ stances completely reflect the bipartisan consensus that our country has to be defeated.” According to Medvedev, while on the campaign trail, a “somewhat fatigued Trump” has been dishing out “banalities” regarding peace prospects for Ukraine, and his supposedly good relations with world leaders. However, if elected, the Republican “would be forced to observe all of the rules of the system,” and would be “unable to stop the war. Not in a day, not in three days, not in three months.” “And if he really attempts to [end the Ukraine conflict], he could become a new JFK,” the former Russian president warned.

John F. Kennedy, the 35th US president, was assassinated in 1963. As for Harris, the Russian official dismissed her as “stupid, inexperienced [and] controllable.” Medvedev alleged that if elected, she would be a mere figurehead, with other officials and members of former President Barack Obama’s family pulling the strings. In an exclusive interview with RT earlier this week, Medvedev stated that “if Western countries, especially the United States, had had enough flexibility and wisdom to make a security agreement with Russia, there would have been no special military operation [in Ukraine].” He said that the US and its allies failed to realize this in time because “they’re in the habit of bullying everyone into submission,” and operating “on the principle of American exceptionalism and the primacy of US interests.”

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“I caution Trump that he cannot merely make Kennedy and Musk advisors. He must give them an executive power base by putting them in charge of the agencies.”

Can A Tsunami of Trump Votes Give Power Back to the American People? (PCR)

The Democrats are set to steal the election. They have everything in place except enough votes to hide their theft. Watch the video of the Trump Grand Finale, listen to the speeches by Robert Kennedy and Tucker Carlson. Marvel at the massive audience. It appears that Americans have cast off their insouciance and are going to take back their country from the two corrupt political parties, both of which have unleashed evil on America and the world. The American ruling elite, which is evil beyond comprehension, will not take kindly to their loss of power and exposure of their crimes. The FBI, CIA, NSA, Secret Service, and Clinton murder machine only have to assassinate four people–Trump, Bobby Kennedy, Tucker Carlson, and Elon Musk–and the country is back in their hands. Considering the extraordinary support that both Trump and Bobby Kennedy extend to Israel, it is unclear how an America that supports and enables the Genocide of Palestine can be made great again.

I do have to say that I am disturbed by Trump seeing Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea as enemies that he will be tough with. This leaves Trump susceptible to neoconservative influence. If Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are our enemies, it is because Washington made them enemies. It is not Russia that pulled off a Maidan Revolution in Germany and then used a Russian installed puppet to cause problems for NATO and the EU. It is Washington that used Ukraine to do that to Russia. It is not China that offshored its manufacturing to the US and then blames the US. It was not Iran that initiated 24 years of war in the Middle East. It was the US and Israel. It is Washington that has done everything possible to isolate and demonize North Korea for 70 years.

There is one threat in making American great again, and that threat is restoring American militarily dominance. The neoconservatives will use this American desire not only to foment wars but also in the name of national security to restore the spying, the restraints on free expression, and the name-calling that have eroded our civil liberties. “You are with us or against us” will be used to silence the voices of peace. Will MAGA Americans understand that a country can be great without being a hegemon? Permit me to explain that when Trump says there will never again be rallies like his MAGA ones, he is not being egotistical or claiming that no future candidate will be as popular with the people as he is. Neither is he giving assurance that he will not hold Third Reich style rallies. He is saying that once power is restored to the people, in place of political rallies there will be meetings to work out how to best get America back on course.

With Trump in the Oval Office, Elon Musk as Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Robert Kennedy as head of the Food and Drug Administration, Tucker Carlson as White House Press Spokesman, General Flynn as Director of the CIA, Edward Snowden as head of the National Security Agency, John W. Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute as Attorney General, Michael Hudson as Secretary of the Treasury, and Tulsi Gabbard as Secretary of State, there is a chance that America can be rescued and restored. These appointments might be too imaginative for Trump, and if Trump were to make them would the corrupt US Senate confirm them? I caution Trump that he cannot merely make Kennedy and Musk advisors. He must give them an executive power base by putting them in charge of the agencies. Otherwise, they will be cut out of the action by those in charge. If Kennedy and Musk are merely to give advice, they will soon quit out of frustration.

I caution Trump that he cannot give Scooter Libby a pardon and leave his January 6 supporters imprisoned. He cannot leave the attorneys legally harassed who collected evidence that the 2020 election was stolen by Democrats. There are a lot of people on his side who need rescuing. If Trump’s ego or stupid advisors cause him to be magnanimous to his deadly enemies who tried to assassinate him both politically and physically, he will fail. I think Trump has won the election. Nevertheless, the Democrats might try to steal it again, orchestrate an “insurrection,” invoke Pentagon Directive 5240.01, and prevent Trump from being inaugurated. We must keep in mind that the inauguration of a president comes two and one-half months after his election. There is plenty of time for Democrat and ruling elite mischief. The high and mighty have committed so many crimes that they are vulnerable if Trump regains the presidency. In many ways, for the ruling elite this election is an existential matter.

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He likes talking tough. Think he ever won a -fair- fight in his life?

Trump’s Supporters Deserve A “Smack” – Biden (RT)

US President Joe Biden has condemned Republican nominee Donald Trump’s promise of lower taxes for high earners, and lashed out at “macho guys” who support such ideas. He made the remarks during a campaign stop in his birthplace of Scranton, Pennsylvania on Saturday, in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for the November 5 election. “There’s one more thing Trump and his Republican friends want to do. They want to have a giant tax cut for the wealthy,” Biden told the local chapter of the carpenters union. “Now, I know some of you guys are tempted to think it’s macho guys,” he continued in an apparent reference to Trump’s supporters.

“I tell you what, man, when I was in Scranton, we used to have a little trouble going down the plot once in a while. These are the kind of guys you’d like to smack in the ass,” he said while gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. “By the way, I’m serious,” he added. Throughout his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has proposed various tax cuts along with tariff increases on imported goods. This includes a 20% reduction in corporate tax rate. He also pledged to eliminate tax on overtime pay and on tips for service workers, and to make Social Security benefits for seniors tax-free.

Earlier this week, Biden caused an uproar when he branded Republican supporters “garbage,” accusing Trump of dividing the country “based on the race.” The White House later edited the transcript, claiming that there was “a difference in interpretation” while Biden said his comment was in response to “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporters at his Madison Square Garden rally.” Both Democrats and Republicans have frequently engaged in harsh rhetoric, with Trump often describing Harris as a “low IQ individual,” calling her policies “plans of a simpleton” and the vice president accusing the former president of constantly lying and branding him a “petty tyrant.”

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“..the US has turned “a failed country” under the leadership of an “incompetent group of fools.”

I Shouldn’t Have Left The White House – Trump (RT)

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said that he regrets leaving the White House after losing to Joe Biden in 2020, reiterating his claim of “stolen elections.” Speaking at a campaign rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania on Sunday, two days before Election Day, the former president said that the US has turned “a failed country” under the leadership of an “incompetent group of fools.” He went on to accuse the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris of being unable to prevent the flow of illegal migrants across the border with Mexico. “We had the safest border in the history of our country, the day I left,” Trump said. “I shouldn’t have left. I mean, honestly, because we did so, we did so well.”

Trump labeled the Democratic Party a “corrupt machine” and claimed that the integrity of the election could only be guaranteed if US states only use paper ballots and require voter IDs. “In California, you are not even allowed to ask for a voter ID. They are only doing it because they want to cheat,” he suggested. Trump has never admitted that he lost the 2020 election, despite courts failing to find evidence of widespread voter fraud. He eventually stepped down as president after a crowd of his supporters stormed the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021, briefly interrupting the certification of Biden’s victory.

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“”There’s a significant number of these people that are illegal immigrants that have made their way to swing states. And then there’s been calls for amnesty..”

Rogan Exposes Democrats’ Plan To Destroy American Democracy (ZH)

“Undeniably,” admits Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman to podcaster Joe Rogan, “immigration is changing our nation.” The two men spoke about a wide variety of political topics ranging from how Donald Trump won in 2016 to how immigration stands as a key issue in the election today. Specifically, Fetterman played the Democratic Party card, claiming that Republicans in 2024 “had an opportunity to do a comprehensive border-bipartisan-and that went down because Trump, he declared that that’s a bad deal after it was negotiated with the other side.” Rogan then brutally ‘fact-checked’ the stammering senator, pointing out the reality that that the deal made many concessions that Republicans concerned about the border found to be unacceptable. “But, didn’t that deal also involved amnesty,” responded Rogan,”and didn’t that deal also involve a significant number of illegal aliens being allowed into the country every year?”

Silence from Fetterman. Rogan continued: “I think it was 2 million people. So still the same sort of situation. And their fear is exactly what I talked about, that these people will be moved to swing states and that that will be used to essentially rig those states and turn them blue forever.” Finally, the PA Senator responded “I’ve never witnessed those kinds [illegals voting] of a thing… I don’t think there’s that level kinds of organization.” But Rogan once again would not allow the politician to ‘lie’ pointing out that “there is an organization that’s moving these people [illegals] to swing states.” “There’s a significant number of these people that are illegal immigrants that have made their way to swing states. And then there’s been calls for amnesty. There’s been calls for allowing these people to have a pathway to citizenship and allow them to vote.

The fear that a lot of people have is that this is a coordinated effort to take these people that you’re allowing to come into the country, then you’re providing them with all sorts of services like food stamps and housing and setting them up and then providing a pathway to amnesty. And then you would have voters that would be significantly voting towards the Democrats because they’re the people that enabled them to come into the country in the first place, first place and provided them with those services. This is a big fear that people have and that you’re rigging this system and that this will turn all these states into essentially locked blue like California is.” Fetterman’s responds: “undeniably,” adding that “immigration is changing our nation.” “I haven’t spent a lot of time in Texas but it’s very clear that immigration has remade Texas and I think it’s generally, it’s a good thing.”

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“The only thing the Harris campaign has functional at this point is a bulls**t machine that is dutifully repeated by the legacy media as if fact.”

The Latest Harris Campaign Gaslighting Is Comedy Gold (Margolis)

The Harris-Walz campaign claims late-deciding voters are breaking their way, and by a lot. Former Obama campaign manager and current senior advisor to the Harris-Walz campaign made a rather bold claim on X/Twitter on Friday. According to Politico, Plouffe’s comments “echo[ed] those shared by senior campaign officials earlier Friday on a call with reporters.” “We have believed all along that there were still undecided voters here, and that the close of this race was really, really important,” said one of the senior campaign officials, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the state of the race. “And we are seeing that be the case as we are closing out in the last week.” The official said that a recent focus group with undecided voters in a battleground state showed that the racist, misogynistic and vulgar language at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in New York over the weekend isn’t just impacting Puerto Rican and Latino voters, but undecided voters as a whole.

“It really kind of crystallized for them the choice in their minds between the vice president, who they’re seeing talk about being a president for everyone, someone focused on them and solving their problems, and Trump, and these really kind of dark, divisive language and events and activities,” the official said. “We don’t always see, when we’re talking to swing voters, anything that you can really see them kind of finalize their point of view or finalize their opinion.” According to the Harris campaign, we’re supposed to believe that a comedian’s joke holds more significance than pressing issues like the economy, immigration, and foreign policy. During a 2WAY livestream, Mark Halperin took aim at the media for uncritically accepting David Plouffe’s claims, saying the assertion “seems questionable on the face.”

He argued that proving whether undecided voters were truly swayed by the Madison Square Garden event would require precise analytics, but that hasn’t stopped the media from treating Plouffe’s statements “like it’s a fact” despite lacking hard evidence. Halperin also shared that, based on his conversations with the Trump campaign, they believe undecided voters lean 2-to-1 in Trump’s favor. He may not believe that’s entirely true, but was clearly less convinced by Plouffe’s suggestion, which Halperin believes was intended to create a “bandwagon effect” for Kamala, shifting the narrative to portray her as gaining momentum. Consider this: if the Access Hollywood tape couldn’t derail Trump’s campaign in 2016, there’s little reason to believe that a comedian’s joke at one of his rallies would, either. Americans recognized Trump’s comments as “locker room talk” back then, just as they understand that a comedian known for crude humor is simply aiming for laughs.

When Halperin asked Trump’s campaign advisor, Chris LaCivita, for his take, LaCivita responded bluntly: “What the hell is he going to say? He’s losing? Fact of the matter is David can’t do anything but bulls**t until Tuesday because we are kicking his a**. The only thing the Harris campaign has functional at this point is a bulls**t machine that is dutifully repeated by the legacy media as if fact.” In the end, both campaigns believe, or are at least claiming, that they have the edge with late-deciding voters. Ignore it all. Just get out there and vote, and make sure every Trump supporter you know votes.

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“This could prove a long night, if not a long week.”

“We’re Not Going to Allow Them to Steal it”: Raskin (Turley)

On Bill Maher’s HBO Show on Friday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) appeared to repeat his reservation about accepting a Trump win in the presidential election. Raskin said that Democrats will only support a “free and fair election.” Trump was widely criticized for the same position when he said “If everything’s honest, I’ll gladly accept the results.” Raskin previously said that he would not guarantee certifying Trump and that, if he wins, he may be declared as disqualified by Congress: “It’s going to be up to us on January 6th, 2025 to tell the rampaging Trump mobs that he’s disqualified. And then we need bodyguards for everybody and civil war conditions.” Raskin went on HBO to repeat his reservation on accepting the results of any Trump victory: “When I say we will support a free and fair election, no, we we’re not going to allow them to steal it in the states, or steal it in the Department of Justice or steal it with any other election official in the country.

If it’s a free and fair election, we will do what we’ve always done. We will honor it.” Remarkably, as the audience applauded Raskin, Maher added “That is the Democrats’ history: They honor it. That’s the big difference between the parties.” However, that is not the history and Raskin knows it. The certification of President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election was opposed by Democrats and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) praised the effort of then-Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) who organized to challenge. Jan. 6 committee head Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) voted to challenge it in the House. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) sought to block certification of the 2016 election result.

Raskin also insisted on CNN that the effort to prevent citizens from voting for Trump is the very embodiment of democracy: “If you think about it, of all of the forms of disqualification that we have, the one that disqualifies people for engaging in insurrection is the most democratic because it’s the one where people choose themselves to be disqualified.” Democrats not only sought to strip Trump from the ballot this election, but sought to cleanse ballots of 126 House members. We are already seeing an ominous uptick of challenges, which I discuss in my column this weekend. There are also new allegations of systemic fraudulent registrations in multiple districts. Raskin presumably expects any voters to protest “peacefully” if they are declared the losers.

I am leaving for New York today to join in the coverage. This could prove a long night, if not a long week.

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“Some 86% of students use AI in their studies..”

“There will still be smart people, but only those who choose to be.”

AI Will Kill Writing – Scientist (RT)

The use of Artificial intelligence (AI) for writing both at work and in school will result in the majority of people losing the skill in several short decades, Paul Graham, a computer scientist and author, has warned. This will create a problem because writing means thinking, Graham, a veteran investor and cofounder of Y Combinator, a startup accelerator and venture capital firm, believes. “The reason so many people have trouble writing is that it’s fundamentally difficult. To write well, you have to think clearly, and thinking clearly is hard,” he said in an essay posted on his website last week. However, the development of technology has allowed people to outsource writing to AI.

There’s no longer a need to actually learn how to write, or hire someone to do it for you, or even plagiarize, the English-American scientist wrote. “I’m usually reluctant to make predictions about technology, but I feel fairly confident about this one: in a couple decades there won’t be many people who can write,” Graham said. It’s common for skills to disappear as technologies replace them; after all, “there aren’t many blacksmiths left, and it doesn’t seem to be a problem,” he admitted. But people being unable to write is “bad,” he insisted. “A world divided into writes and write-nots is more dangerous than it sounds. It will be a world of thinks and think-nots,” Graham believes.

It won’t be an unprecedented situation, he observed, referring to preindustrial times, when “most people’s jobs made them strong.” “Now if you want to be strong, you work out. So there are still strong people, but only those who choose to be,” Graham said. In his view, it will be the same with writing. “There will still be smart people, but only those who choose to be.” Some 86% of students use AI in their studies, according to a recent survey by the Digital Education Council. While 28% of them resort to technologies to paraphrase documents, 24% use AI to create first drafts, the study has found.

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“For the first time in 30 years, we have gone a long swath of time – since October 8-10 – since [the Wayback Machine] has chronicled the life of the Internet in real time..”

The Internet Is Getting Flushed Down Orwell’s Memory Hole (ZH)

We interrupt today’s important election coverage for a story that could have impacts even longer-lasting than President Kamala Harris’s first ten-trillion-dollar budget. I’ll wash my keyboard out with soap later for typing the phrase “President Kamala Harris.” When the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine was hacked in early October, it looked at first like just another email-and-password smash-and-grab. But that was followed up by repeated Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks that crippled the service. The Internet Archive was hit again on Oct. 20, “this time with the threat actors gaining access to their Zendesk support email system.” The Wayback Machine came back but as a read-only service. What that means is, while you can search archived webpages from before the attacks, “you can’t currently capture an existing web page into the archive.”

That matters bigly. When the New York Times, Washington Post, or anyone else stealth-edits a news report to hide the truth, you could still find the original on the Wayback Machine. That’s no longer true. “For the first time in 30 years, we have gone a long swath of time – since October 8-10 – since this service has chronicled the life of the Internet in real time,” the Brownstone Institute reported this week. As of this writing, fully three weeks of web content have not been archived. What we are missing and what has changed is anyone’s guess. And we have no idea when the service will come back. It is entirely possible that it will not come back, that the only real history to which we can take recourse will be pre-October 8, 2024, the date on which everything changed. But it gets worse. Google killed off its cache feature — similar to the Wayback Machine — right around the time the Internet Archive got hacked. Coincidence? Probably. But I’m making a tinfoil hat, just in case.

The White House just got caught altering Presidentish Joe Biden’s “garbage” remarks. “Nothing to see here,” Sean Davis quipped, “just the Biden-Harris administration deliberately falsifying federal records.” They got caught this time, and sources like X still have the original video. But what happens next time, when some politician or MSM editor waits until the furor dies down before making their stealth edit — and there’s no Wayback Machine to catch them? Wikipedia is the defacto internet encyclopedia but has proven time and again to be biased at best and subject to stealth edits at worst. More people are using AI to perform their web searches and summaries for them, but the large language models are scraping data from sources increasingly subject to manipulation.

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“Time has run out on the neocon delusions, and the U.S. wars of choice..”

The BRICS Summit Should Mark the End of Neocon Delusions (Jeffrey Sachs)

The recent BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia should mark the end of the Neocon delusions encapsulated in the subtitle of Zbigniew Brzezinski’s 1997 book, The Global Chessboard: American Primacy and its Geostrategic Imperatives. Since the 1990s, the goal of American foreign policy has been “primacy,” aka global hegemony. The U.S. methods of choice have been wars, regime change operations, and unilateral coercive measures (economic sanctions). Kazan brought together 35 countries with more than half the world population that reject the U.S. bullying and that are not cowed by U.S. claims of hegemony. In the Kazan Declaration, the countries underscored “the emergence of new centres of power, policy decision-making and economic growth, which can pave the way for a more equitable, just, democratic and balanced multipolar world order.”

They emphasized “the need to adapt the current architecture of international relations to better reflect the contemporary realities,” while declaring their “commitment to multilateralism and upholding the international law, including the Purposes and Principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations (UN) as its indispensable cornerstone.” They took particular aim at the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies, holding that “Such measures undermine the UN Charter, the multilateral trading system, the sustainable development and environmental agreements.” Time has run out on the neocon delusions, and the U.S. wars of choice.

The neocon quest for global hegemony has deep historical roots in America’s belief in its exceptionalism. In 1630, John Winthrop invoked the Gospels in describing the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a “City on the Hill,” declaring grandiosely that “The eyes of all people are upon us.” In the 19th century, America was guided by Manifest Destiny, to conquer North America by displacing or exterminating the native peoples. In the course of World War II, Americans embraced the idea of the “American Century,” that after the war the U.S. would lead the world. The U.S. delusions of grandeur were supercharged with the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991. With America’s Cold War nemesis gone, the ascendant American neoconservatives conceived of a new world order in which the U.S. was the sole superpower and the policeman of the world. Their foreign policy instruments of choice were wars and regime-change operations to overthrow governments they disliked.

Following 9/11, the neocons planned to overthrow seven governments in the Islamic world, starting with Iraq, and then moving on to Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran. According to Wesley Clark, former Supreme Commander of NATO, the neocons expected the U.S. to prevail in these wars in 5 years. Yet now, more than 20 years on, the neocon-instigated wars continue while the U.S. has achieved absolutely none of its hegemonic objectives. The neocons reasoned back in the 1990s that no country or group of countries would ever dare to stand up to U.S. power. Brzezinski, for example, argued in The Grand Chessboard that Russia would have no choice but to submit to the U.S.-led expansion of NATO and the geopolitical dictates of the U.S. and Europe, since there was no realistic prospect of Russia successfully forming an anti-hegemonic coalition with China, Iran and others. As Brzezinski put it:

“Russia’s only real geostrategic option—the option that could give Russia a realistic international role and also maximize the opportunity of transforming and socially modernizing itself—is Europe. And not just any Europe, but the transatlantic Europe of the enlarging EU and NATO.” (emphasis added, Kindle edition, p. 118) Brzezinski was decisively wrong, and his misjudgment helped to lead to the disaster of the war in Ukraine. Russia did not simply succumb to the U.S. plan to expand NATO to Ukraine, as Brzezinski assumed it would. Russia said a firm no, and was prepared to wage war to stop the U.S. plans. As a result of the neocon miscalculations vis-à-vis Ukraine, Russia is now prevailing on the battlefield, and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are dead. Nor—and this is the plain message from Kazan—did U.S. sanctions and diplomatic pressures isolate Russian in the least. In response to pervasive U.S. bullying, an anti-hegemonic counterweight has emerged.

Simply put, the majority of the world does not want or accept U.S. hegemony, and is prepared to face it down rather than submit to its dictates. Nor does the U.S. anymore possess the economic, financial, or military power to enforce its will, if it ever did. The countries that assembled in Kazan represent a clear majority of the world’s population. The nine BRICS members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as the original five, plus Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates), in addition to the delegations of 27 aspiring members, constitute 57 percent of the world’s population and 47 percent of the world’s output (measured at purchasing-power adjusted prices). The U.S., by contrast, constitutes 4.1 percent of the world population and 15 percent of world output. Add in the U.S. allies, and the population share of the U.S.-led alliance is around 15 percent of the global population.

The BRICS will gain in relative economic weight, technological prowess, and military strength in the years ahead. The combined GDP of the BRICS countries is growing at around 5 percent per annum, while the combined GDP of the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the Asia-Pacific is growing at around 2 percent per annum. Even with their growing clout, however, the BRICS can’t replace the U.S. as a new global hegemon. They simply lack the military, financial, and technological power to defeat the U.S. or even to threaten its vital interests. The BRICS are in practice calling for a new and realistic multipolarity, not an alternative hegemony in which they are in charge.

American strategists should heed the ultimately positive message coming from Kazan. Not only has the neocon quest for global hegemony failed, it has been a costly disaster for the US and the world, leading to bloody and pointless wars, economic shocks, mass displacements of populations, and rising threats of nuclear confrontation. A more inclusive and equitable multipolar world order offers a promising path out of the current morass, one that can benefit the U.S. and its allies as well as the nations that met in Kazan. The rise of the BRICS is therefore not merely a rebuke to the U.S., but also a potential opening for a far more peaceful and secure world order. The multipolar world order envisioned by the BRICS can be a boon for all countries, including the United States. Time has run out on the neocon delusions, and the U.S. wars of choice. The moment has arrived for a renewed diplomacy to end the conflicts raging around the world.

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“The longer the Ukrainian leadership, with Western support, keeps scuttling one agreement after another, the less territory remains under its control..”

Ukraine’s Territorial Losses Are Its Own Fault – Lavrov (RT)

The more agreements with Russia and other parties the Ukrainian government violates, the less territory will remain under Kiev’s control, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned. During his speech at the 16th Assembly of the Russian World in Moscow on Saturday, Lavrov reiterated the country’s readiness to search for a diplomatic solution to the conflict with Kiev. According to Moscow, an integral part of the political settlement should be “protecting the rights and freedoms, as well as the legal interests of the Russian people and Russian speakers… alongside ensuring Ukraine’s non-aligned, neutral, and non-nuclear status, and eliminating any and all threats to Russia’s security that may come from within its borders,” he said. “Acknowledging the actual state of affairs on the ground is of paramount importance,” the minister stressed. Lavrov urged Kiev against delaying the launch of substantive negotiations any further.

“The longer the Ukrainian leadership, with Western support, keeps scuttling one agreement after another, the less territory remains under its control,” he warned. “Had they honored their commitments in February 2014, nothing would have happened, and Crimea would still be part of Ukraine. However, they chose to break the agreement because they couldn’t wait to seize power,” the foreign ministry recalled. On February 21, 2014, at the height of the Maidan protests in Kiev, an EU- and Russia-brokered deal to deescalate tensions was struck between Ukraine’s democratically elected president, Viktor Yanukovich and the opposition. However, the coup leaders violated it almost immediately, with the head of state being forced to flee the violence the next day. The regime change in the nation’s capital prompted Crimea to hold a referendum the following month, in which the peninsula’s population voted overwhelmingly to reunite with Russia.

“Had it [the Kiev government] honored the Minsk Agreements in February 2015, Ukraine would have still kept all its territories within its borders, including all of Donbass (Crimea was already gone by that time). They chose not to implement these agreements and not to grant a special status to a portion of Donbass,” Lavrov continued. The Minsk II deal, the guarantors of which were Germany, France and Russia, introduced a ceasefire between the authorities in Kiev and the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, and was intended to pave the way for administrative and political reform in Ukraine as well as for autonomy and local elections in the Donbass republics. In December 2022, former Chancellor Angela Merkel and former President Francois Hollande, who helped broker the accord, admitted that it had been nothing more than a ruse to help Ukraine buy time and prepare for a future conflict with Russia.

“Their third chance came up in Istanbul in April 2022,” when Russia and Ukraine last sat at the negotiating table, the foreign minister said. Russia, which initially expressed satisfaction with the results of the meeting and withdrew its forces from the outskirts of Kiev as a goodwill gesture, later accused Ukraine of backtracking on all progress achieved in Türkiye, saying it had lost trust in Kiev’s negotiators. Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed earlier this year that, during the talks in Istanbul, Ukraine was willing to declare military neutrality, limit its armed forces, and vow not to discriminate against ethnic Russians. In return, Moscow would have joined other leading powers in offering Ukraine security guarantees, he said. According to the Russian leader, Kiev withdrew from the talks on the order of its Western backers. “Without a doubt, today looks quite different from April 2022,” Lavrov said, referring to any future negotiations with Kiev.

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“..holds itself to very high standards, and we strive to live up to our responsibility to deliver the most trusted and impartial news.”

101 Staff Members Accuse BBC of Pro-Israel Bias – Media (RT)

Dozens of BBC employees have accused the British state broadcaster of exhibiting pro-Israel bias in its coverage of the Gaza conflict, The Independent reported on Saturday. The newspaper, citing a letter allegedly sent to BBC Director-General Tim Davie, said the appeal was also publicly signed by other media representatives, including broadcaster Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who previously served as senior minister of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs. The Independent claimed that accusations of partiality were levelled at the BBC by 101 staff members, who chose not to reveal their identities. The letter allegedly highlights a lack of “fair and accurate evidence-based journalism in coverage of Gaza.” BBC employees urged the organization to report “without fear or favour” and to “recommit to the highest editorial standards – with emphasis on fairness, accuracy, and due impartiality.”

The letter allegedly stressed the need to make it clearer in BBC reporting that Israel is preventing foreign journalists from accessing Gaza, and to provide more historical context behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Independent quoted an anonymous BBC employee, who signed the letter, as saying that “levels of staff confidence” are unprecedentedly low, with some of colleagues having “left the BBC in recent months because they just don’t believe our reporting on Israel and Palestine is honest.” Another supposedly told the newspaper that they “see that we are losing the trust of audiences across the world.” The unnamed signatory cited headlines that often leave out Israel, in an apparent attempt to deflect blame.

A BBC spokesperson has rejected the allegations of bias, stressing that the broadcaster “holds itself to very high standards, and we strive to live up to our responsibility to deliver the most trusted and impartial news.” Meanwhile, in September, The Telegraph published a report pointing to a “deeply worrying pattern of bias and multiple breaches by the BBC of its own editorial guidelines on impartiality, fairness and establishing the truth.” According to an analysis prepared by a group of lawyers and data scientists, the broadcaster exhibited anti-Israel bias in its output on television, radio, podcasts, websites, and social media over a period of at least four months in the wake of the deadly Hamas incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023. The BBC has dismissed the findings, calling into question the reliability of AI tools employed by the researchers.

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“..Russia is involved in psy-ops as any country at war would be. That said, so is David Lammy and his ilk and they aren’t only at war with Russia, they’re also at war with the UK and EU populace.”

UK FM Blames Civil Unrest In Europe On “Russian Disinformation” (ZH)

The majority of official surveys monitoring American and European support for Ukraine are many months old now. The last time we saw a flurry of polling on the issue was this summer and the media has been rather quiet on the issue since. Why? Because public support for the proxy war is in steep decline. The last numbers show that 52% of Americans no longer want additional funding for Ukraine. With Donald Trump increasingly likely to return to the White House in 2025 the Ukrainians are already preparing for steep cuts to military aid (the US provides the vast majority of arms to Ukraine). This leaves the EU to pick up the slack. However, Europe simply doesn’t have the capacity to provide enough military aid to make a difference in the war and is currently discussing schemes to transfer frozen Russian assets to the effort while simultaneously scaling back their own funding. Central EU nations like Germany are already cutting their contributions in half in the coming year.

The decline in aid follows two important factors: Public support for the war in America and Europe is waning. And, Ukraine is clearly losing the conflict with their defensive lines in the east collapsing. Ukraine has received well over $200 billion in the past two years from NATO nations, which eclipses Ukraine’s annual GDP of around $160 billion. In other words, the war cannot continue without NATO. The disconnect between US and European governments vs the desires of the general public could not be more obvious. Even the Washington Post admits: “As they signaled enduring support for Ukraine last week, European leaders worried about how long they can sustain it…” “European leaders promise to support Ukraine as long as it takes, but they are increasingly threatened by public fatigue, a weakening of the political center and the prospect of Trump’s return…”

“More than 20 years into Russia’s war, public fatigue risks taking hold in some countries. Some European leaders are now in politically precarious positions and more constrained in what they can do. And across the continent, parties from the hard right to the hard left are pushing narratives against sending cash or arms…” In the UK and Europe, protests have erupted over a number of problems, most importantly the threat of mass immigration from third world countries and the deliberate agenda to erase traditional European culture. Some of the unrest has also been related to the Ukraine war and ongoing discussions about “conscription” among government officials. The UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, is one of many bureaucrats that are trying to lump all civil actions together, labeling them a “threat to democracy.” The narrative also seeks to tie these events to “Russian disinformation.” In other words, according to David Lammy the public is being brainwashed by Vladimir Putin into protesting and this is a strategy by the Kremlin to sow discord within Europe.

The U.K. government sanctioned three Russian agencies and their senior executives this month, accusing them of orchestrating disinformation campaigns and seeking to fuel anti-Ukraine protests across Europe. The Social Design Agency (SDA), Structura National Technologies, and Ano Dialog, alongside their directors, are accused of spearheading a vast malign online network commonly known as “Doppelganger.” The network used deceitful tactics… to mask the truth around Russia s illegal invasion of Ukraine and distract from the true nature of the war, the U.K. Foreign Office said in a statement Monday. Lammy and others claim this constitutes a “threat to democracy” and he says he will take action to shut down all sources of disinformation. To be sure, Russia is involved in psy-ops as any country at war would be. That said, so is David Lammy and his ilk and they aren’t only at war with Russia, they’re also at war with the UK and EU populace.

It should be noted that Lammy is becoming a regular fixture at The Atlantic Council, which has been deeply involved in the escalation of Ukrainian tensions with Russia for over a decade. He is also on the advisory board for the European branch of the Council On Foreign Relations. His relationships with globalist institutions helps to explain his hostility to conservative and anti-progressive movements. As Lammy argues in his recent conference with Ukrainian officials, any sense that allies are not united ‘only benefits Putin.’ Clearly this “unity” must also extend to the civilian population (by force if necessary), otherwise Lammy and his cohorts look rather ridiculous. The tactic of attaching all civil dissent to the schemes of a foreign adversary is a tale as old as oligarchy. It’s a way for governments to negate or dismiss public opposition to policy without losing face, because they can claim all the dissent is astroturf created by malicious foreign agencies.

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“These are practically 700 people who could have returned to their families in Ukraine..”

Zakharova: Ukraine Took Back Just 279 POWs, Although 935 Were Offered (TASS)

The Russian Defense Ministry offered to hand over 935 Ukrainian prisoners of war this year, but Kiev took only 279 of them, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. “This year, the Russian Defense Ministry handed over to the Coordination Headquarters for the Handling of Prisoners of War a proposal to give back 935 Ukrainian prisoners of war to the Ukrainian side as part of exchanges,” the diplomat said in an online news conference. “How many of this number of people do you think the Kiev regime took back? I will emphasize they are its own citizens. Only 279.” “These are practically 700 people who could have returned to their families in Ukraine,” Zakharova went on to say.

“They were simply shrugged off by the Kiev regime, and yet its representatives continue to travel to Canada and around the world and supposedly call on, and negotiate with the international community for mediation efforts and, as [former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry] Kuleba said, for protection of Ukrainian nationals in Russia.” The spokeswoman called such actions of the Kiev regime “political tourism on the blood of its own citizens, its own servicemen.” “Not those who have been experiencing hatred for years, not the thugs who are ready to kill everyone with weapons in their hands – both Russian citizens and residents of the African continent, as it now turns out, but those whom they literally forcibly mobilized, telling them that Ukraine must be saved, sending them into these human wave attacks. They are not interested in their fate,” Zakharova said.

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Stuck in the Middle Ages.

British King ‘Making Millions’ From Secret Property Empire – The Times (RT)

King Charles III and his son Prince William have contracts with UK taxpayer-funded public services, charities, government departments and even a prison, which help them earn millions every year, the Sunday Times has claimed. That’s in addition to the so-called sovereign grant the royals get from the government. In 2023 alone, Charles and William’s “private fiefdoms,” the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall – raised £27.4 million (over $35 million) and £23.6 million ($30 million) respectively for the British royal family, the newspaper found as part of a joint investigation with Channel 4’s Dispatches program. The paper said Saturday that they used the royal addresses to uncover their business contracts and discovered how the duchies are making money “via a series of commercial rents and feudal levies on land largely seized by medieval monarchs.”

Dubbed “Duchy Files,” the investigation claims to have found that King Charles and Prince William “charge for the right to cross rivers, offload cargo onto the shore, run cables under their beaches, operate schools and charities, and even dig graves.” “They earn revenue from toll bridges, ferries, sewage pipes, churches, village halls, pubs, distilleries, gas pipelines, boat moorings, opencast and underground mines, car parks, rental homes and wind turbines,” The Times claims. Some 5,410 landholdings and properties are held by the royal duchies, the investigation claims. For instance, a deal with an NHS foundation trust will reportedly pay the King’s Duchy of Lancaster £11 million ($14 million) over 15 years to rent a warehouse for ambulances. Prince William’s Duchy of Cornwall receives £1.5 million ($1.9 million) a year from the Ministry of Justice for using Dartmoor Prison, The Times claims.

The duchy of the King’s eldest son, the Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, also charges the military “for the right to train” on its 67,500 acres of land in Dartmoor. The sum it gets has not been revealed. The estates also rent out over 900 residential homes and farms to tenants, according to the report. The duchies, both established in the 14th century, are operating as commercial landlords, but are exempt from paying tax on their corporate profits, the paper notes. The King and Prince pay income tax voluntarily at the highest rate, 45%. In 2022, the last time King Charles published his tax filings, he paid 25% of the £23 million ($30 million) in duchy profit “because he deducted expenses he considered related to his official duties,” The Times pointed out.

The “Duchy Files” investigation marks the first time that the complete list of property holdings for the two royal estates has been made public, the paper says, adding that even the British parliament was denied access to it. “The ancient property empires that fund the King and the Prince of Wales have remained a closely guarded secret within the royal family and its small circle of advisers for centuries,” it claimed. The two duchies are separate from the Crown Estate, a vast property business owned by the British monarch but run independently. Because of its soaring profits, the taxpayer-funded sovereign grant that pays for official royal duties will rise from £86.3 million ($111 million) in 2024-25 to £132 million ($170 million) in 2025-26.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Whats Ur name?

 

 

Thank you
https://twitter.com/i/status/1852753037242319021

 

 

Performer

 

 

Deer brush
https://twitter.com/i/status/1852760089603813813

 

 

Octopus

 

 

Turtle

 

 

Jesus
https://twitter.com/i/status/1852973368519152063

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Nov 012024
 


Paul Klee Carnival in the snow 1923

 

White House Overrode Stenographers, Altered “Garbage” Transcript (ZH)
Is the Left Preparing for War If Trump Wins? (Lee Smith)
Kamala Harris’ Bizarre Marketing Campaign Appeals To The Worst In Humanity (ZH)
FBI Ran ‘Honeypot’ Operation On 2016 Trump Campaign – Whistleblower (RT)
Facebook Files Reveal the Coordinated Effort to Bury the Laptop Story (Turley)
RFK Jr. Explains Plan for Reforming the CIA (HUSA)
Lawsuit Over $1 Million Giveaways on Hold After Elon Musk’s Legal Maneuver (ET)
Why the Cancel Campaign Targeting Jeff Bezos Could Backfire (Turley)
County Clerk Confirms Voting Booth ‘Glitch’ Shifted Trump Votes To Kamala (ZH)
Voter Confidence Rattled As Voting Machines Malfunction Across Illinois (JTN)
Biden Goes On Baby-Mouthing Spree At White House Halloween Party (ZH)
BRICS post-Kazan: A Laboratory of the Future (Pepe Escobar)
BRICS Grows, Adding 13 New ‘Partner Countries’ (Norton)
In Georgia and Moldova, it’s Oxi for NATO and the EU (Karganovic)
Genocidal Scorecard (Chris Hedges)
Israel’s Attacks On Iran Were An Apocalyptic Error By Netanyahu (Jay)
Tightening Russian Oil Sanctions Threatens Global Economy – Le Monde (RT)

 

 

 

 

This IS genuinely funny
https://twitter.com/i/status/1851781793524879778

RFK

J6

Rogan
https://twitter.com/i/status/1851849883986137583

Elon

Kamala

Discord

O’Reilly

Go Vote
https://twitter.com/i/status/1851835337783357821

A warning from Mike Maloney

 

 

 

 

 

 

“..any edits to the official transcript would have to be approved by their supervisor, the head of the stenographer’s office – who was unavailable.”

White House Overrode Stenographers, Altered “Garbage” Transcript (ZH)

In a mad scramble to cover for President Biden calling half of the country “garbage,” White House press officials altered the official transcript, overriding official stenographers who objected to the alterations, the Associated Press reports. According to the pre-altered transcript, Biden said “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.” However White House press office added an apostrophe, reading “supporter’s” rather than “supporters,” in order to peddle the falsehood that Biden was criticizing comic Tony Hinchcliffe, who referred to the US island territory of Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” The change was made after the press office “conferred with the president,” according to an internal email from the head of the stenographers’ office that was obtained by The AP.

The authenticity of the email was confirmed by two government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. The supervisor, in the email, called the press office’s handling of the matter “a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices.” -AP According to the email, the press office demanded that stenographers quickly produce a transcript of Biden’s call with Latino activists to discuss Hinchicliffe’s comments, while Biden’s social media team posted on X that he was not calling all Trump supporters garbage – and that he was specifically referring to the “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally.” The two-person stenography team on duty that evening, a “typer” and a “proofer” said that any edits to the official transcript would have to be approved by their supervisor, the head of the stenographer’s office – who was unavailable.

Because of this, the White House press office went ahead and published an altered transcript on the White House website and distributed it to the press and social media in a mad scramble. The supervisor did not like that… “If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently,” wrote the supervisor, adding “Our Stenography Office transcript — released to our distro, which includes the National Archives — is now different than the version edited and released to the public by Press Office staff.” The supervisor, a career White House employee, raised concerns about the alteration in an email to White House communications director Ben LaBolt, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and other officials. “Regardless of urgency, it is essential to our transcripts’ authenticity and legitimacy that we adhere to consistent protocol for requesting edits, approval, and release,” he wrote.

The alteration was done as the White House scrambled to respond to a cascade of press inquiries over Biden’s comments – which completely upstaged Kamala Harris’ closing argument speech outside the White House. As journalist Michael Shellenberger points out, it was likely illegal. Biden’s comment was a gift to the Trump campaign, which immediately capitalized on it – fundraising off the quote, while Trump himself held a photo op inside a garbage truck on Wednesday.

Harris also moved to quickly distance herself from Biden’s comments, telling reporters “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.” Meanwhile, House Republicans have been discussing launching an investigation into the fabrication – with House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-(NY), and House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-(KY), on Wednesday accusing the White House of “releasing a false transcript” of Biden’s remarks, and called on White House counsel Ed Siskel to retain documents and internal communications related to Biden’s remarks and the transcript. “White House staff cannot rewrite the words of the President of the United States to be more politically on message,” the lawmakers wrote, noting that it may have been a violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978.

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“Thus, it is best understood in the context of recent accounts promising, or urging, violence after the November vote.”

Is the Left Preparing for War If Trump Wins? (Lee Smith)

The propaganda campaign labeling Donald Trump as an aspiring dictator determined to use the military and national security apparatus against his political opponents is designed not to affect the upcoming election but rather to shape the post-election environment. It is the central piece of a narrative that, by characterizing Trump as a tyrant (indeed likening him to Hitler), establishes the conditions for violence — not just another attempt on Trump’s life, but political violence on a massive scale intended to destabilize the country. As I write in my forthcoming book Disappearing the President, Democratic Party research and media reports show that many senior party officials and operatives are preparing for the possibility of a Trump victory. Accordingly, planning is focused on undermining the incoming president with enough violence to rock his administration.

Prominent post-election scenarios forecast such widespread rioting that the newly elected president would be compelled to invoke the Insurrection Act. With some senior military officials refusing to follow Trump’s orders, according to the scenarios, the U.S. Armed Forces would split, leaving America on the edge of the abyss. By vilifying Trump as a despotic madman who must be stopped before he can commence his reign of terror, the regime’s propaganda apparatus not only slanders Trump but also pre-emptively threatens the reputation, as well as the livelihood and perhaps the liberty, of current military personnel. The point is to push the military against Trump: When the time comes to act, will you stand for democracy or side with a tyrant who sees the military only as an instrument to advance his personal interests?

For instance, last week the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, quoted former Trump administration officials claiming that the Republican candidate is contemptuous of America’s armed forces and, according to Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, wishes he could command the same respect that Hitler commanded from his general officers. This is not the first time that Trump has been compared to Hitler or that Kelly, a retired Marine general, turned on his former commander-in-chief. Kelly was the key source for a story published before the 2020 election, also in the Atlantic and also by Jeffrey Goldberg, that alleged Trump had called American WWII soldiers buried in French cemeteries “suckers and losers.” The veracity of Kelly’s latest revelation that Trump admires Hitler must of course be judged against the fact that he waited five years to disclose it, even if it is unlikely to have much effect on the current election cycle.

The military, and veterans of the Global War on Terror in particular, overwhelmingly support the candidate opposed to waging endless and strategically pointless foreign wars. Moreover, Trump has weathered far more damaging fabrications — like the false allegations that he had been compromised by Russian intelligence — that only galvanized support for him. The purpose of the Hitler narrative is not to alter the electoral preferences of left-wing media audiences already solidly in the anti-Trump column, but rather to justify taking extreme measures against the Republican candidate and the America First movement and ensure that the bulk of the military sides with the anti-Trump plot. Thus, it is best understood in the context of recent accounts promising, or urging, violence after the November vote.

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“If a woman or a minority votes conservative, Democrats assert that it’s because they’ve been brainwashed into it.”

Kamala Harris’ Bizarre Marketing Campaign Appeals To The Worst In Humanity (ZH)

You can tell a lot about a political candidate and their party by their marketing campaigns. Most importantly, do they explain the views of their candidate and their policies? Or, do they simply seek to manipulate voters into believing something that’s not true? The Kamala Harris campaign has actually gone one step further in the past month with a bizarre series of ads that, when examined altogether, showcase an ideological degeneracy that appeals to the worst in humanity. While Donald Trump and conservatives are often accused of being “mean” or blunt in their rhetoric, at least it’s sincere and speaks to actual issues rather than subconscious desires. On the other hand, if you’re looking for any kind of class in a candidate, there’s none to be found among the Democrats.

Taking a page from the Edward Bernays school of advertising that taps into the grimy recesses and narcissism of the dregs of society, the marketing for Harris has been odd – It encourages dishonesty among families, relies on shaming techniques instead of critical thinking and it’s often sexually charged in the ugliest way. Some of these ads are not directly created by Harris operatives, but generally speaking most ads are approved by the candidate or political party officials before they’re released. In her most recent campaign, Harris ads attempt to sow discord among married couples, suggesting that women should hide their political views from their husbands and vote for Harris without them knowing. Or, the goal is to suggest that American men are somehow controlling their wives and coercing them into voting for Trump. In the Democrat fantasy world the only reason a woman would vote for Trump is because her husband is forcing her to. It’s a rather insulting portrayal of women, but it also taps into the leftist assumption that all minorities and women are their political property.

If a woman or a minority votes conservative, Democrats assert that it’s because they’ve been brainwashed into it. Beyond that, any man who has been married for even a short period of time is well aware of his wife’s political ideals and will not be surprised how she votes. It’s strange that the Harris camp is trying to portray voting as if it should be treated like an extra-marital affair. Of course, this is the kind of behavior that progressives commonly encourage women to engage in, it’s just weird to see it so blatantly promoted in a campaign ad. Then there’s the efforts to shame men into voting for Harris which have clearly not gone over so well. Her support among men is dismal, even among Gen Z, and this can be attributed directly to the decade long propaganda war on masculinity perpetrated by leftists. Men remember, and they’re certainly not going to vote for the same people that have called them “incels” or “rapists” or “toxic” for years.

Shaming is a traditionally feminine psychological tactic. This ad gives us an example of the reality that Democrats operate from a highly estrogenated world view and they don’t understand men in the slightest. By extension, Democrats may have made an epic blunder with this grotesque ad featuring a man masturbating in bed while watching porn, only to be disrupted by a cliche Republican invading his privacy and telling him he’s not allowed to punish his porpoise anymore. The ad itself is far creepier than the Republican it tried to lampoon, insinuating that masturbation is on the ballot and that this is something the average male voter should be focused on. For progressives, everything is about sex.

A root obsession of narcissists, sexual gratification is a core value for them and sexual identity a proxy making up for a lack of any legitimate personality. Furthermore, the conservative efforts against pornography are specifically aimed at enforcing age limits online so that children don’t have access (a pervasive problem in the digital era). It’s a reasonable position, but Democrats desperately want kids to have access to sexual content for some reason. Sticking with the theme of sexual gratification, let’s not forget this little gem of an ad which features a black man trying to match with women on a fake dating show, only to be denied by all of them because he says he’s not voting. The message? Vote for Harris or you won’t get laid.

The marketing is also aimed at women, much like the voting in secret ad, teaching them to treat men like the enemy unless those men vote Democrat. There are dozens of other ads like this beyond those listed here, with a host of Dem candidates following Kamala’s lead. This is truly the dark side of political content, reducing voters down to their most base animal instincts and avoiding any mention of actual policy. To be sure, Democrats understand the mentality of their core supporters well, but these ads would not appeal to anyone outside of the most rabid leftist activists. For posterity, the Harris marketing campaign should be studied as a window into the progressive mind; future generations should be dissecting this material for decades to come as an example of one of the most unsettling chapters in American political history.

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“Trump had just announced his first presidential campaign and neither he nor anyone on his campaign team was suspected of any crimes. Nevertheless, Comey ordered two “honeypot” agents to infiltrate Trump’s team..”

FBI Ran ‘Honeypot’ Operation On 2016 Trump Campaign – Whistleblower (RT)

Former FBI Director James Comey personally ordered “honeypot” spies to infiltrate Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, according to an agency whistleblower. The off-the-books operation was described by the agency insider as a “fishing expedition” to find wrongdoing among Trump’s team. The operation was “personally directed” by Comey and launched in June 2015 without any case file being created in the FBI’s database, according to a whistleblower report handed to the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and seen by the Washington Times. At the time, Trump had just announced his first presidential campaign and neither he nor anyone on his campaign team was suspected of any crimes. Nevertheless, Comey ordered two “honeypot” agents to infiltrate Trump’s team on the campaign trail with the aim of extracting damning information from adviser George Papadopoulos, the report claimed.

A “honeypot” agent refers to an attractive woman who uses a sexual or romantic relationship to gather intelligence from a target. Comey’s operation took place a year before the FBI’s ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged contacts with Russia, which later morphed into Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s two-year ‘Russiagate’ probe. According to the whistleblower, the honeypot operation was kept “off the books” to conceal it from the US Justice Department’s inspector general, who later determined that Comey knowingly lied when submitting evidence to obtain a warrant to surveil Trump’s campaign. Papadopoulos was eventually questioned by the FBI and in 2017 pled guilty to making false statements to agents regarding his alleged contacts with Russia the year before.

