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Debt Rattle March 4 2025

Mar 042025
 
 March 4, 2025  Posted by at 11:07 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  38 Responses »


Edouard Manet The absinthe drinker 1859

 

• Europe’s Reckless Warmongering Pushes Trump Toward NATO Exit (Sp.)
• Why Is Europe Making Itself Irrelevant? (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Europe is Falling & Needs War with Russia – Martin Armstrong (USAW)
• Attitude Adjustment (James Howard Kunstler)
• US Halts All Military Aid To Ukraine – Media (RT)
• The Three Conditions For Zelensky’s Departure (Ryumshin)
• Trump-Zelensky Clash Shows Ukraine Doesn’t Want Peace – Kremlin (RT)
• Musk Slams Zelensky For Rejecting Ceasefire (RT)
• Tulsi Gabbard Questions If Ukraine Is ‘Aligned’ With US Values (RT)
• Scott Ritter: US Had Its fingers in Every Aspect of Ukrainian Pie (Sp.)
• Zelensky Rejects Calls For Immediate Ceasefire & Won’t Apologize To Trump (ZH)
• US Reportedly Halts Offensive Cyber Ops Against Russia (ZH)
• Trump Tells Americans To Worry About Migrants Not Putin (RT)
• Bessent “Shocked” By Scale Of Fraud Already Uncovered By DOGE (ZH)
• Economist Says DOGE Checks Are ‘Exactly The Right Incentive To Find Waste’ (JTN)
• AG Pam Bondi Received “Truckload” Of Hidden Epstein Documents From SDNY (ZH)
• Democrats Go Full McCarthy in Attacks on Musk (Turley)
• Chinese Models Are Stunning Americans In The Tech Catwalk (Pepe Escobar)

 

 

 

 

Failings

Hegseth 5 bullets

Dellinger

Tucker

 

 

 

 

Time to talk Europe. Why do they insist on antagonizing Trump by sabotaging his peace efforts? Martin Armstrong says Europe is so far gone, the only thing they can think of doing is go to war with Russia. Von der Leyen today presented a $1 trillion EU rearmament plan. Which they can’t afford, but they could blame Putin for all consequences, not themselves. Consequences such as widespread and deep poverty across the continent.

• Europe’s Reckless Warmongering Pushes Trump Toward NATO Exit (Sp.)

So long as the US provides an expensive and robust support for Europe’s defense, oligarchs based in Europe can continue business as usual, living their lavish lifestyles and provoking their nuclear neighbor, Wall Streest analyst Charles Ortel says. “Our European ‘partners’ seem to want ‘war at all costs,’ believing that America will do the paying and Americans will do the dying,” Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel told Sputnik, commenting on Europe’s demonstrative support for Volodymyr Zelensky, who rejected a Trump-brokered ceasefire in Ukraine. The UK and EU feel free to provoke Russia – a nuclear power – because they believe their security is guaranteed by Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which would obligate the US to come to their defense, according to the analyst.

Europe’s proxy, Zelensky, “is behaving like an old-fashioned mafia goon, demanding protection money,” Ortel says. US involvement in the Ukraine conflict would mean increased protection for Europe and further US taxpayer money flowing into European coffers. But that won’t happen under Donald Trump and JD Vance, Ortel underscores. As Europe’s reckless warmongering continues, the US may have no choice but to leave the transatlantic alliance, he believes. “The US has no business subsidizing Europe and defending it,” Ortel says. “Indeed, I believe we have a duty to our own citizenry to significantly reduce our defense commitments to Europe and rescind NATO treaty assurances — if not exit NATO altogether under present circumstances.”

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“Trump has given us an opportunity we have not had for a long time. Be thankful for it.”

• Why Is Europe Making Itself Irrelevant? (Paul Craig Roberts)

Readers want to know why the UK PM and European leaders–really, non-readers, misleaders, bad leaders–want war with Russia over Ukraine. My answer is that they don’t. What would they go to war with? According to the European “leaders,” they already have given all their weapons to Ukraine and have nothing with which o fight a war. The only way Europe can send any money to Ukraine is to get the EU central bank to print euros to send to Ukraine. Moreover, the NATO force structure depends on the United States. Without the US, Europe lacks a force structure that can support a war. Trump has ruled out war with Russia and read Zelensky the riot act. Unless Putin makes a fantastic mistake, I expect the conflict to end.

Perhaps what is going on with Europe’s is that EU governments, after sending so much money and weapons to Ukraine backed by claims that Ukraine was winning and would win, want to be able to say that Trump sold out Ukraine in order to avoid accountability to the deceived populations of Europe. They can blame Trump for denying Ukraine and NATO a victory. The European talk of sending “peacekeepers” to Ukraine is nonsense. Putin intends a settlement, an over-and-done-with event, not a ceasefire with European “peacekeepers.” Trump can’t get a settlement if he sides with the EU against Putin. If Trump and Putin don’t accept “peacekeepers,” it can’t happen.

Here is a thought. Trump sees economic growth as fed by opportunity. He sees more opportunity in business deals with Russia, India, China, the rest of Asia, and Africa than he sees in Europe. Trump understands that it was sanctions and the weaponization of the dollar that produced BRICS and the search for an alternative for central bank reserves and international payments. To save the dollar’s role as reserve currency, Washington needs to stop bullying. Trump, like Putin, wants deals that work for everyone, not wars. In a world in which the dollar is not used as a weapon against other countries, BRICS is not necessary. Trump sees tariffs in a different way than indoctrinated free-market economists. Tariffs don’t prevent trade. They ensure that countries have something with which to trade.

Moreover, tariffs are a tax on consumption, not a tax on factors of production such as labor and capital. And as I emphasize, tariffs in place of income tax eliminates the resurrection of a form of slavery established in 1913 when government was given partial ownership of the labor of every working citizen. We have little to lose by supporting Trump and keeping him focused on his agenda. We should not add to problems for Ukraine’s sake, or for Israel’s sake, or some other non-American interest. There are sufficient unaddressed threats around, such as AI and the creation and release of another virus, to knock Trump’s agenda off balance. Life is a challenge. Making good decisions is a difficult thing to do. Let’s try for a change to meet the real challenges and to make good decisions. Trump has given us an opportunity we have not had for a long time. Be thankful for it.

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“Right now, I am concerned from about May 15th on. . . . Our computer (Socrates) says Europe is going into war, and I put it into this report, Europe will lose. . .”

• Europe is Falling & Needs War with Russia – Martin Armstrong (USAW)

Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong is back with a new warning about war coming to Europe. You may have seen the heated exchange between President Trump and President Zelensky of Ukraine on Friday. If not, you should. Some of the Trump highlights are: “President Zelensky is not ready for peace. . . (Zelensky is) gambling with WWIII, and You either make a deal or we are out.” It looks like Zelensky intentionally started a fight with Trump in the White House. It also looks like every country in Europe is backing more war in Ukraine. And now, there is renewed talk of an EU army. Armstrong says, “Why?” ” Because they all are facing the collapse of the European Union. The debt is just unbelievable. They never consolidated. Between Covid, Climate Change and sanctions on Russia, the German economy has shrunk . . . 3% to 5%. The economic growth (of the EU) is appalling. Europe is falling, and this is why they need war. So, they are backing Zelensky.”

In a new report released yesterday, Armstrong lays out the case why war in Europe is coming and coming soon. Armstrong points out: “In this report, I gathered a bunch of headlines: London Financial Times, what’s the headline? ‘America is Now the Enemy of the West.’ This is why Trump is saying ‘We are out.’ Zelensky has admitted that 58% of the $350 billion the US gave him is missing. You cut the funding, and you are going to find out the truth. Trump should cut every single penny. Bring it all out. Zelensky is counting on Europe to replace the United States. This is why he’s so arrogant. . . . Trump should get the hell out of NATO–ASAP.”

So, why are all these reports coming out in the last few months about gold coming to America from Europe? Armstrong says, “Last week, I was on the phone, and I can’t tell you how much, but when you are about to go into war, capital moves…” “Right now, I am concerned from about May 15th on. . . . Our computer (Socrates) says Europe is going into war, and I put it into this report, Europe will lose. . . . This is why the gold is coming to America.” Armstrong also contends you can forget about predictions of the US dollar collapsing anytime soon – it won’t.

Armstrong says, “The Euro will become extinct.” Armstrong also predicts, “I published what the computer “Socrates” put out on Ukraine. It’s a flatline, and I have never seen that on any other country. It’s a flatline. It’s going dead. That’s it.” Did the election of President Trump stop a thermonuclear exchange with Russia? Armstrong says, “Absolutely! You had Dick Cheney endorsing Kamala. . . . Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were on the J6 Committee. Both of them are Neocons. Adam Kinzinger said ‘We could defeat Russia in three days.’ They put out nothing but propaganda all the time.”

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“Because Ukraine is mostly a flat plain, it has served historically as the doormat for invasions into Russia, so you may see why Russia was not comfortable with the prospect of NATO perched there..”

• Attitude Adjustment (James Howard Kunstler)

See if you can get this straight: So, Kier Starmer says: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland wants to “put boots on the ground and planes in the air” in Ukraine so as to lead a “coalition of the willing” (NATO) against Russia. Sounds a little like the British PM is holding seances at No. Ten Downing Street to channel the spirits of bygone European leaders who launched doomed bear hunts into the vast and mysterious Eurasian east. (Who comes to mind?) Why is Europe so avid for war? After eighty-odd years of serving as the world’s tourism theme park, languishing in their cafes, maybe they forgot what war is like. The New York Times reports: Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union would fortify Ukraine with economic and military aid, aiming to turn it into “a steel porcupine that is indigestible for potential invaders.”

This requires you to fall for the fake idea that Russia seeks to invade western Europe. Notice how much the EU acts like America’s Democratic Party — projecting its own hostile fantasies on its adversaries. Also, like our Democratic Party, Europe is sinking into oblivion. The animating ethos of the ruling parties in Germany and France is to punish their own citizens with censorship, tyranny, and sponsoring an alien invasion that aims to demolish European culture. Their economic wizards are taking the continent medieval, to a global backwater of defeated peasants eating bugs. I will boldly predict that the likes of Starmer, von der Leyen, and Friedrich Merz will be swept out of power by angry mobs before next Christmas. In the meantime, Europe has made itself preposterous. Europe does not have the mojo to do a darned thing about Ukraine or Russia.

The British army has 74,296 active-duty troops, comparable to Algeria. The UK’s North Sea oil production has declined by approximately 73-percent since 2000. Germany produces around 23,000 barrels-a-day, enough to meet two percent of its domestic oil demand. Anyway, exactly a year ago, Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared, “There will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or NATO states.” So, who’s kidding whom? Circumstances are driving the USA and Russia into an alliance of necessity. The immediate goal is to stop the insane war provoked by previous non-Trump administrations (and the EU) going back to George W. Bush, that repeatedly promoted “color revolutions” (regime change) in Ukraine so as to drag it into NATO — putting a hostile forward base on Russia’s “front porch.” The idea all along among the most fervidly delusional neocons has been to bust-up Russia in order to seize its oil and mineral assets.

That project never panned out because after a decade of post-Soviet chaos, Mr. Putin put his country back in order, turned it into what used to be the definition of a normal European nation and — too ironically even for Russian literature — made it a bastion for defending Western Civ while the other nations of Europe launched their campaign of collective suicide. History is ever a trickster and the zeitgeist is its consigliere. Mr. Trump and his wingmen apparently recognize the obvious: that Ukraine is exactly what its name signifies in its Slavic root, (Ukraina): frontier, borderland, periphery, outskirts. Ukraine is on the edge of Russia. Most of all, it is geopolitically within Russia’s sphere-of-influence in the same way that Mexico is in ours, with similar implications for national defense as laid out explicitly in our Monroe Doctrine.

Because Ukraine is mostly a flat plain, it has served historically as the doormat for invasions into Russia, so you may see why Russia was not comfortable with the prospect of NATO perched there, especially in a new age of drones and missiles. As Europe now flounders impotently and wrecks itself, America and Russia are motivated to avoid being snookered into an unnecessary world war over Ukraine. Mr. Zelenskyy is but an anachronistic artifact of the color revolutions that finally sputtered out with “Joe Biden,” who was himself in the vanguard of a colossal money-grubbing operation in that sad-sack country.

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“This guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing..”

• US Halts All Military Aid To Ukraine – Media (RT)

US President Donald Trump has instructed the Defense Department to pause all military aid to Ukraine following his public spat with Vladimir Zelensky, news agencies reported on Monday, citing American officials. According to Bloomberg, the freeze affects the equipment already designated for delivery, including weapons in transit on aircraft and ships or waiting in transit areas in Poland. The suspension will stay in place until Trump sees that the Ukrainian leaders “demonstrate a good-faith commitment to peace,” Bloomberg said, citing a senior Pentagon official. According to the New York Times, the order takes effect immediately and affects more than $1 billion in “arms and ammunition in the pipeline and on order.”

“The president has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution,” a White House official told Reuters. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Monday that Washington has stopped funding new weapons sales to Ukraine and was considering freezing weapons shipments. Trump has repeatedly accused Zelensky of undermining his effort to broker a peace deal between Kiev and Moscow. Their public feud culminated in an unprecedented shouting match during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on Friday, after which Trump said that Zelensky was disrespectful to the US.

Zelensky has insisted that a ceasefire must be tied to security guarantees provided by the US and other Western countries. Trump, however, has refused to commit to specific guarantees and has ruled out making Ukraine a NATO member or contributing American troops to a potential peacekeeping mission. On Sunday, Zelensky told reporters that “an agreement to end the war is still very, very far away, and no one has started all these steps yet.” Trump condemned his statement on social media, promising that “America will not put up with it for much longer.”

“This guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Zelensky told reporters last month that Ukraine had a “low chance” of survival without American aid. The US is one of Kiev’s principal suppliers of weapons, including M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley armored vehicles, M777 howitzers, HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, and artillery rounds. As of December 2024, the Pentagon has committed more than $66 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since 2022. Russia has stressed that no amount of Western aid would stop its troops in Ukraine.

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Just take the arms away.

• The Three Conditions For Zelensky’s Departure (Ryumshin)

For a long time, discussions about elections in Ukraine were hypothetical, a distant prospect. But recent developments – including Russian-American negotiations and the growing friction between Washington and Kiev – have thrown the question of Vladimir Zelensky’s future into sharp focus. The emerging détente between Russia and the US has activated what one might call a “Chekhov’s gun” scenario – an inevitability set in motion long ago. Both Moscow and Washington now seem to agree that Zelensky, whose legitimacy is increasingly in question, must face elections before making any binding agreements. Public statements from Russian and American officials indicate that if Zelensky were to exit following an election, both parties would welcome the outcome.

However, Zelensky’s departure is far from certain. For him to resign, at least two of three critical conditions must be met:
• The key players in the Ukraine conflict – Russia, the US, and the European Union – must want him to go.
• The Ukrainian political elite must push for his resignation.
• Zelensky himself must see a reason to step down.
• At present, none of these conditions are fully in place.
The US and Russia have seemingly converged on a three-stage process: ceasefire, elections, peace talks. Reports indicate that an informal consensus is emerging in both capitals. However, neither side has explicitly acknowledged a unified stance, likely because the negotiations are still in their early stages and have yet to formally address Ukraine.

The European Union remains the wildcard. Brussels is adamant that Ukraine must be supported, regardless of Washington’s position. This provides Zelensky with an alternative power base, meaning that even if Russia and the US agree on his departure, he could still count on support from Europe to justify staying in power. Public sentiment within Ukraine is difficult to gauge accurately. While polls indicate that Zelensky’s approval ratings have been steadily declining since 2023, recent attacks from US President Donald Trump and other Western critics have paradoxically caused his numbers to rebound. Whether this surge in support is genuine or a manufactured crisis response from his administration remains unclear. Polling during wartime is notoriously unreliable, making it difficult to assess whether the Ukrainian people truly want Zelensky to step down.

Ukrainian political opposition also remains fragmented. Many figures within the ruling elite bear grudges against Zelensky, but their ability to effectively challenge his authority is questionable. The Ukrainian parliament recently embarrassed Zelensky by failing to pass a resolution reaffirming his legitimacy at the first attempt – an incident that took place in front of EU representatives. But this is hardly a coordinated coup attempt; rather, it underscores the lack of unity among his detractors. A unifying figure for the opposition remains elusive. Former Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny, once seen as a potential rival, has so far refrained from making any overt political moves. Without him, Zelensky’s adversaries appear more interested in minor disruptions than in mounting a serious challenge.

Despite his declining popularity, Zelensky is not without influential allies. His inner circle, particularly Andrey Yermak, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration, has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Yermak, often seen as the power behind the throne, has built his career on his proximity to Zelensky. Any shift in leadership could threaten his influence and that of his associates, making it likely that they will fight to keep Zelensky in office. The simplest answer is no. Zelensky appears convinced that his leadership is indispensable to Ukraine’s survival. He has consistently rejected any suggestion of early elections or stepping down voluntarily. His statements on the matter are often deflective, saying he would consider resignation only if Ukraine was admitted to NATO – an impossible condition. This suggests he will cling to power for as long as possible.

While Zelensky currently holds his ground, shifting battlefield dynamics could force his hand. Ukraine’s military situation continues to deteriorate, its resources are stretched thin, and Western support is no longer guaranteed. The new US administration is unlikely to display the same patience as the Biden White House. If Ukraine fails to turn the tide, Zelensky may face a stark choice: hold elections before the situation becomes catastrophic or risk being overthrown in a palace coup orchestrated by Ukrainian elites desperate to preserve their own futures. The latter scenario would not be unusual in history. Leaders who refuse to acknowledge military defeat often find themselves ousted by their own ranks. If Zelensky continues to insist on leading Ukraine down an unwinnable path, he may well meet the same fate.

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“The argument at the White House was “a rather unprecedented event,” during which the Ukrainian leader “at the very least, demonstrated a complete lack of diplomatic skills..”

• Trump-Zelensky Clash Shows Ukraine Doesn’t Want Peace – Kremlin (RT)

The public dispute between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky at the White House last week is further evidence that Kiev is not genuinely interested in a diplomatic resolution to its conflict with Russia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has stated. Zelensky’s visit to the White House on Friday was abruptly cut short after a heated exchange with the US president and vice president in front of the media. During the tense meeting, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of “gambling with World War III” by refusing to negotiate peace with Russia. They also criticized him as ungrateful and disrespectful despite the significant military aid Washington has provided to Kiev. During the intense argument, Zelensky once again ruled out talks with Moscow, demanded security guarantees from the US, and denied that Ukrainian forces are facing manpower shortages.

“The Kiev regime and Zelensky do not want peace,” Peskov told journalists on Monday. “In this situation, Washington’s efforts and Moscow’s readiness alone will clearly not be enough [to stop the fighting] as a very important element is missing.” The Ukrainian leader’s behavior at the Oval office “demonstrated how difficult it will be to get on the path of a settlement around Ukraine,” he said. According to the spokesman, Russian President Vladimir Putin is aware of the details of the clash between Trump and Zelensky. “It was available for the entire international community to see… Therefore, of course, the president knows all the nuances,” he confirmed. The argument at the White House was “a rather unprecedented event,” during which the Ukrainian leader “at the very least, demonstrated a complete lack of diplomatic skills,” Peskov noted.

The Kremlin spokesman also stressed that “the collective West has partially begun to lose its collectiveness” when it comes to the Ukraine conflict, as some nations or groups of nations are beginning to work out their own more nuanced stances. There remains “a party of war” in the West, which declares its readiness to continue backing Ukraine and ensuring the continuation of the fighting, he said, adding that “at the same time, some first drafts of eventual peace plans are also appearing.” Peskov emphasized, however, that “it is too early to speak about some kind of a coordinated, detailed peace plan being on the agenda.” Overall, the situation surrounding the resolution of the Ukraine conflict remains complex, he stressed. Peskov reiterated that Russia remains committed to achieving all the objectives outlined at the start of its special military operation.

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“The EU leaders and Zelensky having fancy dinners while men die in trenches. How many parents will never see their son again?”

• Musk Slams Zelensky For Rejecting Ceasefire (RT)

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has lashed out at Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in a series of X posts, accusing him of prolonging the conflict with Russia by refusing to negotiate. Musk’s comments follow a tense White House meeting on Friday between Zelensky, US President Donald Trump, and Vice President J.D. Vance. The meeting ended abruptly without a planned minerals agreement. During a heated exchange, Zelensky resisted Trump’s demand to negotiate with Moscow, leading Trump to accuse him of ingratitude, “gambling with World War III,” and lacking the willingness to end the conflict. After Zelensky’s “fiasco” in Washington, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called an emergency summit in London on Sunday to discuss Western support for Ukraine. Some European leaders raised the possibility of sending ground troops.

Early Sunday, Musk reposted a statement made by Balazs Orban, political director of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, calling for “direct negotiations with Russia” and an “immediate ceasefire and peace.” He then re-shared his 2022 peace proposal, suggesting referendums in Russian-controlled territories, the recognition of Crimea as Russian, and Ukraine’s neutrality. The Donetsk People’s Republic, Lugansk People’s Republic, Kherson Region and Zaporozhye Region—formerly part of Ukraine—became federal subjects of Russia after referendums in 2022. Crimea and Sevastopol had previously voted to join the country in 2014. However, Kiev continues to assert sovereignty over these territories.

“What I said over 2 years ago was that Ukraine should seek peace or suffer severe loss of life for no gains. The latter was Zelensky’s choice. Now, he wants to do that again. This is cruel and inhumane,” Musk wrote in a pinned post. Musk followed up with a meme of a tram running over people, with Zelensky at the control lever. Another post showed a blood-stained chessboard next to a dining table, captioned: “The reality of war.” He later reposted the image, adding: “The EU leaders and Zelensky having fancy dinners while men die in trenches. How many parents will never see their son again?” Musk’s remarks come as Zelensky demands more funding from Western backers while resisting talks with Moscow. Reports indicate Washington is unwilling to approve further aid unless Ukraine agrees to negotiations.

During the summit, Starmer urged the EU and other sponsors to take a leading role in supporting Kiev. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau backed the idea, stating that “everything’s on the table.” French President Emmanuel Macron said deployment would only be possible “when the peace is signed.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has expressed strong opposition to the potential deployment of Western peacekeeping forces. He emphasized that NATO expansion towards Russia’s borders is perceived as a threat, and deploying the bloc’s troops in Ukraine, even under a different guise, does not alter this perception.

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Ukraine is aligned with EU/Biden values.

• Tulsi Gabbard Questions If Ukraine Is ‘Aligned’ With US Values (RT)

Ukraine and many of its European backers may not be aligned with the US values of freedom, peace, and democracy shared by President Donald Trump, according to Washington’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Gabbard was asked about last week’s heated exchange at the White House involving Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and Trump and his vice president, J.D. Vance. The tense meeting ended with Zelensky abruptly leaving the White House after being accused by Trump of ingratitude, “gambling with World War III,” and refusing to seek peace with Russia. The incident has sparked a backlash from Trump’s critics, including several EU leaders, who have accused him of “bullying” Zelensky.

However, according to Gabbard, anyone who has criticized Trump over his interaction with the Ukrainian leader is merely showing that they are “not committed to peace.” “Many of these European countries, and Zelensky himself, who claim to be standing and fighting for the cause of freedom and democracy” are actually acting contrary to these values, Gabbard stated. “When we actually look at what’s happening in reality in these countries, as well as with Zelensky’s government in Ukraine, it is the exact opposite,” she added. Gabbard pointed to the lack of elections in Ukraine, Kiev’s criminalization of opposition parties, the shutting down of Orthodox churches, and the complete government control over media outlets.

“It begs the question. It’s clear they’re standing against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. But what are they actually really fighting for, and are they aligned with the values that they claim to hold in agreement with [the US], which are the values of freedom, peace and true security,” Gabbard said. The DNI chief further criticized Washington’s EU partners, recalling Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference, where he accused European countries of implementing policies that “undermine democracy” and show that they “don’t actually believe in the voices of the people.”

“We’re seeing this in the United Kingdom, we’re seeing this in Germany, we saw it with the tossing out of the elections in Romania,” Gabbard said, suggesting that this shows a “huge divergence” between US values and those of the European nations that have backed Zelensky. Russia has also suggested that last week’s clash between Zelensky and Trump once again proved that Kiev is not genuinely interested in peace. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stressed that the Ukrainian leader’s behavior in the Oval Office “demonstrated how difficult it will be to get on the path of a settlement around Ukraine.”

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“A hammer doesn’t know the intent of an architect. America was the architect of Ukrainian project. Ukraine is just the hammer, just like Europe..”

• Scott Ritter: US Had Its fingers in Every Aspect of Ukrainian Pie (Sp.)

Aside from preparing Ukraine for guerrilla warfare and conducting anti-Russia propaganda operations, the US and the CIA built 20 bases throughout the country, former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter told Sputnik. Hunter Biden’s position on the board of the major Ukrainian energy company Burisma also shows that “the United States had its fingers in every aspect of the Ukrainian economic pie.” Ukraine, Ritter explained, is just a tool US tried using to defeat Russia – a tool that wasn’t even aware of “every aspect of this grand plan.”

“A hammer doesn’t know the intent of an architect. America was the architect of Ukrainian project. Ukraine is just the hammer, just like Europe,” he said. Commenting on the recent clash between JD Vance and Zelensky, Ritter noted that Vance is “the vice president of the United States, who has received some of the best intelligence there is about the reality of Ukraine.” “Zelensky is an actor who reads from a script as part of a play that’s being controlled by others,” he remarked.

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“This is a new president, and we are determined to take a new approach towards peace.”

• Zelensky Rejects Calls For Immediate Ceasefire & Won’t Apologize To Trump (ZH)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has remained defiant in the wake of Friday’s explosive confrontation with President Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office. He said from London Sunday that he will not apologize and that his country’s freedom is “not for sale”. He acknowledged that the public spat “didn’t bring anything positive or additional to us as partner” – however he also said “This relationship will continue because this is more than a relationship in one moment.” “If you don’t have an end to the war and you don’t have security guarantees, no one is able to control a ceasefire,” he told reporters while preparing to leave the UK, following a meeting with European leaders to agree on continued support for Ukraine.

Financial Times has underscored that Zelensky is not only rejecting calls from the US to apologize to Trump and Vance, but he’s now openly pushing back against ceasefire. The Ukrainian leader…rejected calls for Ukraine to agree an immediate ceasefire in its war with Russia, saying it would be “failure for everyone” if a cessation of hostilities were not accompanied by detailed security guarantees. “If you don’t have an end to the war and you don’t have security guarantees, no one is able to control a ceasefire,” Zelensky stressed in these latest remarks. He still proclaimed that he remains “ready” to sign a US-Ukraine minerals deal, confirming that his aides are now speaking to Trump’s team about ways to move forward on it. Zelensky says he is prepared to sign a mineral rights deal with the US and thinks the relationship with Washington can be salvaged. —NBC

But the mood from the White House appears to be one of willingness to cut Zelensky off altogether. There are reports that President Trump is mulling cutting off all continuing defense aid to Ukraine. Administration officials have sought to clarify that this was no ambush which played out before media cameras on Friday, but that Zelensky was rude and confrontational the whole time, and never satisfied with what the US was providing to Ukraine. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz told the Sunday news shows that President Trump “was frustrated and angry because it’s unclear if Zelensky truly wants to stop the fighting. The President and VP said enough is enough.” Walz added: “This [lecturing] was the wrong approach, wrong time, and the wrong president to try to do this kind of a thing. This is not Joe Biden. The entire world saw that, crystal clear.”

And this segment from Walz’s account in a Fox News interview is hugely revealing:
Q: How did Zelensky react after press left? Was he surprised?

Waltz: No. His team was. His ambassador, and adviser were practically in tears, wanting this to move forward. But Zelensky was still argumentative. I said “Mr. President, time is not on your side here, on the battlefield, and in terms of the world situation. And most importantly, USAID, and the taxpayers’ tolerance, is not unlimited”.

Waltz: I think Zelensky is used to hearing that “as long as it takes” and blank check from Biden. He has not gotten the memo that this is a new sheriff in town. This is a new president, and we are determined to take a new approach towards peace.

European leaders are meanwhile trying to absorb the blowback and fallout, now talking about an alternative peace plan backed by “boots on the ground and planes in the air”. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is leading the way on plans for a ‘stabilization force’ to back a Ukraine ceasefire, likely involving France – and which the Europeans hope Trump can sign on to. But the Kremlin is likely to immediately reject it, given the Western ‘boots on the ground’ aspect to the plan.

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“If this was a Democrat that was doing this, everyone would be saying, well, he’s on his way to the Nobel Peace Prize…”

• US Reportedly Halts Offensive Cyber Ops Against Russia (ZH)

In the latest indication that we’re entering a new, less adversarial era of US-Russia relations, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a suspension of offensive cyber operations against Russia. The length of the pause is uncertain but the purpose seems clear: To demonstrate good will as the Trump administration earnestly seeks a negotiated end to the three-year-old war in Ukraine, which has been costly not only to the two warring countries, but to the United States and Western European countries that first precipitated that conflict, and then perpetuated it. The pause will continue as long as negotiations move forward, according to the Washington Post’s sources. US officials tell various media outlets that the stand-down order was issued to US Cyber Command in late February.

Headquartered at Ft Meade, Maryland and commanded by Air Force Gen. Tim Haugh, the mission of Cyber Command’s two to three thousand employees is to “plan and execute global cyber operations, activities, and missions to defend and advance national interests in collaboration with domestic and international partners across the full spectrum of competition and conflict.” “I have seen many times when we are in some type of negotiation with another nation, especially if it’s one that is considered an adversary, that we stop operations, exercises, we even cancel speeches sometimes,” retired Cyber Command deputy commander Lt. Gen. Charlie Moore told the Post. The pause in offensive cyber-operations was first reported by The Record. The precise nature of the adjustment in activity is unclear, but the outlet’s sources say it does not apply to the National Security Agency and its signals intelligence-gathering.

Right on cue, hawks squawked over the deescalation move. “Russia continues to be among the top cyberthreats to the United States,” James A. Lewis, a Clinton administration diplomat and former U.N. cyber negotiator told the Washington Post. “Turning off cyber operations to avoid blowing up the talks may be a prudent tactical step. But if we take our foot off the gas pedal and they take advantage of it, we could put national security at risk.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Trump of giving Russian President Vladimir Putin “a free pass…to launch cyberoperations and ransomware attacks against critical American infrastructure.” Appearing on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back on leftist hysterics about Trump’s eagerness to reach a negotiated ceasefire and lasting peace in Ukraine — consistent with his campaign pledges:

“If this was a Democrat that was doing this, everyone would be saying, well, he’s on his way to the Nobel Peace Prize. This is absurd. We are trying to end a war. You cannot end a war unless both sides come to the table, starting with the Russians, and that is the point the president has made. And we have to do whatever we can to try to bring them to the table to see if it’s even possible.” In another recent sign of easing tensions between the world’s two nuclear superpowers, the United States approved Russia’s selection of a new ambassador to Washington. Aside from the Ukraine peace overtures, current bilateral US-Russia dialogue has been focused on fully restoring relations and putting back in place all embassy staff in Washington and Moscow, respectively. As relations deteriorated during the Biden era, there had been several rounds of hostile, mutual booting of diplomats. Meanwhile, a summit between Trump and Putin is in the works.

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“We should spend less time worrying about Putin, and more time worrying about migrant rape gangs, drug lords, murderers, and people from mental institutions entering our Country – So that we don’t end up like Europe!”

• Trump Tells Americans To Worry About Migrants Not Putin (RT)

President Donald Trump has stated that the US should prioritize domestic issues, such as migrant crime, rather than focusing on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Recent Russia-US talks initiated by Putin and Trump, followed by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s disastrous White House appearance, have triggered concern among Kiev’s backers that the US president’s approach could benefit Russia more than Ukraine. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has commended Trump’s approach, noting that it “largely aligns with our vision.” The American leader has dismissed concerns about his relationship to Putin, emphasizing that Washington has more pressing matters to address. “We should spend less time worrying about Putin, and more time worrying about migrant rape gangs, drug lords, murderers, and people from mental institutions entering our Country – So that we don’t end up like Europe!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.

EU nations are meanwhile facing a migration-related security crisis. France has seen a rise in extremist attacks linked to radicalized asylum seekers, while Germany grapples with migrant-related violent crime. Italy continues to struggle with mass arrivals via the Mediterranean, prompting stricter border controls. In Sweden, studies have highlighted a high percentage of sex crimes committed by foreign-born individuals, fueling debates on immigration policy. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has underscored these concerns, stating, “There is a very clear link between terrorist acts and migration.”The US has faced a surge in illegal border crossings, increased cartel-linked drug trafficking, and crime in migrant-populated areas. In response, Trump has threatened tariffs on Mexico if it does not take stronger action. Since taking office in January 2025 Trump has signed executive orders tightening immigration policies.

One expanded expedited removal, denied federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions, and increased border enforcement hiring. Another declared a national emergency, allowing the deployment of the armed forces to secure the border. The administration is expanding detention facilities to house up to 30,000 migrants. Former President Joe Biden had made Ukraine one of the key focuses of his administration, a decision that drew strong opposition from conservatives. Critics argued he should have prioritized domestic issues instead of sending billions in aid overseas. Biden’s visit to Kiev in 2023 and other foreign trips sparked backlash from Republicans who accused him of neglecting crises at home. Following Trump’s inauguration in January, the White House reaffirmed his ‘America First’ policy – first introduced in 2016 – by outlining plans to “make the country safe again” through stronger border security and a renewed focus on “American values.”

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President Trump and Elon Musk [..] are planning to visit Fort Knox in the near future to “audit” the gold stocks and make sure all of the gold is where it’s supposed to be. I’m certain that visit will be the mother of all photo-ops.”..

• Gold’s Historic Rally (Jim Rickards)

Even casual observers know that gold has been trading near all-time highs lately. The dollar price of gold has been trading around $2,955 per ounce, quite close to the all-time closing high and near the recent intraday high just below $3,000 per ounce. Since November 1, 2022, gold has rallied from $1,650 per ounce to $2,955 per ounce, an 80% gain in 28 months. Since the U.S. dollar is also near interim highs based on leading indices, gold’s performance when measured in euros, sterling or Swiss francs is even stronger. We expect this trend to continue and to push gold solidly above the $3,000 per ounce level on its way to even higher levels in the months ahead. That’s news in its own right but there’s a lot more going on in the gold space than just the price action. President Trump and Elon Musk (head of the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, and the world’s richest man) are planning to visit Fort Knox in the near future to “audit” the gold stocks and make sure all of the gold is where it’s supposed to be. I’m certain that visit will be the mother of all photo-ops.

Of course, Trump and Musk will not be conducting a real audit in the financial sense. They’ll just look around and show that the gold is actually there. This should lay to rest the rumors and ill-founded theories that the gold is somehow missing or has been shipped to JPMorgan. It hasn’t been. Even this publicity visit has not captured all of the gold news lately. On a more serious note, Scott Bessent the U.S. Treasury Secretary said recently that “within the next twelve months, we’re going to monetize the asset side of the balance sheet for the American people. We’re going to put the assets to work.” There has been so much focus on the liability side of the balance sheet (basically the $38 trillion in national debt) that it’s refreshing to hear a senior official talk about the asset side.

The liberal critics will wail that Bessent plans to sell Yosemite National Park to real estate developers. Nothing like that will happen but the U.S. does have ample assets it can sell, lease or otherwise monetize without invading national parks or wilderness areas. These include mineral and mining rights, intellectual property, airwaves, rights of way, flight paths, and, yes, property development rights and land sales in non-sensitive areas. No one has any idea what all of this is worth, but it’s certainly worth in the trillions of dollars and can be monetized for the benefit of the American people including paying down the national debt.

Gold dealers and gold bugs immediately focused on one particular U.S. asset that could be monetized – gold. The U.S. has 8,133 metric tonnes of gold bullion in three locations – Fort Knox, West Point and the Denver mint – that could be sold. That gold has a current market value of $771 billion. Of course, any effort to sell more than a small fraction of that would drive the price of gold straight down. It would be an immense blunder to sell any of it anyway. The Treasury should be buying gold to maintain confidence in the dollar, not selling it.

Another take on monetizing gold revolves around the fact that the Federal Reserve currently holds a gold certificate issued by the U.S. Treasury in 1934 in compensation for the transfer of gold bullion from the Fed to the Treasury on orders of Franklin Roosevelt (backed up by legislation). That certificate is valued on the Fed’s books at $42.22 per ounce. If the Treasury ordered the Fed to write-up the value to market, that would add $760 billion to the Treasury’s general account, which could be used to finance the U.S. government without adding new debt.

Trump definitely wants new revenue streams for the government. I wouldn’t count marking-up the price of gold as a revenue stream. It does produce cash with no addition to the national debt but it’s not really a revenue stream; it’s just an accounting entry. It does produce cash but only on a one-time basis. In principle, you could repeat the process if gold went higher in the future but that’s uncertain and not completely reliable like taxes, leases and tariffs.

Despite the gold bug claims, there is no particular connection between marking up the price of gold (accounting) and selling gold reserves for cash (monetizing). One has nothing to do with the other. The government could sell the gold today at the market price without having to wash the accounting through the Treasury general account at the Fed. There’s nothing about marking up the price of gold on the Fed’s books that affects the government’s ability to sell the gold one way or the other.

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Scary numbers.

• Bessent “Shocked” By Scale Of Fraud Already Uncovered By DOGE (ZH)

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did the mainstream media press tour this weekend, clarifying two critical bullshit talking points to the propagandists: first, DOGE is doing a good job; and second, the US economy faces some significant headwinds as a hangover from ‘Bidenomics’ spendfest. Speaking in a Feb. 28 interview on Bloomberg Podcasts, Bessent was asked whether DOGE’s cost-cutting measures would have a “material” impact on deficit reduction. “I think we can make a pretty big hit here,” he replied, explaining that if DOGE identifies $300 billion in savings – which he suggested is possible – it could reduce the annual deficit by approximately 1 percentage point as a share of GDP. Even if the savings total only $150 billion, he said, this is still “moving us back toward the target, and we’re determined to get this down.”

As The Epoch Times’ Tom Ozimek reports, Bessent emphasized that DOGE, which was tasked by President Donald Trump with rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending, has already uncovered substantial inefficiencies—and a surprising amount of outright fraud. When in comes to “waste, fraud, and abuse, I think most of us think in terms of waste and abuse,” Bessent said. “I’ve got to tell you that I’m slightly shocked at some of the fraud we’re finding, and you’re going to be hearing about more of that over the next couple of weeks.” As for the ultimate savings that DOGE will deliver, Bessent said: “We’ll see.”

DOGE, led by Elon Musk in a special government role, has an 18-month mandate to slash $2 trillion in federal spending before its scheduled dissolution on Independence Day 2026. Musk has acknowledged the ambitious nature of this goal, saying that even cutting half that amount would be a major step toward reducing inefficiency and lowering deficits. Over the past month, Musk and DOGE staffers have moved aggressively to pursue reforms across federal agencies, reporting $65 billion in savings through canceled grants, asset sales, workforce reductions, and terminated contracts and leases. Trump recently urged Musk to push even harder to root out waste and fraud. He also signed an executive order directing federal agencies to work with DOGE to eliminate costly or duplicative regulations, further accelerating its deficit-cutting mission.

“We either solve the deficit, or all we’ll be doing is paying debt,” Musk said in a recent interview with Fox News. “It’s not optional. America will go bankrupt if this is not done.” According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the federal deficit is projected to average $1.9 trillion per year between 2025 and 2034, or approximately 5.4 percent of GDP over that period. If DOGE’s projected $300 billion in savings materializes—a figure Bessent said was not out of the question—it would lower the deficit to $1.6 trillion and reduce the deficit-to-GDP ratio by nearly 1 percentage point, improving fiscal sustainability. The CBO has warned that persistently high debt could slow economic growth, increase interest payments to foreign creditors, heighten the risk of a fiscal crisis, and limit policymakers’ ability to respond to future downturns. It has stressed that lawmakers must pursue comprehensive fiscal reforms, including spending cuts, revenue increases, or a combination of both, to put the budget on a sustainable long-term path.

Meanwhile, DOGE’s aggressive efforts have drawn criticism from Democrats in Congress, who accuse the agency of overstepping its authority and operating without sufficient oversight or transparency. The agency also faces multiple lawsuits, some challenging its access to federal data and others questioning its constitutional legitimacy. Despite the legal and political battles, DOGE appears to have significant public support. A recent poll of Epoch Times readers found overwhelming backing for DOGE and the Trump administration’s push to curb waste, fraud, and abuse. At the same time, respondents called for greater visibility into DOGE’s findings, with some demanding greater accountability—including the prosecution of individuals found to have engaged in fraud. Bessent’s remarks suggest that such accountability may be on the horizon.

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“Trump will turn it around. We’re going to get inflation back down at 2% but it’s going to take a little while.”

• Economist Says DOGE Checks Are ‘Exactly The Right Incentive To Find Waste’ (JTN)

Since news broke last week that Elon Musk wants to send $5000 as a waste reduction dividend to every taxpaying household, outlets like CNN and Forbes are repeating DNC talking points that it could make matters worse. National Economic Council (NEC) Director Kevin Hassett defended the plan to CNBC, noting that if the government spends the money on a program or sends it back to the American people — who will spend it back into the economy or save it — the outcome is the same. But in the latter scenario the American people get some money back. “Imagine if we don’t spend government money and we give it back to people, if they spend it, you’re even but they’re probably going to save a lot of it in which case you’re reducing inflation” he told the press during a briefing at the White House last week. Notwithstanding fears about inflation being heightened by another stimulus-type check to Americans, the economy has a major renovation job ahead.

Many blame that stimulus spending for the inflationary surge during Biden’s term in office. Moore, who served as President Trump’s senior economic advisor told the “Furthermore with Amanda Head” podcast that for Trump to overhaul Biden’s economy, “he needs a big pooper scooper to clean up the mess that was left behind… everything that Trump is doing is deflationary; whereas, everything that Biden did raised the cost of businesses and led to runaway inflation.” It can be done, however. Moore gives a timeline of six to nine months for Trump to undo the damage and for the American people to start feeling relief. “Trump will turn it around. We’re going to get inflation back down at 2% but it’s going to take a little while.” A significant contributor to that economic recovery is reducing the cost of oil and gas. In 2024, 82% of energy consumption was sourced from traditional means like oil, gas and coal.

The Biden administration, through vehicles like the Green New Deal, allowed for regulations and standards that stymied or halted altogether domestic energy production. The “Green New Deal,” introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey in 2019, has not passed legislatively, but its core principles have been implemented throughout industry and used as a template for blue state policies like California’s push to eliminate gas-powered cars. Speaking to the seeming intentionality of Biden damaging energy production, Moore cited the first-day-of-office action by Biden to shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline, and asked, “why would anybody do that? Why would they try to destroy American infrastructure?” While legacy media outlets ran coverage for Biden and stuck to DNC talking points, Biden ultimately admitted in January of 2023 that the cancellation of the natural gas resource in fact cost thousands of jobs and revenue in the billions.

Other contributors to the rebounding economy are government spending and the tax bill Americans must pay to satisfy that spending. The budget resolution passed by Congress on Tuesday provides a framework for what needs to be done. Each of the House’s committees are now tasked with finding tax cuts and opportunities to reduce spending. The resolution passed 217 to 215 with all Democrats and one Republican voting against it. Digging into the alternative had it not passed, Moore indicates Americans dodged a bullet: “Republicans voted to stop the biggest tax increase in the history of this country” that would’ve hit taxpayers next January. When asked what a $4 trillion tax increase would have cost the average, middle-income household, Moore said, “The average family would pay somewhere between $2000 and $3000 a year more on taxes.”

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Looks like she gets a second chance. Use it wisely. And yes, get DOGE involved. You don’t have 6 months.

• AG Pam Bondi Received “Truckload” Of Hidden Epstein Documents From SDNY (ZH)

After last week’s botched Epstein files release, many are calling for Attorney General Pam Bondi to be fired over the lame binders given to right-wing influencers and journalists that contained old information. On Monday, Bondi appeared on Fox News, where she told host Sean Hannity that she received a truckload of files on Friday morning containing additional Epstein files which were hidden away in the Southern District of New York. “FBI handed over a couple hundred pages of documents, but you know Sean, I gave them a deadline of Friday at 8am to get us everything, and a source had told me where the documents were being kept – southern district of new york (shock), so we got – hopefully all of them, Friday at 8am. Thousands of documents,” said Bondi.

“I have the FBI going through them … Now that we have Kash here it’s a game changer of course, and Director Patel is going to get us a detailed report as to why the FBI withheld all of those documents.” Sean Hannity: “I want to be clear, because I think people are frustrated. You were expecting more, and you didn’t find out – less than 24 hours before the release, you got a whistleblower that confirmed that there were way more documents that they were supposed to turn over, and then you found out just before that.” Pam Bondi: “Well sure, you’re looking at these documents going ‘these aren’t all the Epstein files!’ – and we’re going ‘where’s the rest of the stuff?’ and that’s what the FBI had turned over to us. And so a source said, whoa – all this evidence is sitting in the Southern District of New York. So based on that I gave them the deadline – Friday at 8. A truckload of evidence arrived.

It’s now in the possession of the FBI. Kash is going to get me – and himself a detailed report as to why all these documents and evidence had been withheld. And, you know, we’re going to go through it – go through it as fast as we can, but go through it very cautiously to protect all the victims of Epstein, because there are a lot of victims.” “Now, is that the only thing that would be redacted,” Hannity replied, referring to the names of the victims. Pam Bondi: “Yeah, the FBI hasn’t had, obviously, they haven’t looked at the thousands of pages of documents that they just received Friday. Kash has a team going through them – and it’s always about protecting the victim … We believe in transparency, and America has the right to know.”

The Biden administration sat on these documents. No one did anything with them, and why are they sitting in the Southern District of New York? I want a full report on that. Sadly these people don’t believe in transparency, but I think more than that – I think they don’t believe in honesty,” she continued. “Everything is going to come out to the public.” Watch (via Collin Rugg):

Maybe they can ask Elon Musk and DOGE to scan and redact the documents by the end of the week, vs. stringing us along for what could now take months?

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“..this is a naturalized citizen who not only could be the next Elon Musk. He is Elon Musk.”

• Democrats Go Full McCarthy in Attacks on Musk (Turley)

This month, 75 years ago, Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-Wisc.) gave his infamous speech denouncing disloyal Americans working at the highest levels of our government. It was the defining moment for what became known as McCarthyism, which attacked citizens as dangerous and disloyal influences in government. Some of us have criticized the rising “rage rhetoric” for years, including that of President Trump and Democratic leaders, denouncing opponents as traitors and enemies of the state. In the 2024 election, the traditional red state-blue state firewalls again collapsed, as they had in 2016. The response among Democrats has been to unleash a type of new Red Scare, questioning the loyalty of those who are supporting or working with the Trump administration in carrying out his promised reforms.

Elon Musk is the designated disloyal American for many on the left. That rage has reached virtual hysteria on ABC’s “The View.” This is the same show before the election on which hosts warned that, if Trump were elected, journalists and homosexuals would be rounded up and “disappeared.” After the election, democracy seemed to stubbornly hang on, so the hosts had to resort to attacking as disloyal anyone joining the government or supporting Trump’s policies. This week, co-host Joy Behar followed many others in questioning Musk’s loyalty and attacking him over being a naturalized American citizen: “The guy was not born in this country, who was born under apartheid in South Africa. So, [he] has that mentality going on. He was pro-Apartheid, as I understand it.”

Behar was then forced, perhaps by panicked ABC lawyers, to walk back the comment — such retractions having become a regular feature on “The View“. What came out was the type of jumbled confusion that results when you interrupt a lunatic on the metro in mid-rave. Behar stated: “I’m getting some flack because I said that Musk was pro-apartheid. I don’t really know for sure if he was … He was around at that time, but maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t—he might have been a young guy, too. So, don’t be suing me, okay Elon?” This anti-immigrant attack on Musk, however, has worked its way into many Democrats’ talking points, even though their party had previously claimed to defend immigrants against racist Republicans seeking to close the Southern border and deport criminal illegal immigrants.

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) launched a xenophobic tirade that should have shocked the conscience of the nation. She warned citizens that Musk could not be trusted because he is an immigrant who has been a citizen for only a couple of decades: “Mr. Musk has just been here just 22 years and he’s a citizen of three countries. I always ask myself the question: With the damage he’s doing here when push comes to shove, which country is he loyal to? South Africa, Canada, or the United States? And he’s only been a citizen, I’ll say again, 22 years.” Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney was another joining in to attack Musk for being an immigrant. “You may be unfamiliar with that part of our history since you weren’t yet an American citizen,” she wrote on Musk’s social media platform, X.

These attacks are straight out of McCarthy’s playbook. It was McCarthy who insisted that “there are no degrees of loyalty in the United States — a man is either loyal or he’s disloyal…” Of course, McCarthy (and the earlier Red Scare) attacked government employees, writers and others on the left. It is now the left that is employing the same tactics, including censorship, blacklisting and public vilification. Throughout the 2024 campaign, the Democrats, including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, painted Republicans as either aspiring or actual fascists. That continued recently with Minnesota Gov. and former Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz (D), who referred to Republicans as “fascists and Nazis.” Even journalists and civil libertarians have been reviled using the same terms.

After a hearing on censorship two years ago, MSNBC contributor and former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) attacked journalists and members who had spoken in favor of free speech. She denounced the member witnesses (Sen. Chuck Grassley, Sen. Ron Johnson and former Rep. Gabbard) as “Putin apologists” and Putin-lovers. Stacey Plaskett, the Democratic delegate representing the Virgin Islands in the U.S. House, even suggested arresting respected journalist Matt Taibbi, who, along with Michael Shellenberger, testified on their investigation into a massive censorship system developed under the Biden administration. The attack on Musk is particularly disgraceful, given his contributions to his adopted country. Ironically, filmmaker Michael Moore denounced the deportations of criminal illegal immigrants last week by noting that Trump was deporting someone who might cure cancer or be the next Steve Jobs. Well, this is a naturalized citizen who not only could be the next Elon Musk. He is Elon Musk.

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Americans are so addicted to the idea of being No. 1 that they’ve completely forgotten it’s just an idea.

• Chinese Models Are Stunning Americans In The Tech Catwalk (Pepe Escobar)

When President Xi Jinping hosted a recent – rare – meeting with an array of Chinese tech superstars, including a “rehabilitated” Jack Ma, Alibaba’s founder, he urged them to “show their talent”, code for going for broke in the tech war with the U.S. It was no wonder that young Liang Wenfeng, founder of AI sensation DeepSeek, was among the guests. DeepSeek threw not only Silicon Valley but the whole somewhat paranoid U.S. national security ecosystem completely off balance. Yet Beijing’s emphasis is not subversion, but a sound drive towards building an AI system totally independent from U.S. monopolistic pressure and Nvidia products. Alibaba, Huawei and Tencent will likely align their infrastructure with DeepSeek. This process is perfectly synchronized with the Made in China 2025 project, which has already propelled China to the leadership position in several sectors – from electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels to smart grids and advanced manufacturing.

The final breakthroughs will be on top semiconductors and aerospace. It’s now common knowledge that DeepSeek’s development was not a product of Silicon Valley labs showered with billions of dollars of research funds. Liang Wenfeng himself revealed it: “I won’t lie, our AI was created on the basis of Soviet developments – the OGAS system of Academician Glushkov.” The wonders of History: a Soviet marvel auctioned off for a pittance, $15,000 in 1995 possibly because it was considered worthless, is now the backbone of China’s new digital revolution. Physics heavyweight Quantum Bird, formerly with the CERN in Geneva, is adamant: “The Americans lost the plot. It’s all about models employing less computing power and less data. Nvidia high-performance GPUs costing $40,000 consume too much energy.

Then there’s financial speculation. Raspberry Pi [a small single-board computer], the size of a credit card and with a simple processor, costing $50 for students, they may run DeepSeek, consuming less energy than a cellphone.” And that’s just the beginning, Quantum Bird adds: “When Russia and China come up with their first lithographic machine… It was Silicon Valley that pushed the world to this.” Russia-China scientists have already accelerated scientific computing on conventional Nvidia graphics cards by 800 times, creating a new algorithm using reverse engineering. That was pulled off by a joint group of scientists from MSU-PPI University in Shenzhen (MSU-BIT University), established in 2014 by Lomonosov Moscow State University and Beijing Polytechnic Institute. In parallel, researchers using Made in China GPUs have already boosted 10 times their performance over U.S. supercomputers relying on Nvidia hardware. U.S. tech sanctions? Who cares?

Chinese scientists are not intimidated by any challenges. On hardware, production of advanced GPUs like the A100 and H100 is a foreign monopoly. On software, Nvidia has restricted its CUDA software ecosystem from running on third-party hardware; that’s a serious problem for those working on independent algorithms. These may not be insurmountable problems when a rolling wave of Chinese scientists is coming back home to China mostly from the U.S.. Take Tsinghua University chip superstar Sun Nan. Tsinghua’s social media recently revealed that Sun Nan came back in 2020 after many years in the U.S. to “train chip professionals for China and solving the manufacturing problems of mid- and high-end chip technology”. The key sectors, once again, are semiconductors and quantum computing. Nothing Trump 2.0 will throw at China in terms of “tech containment” will alter the Chinese drive.

Sun Nan and his team have already come up with high-performance circuit design tech they integrated into more than 50 chips used in the Chinese power grid, high-speed rail, industrial measurement and control, instrumentation and electric vehicles. Countering the American drive to derail China’s development in AI and chipmaking equipment, interconnected Sun Tzu maneuvers paint the picture of a Chinese transformation of current supply chains, fomenting a tech crisis in the West itself. That is a key reason for Trump’s obsession with Greenland and Ukraine’s rare earth potential. Sanctionmania has been going on since 2017, when Trump started to impose a 60% tariff on Chinese imports. The Cadaver in the White House administration then slapped a 100% tax on Chinese EVs, and dozens of export controls on China, via coercion of its own “allies” such as Holland’s ASML and South Korea’s Hynix and Samsung.

Trump 2.0 will come up with a renewed charge of the heavy brigade quite soon. By 2018, China was entirely dependent on Western tech. That was a time when telecom towers came from Ericsson, GPUs and chips for neural networks from Nvidia, and cars from the European giants. Now it’s a completely different ball game: a blowback game. Huawei leads in global telecom equipment. BYD is the world’s top producer of electric vehicles – ahead of Tesla since last year. Huawei is ahead of Google in smartphone processor shipments, also since last year. Xiaomi will launch its own smartphone processor this year. Huawei’s Ascend 910B chip is already just 5% behind Nvidia’s AI products – and 70% cheaper. Huawei is vertically integrated with its own chip design and manufacturing supply chain – offering mobile operating systems (Harmony OS NEXT), electric vehicles, streaming services, and autonomous driving.

Apart from DeepSeek, ByteDance, Baidu, Alibaba, and 01.ai have all developed their own sophisticated LLM models. China not only already leads in industrial AI applications from robotics and drones to autonomous driving; it is also metastasizing its industrial, technological and economic breakthroughs into military power. Example: the recently launched world’s first 6th generation fighter prototypes – not only one but two, simultaneously; the world’s first drone-carrier; the first hypersonic stealth unmanned airplanes for strike and reconnaissance; the first stealth unmanned warship; and the most powerful long-range air defence systems. China is advancing at breakneck speed in directed energy weapons, military 5G, atomic timing, and space warfare systems.

[..] “China’s nuclear fusion device Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), Physics World wrote, ‘produced a steady-state high-confinement plasma for 1,066 seconds, breaking EAST’s previous 2023 record of 403 seconds’. This last development is an advance for the potential of a fusion power plant, a promise of almost limitless clean energy without significant radioactive waste.” China trades mostly with the Global South: more than 50% of total. Trade with the U.S. is less than 3% of its GDP – as of last year.

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Nosey

 

 

Water

 

 

Bobcat

 

 

Rhinos

 

 

2
https://twitter.com/i/status/1896481106687639791

 

 

Pack
https://twitter.com/i/status/1896536408346788183

 

 

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Debt Rattle March 3 2025

Mar 032025
 
 March 3, 2025  Posted by at 11:02 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  50 Responses »


Gustave Courbet The village maidens 1852

 

• Europe Unveils Rival Ukraine Peace Plan (ZH)
• UK, France, Ukraine Agree To Work On Cease-Fire Plan To Present To US (ZH)
• We Won’t Give Kiev Money Until Zelensky Seeks Peace – Lutnick (RT)
• US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz Suggests Zelensky May Need To Go (RT)
• Trump, Vance, and the New New World Order (Soukup)
• Musk Backs US Withdrawal From UN and NATO (RT)
• Without The US There Is No NATO And No Ukraine (ZH)
• NATO Chief Urges Zelensky To Make Peace With Trump (RT)
• Hollywood Celebrities Were Paid Millions To Back Ukraine – Orban (RT)
• Ukraine’s Future Now Rests With A New President, After White House Fiasco (Jay)
• US Approves New Russian Ambassador As Part of Major Reset Underway (ZH)
• Trump Impressed By Vance’s Handling Of Zelensky – WSJ (RT)
• Putin Ally In Secret Talks With Trump Admin To Restart Nord Stream 2 (ZH)
• Top DOJ Attorneys Involved In Biden-Era Prosecutions Demoted (JTN)
• Exposing Elite Degeneracy – Mr. and Mr. Macron (Karganovic)
• The Press Falls to Another Record Low in Public Trust (Turley)

 

 

 

 

Rubio

Schiff

Kolomoisky

Georgescu
https://twitter.com/i/status/1895891169407877562

Rogan Elon

Mearsheimer 2015

Sachs

 

 

 

 

For three years, Europe has done nothing to establish peace in Ukraine, quite the opposite. They want to keep the war going. But now that Trump acts, they do too. Or they at least want to give that impression. Still, they don’t want peace, they want the fight to continue. That’s why they inject their voice at this point in time, when Trump threatens to get results. They call it a peace plan, but it’s a war plan. Given a chance, they will simply add some point(s) they know Putin cannot accept. That’s all it takes to provide a forever war. The idea of boots on the ground might be enough.

Perhaps the only way out for Trump is to leave NATO.

• Europe Unveils Rival Ukraine Peace Plan (ZH)

Is the UK trying to pull Trump into starting WW3? During Sunday’s security summit of European leaders to find an alternate peace plan to Washington’s, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a “coalition of the willing” to step up efforts in support of Kiev. Starmer said he hopes this coalition will gain support and leadership from the Trump White House. “We are at a crossroads in history today,” Starmer said after the summit of 18 leaders – which included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Starmer unveiled a four point agreed-to ‘peace plan’ (..though not agreed to by the US):
• to keep military aid flowing into Ukraine, and to keep increasing the economic pressure on Russia
• that any lasting peace must ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty and security and Ukraine must be present at any peace talks
• in the event of a peace deal, to boost Ukraine’s defensive capabilities to deter any future invasion
• to develop a “coalition of the willing” to defend a deal in Ukraine and to guarantee peace afterwards

But one crucial line in his remarks detailing the plan caught many people’s attention – the expressed willingness to put Western/NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine: “The UK are prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air,” Starmer said. He also announced a £1.6bn missile deal for Ukraine, saying this “support for Ukraine is unwavering.” His rationale was that “We have to learn from the mistakes of the past, we cannot accept a weak deal… which Russia can breach with ease, instead any deal must be backed by strength.” He further in the wake of the disastrous Trump-Zelensky meeting said Europe will have to do the “heavy lifting” – and that’s when he said it would be backed by boots on the ground:

The PM said his coalition “will intensify planning now, with real urgency” and reiterated that the “UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air”. He said: “Together with others, Europe must do the heavy-lifting but to support peace in our continent and to succeed, this effort must have strong US backing. We’re working with the US on this point.” Speaking to journalists after the summit, the PM said he did “not accept that the US is an unreliable ally”, and that the discussions formed a plan that would see the US as allies. Of course, being this antagonistic to Russia – at the very moment the US is trying to forge ahead on peace – is in reality a scenario that eventually forces Trump’s hand to react. It also appears a deliberate effort by Europe to keep the US on a hawkish path, and to sabotage US-Russia talks in the process.

***
After essentially being kicked out of the White House on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went to London where British Prime Minister Keir Starmer immediately offered a warm embrace: ‘we stand with you’ – was the message after the major public clash with President Trump and Vice President Vance in the Oval Office. “You have full backing from the United Kingdom and we stand with you with Ukraine for as long as it may take,” Starmer, who was also just at the White House on Thursday, said in a presser with Zelensky on Saturday. “And I hope you’ve heard some of that cheering in the street, that is the people of the United Kingdom coming out to demonstrate how much they support you, how much they support Ukraine, and our absolute determination to stand with unwavering determination,” the UK leader added.

Zelensky is also meeting with the UK’s King Charles on Sunday. CNN and other are presenting this moment as a consolation of sorts after the “nightmare Trump meeting”. Currently, European leaders are meeting at Lancaster house, hosted by the UK’s Starmer, reportedly to work with Ukraine on a peace plan. The leaders in attendance include NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. Starmer said Sunday before the meeting that Kiev and Europe will work together toward a plan to “stop the fighting” with Russia before presenting it to the White House.

The British PM told BBC: “We have agreed that the UK, along with France and possibly one or two others, will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting. Then we will discuss that plan with the US.” The fact that these European leaders are now talking about urgently drawing up an official new peace plan is without doubt due to the pressure of the Trump presidency as well as the controversial mineral deal and Zelensky’s apparent rejection of it. While these leaders may still not actually be interested in peace, given many of them have urgently called for the West to keep transferring weapons to Ukraine’s military, they are at least making a show of it as an alternative approach to Washington. This older interview clip of Zelensky is making the rounds again after Friday’s fireworks at the White House…

https://twitter.com/i/status/1891830368459792863

Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has bluntly acknowledged that the Western allies appear weaker and more divided than ever at this point, per FT: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has warned that fractures in the traditional transatlantic alliance will “leave us all weaker”, while suggesting that the UK and Italy can together “play an important role in bridge-building”. “We are all committed to the goal that we all want to achieve — which is a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Meloni told Starmer at the start of a bilateral meeting before the summit. “It is very very important that we avoid the risk that the west divides.”

The Kremlin will meanwhile likely bypass engaging these European leaders altogether, in preference of continuing to deal with Trump on the cause of achieving ceasefire in Ukraine. Russian leadership also understands that Europe will ultimately fall in line based on whatever Washington finally achieves on the peace negotiations front, as has been the historic pattern, and given the US shoulders the bulk of defense funds and hardware for NATO. The US has continued to pursue bilateral talks with Moscow, yet without European or Ukrainian representatives in the room.

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Note: all these guys have terrible polling numbers domestically. Scholz, Macron, Starmer, Trudeau, Zelensky. The only one who does not is Trump.

• UK, France, Ukraine Agree To Work On Cease-Fire Plan To Present To US (ZH)

[..] perhaps in response to the latest toothless European summit, which Poland’s PM summarized best as follows…
*TUSK REITERATES POLAND WON’T SEND ITS TROOPS TO UKRAINE
*TUSK: SECURITY GUARANTEES FOR UKRAINE NOT DISCUSSED IN SUMMIT
… or in other words, once again nothing of significance was agreed upon, Donald Trump posted in his Truth Social account a quote from Gartner analyst Michael McCune, according to whom Zelensky now has “no choice but to back down and accept Trump’s terms” suggesting that Trump clearly is content with the outcome of the Friday debacle in the White House.

Earlier, from Jacob Burg of the Epoch Times:

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on March 2 that Europe must continue to provide funding for Ukraine to sustain its position during peace negotiations, while also committing to roughly $2 billion in export financing to supply Ukraine with 5,000 air defense missiles. Starmer hosted a security summit in London on Sunday with other European and world leaders as Britain, France, and Ukraine work on a cease-fire plan to present to the United States as an effort to end the Russia–Ukraine war. Starmer emphasized that despite the breakdown in talks at the White House on Feb. 28, the United States remains an important ally to Britain. “The U.S. has been a reliable ally to the U.K. for many, many decades and continues to be,” Starmer said. “There are no two countries as closely aligned as our two countries.” Starmer said he is working on a Ukraine peace plan intended to receive U.S. backing and warned that Europe must do the heavy work of defending itself.

Starmer’s March 2 summit of leaders stands in contrast to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting in the White House on Feb. 28, during which U.S. President Donald Trump scolded him for not being ready for peace and not being grateful for America’s support in his nation’s defense against Russia’s three-year-long invasion. Starmer said he’s working on restoring discussions of peace and is using the breakdown on Feb. 28 as an opportunity to reengage with Trump, Zelenskyy, and French President Emmanuel Macron rather than “ramp up the rhetoric.” “We’ve now agreed that the United Kingdom, along with France and possibly one or two others, will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting, and then we’ll discuss that plan with the United States,” Starmer told the BBC, adding that he and Macron have both spoken to Trump since the latter’s meeting with Zelenskyy.

At the Feb. 28 summit, European leaders will look toward shoring up the continents’ defenses in defending Ukraine, including discussions to create a European military force to send to the war-torn country to cap a cease-fire. Starmer suggested the military force would include a “coalition of the willing.” While he does not trust Russian President Vladimir Putin, Starmer said he trusts Trump. “Do I believe Donald Trump when he says he wants lasting peace? The answer to that is yes,” he said. Starmer added that “intense discussions” to obtain a security guarantee from the United States are one of the three components of lasting peace. “If there is to be a deal, if there is to be a stopping of the fighting, then that agreement has to be defended, because the worst of all outcomes is that there is a temporary pause, and then Putin comes again,” Starmer said. “That has happened in the past. I think it is a real risk, and that is why we must ensure that if there’s a deal, it is a lasting deal, not a temporary pause.”

The summit, which will be held at Lancaster House—a 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace—will also include leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Romania. Other attendees include the Turkish foreign minister, NATO secretary-general, and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council. Zelenskyy received support from European leaders after the contentious Feb. 28 meeting at the White House in which a rare earths deal was abandoned and Trump told Zelenskyy to come back when he was ready for peace. After the Ukrainian president arrived in Britain on March 1, Starmer embraced him. “As you heard from the cheers on the street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom,” Starmer said. “We stand with you, with Ukraine, for as long as it may take.”

Starmer also pledged to boost military spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027. Other European nations might follow suit. On Saturday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said European countries must increase military spending to at least 3 percent of GDP as the continent faces a historic test in defending itself. “If we don’t increase our effort fast enough and let the aggressor dictate its conditions, we won’t end up well,” he said. In calling for unity among his European neighbors, Macron embraced more defense spending after saying it was legitimate for the United States to shift its military focus to China and Asia. “We should have woken up earlier,” Macron said. “I’ve been saying for years that we need a more sovereign, more united, more independent Europe.”

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“Zelensky needed to hear it directly from the funding mouth of the United States of America: We’re not going to give you money unless you’re here for peace..”

• We Won’t Give Kiev Money Until Zelensky Seeks Peace – Lutnick (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky was given a clear message during his meeting with US President Donald Trump on Friday, that further financial support hinges on Ukraine’s willingness to negotiate peace, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said. His comments follow Zelensky’s heated confrontation with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. Zelensky visited the White House on Friday, intending to finalize a minerals agreement. However, the discussion deteriorated when he insisted that Trump back Kiev rather than act as a neutral mediator in talks with Moscow. In response, Trump and Vance accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War III” and showing reluctance to pursue peace with Russia, portraying him as ungrateful despite the billions in US military assistance.

In a Sunday Fox News interview, Lutnick stressed that US president made clear he “just wants to make peace.” However, he said that Zelensky did not come for that, and made “ridiculous” requests to Trump and Vance. “Zelensky needed to hear it directly from the funding mouth of the United States of America: We’re not going to give you money unless you’re here for peace,” Lutnick stressed. He added that Trump had tried to reason with Zelensky, stressing that the Ukrainian leader can’t say “[Russian Presiden Vladimir] Putin’s a terrorist and then call the guy up and try to make peace with him.” During the Friday meeting, Zelensky insisted on US security guarantees while fighting is still ongoing with Moscow. Trump dismissed these requests as “ridiculous.” The confrontation ultimately led to Trump cutting the meeting short.

Not only did the visit conclude abruptly without signing the minerals agreement, but it also raised concerns about the future of US military assistance to Ukraine. According to The Washington Post, the Trump administration is now reconsidering its financial and military commitments to Kiev. US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz also hinted at a possible shift in Washington’s stance, suggesting that Zelensky may need to step aside if he refuses to pursue a diplomatic solution. Speaking to CNN, Waltz stated, “it’s unclear whether President Zelensky, particularly after what we saw on Friday, is ready to transition Ukraine to an end to this war and negotiate a compromise.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that while Washington seeks peace for Ukraine, some European allies seem to prefer prolonging the conflict to further weaken Russia. As of January 2025, the US had provided $65.9 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since February 2022.

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“Waltz compared Zelensky to an “ex-girlfriend that wants to argue everything that you said nine years ago, rather than moving the relationship forward.”

• US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz Suggests Zelensky May Need To Go (RT)

Washington is unsure whether Vladimir Zelensky is the right man to lead Ukraine at this juncture, the US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has told CNN. The official argued that Friday’s tumultuous spat between the Ukrainian leader, President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance indicated that Zelensky may not be ready to talk peace. When asked by Dana Bash on Sunday to share his view of Zelensky, Waltz said that “it’s unclear whether President Zelensky, particularly after what we saw on Friday, is ready to transition Ukraine to an end to this war, and to negotiate and have to compromise.” He noted that it is President Trump’s conviction that both Kiev and Moscow would have to make concessions in order to stop the bloodshed. According to the national security advisor, during the US president’s meeting with Zelensky on Friday, “it did not appear to us that [he] was ready to go to peace.”

When pressed by a CNN presenter as to whether the White House wanted Zelensky to step down, Waltz clarified that “we need a leader that can deal with us, eventually deal with the Russians, and end this war.” The official added that “if it becomes apparent that President Zelensky’s either personal motivations or political motivations are divergent from ending the fighting in his country, then I think we have a real issue on our hands.” In an interview with Breitbart Radio on Saturday, Waltz compared Zelensky to an “ex-girlfriend that wants to argue everything that you said nine years ago, rather than moving the relationship forward.” Speaking with ABC news on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he had not “had any contact with [Zelesnky] since Friday.” The diplomat stressed that the Trump administration’s goal is to bring Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table, with the US head of state being the “only person on Earth who has any chance whatsoever” of accomplishing this.

“Don’t do anything to disrupt that, and that’s what Zelensky did unfortunately – he found every opportunity to try to Ukraine-splain on every issue,” Rubio stated, recounting Friday’s shouting match at the White House. Commenting on Zelensky’s demeanor at the White House on Friday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Fox News later that day that his altercation with Trump and Vance represented a “missed opportunity.” Addressing the Ukrainian people, the lawmaker added, “I don’t know if Zelensky can ever get you to where you want to go with the United States. Either he dramatically changes or you need to get somebody new.” The senator, who hailed Zelensky as the “ally I’ve been hoping for all my life” during the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, wrote in a post on X on Saturday that the Ukrainian leader’s “behavior was beyond unacceptable and [his] lectures are wearing thin.” Graham also lauded President Trump for standing up to him in defense of American interests.

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“Wilson’s goal, of course, was “global governance” under the League of Nations, a goal that the U.S. Senate, mercifully, denied him..”

• Trump, Vance, and the New New World Order (Soukup)

This past week, the venerable Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator for The Financial Times, used his column to declare the Trump administration and, by extension, the United States “the enemy of the West.” “Today,” Wolf wrote, “autocracies [are] increasingly confident,” and “the United States is moving to their side.” According to the subhead on the column, “Washington has decided to abandon…its postwar role in the world.” Meanwhile, Wolf cites the (in his estimation) august Franklin Roosevelt, as he complains that the United States “has decided instead to become just another great power, indifferent to anything but its short-term interests.” The ironies here—as well as the historical ignorance—abound.

To start, one would imagine that Wolf, an educated man with two degrees from Oxford, might know that it was his countryman (and two-time Prime Minister), Henry John Temple (i.e. Lord Palmerston), who declared in a speech in the House of Commons that “We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.” Wolf might also be expected to know that this statement was repeated—more famously and more pithily—by Henry Kissinger, perhaps the quintessential American diplomat in the supposedly vaunted postwar order. Kissinger, like Palmerston and Trump (apparently) understood that a nation that pursues anything other than its interests is foolish, faithless, and, in time, doomed.

What bothers Wolf, it would seem, is that American interests are diverging from British and continental European interests. That is unfortunate, but it is also more than likely the case that this divergence is the result of Britain and Europe’s abandonment of the principles, values, and ambitions the allies once shared, rather than the other way around. For example, Wolf criticizes the speech given by J.D. Vance in which the vice president defended the traditional American dedication to free speech and attacked the British and European rejection of that principle. Yet again, Wolf might be expected to know that the American preoccupation with this and all other negative rights is something the nation’s Founders inherited from their British forefathers. If the two nations now differ on the importance of this fundamental right, then that’s hardly Vance’s, Trump’s, or any other American’s fault.

More ironies are found in Wolf’s praise of the now-dying postwar order and his citation of FDR as the architect of that order. While Wolf is correct that Roosevelt was one of two Americans most responsible for the creation of the postwar order, he is wrong in believing that the order was virtuous by design and that it played out precisely as Roosevelt intended. Indeed, he couldn’t be more wrong if he tried.

Almost from the moment the United States entered World War II, Roosevelt was planning how best to achieve the goal he inherited from his former boss and Progressive predecessor, Woodrow Wilson. Wilson’s goal, of course, was “global governance” under the League of Nations, a goal that the U.S. Senate, mercifully, denied him. Regrettably, Roosevelt shared Wilson’s dream. The political scientist and historian of the Cold War, Amos Perlmutter, wrote that Roosevelt’s “vision for a postwar world was neo-Wilsonian, totally at odds with reality. He would help create a new international order, presided over in an equal partnership by the two emerging superpowers, the United States and the USSR, and buttressed by the newly created world organization, the United Nations.” Like Wilson, Roosevelt sought to fix the world by bringing the whole of it under the control of a handful of its most benevolent and brilliant men—himself included, naturally.

The catch, of course, was that in order to believe that he could effectuate his plan for the postwar global order, Roosevelt also had to believe that it would be received positively by the man who turned out to be the most proficient mass murderer in the war, Josef Stalin. Remarkably, Roosevelt did, in fact, believe just that. He repeatedly told his staff and others that he was convinced that the man he affectionately called “Uncle Joe” would eagerly welcome his friendship and American entreaties to share governance of the world jointly. They would, he believed, be the closest of allies and the best of friends. In 1943, before ever even meeting Stalin, FDR told his first ambassador to the USSR, William Bullit, that “I have just a hunch that Stalin doesn’t want anything but security for his country, and I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask nothing from him in return, noblesse oblige, he won’t try to annex anything and will work for a world democracy and peace.”

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First, set the DOGE guys on them?!

• Musk Backs US Withdrawal From UN and NATO (RT)

Billionaire Elon Musk has publicly endorsed the idea of the US withdrawing from both the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Responding to a social media post advocating such a move on Sunday, Musk, who leads the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), commented, “I agree.”US President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers have vowed to reconsider Washington’s participation in the UN, as well as in the US-led military bloc. In February, Senator Mike Lee of Utah introduced the Disengaging Entirely from the United Nations Debacle (DEFUND) Act, proposing a complete US withdrawal from the UN. Lee criticized the UN as a “platform for tyrants” that attacks America and its allies, arguing that despite significant funding, the organization has failed to prevent wars, genocides, human rights violations, and pandemics.

Echoing Lee’s sentiments, Musk wrote on X that “America provides way too much funding to the UN and associated entities.” During his 2016 campaign, Trump described the UN as weak and incompetent, stating it was “not a friend of democracy… freedom… the United States.” Last month, the Trump administration opposed a UN General Assembly resolution demanding Russia’s immediate withdrawal from Ukraine. Musk, now a key advisor to Trump, has taken the lead in looking for ways to cut costs and reduce the federal workforce. In February, DOGE released its first savings report, claiming an estimated $55 billion in savings through cost-cutting measures.That same month, Elise Stefanik, Trump’s nominee for US Ambassador to the UN, advocated the global adoption of Musk’s DOGE initiative.

She criticized the UN’s financial practices and called for a “Global DOGE” effort to reform international governance. Stefanik also pledged to push for defunding and dismantling UN-affiliated organizations accused of corruption and antisemitism. Musk has also voiced skepticism about NATO. In February, he labeled the alliance “anachronistic” and called for a full review, questioning its relevance in the post-Cold War era. He also questioned the rationale behind American taxpayers covering a significant portion of Europe’s defense costs, highlighting that the US pays for approximately 67% of NATO’s military expenses, despite spending only 3.5% of its GDP on defense. His position aligns with Trump, who has frequently criticized NATO, urging members to increase defense expenditure and threatening to withdraw, arguing the US bears an unfair financial burden for European security.

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“The western split over Ukraine is a profound event in history. Some will say it was the moment the US “abandoned their allies” and let Russia win. Those with sense will say that this was the moment the US stopped contributing to the problem..”

• Without The US There Is No NATO And No Ukraine (ZH)

Well before the fireworks at the White House between the Trump team and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky European governments were increasingly discussing the possibility of an “EU army” and a NATO without US involvement. UK officials along with those in Germany and France have been playing with the notion of boots on the ground in Ukraine, an action which would no doubt precipitate WWIII with Russia. Political leaders and media proponents have been flooding social media to show support for Zelensky as the new savior of the EU and many have suggested that Europe can easily fill the void that the US leaves behind. This is dangerous delusion. For example, the US represents around 70% of the entire annual combined defense spending of NATO countries. No other nation comes close.

In 2023-2024, this expenditure amounted to over $860 billion. The closest NATO member in terms of budget for the alliance is Germany with $68 billion. NATO funding is included in America’s total defense spending package. According to RAND Corporation’s Defense Spending Index, the US carries 47% of the burden share, vastly outweighing any other NATO member. While NATO’s official budget is $3.5 billion, this does not represent the burden share if NATO goes to war. Members with the largest armies and spending the most on defense will be expected to expend the most resources in a conflict. The media consistently misrepresents the NATO spending imbalance by comparing NATO fees as a percentage of GDP. This is nonsense. The sheer amount of defense spending is what matters, not the ratio to GDP. When examined in true terms there is no argument to be made – The US is essentially the military cash cow for the entire western world. Without the US there is no NATO.

When it comes to Ukraine the waters are more muddy but the conclusions are the same; the US is expected to bear the brunt of the burden. US aid to Ukraine so far ranges from $120 billion to $180 billion depending on the source. Zelensky claims that $100 billion of this money “never reached Ukraine”. There is no verification of this either way. For now let’s assume Zelensky is misinformed. A graph of total expenditures between the US and other western nations shows the EU with a large amount of aid, but take a closer look at military commitments and it’s clear that the EU has spent a minimal amount on Ukraine’s actual defense. The US is the primary provider of weapons, ordnance and other equipment used to actually fight the war. Without the US, Ukraine’s defenses will suffer an expedited collapse.

To be clear, Ukraine is not entitled to US tax dollars or US military aid. Europe insists that the war must continue even without US help, but their ability to fund and fight the war is limited. They would trigger WWIII in the process, and they would lose. The belief that more money or more armaments will prevent a Ukraine loss or land concessions to Russia is irrational. Ukraine’s biggest problem is manpower, not money, and no amount of money is going to triple Ukrainian forces on the eastern front. A peace deal should have been negotiated a long time ago. For now it appears that the European elites are frantically trying to rally public support around extending the conflict and forming a centralized EU military. This will take them years and it will never come close to the same funding levels that the US provided. Not to mention, younger native born Europeans have no interest in joining to fight. The western split over Ukraine is a profound event in history. Some will say it was the moment the US “abandoned their allies” and let Russia win. Those with sense will say that this was the moment the US stopped contributing to the problem and offered a solution while Europe foolishly refused to listen.

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Too late.

• NATO Chief Urges Zelensky To Make Peace With Trump (RT)

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has called on Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to mend ties with US President Donald Trump following a heated exchange at the White House. The meeting between Trump and Zelensky on Friday, which Rutte described as “unfortunate” in an interview with the BBC on Saturday, was originally set up to finalize a minerals agreement. It escalated into a tense exchange. The Ukrainian leader maintained that Washington should increase its support for Kiev rather than position itself as a neutral mediator with Moscow. Trump criticized Zelensky for what he perceived as a lack of gratitude for American assistance and an unwillingness to make concessions to resolve the conflict with Russia. The confrontation led to the day’s events being cut short, with the US president reportedly dismissing his guest from the White House.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the encounter as a “fiasco,” with Trump telling Zelensky to return when he was “ready to pursue peace.” “I said: I think you have to find a way, dear Vladimir, to restore your relationship with Donald Trump and the American administration. That is important going forward,” Rutte said, referring to a call he had with Zelensky on Friday. He reminded Zelensky of the support provided by the Trump administration, particularly the provision of Javelin anti-tank weapons in 2019, which were crucial in Ukraine’s defense when the conflict escalated in 2022. Without the Javelins, “Ukraine would have been nowhere,” Rutte stated. The NATO chief emphasized the importance of acknowledging the assistance from the US, which remains Kiev’s biggest donor. The US has provided $65.9 billion in military aid since 2022, according to a US Department of State posting on January 20, 2025.

“We really have to give Trump credit for what he did then, what America did since then and also what America is still doing,” Rutte said. The heated Trump-Zelensky exchange has drawn diverse international reactions. European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, reaffirmed their support for Ukraine. Conversely, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban endorsed Trump’s stance, praising his peace efforts. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the meeting a “complete political and diplomatic failure” by the Ukrainian side.

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New Oscars category? “..Jolie had received $20 million for her trip to Lviv in April 2022, and that Penn, Stiller and Bloom were written checks of $5 million, $4 million and $8 million, respectively, by USAID.”

• Hollywood Celebrities Were Paid Millions To Back Ukraine – Orban (RT)

The Hollywood celebrities who visited Ukraine to ‘support’ the country during its ongoing conflict with Russia didn’t do it out of sympathy, but because they were paid millions, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said. Stars’ trips to Kiev were paid for with money from USAID, Washington’s primary mechanism for funding political projects abroad, Orban said in an interview with Hungarian broadcaster TV2 on Saturday. “People were given money for their opinions. I am talking about big celebrities and movie stars. They were given money to go to Ukraine, so they did not do it from the heart or out of sympathy for the Ukrainians – which could have actually been the case – but because they were given money,” he said. The payments received by the stars amounted to “millions of euros or dollars,” the prime minister claimed, without providing any names.

Angelina Jolie, Sean Penn, Ben Stiller and Orlando Bloom were among the most prominent Western celebrities to have visited Ukraine since the escalation of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev three years ago. In early February, reports emerged on social media claiming that Jolie had received $20 million for her trip to Lviv in April 2022, and that Penn, Stiller and Bloom were written checks of $5 million, $4 million and $8 million, respectively, by USAID. Back then, Stiller rejected the accusations, calling them “lies coming from Russian media.” The actor insisted in a post on X that his visit to Kiev was “self-funded.” Penn’s lawyer also said that reports of his client being paid by USAID to meet with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky were “completely false, misleading and reckless.”

Several Western media outlets, including AFP and Reuters, said that their fact checking teams had found that the claims of stars getting USAID money originated from a fabricated video and that there were no available records of the agency paying the celebrities. Shortly after taking office, US President Donald Trump launched a clampdown on USAID, accusing it of widespread corruption and inefficiency. He imposed a 90-day funding freeze on the agency and transferred oversight of its programs to the direct control of the US State Department.

Orban said in his interview that the activities of USAID in recent decades could be “the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the Western world.” “I have never seen anything like this before – when billions of dollars are being transferred from the US budget to foundations and various forms of support, and then they are being distributed around the globe and given to those who represent the ideals, spirituality, programs and specific interests demanded by the Americans, and they receive money for that,” he stressed.

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“Ukraine needs a new cookie monster.”

• Ukraine’s Future Now Rests With A New President, After White House Fiasco (Jay)

Rarely do we see such a showdown in the White House between a leader of an allied country and the president of the U.S. For many, it was surreal to the point where they questioned its authenticity. But if we were ever looking for a crystalized example of what is wrong with Ukraine and how the West got into this quagmire, it was all there in a tense, live exchange where Trump and JD Vance wanted to essentially use the moment to put Zelensky in his place. But he resisted. He believed he was a player and had many moves ahead of him. “You don’t have enough cards,” Trump exploded. Zelensky responded by “this is not a game.” And yet it is a game and Zelensky just proved himself to be the main, if only obstacle to peace in the country. The arrogance and delusion was stunning but understandable given that a number of western leaders have been rallying even more support for him.

Does Zelensky and his support base actually believe they can just ignore Trump and Putin and continue with their game? When watching the sensational crossfire, all becomes clear. The dictator is pumped up on something which carries him and leads him to believe that he is there to negotiate when in reality he is just there to be Trump’s bitch and sign whatever is given to him. The delusion was amazing. And like so many dictators, you can see the lack of preparation; where are the advisors and media experts to prepare him? Doesn’t need ‘em. The result, which could have worked out for him if he was smarter, was a bloodbath, a slaughter which in many ways made everything now clearer and simpler for Trump. He can’t work with Zelensky and so therefore, he will have to go as he is really the obstacle to anything being achieved in Ukraine. Perhaps the Russians already knew this and were just biding their time for the Trump camp to work it out.

Of course, the resentment was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The way JD Vance spoke to him was like you talk to your 12-year old boy who has been expelled from school. Trump and JD saw Zelensky as a creation of Biden and Obama of course and gave him one last chance to cross a divide and say ‘no, actually I’m with you guys’. But he couldn’t. Europe is of course to blame for making him feel so unique and irreplaceable and no doubt this will just make Trump more determined than ever that a quick fix to Ukraine will simply come in pushing for early presidential elections. Critical now will be how Zelensky’s cabal will stay with him or be peeled off one by one by a sweeter deal offered by Trump. Most likely, Trump and JD are already looking for their own replacement although it may well be that no interfering will be necessary as many Ukrainians will be disappointed with Zelensky’s performance.

Politically within Ukraine, the White House stunt will cost him a lot which he might not understand fully if his European support base is telling him not to worry. We’ve got your back. What Zelensky did in 2022 with Boris Johnson – to reject a very favourable peace deal – was foolish and will go down in history as a mistake which cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who were fed into the meat grinder and sent to the front lines. But what he then did in the White House with Trump and JD was stupid beyond belief as not only did it enrage Trump – to the point where he actually asked Zelensky to leave the Oval Office – but it amalgamated support for him from EU leaders even more – the very gesture which will push Trump into an even more belligerent position.

sHe will put Zelensky and the EU in its place and now show the whole world how ineffective Europe is when it wants to play at being a superpower but doesn’t want to pick up the tab. Can Europe go it alone in Ukraine is not the question. The question is whether Trump will let it. This might have been one scenario which could have been bandied about and might have been given some oxygen, but now the EU position has to be tackled head on. Trump will be thinking ‘I have to teach the EU a lesson.’ ‘America is running the show and I call the shots,’ will be Trump’s thinking now. It is hardly a great act of prescience now to predict that Zelensky will now have, at the very least, lost all the U.S. support he had before; and at the very best a new political dynamic which will emerge in the coming weeks which will have a support infrastructure probably more than the puny 5 billion dollars that Victoria Nuland blew on the 2014 elections which installed Poroshenko. Ukraine needs a new cookie monster.