He served 12 days in federal prison in 2018, and has claimed ever since that he was entrapped by FBI agents posing as Russians with damaging information on Trump’s 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton. He complained about sloppy FBI agents “dropping information in my lap that I did not want regarding Hillary Clinton’s emails in the hands of the Russians” during the Crossfire Hurricane probe, and claimed to have been targeted by at least one “honeypot” beforehand. However, Papadopoulos thought that the woman was working for the CIA and “affiliated with Turkish intelligence,” he said in 2019. The operation was canceled when a newspaper obtained a photograph of one of the agents and was about to publish it, the whistleblower claimed.

The FBI allegedly contacted the newspaper claiming that the woman in question was an informant, and not an agent, and would be killed if the photo was released, successfully preventing its publication. One of the agents was then allegedly transferred to the CIA so she would not be available as a potential witness. “The FBI employee personally observed one or more employees in the FBI being directed to never discuss the operation with anyone ever again, which included talking with other people involved in the operation,” the report states. The Judiciary Committee told the Washington Times that it “plans to look into” the report. Trump fired Comey in 2017, describing him as a “liar” and a “slimeball.”

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“When we get hauled up to [Capitol] [H]ill to testify on why we influenced the 2020 elections, we can say we have been meeting for YEARS with USG [the U.S. government] to plan for it.”

Facebook Files Reveal the Coordinated Effort to Bury the Laptop Story (Turley)

In a new report released by the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Weaponization of Government, Facebook executives are shown following the lead of the FBI, which gave them prior warnings to prepare to spike such stories before the election. The FBI knew that the laptop was authentic. They had possession of the laptop, and American intelligence concluded that it was not Russian disinformation. One Microsoft employee wrote, “FBI tipped us all off last week that this Burisma story was likely to emerge,” However, these communications also show a knowing effort to appease Biden and Harris and effectively assist them in their election efforts. Facebook’s then-Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg reportedly wrote to Vice President of Global Public Policy Joel Kaplan, “[o]bviously, our calls on this could colour the way an incoming Biden administration views us more than almost anything else.”

One of the most interesting communications came from a Facebook employee who recognized that they would be accused of seeking to influence the election: “When we get hauled up to [Capitol] [H]ill to testify on why we influenced the 2020 elections, we can say we have been meeting for YEARS with USG [the U.S. government] to plan for it.” The Facebook files go beyond influencing the election. At one point, Nick Clegg, the company’s president of global affairs, asked, “Can someone quickly remind me why we were removing—rather than demoting/labeling—claims that Covid is man made.” The Vice President in charge of content policy responded, “We were under pressure from the administration and others to do more. We shouldn’t have done it.”

Notably, Democrats opposed every effort to seek this information, and Facebook only recently relented in turning over its files years after Elon Musk ordered the release of the “Twitter files.” I raised this issue during the NCC event to counter the glowing self-appraisal of Meta over its record. Despite its claims of transparency, it refused calls from many of us for years to release these files. When finally forced by the House to do so, CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a perfunctory apology and moved on. As shown at the NCC event, it is now spinning its record as a defense of free speech.

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“RFK called Pompeo a “neocon” and said he disagreed with him on many policies, but also said he admired him, calling the former agency director brilliant.”

RFK Jr. Explains Plan for Reforming the CIA (HUSA)

Former President John F. Kennedy threatened to “splinter [the CIA] into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds” before he was assassinated in 1963. JFK’s nephew, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., wants something perhaps less dramatic. In a Trump campaign event with Tulsi Gabbard on Saturday, RFK explained his idea for reforming the CIA. According to him, reforming the CIA is as simple as splintering the “espionage” and “plans” divisions, which handle matters of intelligence and paramilitary operations, respectively. Those divisions are referred to today as the Directorate of Intelligence and Directorate of Operations. RFK said the two divisions need to be reorganized so the intelligence/espionage area has oversight of the paramilitary operations. He said his father had a similar plan when he was Attorney General.

“My father had a reform plan … Break up espionage division from the plans division, which is paramilitary division that fixes elections, buys newspapers, assassinates foreign leaders and so on,” he said. “I would break up those divisions and … put espionage division oversight of plans division.” Such a plan may seem tepid for a man who’s accused the CIA of being involved in the murder of his uncle. But RFK’s been surprisingly cordial with the agency. His daughter-in-law and campaign manager, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, was a CIA officer for 10 years. RFK also revealed at Saturday’s campaign event in North Carolina that he had dinner with former Trump-era CIA Director Mike Pompeo. RFK called Pompeo a “neocon” and said he disagreed with him on many policies, but also said he admired him, calling the former agency director brilliant.

RFK said Pompeo told him that “The worst mistake of my public lie was not fixing CIA. I could have but I didn’t do it.” “The entire upper echelon of that agency is made of individuals who don’t believe in the institutions of the United States of America,” RFK said.

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“..has been placed on hold after lawyers for the billionaire removed the case to federal court..”

Lawsuit Over $1 Million Giveaways on Hold After Elon Musk’s Legal Maneuver (ET)

A lawsuit brought against Elon Musk over his $1 million giveaways to randomly selected registered voters who sign a petition supporting the First and Second amendments of the Constitution has been placed on hold after lawyers for the billionaire removed the case to federal court. Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Angelo Foglietta said on Oct. 31 that he was placing the case on hold after Musk’s lawyers late on Oct. 30 removed it to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Foglietta said during a hearing at Philadelphia’s City Hall that he was divested of jurisdiction because of the move. Musk celebrated the result with a post on social media platform X, which he owns, that read “American Justice FTW [for the win].” Removing cases filed in state courts to federal court is not uncommon and is done at the prerogative of defendants under federal law. One of the requirements is that removal of a case must happen within 30 days of the filing of a complaint.

Federal judges who are assigned to the removed cases can decide whether to keep them in federal court or remand them back to state courts. Foglietta said that he would be available later in the day if the case were remanded back to him. Musk’s lawyers said in their removal notice that the case brought by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner involves significant federal issues and should thus be adjudicated by a federal judge. “While the Complaint purports to raise only state-law claims relating to public nuisance and consumer protection, D.A. Krasner’s claims, as evident on the face of the Complaint, turn principally on the allegation that Defendants are somehow unlawfully interfering with a federal election,” the lawyers said. Krasner sued Musk and his America PAC, or political action committee, recently over their daily $1 million giveaways to registered voters in Pennsylvania and other swing states. The scheme, Krasner claimed, constitutes an illegal lottery.

Krasner asked a state court to stop Musk and the America PAC from continuing the giveaways. Musk’s lawyers said in the new filing: “Plaintiff is seeking emergency relief which, in and of itself, would require judicial intervention into the progress of an ongoing federal election. This, however, a state court cannot do, as the issue of whether a federal political action committee like America PAC—which is focused on making independent expenditures to influence campaigns for federal office, not state or local offices—is exclusively governed by federal law and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.” Krasner was present in court, but another attorney, John Summers, argued for the district attorney’s office. Summers said that the case was one about state law and should proceed in the claims court and that Musk’s attempt to remove the case was cowardly and irresponsible.

Musk, Summers alleged, was attempting to use procedural maneuvers to run out the clock and avoid accountability because the law and facts weren’t on his side. Summers also cast doubt on the idea that Musk’s giveaway was random, noting that at least four recipients have come from Pennsylvania. If the giveaway were random, Summers said, it was definitely a lottery. The PAC, he alleged, was luring people in to give it their personal information. The type of personal information it sought, he said, was often bought and sold among tech companies. A lawyer for Musk argued that his client wasn’t a proper defendant in the case and that the prosecution should focus on America PAC instead of one of its donors. Summers responded in part by highlighting Musk’s role in announcing and promoting the contest. “The 800-pound gorilla here is actually Elon Musk,” Summers told Foglietta.

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“Bezos could do for the media what Musk did for free speech..”

Why the Cancel Campaign Targeting Jeff Bezos Could Backfire (Turley)

It is not every day that you go from being Obi-Wan Kenobi to Sheev Palpatine in twenty-four hours. However, Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos now has the distinction of having Luke (Mark Hamill) lead a boycott of his “democracy dies in darkness” newspaper as the daily of the darkside. Figures like former Rep. Liz Cheney announced she was canceling her subscription as a boycott movement led a reported 200,000 to give up their subscriptions. Some like George Conway even seemed to target Bezos’ Amazon. It is a familiar pattern for many of us (on a smaller scale) who used to be associated with the left and faced cancel campaigns for questioning the orthodoxy in the media or academia. Then something fascinating happened. Bezos stood his ground. The left has made an art form of flash-mob politics, crushing opposition with the threat of economic or professional ruin. Most cave to the pressure, including business leaders like Meta’s Mark Zuckerburg.

That record came to a screeching halt when the unstoppable force of the left met the immovable object of Elon Musk. The left continues to oppose his government contracts and pressure his advertisers over his refusal to restore the prior censorship system at X, formerly Twitter. Now, the left may be creating another defiant billionaire. This week, Bezos penned an op-ed that doubled down on his decision not to endorse a presidential candidate now or in the future. Some of us have argued for newpapers to stop all political endorsements for decades. The encouraging aspect of Bezos’s column was that he not only recognized the corrosive effect of endorsements on maintaining neutrality as a media organization, but he also recognized that the Post is facing plummeting revenues and readership due to its perceived bias and activism.

I used to write regularly for the Post, and I wrote in my new book about the decline of the newspaper as part of the “advocacy journalism” movement: “Our profession is now the least trusted of all. Something we are doing is clearly not working.” Bezos previously brought in a publisher to save the Post from itself. Washington Post publisher and CEO William Lewis promptly delivered a truth bomb in the middle of the newsroom by telling the staff, “Let’s not sugarcoat it…We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right? I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.” The response was that the entire staff seemed to go into vapors, and many called for Lewis to be canned. Bezos stood with Lewis. Now, resignations and recriminations are coming from reporters and columnists alike. In a public statement, Post columnists blasted the decision and said that while maybe endorsements should be ended, not now because everyone has to oppose Trump to save democracy and journalism.

The statement produced some chuckles, given the signatories, including Phillip Bump and Jen Rubin, who have been repeatedly accused of pushing false stories and reckless rhetoric. (Rubin later denounced Bezos for his “Bulls**t explanation” and said that he was merely “bending a knee” to Trump.). Bezos could do for the media what Musk did for free speech. He could create a bulwark against advocacy journalism in one of the premier newspapers in the world. Students in “J Schools” today are being told to abandon neutrality and objectivity since, as former New York Times writer (and now Howard University journalism professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones has explained, “all journalism is activism.” After a series of interviews with over 75 media leaders, Leonard Downie Jr., former Washington Post executive editor, and Andrew Heyward, former CBS News president, reaffirmed this shift. As Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief at the San Francisco Chronicle, stated: “Objectivity has got to go.”

Few can stand up to this movement other than a Bezos or a Musk. However, the left has long created their own monsters by demanding absolute fealty or unleashing absolute cancel campaigns. Simply because Bezos wants his newspaper to restore neutrality, the left is calling for a boycott of not just the Post but all of his companies. That is precisely what they did with Musk.

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“…isn’t it ‘funny’ how these ‘glitches’ are never in Trump’s favor?”

County Clerk Confirms Voting Booth ‘Glitch’ Shifted Trump Votes To Kamala (ZH)

Earlier in the day, a video went viral of voters in Kentucky having ‘issues’ with an electronic voting machine that selected “Kamala Harris” when the voter had pressed on “Donald Trump”… Admittedly, we have seen a few of these style of clips over the past few weeks and viewed it with the same level of skepticism we usually do. However, this time is different because the local County Clerk just issued a statement on Facebook confirming the issue “did occur”… but not before he had denied it occurred. According to the Laurel County Clerk Tony Brown, the machine was taken out of service while waiting for a rep from the AG’s Office. So, the initial reaction was: “There is no vote rigging here. It’s just a vast right wing conspiracy.” Then, 3 hours later… “Ok, the voting machine was busted, but it really was just a “ballot marking device” and as long as you triple checked everything, you must have caught the error..”

Here’s the full statement: “The Attorney General’s office has been to the vote center to check the device that has been shown across social media today. In full disclosure, after several minutes of attempting to recreate the scenario, it did occur. This was accomplished by hitting some area in between the boxes. After that we tried for several minutes to do it again and could not. Since this is going out across the USA and the world, I want to explain to everyone that this is a ballot marking device. You insert your blank ballot into it to vote your specific ballot for your precinct. It shows you who you have chosen for each race and notifies you if you didn’t make a selection in a race before it allows the voter to continue to the next page. When you come to the end of the ballot it shows you how you voted in every race and issue.

It confirms with each voter that they are satisfied with their selections twice before printing the ballot. Once you receive your ballot back from the ballot marking device you can review your choices again before placing it into the scanner. If you made a mistake, you may spoil that ballot and receive another one, Kentucky Law allows two spoiled ballots only. Once you are satisfied with your ballot you may place it into the scanner, and it verifies that it has been counted.

These ballot marking devices are set for a voter to touch Inside the whole box with the name of the candidates. In the video posted you can see us going back and forth through the names with no issues. This is the same machine used by the voter in the video. It remained at its location in the vote center and was set face down until the representative from the Attorney General’s Office arrived to investigate. There were no claims of any issues with the device prior, and none since it went back into service. The voter who posted the video did cast her ballot which she said was correct. I hate that this has occurred here in Laurel County. We strive to have accurate, secure and safe elections that we are proud to provide to our citizens. I hope all can get to the polls and make your voice heard November 5th. If you read through this entire post, thank you very much for your time.”

…isn’t it ‘funny’ how these ‘glitches’ are never in Trump’s favor?

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’don’t worry, we’ll just put it in the box, and we’ll make sure we scan them all tonight,’ uh, when everybody leaves..”

Voter Confidence Rattled As Voting Machines Malfunction Across Illinois (JTN)

Voter confidence has been shaken with voting machines malfunctioning in several Illinois jurisdictions. In McLean County, 34 ballots were placed in what the County Clerk Kathy Michael called “an emergency bin,” which is located underneath the voting machine used to tabulate ballots. At the Eastland Mall, an early voting location, the machine “glitched” for 30 minutes. Affected voter Wayne Henrichs called the clerk’s office after putting his ballot in the bin and was connected with an assistant county clerk. “She indicated that they [the ballots in the emergency bin] are considered mail in ballots and they will be counted on election day rather than being counted early,” said Henrichs. Mclean County Elections Director Mark Senger said any ballots placed in the “emergency” bin will be tabulated after the early voting sites close. Senger said the ballots were tabulated after they closed on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

“The thing that concerned me was one: Is that really secure? Two: we are voting early for a reason and that’s to bank those votes,” said Henrichs. Such ballots are to be tabulated and witnessed by Democratic and Republican election judges, according to state law. In viral social media posts, voters say they walked out of a Schaumburg early voting site after the ballot scanner stopped working. One Schaumburg voter posted a video saying he didn’t cast his ballot after election judges told him to put his ballot in a box to be scanned later. “Well, so much for early voting. Their scanner’s broken, and they said, ’don’t worry, we’ll just put it in the box, and we’ll make sure we scan them all tonight,’ uh, when everybody leaves,” the voter said.

In another video posted on social media, election judges can be seen addressing a group of about 50 voters. A man wearing what appears to be an election judge badge made an announcement. “We have one scanner and the one scanner is broken,” the man said. “No one is going to open that [the emergency bin] up until tonight, and that’s us who take care of it. You know us, you have our badges,” said another election judge. McLean County GOP Chair Dennis Grundler was at the Eastland Mall trying to vote early on Tuesday. He said he was told to put his ballot in the emergency bin and he asked the judges for their names. The election judges didn’t give him their names. The McLean County Clerk’s Office said the law states for security purposes judges now use a letter designation instead of their name. According to the law, judges must initial ballots and they use their name/initials.

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Is there any way this is not embarrassing? For any grown up man? Let alone for the man who’s got the nuclear codes?

Biden Goes On Baby-Mouthing Spree At White House Halloween Party (ZH)

One night after punching a new hole in the sinking ship that is the Kamala Harris campaign — and with no political future of his own to tamp down his impulse to put his mouth on children — President Joe Biden went on a baby-biting binge at a White House Halloween party on Wednesday night, leaving the internet collectively mortified. For anyone who’s somehow unaware, Biden has a long, rich history of mouthing, sniffing and grabbing children and women. This video gives just a small sampling of Biden’s uninvited touching that has fully earned him the nickname “Creepy Joe”: After multiple women came forward to say Biden had made them uncomfortable with his touching, Biden issued a video apology in 2019, saying, “Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying. Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful of personal space in the future.”

However, with no second term on the line Wednesday night, Biden gleefully abandoned his personal-space pledge. Given his record, it would have grabbed major attention if Biden only mouthed a single baby. However, like an alcoholic falling off the wagon with great abandon, he indulged himself over and over. No doubt realizing this would be one of the last such opportunities he will ever have, the 81-year-old lame duck proceeded to mouth baby after baby that parents served up to him in a receiving line. Those parents appeared to politely tolerate their offspring being christened with presidential saliva, but we can imagine his handlers facepalming as Biden gave way to his compulsion to bestow oral affections.

[..] The baby-mouthing blitz capped quite a 24-hour stretch for Biden. On Tuesday evening, just as Kamala Harris was delivering her highly-promoted “closing argument” speech on the Capitol Ellipse, Biden undercut his replacement on the Democratic ticket by telling an audience that “the only garbage I see floating out there is [Trump’s] supporters.” The White House scrambled to claim that Biden was stuttering, and that there should be a possessive apostrophe (supporter’s) — supposedly indicating he was singling out an insult comedian at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally who likened Puerto Rico to a pile of garbage — many people aren’t buying it, and the Trump campaign is using the gaffe to enormous advantage. Meanwhile, social media lit up over Biden’s creepy Halloween display, including a positively ghastly yet somehow fully appropriate horror-movie treatment:

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“The collective west’s incomprehension of what transpired in three historic days in Kazan only highlighted their astonishing arrogance, stupidity, and brutality..”

BRICS post-Kazan: A Laboratory of the Future (Pepe Escobar)

Apart from establishing the 13 new partners – constituting a large, transcontinental, de facto BRICS zone – Kazan advanced two key platforms: BRICS Clear and the BRICS (Re)Insurance Company. BRICS Clear is a multilateral settlement/clearing system for both BRICS trade and trade between BRICS and their partners (as it stands, applying to 22 nations). The key aim, once again, is to bypass SWIFT. BRICS Clear will use national currencies for international trade. Everything will be transacted via a stablecoin – a unit of account – managed by the NDB, the Shanghai-based BRICS bank. As top French economist Jacques Sapir has pointed out, “trade requires insurance services (for both the contract itself and transportation); these insurance services involve reinsurance activities. With the BRICS (Re)Insurance Company, BRICS is building its independence from western insurance companies.”

BRICS Clear and BRICS (Re)Insurance, in the short to middle term, will have enormous consequences for global trade and the use of US dollars and euros. Trade flows, intra-BRICS and between BRICS partners – already at least 40 percent of the global total – may rise exponentially. In parallel, western-controlled insurance and reinsurance companies will lose business. That’s de-dollarization in practice – arguably the BRICS Holy Grail. Of course, India and Brazil never refer to de-dollarization in the manner of Russia, China, and Iran, but they do support BRICS Clear. Sapir predicts that up to 2030, the BRICS Clear effect may result in the dollar share in Central Bank’s reserves falling “from 58 percent to around 35-40 percent.” Significantly, that would imply “massive sales of Treasury bonds, causing a collapse of the public bond market and significant difficulties for the US Treasury in refinancing United States debt.” The Hegemon will not take that lightly, to say the least.

These BRICS geoeconomic breakthroughs – call it lab experiments – mirror diplomatic coups such as India and China, mediated by Russia, announcing on the eve of Kazan their drive to settle bilateral troubles in the Himalayas to advance the unifying, pan-cooperation BRICS agenda. Solving geopolitical issues among member-nations is a key BRICS priority. The China–India example should translate to Iran–Saudi Arabia when it comes to their involvement in Yemen and Egypt–Ethiopia when it comes to the controversial building of a major dam in the Nile. BRICS sherpas openly admit that BRICS needs an internal institutional mechanism to solve serious problems among member-states – and, eventually, partners.

And that brings us to the ultimate incandescent tragedy: Israel’s military offensives in Gaza, Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iran. BRICS sherpas revealed that two scenarios were being actively discussed in the closed sessions, as well as the bilateral meetings. The first foresees an Iran–Israel Hot War, with Lebanon turned into a major battleground, leading to a “chain reaction” involving several Arab actors. The second scenario foresees a pan-West Asia crisis, involving not only neighboring nations but what would coalesce into coalitions – one pro-Arab, the other pro-Israeli. One wonders where dodgy actors such as Egypt and Jordan would fit in. It’s unclear how BRICS, as a multilateral organization, would react to both scenarios.

Dreadful realpolitik did not stop in its tracks to watch the BRICS high-speed train leave the Kazan station. Israel staged its puny strike on Iran immediately afterward, and the collective west pronounced the elections in Georgia null and void because they did not like the result – even though the OSCE issued a rational report about it. The collective west’s incomprehension of what transpired in three historic days in Kazan only highlighted their astonishing arrogance, stupidity, and brutality. That’s precisely the reason why the BRICS matrix is working so hard to come up with the lineaments of a new, fair international order, and despite an array of challenges, will continue to flourish.

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Thought a list might be useful.

BRICS Grows, Adding 13 New ‘Partner Countries’ (Norton)

The Global South-led organization BRICS is growing. More and more countries support the group’s mission: to build a multipolar world, with alternative economic institutions that are more representative and democratic, not dominated by the Western powers. BRICS held a summit in Kazan, Russia in October 2024, where 13 new “partner nations” were accepted. At this historic meeting, China’s President Xi Jinping referred to BRICS as “a vanguard for advancing global governance reform” and “reform of the international financial architecture”. Bolivia’s left-wing President Luis Arce argued that “the shield of BRICS and multipolarity” can protect formerly colonized nations, helping them resist “Western unipolarity and the tyranny of the dollar”. The organization was first formed as BRIC in 2009, by Brazil, Russia, India, and China. South Africa subsequently joined in 2010, turning the group into BRICS.At the 2023 BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, several more members were invited to join.

As of October 2024, BRICS has nine members and 13 partner countries:

5 original members:
Brazil
Russia
India
China
South Africa

4 new members (invited in August 2023; officially admitted in January 2024):
Egypt
Ethiopia
Iran
United Arab Emirates

13 partner countries (accepted in October 2024):
Algeria
Belarus
Bolivia
Cuba
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
Malaysia
Nigeria
Thailand
Türkiye
Uganda
Uzbekistan
Vietnam

The expansion of BRICS has made the group into even more of a geopolitical and economic powerhouse. Together, the nine BRICS members comprise more than one-third of world GDP (measured at purchasing power parity). They have well over 40% of the planet’s population, and make up roughly 30% of global oil production. By contrast, the G7 nations comprise less than 10% of the world population and under 30% of GDP (PPP), and their share of the global economy is shrinking over time, whereas that of BRICS is increasing.

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Not at all what EU and US wanted. Or even expected.

In Georgia and Moldova, it’s Oxi for NATO and the EU (Karganovic)

In Greek, “Oxi” means “no.” October 28 is celebrated in Greece and Cyprus as “Oxi Day.” On that date in 1940 Mussolini’s plenipotentiaries presented an ultimatum to the Greek Government to allow Axis troops to occupy its territory. The Greek Prime Minister at the time, Metaxas, replied to the brazen demand with a single word, “Oxi.” The rest is, as they say, history. Now it is the people of Georgia and Moldova, in elections and a referendum held last week, who have sent an essentially identical message to the arrogant hegemons of our day. Both Georgia and Moldova were earmarked to serve as sacrificial lambs in the collective West’s relentless war against Russia. For Georgia, a particularly self-destructive role had been envisioned. Its government was expected by the collective West to commit an act of national suicide arguably even more catastrophic than that of Germany and the associated vassal states of the European Union.

Facing an obvious military debacle in Ukraine, Western strategic thinkers came up with the brilliant idea of mending the situation by using Georgia to open a second front against Russia. The Georgian army, which in 2008 was trounced by Russian armed forces when the last attempt was made to use it in a similar hare-brained scheme, was to be thrust into battle once again as cannon fodder for the benefit of foreign interests. The strategic thinkers had overlooked an important detail that cast a long shadow over the feasibility of their scheme. In 2008 it was their stooge Saakashvili who was running Georgia. Today, the situation is fundamentally different. Whilst their puppet, French-born EU citizen Salome Zourabichvili, is President, Georgia is governed by sovereignist patriots whose litmus test for judging policies is what is best for their country. Such a policy standard, of course, is utterly abhorrent to the globalist mindset. The elections in Georgia have gone terribly wrong from their point of view. The ruling sovereignist party, Georgia Dream, won with 54% of the vote. The result was duly certified by the electoral commission.

The seriousness with which the current Georgian government views non-interference in its sovereign affairs was demonstrated not long ago. Anticipating last weekend’s elections, Prime Minister Garibashvili proposed, and by a comfortable margin Parliament approved, a law mandating transparency in the financing of foreign sponsored “NGOs,” of which about 20,000 are said to be active in Georgia. Forthwith, the foreign sponsored cabal whose machinations the transparency law was designed to make public lost their nerve. President Zourabichvili, a foreign citizen herself and former French Foreign Ministry functionary whose spoken Georgian is no better than Zelensky’s Ukrainian, is herself a prime candidate for the law’s rigorous application. Foolishly, she gave the game away by refusing to exercise the presidential duty of signing the duly passed foreign agent transparency legislation so that it could go into effect. That unladylike attempt at obstruction, however, came to naught. The law was signed in her stead by the president of the Georgian Parliament.

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“..accompanied by calls from Israeli officials to “renew settlements in Gaza” and encourage the “voluntary transfer of all Gazan citizens” to other countries.”

Genocidal Scorecard (Chris Hedges)


Bibi on Board – by Mr. Fish

United Nations report, published on Monday, lays out in chilling detail the advances made by Israel in Gaza as it seeks to eradicate “the very existence of the Palestinian people in Palestine.” This genocidal project, the report ominously warns, “is now metastasizing to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.” The Nakba or “catastrophe,” which in 1948 saw Zionist militias drive 750,000 Palestinians from their homes, carry out more than 70 massacres and seize 78 percent of historic Palestine, has returned on steroids. It is the next and, perhaps, final chapter in “a long-term intentional, systematic, State-organized forced displacement and replacement of the Palestinians.” Francesca Albanese, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, who issued the report, titled “Genocide as colonial erasure,” makes an urgent appeal to the international community to impose a full arms embargo and sanctions on Israel until the genocide of Palestinians is halted.

She calls on Israel to accept a permanent ceasefire. She demands that Israel, as required by international law and U.N. resolutions, withdraw its military and colonists from Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. At the very least, Israel, unchecked, should be formally recognized as an apartheid state and persistent violator of international law, Albanese states. The U.N. should reactivate the Special Committee Against Apartheid to address the situation in Palestine, and Israel’s membership in the U.N. should be suspended. Short of these interventions, Israel’s goal, Albanese warns, will likely come into fruition. “This ongoing genocide is doubtlessly the consequence of the exceptional status and protracted impunity that has been afforded to Israel.” she writes. “Israel has systematically and flagrantly violated international law, including Security Council resolutions and [International Criminal Court] ICJ orders. This has emboldened the hubris of Israel and its defiance of international law.

As the ICC Prosecutor has warned, ‘if we do not demonstrate our willingness to apply the law equally, if it is seen as applied selectively, we will be creating the conditions of its complete collapse. This is the true risk we face at this perilous moment.’” The U.N. report comes amid an Israeli blockade of northern Gaza where over 400,000 Palestinians are enduring a starvation siege and constant airstrikes in an attempt to depopulate the north. Israeli forces have killed 1,250 Palestinians in the assault, launched on October 5, a medical source told Al Jazeera. Reports from northern Gaza are difficult to obtain as internet and phone services have been cut and the few journalists on the ground continue to be killed. Israel’s ground and aerial assaults are centered on Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun. Civil defense units say they have been barred by Israeli forces from reaching the sites of recent strikes and their crews have been attacked.

Israel has ordered Palestinians to flee to designated “safe zones,” but once in these “safe zones” they have been attacked and ordered to move to new “safe zones.” “Displaced people have been systematically chased down and targeted in shelters, including in United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools, 70 percent of which Israel has repeatedly attacked.” In May, Israel’s Rafah invasion caused the displacement of nearly one million Palestinians, driven into southern Gaza because of Israeli evacuation orders, into “uninhabitable wastelands of rubble, sewage and decomposing bodies,” Albanese notes. By August, 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians were displaced “under dire conditions,” according to the U.N.

The months of “relentless shunting of weakened humans from one unsafe area to another — fleeing bombs and bullets, with minimal chances of escape, amid loss, fear and grief, and with little access to shelter, clean water, food and healthcare — have inflicted incalculable harm, especially on children,” the report reads. “The movement of displaced Palestinians resembles the death marches of past genocides, and the Nakba. Forced displacement severs connection with the land, undermining food sovereignty and cultural belonging, and triggering further displacement. Communal bonds are broken, the social fabric shredded and reserves of resilience depleted. Systematic forced displacement contributes to ‘the destruction of the spirit, of the will to live, and of life itself.’” The constant displacement — many Palestinians have been displaced nine or 10 times — from one part of Gaza to another is accompanied by calls from Israeli officials to “renew settlements in Gaza” and encourage the “voluntary transfer of all Gazan citizens” to other countries.

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“..the IDF can’t provide one single shred of video evidence to back up such ludicrous claims..”

Israel’s Attacks On Iran Were An Apocalyptic Error By Netanyahu (Jay)

Netanyahu is desperate to keep wars on all fronts alive simply so he can remain relevant. But what is hardly talked about is the state of Israel itself, with an economy in pieces. Just how far will the next U.S. president go in supporting Israel’s new war with Iran, both in terms of military spending and breathing new life into the economy which has seen 40,000 businesses go under since October 7th 2023 and almost a million Israelis leave the country. Netanyahu now is like a poker player who has used up all his IOUs at the table and is holding two pairs. How can he even believe he can take on Iran when even in Gaza and in Lebanon he is losing soldiers at a rate which should worry him and his generals. Yes, he has struck Hezbollah and reduced its capabilities but by no stretch of the imagination has he taken out the Iranian proxy which is still sending missiles and drones into Israel making the Israelis run to their air raid shelters even to this day.

The decision to strike Iran was surely out of an act of a gross political dilemma. However, the act itself has backfired on a level that neither he nor his entourage could imagine. Most of the targets were not even significantly damaged with a very low percentage of Israel’s missiles getting through Iran’s air defence which is so efficient that even Israel’s air force were too afraid actually fly into Iran’s airspace. Many in the west will be taken in by the spin from Israel’s lobby and impressive PR machine that it was a great victory and many sites were taken out, regardless of the fact that the IDF can’t provide one single shred of video evidence to back up such ludicrous claims, as it did previously in Gaza and Lebanon.

But the real defeat for Israel under Netanyahu is yet to come. Iran now has all the hard evidence it needs to strategize and hit Israel even harder than before. The erroneous strike on Iran by Netanyahu is not so much measured by the minor harm it did to a couple of weapons sites. It is by how now the myth of Israel’s military strength has been debunked once and for all. For decades Israel claimed superiority to everyone else, including Iran, and this was taken for granted by partisan western journalists who kept the dream alive. Remarkably, the strike on Israel by Iran on October 1st showed even Israelis that their air defence systems were hopelessly inadequate against Iran’s hypersonic missiles. That should have been enough to cool down the hot heads which straddle Netanyahu. At this point, the message he delivered at the UN, that there is “no place in Iran which Israel’s missiles cannot reach” should have been taken at face value and interpreted literally. Reaching Iranians sites is one thing. Actually taking them out is another.

Now, as the dust settles and Israel now waits for Iran’s response, the second myth that Israel’s strike capability was highly effective against Iran’s air defences is also blown. It seems like now Netanyahu’s folded as he has no more bluffs to play at the poker table. Unless of course he is deliberately coaxing his own country into a suicide strategy where Iran will completely desecrate Israel’s military leaving the U.S. little choice but to install itself on a grand scale. This so-called suicide strategy can’t be ruled out but seems hard to believe. The truth is that until Israel struck Iran, it didn’t know whether its own missiles and aircraft had the capability to penetrate Iran’s air defence system, supported heavily by Russia which sent it S-400 systems in August.

Read more …

“Income from oil exports jumped by 63% in January-July this year compared to the same period in 2023..”

Tightening Russian Oil Sanctions Threatens Global Economy – Le Monde (RT)

Attempts to further tighten Western sanctions on Russian oil could undermine the global economy, French newspaper Le Monde wrote on Wednesday. The report indicated that tightening sanctions on one of the major oil-producing countries could send fertilizer prices soaring and would ultimately lead to higher global food prices. “The rise in oil prices would disproportionately affect the poorest countries, potentially pushing them into a humanitarian crisis,” US economist Catherine Wolfram was quoted as saying. Such a scenario could discredit the West in the eyes of the Global South and encourage them to strengthen ties with Russia, she suggested. Meanwhile, the CEO of US-based ClearView Energy Partners, Kevin Book, told Le Monde that sanctions could have worked at a time when most companies specializing in oil transport insurance were located in the West. “This is not the case today,” he emphasized.

Western governments have hit Russia with a barrage of sanctions over the Ukraine conflict. Among other measures, they have introduced a price cap along with an embargo on Russian seaborne oil in an attempt to hurt the country’s economy, while at the same time keeping Russian crude flowing to global markets so as not to trigger price hikes. The measures were imposed in December 2022, and were followed in February 2023 by similar restrictions on exports of Russian petroleum products. They ban Western companies from providing insurance and other services for shipments of Russian crude, unless the cargo is purchased at or below $60 per barrel, a level below the current market price. In response, Moscow banned Russian enterprises from complying with the cap and rerouted most of its energy exports to Asia, particularly India and China.

“While some measures have long-term effects, such as the ban on the export of spare parts that hinders the maintenance of military equipment, the opposite is true for oil,” Le Monde wrote, suggesting that Moscow has been successful in sidestepping the restrictions while the price of the country’s flagship Urals crude had mostly remained above the Western price cap. Reuters calculations based on traders’ data showed that prices of October Urals crude oil were trading above $65 a barrel at Russian Baltic and Black Sea ports. In July, Russian crude traded at around $80 a barrel. According to a recent report by the independent economic think tank Institute for Energy and Finance Foundation (FIEF), Russia’s energy revenues may reach record levels this year, buoyed by high export oil prices. Income from oil exports jumped by 63% in January-July this year compared to the same period in 2023, totaling 6.4 trillion rubles ($66 billion), the paper said.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

Atlas

 

 

Vaccines
https://twitter.com/i/status/1851960889986937244

 

 

Cancer
https://twitter.com/i/status/1851811296297259397

 

 

Pro-Trumper
https://twitter.com/i/status/1851764519825019081

 

 

Grok

 

 

 

 

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Oct 292024
 
 October 29, 2024  Posted by at 9:25 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  82 Responses »


Jules Adler Panorama de Paris vu du Sacré Coeur 1935

 

Will Donald Trump Get His Revenge? (Susan Quinn)
Leftists Are Terrified About What Will Happen To Them If Trump Wins (ZH)
Worst. Nazi. Rally. Ever. (Margolis)
Kamala Is Just A Vessel; We Are Running Against Something Far Bigger (MN)
Speaking of Abortion (James Howard Kunstler)
Trump’s 19th-Century Solution to Fiscal Disaster (David Stockman)
Trump Campaign Slams Harris Over Beyonce ‘Lies’ (RT)
Trump To Make Ukraine The EU’s Problem – FT (RT)
I Don’t Want War With Russia – Vance (RT)
University Professors Approaching Near Unanimity as a Democratic Lock (Turley)
Bezos Explains Why WaPo Dropped Presidential Endorsements (RT)
Steve Bannon To Be Released From Prison One Week Ahead Of Election (JTN)
How America Was Destroyed (Paul Craig Roberts)
The Enormous Constraints Faced By Netanyahu (Juan Cole)
BRICS Make History – Can They Keep the Momentum? (Pepe Escobar)
Slovak PM Fico Warns Of Continued Attempts On His Life (RT)
Volkswagen Planning Mass Layoffs – Workers’ Council Chief (RT)

 

 

 

 

ABC

MSG


https://twitter.com/i/status/1850654136293024210

Elon

Stossel

 

 

 

 

Trump is not looking for revenge. He and his X-men team have bigger fish to fry. Trump’s “revenge” will be that what happened to him since 2015 -lawfare- can never happen again.

“…the changes he will make will be in the way government operates, not mere petty payback to individual miscreants…”

Will Donald Trump Get His Revenge? (Susan Quinn)

There’s almost nothing that Donald Trump likes better than throwing his adversaries off their game; he likes to be unpredictable, confusing and in charge. It gives him an edge in achieving his goals. He’s kept his adversaries guessing to the extent that he will pay them back for their lawfare and deep-state machinations, and not surprisingly, they expect the worst. Yet he has said repeatedly that victory in the election will be his revenge. They don’t know what to make of it. A Trump senior advisor made the following observation: “President Trump has made clear that success will be the best revenge,’ Trump senior adviser Brian Hughes said. ‘When others have weaponized government and legal institutions against him for political interference, he will return these institutions to their constitutional purpose of protecting Americans’ liberty and creating a safe and prosperous nation again.

But since the political Left almost always chooses to see deceit in Trump’s comments, they don’t believe he is sincere. He made it even more unpredictable for them with this: “Look when this election is over, based on what they’ve done, I would have every right to go after them,” Trump said. “And it’s easy because it’s Joe Biden, and you see all the criminality, all of the money that’s going into the family and him, all of this money from China, from Russia, from Ukraine.” And then Trump underscored it again, wanting to be sure there was no doubt in the minds of the Left that he could act against them: When asked during a Fox News interview on Wednesday if he plans to use the justice system to punish his political opponents, Trump said: “When this election is over, based on what they’ve done, I would have every right to go after them.” Note that in both of the previous quotations, Trump commented on what he could do, not on what he would do.

Given the incidents of lawfare that Trump has had to endure, the hyperbole spouted by the mainstream media and the political Left, it’s no wonder that Trump would want to take revenge against those who have relentlessly criticized and attacked him. Jonathan Turley, law professor at Georgetown University, has commented several times on the pathetic and weak lawfare attacks that have been launched against Trump from various attorneys and district attorneys. He made this comment a few months ago about Alvin Bragg, Manhattan District Attorney, who twisted the facts of a Trump misdemeanor to transform them into a felony: Like his predecessor, Bragg previously scoffed at the case. However, two prosecutors, Carey R. Dunne and Mark F. Pomerantz, then resigned and started a public pressure campaign to get New Yorkers to demand prosecution.

Pomerantz shocked many of us by publishing a book on the case against Trump — who was still under investigation and not charged, let alone convicted, of any crime. He did so despite objections from his former colleague that such a book was grossly improper. Nevertheless, it worked. Bragg brought a Rube Goldberg case that is so convoluted and counterintuitive that even liberal legal analysts criticized it. It’s no wonder that Trump is relishing the discomfort and fear that he is eliciting in his opponents. They have spent years trying to ruin his reputation, insulting him, discrediting him and trying to humiliate him. Meanwhile, in reflecting on the 2016 election, Trump said the following about Hillary Clinton:

“I could have gone after Hillary. I could have gotten Hillary Clinton very easily. And when they say lock her up, whenever they said ‘lock her,’ you know, they’d start, 30,000 people, ‘lock her up, lock her up.’ What did I do? I always say take it easy, just relax. We’re winning. Take it easy. Take it easy.” He added: “I could have had her put in jail. And I decided I didn’t want to do that. I thought it would look terrible. You had the wife of the president of the United States going to jail. I thought it would be very bad if we did that. And I made sure that didn’t happen, OK? I thought it would be bad.” But now he has reached the point where striking fear in the hearts of his enemies seems righteous. Yet the changes he will make will be in the way government operates, not mere petty payback to individual miscreants. That will be devastating to the Leftist cause. It will also serve as his retribution.

Read more …

“They lament the undeniable shift of global politics to the conservative right while refusing to ask why it’s happening?”

Leftists Are Terrified About What Will Happen To Them If Trump Wins (ZH)

After being indoctrinated for almost a decade to believe that their political opponents are secret Nazis ready to install a fascist regime, it’s not surprising that Democrats are freaking out over recent polls indicating a potential Trump win in the November elections. Convinced that America 2024 is going to be a repeat of Germany 1933, ignorant leftists are scrambling to determine whether or not to leave the US or “start a revolution.” The anxiety is palpable. The New Yorker recently asserted in an arduous and rambling article spanning centuries of political history and every rhetorical cliche imaginable that, essentially, Trump is likely to win. The outlet describes Kamala Harris as “virtuous” (which is laughable), but they suggest this trait is not respected enough within the American political sphere. They lament the undeniable shift of global politics to the conservative right while refusing to ask why it’s happening?

They simply default to the old low-IQ and low effort accusations of “racism” and “xenophobia”. The New Yorker argues: “Even when it is utterly self-destructive – as in Britain, where the xenophobia of Brexit cut the U.K. off from traditional allies while increasing immigration from the Global South—the apprehension that “we” are being flooded by frightening foreigners works its malign magic. It’s an old but persistent delusion that far-right nationalism is not rooted in the emotional needs of far-right nationalists but arises, instead, from the injustices of neoliberalism…” The mass immigration from the third world continues in Britain because the same progressive elitists are still in charge despite the Brexit vote. That’s why the country is spiraling into a pit of criminality, mass stabbings and a rape epidemic. It’s the reason why the British voted for Brexit in the first place.

Brexit and the end of mass immigration is the will of the majority of the people, just as it’s the will of the majority of people in many parts if Europe and the US. Yet, leftists who pontificate endlessly about the virtues of democracy dismiss the majority when it suits them. It is this arrogance of the political left that has led directly to the rise of the right wing movement that so utterly terrifies them. The problem is, leftists never take responsibility because they see this as an expression of weakness, and also because their moral relativism allows them to rationalize any behavior as necessary “for the greater good.” Their main character syndrome spurs them to believe they are the ultimate good in the world, and if they are the ultimate good then anyone who dares oppose them must be the ultimate evil. This is why they have a tendency to demonize their political opposition in extreme ways. The New Yorker describes Trump as singularly dangerous, comparing him to mobsters, tyrants and even cancer:

“Trumpism is a cancerous phenomenon. Treated with surgery once, it now threatens to come back in a more aggressive form, subject neither to the radiation of “guardrails” nor to the chemo of “constraints.” It may well rage out of control and kill its host…” And this kind of rhetoric is exactly why there have been at least two assassination attempts on Trump’s life; attempts which the leftist media then shamelessly blamed on Trump. It’s also gaslighting, considering the level of tyranny Democrats have engaged in under Biden and the contempt they have displayed for American ideals over the past decade. The fantasy world of the left is rife with paranoia built on a foundation of emotional sand rather than evidence. They see a new Trump term as the end of everything:

“Having lost the popular vote, as he surely will, he will not speak up to reconcile “all Americans.” He will insist that he won the popular vote, and by a landslide. He will pardon and then celebrate the January 6th insurrectionists, and thereby guarantee the existence of a paramilitary organization that’s capable of committing violence on his behalf without fear of consequences. He will, with an obedient Attorney General, begin prosecuting his political opponents…” “When he begins to pressure CNN and ABC, and they, with all the vulnerabilities of large corporations, bend to his will, telling themselves that his is now the will of the people, what will we do to fend off the slow degradation of open debate? Trump will certainly abandon Ukraine to Vladimir Putin and realign this country with dictatorships and against NATO and the democratic alliance of Europe. Above all, the spirit of vengeful reprisal is the totality of his beliefs—very much like the fascists of the twentieth century in being a man and a movement without any positive doctrine except revenge against his imagined enemies…”

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Which was worse? 1939 or 2024?

Worst. Nazi. Rally. Ever. (Margolis)

When Donald Trump’s campaign announced plans for a rally at Madison Square Garden, Democrats and their media allies knew they had a problem. Trump was going to pack the house on their turf. So they wasted no time pushing the tired Hitler narrative and claimed that the choice of venue was an homage to a pro-Nazi rally held there in 1939. It wasn’t just liberals in the media pushing this narrative, either. Hillary Clinton accused Trump of “actually re-enacting the Madison Square Garden rally in 1939.” “President Franklin Roosevelt was appalled that neo-Nazis, fascists in America were lining up to essentially pledge their support for the kind of government that they were seeing in Germany. So I don’t think we can ignore it,” Hillary added. Then she doubled down.

“Now, it may be a leap for some people and a lot of others may think, ‘I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to say that.’ “But please open your eyes to the danger that this man poses to our country, because I think it is clear and present for anybody paying attention.” Even the Harris-Walz campaign joined in on the rhetoric. “Donald Trump’s got this big rally going at Madison Square Garden,” Kamala’s running mate Tim Walz said at a campaign event in Henderson, Nevada. “There’s a direct parallel to a big rally that happened in the mid-1930s at Madison Square Garden.” Walz added, “And don’t think that he doesn’t know for one second exactly what they’re doing there.”

Well, the rally took place Sunday night, and boy, talk about the worst Nazi rally ever! In addition to the diverse speakers at the event, a black woman sang the national anthem.

And clearly, Jews didn’t get the memo that this was a “Nazi rally.”

The only Nazi symbols you saw at all came courtesy of the Democrats.

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“I’m asking you to be excited about the future..”

Kamala Is Just A Vessel; We Are Running Against Something Far Bigger (MN)

During a historic rally Sunday at Madison Square Garden, president Trump urged that Kamala Harris is purely “a vessel” and in reality the MAGA movement is fighting against “something far more powerful.” Trump told the crowd, “We are not just running against Kamala — She means nothing. She is purely a vessel — We are running against something far bigger than Joe or Kamala and more powerful than them, which is a massive, vicious, crooked, radical left machine that runs today’s Democrat Party.” Trump further asserted that Biden and Harris are “perfect vessels because they’ll never give them a hard time. They’ll do whatever they want.” He continued, “I know many of them. It’s just an amorphous group of people. But they’re smart and they’re vicious, and we have to defeat them. And when I say the ‘enemy from within,’ the other side go crazy.”

Trump added that these people “are doing such harm to our country with their open border policies, record-setting inflation, ‘Green New Scam,’ and everything else they are doing. But we’re not going to let it happen any longer. We’re going to have the biggest victory in the history of our country on November 5 … We’re going to make America great again.” Elsewhere during his speech, Trump urged that his party is one of real unity and inclusion, while the other side is intent on fomenting hatred and division. “We bleed the same blood. We share the same home and we salute the same great American Flag. We are one people, one family, and one glorious nation under God,” Trump declared.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1850696878469337233

Trump vowed to make America stronger than ever before and to bring back the American Dream. Trump told the crowd “I’m asking you to be excited about the future,” further urging “this will be America’s new golden age.” The MSG event was a roaring success, despite deranged leftists demanding it be shut down claiming it was a literal ‘Nazi rally’.

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“You have not seen such a vivid demonstration of slowly-and-then-all-at-once since the implosion of Lehman Brothers as the collapse of the Democratic Party this fateful October..”

Speaking of Abortion (James Howard Kunstler)

What were they thinking after they shoved “Joe Biden” into the abyss, like an old refrigerator over the edge of the landfill, and afterward settled — instantly it appears, with no process at all — on Kamala Harris to lead the party to victory in the fall election? I will tell you: they were not thinking at all. The collective mind of the Democrat elite was a vast vacuum devoid of thought, mass, or light, like a corner of deepest space, lacking even a particle of cosmic debris to evoke the existence of existence. Such mindlessness was the consummate expression of a party that for eight years worked every angle of political mental illness toward the loss of its mind, driven by whatever dark energy seeks escape from truth, life, and God — whatever is opposite of creation and being. What you are witnessing is a colossal act of being un-born. The party put out a call to the universe and the universe ordered. . . an abortion of the Democratic Party! You are reminded again: be careful of what you wish for.

And so do things stand one week before the election. You have not seen such a vivid demonstration of slowly-and-then-all-at-once since the implosion of Lehman Brothers as the collapse of the Democratic Party this fateful October. Poor Kamala is just collateral damage at this point. She goes out before some manufactured audience and seven-minutes onstage delivering a door-dash order of precooked blather is all she can stand before being overwhelmed by the emptiness and futility of her task. . . and then she flees back to the waiting limousine (and the chardonnay bottle). Meanwhile, her allies — that is, the Democratic Party’s allies — play their own roles in this political abortion. The LA Times and the WashPo declined their usual proforma endorsements, two kisses of death. Those actions last week provoked nervous breakdowns in both newsrooms, cries of anguish, resignations, professional suicides.

The news media find themselves in a peculiar position, having gone along for years with the gathering mental illness of the Democratic Party, like incompetent parents in a large dysfunctional family, offering unconditional support for their kids’ intolerable and unacceptable behavior. They are flying to pieces now on the CNN chat panels. James Carville, the party’s shriveled Gollum, has gone to IV infusions of Jim Beam, seems like. Jake Tapper gets Sunday schooled by JD Vance and turns into a mewling cat-lady right before your eyes. Anderson Cooper goes all waxy and mute. Joy Reid surrenders to echolalia as her MSNBC fans are subjected to the guest list of P. Diddy’s “freak-offs,” ranting about Hitler. Lawrence O’Donnell is looking more and more like Vincent Price in Return of the Fly. Reality-optional hardly suffices to describe cable news these days.

You’ve got to ask: can they just let it be? Can they just let go of their insane Jacobin rebellion now and let it fade into history? Then, kick back, recuperate, get their minds right, put their house and family in order, and move on as a legit political faction in a functioning republic? Or, do they burn the asylum down? The signals are troubling. They are chattering about Mr. Trump “using the military” against them in the months to come — as if the Abrams tanks were going to roll up to DNC headquarters and blast away. By now, you know that such thoughts expressed by Democratic pols and news pals are always projections of their own wishes. The New York Times published just such a classic paranoid projection exercise last week “. . . telling Americans that if he [Trump] wins, he plans to bend, if not break, our democracy.”

Surely it is too late, with early voting well underway, to stop any ballot harvesting and other election shenanigans as engineered by master fraudster Marc Elias. In fact, frauds are already being discovered (e.g., Lancaster County, PA.) Not a good look. It is exactly what a conspiracy (to commit election fraud) means in law, and the actual people who cooked the ballots and transported them are going to rat-out those who instructed them to do it. Wait for that, and wait for it to pop up elsewhere around the country. This time, watchers are watching, much more carefully.

Read more …

Stockman knows his numbers. Take the following, and then remember (you too, David) that Elon Musk says he can save $2 trillion on spending.

“Trumpian revenue tariffs would generate about $9 trillion over the next decade, or nearly 80% of the $11.5 trillion revenue loss from drastically shrinking the income tax coverage..”

Trump’s 19th-Century Solution to Fiscal Disaster (David Stockman)

In the last weeks of the campaign, Donald Trump is slicing and dicing the Federal income tax nearly as fast as he served up fries at the McDonald’s drive-thru window last weekend. So far, he has proposed to extend the lower rates, family tax credits, and investment incentives of the 2017 Tax Act after they expire in 2025 and to also exempt tips, Social Security benefits, and overtime wages from the Federal income tax. Those items alone would generate a revenue loss of $9 trillion over the next decade, but he has recently proposed to also exempt firefighters, police officers, military personnel, and veterans from the Federal income tax as well. We estimate the latter would cost another $2.5 trillion in revenue loss over 10 years. As it happens, there are 370,000 firemen, 708,000 policemen, 2.86 million uniformed military personnel, and 18.0 million veterans in the US.

These 22 million citizens have an estimated average income of $82,000 per year, which translates to about $60,000 each of AGI (adjusted gross income). At an average income tax rate of 14.7% these exclusions would generate $250 billion per year of reduced income tax payments. In all, Trump has thus tossed out promises to cut income taxes by $11.5 trillion over the next 10-year budget window. In turn, these sweeping reductions would amount to upwards of 34% of CBO’s estimated baseline income tax revenue of $33.7 trillion over the period. Alas, even in the halcyon days of Reagan supply-side tax cutting no one really dreamed of eliminating fully one-third of the so-called crime of 1913 (the 16th Amendment which enabled the income tax).

10-Year Revenue Loss:
Extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts: $5.350 trillion.
Exempt overtime income: $2.000 trillion.
End Taxation of Social Security benefits: $1.300 trillion.
Exempt Tip income: $300 billion.
Exempt Income of Firemen, Policemen, Military and Veterans: $2.500 trillion.
Trump Total Revenue Loss: $11.500 trillion.
CBO Income Tax Baseline Revenue: $33.700 trillion.
Trump Revenue Loss As % of Baseline: 34%.

Then again, Trump may have something virtually epic in mind. To wit, scrapping the income tax entirely in favor of taxing consumption via levies on imported goods and merchandise. “In the old days when we were smart, when we were a smart country, in the 1890s and all, this is when the country was relatively the richest it ever was. It had all tariffs. It didn’t have an income tax,” Trump said at a sit-down with voters in New York on Friday for Fox & Friends. “Now we have income taxes, and we have people that are dying.” The New York Times is deeply alarmed: “The former president has repeatedly praised a period in American history when there was no income tax, and the country relied on tariffs to fund the government.” Actually, however, 19th-century America was even smarter than Trump realizes.

In 1900 total Federal spending amounted to just 3.5% of GDP because back then America was still a peaceful republic and had no Warfare State or even significant standing army at all. And save for the most advanced precincts of Europe, the Welfare State hadn’t yet been invented, either. So, yes, the so-called “revenue tariffs” of the 19th century did meet the income needs of the Federal government to the point of actually balancing the budget year after year between 1870 and 1900. Indeed, the actual annual surpluses were large enough to pay down most of the Civil War debt, to boot. Today, of course, the Warfare State, Welfare State, and the Washington pork barrels account for 25% of GDP. So Trump may be directionally correct in wanting to tax consumption rather than income, but, as usual, he’s off by about seven orders of magnitude when it comes to the size of the Federal budget that needs to be financed.

Still, Trump has stepped up to the plate when it comes to a 21st-century version of the revenue tariff. He has pledged to impose a 20% universal tariff on all imports from all countries with a specific 60% rate for Chinese imports. Based on current US import levels of $3.5 trillion per year from worldwide sources and $450 billion from China, Trump’s tariffs would generate about $900 billion of receipts per annum. To be sure, Trump’s claim that these giant tariffs would be paid for by Chinamen, Mexicans, and European socialists is just more of his standard baloney. Tariffs are paid for by consumers, but that’s actually the hidden virtue of the Tariff Man’s favorite word. The truth is, government should be paid for via taxation on current citizens, not fobbed off in the form of giant debts on future citizens, born and unborn.

So if we are going to have Big Government at 25% of GDP rather than a 19th-century government at 3.5% of GDP, and Trump is a Big Government Man if there ever was one, better that the burden be placed on consumption, not production, income, and investment. After all, today the “makers” get hit good and hard by the current exceedingly lopsided income tax system. Thus, the top 1% pays 46% of income taxes, while the top 5% pays 66% and the top 10% pays 76% of all income taxes. On the other end, by contrast, the bottom 50% pays just 2.3% of individual income taxes, while 40% of all families pay no income tax at all. In any event, the math works out such that the proposed Trumpian revenue tariffs would generate about $9 trillion over the next decade, or nearly 80% of the $11.5 trillion revenue loss from drastically shrinking the income tax coverage and collection rate. So that’s a big step in the direction of fiscal solvency rather than more UniParty free lunches.

Read more …

“They have to use people to get people to come, and then they send buses..”

Trump Campaign Slams Harris Over Beyonce ‘Lies’ (RT)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has accused Democratic rival Kamala Harris of misleading voters by attracting them to a rally in the belief that they would see a performance by pop superstar Beyonce. Over 30,000 people turned up at the Democratic event on Friday in Houston, Texas, with some expecting a free concert after it was announced that Beyonce would be present. MSNBC and the Washington Post reported ahead of the rally that the superstar singer would appear with Harris during the event, while NBC cited a source as saying that Beyonce was “also expected to perform.” Beyonce earlier approved the use of her song ‘Freedom’ as a soundtrack for the Harris campaign. The 43-year-old Houston native did take to the stage at the event with her former Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland, before announcing that she was there as a mother and not as an entertainer.

In a speech that lasted less than five minutes, Beyonce urged rallygoers to support abortion rights, after Harris called on voters to “mobilize” on November 5 in support of reproductive freedom. “It’s time for America to sing a new song,” Beyonce added. “Our voices sing a chorus of unity. They sing a song of dignity and opportunity. Are y’all ready to add your voice to the new American song,” the singer said, welcoming Harris onto the stage. Speaking at a Michigan rally on Saturday, Trump hit out at the apparent failure of the Harris campaign to meet supporters’ expectations. “Beyonce went up and spoke for a couple of minutes and then left, and the place went crazy,” Trump stated, adding that “they booed the hell out of everybody.”

“They thought she was going to perform… it’s crazy. They have to use people to get people to come, and then they send buses. We don’t send buses. Everybody comes. We’re just going to make America great again. It’s very simple,” the former president added. Tim Murtaugh, a senior adviser to Trump, claimed that organizers of the Democratic rally had “lied to build a crowd.” While the front rows at the rally appeared supportive as Harris proceeded with her speech after seeing Beyonce off the stage, clips on social media indicated booing and heckling at the back, with some apparently leaving the venue in disappointment. The vice president has been backed by American pop sensation Taylor Swift as well as Usher, Eminem, and Cardi B, while Trump has received endorsements from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, rapper 50 Cent, and popular journalist Tucker Carlson.

Read more …

“Russia gets a guarantee of neutrality from Ukraine,” while Germany and other EU countries foot the bill for Ukraine’s reconstruction..”

Trump To Make Ukraine The EU’s Problem – FT (RT)

Donald Trump will leave the enforcement of any peace deal between Russia and Ukraine to European powers, one of the former US president’s advisers has told the Financial Times. The plan is one of several floated by Trump’s advisers and allies, all of which involve the US refusing to deal with the aftermath of the conflict. Trump has promised to bring a rapid end to the ongoing conflict if he is elected president in November. However, he has offered few specifics as to how he would do this, save for pressing Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky into peace talks with US aid to Kiev as leverage. In the absence of any concrete peace plan, a host of Trump’s current and former advisers have outlined how they think the former president could achieve this goal.

One unnamed “long-term Trump adviser” told the Financial Times on Monday that the Republican candidate could resolve the conflict with “a reimagining of the failed Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015,” under which Kiev agreed to grant some autonomy to the majority Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. This time around, the adviser said, the deal would be enforced by EU peacekeepers. “There are two things America will insist on,” he said. “We will not have any men or women in the enforcement mechanism. We’re not paying for it. Europe is paying for it.” Reviving the Minsk agreements would likely present several major challenges.

After multiple European leaders admitted that they never intended to abide by the 2014 and 2015 agreements, Moscow does not believe that the EU can play the role of honest broker, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier this month. Furthermore, Donetsk and Lugansk – along with Kherson and Zaporozhye – have since joined the Russian Federation, and any peace deal must take into account this “territorial reality,” the Kremlin has said. Fred Fleitz, a former CIA analyst who served in Trump’s White House, told the British newspaper that the US could “freeze the conflict” along the current front line, and negotiate a lasting settlement with Russia at a later date. Ukraine would not give up its territorial claims in the meantime, Fleitz said, explaining that this plan counts on delaying a final agreement until “Putin leaves the stage.”

However, Fleitz conceded that he does not speak for Trump and does not know the former president’s foreign policy plans. The most detailed proposal has been put forward by Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. Speaking to former US Navy SEAL and podcast host Shawn Ryan last month, Vance said that the current frontline could be demilitarized and fortified, ensuring that “Russia doesn’t invade again.” In exchange, “Russia gets a guarantee of neutrality from Ukraine,” while Germany and other EU countries foot the bill for Ukraine’s reconstruction. The current American policy of “throw[ing] money at this problem, [and] hope[ing] the Ukrainians are able to achieve a military victory” is “stupid,” Vance told Ryan.

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“I think that we should try to pursue avenues of peace.”

I Don’t Want War With Russia – Vance (RT)

The US is not at war with Russia and should not seek one, Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance has said, when asked whether he would brand President Vladimir Putin an “enemy” of America. The senator from Ohio was asked during his appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday whether he saw the Russian leader “as an ally or an enemy.” Putin is “clearly an adversary, he is a competitor,” but Washington needs to be “smart about diplomacy too,” Vance responded. ”Just because we don’t like somebody doesn’t mean that we can’t occasionally engage in conversations with them,” he suggested. Host Kristen Welker pushed him further on whether he would directly refer to Putin as an enemy. ”We are not at war with him. And I don’t want to be at war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia,” the senator said. “I think that we should try to pursue avenues of peace.”

The same logic applies to China, Vance said, adding that he perceives it as a greater threat to American interests than Russia. The US may not like having to talk to its rivals, but in the case of the Ukraine conflict, resolving it will require negotiations, the senator pointed out. When asked whether former President Donald Trump would take the US out of NATO, Vance assured that he wouldn’t. If his running mate returns to office, the country will honor its commitment to the organization, but the bloc “is not just a welfare client, it should be a real alliance,” he said. Vance was referring to Trump’s criticism of insufficient defense spending by its European members.

Moscow has identified NATO’s enlargement in Europe as a threat to its national security and a key reason for the deterioration of relations with the West. The organization’s increasing involvement in Ukraine since the 2014 armed coup in Kiev and promise to bring Ukraine into the fold have contributed in a major way to setting off the ongoing hostilities, Russian officials have said. The current Democratic administration has pledged to stand by Kiev “for as long as it takes” to defeat Russia and has pushed other nations to do the same. Despite the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on Ukraine aid, Kiev’s troops are currently retreating along many parts of the front. Trump has claimed while campaigning that he would end the hostilities in 24 hours, if elected.

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“..he and others continue to saw feverishly on the branch upon which we all sit in higher education..”

University Professors Approaching Near Unanimity as a Democratic Lock (Turley)

The 2024 presidential election is shaping up to be the single most divisive election in our history. The public is split right down the middle with almost every group splintering between former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. There is, however, one group that seems almost unanimous: professors. A new survey of more than 1,000 professors shows that seventy-eight percent will vote for Harris and only eight percent will vote for Trump. Other than a poll of the Democratic National Committee, there are few groups that are more reliably Democratic or liberal. For anyone in higher education, the result is hardly surprising. The poll tracks what we already know about the gradual purging of departments around the country of conservative, libertarian, and dissenting professors.

Indeed, the lack of political and intellectual diversity may be turning some donors and even applicants from higher education. With failing revenue and applications, universities are starting to re-embrace commitments to neutrality on political issues. Some, however, are doubling down on advocacy and orthodoxy. In an op-ed this week, Wesleyan University President Michael Roth called on universities to reject “institutional neutrality” and officially support Kamala Harris. Calling neutrality “a retreat,” Roth compared Trump’s election to the rise of the Nazis and insisted that schools should “give up the popular pastime of criticizing the woke and call out instead the overt racism.” He added, without a hint of self-awareness or irony, that “we should not be silenced because of fears of appearing partisan.”

In my book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discuss the intolerance in higher education and surveys showing that many departments no longer have a single Republican as faculties replicate their own views and values. So not only are professors voting en mass for Harris, Roth would have the schools themselves work openly for her election. That ideological echo chamber is hardly an enticement for many who are facing rising high tuition costs with relatively little hope of being taught by faculty with opposing views. There are obviously many reasons why faculty may reject Trump specifically, but this poll also tracks more generally the self-identification and contributions of faculty. A Georgetown study recently found that only nine percent of law school professors identify as conservative at the top 50 law schools — almost identical to the percentage of Trump voters found in the new poll.

Notably, Roth acknowledged that the current lack of intellectual diversity in higher education had become so extreme that there might be a need for “an affirmative action program for conservatives.” However, he and others continue to saw feverishly on the branch upon which we all sit in higher education in calling for even greater political advocacy. There is little evidence that faculty members have any interest in changing this culture or creating greater diversity at schools. In places like North Carolina State University a study found that Democrats outnumbered Republicans 20 to 1.

Recently, I had a debate at Harvard Law School with Professor Randall Kennedy on whether Harvard protects free speech and intellectual diversity. This year, Harvard found itself in a familiar spot on the annual ranking of Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE): dead last among 251 universities and colleges. Harvard has long dismissed calls for greater free speech protections or intellectual diversity. It shows.

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University professors are not the only group with such an outsized bias. MSM editors and writers have it just as much. And Bezos will not solve that by withholding an endorsement. His hiring practices need to change. Or his paper is toast.

Bezos Explains Why WaPo Dropped Presidential Endorsements (RT)

The Washington Post has abandoned its decades-long tradition of endorsing a US presidential candidate to earn back the trust of the American public, the newspaper’s owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos, has said. He explained his reasoning in an op-ed published by the Post on Monday after facing intense backlash from current and former staff. The newspaper has been endorsing candidates since 1976, but announced the suspension of the practice on Friday, prompting several editors to resign. The Post’s editorial board endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. According to CNN, the Post’s staffers had drafted an endorsement of the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, which was ultimately not approved by the management. Bezos began his Monday’s op-ed by citing a recent Gallup poll, which found that nearly 70% of Americans have little or no trust in the media.

“Our profession is now the least trusted of all. Something we are doing is clearly not working,” the entrepreneur wrote, adding that “most people believe the media is biased.” “Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election,” he continued. “What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one.” The founder of Amazon and aerospace manufacturer Blue Origin admitted that the decision to drop endorsements so close to Election Day on November 5 was the result of “inadequate planning.” At the same time, he insisted that neither campaign had affected his decision-making, and that the move to abandon endorsements was not connected to last week’s meeting between Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, and Blue Origin top executives in Austin, Texas.

A total of 21 of the Post’s opinion columnists signed a statement, describing the non-endorsement as “a terrible mistake.” They argued that “this isn’t the right moment, when one candidate is advocating positions that directly threaten freedom of the press and the values of the Constitution.” Three of the newspaper’s 10-person editorial board have since stepped down. More than 200,000 people – or about 8% of the Post’s paid subscribers – had canceled their digital subscription by midday on Monday, according to NPR. The decision to end endorsements was criticized by many prominent journalists, including the Post’s former longtime executive editor Marty Baron.

Last month, Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, announced that the newspaper would also not be making presidential endorsements. The move faced similar backlash, with editorials editor Mariel Garza resigning in protest. Throughout his campaign, Trump has blasted “the lying media” for what he said was a long history of unfair coverage of him and his time in office. The Harris campaign and allies have similarly accused pro-Trump media outlets of amplifying “desinformation.”

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“The Trump ally is expected to hold a press conference on Tuesday afternoon in Manhattan, just hours after his release.”

Steve Bannon To Be Released From Prison One Week Ahead Of Election (JTN)

Former President Donald Trump’s ally Steve Bannon will be released from prison on Tuesday, exactly one week ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison at a federal facility in Danbury, Connecticut, in 2022 after he was convicted by a jury on two Contempt of Congress charges for not complying with a congressional subpoena. A judge had allowed Bannon, who was a first-time offender, to delay his sentence while he appealed the convictions but was eventually ordered to report to prison in July. The Trump ally is expected to hold a press conference on Tuesday afternoon in Manhattan, just hours after his release.

Sam Mangel, Bannon’s prison consultant, told ABC News on Monday that Bannon taught U.S. history and government to other inmates while he was behind bars, and that he was respected by other inmates. “I’m sure he’s quite glad to put it behind him and move on with his life,” Mangel said. “From what I’m told, he feels he’s got a lot left to accomplish now.” Although Bannon will be released from the Connecticut prison, he still faces criminal charges related to an alleged scheme to defraud donors over the construction of a border wall on the United States southern border. That trial is scheduled for December, and he has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering.

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“..the US military is there to use lethal force to suppress those who object. If Trump’s win is too lopsided to be subject to theft, there can be a cybersecurity attack that prevents a vote count..”

How America Was Destroyed (Paul Craig Roberts)

Those who control the Democrat Party are concerned about Kamala’s election chances. Little wonder. She represents the most anti-American, anti-Constitution, anti-white, anti-peace regime in US history. Top Democrats are concerned that Trump will not only take the swing states, despite the multiple theft mechanisms Democrats have in place, but also some blue states. Polls are revealing that a majority of men of color see Trump as a leader of America and Kamala as a destroyer of America. Those who control the Democrat party, most certainly not the people, are also disturbed by reports of the heavy early voting by Trump supporters. Trump encouraged early voting, because in 2020 Democrats managed to prevent many Trump supporters from voting on election day.

The downside to early voting by Trump supporters is it gives Democrats an idea how many votes they have to steal in order to “win.” It is a no-win situation for Trump supporters. If you wait until election day, voting machine failure, closed precincts, and other excuses can be used to keep you from voting. But if you vote early, you signal to the Democrats how many votes they have to steal. They are well set up to steal them. The Democrats in two swing states have already said that it will be days before they will have the vote count. These days are the time they need to produce the fraud that wins for them. A Democrat and a free election are mutually exclusionary. Arizona officials, for example, say it will take 2 weeks to tabulate the vote count. The Democrats in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin say they are unable to declare election results for several days after the election.

Until 2020–the Big Steal–the US has not had a problem of producing a vote count on time. Why do Americans accept the election theft implied by a delayed vote count with ballot boxes coming in by the truck loads long after voting is closed? On October 14, I reported on this website that the Biden regime had issued one month before the presidential election a military directive 5240.01. The directive says the US military can be used to come to the aid of civilian police to quell domestic disturbance and can use lethal force against US citizens. I provided a link to the directive. Fourteen days later I have seen no mention of this directive in the presstitute media.

Now ask yourself where the authority comes from for an executive branch cabinet department to overturn an act of Congress. Where did the Biden regime Department of Defense get the authority to overturn American tradition and the Posse Comitatus Act? That there has been no protest against this illegal and unconstitutional Defense Department directive indicates how close the US is to a tyranny. As we learned from the hoax “Jan 6 Insurrection,” it is a simple matter for those in authority to declare “insurrections.” They can do it again. It has now been admitted that 200 federal agents were at work on January 6 trying to orchestrate an insurrection. Next time there will be 2,000. As the Democrats are in power, they can create an “insurrection” prior to the vote count.

[..] So, some of the swing states have said that election results will not be timely reported. When the results are misreported, the US military is there to use lethal force to suppress those who object. If Trump’s win is too lopsided to be subject to theft, there can be a cybersecurity attack that prevents a vote count. Putin and Trump can be blamed for an insurrection orchestrated by the FBI, and the Democrats will be declared by the American whore media as the winner. This sounds far-fetched, but it isn’t.

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“Israel could not gain overflight permissions from Turkey, Iraq or any of the Gulf Cooperation Council states (Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman). Sean Matthews at Middle East Eye points out that as a result, the Israelis would have had to fly down the Red Sea, go west across the Gulf of Aden, and approach Iran from the Arabian Sea. It is a long way around.”

The Enormous Constraints Faced By Netanyahu (Juan Cole)

The limited strikes on Iran carried out by Israeli fighter-jets early on Saturday morning Tehran time above all demonstrated the constraints under which even this extremist Israeli government has to operate. The bombings are said to have been limited to military targets, including missile manufacturing facilities.The first constraint Israel faced was logistical. The Netanyahu government could not have its fighter jets fly straight to Iran, which would have allowed a more extensive set of attacks. Israel could not gain overflight permissions from Turkey, Iraq or any of the Gulf Cooperation Council states (Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman). Sean Matthews at Middle East Eye points out that as a result, the Israelis would have had to fly down the Red Sea, go west across the Gulf of Aden, and approach Iran from the Arabian Sea. It is a long way around. They would have had to bring along large hulking refueling planes. This long, clumsy flight path limited what the Israelis could accomplish.

Extremist Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier not ruled out hitting Iran’s nuclear facilities or its oil fields. Iran, however, essentially held the GCC countries hostage, warning that if US-backed Israel hit Iranian oil fields, Tehran would retaliate against US-backed Arab oil monarchies in the Gulf such as Saudi Arabia. The Biden administration is trying to woo those countries into recognizing Israel, and having a berserker Israeli government draw them into hostilities with Iran would instead make these Arab countries flee both the US and the possible Israeli embrace. For some diplomatic purposes, as with detente with Iran, Saudi Arabia has already gone to China instead. According to Middle East Eye, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, had announced Tuesday that Iran had been promised by the Gulf Arabs that they would not allow their air space or soil to be used for Israeli attacks on Iran. At the same time, Joe Biden pressured Israel not to attack Iranian nuclear facilities or oil fields.

I view Netanyahu as an adventurer who has been attempting to widen the war so as to force the Biden administration to support him. Although Iran backs Hamas, the CIA assessed that the ayatollahs had no idea Hamas was planning to carry out the October 7 attacks, and, indeed, that the Iranian leadership had declined to support Hamas during the past year precisely because they were furious that Yahya Sinwar had tried to drag them into a war without so much as consulting them. Iran also put pressure on Hezbollah not to provoke a war with Israel. That is, though Iran certainly supports anti-Israel guerrilla groups in the region and enjoys harassing the Israelis through them and their rockets and drones, it doesn’t appear to have acted aggressively given the ferocity of Netanyahu’s genocide in Gaza.

Netanyahu struck the Iranian embassy in Damascus last spring in an obvious attempt to bring Iran into the war, and Iran replied with a missile barrage that the US shot down. Then this summer Netanyahu assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, the civilian head of the Hamas Party politburo (which is not the same as the al-Qassam Brigades paramilitary). The assassination was carried out in Tehran, in a clear attempt to get Iran’s goat. Likewise, Netanyahu’s creepy pager booby trap attack on Hezbollah personnel (and some Iranians, such as the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon) and his assassination of Hassan Nasrallah in September were in part aimed at humiliating Iran. Iran’s October 1 missile barrage at Israel was mostly shot down by the US, but some missiles got through and one hit an Israeli military base. This attack was revenge for the killings of Haniyeh and Nasrallah.

Israel’s riposte was so limited that it might well not elicit any response from Iran, drawing a line under this phase of the Israel-Iran conflict. But Netanyahu was forced into a limited response by the Arab Gulf states (two of which –Bahrain and the Emirates– recognize Israel) and by the Biden administration. The refusal of overflight permissions by the GCC states also limited what Israel could accomplished with its F-35s. I view Iran’s missile program as largely defensive. They have used it against Israel twice this year, and both came in response to Israeli provocations (provocations that I believe to be deliberate on Netanyahu’s part). Israel has made the point that its jets can now reach Iran with extensive refueling. Iran has made the point that a swarm of missile attacks can penetrate Israel’s missile defenses and hit an Israeli military base.

Each side is seeking some form of deterrence against the other, a deterrence that has broken down this year because of Israel’s aggression in Gaza and Lebanon and its anti-missile defenses. I think Iran will be satisfied if it feels that a restoration of deterrence has been achieved. I don’t think Netanyahu is defending; I think he is attacking and attempting to expand his influence in the region. For that reason, it will be difficult to reestablish deterrence between the two countries. For the moment, however, all-out war seems to have been averted.

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“..BRICS China crisscrossing Eurasia from east to west while BRICS Russia/Iran/India crisscross it from north to south..”

BRICS Make History – Can They Keep the Momentum? (Pepe Escobar)

The not so simple twists of fate always allow certain cities to make their mark in History in ineffable ways. Yalta. Bretton Woods. Bandung – a 1955 de-colonization staple. And now Kazan. The BRICS summit in Kazan, capital of Tatarstan, under the Russian presidency was historic in more ways than one – followed with riveting attention by the whole Global Majority and with perplexity by a great deal of the declining Western order. It did not change the world – not yet. But Kazan should be seen as the departing station of a high-speed train journey towards the emerging multi-nodal new order. The metaphor was also spatial: the pavilions at the Kazan Expo center “station” holding the summit simultaneously connected to the airport and to the aero-express train to the city. The rippling effects of BRICS 2024 in Kazan will be perceived for weeks, months and years ahead. Let’s start with the breakthroughs.

The Kazan Manifesto
1.The Kazan Declaration. That is no less than a detailed diplomatic manifesto. Yet because BRICS is not a revolutionary agent – as its members do not share an ideology – arguably the next best strategy is to propose real reform, from the UN Agenda 2030 to the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, the WHO and the G20 (whose summit is next month in Rio). The kernel of the Kazan Declaration – which had been debated for months – is to move in practice towards in-depth institutional changes and to reject Hegemony. The Declaration will be presented to the UN Security Council. There’s no doubt the Hegemon will reject it. This paragraph sums up the reform drive: “We condemn the attempts to subject development to discriminatory politically motivated practices, including but not limited to unilateral coercive measures that are incompatible with the 5 principles of the UN Charter, explicit or implied political conditionality of development assistance, activities, aiming at compromising the multiplicity of international development assistance providers.”

2. The BRICS Outreach session. That was Bandung 1955 on macro-steroids: a microcosm of how the new, really de-colonized, non-unilateral world is being born. President Putin opened and handed the floor to the leaders and heads of delegations of other 35 nations, most at the highest level, including Palestine, plus the UN Secretary General. Quite a few speeches were nothing short of epic. The session lasted 3h25. It will be circulating all across the Global Majority for years. The session tied up with the announcement of the new 13 BRICS partners: Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkiye, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam. A strategic tour de force including 4 Southeast Asian powerhouses; the top two Central Asian “stans”; 3 Africans; 2 Latin Americans, and NATO member Turkiye.

3. The Russian BRICS presidency itself. Arguably no other nation would have been able to pull off such a complex and impeccably organized summit, held after over 200 BRICS-related meetings throughout the year across Russia conducted by unnamed sherpas, members of working groups and the BRICs Business Council. Security was massive – for obvious reasons, considering the odds of a false flag/terrorist attack.

4. Connectivity corridors. That is the main geoeconomic theme of Eurasia integration, and Afro-Eurasia integration as well. Putin explicitly named, more than once, the new growth drivers of the near future: Southeast Asia and Africa. Both happen to be key partners of several high-profile Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects. Additionally, Putin named the top two connectivity corridors of the future: the Northern Sea Route – which the Chinese describe as the Arctic Silk Road – and the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), where the three drivers are BRICS members Russia, Iran and India. So that translates as BRICS China crisscrossing Eurasia from east to west while BRICS Russia/Iran/India crisscross it from north to south, with ramifications in all latitudes. And with all the energy add-ons, with Iran positioning itself as a crucial energy hub, opening the finally feasible possibility of building the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline, one of the unfinished sagas of what I described in the early 2000s as Pipelineistan.

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“..because of his “attitudes towards Ukraine.”

Slovak PM Fico Warns Of Continued Attempts On His Life (RT)

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who survived an assassination attempt in May, has revealed that he faced a potential second attempt on his life, due to his stance on the Ukraine conflict. Fico was shot at close range by an activist who opposed the PM’s views on relations with Kiev. An armed man was detained at an event commemorating a World War II battle in eastern Slovakia in early October, the prime minister revealed in an interview to Bratislava-based internet outlet Standard on Sunday. Fico said the man “hates” him because of his “attitudes towards Ukraine.” According to the prime minister, “a fully loaded weapon” was found on the suspect when he passed through a metal detector. The event in question was held on October 6 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Dukla Pass between German and Soviet forces on the border with Poland. The celebrations were attended by Fico, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, and members of the government and parliament.

Fico has been an outspoken critic of the EU’s policy of providing lethal aid to Ukraine in its fight with Russia, calling instead for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. In May, Fico was shot four times at close range by a man who, according to Slovakia’s Special Criminal Court, was largely motivated by the decision by the prime minister and his government not to send arms to Ukraine. “I was lucky,” Fico told Standard, commenting on the shooting. He went on to describe the alleged shooter, Juraj Cintula, as a political activist who had attended Fico’s public meetings while “probably” planning the attack. Following the shooting, Fico argued that the assassination attempt emanated from foreign-backed politicians who refuse to accept his government’s policies that prioritize Slovakia’s interests over the agendas of major Western powers.

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“Throughout its almost 90-year history, the carmaker has never closed a plant in its home country..”

Volkswagen Planning Mass Layoffs – Workers’ Council Chief (RT)

Volkswagen is looking to significantly reduce its workforce in Germany and shut down several factories in the country, amid a major overhaul aimed at lowering costs and increasing return on sales, the head of the carmaker’s Works Council has announced. Daniela Cavallo explained to employees in Wolfsburg on Monday that Volkswagen management is “absolutely serious” about the plans and that the move is “not saber-rattling in the collective bargaining round,” Reuters reported. Throughout its almost 90-year history, the carmaker has never closed a plant in its home country. The last time it shut down any of its facilities was in 1988 in the US. “It is a firm intention to let the locations’ regions bleed dry and the clear intention to send tens of thousands of Volkswagen employees into mass unemployment,” Cavallo said.

Her comments come as the automotive giant has been negotiating for several weeks with unions over plans to overhaul its business in order to remain competitive in light of weaker demand from China and Europe. She did not specify which of the ten Volkswagen plants operating in Germany would be shut down or exactly how many of its roughly 300,000 workers in the country would be laid off, but noted that all remaining facilities would be affected by the changes and that “none of them are safe.” Cavallo also stated that Volkswagen management is demanding a 10% pay cut and no pay raises for the next two years. Cavallo stressed, however, that the German government must urgently come up with a plan to ensure that the country’s economy does not “go down the drain.”

She noted that Volkswagen and other European companies are in agreement as to the nature of the problems they are facing, such as slower-than-expected electric transition as well as fierce competition from Chinese automotive brands entering Europe. “We are not far apart when it comes to analyzing the problems. But we are miles apart on the answers to them,” Cavallo said. Earlier this month, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported that the German economy is expected to contract for a second year in a row as it struggles to keep up with soaring energy costs after cutting itself off from Russian gas. Over the past year, the German government has noted a 5.3% drop in the country’s industrial output as orders for domestic-made goods have also plummeted. Experts at the Berlin-based Forum for a New Economy have warned that Germany’s failures are expected to turn the 2020s into a “lost decade” for the country as it suffers “the worst economic downturn since World War II.”

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Oxi

 

 

Makary

 

 

RFK
https://twitter.com/i/status/1850974386528166152

 

 

Crow
https://twitter.com/i/status/1850822295465369739

 

 

Peggy and Molly

 

 

Squid

 

 

Good old days

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Oct 282024
 


Vincent van Gogh On the Outskirts of Paris 1887

 

CNN Data Analyst: Trump On Course To Win Popular Vote (MN)
Desperate Deep State Wants War & Martial Law – Martin Armstrong (USAW)
Musk Accuses Biden Of Lying About His ‘Illegal’ Work (RT)
Musk Hopes To Cut US Budget By ‘At Least $2 Trillion’ (RT)
Trump Promises Not To Fight Foreign Wars (RT)
Former Vatican Ambassador: Kamala “An Infernal Monster Who Obeys Satan” (MN)
Trump and Harris Are Fighting Over The ‘McDonald’s Vote’ (Marsden)
US Unable to Operate Modified B-52s Before 2033 (Sp.)
BRICS Summit Will Eventually Be Seen As A Milestone (Lukyanov)
Americans Are More Dependent Than Ever on Government Handouts (ET)
Gun and Torts Liability to Collide in Mexican Case Before the SCOTUS (Turley)
UK Refuses To Discuss Slave Trade Compensation (RT)
Serbian President Calls Russian Central Bank Chief ‘A Genius’ (RT)
Zelensky Allows Foreign Mercenaries To Serve As Ukrainian Army Officers (RT)
US Envoy’s Diplomatic Cover For Israeli Expansion (Raiss)
A Stunning De-Capitation? The Netanyahu “Madness” (Alastair Crooke)
Entire Northern Gaza Population At Risk Of Dying – UN (RT)

 

 

 

 

Maga

Trump ad

Jordan Peterson on Trump X-men team


https://twitter.com/i/status/1850290385597182100

Rogan after Trump

Trump ad

JD

Elon

Macgregor

Virginia

Big Mike

O’Leary

 

 

 

 

Not at Polymarket. There, Trump is at 42% vs Kamala’s 58%. But the popular vote doesn’t decide the election.

CNN Data Analyst: Trump On Course To Win Popular Vote (MN)

CNN’s data analyst Harry Enten suggested Friday that Donald Trump could be on course to win the popular vote on November 5th. That hasn’t happened for a Republican candidate for 20 years. If it happens, Trump will almost certainly win the electoral college and the election. Enten noted that a New York Times/Siena College poll was released last week showing Trump tied with Kamala Harris at 48% in the national popular vote. “Everyone has been talking about this idea that Trump may win in the Electoral College, but Kamala Harris may win the popular vote, but Trump may finally get his great white whale,” Enten stated. He added that Wall Street Journal and CNBC polls also have Trump ahead of Harris in the popular vote.

“Part of my job is to warn our viewers, on either side of the aisle, of an event that may occur, that they don’t necessarily like, and Donald Trump winning the popular vote could ABSOLUTELY happen,” Enten urged. He added “You might as well wrap your minds around it now folks if you don’t like Donald Trump,” noting that Democrat supporters heads are currently “exploding.” The RCP average has Trump in the lead for the popular vote for the first time in his political career by two points. If he did it, Trump would only be the second Republican in 36 years to win the popular vote.

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”This is why they want war . . . so they can default on everything. . . They take us to war, and there goes Social Security and everything else.“

Desperate Deep State Wants War & Martial Law – Martin Armstrong (USAW)

Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong says we are getting down to the wire with the 2024 Election, and the Deep State Dems are in panic mode. Could we have a false flag, martial law, debt crisis, default, war or all of the above? Armstrong says, “They want war. There is no question about that. . . . Lindsey Graham was on Face the Nation a couple of months ago, and he slipped and told the truth for once. He said there was a $10 trillion to $12 trillion natural gas asset under Crimea, and we can’t allow Russia and China to get that. . . . This is like Iraq. We are going after the oil.”

On martial law, Armstrong says, “I am very concerned about martial law. . . . They (Supreme Court) have kind of hinted that martial law is a common law type thing. When the courts are closed, then you have martial law. It is justified under ‘necessity.’ This is what the Supreme Court has said. So, I am very concerned that these neocons are so desperate that they are definitely going to try to create some sort of a false flag or anything they can do perhaps the last week in October going into the election.” On the war front, we just had Israel bomb Iran, and NATO is still poking Russia. Armstrong says, “NATO is a retirement home for neocons. It should have been shut down. They are trying to take the world into World War III. They are now raising a $100 billion so they can continue the war against Russia in case Trump is elected.”

Armstrong is still seeing Trump winning in 2024 in a “landslide.” Kamala Harris is going the other way. A few months back, Armstrong said Kamala’s real approval rating was 10.5%. Armstrong says he just ran new Kamala Harris approval ratings with his Socrates computer program. Armstrong says, “It’s actually down to 6.5% to 7.5%. It’s really appalling.” Armstrong says Kamala has “negative coattails,” which will spell big losses for Democrats down ballot in November. On the economy, Armstrong says, “We are in this debt Ponzi scheme where they issue new debt every year to pay off the old debt. People say the debt is $34 trillion, but the level of the debt does not matter.

It could be a quadrillion dollars. . . China holds 10% of America’s debt. They sold $53 billion at the beginning of the year. This is where the danger comes. If you don’t have someone to take up what China is not buying, guess what? You can’t pay, and when you can’t pay, that’s when a default comes. This is why they want war . . . so they can default on everything. . . They take us to war, and there goes Social Security and everything else.” On the 2024 Election, Armstrong says, “The 2024 Election will be the last election. . . The US will break up into three or four sections. . . We are committing suicide. . . This is how governments die. . . Gold goes up when people lose confidence in government. This is why central banks want gold. They are afraid of governments defaulting on their debt in war. . . In the war, we lose it next time. They want terrorism so they can lock us down. This is the future we face.”

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Talk about desperate. They trot out the alleged “US President” with complete lies… There’ll be more of this the next 10 days. Biden has nothing to lose, they can make him say anything.

Musk Accuses Biden Of Lying About His ‘Illegal’ Work (RT)

Elon Musk has denounced Joe Biden for saying the businessman had been an “illegal worker” before he became the wealthiest man in the world. The incumbent US president was accusing the billionaire of being hypocritical regarding immigration. In response to the claims, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO made posts accusing the incumbent president outright lying and saying “losing the election was making the Democrats desperate.” “I was in fact allowed to work in the US. The Biden puppet is lying,” Musk wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “They know this, as they have all my records.” “So NOW he cares about illegals,” he quipped in conclusion. Biden’s remarks, made on Saturday, followed a Washington Post report that alleged, citing Musk’s former business associates, court records and documents, that the businessman obtained a work visa in 1996 after he had already been working in the country without one.

At the time, the billionaire was launching his startup Zip2, an IT-company that provided and licensed online city guide software for newspapers. “That wealthiest man in the world turned out to be an illegal worker here when he was here,” Biden said at a campaign event in support of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “He was supposed to be in a school, when he came on a student visa. He was working. He was violating the law and he’s talking about all these illegals.” The tech entrepreneur, who is currently backing Republican candidate Donald Trump, had previously accused the Democrats of bringing a large number of illegal immigrants to swing states. Each of the two major US political parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, dominates dozens of states in the country.

However, voters are more evenly divided in the remaining ‘swing’ or ‘battleground’ states, making them key to winning the election. “Triple digit increases over the past 4 years! Their STATED plan is to give them citizenship as soon as possible, turning all swing states Dem,” Musk stated earlier this week in a post on X. Musk, who had previously positioned himself as politically neutral, publicly endorsed the Republican nominee shortly after the failed assassination attempt on Trump on July 13. The former president has promised to create a new government post called ‘secretary of cost-cutting’ tailored specifically for Musk if he wins.

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“..the only thing we’ll be able to pay is interest.”

Musk Hopes To Cut US Budget By ‘At Least $2 Trillion’ (RT)

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made an appearance at a Donald Trump rally at Madison Square Garden, promising to save American taxpayers trillions of dollars under his hypothetical second administration. Despite previously proclaiming his political neutrality, Musk has leaned towards Trump in recent months, publicly endorsing him after the first assassination attempt. Following this, Trump promised that if he wins the November election, he will establish a “government efficiency” commission headed by the billionaire entrepreneur. As he walked on stage in New York on Sunday, Musk was asked, “How much do you think we can cut from this wasted $6.5 trillion Harris-Biden budget?” “I think we can do at least $2 trillion,” Musk replied, eliciting loud cheers from the crowd.

“At the end of the day, all government spending is taxation. Whether it’s direct taxation or government spending, it either leads to inflation or becomes direct taxation.” Your money is being wasted, and the Department of Government Efficiency is going to fix that! We’re going to get the government off your back and out of your pocketbook! When the former US president proposed creating DOGE, he stated it would be an independent force “tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for the drastic reforms we need.” Neither Trump nor Musk specified how exactly the panel would operate or which specific policies it would eliminate or implement.

The tech billionaire has repeatedly sounded the alarm over U.S. debt, warning just last week that the country is spiraling toward bankruptcy and will quickly go bust if Washington doesn’t curb its spending. In September, he wrote that every trillion dollars of debt added is money that “our kids and grandkids are going to have to pay somehow.” If debt continues to grow at this pace, Musk warned, the US will be trapped in a vicious cycle where “the only thing we’ll be able to pay is interest.” Earlier this month, Musk told American journalist Tucker Carlson that he has bet “all in” on Donald Trump winning the US presidential election in November; if Trump loses, he is “f**ked” and will probably end up in jail.

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“You don’t have to send your kids out to war, have your kid blown up for a country that you’ve never heard of, and that doesn’t want anything to do with you anyway.”

Trump Promises Not To Fight Foreign Wars (RT)

Former US President Donald Trump promised not to send Americans to fight and die in countries they have never heard of while addressing a crowd in the battleground state of Pennsylvania this weekend. Speaking at a campaign rally on Saturday, Trump once again claimed he is the only one capable of preventing an all-out global conflict, arguing that his Democratic rival Kamala Harris “would get us into World War III, guaranteed, because she is too grossly incompetent to do the job.” “To make her president would be to gamble with the lives of millions of people. Sons and daughters will end up getting drafted to fight in a war in a country you’ve never heard of,” he said. In his nomination acceptance speech earlier this year, Trump vowed to “end every single international crisis that the current administration has created,” particularly the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts.

He never offered specific plans to bring about world peace, but repeatedly warned that by supporting and financing “other people’s wars” under the leadership of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the US is increasing the likelihood of sliding into WWIII. Last week, Trump claimed on his Truth Social platform that “if Kamala gets four more years, the Middle East will spend the next four decades going up in flames, and your kids will be going off to war.” “But I will not send you to fight and die in a foolish, never-ending foreign war,” he told the crowd on Saturday. You don’t have to send your kids out to war, have your kid blown up for a country that you’ve never heard of, and that doesn’t want anything to do with you anyway.

The Republican has repeatedly promised to end the Ukraine conflict within 24 hours of being elected, before even being sworn into office, by forcing both sides into negotiations. Harris, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, has criticized Trump’s approach, claiming he would essentially force Kiev to surrender. The Kremlin has cast doubt on Trump’s promises of peace, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggesting that he does not “think there is a magic wand” that can stop the fighting overnight. Trump also claimed that he could have prevented last year’s October 7 Hamas incursion into Israel, telling podcaster Joe Rogan that when he was president, he made sure Tehran had no money to fund its proxies.

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“The choice is between a conservative President, who is paying with his very life for his fight against the deep state, and an infernal monster who obeys Satan.”

Former Vatican Ambassador: Kamala “An Infernal Monster Who Obeys Satan” (MN)

Former Vatican Roman Catholic Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò endorsed Donald Trump for president this week, urging that Kamala Harris represents “an anti-Catholic, anti-Christian, and anti-human vision of society.” Viganò, who was the Vatican’s ambassador to the US from 2011 to 2016, writes in a letter to Catholics “The choice is between a conservative President, who is paying with his very life for his fight against the deep state, and an infernal monster who obeys Satan.” “For a Catholic, there can be no question: voting for Kamala Harris is morally inadmissible and constitutes a very grave sin. Nor is it morally possible to abstain, because in this war declaring oneself neutral means allying oneself with the enemy,” he further asserts.

https://twitter.com/CarloMVigano/status/1848670426924302813

A vote for Trump “means firmly distancing ourselves from an anti-Catholic, anti-Christian, and anti-human vision of society,” Viganò continues, adding “It means stopping those who want to create a hellish dystopia that is even worse than the one announced by George Orwell.” Viganò urges that Trump is “the only possible choice to counter the globalist coup that the woke Left is about to implement definitively, irreparably, and with incalculable damage for future generations.” The former archbishop further describes Harris as a George Soros “puppet,” who is controlled directly by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Viganò was excommunicated from the Catholic Church in July after repeatedly voicing opposition to the current Pope and modern changes made to the Roman Catholic Church. He was extremely outspoken in opposing COVID vaccines, charging that public health authorities were conducting “experimentation on the entire world population,” and slamming the Catholic church for going along with it.

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“McDonald’s is acting like the country of Switzerland in a war – or a girl being fought over for a prom date.”

Trump and Harris Are Fighting Over The ‘McDonald’s Vote’ (Marsden)

Times sure have changed. It used to be that US presidential candidates argued about who best served in the military. Now, it’s about who best served up fries. The “McDonald’s vote” has arguably never mattered more than it does in this election. Republican former (and potential future) President Donald Trump showed up at a McDonald’s franchise in Feasterville, Pennsylvania recently, tied on an apron and worked the drive-thru window serving up french fries. He joked that after 15 minutes, he had worked longer at McDonald’s than his Democratic opponent, Vice-President Kamala Harris, who had said that she worked at the world-renowned fast-food chain in her youth. An online army subsequently took to the review site Yelp in an all-out online assault against the restaurant that hosted the campaign stunt. “The atmosphere was creepy with a convicted felon and adjudicated rapist behind the counter. Yuk,” wrote one reviewer, referencing Trump’s legal woes.

“Customer service was a joke. Senile old man got bronzer on my fries, didn’t wear gloves. Repeated himself several times,” said another. “Usually I hold high praise for a company that employs the mentally impaired but this one seemed more off than usual,” added yet another. And it went on and on for pages…until Yelp disabled user submissions. It was Harris who first made the restaurant a campaign war zone. “I worked at @McDonalds when I was a student, doing french fries and ice cream. There wasn’t a family relying on me to pay the bills – but that’s the reality for too many workers today. Proud to stand with @SEIU today for livable wages and a safe working environment,” she tweeted in June 2024, addressing the two million nationwide employees of the Service Employees International Union. McDonald’s is acting like the country of Switzerland in a war – or a girl being fought over for a prom date.

“McDonald’s does not endorse candidates for elected office and that remains true in this race for the next President. We are not red or blue – we are golden,” the company said in a statement. So, what’s the big deal about McDonald’s? It’s about more than just economic policy in an election where that’s the number one issue. “I think part of the difference between me and my opponent includes our perspective on the needs of the American people and what our responsibility, then, is to meet those needs,” Harris said, trying to explain in an MSNBC interview why she even brought up McDonald’s in the first place. But that doesn’t explain why McDonald’s strikes such a cultural nerve, or why that’s particularly the case right now.

North Americans, notably Generation X and older, relate to McDonald’s on a visceral level because of its cameo appearances in so many core memories. The birthday parties in the McDonald’s play park or caboose. Walking in the door under the Golden Arches at the crack of dawn after all-night high school graduation celebrations, passing friends dozing off with their heads on tables en route to buying some hotcakes and syrup. The community sports events featuring McD’s famously bright “orange drink.” Hitting the drive-thru after gymnastics practice to wolf down Big Macs to give hard working parents an affordable reprieve from cooking after a long day. Dates that consisted of a trip through the drive-thru for a picnic in a local park. Counting the minutes until Saint Patrick’s Day, because it meant mint green Shamrock Shakes. Looking forward to a first job experience working with friends from the neighborhood.

Those were the golden years of the Golden Arches, and of America, which are virtually synonymous with each other – as much in their former greatness as in their perceived decline. If things were still so great, then why is there so much nostalgia for those days? Now, people complain en masse about the ice cream machines being broken. The prices skyrocketed, with menu items costing on average 40% more just since 2019 alone, according to the company’s president himself. The cabooses vanished. McDonalds tried to be more sober and serious with its color scheme, making it seem less inviting and more like a Judgy McJudgerson, towards people going in for a quick sundae while dressed in a wet swimsuit and flip flops, with just a towel wrapped around your waist after swim practice (not that I would know anything about that).

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“..disruption of global supply chains, which forced US authorities to cannibalize parts from B-52s to keep others airworthy. Such cannibalization rates have grown 200% since 2019..”

US Unable to Operate Modified B-52s Before 2033 (Sp.)