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I think the restoration of direct commercial flights will be a BIG step.

• US Approves New Russian Ambassador As Part of Major Reset Underway (ZH)

The two rounds of high level US-Russia talks in Riyadh and Istanbul in the last two weeks appear to already be bearing fruit, as Russia’s Foreign Ministry has announced it’s received approval from Washington to send Aleksandr Darchiev as Moscow’s new ambassador to the United States. Current bilateral US-Russia dialogue has been focused on fully restoring relations and putting back in place all embassy staff in Washington and Moscow, respectively. There had been several rounds of hostile mutual booting of diplomats as relations deteriorated under Biden. According to Russian media, “Darchiev, a senior diplomat with more than 30 years of experience, currently heads the Foreign Ministry’s North Atlantic Department. He previously served as Russia’s ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2021 and has held several high-ranking positions within the ministry, including deputy director of the North America Department and counselor at the Russian embassy in Washington.”

This is no doubt part of the “concrete initial steps” being taken by both sides toward resuming regular contacts and diplomatic engagement, with a higher aim of finding a permanent peace solution to the Ukraine war. Darchiev’s predecessor, Anatoly Antonov, served as Russia’s ambassador to the US throughout much of the Ukraine crisis and the entirety of the war until now. He ran the Russian embassy in D.C. for seven years, and just recently returned to Moscow. Just as Moscow is poised for a reset with the US under the new Trump administration, Washington relations with Ukraine are at a low point after Friday’s Zelensky fireworks in the Oval Office. Russian media has been busy hailing and welcoming these developments, which may soon result in the following:

US President Donald Trump’s administration is considering ending all ongoing shipments of military aid to Ukraine, The Washington Post wrote citing sources. Military supplies could be halted “in response to remarks” by Vladimir Zelensky at a meeting with Trump in the White House and “his perceived intransigence in the peace process,” according to the publication. The decision, if made, would apply “to billions of dollars of radars, vehicles, ammunition and missiles awaiting shipment to Ukraine through the presidential drawdown authority,” an official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic, was quoted as saying. Ukraine frontlines have already been steadily collapsing, so without a future flow of American heavy weapons, this collapse will only accelerate, and the war would likely reach finality within a few months or less.

President Putin has meanwhile been touting the chance for “major” cooperative economic and diplomatic initiatives with the US under Trump, and as bilateral talks progress. Russia has even offered its own minerals access deal as a possibility of closer cooperation, and as Trump floats potentially dropping sanctions in the future. The next step may be the restoration of direct commercial flights between the two countries.

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JD got himself some new fans, not just Trump.

• Trump Impressed By Vance’s Handling Of Zelensky – WSJ (RT)

US President Donald Trump was impressed with how Vice President J.D. Vance handled himself during a tense Oval Office exchange with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, unnamed administration officials told the Wall Street Journal. The politicians met on Friday in the White House Oval Office ahead of what was expected to be a celebratory signing of a minerals deal between Washington and Kiev. The WSJ dubbed Vance a “MAGA champion” after the confrontation in a piece published on Saturday. Vance sat mostly silent as Trump and Zelensky answered questions. But then a reporter asked the US president if he aligned with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Vance, a critic of US aid to Ukraine, interjected to praise Trump’s diplomatic efforts and criticize past policy under President Joe Biden.

The conversation escalated when Zelensky pushed back. During the intense discussion, Vance highlighted Ukraine’s challenges in conscripting additional troops and said that Zelensky should be “thanking” Trump for efforts to resolve the conflict. Vance criticized his recent public appearances highlighting war devastation, accusing him of hosting “propaganda tours,” and labeled the Ukrainian leader “disrespectful.” The confrontation led to the day’s events being cut short.Trump has reportedly told White House staff that his former vice president “would have never done that.” Former Indiana Governor Mike Pence was vice president during Trump’s first term. Their political alliance ended acrimoniously over the January 2021 riots at the US Capitol, after Pence refused to comply with Trump’s demands to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 US presidential election.

The White House later circulated statements of support from Republican lawmakers and administration officials. “I was very proud of J.D. Vance, standing up for our country,” US Senator Lindsey Graham said. While Senator Mike Lee called Vance the “GOAT,” an acronym for “greatest of all time.”The 40-year-old Vance is the third-youngest vice president in US history. His relationship with Trump has evolved significantly since the president’s first term. Once a vocal critic of Trump, Vance opposed his candidacy in 2016, calling him “cultural heroin” for conservatives and questioning his character. However, he later shifted his stance, securing Trump’s endorsement in his successful 2022 Senate bid, a move that cemented his place within Trump’s inner circle.

Last month, during his first foreign trip as vice president, Vance sent shockwaves with a speech criticizing European leaders at the Munich Security Conference, accusing them of censoring free speech and neglecting public concerns over migration.Vance’s relationship with Trump remains strong, though the president has so far demurred on naming him his successor. Trump told Fox News in February that he considers Vance “very capable” but noted that “there are a lot of very capable people.” However, tech billionaire and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk referred to Vance as “our future President” on Saturday.

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It’s easy to get confused, but “restart” is not the correct term here. Nord Stream 2 was never activated. Neither of its 2 arms.

• Putin Ally In Secret Talks With Trump Admin To Restart Nord Stream 2 (ZH)

A close friend of Vladimir Putin – and like the Russian president, also a spy – has been engineering a restart of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe with the backing of US investors, a once unthinkable move which according to the FT, shows the breadth of Donald Trump’s rapprochement with Moscow. According to the Nikkei-owned publication, the efforts on a deal were the brainchild of Matthias Warnig, an ex-Stasi officer in East Germany who until 2023 ran Nord Stream 2’s parent company for the Kremlin-controlled gas giant Gazprom. Warnig’s plan involved outreach to the Trump team through US businessmenas part of back-channel efforts to broker an end to the war in Ukraine while deepening economic ties between the US and Russia. If this was just some unilateral attempt to get the pipeline that was bombed by Western intelligence agents and assorited Ukrainian hangers-on back online, it would hardly be a surprise.

However, according to the report it appears that at least several “prominent” Trump administration figures are aware of the initiative to bring in US investors, and they see it as part of the push to rebuild relations with Moscow. While there have been several expressions of interest, one US-led consortium of investors has drawn up the outlines of a post-sanctions deal with Gazprom. Meanwhile, senior EU officials have become aware of the Nord Stream 2 discussion only in recent weeks, and leaders of several European countries are concerned and have discussed the matter, although it is unclear what the prevailing sense on the ground within the corridors of Brussels. It is far easier, for example, to guess what Germany thinks about a return of much cheaper and far more abundant Russian energy if virtue signaling and politics were not an issue.

One of Nord Stream 2’s two pipelines was blown up in what now appears to have been a US attack in September 2022 that destroyed both pipelines of its older sister project Nord Stream 1. The other Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which has an annual capacity of 27.5bn cubic metres of natural gas, is undamaged but has never been used. The latest plan would in theory give the US unparalleled sway over energy supplies to Europe, after EU countries moved to end their dependence on Russian gas in the aftermath of the invasion. That said, the obstacles are considerable: a deal would require the US to lift sanctions against Russia, Russia to agree to resume sales it cut off during the war, and Germany to allow the gas to flow to any potential buyers in Europe.

“The US would say, ‘Well, now Russia will be dependable because trustworthy Americans are in the middle of it’,’” said a former senior US official, who was aware of some of the dealmaking efforts. The US investors would collect “money for nothing”, he added. The talks come as the Trump administration races to seal a peace deal through bilateral discussions with Russia that have excluded Europe and Ukraine, spooking deep-state apparatchiks in European capitals who fear a US détente with Moscow could threaten the continent. Trump has promised deeper economic co-operation with Russia if a peace agreement can be reached. Putin has talked up the economic benefits he says the US could reap with the Kremlin in the event of a settlement in Ukraine, claiming that “several companies” were already in touch over potential deals.

Nord Stream 2 AG, the pipeline’s Swiss-based parent company, received an exceptional stay on bankruptcy proceedings in January by at least four months. According to a redacted court document, Nord Stream 2’s shareholder — Gazprom — argued that the new Trump administration, as well as the German election in February 2025, “presumably can have significant consequences on the circumstances of Nord Stream 2” to warrant a delay. The submission pointed to “complex geopolitical affairs” and the sanctions regime.

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“Martin, a Trump ally, previously worked to help Jan. 6 defendants and [DOGE] in their respective legal fights..”

• Top DOJ Attorneys Involved In Biden-Era Prosecutions Demoted (JTN)

Ed Martin, the interim U.S. Attorney in charge of the Justice Department’s Washington office, reportedly reassigned several senior leaders to entry-level positions. Among those demoted were Kathryn Rakoczy, Reuters reported, who secured convictions of several members of the Oath Keepers for their roles in the Jan. 6 riots on Capital Hill. Among those convicted was the founder of the group, Stewart Rhodes, who Trump pardoned along with 13 others previously convicted in the riot.

Elizabeth Aloi, who prosecuted former Trump White House advisor Peter Navarro for defying a congressional subpoena, was another prosecutor demoted in the Justice Department shakeup. Martin told Reuters that he needed to assign attorneys where he believed they could best contribute. The reassignments to misdemeanors, he noted, are not temporary. Martin, a Trump ally, previously worked to help Jan. 6 defendants and the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in their respective legal fights, including by helping to orchestrate the pardons of hundreds of people convicted for their actions on January 6.

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“Mr. and Mr.” I’ve been following Candace’s latest on X a bit, and it seems she may now be ready for prime time. But who will stand up against Macron/Rothschild with her?

• Exposing Elite Degeneracy – Mr. and Mr. Macron (Karganovic)

It goes almost without saying that the “elite” referenced here is located in the collective West. It would be exceedingly difficult to associate the leading segment of any other society or civilisation, as a class, with degeneracy. Our archetypal case study are the Macrons, the French power couple situated at the apex of their country’s political pyramid. Our French sources assure us that in France anomalies concerning the birth gender of the allegedly female member of that pair have been suspected for a long time. Those suspicions, however, have had to be voiced sub rosa, because of the establishment’s extreme hostility to any speculations on that subject. The few investigative journalists and investigators who had ventured to question those anomalies, many of which are obvious even to the naked eye, have been hounded by the media and persecuted by the French judicial system in a variety of vicious ways.

That plainly gives the lie to what remains of France’s historical reputation of being a haven of enlightened tolerance for diverse views. American journalist Candace Owens has assembled evidence that compellingly (and almost conclusively) demonstrates that the individual passed off to the public under the identity of Brigitte Macron, the official wife of the French President, is neither Brigitte nor a biological woman. Candace Owens’ professional trajectory parallels in many ways that of her colleague Tucker Carlson. Like Tucker, Candace laboured for many years in the ranks of establishment media until her conscience became so conflicted by the constraints on truthful reporting and honest commentary that for her remaining within the system was no longer an option. Like Tucker, Candace was able to parlay the respect and trust that she had built up over the years into an independent investigative journalism platform.

There, without censorship, she can discuss topics and articulate opinions that are off limits in the discourse of the pseudo liberal democratic world of mainline journalism that had expelled her, as it did Tucker, from the ranks of its licenced professionals. Intrigued by the rumours swirling around France’s “first lady,” Candace Owens made the bold decision to dig into the story and share the findings with her audience, which by now numbers in the millions. The result was Becoming Brigitte: Gaslighting the public, a series of investigative reports that for the first time brought to the attention of the Anglophone world the tangled web of lies and misrepresentations surrounding not just the true identity of Emmanuel Macron’s putative spouse, but also his own vertiginous (and it appears unmerited) rise to prominence and ultimately the Presidency of a major European country.

In essence, Candace’s disclosures are that “Mme. Macron” has been, so to speak, misgendered, but by deliberate design, having been born a male and subsequently undergoing surgical procedures to alter her sex. But by degraded contemporary criteria that revelation is standard fare compared to the really sleazy part of the story. It turns out that most of what we have been told about the inception of their relationship is provably false. Even the assertion in the official account that at seventeen Emmanuel was almost of legal age when he and his teacher, the allegedly thirty-six year-old Brigitte, “fell in love” is as false as “Mrs.” Macron’s official gender identity. Meticulous research has revealed that at the critical stage when he succumbed to the charms of his middle school literature teacher, Emmanuel was in fact a child of fourteen, whilst his seductress (or perhaps more precisely, seducer) was thirty-nine.

Not only does that significantly increase the age difference between the lovers, but more importantly it places the affair within the legal ambit of statutory rape, even by the notoriously permissive French standards. That, of course, is just the bare bones of the polemical contentions that Candace Owens corroborates with ample proof, leaving little room for reasonable doubt. No summary of the details can do justice to what Candace calls “a look back at the murky, hidden background of Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron,” so viewing the entire series of six episodes, culminating with the just posted incisive recapitulation, Epilogue, is highly recommended to all wishing to savour the particulars of this sordid tale of debauchery, deceit, paedophilia, and betrayal of the public trust.

Read more …

“Objectivity has got to go.”

• The Press Falls to Another Record Low in Public Trust (Turley)

We have previously discussed polling showing the media at record lows in public trust. Well, the latest survey from Gallup shows that the media hit another all-time low. What is most impressive is that plummeting readers, revenues, and layoffs have done little to convince the mainstream media that the problem is not the public but themselves. The only institution with a lower level of public trust is Congress, and that says a lot. It is like beating Ebola as the preferred communicable disease.Some 69 percent of Americans now say that they have no or little trust in the media. Only 31 percent say that they have a great deal or fair amount of trust. The trending line looks like the sales of buggy whips after the introduction of the Model T Ford. Gallop put it into sharp terms:

“About two-thirds of Americans in the 1970s trusted the “mass media — such as newspapers, TV and radio” either “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to “[report] the news fully, accurately and fairly.” By the next measurement in 1997, confidence had fallen to 53%, and it has gradually trended downward since 2003. Americans are now divided into rough thirds, with 31% trusting the media a great deal or a fair amount, 33% saying they do “not [trust it] very much,” and 36%, up from 6% in 1972, saying they have no trust at all in it.” In my book, The Indispensable Right, I discuss how journalists and journalism schools have destroyed their own profession by rejecting objectivity and engaging in open advocacy journalism. The mainstream media has long echoed the talking points of the left and the Democratic Party, particularly in its one-sided coverage of the last three elections.

While Bob Woodward and others have finally admitted that the Russian collusion coverage lacked objectivity and resulted in false reporting, media figures are pushing even harder against objectivity as a core value in journalism. We have been discussing the rise of advocacy journalism and the rejection of objectivity in journalism schools. Writers, editors, commentators, and academics have embraced rising calls for censorship and speech controls, including President-elect Joe Biden and his key advisers. This movement includes academics rejecting the very concept of objectivity in journalism in favor of open advocacy. Columbia Journalism Dean and New Yorker writer Steve Coll decried how the First Amendment right to freedom of speech was being “weaponized” to protect disinformation.

In an interview with The Stanford Daily, Stanford journalism professor Ted Glasser insisted that journalism needed to “free itself from this notion of objectivity to develop a sense of social justice.” He rejected the notion that journalism is based on objectivity and said that he views “journalists as activists because journalism at its best — and indeed history at its best — is all about morality.” Thus, “Journalists need to be overt and candid advocates for social justice, and it’s hard to do that under the constraints of objectivity.” The Washington Post’s former executive editor Leonard Downie Jr. and former CBS News President Andrew Heyward released the results of their interviews with over 75 media leaders and concluded that objectivity is now considered reactionary and even harmful. Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief at the San Francisco Chronicle said it plainly: “Objectivity has got to go.”

Lauren Wolfe, the fired freelance editor for the New York Times, has not only gone public to defend her pro-Biden tweet but published a piece titled “I’m a Biased Journalist and I’m Okay With That.” Former New York Times writer (and now Howard University Journalism Professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones is a leading voice for advocacy journalism. Indeed, Hannah-Jones has declared “all journalism is activism.” This is why the whole “Let’s Go Brandon” chant was as much a criticism of the media as President Biden. There is clearly an effort by owners like Jeff Bezos to change this culture rather than bankroll newspapers like the Washington Post vanity projects for the left.

Robert Lewis, a British media executive who joined the Post earlier this year, reportedly got into a “heated exchange” with a staffer. Lewis explained that, while reporters were protesting measures to expand readership, the very survival of the paper was now at stake: “We are going to turn this thing around, but let’s not sugarcoat it. It needs turning around,” Lewis said. “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 from staffers was to call for the new editors to be fired. One staffer complained, “We now have four White men running three newsrooms.” The Post has been buying out staff to avoid mass layoffs, but reporters are up in arms over the effort to turn the newspaper around.

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Malhotra

 

 

Rogan Bill Murray

 

 

Grizzly

 

 

Horsenado

 

 

First steps

 

 

Retriever

 

 

Gong

 

 

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Debt Rattle February 17 2025

Feb 172025
 
 February 17, 2025  Posted by at 10:00 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,  53 Responses »


Vincent van Gogh Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin 1887

 

• Trump Says Russia Isn’t A Threat To NATO (RT)
• Trump Wants Ukraine Ceasefire By Easter (RT)
• Europe & Zelensky Throw Tantrum After US Sidelines Them From Russia Talks (ZH)
• Zelensky Is In A Very Bad Position – Tara Reade (RT)
• Trump Envoy Sets Timeline For Ukraine Peace Plan (RT)
• Trump’s Envoy Signals Possible Ukraine Concessions (RT)
• Ukraine c – Kremlin (RT)
• Russian Duma Speaker Predicts ‘Serious Changes’ For EU, Its Institutions (TASS)
• AfD Candidate For German Chancellor Seeks End To Russia Sanctions (TASS)
• Vance Meets Leader Of ‘Firewalled’ German AfD Party Backed By Musk (RT)
• Germany Is Self-Imploding (Victor Davis Hanson)
• From Rockefeller to Musk: How CEOs and Presidents Shape America (Bluey)
• House GOP Drafting Impeachment Articles Against Judges Blocking DOGE (ZH)
• Judge Declines to Halt Trump’s Firing of Inspectors General (ET)
• Trump Makes First Supreme Court Appeal In Test of Power To Fire Officials (BBC)
• Democrats and Unions Launch an Existential Fight Over Buyouts (Turley)
• Rand Paul Supports Fort Knox Physical Audit (ZH)

 

 

 

 

RFK NATO

Kudlow

Speaker

DOGE

Mearsheimer

1993-2025

 

 

 

 

The big word is out.

• Trump Says Russia Isn’t A Threat To NATO (RT)

US President Donald Trump has dismissed Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a temporary pause in the conflict with Kiev to regroup and launch a full-scale war against NATO. Moscow has repeatedly ruled out any short-term truce, insisting on a permanent, legally binding agreement that addresses the root causes of the Ukraine conflict. However, Zelensky has insisted that he knows “for sure” that Putin wants a brief pause to “prepare, train, take off some sanctions” before launching an attack not only on Ukraine but also on NATO states. “It can happen in summer, maybe in the beginning, maybe in the end of summer. I don’t know when he prepares it, but it will happen,” Zelensky said in an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press on Saturday.

Trump, however, has brushed aside Zelensky’s warning, telling reporters on Sunday that he does not agree with the Ukrainian leader’s assessment at all. “No, I don’t agree. Not even a little bit,” Trump said, adding that he believes what Putin truly wants for his country is to “stop fighting.” “They’ve been fighting for a long time. They’ve done it before… They have a big, powerful machine. They defeated Hitler and they defeated Napoleon,” Trump added. “But I think he would like to stop fighting.” Trump also said he expects to meet Putin in person “very soon,” following their “long and hard” phone conversation last week, which was their first known direct interaction since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. He also called Zelensky to “inform” him of the discussion, during which the Ukrainian leader allegedly reaffirmed that Kiev is also prepared to seek a resolution to the conflict.

Russia will need to take Ukraine’s lack of independence into account in any future negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday, recalling the failed 2014-2015 Minsk agreements. Trump’s special envoy, Keith Kellogg, also pointed to the collapse of the two prior arrangements, stating, “We are not gonna go down that path.” NATO has long described Russia as a direct threat in order to justify the bloc’s existence after the fall of the Soviet Union, and Western officials have repeatedly claimed that if Moscow wins the Ukraine conflict, it could attack other European countries.

Putin has dismissed the idea of a Russian attack on NATO as “nonsense,” telling US journalist Tucker Carlson last February that the bloc’s leaders are trying to scare their people with an imaginary threat, but that “smart people understand perfectly well that this is a fake.” Moscow has consistently opposed Ukraine’s NATO aspirations, citing the bloc’s eastward expansion as a threat to national security and describing it as a key factor behind the ongoing conflict with Kiev. Zelensky claimed at the Munich Security Conference that “right now the most influential member of NATO seems to be Putin because he seems able to block NATO decisions.” Trump has indicated that Washington will not support Kiev’s accession as part of a potential peace deal with Moscow, while his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, described Ukraine’s NATO ambitions as “unrealistic.”

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False flag time?

• Trump Wants Ukraine Ceasefire By Easter (RT)

The administration of US President Donald Trump is pushing for a ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict by April 20, Bloomberg wrote on Sunday, citing anonymous sources. A US peace plan could be forthcoming within weeks or even days, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy on Russia and Ukraine, said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. ”The Trump administration has told European officials that it wants to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine by Easter,” Bloomberg said, citing sources briefed on the talks. According to the outlet, some European officials felt the pace of the negotiations was ambitious and possibly unrealistic. Talks are reportedly set to kick off with a meeting of Russian and US representatives in Saudi Arabia in the coming days.

Europe will not be given a place in the negotiations, Kellogg told top European diplomats on Saturday. Despite this, UK and EU officials fear the US expects them to shoulder the burden of Ukraine’s post-war security, Financial Times wrote on Thursday. The envoy justified the exclusion of Europe, citing the legacy of the Minsk-2 agreement between Ukraine and now Russian Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in 2015. Germany and France stood as guarantors to the failed accord, which then German chancellor Angela Merkel later admitted was just meant to buy Kiev time to strengthen itself. “When you looked at Minsk-2, there was a lot of people at the table that really had no ability to execute some type of peace process, and it failed miserably. So we are not gonna go down that path,” Kellogg said.

Moscow has similarly underscored that it will not accept a temporary freeze of hostilities, like the Minsk accords, and insists on a permanent solution that addresses the fundamental causes of the conflict. Just days prior, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump held a phone conversation in the first such interaction since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The two leaders could meet in Saudi Arabia by the end of this month, Newsweek wrote on Sunday, citing reports. Putin has previously stressed that Moscow has never shied away from peace talks, but emphasized that they have to be based on terms previously agreed in Istanbul in 2022, modified for the territorial “realities on the ground.” Russia has demanded that Ukraine embrace neutrality, demilitarize, denazify and remain free of nuclear weapons, among other points.

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I’m [from] a school of realism,” Kellogg said, regarding Europe having a seat at the table during negotiations. “I think that’s not going to happen.”

• Europe & Zelensky Throw Tantrum After US Sidelines Them From Russia Talks (ZH)

Europe will not be included in peace talks for Ukraine, President Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy said on Feb. 15 after sending a questionnaire to European capitals asking what they could offer in security guarantees for Kyiv. As The Epoch Times’ Jacob Burg reports, on Sunday, France said it will host a summit of European leaders on Monday to discuss the Russia–Ukraine war and European security after retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, didn’t include Europe in negotiations over Ukraine’s future following years of war with Russia. France President Emmanuel Macron “will convene the main European countries to discuss European security,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio. Barrot described the meeting as a working session and emphasized it should not be “overdramatized.” The office of the French presidency has not yet announced the meeting.

Macron has invited at least Britain, Germany, Poland, Italy, and Denmark, representing the Baltic and Scandinavian countries, the European Union leadership, and the NATO secretary general, according to six European diplomats. They said the purpose of the meeting is to discuss what immediate help can be given to Ukraine and the role Europe can play in providing both security guarantees to Kyiv and Europe at large. Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin last week before consulting European or Ukrainian leaders, saying peace talks had begun. The Trump administration is pushing European allies in NATO to take a primary role in security guarantees for the region as the United States prioritizes border security and counters Chinese political and military influence.

At a global security conference in Munich, Kellogg said the United States would act as an intermediary in talks between Ukraine and Russia. “I’m [from] a school of realism,” Kellogg said, regarding Europe having a seat at the table during negotiations. “I think that’s not going to happen.” In trying to reassure Europeans, Kellogg said it doesn’t mean “their interests are not considered, used, or developed.” Some European leaders pushed back on being sidelined for talks. “There’s no way in which we can have discussions or negotiations about Ukraine, Ukraine’s future or European security structure, without Europeans,” Finland’s President Alexander Stubb told reporters in Munich. “But this means that Europe needs to get its act together. Europe needs to talk less and do more.”

The questionnaire Kellogg sent to Europeans “will force Europeans to think,” Stubb said. Kaja Kallas, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, was more explicit stating that “if somebody agrees something and I mean, everybody else says ‘okay fine!’ you have agreed, but we will not follow this!” She added that EU’s position is “our importance” trumps any peace! NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte urged Europeans to get involved.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1891086302222618790

“And to my European friends, I would say, get into the debate, not by complaining that you might, yes or no, be at the table, but by coming up with concrete proposals, ideas, ramp up [defense] spending,” he said. Kellogg said that territorial concessions from Russia and targeting its oil revenues could be included in the talks over ending the war between it and Ukraine. “Russia is really a petro-state,” he said, adding that the West needs to do more in adequately enforcing sanctions against Russia. U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days for continued peace talks, according to Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas). After meeting with Vice President JD Vance in Germany on Feb. 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his nation was not invited to the talks in Saudi Arabia and that Kyiv would consult with strategic partners before engaging with Russia.

“This is the war in Ukraine against us, and it is our human losses,” President Zelensky told Meet The Press this morning. “We are thankful for all the support, unity in the USA around Ukraine support, bipartisan unity, bipartisan support,” adding that “we are thankful for all of this, but there is no leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us, about us.” “I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine. Never,” he exclaimed. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and White House Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Saudi Arabia, McCaul said. The talks are meant to arrange a meeting between Trump, Putin, and Zelensky to “finally bring peace and end this conflict,” he said.

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“Zelensky is probably trying to figure out an exit route, among other things..” [..] “I think he wouldn’t be elected, obviously.”

• Zelensky Is In A Very Bad Position – Tara Reade (RT)

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky is far from being in a winning position at the moment, RT contributor Tara Reade has said. The former aide to Joe Biden specified that Washington is no longer fighting a proxy war against Russia via Kiev, making the Ukrainian leader useless to both the EU and the US. The comment comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with his US counterpart Donald Trump on Wednesday, the first known contact between the heads of state of the two nations since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. “Zelensky is probably trying to figure out an exit route, among other things,” Reade said, adding that running for president again was not an option for the former comedian. “I think he wouldn’t be elected, obviously.”

The Ukrainian leader’s presidential term expired in May 2024, but he has refused to hold elections, citing martial law. Trump has also acknowledged that Kiev will eventually have to hold elections and noted that Zelensky might not serve another term, saying his domestic poll numbers “aren’t particularly great, to put it mildly.” “He’s basically sacrificed a generation of men for what? To give rare earth minerals to the US? To give 22% of the lands to Russia?” Reade said, emphasizing that Zelensky was “in a very bad position.” The comment refers to recent statements made by Trump, who demanded the “equivalent of $500 billion worth of rare earths” from Kiev in exchange for what the president estimated to be “more than $300 billion” Washington had provided in aid since the escalation of the conflict with Moscow.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent presented Trump’s proposal to Zelensky during their meeting in Kiev earlier this week. According to multiple media reports, the deal outlines that Washington would receive a 50% stake in Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as compensation for the American aid. On Saturday, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the negotiations, that Ukraine had rejected the bid, citing the lack of security guarantees. According to Ukraine’s Institute of Geology, the country’s deposits include lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, erbium and yttrium. However, Zelensky recently admitted that a large chunk of Ukraine’s mineral-rich territories, some 20%, is currently under Russian control.

NBC reported on Saturday, citing unnamed officials, that the White House could send troops to guard Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. The deployment of military forces could reportedly come after Russia and Ukraine reached a deal to end the ongoing conflict. Reade said the reported troop deployment is unlikely. “There’s a will for there to be a different relationship with Russia.” She highlighted that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said definitively “that there would be no US troops in Ukraine” and “US involvement in providing money and weapons was going to end.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1890845003464794254

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“..I’m not talking six months, I’m talking days and weeks..”

• Trump Envoy Sets Timeline For Ukraine Peace Plan (RT)

A US peace plan for Moscow and Kiev could come within days or weeks, President Donald Trump’s special envoy on Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. In January, the WSJ reported that Trump had tasked Kellogg with outlining a settlement to the Ukraine conflict within 100 days. At the same time, the US president warned of new sanctions if Moscow refused an unspecified plan, but emphasized that he was “not looking to hurt Russia.” “You got to give us a bit of breathing space and time, but when I say that, I’m not talking six months, I’m talking days and weeks,” Kellogg projected as cited by CNBC, adding that he was “on Trump time.” “He’ll ask you to do this job today and he’ll want to know tomorrow why it isn’t solved,” Kellogg emphasized.

Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with his US counterpart, marking their first known high-level direct contact between Moscow and Washington since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. According to the Kremlin, the US leader expressed support for the swift cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution, while Putin mentioned the necessity of addressing the root causes of the conflict, but that a long-term settlement could be achieved through negotiations. Following the conversation, Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social that Washington and Moscow were immediately beginning discussions to resolve the conflict. Trump also said that American and Russian officials might meet during the conference in Munich, adding that Ukraine was also invited to participate. However, no such meeting was reported by the conference organizers or news outlets.

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Russia’s been very clear.

• Trump’s Envoy Signals Possible Ukraine Concessions (RT)

Territorial concessions may be part of future peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy on Russia and Ukraine has suggested. Speaking on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, Keith Kellogg emphasized that while some things are off the table, compromise could play a role in the negotiations.“Some of [the concessions] are unrealistic to expect where you’d want to go to, but it’s territorial. It could be the engagement of refusing to use force, renouncement of the use of force into the future,” Kellogg said. He added that both Russia and Ukraine might have to make concessions during talks. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously indicated that Moscow would be open to an immediate ceasefire and peace talks if Ukraine withdrew its troops from the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions, which formally joined Russia following referendums in 2022.

However, in August 2024, Putin dismissed negotiations, citing the Ukrainian military presence in Russia’s Kursk Region. Kellogg also mentioned the necessity of “breaking alliances” between Russia and North Korea, Iran, and China, which he claims have strengthened over the past four years. Earlier this week, Putin spoke by phone with Trump, marking the first known high-level direct contact between Moscow and Washington since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.

According to the Kremlin, Trump expressed support for the swift cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution, while Putin mentioned a need to address the root causes of the conflict, agreeing that a long-term settlement could be achieved through negotiations. Following the conversation, the US President wrote on his platform Truth Social that Washington and Moscow were immediately beginning discussions to end the fighting. Russia has yet to confirm any details, but according to multiple media reports, a US delegation – likely composed of national security officials – will travel to Saudi Arabia in the coming days for talks with their counterparts from Moscow. Trump also said that American and Russian officials might meet during the conference in Munich, adding that Ukraine was also invited to participate. However, no such meeting was reported by the conference organizers or news outlets.

Kellogg

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“That country cannot really answer for its words..”

• Ukraine Lacks Sovereignty – Kremlin (RT)

Russia will need to take Ukraine’s lack of independence into account in any future negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Given that in the past, Kiev backtracked on its promises at the behest of other countries, Moscow will need to consider this lack of autonomy in any upcoming talks, Peskov said in an interview published by Russia 1 TV journalist Pavel Zarubin on Sunday. “That country cannot really answer for its words,” the spokesman said. “Each time it is necessary to make a certain adjustment when negotiating with them, for their deficit of sovereignty and the deficit of trust in them. Which will not go anywhere,” Peskov added.

The Kremlin spokesman cited the ill-fated 2014-2015 Minsk Agreements and the failed negotiations Moscow and Kiev held in Istanbul in 2022, soon after the full-blown escalation of the Ukraine conflict. The Minsk ceasefire, which was ostensibly intended to freeze the conflict between Kiev and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, was in fact only “an attempt to give Ukraine time” to build strength, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted to Die Zeit in 2022. “Ukraine would have been whole,” if the Minsk agreements had been followed, “and there would have been no civil war, and Russian people in the Donbass would have had no desire to separate from Ukraine,” Peskov claimed. Similarly, Moscow and Kiev had already agreed on several points during the initial peace talks in Istanbul in 2022, the spokesman added.

“The [papers] were ready, they were ready to be signed. Then another side said, no, you can’t. And they were thrown out,” he said. According to Ukrainian MP David Arakhamia, who was Kiev’s chief negotiator at the talks, then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson came in person to demand that nothing be signed and that Ukraine continue fighting. Moscow has ruled out any temporary solution akin to the Minsk agreements, insisting on a permanent, legally binding solution that addresses the core causes of the conflict. Any such settlement would need to be based on the points previously agreed upon in Istanbul, adjusted for the territorial “realities on the ground,” Russia has stated.

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“Democratic procedures in many EU countries have become window dressing. They have long been forgotten..”

• Russian Duma Speaker Predicts ‘Serious Changes’ For EU, Its Institutions (TASS)

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the Munich Security Conference suggested that the EU and its international institutions are in for serious changes. “Analyzing what happened in Munich, we can say with certainty: There are serious changes in store for the EU and its international institutions, including parliamentary ones,” he wrote on Telegram. “They will be difficult and painful.” According to Volodin, US Vice President JD Vance gave an accurate assessment of the situation in European countries at the conference. “He was not supported. Conference participants were not ready to hear the truth about themselves,” the lawmaker said.

The Duma speaker also said the institution of democracy in the EU was in a poor state. “Democratic procedures in many EU countries have become window dressing. They have long been forgotten and ignored in pan-European structures,” he said. “Therefore, the healthy forces that want to meet the public demand for the renewal of power will wage an uphill battle. They will face all kinds of hurdles meant to prevent them from going through the election procedure. Just like it happened in Romania during the presidential campaign. Or in France and Germany, when undesirable political parties won. But change is inevitable,” Volodin said.

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“..the delivery of German tanks to Ukraine, which are now “being used against Russia for the first time since the Second World War,” shows that the German government has completely forgotten history.”

• AfD Candidate For German Chancellor Seeks End To Russia Sanctions (TASS)

Alice Weidel, a candidate for German chancellor from the Alternative for Germany, accused the government of stoking tensions with Russia over the recent three years with such moves as supplying arms to Ukraine, according to Bild. “What has the German government been doing with regard to Russia for the last three years? We have been intensifying the escalation spiral. We have opposed Russia verbally, financially and even with arms deliveries,” she said in an interview with the newspaper. According to the politician, the delivery of German tanks to Ukraine, which are now “being used against Russia for the first time since the Second World War,” shows that the German government has completely forgotten history.

Weidel also called for talks on the settlement of the Ukraine conflict to start swiftly and urged an end to the sanctions policy, which is crippling German economy. Germany is the second-largest arms supplier to Ukraine after the US. According to German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, Germany has provided 44 billion euros in various assistance to Ukraine since the start of the conflict. In the 2025 budget proposal, the country allocated 4 billion euros for the support, half the amount it spent this year. However, the Bundestag has yet to greenlight the budget proposal.

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For Scholz et el, that’s like meeting with the devil..

• Vance Meets Leader Of ‘Firewalled’ German AfD Party Backed By Musk (RT)

US Vice President J.D. Vance met with Alice Weidel, the leader of Germany’s ‘firewalled’ Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, on Friday. Vance was in the country to attend the annual Munich Security Conference. Their meeting reportedly lasted about half an hour and focused on the Ukraine conflict, German domestic policies, and freedom of speech, including the so-called ‘Brandmauer’, or “firewall against the right.” The term refers to a stance embraced by mainstream German parties that aims to prevent the right-wing powers from joining ruling coalitions in the country. News of the meeting came after Vance slammed European politicians for “fearing” their own voters by refusing to engage with right-wing parties in a speech on Friday. While he did not mention the AfD directly, he said European governments should drop “firewalls” and “embrace” public opinion or lose the right to be called democratic.

Vance referred to the recent endorsement of Weidel for German chancellor by Elon Musk, a close ally to US President Donald Trump, whose online presence at an AfD rally in Halle last month resulted in accusations of election interference from the German government. The vice president dismissed the allegations, painting Musk’s endorsement as an example of free speech, a core democratic value. He chided the European establishment for criticizing Musk, and said he feared free speech was “in retreat” across the continent.

The AfD denies being far-right, insisting that it promotes the interests of the German people with its anti-immigration stance. It has, however, been put under surveillance for suspected extremism by German intelligence. Despite the allegations, public support for the party has been growing, and it is currently polling in second place ahead of the German parliamentary election on February 23, with 21% of the public saying they support it. Weidel did not comment on her meeting with Vance, but praised his remarks in Munich in a post on X, saying they were “excellent” and applauding his comment regarding firewalls.

According to Reuters, citing Vance’s office, he met with leaders of all of Germany’s major political parties while in Munich, including Friedrich Merz, the head of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which is currently leading in the polls. After meeting with Vance, Merz said in a post on X that he and the vice president “reaffirmed the special importance of transatlantic relations.” However, he later described Vance’s speech in Munich as “little short of interference.” Other German politicians have also criticized Vance for his remarks targeting their policies, with incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz posting on X that “the extreme right should be out of political decision-making processes” in Germany and stating that Vance had no right to give the country advice on the issue.

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“..we’re here 80 years after the rejection of the Morgenthau Plan and the German people, or the German leadership, have essentially updated it and inflicted it on themselves willingly..”

• Germany Is Self-Imploding (Victor Davis Hanson)

Hi, I’m Victor Davis Hanson, today I’d like to talk about the crisis facing Europe, specifically its self-implosion across the spectrum—energy, population, fertility, defense. Germany, for example, has been systematically shutting down its nuclear plants and, for a while, its natural gas electrical generation plants. It’s relying, believe it or not, more on oil and coal. But the net result of all of this deliberate turn to wind and solar, at the expense of fossil fuels and nuclear, is that it costs about four times more to use electricity in Germany than it does on average throughout the United States. That’s not the only problem. Germany is deindustrializing. And by that I mean it’s losing about 200,000 jobs in its auto industry due to these high energy prices and regulations. Its green mandates, especially electric vehicle mandates, have revolutionized the car industry, in the sense that they’re not selling abroad as they did in the past.

In addition to that, Germany’s disarmed. They only have about 125 attack aircraft. They have very few armored vehicles. Their active military is only about 180,000 soldiers. They have 84 million people in the country. The fertility rate is getting very close to 1.4. I know we have problems here in the United States at 1.6, but 1.4. And they don’t have borders. They have had a million to 2 million illegal aliens just prance into Germany, especially during the last years of the Merkel chancellorship. In terms of percentage of foreign-born, Germany has more foreign-born than does the United States, which doesn’t have a border in the south, at least until Donald Trump comes in. Twenty percent of the German population is foreign-born. Why am I mentioning all of this?

Because Germany represents the powerhouse, traditionally, of the European economy, and even culture, and it’s starting to implode. The euro, the benchmark of European financial health, is about, right now as I speak at the end of December, one dollar to one euro, and sometimes even less for the euro. That’s very strange because when I used to run a travel company to go to Europe—I remember in 2008, the euro was 1.6, almost 1.7 per the dollar. So what’s happening is that Germany is, I guess we would call it, undertaking a slow-motion suicide. But here’s the irony. In September 1944, at the height of World War II, the secretary of the treasury under the Roosevelt administration, Henry Morgenthau, had a plan for postwar Germany when it was defeated.

He didn’t want another war—the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, World War I, World War II. He said, “Enough.” So what did he do? He submitted a plan that was going to deindustrialize Germany, depopulate Germany, change its borders. It was almost as if he was trying to turn it into something like Tacitus’ description of first-century A.D. Germany, as a pastoral, agrarian society. In fact, he explicitly said that. When Joseph Goebbels heard about this, he said, “Oh my God, this is a gift. We’re losing the war. We’ll tell all of the German people they want us to be permanently pastoral. We’ll starve to death. And even if they don’t like the Nazis, as we’ve destroyed the country, you’re losing more, they’ll fight.”

Thankfully, George Marshall, chief of staff of the Army; ex-President Herbert Hoover; and others went to the Roosevelt administration and said, “If you institute this plan, they’re going to fight to the death. And we have bombed Germany. So when we get into Germany, you’ll see that it’s almost depopulated now.”The net result was they canceled the Morgenthau Plan that would have permanently made Germany depopulated, disarmed, deindustrialized. What’s my point in bringing up this historical example? We the victors of World War II thought imposing a plan of deliberate deindustrialization, depopulization, disarmament, open borders, destroyed borders would be too Carthaginian, and so we backed off. And now we’re here 80 years after the rejection of the Morgenthau Plan and the German people, or the German leadership, have essentially updated it and inflicted it on themselves willingly, not by coercion. That’s a tragic irony and it’s something we should all take a very close look at.

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Trump has a much more acute sense of presidential time and how limited it is and how you need to use it quickly or you don’t maximize its value..”

• From Rockefeller to Musk: How CEOs and Presidents Shape America (Bluey)

One of America’s most successful businessmen is closely collaborating with the country’s commander-in-chief—with huge consequences for our government and economy. Elon Musk and President Donald Trump are the latest dynamic duo to showcase the role between private-sector CEO and America’s elected president. But they’re hardly alone in history. Presidential historian and former senior White House aide Tevi Troy writes about the complex relationships between corporate leaders and U.S. presidents in his latest book, “The Power and the Money: The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry.” Troy spoke with The Daily Signal about the historical examples he’s studied and more recent events.

Less than a month into Trump’s second term, Troy already sees notable differences from Trump’s first term. He said Trump’s previous presidential experience is clearly shaping his leadership style and use of executive time. “It really is a remarkable opening to a presidency and shows the contrast between someone who goes into the presidency not sure what they’re to do, which included Trump’s first term, but also Bill Clinton at the beginning of his administration, and then someone who comes in with experience who says, ‘I know exactly what I’m going to do and I’m going to do it,’” said Troy, who is a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute. The presidential historian and author addressed the shifting dynamics between corporate America and the presidency, particularly with tech leaders like Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, and others who had front-row seats at Trump’s inauguration.

Troy explained that while these recent CEO moves toward Trump could be viewed as political opportunism, there’s more to the story. “The other side is how hostile the Biden administration was to these entities. Joe Biden even said, ‘I don’t like Mark Zuckerberg,’” Troy said. “Elon Musk had a whole bunch of regulatory actions targeting his companies.” Trump, meanwhile, appears to recognize that these corporate leaders—and their outsized role with artificial intelligence—will have far-reaching implications for American competitiveness. “We need to encourage AI so that America is the leader in AI going forward,” Troy said, suggesting that America’s free-market system provides an advantage over competitors like China, whose AI development is “handcuffed by the censorship of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Troy’s book, “The Power and the Money,” examines the relationships between 18 different CEOs and multiple presidents, offering insights into how these dynamics have shaped American policy and business over the past 150 years. For corporate leaders navigating today’s political landscape, Troy offered this advice: “CEOs need to increase their level of engagement in Washington, but decrease their level of partisanship. And that will allow them to be more influential over the course of multiple administrations.” As for Trump’s next four years, Troy has already observed a more strategic approach to staffing and time management in his second term. “Trump has a much more acute sense of presidential time and how limited it is and how you need to use it quickly or you don’t maximize its value,” Troy explained.