The newest B-52J variant of the US B-52 Stratofortress strategic aircraft won’t be complete until 2033, The National Interest reports. The modernization plan that would involve installing new Rolls-Royce F130 engines, enhanced Raytheon navigation systems and several other improvements was heavily criticized by the Government Accountability Office, which stated that the program failed to develop “formal cost or schedule estimates”, the National Security Journal reported earlier. Another issue the whole B-52 series faced, is the disruption of global supply chains, which forced US authorities to cannibalize parts from B-52s to keep others airworthy. Such cannibalization rates have grown 200% since 2019, the DefenseNews portal wrote. The B-52 bombers – one of three pillars of US nuclear triad – were first deployed 60 years ago, but the number of operable units has since dropped to less than 80.

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“..the main function of BRICS is its status as an anti-monopoly group, ensuring competition by restricting the monopolist, in this case on a global scale.”

BRICS Summit Will Eventually Be Seen As A Milestone (Lukyanov)

This week’s BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, caused a stir, which is understandable. It was a major event in terms of both representation and concept. Everyone is free to evaluate it in their own way, but it cannot be dismissed an unimportant. If we turn away from the ceremonial and social part of the event, we should distinguish two aspects of the international assembly, which are related but don’t coincide. The first is meaningful measures agreed, or shall we say: concrete results, in the here and now. Here, a discerning commentator will notice that there are more declarations than practical plans. Ambitious areas of action have been declared, but only as tasks. There is a basic consensus on the issues discussed (an achievement in itself, given the very diversity of participants and guests), but in some places it’s very streamlined.

Finally, contrary to talk of BRICS ushering in a fundamentally new world order, the final declaration devotes considerable space to supporting the more effective functioning of existing institutions, from the UN Security Council to the International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization. The second is long-term. In this respect, the Kazan forum may be seen as a milestone. BRICS has reached a new level, where a prestigious but rather amorphous club has now become a significant meeting place. It is necessary to be at the table because, firstly, important things are being discussed there and, secondly, a key global trend is taking shape. Namely, an alternative space to the one organized around the institutions (and interests) of the West. In a sense, the main function of BRICS is its status as an anti-monopoly group, ensuring competition by restricting the monopolist, in this case on a global scale.

The fight against cartels is never easy, in any context. It’s a long process, but it has begun and it’s actually developing faster than might have been expected. The conditions have been in place for some time. So, the main thing about BRICS, no matter how many problems and oddities arise in and around this community, is that it corresponds to the rationale of the development of the global system. The importance of progress along all these lines varies for different members of the association; for some it is a priority, for others it’s more like “why not?” But this difference of opinion does not change the direction of travel.

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“..interest payments on U.S. government debt increased from $31 billion in 1970 to more than $1 trillion today.”

Americans Are More Dependent Than Ever on Government Handouts (ET)

Payments from the government have become the fastest-growing source of income for Americans, according to a new study. A report by the Economic Innovation Group (EIG), a public policy research organization, titled “The Great Transfer-mation,” states that Americans have become substantially more dependent on government support, with the share of national income coming from transfer payments more than doubling over the past 50 years. Transfer payment programs include Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, unemployment and disability, food stamps, and veterans’ benefits. Transfer payments increased from 8 percent of U.S. total income in 1970 to 18 percent today, the report states, crowding out private income from wages and investments.

“There is a large range of experiences driving transfer reliance across communities,” Benjamin Glasner, EIG economist and one of the report’s authors, told The Epoch Times. “But it’s unavoidable to look at the fact that transfer reliance has grown rapidly across the country, and it’s something we need to deal with.” According to Federal Reserve data, government transfer payments increased from about $70 billion in 1970 to more than $6 trillion in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, before falling back to the current level of $4.3 trillion. According to the EIG report, if government transfer payments were spread evenly among all Americans, they would have amounted to an annual payment of $11,500 per person in 2022. One factor driving much of the shift from private income to government dependence is that the U.S. population is, on average, getting older.

According to demographic data from USAfacts, the percentage of Americans 65 years and older increased from 13.1 percent of the population in 2010 to 17.3 percent in 2022. During the same period, the percentage of Americans under the age of 20 fell from 26.9 percent to 24.4 percent. “The primary driver that we found in our report is demographic related, specifically the fact that the country has aged so rapidly,” Glasner said. “And the transfer programs that target that aging population also have grown significantly more expensive over time.” Of all government assistance payments in 2022, 56 percent went to the elderly, mostly for Medicare, the EIG report stated. Health care costs were a major factor, both because more Americans qualified for Medicare and Medicaid, and because the cost of medical treatment rose significantly. According to data compiled by Peterson-KFF, a health care policy analytics organization, total health spending in the United States was $74.1 billion in 1970.

By 2022 total health spending was $4.5 trillion, indicating an exponential increase in medical costs per capita. The growth in transfer payments have taken their toll on state and federal budgets. The 2024 Pension Solvency and Performance Report, authored by Ryan Frost and Mariana Trujillo for Reason Foundation’s Pension Integrity Project, stated that public pensions are increasingly falling behind on their ability to pay. As of 2023, the authors state, total unfunded public pension liabilities across the United States hit $1.59 trillion, and the median funded ratio was 76 percent. The U.S. federal deficit is currently $1.8 trillion, and interest payments on U.S. government debt increased from $31 billion in 1970 to more than $1 trillion today.

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Gun manufacturers.

Gun and Torts Liability to Collide in Mexican Case Before the SCOTUS (Turley)

This month, there is a new case on the docket after the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos. The First Circuit reversed a trial court that dismissed the case, alleging that the American firearms industry is legally responsible for violence in Mexico. I believe the First Circuit is dead wrong and will be reversed. However, as a torts professor, there is a question of whether the tort element of proximate cause could be materially changed in the case. Torts professors are already lining up to argue that there is a proximate cause under existing doctrines to hold the firearms industry. I respectfully disagree. In the petition, Smith and Wesson and other gun manufacturers challenge the claim, including the argument that their sale of lawful firearms in the United States is the proximate or legal cause for the carnage in Mexico. They note that Mexico has long been riddled with violence and corruption connected to the extensive drug industry in that country.

In my view, the trial court dismissed the case correctly under the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). That was passed to bar suits against firearms companies based on criminals using these products for criminal or intentionally tortious acts. However, the First Circuit reversed on the ground that Mexico has made a legally cognizable case that gun manufacturers aided and abetted firearms trafficking that has harmed the Mexican government. The First Circuit is an outlier in this case and ignores both the purpose of the law and basic tort principles of proximate causation. The Court has accepted the review on two questions:

1. Whether the production and sale of firearms in the United States is the “proximate cause” of alleged injuries to the Mexican government stemming from violence committed by drug cartels in Mexico.

2. Whether the production and sale of firearms in the United States amounts to “aiding and abetting” illegal firearms trafficking because firearms companies allegedly know that some of their products are unlawfully trafficked.

PLCAA was enacted to require dismissal at the inception of lawsuits like this, and other courts have recognized that. The First Circuit’s decision creates a circuit split. Mexico’s complaint is wildly off base both factually and legally. It suggests that these companies are effectively funneling guns to criminal gangs in Mexico by producing products that they have used in criminal conduct. The First Circuit adopted an analogy that destroyed the credibility of its decision: Imagine that a U.S. company sent a mercenary unit of combat troops to attack people in Mexico City. Such an attack would directly cause Mexico itself the expense of paying soldiers to defend the city. Proximate cause would be quite clear. So, too, here, where the defendants are alleged to have armed the attackers for their continuing assaults.

Is that the best these federal judges could come up with? There is a vast difference between the United States sending a combat unit across the border and manufacturers who supply distributors who serve dealers who sell lawful products to consumers. That sounds more like The Merchandisers than The Expendables. PLCAA specifically bars any “qualified civil liability action” against gun manufacturers and licensees. Any action filed against a federal firearms licensee for damages or other relief resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm is expressly addressed in the statute under § 7902 of PLCAA: “A qualified civil liability action … shall be immediately dismissed by the court in which the action was brought or is currently pending.”

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$24 trillion.

UK Refuses To Discuss Slave Trade Compensation (RT)

The Commonwealth of Nations has submitted a formal request for “discussions” with the UK on compensation for the transatlantic slave trade. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer tried but failed to keep the subject off the agenda of a major gathering in the Pacific island of Samoa. The Commonwealth is made up of over 50 countries, most of which are former territories of the British Empire. The UK has ruled out any money payment and so far refused to make a formal apology. Last year, the Brattle Group, an economic consulting firm, concluded that the UK owed more than £18 trillion ($24 trillion) in reparations for its involvement in slavery in 14 Caribbean countries. Starmer had previously rejected compensation talks, saying that the UK would neither be “offering an apology” nor paying reparations for the atrocities spanning three centuries.

However 56 member states signed a communique branding slavery a “crime against humanity.” It also calls for “discussions on reparatory justice with regard to the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel enslavement.” “The time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity,” the document states, adding that the leaders will continue to play “an active role in bringing about such inclusive conversations addressing these harms.” Earlier this month, British tabloid The Daily Mail claimed that a group of Caribbean countries were seeking “an astonishing £200 billion” ($261 billion) in compensation for slavery at the meeting in Samoa.

During a press conference after the summit, Starmer admitted that slavery was “abhorrent,” but refused to address the idea of a payout. “I should be really clear here, in the two days we’ve been here, none of the discussions have been about money. Our position is very, very clear in relation to that,” he said, maintaining that the summit’s agenda was mainly focused on “resilience and climate.” In August, UN judge Patrick Robinson said that the UK cannot ignore calls for slavery reparations, highlighting that the amount calculated by the Brattle Group was an “underestimation” of the damage caused by the discarded institution.

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“Vucic admitted that the tenacity of the “fantastic” Russian economy has been surprising.”

Serbian President Calls Russian Central Bank Chief ‘A Genius’ (RT)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has lauded the work of Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina, noting that her country’s economy has remained buoyant despite the challenges it has faced over the past several years. The comment was made a day after the regulator raised its key interest rate by 200 basis points to a record high of 21%, citing persistent inflation that “considerably” exceeded its July forecast of 6.5-7.0% for this year. Commenting on the hike, Nabiullina said that inflation is projected to be double the regulator’s target of 4% annually, emphasizing that the bank remains committed to bringing it down to the target level. In a televised interview with TV Prva, Vucic admitted that the tenacity of the “fantastic” Russian economy has been surprising.

“I have to admit that I am surprised by the resilience of the Russian economy. Nabiullina is a genius,” the president said, while stressing that it is very difficult for the wartime economy to function under the current conditions. The head of state also said that he skipped last week’s BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan because of the “consequences” that could arise if other meetings were cancelled. Serbia’s delegation to the summit was led by the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin, as well as Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic, Economy Minister Adrijana Mesarovic and Nenad Popovic, the minister who oversees international economic cooperation. Vucic expressed hope that he “retained the respect of both sides,” adding that Serbia’s policy will not change overnight.

Earlier this week, the president suggested that Serbia could have a referendum on joining BRICS in light of the economic bloc’s growing popularity in the country. According to research cited by Vucic, 42% of Serbs are in favor of integration with the EU, while another 42% are supportive of the idea of joining BRICS. The Balkan country applied to join the EU in 2009 and has been a candidate since 2012. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin has accused Brussels of moving the goalposts for accession, most recently by linking Belgrade’s membership to severing relations with Moscow. Despite mounting pressure from Brussels, Belgrade has opted to reject the sanctions imposed on Moscow by Kiev’s Western allies, officially pledging neutrality in the Ukraine conflict and maintaining trade relations with both Russia and the West.

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“The new law is aimed at tackling a shortage of commanding staff in Kiev’s armed forces..”

“A Ukrainian [officer] might feel sorry for another Ukrainian and not send him to a certain death. But this is not what Zelensky is being paid for..”

Zelensky Allows Foreign Mercenaries To Serve As Ukrainian Army Officers (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has signed a law allowing foreign mercenaries to serve as officers in the country’s military during the conflict with Russia. The Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed the relevant legislation on October 10. On Friday, it was signed into law by Zelensky, according to the website of the Ukrainian government. The move means that foreigners who have a contract with the Ukrainian military can now become not only privates or sergeants, but also have positions of authority in the army, regardless of their citizenship. When the law was being discussed in September, the deputy head of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense and intelligence, Egor Chernev, explained that it was needed to address the lack of commanding staff in the armed forces.

“We all understand the current situation with the officer corps. There are problems. Indeed, we have a shortage,” Chernev told the broadcaster Rada at the time. There is interest among former officers from foreign countries in joining the Ukrainian forces, he insisted. Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested in a post on Telegram on Saturday that Zelensky signed the law “so that foreign commanders could finish off the Ukrainians more actively, by throwing them into ‘meat assaults.’” “A Ukrainian [officer] might feel sorry for another Ukrainian and not send him to a certain death. But this is not what Zelensky is being paid for,” she wrote. In March, the Russian Defense Ministry said that at least 13,387 mercenaries from foreign countries had arrived in Ukraine since the escalation between Moscow and Kiev began in February 2022.

Most of them were from Poland (2,960), Georgia (1,042), the US (1,113), Canada (1,005) and UK (822). According to the ministry, at least 5,962 of those soldiers of fortune have been killed in the fighting with the Russian forces. This spring, faced with manpower shortages, mounting losses and military setbacks in the conflict with Russia, Ukraine lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 and significantly tightened mobilization rules, obliging potential recruits to report to conscription offices for “data validation,” which often means a trip straight to the front. Multiple videos have popped up on social media in recent months, showing conscription officers trying to snatch people in the streets, gyms and shopping malls.

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“..once an Israeli tank crewman, returned to Lebanon as a US envoy, not to protect peace but to redefine it on Tel Aviv’s terms..”

US Envoy’s Diplomatic Cover For Israeli Expansion (Raiss)

On 21 October, Amos Hochstein, born in Israel in 1973 and once an Israeli tank crewman, returned to Lebanon as a US envoy, not to protect peace but to redefine it on Tel Aviv’s terms. The irony is undeniable: Israel, having lost 28 tanks in almost as many days during its latest invasion attempt, now sends one of its former tank crew members, not in battle, but in diplomacy – to achieve through words what military force could not secure: control over Lebanon through revisions to UN Resolution 1701. Hochstein’s mission may appear to be an act of diplomacy, but is it really about fostering peace? Or is he aligning with Israeli policy to reframe control while eroding Lebanon’s sovereignty? The diplomatic veneer only thinly conceals the underlying agenda of control.

The Israeli playbook of manipulating peace processes is nothing new. In a 2001 leaked video, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted about his manipulation of the Oslo Accords, using vague phrases like “military facilities” to tighten Israeli control over contested areas. Netanyahu openly stated, “America is something that you can easily maneuver,” hinting at the ease with which Israeli influence shapes US diplomacy – a dynamic that is evident today in Hochstein’s actions. The Israeli army veteran’s push for amendments to Resolution 1701 is a clear continuation of this strategy: advancing the occupation state’s interests under the guise of diplomacy from Washington. Just as Netanyahu reinterpreted the Oslo Accords to solidify Israeli control, Hochstein’s proposed changes to 1701 seek to turn it into a tool for extending Tel Aviv’s influence. This is not diplomacy for peace; it is diplomacy for power.

Resolution 1701, passed by the UN Security Council on 11 August 2006, marked a critical point for Israel, which found itself unable to defeat Hezbollah during the July War despite its advanced military capabilities. Brokered by then-US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the ceasefire allowed Israel a face-saving exit under the guise of diplomacy rather than face a prolonged, unwinnable battle. But the resolution has since been a point of ongoing contention – one Israel has repeatedly violated. One notable violation is Israel’s continued occupation of Shebaa Farms, which contravenes both Resolution 1701 and the earlier Resolution 425. Hezbollah’s decision to remain armed, often criticized internationally and in some quarters domestically, becomes a logical and legally justified response under international law, given Israel’s occupation of Lebanese land. The ongoing presence of Israeli forces undermines the very peace that Resolution 1701 aimed to establish.

Tel Aviv’s disregard for the resolution extends beyond territorial occupation. Since 2013, Israel has repeatedly violated Lebanese airspace to conduct strikes on Syria, treating Lebanon’s skies like an unguarded backdoor for foreign interventions. This belligerent behavior is akin to a trespasser using a neighbor’s yard to attack another – an act that undermines Lebanon’s sovereignty entirely. In August 2019, a significant escalation occurred when Israel launched a drone strike in Beirut, which then-president Michel Aoun condemned as a “declaration of war.” Moreover, Israel’s occupation of the northern part of Ghajar village further violates both the Blue Line and Resolution 1701. Despite UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces deploying south of the Litani River, Israel’s persistent refusal to withdraw ensures that peace remains elusive, leaving Lebanon under the constant threat of Israeli aggression.

The amendments proposed by Hochstein to Resolution 1701 reveal Israel’s broader strategy of using international mechanisms to further its objectives. These changes would extend UNIFIL’s jurisdiction two kilometers north of the Litani River, allowing international forces to conduct searches, patrols, and inspections without requiring approval from Lebanese authorities. These inspections can include searching vehicles, private properties, and suspected weapons sites. Effectively, this is a demand for Lebanon to cede control over its own territory – a clear infringement on its sovereignty. Under the guise of peacekeeping, this would grant Israel indirect control over Lebanon’s internal security dynamics, especially since intelligence for these operations may be influenced by, or even originate from, Israeli sources.

Brzezinski

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“Iran winning – the Resistance winning therefore – is very much a Russian interest..”

A Stunning De-Capitation? The Netanyahu “Madness” (Alastair Crooke)

A major war between Israel and Iran is soon likely to erupt – so says Israel’s Defence Minister Gallant. It will be initiated when Israel launches its long mooted strike on Iran. Gallant has promised that Israel’s strike on Iran will be “lethal, precise and especially surprising”, adding that Iran “won’t understand what happened to it, or how”. ‘How’ so – an interesting choice of words. As of this morning, there is no sign of the lethal response promised by Gallant. It would appear that Israel which initially attached importance to responding swiftly and directly, is awaiting the THAAD anti-ballistic missile batteries to be set up – and for the U.S. troops that will operate them to arrive in Israel. THAAD likely is no ‘game-changer’. Iran proved on 1 October its ability to saturate and overwhelm Israeli Air Defence capabilities through two successive volleys of incoming ballistic missiles.

The point here about the THAAD arrival is that, on the one hand, Israel is running short of intercept missiles, and secondly, that drawing the U.S. into a war between the U.S. and Iran – is hugely more important for Netanyahu than keeping to timetable. The THAAD batteries paradoxically might do just that (draw the U.S. into the war). With U.S. forces now deployed on the ground in support of Israel’s military kinetic action against Iran, Israel effectively inserts an American ‘tripwire’ into the war drama: Should American soldiers be killed, then the U.S. is at war with Iran; It would feel bound to react forcefully to the deaths of American soldiers. Netanyahu has been wanting this war for 25 years. He can now see it taking solid shape – directly in front of his eyes. It comes too, from his perspective, at an benign juncture – just before the U.S. elections in which almost every candidate vies to pronounce his or her fealty to Israel.

To be clear, this is no ‘small beer’. It may evolve into a major conflict with Russia, should Tehran be threatened. Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its inhuman – beyond all Rules of War – bombing of civilians in Lebanon to force a terrorised submission, has turned Russia into a full partner with Iran. Russia therefore, has worked hard to supplement Iranian defences with their own top-of-the-line defence systems. Russia’s role however likely will be confined to providing Iran with this defence assistance: Russian ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance); its latest electronic warfare system; certain missiles; and possibly S-400 Air Defence missiles (though their arrival in Iran has not been confirmed). Russia will have a prime interest in observing how these weapons perform against an Israeli strike. Should they function well, it will provide a major boost to Russian general deterrence.

And here lies the key point: For Israeli Zionists and American neocons, the path to a de-fanged Moscow is viewed as passing through a de-capitated and defeated Tehran. Iran winning – the Resistance winning therefore – is very much a Russian interest. Excited by Israel’s de-capitation of much of the Hizbullah senior leadership, and heartened perhaps by unauthorised (and wrong) signalling from Iran that it might respond perfunctorily to an Israeli strike, Team Biden might well perceive a new Zionist-led Middle East about to be born. Will the Joint Chiefs at the Pentagon intervene to stop the march to conflict – as they did over Blinken’s escalation plans in Ukraine? It seems unlikely. They have unreservedly supported Israel up to now. And they have agreed to send the THAAD batteries.

The Joint Chiefs certainly will have experienced the strong pro-Israeli sentiment in Congress, in marked contrast to the growing disenchantment with Ukraine. Yet, taking on Iran – supported by Russia and China – is no small thing: Is it truly ‘winnable’? What if it isn’t? What if Israel loses – and therefore America loses? It would be an earthquake; a humiliation that would shake the western world.

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“Shelters have been emptied and burned down…families have been separated, and men and boys taken away by the truckload..”

Entire Northern Gaza Population At Risk Of Dying – UN (RT)

What Israeli forces are doing in besieged Gaza during their ongoing war against Hamas cannot be allowed to continue, the United Nation’s top humanitarian official has said. “The entire population of north Gaza is at risk of dying,” Joyce Msuya, acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, warned on Saturday, in a post on X (formerly Twitter). According to the official, hospitals in the region have been hit, health workers detained and first responders prevented from rescuing people trapped under the rubble amid ongoing Israeli military operations. “Shelters have been emptied and burned down…families have been separated, and men and boys taken away by the truckload,” she said, adding that “such blatant disregard for basic humanity and for the laws of war must stop.”

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, echoed the warning, having voiced deep concerns over the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza. He also highlighted the severe impact of the ongoing hostilities on healthcare in the region. “Intensive military operations unfolding around and within healthcare facilities and a critical shortage of medical supplies, compounded by severely limited access, are depriving people of life saving care,” Ghebreyesus wrote on X on Saturday. The WHO Director-General added that Kamal Adwan Hospital in the city of Jabalia, one of the few functioning medical facilities in northern Gaza, has been severely impacted, with only a limited number of staff remaining to care for nearly 200 patients after the detention of 44 male personnel. Earlier this week, the Health Ministry in the Palestinian enclave claimed that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stormed the hospital, detaining hundreds of staff, patients and displaced people.

The IDF insisted it was operating in and around the facility based on “intelligence information regarding the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in the area”. “In the weeks preceding the operation, the IDF facilitated the evacuation of patients from the area while maintaining emergency services,” it added in a post on social media on Friday. West Jerusalem has been repeatedly accused of indiscriminately targeting civilians in Gaza. According to the enclave’s health officials, over 42,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 97,000 wounded since the fighting between Hamas and Israel erupted in October 2023. The IDF has dismissed allegations of committing war crimes, arguing that Hamas is using Palestinian civilians as human shields. More than a year into the conflict, around 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced, most of them multiple times, according to UN estimates.

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Trump Likely to Win in All Swing States – Election Betting Odds (Sp.)
Nate Silver Predicts Trump Will Win Presidential Election Next Month (JTN)
Polymarket Is Scanning For US Users As Election Odds Skew Toward Trump (CT)
GOP Early-Voting Turnout In Nevada Amazes Veteran Observer, Alarms Dems (ZH)
Tulsi Gabbard Joins Republican Party (RT)
Bill Gates Funds Harris With $50 Million Donation (Sp.)
Harris To Deliver ‘Closing Argument Speech’ On The Ellipse Next Week (JTN)
LA Times Owner Blocks Harris Endorsement (RT)
World ‘Tired’ of US-led West – RT Editor-in-Chief (RT)
BRICS Summit: Marching Towards A New World Order (Bordachev)
Kremlin Orders Delay In New Electric War Attacks (Helmer)
Ukraine War Ending Scenarios (Barton)
THAAD Idea Is Like All Of Biden’s So Far With Israel. A Miscalculation (Jay)
Musk Mania (Jonathan Turley)
Meteorite That Caused Earth’s Oceans to Boil Helped Early Life Thrive (Sp.)

 

 

 

 

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After declaring Hillary a sure win in 2016, pollsters are no longer trusted. It’s betting firms now.

Trump Likely to Win in All Swing States – Election Betting Odds (Sp.)

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is likely to win in all swing states and get reelected as a result, according to the data released by Election Betting Odds on Tuesday. The betting firm put Trump’s odds of winning Arizona at 72.1%, Georgia at 70.5%, North Carolina at 66.5%, Pennsylvania at 61.5%, Nevada at 60.7%, Michigan at 59.5% and Wisconsin at 57.5%, while Trump’s Democratic rival Kamala Harris is projected to lose them all. Trump’s odds of winning the election stand at 60.3%, while Harris’ chances are estimated at only 39.1%. The analysis predicts that Trump will secure 312 electoral votes, versus Harris’ 226. The service sums up data provided by Betfair, Smarkets, PredictIt, Polymarket and Kalshi, and updates the information every 20 minutes.

According to a poll conducted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Trump is leading Harris by four percentage points in the swing state of Georgia. The Republican candidate got 47% support, while the Democratic nominee was supported by 43% of those polled. However, the daily noted that 8% of likely voters said they were still undecided, which could change the outcome. The poll was conducted on October 7-16 among 1,000 likely voters in Georgia, with a 3.1 percentage point margin of error. A separate Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Harris leading Trump by three percentage points nationally, 46% to 43%.

When asked about their approach to immigration and economic challenges, respondents favored Trump, who led 46% to 38% on the economy and 48% to 35% on immigration. Over 4,100 US adults took part in the Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted online nationwide on October 15-21. Trump and Harris have been running neck-and-neck in the seven swing states ahead of the November 5 presidential election. These states, also referred to as battleground states, are seen as pivotal for either candidate to secure victory.

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You expect some kind of scientific method, but you get: ‘C’mon, Nate, what’s your gut say?’

Nate Silver Predicts Trump Will Win Presidential Election Next Month (JTN)

Veteran pollster Nate Silver on Tuesday said his “gut feeling” is that former President Donald Trump will win the presidential election next month, but that the race is still up in the air. The prediction, which was published in a New York Times op-ed, comes as an aggregate of polls on RealClearPolling shows Trump winning the electoral college, while Vice President Kamala Harris leads in the popular vote. But Trump’s lead in the swing states are within the margin of error in most polls. Silver has been tracking presidential elections since former President Barack Obama’s victory in 2008. “In an election where the seven battleground states are all polling within a percentage point or two, 50-50 is the only responsible forecast,” Silver wrote.

“Yet when I deliver this unsatisfying news, I inevitably get a question: ‘C’mon, Nate, what’s your gut say?’ So OK, I’ll tell you. My gut says Donald Trump. And my guess is that it is true for many anxious Democrats.” The pollster defended the gut feeling by observing that polls have underestimated Trump in the past two presidential elections. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the clear favorite in 2016, but lost to Trump, and Trump fared better than expected against President Joe Biden in 2020. Silver also noted that if Trump does win, one clear sign could be that Democrats no longer have the “clear edge” when it comes to party identification, because many more people now identify as Republicans.

The FiveThirtyEight founder also warned that polls could be wrong about Harris, since the pollsters are too focused on measuring support for Trump. One way these polls could be wrong is by weighing people based on who they believe they voted for in 2020. “People often misremember or misstate whom they voted for and are more likely to say they voted for the winner,” Silver wrote. “That could plausibly bias the polls against Harris because people who say they voted for Biden but actually voted for Trump will get flagged as new Trump voters when they aren’t.”

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“Almost $2.3 billion in bets have been placed in Polymarket’s “Presidential Election Winner 2024” market..”

Polymarket Is Scanning For US Users As Election Odds Skew Toward Trump (CT)

Crypto predictions platform Polymarket is reportedly checking to ensure whales placing big bets on the United States presidential election are based overseas, as US users are banned from the platform. “Polymarket is in the process of re-checking the details of users of its platform, particularly those making large wagers, to ensure compliance with its rules,” a report from Bloomberg said on Oct. 22, citing a person familiar with the matter. While Polymarket has systems in place to block US users from its website, concerns have been raised that US residents may be circumventing the blockage via virtual private networks — prompting Polymarket to do more due diligence. It follows speculation that a handful of large whales are skewing the odds for the November US presidential election in favor of Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump.

Almost $2.3 billion in bets have been placed in Polymarket’s “Presidential Election Winner 2024” market, which currently favors Trump (63.7%) over Vice President Kamala Harris (36.2%). The whereabouts of Polymarket whale “Fredi9999” have attracted considerable attention, as more than $20 million has been placed on Republican outcomes so far. Trump also leads Harris on competitor prediction platform Kalshi at 60%. Still, Trump’s lead in the crypto prediction markets isn’t currently reflected in most voter polls, including a Reuters poll with Harris in front at 46% to 43%. In response to Polymarket media scrutiny, Kalshi founder Tarek Mansour said Polymarket’s results are accurate and not caused by inorganic manipulation. “The median bet size on Harris is larger than the median bet size on Donald Trump, with the median bet for Harris coming in at $85 compared with Trump’s $58.”

Billionaire and Polymarket investor Mark Cuban said most of the bets placed on Polymarket’s US election market are coming from overseas – and as a result, are not a true reflection of eligible voter sentiment. “From all indications, most of the money coming into Polymarket is foreign money, so I don’t think it’s an indication of anything,” Cuban said in an interview with CNBC Squawk Box on Oct. 21. Polymarket reached a $1.4 million settlement with the United States commodities regulator back in January 2022 for offering more than 900 event-based binary options event markets without obtaining registration. In a different case, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission partially lost a lawsuit it filed against Kalshi in September. The court ruled that the commodities regulator had “exceeded its statutory authority” by ordering the US-based entity to suspend its election markets.

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“Statewide, Republicans account for 52% of in-person early voting, Democrats are just 28%, and “other” is 20%.”

GOP Early-Voting Turnout In Nevada Amazes Veteran Observer, Alarms Dems (ZH)

Warning lights have been flashing all over the Democrats’ 2024 dashboard, and now a new one is pointing to big trouble for Kamala Harris in the battleground state of Nevada, where early voting results show that GOP voters are actually outnumbering Democrats. Across the country, Democrats typically account for a majority of early votes, and Nevada has been no exception — until now. “The numbers look pretty GOP so far, and that never happens in a presidential year,” wrote veteran Nevada political reporter Jon Ralston in a Tuesday afternoon blog post at the Nevada Independent. Democrats lead statewide mail-in voting by 17,298, but Republicans lead in-person voting by a whopping 25,173 — even beating Dems in Clark County and Washoe County, homes of Las Vegas and Reno, respectively.

Statewide, Republicans account for 52% of in-person early voting, Democrats are just 28%, and “other” is 20%. “Those in-person numbers are startling,” wrote Ralston, who’s been covering Silver State politics for three decades. “A few more days like this…and the Democratic bedwetting will reach epic proportions.” Another dynamic of Americans politics is the big distinction between urban and rural voting patterns, with cities reliably delivering large volumes of Democratic votes. In Nevada, the dynamic is perhaps even more pronounced, with Democrats’ statewide fortunes largely tied to the so-called “Clark firewall.” However, so far in 2024, that barrier is looking mighty short. “The Clark firewall is only 6,500, about a seventh of what it was in 2020,” wrote Ralston.

The bigger picture is even worse for the Democrats: “The [Republican voter-turnout] lead in rural Nevada is more than double the [Democrat] lead in urban Nevada,” he wrote. The sea change prompted Ralston to declare that we’re witnessing a new dynamic in the 2024 cycle: “The [GOP] rural firewall. It’s a thing.” The departure from norms could also have implications for what we see on Election Day: “It’s clear there are more Republicans voting early and by mail, which raises the possibility that Election Day may not be as robust for the GOP.” Extrapolating the results, Ralston concludes that “it means Kamala Harris has to win indies by close to double digits if this turnout scenario holds.” He cautioned that we’ve only three days into 14 days of early voting, and that results could shift.

However, he continued, “If this becomes a trend and not an anomaly, it will be over.” There’s also a Senate race in Nevada this year, pitting Republican challenger Sam Brown against incumbent Democrat Jacky Rosen. The Cook Political Report rates the race as “Lean D,” while Polymarket bettors collectively have Democrat Rosen at an 80% chance of winning. That’s a big variance from the presidential race, where Polymarket gives Trump a 65% chance of taking the state’s six electoral votes. No Republican presidential candidate has won the state since George W. Bush beat John Kerry by a 50.5% to 47.9% margin in 2004… but it looks like the table is being set for an end to that decades-long losing streak.

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“..anti-freedom, pro-censorship, pro-open borders, and pro-war..”

Tulsi Gabbard Joins Republican Party (RT)

Former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has endorsed Donald Trump in the race for the White House, announcing that she has joined the Republican Party. Gabbard, 43, served as a Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii and ran for the party’s presidential nomination in 2020. Previously deployed to Iraq and Kuwait, she became a fierce critic of US military interventions abroad. Gabbard left the Democrats in 2022, accusing the party of being “under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness.” The firebrand made a surprise appearance at Trump’s rally in the battleground state of North Carolina on Tuesday, where the Republican candidate introduced her as someone with “so much common sense.”

After taking the floor and embracing Trump, Gabbard lashed out at the Democratic Party, which she said has become “unrecognizable” in recent years.The Democrats, whose election candidate is Vice President Kamala Harris, are now “anti-freedom, pro-censorship, pro-open borders, and pro-war,” Gabbard claimed, adding that Trump “pledged to end wars, not start them.” Gabbard argued that Trump’s leadership has helped “transform the Republican Party and bring it back to the party of the people and the party of peace.” “I’m proud to stand here with you today, President Trump, and announce that I’m joining the Republican Party. I am joining the party of the people… It is the party of common sense and the party that is led by a president who has the courage and strength to fight for peace.”

The former Democrat has been a vocal critic of Harris’ career as a prosecutor and her foreign policy, particularly on the Ukraine conflict. Gabbard blasted the Democratic nominee as the “main instigator” of hostilities, suggesting that she crossed Russia’s red line by advocating for Kiev’s eventual accession to NATO. “For any objective-minded person, you can see why they wouldn’t want NATO missiles sitting in Ukraine… Kamala Harris has put us, the American people, in this position, where we are closer to the brink of World War III and nuclear war than we ever have been before,” she said. Gabbard’s position is in line with that of Trump, who has repeatedly called for a ceasefire while pledging to end hostilities between Moscow and Kiev within 24 hours if elected.

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“Gates has expressed concerns about the potential impact of a second Donald Trump presidency on global health and family planning programs..”

Bill Gates Funds Harris With $50 Million Donation (Sp.)

US billionaire Bill Gates has quietly donated $50 million to a nonprofit supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential run, The New York Times reported, citing three sources. While Gates hasn’t publicly endorsed Harris, his sizable donation was made to Future Forward, a “dark money” group backing her campaign. The funds were intended to remain anonymous, the report said. “Mr. Gates’s donation went specifically to Future Forward’s nonprofit arm, Future Forward USA Action, which as a 501(c)(4) ‘dark money’ organization does not disclose its donors, according to the people briefed. So any contribution by Mr. Gates will never appear on any public filing,” the media clarified. According to The New York Times, in private conversations this year with friends and others, Gates has expressed concerns about the potential impact of a second Donald Trump presidency on global health and family planning programs, The New York Times cited sources familiar with Gates’s thinking as saying.

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Where she will scream and screech that Trump is Hitler.

Harris To Deliver ‘Closing Argument Speech’ On The Ellipse Next Week (JTN)

Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver a “closing argument” speech on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., next week, exactly one week before the presidential election, senior campaign officials said. The location is the same place former President Donald Trump gave his infamous speech on January 6, 2021, before a crowd of his supporters descended on the Capitol. The Ellipse is a 52-acre park outside the South Lawn of the White House. The vice president’s advisors said the speech will contrast Trump’s January 6 speech, which a campaign official described as Trump’s worst moment in office, with Harris’s “optimistic vision” for the future, the campaign officials told NBC News. She will also encourage the nation to “turn the page on Trump.” The speech is expected to draw a crowd of approximately 7,750 people, according to a permit application that was filed with the National Park Service. The program will also include four to five speakers, and elected officials, according to CNN.

Harris’s advisers said the vice president will approach the address as a prosecutor, who is giving her closing statement to a jury of voters. The announcement comes after Harris delivered remarks at the Naval Observatory, the vice president’s home, in Washington on Wednesday, where she said Trump would “invoke” Adolf Hitler if elected back to the White House. Her remarks at that location have triggered debate over whether the vice president has violated the Hatch Act, which forbids federal government employees from engaging in political activity while on duty or in their official capacity as a federal employee, or try to sway an election. But vice presidents and presidents are usually exempt from the federal act to a degree, because of the dual nature of their roles as leaders and political figures.

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“..the LA Times is the most prominent newspaper in her home state of California..”

LA Times Owner Blocks Harris Endorsement (RT)

The owner of the Los Angeles Times has forbidden the paper’s editorial board from backing Kamala Harris in this year’s US presidential election, bucking two decades of Democratic endorsements, Semafor has reported. The editorial board was preparing to endorse Harris for the presidency, until Executive Editor Terry Tang intervened earlier this month and ordered them not to endorse anyone, Semafor reported on Tuesday, citing two anonymous sources. According to these sources, the order came directly from the paper’s owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong. A South African-born medical doctor and billionaire entrepreneur, Soon-Shiong bought the ailing LA Times in 2018. While he managed to reverse decades of losses and headcount reductions, the newspaper’s advertising revenue plummeted during the Covid-19 pandemic, and more than 100 employees were sacked earlier this year.

Soon-Shiong’s decision to block the endorsement of Harris will be seen as a major blow to the vice president, as the LA Times is the most prominent newspaper in her home state of California. The LA Times endorsed Republican candidates in every election from the 1880s until 1972, when it backed Richard Nixon against South Dakota Senator George McGovern. This decision, which came months after the Watergate scandal emerged, angered some of the newspaper’s reporters, and the LA Times did not endorse a presidential candidate again until it sided with Barack Obama in 2008. The LA Times has endorsed Democrats in every subsequent election. In a list of endorsements published last week, the editorial board noted that “this may be the most consequential election in a generation.” However, it made no further mention of the presidential race, instead endorsing more than two dozen mostly Democratic candidates for positions ranging from school boards to the US Senate.

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“It shows our fatigue – with them, with their hypocrisy, with their dictates. With their attempts to turn us into something different, with their attempts to chop off pieces from us..”

World ‘Tired’ of US-led West – RT Editor-in-Chief (RT)

The BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan signals that the world is “tired” of the dictates of the US-led collective West, RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has said. The gathering also exposes the West’s failed attempts to isolate Russia, she added. Speaking on Tuesday at an event marking the anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and China, the RT editor-in-chief recalled the words of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who once said that his country does not need foreign “masters” who attempt to interfere in internal affairs on the pretense of human rights concerns. The same can be heard in Russia from President Vladimir Putin, Simonyan stated. “We know the price of their [the West’s] hypocrisy when they talk about human rights, and this is being said by the same people who used drug trafficking and the most brutal, most disgusting ways to enslave a nation in an effort to force China not to be China – which they did during the Opium Wars,” Simonyan said.

She emphasized that the ongoing BRICS Summit in Kazan demonstrates the clear friendship between the countries attending the event, but also provides evidence of the West’s failed attempts to isolate Russia from the rest of the world. “It shows our fatigue – with them, with their hypocrisy, with their dictates. With their attempts to turn us into something different, with their attempts to chop off pieces from us,” Simonyan said. “We are all tired. Thank you for the fact that we are tired together and will eventually rest together when the truth prevails and this unipolar world, which is already in tatters, ceases to exist.” Leaders from around the world have gathered in Kazan for the 16th BRICS Summit on October 22-24.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is also attending, noted the significance of the summit for his organization, as the economic grouping represents nearly half of the global population. Guterres’ presence at the BRICS Summit has sparked criticism from Kiev, especially after he skipped this year’s Swiss-Ukraine ‘peace conference’. The BRICS Summit is set to host high-level bilateral talks and diplomatic discussions focused on multilateralism, with dozens of nations expressing interest in joining or working with the group. BRICS currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. The group represents approximately 46% of the world’s population and over 36% of global GDP, according to estimates from leading financial institutions.

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“In the case of BRICS, for the first time, Western countries did not initiate or lead the process.”

BRICS Summit: Marching Towards A New World Order (Bordachev)

International politics seems to be losing its ability to develop in a linear fashion. From a layman’s point of view, this is of course extremely sad. But if we look at what’s happening in the broader context, it can even inspire a certain optimism. This is mainly because, given the current balance of power, any unswerving development is guaranteed to lead us to a much greater, possibly global, tragedy. In other words, the extraordinarily tragic events that fill today’s news agenda are likely to conceal a gradual movement towards a more stable world, for which the constant revision of what we call the international order will be a matter of routine. But at the same time, the likelihood of a revolutionary scenario, to which the near monopoly of a small group of states would inevitably lead us, will be minimized.

In this context, the international community, and in particular its leading states, is constantly faced with the challenge of choosing between two forms of engagement with the outgoing world order: destruction and creation. Both are in dialectical interaction, and it would be strange to think that there is a clear and simple path to a new, more just world order. All the more so because the opponents of the international community, represented by a small group of countries led by the United States, are not only conducting vigorous defensive operations, but are themselves trying to create the conditions for preserving their current privileges in the future. And they have very solid resources and influence to mobilize – which are not limited to punitive instruments against dissidents.

Therefore, the path of revision of the international order that most of the world’s countries are now embarking on is certainly much more difficult than any attempt at revolutionary revision. Although – and this is encouraging – it leaves more opportunities for what is happening now to be studied in the future. Of all the efforts and initiatives that are rightly seen as driving the new world order, BRICS, the now nine-nation bloc – originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India and China – is arguably the most important. From the outset, it included states that had the potential to embody, in theory and in practice, fundamental changes in the balance of power. Therefore, the BRICS were not inherently inapplicable to the criteria of effectiveness developed by Western political science to assess the success of international organizations.

The creation of such an association was in itself a major achievement. Firstly, because it included countries with very different foreign policy interests. That is, their desire to act together was underpinned by sufficiently reliable objective circumstances to make cooperation between such different powers meaningful. Secondly, because the emergence of BRICS signaled from the outset the West’s inability to control the evolution of international governance. The last major achievement of the US and Europe in this area was the creation of the G20 in 2009, a group of countries chosen by the West to share responsibility with Washington for the damage caused to the global economy by the US financial crisis of 2008. But as none of the other G20 countries wanted to do so, the impact of the group’s activities was rather insignificant. At the same time, even though the G20 has almost completely lost its relevance, it is still used by large developing countries as a way to increase their international presence. In the case of BRICS, for the first time, Western countries did not initiate or lead the process.

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“Zelensky’s word isn’t worth the gas it takes to utter it.”

Kremlin Orders Delay In New Electric War Attacks (Helmer)

A two-month delay in Russian missile strikes against Ukrainian electricity infrastructure west of the Dnieper River and secret talks on end-of-war terms by the Kremlin go-between Vladimir Medinsky produced two signals from Kiev on Monday – one an offer by Vladimir Zelensky to reciprocate with a limit on Ukrainian missile and drone attacks on Russian territory. The second signal was a “consolation prize” from US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who was in Kiev to meet Zelensky, his defence minister Rustem Umerov, and Ukrainian Armed Forces commander Alexander Syrsky. From Zelensky’s press conference in Kiev, a Financial Times reporter wrote: “Russia putting an end to aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy targets and cargo ships could pave the way for negotiations to end the war, the Ukrainian president has said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy told journalists in Kyiv on Monday that ‘when it comes to energy and freedom of navigation, getting a result on these points would be a signal that Russia may be ready to end the war’…If Moscow and Kyiv agreed to end strikes on their respective energy infrastructures, it would be a significant step towards de-escalating the conflict, Zelenskyy said in reference to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries. ‘We saw during the first [peace] summit that there could be a decision on energy security. In other words: we do not attack their energy infrastructures, they don’t attack ours. Could this lead to the end of the war’s hot phase? I think so,’ he said.” Unusually, there has been no Pentagon readout after Austin’s meetings in Kiev.

Instead, there was a “statement” in advance that “during his engagements, the Secretary will meet with Ukrainian leadership and underscore the U.S. commitment to providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself from Russian aggression on the battlefield.” The geographic phrase, “on the battlefield”, is interpreted in Moscow to be the key. The Pentagon followed with a list of new military supplies tagged for “Ukraine’s urgently needed battlefield requirements.” CNN was briefed by Austin’s staff to emphasize the limited geography of the current US commitment. “A US defense official said that during their meeting, Austin emphasized to Zelensky the importance of Ukraine defending the territory it has taken inside Russia’s Kursk region and capitalizing on those gains, as well as fending off the Russians in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk…

Much of Austin’s later meeting with Umerov and Ukrainian Armed Forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi was also focused on Kursk, the defense official said, and the officials drilled down on military planning there for the next several months.” The New York Times was told to report: “The United States has agreed to give Ukraine $800 million in military aid that will go toward manufacturing long-range drones to use against Russian troops, Ukraine’s leader said on Monday…A Pentagon official, speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the issue, confirmed the move, which comes as the United States shifts its policy and moves toward shoring up Ukraine’s ability to fight the war with its own weapons and on its own terms…The decision to support long-range drone production in Ukraine may be a kind of consolation prize for Mr. Zelensky, who — despite repeated pleas — has so far failed to persuade Western partners to lift restrictions on using their long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russia.”

The US newspaper also quoted Umerov, standing beside Austin, as saying Ukraine would decide on its own what deep Russian territory targets to strike with the new drones the US is paying for it to produce on Ukrainian territory. “Ukraine’s defense minister, Rustem Umerov, said on Monday that Ukraine had invested more than $4 billion in its defence industry. Appearing alongside the U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, in Kyiv, he said that long-range drones could hit targets more than 1,000 miles away and that they had already destroyed more than 200 military facilities in Russia…The decision also shows a change in tactics for the West.” Sources in Moscow acknowledge the sequence of statements in time; they are uncertain of their meaning for the Russian General Staff and its chief, Valery Gerasimov. “It appears that they are husbanding the missiles”, said one. “I wonder if there is going to be a November surprise.” “It’s a fool’s bargain,” said another. “Noone except the Russian military can guarantee the Nazis won’t continue to attack. Zelensky’s word isn’t worth the gas it takes to utter it.”

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“Russia has its updated military doctrine to fall back on. The question of losing the war is completely discounted, as winning is considered a matter of “life and death.”

Ukraine War Ending Scenarios (Barton)

Scenario 1. Russia defeats Ukraine.
The unquestionable facts are that Russian troops keep steadily moving westward along the whole frontline in Ukraine. Just most recently, on 3 October 2024 they after heavy fighting, captured strategic town Vuhledar. Within the past two months the Russian army captured over 800 square km in Ukraine. Even the newly appointed, pushy NATO secretary general Mark Rutte has no doubts that it is so. The way he briefly described the military situation in Ukraine in his first press conference was as follows: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces are making advances in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s army has a shaky hold on part of the Kursk region in Russia, which has provided a temporary morale boost, but as casualties mount it remains outmanned and outgunned.

Should such a relentless military push continue, and one can hardly see how it could be stopped or reversed, it is moving toward victory. Even according to the least optimistic forecast, Russia is slowly but firmly moving to take over Ukrainian territory. Slowly, but surely. Will the use of long-range missiles deep inside Russian territory significantly alter the military situation? On September 6 this year, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was clear in stating that “The use of donated U.S. weapons for long-range strikes on Russia would not turn the tide of the war for Ukraine.” In the unlikely event of a slowdown in Russian military advance in Ukraine, Russia has its updated military doctrine to fall back on. The question of losing the war is completely discounted, as winning is considered a matter of “life and death.”

Scenario 2. Facing nuclear Armageddon
It is essential to recall that, back in June 2024, the future Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, advocated for all NATO member states to commit to participating in military operations outside of the alliance’s territory. This commitment went against the Hungarian president’s perception of his national interests, and he sought assurances from Mr. Rutte that Hungarian troops would not be sent to Ukraine. As we know, Hungary is normally obliged to defend each of the remaining 32 members if any of them is attacked by a non-member state, in line with Article 5 of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty, which forms the foundation of the alliance. Hungary also has obligations under the European Union’s (TEU) mutual defense clause. Interestingly, as requested by the U.S., NATO’s Article 5 formulation does not imply automatic U.S. involvement in any armed conflict. Secretary Rutte gave written assurances to Mr. Orban as he requested. However, this does not imply that NATO troops will not be sent to Ukraine.

If that were the case, Mr. Rutte would have dismissed Orban’s fears by saying that no NATO troops would be sent to Ukraine. But he didn’t say that. Instead, he simply stated that Hungarian troops would not be sent there. Puzzlingly, after taking over from Stoltenberg, he spoke about strengthening partnerships that NATO has established with other countries around the world, notably in Asia and the Middle East, and insisted on Ukraine’s place in the ranks of NATO. Is he then already planning to send NATO troops to Ukraine and other countries? He portrayed the authorization of the use of long-range missiles by Ukraine as legitimate and proposed to leave it to individual countries. Are there any other indications of future NATO intervention in Ukraine? Perhaps the most compelling piece of evidence comes from a Polish judge, Tomasz Schmidt, who defected to Belarus on 31 May 2024. During a press conference, he revealed that the Polish government had promised Biden to send Polish troops to fight against Russia in Ukraine if the U.S. wished so.

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“The truth is though that Iran does not want a war with Israel..”

THAAD Idea Is Like All Of Biden’s So Far With Israel. A Miscalculation (Jay)

The decision of Joe Biden to send THAAD missile system to Israel seemed like a tactical move, a strategic ace, some might argue. Biden has made it clear that Israel must not strike Iran’s military or its nuclear power infrastructure and that any such retaliation won’t be supported by the U.S. And so, in many ways, Israel is restricted now to reach out for low hanging fruit by bombing weapon sites in Syria and hitting Beirut. Netanyahu is like a shark at the bottom of the ocean. He has to keep a momentum going with war as the moment he stops, he sinks to the bottom and perishes. Hitting Iran is not as easy as it sounds. Israel cannot send fighter jets as the U.S. would have to offer refuelling facilities; and it can’t even fly over most countries surrounding Iran as they have all discounted this possibility.