Troy praised Chief of Staff Susie Wiles for maintaining discipline within the White House. “The chief of staff role is hugely important. Susie Wiles … really brooked no nonsense during the campaign. You didn’t hear a lot of leaks. You didn’t hear a lot of infighting,” he said, contrasting this with Trump’s first term when he had four different chiefs of staff in four years. This might be most visible in Trump’s selection of staff, creating more cohesion at the White House and allowing him to move swiftly to implement his agenda.“The staff seem to be much more loyal to him. The first time there were a lot of people with a lot of different ideological perspectives,” Troy said, referencing his previous book “Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump.”

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“They can’t do that, especially when they have a serious record of Democrat activism and being hardcore against President Trump..”

• House GOP Drafting Impeachment Articles Against Judges Blocking DOGE (ZH)

House Republicans are drafting articles of impeachment against Democrat judges that have blocked various actions by the Trump administration, including those who have halted efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). According to The Hill: “Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) said he is drafting articles of impeachment against Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York, who in a ruling last weekend temporarily restricted Musk and DOGE aides from accessing a Treasury Department payment system. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) is working on an impeachment resolution against Rhode Island District Judge John McConnell Jr. over his ruling halting the Trump administration’s freeze on federal funding.

And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), chair of the House Oversight Delivering on Government Efficiency Subcommittee, pledged in a hearing this week while referencing Engelmayer that “We will hold this judge and others who try to stop the will of the people and their elected leaders accountable.” “Our case for impeaching Judge Engelmayer is basically that he’s an activist judge trying to stop the Trump administration from, you know, executing their, you know, Article 2 powers to make sure that the laws are faithfully executed,” Crane told former Rep. Matt Gaetz earlier this week. Greene, meanwhile, said that she would support Engelmayer’s impeachment – arguing that judges can’t simply take power away from Cabinet secretaries.

“They can’t do that, especially when they have a serious record of Democrat activism and being hardcore against President Trump,” said Greene, adding “So, yeah, judges like that, they definitely should be impeached.” On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “district court judges in liberal districts across the country are abusing their power to unilaterally block President Trump’s basic executive authority.” Engelmayer initially blocked everyone at the Treasury Department – including Secretary Scott Bessent, from accessing the agency’s database, however another judge overseeing the case later said that the order would not apply to Bessent. Rep. Clyde announced that he was working on impeachment articles, saying in a post on X that Judge McConnell Jr. is “a partisan activist weaponizing our judicial system to stop President Trump’s funding freeze on woke and wasteful government spending.”

It would take near-unanimous support from House Republicans to impeach one of the judges assuming no Democrats support the measure, while Democrat support would definitely be required to clear the 2/3 threshold to convict in the Senate. So basically, this is going nowhere. “Up till last Congress, the Speaker of the House had never been fired before,” said Crane. “I’m not a wait-and-see kind of guy — look around, hope somebody’s going to do something. I’m going to take action. And like I said, If this isn’t how we get to the, you know, the place that we need to be, I’m fine with that. But I’m not going to sit around and just, you know, watch these individuals stop President Trump from doing exactly what he told the American people he was going to do.”

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“..she chastised him for making everybody rush to a TRO when the matter could have been handled with a five-minute call with the Department of Justice..”

• Judge Declines to Halt Trump’s Firing of Inspectors General (ET)

A federal judge on Feb. 14 rejected an emergency bid by eight inspectors general fired by the Trump administration to have their jobs restored. District Judge of the District of Columbia Ana Reyes forced the attorney for the inspectors general to drop the request for a temporary restraining order during a virtual hearing, opting instead for an expedited schedule to hear their request for a preliminary injunction. Reyes expressed frustration that the plaintiff’s counsel, Seth Waxman, filed suit on Feb. 12 for the order requesting emergency same-day relief, which would have included backpay 21 days after the firings occurred, stating that her court’s staff was already overwhelmed with scores of other temporary restraining order requests. Demanding only yes or no answers, the judge asked several questions of Waxman.

He confirmed to her that the eight inspectors general were fired on Jan. 24 without Congress first being given a 30-day notice or “substantial rationale” for the termination and that they were able to retrieve all of their personal belongings. These former inspectors general were employed by the Defense, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, State, Education, Agriculture, and Labor departments and the Small Business Administration. The judge pointed out to Waxman that there was nothing stopping Trump from issuing that 30-day termination notice to Congress five minutes after a TRO (temporary restraining order) went through, this time with a written reason for their termination. Addressing the written complaint arguing the plaintiffs faced reputational damage, Reyes proposed that a 30-day return to the office with a written reason why they were unfit for their jobs could actually cause even more reputational harm than what was already given. All the public knows is that they were fired without cause, she said. There was no harm to their reputation because no cause, say of incompetence, was given, and such a termination could be seen as preferable.

She also criticized Waxman for referencing what he called a similar case in his written complaint, pointing out that the government employee who was fired in that instance was operating independently of the White House while his clients worked for agencies that took direction from the presidency. Reyes declined to even humor the merits of the temporary restraining order during the virtual hearing, which lasted less than 13 minutes, forcing the plaintiffs to drop it. When Waxman transitioned to an expedited briefing schedule, she chastised him for making everybody rush to a TRO when the matter could have been handled with a five-minute call with the Department of Justice. The defense counsel representing the heads of the various departments employing those inspectors general remained silent and opted not to weigh in on the matter.

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“..the agency finds that you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the agency’s current needs..”

• Trump Makes First Supreme Court Appeal In Test of Power To Fire Officials (BBC)

President Donald Trump’s attempts to shrink the federal bureaucracy are heading to the Supreme Court, according to US media.He has filed an emergency appeal to the country’s highest court to rule on whether he can fire the leader of an independent whistleblowing agency. Hampton Dellinger, head of the US Office of Special Counsel, sued the Trump administration after he was fired by email this month. Trump has also sacked more than a dozen inspectors general at various federal agencies along with the jobs of thousands of employees across the US government. Mr Dellinger, who was nominated by Joe Biden, the former president, argues that his removal broke a law that protects leaders of independent agencies from being fired by the president, “except in cases of neglect of duty, malfeasance or inefficiency”.

A federal judge in Washington DC issued a temporary order on Wednesday allowing Mr Dellinger to hold on to his position while the case is being considered. On Saturday, a divided US Court of Appeals in the nation’s capital rejected the Trump administration’s request to overrule the lower court. That has led to the justice department filing an emergency appeal to the conservative-dominated Supreme Court. It is the first case the president has taken to the justices since he took office last month. “This court should not allow lower courts to seize executive power by dictating to the president how long he must continue employing an agency head against his will,” Sarah M Harris, acting solicitor general, wrote in the filing provided by the Department of Justice to the Washington Post.

“Until now, as far as we are aware, no court in American history has wielded an injunction to force the president to retain an agency head,” the acting solicitor general wrote, according to the Associated Press news agency. The Republican president’s orders on immigration, transgender issues and government spending have also become bogged down in dozens of lawsuits in the lower courts. Those cases may ultimately wind up at the Supreme Court, too. Trump’s efforts to reduce and reshape the 2.3 million-strong civilian federal workforce continued over the weekend.Workers in various health agencies who are still within their probation periods received letters on Saturday evening informing them they would be terminated, sources told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.

“Unfortunately, the agency finds that you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the agency’s current needs, and your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment at the agency,” read the letters. At least 9,500 workers at the departments of Health and Human Services, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Interior and Agriculture have been fired by Trump, according to a tally from Reuters news agency. Another 75,000 workers have taken a buyout offered to get them to leave voluntarily, according to the White House. The cost-cutting initiative has been led by department of government efficiency, or Doge, a task force led by Elon Musk.

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“..Musk is “taking away everything we have.” That is precisely what Americans asked for in reelecting Donald Trump…”

• Democrats and Unions Launch an Existential Fight Over Buyouts (Turley)

Thomas Paine once remarked, “Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” With the approaching 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, much has clearly changed. President Donald Trump’s move to reduce government is now portrayed as evil in its own right. Elon Musk’s move to draw down various agencies was presented as a virtual return to the state of nature. Democratic members staged protests in front of various agencies to declare “war” and to accuse Trump of “destroying the government” by shrinking it. Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D., Md.) Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Ma, declared “Every time you hear DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, you just remember it is the department of government evil.”

Americans say Trump is keeping his promises
The coordinated efforts of Democratic leaders and the mainstream media have once again not resonated with the public. Trump, according to polls, is now at higher popularity levels than during his first term. And a strong majority of Americans say Trump is keeping his promises, including in his efforts to reduce government spending and waste. Those efforts include a generous buyout offer for federal employees. The Trump administration offered federal workers the chance to stay home for months while receiving full pay if they would agree to resign from government employment.It was an extremely clever move. The best way to shrink the government is to get people to leave voluntarily. But Trump and Musk also have warned that layoffs will follow if not enough federal workers accepted the buyout.

It is a type of self-deportation from government service. And it worked, with about 75,000 federal workers accepting Trump’s offer before the deal ended Wednesday. It worked so well, in fact, that Democrats rushed to stop the voluntary exodus by falsely suggesting that it was a scam. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., warned employees that Trump would “stiff you,” even though the offer comes with the authority of the federal government. His colleague, Mark Warner (D, Va.) added ominously for workers to “Think twice. Has this individual in his business world ever fulfilled his contracts or obligations to any workers in the past?” At the same time, unions (looking at a major reduction of force) have filed with Democratic groups to stop these employees from taking the offer. They found a favorable court with U.S. District Court Judge George O’Toole who enjoined the program.

However, after citywide celebrations over the injunction, the court then lifted the injunction on the buyout program, agreeing to allow the buyouts to go forward. Unions representing federal workers and liberal legal organizations are likely to now appeal O’Toole’s decision. The unions, which are facing a major reduction in dues-paying members, have a disturbing conflict of interest in trying to deny federal workers the benefits of an offer they chose to accept. The legal challenges to the buyout have relied on a plethora of arguments asserting that a president cannot allow employees to stay home and receive pay pending their departure from federal employment. Those arguments cited the Antideficiency Act, which bars agencies from spending beyond the money appropriated by Congress.

President has the authority to manage the executive branch
The counterargument is that money used for the buyouts was allocated to pay employees whose service normally continues year after year. Under Article II of the Constitution, the president is given ample discretion in running the executive branch, including the work status of federal employees. Congress clearly has a role in controlling use of the federal purse. For example, Congress can determine whether to allocate money to build certain Navy vessels. However, once the ships are built, it is the president who decides where to send them and who will serve on the crew. The commander in chief also can expand or shrink the size of the crew. Trump was well within his authority in offering to change employees’ duties while they look for new positions, and the employees had every right to agree to eight months of paid leave in exchange for their resignation from government service.

The opposition from Democrats and labor unions is the ultimate form of paternalism. In the name of protecting employees, opponents fought to prevent workers from accepting offers they believe are best for themselves and their families. Federal employees are entitled to protections in their employment. But they’re not entitled to permanent employment. Congress is entitled to appropriate money for specific purposes. But it is not entitled to manage the executive branch. Trump is very willing to fight on this hill. He holds a strong constitutional position and an even stronger political position.

For those who proclaimed themselves as defenders of democracy throughout last year’s election cycle, this is what democracy looks like. Voters made clear that they want changes in the size and the focus of government. Those voters are unlikely to be convinced by the warning of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that Musk is “taking away everything we have.” That is precisely what Americans asked for in reelecting Donald Trump.

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Bigger mystery than Kennedy’s murder.

• Rand Paul Supports Fort Knox Physical Audit (ZH)

One of the biggest questions over the past 50 years is whether the gold at Fort Knox, Kentucky is really there, or if it’s been plundered. What we do know is that the last ‘audit’ of America’s gold stash was conducted on Sept. 23, 1974, when the US Treasury opened just one of its 15 vaults at Fort Knox so politicians and reporters could swarm the site for a two-hour photo-op with roughly 6% of the alleged amount held. Adding to the complete farce, none of the bars being passed around for the cameras were matched to a serial number, assayed or tested for purity, or even verified as US holdings – as foreign countries have previously stored their gold at Fort Knox as well.

Since then there has been no independent verification of the roughly 4,580 metric tons supposedly held by the Treasury outside of bullshit annual ‘vault seal checks’ that don’t actually analyze the gold (oh, and they’ve ‘lost’ seven of those) – various efforts have been raised to audit Fort Knox – most recently in 2021, when Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) introduced (now-dead) legislation to audit America’s gold holdings with a full assay, inventory, and audit of all US gold – which would include a full account of gold transactions undertaken by the US government.

In 2010, former Libertarian Rep. Ron Paul called for an independent audit of Fort Knox. “It’d be nice for the American people to know whether or not the gold is there,” Paul said at the time.

With Elon Musk’s team at DOGE – including a gent who goes by the name “Big Balls” – investigating government-wide waste, fraud and abuse, we thought it might be helpful to point them towards Fort Knox… The suggestion immediately went viral on X, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) indicating he’s on board – replying to Musk with “Let’s do it.” Musk and team need to get to the bottom of just how deep the rot goes…

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Arab jews

 

 

Toys
https://twitter.com/i/status/1891110279649366275

 

 

Grok

 

 

Hello

 

 

Thai cat
https://twitter.com/i/status/1890863657350783065

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle February 7 2025

Feb 072025
 
 February 7, 2025  Posted by at 11:00 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  54 Responses »


René Magritte The conquerer 1926

 

• USAID Media Payments Could Be ‘Biggest Scandal In History’ – Trump (RT)
• Politico Pleads Innocent (ZH)
• WikiLeaks: USAID Has Been Funding Over 6,000 Journalists Worldwide (ZH)
• ‘Leaked’ Plan: Trump To ‘Force’ Zelensky To Agree On Ceasefire By Easter (ZH)
• Trump Envoy Responds To Zelensky’s Nuclear Weapons Demand (RT)
• White House Softens Aspects Of Gaza ‘Takeover’ – No Boots On The Ground (ZH)
• What is Trump Really Thinking About Gaza? (Larry Johnson)
• The Greatest Showman’s “Inside Out” Political Solution (Alastair Crooke)
• How the Democrats Became the Party of Puppets (Pinsker)
• Investor Demand For X Debt Upsized, Musk Sees Revenue Improving Rapidly (ZH)
• Rubio To Boycott G20 Meeting in South Africa (RT)
• FBI Official Accused of Defying White House Reform Efforts (Turley)
• EU Plays Trump Card To Advance Its Globalist Agenda (Villamor)
• What Is Really Destroying Europe? The EU (Godefridi)
• What to Know About US Withdrawal From the WHO (ET)
• ‘Gov’t Is the People’s Business’: A Tribute to Ronald Reagan (Salgado)

 

 

 

 

Evo
https://twitter.com/i/status/1887475768508252227

Mike Benz exposes USAID for 11 straight minutes

Sen. Kennedy

3rd temple

Alwaleed

 

 

 

 

Sounds like a bombastic headline. But is it? Do (re)check the Nicole Shanahan clip below that I opened with yesterday. She explains that DOGE has a super search engine for files (data mining research), that finds in seconds/minutes what would otherwise take days or weeks. The USAID “library” is vast and complex but “He did that over the weekend”. USAID is just the start.

• USAID Media Payments Could Be ‘Biggest Scandal In History’ – Trump (RT)

Billions of dollars have been stolen at USAID and used to pay for positive media coverage of Democrats, US President Donald Trump has said. The claim comes in conjunction with a White House announcement that it will stop “subsidizing” Politico. In January, the Trump administration initiated significant changes to the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Trump ordered a near-total freeze on foreign aid, aiming to align assistance with his “America First” policy. Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday to warn that “the biggest scandal in history” was brewing, after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged that American taxpayer money had been used to subsidize government subscriptions to Politico and other media outlets. Leavitt was referring to Politico Pro, a premium legislative and regulatory tracking service used by multiple government agencies.

Politico Pro subscriptions are reported to cost up to $10,000 annually. ”Looks like billions of dollars have been stollen [sic] at USAID, and other agencies, much of it going to the fake news media as a ‘payoff’ for creating good stories about the democrats. the left wing ‘rag,’ known as ‘Politico,’ seems to have received $8,000,000,” Trump wrote. He questioned whether The New York Times and other outlets were also receiving “payoffs.” Politico said it had “never been the beneficiary of government programs or subsidies” and that the “overwhelming majority” of subscriptions come from the private sector.

Some conservative commentators online claimed that Politico, The New York Times and the Associated Press were receiving “government funding” or “grants,” from USAID and other agencies. Kyle Becker, a former Fox News producer, dug into public records on USAspending.gov and discovered that the government paid Politico $8.2 million in the last 12 months. However, only about $24,000 of this total came from USAID, with the largest contributor being the Department of Health and Human Services. Elon Musk, who oversees the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), called the payments “a huge waste of taxpayer money.” “Many media outlets are going to experience a mysterious drop in revenue,” he warned on X on Wednesday.

The outlets in question denied receiving government subsidies, stating that agencies purchased subscriptions like any client, and insisted on their editorial independence. CNN went as far as to decry the accusations as “a false right-wing conspiracy theory,” and accused Leavitt of elevating a “bogus claim.” The freeze on USAID funding has led to the suspension of numerous senior officials, layoffs of contractors, and the halting of various international aid programs. Legal experts have questioned the legality of dismantling USAID without congressional approval. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was appointed as the acting administrator of USAID, with plans to merge it into the State Department. Elon Musk criticized the agency as a “criminal organization” that should “die.”

Read more …

What exactly is the role of German publisher Axel Springer?

• Politico Pleads Innocent (ZH)

During Wednesday’s White House presser, spox Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Politico has been getting ‘more than $8 million taxpayer dollars,’ which has ‘gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions.’

* * *
On Tuesday, staffers at Politico were notified that a ‘technical error’ had prevented paychecks from going out. Many joked that this had something to do with the Trump administration putting a freeze on USAID funding. And while there’s no evidence the two are linked, the suggestion prompted internet sleuths to look into Politico’s sources of funding. What they found was absolutely shocking. According to government spending tracker website USASPENDING.gov, Politico – which laundered the Hunter Biden ’51 intel officials’ propaganda during the 2020 election – received up to $27 million (and by some counts $32 million) from various US agencies during the Biden years. In one instance, roughly $500,000 was spent on 37 Politico ‘pro’ subscriptions. Of note, Politico was sold to German media giant Axel Springer (which also owns Business Insider) for $1 billion in 2021, meaning US taxpayer dollars have been flowing to the German media giant to prop up their US propaganda rags.

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That’s a large chunk of the media.

• WikiLeaks: USAID Has Been Funding Over 6,000 Journalists Worldwide (ZH)

Yesterday’s report that the US government has been funding outlets such as Politico, the Associated Press, the BBC, and others raised more questions than it answered – though the obvious implication is that the US government has effectively been propping up regime-friendly media, which then peddles regime-friendly coverage – and spent years attacking independent outlets such as ZeroHedge, The Federalist, and many unlucky ones who have since been starved out of business. And while funding for Politico and others has come from all over the federal government – WikiLeaks, citing a RSF report, highlighted that USAID was funding over 6,200 journalists across 707 media outlets and 279 “media” NGOs, which includes 90% of the reportage out of Ukraine.

According to RSF, the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid – roughly $268 million earmarked to fund “independent media and the free flow of information,” has ‘thrown journalism around the world into chaos.’ “Almost immediately after the freeze went into effect, journalistic organizations around the world that receive American aid funding started reaching out to RSF expressing confusion, chaos, and uncertainty. The affected organizations include large international NGOs that support independent media like the International Fund for Public Interest Media and smaller, individual media outlets serving audiences living under repressive conditions in countries like Iran and Russia.

…
USAID programs support independent media in more than 30 countries, but it is difficult to assess the full extent of the harm done to the global media. Many organizations are hesitant to draw attention for fear of risking long-term funding or coming under political attacks. According to a USAID fact sheet which has since been taken offline, in 2023, the agency funded training and support for 6,200 journalists, assisted 707 non-state news outlets, and supported 279 media-sector civil society organizations dedicated to strengthening independent media. The 2025 foreign aid budget included $268,376,000 allocated by Congress to support “independent media and the free flow of information.”

Note the recurring use of the term ‘independent media.’ Of course, the RSF report, and another from the Columbia Journalism Review are sounding the alarm over the ‘silencing of independent media’ around the world. The critical context they omit, however, is that USAID – despite the best of intentions when it was formed, has been corrupted into a deep-state slush-fund.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1886764407700472231

And so, no matter how ‘independent’ these USAID-funded media outlets are around the world, they’re all eating fruit from the same poisonous tree.

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“The EU will reportedly be asked to assist Ukraine in its reconstruction efforts, which may cost as much as $486 billion over the next decade..”

• ‘Leaked’ Plan: Trump To ‘Force’ Zelensky To Agree On Ceasefire By Easter (ZH)

As of the start of this week, the Kremlin said ‘no progress’ had been made in arranging peace talks on Ukraine between Moscow and Washington. Rumors and speculation abound, given that US diplomats under Trump are without doubt working behind-the-scenes to arrange something, with the possibility that talks could be hosted in a ‘neutral’ location like Saudi Arabia or the UAE. A Thursday Daily Mail report has just added immense fuel to the fire of speculation, presenting the allegedly leaked Trump ceasefire plan which he intends to present for Russia’s consideration. The report says Trump will try to ‘force’ Ukraine’s President Zelensky to agree to a ceasefire by Easter, which is on April 20 this year.

The Trump administration is seeking to end the war within 100 days. “The unconfirmed plans, reported by Ukrainian outlet Strana, have been doing the rounds in ‘political and diplomatic circles’ in Ukraine, and will include a ceasefire by April 20 that would freeze Russia’s steady advance, a ban on Ukraine from joining NATO, and a demand for Kyiv to accept Russian sovereignty on annexed land.” While still very much unconfirmed, the headline is having an immediate impact on oil prices. Zelensky’s office has vehemently denied the legitimacy of reports of the peace plans being reported and floated. On top of these alleged key aspects of a ban on NATO admission, freezing the front lines, and agreeing to Russian sovereignty over the four annexed territories in the east, the leaked report says the following is also included in the proposal:

• On top of this, Ukrainian troops will be made to leave Russia’s Kursk region, where it launched a counteroffensive in August, while a contingent of European soldiers, which could include British troops, would be asked to police a demilitarised zone. American troops will not be involved in this contingent.
• The EU will reportedly be asked to assist Ukraine in its reconstruction efforts, which may cost as much as $486 billion (£392 billion) over the next decade according to the German Marshall Fund thinktank.
• The plans will reportedly begin with a phone call between Zelensky and Vladimir Putin in early February, a meeting between the two warring leaders in late February to early March and an official ceasefire declaration of a ceasefire by April 20.
• A declaration on the agreed parameters for ending the war would then be released by May 9, after which Kyiv would be asked not to extend martial law or mobilize troops.

This essentially gives Moscow most everything it wants – particularly the ban on NATO admission – and so if true the plan is likely to be entertained positively by Putin. Zelensky has been complaining that talks about Ukraine between the US and Russia must never happen without Kiev’s representation and input, but Zelensky it seems is being left behind. He’ll likely reject the above ‘leaked’ plan, but for Moscow and Washington that probably won’t matter too much. [..]

* * *
Ceasefire by Easter:
• NATO Membership: Ukraine would be barred from joining NATO under the plan.
• Territorial Concessions: Kyiv would recognize Russian sovereignty over annexed lands and withdraw troops from Kursk.
• Demilitarized Zone: European, possibly British, troops would police it; no U.S. involvement.
• Reconstruction: EU assistance sought for Ukraine, estimated at $486 billion over a decade.

Timeline:
1) Early February: Zelensky-Putin phone call.
2) Late February to early March: Leaders’ meeting.
3) April 20: Ceasefire declaration.
4) By May 9: Agreement terms released, no further martial law or mobilization.
5) Additional Support: Continued U.S. military aid for Ukraine, with a pathway to EU membership by 2030.

Read more …

“Let’s be honest about it, we both know that’s not going to happen..”

• Trump Envoy Responds To Zelensky’s Nuclear Weapons Demand (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, has brushed aside Kiev’s demand for nuclear weaponry, stating that it is “not going to happen.” Kellogg made the remarks on Thursday while speaking to Fox News Digital. He was asked about the latest call by Vladimir Zelensky for “nuclear weapons” and “missile systems” from Kiev’s Western backers. “The chance of them getting their nuclear weapons back is somewhere between slim and none. Let’s be honest about it, we both know that’s not going to happen,” Kellogg said.The idea of arming Ukraine with nukes goes against “common sense” and is not something the Trump administration would consider, Kellogg stated. “Remember, the president said we’re a government of common sense. When somebody says something like that, look at the outcome or the potential. That’s using your common sense,” he explained.

Zelensky, speaking to British journalist Piers Morgan earlier this week, said that Ukraine must either be fast-tracked into the US-led NATO bloc or given more weaponry to “stop Russia.” “Give us back nuclear weapons, give us missile systems. Partners, help us finance a one-million army, deploy your troops to the areas of our country where we want to stabilize the situation,” he stated. While the Ukrainian leader has raised the issue of nuclear weaponry before, including shortly ahead of the escalation of the conflict in February 2022, he has done so increasingly in recent months. Zelensky has expressed regret that his country surrendered its portion of the Soviet nuclear arsenal after the collapse of the USSR in exchange for security guarantees in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. In 1991, Ukraine possessed some 1,700 warheads, which however, remained under Moscow’s operational control.

Russia insists that Ukraine never possessed any nuclear weapons of its own, as the assets belonged to Moscow as the sole legal successor of the Soviet Union. The 1994 memorandum also envisioned Ukraine’s neutral status, which has been undermined by NATO’s eastward expansion and Kiev’s aspirations to join the US-led bloc, Russian officials maintain. In November, Russian President Vladimir Putin explicitly stated that the any procurement of nuclear weaponry by Kiev was non-starter and would compel Moscow to use all available means to destroy it. “What do you think – on the level of common sense – if the country with which we are essentially now engaged in military operations becomes a nuclear power, what should we do? In this case, use all – I want to emphasize this – precisely all the means of destruction at Russia’s disposal,” the president said.

Read more …

For Trump and Gaza, do watch this lady first:

• White House Softens Aspects Of Gaza ‘Takeover’ – No Boots On The Ground (ZH)

Israel announced Thursday it has begun preparations for the departure of large numbers of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip following President Trump earlier this week publicly backing a controversial mass resettlement plan in neighboring Arab countries. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s plan for Gaza as “remarkable” in an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity published Thursday. “The actual idea of allowing Gazans who want to leave to leave. I mean, what’s wrong with that? They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza,” Netanyahu said.In the face of fierce condemnation and pushback from an assortment of countries like Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, Ireland, as well as the United Nations – Trump has still doubled down in a Thursday Truth Social post.

He explained that “the Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel” after the end of hostilities. He reiterated that Palestinians could be relocated to “far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region” and would “actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free.” The president said the that the US would oversee development teams from across the world, which will “slowly and carefully” begin the construction of what would become “one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth.” That’s when he emphasized the following: “No soldiers by the US would be needed! Stability for the region would reign,” Trump wrote. Given that it’s an active war zone, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad are still openly displaying their weapons in battalion-sized displays and deployments, it seems doubtful any of this could happen without serious military intervention.

Trump said all of this after on Tuesday he declared he wants to the US to “take over” and “own” the Gaza Strip. Some aspects have been softened or walked back by the White House, however. When pressed for clarification on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “They need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza for the rebuilding.” Thus the plan has changed to a non-permanent resettlement, apparently, though it’s hard to see the logistics and politics of all of this actually playing out. Leavitt continued, “It’s been made very clear to the president that the United States needs to be involved in this rebuilding effort to ensure stability in the region for all people.” “That does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza. That does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort,” she added.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also sought to distance the administration from criticisms that this looks like a potential major foreign military intervention. He said the idea was of “temporary” relocation, and said the proposal “was not meant as hostile. It was meant as, I think, a very generous move — the offer to rebuild and to be in charge of the rebuilding.” And Trump’s envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, echoed something similar. He said the US doesn’t want to put any US troops on the ground, and that no US dollars should be spent. He acknowledged that Trump had been “gestating” on the idea for a while.

Read more …

“..while many interpreted his remarks as catering to the Zionists, the language he used was just the opposite. He did not say that Gaza was Israel’s.”

• What is Trump Really Thinking About Gaza? (Larry Johnson)

I am not making excuses for Donald Trump. I fully understand why many have interpreted his scripted remarks yesterday during the joint-press conference with Bibi Netanyahu about relocating the Palestinian inhabitants of Gaza and the US taking control of Gaza as insane or heartless or both. I want you to entertain another possibility — maybe Trump is really trying to secure a deal that does not cater to the Zionist vision of occupying all territory from the river to the sea.

We are 16 days into the second Trump administration and the flurry of activity coming out of the Oval office is akin to a Category Five hurricane. It is clear that Trump did not spend the last four years in political exile moping and despairing of the lawfare tsunami unleashed by his political opponents. He tacitly conceded that he was totally unprepared to confront the monster of the Deep State when he entered office in January 2017. He did not make that mistake this time. The day after securing his election victory in November he began executing a plan for governing that has left his political opponents and the Washington establishment reeling. This is akin to a military blitzkrieg. He is attacking across a broad front.

With this in mind, let me suggest another way of looking at what he said about taking control of Gaza during the Tuesday press conference with Netanyahu. First, he was reading from a script. This means it was drafted and vetted in advance, most likely with Michael Waltz taking the lead. Second, while many interpreted his remarks as catering to the Zionists, the language he used was just the opposite. He did not say that Gaza was Israel’s. He said that the US should take control of Gaza and oversee the rebuilding. However, he did not propose a specific plan for doing so and made it clear that someone other than the US would foot the bill for the rebuilding. Would Trump entertain a Saudi offer to rebuild Gaza with its funds? I think so, but it would likely be part of a broader agreement to resurrect the Abraham accords.

It is true that Netanyahu has publicly embraced Trump’s plan, but in announcing this proposal, Trump has made it almost impossible for Netanyahu to abandon the ceasefire agreement, at least the second phase, which he reportedly promised finance minister Smotrich he would do. If the Zionists decide to launch a fresh offensive on the Palestinians in Gaza, this would be a direct slap in the face of Trump. Scott Ritter reminded me during the roundtable with Danny Haiphong of Trump’s crazed, insulting remarks about Kim Jong-Un that preceded his face-to-face negotiations with Kim. It is a classic Trump negotiating tactic — bombast and insult up front followed by diplomacy and deal making. Is this Trump’s plan with respect to re-framing the Palestinian issue? I think it is a possibility. I also could be wrong (and I’m sure many of you will let me know).

Trump’s heated rhetoric regarding Iran also appears to be another example of his bad-cop-good-cop routine. Steve Witkoff reportedly is negotiating with the Iranians on orders from Trump. I think it is highly likely that Iran, despite press reports to the contrary, is not pursuing a nuclear weapon, primarily because of the security treaty they signed with Russia on January 17. If Witkoff succeeds in crafting an agreement with Iran then Trump will be able to claim that his tough guy approach created the conditions that made a deal possible. Okay. You are now free to tell me why I am full of crap.

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“Netanyahu at this juncture is utterly dependent on Trump. The PM’s wiles will not be enough to get him off the hooks: Trump has him where he wants him.”

• The Greatest Showman’s “Inside Out” Political Solution (Alastair Crooke)

Dissing Putin as a loser in Ukraine perhaps was more addressed to the U.S. Senate and its ongoing confirmation hearings. Trump made these comments days before Tulsi Gabbard faces Senate hearings. Gabbard already is criticised by U.S. ‘hawks’ for allegedly holding ‘pro-Putin’ sentiments, as well as being subjected to a media slur campaign by the deep state. Was Trump’s apparent disrespect toward Putin and Russia (which caused anger in Russia) said primarily for the ears of U.S. Senators? (The Senate is home to some of the most ardent ‘never-Trumpers’). And were Trump’s egregious comments about ‘cleansing’ Gaza’s Palestinians to Egypt or Jordan (co-ordinated with Netanyahu, according to an Israeli Minister) intended primarily for the ears of the Israeli Right? According to that Minister, the issue of encouraging voluntary Palestinian migration is now back on the agenda, just as the Right-wing parties have long wanted – and many in Netanyahu’s Likud had hoped. Music to their ears.

Was it then a Trumpian pre-emptive move, designed to save Netanyahu’s government from imminent collapse over the ceasefire’s second-stage, and the threat of a walk-out by his Right Wing contingent? Was Trump’s target audience in this case then Ministers Ben Gvir and Smotrich? Trump pointedly confuses us – by never making it clear to which audience he is addressing his ruminations at any one time. Is there nonetheless some substance sedimented within Trump’s comment that any Palestinian state must be resolved ‘in some other way’ than the Two-State formula? Maybe. We should not discount Trump’s strong leanings towards Israel. Netanyahu faces harsh criticism for mis-handling both the Gaza and Lebanese ceasefires. He has been guilty of promising one thing to one party and the opposite to the other (an old vice):

He has promised the Right a return to war in Gaza, yet committed to the unequivocal end to war in the actual ceasefire agreement. In Lebanon, Israel was committed to withdrawal by 26 January on the one hand, yet its military is still there, provoking a human wave of Lebanese returning to the south, hoping to reclaim their homes. Consequently, Netanyahu at this juncture is utterly dependent on Trump. The PM’s wiles will not be enough to get him off the hooks: Trump has him where he wants him. Trump will get ceasefires, and will tell Netanyahu,no attack on Iran (at least until Trump has explored the possibility of a deal with Tehran). With Putin and with Russia, the opposite is the case. Trump there has no leverage (the favourite word in Washington). He has no leverage for four reasons:

Firstly, since Russia steadfastly refuses the idea of any compromise that “boils down to freezing the conflict along the line of engagement, that will give time to the U.S. and NATO to rearm the remnants of the Ukrainian army – and then start a new round of hostilities”. Secondly, because Moscow’s conditions for ending the war will prove to be unacceptable to Washington, as they would not be susceptible to being presented as an American ‘win’. Thirdly, because Russia holds the clear military advantage: Ukraine is about to lose this war. Major Ukrainian strongholds are now being taken by Russian forces without resistance. This ultimately will lead to a cascade effect. Ukraine may cease to exist if serious negotiations do not take place before summer, the head of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov recently warned. But fourthly, because history is not reflected at all in the word leverage. When peoples who occupy the same geography have different and often irreconcilable versions of history, the western transactional ‘split the power spectrum’ simply doesn’t work. The opposed sides will not be moved – unless some solution recognises and takes account of their history.

Read more …

“..because they don’t know what the heck else to do, the Dems are kneejerk opposing EVERYTHING..”

“.. There’s more “breaking news” in one day of Trump than six months of Biden. Team MAGA is churning through news cycles faster than a jackrabbit on Red Bull.”

• How the Democrats Became the Party of Puppets (Pinsker)

“There’s nothing new under the sun” is found in Ecclesiastes 1:9. But if the statement is correct, then the idea itself must be older than Ecclesiastes; otherwise, that would be something new under the sun. (Right? Or is my Vulcan-like grasp of logic experiencing carpal tunnel? Yeah, I think I’m right.) For the statement “There’s nothing new under the sun” to be truthful, by definition, someone else must’ve already made a similar observation. Which makes sense: Life gets tedious after a while. We all get into ruts of the same-old, same-old. Life is cyclical. If you live long enough, it’s pretty easy to identify all the different cycles. So maybe there really is nothing new under the sun. Heck, as one PJ Media reader pointed out, even my (seemingly original) idea to relocate the Palestinians to Greenland was a blatant rip-off of “The Golden Girls”: (My apologies to Ms. Rose Nylund and/or all the good people of Saint Olaf.)

Perhaps it’s the monotony of life that gives older folks a nagging, unavoidable sense of “been there, done that.” Like Jerry Seinfeld noted, once we realized we could make our own people, we lost interest in the rest of you: But political parties don’t have the luxury of avoiding the real world. Nor do they ever get to suspend operations for a few months and try a soft reboot. They’re always on, always engaged, always connected to current events. It’s less like a play — with actors, actresses, and a well-written script — and more like a never-ending conga line. New faces appear when old faces exit, but the choreography itself never changes. Too much institutional momentum. They’re not the only ones, of course. The GOP has its conga line as well; all political parties do. If politics can be analogized to a dance, then D.C. is a crowded, competitive, cutthroat dancehall.

But the difference today is, the Democrats want us to lead. This hasn’t happened since the early days of the George W. Bush administration, nearly 25 years ago. It’s a generational opportunity for the Republican Party. Usually, even when the Democrats are voted out of power, they shamelessly push their own agenda, manipulating the mainstream media to reframe every news cycle in pro-Democratic terms. They never interpret an electoral defeat as a repudiation of their ideas; instead, the culprit must be misinformation, or Russian interference, or the racist, sexist, homophobic voters. And so, they double down and keep on pushing forward. Not anymore. Not since Donald Trump walloped them in 2024, capturing an electoral landslide. They’re simply too shell-shocked.

It won’t last forever but right now, they’ve given up on their agenda. All they can do is follow Donald Trump’s lead: whatever he supports, they oppose. Which means, Donald Trump has a generational opportunity to rebrand the Democratic Party. Part of their rebranding is already underway. Because Trump is such a kinetic whirlwind of manic activity, he’s firing ideas and initiatives at a million miles a minute. (Those poor Democrats are drinking out of a firehose!) And because they don’t know what the heck else to do, the Dems are kneejerk opposing EVERYTHING. This might’ve worked if Trump moved as slowly as Biden, but Trump is still the Great Disruptor. There’s more “breaking news” in one day of Trump than six months of Biden. Team MAGA is churning through news cycles faster than a jackrabbit on Red Bull.

For the audience at home, the volume and content far exceed their bandwidth. They have lives of their own and can’t keep track of everything. So, from their perspective, Trump is constantly trying SOMETHING… and the Democrats are opposing EVERYTHING. And there’s a whole lot of “everything.” Which is why the Democrats are being rebranded as the party of pearl-clutching. WAH! They’re the party of crybabies.

Whatever Trump says or does, Democrats cry and scream and soil themselves. Every molehill is a mountain; every Republican is “literally Hitler” and “a threat to democracy.” There’s more Democratic “hysteria” than anything Def Leppard did in the 80s. Knowing this, Trump could do one helluva troll move: He can turn the Democratic Party into his puppets. By structuring his agenda specifically and methodically, he can pull their strings and walk them off the cliff. Trump can get ‘em to do whatever he wants — simply by doing the opposite. They can’t help themselves. They’re just too proud and stubborn to change. Once again, the Bible was eerily prescient: “Pride goeth before the fall” (Proverbs 16:18). So maybe there really isn’t anything new under the sun.

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He won.

• Investor Demand For X Debt Upsized, Musk Sees Revenue Improving Rapidly (ZH)

Investors want a slice of X as Elon Musk’s social media platform becomes the epicenter of news distribution, while corporate leftist media outlets and their government-funded censorship cartel face a fiery demise (see: Politico). This follows a multi-year advertiser boycott led by mega-corporations and relentless lawfare by an army of leftist nonprofits in their attempt to destroy the platform. However, those efforts have failed, and Musk has gone on the offensive, positioning X for a year of success. In the latest report from The Wall Street Journal, top banks finished up a sale of debt backed by X. Sources familiar with the debt deal stated that the banks initially planned to sell around $3 billion in debt at 95 cents on the dollar. However, due to surging demand from large high-yield fund managers, the deal was upsized to $5.5 billion.

Buyers of the debt included Pimco and Citadel, who agreed to pay 97 cents on the dollar. The floating-rate debt carries an interest rate of 11%, with borrowing costs several percentage points higher than some of the riskiest loans on Wall Street. The upsized sale of X debt marks the end of the multi-year doom loop for Musk’s social media company. Since purchasing the platform in 2022, Musk has faced relentless advertiser boycotts and endless lawfare from shadowy leftist billionaire-funded nonprofit groups. However, X’s ability to circumvent the Biden-Harris regime’s censorship cartel and play a key role in the Trump-Vance presidential victory has placed Musk in Washington as a special government employee leading DOGE efforts. This, in return, has strengthened Wall Street’s confidence in X.

Additionally, Trump’s executive order on “restoring free speech and ending federal censorship” is expected to provide additional tailwinds for X and other alternative media platforms. This is yet another key driver of soaring optimism around X. Last Friday, X CEO Linda Yaccarino and Morgan Stanley bankers presented prospective investors with metrics showing the social media platform’s financial health was set to rebound in 2025.

“Revenue should improve rapidly this year, as the advertising boycott winds down,” Musk told one X user. WSJ noted: “Financial documents reviewed by investors showed that the artificial-intelligence company transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to the social-media company, the people said. That money has helped X pay its bills and stay current on its obligations, the people said. Growing advertising revenue at X should mean fewer transfers in the coming months and years, the people said.” The financial documents said X now holds a 10% stake in xAI, valued at around $5 billion, people familiar with the matter said. The AI company last year was valued at $50 billion. Musk had previously posted that X investors would own 25% of xAI.

X also reported to the investors 2024 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about $1.25 billion and annual revenue of $2.7 billion. Investors said that was a better picture than they had expected and that X’s finances hit an inflection point a few months before the November election. In 2021, Twitter reported adjusted Ebitda of about $682 million and about $5 billion in revenue. That was the last full year before Musk took the company private.-WSJ . X’s debt sale is a big relief for banks…

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“South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote solidarity, equality, & sustainability. In other words: DEI and climate change..”

• Rubio To Boycott G20 Meeting in South Africa (RT)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he will not attend a meeting of the G20 group in South Africa later this month because Pretoria is “doing very bad things.” The decision by the top American diplomat on Wednesday comes amid US President Donald Trump’s feud with the African country’s government over a new land ownership reform. South Africa will host the G20 foreign ministers’ summit in Johannesburg on February 20-21. Last December, Pretoria officially assumed the rotating presidency of the intergovernmental forum, which it will hand over to the US in November 2025. In a speech during the launch of Pretoria’s chairmanship in Cape Town, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the group of 20 major economies has enough “shock absorbers” in place against an ‘America First’ policy by the Trump administration.

Ramaphosa promised to advance Africa and the Global South’s development priorities, including addressing the impacts of climate change. However, Trump has repeatedly opposed international cooperation on climate issues. Ramaphosa also announced that he has invited Trump to South Africa for a state visit and to the G20 summit in late 2025, where the US leader will take on the chairmanship role. “I will not attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg. South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote solidarity, equality, & sustainability. In other words: DEI and climate change,” Rubio wrote on X. “My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism,” he added.

In response, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said on Thursday that Pretoria’s “G20 Presidency, is not confined to just climate change but also equitable treatment for nations of the Global South, ensuring equal global system for all.” President Trump said on Sunday that he is halting funding to South Africa, accusing the country’s government of “confiscating” land and “treating certain classes of people very badly.” The US leader declared that Washington “won’t stand” for Pretoria’s “massive human rights violation.” The threat followed the passage of the Expropriation Act by Pretoria aimed at addressing racial disparities in land ownership, a long-standing issue in Africa’s most advanced economy since Apartheid ended in 1994.

The government has set a target of transferring 30% of farmland from white farmers, who still own the majority of it, to their black counterparts by 2030. President Ramaphosa has defended the reform, saying his government “has not confiscated any land.” Foreign Minister Lamola also denied the US allegations on Thursday, stating that “there is no arbitrary dispossession of land” or private property under the new legislation. “This law is similar to the eminent domain laws,” he said, referring to US legislation that authorizes the federal government to acquire property for public use. On Monday, Ramaphosa’s office said he spoke with Trump’s close ally, South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, to clarify “issues of misinformation and distortions” after he also accused Pretoria of having “openly racist ownership laws.”