There is only the option of long-range missiles but no one knows for sure if Israel’s missiles would get past Iran’s own missile defence systems which analysts assume are probably very good. And imagine the humiliation and loss of political capital if Netanyahu sent missiles there and discovered that Iran intercepted all of them. He would be finished. Yet the same can be said about the THAAD batteries. Many experts argue they probably won’t be effective against hypersonic missiles. They’ve never been tested so we don’t know. In reality the basis of Netanyahu’s political longevity is keeping such things a mystery. The more we don’t know about Iran’s military capabilities, the more that can be exploited. Same goes for the THAADs. Clarity really is the enemy here.

Israel has already had one moment of lucidity which has shocked both its elite and its people. The so-called impenetrable ‘Iron Dome’ missile defence system which intercepted most of Hezbollah’s medium-range ballistic missiles is pretty useless for hypersonic, high-altitude missiles which both Iran and Hezbollah have in their arsenal. Israel is now more vulnerable than ever against a massive attack of such missiles and the recent strike on a military base south of Haifa has shown both sides the extent of this susceptibility. Iran’s hypersonic missiles could wipe out all of Israel’s infrastructure if Tehran wishes. The truth is though that Iran does not want a war with Israel and is hoping that once the Israeli public notice just how many IDF soldiers are being killed in the south of Lebanon along its border, the exit of Netanyahu will be swift. His days are numbered.

And yet, despite all of the rhetoric we hear from the Biden camp, it would seem America does want a war. Or at least it’s happy to take Israel to the brink with the same foolhardy, delusional mentality that we see in Ukraine. Even today the U.S. mindset still believes it can threaten and other countries will back down, simply due to the size of America’s military capability. The escalate to de-escalate game. It might just work with the THAAD initiative. But for all the wrong reasons. The problem with the THAAD move by Biden is that the installation of such a system is too little, too late and may well blow up in the faces of the next U.S. administration creating a war with Iran when even Washington has been avoiding one all along. It all comes down to personalities. How will the next U.S. president react when the U.S. soldiers operating it are killed? Does he throw the lever, or stay cool? And doesn’t the mere presence of one of these vehicles present Iran with a sitting duck target?

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“..what is illegal offline should also be seen and dealt with as illegal online. Now it is a real thing. Democracy’s back.’”

Musk Mania (Jonathan Turley)

I have previously written about the European Union’s (EU) effort to use its infamous Digital Services Act (DSA) to force companies like X to censor Americans, including on postings related to our presidential election. This is a direct assault on our free speech values, and yet the Biden-Harris Administration has not raised a peep of objection. Now, the EU is threatening to set these confiscatory fines with reference to revenue from companies other than X, including Space X. The EU has warned Musk that it is allowed to hit online platforms with fines of as much as 6% of their yearly global revenue for refusing to censor content, including “disinformation.” The inclusion of companies like Space X is ridiculous but perfectly consistent with the effort of the EU to use the DSA to regulate speech in the United States and around the world. The EU is arguing that as a “provider” Musk’s entire business portfolio can be included in the fine calculation. It is ridiculous and chilling.

Musk’s other companies have nothing to do with the platform policies of X. It is simply an unhinged coercive measure designed to break Musk. X has objected: “X Holdings Corp. submits that the combined market value of the Musk Group does not accurately reflect X’s monetization potential in the Union or its financial capacity, In particular, it argues that X and SpaceX provide entirely different services to entirely different users, so that there is no gateway effect, and that the undertakings controlled by Mr. Elon Musk ‘do not form one financial front, as the DMA presumes.’” However, the abusive calculation is precisely the point. The EU censors are making an example of Musk. If they break us, no company or executive could hope to defy them. They are being cheered on in this effort by an anti-free speech movement that includes America politicians and pundits.

One of the lowest moments came after Elon Musk bought Twitter on a pledge to restore free speech protections, Clinton called upon European officials to force Elon Musk to censor American citizens under the DSA. This is a former democratic presidential nominee calling upon Europeans to force the censorship of Americans. She was joined recently by another former democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry, who called for government crackdowns on free speech. In my new book on free speech and various columns, I write about the DSA as one of the greatest assaults on free speech in history. As I wrote in the book: “Under the DSA, users are ’empowered to report illegal content online and online platforms will have to act quickly.’ This includes speech that is viewed not only as ‘disinformation’ but also ‘incitement.’ European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager has been one of the most prominent voices seeking international censorship. At the passage of the DSA, Vestager was ecstatic in declaring that it is ‘not a slogan anymore, that what is illegal offline should also be seen and dealt with as illegal online. Now it is a real thing. Democracy’s back.’”

The pressure on Musk’s other companies has also been ramping up in the United States. Recently, the California Coastal Commission rejected a request from the Air Force for additional launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base. It is not because the military agency did not need the launches. It was not because the nation and the community would not benefit from them. Rather, it was reportedly because, according to one commissioner, Musk has “aggressively injected himself into the presidential race.” It is all part of Musk mania and the need for the anti-free speech movement to break the only executive who has defied the pressure from this alliance of media, academic, corporate, and government officials. As I have discussed previously, there is a crushing irony in all of this. The left has made “foreign interference” with elections a mantra of claiming to be defending democracy. Yet, it applauds EU censors threatening companies that carry an interview with a targeted American politician. It also supports importing such censorship and blacklisting systems to the United States. When you agree with the censorship, it is not viewed as interference, but an intervention.

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The power of life.

Meteorite That Caused Earth’s Oceans to Boil Helped Early Life Thrive (Sp.)

A meteorite that pummeled Earth about 3.26 billion years ago has shed light on fascinating secrets about our planet’s distant past. Heat from the impact of the S2 meteorite that struck Earth billions of years ago caused the topmost layer of the ocean to boil off, a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has discovered. S2 also triggered a tsunami bigger than any in known human history, revealed the team of scientists led by Nadja Drabon, Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. They studied rock samples retrieved from the impact site in the Barberton Greenstone belt of South Africa to better understand the consequences of that massive asteroid strike for our planet. S2, first discovered in 2014, is estimated to have been 40-60km wide, with a mass much greater than the space rock linked with the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

It is believed that this space rock gouged out a 500km-wide crater. Analysis of the sedimentology, geochemistry, and carbon isotope compositions left behind by the meteorite revealed that the impact 3.26 billion years ago also heated up the atmosphere by up to 100C, while the cloud of dust shut down all photosynthetic activity. However, besides the destruction, the impact also helped early microbes thrive. Nutrients like phosphorus and iron that fed simple organisms were churned up by the tsunami from the depths to the surface. “We know that after Earth first formed there was still a lot of debris flying around space that would be smashing into Earth… But now we have found that life was really resilient in the wake of some of these giant impacts, and that it actually bloomed and thrived,” Drabon said in a media statement.

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Life is short

 

 

Dowd/Bret

 

 

Repair

 

 

Oranges

 

 

Guard dogs
https://twitter.com/i/status/1848982236235809076

 

 

Order in chaos

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Oct 222024
 


Floris van Schooten Still-Life with Glass, Cheese, Butter and Cake 1st half 17th century

 

Musk Fires Back At Der Spiegel Over ‘Enemy No. 2’ Claim (RT)
Surprise, Surprise! (James Howard Kunstler)
Alex Jones Issues Terrifying Post-Election Prediction (VF)
A Citizen Journalist Wins Key Reversal for New Media (Turley)
Court Denies Class Action Status for Lawsuit Against Twitter (ET)
Russian “Restraint” Towards Assassination of Arab Leaders (Helmer)
EU Troops Could Be Deployed To Ukraine – Politico (RT)
Pentagon Pours Cold Water On Claim Of North Korean Troops In Ukraine (ZH)
Medvedev Warns Of ‘Total War’ (RT)
A New World Order In The Making: This BRICS Summit Will Be Special (Behanzin)
Date With Destiny – BRICS Offers Hope in a Time of War (Pepe Escobar)
Fani Willis Laid Groundwork For Prosecuting Trump Before Taking Office (JTN)
Trump Assassination Probe Finds ‘Stunning’ Failures (RT)
The EU Doesn’t Need Moscow To Interfere In Its Democracy (Marsden)
US Interest Payments Top Defense Spending For First Time In History (I&I)
German Doctors Alarmed At Growing Failures Of Antibiotics – Bild (RT)

 

 

 

 

Dark money

MSNBC

Speaker

PA


https://twitter.com/i/status/1848133402559721646

JD

Trump Biden

No tax

Racist

Bronx

DOJ

 

 

 

 

“Donald Trump is probably the current biggest threat to the free world. His buddy Musk [is] at least public enemy number two..”

Musk Fires Back At Der Spiegel Over ‘Enemy No. 2’ Claim (RT)

Elon Musk has hit back at German magazine Der Spiegel, after it branded the billionaire “public enemy No.2” and claimed he is working with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to “decompose liberal democracy.” In response, Musk insisted that he is a staunch defender of democracy. The German outlet published an article on Sunday with a cover depicting a close-up of the tech mogul with Trump’s features emerging through part of his face. The piece noted that the X owner and Tesla CEO has amassed huge economic clout and a prominent media profile. “Within a few years, he [Musk] has not only become the political right-wing hardliner, but also a declared opponent of the liberal democracy in the US. The Troll-in chief has mutated into a political agitator.

“One could say: Donald Trump is probably the current biggest threat to the free world. His buddy Musk [is] at least public enemy number two,” the article said, drawing parallels with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, who rose to power thanks in no small part to the support of German industrial moguls. Musk addressed the accusation during a townhall meeting with American voters in Pennsylvania. “I’m like, enemy No. 2 of what? Democracy? I mean I’m pro-democracy. I’m literally trying to uphold the Constitution and ensure we have a free and fair election,” he fired back, drawing cheers from the crowd.

The billionaire added that he would “definitely upgrade… my security” after the article, noting that he is sometimes “shocked” by what he sees from the left. “You know, the level of vitriolic hatred on the left, which is supposed to be tolerant. They claim they are tolerant and yet they are incredibly intolerant and spewing hate.” Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” endorsed Trump after the failed assassination attempt on the former president in July, and has since donated tens of millions of dollars to his campaign. He has repeatedly expressed concern about what he describes as increasing censorship in the US, as well as an overbearing bureaucracy that prevents any meaningful action. Meanwhile, Trump has vowed to create a Musk-led government efficiency commission to audit the entire federal government if he returns to the White House.

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“The left’s ideas have failed and failed spectacularly, and all they have left is cheating.” Elizabeth Nickson.

Surprise, Surprise! (James Howard Kunstler)

Of course, there’s no “pandemic” this time to cover for the trip that the Party of Chaos wants to lay on the country, no excuse for gross and glaring ballot fuckery, for the days of anxious uncertainty following an election. Everybody and his uncle expect a gigantic tantrum to follow November 6 if Mr. Trump somehow overcomes the tide of bogus harvested votes, illegal alien votes, phantom overseas votes, voting machine swapped votes, lost-and-found votes, last-minute rafts of votes, and other products of the Marc Elias election sabotage machine. I am not so sure that the tantrum will materialize. Despite the orgy of Orwellian language inversions you have been subjected to in recent years, and the bending of reality it induced, you will know a real insurrection if you see it. You already know the real reason the Democratic Party went insane: its crime spree against the citizens of this land was so obvious and outrageous that a thousand Beltway bureaucrats are now going crazy in fear of prosecution.

The tantrum everyone expects them to provoke would be a real insurrection and they are liable to find themselves in even deeper trouble for resorting to it. Crime is the whole reason for the Democrats’ desperation. There was no “policy” the past four years, only crime. The Covid operation was a mass murder. The open border was not something that just happened, like a spell of bad weather. It was a colossal racketeering operation. They worked it hard. “Joe Biden” paid dozens of NGO cut-outs to systematically jam more than ten million sketchy interlopers into the country, and then support them lavishly with cash payments when they got here. The political prosecutions of AG Merrick Garland are gauche and lawless. The pervasive censorship by DHS and other agencies is an affront to our constitution. The transgender campaign is a malicious prank against American children (and their parents).

Our CIA may be a party to the fentanyl crisis. The war in Ukraine is a failed resource-grab, unbelievably stupid in inception. “Joe Biden’s” empty treasury is writing trillions in IOUs to stealthily bail out the banks and jack-up the stock market. Everything about our government has become criminal and those responsible for it know they are bound for a reckoning now. Will the Democrats’ Antifa street-army be allowed to terrorize the cities? I expect the remaining cops not de-funded in DC, New York, Chicago, and LA won’t hold back this time, no matter what mayors Muriel Bowser, Eric Adams, Brandon Johnson, and Karen Bass tell them to do. You will instead see the return of something that has been missing for years: a sense of duty to public safety and the common good. Won’t that be a surprise? And there will be nothing that the FBI can do about. It’s one thing to incite a riot among a mob of ordinary middle-aged folks moiling around the US Capitol. It’s another thing to try to subvert the police in carrying out their duties. New heroes will emerge and there will be no ambiguity about what happens.

Black Lives Matter had already been outed as a lowlife money-grubbing hustle. But the Democratic Party may no longer depend on its old “plantation” field-hands to stage mostly peaceful anarchy and arson if the election goes the wrong way for the masters. Forty years of pretending to be an oppositional culture hasn’t worked. It was just minstrelsy updated, when all was said and done. Too many black men are rising up to speak out in support of Donald Trump, and of one America, and of acting like men. They appear to be tired of self-stigmatizing as designated victims in the Woke-Jacobin DEI psychodrama. A new generation of black male leaders is emerging to replace embarrassing con artists like Al Sharpton, Michael Eric Dyson, and Ibram X. Kendi. It’s been a long time coming.

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“..while the Democrats accuse Trump of planning to use the military on the American people, the government is already making moves to do just that..”

Alex Jones Issues Terrifying Post-Election Prediction (VF)

He forecasts that once Trump becomes president, “Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and all these Islamic hordes that are allied with the left” will “engage in massive civil unrest.” The possibility is certainly real. And this scenario becomes even more terrifying when you realize that Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) is working on a bill to cripple Trump’s ability to respond to civil unrest. Specifically, Blumenthal is introducing legislation to limit unchecked presidential authority under the Insurrection Act ahead of Trump’s forecasted victory. What the bill means, if passed, is that Trump will be severely handicapped in the face of widespread violence and unrest. Blumenthal’s legislation is designed to handcuff the president by requiring approval from Congress before the military can be deployed to deal with domestic threats.

Adding to the possibility of civil unrest, Bill Gates, the man who seems to always financially profit when disaster happens, said in 2022 that America’s “political polarization may bring it all to an end.” He predicted that at some point, “We’re going to have a hung election and a civil war.” The trigger to civil unrest could be the election, of course. However, Alex Jones warned that an incident like the one we saw with George Floyd in 2020 could be exploited again to spark widespread riots. Jones pointed out that while the Democrats accuse Trump of planning to use the military on the American people, the government is already making moves to do just that. Adding to all the things that can go wrong is U.S. Department of Defense Directive 5240.01, which is an absolute nightmare.

What that directive does is that it gives the DoD the power to step in and use lethal force within U.S. borders, even against its own citizens, when it deems lives are at risk. Don’t want to wear a mask? You’re putting lives at risk. Lethal force could technically be used against you. Don’t want to take a vaccine? The same story exists. The potential for abuse is limitless here. The scope of this authority is chilling because the directive specifically states that the decision to use lethal force only needs the Secretary of Defense’s approval. Once lethal force is approved, anything can happen. For years, Alex Jones warned about martial law and domestic military control, and now we’re seeing that terrifying scenario unfold right before our eyes.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1848122086826606881

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“Only 31 percent express a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the media. Adults with no trust at all in the media is greater at 36 percent. In the 1970s, trust in the media ranged from 68 percent to 72 percent.”

A Citizen Journalist Wins Key Reversal for New Media (Turley)

This week, there was a little-noticed order out of the Supreme Court that decided a narrow legal question with much great implications for journalism. The justices tossed a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that barred a lawsuit by Priscilla Villarreal. Known online as La Gordiloca (loosely translated as “the fat, crazy lady”), Villareal is part of a growing number of new media journalists. At a time when the public is rejecting legacy or mainstream media, the case is the latest reminder of a rising force of citizen journalists. Technically, the court instructed the lower courts to review the case in light of the recent decision in Gonzalez v. Trevino. That decision relaxed the standards for citizens suing over retaliatory arrests. Villareal was not just a citizen but a citizen journalist who claimed to be performing the same newsgathering functions as conventional journalists.

Villarreal had alleged that she was arrested for seeking and obtaining nonpublic information from police as a journalist — the identity of a person who had killed himself — and publishing it on Facebook. The Fifth Circuit ruled that the police could claim immunity from the lawsuit she brought, and the justices just set that decision aside. As I discuss in my book, “The Indispensable Right, journalism is in free fall in the U.S. as citizens reject the establishment media as biased and unreliable. For years, journalism schools have taught students that they have to abandon objectivity and neutrality for advocacy. Advocacy journalism is now the norm. Former New York Times writer (and now Howard University journalism professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones has declared that “all journalism is activism.” Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief at the San Francisco Chronicle, similarly announced that “Objectivity has got to go.”

After a series of interviews with more than 75 media leaders, Leonard Downie Jr., former Washington Post executive editor, explained that objectivity is viewed as a trap and reporters “feel it negates many of their own identities, life experiences and cultural contexts, keeping them from pursuing truth in their work.” The response of the public has been to look elsewhere for news. Indeed, the mantra “Let’s Go Brandon!” was embraced by millions as a criticism of the media as much as it was a criticism of President Biden. Recently, the new Washington Post publisher and CEO William Lewis was brought into the paper to stop a collapsing readership and revenue. He told the staff, “Let’s not sugarcoat it…We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right? I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.”

They are, however, reading “the stuff” of figures like La Gordiloca, who is described as “a tattooed one-woman mobile newsroom who, until the coronavirus lockdown, often broadcast live while driving her car.” Her following on Facebook is now larger than her local newspaper. The New York Times described how La Gordiloca “reflects how many people on the border now prefer to get their news.” The paper admitted that she is is a “swearing muckraker who is upending border journalism.” New media journalists are more H.L. Mencken or sometimes even Hunter S. Thompson but they are viewed as more authentic and independent. Millions of Americans now get their news from social media and blogs. Various traditional media outlets have either closed or are fighting for their existence. What they are not doing is seriously questioning their course in adopting advocacy journalism.

Journalism has become a ship of fools who increasingly write for each other rather than the dwindling numbers of actual readers. And they have written off half of the country with their plunge into advocacy journalism. As a consequence, many have come to view mainstream media as a de facto state media. Today, over half of U.S. adults (54 percent) say they get news from social media. Only 27 percent now rely on TV as their first choice with only 6 percent preferring radio and only 5 percent preferring print. The recent polling figures from Gallup show how much harm this generation of editors and reporters has done to the field. Trust in the media is at an all-time low, continuing a consistent decline. Only 31 percent express a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the media. Adults with no trust at all in the media is greater at 36 percent. In the 1970s, trust in the media ranged from 68 percent to 72 percent.

Turley

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He wants a bonus, but: “..the plaintiff had argued against Twitter paying the bonus while he was under employment with the firm..”

Court Denies Class Action Status for Lawsuit Against Twitter (ET)

A California court dismissed class action certification for a lawsuit filed by a former employee that accused Twitter of not paying laid off workers bonuses that were allegedly promised. Mark Schobinger, the plaintiff, was Twitter’s senior director of compensation during 2022–23, a time when the company was in the process of being acquired by Elon Musk, according to an Oct. 16 order issued by the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. At the time, Schobinger was a member of a group of employees eligible to receive annual bonuses in early 2023. However, the company was under no obligation to pay, a fact that is “undisputed” under the terms of the bonus, the order noted. Paying the bonus was “a matter of discretion” for the firm. Schobinger alleged that the company promised employees in April, May, and August of 2022 that it would pay the bonus provided the workers stayed with the firm throughout the acquisition.

The plaintiff claimed he did stay during this phase because of the promise. He filed the lawsuit after not getting paid, and sought class certification. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria denied Schobinger’s motion, noting he is unfit to act as a class representative. The judge pointed out that the plaintiff had argued against Twitter paying the bonus while he was under employment with the firm. In November 2022, months after Twitter’s bonus promise, Schobinger sent a message to the company’s “Head of People Experience,” stating that whether to pay the bonus was purely dependent on the “discretion” of Musk. Schobinger also wrote that he recommended not to pay the bonus. In February 2023, the plaintiff sent a “white paper” to several executives on the issue, stating that “not paying a bonus would be prudent.” Evidence also points to Schobinger telling Musk in a meeting a month earlier that the firm need not pay the bonus, the order stated.

These statements make Schobinger “not an adequate class representative,” Chhabria wrote. “At his deposition, Schobinger offered a convoluted explanation for how he could possibly have believed he was entitled to the bonus while simultaneously advocating that the company not pay it. It seems likely that Schobinger’s explanation is untrue,” the judge said. “But even if he is telling the truth, that’s beside the point for purposes of this motion. Because even if he is telling the truth, his conduct makes him the worst possible candidate to serve as a litigation representative for the other Twitter employees who didn’t get a bonus.” The court also highlighted a major issue with the motion—a “large number” of proposed class members signed arbitration agreements with Twitter, some of which also waived off class action lawsuits against the company.

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“In Russian diplo-speak, “restraint” means “Russia will not intervene if you do your worst”.

Russian “Restraint” Towards Assassination of Arab Leaders (Helmer)

The Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi was murdered on October 20, 2011, and to mark the thirteenth anniversary of his death, the Russian Foreign Ministry received Qaddafi’s daughter, Aisha Qaddafi, in Moscow on Friday. This is the first open meeting in Russia between high-ranking Russian officials and the Qaddafi family. The political significance was buried in the communiqué. “On October 18, the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Mikhail Bogdanov received Libyan public figure and artist Aisha Gaddafi, who is in Moscow in connection with the opening of an exhibition of her paintings at the State Museum of the East. During the conversation, issues of further strengthening historically friendly Russian-Libyan ties in the scientific, cultural and educational spheres were discussed.

At the same time, the Russian side confirmed its unchanged position in support of achieving Libyan national accord in the interests of ensuring the unity, territorial integrity and state sovereignty of Libya.” The official reason for Aisha Qaddafi’s visit to Moscow to open the exhibition of her paintings omitted that the paintings are in memory of her father, brother and other members of her family assassinated by the US and its proxies in Libya. “I show these works for the first time to honour my father and my brother on the anniversary of their deaths,” Qaddafi said in Moscow. “I can tell you that these pictures are painted not with my hand but with my heart.” Assassination of Qaddafi had been a secret US Government policy during the Carter Administration and then an open policy of the Reagan Administration.

Assassination of the Arabs of Palestine, including the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, is the open policy of the current US and Israeli governments. In this context, the unofficial reason for Aisha Qaddafi’s visit to Moscow is that the Russian Foreign Ministry is signaling its opposition to this decades-old US and Israeli policy. The signal also hints through several years of rumour and disinformation at fresh Russian support – that means armed protection – for Saif Qaddafi’s campaign to become the end-of-civil war president of Libya. “If the Libyans choose a strong president,” Saif told the New York Times in 2021, “the only thing is a strong president. That’s it. The Libyans will choose a strong one. Everything will be solved automatically.”

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“Allegations of Pyongyang supplying soldiers and equipment to Russia were originally raised by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last week..”

EU Troops Could Be Deployed To Ukraine – Politico (RT)

The EU should return to the idea of putting boots on the ground in Ukraine, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has argued in a statement to Politico. The diplomat insisted that Brussels should revive talks about deploying EU forces in Ukraine in response to reports of North Korean ammunition and soldiers supposedly taking part in the hostilities on the side of Russia. “If information about Russia’s killing squads being equipped with North Korean ammunition and military personnel is confirmed, we have to get back to ‘boots on the ground’ and other ideas proposed by Emmanuel Macron,” Landsbergis told the outlet. Allegations of Pyongyang supplying soldiers and equipment to Russia were originally raised by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last week and have been seconded by South Korea.

However, neither the US nor NATO has yet been able to confirm any of these reports, while Moscow has dismissed the speculations as a “bogus story.” Meanwhile, Macron’s continued refusal to rule out the potential deployment of French troops to Ukraine has repeatedly been criticized by other EU leaders who have argued that such a move would lead to a serious escalation of the conflict. At the same time, Brussels is reportedly considering the possibility of deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine after the conflict has ended, Politico has said. Washington’s former ambassador to Japan, Kenneth Weinstein, has told the outlet that such a move would show that the EU still has “skin in the game.”

“If there is going to be a DMZ [demilitarized zone] between Ukraine and Russia, my suggestion would be to have it manned by EU troops — not NATO troops, and not U.S. troops,” the former diplomat, who is now chairman to the Hudson Institute, a conservative DC-based think tank, told the outlet. One EU lawmaker, who chose to remain anonymous, has also confirmed to Politico that the question of European peacekeepers in Ukraine “will come up” after the conflict is over. Moscow has repeatedly warned against the deployment of Western forces to Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed that such a move could lead to a “serious conflict in Europe and a global conflict.”

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“..over the weekend the Pentagon refused to back the reports, with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin explaining that he can’t confirm this narrative..”

Pentagon Pours Cold Water On Claim Of North Korean Troops In Ukraine (ZH)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has of late begun pushing hard new accusations that at least 10,000 North Korean troops are being sent to Ukraine where they will fight on behalf of the Russians. South Korea’s spy agency had also backed Zelensky’s claim, chiming in on Friday to say that at least 1,500 North Korean special forces have already been sent. The spy agency says it has satellite images tracking these movements. But over the weekend the Pentagon refused to back the reports, with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin explaining that he can’t confirm this narrative. “I’ve seen those reports in the media. I can’t confirm those reports at this point in time. This is something that we will certainly continue to investigate,” Austin said Sunday.

Zelensky has been pushing the idea that the ‘enemies’ of the West have formed an axis to fight in Ukraine and ultimately push back NATO. He’s identified them as Russia, Iran, and North Korea. He’s touted this curiously alongside desperate pleas for more urgent funding and weaponry from his Western backers. Kiev has especially sought long-range weapons for use inside Russian territory. As an example of this, Zelensky said in a weekend video address, “Now we have clear evidence that people are being supplied to Russia from North Korea, and these are not just workers for industries, but also military personnel. And we expect a normal, honest, strong reaction from our partners to this.” He followed by emphasizing, “In fact, this is another state joining the war against Ukraine.”

But not even NATO leadership is backing these assertions. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte recently said there’s no evidence of an influx of North Korean troops into the conflict. “At this moment, our official position is that we cannot confirm reports that North Koreans are actively now as soldiers engaged in the war effort,” he stated. Some video clips of unknown context, origin or location have circulated online in the past days, purporting to show North Korean troops being outfitted by Russia’s military before battle. Pundits have described one circulating video as showing a base in Russia’s eastern Primorye region, which shares a small border with North Korea, incredibly far away from front lines in Ukraine.

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“..there should be a “full-fledged counterweight” to the US, such as during the time of the USSR..”

Medvedev Warns Of ‘Total War’ (RT)

The US must abandon its ambitions of “world domination” or risk a war which could lead to the “complete extermination” of humanity, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Monday. According to Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, Washington’s goal is “domination over the Old World, as well as over the rest of the world.” However, this policy is merely leading to the “weakening and humiliation of the West, including Europe” within the framework of the modern multipolar global order, Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel. The official issued the post in the context of the upcoming BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan, which is set to kick off on Tuesday. Medvedev argued that the world needs a balance of powers rather than a dominant one, meaning there should be a “full-fledged counterweight” to the US, such as during the time of the USSR.

The development of BRICS as a global power, as well as the growth of similar regional unions and the comprehensive development of relations with the countries of the Global South, are signs that such a balance is already in the making, Medvedev argued. “After all, the alternative to such a balance of power is a total war leading to the complete extermination of humanity,” the senior official warned. A world without balance in today’s conditions will not last even a decade. If the West does not realize this simple truth, it is the end for everyone. And this is not a situation where the death of some will mean the victory of others. Medvedev was Russian president from 2008 to 2012, before serving as prime minister until 2020. He is well known for his hardline stance on the Ukraine conflict and the West’s sanctions policy against Russia. He has also accused the US of pursuing a “global neocolonialism” agenda.

BRICS, which is widely seen as a rival to the G7 group of countries, is holding its 16th annual summit later this week. Initially founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, it now consists of nine countries, including South Africa, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia and the UAE, representing about 46% of the world’s population and over 36% of global GDP, according to estimates by global financial institutions. Many analysts have suggested that the rapid development of the group signals that the Western monopoly over the international system is over, and that the world is firmly headed toward multipolarity.

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“This summit could mark the beginning of the end of Western supremacy and the emergence of a new era..”

A New World Order In The Making: This BRICS Summit Will Be Special (Behanzin)

The upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia could mark a turning point in global geopolitical history. Faced with the slow erosion of the Western world order, a new balance is emerging, driven by a coalition that seems increasingly determined to chart its own course. This unique event brings together 24 heads of state from various nations, including iconic figures such as China’s Xi Jinping. The inclusion of Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in this assembly raises major questions about the current dynamics of global governance. Traditionally, the UN has been seen as a bastion of multilateralism, but its alignment with the Western powers is being called into question. This summit in Kazan could be the catalyst for a strategic repositioning, where the UN might seek to navigate between old alliances and emerging trends.

The BRICS are no longer just an economic coalition; they are asserting themselves as a viable alternative to the historical dominance of Western countries. The unipolar world, as we have known it, seems to be giving way to a multipolar era, where several emerging powers are claiming their rightful place in the global decision-making process. The Kazan summit represents an unprecedented opportunity for the BRICS to draw a new map of international cooperation. The heads of state present will discuss a multitude of issues, ranging from the economy to security, including environmental challenges. By forming strategic alliances, this group, which represents over 45% of the world’s population, seeks not only to strengthen its influence but also to offer an alternative platform for developing countries that often feel marginalized within traditional Bretton Woods institutions like the IMF or the World Bank.

These discussions could lead to agreements that, depending on their scope, might redefine the rules of the international economic game. The West, rather than standing on the sidelines, is forced to respond to the growing and increasingly popular BRICS dynamic. Western governments, which often disagree and are divided over their approaches, may be compelled to reassess their relationship with emerging market countries. The current situation is marked by growing tensions, as illustrated by the declining confidence in Western-centered institutions. The stance of NATO and European actors towards the BRICS could become the focus of heated debates, highlighting an inevitable need for adaptation.

By attending this event, Guterres is likely illustrating the UN’s desire to revitalize its role in a changing world. His intervention could underscore the growing importance of South-South dialogue, and exchanges aimed at establishing cooperative partnerships that transcend the usual divides. [..] Multilateralism, as it was conceived after World War II, is facing a period of uncertainty. Established institutions struggle to effectively address contemporary challenges such as climate change, growing inequality, and governance crises. The BRICS summit could offer a new vision of multilateralism, more inclusive and adapted to current realities. This model could create synergies among the countries of the Global South, proposing an alternative to the rigidities of the current Western framework.

The future looks fascinating with the BRICS summit in Kazan. This is not just a series of diplomatic discussions but a laboratory for forging a new global architecture. As the West may witness a redistribution of power in international affairs, the developing countries, represented by the BRICS, are taking the reins of this transformation. This summit could mark the beginning of the end of Western supremacy and the emergence of a new era where the voice of the Global South is finally heard. The events in Kazan thus promise to have lasting repercussions on how we conceive the world order in the decades to come.

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‘Not an Anti-Western Group, Just a Non-Western Group’

Date With Destiny – BRICS Offers Hope in a Time of War (Pepe Escobar)

This is it. A date with destiny. All set for the most crucial geopolitical/geoeconomic gathering of the year and arguably the decade: the BRICS Summit under the Russian presidency in Kazan, capital of Tatarstan, where Sunni Tatars coexist in perfect harmony with Orthodox Christians. All the excruciating work by sherpas and analysts throughout 2024 – supervised by the lead Russian diplomat in charge of BRICS, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov – converged to three final, separate key meetings in Moscow before the summit, grouping BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors, working groups, and the Business Council. All that in a context that is now familiar for the Global Majority. The combined GDP of the current BRICS nations is over $60 trillion, way ahead of the G7; their average growth rate by the end of this year is projected to be 4%, higher than the 3.2% global average; and the bulk of economic growth for the near future will come from BRICS member-nations.

Even before the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was stressing that BRICS is keen to bypass “politicized” Western platforms – a subtle reference to the sanctions tsunami and the weaponization of the US dollar – as BRICS work to create their own, Global Majority-friendly international payments system. The context for what will be decided in Kazan this week is no less than incandescent, as the uncontrolled chaos of the Hegemon’s Forever Wars – from Ukraine to West Asia – has even materially affected the heavy work of BRICS and the necessity to build a new international system of geoeconomic relations practically from scratch. A credible war escalation scenario may have been thwarted by the leak of secret high-level intel to the Five Eyes on the preparations by Israel-US to strike Iran. The strike will eventually happen – with dire consequences – but probably not this week, when it could have been timed to explicitly, and completely, disrupt the summit in Kazan and expel it from global headlines.

The joint statement by the BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors may not sound too adventurous, but the constraints reflect not only caution when facing a dangerous, cornered Hegemon, but internal contradictions among BRICS members. The statement recognizes “the need for a comprehensive reform of the global financial architecture to enhance the voice of developing countries and their representation.” Yet it remains clear the US has less than zero interest in a profound reform of the IMF, the World Bank and the Bretton Woods system. Russia and China, especially, are fully aware that what is needed is a post-Bretton Woods. The statement is more forceful on the BRICS Cross-Border Payments Initiative, dubbed BCBPI, welcoming “the use of local currencies in international trade” and “the strengthening of banking networks” to enable them. Yet everything for the moment is only “voluntary and non-binding.” Kazan is expected to give the process some edge.

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“And was there outreach to you to be part of the search committee prior to January 1, 2021?” “Absolutely..”

Fani Willis Laid Groundwork For Prosecuting Trump Before Taking Office (JTN)

House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan on Monday released the transcript of closed-door testimony from Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor hired by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to help manage her office’s Donald Trump election interference case before coming under scrutiny for his romantic-financial relationship with Willis. Wade testified that Willis was planning to prosecute Trump and began discussing a search committee to find a special prosecutor to investigate the former president prior to assuming office in January 2021. The former special prosecutor was also confronted with his own records showing that he met with White House officials, for eight hours on one occasion, though he told investigators he could not recall the details of the meetings.

Wade served on that search committee, which was instated on day one of Willis’ term in January 2021. After an unsuccessful search, Wade was ultimately invited to assume the role himself, which he claimed he reluctantly accepted. “And so the search committee, you said that began when DA Willis took office on January 1, 2021. Is that correct?” investigators asked. “Yes,” Wade replied. “And was there outreach to you to be part of the search committee prior to January 1, 2021?” “Absolutely,” he confirmed, saying the outreach began “Sometime after the election, but prior to her taking office.” The transcript of Wade’s deposition Tuesday was released by Jordan’s committee a week after the interview. The GOP-led committee subpoenaed Wade as part of an investigation into his relationship with Willis. Last year, Willis indicted Trump and 18 codefendants in Georgia over their alleged efforts to challenge the 2020 election results in the state.

Wade resigned from the case in March after a Georgia judge made his stepping aside a condition of allowing Willis to remain on the case after evidence of an improper financial and romantic relationship emerged between them. Wade also failed to recall key details about meetings with White House officials, despite recording them in his invoices to Willis’ office. According to the transcript, Wade billed Willis’ office for an eight hour meeting with White House lawyers. These meetings were reported by Just the News after court documents filed by a Trump codefendant showed Wade recorded an entry for a meeting with the White House Counsel’s office in Athens, Georgia in May 2022.

Though Wade testified that he did not remember the meeting, he told congressional investigators that “the invoice says travel to Athens. So that means to me that I traveled to Athens.” The invoices provided in the suit show at least one more meeting with Biden White House staff, on November 2022, that appears to have taken place in Washington, D.C., though there is no record of a visit by Wade in the White House visitor logs. Willis last week attempted unsuccessfully to block Wade from testifying to the committee on the grounds that it could “improperly divulge confidential information” about her investigation of the former president.

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Failures?!

Trump Assassination Probe Finds ‘Stunning’ Failures (RT)

The US Congress task force investigating the July 13 attempt on the life of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has confirmed that the Secret Service and local law enforcement did not coordinate properly. Trump was speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania when a bullet nicked his ear. One rally-goer was killed and two more seriously injured before the Secret Service neutralized the attacker on the roof of a nearby factory. “Put simply, the evidence obtained by the Task Force to date shows the tragic and shocking events of July 13 were preventable and should not have happened,” said the preliminary report published by the bipartisan body on Monday. The 53-page document contained eight main findings, starting with the lack of planning and coordination between the Secret Service and local law enforcement.

The factory roof from which Thomas Crooks opened fire was not included in the security perimeter, despite having “clear sight lines to the stage, and elevated position,” the report said. Local officers posted inside the building did not secure the complex or the roof, believing their job was just “overwatch” of the rally site. The Secret Service and local police had separate command posts and did not have a shared radio channel, the report said. This created gaps in communication which Crooks was able to slip through. A member of Congress with a law enforcement background who investigated the site in early August suggested that the FBI investigators may have destroyed evidence in the case by scrubbing the roof and allowing Crooks’ body to be cremated before the autopsy results were made available.

The Butler County Coroner’s office released the remains to Crooks’ family after the FBI said no additional evidence was necessary, the new report said. According to the autopsy, Crooks died of a single gunshot wound to the head, presumably inflicted by a Secret Service counter-sniper. He managed to fire eight shots prior to that, however, and may have stopped only after a local police officer shot at him. The coroner did not find evidence of alcohol or drugs in Crooks’ blood, but did find traces of antimony, selenium, and lead.

The new report also clarifies that Crooks did not use a ladder to get to the top of the building, but climbed using the outside air conditioning unit. The ladder seen in the photos after the incident was placed there by local police afterward to let investigators access the roof. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned ten days after the Butler shooting. The House of Representatives task force consists of both Republicans and Democrats and has been charged with investigating both the Butler incident and the thwarted ambush at Trump’s Florida golf course in September. Their final report is due December 13, well after the presidential election.

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“..before Marvel Studios’ costume department comes knocking on the door of the EU clown tent to ask for their capes back..”

The EU Doesn’t Need Moscow To Interfere In Its Democracy (Marsden)

The EU superheroes did it, guys. They stopped Russian President Vladimir Putin from being elected to Brussels. And now they’re telling us all about how they did it, before Marvel Studios’ costume department comes knocking on the door of the EU clown tent to ask for their capes back. The Russians and their “disinformation” didn’t have any impact on the European Elections earlier this year. That’s now the official word from the EU itself. Vera Jourova, the Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, has emerged from an Orwellian novel to announce that “based on currently available information, no major information interference operation capable of disrupting the elections was recorded.” So much for the public freak out that European parliamentarians were having back in April 2024, demanding even more censorship of “Kremlin-backed media outlets” and “disinformation campaigns” in what they qualified as “Kremlin-backed attempts to interfere with and undermine European democratic processes.”

We’re supposed to believe that it’s all because Jourova had embarked on a crackdown, er, “Democracy Tour” to commiserate not just with election officials and authorities, but also with “civil society” NGOs, industry, and media. Surely it has nothing to do with the fact that there wasn’t really much disinformation to begin with and that they’ve been blowing the issue way out of proportion. Jourova herself acknowledged that even the EU’s Digital Media Observatory was only able to find between 4% to 8% of what they qualify as “disinformation” among all articles analyzed between May 2023 and March 2024, and that the figure climbed to just 15% in May 2024, right before the EU’s June election. This means that around EU election time, a whopping 85% of information and analysis floating around in the public domain was EU-approved.

Jourova said that “disinformation narratives followed the topics we expected: there were allegations that the elections are rigged, but mostly topics that trigger a strong emotional impact – the war on Ukraine, the Middle East, false narratives on climate change, and migrants.” We used to call those things topics of debate. But that was before they decided that the agendas Brussels was trying to ram down everyone’s throats across the entire bloc wouldn’t be served by messy democratic dissent. Best to just dismiss, marginalize, or censor opposing information and narratives and be forced to deal with being violently mugged by reality later on issues like Ukraine’s not actually “winning,” regardless of how expensive life has become for EU citizens as a result of the bloc’s suicidal pro-Ukraine policies, and migration being an actual five-alarm problem for the EU as it faces the palpable rise of populism backlash for not doing enough earlier.

And the EU elections are certainly not rigged! The people elect representatives to EU parliament, then a ‘president’ is handpicked behind closed doors and plopped in front of them for a simple yes/no confirmation vote. That person, currently ‘Queen’ Ursula von der Leyen, who has never actually been elected to the EU parliament, then runs a ‘royal’ European Commission of bureaucratic desk jockeys that crafts and dictates policy for the entire bloc. Anyone calling this anything other than a model democratic institution must be a Russian agent.

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“..interest payments on the national debt. These payments hit $882 billion in FY 2024, the Treasury report says. That’s a 35% jump from last year..”

US Interest Payments Top Defense Spending For First Time In History (I&I)

“SUNNY HOSTIN: Would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years? KAMALA HARRIS: There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of — and I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.”

On Friday, the Treasury Department released a report showing the kind of impact Harris is talking about. If nothing else does, it should cost her the election. The latest monthly Treasury report shows spending and revenues for the full fiscal year 2024, which ended in September. Among the terrible results: The federal deficit topped $1.8 trillion in 2024 — the third highest in history and eclipsed only by the two COVID-19 panic spending years. That’s not for lack of revenues, which were up by nearly half a trillion dollars this year. Spending under Biden-Harris this fiscal year climbed more than $617 billion – a 10% increase.

But the real shocker is the explosive growth in interest payments on the national debt. These payments hit $882 billion in FY 2024, the Treasury report says. That’s a 35% jump from last year. And it’s $8 billion more than we spent on National Defense. This marks the first time in our nation’s history that interest on the debt has exceeded defense spending. And the gap is on track to rapidly widen – with the government spending $200 billion more in interest than in protecting America from her enemies by 2029. Why the massive run-up in interest costs? Blame Harris’ tie-breaking votes (something for which she routinely brags). Because of them, Biden-Harris added trillions in new spending at a time when the economy had already fully recovered from the COVID-19 panic. That sparked a huge increase in inflation, which in turn drove up interest rates. More debt and higher interest rates meant a sharp increase in the cost of financing that debt.

How do we know Biden and Harris are to blame? Before they took office, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected net interest payments for the next decade, based on the policies that Donald Trump had in place. The CBO said that, had Biden not spent us to the poorhouse, interest payments on the national debt this year would have been only $284 billion. In other words, Harris and her tie-breaking votes are responsible for a 210% increase in interest costs this year alone. What would Kamala Harris do about this terrible state of affairs if she were elected president? No one has bothered to ask her. But we do know that she wants to do exactly what she and Biden have already done: add trillions of dollars of inflationary spending, impose economically ruinous tax hikes, and pile on still more growth-killing regulations. Harris is right about one thing. It is time to turn the page — before it’s too late.

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“..up to 39 million deaths around the world by 2050 due to antibiotic-resistant pathogens..”

German Doctors Alarmed At Growing Failures Of Antibiotics – Bild (RT)

The world risks going back to the era before the discovery of penicillin, German doctors have cautioned, pointing to the rise in antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Penicillin, discovered in the late 1920s, extended the human lifespan by up to 30 years by countering most bacterial infections, according to the outlet Bild. All of that progress is now reportedly in peril. “We are currently losing the achievements of modern medicine and falling back into the time before the discovery of penicillin,” Mathias Pletz, head of the Paul Ehrlich Society for Infection Therapy, told Bild. “Antibiotics were the greatest achievement of medicine ever,” said Professor Yvonne Mast, a microbiologist and researcher at the Leibniz Institute in Braunschweig. “The fact that more and more resistance is now emerging and new antibiotics are lacking is a major threat.”

The German outlet quoted a study that estimated up to 39 million deaths around the world by 2050 due to antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Such infections already account for 35,000 deaths in the EU every year. According to Professor Frank Brunkhorst of the Jena University Hospital, one of the reasons is that doctors overprescribe antibiotics for outpatient procedures. For example, antibiotics are useless against almost all respiratory infections, which are caused by viruses. “Second, many resistant germs are coming to us due to international travel, which is booming again after [Covid],” Brunkhorst said, pointing to resistant strains “especially in countries like Greece, Portugal, Turkiye, but also in India and other Asian countries.” He warned Germans returning from vacations that the germs they bring back could be “life-threatening” to their grandparents.

The medical industry has been slow to develop new antibiotics because the research is too long and too expensive, while the profits are too low, according to Professor Mast. Only 12 new medications have been approved since 2017, she said. Only one in 5,000 substances reaches market maturity, the development period is anywhere from 8-15 years, and R&D costs can range up to $2 billion, according to Mast. She urged more funding for research and faster approvals, noting that China has already overtaken Germany in this field. “It is a huge task for politicians to bring antibiotic production back to Germany and Europe. Today, not a single drug is manufactured here anymore; everything comes from India or China. And we are dependent on it,” said Professor Brunkhorst.

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KY/NC
https://twitter.com/i/status/1848109522230837705

 

 

NC

 

 

Starship

 

 

Summer’s day

 

 

Owls

 

 

Waterfall

 

 

Deep
https://twitter.com/i/status/1848386780409823724

 

 

Rube Goldberg
https://twitter.com/i/status/1848237891765354548

 

 

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Sep 242024
 
 September 24, 2024  Posted by at 8:33 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  61 Responses »


René Magritte Where Euclid walked 1955

 

The Madness of Antony Blinken (Lauria)
Wheezing Past the Graveyard (Kunstler)
“Have The Doors To A War Without Limits Been Opened?” (Alastair Crooke)
DoJ Releases Trump Assassin’s $150,000 Reward To “Complete The Job” Letter (ZH)
The Supreme Crisis of Chief Justice John Roberts (Turley)
Musk’s X Caves In To Brazil (RT)
Dear Readers, Tyranny Is Upon Us (Paul Craig Roberts)
West Has Halved Financial Aid To Ukraine (RT)
Ukraine Conflict Could Persist Beyond 2026 – UK FM (RT)
Zelensky Has Chosen Escalation – Moscow (RT)
Zelensky Aiming To ‘Trump-proof’ Aid – The Times (RT)
New Car Registration Levels Crashing In EU (RT)
Macron Calls For New World Order (RT)
Erdogan Weighs In On Failure Of Türkiye-mediated Ukraine Talks (RT)
Will a BRICS Bretton Woods Take Place in Kazan? (Pepe Escobar)

 

 

 

 

Bret

 

 

RFK MAHA


https://twitter.com/i/status/1837904332827906457

 

 

JDVance

 

 

Vivek will be a force

 

 

Pelosi
https://twitter.com/i/status/1838099477221015938

 

 

Gaetz

 

 

Taxes
https://twitter.com/i/status/1838218305498149181

 

 

 

 

“Blinken and the British are trying to lead us to the brink.”

The Madness of Antony Blinken (Lauria)

On March 7, 2022, two weeks after Moscow entered the civil war in Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS News from Moldova that the U.S. would give NATO-member Poland a “green light” to send Mig-29 fighter jets to Ukraine to enforce a no-fly zone against Russian aircraft. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer then also backed the no-fly zone. But within days the Pentagon shot down the idea as it engaged in a consequential battle with the State Department and members of Congress to prevent a direct NATO military confrontation with Russia that could unleash history’s most unimaginable horrors. A no-fly zone “could result in significant Russian reaction that might increase the prospects of a military escalation with NATO,” according to then Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. President Joe Biden was caught in the middle of the fray. Pressure on the White House from some members of Congress and the press corps was unrelenting to recklessly bring NATO directly into the war.

Biden ultimately sided with the Defense Department, and he couldn’t be more explicit why. He opposed a NATO no-fly zone over Ukraine fighting Russian aircraft, he said, because “that’s called World War III, okay? Let’s get it straight here, guys. We will not fight the third world war in Ukraine.” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin backed him up: “President Biden’s been clear that U.S. troops won’t fight Russia in Ukraine, and if you establish a no-fly zone, certainly in order to enforce that no-fly zone, you’ll have to engage Russian aircraft. And again, that would put us at war with Russia.” (The administration plan was, and apparently still is, to bring down the Russian government through a proxy counteroffensive and an economic and information war, not a direct military one.) Blinken, who stepped out of line to speak above the heads of the president and the Pentagon, lost that round. It’s surprising he kept his job. But he survived and now he’s come back for more.

Blinken’s recklessness emerged yet again last week when he peddled a story — eagerly picked up by The Guardian and The New York Times — that Biden would approve a British request to fire its Storm Shadow missiles deep into Russia. The Guardian story on Sept. 11 said: “The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, gave his strongest hint yet that the White House is about to lift its restrictions on Ukraine using long-range weapons supplied by the west on key military targets inside Russia, with a decision understood to have already been made in private. Speaking in Kyiv alongside the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, Blinken said the US had ‘from day one’ been willing to adapt its policy as the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine changed. ‘We will continue to do this,’ he emphasised.” To fire British Storm Shadows, Ukraine would have to depend on British technical soldiers on the ground in Ukraine to actually launch them and on U.S. geolocation technology.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz revealed those British soldiers are already in Ukraine. In other words, it would be a NATO attack on Russia, dressed up as a Ukrainian one. It would mean the U.S. and Britain were at war with Moscow, something Blinken seems to want and said was going to happen. The next day Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that launching such missiles into Russia “will mean that NATO countries — the United States and European countries — are at war with Russia. And if this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the essence of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us.” Nevertheless, The New York Times ran a story on the same day with the headline: “Biden Poised to Approve Ukraine’s Use of Long-Range Western Weapons in Russia.”

The Guardian added: “British government sources indicated that a decision had already been made to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow cruise missiles on targets inside Russia, although it is not expected to be publicly announced on Friday when Starmer meets Biden in Washington DC.” Blinken’s words evidently raised British Prime Minister Keir Starmer‘s hopes that he would satisfy his desire to strike Russia with his nation’s arsenal of long-range missiles, despite Putin saying that meant direct war with NATO. Blinken and the British are trying to lead us to the brink.

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“Ukraine was not a problem for anyone until we made it a problem on-purpose.. [..] Ukraine could, in theory, revert to not being a problem for anyone again. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

Wheezing Past the Graveyard (Kunstler)

What could go wrong? Probably more than you might imagine. We have just turned the corner into autumn. Now, things get serious, even gravely dark. America has never been so into dancing skeletons and morbidity. The small-town yards are filling up with inflatable signifiers of hell and death. Don’t you wonder what all this signifies besides good old family fun? The zeitgeist maybe having a little sport with us, you think? We are chiefly preoccupied with our badly dysfunctional self-governance, of course, and the method for periodically revising it, which we call an election. Nobody has confidence in the process, which has acquired so many layers of absurd, needless complexity for the sole purpose of perverting the outcome that every lawyer in the land will have a hefty guaranteed annual income in the probably futile effort to sort it out come November 6. There is your hell-scape, with overtones of death on a pale horse. . . and all. Chaos. . . riots. . . anarchy. . . civil war.

The threat of World War Three may have abated for the moment, but in a peculiar and disconcerting way, viz. a coup in the executive branch. The gadfly Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, long ago chief-of-staff to Sec’y of State Colin Powell, reports that the Pentagon has cancelled “Joe Biden,” that is, taken him out of the decision-loop for anything. Well, you ask yourself, how is it possible he had even remained remotely close to any decision-loop this long, in any case, given the problem of his obviously broken brain? But now, it is unofficially official: just eat your mint-chocolate ice-cream and shut up, and let Dr. Jill run those “cabinet meeting” photo ops.According to Col. Wilkerson, Sec’y of Defense Lloyd Austin told the “president” to his face that there will be no flinging of US-supplied long-range missiles from Ukraine “deep into Russia,” as the neocon-infested White House been chattering about endlessly.

Wiser heads deep in the DOD HQ have decided the matter. Lump it, if you must, Tony Blinken and Jake Sullivan. The Russians’ “red-line” on such a caper is so wide you can see it from the International Space Station — that is, if you’re an astronaut marooned up there due to combined NASA/Boeing incompetence. . . but that’s another story. Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was all revved up for the missile operation and flew to Washington for a one-to-one meet-up with “JB” to get the go-ahead. The Brits are avid for another World War. The last two went so well for them that they kissed their vast empire goodbye. Now they want to kiss goodbye their sceptered isle itself, which has almost no economy left and is overrun by cultural hostiles who are not into Shakespeare.

The Brits’ floundering government is a posse of monomaniacs fixated on defeating Russia which, at this point in history, is like a dormouse (Glis glis) facing down a brown bear (Ursus arctos). “Joe Biden,” reportedly “furious” at losing his executive power, was constrained to tell Mr. Starmer that the missile strike op was off, which left the UK PM miffed that he had crossed the ocean for no reason. Who knows, the Brits are so nuts these days that perhaps they’ll try to pull it off on their own. Mr. Zelensky, the no-longer-elected leader of Ukraine was begging them to try it because Ukraine has nothing left. NATO as a whole really has nothing left, either. Not much of a combined military, scant munitions left in the cupboard, and no will to wage war among the depressed citizens of its member nations.

There is nothing left except to come to terms on a settlement that will leave Ukraine not a member of NATO. The entire affair has been a humiliation for NATO and America, especially for the “Joe Biden” management team (whatever it actually consists of these days). The longer they refuse to engage in talks, the less of Ukraine will be left as a sovereign entity — having proven to the world that its sovereignty rests solely on its capacity to be used as a catspaw by the American neocon / intel blob. You’re reminded that for seventy years prior to 2014, Ukraine was not a problem for anyone until we made it a problem on-purpose — our purpose being idiotic and malicious — and Ukraine could, in theory, revert to not being a problem for anyone again. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

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“It is probable that we shall see more such hypersonic missiles flying – immune to air defences – should this war escalate, and Iran intervene..”

“Have The Doors To A War Without Limits Been Opened?” (Alastair Crooke)

For the last year, both Israel and Hizbullah have avoided major escalation by observing unwritten rules of engagement or ‘equations’ between the parties, such as not targeting civilians. That is now over. In his first speech since the devices blew up on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sayed Nasrallah, the Hizbullah leader, conceded that his group had “endured a severe and cruel blow”. He accused Israel of breaking “all conventions and laws” and said that it would “face just retribution and a bitter reckoning”. But he did not describe how Hezbollah might retaliate; “nor did he discuss the time, nor manner, nor place” of it ocurring. Nasrallah warned: “The enemy declares as its official goal to return the settlers to the North. We accept the challenge: You will not be able to return to the North. In fact, we will displace more Israelis from their homes. We hope Israel enters Lebanon, we are waiting for their tanks day and night: We say, ‘welcome!’”.

There is some point to this remark. From the outset, Hizbullah was configured militarily more for all-out war with Israel, than the limited tit-for-tat, calibrated war – which never played best to Hizbullah’s strengths. Clearly, a new phase of war has begun, and to underline this point, Israel began one of its heaviest strikes on Israel after Nasrallah’s speech on Thursday night. U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin reportedly informed leaders of Congress that evening about his fear of an imminent Israeli offensive into Lebanon. Nasrallah’s assessment of coming war is fully shared by at least some senior Israeli military commanders, albeit by no means all. Several profess the belief that war with Hizbullah could extend into a regional war – and lead to the collapse of Israel. However … “You don’t do something like that, hit thousands of people, and think war is not coming”, said retired Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, who leads the Israel Defence and Security Forum, a group of hawkish former military commanders.

“Why didn’t we do it for 11 months? Because we were not willing to go to war yet. What’s happening now? Israel is ready for war”. “There’s a lot of pressure from the society to go to war and win”, said Avivi, the retired general. “Unless Hezbollah tomorrow morning says, ‘OK, we got the message. We’re pulling out of south Lebanon’ – war is imminent”. A poll in late August by the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank, found that 67% of Jewish respondents thought Israel should intensify its response to Hizbullah. That includes 46% who believed that Israel should launch a deep offensive striking Lebanese infrastructure, and 21% who seek an intensified response that only strikes on Hezbollah’s infrastructure. General Avivi’s remarks likely reflect an underlying reality that had become only too clear: Amos Hochstein, the U.S. Envoy, has failed to achieve any ‘diplomatic’ progress towards a Hizbullah withdrawal from the south of Lebanon.

In parallel, U.S. officials, (according to the WSJ) now concede that a Gaza ceasefire is ‘out of reach’ for Biden; and that, equally, Israel’s military attrition on southern Lebanon that had resulted in the displacement of 80% of its inhabitants had achieved nothing. Israel’s northern residents also remain displaced. It seems, therefore, that Israel is set on a path to wider conflict. A taster has already been given: On 17 September, the Houthis fired a missile at a target close to Ben Gurion airport. The missile covered 1,300 miles in less than 12 min, which is to say, it flew at hypersonic speed, approaching Mach 9 – untouchable by air defences – and struck its target. It is probable that we shall see more such hypersonic missiles flying – immune to air defences – should this war escalate, and Iran intervene. What is paradoxical (as so often in conflict) is that the exploding pager operation seemingly was entirely fortuitous in terms of the timing. It was not planned specifically to move Israel to a new phase in the Lebanese conflict:

“High-level regional intelligence sources told Al-Monitor that the decision to carry out the operation was “forced” on Israel following an intelligence lapse … The Israeli military’s original plan was to explode the devices in the event of a full-blown war with Hezbollah in order to gain a strategic edge – but not to detonate them on Tuesday”, the sources added. “However suspicions from at least two Hezbollah members caused the Israeli security establishment to agree to a premature execution of the plan. After a Hezbollah member in Lebanon suspected foul play with the pagers several days ago – that person was killed, the sources said … [and the plan was] ultimately executed. The subsequent decision to trigger the radios to explode was said to be driven by the expectation that after the pager detonations the radios would fall under suspicion”.

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He smells too much like an intel asset. Doesn’t have a penny but moves to Hawaii. Yet, spends his time in Ukraine. Then offers $150,000 for a murder.

DoJ Releases Trump Assassin’s $150,000 Reward To “Complete The Job” Letter (ZH)

Former President Trump’s would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh wrote a chilling letter admitting he failed in trying to take the life of the former president, and offering a reward for anyone who can finish the job… The note was addressed to the “World” and reads: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job,” according to court papers. Routh dropped off a box at a person’s home that included the letter, the court documents state. As Jack Phillips reports at The Epoch Times, law enforcement officials were contacted on Sept. 18, or three days after he was arrested, by a person who said that Routh dropped off the box at his location in the months prior to the incident. The witness opened the box after learning of Routh’s arrest, finding ammunition, phones, and various letters.

Prosecutors said the note and other evidence found at the scene show a need for Routh to be detained while the government builds its case against him. A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday morning at a federal court in Florida. “Because the facts are offered for the limited purpose of supporting the United States’s request for pretrial detention, the facts in this written proffer do not set forth all of the information and evidence known to the United States in this ongoing investigation,” the court documents state. Prosecutors found “a notebook with dozens of pages filled with names and phone numbers pertaining to Ukraine, discussions about how to join combat on behalf of Ukraine.” “He [the former President] ended relations with Iran like a child and now the Middle East has unraveled,” Routh wrote in one of the documents, according to the court papers. “Everyone across the globe from the youngest to the oldest knows that Trump is unfit to be anything, much less U.S. president. U.S. presidents must at the bare miminum embody the moral fabric that is America and be kind, caring and selfless and always stand for humanity.”

Cellphone records from two of the recovered phones show that Routh traveled from Greensboro, North Carolina, to West Palm Beach on Aug. 14, 2024, prosecutors wrote. Further, on “multiple days and times from Aug. 18, 2024, to Sept. 15, 2024, Routh’s cellphone accessed cell towers located near Trump International and the former president’s residence at Mar-a-Lago,” the filing said. A cellphone that was recovered by authorities showed a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County, Florida, to Mexico. Federal officials also found a list with dates in August, September, and October as well as venues where the former president had appeared and was scheduled to appear, prosecutors say. During his first court appearance last week, Routh declared that he had no assets and only owned two trucks worth $1,000. In a 2023 book that apparently written by him, Routh also wrote that he had no bank account and no retirement savings.

Posts made by Routh on X and other social media sites show that he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict, even posting images and videos of himself in Kyiv and other areas in Ukraine since the war started. He also made critical comments about the former president, including several in July that referenced the first assassination attempt. Routh faces federal firearms charges in connection to the Sept. 15 incident. Prosecutors say that Routh, 58, camped out near Trump’s Florida golf course for 12 hours before his gun barrel was spotted by a Secret Service agent, who then fired at the suspect before he fled the scene. Authorities also discovered an SKS-style rifle with 11 rounds, including one round in the chamber, according to the court papers. Officials previously said that the suspect did not fire any shots and had no direct line of sight to Trump, who was golfing at the time of the incident. The former president also was not harmed.

In July, Trump survived his first assassination attempt and was shot in the ear by a gunman who fired at a rally while he was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania, prompting questions about the Secret Service’s ability to protect him. The FBI said that when its agents attempted to interview Routh after he was detained on Sept. 15, he invoked his right to an attorney. Routh has not entered a plea. Finally, Matt Walsh brings up a crucial point about the release of this letter: “They didn’t release the Covenant shooter manifesto because they were allegedly afraid it would inspire more shootings. And yet within a week they release a letter from Trump’s would-be assassin where he openly encourages more shootings and offers to pay for them.” Routh is set to appear in federal court on Monday for a detention hearing after the attempted assassination on September 15 at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. Better keep an eye out for ‘Jack Ruby’-esque followers…

Routh

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“..calling for them to be more aggressive against the conservative justices and even calling for Congress to cut off their air conditioning to make them retire.”

The Supreme Crisis of Chief Justice John Roberts (Turley)

Chief Justice John Roberts has always been “a man more sinned against than sinning.” That line from Shakespeare’s “King Lear” seems increasingly apt for the head of our highest court. Roberts was installed almost exactly 20 years ago and soon found himself grappling with a series of controversies that have rocked the court as an institution. He is now faced with another monumental scandal, after the New York Times published leaked confidential information that could only have come from one of the nine members of the court. By most accounts, Roberts is popular with his colleagues and someone with an unquestioning institutional knowledge and loyalty. He is, in many respects, the ideal chief justice: engaging, empathetic, and unfailingly respectful of the court’s justices and staff. Roberts has been chief justice during some of the court’s most contentious times. Major decisions like overturning Roe v. Wade (which Roberts sought to avoid) have galvanized many against the court.

According to recent polling, fewer than half of Americans (47 percent) hold a favorable opinion of the court (51 percent have an unfavorable view). Of course, that level of support should inspire envy in the court’s critics in Congress (18 percent approval) and the media (which only 32 percent trust). Some, however, want to express their dissatisfaction more directly and even permanently. This week, Alaskan Panos Anastasiou, 76, was indicted with 22 federal charges for threatening to torture and kill the six conservative justices. Another man, Nicolas Roske, 28, will go on trial next June for attempting to assassinate Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. In the meantime, law professors have rallied the mob, calling for them to be more aggressive against the conservative justices and even calling for Congress to cut off their air conditioning to make them retire.

Politicians have also fueled the rage against the court. On one infamous occasion, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) declared in front of the Supreme Court, “I want to tell you, [Neil] Gorsuch, I want to tell you, [Brett] Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price.” Yet, it is what has occurred inside the court that should be most troubling for Roberts. On May 2, 2022, someone inside the court leaked to Politico a copy of the draft of the opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade. It was one of the greatest breaches of ethics in the court’s history. The subsequent investigation failed to produce any charges for the culprit or culprits. Now, the New York Times has published highly detailed accounts of the internal deliberations of the court. The account seemed largely directed at the conservative justices and Roberts.

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They appointed a legal representative. “Musk claimed that de Moraes threatened to arrest the company’s legal representative if X did not adhere to court orders…”

Musk’s X Caves In To Brazil (RT)

Social media platform X says it is moving to comply with demands issued by Brazil’s Supreme Court in hopes of reversing a nationwide ban ordered by Justice Alexandre de Moraes last month. For nearly three weeks, X has been inaccessible to Brazilian users. Using a VPN to access the site carries the threat of a fine of almost $9,000. That’s after de Moraes, the country’s top judge, banned the platform for failing to censor accounts that “spread disinformation.” The platform’s owner Elon Musk, a vocal advocate of free speech, has until now refused to back down, describing de Moraes’ orders as an attempt to censor voices on his platform and calling the justice “an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge.” However, on Friday, X’s legal representatives announced that the platform has taken steps to comply with the Brazilian court’s demands to help resolve the impasse and get the ban on the site lifted.

These steps include paying the fines X owes, blocking the accounts that de Moraes had previously accused of propagating misinformation and of undermining Brazilian democracy, and naming a legal representative in the country. Under Brazilian law, in order to operate in the country, foreign companies are required to have a representative who would assume all the legal responsibilities of the firm locally. X had such a representative until mid-August when it decided to close its offices and fire all its staff in the country. That was after Musk claimed that de Moraes threatened to arrest the company’s legal representative if X did not adhere to court orders.

On Saturday, Brazil’s Supreme Court confirmed X’s moves and gave the company five days to file all the necessary paperwork validating its new legal representative. It also reiterated its orders to block the accounts that had previously been indicated in a probe into hate speech and misinformation, and to pay fines totalling over $3 million. It’s unclear which particular accounts have been targeted, as the probe is confidential. The dispute between Musk and Brazilian authorities began in April when de Moraes ordered X to delete the accounts of several supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, calling them “digital militants” who spread “disinformation” about himself and the court. Musk refused, saying this would violate Brazilian laws.

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“If you don’t support those who are opposing tyranny, tyranny is what you will have..”

Dear Readers, Tyranny Is Upon Us (Paul Craig Roberts)

Dear Readers, Truth is being dispelled from the Western World. Truth diminishes by the day. It is not only happening in America but also throughout America’s empire. In Great Britain it has become a criminal offense to protest Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians. In Germany it is a criminal offense to challenge Zionist history of the Second World War. In France if you are the owner of a social media site that permits free speech, you are detained, subject to investigation, and possibly indicted. In the United States if you challenge an official narrative you can be declared a domestic terrorist and have your passport and personal possessions confiscated. Of course, extremely few Americans do challenge official narratives. Americans learn to live a safe life by accepting whatever the authorities say. Don’t rock the boat and get in trouble. Do as your peers do. This well ingrained attitude is a recipe for tyranny, into which America is falling.

When you can’t tell the truth without bringing trouble upon yourself, there must be a reason: truth is dangerous to the authorities, so truth is demonized as disinformation, false news, Russian disinformation, espionage, offensive, racist, domestic terrorism. Little wonder that truth is disappearing from the Western World. It is certainly not welcome. The risk of saying it is growing. No university will support the truth. No foundation will support the truth. No official media will support the truth. No bar association, no medical association, no political party will support truth. Fewer and fewer courts will support the truth. Truth is on the verge of extinction. It is being replaced by official narratives. These official narratives are bringing you tyranny. If you don’t support those who are opposing tyranny, tyranny is what you will have. Tyranny is much closer than you think.

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” Just over a week ago, the Ukrainian government adopted its draft budget for 2025, indicating a deficit of 75%.”

West Has Halved Financial Aid To Ukraine (RT)

The flow of Western funds into Ukraine’s state budget has almost halved compared to last year, the Russian newspaper Vedomosti has calculated after reviewing data from Kiev’s Finance Ministry. Between January and June this year, the US and its allies, who have been backing Kiev throughout its conflict with Moscow, financed only 27% of the country’s budget expenditure, compared to 50% in the first half of 2023, the paper said in an article on Monday. In monetary terms, Western financial aid to Kiev decreased from $19.1 billion to $10.6 billion, during that period, Vedomosti noted. According to the article, authorities in Kiev are expected to attract $37 billion in outside loans in 2024 to cover the budget almost entirely, but in the first half of the year they managed to receive only a quarter of that sum.

At the same time, the burden on the Ukrainian budget is increasing, as the cost servicing previously accrued debt has soared from $900,000 to $5.2 billion this year, the paper said. This is more than total expenditure on education, healthcare and supporting the economy combined, it stressed. Analysts who spoke to Vedomosti suggested that postponing payment deadlines and debt restructuring would only allow Kiev to delay a default but not to avoid it. Ukraine is insolvent and will not be able to pay back its foreign loans, they insisted. Just over a week ago, the Ukrainian government adopted its draft budget for 2025, indicating a deficit of 75%.

According to a report in the Sunday Times, continued international financial aid for Kiev is among the key pillars of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s so-called ‘victory plan.’ Zelensky is currently in the US, where he is expected to present his initiative to President Joe Biden, members of Congress, and to both 2024 election presidential contenders – Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. He claims the scheme could allow the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to be concluded the end of this year if Washington and its allies make “quick decisions” on boosting its support for Kiev. Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, has said Moscow is unaware of the contents of Zelensky’s proposals and that it has not been invited to discuss them. “It is hard for us to understand what is on the madman’s mind,” he remarked.

W. 2008

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“This is a critical time for nerve and guts and patience and for fortitude on behalf of allies who stand with Ukraine..”

Ukraine Conflict Could Persist Beyond 2026 – UK FM (RT)

The fighting between Russia and Ukraine is likely to rage on for at least another two years, the UK foreign secretary has predicted. David Lammy gave a speech at a conference of the governing Labour Party in Liverpool on Sunday, stressing Britain’s commitment to supporting Kiev. He noted that the government has committed to providing Ukraine with £3 billion ($3.99 billion) in military aid annually “for as long as it takes.” On the same day, the foreign secretary attended an event on the sidelines of the conference, warning that the hostilities could persist into “the back end of 2025 into 2026” and beyond. The hardship and challenges arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict are set to become “deeper and harsher” in the coming years, he said, as quoted by the Guardian. “This is a critical time for nerve and guts and patience and for fortitude on behalf of allies who stand with Ukraine,” Lammy insisted.

The foreign secretary’s remarks apparently referred to the unwillingness of US President Joe Biden’s administration to allow Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons for long-range strikes into Russia’s internationally recognized territory. Moscow has warned that giving such permission, which Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has been demanding for months, would make NATO countries direct participants in the conflict and be met with an appropriate Russian response. “There is a very real-time discussion across allies about how we can support Ukraine as we head into winter,” the British foreign secretary noted. However, he refused to reveal details, saying that would only “only aid [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”

Lammy’s view on the likely duration of the fighting appears to clash with plans set out by Zelensky – who claimed last week that he had developed a scheme to end the hostilities by the end of this year if the West makes “quick decisions” on increasing its support for Kiev. The Ukrainian leader is now in the US, where he plans to show his so-called ‘victory plan’ to Biden, members of Congress, and both presidential contenders – Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Russia has never set deadlines when it comes to the conflict with Ukraine, and has repeatedly said that its military operation, which started in February 2022, will continue until its goals are achieved. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated on Sunday that “there is no alternative to our [Russian] victory.”

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“It is hard for us to understand what is on the madman’s mind.”

Zelensky Has Chosen Escalation – Moscow (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky chose the path of escalation when he ordered Kiev’s forces to enter Russia’s Kursk Region, Moscow’s first deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, has said. On Sunday, Zelensky arrived in the US, where he is planning to meet with US President Joe Biden, members of Congress, and both presidential contenders – Kamala Harris and Donald Trump – to present them with his ‘peace plan,’ which he recently renamed a ‘victory plan.’ According to Zelensky, the scheme could end the conflict between Moscow and Kiev by the end of this year if the West makes “quick decisions” on increasing its support for Ukraine. Polyansky told RIA Novosti news agency on Monday that Russian authorities “judge what the others do by their actions, not by their words. This means that he [Zelensky] clearly chose the path of escalation when he invaded Russia’s Kursk Region.”

“I think this was the best reply to everybody who hoped that the Ukrainian leadership was striving for peace,” he stressed. The Ukrainian military entered Kursk Region on August 6, in the largest attack on internationally recognized Russian territory since the outbreak of the hostilities between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. The Russian military quickly halted their advance and has reported the recapture of more than a dozen villages in the past few weeks. However, Kiev’s forces remain in control of part of the region, and the fighting continues. According to the latest data from Russia’s Defense Ministry, Ukraine has lost more than 16,000 troops and several hundred units of military equipment, including 126 tanks and 95 armored personnel carriers, since the start of the incursion.

Moscow is unaware of the content of Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’ and has not been invited to discuss it, Polyansky said. “It is hard for us to understand what is on the madman’s mind. We do not know what Zelensky is planning, and there is a lot of hype around him being here [in the US] and about what he will or will not offer,” the diplomat stressed. Speaking about the outcome of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev on Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that “there is no alternative to our [Russian] victory.”

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“..the idea that Ukraine would not achieve a full victory over Russia is “awful” and “unacceptable..”

Zelensky Aiming To ‘Trump-proof’ Aid – The Times (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky will request NATO-type security guarantees for Kiev and other irreversible commitments when he meets US President Joe Biden this week, The Times reported on Sunday. Zelensky will also seek endorsement for Ukraine’s ongoing incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region and access to “specific” advanced Western weapons to be used against Russia, the British newspaper claimed. Each point is reportedly part of what Zelensky has termed a ‘victory plan’ in the conflict with Moscow. His aim is to increase the pressure on Russia to the extent that it is coerced into signing a peace agreement on Ukrainian terms, The Times explained, citing its analysis of public remarks and several anonymous sources. Zelensky has publicly stated that his plan would allow the conflict to end this year, although The Times claims it would take at least two more years to implement.

The key issue for Kiev is preventing Donald Trump from reversing commitments to Ukraine, should he be reelected as US president in November, the newspaper added. The Republican nominee and his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, have suggested that their administration would force Kiev to make painful concessions in order to end the hostilities. However, the idea that Ukraine would not achieve a full victory over Russia is “awful” and “unacceptable,” Zelensky told the New Yorker magazine ahead of his trip to the US this week. The Ukrainian leader has promised to brief Trump and his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Haris, on his ‘victory plan’. Prior to Kiev’s incursion into Kursk last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered an immediate ceasefire in return for Zelensky renouncing Ukraine’s bid to join NATO and removing all troops from Russian territory.

Officials in Moscow have said they would accept a peace deal along the lines that the two nations agreed in 2022, before Kiev made a U-turn and opted to seek a military victory, reportedly after being prompted by the West. A NATO diplomat told The Times it is “clear that the Ukrainians will not be able to drive the Russians out,” although accepting neutral status and ceding territories “would be a disastrous outcome” that “can definitely not be the basis of the negotiation.” Moscow has said it will not take part in a ‘peace summit’ proposed by Zelensky for later this year, describing it as “fraudulent.”

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Bankrupted themselves over Ukraine.

New Car Registration Levels Crashing In EU (RT)

The EU market for new cars saw its biggest drop in over two years in August, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). Registrations of new automobiles fell 18.3% year-on-year across the bloc, with double-digit losses in the region’s three major markets: 27.8% in Germany, 24.3% in France, and 13.4% in Italy, according to the ACEA’s latest data. Spain, the fourth largest car market in the EU, saw a 6.5% decline. Only four EU member states posted slight growth in new car registrations last month, namely Poland, Slovenia, Cyprus, and Malta, according to ACEA data. Most of the new cars delivered across the bloc were petrol-fueled (33.1%), with hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV) close behind at 31.3%.

The share of new battery-electric cars (BEV) in the EU car market fell to 14.4% from 21% recorded in August 2023. Deliveries of BEVs have been declining for four consecutive months this year, contrasting sharply with steady growth throughout 2023, notes ACEA. The association unites Europe’s 15 major car, truck, van and bus makers. The bloc-wide decline followed Brussels’ introduction in July of provisional tariffs on BEVs made in China and imported into the EU. Following an anti-subsidy probe, the European Commission concluded that the BEV value chain in China benefits from “unfair subsidisation,” which is causing “a threat of economic injury” to EU BEV makers.

Read more …

Join BRICS.

Macron Calls For New World Order (RT)

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for reform of the current “unjust” world order so that humans can coexist more peacefully. He outlined his vision on Sunday as part of the international ‘Imagining Peace’ gathering in Paris, which brought together leading political and religious figures. Speaking before the Catholic community of Sant’Egidio, Macron said “We must be imaginative enough to think about the peace of tomorrow, a peace in Europe in a new form.” If the European continent is to become more stable, everyone should acknowledge that it is “neither quite the EU, nor resolutely NATO,” he stated. “We will have to think of a new form of organization for Europe and rethink our relationship with Russia” after the Ukraine conflict is over, the president added. Macron has sent mixed messages regarding the hostilities between Russia and Ukraine as the conflict evolved over the years.

In 2022, he drew criticism from fellow Western officials for urging them not to “humiliate” Russia. In early 2024, he said the West should not rule out the deployment of NATO troops on Ukrainian soil – a proposal that multiple other national leaders have rejected. The speech comes as Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is set to meet US President Joe Biden to present his so-called ‘victory plan’ – a purported roadmap to pressuring Russia into conceding defeat. He wants permission to conduct long-range strikes deep inside Russia with Western weapons as part of the plan. France is among a handful of nations that have donated such military hardware to Ukraine in the form of SCALP/Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which the country produces jointly with the UK.

British officials have supported Kiev’s request to strike Russia, but the ultimate decision is understood to be in Washington’s hands. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that any such attack would be considered an act of war by NATO member states. In his speech, Macron claimed that the global system created in the wake of World War II was “incomplete and unjust,” because many modern nations did not even exist at that time and don’t have a proper place at the table. He said international bodies, such as the UN, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, should be reformed accordingly. Russia is among a number of nations that have declared a goal of reducing the influence of Western-dominated institutions in global affairs with a view to creating a multipolar world order.

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“..certain lobbies did not want these efforts to achieve their goal..”

Erdogan Weighs In On Failure Of Türkiye-mediated Ukraine Talks (RT)

Talks in Istanbul to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in March 2022 did not achieve their goal because certain interests were opposed to a peace deal, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has revealed. Erdogan addressed those negotiations between Moscow and Kiev on Monday during a press conference at the Turkish House in New York, as he was highlighting Ankara’s positive role as an intermediary in various conflicts. “We have made efforts to establish a just peace since the beginning of the [Ukraine-Russia] war, and we continue to do so,” he said, as quoted by Anadolu news agency. “The negotiations in Istanbul have proven the success of Türkiye’s active role. However, certain lobbies did not want these efforts to achieve their goal,”Erdogan added.

The 2022 negotiations between Kiev and Moscow to resolve their differences culminated in a draft treaty. If implemented, Ukraine would have agreed to become a neutral nation with a limited army in exchange for international security guarantees. Shortly after the document was signed by heads of the respective delegations, Kiev made a U-turn and declared military victory over Moscow as its only option in the conflict. The policy change was prompted by a visit to Kiev by then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a Russia hawk, who told the Ukrainians to keep fighting, according to Ukrainian MP David Arakhamia, who signed the draft treaty on Kiev’s behalf. Moscow believes that Johnson ordered Ukraine not to compromise, since the West is interested in inflicting maximum damage on Russia regardless of the cost paid for it by the Ukrainian people.

Johnson has claimed he simply advised Kiev not to trust the Kremlin and that his words did not amount to an instruction. Having left his position in September 2022 following a wave of domestic scandals, Johnson remains a vocal advocate for pumping more arms and aid into Kiev. Unrestricted Western support will “send the crucial message to the Kremlin” that it cannot have a say on what is happening at its doorstep, he argued in an op-ed just published by The Spectator magazine. Erdogan is visiting the US to take part in the UN General Assembly. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is set to promote his ‘victory plan’ on the sidelines of the event. He is scheduled to first present his proposal to US President Joe Biden.

Read more …

“What’s at stake is the extremely complex design of a brand-new financial system – decentralized and using digital technology.”

Will a BRICS Bretton Woods Take Place in Kazan? (Pepe Escobar)

With less than a month before the crucial BRICS annual summit in Kazan under the Russian presidency, serious informed discussions are raging in Moscow and other Eurasian capitals on what should be at the table in the de-dollarization and alternative payment system front. Earlier this month Andrey Mikhailishin, head of the task force on financial services of the BRICS Business Council, detailed the list of top projects under consideration. They include:
• A common unit of account – as in The Unit, whose contours were first revealed exclusively by Sputnik.
• A platform for multilateral settlements and payments in BRICS digital currencies, connecting the financial markets of BRICS members: that’s BRICS Bridge, which bears similarities with the Bank of International Settlements-linked MBridge, already in effect. That will complement intrabank systems already in action, as in Russia’s SPFS and Iran’s CPAM settling financial transactions – and 60% of their trade – in their own currencies.
• A blockchain-based payment system that entirely bypasses the US dollar: BRICS Pay. Arguably 159 participants may be ready to adopt this sanction-evading, similar-to-SWIFT mechanism right away.
• A settlement depository (Clear).
• An insurance system.
• And crucially a BRICS rating agency, independent from the Western giants.

What’s at stake is the extremely complex design of a brand-new financial system – decentralized and using digital technology. BRICS Clear, for instance, will be using blockchain to record securities and exchange them.
As for The Unit, the value of the common unit of account is pegged by 40% to gold and by 60% to a basket of BRICS member’s national currencies. The BRICS Business Council considers The Unit a “convenient and universal” instrument, since a unit can be converted into any national currency. That would definitely solve the nagging problem of exchange rate volatility when cash balances accumulate from settlements in national currencies; for example, a mountain of Indian rupees used to pay for Russian energy.

Who Do I Call to Talk to BRICS?
I asked a very direct question to two Russian analysts, one of them a finance tech executive with vast experience across Europe, and the other the head of an investment fund with global reach. Considering the sensitivity of their posts, they prefer to remain anonymous. The question: Is BRICS ready to become an actor in Kazan next month, and what should be on the table in terms of the strategy to establish an alternative payment system?

The Answers. Analyst 1:
“Time has come for BRICS to become a real actor. The world demands it. The leaders of BRICS countries clearly understand it. They have the moral power and the political will to set up an organization to provide a number for BRICS to be called in – that’s the best question for the upcoming summit.” The analyst is referring to what could be dubbed “the Kissinger moment”, when Dr. K famously quipped, in the Cold War era, “when I want to talk to Europe, who do I call?”
Now to Analyst 2:
“For a BRICS agreement amongst countries to mean something, countries need to agree on a framework of action and that means accepting some responsibilities in exchange for certain rights. And it sounds there’s no better way to achieve that than to arrive at mutually agreed obligations on settlement of financial transactions.” One of the analysts added a very important, specific point: “By now the situation is pretty clear, to properly address the issue of cross-border payments. The best mechanism should be based on the New Development Bank (NDB), given that Russia has a mandate to propose the new president of that organization. Whoever the candidate will be, cross-border payments should be at the top of his agenda.” The NDB is the BRICS bank, based in Shanghai. The analyst hopes this decision on the future of the NDB will be made before the BRICS summit: “Given the diplomatic and political considerations, the candidate should be made known, formally or informally to the member countries.”

Read more …

 

 

 

Obamagate
https://twitter.com/i/status/1838041585583337978

 

 

Obama Bieber
https://twitter.com/i/status/1838028542421909561

 

 

Cat tail
https://twitter.com/i/status/1838108949125448085

 

 

Pick up a duck

 

 

Cold
https://twitter.com/i/status/1838247556981080212

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Sep 132024
 
 September 13, 2024  Posted by at 7:56 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , ,  44 Responses »


M. C. Escher Relativity Lattice 1953

 

How to Steal an Election: GOP Exposes Dems’ Playbook Ahead of 2024 Vote (Sp.)
Will ‘Insane’ Biden Provoke World War III Before November Election? (Miles)
Another Season Of Shutdown Theater Is Upon Us (ZH)
Kamaflage: The Harris Policy Dump (Porter)
Erdogan Demands Russia Must Return Crimea To Ukraine (ZH)
Turkiye’s BRICS Bid: Strategic Shift or Diplomatic Leverage? (Delgen)
34 Countries Express Desire to Join BRICS in One Form or Another – Putin (Sp.)
Polish FM Reveals Limits Of Support For Ukraine (RT)
Roger Waters Prepared To Perform In Russia And Ukraine (RT)
Everything Is Going To Plan – Zelensky (RT)
Zelensky Accuses Brazil And China Of Colluding With Russia (RT)
Zelensky Disappointed After Blinken Visit, Despite Getting $1.5 Billion More (ZH)
Lavrov Ridicules ‘Divers On Little Boat’ Theory About Nord Stream Sabotage (RT)
Olaf Scholz Has A Sudden Moment of Clarity About Russia (Amar)
Ukrainian Diplomat Claims Peace Was Possible In 2022 (RT)

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1834094117783278038

 

 

Trump 9/11

 

 

Rep. Ind.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1834019780413583437

 

 

JD Vance
https://twitter.com/i/status/1834053741290643708

 

 

Judge Judy

 

 

Sorority

 

 

OMG

 

 

Collum

 

 

Sen. Biden

 

 

Joe hat

 

 

 

 

“In order to hold on to power, Democrats have decided to steal the election. This plan requires the orchestration of belief among the voting public that Kamala is a strong candidate leading Trump in the polls. Thus, the polls are rigged for this purpose..”

How to Steal an Election: GOP Exposes Dems’ Playbook Ahead of 2024 Vote (Sp.)

Republicans are waving a red flag over possible “election theft” ahead of the November vote. They draw attention to efforts to cancel ID checks and ballot verification, the hiring of predominantly Democratic observers in some counties, and apparent attempts to create loopholes allowing illegal aliens to vote. “Election theft has always been present in America,” US economist and former Reagan administration official Dr. Paul Craig Roberts wrote. “In the 19th century, a vote could be bought for 50 cents and a half pint of whiskey. But in the 21st century, organized vote theft is a big business.” The economist pointed out that “normally, it does not matter to the ruling establishment which candidate wins, because the establishment owns both candidates.” However, in 2016, 2020, and 2024, Donald Trump emerged as a player “outside the grip and control of the establishment. Therefore, to keep him out of office, vote fraud has been elevated to the fore,” as per the economist.

Conservatives argue that the Democratic Party has launched full-fledged lawfare against the Republican frontrunner ahead of the election. The former president has been charged with a total of 88 felony counts in four criminal investigations, and found guilty of 34 of them. He is routinely vilified in the US mainstream press, and was most recently subjected to unfair “fact-checking” by ABC News during his September 10 debate with Kamala Harris, Republicans say. Meanwhile, a silent battle over the 2024 election is already underway across the United States. Instead of improving the democratic procedure’s transparency, voting requirements have been loosened in recent decades, the pundit said. “There are many ways to exploit the loose voting requirements in the US,” Dr. Roberts wrote. “[In some states] an ID or proof of citizenship is not required in order to vote. Actual physical presence is not required to vote: it can be done through drop boxes on streets or mail-in ballots.

“Dead people still on voter rolls can be voted. People still on voter rolls who have moved out of the state can be voted. Voter registrations made when driver’s licenses are issued to illegal aliens can be voted.” As of April 2024, 36 states required some form of identification to cast a ballot. Of these states, 21 asked for photo ID, and 15 also accepted non-photo ID. The remaining 14 states and Washington, DC did not require voters to present identification in order to vote at polls on Election Day. For years, Democratic lawmakers have tried to ram “voting rights” legislation through Congress to water down or abolish election restrictions altogether. Democrats argue that strict ID rules and in-person voting, advocated by Republicans, prevent low income people, African Americans, and other minorities from casting their ballots.

What’s worse, the assumption that black Americans are less likely to have proper identification instruments established a protocol leading to the issuance of Federal Identification Papers to illegal aliens. According to Dr. Roberts, “it is still illegal federally for illegal aliens to vote, but some Democrat cities permit them to vote.” “The 3.6 million immigrant-invaders who cross the border into the US from Mexico each year are provided with federal IDs. These IDs allow states to issue them driver’s licenses. Today, the practice is for the states to register the person to whom a license is issued on the voting rolls,” according to the economist.

[..] According to Dr. Roberts, Kamala Harris’ approval rating is deliberately inflated by polls and corporate press by oversampling Democratic voters, especially in swing states. Conservative commentators believe that this is done in order to lay the groundwork for potential election theft and make her victory there look more plausible. “In order to hold on to power, Democrats have decided to steal the election. This plan requires the orchestration of belief among the voting public that Kamala is a strong candidate leading Trump in the polls. Thus, the polls are rigged for this purpose,” Dr. Roberts wrote.

He drew attention to the fact that in 2020, when Kamala Harris campaigned for the Democratic nomination for president, she had zero support and was immediately eliminated from the first round. During her four years as vice president, she is rated as one of the worst and least popular in history. “In less than one month the presstitute media elevated her from a non-entity to the favorite in the US presidential election,” he noted.

Read more …

“My fear is that [the United States] will try something really drastic like a false flag attack or maybe even a mini nuke,” said McGovern..”

Will ‘Insane’ Biden Provoke World War III Before November Election? (Miles)

Lasting from the end of World War II until the early 1990s, the Cold War saw the United States and the USSR locked in a global competition for power and influence. Although the two superpowers never went to war directly, the 45-year period was marked by two proxy conflicts in Vietnam and Korea and a constant fear that a third World War was not far away. Tensions were heightened by the fact that both the United States and the Soviet Union possessed nuclear weapons, dramatically raising the stakes of global conflict. Both countries nearly saw their worst fears realized during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when it appeared the US and USSR were unwilling to back down over the issue of nuclear missiles being placed just miles from each country’s border in Cuba and Turkey. The incident led to the establishment of a special hotline for US and Soviet leaders to communicate directly, and caused US President John F. Kennedy to remark that tensions between nuclear powers must never again rise to such a level.

For decades, Kennedy’s maxim was dutifully observed as both countries worked to improve relations, finally culminating in the end of the Cold War. The prospect for nuclear confrontation was avoided until recent years, claimed former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, when the United States rejected Russian overtures for a new European security architecture and stubbornly insisted Ukraine’s coup regime would be granted entry into NATO. The analyst joined Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Wednesday to consider whether US President Joe Biden is willing to risk global conflict to reverse Kiev’s flagging fortunes on the battlefield. “They want to provoke Putin [into] doing something really drastic before the election, before the [presidential] election here on November 5th,” suggested McGovern, a critic of neoconservative US foreign policy.

“They’re losing in Kursk [region],” he noted, referring to Ukraine’s stalled incursion into Russian territory. “What were they trying to do? They were trying to get the Russians to react in such a way as to bring the US in with both feet militarily.” [..] “My fear is that [the United States] will try something really drastic like a false flag attack or maybe even a mini nuke,” said McGovern, concerned that the US could fabricate an episode such as the Gulf of Tonkin incident that drew the country into the Vietnam War. “Let’s see what happens the next couple of weeks. I think Putin is right. It’s only the smart thing to see who wins on the 5th of November. Till then, I’m still holding my breath.” But McGovern warned that the consequences of the United States’ strategy in Ukraine could fall not on the US itself, but on its European allies.

“It’s really hard to know what Biden and [National Security Advisor Jake] Sullivan, who are running things, really think,” he claimed. “Some of my best friends and analysts think they’re insane. And it’s really, really hard to predict what they’re going to do if they’re insane.” “The Europeans are being told by the Russians, ‘look, if Biden, Blinken and Sullivan opt for a tactical nuclear weapon, for God’s sake, please, please remember we got them too. And where will we use them? We’ll use them in Europe,’” McGovern said, summarizing Russia’s possible response.

Read more …

They refuse to get their voting in order.

Another Season Of Shutdown Theater Is Upon Us (ZH)

Another season of shutdown malarkey is upon us – this time with a deadline of October 1st before it’s time to fling poo. Republicans want to tie a six-month funding stopgap (Continuing Resolution or CR) to the SAVE Act – which would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote. On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) yanked a funding bill off the House floor hours before an expected vote after a growing number of Republicans vowed to tank the measure which includes the SAVE Act. Democrats want a “clean” funding bill that would keep the government open until December, right after the elections, without (of course) the SAVE Act. Donald Trump wants Johnson and the Republicans to grow a pair of balls and let the government shut down if they can’t preserve the SAVE Act.

On Tuesday, before he yanked the funding bill off the floor, Johnson told reporters “We are going to put the SAVE Act and the CR together, and we’re going to move that through the process. And I am resolved to that; we’re not looking at any other alternative. … I think almost 90% of the American people believe in that principle and that’s why we’re going to stand and fight,” adding “You know how I operate: You do the right thing and you let the chips fall where they may.” Hilarious. After he pulled the bill, Johnson said: “We’re in the consensus-building business here in Congress with small majorities,” adding “We’re having thoughtful conversations, family conversations, within the Republican conference, and I believe we’ll get there.” Of course, going head-to-head with Democrats (and some Republicans) over the SAVE Act means litigating claims of election fraud, which Republicans folded like a wet napkin over after the 2020 US election instead of circling the wagons around Trump.

Meanwhile, at least seven Republicans have said they would vote against a CR, period, as it only kicks the can down the road. Johnson is dealing with a tough math problem. Because of their minuscule majority, House Republicans can only afford four GOP defections if all lawmakers vote. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., was hospitalized Tuesday night after collapsing at an event. And at least seven other Republicans have publicly stated they will vote against a stopgap measure, known as a continuing resolution or “CR.” Many others said they could join them. Two sources told NBC News that leadership was anticipating as many as 15 GOP no votes if the vote had been held Wednesday. -NBC” Republicans opposing a CR include Reps. Cory Mills of Florida, Jim Banks of Indiana, Matt Rosendale of Montana, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Tim Burchett of Tennessee. “I’ve continuously voted against CRs. I think it is terrible legislating,” said Burchett.

“And the No. 1 threat to this country is fiscal irresponsibility. We are going off a fiscal cliff, and I think that every time we do this, we just kick that can further down the road.” According to Mills, a military veteran and fiscal conservative who serves on the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committee, “This CR would weaken our defense capabilities and the readiness of our military, just as global threats are rapidly evolving. It would prevent us from responding effectively to adversarial nations like China, hinder innovation, and delay modernization,” adding “Six months is a long time in politics, but it’s an eternity in geopolitics, where quick responses are critical to countering foreign adversaries threatening to harm U.S. interests. Mills is a ‘yes’ on the SAVE Act, saying: “I’m a firm NO on bankrupting the nation and a YES on election integrity.” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) explains the charade we’re about to see unfold over the next two weeks:

Read more …

“She will cut red tape and build more housing by imposing new red tape in the form of federal rent regulations..”

Kamaflage: The Harris Policy Dump (Porter)

The Harris-Walz campaign has been vibe-a-licious and content-free; its positions on domestic and foreign policy have (with apologies to Hollywood) essentially consisted of open defiance of any presidential campaign norms: “Policy? We ain’t got no policy. We don’t need no policy. We don’t have to show you any stinkin’ policy.” But the campaign’s policy on policy changed, sort of, the day before the debate, when it went ahead and posted some stinkin’ policy anyway. In a word, Harris’ policy dump should be seen for what it is: Kamaflage. She uses words that score well with Republicans and moderates, but inverts the meaning of those words, creating an unintelligible stinkin’ mess. “Kamala Harris will create an Opportunity Economy where everyone has a chance to compete and a chance to succeed – whether they live in a rural area, small town, or big city.” Really? How is she going to do that?

The campaign also promises that Harris would “make it a top priority to bring down costs and increase economic security for all Americans.” It added, “As President, she will fight to cut taxes for more than 100 million working and middle class Americans while lowering the costs of every day needs like health care, housing and groceries.” How would Harris cut taxes? Not by actually reducing anyone’s taxes, but by increasing spending: “restoring” (i.e. increasing) the amount paid out under two tax credits that provide cash payments to lower income families, most of whom already do not pay federal income taxes. But, as we learned from the ironically named Inflation Reduction Act, pumping more money into the system without increasing the supply of goods and services just devalues the dollar and creates inflation for everyone.

Harris’ campaign calls for both “making our tax system fairer and prioritizing investment and innovation,” while also calling for higher taxes on corporate earnings, quadrupling the tax on corporate distributions through stock buybacks, and increasing the capital gains rate by 40%. With a flourish that would make George Orwell blush, she blithely asserts that tax increases bolster the economy too: “When the government encourages investment, it leads to broad-based economic growth and creates jobs, which makes our economy stronger.” In what alternate reality does raising taxes on investments encourage investments? A lifelong government employee who never worked in the private sector, Harris apparently envisions herself a preternaturally talented real estate developer. Her campaign’s policy paper claims she has a “comprehensive plan” to build three million more rental units and affordable homes “to end the national housing supply crisis in her first term.”

What’s the big plan? She’ll “cut red tape” to build housing faster, while also penalizing companies that “hoard available homes to drive up prices,” and “outlaw new forms of price fixing by corporate landlords.” Did you follow that? She will cut red tape and build more housing by imposing new red tape in the form of federal rent regulations so that landlords make less money. This is merely contradictory nonsense with poll-tested verbiage. She would also give $25,000 to first-time home buyers, “with even more generous support for first-generation homeowners.” Obviously, giving people more money to buy houses means houses will cost more, not less. Note, too, that not all first-time home buyers would be treated equally. Some, such as immigrants (whether here legally or illegally), would get even more than young Americans who are descended from (gasp!) previous homeowners.

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It is easy to demand things you know won’t happen. You can say: well, I tried…

Erdogan Demands Russia Must Return Crimea To Ukraine (ZH)

While some people think Turkey is an ally to Russia, the reality is that this “friendship” is more often shaky and could perhaps even be seen as a facade ready to collapse at any moment. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday reminded the world that his country firmly reflects NATO’s view of the Ukraine war. He said in video message to 4th Crimea Platform happening in Kiev, a Ukrainian government sponsored event, that the return of Crimea to Ukraine is “a requirement of international law.” “Our support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence is unwavering. The return of Crimea to Ukraine is a requirement of international law,” Erdogan declared, while also stressing ongoing support for Crimean Tatar rights.

He said of the minority ethnic group commonly viewed as Turkish: “I believe that additional steps will continue to be taken to strengthen the rights of the Crimean Tatar Turks in the upcoming period.” Turkey has long denounced not only historic persecution of the Tatars at the hands of Russians which reaches back to the 18th-19th centuries, but also the alleged persecution following Russia’s 2014 takeover of the peninsula. Erdogan stressed before the conference that Tatars must be able to live “freely, securely, and peacefully in their own homeland.” Erdogan added of the broader conflict, “Our sincere wish is for the war to end with a fair and lasting peace based on Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.”

The Kremlin was quick to respond, saying the following within hours after Erdogan’s speech: “Subjects of the Russian Federation are not subject to negotiation,” Zakharova told reporters who asked about Erdogan s remarks during the press briefing at the Foreign Ministry, adding that anyone who wants to address the issue needs to read the Russian constitution first. Residents of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol voted overwhelmingly to rejoin Russia in March 2014, shortly after a US-backed coup in Kiev overthrew the Ukrainian government in favor of militant nationalists. Neither Ukraine nor its Western backers have ever accepted the results of the referendum, declaring it to be an illegal annexation.