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“.. the Administration is moving far more aggressively in this second term. If Trump wanted to defibrillate the federal system and shock the status quo, he is succeeding in doing so.”

• FBI Official Accused of Defying White House Reform Efforts (Turley)

Last week, some of us discussed concerns over the demand of the Trump Administration for the names of all FBI agents involved in January 6th cases. While noting that we did not have all of the details, I wrote that this would be a critical test for the Administration between reform and revenge. Line FBI agents should not face punishment for carrying out the orders of their superiors or courts. Now, the Trump Administration has offered additional information, alleging an alarming defiance by a high-ranking official in sharing information. If true, the controversy involving Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll is reminiscent of the entirely improper conduct of former acting Attorney General Sally Yates. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove released a statement stating that FBI agents were never being rounded up or targeted for their work on the cases. A reported force of over 5,000 agents was assigned to these cases.

According to Bove, Driscoll refused to turn over the “core team” involved in Washington, D.C., in the cases as part of its review of the weaponization of the legal system under the Biden Administration. Bove’s memo stated that:“That insubordination necessitated, among other things, the directive in my January 31, 2025 memo to identify all agents assigned to investigations relating to January 6, 2021. In light of acting leadership’s refusal to comply with the narrower request, the written directive was intended to obtain a complete data set that the Justice Department can reliably pare down to the core team that will be the focus of the weaponization review pursuant to the Executive Order.”Bove dismissed allegations of a purging of the ranks:

“Let me be clear: No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner concerning January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties. The only individuals who should be concerned about the process initiated by my January 31, 2025 memo are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent, who blatantly defied orders from Department leadership, or who exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI.” Again, we have not heard Driscoll’s side. Yet, I cannot understand the basis for an FBI official to refuse to share such information with his superiors in the Administration. One can raise concerns over the motivations or even the legality of measures taken against line agents. One can also object that there is no reason to collect the broader information after being allegedly denied the narrower request. However, the Administration has every right to such information, particularly as part of its long-promised review of the agency during the campaign.

The alleged defiance brought back memories from the start of the first Trump term. As previously discussed, Yates was lionized for her stance in the media. She was then selected as one of the featured speakers at the Democratic National Convention in 2020 and presented as the personification of a new Justice Department’s commitment to the rule of law. Yates declared: “I was fired for refusing to defend President Trump’s shameful and unlawful Muslim travel ban.” The problem is, she wasn’t. She was fired for telling an entire department not to defend a travel ban that ultimately was upheld as lawful. I was critical of the initial memorandum supporting the travel ban, particularly its failure to exempt lawful residents. However, I also said Trump’s underlying authority would likely be found constitutional. Despite revisions tweaking its scope and affected countries, opponents insisted it remained unlawful and discriminatory.

They continued to litigate on those same grounds all the way to the Supreme Court, where they lost two years ago. The Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. Hawaii that the president had the authority to suspend entry of noncitizens into the country based on nationality and had a “sufficient national security justification” for his order. It also held that, despite most of the banned countries being Muslim-majority, the ban “does not support an inference of religious hostility.” That is why Yates deserved to be fired. Yates issued her order shortly after learning of the travel ban and despite being told by Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel it was a lawful order. She never actually said it was unlawful, only that she was not sure and was not convinced it was “wise or just.”

Rather than working to address clear errors in the original ban, she issued her categorical order as she prepared to leave the department in a matter of days. Yates maintained afterward that she believed the ban might still be discriminatory, even with revisions. The courts rejected those claims. Yates was due to retire from Justice within days when she engineered her own firing. It made her an instant heroine and allowed her to denounce Trump at the convention for “trampl[ing] the rule of law, trying to weaponize our Justice Department.” But that’s precisely what she did when she ordered an entire department not to assist the recently elected president. It is not clear what transpired between Bove and Driscoll, but I cannot imagine a basis for refusing to share personnel information and records with the Trump Administration.

The initial coverage of the request clearly omitted this context and led to the usual media stampede declaring a purging of the ranks by political commissars. The irony is that, once again, the true story may be even more interesting in an alleged defiance of the Trump Administration within the FBI. We have seen recently the actual locking out of Trump officials from agencies like US AID, leading to a security official being placed on leave. As someone who covered the first Administration, this is a very different profile and approach. Trump learned in his first term how officials could stymie and delay reforms. That process has begun anew, including a plethora of lawsuits designed to slowdown such efforts. However, the Administration is moving far more aggressively in this second term. If Trump wanted to defibrillate the federal system and shock the status quo, he is succeeding in doing so.

I have no problem with officials raising concerns over possible personnel action against agents who were only carrying out their assigned tasks. These officials have a duty to advocate for their agents and insulate their institution from concerns over political retaliation. However, if the FBI refused to supply personnel information, it would move the matter from internal deliberation to outright defiance of a lawful order.

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Putin is no longer Brussels’ enemy no. 1. Trump is.

• EU Plays Trump Card To Advance Its Globalist Agenda (Villamor)

The reappearance of Donald Trump on the international political scene has left Brussels in a state of panic. Considering the current international context, it could well signify a revolution within the European Union. However, the European Union, under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen, is using the American magnate’s return to power as a golden opportunity to strengthen its own supranational integration agenda, further weakening the sovereignty of member states and promoting a centralized vision of the European bloc. If the last term was an example of the ‘new Europe’ designed for us, the next four years will bring more of the same, but now tinged with a particular European patriotism in the face of the expansionism of the ‘Eagle Empire.’

During her speech at the Davos Forum in January this year, von der Leyen made the EU’s new approach clear: continuing climate policies and protecting “our European way of life” (whatever that means to EU leaders) against external threats, particularly those stemming from Donald Trump’s United States and China—after years of declaring that the main enemy was Vladimir Putin’s Russia. “The world is in a ‘race against time’ to tackle global challenges such as climate change and seize the opportunities of AI,” she stated during her speech at the World Economic Forum. Brussels’ stance is clear: continue decarbonizing at any cost. “Europe will continue to seek cooperation and is ‘open for business’ to those who wish to improve clean technology and expand digital infrastructure.”

It is no coincidence that this rhetoric aligns with Brussels’ attempts to reform the EU’s founding treaties, granting even more powers to European institutions at the expense of member states. Although the call on the Commission to initiate these reforms passed in the Parliament with only a paper-thin majority, there’s no doubt the efforts will continue in both institutions. Among the reforms under discussion is the elimination of the unanimity principle in the European Council, the only tool blocking Brussels from making key decisions without the consensus of all member states. There is also talk of creating new powers in taxation, defense, and energy policy, which would significantly curtail the autonomy of countries reluctant to follow the European Commission’s lead.

After Trump’s ascent, the U.S. is continuously being portrayed as an ‘imminent threat’ to European stability, enabling the EU to strengthen its control mechanisms and discipline countries that resist its directives. The European Commission is now promoting a narrative in which only a stronger and more united Europe can withstand the ‘winds’ of populism, protectionism, and the so-called far right. However, this strategy is not only aimed at consolidating power in Brussels. It also serves as a weapon to weaken patriotic and sovereignist movements that have gained strength across the continent. Growing public outrage over mass immigration, draconian climate policies, and the imposition of ideologies alien to national traditions has led to the rise of parties challenging the EU’s globalist consensus.

In response, the European establishment has intensified its offensive: any movement that questions Brussels’ agenda is immediately labeled as “far right”, “fascist”, or even “Nazi”. This phenomenon is not new but has become more aggressive in recent years. Censorship attempts, media persecution, and the systematic exclusion of dissenting voices from public debate have become normalized. Anyone opposing the EU’s policies is presented as a threat to democracy when, in reality, what is at stake is the ability of European peoples to decide their future—if such a possibility even exists today. The tactic is cheap but at least transparent: use the figure of Trump as a scarecrow to justify the centralization of power in Brussels and delegitimize political movements that challenge the EU’s ideological hegemony.

What we are witnessing is, in essence, a perfect excuse to push forward a project of forced integration that many Europeans have neither voted for nor approved. The supposed fight against populism is nothing more than a strategy to consolidate a political elite that refuses to accept that European societies are changing and that more and more citizens reject the progressive dogma imposed by Brussels. This is not the first time the EU has taken advantage of an external crisis to strengthen its control. It happened with the euro crisis when centralized austerity measures were implemented, with the COVID-19 pandemic, which facilitated the expansion of bureaucratic control, and with the war in Ukraine, which was used to justify energy and military policies without the necessary widespread consultation. Now, Trump is the new excuse. Will it also be an opportunity for change in the Old Continent?

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“The European Left, like the American Left, devotes unlimited antagonism to anything that does not think like it, talk like it, dream, eat or work like it.”

• What Is Really Destroying Europe? The EU (Godefridi)

The founding idea of the European Union was to build, through shared prosperity, solidarity and a sense of shared destiny among the nations of Europe. That was why three communities were formed: the economy, coal and steel, and nuclear energy. Until around 2000, in terms of growth and innovation, the European economy, year in, year out, was on par with the American one. Of that initial — and fairly brilliant — gesture of “peace through prosperity,” literally nothing remains. None of the EU’s current leaders cares about the financial well-being of Europeans. Coal is regarded as the devil’s fuel, and nuclear energy is abhorred by Europe’s elites, who say they prefer the inefficient and erratic wind turbines. Since 2000, the European economy has been mired in stagnation, which has worsened since 2008 and threatens to reach its height in the coming years — ending in the destruction of Europe.

Green Deal
The EU is a web of institutions with which an American would find nothing familiar, so let us just say that this web is dominated by one institution: the European Commission. It is a kind of European “government'” with a monopoly on legislative initiatives. Nothing is voted on in the EU without the Commission’s assent. The Commission makes no secret of the fact that its absolute priority is the Green Deal: to turn Europe into a “Carbon Neutral Society” by 2050. This means achieving a balance between the greenhouse gas emissions produced and those absorbed by natural or technological carbon sinks. The EU’s key strategies to achieve this balance include reducing emissions by massively increasing the use of “renewable energy” sources such as solar, wind, hydro and biomass, improving the energy efficiency of buildings, vehicles and industries, and moving towards low- or zero-emission industrial processes, particularly in steel, cement and chemicals.

They also aim to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to absorb and store CO2 from combustion sources or from the air. Carbon dioxide captured is typically stored in geological formations such as depleted natural gas fields, or old coal mines. In Europe, the North Sea seabed serves as an ideal location for carbon storage. The problem is that these CCS technologies are extremely expensive. Imposing them in the gigantic way that zero-carbon requires implies additional costs that are impossible for any developed economy to digest. That is probably why these fantastical CCS technologies play such a marginal role in Europe. The truth is that the reduction in CO2 emissions in Europe is almost exclusively due to industry leaving Europe. That is the dirty little secret of the Green Deal: Europe is reducing its CO2 emissions to the extent and in proportion to the destruction of its industry.

[..] If there is one reality that leaders whose power is founded on myths abhor, it is transparency. Whereas in 2020, the power of the American legacy media still allowed it to make people believe that Hunter Biden’s laptop was a Russian disinformation operation, over the last few years, this power was been reduced to shreds. The same shift is happening in Europe, under the influence not of European social media networks, because they do not exist, but of American ones, such as X. The EU elite has lost control of the narrative. Europeans are turning away from the lies and myths of the Green Deal en masse. This is what the EU cannot tolerate. By adopting the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU wanted to give itself an instrument with which to subdue the American platforms, and are obliged to fund hordes of censors to hunt down content that disagrees with the European Queen-Commission. The EU has been requiring a fine of 6% of worldwide revenue from social media companies, which would inevitably kill off the platforms.

These faceless censor-hunters, who are accountable to no one, are supposed to remove all content that is hateful, discriminatory or transphobic. None of these vague terms can be rigorously defined. Given the absence of precise definitions, the censors do whatever they want. The arbitrariness is total. In practice, these censors massively quash so-called “right-wing” content, while leaving the abundant anti-Semitic, Islamist and Marxist literature untouched. That, apparently, is the whole point. The European Left, like the American Left, devotes unlimited antagonism to anything that does not think like it, talk like it, dream, eat or work like it. By introducing legislation such as the DSA, Europe is asserting itself as a major player in the censorship camp, following the example of China, Iran, Russia and Islamist countries, and contributing to the de-civilization of the European continent. After all, isn’t freedom the definition, the reason for being and the sole distinguishing criterion of Western civilization?

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Milei took Argentina out as well yesterday.

• What to Know About US Withdrawal From the WHO (ET)

On the first day in office of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), making good on a project from his first administration. Trump’s Jan. 20 order halted U.S. funding to the United Nations body, citing the WHO’s “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China,” as well as other global health concerns. Negotiations with the group about a pandemic agreement and the International Health Regulations will be suspended while the withdrawal is taking place.Because of the 1948 joint resolution by Congress, the United States has the right to withdraw from the WHO, but it must give a one-year notice. The resolution also requires the United States to fulfill “financial obligations” to the WHO for the current fiscal year.

The United States is currently the largest WHO funder, contributing about $1.28 billion during 2022–2023, the last reported year on the organization’s website. That equates to almost half of the WHO’s joint external evaluation missions for the last fiscal year. The 2024–2025 fiscal year is shaping up similarly, with the United States serving as the largest donor by far, contributing an estimated $988 million, or roughly 14 percent of the WHO’s $6.9 billion budget. Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that the United States covers about 95 percent of the WHO’s work on tuberculosis in Europe and about 60 percent in Africa and the Western Pacific, and that the WHO’s Europe office is more than 8 percent reliant on U.S. contributions. Additionally, U.S. funding provides “the backbone of many of WHO’s large-scale emergency operations,” covering up to 40 percent of that funding.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described relations with the United States as “a good model partnership” during a press briefing in Geneva in December 2024. “[We] have been partnering for many years, and we believe that will be the case. And I believe the U.S. leaders understand that the United States cannot be safe unless the rest of the world is safe,” he told reporters. Following the announcement of Trump’s decision to remove the United States from the organization, Ghebreyesus spoke out, asking world leaders to push the White House to reverse the decision. The WHO chief said during a closed-door meeting with diplomats that the United States would miss out on critical information about disease outbreaks, The Associated Press reported.

George Kyriacou, the agency’s finance director, said if the WHO’s spending continues at its current level without funding from the United States, the organization would be “very much in a hand-to-mouth type situation” regarding cash flow for at least portions of 2026. Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have ordered agency employees to stop working with the WHO, effective immediately. John Nkengasong, the CDC’s deputy director for global health, sent a memo to agency leadership on Jan. 26 calling on staff to cease collaborating with the WHO immediately and wait for further guidance. CDC staff also are not allowed to engage with the WHO, virtually or in person, and staff members are not allowed to visit the WHO offices.

Some public health experts, including Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a professor of medicine and global health at UCLA who works with the WHO on sexually transmitted infections, have voiced concern about halting the collaboration.“Stopping communications and meetings with WHO is a big problem,” Klausner said. “People thought there would be a slow withdrawal. This has really caught everyone with their pants down.” The Trump administration said the WHO was not able to demonstrate independence from the “inappropriate political influence” of member states and had failed to “adopt urgently needed reforms.” The president’s executive order also cites “unfairly onerous payments” by the United States that Trump said are “far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payments.” “China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has 300 percent of the population of the United States, yet contributes nearly 90 percent less to the WHO,” the order stated.

This is Trump’s second attempt to withdraw from the WHO. The president began the process in 2020 because of frustration over the WHO’s reaction to China’s coverup of details surrounding the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The House Oversight and Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a report in December 2024 on the WHO’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, calling it “an abject failure.” According to the report, the WHO is accused of bending to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party and placing “China’s political interests ahead of its international duties.” As part of the alleged failure, the WHO reportedly ignored warnings by Taiwan on Dec. 31, 2019, about “atypical pneumonia cases” in Wuhan, which it asked the WHO to investigate. “The initial mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic not only potentially caused the further spread of the virus, but it created a situation where people lost trust in the global public health organization,” the report stated.

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“Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.”

• ‘Gov’t Is the People’s Business’: A Tribute to Ronald Reagan (Salgado)

On this day (Feb 6) in 1911, a boy was born who would go on to be one of the greatest American presidents: Ronald Reagan. “Government is the people’s business, and every man, woman and child becomes a shareholder with the first penny of tax paid,” Reagan said. It is unfortunate that some even in his own party no longer value his legacy much, framing him as a status quo president. He was not — he was a fighter, a reformer, and a great man hated by domestic leftists and foreign Communists alike but beloved by the Americans to whom he brought morning again in America.

Of course, he didn’t just bring America out of the horrible economic and political nightmare of the Jimmy Carter years; he also brought about the fall of the Soviet Union. Rejecting short-sighted pleas to drop the line, he stood fearlessly in front of the Berlin Wall, the physical divide between the free West and the authoritarian East, and cried, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” When the Berlin Wall came crashing down in 1989, in spite of the naysayers and petty dictators, in the same year Reagan had left office, it was Reagan’s victory as much as it was a victory for all the Germans and other Europeans who had defied Soviet tyranny.

There were leftists who sneered at Reagan because he had been an actor, and there were leftists who hated him because he was a Republican not afraid to challenge corrupt politicians. But not even a bullet could stop him. He was undoubtedly one of the greatest and most successful presidents in American history. And Americans knew it so well that in the 1984 election, he won 49 out of 50 states. Like those of so many other great men, Reagan‘s words are not only applicable to his own day but often applicable to ours. America will always be fighting authoritarians, both foreign and domestic; we will always have to struggle to preserve our constitutional republic. Or, as Reagan himself put it, even years before he became president:

Perhaps you and I have lived too long with this miracle to properly be appreciative. Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. And those in world history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again. How true it is that freedom is a fragile thing! Many individuals and groups, most notably the Democrat party, have been trying to limit or destroy our freedom for centuries now in America. Think how great the contrast has been between the Biden-Harris administration and the first couple weeks of the Trump administration.

Reagan knew what so many other politicians deny, that the rulers of America are supposed to be its citizens. “With all the profound wording of our federal Constitution, probably the most meaningful words are the first three, ‘We, the People,’” he said, in his same gubernatorial inaugural address quoted above. “And those of us here today who have been elected to constitutional office and to the legislature are in that three-word phrase. We are of the people, we are chosen by the people to see that no permanent structure of government ever encroaches on the people’s freedom or assumes a power beyond that which has freely been granted to us by the people. We stand between the taxpayer and the tax spender.”

The Founding Fathers would approve, but not the bureaucrats and political hacks who get into government only for their own benefit. It seems somewhat ironic that this address was originally delivered in California, when Reagan was becoming governor there. How far woke California has come from those days. Reagan must also have made his opponents squirm as he added, “Now, it is inconceivable to me that anyone could accept this delegated authority without asking God’s help. And I pray that we of the legislature and the administration can be granted the wisdom and the strength beyond our own limited powers. That with divine guidance we can avoid easy expedience. That we can work to build a state where liberty under law and justice can triumph, where compassion can govern and wherein the people can participate and prosper because of their government and not in spite of it.”

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Dana

 

 

Sunglasses

 

 

Queen

 

 

Mariana
https://twitter.com/i/status/1887327855882735634

 

 

Chirodectes

 

 

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Debt Rattle January 19 2025

Jan 192025
 
 January 19, 2025  Posted by at 10:35 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  64 Responses »


Salvador Dali The Feeling of Becoming 1931

 

• Hamas Names Israeli Hostages To Be Released First (RT)
• Netanyahu: Trump “Emphasized” That The Gaza Ceasefire Is “Temporary” (ZH)
• Trump’s 100 Executive Orders On Day One Promises Chaos, Huge Changes (Moran)
• Trump’s First Day Executive Orders To Touch A Wide Range Of Subjects (JTN)
• Top Priorities for Trump’s Presidency (ET)
• Most Americans Share Trump’s Views – Poll (RT)
• TikTok Goes Dark In The US (RT)
• Marco Rubio Says No Clear Reason Why US Bankrolled Ukraine (SCF)
• US Treasury To Take ‘Extraordinary Measures’ After Trump Inauguration (RT)
• Trump Plans Huge Chicago Illegal Immigrant Raid – WSJ (RT)
• Russia Warns Against UK-Ukraine Claims to Azov Sea (Sp.)
• Frozen Future? Europe’s Energy Crisis Worsens Amid Gas War (Sp.)
• New Juicy Details About How Biden Was Forced To Drop Out (Margolis)
• The Man Who Probably Will Not Be Allowed To Lead Romania (Karganovic)
• US Suspends EcoHealth Alliance, Peter Daszak (ZH)

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1880632659401212320

Noem

250

Maher

Speaker

Strzok
https://twitter.com/i/status/1880476390354755690

 

 

 

 

The ceasefire, which was due to start this morning at 6.30 GMT, was delayed because Hamas did not release the names of 3 female hostages to be freed. They blamed technical difficulties. A few hours later, Hamas released the names and the ceasefire officially started. Anyone’s guess how long it will last.

• Hamas Names Israeli Hostages To Be Released First (RT)

Hamas has released the names of the three Israeli captives to be freed on the first day of the implementation of the ceasefire deal in Gaza, a Hamas spokesperson said in a post on Telegram. The move potentially clears the way for the truce to begin after an hours-long delay. Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to cancel the ceasefire with Hamas if the Palestinian militant group did not provide a list of the Israeli hostages to be released in the first phase of the truce.

Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said, “As part of the prisoner exchange deal we decided to release today: Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Shtanbar Khair, 31.” The three civilian women were taken hostage on October 7, 2023 during the Hamas onslaught in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 were kidnapped to Gaza. Israeli airstrikes on Gaza continued on Sunday even after the planned start time for the ceasefire had passed. Netanyahu said the truce “will not begin” until Hamas provides a list of hostages to be released as part of the agreement.

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Bibi lost the support of Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir today, as well as two others. His majority is now razor thin.

• Netanyahu: Trump “Emphasized” That The Gaza Ceasefire Is “Temporary” (ZH)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued some surprisingly bold assertions in a national televised address given just 12-hours before the much anticipated Gaza ceasefire is set to go into effect Sunday morning. Both Biden and Trump have hailed and celebrated the deal, but it’s the Republican president-elect who is by and large receiving the most credit for seeing it to the finish line. Some Israeli media outlets have represented the whole thing as a ‘defeat’ for Netanyahu, who appeared to want to keep the war going until Hamas is completely eradicated. Among Netanyahu’s most provocative words on Saturday was his claim that he has the support of President-elect Trump in the scenario Israel feels it must abandon the ceasefire and keep fighting. He says he has Trump’s full backing to resume the war, and has claimed further that Trump too agreed that the truce is just “temporary”. Watch below:

“Netanyahu also asserted that he negotiated the best deal possible, even as Israel’s far-right Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he and most of his party would resign from the government in opposition to it,” Times of Israel notes of the remarks. And there’s some some last-minute details which threaten implementation of the ceasefire… The prime minister had warned earlier that a ceasefire wouldn’t go forward unless Israel received the names of hostages to be released, as had been agreed. His statement came almost three hours after Israel had expected to receive the names from mediator Qatar. There was no immediate response from Qatar or Hamas. But without doubt Netanyahu is feeling the pressure, both within but even more from external allies, especially Washington – which writes the checks for the Israeli war machine.

As for Netanyahu’s talk of the deal being ‘temporary’ it’s unclear whether the Trump team agrees with this assessment. There hasn’t been any initial reaction from Trump as he prepares for the inauguration Monday. But Trump without doubt wants a ceasefire to stick, and is likely to be celebrating its implementation during some of Monday’s inaugural remarks. He has vowed to wind down various conflict hot spots, especially Ukraine, and bring peace. He has also warned that there will be “hell to pay” if Hamas doesn’t uphold its end of the truce deal. This suggests Netanyahu could be telling the truth, or at least an interpretation of it. An initial small group of hostages are expected to be returned to Israel by Sunday evening, with hopeful families awaiting and on edge.

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“It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose,” said FDR. It’s a shame that this president will have to do both.”

• Trump’s 100 Executive Orders On Day One Promises Chaos, Huge Changes (Moran)

Trump aides are calling it “Shock and Awe.” There will be 100 executive orders (EO) and other executive actions starting Monday, Jan. 20. Indeed, most executive actions aren’t going to “shock” a lot of people. Trump has talked about all of them in the campaign and during his years in exile since his defeat in 2020. The scope of some of the EOs is broader than some on the left have been predicting, and narrower than some on the right were hoping for. The audacious nature of the 100 EOs masks the probability that almost all of them will be challenged in federal court. Even if the challenges are eventually unsuccessful, some of the executive orders will be picked apart or canceled altogether. The EOs that have garnered the most interest and that have been the target of a hysterical scare campaign on the left are the orders relating to illegal aliens.

In fact, the first actions taken by Customs and Border Protection (CPB) will be to pick up illegal aliens who have committed felonies. “That’s the low-hanging fruit,” said Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford. “People that recently crossed, people that were legally present and committed other crimes, people that the court has ordered them removed — that’s well over a million people. Start working through that process.” In the meantime, Trump is going to reinstitute the most effective guard against illegal immigration in history: Title 42. The measure was adopted during the pandemic as a public health rule, but Trump is planning to stretch the definition to cover the current border crisis. This will set offer howls of outrage among open borders advocates and will be challenged in court. Trump has several other actions planned to secure the border.

New York Sun: “Trump could also move to allow use of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which would authorize some state and local law enforcement to aid Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, Axios has reported. On another front, Trump has vowed to issue an executive order to strip away birthright citizenship, which ensures children born to parents who do not have legal status in America are American citizens. That will likely set up a clash over the 14th Amendment that could wind up at the Supreme Court.” Trump has also promised to strip some federal funds from going to sanctuary states and cities. He tried the same thing during his first term, and was slapped down by appeals courts because, according to Eugene Volokh, the policy “ran afoul of constitutional limits on federal power and on executive power over the budget.”

Trump is hoping that the 54 judges he appointed to the appeals courts will take a different view of the constitutionality of denying funds to sanctuary cities. Other EOs that Trump is expected to sign include actions on energy and trade. “We will begin charging those that make money off us with Trade, and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fair share,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He also announced that on Jan. 20, he would develop an “External Revenue Service.” This new agency will “collect tariffs, duties, and all revenue” from overseas. On foreign policy, China should prepare itself. In addition to slapping China with tariffs, Trump has vowed to rescind its designated status of “permanent normal trade relations,” also known as “most favored nation.” The status was granted more than two decades ago as China prepared to enter the World Trade Organization.

Such a move is popular among congressional Republicans, who think granting China “normal” status and allowing the nation into the WTO was detrimental to the American economy. But the move would likely require congressional action. On Ukraine, although Trump has said he could stop the war in “24 hours,” it will take considerably longer, given the animosity between the two countries. But Ukraine’s President Zelensky finally appears ready to deal. How far he will go for a ceasefire will determine how long the negotiations take. Not all of Trump’s day-one actions will require an EO. Many of the actions will be to rescind Biden administration EOs. Trump is trying to do as much as he can as president, because he knows that once he’s forced to work through Congress, a quagmire will ensue.

This appears to be the fate of all presidents, present and future. Congress has abandoned its constitutional responsibility to govern. “It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose,” said FDR. It’s a shame that this president will have to do both.

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He won’t get much sleep.

• Trump’s First Day Executive Orders To Touch A Wide Range Of Subjects (JTN)

President-elect Donald Trump is set to formally take office on Monday after which he is expected to sign an exploding ball of executive orders that will set the tone for his administration on key issues, namely border security and energy. On the campaign, Trump facetiously quipped that he would not act as a dictator or impose authoritarian rule “except for day one.” “We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. Other than that I’m not gonna be a dictator,” he told an amused Sean Hannity during a town hall event last year. Since then, reports have emerged that Trump could sign as many as 100 executive orders on his first day in office. Trump himself made a litany of “day one” promises while on the campaign trail that included moves on nearly every key issue.

Such promises included the convening of a task force to plan America’s 250th birthday, the start of mass deportations, the imposition of tariffs on Mexico, an end to birthright citizenship, the termination of migrant flights, deregulations, orders permitting the expansion of energy production, restrictions on DEI and other programs, and the rooting out of career bureaucrats who work against his agenda. Immigration and border security During a recent meeting with Republican senators, Trump adviser Stephen Miller highlighted planned actions on immigration to begin early in the administration as part of what the Associated Press called “executive punch unseen in modern times.” Among the most highly-anticipated order will be the return of the “Remain-in-Mexico” policy requiring that would-be asylees stay outside the U.S. ahead of their court dates.

Others are likely to address the completion of the southern border wall, Trump’s signature campaign promise from 2016, while others are expected to target groups of illegal aliens that recently entered the United States and those who have already been approved for deportation.Some of the immigration orders may stall, however, with the Senate evidently hesitant to speedily confirm some of his key nominees for posts relevant to those policies. Still, some of his border actions will need only the weight of the president’s signature. One of his key immigration promises was to implement an executive order directing federal agents to interpret the law in a way that would not grant the children of illegal immigrants American citizenship. Trump made that promise in May of 2023, at which time it generated considerable legal speculation about the likely challenges to such a dramatic reinterpretation of the law.

Trump promised to begin mass deportations on day one, but some sources have suggested the deportation numbers will be low at first and gradually build while the administration gets its apparatus in place. “You’re not going to see historic numbers in month one. You start to see a steady increase, and then it’ll keep building and building,” one source familiar with the administration’s plans told Politico. nIndependent of immigration, Trump reportedly plans to target energy production, in part by rolling back Biden-era executive orders and environmental regulations. Specifically, Trump has taken aim at the Biden administration’s natural gas export restrictions and electric vehicle mandates, vowing to end them on day one and to expand fracking in Pennsylvania.

The natural gas export ban was part of the Biden administration’s climate change initiatives and was ostensibly temporary, though it faced legal challenges and the Department of Justice in December asked the courts to halt proceedings, given the incoming Trump administration was likely to end the ban anyway. The electric vehicle mandate, meanwhile, was a regular fixture of Trump’s campaign, especially amid United Auto Workers’ lengthy strike. Trump made the argument that the Green New Deal and the Biden administration’s effort to transfer auto-manufacturing to electric vehicles would bankrupt the industry and result in additional offshoring of their jobs. “I will cancel her insane electric vehicle mandate. It’ll be ended on day one,” he promised.

Jan. 6 pardons? In December, Trump promised to pardon Jan. 6 participants on his first day, saying they were “living in Hell” as the Justice Department pursued charges over their involvement in the incident. More than 1,500 people have faced charges related to Jan. 6 but the scope of Trump’s planned pardons remains unclear, especially whether they will include those convicted of violent offenses. Trump’s actual day one schedule was changed last minute due to inclement weather, with the Inauguration itself being moved inside the Capitol Rotunda, a move not seen since President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985. After the swearing-in ceremony, Trump plans to travel to the Capital One arena, which will be open for the crowd to watch the ceremony on a large screen. After that appearance, he is expected to make his way to the White House to begin signing his many planned executive orders.

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He has to undo 4 years of “Biden”.

• Top Priorities for Trump’s Presidency (ET)

Readers of The Epoch Times have identified border security, fiscal responsibility, and national defense as the top priorities for President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. A poll of 26,740 readers, conducted between Jan. 10–13, points to these issues as key areas of focus, reflecting widespread concern over unchecked immigration, economic instability, and global security threats.

Meanwhile, write-in responses by readers of The Epoch Times highlighted strong support for government reform, coupled with opposition to progressive policies such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Border security and deportations topped the list, with 90 percent of respondents considering it “extremely important.” This aligns with Trump’s campaign pledge to launch what he has described as the largest deportation operation in American history, set to begin immediately after his inauguration on Jan. 20. “On my first day back in the Oval Office, I will sign a historic slate of executive orders to close our border to illegal aliens and stop the invasion of our country,” Trump said during a Turning Point USA conference in Phoenix in December 2024. Besides vowing to deport millions of illegal immigrants, Trump also plans to end birthright citizenship, in which anyone born in the United States is currently given automatic citizenship, including to parents of illegal immigrants.

Fiscal Discipline and Economic Stability. Government spending and debt reduction ranked as the second-highest priority, with 82 percent of respondents highlighting the need for fiscal discipline. Concerns over the ballooning national debt—now at $36.22 trillion—is a key concern. The president-elect has said he intends to address these issues through measures such as cutting wasteful spending and reforming federal agencies. To spearhead these efforts, Trump has proposed the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy tapped to lead the initiative. DOGE aims to slash $2 trillion from the federal budget.

“Your money is being wasted,” Musk said at a Trump rally in New York in October 2024, underscoring Trump’s commitment to tackle government inefficiency and cut wasteful spending. The federal government spent $6.75 trillion in fiscal year 2024—which was $1.83 trillion more than it collected in revenue—pushing the national debt up to $36.22 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. So far in fiscal year 2025, which runs until the end of September, the government has already spent $1.79 trillion.

The issue of debt sustainability, long a concern of fiscal conservatives, has clearly been on Trump’s radar. In a statement announcing the nomination of Scott Bessent to serve as his Treasury secretary, Trump said his administration would “reinvigorate the private sector, and help curb the unsustainable path of federal debt.” The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has warned about the unsustainable trajectory of federal debt, projecting it to climb to a hefty 181 percent of GDP by 2053. If left unchecked, this rising debt is expected to slow economic growth, increase interest payments to foreign creditors, and limit lawmakers’ flexibility to address future fiscal and economic challenges, according to the CBO.

Strengthening National Defense and Securing Elections. Military strength and national security emerged as the third most important priority, with 77 percent of respondents citing it as “extremely important.” Concerns over global threats from adversaries such as China and Russia have amplified calls for bolstering America’s defense capabilities. Trump’s proposed “peace through strength” agenda emphasizes modernizing the military, increasing operational readiness, and reinforcing U.S. deterrence on the world stage. On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to reform the U.S. military, criticizing “woke” policies that he says undermine the nation’s warfighting capacity.

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More than his approval rating.

• Most Americans Share Trump’s Views – Poll (RT)

Most Americans support Donald Trump’s policies, despite the president-elect’s approval rating hovering around 50 percent, according to a New York Times and Ipsos poll published on Saturday. The poll, which surveyed 2,128 adults between January 2 and 10, indicated strong backing for several of Trump’s key policy priorities, such as reducing illegal immigration and implementing protectionist measures against Chinese imports. More than two-thirds of respondents opposed offering so-called “gender-affirming care” to children, another major agenda item for Trump. Approximately 71% of Americans believe that no minors should be prescribed puberty-blocking drugs or hormones. Last month, Trump vowed to end “transgender lunacy,” promising to prohibit sex change surgeries for minors and keep trans athletes out of women’s sports.

Nearly four in five respondents agreed that athletes who were assigned male at birth but transitioned should not be allowed to compete against women in sports. A vast majority of respondents – 87% – supported deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records, one of Trump’s central talking points during his reelection campaign. More than half of respondents either strongly or somewhat supported the deportation of all illegal immigrants in the US, according to the poll results. Nearly two-thirds of respondents – including 54% of Hispanics and 44% of Democrats – favored deporting undocumented migrants who entered the US during President Joe Biden’s last four years in office. The Biden administration reversed several immigration restrictions set by Trump during his first presidency, contributing to a spike in illegal immigration.

Support for Trump’s promises to impose heavier tariffs on Chinese and Mexican imports was nearly evenly split, but slightly leaning toward opposition. Approximately 46% supported raising tariffs on goods imported from China and Mexico, while 50% opposed such measures. Trump’s favorability rating remains just below 50%, according to data posted by poll aggregator website FiveThirtyEight on Friday. More than half of Americans view the entire US political system as broken, according to the NYT/Ipsos poll. Some 57% of Democrats and 63% of Republicans believe that the American political system has been broken for decades.

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TikTok itself pulled the plug. From yesterday: “The platform’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration and has thanked Trump for his readiness to work on averting the ban. Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, has signaled that TikTok could remain operational if a “viable deal” is reached. “We will put measures in place to keep TikTok from going dark,” Waltz said, adding that the legislation allows a 90-day extension for ByteDance to finalize divestiture.”

• TikTok Goes Dark In The US (RT)

Some 170 million US users of the viral social media app TikTok faced a blackout of the service on Saturday, days after the Supreme Court passed a decision that could lead to a national ban of the platform. On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that TikTok needs to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by Sunday or face a ban. Late Saturday, users in the US received an update for TikTok, blocking the application’s use and explaining the outage. “We regret that a US law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable,” the messages said. “We’re working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible.” TikTok warned about the possible suspension of its services in a statement on its newsroom page on Saturday.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” TikTok said in the statement. The Supreme Court’s decision stems from allegations that ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok poses a risk to US national security. According to the court, the app’s ownership could potentially allow the Chinese government access to American users’ data. TikTok has dismissed allegations that its Chinese ownership poses a threat, maintaining that it has “never shared” American users’ data with Beijing. President-elect Donald Trump has signaled that he will probably give the app a temporary reprieve from the ban to allow it to sell to a non-Chinese company. Trump will “most likely” give the app a “90-day extension,” he told NBC news in a phone interview on Saturday.

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Rubio is all about China.

• Marco Rubio Says No Clear Reason Why US Bankrolled Ukraine (SCF)

It doesn’t bode well that the next U.S. Secretary of State begins his top-flight position in government by telling blatant lies and fatuities. Marco Rubio (53) is a sure bet to be confirmed as America’s most senior international envoy representing the new administration of President Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated in the White House on Monday. This week, Florida Senator Rubio appeared before the Senate in confirmation hearings for his post. Rubio has been a senator since 2011 and has served on foreign relations and intelligence committees. Despite bitter personal clashes with Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign, Rubio was picked for the top diplomat post in the incoming administration. The confirmation is a done deal given his deep connections in Congress among Republicans and Democrats.

The ambitious son of Cuban immigrants is known for his hawkish views. He previously called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “thug” and described Russia as a “gangster state with nuclear weapons.” Any future trips to Moscow will be awkward to say the least, especially when the “tough guy” Floridian meets a real diplomat like Russia’s Sergei Lavrov. Strangely, though, this week, Rubio projected himself as the voice of reason and diplomacy. It was quite a U-turn. He told the Senate committee that the top priority of the Trump administration will be to bring the war in Ukraine to an end. That view aligns with Trump’s oft-expressed desire for a settlement to the three-year conflict. There’s a lot to parse in Rubio’s weasel words. He informed senators: ”It should be the official policy of the United States that we want to see it [the war] end… This is not going to be an easy endeavor… My hope is that it could begin with some ceasefire.”

Rubio was one of the biggest cheerleaders for the Ukrainian regime, believing that it would inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. Now, he has suddenly been overcome with seeming prudence and concern for peace by declaring that Ukraine cannot possibly win against Russia. Rubio went on: “In order to achieve objectives like the one that needs to occur in Ukraine, it is important for everyone to be realistic. There will have to be concessions made by the Russian Federation, but also by the Ukrainians, and the United States lends itself there. It’s also important that there be some balance on both sides.” So, you see what’s happening here. Rubio is uncharacteristically sounding like a peace envoy – after years of spouting belligerence towards Russia – and sneakily setting up the United States to be a kind of broker between two warring parties.

Note how he advocates concessions by both sides – Ukraine and Russia – without mentioning that the U.S. is a principal party to the conflict (albeit by using proxy Ukraine). He appeals to people to be “realistic” because Ukraine can’t win and it is “running out of Ukrainians.” This is after Rubio and countless other hawkish politicians in Washington pushed this war to the destruction of Ukraine, with over one million casualties from far superior Russian firepower. Rubio and his imperialist warmongering ilk have pushed this proxy war at the risk of inciting a nuclear conflagration with Russia. But it was the bit when Rubio tried to sound like the innocent diplomat deploring violence that peaked contempt for this pathetic Yes Man.

After acknowledging that the United States has supplied Ukraine with $175 billion in total aid, including at least $65 billion in military, since the eruption of conflict in February 2022, Rubio complained that it was “never clearly delineated what the end goal of the conflict was.” He added: “What exactly were we funding? What exactly were we putting money towards? On many occasions, it sounded like ‘however much it takes for however long it takes’. That is not a realistic or prudent position.” Marco Rubio is a liar. He knows full well from his deep involvement in U.S. imperialist machinations that the plan was to sponsor a NeoNazi regime in Kiev since the CIA-backed in 2014 to wage war on Russia for its calculated strategic defeat and conquest. Washington bankrolled Ukrainian fascists to do its dirty work. That’s exactly what it was funding. Now Rubio is pretending that it was all some kind of misadventure that needs to be brought to a settlement.

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Tuesday. Is that under Yellen or Bessent?

• US Treasury To Take ‘Extraordinary Measures’ After Trump Inauguration (RT)

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said her department will take “extraordinary measures” to prevent the US from hitting the national debt limit on Tuesday, one day after President-elect Donald Trump takes office. In a letter to Congress on Friday, Yellen explained that the US will hit its roughly $36 trillion debt limit between January 14 and January 23, potentially leading to a default. To avoid this possibility, Yellen said the Treasury Department will use a number of accounting tricks, including pausing payments into civil service retirement accounts until Congress and the president agree to raise the debt ceiling again. Yellen did not say for how long her measures will forestall a default. sThe US debt ceiling was raised three times during President Joe Biden’s term in the White House.

Last month, Trump pressed House Republicans to include another raise in a stopgap spending bill, but the proposal was ultimately defeated by dozens of fiscal conservatives in the GOP. Trump has repeatedly said that the debt ceiling should be abolished altogether to avoid such near-yearly showdowns, arguing that the limit – which is intended to restrict government borrowing – is pointless when it is repeatedly raised. ”It doesn’t mean anything, except psychologically,” he told NBC News last month. “The Democrats have said they want to get rid of it. If they want to get rid of it, I would lead the charge.” Scott Bessent, Trump’s pick to replace Yellen, has said he would work with Congress to repeal the debt ceiling if instructed by Trump.

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“The raid will begin on Tuesday morning and last all week..”

• Trump Plans Huge Chicago Illegal Immigrant Raid – WSJ (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump will kick off his deportation drive with a large-scale raid in Chicago one day after his inauguration, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Hundreds of immigration officers are expected to take part in the raid. The raid will begin on Tuesday morning and last all week, with between 100 and 200 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers deployed to the city, the newspaper reported, citing four anonymous sources. Officers will target illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds, although anyone present during arrests who entered the country illegally will also be detained, the sources said. Trump promised on the campaign trail that if elected, he would lead “the largest deportation operation in American history.”

In an interview with MSNBC last month, he said he would start by deporting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes inside the US, before moving on to “people outside of criminals.” There are thought to be anywhere between 11 million an 35 million illegal immigrants living in the US. The president-elect has appointed former ICE Director Tom Homan as his ‘border czar’, and tasked him with carrying out the deportations. “We’re going to start right here in Chicago, Illinois,” Homan said at a Republican dinner in the city last month. “And if the Chicago mayor doesn’t want to help, he can step aside. But if he impedes us, if he knowingly harbors or conceals an illegal alien, I will prosecute him.” Chicago was chosen as the location of the first raid because of its high numbers of illegal immigrants and Trump’s animosity with the city’s Democratic mayor, Brandon Johnson, the Wall Street Journal’s sources said.

Chicago is a so-called ‘sanctuary city’, meaning the city authorities do not ask about immigration status, and are forbidden from cooperating with federal immigration agencies such as ICE. Johnson has vowed to keep these policies in place, and on Wednesday, the Chicago City Council sided with him, voting 39-11 against a measure that would have allowed city police officers to work with ICE on immigration cases. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Police Department said that while its officers would not take part in the upcoming raid, they “will not intervene or interfere with any other government agencies performing their duties.” More raids are expected to follow, the newspaper reported, adding that large immigrant centers such as New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and Miami are considered top targets for the Trump administration.