This isn’t the first time that the Turkish leader has expressed such a firm position, which has not made Russia happy. Turkey has also since near the start of the conflict supplied Ukraine forces with armed drones. Turkey was central along with UN negotiators in securing the 2022-2023 Black Sea Grain Initiative, and has been a rare open line of communication to the Kremlin within NATO. It has also positioned itself as a potential future mediator of peace. But Erdogan’s Crimea stance is yet another reminder that Turkey in the end is still a powerful NATO member, and with a Washington relationship that’s more impactful for Ankara than its ties with Moscow.

Read more …

Demand Crimea and then join Russia’s club. Yeah. Being in NATO and then also join BRICS doesn’t look realistic.

Turkiye’s BRICS Bid: Strategic Shift or Diplomatic Leverage? (Delgen)

NATO member Turkiye’s formal application to join the BRICS group of emerging economies earlier this month has garnered widespread attention. While the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Directorate of Communications have yet to officially confirm or deny the news, there have been several indirect confirmations from Turkish and Russian officials. Omer Celik, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), couched his response to reporters carefully: “Our president has stated at various times that we want to be a member [of BRICS] … Our request on this issue is clear. This process is underway in this framework, but there is no concrete development on this.” Further confirmation of Turkiye’s membership bid came from Yuri Ushakov, BRICS chair and Russian President Putin’s foreign policy advisor, who has publicly stated: “Turkiye has applied for full membership. We will consider this application.”

In addition, Sputnik reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan, scheduled for 22–24 September. This aligns with prior announcements that Erdogan would also attend the next Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting for heads of state. These developments emphasize Ankara’s interest in the multipolar order that BRICS represents, especially following its failed bids to join the EU, though Turkiye’s official stance remains unclear – perhaps deliberately so. The timing of Turkiye’s potential BRICS membership raises important questions, especially given that this development follows an informal meeting with EU foreign ministers, marking Turkiye’s first such invitation since 2019. The BRICS acronym, coined in 2001 by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill, originally described Brazil, Russia, India, and China. South Africa joined in 2010, transforming it into BRICS. As of 2024, additional countries like Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE have also joined the BRICS+ bloc, further expanding its global reach.

BRICS aims to increase the voice of emerging economies in international affairs and challenge Atlanticist dominance over the global financial system. Though not a formal international organization like the UN or World Bank, BRICS has established the New Development Bank to provide loans for development projects in emerging economies. By the end of 2022, the bank had lent an astounding $32 billion for new roads, bridges, railways, and water projects, although representing only half the $72.8 billion committed by the World Bank in fiscal year 2023. In its expanded form, the number of people living in BRICS countries is a hefty 3.5 billion, or 45 percent of the global population. The combined size of their economies is more than $28.5 trillion, or about 28 per cent of the global economy. Combined, the expanded BRICS membership also produces about 44 percent of the world’s crude oil. What about the west? On the domestic front, Turkiye’s internal politics are in flux. In the 31 March local elections, the ruling AKP lost a significant portion of its support for the first time in 20 years, largely due to ongoing economic crises.

In response, President Erdogan appointed Mehmet Simsek as his new finance minister, a figure known for his strong ties with western financial institutions, which some have interpreted as a shift back towards a pro-EU and pro-NATO foreign policy. In a meeting at British think-tank Chatham House earlier this summer, Simsek reiterated that EU membership remains Turkiye’s strategic goal and that the country would adhere to sanctions on Russia following the Ukraine invasion.Simsek’s rhetoric caused some unease in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expected visit to Turkiye was canceled, and he made his thoughts clear at St Petersburg International Economic Forum on 5 June: “It seems to me that the Turkish government’s economic bloc has recently focused on getting loans, making investments and receiving grants from western financial institutions. This is probably not a bad thing, but if it is connected with the restriction of trade and economic relations with Russia, then the Turkish economy will lose more than it gains. In my opinion, there is such a threat.”

Read more …

“Russia pays great attention to security issues within BRICS during its presidency..”

34 Countries Express Desire to Join BRICS in One Form or Another – Putin (Sp.)

Today, more than three dozen countries, precisely more than 34 states, have already expressed a desire to join the activities of our association [BRICS] in one form or another,” Putin said during a meeting with high representatives of the BRICS states on security issues. The plan of Russia’s BRICS presidency has already been fulfilled by more than 70%, Vladimir Putin said. “As of now, the chairmanship plan has been fulfilled by more than 70%, about 150 events, meetings, industry forums have been held, most expert and ministerial meetings have been held,” Putin said at a meeting with high representatives of the BRICS and BRICS Plus states in charge of security issues.

Russia’s activity as BRICS 2024 chair focused on the swift integration of new members of the association, Putin added. “As the current chair of BRICS, this year Russia has approached the organization of joint activities within the framework of the association with great responsibility. Our chairmanship has been entrusted with a special mission — to do everything possible to facilitate the fastest and most organic integration of new member countries into all BRICS mechanisms,” Putin explained.

BRICS has accumulated significant experience in responding to security challenges, including in cybercrime and fight against terrorism, Putin said. “We are building on the truly solid experience of interaction accumulated by BRICS in responding to threats of terrorism and extremism, illegal arms and drug trafficking, transnational crime and illegal migration. Among the specific results of the joint work of the BRICS states, I would like to note the creation of a special electronic registry for exchanging data on computer attacks and incidents,” Putin said at a meeting with BRICS security representatives. Russia pays great attention to security issues within BRICS during its presidency, the leader added.

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Vovan and Lexus strike again. They must be good.

Polish FM Reveals Limits Of Support For Ukraine (RT)

Poland has “zero willingness” to send troops to defend Ukraine, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has told a pair of Russian pranksters posing as former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko. Vovan and Lexus, who typically dupe public figures into talking to them by imitating various officials, released a video on Thursday featuring the top Polish diplomat. At one point, the fake Poroshenko asked whether Poland would be willing to “join the team” and fight Russian troops on territory claimed by Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk would be “very reluctant to do so,” Sikorski replied. Even the proposal to shoot down Russian cruise missiles over western Ukraine with Polish interceptors is “very, very controversial,” since this would amount to joining the conflict, the official explained.

“If the front started to collapse, things might change. But at the moment there is zero willingness to do that,” Sikorski said. Poland is concerned that by sending troops to Ukraine, Warsaw would confirm Russian claims that it has designs on territory that Kiev received from Poland as part of a border settlement after World War II, the diplomat noted. Warsaw is willing to train Ukrainian soldiers and facilitate the return of Ukrainian citizens eligible for military service, Sikorsky said. But “Polish soldiers inside Ukraine – not doable. Unless there was a peace agreement, and these were peacekeeping forces, UN or something. Then it’s different, maybe,” he added. Sikorsky suggested that a military intervention by other members of NATO was likewise improbable, as “there is no willingness to have a war with Russia in Western Europe. This is an absolute red line.”

However, the US will keep sending military aid to Ukraine no matter what, the Polish minister argued, claiming that Washington’s credibility among its allies is at stake. He also described as “very unhelpful” public calls by Polish President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the previous conservative government, to station US nuclear weapons on Polish soil. If deployed, such weapons would remain outside of Warsaw’s control and wouldn’t make a difference for Russia, since other European nations already host similar arms, Sikorsky said. “It’s like being a postman who has a million-dollar check, who feels important, as if this million dollars was his,” he explained.

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As 81-year old Joe Biden is all but gone, 81-year old Roger Waters is touring: “We are nearly 170 people on the road. And 30 tractor trailers, trucks carrying all the equipment..”

Roger Waters Prepared To Perform In Russia And Ukraine (RT)

British rock star Roger Waters has said he would perform in Russia and Ukraine if given the chance, in an interview with a teen literary prodigy from Donbass. The 81-year-old co-founder of the band Pink Floyd, who is also a vocal critic of US imperialism and warmongering, spoke via telelink with Faina Savenkova, a 15-year-old playwright and author from Lugansk, Russia. According to a preview released on Thursday by the organizer of the interview, RIA Novosti, Waters said he would have no reservations about performing in Russia. “There are no ‘buts’ really. Russians were inviting me to go and do a gig in St. Petersburg and Moscow for this summer,” he said. His latest tour, ‘This Is Not a Drill’, traveled around the world until December 2023 and was touted as Waters’ farewell tour.

Some of the events faced threats of cancelation in Germany over elements of anti-Nazi satire and the musician’s criticism of Israel, which detractors claim to be anti-Semitic. This type of production is a massive endeavor that requires a lot of planning, according to Waters. “We are nearly 170 people on the road. And 30 tractor trailers, trucks carrying all the equipment. It’s a huge, huge thing. It’s not like I go around with a balalaika and singing at bars.” “Will I go on the road again? I have no idea. If I do, would I like to play in Russia – and Ukraine? Of course I would,” he said. In the interview, Waters also discussed the Ukraine conflict. He said Ukrainians should keep in mind that US foreign policy is designed with the sole purpose to “feather the nests of American plutocrats.” “The people of Ukraine surely by now must know that the US government couldn’t care less about your lives,” he said.

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“..met with the Ukrainian leadership to discuss “how best to define a Ukrainian victory.”

Everything Is Going To Plan – Zelensky (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has downplayed the Russian counteroffensive in Kursk Region, claiming that what is taking place is consistent with Kiev’s military planning. The Russian Defense Ministry recently listed ten settlements in Kursk that it said Russian troops had liberated over the two previous days. It also estimated total Ukrainian casualties suffered in the incursion at over 12,500 troops. Zelensky, who recently told the media that Kiev intended to hold on to the captured land for the foreseeable future, claimed on Thursday that he was not bothered by the recent setback there. “The Russians have started counterattack action. Everything goes in accordance with our Ukrainian plan,” he told journalists during a press conference in Kiev. Uncorroborated reports on social media have claimed that Russian airborne troops have successfully pushed Ukrainian soldiers back from the eastern part of a pocket in Kursk that they previously held.

Ukraine sent thousands of troops into the Russian region last month in what was the largest cross-border operation undertaken by Kiev in the ongoing conflict with Russia. Officials in Kiev have offered a number of explanations for the Kursk incursion. The stated aims have included capturing Russian soldiers for prisoner exchanges, instilling fear in Russian society, humiliating President Vladimir Putin, forcing Moscow to redeploy troops from the Donbas front, and seizing Russian territory that could be used as a bargaining chip in eventual peace talks. The operation is supposedly part of a secret “victory plan” that Zelensky has said he would present to US President Joe Biden. Washington is supposed to provide the military capabilities necessary for it to be achieved, he added. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kiev on Wednesday. According to the Wall Street Journal, he and his British counterpart David Lammy met with the Ukrainian leadership to discuss “how best to define a Ukrainian victory.”

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“..putting out peace initiatives without first consulting Kiev..”

Zelensky Accuses Brazil And China Of Colluding With Russia (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has criticized China and Brazil for “taking Russia’s side” and putting out peace initiatives without first consulting Kiev. Back in May, the two nations jointly issued a six-point plan for settling the Ukraine conflict, emphasizing that “dialogue and negotiation” are the only “viable way out of the crisis.” They have also called for a new international conference on Ukraine amenable to both Moscow and Kiev. The previous summit on the conflict was held in Switzerland this summer without representatives from Russia and focused solely on Zelensky’s “peace formula,” which Moscow has vehemently rejected. Speaking to Brazilian news outlet Metropoles on Wednesday, Zelensky called the Chinese-Brazilian proposal aimed at mutual compromise “destructive” and dismissed it as a “political statement.”

He stated that he has since talked to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and also approached Beijing to discuss resolving the conflict. “Why did you suddenly decide that you should take Russia’s side or be somewhere in the middle? How can you offer ‘here is our initiative’ without asking us anything?” Zelensky asked, suggesting that at the same time, Beijing and Brasilia had discussed the initiative with Russia. “We are not fools,” Zelensky insisted, using the Russian word for “fools” (duraki) despite conducting the interview with the Brazilian journalist in Ukrainian. Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated during a meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu on Tuesday that Beijing would continue to promote an imminent ceasefire and political settlement.

“China has always maintained an objective and impartial attitude towards the Ukrainian issue and will continue to work to promote balanced, objective and rational voices in the international community, so as to build more international consensus and accumulate the necessary conditions for an early ceasefire and a political settlement of the crisis,” Wang said. Moscow has welcomed China’s and Brazil’s peace proposals and expressed appreciation that they have received international backing. However, at the same time, Russian officials have repeatedly cast doubt on the sincerity of Ukraine’s willingness to hold such talks. Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated last week that the West intends to make Kiev “fight to the last Ukrainian” with the goal of inflicting “a strategic defeat” on Moscow.

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Putin says long-range weapons for Ukraine means war with NATO.

Zelensky Disappointed After Blinken Visit, Despite Getting $1.5 Billion More (ZH)

The end result of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Kiev Wednesday alongside British Foreign Secretary David Lammy was… (big surprise) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky getting a huge amount of money. During the rare joint trip, the US and UK pledged nearly $1.5 billion in additional aid, though it remains that Ukraine still didn’t get quite what it wanted: authorization to use US-made long-rage missiles against Russian territory. “Speaking for the United States, we have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed. And I have no doubt that we’ll continue to do that as this evolves,” Blinken told a press briefing, after President Biden earlier said the question of long-rage strikes is being worked out. But there was no big announcement from Kiev on the controversial issue.

Not content with the announcement of $1.5 billion in American and British taxpayer funds, Zelensky said of the long-range weapons issue: “Let’s count on some strong decisions, at least,” adding that “For us, it’s very important.” Blinken additionally said he’ll take the issue “back to Washington to brief the president” and that “no doubt” Biden and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will discuss the issue when they meet at the White House Friday. While Kiev might see it as a consolation prize, the US cut of the new pledge to Ukraine comes in at more than $700 million in humanitarian aid, while Lammy pledged another $782 million in assistance and loan guarantees. The West has been seeking to rapidly bolster Ukraine’s energy grid after constant waves of Russian aerial attacks which has left the country subject to rolling emergency blackouts. All of this has happened ahead of what’s expected to be a very tough winter.

Upon wrapping up his visit to Kiev, Blinken made his way over to Warsaw where he is meeting with Polish leadership. The Associated Press says it’s expected that the NATO ‘eastern flank’ member will press the issue of Zelensky’s request to hit Russia hard with long-range missiles. “NATO member Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine, has been supportive of the Ukrainians and Blinken is likely to hear further requests for easing weapons-use restrictions from Polish President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski,” AP reports. But the consensus even among hawkish Washington foreign policy pundits is that long-range strikes into Russia will not change the battle lines in eastern Ukraine, where the fate of the war is being decided. Instead, it will only make escalation between NATO and Moscow much more unpredictable.

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Obviously.

Lavrov Ridicules ‘Divers On Little Boat’ Theory About Nord Stream Sabotage (RT)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has laughed off “ridiculous” claims by German media outlets that the Nord Stream pipelines were blown up by a small group of divers on a “little boat.” Commenting on the issue of protecting critical energy infrastructure at a press briefing on Thursday, he said investigations into the sabotage of the Russian natural gas pipelines in 2022 had been turned into a “spectacle.” Despite submitting numerous requests, Lavrov said Russia had still not received any information about the investigation from the German authorities, and claimed their investigation lacked transparency. Meanwhile, Denmark and Sweden, who have also ignored all of Moscow’s requests, have stated that they had closed down their national investigations into the Nord Stream explosions, the minister noted.

“We will not abandon this topic, we will continue to seek a transparent investigation, which is being blocked in every possible way by the US, Britain and their allies,” Lavrov said. He also ridiculed recent reports in the German media featuring theories about how the pipelines were destroyed. “Five people were sitting around drinking, having a laugh, and decided ‘Why don’t we blow up the Nord Stream pipelines?’ They had diving skills, allegedly hired a little boat, sailed to the place where the Nord Streams were passing, went down, planted explosives and detonated them,” the minister said, describing the German reports. “If someone can actually believe this version, then it’s only people who are afraid of the truth and are trying to protect the criminal Kiev regime in any way possible,” he suggested.

The Nord Stream pipelines, which transported Russian natural gas to Germany and other parts of Western Europe via the Baltic Sea, were sabotaged in September 2022 in a series of underwater explosions near the Danish island of Bornholm. Russia has blamed the US for orchestrating the attack, while some Western media outlets have blamed the act on an unaffiliated “pro-Ukrainian group.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed claims that the pipelines were blown up by activists as “complete nonsense,” and has insisted that the explosions were carried out by professionals supported by “the full might of the state, which has certain technologies.”

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“..a policy of Russophobia and rearming, is stuck like a German truck somewhere west of Moscow in November 1941..”

Olaf Scholz Has A Sudden Moment of Clarity About Russia (Amar)

Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, has caused a stir. Not by some kind of success, in, for instance, elections, the economy, or foreign and domestic policy. Scholz does not do that kind of thing. For a man with his ratings, crowd pleasing is not even an option. Even though they may indeed mean Scholz’s days are numbered, as the British Telegraph surmises, the devastating defeats his Social-Democratic party and its ‘traffic-light’ coalition partners – the Greens and the market-liberal Free Democrats – have just suffered in regional elections in Thuringia and Saxony are just the tip of the iceberg, as polls consistently show: A whopping 77% of Germans consider their current leader “führungsschwach” (weak at, well, leading); his personal “popularity” – really, unpopularity – rating has just collapsed from a dismal 14th to a comically catastrophic 18th place. Only 23% want him to even try to run for office again, and even in his own party the majority is against the idea.

And it’s not just him alone but his team as well: 71% of Germans think his government is doing a bad job. A difficult – and foul – 2025 budget compromise achieved in July within Scholz’s fractious coalition did not inspire hope: Only 7% of voters believed that the coalition “partners” would work together more effectively now, 10% thought things would only get worse, and 79% that they’d stay just as dire as they were. While Scholz’s government had promised that the new budget would finally jolt the ailing German economy back to life, 75% of Germans didn’t believe in that promise. And who can blame them? The German economy, hobbled by both self-imposed budgetary constraints that rule out stimulus politics and then the insane abandonment of inexpensive Russian energy, has been stagnating since 2018; as of now it has entered a “technical recession.”

That was the mood at the end of July. By now, it’s bound to be much worse: The coalition’s rickety budget compromise is under heavy fire from, among others, Professor Hanno Kube, “one of the most respected constitutional jurists” of Germany, according to leading news magazine Der Spiegel. Kube, one should recall, has helped bring down Berlin’s shady accounting practices once before, triggering a deep and reverberating political crisis that the traffic-light accomplices have never fully overcome. And Volkswagen, nothing less than a national symbol and by far Germany’s biggest employer in the country’s vital yet badly declining car-making sector, has ended its job guarantee and is preparing the ground for plant closures and mass layoffs in Germany for the first time in the company’s history. It’s hard to convey what a psychological blow that is.

As a German, let me put it like this: Imagine losing World War I and a football world championship at the same time. Exaggeration? Guilty as charged. But not by much. We could prolong the painful litany of Berlin’s failures at home, but the gist should be clear already: Scholz’s profile as a German leader is that of a dourly resolute, unrelenting loser. Even his much touted “Zeitenwende” (‘epochal change’), that is, a policy of Russophobia and rearming, is stuck like a German truck somewhere west of Moscow in November 1941.

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“While there were opportunities for a political settlement at the talks in Istanbul… now, in my personal opinion, there are no such opportunities..”

Ukrainian Diplomat Claims Peace Was Possible In 2022 (RT)

The Ukraine conflict could have been stopped back in 2022 soon after it started, according to Aleksandr Chaly, former Ukrainian first deputy foreign minister and one of Kiev’s key negotiators at the time. The diplomat said that Moscow and Kiev had a real chance of inking a peace deal at negotiations in Istanbul a mere month after the beginning of hostilities, but that chance has since been lost. “While there were opportunities for a political settlement at the talks in Istanbul… now, in my personal opinion, there are no such opportunities,” Chaly stated at a panel discussion at the Xiangshan defense forum in Beijing on Thursday, as cited by RIA Novosti. Ukraine and Russia held several rounds of peace talks in the spring of 2022, and the Istanbul round was considered the most productive, as the parties managed to develop and pre-approve a draft peace treaty.

The document reportedly included clauses on Kiev formally adopting neutral status, limiting its armed forces and vowing not to discriminate against ethnic Russians. Moscow, in return, was willing to withdraw troops from Ukrainian territories and offer Kiev security guarantees. However, the treaty was never finalized, and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky later issued a decree banning peace talks with Putin.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok earlier this month, Putin accused the West of “ordering” Kiev to drop the treaty due to “the wish of the elites in the US and some European nations to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.” He stressed, however, that Moscow has “never refused” negotiations and that the Istanbul draft could still serve as the foundation for a peace deal. According to a Wall Street Journal report published earlier this week, an increasing number of Ukrainians want Kiev and Moscow to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict, which has been dragging on for 30 months. A poll published by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in early August suggested that 57% of Ukrainians wanted dialogue with Russia.

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Voodoo

 

 

Escape

 

 

Stone age
https://twitter.com/i/status/1834149136532111815

 

 

Dog beat

 

 

Goro

 

 

Birds

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Sep 092024
 


Pieter Bruegel the Elder Two monkeys 1562

 

A Harris Victory in 2024 Makes the US a One-Party State (AmG)
Election Guru In US Claims Harris Will Beat Trump (RT)
$10 mln Is Serious Money – What’s Lacking? Serious Evidence Of Crime (Flores)
Now It Is the White House that Is Smearing Tucker Carlson (Paul Craig Roberts)
PAC Runs Ads In Muslim-Heavy Michigan Lauding Harris For Israel Support (ZH)
Musk Set To Become World’s First Trillionaire (RT)
Elon Musk Reveals When He Will Be Able To Send Humans To Mars (RT)
Elon Musk: First Mars Mission In Two Years; Make America Healthy Again (ZH)
Vive la Démocratie! (Manley)
CIA, MI6 Chiefs Warn Of Threats To ‘World Order’ (RT)
US Military Suicide As A Result Of The Ongoing War On Terror (Van den Ende)
Zakharova Likens US To Hollywood Ax-Wielding Maniac (RT)
Why Turkiye’s Move to Join BRICS as Full Member is Big Deal (Sp.)
Erdogan Wants Greater Islamic Alliance To Combat Israeli ‘Expansionism’ (ZH)
Iran’s New President Wants To Move Capital Out Of Tehran (RT)
China Bans Foreigners From Adopting Its Children (RT)
A Post-Google World (Stoller)

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1832488452333457440

 

 

Wi.

 

 

Vivek

 

 

Clapping like seals
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832586177268031781

 

 

Bill Clinton’s 1995 SOTU

 

 

Vivek Tucker

 

 

Trump DOJ chief
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832497260867023272

 

 

Tim Pool
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832378642824864033

 

 

 

 

Excellent from James E. Fanell and Bradley A. Thayer.

A Harris Victory in 2024 Makes the US a One-Party State (AmG)

The election of 2024 will be epochal for the United States. It will be as impactful on the course of the nation as the election of 1860 and the ensuing Civil War. This November’s election will determine whether the U.S. remains a viable constitutional republic or becomes a one-party state. If Vice President Kamala Harris wins, the result will be the realization of President Obama’s intent, voiced in his famous 2008 remark, to “fundamentally transform” the United States. Thus, the election is important for all Americans, particularly the voting public, to be aware that should Harris win, then 2024 is likely to be the last free, fair, and competitive election in the U.S. If she does win, then the U.S. by 2028 will be a one-party country, with the Democrats in permanent control, as California, Illinois, Massachusetts, or Hawaii are at the state level today. In the wake of her 2024 election, Harris, by her own words, is certain to take the following actions in pursuit of the agenda of the one-party government.

Harris will target the Supreme Court, as that is the most potent source of resistance to Democratic rule. To defeat the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, the Harris administration will push to pack the Court so that it may nominate justices who support judicial activism and oppose originalism—that the constitution, or subsequent laws, be interpreted by their original meanings. A Harris administration that packed the Court, with new Justices confirmed by a Democratic-controlled Senate, would usher in the one-party state that would never give up power. Additionally, a Harris administration would seek to add states to the Electoral College. Specifically, the Harris administration supports the push to add the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as states, adding four Senators and at least two Representatives to the House of Representatives. The addition of these states to the Union would give the Democrat Party permanent control over the presidency.

Again, another example of a one-party state, something that is anathema to freedom and liberty and has always resulted in death and destruction to the citizens of the people of other countries. Given the decisions by the Biden-Harris administration to open America’s border, illegal immigration will continue and be accelerated. Although no one knows the total numbers, at least 10-12 million illegal aliens have entered the U.S. during the Biden-Harris presidency. These illegal aliens will be placed on an immediate path to citizenship so that they may vote legally. Conceivably, at least 12 million more illegal aliens can be expected to enter the U.S. during a Harris presidency, and this will only accelerate a permanent pathway for illegal aliens to become citizens. This will open the doors to many more scores of millions of people to enter the U.S. in numbers that are certain to destabilize American society, economy, and politics and forever change the country.

Regarding the economy, Americans can expect a Harris administration to make good on their pledges to institute federally mandated price controls and dramatically increase tax burdens on average Americans, including taxes on unrealized income, also known as wealth taxes. These actions will culminate in even worse hyperinflation, devaluation of the dollar, and the essential establishment of a state-run economy like that run by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the PRC—the disastrous results notwithstanding. Her Department of Justice will build on Biden’s efforts to decapitate the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement by imprisoning President Trump, senior Trump officials, attorneys, and prospective Republican rivals whose support is rooted in the MAGA movement. Lindsay Graham and other RINOs will be safe, at least in the near term, but not J.D. Vance or Josh Hawley. Censorship in all forms will worsen. Government interference in social media will tighten so that all media, including social media, are de facto state-controlled. Orwell’s “thought police” would become a reality.

Policies to destroy American culture, including the nuclear family, and Western civilization will be expanded to bring America to a “Year Zero” moment, where American society, culture, and family life may be remade in accord with Marxism-Leninism. A Harris administration’s policy towards the People’s Republic of China will continue President Biden’s swath of Engagement policies. The consequence of this will be that the dictatorship of the illegitimate CCP is saved from the crises that they themselves created due to many decades of their political tyranny over the Chinese people. In turn, this will result in Taiwan’s fall to the PRC and introduce tremendous strain on U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific and Europe. Americans will find that the world will be very different, very quickly, and for a very long time.

The Beijing-Moscow axis will be emboldened to commit additional aggression in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. Current National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Philip Gordon have been rumored to receive major positions, Sullivan as Secretary of State and Gordon as National Security Adviser. This will ensure the deepening of Biden’s disastrous Engagement policies. The rapidity with which a Harris administration will be able to advance this agenda will depend to some degree on its control of Congress. Much will depend on whether the House stays in the Republican hands with a sufficient majority to guarantee that weak Republicans do not cross the aisle. If the House does not remain in effective Republican control, the Democrats’ ambitions will be realized immediately. But if it does in 2024, the principal aim of the Democrats will be to ensure its capture in 2026.

In the meantime, Harris will work through executive orders, pressure, and workarounds to achieve these aims. Harris, who is now 59 years old, will run for reelection in 2028, further solidifying what she achieved since 2024 so that the 2032 election will be decided in the Democratic primary as the Republican party will no longer be a national party, just as it is not a true state-wide party in states like California and New York. At the time that they occur, elections are very difficult to perceive as having a historical impact. For instance, the voters of 1860 did not know that a Civil War was coming. Those voting for Woodrow Wilson in 1916 on his campaign of staying out of World War I did not know that he would take them into World War I. Americans should understand how important this choice is, despite Harris-Walz doing their best to minimize how radical they are by not giving interviews, not being honest about what their policies are, and how radical they would be.

Their campaign is one of profound deceit. Their expectation is that supportive media, pollsters, popular culture, and donors will carry them through the election. In that expectation, they certainly are correct. Their deception reveals that they have nothing but contempt for the Declaration and Constitution and, thus, the American people. Americans must consider why Harris and Walz are so contemptuous of them, whether it is wise to vote for them, and whether they will be better off in 2028 than they are now, or whether that future might be a far worse one—one from which they may never recover. The American people have a choice at the polling booth. 2024 is everything for the future of the American Republic. It is a fork in the road for the U.S. and the American people to choose to continue the path our Founders established in 1776 or a radically different one that will take the U.S. into the ever-worsening tyrannical rule of a one-party state.

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Based on votes? I don’t see it. But there are other ways.

Election Guru In US Claims Harris Will Beat Trump (RT)

Historian Allan Lichtman, widely acclaimed as the ‘Nostradamus’ of US presidential elections, has predicted that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will beat her Republican rival Donald Trump in November. The history professor at American University says his method shuns polls altogether, and is instead based on a set of 13 true-or-false questions that supposedly hold the “keys” to the White House. Originally, the anticipated GOP candidate was supposed to run against incumbent president Joe Biden. However, following the veteran politician’s dismal showing during a televised debate in late June, the Democrats replaced him with Vice President Harris as their nominee. Speaking to The New York Times on Thursday, Lichtman said: “Kamala Harris will be the next president of the United States – at least that’s my prediction for the outcome of this race.” He explained that of the 13 so-called ‘keys,’ eight favored the Democratic nominee.

He claimed that Harris has gained from the absence of a strong third-party candidate after Robert F Kennedy Jr. pulled out of the race last month. He also cited positive short- and long-term economic indicators, supposed legislative achievements enacted by the Biden administration, and a perceived absence of social unrest or scandal attached to the White House, as stacking the odds in the Democratic candidate’s favor. In addition, Lichtman says, the fact that Harris did not have to undergo a party nomination process, with all the other candidates rallying behind her, is also a plus for the vice president. Speaking to Fox News Digital on Saturday, the renowned election forecaster stood by his prediction, saying that, following the “unprecedented” withdrawal of Biden from the race, the “Democrats finally got smart and united behind Harris.”

Lichtman says he has correctly predicted the outcomes of nine out of ten presidential elections since 1984. The only time he failed was during the contested faceoff between George W Bush and Al Gore back in 2000, the historian insists. That election was decided after the US supreme court ruled in Bush’s favor following weeks of legal wrangling over disputed ballots. Meanwhile, another influential American election analyst, Nate Silver, claimed on Wednesday that Trump’s chances of beating Harris were higher than at any point since the vice president entered the race in July. His prediction stood in stark contrast with several polls over the past few weeks that have consistently shown Harris slightly ahead of Trump.

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$10 mln Is NOT Serious Money in the context of a US presidential election.

$10 mln Is Serious Money – What’s Lacking? Serious Evidence Of Crime (Flores)

The entrenched authorities are bent on inserting Kamala Harris into office using lawfare, despite her resounding unpopularity and anti-populism. On September 4th, 2024, the United States Department of Justice issued a press release from its Office of Public Affairs, detailing and making public a sealed indictment against two Russian nationals, who are said to be employees of RT, for ‘funneling’ US $10mln to various high-profile social media content creators. What strikes us immediately is that this is not a crime, even though the word ‘funneling’ is a strongly loaded term in the sense of neuro-linguistic programming, and so the DOJ’s approach to geopolitical lawfare as an extended form of political warfare in the information sphere, has been to find a legal theory that would support ‘finding’ and ‘creating’ charges on the basis of the two accused having conspired to fail to register as foreign agents.

The opening paragraphs of the DOJ press release read: “An indictment charging Russian nationals Kostiantyn [for some reason DOJ uses the Ukrainian version of the Russian name Konstantin – SCF] Kalashnikov, 31, also known as Kostya, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, also known as Lena, with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering was unsealed today in the Southern District of New York. Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva are at large. “The Justice Department has charged two employees of RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet, in a $10 million scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.

“The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing.” “Our approach to combating foreign malign influence is actor-driven, exposing the hidden hand of adversaries pulling strings of influence from behind the curtain,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “As alleged in today’s indictment, Russian state broadcaster RT and its employees, including the charged defendants, co-opted online commentators by funneling them nearly $10 million to pump pro-Russia propaganda and disinformation across social media to U.S. audiences. The Department will not tolerate foreign efforts to illegally manipulate American public opinion by sowing discord and division.”

Based on the language of the charges, it would appear that the foreign nationals were physically in the United States for the duration, or at least the initiation, of the project. That they are ‘at large’ and have not been taken into custody would seem to imply that this arrest will happen imminently, or that the two accused are no longer in the US. It is important to keep in mind that it is not illegal for Russians to spend money in the US, and it is not illegal for Russians or any other foreign nationals to start a business, or engage in protected 1st Amendment activities such as blogging and news or opinion writing or broadcasting. Assuming that some parts of the described predicate are true, (that a Russian citizen’s money was spent in the US), provided that the individual is not an a US Treasury Department sanctions list, the relevant Executive Order, or legislation, has not obviously been violated.

There are some limitations to speech in the US for foreign nationals, and while there is some nuance here, generally 1st Amendment activities are protected unless there is either a reasonable or articulable risk (which standard may depend on the circumstances) to national security that could reasonably lead to a grand jury indictment – think insider whistle-blowing or releasing government/corporate secrets. ‘Funneling’ moneys to individual content creators – YouTuber Tim Pool is believed to be prominent among these – may or may not have influenced the content they were creating – another important part of the nuanced questions that arise. And if the opinions of said content creators (on the subjects they are known for) had not changed after the influx of private party backing, it is more difficult to make the whole claim that the DOJ is now making.

Garland, for his part, also adds a proviso – the messages are “hidden”. At face value, this would seem to give the accuseds’ lawyers an additional challenge. To the contrary, the opposite would be true: making a charge in which no method of falsifiability can be established, is a baseless charge. It is not a ‘hidden crime’, but an activity indistinguishable from lawful behavior. More to the point, the subjects being discussed, whether influenced by the alleged money or not, were matters already in the public domain, expressing views and sharing information which is already readily available everywhere, and which were commonplace beliefs among an already significant part of the American population. We are not talking state or corporate secrets, calls for violence or other seditious activity, which rise to the level of a national security risk.

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Honest questions.

Now It Is the White House that Is Smearing Tucker Carlson (Paul Craig Roberts)

Tucker interviewed Darryl Cooper whose view of World War II appears to be based in the 50-year research of historian David Irving. It is not the official view established by court historians. Consequently, the “White House condemns Tucker Carlson’s ‘Nazi propaganda’ interview as ‘disgusting and sadistic insult.’” In his well researched books, World War II historian David Irving reported that whereas he found evidence that Jews were murdered in the hundreds of thousands, he cannot find evidence of an organized Holocaust. He said that from all the documents he could find and force out of sealed archives, the crimes against the Jews resulted from decisions unrelated to an organized plan of extermination. No historian has ever found a Nazi plan for Jewish extermination. Such a massive undertaking as a Holocaust could not be undertaken without a bureaucratic organization and an organized plan, but there is no evidence of any such organization and plan.

Hitler repeatedly said that the Jewish question would be settled after the war. He spoke of relocating Jews to Madagascar. Later with the initial success of his invasion of the Soviet Union, Hitler spoke of relocating Jews to the eastern part of the Soviet Union that he would leave to Stalin. Reporting Irving’s findings does not make Irving or me or anyone an anti-semite or holocaust denier. Irving simply reported what he found, and I merely reported what Irving found. It sounds like that is what Darryl Cooper is doing on Carlson’s program. Ron Unz, himself a Jew, has raised his own questions about Holocaust evidence in the Unz Review. Western civilization works by raising questions, not by imposing dogmas. If all research results are denounced by those who don’t like the findings, how is truth established? It seems to me that Jews hurt their case by shouting down with name-calling and threats against reputations and careers every time they hear something that they don’t like or that doesn’t fit the narrative.

If the Holocaust story is accurate, it will stand on its own feet without name-calling and enemies lists. The indoctrinated notion of the unparalleled evil of Nazi Germany rests more on war propaganda than in fact. Irving’s books, Churchill’s War and Hitler’s War are the most researched and most honest books about the war. On the basis of an honest rendition of the record, Churchill comes across as a worse war criminal than Hitler. Read the two books, and make your own decision. Why rely on ancient war propaganda? The widespread view that Hitler started World War II and intended to conquer the world is total ignorance kept alive by court historians. World War II was started by the British and French when they declared war on Germany. What Hitler was doing in Poland was the same as Putin is doing in Ukraine. What Putin is doing is protecting Russian people, who found themselves included in a foreign country by the political decisions made by others than themselves, from persecution and slaughter by Ukrainians.

In Poland Hitler was protecting German people, who were stuck into Poland by decisions made by others than themselves, from persecution, dispossession, and death by the Polish. Hitler’s protection of German people was no business of the British any more than Putin’s protection of Russians is any business of the US. No one has answered David Irving’s findings. They just call him names. That tells you where the stronger case resides. I am not a WW II historian and neither is Tucker Carlson, but we both wonder why views are suppressed if they can be factually disproved. The propagandistic way in which WW II has been presented for 83 years has had major harmful effects on countries, their populations, foreign affairs and world history. Those who bring balance to the story should be celebrated, not demonized.

If you will notice, during the 21st century in every country in the Western world what can be discussed or even mentioned has been massively narrowed. We have reached the point where almost anything said or written is hate speech, racist, misogynist, a threat to democracy, offensive, insensitive, anti-semitic, or Russian propaganda. The great writings in the English language, such as Shakespeare, cannot be read in schools because they violate strictures that have been imposed on language. Bigots now dictate our use of language. Official narratives dictate our understanding of history and current events. A world is being created for us in which facts and truth are objectionable.

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“Harris has done nothing to distance herself from Biden’s policies on Israel and Palestine. Her official campaign site doesn’t spell out any stance on the conflict — or any other issue, for that matter.”

PAC Runs Ads In Muslim-Heavy Michigan Lauding Harris For Israel Support (ZH)

Hoping to further estrange Michigan’s Muslim voters from Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a Republican political action committee has launched a clever ad campaign that praises Harris for supporting the State of Israel and for putting “supporters of a free Palestine…in their place.” The ads are the work of the Future Coalition PAC. Launched in July, its treasurer is Pennsylvania Republican Ray Zaborney, according to Huffington Post’s Kevin Robillard, who was first to report the campaign. Distributed via digital platforms, the videos feature a female narrator speaking approvingly of Harris: “Vice President Harris has chosen a side — the right side. Harris has made herself clear: She stands with Israel and the Jewish people. She has, again and again. She understands the unbreakable bond between the U.S. and Israel. So when Netanyahu came to DC, Harris hosted the [Israeli] prime minister at the White House.

And when supporters of a free Palestine stood up for Gaza, Harris put them in their place. And supporters of free Palestine? They hate her…because Kamala Harris gets it. You can trust she’ll always support Israel.” While it would be difficult to dispute the general accuracy of the messaging, the ads have Michigan Democrats fuming, such as an anonymous operative who vented to Robillard: “Clearly, this ad is designed to get low-information and low-engagement Arab-American and left-leaning voters to oppose Harris…a classic ratfucking operation by a PAC that is helping a former president that uses ‘Palestinian’ as a slur.” Along with Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin, Michigan is one of seven battleground states that will likely decide the 2024 presidential election. It’s also home to one of America’s largest Muslim populations, whose presidential preference could prove decisive in the state.

In the current RealClearPolitics polling average, Harris leads in Michigan by only 1.5% — less than half the 3.3% lead Biden held at the same time in 2020. He officially won by 2.8%. In this year’s Michigan Democratic primary, more than 100,000 Dems voted “uncommitted” to protest the Biden-Harris administration’s lopsided support for the State of Israel in its war in Gaza. Since that protest vote was more than 9 times Donald Trump’s 10,704-vote margin in his 2016 Michigan win over Hillary Clinton, it alarmed Democratic strategists. The Biden-Harris campaign has since struggled to walk a political tight-rope, attempting to give Muslims an audience on the issue while still reiterating unwavering support for Israel. Muslims have generally favored the Democratic Party. However, a poll released in August by the Council on American-Islamic Relations found that Harris is the choice of only 29% of Muslims — putting her in a tie with Green Party candidate Jill Stein; 11% back Trump.

The sneaky GOP ad’s line about Harris putting vocal supporters of a free Palestine “in their place” refers to an Aug. 7 incident at a Harris rally in Detroit, in which pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted her speech with chants of “Kamala, Kamala you can’t hide! We won’t vote for genocide.” Harris reflexively resorted to her trusty two-word debate line that exhilarates low-IQ leftists with its sheen of phony feminism, stating, “You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win, then say, that, otherwise I’m speaking.” Harris proceeded to stare down the protesters as if they were wearing MAGA hats and waving Confederate flags, rather than advocating for millions of civilians being subjected to devastation, disease and malnutrition. According to Palestinian authorities, the confirmed death toll from Israel’s 11-month-long attack on Gaza exceeds 40,000.

However, researchers writing in the medical journal Lancet estimate the eventual tally of dead could surpass 186,000, after factoring in the removal of undiscovered bodies in rubble, and the long-term effects from starvation, disease and destroyed housing and sanitation facilities. While Harris’ “I’m speaking” routine left the likes of vacuous New York Times columnists positively starry-eyed, Harris’ directive that pro-Palestinian protesters should be silent so as to assure Democratic control of the White House left many Michigan Muslims incensed, including one of the protesters at the rally. “Harris belittled us and used her event as a platform to say, ‘You are stuck with me and there is nothing we will do to help Palestinians’,” Salma Hamamy told Foreign Policy.

Joe Biden has long been a zealous backer of Israel. In 1986, he infamously — and bewilderingly — declared from the Senate floor, “Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interests in the region.” In the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, the Biden White House has poured weapons into the Israeli Defense Forces arsenal, while providing diplomatic cover at the United Nations — to the detriment of America’s reputation in much of the world. Meanwhile, Harris has done nothing to distance herself from Biden’s policies on Israel and Palestine. Her official campaign site doesn’t spell out any stance on the conflict — or any other issue, for that matter.

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“Musk has co-founded six companies [..] Tesla, which has a market capitalization of $669.28 billion, is expected to hit the trillion dollar mark next year..”

Musk Set To Become World’s First Trillionaire (RT)

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027, according to an estimate by the global education company Informa Connect Academy. The projection published on Friday is based on Musk’s average annual wealth growth rate which stands at 109.88%. The owner of X (formerly Twitter) is the richest man in the world with a fortune of $237 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk has co-founded six companies, including electric car maker Tesla and spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX. Tesla, which has a market capitalization of $669.28 billion, is expected to hit the trillion dollar mark next year. Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, renaming the platform X and promising more fairness and transparency.

Other multi-billionaires who are likely to join the Trillionaires Club in the near future are India’s richest man Gautam Adani, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Indonesian magnate Prajogo Pangestu. All three are expected to become trillionaires by 2028, Informa Connect Academy said. French businessman Bernard Arnault, the chairman of the world’s largest luxury conglomerate LVMH, is likely to become a trillionaire by 2030. Musk first appeared on the Forbes Billionaire list in 2012 with a net worth of $2 billion. In 2021, he became the world’s wealthiest man, displacing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Musk lost this status in December 2022 to Arnault when Tesla stock tumbled, but topped the list once again six months later.

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“..the technology needs to be 10,000 times better. Extremely difficult, but not impossible..”

Elon Musk Reveals When He Will Be Able To Send Humans To Mars (RT)

SpaceX will launch its first crewed flights to Mars in four years if its unmanned landings go well, CEO Elon Musk has said. The first uncrewed Starships to the Red Planet are expected to be launched in two years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens, the billionaire announced on social media on Saturday.“These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars,” Musk explained in a post on X. He expressed hope that if those landings go well, his space company will launch its first crewed flights to Mars in four years. The idea of building a sustainable human settlement on Mars within two decades is not out of reach, the billionaire pledged. “Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years,” Musk said, stressing that being multi-planetary will “vastly increase the probable lifespan of consciousness.”

“We will no longer have all our eggs, literally and metabolically, on one planet,” the SpaceX founder explained. In another post, he said SpaceX had created the first fully reusable rocket stage and, much more importantly, made the launch process economically viable. Making life multi-planetary is “fundamentally a cost per ton to Mars problem,” Musk said. “It currently costs about a billion dollars per ton of useful payload to the surface of Mars. That needs to be improved to $100k/ton to build a self-sustaining city there, so the technology needs to be 10,000 times better. Extremely difficult, but not impossible,” he concluded. In June, a Starship rocket returned from space and successfully landed in the Indian Ocean, completing a full mission around the globe on its fourth test flight.

The entrepreneur is counting on Starship, the largest rocket ever made, to help him achieve his goal of building a spacecraft capable of sending humans and cargo to the moon later this decade and eventually to Mars. The Starship spacecraft is designed to carry “both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond,” SpaceX’s website notes.Mars is one of Earth’s “closest habitable neighbors,” and has “decent sunlight,” the site continues. “It is a little cold, but we can warm it up.” Gravity on Mars is about 38% that of Earth, “making it possible to lift heavy things and bound around,” SpaceX noted. “Furthermore, the day is remarkably close to that of Earth.”In February, Musk said that he wants to take one million people to Mars, claiming that he is working on a “game plan” to achieve this. “Humanity should have a moon base, cities on Mars, and be out there among the stars,” he said.

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“..the Trump-RFK Jr.-Musk team..”

Elon Musk: First Mars Mission In Two Years; Make America Healthy Again (ZH)

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said via X on Saturday evening that the Starship mega rocket will begin flying Mars missions in two years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens. The mission will be uncrewed and aim to test the rocket’s ability to land intact on Mars, as Musk’s dreams of occupying the Red Planet could become a reality within the next two decades. “The first Starships to Mars will launch in 2 years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens,” Musk wrote on X. He explained, “These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars. If those landings go well, then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in 4 years,” adding, “Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years. Being multiplanetary will vastly increase the probable lifespan of consciousness, as we will no longer have all our eggs, literally and metabolically, on one planet.”

Musk’s post quoted his post about making life multi-planetary while quoting billionaire Bill Ackman’s post about ‘Making America Healthy Again.’ Here’s the new Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ ad…

How occupying Mars overlaps with the dire need to reverse America’s imploding health trends could be explained by attorney and activist Tom Renz: “Perhaps NASA funding would be better used working on projects like this rather than wasting time on nonsense like DEI and climate change. A settlement on mars would be an incredible step forward for humanity… DEI is a step backwards towards the racism and sexism of the past.”

Kids now versus kids in the 1960s… We’re sure there has never been morbidity obese astronauts. Spacecrafts have weight limits after all.

One of the emerging themes from the Trump-RFK Jr.-Musk team could be the unification of America around proper health and the pursuit of becoming a multi-planetary species. Fix America’s health first before Starship makes life multi-planetary.

RFK MAHA

Trump RFK

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“..he thinks we’re going to change everything he did and it’s true that is our intention…”

Vive la Démocratie! (Manley)

In April last year protestors in Paris swarmed BlackRock’s office to protest Macron’s pension reforms. A spokesperson for a French union told reporters at the time that they were there to let the world’s largest asset manager know they were taking workers’ pensions. President Emmanuel Macron appointed Michel Barnier, a right-wing politician who played a major role in the 2016 Brexit Task Force, as the new prime minister of France Thursday. In July Macron accepted the resignation of Gabriel Attal following the president’s electoral defeat. Attal was the country’s youngest ever prime minister and held the position for eight months. Macron’s decision is his effort to break a political stalemate that has grasped France since snap legislative elections which were held in July. In a statement which came from Macron’s office the president said that “the new prime minister and his government will create the conditions for the greatest stability.”

Macron, 46, had failed to appoint a new prime minister for a record period of time following a narrow victory for the leftwing New Popular Front in July. Over 80 lawmakers called for Macron to step down in the following weeks after Macron decided to reject the New Popular Front’s candidacy of Lucie Castets for prime minister, despite the coalition winning the most seats in July’s elections. Castets had voiced her desire to create a political alliance that would allow roll backs on pension reforms and tax hikes for the “ultra rich”. “They are all very worried. Nobody understands what Emmanuel Macron is doing, even the Macronists. He is not giving us [political parties] the chance to work together. If you ask me of course I will say I want our program to be the priority, but if you ask what can we change, what can we compromise on, I say we can compromise,” Castets told The Guardian. In March of last year France’s Senate passed a controversial reform bill to raise the retirement age for French citizens by two years. The Senate passed the bill by 195 votes to 112.

Macron’s decision to push through a bill that is extremely unpopular among voters for the alleged sake of the economy clearly went unforgiven during July’s election. “Macron says the problem is the [New Popular Front] program. He feels threatened because he thinks we’re going to change everything he did and it’s true that is our intention. But we’re not saying we will be able to change everything because we will need to find an agreement on every issue and we are fully aware of this,” Castets added. A study conducted by the French Observatory of Economic Conditions in 2020 found that those who have an unfavorable view of Macron believe him to be the “president of the rich”. The author of the report said the losers of Macron’s economic policy are among the “poorest, the unemployed, and the retired.”

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Democracy or world order? You must choose.

CIA, MI6 Chiefs Warn Of Threats To ‘World Order’ (RT)

The global order is under threat from a number of state actors, the heads of the American and British foreign intelligence agencies – the CIA and MI6 – claimed in a joint op-ed published by the Financial Times on Saturday. In the piece, Bill Burns and Richard Moore pledged that Washington and London would work in lockstep to retain the status quo in a world where technology has considerably accelerated geo-political trends. Following the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, and the sharp downturn in ties with the West, senior Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have repeatedly proclaimed the end of US hegemony and a global shift to multipolarity. In the op-ed, Burns and Moore observed that “there is no question that the international world order – the balanced system that has led to relative peace and stability and delivered rising living standards, opportunities and prosperity – is under threat in a way we haven’t seen since the cold war.”