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“..the Azov Sea became Russia’s internal sea. Any claims to its waters are gross interference in the internal affairs of our country..”

• Russia Warns Against UK-Ukraine Claims to Azov Sea (Sp.)

Russia will firmly suppress any attempts to lay claims to the Sea of Azov after it became its internal sea, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday. “Neither Ukraine nor the UK has any room for cooperation in the Azov Sea. After the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions joined Russia in September 2022, the Azov Sea became Russia’s internal sea. Any claims to its waters are gross interference in the internal affairs of our country and will be severely suppressed,” Zakharova said.

Moscow considers this agreement to be nothing more than a PR stunt, she added. “Behind this, we see London’s long-standing desire to gain a foothold in these waters, especially in the Azov-Black Sea basin. Kiev, despite all its geopolitical claims, has been assigned only a supporting role in this,” Zakharova said. On Thursday, Ukraine and the United Kingdom signed a “One Hundred Year Partnership Agreement,” pledging to enhance maritime cooperation in the Baltic, Black and Azov seas.

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“..disrupted supplies to Austria, Italy and Central Europe, raising energy prices and prompting regional efforts to minimize the impact.”

• Frozen Future? Europe’s Energy Crisis Worsens Amid Gas War (Sp.)

Ukraine’s halt to the transit of Russian gas, combined with sanctions imposed by the US on Russian oil and gas companies, pose a significant risk of plunging Europe into a new energy crisis. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban raised these concerns during his visit to Belgrade, where he held talks focused on energy challenges with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. “Recent developments in Europe’s energy supply are alarming,” Orban said in a video message aired on Hungarian television. “Ukraine has blocked a pipeline that supplied gas to Hungary, and the US administration has introduced sanctions that have driven up energy prices across Europe. The continent is hurtling toward another energy crisis,” Orban said.

The outgoing US government imposed sanctions on Russia’s oil and gas sector on January 10, targeting companies like Gazprom, Neft and Novatek, 183 tanker vessels and top executives. Serbia’s NIS, partly owned by Gazprom, was also affected, with the US demanding the cancellation of Russian investments by February 25. Combined with Ukraine’s block on Russian gas transit on January 1, the actions have disrupted supplies to Austria, Italy and Central Europe, raising energy prices and prompting regional efforts to minimize the impact.

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“..he did not argue, and he did not shout. “I need a week,” was all he said.”

• New Juicy Details About How Biden Was Forced To Drop Out (Margolis)

“If you run and you lose to Trump, and we lose the Senate, and we don’t get back the House, that 50 years of amazing, beautiful work goes out the window,” Schumer told him. “But worse — you go down in American history as one of the darkest figures.” Schumer added, “If I were you, I wouldn’t run, and I’m urging you not to run.” Democrats spent years dismissing concerns over Mr. Biden’s age and mental fitness for the presidency, and ultimately spearheaded the effort to pressure him into stepping aside. Amusingly, the story makes clear that Schumer’s concern wasn’t over Biden’s ability to do the job.

For months, Mr. Schumer had been concerned that Mr. Biden was going to lose to Mr. Trump and cost Democrats Congress. It wasn’t that he thought Mr. Biden was not capable of the job. During their weekly conversations, the president often rambled, but he had always rambled. Once in a while, Mr. Biden would forget why he had called, but Mr. Schumer thought little of it. He was convinced that Mr. Biden could handle the job. According to the story, Republican attacks about Biden being old and senile were just too much to overcome—even though the mainstream media was rabidly pushing the Democratic Party line.

“Long before the president’s disastrous debate performance, Mr. Schumer had privately concluded that the barrier of Mr. Biden’s age was too much for him to overcome,” the report says. The debate wound up being “a gift” in the eyes of Chuck Schumer, because it became “a forcing mechanism to start an overdue discussion about the president’s political viability.” As concerns mounted over President Biden’s ability to continue his campaign, Biden continued to refuse to step aside, sending a defiant letter on July 8 declaring his intention to stay in the race, angering congressional Democrats. At a tense July 11 meeting, frustrated senators demanded proof of Biden’s fitness, with some warning their silence would soon end.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island told Mr. Biden’s aides that the silence from the majority of Democratic senators should not be interpreted as a sign of support. It was out of respect and affection to allow Mr. Biden time to gracefully exit the race, but it would not last forever, he said, because if they continued to vouch for his fitness, they would be “lying.”. As support from the caucus was crumbling, Schumer ultimately was the one who went to Biden’s beach house to “deliver his own blunt message.” Mr. Schumer said if he had even a 50 percent chance of winning, he would probably keep going. “Fifty-fifty, to do this, to stay here; it’s worth it,” he said. “But, Mr. President, you’re not getting the information as to what the chances are.”

When he asked whether Mr. Biden had talked to his pollsters about his chances of winning the race, the president shook his head. “Well, I have talked to them,” Mr. Schumer said. “My guess is you have about a 5 percent chance. None of your pollsters disagree with me.” Only twice did Mr. Biden interrupt to ask a question, and both times it was: “Do you really think Kamala can win?” Mr. Schumer said that he didn’t know, but that she had a far better chance than Mr. Biden did. (Mr. Biden has since made it clear that he disagrees. In an interview with USA Today, the president said of whether he could have defeated Mr. Trump: “It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes.”) […] At the time, Mr. Biden revealed little of his own thinking, but he did not argue, and he did not shout. “I need a week,” was all he said.

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“..what passes for “Western democracy.”

• The Man Who Probably Will Not Be Allowed To Lead Romania (Karganovic)

Calin Georgescu rightfully has a huge grievance against what passes for “Western democracy.” He is the clear first-round winner in the Presidential elections held in Romania late last year. Yet his projected even more resounding victory in the second round, scheduled for early December 2024, was scrapped (as the BBC indelicately put it) following a Romanian Supreme Court ruling that the electoral process was marred by alleged hybrid warfare interference conducted by Russia on Georgescu’s behalf.

How do you “scrap” elections in a vibrant democracy such as Romania, which also happens to be a member in good standing of NATO and the European Union, which are bastions of liberal freedoms and the rule of law? Well, you do it by making up a bogus dossier on the political candidate that you dislike and by ordering the local judiciary to act on it as if it were genuine evidence. The dossier purporting to document the alleged interference was so patently phony that at its first sitting to consider the matter the Romanian Supreme Court dismissed it out of hand. This show of integrity did not sit well at all with the paladins of the rules-based order. So they ordered the judges to reassemble forthwith in their chambers and to get it right this time. On 6 December the distinguished Romanian jurists did just that and obediently reversed their ruling issued just four days previously.

Citing Article 146 (f) of the Romanian Constitution concerning the legality and correctness of the presidential elections, the Court ordered that the “entire electoral process will be integrally redone.” So the result of the first round was duly “scrapped” and along with it the second round as well. The second round, which was in progress as the judges hurriedly improvised their new ruling, was stopped in its tracks. As even the Atlantic Council, no friend of elections which go the wrong way, was compelled to admit “the rollout of the decision was somewhat fumbled, as it became public while polling stations were already open for the [Romanian] diaspora in the second-round presidential election, and by the time the process was stopped, around 53,000 citizens abroad had already voted.” Scrapped just in time, because the Romanian diaspora was known to be a hotbed of Georgescu supporters.

The Presidential election was set by the judges for an unspecified date in the future. Some rumours suggest that it might be in May of this year, or whenever it is that the stage can be prepared to ensure the right outcome. In the meantime, Klaus Iohannis, who should have relinquished his post in December to his successor, is now as legally “expired” as his Ukrainian colleague Zelensky. But that does not seem to bother any of the vociferous champions of the democratic process. Iohannis after all is their man. The Romanian public, however, do not seem to take kindly to electoral interference by the compliant judges and their string-pullers, who are widely suspected of being located abroad but not in Russia. Thousands have been marching in the streets of Bucharest and other major cities to oppose the cancellation of the elections.

How much good it will do them in a country that has embraced the principles of Western democracy remains to be seen. The protagonist of this political earthquake who was not permitted to democratically establish his credentials as the new President of Romania, Calin Georgescu, ever since his first-round triumph has been subjected to the full measure of calumny that is reserved for those whom the globalist system perceives as a non-team-player and a threat. The hope was evidently that he would be successfully discredited and simply fade away, allowing the charade of “democratic elections” with a prearranged outcome to be repeated whenever it is judged safe to do so.

Expectedly, the Georgescu affair with its scandalous implications has been largely ignored by the collective West media, except for a few derogatory observations here and there at the banned candidate’s expense. The Georgescu story might have died a quiet death but for the professionalism of American podcaster Shawn Ryan, who decided to perform a public service by travelling to Romania to find out first-hand what the electoral commotion was all about. The result was a remarkable interview with the man who by all reasonable estimates should be sitting today in the Presidential office in Bucharest. It is worth viewing carefully and in its entirety for the insights it affords into the sombre times in which we happen to live.

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Suspend them, but not Fauci? How does that work?

• US Suspends EcoHealth Alliance, Peter Daszak (ZH)

EcoHealth Alliance, the nonprofit that Dr. Anthony Fauci used to offshore risky gain-of-function research 6 months before the Obama administration banned it, has finally been cut off by the US Government – along with its former president, Peter Daszak, for a period of five years following scrutiny over its work in Wuhan, China ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision by the Department of Health and Human Services was based on findings by the House Oversight Committee, which announced on Friday that EcoHealth and Daszak had been disbarred. “Justice for the American people was served today,” said Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) in a statement.

“Bad actor EcoHealth Alliance and its corrupt former President, Dr. Peter Daszak, were formally debarred by HHS for using taxpayer funds to facilitate dangerous gain-of-function research in China. Today’s decision is not only a victory for the U.S. taxpayer, but also for American national security and the safety of citizens worldwide.” EcoHealth funding had been suspended in May by HHS, which recommended a permanent ban on funding the nonprofit. “Given that a lab-related incident involving gain-of-function research is the most likely origin of COVID-19, EcoHealth and its former President should never again receive a single cent from the U.S. taxpayer,” Comer continued. As journalist Paul Thacker noted in June, the NIH lied about EcoHealth’s gain-of-function research, feeding lies to reporters, while lying to Congress.

Meanwhile, former NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci ‘prompted’ the fabrication of a paper by a cadre of scientists aimed at disproving the Covid-19 lab-leak theory. According to US Right to Know, emails obtained in 2020 revealed that a statement in The Lancet authored by 27 prominent public health scientists condemning “conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin” was organized by employees of EcoHealth Alliance, a non-profit group that has received millions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer funding to genetically manipulate coronaviruses with scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The emails obtained via public records requests show that EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak drafted the Lancet statement, and that he intended it to “not be identifiable as coming from any one organization or person” but rather to be seen as “simply a letter from leading scientists”.

To review; The US was doing risky gain-of-function research on US soil until 2014, when the Obama administration banned it. Four months before the ban, Dr. Fauci offshored it to Wuhan, China through New York nonprofit, EcoHealth Alliance. After Sars-CoV-2 broke out down the street from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Fauci engaged in a massive campaign to deny the possibility of a lab-leak from the lab he funded, and instead pin the blame on a yet-to-be discovered zoonotic intermediary species.

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Clock

 

 

Clean

 

 

Tree

 

 

Real love
https://twitter.com/i/status/1880380928050213339

 

 

Shaolin
https://twitter.com/i/status/1880282013938380849

 

 

Remora

 

 

Frens

 

 

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Debt Rattle January 18 2025

Jan 182025
 
 January 18, 2025  Posted by at 10:25 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  39 Responses »


Alfred Eisenstaedt The kiss (V-J Day in Times Square) 1945

 

• ‘Obstacles’ To Ceasefire With Israel Removed – Hamas (RT)
• Steve Witkoff: The Real Estate Investor Who Sealed The Gaza Ceasefire (MEE)
• Trump Inauguration Forced Indoors (RT)
• Authorities Preparing For “Worst Case Scenarios” Ahead of Trump Inauguration (MN)
• Some State Governors Order Flags Up For Trump Inauguration (JTN)
• Trump Holds ‘Very Good’ Call With Xi (RT)
• Trump Teases TikTok Decision (RT)
• Greenland Responds To Trump’s Acquisition Proposal (RT)
• Greenlandic Lawmaker Reveals Five Possible Options in Status Referendum (Sp.)
• Trump Must Not Flunk His Litmus Test (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Can the US Justice System Be Reformed to Serve Justice? (Paul Craig Roberts)
• EU Faces Up To €1 Trillion Loss For Cutting Russian Gas (RT)
• EU’s Kallas Rules Out Lifting Russia Sanctions (RT)
• Biden Commutes Sentences for Nearly 2,500 Non-Violent Drug Offenders (ET)
• Biden Considered Pardoning Trump – NBC (RT)
• Joe Biden: An Assessment (Jim Kunstler)
• Pakistan’s Imran Khan Sentenced To 14 Years In Prison (ZH)

 

 

President Donald Trump will become the first president since Ronald Reagan in 1985 to be sworn in indoors, breaking from the traditional outdoor inaugural ceremony. Reagan’s second inauguration was moved to the Capitol Rotunda due to brutal weather conditions, with temperatures dropping to 7°F and a windchill of -25°F.

Similarly, President Trump announced on Friday that his inauguration would take place indoors at the Capitol Rotunda, citing forecasts of severe winter weather. Temperatures in Washington, D.C., are expected to hover in the upper 20s on Monday, accompanied by ferocious winds that could make outdoor conditions unsafe for attendees. The indoor ceremony will include Trump’s inaugural address, along with prayers and speeches, offering a more controlled and comfortable setting amid the harsh weather.

 

 

Pam

Kristi

Self deportation

Mike Davis

Tucker Sean Davis

Watters LA

Sachs Biden

 

 

 

 

The big “inflection point” in the Gaza talks came last week, Jan 10, when Trump, on Truth Social, without any comment, posted a video of Jeffrey Sachs labeling Netanyahu a “deep, dark son of a bitch”. That’s how Trump let Bibi know.

• ‘Obstacles’ To Ceasefire With Israel Removed – Hamas (RT)

Hamas and Israel have been able to remove the roadblocks to the comprehensive ceasefire deal reached earlier this week, the Palestinian group has said. In a statement on Friday, Hamas said that “the obstacles that arose due to the occupation’s failure to abide by the terms of the ceasefire agreement were resolved at dawn today.” It did not elaborate on the nature of the hurdles, but noted that “the movement sought a national exchange deal from all factions and members of our people.” The group added that it became possible thanks to “generous efforts of the mediators.” While it did not name the countries, Qatar and Egypt have been particularly deeply involved in facilitating the peace process. The group also noted it would soon publish the lists of Palestinian prisoners to be freed as part of the first phase of the exchange deal.

On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire in a bid to end their 15-month conflict in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of over 1,100 Israelis and 46,000 Palestinians.The deal, which was mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US, is split into three phases. During the first phase, which is to last 42 days, Hamas expected to release 33 hostages, including children, female soldiers, wounded and sick, in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinians. The latter stages, which have not yet been worked out in detail, will presumably see the release of the remaining hostages and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, according to US President Joe Biden. Following the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of backtracking on parts of the agreement and trying to “extort last-minute concessions.” Hamas has stressed it remains committed for the deal while accusing West Jerusalem of launching an attack on “a place where one of the female prisoners of the first stage of the ceasefire deal was located.”

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Trump selected a real estate man, like himself, for this task. Because in his view they are the best negotiators.

• Steve Witkoff: The Real Estate Investor Who Sealed The Gaza Ceasefire (MEE)

On Saturday, Gaza ceasefire talks were down to the wire, and President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy wanted to hash out the deal once and for all with Benjamin Netanyahu, but the Israeli leader’s office said he could not be roused during Shabbat. Steve Witkoff allegedly gave a “salty” reply, making it clear he didn’t care if it was the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest. In the words of one report from Haaretz, Witkoff said Trump expected Israel to agree to the ceasefire, and “things that Netanyahu had termed life-and-death issues…suddenly vanished”. So, who is Witkoff, Trump’s new man in the Middle East?

Witkoff is a Republican and a billionaire Jewish-American real estate developer. His soft, slightly nasally voice masks his reputation as a hard-charging negotiator who developed the nerve for leveraged loans as a teenager betting at the racetrack. When he was starting off in the cut-throat world of New York City real estate in the 1990s, he wore a handgun strapped to his ankle, according to a Wall Street Journal expose from the time. Witkoff has been praised for pushing the ceasefire across the finish line. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani credited him in a speech announcing the deal on Wednesday, albeit one usurped by Trump’s earlier proclamation that an “EPIC” ceasefire had been reached. It is important to note that Witkoff was mentioned before the sitting Biden administration’s envoy, Brett McGurk.

The New Yorker turned south Floridian has no official training as a diplomat and his appointment epitomises Trump’s disdain for traditional bureaucrats and policy wonks, who are steeped in area expertise and boast graduate degrees in international relations but lack private sector experience. “We have people that know everything about the Middle East, but they can’t speak properly…he is a great negotiator,” Trump said at a press conference in January, praising his friend. There, Trump reiterated his now infamous pledge that “all hell will break out” in the Middle East if the hostages held in Gaza were not freed by the time he takes office on 20 January. “You know what that means, do I have to define it for you,” he barked at a journalist, who pressed for details.

[..] Witkoff doesn’t speak much in public, but when he does, he is measured and deliberate. Appearing on Fox News in January, he said Trump’s “strong stance, his certitude in asserting that ‘all hell would break loose’ is moving people”, when asked about the ceasefire talks. He added: “They (the hostages) are living in terrible conditions, and it’s time for everybody to come back.” His remark that “There will be plenty of Palestinians who will be released as a result of this and they will go home to their families,” did not elicit a response from Fox News host Sean Hannity. With Trump saying he will use the hostage deal to expand the 2020 Abraham Accord agreements, Witkoff is likely set to delve deeper into the world of Gulf politics and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

He has also said he wants to solve tensions with Iran over a nuclear weapon “diplomatically…if people are willing to adhere to their agreements”, but, ever the negotiator, he did not show too much of his hand: “We are not going to have a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.”

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Bit of a shame.

• Trump Inauguration Forced Indoors (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he will give his inauguration speech inside the Capitol, citing the extremely cold weather that could be dangerous to his supporters and security personnel alike. US presidents traditionally take their oath of office outside the Capitol, with a crowd of onlookers stretching down the National Mall. “January 20th cannot come fast enough!” Trump said on Friday in a post on his Truth Social platform. “It is my obligation to protect the People of our Country but, before we even begin, we have to think of the Inauguration itself.” Trump cited the “Arctic blast” sweeping the US and the weather forecast for Monday in Washington calling for “severe record lows” with wind chill, to argue that this would create dangerous conditions for “hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours,” as well as police and their service dogs and horses.

With that in mind, the president-elect said, the inauguration address, prayers and other speeches will be delivered inside the Capitol Rotunda, just as President Ronald Reagan did in 1985, also because of the cold. “This will be a very beautiful experience for all, and especially for the large TV audience!” Trump said in the social media post. “In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly!” he added. The ceremony will be broadcast live from the nearby Capital One Arena, the basketball and hockey venue about six streets away. The venue has already been reserved for Trump’s Victory Rally on Sunday afternoon, and he said he intends to join the crowd there on Monday, after he takes the oath of office. “Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and we will, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” the president-elected said.

For much of US history, presidents who won the election in early November would have to wait until March 4 of the following year to be sworn in. The 20th Amendment, enacted in 1933, moved the inauguration date to January 20. The ceremony is traditionally attended by members of Congress, justices of the US Supreme Court, and former presidents and their spouses, along with foreign ambassadors and any special guests invited by the new US leader. A number of Americans who receive special tickets through their members of Congress are allowed to enter the designated area of the Capitol grounds to observe the inauguration, while the general public can congregate at the National Mall, where the ceremony is usually broadcast on large screens. President Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration was carried out with tens of thousands of National Guard troops around the Capitol and no members of the public allowed, as the incoming administration claimed there was a risk of an “insurrection” due to a riot by Trump supporters at the same location two weeks prior.

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“..nuclear irregularities..”

• Authorities Preparing For “Worst Case Scenarios” Ahead of Trump Inauguration (MN)

Authorities in Washington DC are scanning for “nuclear irregularities” while the Secret Service preps for “worst case scenarios” as security preparations kick into high gear ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. Trump will be sworn in for his second term in office on Monday, January 20th. A report by CBS News reveals how Department of Energy helicopters are flying in grid patterns around the city from only 150 feet in the air in order to “scan for radiological or nuclear irregularities.” Officials are attempting to map a “blueprint” of normal radiation readings over Washington in order to detect anything unusual like potential dirty bombs. Any slight variation in readings sets off an alarm which is then investigated by the pilots. The U.S. Secret Service, which has faced criticism for its previous lax security measures around Trump, is also roleplaying “worst case scenarios” that could interrupt the inauguration process.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1880078644644855900

According to Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Thomas, security measures for Trump’s inauguration will eclipse anything previously seen. This includes the presence of 25,000 law enforcement officers and military personnel, including 7,800 National Guard soldiers. 30 miles of ‘anti-scale’ fencing around the site of the inauguration will also provide a “ring of steel” to protect the event and its 250,000 attendees. More than 25 Coast Guard vessels are also in position to patrol the area. During last month’s concern over mystery drones seen flying around the United States, one theory was that the drones were being flown by the U.S. Military to scan for missing nuclear material. Trump continues to face a heightened threat after facing three assassination attempts over the last 6 months, with some of his supporters urging him to not even attend the inauguration in person.

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How many half-staffs will be left by Monday?

• Some State Governors Order Flags Up For Trump Inauguration (JTN)

Governors in multiple states plan to raise U.S. flags at state facilities for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. President Joe Biden ordered flags flown at half-mast nationwide after former President Jimmy Carter’s death on Dec. 29. The traditional 30-day mourning period will overlap with Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump said he wants flags flying high for his return to the White House. In addition to some governors, House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered that flags at the U.S. Capitol fly at full-staff for Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Most of the governors raising flags are Republicans, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a prominent Democrat, has joined in with an order for his state to raise flags for the inauguration, according to a Fox News report.

Biden was asked if he would raise the flags for his rival’s inauguration, but his press secretary said last week that Biden had no plans to do so. Idaho Gov. Brad Little ordered U.S. and Idaho flags at half-mast after Carter’s death, but said flags should go back to the top of the pole from sunrise to sunset on Jan. 20 for Trump’s inauguration. North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong also directed the U.S. and North Dakota flags to be flown at full staff on Jan. 20 at the North Dakota Capitol and all state buildings in celebration of the inauguration. Armstrong said the state should honor both men. “The inauguration of a U.S. president is a time to celebrate, and the Stars and Stripes should fly high as a symbol of freedom and democracy on such a momentous day for our nation,” Armstrong said.

“We will continue to honor the life and legacy of President Carter, as we should, by returning flags to half-staff on Jan. 21 as a mark of respect and reverence.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was on the receiving end of Trump’s mockery for more than a year during his presidential run, said his state also can honor both presidents. In a memo, DeSantis called it a “unique occasion, where we simultaneously celebrate the service of an incoming president and commend the service of a former president.”

Alabama will also raise flags for the inauguration. Gov. Kay Ivey ordered flags returned to full staff “on the grounds of the Alabama State Capitol Complex in Montgomery and at state buildings throughout Alabama” on Jan. 20. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have issued similar flag proclamations for Trump’s big day. Trump previously criticized Biden’s flag decision and the Democrats who support it. “The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in a recent post. “They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves.”

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“President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!”

• Trump Holds ‘Very Good’ Call With Xi (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping by phone. According to Trump, the two leaders discussed trade, fentanyl, and the impending sale or shutdown of TikTok. “I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday, adding that “the call was a very good one for both China and the USA.” “It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects,” Trump continued. “President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!” Chinese state media confirmed that the call had taken place, but provided no further details.

Trump and Xi have not spoken since the end of Trump’s first term in 2021. Relations between Washington and Beijing were strained during the president-elect’s first stint in the White House, with the US sanctioning Chinese tech giant Huawei and sparking a trade war by setting tariffs on Chinese imports. Trump has also accused China of failing to crack down on the export of fentanyl – a deadly synthetic opioid – to the US, and has vowed to levy an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese imports until Beijing “follows through” on punishing fentanyl dealers and manufacturers. The call took place two days before TikTok is set to go dark for millions of American users. Legislation signed by President Joe Biden last year requires ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest from its US operations by January 19, 2025, or be blocked from US internet infrastructure and app stores.

The US Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling on TikTok’s appeal against the law, while Trump – who credits the app with helping him win the youth vote in November – is reportedly mulling an executive order to delay the enforcement of the ban. Despite Trump’s multiple grievances with Beijing, the incoming president has repeatedly boasted of his “special relationship” with Xi. Trump invited Xi to his inauguration, and while the Chinese president will not attend Monday’s ceremony, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that Vice President Han Zheng will travel to Washington to watch Trump be sworn in. “We stand ready to work with the new US government to enhance dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly pursue a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relations and find the right way for the two countries to get along with each other,” a ministry spokesperson said.

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It doesn’t appear as urgent as some suggest.

“My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!”

• Trump Teases TikTok Decision (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has said that he will make a decision on whether to enforce a ban on TikTok in the country “in the not too distant future,” after the Supreme Court upheld a law blocking the app, should its Chinese parent company not sell to an American firm by Sunday. In a decision announced on Friday, the court’s nine justices all agreed that Congress did not violate the US Constitution’s protection of free speech when it ordered the sale of the app last year. “There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement and source of community. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary,” the court said, referring to a presumed threat from China.

While enforcement of the ban will fall on the last full day of President Joe Biden’s term in office, a White House official told multiple US media outlets on Friday that the decision would be left to Trump, who will be inaugurated on Monday. “The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday. “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” Trump – who credits the app with helping him win the youth vote in November – is mulling an executive order to delay the ban coming into effect, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

During his first term, Trump attempted to ban TikTok, citing national security risks due to its Chinese ownership. However, during his recent presidential campaign he changed his mind, stating: “For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump. The other side is closing it up, but I’m now a big star on TikTok.” TikTok has repeatedly denied allegations that it shares user data with the Chinese government. Commenting on existing TikTok bans for government employees in the US, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has accused the US of “abusing state power to suppress foreign companies.” Trump reportedly met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last month. Shou will attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, as will Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

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“But we want to… be clear. We don’t want to be Americans. We don’t want to be a part of the US..”

Says who? Go ask them. After Trump makes his offer.

• Greenland Responds To Trump’s Acquisition Proposal (RT)

Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede has rejected Donald Trump’s proposal to buy the Arctic island, asserting that Greenlanders do not want to be Americans. However, the Danish autonomous territory will always remain “a strong partner” of the US, he added. In an interview with FOX News on Thursday, Egede addressed Trump’s renewed interest in “acquiring” Greenland from Denmark, citing national security concerns. “We are close neighbors, we have been cooperating in the last 80 years, and I think in the future we have a lot to offer to cooperate with,” Egede said, insisting that Greenland would always be a part of NATO and “a strong partner of the US.” “But we want to… be clear. We don’t want to be Americans. We don’t want to be a part of the US,” the prime minister emphasized.

He said islanders “do not want to be Danes” either. “We want to be Greenlanders,” he added. Trump had initially suggested buying Greenland from Denmark in 2019 during his first presidential term, but the ambitious plan fell short at the time due to strong opposition from the authorities both in Copenhagen and in the autonomous territory. Earlier this month, speaking at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, the president-elect refused to rule out using economic measures or military action to achieve this goal.Officials in Denmark have also rejected the possibility of selling the island. “Greenland is not for sale and will not be in the future either,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said earlier this month.

The Arctic island, which has a population of around 57,000, hosts the US Pituffik Space Base, which plays a significant role in NATO defenses due to its strategic location. Greenland became an autonomous territory of Denmark in 1979 after 70.1% of voters supported the Home Rule Act. The island – which has its own government while Denmark retains control over foreign affairs and defense – has been gradually seeking more sovereignty. A 2019 poll suggested that nearly 68% of Greenlanders supported independence from Denmark within the next two decades.

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Denmark has not been treating Greenland well. A referendum will reflect that. Plus, Trump will present a very good offer.

• Greenlandic Lawmaker Reveals Five Possible Options in Status Referendum (Sp.)

Greenland has captivated the world’s attention amid Donald Trump’s remarks about acquiring the island, and statements by authorities in Nuuk and Copenhagen that Greenland is “not for sale.” Sputnik reached out to a top pro-sovereignty MP in Prime Minister Mute Egede’s coalition to learn more about what Greenland wants, and how it plans to get it. Denmark “de facto annexed Greenland in 1951” and lied to Brussels about the existence of the island’s Inuit peoples, and it will be up to Greenlanders to choose their future in a referendum with up to five possible options, Kuno Fencker, a pro-independence Siumut Party lawmaker in Prime Minister Egede’s ruling coalition government, told Sputnik. The options are: keeping the status quo, new commonwealth status with Denmark, or a free association arrangement with Copenhagen, Washington, or both, Fencker, a member of the Greenland parliament’s Foreign and Security Policy Committee, explained.

Greenland is “absolutely are aware that we can’t be fully independent,” Fencker said. “We are looking positively in regards to how can we become a sovereign state that can cooperate with other states,” he noted, emphasizing that in today’s world, even Denmark itself isn’t independent from the political, economic and defense institutions it’s engaged in. The current relationship with Denmark doesn’t suit Greenlanders, Fencker stressed, pointing out that Trump’s recent threats to use tariffs to pressure Copenhagen into submission on the question of Greenland “is actually not that much different [from] from what Denmark is doing to us.” Specifically, “every time we want independence or statehood, they will fearmonger us in regard to taking away the block [grant] right for Greenland and our right to education and healthcare in Denmark.”

Greenland “has always been an important geopolitical factor, and it’s always been important” to the US with its Pituffik Space Base in the island’s northwest, Fencker said. “With the melting ice of Greenland, we absolutely are aware” that the US will seek to shore up its military and intelligence capabilities. An independent Greenland will therefore “require payment for any military presence in Greenland,” the lawmaker said. Ultimately, Greenland’s “value” in relations with partners “is not something you can put money on, but we are absolutely open for business and open for negotiations on how we as a sovereign state can cooperate with the other states on equal terms,” Fencker emphasized. “We are rising up here in Greenland again and we want our right to external self-determination…We want to become a sovereign state, which is non-negotiable, which you can also say [means] we are not for sale.” the lawmaker summed up.

President-elect Trump’s talk of acquiring Greenland from Denmark has reignited pro-independence passions on the island ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for April. Polling in 2016 and 2019 found that up to two thirds of Greenlanders support independence, although a 2017 survey found that the majority is not ready to sacrifice living standards for the sake of independence. The question of whether Copenhagen gets more back from Greenland than it pays in the form of subsidies has been hotly debated. Despite being ruled by Denmark from the early 18th century, Greenland’s living standards and quality of life measures remain significantly lower than those of Denmark, with the island suffering higher unemployment, higher poverty levels, and average lifespan that’s nearly 8 years shorter.

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Trump will make sure it gets done on a case by case basis.

• Trump Must Not Flunk His Litmus Test (Paul Craig Roberts)

Trump’s litmus test awaits him on the Oval Office desk. The litmus test is the pardon for every one of the wrongly indicted and wrongly prosecuted January 6 Trump supporters–which means all of them–who attended the rally and were persecuted for doing so. If Trump fails to immediately issue a full and unconditional pardon to all, he will lose the support of MAGA Americans. If Trump waits, the Establishment will erode the prospects of pardons. “Don’t embarrass Justice Department prosecutors and create an unwelcome environment for the new Attorney General.” “Let bygones be bygones.” “Let sleeping dogs lie.” Crises will appear. More urgent topics will pile on top of the pardons.

To help Trump stand by his supporters, Gary Heavin is working with American Patriot Relief, a 501(c)4 foundation and has marshaled private jet airplanes to return to their homes the pardoned from prisons located at great distances from their homes. Volunteers will be waiting outside 75 prisons in 35 states to deliver the J6 patriots to their homes. In cases where imprisonment caused the loss of their homes, housing will be provided until they are back on their feet. Some have suffered so severely at the hands of the most evil regime in American history that permanent care might be needed. The project will work with other January 6 support groups such as J6 Pardon Project, American Gulag Chronicles, Stophate, J6 A Road Home, Stand In The Gap, Patriot Mail Project, Condemned USA. Gary Heavin describes the support efforts that are in place in yesterday’s appearance on Ron Paul’s program.

All of us can be part of this historic event of overturning government injustice by donating here: http://givesendgo.com/FREEDOMSAMBASSADOR. This is not a political fundraiser. All funds go to the aid of the persecuted J6 Americans. In my view, full pardon for all is just one-third of what needs to be done. Another one-third is restitution for all expenses, lost income, and stress from being wrongly prosecuted and locked away from family, friends, and career in prison. In some cases the vile Democrats imprisoned the wrongly convicted great distances from their communities, thus depriving them of support from visits from family and friends. Some were kept in solidary confinement. Others were tortured. There is some concern that prison officials will have “misplaced” some of the wrongly convicted in order to hold on to them longer while they look for where they relocated them with confusing transfers. The vileness of Democrats has no limit.

The remaining one-third is actually the most important one-third. The DOJ, FBI, and White House officials responsible for the indictments, prosecutions, and imprisonments must be indicted, prosecuted and sentenced. By weaponizing law for propaganda and political purposes and by using false indictments for the purpose of suppressing the powerful evidence of massive vote fraud in the 2020 presidential election, high law enforcement officials committed felonies. They must be held accountable for their crimes. Otherwise, legal precedents are created that are fateful for democracy, the rule of law, and accountable government. Once precedents are established that high officials have immunity for using law not to enforce justice but to create injustice, the rule of law and accountable government cease to exist. How can Trump permit the government officials who intentionally framed innocent people for political and propaganda purposes to walk away unpunished?

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“Faced with the risks of a trial at the hands of Democrats and the cost of attorneys, most of the falsely accused self-incriminated.”

• Can the US Justice System Be Reformed to Serve Justice? (Paul Craig Roberts)

The Biden regime is the most corrupt regime in American history, and Biden knows it. That is why he talks of large numbers of “preemptive pardons.” A preemptive pardon is an invention of the Biden regime. No such thing exists in US law. Its purpose is to preempt indictment for a crime. That Biden is considering preemptive pardons means that Biden knows his officials committed crimes, and he wants to protect them from being held accountable for their crimes. Remember the vile and corrupt way the majority of the J6 convictions were obtained. Of course, it was with politicized Democrat jurors, politicized Democrat prosecutors, and politicized Democrat judges in Democrat jurisdictions who understood that they were serving their party’s political propaganda and not justice.

But I am speaking of the methods. The privacy of American citizens was violated in order to ascertain who attended the rally. Once a victim was chosen, a rigged indictment was brought. Prosecutors made it clear to the victim and attorney that contesting the charges in court with a trial would result in an add-on charge that carries a long prison sentence, whereas if they agreed to self-incrimination with a plea deal, prison time would be waived or greatly reduced. All the Democrats wanted was a bunch of “convictions” to support the propaganda of insurrection. Faced with the risks of a trial at the hands of Democrats and the cost of attorneys, most of the falsely accused self-incriminated. This abuse of law and defendants has become the main avenue of conviction in America today.

Only about 3% of the convicted are convicted by a jury of their peers. 97% are convicted by self-incrimination to avoid the risks and expense of a court trial. Consequently, the evidence against the defendant is never tested in court. The police and prosecutors can make up whatever charge they wish as they know the defendant will not have his day in court. In most cases the defendant will admit to a different crime than the one he is indicted under, neither one of which will actually have been committed. Plea bargains save the prosecutor’s and judge’s time, maximize the prosecutor’s conviction rate which he uses for reelection or to move into higher office, and reduces prison time and cost for the defendant. As I demonstrated in my book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions, the American “justice system” is corrupt and desperately requires reform.

The reform of this corrupt system would be far more important to the American people than Washington helping Israel achieve Greater Israel or the enhancement of the military/security complex’s power and profits with wars wherever Washington can invent an excuse. The American government is far removed from the interests of the American people. Perhaps Trump will take a first step with an immediate full pardon of all J6 American patriots. Making America Great Again does not mean expansion of the empire into Canada, Greenland, and Panama. It means the restoration of justice in the legal system and the restoration of respect for the truth. Without truth and justice, neither of which exists in today’s America, America cannot be made great again.

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Suicide in all its glory.

• EU Faces Up To €1 Trillion Loss For Cutting Russian Gas (RT)

The loss of Russian gas could cost the EU over €1 trillion ($1 trillion), according to Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). Speaking at the Future Minerals Forum in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, Dmitriev said the EU’s economic growth had slowed significantly since halting Russian gas imports, while Russia’s economy continues to demonstrate resilience. Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the EU prioritized reducing its reliance on Russian energy. Some members voluntarily stopped importing Russian gas, while others, such as Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Italy, continued gas imports from the country. However, these flows ceased earlier this month after Kiev refused to renew its gas transit deal with Moscow.

“Europe is suffering from not receiving Russian gas, with expected losses of more than €1 trillion,” Dmitriev stated. He previously attributed these losses to the high cost of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which the EU has imported in greater quantities to replace Russian supplies. Dmitriev added that neither losing the EU as a gas buyer, nor sanctions aimed at destabilizing the Russian economy, have had a significant effect on it, while the EU has borne the brunt of the economic fallout. “The Russian economy is in good shape, with growth expected at 4% by the end of 2024, while Europe showed 1% or less.

If one looks at the overall attempts to limit the Russian economy, 4% growth does not look so bad,” he said. The RDIF chief projected a potential slowdown in Russia’s growth to 2-2.5% next year but stressed that the outcome would depend on the central bank’s monetary policies, which he described as “critical for the continued growth of the Russian economy.” Despite extensive international sanctions placed on Russia in connection with the Ukraine conflict over the past three years, the country’s economy has adapted effectively, according to many observers.

The IMF recently raised its 2024 growth forecast for Russia to 3.6%. In contrast, the body downgraded its growth outlook for the euro area to 0.8%. The EU, meanwhile, has been facing sluggish economic growth and energy challenges. The loss of Russian gas has forced member states to turn to more expensive alternative energy sources, and the shift has driven up costs for businesses and households, strained manufacturing sectors, and fueled inflation. The European Commission recently reduced its 2025 growth projection for the Eurozone to 1.3%. Germany, the bloc’s largest economy, recorded its second consecutive year of contraction in 2024, a first in over two decades, the federal statistics office Destatis revealed earlier this week.

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I kid you not: Euroclear, where most Russian assets are held hostage, is located in Belgium. Now EU geniuses have found an 80-year old WWII decree that the Belgian king can evoke to block transfers of any assets out of the country.

• EU’s Kallas Rules Out Lifting Russia Sanctions (RT)

There is no reason for the EU to drop its sanction “leverage” against Russia, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said as Hungary’s potential veto looms over their extension. Brussels has imposed 15 rounds of restrictive measures against Moscow since the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022. Extending the sanctions past January 31, however, requires a unanimous vote by all EU member states. “We definitely need the sanctions in place. This is our leverage, and it would be very strange to give it away,” Kallas told reporters on Friday. “Things haven’t changed. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin hasn’t changed his goals and nothing has changed on the ground. So there is no basis for lifting the sanctions,” she added.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has refused to commit to extending the sanctions until he can discuss them with US President-elect Donald Trump, who is scheduled to be sworn in on Monday. In his weekly interview with Hungary’s Kossuth Radio on Friday, Orban argued that the EU needs to adapt to the fact that “a new era is beginning” with Trump coming back to the White House. “It is time to throw the sanctions out of the window and establish a system of sanctions-free relations with Russia,” he said. “That is a long way off, but we have to work on it.”

At the moment, however, “the signs coming from Brussels are not encouraging,” Orban added. Trump initially vowed to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict as soon as he takes office, but recent comments from his team have indicated a longer time frame. “Whatever the negotiations then we will be in a much weaker position” if the sanctions are lifted, Kallas argued. “I also don’t think that it’s in the interest of the US to give up the sanctions now.” The outgoing administration of President Joe Biden has tried to “Trump-proof” the sanctions by moving some of the targeted persons and entities from a blacklist declared by the executive branch to one enacted by Congress, with the goal of making them much harder to lift.

Kallas was the prime minister of Estonia before she was tapped to head the EU’s foreign policy division last fall. Along with the other two Baltic states and Poland, she took a hard line on Russia and in support of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Orban has called for peace talks, refused to provide any weapons or ammunition to Kiev, or allow military supplies through Hungarian territory. EU leaders are concerned that if Hungary succeeds in letting the sanctions expire, Russia could recover almost €200 billion ($205 billion) in frozen central bank assets held by the Belgium-based Euroclear. The bloc is reportedly considering having the Belgian king invoke a 1944 decree to block any transfer of assets from the country, putting Belgium in legal jeopardy rather than the EU.

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In a country where some people serve multiple years for smoking a joint, maybe not that crazy.

• Biden Commutes Sentences for Nearly 2,500 Non-Violent Drug Offenders (ET)

President Joe Biden said on Jan. 17 that he is commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 individuals, marking the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The latest pardons are being granted to people who were convicted of non-violent drug offenses and who are serving “disproportionately long” sentences compared to those they would receive today under current law, policy, and practice, Biden said in a statement published by the White House.Biden pointed to two pieces of legislation: the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the disparity in sentences for crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses from a weight ratio of 100 to 1 to 18 to 1, and the First Step Act of 2018, aimed at reducing the size of the federal prison population while promoting rehabilitation.

The previous weight ratio of 100 to 1 meant that 5 grams of crack cocaine, for example, was treated as equivalent to 500 grams of powder cocaine for sentencing purposes. “Today’s clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes,” Biden said. “As Congress recognized through the Fair Sentencing Act and the First Step Act, it is time that we equalize these sentencing disparities,” Biden said. With this latest action, Biden has now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in U.S. history. “This action is an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families and communities after spending far too much time behind bars,” Biden said.

“I am proud of my record on clemency and will continue to review additional commutations and pardons.” In December 2024, Biden said he was pardoning 39 people and commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 others who had been convicted of nonviolent crimes such as drug offenses. The president said at the time that these commutation recipients were placed in home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and “have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance.”

In a separate statement, the White House said many of those impacted by December’s pardons and commutation were parents, veterans, health care professionals, teachers, advocates, and engaged members of their communities who had “used their experiences in the criminal justice system to inspire and encourage others.” Also in December, Biden announced he was commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on death row, reclassifying their penalty to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Biden has advocated for an end to the death penalty at the federal level in the United States except for limited cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder. When he first took office, he imposed a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department reviewed policies and procedures surrounding the practice.

He commuted 37 sentences, leaving three federal inmates facing execution: 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; Dylann Roof, who shot and killed nine people at a church in South Carolina in 2015; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018. Earlier in December, Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who had been criminally convicted and was facing sentencing in two separate cases involving tax evasion and illegal possession of a firearm. Biden is set to leave office on Jan. 20. His successor, President-elect Donald Trump, has vowed to expand executions for federal inmates in order to “protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters” and restore law and order.

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“According to NBC, he will leave office with “a nation divided, a party in tatters,” and Americans questioning his commitment to the rule of law..”

• Biden Considered Pardoning Trump – NBC (RT)

Outgoing US President Joe Biden reportedly thought about pardoning his successor, Donald Trump, before leaving office, NBC News has reported, citing a White House source. Trump faced a flurry of federal felony charges levied by Biden’s Department of Justice in the run-up to the 2024 election, which he described as political persecution intended to prevent him from returning to office. Biden “privately mused” about the idea of pardoning Trump after his victory in the 2024 election as “a magnanimous move,” NBC reported on Friday, citing a person “directly familiar” with his comments who wished to remain anonymous. However, a White House official said that “to our knowledge, this was not raised.” The federal cases against Trump had already become untenable after the US Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity in July.

Trump went on to win the popular vote and the Electoral College in November, sweeping all swing states to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden officially won the 2020 election with the most-ever votes in US history. Trump contested the vote, claiming rampant irregularities under the cover of the Covid-19 pandemic measures. Biden initially pledged to be a one-term president and pass the job on to Harris, but ultimately decided to run for reelection. Democrats pressured him to bow out of the campaign in July after Trump survived an attempt on his life. Biden eventually endorsed Harris to replace him. According to NBC, he will leave office with “a nation divided, a party in tatters,” and Americans questioning his commitment to the rule of law. On Friday, Biden commuted the sentences of 2,500 drug offenders, arguing they were serving “disproportionately long sentences” under current laws.

“I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in US history,” he said in a statement. Biden’s most controversial pardon was granted to his son, Hunter, convicted last year of breaking federal gun and tax laws. The pardon covered offenses which Hunter “has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024,” a period that extends far beyond the time the gun and tax offenses took place and encompasses Hunter’s time on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma. Citing a trove of emails and messages found on Hunter’s laptop in 2020, Republicans accused Hunter of selling access to his father, who was US vice president at the time.

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“Go back to Delaware and sit in the dim light of your room with the curtains drawn so you won’t have to hear about the gruesome discoveries to come of what you left behind.”

• Joe Biden: An Assessment (Jim Kunstler)

The four years of “Joe Biden’s” term-in-office that followed have induced the most severe disordering of the collective American mind in our history, lost in a fog of perfidious mendacity unmatched in scope by the Civil War, or any other national crisis. “Joe Biden’s” government went to war against the people of this land, at the same time it sold-out our vital national interests to the CCP, the WEF, the WHO, and other parties seeking our nation’s destruction. For years, we have been forced to swallow absurdities such as unsafe and ineffective vaccines, drag queens in the grade schools, borders wide-open to saboteurs (declared to be “secure”), and a stupid war against Russia that has destroyed the sad-sack nation of Ukraine.

“Joe Biden” has been a disaster and an embarrassment, easily the most damaging character to ever creep onto the US political scene. His one talent was for fakery. Even with sclerosis eating through his brain, he was able to go through the motions of faking it, reading his script off the teleprompter — though he was no longer up to casual questions in a news conference setting. The slime trail of crimes he leaves behind would be easy to follow by law enforcement officials actually interested in crime. He’s likely to pardon himself at the last moment, and pardon a long roster of federal officials who have committed crimes with and behind him. One way or another, they are going to be found out, even if many manage to evade prosecution. But at least we are going to learn a lot more about who was pulling “Joe’s” strings, and exactly what they did, and how — including the trick of making the news media hostage to their crimes.

So, adios, “Joe Biden,” you miserable, treasonous bastard. History will record you as the one president so far who was consciously a villain outright, in true self-knowledge of his own wickedness. You left your country a wreck in every dimension: in national security, national bankruptcy, national pride, and national confidence. Go back to Delaware and sit in the dim light of your room with the curtains drawn so you won’t have to hear about the gruesome discoveries to come of what you left behind. And when the day arrives for your funeral, be advised that it will not be much better than your campaign stop in Darby, PA, in June 2020, when you maundered pointlessly to a nearly empty room. . . before going out for ice cream with your secret service detail.

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I’ve said before that Khan’s case is quite a lot like Trump’s. Just more. There are 170 legal cases against Khan, vs ‘only’ 94 against Trump. Now people want Trump to help him, but it’s not clear what he could do. He can get him free, but Khan’s enemies won’t let him stay in the country and pursue politics again. And that is what he swears he will do: “I will neither make any deal nor seek any relief.”

• Pakistan’s Imran Khan Sentenced To 14 Years In Prison (ZH)

The unfortunate saga of Pakistani state persecution against former Prime Minister Imran Khan continues, as a Pakistani court on Friday sentenced Khan and this wife to 14 and seven years in prison after finding them guilty of corruption. He had already been held in jail for a couple years, despite many months of huge protests in various places by supporters demanding his release, after he and his wife were accused of accepting a gift of land from a real estate tycoon in exchange for laundered money, amid many additional pending graft investigations. Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party reject the allegations, and the former prime minister had pled non-guilty in the case. “Whilst we wait for a detailed decision, it’s important to note that the Al Qadir Trust case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi lacks any solid foundation and is bound to collapse,” PTI’s foreign media wing asserted in a statement.

PTI plans to challenge the verdict in higher courts, with Khan pledging after this conviction: “I will neither make any deal nor seek any relief.” Khan has meanwhile insisted that his arrest in 2023 was simply politically motivated, designed by his rivals and enemies to keep the popular politician from power. According to a review of the last couple years of turmoil which has gripped Pakistan over Khan’s fate: “While imprisoned, Khan has been facing dozens of cases ranging from charges of graft and misuse of power to inciting violence against the state after being removed from office in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022. He has either been acquitted or his sentences suspended in most cases, except for this one and another on charges of inciting supporters to rampage through military facilities to protest against his arrest on May 9, 2023. His supporters have led several violent protest rallies since the May 9 incidents.”


During Trump’s first term in office, via AFP

He’s gotten some international support and backing amid the saga, with a United Nations panel of exports having announced last year that his detention “had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office”. Importantly, Khan’s supporters are expressing hope that Trump will use his influence to free him. According to the NY Times on Friday: Supporters of Imran Khan, the imprisoned former prime minister, are now pinning their hopes on getting him freed — however fanciful — on the wild card among the three: the incoming administration of Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump has said nothing publicly to indicate that he plans to intervene in Mr. Khan’s case. Once he is sworn in as president on Monday, Pakistan is unlikely to rank high among Mr. Trump’s foreign policy priorities.

But a series of posts on social media by one of Mr. Trump’s close allies has inspired almost messianic certainty among Mr. Khan’s followers that the once and future American president will help secure his freedom. PTI had made a better than expected showing in February 2024 parliamentary elections and had decried that this was all a conspiracy to prevent his return to office by the military-run deep state. There are ultimately a whopping 170 legal cases against Khan. Current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who emerged victorious in the last elections while Khan had languished in jail, was seen more as the “military’s man” in Islamabad, while Khan’s legacy has sought to be erased by those same elite powers.

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Lynch
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879984839753101588

 

 

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Debt Rattle January 17 2025

Jan 172025
 
 January 17, 2025  Posted by at 10:57 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  94 Responses »


Jean-François Millet The Gleaners 1857

 

• Netanyahu’s Office Confirms Gaza Deal Signed by Israel, Hamas, US, Qatar (Sp.)
• Trump Played Key Role In Gaza Ceasefire Deal – Times of Israel (RT)
• Hamas Denies Netanyahu’s Claims On Violating Hostage Deal (RT)
• UK To Sign ‘100 Year Partnership’ With Ukraine (RT)
• UK and France Secretly Discussing Troops For Ukraine – Telegraph (RT)
• UK Promises To ‘Explore Options’ For Military Bases In Ukraine (RT)
• Denmark’s Repeated Threats Over Greenland’s Independence Bid (Sp.)
• Moscow Slams West For ‘Fantastic Hypocrisy’ (RT)
• In Farewell Address, Biden Brags (ZH)
• Pam Bondi’s Confirmation Hearing for Attorney General (ET)
• Trump Team Planning Roadmap To Ease Russia Sanctions – Bloomberg
• Far Left UK Government Proposes BANNING “Controversial” Conversations (MN)
• Sen. Ramaswamy? Vivek Emerges As Dark Horse Successor To Vance (JTN)
• Pete Hegseth Confirmation Vote Expected After Inauguration (JTN)
• Trump Names Three Legendary Actors As ‘Special Envoys’ To Hollywood (RT)
• The British Attack On The Skripals Didn’t Kill Them (Helmer)

 

 

 

 

Popok

Granddaughters
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879738402633101535

Yilongma
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879592734580953158

Leavitt

Sachs

Joe 2016

Bessent
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879934087064088636

1871

 

 

 

 

Let’s see you break it.

• Netanyahu’s Office Confirms Gaza Deal Signed by Israel, Hamas, US, Qatar (Sp.)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has confirmed that Israel, Palestinian movement Hamas, the United States and Qatar have signed a deal on a ceasefire and the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported on Friday, citing the office. The prime minister gave instructions to convene the security cabinet and then hold a government meeting to approve the deal, the report added.On Thursday, media reported, citing an Israeli official, that the Israeli security cabinet will meet to vote on the ceasefire deal on Friday, while the Israeli government is expected to vote on the agreement on Saturday.

Israel and Hamas, with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the United States, agreed on January 15 to a 42-day ceasefire and declared their intention to finally end the hostilities that have claimed the lives of 46,000 Palestinians and about 1,500 Israelis over 15 months, spreading to Lebanon and Yemen and provoking an exchange of missile strikes between Israel and Iran. The first stage provides for a partial exchange of prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli troops to the Gaza borders and humanitarian aid. The second and third stages are yet to be agreed upon. Under the deal, the guarantors of the agreement — Qatar, Egypt and the United States — will establish a coordination center in Cairo.

Alon Piskas

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“..Trump’s envoy pick managed to achieve more “in a single sit-down” than President Joe Biden’s administration had in a year.”

• Trump Played Key Role In Gaza Ceasefire Deal – Times of Israel (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump’s team has played a deciding role in mediating a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Gaza-based militant group Hamas, the Times of Israel reported on Wednesday, citing two Arab officials. Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has reportedly managed to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to the truce’s terms in just one meeting. On Wednesday, Trump announced that West Jerusalem and Hamas had reached an agreement securing the release of the remaining hostages. According to multiple media reports, the deal struck in Qatar involves a 42-day truce and an exchange of prisoners, including all Israelis taken captive in the October 7, 2023 Hamas incursion. Witkoff has been in Qatar’s capital, Doha, for the past week and has taken an active part in the hostage release talks, according to the Times of Israel.

Last Saturday, he also flew to Israel for a meeting with Netanyahu. It was during that meeting that he reportedly swayed the Israeli prime minister to accept the key provisions of the deal, two Arab sources told the news outlet. Two days after the meeting, both sides told the mediators they have accepted the draft deal in principle, the sources added. Neither Witkoff, nor the Israeli prime minister’s office responded to the Times of Israel’s request for comment. The paper also stated that Trump’s envoy pick managed to achieve more “in a single sit-down” than President Joe Biden’s administration had in a year. After the deal’s announcement, both Trump and Biden claimed credit for it. The president-elect called it an “epic ceasefire agreement that could only have happened” because of his election victory in November.

Biden called it a result of “dogged and painstaking American diplomacy” as well as pressure exerted on Hamas and the weakening of Iran. The outgoing president nonetheless credited the role played by his successor, saying that “for the past few days, we have been speaking as one team.” Trump’s team responded on X by claiming that Biden could not have gotten the deal done without the intervention of Trump and Witkoff. The US State Department also recognized Trump’s role in the development. “The involvement of President-elect Trump’s team has been absolutely critical in getting this deal over the line,” its spokesman, Matthew Miller, told journalists.

On Thursday, Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of “reneging” on key points of the deal, claiming the Palestinian group had created “a last-minute crisis that is preventing an agreement.” The militants denied the accusations, saying they were “committed” to the deal. West Jerusalem intensified its airstrikes across Gaza shortly after the announcement of the truce deal. At least 32 people were killed in “heavy Israeli bombardment” on Wednesday evening, according to Reuters. On Thursday, the IDF accused Hamas of firing a rocket into the Jewish state, adding that the incident had caused no casualties.

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Two more days before it’s active.

• Hamas Denies Netanyahu’s Claims On Violating Hostage Deal (RT)

Palestinian armed group Hamas has rejected claims by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it is creating a last-minute “crisis” in finalizing the deal to release the hostages held in Gaza. On Wednesday, US President-elect Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had struck an agreement securing the release of the remaining hostages. According to multiple media outlets, the agreement approved in Qatar involves a 42-day truce and an exchange of prisoners, including all Israelis taken captive in the October 7, 2023 Hamas incursion into the country. “Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators,” Izzat al-Risheq, a senior member of the group’s political bureau, said in a post on Telegram on Thursday.

The statement came shortly after Netanyahu’s office accused the Palestinian group of “reneging on the understandings” reached as part of the hostage deal and “creating a last-minute crisis that is preventing an agreement.” “The Israeli cabinet will not convene [to approve the deal] until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement,” it stressed. Israel intensified its airstrikes across Gaza shortly after the ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced, Reuters reported, citing the civil emergency service and residents in the enclave. The attacks came as people in Gaza took to the streets to celebrate the truce, which is expected to start on Sunday. At least 32 people were killed in “heavy Israeli bombardment,” especially of Gaza City, late on Wednesday, the agency said.

The strikes continued early on Thursday, with homes being destroyed in Rafah in southern Gaza, Nuseirat in central Gaza, and in northern Gaza, it added. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) blamed Hamas for firing a rocket into Israel on Thursday, with the incident causing no casualties. Israel began its military operation in Gaza 15 months ago in response to the cross-border raid by Hamas, in which around 1,200 people died and 250 others were taken prisoner. At least 94 of them still remain in captivity. Nearly 47,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 104,000 wounded in Israeli attacks in the enclave, according to the latest data from Gaza’s health ministry.

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The Brits still have a sense of humor.

• UK To Sign ‘100 Year Partnership’ With Ukraine (RT)

The UK and Ukraine will sign a 100-year partnership agreement during British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first trip to Kiev since taking office, London has said. The British government announced the planned deal on Thursday, shortly before Starmer arrived in the Ukrainian capital on a surprise visit. The agreement that the prime minister and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky are expected to sign will formalize “the unbreakable bonds” between the two countries, further expanding bilateral ties in defense and other areas, the government statement read. The treaty would “deter ongoing Russian aggression” against Ukraine and commit London and Kiev to increase defense cooperation, including on maritime security in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov, it stated.

Moscow has control of the whole Sea of Azov coastline after the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions officially became part of Russia following referendums in the fall of 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials have since then described it as Russia’s “inland sea.” As part of the deal, a UK-built Grain Verification Scheme will be launched in order to track down on what London called “stolen grain,” referring to the crops produced in Russia’s new territories. “We are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level,” Starmer claimed before his trip. The UK has been one of Ukraine’s prime backers since the escalation between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. It has committed 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Kiev and trained 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil.

However, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that officials close to Zelensky have privately expressed disappointment in Starmer for months over what they described as his cautious approach to Ukraine. According to the agency, the Ukrainian leadership has also questioned why it took the British prime minister, who assumed office more than six months ago, so long to visit Kiev. Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova previously said that Britain’s continued support for Ukraine is a sign that the UK government “clearly does not seek to resolve the conflict [between Moscow and Kiev]. They are doing everything possible to make it drag on, thus prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”

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There are still some warmongers left.

• UK and France Secretly Discussing Troops For Ukraine – Telegraph (RT)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have discussed sending soldiers into Ukraine as a peacekeeping force, the Telegraph has claimed citing anonymous sources. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky first mentioned the idea last week, and said he would discuss it with Starmer when he visits Kiev. According to the British outlet, however, Starmer is not fully on board yet. “There are challenges over what we could support, what would we want to support, and the broader question about the threat that those troops may be under and whether that is escalatory,” the Telegraph quoted a Whitehall source as saying on Wednesday evening. Spokespeople for 10 Downing Street and the Elysee Palace did not deny that Starmer and Macron discussed the peacekeeper possibility last week at the Chequers estate in the UK, but gave no details about the conversation.

Starmer was in Kiev on Thursday, promising a “100-year partnership” pact with Ukraine. One of the rumored plans US President-elect Donald Trump might propose after taking office next Monday involves Western troops deployed as peacekeepers along the demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine, supposedly running along the current line of conflict. No US forces would be involved, only “European” soldiers not acting under NATO command, according to media reports that have been impossible to verify. Macron reportedly brought up the idea of “European” peacekeepers with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk last month, but Warsaw said it was “not planning any such actions.” Earlier this week, Zelensky wrote on social media that he had discussed with “key allies” the “practical steps” for the implementation of the peacekeeper idea.

“We are getting slightly ahead of ourselves. We are not there yet,” one British official told the Telegraph. Putting boots on the ground in Ukraine has been endorsed by former PM Boris Johnson, former Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt, and two ex-defense ministers, Grant Shapps and Gavin Williamson. The UK has given 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Kiev since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated in February 2022, and reportedly trained 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. The British government’s continued support for Kiev means London “clearly does not seek to resolve the conflict,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said recently, accusing the UK of “doing everything possible to make it drag on, thus prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”

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Russia will love this part…

• UK Promises To ‘Explore Options’ For Military Bases In Ukraine (RT)

London has revealed details of a long-term partnership agreement with Kiev, which includes broad plans for military infrastructure development and defense cooperation over the next century. The document suggests the potential establishment of military bases in Ukraine, with an emphasis on aligning these initiatives with NATO standards for maximum effectiveness.The 15-page declaration, signed on January 16, 2025, lays out a framework for cooperation between the United Kingdom and Ukraine across various sectors, with a primary focus on military collaboration. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky formalized the deal during a ceremony in Kiev on Thursday. “The Participants will explore options for deploying and maintaining defence infrastructure in Ukraine, including military bases, logistics depots, reserve military equipment storage facilities and war reserve stockpiles,” the document states.

The agreement also emphasizes maritime cooperation, particularly in the Black Sea region. The UK has pledged to enhance Ukraine’s interoperability with NATO in the maritime sphere through joint naval operations, port visits, and the development of Ukrainian naval bases. “We will work together to ensure NATO learns the lessons from Ukraine’s experience in the Black Sea to inform its development of future maritime capabilities. We will promote the development of naval bases on the territory of Ukraine,” the document reads. Another section highlights plans to “deepen cooperation on long-range strike capabilities,” integrated air and missile defense, and the stockpiling of complex weapons to bolster “deterrence.” Additionally, London has committed to providing Ukraine with annual military assistance of no less than £3 billion until at least 2031, and “for as long as needed to support Ukraine.”

While the agreement lacks detailed, binding commitments beyond promises to expand, intensify, and facilitate collaboration across multiple sectors, Zelensky hinted at potential “secret” components within the pact. The UK has been one of Ukraine’s prime backers since the escalation of conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. It has committed 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Ukraine and reportedly trained 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. Russia has sharply criticized London’s continued support of Kiev as a sign that the UK government “clearly does not seek to resolve the conflict.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova previously said “they are doing everything possible to make it drag on, thus prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”

Meanwhile, reports suggest that US President-elect Donald Trump, set to take office next Monday, may propose deploying Western troops as peacekeepers along a demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine. The rumored plan reportedly excludes US forces, relying instead on “European” soldiers acting outside NATO’s command structure. London remains cautious about the idea of sending British troops to Ukraine as part of any peacekeeping force, even though Starmer is said to have discussed the matter with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to The Telegraph.

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“Almost No One in Greenland Wants to Join the US.” I don’t believe that for a second. They’re tired of Demark.

• Denmark’s Repeated Threats Over Greenland’s Independence Bid (Sp.)

For years, Denmark has been threatening Greenland every time the issue of independence is raised, the leader of the island’s largest opposition party, Naleraq, and former Greenlandic Foreign Minister Pele Broberg told RIA Novosti. “Every time we talk about independence, they [the Danes] threaten us. They say, ‘If you do this, you will never come to Denmark again; you will have no education, etc.’ We always hear threats when we talk about independence,” Broberg said. For example. He added that when his party ran for parliament seats in 2018 and he mentioned the plan to gain independence, the Danish prime minister addressed national media, saying that it was unrealistic. “Even to this day, Danish politicians say, ‘No, no, we will never do anything like that [give Greenland independence].'”

They don’t even seem to respect the self-government law as far as independence is concerned. But we have a problem in that there are political parties that are publicly in favor of independence without any plans but don’t really want it,” the official noted. In addition, Naleraq has a very clear plan to leave the Kingdom of Denmark, which is that if the party wins the 2025 parliamentary elections, it will submit an application for an independence referendum on the same day, Broberg added. “It may take two days, it may take two months, it may take two years. The plans we have developed are based on how we left the EU in the 80s. We voted in 1982, and we left in 1985. Brexit also took three years, and that is why we keep saying that the discussion is about a three-year period. The most important thing for us is to start the process itself,” the ex-minister said.

Washington has no chance to bribe the Greenlandic government to annex the island, the former minister added. “No,” Broberg said in response to a corresponding question. US President-elect Donald Trump, who is due to assume office on January 20, has called it an “absolute necessity” for the United States to own Greenland. Greenland’s Prime Minister, Mute Egede, responded by saying that the island was not for sale. Greenland was a colony of Denmark until 1953. It remains part of the kingdom, but in 2009 it received autonomy with the ability to self-govern and make independent choices in domestic policy.

Almost No One in Greenland Wants to Join the US. Only 0.0001% of people in Greenland want to become part of the United States, while 75% support the idea of independence from Denmark, Pele Broberg pointed out. US President-elect Donald Trump, who is due to assume office on January 20, has called it an “absolute necessity” for the United States to own Greenland. Greenland’s Prime Minister, Mute Egede, responded by saying that the island was not for sale. On January 7, Donald Trump Jr., the son of the president-elect, visited Greenland. Following the visit, Trump confirmed in a post on Truth Social that his son and members of his team visited the nation, adding that “the reception was great.” The president-elect posted a video in which people wearing baseball caps that read “Make America Great Again” responded in the affirmative when asked if they wanted Trump to buy Greenland.

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Still diverting attention away from Nordstream?

• Moscow Slams West For ‘Fantastic Hypocrisy’ (RT)

The West is spinning incidents in the Baltic Sea as purported evidence of a Russian threat, while putting a smoke screen on real attacks that undermine European energy security, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. The EU and NATO have alleged that Moscow was behind multiple cases of power and communication cables being damaged in recent months. Western officials have argued that they justify bolstering NATO regional presence and imposing sanctions against the so-called ‘shadow fleet’ – ships allegedly involved in Russian oil exports in defiance of unilateral restrictions issued by Western nations. Western claims that Moscow is waging a sabotage campaign in the Baltic Sea fit a wider pattern of baseless accusations against Russia, Zakharova said. She told a regular media briefing: “Accusations directed against our nation are being habitually voiced before the circumstances of what had happened are established. We have seen this many times.”

She accused the West of “fantastic hypocrisy,” pointing to what she described as the “non-investigation” of the September 2022 attack on the Nord Stream pipelines. The energy links built under the Baltic Sea were intended to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Germany, before being blown up in what Moscow calls a “terrorist attack.” The US benefited the most from the incident and was likely behind it directly or through a proxy, Russian officials have claimed. In early 2022, US President Joe Biden declared that “there will be no Nord Stream,” if Russia used military force against Ukraine.

Zakharova criticized Brussels for swiftly demanding action against Russia over the cable incidents after showing no such reaction to the Nord Stream sabotage. “It seems that since Biden said that he would destroy this project, the EU believes that what happened was all proper,” she said. She also condemned the EU for reacting meekly to Kiev’s drone attack on a Russian compressor station last week. The facility pumps natural gas under the Black Sea to Türkiye and multiple consumers in Southern Europe. Attacks like that are seemingly being “condoned by the part of the EU, which has been acting against the interests of their own people for many years,” she stated. Such people would rather stoke fear in Europe over the “myth” of supposedly dangerous Russian ships than address genuine security threats, she added.

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Please go away.

• In Farewell Address, Biden Brags (ZH)

Five days before leaving office, President Joe Biden delivered a live primetime farewell address to the nation, highlighting his accomplishments and warning of emerging threats, including oligarchs and a “tech-industrial complex.” His speech, delivered from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening, not only marked the end of his presidency but also the conclusion of his five-decade political career. “After 50 years of public service, I give you my word, I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands, a nation where the strengths of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure,” Biden said before ending his speech. “Now, it’s your turn to stand guard.” As Emel Akan reports for The Epoch Times, Biden’s political career, which spanned decades and included serving as a senator from Delaware and as vice president under President Barack Obama, will come to an end on Jan. 20 when he hands the reins to Republican President-elect Donald Trump.

“In the past four years, our democracy has held strong, and every day, I’ve kept my commitment to be president for all Americans through one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history,” Biden said. Ahead of Biden’s farewell speech, the White House released a fact sheet outlining his administration’s record, highlighting a long list of actions, starting with the efforts to combat the pandemic. “Millions of Americans now have the dignity of work. Millions of entrepreneurs and companies creating new businesses and industries, hiring American workers, using American products,” Biden said. “Together, we’ve launched a new era of American possibilities.” Biden is leaving office with his approval rating at the lowest point of his term, according to a recent CNN poll. Only 36 percent of U.S. adults say they approve of how Biden handled the presidency, with particularly low marks on issues like immigration, foreign affairs, and the economy.

Biden stated that although a positive impact of his policies and spending priorities may not be felt right away, he believes they will produce lasting benefits in the years ahead. “You know, it will take time to feel the full impact of all we’ve done together but the seeds are planted. And they‘ll grow and they’ll bloom for decades to come,” he said. In his nearly 17-minute speech, Biden did not mention his successor by name but wished success to the incoming administration. “I’m so proud of how much we’ve accomplished together for the American people. And I wish the incoming administration success because I want America to succeed,” Biden said. Presidential farewell addresses are a longstanding tradition in American politics, offering presidents a final chance to reflect on their time in office, list their accomplishments, and provide parting advice to the nation.

As Ronald Reagan famously remarked in his 1989 farewell address, “There is a great tradition of warnings in Presidential farewells.” This tradition is a key feature of farewell addresses, where outgoing leaders look to the future and warn of potential dangers facing the nation. Biden’s farewell address followed the same pattern. “I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern,” Biden said. “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.” Biden referred to Dwight Eisenhower’s iconic 1961 farewell address where he warned the nation about the dangers of the “military-industrial complex.” “The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist,” Eisenhower said during his speech.

“Six decades later, I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country,” Biden said. “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Errors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking.”Biden recently expressed disapproval of Meta’s decision to do away with its current social media fact-checking program, calling it “really shameful.” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg justified the decision last week in a video statement by saying that fact-checking has become “too politically biased,” resulting in censorship and a loss of trust. He also warned of dangers of AI, saying that it’s crucial for people to govern this new technology. “As the land of liberty, America, not China, must lead the world in the development of AI,” Biden said.

Biden also hinted in his speech at charges his Department of Justice made against Trump. “We need to amend the Constitution to make clear that no president, no president, is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office,” Biden said. This marked the president’s fifth and final address from the Oval Office since taking office. The president last spoke from behind the Resolute Desk on July 24, when he addressed the nation to explain his decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. Farewell addresses are a key opportunity for presidents to shape the narrative of their time in office, according to Tom McArdle, former White House speechwriter for President George W. Bush. “Presidents use farewell addresses primarily to try to write history before the historians do, and they rarely succeed,” he told The Epoch Times.

Their efforts often fail because the true measure of a presidency is shaped more by actions than words, McArdle said. It’s inevitably Biden’s performance that will define his legacy, he said. The president’s farewell speech comes on the heels of a breakthrough in the Middle East, as Israel and Hamas reached a deal for a hostage and prisoner swap, along with a six-week ceasefire, set to take effect on Jan. 19.Before he began his farewell speech, Biden took credit for his work in brokering the deal in the Middle East. “After eight months of non-stop negotiation by my administration, a cease-fire and hostage deal has been reached by Israel and Hamas,” Biden said. “This plan was developed and negotiated by my team, and it will be largely implemented by the incoming administration.”

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She was impressive.

• Pam Bondi’s Confirmation Hearing for Attorney General (ET)

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi fielded questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 15 as part of her confirmation process to serve as the next attorney general of the United States. During the hearing, both sides of the aisle focused on concerns about the weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which Bondi pledged not to engage in. Democrats tended to focus on Bondi’s ties with President-elect Donald Trump and her willingness to maintain the DOJ’s independence from the White House. She also encountered questions about illegal immigration, national security, and FISA warrants. While the Senate is expected to confirm Bondi, Sam Dorman, via The Epoch Times, lays out some of the main topics addressed during the hearing:

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi fielded questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 15 as part of her confirmation process to serve as the next attorney general of the United States. During the hearing, both sides of the aisle focused on concerns about the weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which Bondi pledged not to engage in. Democrats tended to focus on Bondi’s ties with President-elect Donald Trump and her willingness to maintain the DOJ’s independence from the White House. She also encountered questions about illegal immigration, national security, and FISA warrants. While the Senate is expected to confirm Bondi, here are some of the main topics addressed during the hearing:

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They don’t work anyway.

• Trump Team Planning Roadmap To Ease Russia Sanctions – Bloomberg

Advisers to US President-elect Donald Trump are developing a sanctions strategy to push Russia-Ukraine peace talks which could involve easing restrictions on Moscow, Bloomberg claimed on Thursday. Last week, incumbent US President Joe Biden unveiled a “sweeping” new round of sanctions on Moscow, targeting two major Russian petroleum producers, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz, associated entities, as well as 183 vessels involved in transporting Russian crude oil. These new measures have already caused world oil prices to surge; Brent futures have gained almost $5 per barrel since they were announced. Citing people familiar with Trump’s plans, Bloomberg has claimed that the future president’s team is currently considering two main approaches to future US sanctions.

In the first scenario, if Washington sees that the Ukraine conflict could soon be resolved, limited sanctions relief may be granted to Russian oil companies as a gesture of good faith. The other option, however, is to take a more aggressive stance by intensifying restrictions in a bid to put more pressure on Moscow and increase US leverage in negotiations. According to the outlet, the easing of sanctions against Moscow could include raising the ceiling on Russian oil prices above the current limit of $60 per barrel. Meanwhile, tougher restrictions could involve strengthening secondary sanctions or measures against ships that allegedly transport oil from Russia. Bloomberg’s sources noted that these plans are still in their early stages and depend on how Trump himself chooses to proceed.

Moscow has vehemently condemned Biden’s last round of sanctions, calling them “illegal,” with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warning that they could destabilize global energy markets. Responding to Washington’s move, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also suggested that the outgoing president’s legacy would be defined by the “mess” he leaves behind. Meanwhile, Trump has said that a meeting between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently being set up. with Moscow also expressing an openness to negotiations with the future US leader.

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Careful what you say anywhere.

• Far Left UK Government Proposes BANNING “Controversial” Conversations (MN)

The leftist Labour government in Britain has proposed radical reforms to the rights of workers that could include classing ‘sensitive’ topics of conversation in the workplace such as religion, women’s rights, or transgenderism as ‘harassment’. The proposed legislation would force employers to prevent workers from being subjected to such subjects by third parties, such as customers. If they are found to have failed to do so, they could face lawsuits under the legislation. Watchdog The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned that if it comes into the force next year, the proposed law could significantly impact freedom of expression and even be applied to “overheard conversations” such as those between two or more people in a pub.

The EHRC has noted that applying the harassment law in cases involving a “philosophical belief” could lead to problems owing to the fact that many employers do not understand such topics are protected by equality law. “The legal definition of what amounts to philosophical belief is complex and not well understood by employers. It is arguable that these difficulties may lead to disproportionate restriction of the right to freedom of expression,” the watchdog warned. A spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association said in comments to The Times “Any legalisation must be carefully drafted to make sure it does not have unintended consequences, such as pub workers expected to decide whether private conversations between customers constitute a violation of law.”

Sir Tim Martin, founder and chairman of the pub chain Wetherspoons urged that the proposal “sounds like Big Brother thought control which would be a bureaucratic nightmare to enforce.”Martin added, “All beliefs which challenge the status quo are contentious. Newton’s law of gravity and Einstein’s theory of relativity were contentious at one point. Or Alexander Fleming creating the biggest-ever advance in medicine from mould.” “Humanity has progressed through these challenges and their subsequent debate,” he further emphasised, adding that “The cancellation of ideas is, in effect, a new religious commandment by those who think they’re not religious.” Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK remarked “Every pub is a parliament. It is where we discuss the world. If that is restricted they might as well all close.”

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“Trump himself had privately urged him to accept the post. Should he do so, he may not be able to work with Musk at DOGE.”

• Sen. Ramaswamy? Vivek Emerges As Dark Horse Successor To Vance (JTN)

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy disappeared from social media in recent weeks, amid reports that he could fill Vice President-elect JD Vance’s Senate seat. The reports come as something of a reversal as he previously removed himself from consideration for the post after Trump put him in charge of a planned new department. Originally named the co-chair of President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Ramaswamy was set to prioritize sweeping cuts to government spending alongside co-chair Elon Musk. The pair spoke boldly about finding $2 trillion in waste to help the country balance the budget and drastically reduce the size of the federal government. But Ramaswamy fell off the grid in the wake of a contentious and public debate between incoming Trump administration figures over the H-1B visa program.

Ramaswamy’s defense of the program and comments about the way Americans raised their children drew intense backlash from the MAGA wing of the Republican Party and led to pronouncements that he had killed his political future. But mounting reports suggest that he may find a viable escape route through the upper chamber and that Trump himself had privately urged him to accept the post. Should he do so, he may not be able to work with Musk at DOGE. Politico reported this week that Ramaswamy had met with Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, to discuss the prospect of him replacing Vance. The Ohio-based Republican is one of the state’s most high-profile politicians not currently in office and has attracted speculation over a possible gubernatorial run as well.

Ramaswamy gained traction in the Republican primary, however, primarily as an advocate for reforming American foreign policy in favor of a more reserved approach. During that contest, he regularly traded barbs with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and railed against the party’s neoconservative wing. He also developed a reputation as conservative firebrand on an array of domestic issues. DeWine, for his part, is widely regarded as a moderate and establishment Republican, making Ramaswamy an unexpected choice to succeed Vance. But the prospect of a Ramaswamy gubernatorial campaign evidently has the governor mulling a Senate appointment, to clear the way for Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, to take over DeWine’s post. “DeWine isn’t incentivized to pick Ramaswamy for Senate, but Vivek is also the one roadblock to Husted,” one source told Politico.

Trump has not discussed the matter publicly but has reportedly encouraged Ramaswamy behind closed doors to accept the position, largely due to a consensus among Musk, the president-elect, and Ramaswamy himself that DOGE will need a stalwart advocate in the Senate. Ramaswamy would also fill a void left by Vance as a stalwart voice against hawkish interventionism amid the largely neoconservative upper chamber GOP. While an appointment from the governor would not put Ramaswamy before the state’s electorate for two years, his arrival in the Senate may not be well-received by some members of the chamber or Trump’s base. The tech mogul’s campaign saw him spar repeatedly with the establishment GOP, going so far as to use his opening remarks in a primary debate to call on then-RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to step down.

Should he emulate Vance on foreign policy, moreover, he is likely to become a thorn in the side of hawkish leadership like his predecessor. His comments on the H-1B debate, moreover, are likely to make him less than palatable to some immigration hawks and MAGA stalwarts. Ramaswamy weighed in weeks ago in support of the visa program, contending that employers needed to look abroad for qualified manpower due to an American culture that he said valued “mediocrity over excellence.”

“Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer),” Ramaswamy said. “A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.” Ramaswamy’s initial X post was widely shared online and attracted tens of thousands of comments, largely negative, and accusing him of solely looking to defend the importation of cheap labor. Trump himself spoke in defense of the H-1B visa, calling it a “great program,” but his own remarks have not quelled the anger of his base over Ramaswamy’s comments.

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He did well.

• Pete Hegseth Confirmation Vote Expected After Inauguration (JTN)

Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker on Thursday said the final vote to confirm Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth will likely take place in the days following President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. The senate committee held its hearing on Hegseth on Tuesday, where he clashed with Democrats, and denied allegations of sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and financial mismanagement. But Republicans appeared to rally around the conservative, including Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who endorsed the nominee following the hearing. Wicker did not specify what day the vote would take place, but said it could be as late as next Thursday if Senate Democrats do not allow the chamber to speed up the confirmation process.

“I expect our Democratic friends will delay it to the extent to which they are free to do under the rules. Wednesday, Thursday perhaps,” Wicker told reporters, per Politico. “This is not something that needs to drag out. He’s got the votes.” Senate Democrats have not stated whether they intend to delay the vote, which would leave the Pentagon without a confirmed leader, but the committee’s ranking member Jack Reed said the chamber needs more information before voting. “We’ve made it clear we feel that there’s more information that should be provided, and not just for our benefit, but for our Republican colleagues too,” he said.

If the confirmation is delayed, it is not clear who would fill in for Hegseth after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin leaves office. But the move is not unprecedented, as President Joe Biden had to wait two days after his inauguration for the Senate to confirm Austin in 2021. The potential delay also comes after Republicans insisted that Trump’s national security team should be confirmed as quickly as possible, citing recent national security concerns, including a terror attack in New Orleans.

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The industry’s imploding through woke and DEI. Maybe not a bad idea to try and save it.

• Trump Names Three Legendary Actors As ‘Special Envoys’ To Hollywood (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has named movie icons Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone as his “special ambassadors” to Hollywood, a position apparently invented by the incoming president on Thursday. ”It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday. “They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” he continued, adding that the three men will serve as his “eyes and ears” inside the film industry.

It is unclear what the position, which has never existed before, will entail. However, all three actors are outspoken supporters of Trump, making them rarities in a Democrat-dominated industry. Voight was a vocal supporter of Trump during the latter’s first term in office, and received a National Medal of Arts from then-President Trump in 2019. Gibson came out in support of Trump before November’s election, describing his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, as someone with “the IQ of a fence post.” Stallone spoke at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate after the election, praising the Republican as “a really mythical character” and “the second George Washington.”

Hollywood has been mired in a downturn since the Covid-19 pandemic, with competition from foreign countries and streaming services chipping away at profits and forcing multiple studios – including Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount, and NBCUniversal – to announce layoffs over the last year. The number of US productions during the second quarter of 2024 was down 40% on the same period in 2022, and fell another 5% in the third quarter of last year, according to figures from ProdPro and Film LA. The US box office take fell to $8.7 billion last year, a 3.3% drop in 2023 and a 23.5% drop from 2019, according to Variety.

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“Weapon, crime scene, victim, killer, motive – all have been faked.”

• The British Attack On The Skripals Didn’t Kill Them (Helmer)

The war to destroy Russia has been an evil in which the British, Americans, Germans and French have combined for more than a century now. In the present stage on the Ukrainian battlefield, every weapon and force fielded by the Anglo-Americans and their allies has been defeated; the Ukraine itself, territorially and politically, has been destroyed. No serious Russian believes this war will be over when the incoming US president claims the personal credit for negotiating end-of-war terms short of the US side’s capitulation. About men like him and negotiations like his, it was the Irishman Edmund Burke who in his 1770 essay “Thoughts on the Present Discontents” issued this warning: “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”*

In the present war against Russia, the bad men have combined across the Atlantic and the Pacific. Against them on the information war front, there are very few good men – not one in the mainstream media, almost none in the alternative media. The power of state repression is only half the reason. The other half is the competition for money. In competing for internet media subscribers, even those tempted to be good will be motivated not to associate, to compete against each other instead, and thereby “fall, one by one in the contemptible struggle.” In propaganda war, the bad men must convince their paymasters more than their audience that they are winning. Reaching this point today has required a series of confidence-building, warmaking preparations – the putsch in Kiev of February 2014; the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in July 2014; and the Novichok attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, England, in March 2018.

The official narrative of Novichok, the Russian chemical warfare weapon allegedly used against the Skripals, has just reached its climax in London. A state-sponsored report will be published in a few weeks’ time. It will conclude that President Vladimir Putin had the means, opportunity and motive to kill the Skripals, and is guilty of attempted murder on English soil. But the forensic evidence which has slipped into the public record from the British intelligence and security services, the chemical warfighters at Porton Down, and the Whitehall staffs advising the prime minister proves the narrative and the indictment are false. Weapon, crime scene, victim, killer, motive – all have been faked. By the Anglo-American and Canadian law standards of reasonable doubt and balance of probabilities, the prosecution of the case against Russia should have collapsed. Except, of course, that in the present state of war, this hasn’t happened.

The new book, Long Live Novichok! The British poison which fooled the worldis the lone voice to explain for the time being at least; it is also the only platform to defend Sergei and Yulia Skripal as political prisoners of the British for the past seven years. Because they didn’t die after they had been sprayed with a British poison, they have been kept in hospital under forced sedation and tracheostomy; then held under guard, in isolation, incommunicado. Their telephone calls to family in Russia, made in a hurry and in secret, stopped five years ago. For the first time the book documents the British presentation in public of the poison weapon itself, revealing the clue of the colour of Novichok. This is the evidence that the murder weapon wasn’t Russian, it wasn’t Novichok at all. In today’s podcast from Canada, Chris Cook and I discuss the reasons for the failure of Novichok to kill anyone, and its success at brainwashing everyone, or almost everyone.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Jeremy Kuzmarov, John Helmer January 15, 2025 by Chris Cook

Jeremy Kuzmarov and counting down to The Donald’s return; John Helmer and spitting out the red, white, and blue Skripal pills in the second half.

Read on Substack

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MAHA

 

 

Freeman


Nap time

Stray

Pastor

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle January 16 2025

Jan 162025
 
 January 16, 2025  Posted by at 11:22 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  75 Responses »


Marcel Duchamp The king and queen surrounded by swift nudes 1912

 

• Trump Announces Israel-Hamas Ceasefire (RT)
• Trump Envoy Swayed Netanyahu More In One Meeting Than Biden Did All Year (ZH)
• “Turns Out, Presidents Matter”: Marc Andreessen (ZH)
• Marco Rubio Urges End to Ukraine Conflict (Sp.)
• Prepare For War – NATO Chief (RT)
• What Trump Should Do (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Trump Team’s Ukraine Predictions ‘Campaign Bluster’ – Reuters (RT)
• Ban On Talks With Moscow Remains – Kiev (RT)
• Moscow and Kiev Hold ‘Limited Talks’ – Bloomberg (RT)
• German Military Retreats From X (RT)
• Berlin Proves It Will Support Kiev To Its Own Detriment (Romanenko)
• Biden SEC Sues Musk Over Twitter Purchase In 11th Hour “Sham” (ZH)
• Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg To Attend Trump Inauguration (JTN)
• Trump Mulls Executive Order To ‘Save Tiktok’ – WaPo (RT)
• Why Europe Fears Free Speech (Munchau)

 

 


A Final Toast – by Mr. Fish

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1879639928880943151

RFK

Cuomo

Bondi

Sheehy

Newsom

Palisades

Tucker

Sen. Kennedy

Gov. Taxes

 

 

Bibi doesn’t listen to Biden. He hears Trump loud and clear, though.

• Trump Announces Israel-Hamas Ceasefire (RT)

Israel and Hamas have struck a deal that sees all hostages released, US President-elect Donald Trump has announced “We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East,” Trump posted on his TruthSocial platform on Wednesday. “They will be released shortly.” According to multiple media outlets, the agreement approved in Qatar involves a 42-day ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners, including all Israelis taken captive in the October 7, 2023 Hamas incursion from Gaza. “This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” Trump added in another post.

His national security team will “continue to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven,” the president-elect added. “This is only the beginning of great things to come for America, and indeed, the World!” Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly joined the talks in Doha and played a key role in persuading the Israeli delegation to accept the deal. “This deal was achieved because of the help of many and demonstrates that a policy of peace through strength wins,” Witkoff told Israel’s Channel 12 on Wednesday. “Thank you to the Israeli negotiating teams, thank you to the Qataris, thank you to Egypt, thank you to the Biden administration, and most of all to Donald Trump, whose policy of peace through strength is the one that won.”

A “breakthrough” in the talks was said to have been reached early on Monday. Qatari ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has met with senior Hamas officials to persuade the Palestinian group to accept the agreement. Egyptian and Turkish intelligence chiefs also took part in the negotiations, along with the heads of Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet.