“Today, we co-operate in a contested international system where our two countries face an unprecedented array of threats,” the top spies wrote. The piece singles out an “assertive Russia” in the context of the Ukraine conflict, which both the CIA and MI6 “saw… coming.” The spy agencies’ chiefs noted that the hostilities have demonstrated the increased role of technology in modern warfare, in particular unmanned systems and satellite reconnaissance. In addition, Burns and Moore accused Moscow of waging a “reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe” as well as spreading “lies and disinformation designed to drive wedges between us.” However, according to the op-ed, in the eyes of the CIA and MI6 “the principal intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the 21st century” is the “rise of China.” Both agencies have already reorganized their processes to “reflect that priority.”

Speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in early June, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated: “We are talking about polycentrism, a departure from previous norms, and we see the desperate resistance of the collective West… They see the norm differently, as their own dominance, as a world order based on one rule, that they must dominate as before, and everyone must do only what the dominant power allows them to do.” The diplomat insisted that Western narratives are, however, not shared by the global majority, which has embraced the concept of multipolarity. “We should not forget that the collective West are a minority,” Zakharova stressed at the time.

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“..2,530 soldiers died between 2014 and 2019 from causes ranging from car crashes to drug overdoses to cancer, while more than one-third took their own lives..”

US Military Suicide As A Result Of The Ongoing War On Terror (Van den Ende)

Long ago, the U.S. wanted to give itself the image of a true democracy, the defender of human rights, the policeman of the world, the defender of justice and humanity. Perhaps the “founding fathers” of the American Republic had this in mind, but the ideal was never realized and has been in ruins since the so-called “War on Terror” was launched in 2001. Before this episode, there were already countless wars by the U.S., like the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The Americans tried to justify all that by claiming they had liberated Europe from Hitler’s fascism, and subsequently, they were purportedly freeing the world from “evil communism”. However, a fateful turning point emerged, heralding the demise of the American empire. The terror attack of 9/11 was allegedly by radicalized Muslims. But there are too many questions and above all lies. The U.S. has become an empire of lies about what happened, and who did it.

The biggest lies were told about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. After all the alleged attackers almost all came from Saudi Arabia. That their leader, Osama bin Laden, would have hidden in the caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan might be possible, but there was still no justification for the war and bombing of that country back to the Stone Age. As with Iraq, a country which mainly consists of 80 percent Shia, not radical Sunnis typical of Al Qaeda. The Americans then under President George Bush Sr. left these Shia in 1991 to die at the end of the First Gulf War against Iraq. His son President George W Bush Jr. started it again in 2003, reportedly as revenge for the failed assassination plan on his father, justifying it by the so-called 9/11 attack. As Nick Turse details in this article, Suicide Squad, the War on Terror is not over yet and the majority of victims these days are American soldiers and servicemen who commit suicide in large numbers.

The United States, which now spends more on its military than the other top 10 countries combined, has failed to win a single war that matters. It lost the Korean and Vietnam Wars. It lost the never-ending Global War on Terror, and it spent 20 years losing in Afghanistan and Iraq. About 7,000 American soldiers lost their lives in combat during the War on Terror since 2001, but the real epidemic of deaths can be found in the U.S. itself. Approximately 2,530 soldiers died between 2014 and 2019 from causes ranging from car crashes to drug overdoses to cancer, while more than one-third took their own lives. Just 96 soldiers died in combat during those same five years. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

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“Many countries are seeking membership in BRICS because they are tired of the “hidden” and “sometimes open aggression” of the US..”

Zakharova Likens US To Hollywood Ax-Wielding Maniac (RT)

Many countries are seeking membership in BRICS because they are tired of the “hidden” and “sometimes open aggression” of the US and are looking for new forms of cooperation, Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on Sunday. Earlier this week, Moscow said that Türkiye had officially applied to join BRICS, becoming the first NATO state to seek membership in the non-Western economic alliance. Over 30 countries have so far applied to become part of the group, which currently incorporates ten, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Commenting to TASS news agency on why various nations are willing to join BRICS, Zakharova said that “the world is tired of American attacks” and “is voting for a different form of relationship.”

Nations would like to keep building ties on the principles of international law, “but since Washington, like some kind of maniac from its own Hollywood movie, destroys everything with a lawn mower, a saw, or some kind of an ax, the world is forced to look for new forms of interaction,” she explained. And these forms are the likes of BRICS, but not NATO, according to the Russian diplomat. On Wednesday, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov confirmed earlier media reports that Türkiye has officially applied to join BRICS and added that the group’s member states will consider the bid. According to the official, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also accepted Moscow’s invitation to attend the BRICS summit next month in the Russian city of Kazan. Russia is currently chairing the organization. BRICS was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2011. The group expanded this year when Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates became full members.

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NATO as well as BRICS.

Why Turkiye’s Move to Join BRICS as Full Member is Big Deal (Sp.)

BRICS may receive a new addition in the near future as Turkiye lodged an application for a full-fledged membership with the economic bloc this week. Turkiye’s membership may be welcome news for BRICS as the Turkish economy was rated by the IMF in 2023 as the 17th largest in the world, with the country’s GPD last year being appraised at a little over $1 trillion. According to the World Bank, Turkiye displayed a steady real GDP growth rate (averaged 5.4%) from 2002 till 2022, as well as a decrease in poverty that dropped from over 20% in 2007 to 7.6% in 2021. Turkiye’s geographical location, right on the boundary between Europe and Asia, along with its control of the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits linking the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, make the country a natural logistical hub for moving goods between the Global South and Global North.

Ankara’s considerable clout in the Middle Eastern affairs, where it has long been one of the top players, and its influence on the African continent may also benefit Turkiye’s future fellow members in the BRICS. At the same time, better access to the BRICS members’ markets may help Turkiye deal with its own economic problems such as, for example, rampant inflation that remains a concern for Ankara today. Ironically, the World Bank notes that the reliance of Turkish industries on “carbon-intensive processes and fossil fuels” presents a challenge in Turkiye’s cooperation with the EU in light of the latter’s focus on “green” technologies and climate change. Meanwhile, BRICS members are not so fixated on destroying their economies for the sake of an environmental agenda and thus might make much better business partners for Turkiye.

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NATO as well as BRICS AND an islamic alliance.

Erdogan Wants Greater Islamic Alliance To Combat Israeli ‘Expansionism’ (ZH)

On Saturday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a blistering speech at an Islamic schools’ association event near Istanbul once again condemning Israel. But this time he ratcheted the rhetoric as the remarks came a day after a Turkish-American woman was shot during a protest by Israeli troops in the West Bank. Erdogan essentially called for an Islamic uprising against the Jewish state, saying that a Muslim alliance of countries and populations is needed against what he called “the growing threat of expansionism” from Israel. “The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state terrorism is the alliance of Islamic countries,” Erdogan said.

And in a very rare positive reference to Assad of Syria, he described that recent steps by Turkey to advance ties with Egypt and Syria are aimed fundamentally at “forming a line of solidarity against the growing threat of expansionism.” Interestingly, this would bring NATO’s number two largest miliary into an indirect alliance with Iran. But improvement of Turkish ties with the Syrian state also has a lot to do with squeezing out the Kurds in northern Syria. Both Ankara and Damascus have long wanted to see US troops, who are supporting local Kurdish militias, kicked out of the region. This week Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with Erdogan in Turkey, and heavily focused their discussions on the Gaza crisis. Egypt-Israel tensions have been evident over accusations from Tel Aviv that Egyptian border troops have turned a blind eye to smuggling and underground tunnels.

Erdogan’s threats against Israel have grown of late, sending Turkey’s relations with Israel spiraling, and with trade embargos on a list of export items to boot. In late July Erdogan had threatened that his country could intervene militarily in Gaza to defend Palestinians against the Israelis. “We need to be very strong so that Israel cannot do these ridiculous things to Palestine. Just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we can do something similar to them,” Erdogan had said in a speech to his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party. But now given Turkish citizen (and American dual national) Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was killed Friday in the West Bank, such rhetoric from Turkish leaders is set to ratchet further.

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“..the Iranian capital since 1786..”

Iran’s New President Wants To Move Capital Out Of Tehran (RT)

The capital of Iran should be transferred from Tehran to a city closer to the country’s south coast, President Masoud Pezeshkian has said.In a speech on Saturday, Pezeshkian, who took office in July, suggested that it is pointless to keep developing Tehran due to the numerous difficulties faced by the city. The capital is currently plagued by “water shortages, land subsidence and air pollution,” among other things, he said, as cited by the news outlet Javan Online. “Tehran as the capital of the country is facing problems to which we have no solution,” the president acknowledged, suggesting that the best way out would be to “relocate the political and economic center of the country.” Simply telling residents that they should move out of Tehran will not work, and the government “must first go ourselves so that the people would follow us,” Pezeshkian argued.

There are also economic reasons for finding a new capital closer to the Persian Gulf, through which key trading routes pass, he stressed. “Further development of the country is impossible with the continuation of the current trend, when we bring the resources from the south of the country and the sea to the center, turn them into products there and send them back to the south for export,” the president argued. Such a state of affairs “severely depreciates and reduces our competitiveness, and we have no other choice but to transfer the economic and political center of the country to the south and closer to the sea,” he insisted. Gholamhossein Karbaschi, who served as Tehran’s mayor in the 1990s, has disputed Pezeshkian’s idea, arguing that there is no suitable substitute for Tehran. “Where do you want to go?” he said in an interview with the Asr Iran outlet. The former mayor warned that some countries that previously decided to relocate their capitals have ended up losing money and getting two problematic cites instead of one.

Tehran, which has been the Iranian capital since 1786, is located in the north of the country, 100km (63 miles) from the Caspian Sea. The city is home to 9.4 million people, nearly 17 million in its greater metropolitan area, making Tehran the biggest city in Iran and Western Asia, and the second-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East, after Cairo. It is not the first time that the Iranian authorities have suggesting moving the capital out of Tehran. Similar proposals were made during the term of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad between 2005 and 2013. At the time, parliament voted to set up a special council to seek a replacement. However, a final decision on transferring the capital was never made. Pezeshkian was inaugurated as Iranian president in late July after beating his rival Saeed Jalili by 53.7% to 44.3% in the second round of the election earlier that month. The snap poll was called after the death of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.

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Western “values” change (aka erode) too much too fast.

China Bans Foreigners From Adopting Its Children (RT)

China has officially shut down its international adoption program, the Foreign Ministry has announced. The move comes at a time when hundreds of American families have pending applications to adopt Chinese children, according to the Associated Press. “Apart from the adoption…from one’s collateral relatives by blood of the same generation…China will not send children abroad for adoption. This is also in line with the spirit of relevant international covenants,” Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the ministry, said in a first official announcement of the rule change. AP reported that in a phone call with American diplomats in China, government officials said they “will not continue to process cases at any stage” other than special cases covered by an exemption clause. Over the last three decades the US has been the most common destination for overseas adoptions of Chinese children.

“We understand there are hundreds of families still pending completion of their adoption, and we sympathize with their situation,” the State Department said.Back in 2007, Beijing toughened the vetting process for foreign adopters, with an emphasis on family lifestyle and age, and only accepting applications from heterosexual married couples. Beijing temporarily suspended foreign adoptions during the coronavirus pandemic, but later resumed for them couples who had travel authorizations prior to 2020. China’s ban follows similar steps from other countries. In January, Denmark’s only overseas adoption agency ceased operations, after concerns were raised over irregularities and fabricated documents. In June, Norway tightened controls over foreign adoptions and is now conducting an investigation into whether past adoptions were legal and ethical.

Citizens of several countries are already prohibited from adopting Russian children. The 2013 ‘Dima Yakovlev Law’ banned adoptions by Americans, after a Russian orphan adopted by a Virginia couple was left in a car for nine hours and died of heat stroke. In August 2022, a proposal was put to the State Duma to expand the adoption ban to all “unfriendly countries.” Sending Russian children there would be a “blow to the future of the nation,” they argued, since the West “destroys traditional values.” President Vladimir Putin objected, however, saying that the way it was drafted, the bill would infringe on the rights of Ukrainians living on Russian territory. Russia banned same-sex couples from adopting children in 2013. The Russian Orthodox Church has since proposed banning international adoptions by couples from countries that allow “gender reassignment” procedures, an idea that was then backed by lawmakers.

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Long overview. Notable: a break up might be lucrative financially. But they would have to abandon their power dreams.

A Post-Google World (Stoller)

When Google first started, it was a high-quality search engine, and its founders believed that advertising presented an inherent conflict of interest for any such product. “Advertising funded search engines,” they wrote, “will be inherently biased towards the advertisers and away from the needs of consumers.” Nevertheless, in 2000, the venture funded company, after failing to build a technology licensing business, started an advertising arm, quickly building up a large number of advertising customers who liked the ability to put text ads next to relevant search results. In the early 2000s, Google started a third party advertising business, cutting deals with publishers that let them put Google Ads on their web pages and take a slice of the ad money. In this way, publishers began accessing the ad demand that Google had control over. But this new line of business introduced another conflict of interest, since Google was now edging closer to controlling both the buyers of ads and the sellers of them, and all the user data advertising and publishing tracked.

In 2007, Google bought YouTube, a source of ad inventory, giving it more power over the selling of ads. In 2008, Google purchased an adtech company called DoubleClick, which had been the leading provider of software to allow publishers to manage their ad inventory, as well as a large repository of data. Slowly, subtly, Google was intermediating as both the buyer and seller in the ad market, an obvious set of conflicts. Before its purchase, Google had tried to enter DoubleClick’s business, but failed, because it’s hard to move from one software platform to another. DoubleClick’s former CEO had observed, “Nothing has such high switching costs. . . .Takes an act of God to do it.” That same year, Google also bought an ad exchange (AdX), where buyers of advertising could match with sellers of ad inventory, in a quasi-financial market.

After buying DoubleClick, Google tied its control over advertising demand to publisher use of its software. As the DOJ put it in the complaint, “If publishers wanted access to exclusive Google Ads’ advertising demand, they had to use Google’s publisher ad server (DFP) and ad exchange (AdX), rather than equivalent tools offered by Google’s rivals.” The result is that it acquired a monopoly across the entire industry, in the software publishers use and the matching engine for advertisers. It also built a ubiquitous service Google Analytics that measured web traffic for publishers, so it did all the measurement as well. One consequences was that Google charged high prices, keeping between 30-50% of every advertising dollar that went through its system. That take rate was bad enough. But Google also acquired surveillance capacity over every publisher and advertiser.

It was as if every night Google could break into the offices of the Wall Street Journal and take its subscriber list, and then go to its own advertising clients and tell them that it could sell them access to Wall Street Journal readers for much cheaper rates when those readers opened Google owned and operated properties, like Gmail, YouTube, search, and so forth. In doing so, Google gained the ability to direct ad revenue away from third party publishers to itself. To buttress its ability to target, in 2016 Google violated a promise it made when it bought DoubleClick. It had told enforcers it would guard user privacy and segment data. Instead, it decided to combine all data across all its different services, from Gmail to YouTube to search, into detailed dossiers of each user. Google now had a machine, where it could spy on users across the open web, and then use that data to manipulate ad auctions, both charging high prices when display ads went on third party sites, and simply moving broad ad demand to its own properties instead of third party sites.

The same template repeated over the next ten to fifteen years. Publishers or ad entrepreneurs would try to find a way into auctions for ads to take some of Google’s margin and protect their data, and Google would respond by either buying their rival, locking out their rival with some sort of tying of its products, or both. There were a host of code words and programs to engage in these kinds of tactics, like “Project Nernanke,” “Project Narnia,” and “Jedi Blue.” And since publishers and adtech startups needed the huge amount of advertising buying power that Google controlled, and advertisers needed Google search and YouTube, it was a chicken and egg problem. You couldn’t get into either market without Google’s permission.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Media is the biggest threat
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832127702662324409

 

 

Eva DSA

 

 

Thai cat

 

 

Thunderstruck
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832410969382768774

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Jul 082024
 


Jacques-Louis David Erasistratus Discovering the Cause of Antiochus’ Disease 1774

 

Democratic Party ‘Clans Clash’ in Wake of Biden’s Debate Performance (Sp.)
Get a Dog: The Political and Media Establishment Turns on Biden (Turley)
‘Blitz Primary’ Proposed as Democratic Insiders Dissatisfied With Biden (Sp.)
Biden Campaign Fed Questions For ‘I’m A Black Woman’ Interview (RT)
Biden Refuses To Believe Poll Numbers (RT)
President Biden Must Resign, or Be Impeached (Young)
Leftist Coalition Set For Shock Victory In French Election (ZH)
New French Governing Coalition Will Likely Be ‘Fragile’ (Sp.)
How ‘Putin Endorsed Le Pen’: Russiagate Comes To France (Amar)
A Nation In Pain: How Political Idealism Destroyed Ukraine (Glenn Diesen)
Orban’s Peace Mission Continues (Sp.)
Xi Jinping Welcomes Viktor Orban To Beijing (RT)
Israel Deliberately Killed Own Citizens on October 7 – Report (Sp.)
BRICS To Launch Independent Financial System – Moscow (RT)
Elon Musk Issues WhatsApp Safety Warning (RT)

 

 

 

 

Tuberville

 

 

Biden chip

 

 

Megyn

 

 

Obamagate

 

 

Pope

 

 

Biden ABC full interview

 

 

 

 

“..a lot of people don’t understand is that Barack Obama and the Clintons and Biden don’t have a great relationship..”

Democratic Party ‘Clans Clash’ in Wake of Biden’s Debate Performance (Sp.)

A Wall Street Journal poll conducted in the wake of Joe Biden’s debate against Trump – his first of the 2024 election cycle – showed that 80 percent of the nation’s voters think the Democrat is too old to run for a second term. Fissures are growing within the Democratic Party’s three leading clans as Joe Biden refuses to give in to demands to drop out of the 2024 race, the Financial Times has reported. An “already-fractured” Democratic Party is reportedly trying desperately to carry out damage control in the wake of the 81-year-old president’s debate against Trump. But the “historic crisis” that has led to increasing questions regarding his mental acuity has opened up “old wounds and rivalries,” noted the FT. The Democratic Party is described as witnessing a raging battle between “three leading clans,” while the Republican Party “has appeared ever more uniform” under Trump.

Some Democrats are ostensibly hoping Biden’s once boss, ex-president Barack Obama, could “usher Biden aside.” However, the outlet cites those from the inner Biden circle as warning that such a step would be “counterproductive.” The reason is that there is supposedly a lingering bitterness among the Bidens after Obama backed Hillary Clinton, and not vice-president Biden to be his successor in 2015. Clinton went on to lose that presidential bid to Trump in 2016. “I think the thing that a lot of people don’t understand is that Barack Obama and the Clintons and Biden don’t have a great relationship,” one Democratic lobbyist was cited as saying. As for Obama himself, during his debut stint as senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 he inflamed the Clintons after he “had the audacity” to challenge Hillary Clinton for the party’s 2008 nomination, reminded the outlet. “There is no unity among Democrats because, basically, the Democratic coalition’s pieces do not share the same values,” party strategist Hank Sheinkopf was cited as saying.

The various degrees of resentment nursed overtly by the Bidens, Obamas and the Clintons come amid a flurry of Democratic politicians, donors, and other supporters calling for the removal of Biden as candidate. Biden – appearing to be confused and incoherent throughout his debate with the Republican frontrunner last Thursday – reinforced ongoing concerns about his cognitive abilities. The president has taken a defiant stance, claiming his debate performance was just a “bad episode.” But 80 percent of the nation’s voters insist that the Democrat is too old to run for a second term, according to a Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday. Amid a flurry of reports attempting to suggest possible replacements for Biden, a new campaign has been imploring him to “Pass the Torch.” Hours before Biden was interviewed by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, where he insisted that he will stay in the race, Democratic activists launched a grassroots campaign begging the president to step aside.

They urged him to act on a 2020 pledge to be a “transition” president. “Democrats need the strongest possible ticket to maximize our chances of winning in November. It has become very clear, based on both long-term polling and the recent debate, that Democrats’ current ticket is not the strongest one we can put forward,” said the campaign.

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“In a blink, he has gone from “the best Biden ever” to a type of “comatose but comfortable” defense. It is the political version of going from blue chip to junk bond status in a week.”

Get a Dog: The Political and Media Establishment Turns on Biden (Turley)

Fox host Shannon Bream reported this morning that her staff tried for an entire week to get a single Democrat to go on the show to defend President Joe Biden as the party’s nominee. Not a single Democrat was willing to do so. In the meantime, the New York Times is reporting that a senior White House official is calling for Biden to step down as the nominee due to his declining physical and mental condition. The media, which has long attacked those questioning Biden’s fitness, is now on board with the Democratic establishment in pushing the President to withdraw. The one constant in this ever-changing city is that self-interest alone drives policies and alliances. If you endanger the meal ticket of members of Congress, you are immediately persona non grata. Biden is now threatening Democratic control of both the White House and the Congress. The word is out that Biden has to go so the media is suddenly noticing what it long refused to see.

That goes for staffers too. For years, the staff has engaged in a dishonest effort to shield Biden from questions and to carefully script and choreograph his appearances. Figures like Karine Jean-Pierre and close political allies knowingly misled the public as to the President’s deteriorating condition. Even after telling the public to watch the President in interviews, it was revealed this weekend that the White House was feeding pre-written questions to favorable hosts. Indeed, the media is actually blaming conservatives for failing to reveal the President’s condition due to their effort to frame the news. The truth is now unavoidable. The President has continued to struggle with clarity, as when he recently declared “by the way, I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman… to serve with a black president.”

In the case of this high-level White House staffer, he or she also said nothing for months, even as the White House attacked Fox News and other outlets for showing the President’s confusion at public events. They were denounced as “cheap fakes.” This staffer reportedly worked with Biden during his presidency, vice presidency and 2020 campaign. As with the media, however, the staffer now seems to have the green light to kick the President to the curb to strengthen Democratic chances in the upcoming election. The staffer revealed that Biden has repeatedly become confused and weakened in the course of the day. Somehow this is being portrayed as courageous despite the fact that the staffer remained silent as others were attacked for raising these issues and the White House actively hid the President’s declining condition.

As is often the case, everyone in Washington is jumping ship as the rats run for the poop deck. No one will be held responsible for months and months of misleading the public about the condition of the man who holds the nuclear launch codes. Just weeks ago, the media was heralding the brilliance and sharpness of the President. On MSNBC, Joe Scarborough stated “start your tape right now because I’m about to tell you the truth. And F— you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever. Not a close second. And I have known him for years…If it weren’t the truth I wouldn’t say it.” Now, the best that Biden can muster is MSNBC’s Joy Reid who declared “If it’s Biden in a coma, I’m going to vote for Biden in a coma. I don’t even really, in particular, like the guy. A lot of his policies? Don’t like them, [but] he’s not Donald Trump, right?”

Now there’s a roaring endorsement. The comatose POTUS pitch. Rep. Dan Goldman (D., N.Y.) threw in his own damning defense by saying that the public should just look at the people around the President, a type of figurehead rationale for keeping a possibly infirm president. As usual, it is the public that has been played as chumps by the establishment and the media. The public is expected to forget the years of shielding Biden and the many public testimonials of his wickedly sharp acumen. In a blink, he has gone from “the best Biden ever” to a type of “comatose but comfortable” defense. It is the political version of going from blue chip to junk bond status in a week.

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“..moderated by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Smith and Michelle Obama..”

“Democratic Party luminaries are likely to continue to stick with Biden, maintaining their influence within the organization even if it means defeat in November.”

‘Blitz Primary’ Proposed as Democratic Insiders Dissatisfied With Biden (Sp.)

Two Democratic insiders have proposed a novel idea to address the “malaise and crisis” within the party amid questions over US President Joe Biden’s age and mental acuity. Ted Dintersmith, a wealthy party donor, and Rosa Brooks, a law professor and veteran of former President Barack Obama’s Defense Department, have proposed a whirlwind “blitz primary” to rapidly choose a replacement for the elderly party leader. The plan suggests Democratic Party leaders could choose six candidates, who would run brief “positive-only” campaigns putting forward their case for why they should be the party’s nominee. Weekly events would be held where the candidates put forward their ideas and vision, moderated by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Smith and Michelle Obama in order to stir voter interest. After one month’s time the party leaders would vote to select a ticket from the group of contenders, making the decision before the start of the Democratic National Convention on August 19.

The insiders claim the ploy would reinvigorate interest in the party and revive its electoral chances, which suffered a steep decline after Biden’s widely-panned performance at June 27th’s televised debate. “We can limp to shameful, avoidable democracy-ending defeat,” Brooks and Dintersmith reason, “or Democrats can make this Our Finest Hour. While we hope for help from Lord Almighty, the Lord helps those who help themselves. We need to act. Now.” Observers suggest the idea is unlikely to gain traction as it would require the blessing of Biden, who has insisted he will continue his candidacy unless instructed otherwise by God himself. It would also require Kamala Harris to surrender her assumed right to top the ticket as the current Vice President. The appearance of the party passing over a Black and female presumptive nominee could cause lasting controversy among core Democratic Party constituencies, critics say.

What the plan has going for it, in the likely view of Democratic Party figures, is that it avoids the pesky issue of having to put the question to actual voters. Democratic Party delegates – the typically well-connected insiders chosen after state primaries or granted influence by virtue of their status in the party – would both choose the list of candidates and make the final decision once they are heard. Leaked emails published by Wikileaks after 2016’s contentious party primary revealed insiders intervened heavily to tilt the process in favor of former candidate Hillary Clinton and against Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. In 2020, when Sanders again appeared to be in a strong position to win the party’s nomination, former President Barack Obama reportedly intervened behind the scenes to encourage multiple candidates to drop out and throw their support behind Biden instead.

The sudden surge of publicity for Biden, and stern warnings over the consequences of choosing Sanders, convinced voters to turn towards the former Obama vice president after Sanders’ victories in the first three state primaries had made his victory appear inevitable. The heavy hand of insiders in the candidate selection process – and series of highly questionable excuses offered to supporters for Biden’s disastrous debate performance – suggest the Democratic Party hardly lives up to its name. If some DNC figures remain concerned over the electoral chances of Joe Biden, they are terrified of losing control of the party to its voters, who may choose to back a forbidden candidate. All of which suggests Democratic Party luminaries are likely to continue to stick with Biden, maintaining their influence within the organization even if it means defeat in November.

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“The US president’s team has claimed “it is not at all uncommon” for guests to share topics they would prefer to discuss with journalists..”

Biden Campaign Fed Questions For ‘I’m A Black Woman’ Interview (RT)

The first journalists to interview US president Joe Biden after his disastrous performance in the June 27 debate against Donald Trump have said that they were given lists of approved questions by his campaign staff. Biden made appearances on radio shows with largely black audiences in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania on Thursday, a week after his face-off with Trump, in which the 81-year-old president appeared frail and lost his train of thought on multiple occasions. The interviews were used to show Biden’s doubters, especially in his own Democratic Party, that he is mentally and physically able for a reelection campaign and capable of discussing his record and answering questions coherently. However, the radio appearances were marred with more gaffes, with the president, among other things, describing himself as a “black woman.” “By the way, I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman… to serve with a black president. Proud to be involved of the first black woman on the Supreme Court.

There’s so much that we can do because… look, we’re the United States of America,” Biden said on The Earl Ingram Show on Wisconsin’s CivicMedia. Host Earl told AP on Saturday that the Biden campaign gave him five “exact questions to ask” ahead of the interview. “There was no back and forth,” he added. “I probably would never have accepted, it but this was an opportunity to talk to the president of the United States,” Ingram explained. A few hours earlier, Andrea Lawful-Sanders, the host of The Source, a program on WURD in Pennsylvania, told CNN that “the questions were sent to me for approval; I approved of them” ahead of the interview with Biden. The Biden campaign’s spokeswoman, Lauren Hitt, confirmed the radio hosts’ claims, saying in a statement that “it is not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. These questions were relevant to news of the day.”

“We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners,” Hitt stressed. A source within Biden’s team told CBS News that it “will refrain from offering suggested questions” to journalists in his future interviews. A poll by Reuters/Ipsos revealed that one in three Democrats believes that Biden should quit the race after his debate performance, while some key donors have reportedly demanded that the president be replaced on the party’s ticket. In his interview with ABC News on Friday, Biden rejected the possibility of stepping down, insisting that he was “the most qualified person” to defeat Trump.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1809619673748529338

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Everybody loves me!

Biden Refuses To Believe Poll Numbers (RT)

US President Joe Biden said he does not accept polling data showing a slump in support, speaking in a televised interview on Friday. During the sit-down, ABC host George Stephanopoulos said: Mr. President, I’ve never seen a president with 36% approval get reelected.” Biden replied: “Well, I don’t believe that’s my approval rating. That’s not what our polls show,” without specifying which polling data he was relying on. A New York Times/Siena College poll released on Monday found that 36% of likely voters approve of the way Biden is handling his job as president. On voter intentions, the same survey showed Trump leading Biden with 49% to 43%, widening the gap from a 3-point lead before the debate.

“Look, you know polling better than anybody. Do you think polling data is as accurate as it used to be?” the US leader parried when Stephanopoulos insisted that Biden was close but still behind Trump even before going into the debate. Biden insisted that there’s nobody “more qualified to be president or win this race than me” and said he would not drop out, even if top Democratic leaders asked him to, claiming that only “the Lord Almighty” could convince him to step aside. Biden is struggling to dispel concerns over whether he is mentally and physically capable of leading the country for another four years following his halting performance in a televised debate against Republican rival Donald Trump.

The oldest US president in history appeared so frail and confused throughout the encounter last week that a survey conducted by CBS News/YouGov shortly afterwards found that 72% of registered voters do not believe Biden has the “mental and cognitive health necessary to serve as president.” A Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll published on Tuesday found Trump beating Biden by 3 percentage points, while a survey conducted for CNN by SSRS put Trump 6 points in the lead. A separate Bloomberg News/Morning Consult tracking poll showed Biden narrowing the gap over the past week and now losing “by only 2 percentage points” in the critical swing states needed to win the November election. Overall, less than one in five respondents in those states thought the 81-year-old was the “more coherent, mentally fit or dominant participant” of the debate.

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“A president’s failure to use due care or be loyal is ground for impeachment..”

President Biden Must Resign, or Be Impeached (Young)

President Biden’s duty to the American people is to “faithfully execute” his office. As a public trustee, Biden took an oath to do what is right. He is a trustee of powers bestowed upon him by the Constitution in return for his promise to be dutiful. Like every agent and trustee, Biden owes fiduciary duties to those who are served by his decisions. He owes them two duties: the duty of always acting with due care; and the duty of giving them his absolute loyalty, always putting their interests above his own. A president’s failure to use due care or be loyal is ground for impeachment. Under our Constitution, impeachment for “high crimes and misdemeanors” is not a criminal proceeding. Rather, it is a civil proceeding to discharge from office one who has failed in his or her trusteeship.

John Locke put it this way: “Who shall be judge, whether the prince or legislative act contrary to their trust? … To this I reply, The people shall be judge; for who shall be judge whether his trustee or deputy acts well, and according to the trust reposed in him, but he who deputes him, and must, by having deputed him, have still a power to discard him, when he fails in his trust? If this be reasonable in particular cases of private men, why should it be otherwise in that of the greatest moment, where the welfare of millions is concerned, and also where the evil, if not prevented, is greater, and the redress very difficult, dear, and dangerous?”

More than 50 years ago, when the impeachment of Richard Nixon was under consideration in the House of Representatives, I researched the English parliamentary practice of impeaching high officers for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The lead special counsel in the impeachment proceeding, John Doar, incorporated my conclusions into the articles of impeachment of Richard Nixon in these words: In all of this, Richard M. Nixon has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore Richard M. Nixon, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

The same standard of abuse of fiduciary duties was later included in the articles of impeachment of Donald Trump: “In all of this, President Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.” As we saw last Thursday, President Biden is no longer capable of acting with due care as steward of the best interest of the American people. He appeared physically and cognitively inept. His answers to simple questions were nonsensical. Even Nancy Pelosi wondered aloud, “Is this an episode or is this a condition?”

For Biden to remain in office, he will not be faithfully executing it. Rather, he will be using the powers of the office for self-serving ends, depriving the American people of a vigorous defender of our rights and privileges. If Biden does not resign immediately, he has committed an impeachable offense by causing “manifest injury of the people of the United States.” Should Biden attempt to have his cake and eat it too, he might withdraw his candidacy for this year’s presidential election but not resign as president. If he affirms that he would not be qualified to execute the office of president in January 2025, then why is he qualified to serve in that office today? To withdraw from the presidential race but continue in office would be a violation of his duty of loyalty to the American people. Joe Biden made a choice when he took the oath of office to serve as our president. If he can no longer be loyal or serve with due care, then he must resign his office or be impeached.

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Very few saw that coming..

Leftist Coalition Set For Shock Victory In French Election (ZH)

Well, no one saw that coming… The last-minute-arranged broad left-wing coalition known as The New Popular Front (NFP), was leading a tight French legislative election Sunday, ahead of both President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists and Le Pen’s rightists, projections showed. Provisional estimates from four pollsters suggest the following seat projections: • Left Alliance Set for 170-215 Seats • Macron’s Group Set for 150-182 Seats • Le Pen’s Group Set for 110-158 Seats. It looks like the anti-National Rally front worked better than anyone expected, catching the polling companies by surprise. The projected results suggest that the co-ordinated anti-RN strategy, under which the left and center tactically withdrew their candidates from run-offs, had paid off. If confirmed in final voting tallies, the projections suggest that none of the three main blocs will be able easily to command a governing majority, potentially leaving France in a period of political gridlock.

There are some big barriers to that given that Macron himself has called France Unbowed – a big part of the left’s New Popular Front – an extremist party and some of his supports have called against voting for its candidates. AP reports that the French leftist leader,Jean-Luc Melenchon says elections are an “immense relief for a majority of people,” demands prime minister resign. Melenchon says the New Popular Front government would apply its program and nothing but the program as he refuses any negotiation with Macron’s party or any combination. As Bloomberg reports, that theoretically would mean some disruptive changes of economic policy, and by decree according to Melenchon: • Undoing the pension reform; • raising the minimum wage; • a 90% top marginal tax rate; • and freezing prices of some consumer staples. Not a pretty picture for French bonds either way.

Andrea Tueni, head of sales trading at Saxo Banque France: “This is a big surprise, it’s a real blow for the RN. That being said, it’s not necessarily good for markets: The Nouveau Front Populaire taking the lead could generate concerns due to their program which was the most poorly perceived by the markets.” French National Rally Leader Jordan Bardella warns this vote “has thrown France into the arms of the far-Left.” As @RUNews posted on X: “Macron now faces a total mess. He aimed to stop ‘Hitler’ party and mobilized Lenin (Mélenchon), but now he has both Lenin and Hitler, leaving him stuck in the middle.” Presumably all the globalist fear mongering over the so-called ‘Hitler-ite’ Le Pen pushed the French people back into the immigrant-loving arms of the Left? Or something else went down?

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If there is a coalition at all..

New French Governing Coalition Will Likely Be ‘Fragile’ (Sp.)

Assessing the results of the second round of the snap parliamentary elections in France, it can be assumed that the outcome will create a serious governance problem in the country. The future governing coalition will likely be fragile and society will be characterized by greater political polarization, chairman of Rome-based think tank Vision and Global Trends Tiberio Graziani told Sputnik. “Economic problems will worsen. It will be three years of political crisis,” he said. France is already going through a political crisis, both internally and within Europe. The elections show that the country is facing political, economic and social crises.

The same can be said about other European nations, like Germany, the expert added. Jean-Luc Melanchon’s left-wing New Popular Front coalition won the parliamentary elections, securing 182 seats (out of 577) in the French parliament. President Emmanuel Macron’s bloc gained 168 seats. Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardelle’s National Rally got 143 parliamentary seats.

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And then she loses…

How ‘Putin Endorsed Le Pen’: Russiagate Comes To France (Amar)

It is perfectly predictable and yet a sorry spectacle every time it happens: the great big bad Russia panic whenever, and that’s frequently nowadays, Western liberals and Centrists are losing their grip. This time it’s the turn of France. With the far-right/right-populist National Rally (RN) under Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella succeeding at the polls as never before, French and other Western mainstream media are serving up the same stale old dish of fearmongering and, most importantly, blame shifting.Russiagate, or really Russia Rage (as in Road Rage), and its many copies, have been with us since Hillary Clinton and her cult were incapable of facing the fact that she lost the 2016 US presidential election because she is a dreadful person with no redeeming graces – and unlike her naturally gifted if shifty and immoral husband, a catastrophically incompetent politician.

And like every good form of insanity, Russia Rage is absolutely immune to both falsification and its own record of failure, even as a piece of demagoguery. We know that the only real scandal about “Russiagate” was that it was a hoax, the result of massive exaggeration, outright lying, and all-round manipulation by Democratic party operatives and their media allies. We also know that it did not even work on its own dishonest terms. Russia Rage was, in American journalist Matt Taibbi’s words, an “epic disaster.” Indeed, if it had any political effect, then to ultimately help – not damage – its target, Donald Trump: Almost a decade after the inception of the “Russiagate” hoax, Trump is back, stronger than ever and set to capture the American presidency again. And this time, his organization and plans are much more elaborate and ambitious, and, just now, obliging conservative judges at the Supreme Court have also equipped him with almost perfect legal immunity.

The other thing that Russia Rage did accomplish is, of course, to massively damage the credibility of US mainstream media. Not that they ever deserved any (ask the Iraqis, for instance, owners of non-existent WMDs and victims of an absolutely illegal and devastating war of aggression based on a big fat lie eagerly supported by those media). But Russia Rage brought the lying home in a way that woke up many Americans. By 2022, US media credibility was the lowest “among 46 nations, according to a study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.” One year before, “83 percent of Americans saw ‘fake news’ as a ‘problem,’ and 56 percent – mostly Republicans and independents – agreed that the media were “truly the enemy of the American people.”

And yet, here we go again. In best Russia Rage style, the Washington Post, relying unquestioningly on French intelligence services and, of course, anonymous “sources,” is mapping out a whole “ecosystem” of Russian influence campaigns targeting, it maintains, the French election as well as the Olympics. And not only now but for about a year already. One wonders how those wicked Russians foresaw Macron’s bizarre decision to cap his EU Parliament election failure with a snap legislative election at home to make the fiasco complete. Or, perhaps, must we now assume that Macron is working for Russia as well? Who knows? The French paper of record Le Monde has been keeping up a steady, ominous drumbeat for months already, keeping its readers on edge with tales of Russian subversion and, always, of course, the National Rally as its tool. Perish the thought that this could have anything to do with the RN being the most popular and most dangerous challenger to the Macronist regime of extreme Centrism.

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” Idealists who seek to transcend power politics and create a more benign world thus find themselves intensifying the security competition and instigating wars.”

A Nation In Pain: How Political Idealism Destroyed Ukraine (Glenn Diesen)

Political realism is commonly and mistakenly portrayed as immoral because its principal focus is on an inescapable security competition, and it thus rejects idealist efforts to transcend power politics. Because states canot break away from security competition, morality for the realist entails acting in accordance with the balance of power logic as the foundation for stability and peace. Idealist efforts to break with power politics can then be defined as immoral, as they undermine the management of the security competition as the foundation of peace. As Raymond Aron expressed in 1966: “The idealist, believing he has broken with power politics exaggerates its crimes.”The most appealing and dangerous idealist argument that destroyed Ukraine is that it has the right to join any military alliance it desires.

It is a very attractive statement that can easily win support from the public, as it affirms the freedom and sovereignty of Ukraine, and the alternative is seemingly that Russia should be allowed to dictate Ukraine’s policies. However, arguing that Ukraine should be allowed to join any military alliance is an idealist argument, as it appeals to how we would like the world to be, not how the world actually works. The principle that peace is derived from the expansion of military alliances without taking into account the security interests of other great powers has never existed. States such as Ukraine that border a great power have every reason to express legitimate security concerns, but inviting a rival great power such as the US into its territory intensifies the security competition. Is it moral to insist on how the world ought to be when war is the consequence of ignoring how the world actually works? The alternative to expanding NATO is not to accept a Russian sphere of influence, which denotes a zone of exclusive influence.

Peace is derived from recognizing a Russian sphere of interests, which is an area where Russian security interests must be recognized and incorporated rather than excluded. It did not use to be controversial to argue that Russian security interests must be taken into account when operating on its borders. This is why Europe had a belt of neutral states as a buffer between East and West during the Cold War to mitigate the security competition. Mexico has plenty of freedoms in the international system, but it does not have the freedom to join a Chinese-led military alliance or to host Chinese military bases. The idealist argument that Mexico can do as it pleases implies ignoring US security concerns, and the result would likely be the US destruction of Mexico. If Scotland secedes from the UK and then joins a Russian-led military alliance and hosts Russian missiles, would the English still champion the principle of consent?

When we live in a realist world and recognize that security competition must be mitigated for peace, then we accept a security system based on mutual constraints. When we live in the idealist world of good states versus evil states, then the force for good should not be constrained. Peace is then ensured when good defeats evil, and compromise is mere appeasement. Idealists who seek to transcend power politics and create a more benign world thus find themselves intensifying the security competition and instigating wars.

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“Hungarian FM Warns EU Politicians Will Have to ‘Buckle Up”

Orban’s Peace Mission Continues (Sp.)

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Sunday suggested that European politicians “buckle up” ahead of Hungary’s further actions aimed at promoting peace. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Russia on Friday to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Orban described his visit as a continuation of his “peace mission” after a visit to Kiev, which took place on Tuesday. He has also announced more surprising meetings next week. Orban’s activity, however, sparked criticism from the EU authorities. “We are not deterred or discouraged by these attacks [by the EU officials]. The peace mission continues and even intensifies, so I suggest that European pro-war politicians buckle up and follow closely next week as well,” Szijjarto said in a video address on his social media.

The criticism Hungary faced during this week showed that the crisis in the European Union is being fueled by politicians who are supplying Ukraine with weapons, mulling sending troops there, and talking about nuclear weapons, he added. Hungary’s six-month presidency of the EU Council, which started on July 1, will be dedicated to the country’s peace mission, the top Hungarian diplomat said. Budapest will do everything it can to put an end to the Ukrainian conflict and to get Europe out of its “suffocating military crisis,” he added.

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Orban behaves like a true EU leader.

Xi Jinping Welcomes Viktor Orban To Beijing (RT)

Chinese President Xi Jinping has held a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is in Beijing on what he has dubbed a “peacekeeping mission,” Xinhua reported on Monday morning. “China is a key power in creating the conditions for peace in the Russia-Ukraine war. This is why I came to meet with President Xi in Beijing, just two months after his official visit to Budapest,” Orban wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Details of the meeting have yet to be revealed, but it follows Orban’s trips to Kiev and Moscow last week. The Hungarian prime minister called the Beijing trip a “peace mission 3.0” upon his arrival.

Orban embarked on an unannounced trip to Kiev last Tuesday, where he proposed a “quick ceasefire” to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky. Orban then traveled to Moscow to discuss the “shortest way out” of the conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow’s and Kiev’s positions remain very “far apart,” according to the Hungarian leader, who noted that Zelensky “didn’t like” his proposals. Meanwhile, Putin reiterated Moscow’s readiness to resolve the hostilities through negotiations, but said the Ukrainian leadership appears committed to waging war “until the end.” Orban’s meeting with Putin angered some fellow EU leaders, while Kiev expressed fury that the Hungarian leader had traveled to Russia “without approval or coordination with Ukraine.”

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Hannibal.

Israel Deliberately Killed Own Citizens on October 7 – Report (Sp.)

A report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz has claimed the IDF invoked the controversial Hannibal directive during Hamas’ October 7 attack last year, deliberately killing Israelis to prevent them from being taken hostage by Palestinian fighters. “Documents and testimonies obtained by Haaretz reveal the Hannibal operational order, which directs the use of force to prevent soldiers being taken into captivity, was employed at three army facilities infiltrated by Hamas, potentially endangering civilians as well,” read an article in the liberal paper’s Sunday edition. “‘Not a single vehicle can return to Gaza’ was the order,” writes journalist Yaniv Kubovich. “At this point, the IDF was not aware of the extent of kidnapping along the Gaza border, but it did know that many people were involved. Thus, it was entirely clear what that message meant, and what the fate of some of the kidnapped people would be.”

The newspaper notes the exact number of Israelis killed by IDF fire is unknown. The report cites testimony from servicemembers up and down the IDF chain of command, including soldiers and mid- and senior-level officers. Highly controversial within and outside of Israel, the so-called Hannibal directive was devised in response to the threat of armed groups gaining leverage over the Israeli state through the taking of hostages. Palestinian forces took several Israelis captive during the 1970s and 80s, successfully negotiating the release of Palestinian prisoners in return. The notion Israelis were “better dead than abducted” led to the creation of the protocol, which allowed the use of deadly force. Claims of the invocation of the Hannibal directive on October 7 were made months ago when it was revealed an IDF brigadier general instructed a tank to shell a house in Kibbutz Be’eri with a number of Israelis and Hamas fighters inside, killing 13 Israeli captives.

But Sunday’s report is the most complete accounting to date of accusations of friendly fire. The allegations add to claims Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has deliberately placed Israeli citizens in harm’s way in order to pursue the Likud party’s vision of territorial maximalism. The response to Hamas’ October 7 attack was reportedly delayed for hours because Netanyahu had redeployed soldiers to support Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu’s government received urgent warnings from Egyptian authorities in the months leading up to Hamas’ attack that the Palestinian group was likely planning a significant armed operation, it has been revealed. Israeli reconnaissance of the Gaza Strip, broadly considered “one of the most heavily surveilled places in the world,” showed Palestinian fighters were training in the use of hang gliders that were used to breach the enclave’s border fence.

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And perhaps a currency.

BRICS To Launch Independent Financial System – Moscow (RT)

Countries of the BRICS economic bloc are currently working on the launch of a financial system that would be independent of the dominance of third parties, according to the Russian Ambassador to China Igor Morgulov. The volume of Russia’s transactions in national currencies with fellow BRICS nations is constantly growing, the envoy said on Saturday in Beijing, speaking at the 12th World Peace Forum (WPF). Morgulov highlighted that Russia-China trade turnover had reached $240 billion and that 92% of settlements were being conducted in rubles and yuans. “We are leaving the dollar-dominated space and developing the mechanism and tools for a truly independent financial system,” the ambassador said, as cited by RIA Novosti.

Morgulov also said that introducing a new single currency is still some way off but stressed that the group – which recently expanded and now comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran and Egypt – is “moving in this direction.” Last month, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov told media that Russia was working on creating a settlement-and-payment infrastructure together with BRICS member states’ central banks. The senior state official specified that the economic bloc was working on launching the BRICS Bridge platform for settlements in national currencies. In addition, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told Russian daily Vedomosti that BRICS Bridge could provide member states an opportunity to make settlements using digital assets of central banks linked to national currencies

Russia has been promoting its own domestic payment system as a reliable alternative to SWIFT, after many of the country’s financial institutions were cut off from the Western financial network in 2022. The Russian SPFS interbank messaging system ensures the secure transfer of financial messages between banks both inside and outside the country. Moscow has also accelerated efforts to move away from SWIFT by trading with international partners using their respective national currencies. The trend has been increasingly supported by members of the BRICS group, which have shifted from using the dollar and euro for trade settlements. The share of national currencies in Russia’s settlements with BRICS countries jumped to 85% at the end of 2023, up from 26% two years ago.

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“WhatsApp exports your user data every night. Some people still think it is secure..”

Elon Musk Issues WhatsApp Safety Warning (RT)

Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter), has again attacked WhatsApp over its handling of personal data. On Saturday, Musk commented on a post on X; one of the users had asked: “If WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted, why do we see ads related to the things we discussed in our chats?” The entrepreneur offered a short answer to the question, saying: “WhatsApp is not secure at all.” Musk had already engaged in an online spat with WhatsApp, which is owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta conglomerate, this May. At the time, he responded to another post on X, which claimed that “WhatsApp exports user data nightly, which is analyzed and used for targeted advertising, making users the product, not the customer.” “WhatsApp exports your user data every night. Some people still think it is secure,” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said, referring to longstanding concerns about data sharing between WhatsApp and Meta’s other platform, Facebook.

The exchange was noticed by WhatsApp’s head, Will Cathcart, who tried to defend his platform’s conduct. “Many have said this already, but worth repeating: this is not correct. We take security seriously and that’s why we end-to-end encrypt your messages. They don’t get sent to us every night or exported to us,” Cathcart said in his post on X. However, security researcher Tommy Mysk, who also joined the debate, clarified that while messages on WhatsApp might be end-to-end encrypted, “user data is not only about messages.” “The metadata such as user location, which contacts the user is communicating with, the patterns of when the user is online, etc. This metadata according to your privacy policy is indeed used for targeted ads across Meta services,” he said. “So, Elon Musk is right,” Mysk, who had previously uncovered data vulnerabilities in TikTok, Facebook and Apple’s products, wrote.

In 2022, when he was still in the process of purchasing Twitter, Musk argued that Zuckerberg had too much control over social media due to Meta owning Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. He called Meta’s CEO “Mark Zuckerberg XIV” in reference to France’s “Sun King” Louis XIV, who apocryphally claimed to be the state itself and was known for his wealth and authoritarian power. In 2023, the two tech billionaires were on the verge of holding a cage match against each other, but the bout never happened. Relations between Musk and Zuckerberg deteriorated even further after Meta launched Threads last summer, with the platform, which offers a space for real-time online conversations, being seen as a direct competitor to Twitter. Threads garnered 100 million users in the first days after launch, but the public’s interest in the app quickly subsided.

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Woody

 

 

Guns

 

 

Rescue

 

 

Koala

 

 


Dick Van Duijn captured the exact moment a squirrel stopped to smell a flower

 

 

Dog angry
https://twitter.com/i/status/1810030529464476003

 

 

The best

 

 

Alpaca

 

 

 

 

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