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Bide demands praise for a whole year in which he failed. Trump simply says: I don’t want my 2d term to start with an ugly war.

• Trump Envoy Swayed Netanyahu More In One Meeting Than Biden Did All Year (ZH)

Even Israeli media is very clearly attributing achievement of the Gaza ceasefire deal to President-elect Donald Trump and his team. President Biden too at one point in an afternoon press conference hailing the deal acknowledged that he spoke as ‘one team’ with Trump on the Gaza deal. According to The Times of Israel: “A “tense” weekend meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and incoming Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff led to a breakthrough in the hostage negotiations, with the top aide to US President-elect Donald Trump doing more to sway the premier in a single sit-down than outgoing President Joe Biden did all year, two Arab officials told The Times of Israel on Tuesday. Witkoff has been in Doha for the past week to take part in the hostage negotiations, as mediators try to secure a deal before Trump’s January 20 inauguration. On Saturday, Witkoff flew to Israel for a meeting with Netanyahu at the premier’s Jerusalem office.

During the meeting, Witkoff urged Netanyahu to accept key compromises necessary for an agreement, the two Arab officials on Monday told The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity. Neither Witkoff nor Netanyahu’s office responded to requests for comment”. As expected, Biden disagrees with this assessment… Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to make a public statement. Interestingly, Trump was the first leader to hail the deal, attributing it largely to his election victory in November and anticipation of his entering the Oval Office next Monday. But Biden chalked it up to his own diplomacy: “This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity,” he said in the statement.

The US president further said Wednesday’s agreement “not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a ceasefire in Lebanon and weakening of Iran — but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy,” he says. “My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done.” Many political analysts, including Glenn Greenwald, would beg to differ. An initial Hamas statement is meanwhile celebrating this as a ‘win’ over the Israeli military machine, which has been unable to root out the Islamist insurgency in the strip. Words from Hamas leadership praised “the legendary steadfastness of the great Palestinian people and the valiant resistance in the Gaza Strip.” Hamas is for the first time coming out publicly in the streets of Gaza, as a deal finally looks legit at this point…

Still there are reports of intensified Israeli bombing in parts of Gaza, merely hours before the deal is expected to go into effect, which will see the release of hostages and an exchange for many dozens of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Meanwhile, Nassim Taleb makes a great point, stating on X that …with Kamala there is a near-certainty of more wars coupled with a lot of bullshit about “peace” initiatives. With Trump (rather, Trump-Vance) there is a possibility of peace coupled with loud saber rattling. Indeed, if the truce holds, it will likely go down in the history books as a victory for Trump’s early diplomacy. Progressives too have been wondering what took the Biden White House so long, given also that virtually the same deal was on the table previously this summer, and it collapsed. Israeli lawmakers and ministers are expected to vote on approving the deal on Thursday morning, but a lot can happen between now and then.

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Andreessen: “He’s world-class at real estate and communications.” “He’s probably the first person in the world to be world-class in both things.” “He very deeply understands business.” “When Trump puts up one of these giant hotels, these are large-scale systems projects. There are many dimensions. A lot of things can go wrong. There’s technology change. You’ve got to manage these hands-on because they can always go sideways.” “He’s world-class at thinking things through systematically.” “There’s this video of him talking about the water situation in California on Joe Rogan six months ago. It’s one of those classic Trump things, where at the time, everybody’s like, why is he going on and on about the water situation in California?”

“And then, of course, LA is burning down in the last three days. And if you listen to what he talked about with the water situation in California. He is exactly 100% correct.” “In the first term, when he diagnosed the German energy situation at the United Nations. He said you will become dependent on Russian energy, and that will be a disaster for you, and it has been. It was an extremely precise, accurate, and prescient five-minute analysis of this system’s problem.” “In my energy conversation with him, he’s extremely sophisticated. The energy people that I know know that he’s sophisticated. So, he wraps his head around these things very quickly and easily.”

• “Turns Out, Presidents Matter”: Marc Andreessen (ZH)

Marc Andreessen, the billionaire investor and co-founder of the influential Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, joined the host of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter Robinson (former Reagan speechwriter), to discuss his pivotal role in shaping Silicon Valley and politics. For decades, Andreessen has supported Democrats, including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton. However, a troubling 2024 spring meeting with Biden administration officials spooked the Silicon Valley entrepreneur. He said Biden officials explained their plan to control AI through government regulatory capture—a strategy reminiscent of Communist policies in China. Andreessen told Robinson that President-elect Donald Trump’s knowledge about problem-solving in business and energy is “extremely sophisticated” and “world-class on real estate and communications.”

“My analysis would be he is world-class in real estate and on communications … and he’s world-class on both which is like probably the first person in the world to be world-class on both of those things, right? The real estate industry is not historically known for its great communicators,” Andreessen continued. Robinson and Andreessen also discussed Silicon Valley’s technological and political evolution, Andreessen’s shifting political alliances from Clinton, Obama, and Biden to MAGA, and his vision for harnessing cutting-edge technology to advance societal progress. They also addressed energy challenges, border security, and national defense. In particular, Robinson and Andreessen spoke about China’s manufacturing dominance. Andreessen explained:

“And I’ll just tell you where I’m worried right now, where the problem is compounding. So you mentioned the, sort of, iPhone assembly, and that’s a big deal. But basically, there’s three industries that sort of follow phones that are kicking in right now. So, one is drones. And it’s sort of in a bizarre turn of events, the Chinese basically own the global drone market for all, basically, the consumer drones, all the cheap drones. Which by the way, numerically then are the drones that all the militarys also use in overwhelming numbers. And something over 90% of all drones used by the US military are made in China. No, no, it gets worse, it gets worse, it gets worse, it gets worse before it gets. So the drone thing is not just a company, it’s an entire ecosystem. It’s all of the componentry.

“We have a drone company that’s been trying to compete with the Chinese company. Number one, the Biden FAA has been trying to kill us this entire time, trying to do all kinds of things to make sure that American drone companies can’t succeed as part of their war on tech. It’s literally just another in the long list of ways that they’ve been just trying to absolutely kill us. But two is, China has figured this out. And so, the US has been sanctioning AI chips going to China, China is now sanctioning, they sanction our drone company for the battery, [LAUGH] cuz the battery is made in China, right? And so they have like significant leverage, not just for the drones, but for the entire supply chain. By the way, the drone supply chain is very analogous to the car supply chain. A self driving electric car is very similar to a drone, or for that matter, to an iPhone. It’s an electrical mechanical device, but it’s a lot of the same kind of battery technology, chip technology, sensor technology.

So they now have their version of what the Germans used to have, which is sort of, the thousands of mid market companies that make all the parts that go into a car. But the German ecosystem is still making them for old internal combustion cars, the Chinese ecosystem is making them for electric cars and self driving cars. And of course, that means the new Chinese cars that are coming out are really good and they have a giant advantage on cost. And they are starting to bring to market cars that are equivalent in quality to western cars at a third or a fourth of price. So that’s coming. And then the big one that follows phones, drones, and cars, logically, is robots.

Robinson asked Andreessen: And the Chinese are ahead of us there? Andreessen responded: 100%, now, we have the leading, this is important, we have the leading software,like we have the leading R&D. Like, we have the smartest, I’m convinced we have like the smartest robotics AI people. We have the best people, specifically for the design of the systems, but we don’t have anything resembling the manufacturing capability at all. Andreessen noted that these technologies are upstream from all the military applications because they are intertwined in the same supply chains. He said the US must confront this and reverse the fragmented approach, where the Biden administration would “hate the domestic American technology industry and is trying to kill it” one day and then, on other days, “thinks we’re gonna somehow develop some sort of competitive response to China on cars or on weapons in the future.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1879396919107313836

The takeaway from the interview is clear: Trump 2.0 must craft a coherent, competitive response to advancing technology under an ‘America First’ agenda. This is in contrast to the radicals in the Biden-Harris regime, who focused on de-growth policies (under the guise of climate change) that have allowed China to advance ahead of the US. “What’s the whole of government strategy on China? Zero, right? It turns out the president matters,” Andreessen concluded. One must ask: whose team was the Biden-Harris administration on? It doesn’t appear they prioritized an ‘America First’ agenda. This will change under Trump.

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Rubio presents the hawkish case.

• Marco Rubio Urges End to Ukraine Conflict (Sp.)

The United States’ official position on the Ukraine conflict must be that it should be brought to an end, Republican Senator Marco Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state nominee, said on Wednesday. “I think it should be the official position of the United States that this war should be brought to an end,” Rubio said during a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, when asked to elaborate on his decision late last year to vote against aid to Ukraine. The 53-year-old admitted that “this is not going to be an easy endeavor” and called for “everyone to be realistic.” He suggested that conflict settlement could start with “some ceasefire” and require concessions by both Russia and Ukraine.

Rubio pointed to a change in the dynamic of the Ukraine conflict, saying it has become a “war of attrition” and “stalemate.” He believes there is “no way Russia takes all of Ukraine.” “It’s also unrealistic to believe that somehow a nation the size of Ukraine — no matter how incompetent and no matter how much damage the Russian Federation has suffered as a result of this invasion — there is no way Ukraine is also going to push these people all the way back to where they were on the eve of the invasion,” Rubio added.

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NATO wants war. Nobody else does.

• Prepare For War – NATO Chief (RT)

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has called on members of the US-led military bloc to adopt a “wartime mindset” and significantly increase defense spending, citing supposed threats from Russia and other nations. Rutte noted on Wednesday that NATO members have increased defense investments and conducted more frequent military exercises. However, he argued that these efforts are “not sufficient to deal with the dangers coming our way in the next four to five years.” The bloc’s “future security is at stake,” Rutte claimed in his opening remarks at a meeting of the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defense in Brussels. He accused Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran of attempting to “weaken our democracies and chip away at our freedom.”

“To prevent war, we need to prepare for it. It is time to shift to a wartime mindset,” Rutte asserted, urging NATO states to allocate more resources toward defense and develop “more and better defense capabilities.” He also stressed the importance of providing increased support to Ukraine to “change the trajectory of the war,” and called for enhanced cooperation with global partners. Moscow has repeatedly denied assertions that it represents a threat to any NATO member states and has instead accused the US-led bloc of waging a proxy war against Russia and encroaching on its territory. Last month, President Vladimir Putin said that practically all NATO states are currently at war with Russia.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also noted on Tuesday that history appears to be repeating itself, suggesting that there were “obvious parallels” between Moscow’s current confrontation with NATO and the attempts of Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler to take over Russia after subjugating dozens of European countries. On Tuesday, Rutte announced that NATO would bolster its presence in the Baltic Sea – a strategic area for Russian naval operations and energy exports – by launching a new mission under the pretext of protecting undersea infrastructure. The NATO chief revealed that this presence will involve frigates, maritime patrol aircraft, and a “small fleet of naval drones” that are expected to provide “enhanced surveillance and deterrence.”

The announcement follows an incident involving a Cook Islands-registered oil tanker, the Eagle S, which allegedly damaged the Estlink 2 power cable connecting Finland and Estonia last month. The EU has warned that it could impose sanctions on Moscow over what EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has described as the “deliberate destruction of Europe’s critical infrastructure” using a “shadow fleet” of tankers, which supposedly includes the Eagle S. While the tanker has been detained by Finnish authorities, no conclusive evidence has been presented regarding its involvement in the alleged sabotage.

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If Trump can deal with the real challenges [..], he will go down as the greatest American president in history.

• What Trump Should Do (Paul Craig Roberts)

American security agencies have long used the cloak of national security to avoid accountability for their crimes, such as the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, and the numerous assassinations of foreign leaders and screw-ups. Beginning with the Clinton regime, presidents and non-security appointees also began escaping accountability. The situation worsened in the George W. Bush/Dick Cheney regime, and it exploded in the Biden regime with the Attorney General, FBI, and Democrat state attorneys general and prosecutors using law as a weapon against Trump, his attorneys, and his supporters. Many people were ruined financially.

Many were falsely imprisoned, and Trump himself had his reelection in 2020 stolen by the most brazen and obvious vote theft in American history. The evidence is clear that Biden himself is guilty of selling vice presidential and presidential influence with his son, Hunter, being the marketer and sharing the revenues. Yet the US Department of Justice prevented any investigation and indictments The whore American media covered up the story. The practice of elevating high office holders to the privileged status of a king or an aristocracy above both the law and the US Constitution must not continue in the Trump regime. If it does, high officials will have gained squatters’ rights in being above the law, and the US Constitution will be reduced to a dead document.

At this point, the only way a collapse of the rule of law in the US can be avoided is for the Trump regime to relentless prosecute the Department of Justice, FBI, and White House officials who selectively applied law in the form of lawfare against political opponents. If those responsible avoid accountability, a legal precedent will have been established, and the differential rights and status based on race and gender that are already in place will be joined by special legal privileges for high government officials. It would mean the end of any possibility of accountable government. This should be the highest priority of the Trump regime. It is even more important than closing the border.

On the war front Trump should simply walk away from conflict with Iran and Russia. Wars distract from domestic matters and will prevent focus on making America great again. Wars will bring more propaganda about “terrorists” and more infringements of US civil liberty, which is not a path to making America great again. There is no reason whatsoever for American blood, taxpayers’ money, and more issuance of US debt in order to enrich the coffers of the military/security complex and to expand the frontier of Greater Israel. Trump should come to the realization that Israel is of no value to America. Israel is a deadweight burden around our necks, and the unconditional American support for Israel’s wars and genocide of the Palestinians has cost America’s reputation hugely. If America ever had a moral luster, it no longer does.

Iran and Russia do not threaten the US. The Middle East is full of problems for Iran, whose government doesn’t need problems with the US. Ukraine is Russia’s problem, not ours. Washington is responsible for the conflict. Trump should apologize and remove us from the conflict. The minute Trump stops sending money and weapons to Ukraine and Israel, peace will descend on the world. Trump should return to his original position that NATO is of no value to America. If NATO did not exist, Russia and Europe would be engaged in mutually beneficial economic ventures. These ventures would create financing and business opportunities also for Americans. All would prosper. It is Washington’s pursuit of hegemony–the control over others–that is suppressing economic activity worldwide and eroding the living standard of all Americans except the top one percent.

MAGA America has no interest in the agendas of special interest lobby group policies that benefit only a tiny percentage of people who are already so rich that they can’t possibly spend their huge amount of income and wealth. The problems of the world originate in Washington and they are institutionalized in the Israel Lobby, the military/security complex, Big Pharma and its control over high cost and ineffective American medicine that sacrifices Americans’ health and the integrity of doctors to Big Pharma’s profits. These are the real threats to America that if America is again to be great, these threats, not Russia and Iran, must be destroyed and eliminated. If the Trump regime can reestablish the respect for a rule of law by indicting and prosecuting DOJ, FBI, and other officials for their criminal behavior, and if Trump can disengage the US/Israeli war machine, he will have saved the world from nuclear war and re-established the United States as the principal nation to whom the world looks for leadership.

My concern is that Trump will love the war role. As Winston Churchill believed, there is nothing more exciting than being a war leader, especially if you imagine prospects of winning. Trump is extremely susceptible to getting into war based on advice that Putin has no red lines because Putin is too fearful of conflict. With Iran’s isolation from the destruction of Syria and a reformist government that wants to be free of religious restrictions and to make money in the West, Trump is being advised it is time to bring Iran down.

When the Ruling Elite have you blocked elsewhere, their agenda becomes your only choice. Has Trump fought so hard only for the sake of being used by the well-institutionalized American Establishment? The third thing Trump should immediately do is to shut down the US biowarfare labs Washington is operating all over the world. These labs are trying to create deadly pathogens that are highly contagious. The labs are even attempting to target the pathogens at specific ethnicities, collecting, for example, Russian DNA in the hopes of finding some material unique to Russians to which to attach the pathogen. These American labs are all illegal. Washington tries to avoid responsibility by locating its biowarfare labs in other countries. Trump should put an immediate halt to the activity and prosecute those responsible, including the US Congress if Congress authorized this illegal activity.

Those who profit from this evil activity claim that we have to do it because our enemies do it, but they never provide any documentation for their claim. Regardless, as the Covid experience proves, when a pathogen is released it goes everywhere. To use one as a weapon results in the same self-destruction as nuclear war. So much of science is committed to weapons. Science needs to be turned back to improving health and the human condition. If Trump can deal with the real challenges that we face instead of being led off to fake challenges serving special interests, he will go down as the greatest American president in history.

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If the shooting stops within 24 hours, there’s no bluster. Negotiations will come after.

• Trump Team’s Ukraine Predictions ‘Campaign Bluster’ – Reuters (RT)

Donald Trump’s election promises to end the Ukraine conflict “in 24 hours” were driven by “a combination of campaign bluster and a lack of appreciation of the intractability” of the situation, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources close to the US president-elect. Trump repeatedly touted his ability to end hostilities between Russia and Ukraine while on the campaign trail, accusing President Joe Biden of mishandling the crisis. Privately, members of the Trump team expect the timeline for resolving the conflict to be measured in months, the news agency said. Reuters spoke with two individuals on condition of anonymity, who described themselves as Trump associates who have discussed the issue with him.

The view aligns with public remarks by members of the future administration. Keith Kellogg, whom Trump has tapped to serve as a special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, told Fox News last week that he aims to mediate a resolution within 100 days after Inauguration Day on January 20. Trump expressed frustration that he has to wait to be sworn in before implementing his plans, speaking at a recent press conference at his residence in Florida. Asked whether he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the first three to six months of his presidency, the politician said such a meeting would hopefully be arranged “long before six months”. At the same event, Trump expressed empathy with Russian concerns over NATO’s expansion in Europe, which Moscow has cited as one of the key causes of the Ukraine conflict. He criticized the Biden administration for falling to effectively negotiate with Putin on the issue.

According to Reuters, Trump advisers generally support proposals that would take Ukraine’s bid to join NATO off the table for the foreseeable future, and push for a ceasefire along the current battle lines. They also advocate deploying European troops to monitor a potential demilitarized zone, the report said. The Kremlin has welcomed Trump’s recognition of Russian national concerns. However, Moscow expects a sustainable solution addressing the wider European security architecture. Moscow will not accept an agreement that would merely freeze the conflict and give Kiev time to rebuild its army for future hostilities, as happened with the Minsk Agreements of 2014-2015, officials have said.

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The talks won’t involve Ukraine.

• Ban On Talks With Moscow Remains – Kiev (RT)

Kiev is maintaining its moratorium on direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga confirmed in an interview with European Pravda published on Wednesday. Two years ago, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree banning his government from any talks with Moscow. When asked if Russia should be involved in potential peace negotiations, Sibiga stated that at the moment, such a “modality” has not been considered. “Let us wait for official contacts with the US, where we will discuss further steps,” the diplomat added. Sibiga took up the post as Kiev’s chief diplomat in September, following the resignation of his predecessor Dmitry Kuleba, who stepped down amid a large-scale purge of Ukraine’s senior officials and took up a position at a Harvard-based research center.

In the interview, Sibiga claimed that US President-elect Donald Trump’s “peace through strength” approach aligns with Zelensky’s so-called “peace formula,” which is predicated on Russia withdrawing its troops from all territory claimed by Ukraine, paying reparations, and subjecting itself to a war crimes tribunal. Moscow has dismissed the plan, calling it “detached from reality.” Russia has repeatedly said it is open to talks on Ukraine, provided they take into account the territorial “reality on the ground,” an approach recently echoed by French president, Emmanual Macron. The Ukrainian leader, however, has recently shifted his rhetoric from emphasizing “victory” to demanding a “just peace,” underpinned by security guarantees from the West, including NATO membership, while leaving the status of the new Russian regions undetermined.

Last week, Zelensky expressed a desire to secure a peace agreement with Russia within the year, emphasizing the need for strong security guarantees from its Western supporters. Trump had repeatedly claimed while on the campaign trail that he could end the conflict within 24 hours. However, the president-elect recently said it might take up to six months after taking office to facilitate a deal between Moscow and Kiev. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow is ready to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine within a broader Eurasian framework in order to address larger geopolitical issues. The Russian president reiterated last month that Moscow is ready for negotiations with Kiev without any preconditions other than those agreed upon in Istanbul in 2022, which involved Ukraine agreeing to a neutral status and restrictions on the deployment of foreign weaponry in the country.

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Oh wait…

• Moscow and Kiev Hold ‘Limited Talks’ – Bloomberg (RT)

Russia and Ukraine are holding “limited talks” in Qatar, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources on the Russian side. The negotiations are focused on preventing threats to nuclear facilities amid the ongoing conflict between the two neighbors, the media outlet claimed. Bloomberg’s Ukrainian sources maintained that the only talks held between the two nations are linked to prisoner exchanges. Earlier on Wednesday, Moscow and Kiev confirmed the latest POW swap, which involved 25 servicemen from each side. According to Bloomberg, the Kremlin did not respond to a request for comment. In August 2024, the Washington Post claimed that Moscow and Kiev were holding talks on a potential moratorium on striking energy infrastructure in the summer of that year, allegedly also mediated by Qatar. The negotiations were reportedly thwarted by the Ukrainian incursion into the Russian Kursk border region in early August, the US media outlet stated.

Moscow then refuted the report, saying that “no one has derailed anything.” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov brushed the information off as mere “rumors.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at that time that no “security regimes” for critical infrastructure had been discussed by the two sides. According to Zakharova, Moscow and Kiev have not engaged in any talks since spring 2022 when peace talks collapse, which Russia blamed on Western interference. In November 2024, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari, told journalists that his nation’s mediation efforts in the Ukraine conflict go beyond the humanitarian efforts aimed at helping children affected by the hostilities to reunite with their families.

According to al-Ansari, Qatar has always pursued a policy aimed at “reaching peace.” The spokesman also stated that time that Doha was supporting all the efforts aimed at achieving a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Kiev has refused direct talks with Moscow ever since Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky banned direct talks in autumn 2022. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga confirmed in an interview with European Pravda published on Wednesday that the moratorium is still in place. He also said that Kiev would wait for further contacts with the US before making any moves. Moscow has repeatedly stated that it is ready for peace talks at any moment without any preconditions other than those agreed upon in Istanbul in 2022. The draft treaty involved Kiev agreeing to a neutral status and accepting restrictions on foreign weaponry deployment on Ukrainian territory.

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Who cares?

• German Military Retreats From X (RT)

The German Defense Ministry and the Army (the Bundeswehr) have announced they will stop posting on X claiming that Elon Musk’s platform makes it “difficult to have a factual exchange.” Musk has lambasted the current German government for promoting the “woke mind virus” and leading the country to ruin, going so far as to endorse the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and interview its leader Alice Weidel live on his platform earlier this week. “We will leave our X-channel dormant until further notice and will not post anything actively for the time being,” the Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday. “We have decided to take this step because a factual exchange is becoming increasingly difficult here.”

According to a statement posted on the ministry’s website, it will continue to communicate with the public via press releases, a WhatsApp group, YouTube, Instagram, and “other social media.” The Bundeswehr reserves the right to post on X “in the case of disinformation campaigns,” it said. The move comes after over 60 German universities and research institutes announced their departure from X, alleging “increasing radicalization” on the site. Two labor unions and the top federal court have also departed the platform in a huff. Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, citing the previous management’s out-of-control censorship, and has since rebranded the platform as X. Subsequent revelations have shown that Twitter’s previous executive team worked closely with the government to suppress opposition narratives.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will continue to use X “for the time being,” his spokesman told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday. “It’s a difficult balance to strike,” the official representative said, describing X as “not without controversy.” The “controversy” in question appears to be Musk’s endorsement of AfD and an interview with Weidel. He did the same last year to back Donald Trump’s presidential bid in the US, which saw him triumph in November. The German establishment has long tarred AfD with accusations of “extremism,” but its popularity has surged in recent months due to its positions on immigration and the economy. Scholz’s “traffic light” coalition collapsed in November and Germans will have to vote for a new parliament in late February. Since Musk’s $44 billion purchase, proponents of “fact-checking” and censoring “disinformation” have tried to set up alternatives such as Threads and Bluesky, but failed to make an appreciable dent in X’s user base.

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“..each new pledge to Ukraine serves as a stark reminder of Berlin’s neglect of its own citizens..”

• Berlin Proves It Will Support Kiev To Its Own Detriment (Romanenko)

As Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius proudly announced the delivery of RCH 155 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine – even before the Bundeswehr receives them – Berlin’s priorities have once again come under scrutiny. The decision to ship this state-of-the-art artillery system to Ukraine highlights a glaring paradox: Germany’s commitment to modernizing its own armed forces seems secondary to its zeal in arming Kiev for a war increasingly serving as a proxy for Western interests against Russia. “We are standing by Ukraine in this existential fight. The RCH 155 represents not only our technical capabilities but also our steadfast support,” Pistorius declared. Yet, for many Germans, each such statement lands like a hammer blow to national confidence in their government.

Comments online have laid bare the growing resentment, with users describing each new arms shipment as “another 0.5% boost for the AfD.” This remark reflects a troubling but undeniable trend in German politics: the ruling coalition’s unwavering support for Ukraine is alienating voters at home. The RCH 155 is an advanced artillery system mounted on a Boxer wheeled vehicle, boasting a range exceeding 40 kilometers and cutting-edge mobility. It was intended to play a key role in modernizing Germany’s military – a long-overdue initiative for the Bundeswehr, which has been plagued by underfunding and outdated equipment. Instead, these cutting-edge weapons will first see action in Ukraine, leaving Germany’s armed forces waiting. Critics argue that this decision exemplifies the government’s misguided priorities. “The Bundeswehr is not only defending Germany but also the NATO alliance,” said one military analyst.

“If we are not equipped to fulfil that role, it weakens the very foundation of our defense strategy.” The irony is inescapable: while Pistorius makes sweeping promises to Kiev, German soldiers continue to train on aging and inadequate equipment. This frustration is not confined to military circles. Across the political spectrum, Germans are increasingly questioning their country’s role as a financial and military backer of Ukraine. The Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), a far-right populist party, has capitalized on this discontent, surging in the polls to become a significant political force. Recent state elections have seen the AfD achieve double-digit gains, fueled by voter dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of domestic issues. Energy prices remain high, inflation eats into wages, and public infrastructure continues to crumble.

Many Germans feel that resources and attention should be directed inward, not outward. For them, each new pledge to Ukraine serves as a stark reminder of Berlin’s neglect of its own citizens. The government’s unwavering support for Ukraine – a proxy for Western interests against Russia – is also being called into question. Pistorius’ rhetoric about an “existential fight” may resonate with international allies, but for many Germans, it rings hollow. They see a government that appears more concerned with maintaining its standing in Washington and Brussels than with addressing the needs of its own people. Comments on Die Welt reports about the transfer often highlight this disconnect. One user wrote, “We’ve become the arms supplier for the world while our own army remains underfunded and ill-equipped. How long will this madness continue?” Another opined, “Every tank, every howitzer we send is another nail in the coffin of this coalition’s credibility.”

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I read he had a 10-day grace period and filed the docs after 11 days. So one day late. Enough for Gensler to sue.

• Biden SEC Sues Musk Over Twitter Purchase In 11th Hour “Sham” (ZH)

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Elon Musk in connection to his $44 billion purchase of Twitter (now X) in October 2022. In a Tuesday press release, the agency claims that by delaying the filing of a beneficial ownership report by 11 days, Musk saved $150 million, or 0.34% on several subsequent tranches of stock he bought before filing the disclosure on April 4, 2022. According to the agency, Twitter shares surged by 27% after Musk filed the ownership report – by which time he already owned 9% of the company’s shares. “Investors who sold Twitter common stock during this period did so at artificially low prices and thus suffered substantial economic harm,” reads the complaint. The agency wants Musk to disgorge any profits he incurred due to the late filing, along with pay a civil fine.

In response, Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, told the Epoch Times that Musk did nothing wrong – calling the SEC’s lawsuit a “sham.” “Today’s action is an admission by the SEC that they cannot bring an actual case,” he said, adding that Musk “has done nothing wrong and everyone sees this sham for what it is.” As the Epoch Times notes further, Spiro accused the SEC of running a “multi-year campaign of harassment” against Musk and insisted the agency was blowing the alleged late disclosure filing out of proportion, adding that this type of infraction carries a nominal penalty.

The lawsuit is the latest chapter in Musk’s contentious relationship with the SEC. In 2018, the agency sued him for posting on social media that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share, a claim that was later revealed to be exaggerated. The SEC contended that Musk’s “misleading” post caused Tesla’s stock price to jump by over 6 percent and led to “significant market disruption.” That case was settled with Musk agreeing to pay a $20 million fine and step down as Tesla’s chairman for three years. The settlement did not require Musk to admit to any wrongdoing.

Musk’s “funding secured” post also sparked another lawsuit by a group of Tesla investors, who claimed that it was materially misleading and led them to suffer as much as $12 billion in financial losses. During a three-week trial in the case, Musk’s attorneys argued that he believed his statements about taking Tesla private were truthful, citing discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) as evidence of potential funding. Musk testified that PIF representatives showed strong interest in the deal, which led him to claim that the funding was secured.

“I had no ill motive,” Musk said in court. “My intent was to do the right thing for all shareholders.” The jury sided with Musk in the case. Jurors delivered a unanimous verdict in February 2023, finding that Musk and Tesla were not liable for misleading investors with the posts. The investors appealed the decision, arguing that the judge gave erroneous instructions to the jurors. The appellate court upheld the jury’s decision, clearing Musk of securities fraud.The SEC’s current chair, Gary Gensler, plans to step down from his post on Jan. 20, the day President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated for a second term. Meanwhile, SEC Chief Accountant Paul Munter will retire from the agency effective Jan. 25 – making it unclear if the agency will even proceed with its filing against Musk.

JD Vance Gensler

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“All three CEOs are expected to be seated with Trump and his administration officials on the platform.”

• Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg To Attend Trump Inauguration (JTN)

Tech giants Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg will all attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next week, and will be featured in a prominent spot together on the stage, according to NBC News. The three CEOs have all donated at least $1 million to Trump’s campaign or the Trump-Vance inaugural committee, and Musk is considered a close Trump ally. Musk, who runs and owns multiple companies including the social media platform X, will be co-leading the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) during the second Trump administration, and has donated more than $250 million to getting Trump reelected.

Bezos, who owns the Washington Post and is the owner and founder of Amazon, instructed his paper not to endorse a presidential candidate in the 2024 elections. Amazon has also donated $1 million to the inaugural fund. Zuckerberg, who runs and founded the social media platform Facebook and its parent company Meta, recently reshuffled his company’s moderation policies in a move that some believe was done to appease the incoming Trump administration. He will also co-host a black tie reception on Monday night with Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson, per the Associated Press. Trump will officially be sworn into office on Capitol Hill on January 20. All three CEOs are expected to be seated with Trump and his administration officials on the platform.

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Trump wants TikTok as a negotiating tool with China.

“For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump. The other side is closing it up, but I’m now a big star on TikTok.”

• Trump Mulls Executive Order To ‘Save Tiktok’ – WaPo (RT)

President-elect Donald Trump is considering issuing an executive order to delay the enforcement of a US law that mandates the sale or shutdown of TikTok, potentially granting the popular social media platform a temporary reprieve, according to The Washington Post. The current legislation, which was passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden last year, requires ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest from its US operations by January 19, 2025. Failure to comply would result in TikTok being removed from US app stores and losing access to essential infrastructure, effectively ceasing its operations in the country.

Trump has reportedly been “mulling ways to save the day,” including potentially issuing an executive order that would extend the compliance deadline by 60 to 90 days, allowing for further negotiations, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the matter. TikTok has already devised a plan to “go dark” for 170 million US users on Sunday. According to anonymous insiders cited by Reuters, the app would greet American users with a pop-up message explaining the ban and providing an option to download their data. This move would exceed the law’s requirements, which permit existing users to continue using the app without new downloads. The Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling on TikTok’s appeal against the law. During recent oral arguments, the justices appeared to prioritize national security concerns over potential free speech implications.

During his first term, Trump attempted to ban TikTok, citing national security risks due to its Chinese ownership. However, during the recent campaign, he changed his mind, stating: “For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump. The other side is closing it up, but I’m now a big star on TikTok.” In December, Trump reportedly met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, further signaling a shift in his stance toward the platform. Trump’s legal team has also requested the Supreme Court to halt the ban’s implementation, seeking additional time to pursue a political solution.

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“I am struggling to spot the difference between the extremists of the Right, and those who are trying to fight them.”

• Why Europe Fears Free Speech (Munchau)

We all know the old joke: when a European referendum delivers the “wrong” outcome, the country votes again until they get it “right”. The EU thought this would be the case after Brexit. But so far, no one’s laughing. If anything, things have got worse. Take Romania, which recently cancelled its presidential election when Calin Georgescu, leader of a nationalist Right coalition, won the first round. Thierry Breton, former French European Commissioner, revealed the EU’s mindset during a damning recent TV interview. “We did it in Romania and we will obviously do it in Germany if necessary,” he said. In other words, if you can’t beat the far-Right, ban them.

I disagree with almost everything Breton has ever said, but I am grateful to him for stating his case with such revealing clarity. During his time as industry commissioner in Brussels, from 2019 until last summer, when Emmanuel Macron replaced him with a more compliant figure, he was the driving force behind a series of laws designed to keep Europe in the digital dark ages. The most extreme of which is the Digital Services Act (DSA) which compels “very large online platforms”, such as X and Meta, to check facts and filter out fake news. But, thanks to Breton, the truth is out there. Europe’s ultimate aim isn’t to save public discourse, it is to suffocate far-Right parties by depriving them of the oxygen of information. The DSA isn’t even the last word in the EU’s anti-digital jihad. One of Ursula von der Leyen’s big ideas last year during the European election was the so-called “democracy shield” — effectively launching even more legislation to prevent outside interference in EU affairs.

This notion conjures up images of laser beams and light-sabre fights. And in some respects it’s not far from the truth: a frightened bloc needs a shield to protect itself from the encroaching enemy. Mark Zuckerberg is certainly on the attack. Last week he announced that he is abandoning fact-checking on his platforms — effectively defying the DSA. And he is betting on Donald Trump to protect him from the legal consequences. Given that J.D. Vance, the Vice President-elect, has already threatened to end US support for Nato if Europe tries to censor Elon Musk’s X, surely the same will apply to Facebook. And the EU is far too dependent on the US to be able to mount an effective campaign against any of America’s social media platforms once Trump is president. The DSA, hastily drawn up during the pandemic, not only misjudges the nature of the social media, it misjudges political power. It exposes Europe’s essential weakness before America.

This isn’t just a geopolitical battle, though. It is also a European one. The attempted clampdown reveals that there is something the bloc fears more than free speech: populism. MEPs found it hard enough to stomach Nigel Farage’s brutal outbursts when he was a member of the European Parliament. Now they have Musk breathing down their neck, endorsing candidates from the AfD, a party that sits on the far-Right in the European Parliament’s benches and which supports German withdrawal from the EU. The German media had a collective breakdown when Musk tweeted an endorsement for the AfD, interviewed Alice Weidel, the party’s co-leader, on X, and then endorsed her in an article for Die Welt. The op-ed editor of the German daily resigned in protest. And an article in another newspaper hysterically described Musk’s intervention as unconstitutional. That journalists would advocate censorship seems shocking, until one understands the role of journalism in continental European society. It operates firmly inside a narrow centrist political consensus, which spans all the parties from the centre-left to the centre-right. Naturally, the AfD does not get much airtime in the German media.

But while marginalised by traditional media, the AfD thrives on TikTok, where it has large following. So what irks the German media, and politicians from other parties, is that the censorship cartel is no longer functioning as well as it once did. In the US and in the UK, the once mighty legacy media have already lost their power. Hillary Clinton expressed the frustration perhaps most clearly when she said that social media companies must fact check, or else “we lose total control”. But Europe still lives in a twilight zone where the traditional media still basks in the dwindling sunset of power, trying to ignore social media rising on the other horizon. Like all the modern political battles in Europe, this is about protecting vested interests.

The Romanian case demonstrates how these restrictions on freedom of speech are the first salvos in a greater war of repression. The presidential elections there were cancelled on the grounds that a Russian-infested TikTok had misinformed voters. I am sure that the Russians were active. But it is shocking to think that an election was cancelled because someone lied on TikTok. Let’s be clear, there was no suggestion of any vote rigging. Georgescu won the first round of the election fair and square. But as with the laughable misperception in Brussels after the Brexit vote, the presumption behind the EU’s support for the nullification of the result, was that voters were too stupid to make up their own mind. The rerun is to take place on 4 May, followed by a run-off between the most successful candidate two weeks later. Georgescu is still the most likely candidate to win according to opinion polls, but the Romanian political establishment is still determined to find ways to disbar him, the most promising of which is the hope that he may have received undeclared funds.

There are similar patterns elsewhere. Marine Le Pen faces potential disqualification from the 2027 presidential elections following accusations of irregularities regarding her assistants in the European Parliament. More recently, Brussels was spooked by the victory in Austria of the Freedom Party, which managed to obtain 28.8% of the vote in the September general election. It surpassed a threshold at which point it became politically impossible for the other parties to form coalitions. Herbert Kickl, the FPÖ’s leader, is now likely to become Austria’s next chancellor. Meanwhile, in Germany, a group of 113 MPs has ganged up to ban the AfD. Their story is that the far-Right wants to destroy democracy. While the party is not yet polling high enough to frustrate yet another centrist coalition in Berlin after next month’s elections, Germany may only be a few percentage points away from an Austrian-style impasse.

Surely, though, the sensible approach to the rise of the AfD, the FPÖ and other parties of the Right is not to censor them, but to address the underlying problem that has made them so strong: persistent economic uncertainty, loss of purchasing power, and dysfunctional policies on migration. Failing that, why not co-opt parties of the far-Right as junior coalition partners as they did in Sweden and Finland? If Weidel were suddenly thrust into the job of economics minister, we would see whether she could defend her record in government. But the centrist parties in Germany and France do neither. They have erected political firewalls against the far-Right. And they are doubling down with the same old policies.

It’s an approach that will inevitably backfire. A banned Le Pen would be far more dangerous for the centrist establishment, and possibly even more extreme when she eventually gets to power. Likewise the AfD would surely be radicalised after a ban. Until then, the EU’s blunt weapons of choice — the legal bans, political firewalls, and censorship — will inflict more self-harm than good. In the pecking order of democratic rights, freedom of speech has a relatively low priority in Europe. Like the creatures in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, I am struggling to spot the difference between the extremists of the Right, and those who are trying to fight them.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Garland

 

 

Rescue

 

 

Encantadora

 

 

Shark attack

 

 

Snow cats

 

 

Penguin

 

 

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Debt Rattle December 16 2024

Dec 162024
 
 December 16, 2024  Posted by at 9:41 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  82 Responses »


Pablo Picasso Female bust 1922

 

• Trump Team Studying Orban’s Ceasefire Initiative (RT)
• UK PM Calls For ‘Maximum Pain’ On Russia (RT)
• Ukraine Will Have To Trade Land For Peace – Slovak President (RT)
• The New Time Of Troubles, Part III – Don’t Worry, Be Happy (Helmer)
• Germany ‘Cornered’ – Economy Minister (RT)
• Hungary Dismayed At ‘Unprecedented Gesture In Diplomacy’ By Zelensky (RT)
• Syria: The Death of a Civilization (Karganovic)
• Trump Transition Team Considering Strikes on Iran (Antiwar)
• 20 (or So) Obvious Questions about January 6 (Jack Cashill)
• Cuomo Accuser Drops Case Against The Former New York Governor (Turley)
• Milei Admin. Posts Record Reductions in Deficit and Inflation Numbers (Turley)
• House GOP Vows To Refer ActBlue Fundraising Probe To Incoming Trump DOJ (JTN)
• Offshore Wind Opponents From Deep Blue States Hope For Trump (JTN)
• Trump Considers Privatizing US Postal Service (ZH)
• Cold War Tactics With New Anti-Communism School Curriculum (Alan MacLeod)

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1868392496083923221

Meloni
https://twitter.com/i/status/1868019091434521077

Lindsey

Hegseth

Logan

Drones
https://twitter.com/i/status/1868303280956113093

 

 

 

 

A Christmas Day truce is of course very appealing.

• Trump Team Studying Orban’s Ceasefire Initiative (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump is taking “a hard look” at a proposal for a Christmas truce and prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine put forward by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Trump’s nominee for national security adviser Mike Waltz has said. Orban met with Trump and Waltz at the incoming president’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday, two days before he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone. After the conversation, the Kremlin announced that Orban had proposed a Christmas Day truce and a large-scale prisoner-swap between Moscow and Kiev, and that the Russian government had responded by sending its ideas for the exchange of POWs to the Hungarian embassy in Moscow. Speaking to CBS News on Sunday, Waltz refused to say whether Orban had passed on a message from Trump to Putin.

However, he said that Trump’s administration-in-waiting wants to “stop the fighting” and that if there is “some type of ceasefire as a first step…we’ll take a hard look at what that means.” “Orban has regular engagement with the Russians, and he clearly has a good relationship with President Trump, and I would hope the entire world would want to see some type of cessation to the slaughter,” Waltz told CBS’ Margaret Brennan, calling the Donbass battlefield “a meat grinder of human beings.” In a social media post on Wednesday, Orban said that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky had “clearly rejected” his proposed ceasefire. In a post of his own, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky belittled Orban’s diplomatic activities, claiming that the Hungarian leader was only trying to “boost personal image at the expense of unity” in the EU concerning support for Kiev.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto then revealed that the Ukrainian leadership turned down a phone call request from Orban and had done so in a manner that was “quite unprecedented in diplomacy.” In an interview with public broadcaster Kossuth Radio on Sunday, Szijjarto said that the request was refused in “a somewhat strained” manner, without elaborating on the exact wording used by the authorities in Kiev.Trump has repeatedly promised to end the Ukraine conflict within a day of taking office. However, he has not elaborated on how he plans to achieve this, and both Moscow and Kiev have cast doubt on his ability to single-handedly stop the fighting.“Trump is really serious about wanting to get to a ceasefire on day one,” a source supposedly close to the incoming president told NBC News on Friday.

Zelensky insists that his ten-point ‘peace formula’ is the only viable roadmap for ending the conflict. The Kremlin has dismissed this document – which demands that Russia restore Ukraine’s 1991 borders, pay reparations, and surrender its own officials to war crimes tribunals – as “delusional” and “divorced from reality.” Moscow maintains that any settlement must begin with Ukraine ceasing military operations and acknowledging the “territorial reality” that it will never regain control of the Russian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye, as well as Crimea. In addition, the Kremlin insists that the goals of its military operation – which include Ukrainian neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification – will be achieved.

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Desperately seeking relevance. If you talk tough, at least you look like a man.

• UK PM Calls For ‘Maximum Pain’ On Russia (RT)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called on his fellow G7 leaders to “continue maximizing Putin’s pain” through economic sanctions on Russia and increased military aid to Ukraine. During a video conference on Friday, “the Prime Minister said that with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin showing no sign of relenting, it is vital that we bolster our support to put [Ukraine] in the best possible position for the future,” according to a readout released by his office. “He called on fellow G7 leaders to continue maximizing Putin’s pain by increasing military support to the Ukrainians and ramping up economic pressure, including via further sanctions where possible,” the statement continued. Two days earlier, the US and UK announced a new round of sanctions on Moscow, targeting what the British government called Russia’s “illicit gold trade.”

At the same time, EU ambassadors agreed on a 15th package of economic penalties, this time targeting Russia’s petroleum industry and Chinese companies allegedly producing drones for the Russian military. Repeated rounds of sanctions have failed to “crater” the Russian economy, as US President Joe Biden predicted they would in 2022. Instead, the Russian economy grew by 3.6% this year, while Britain’s grew by 1.1%, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). ”We learned a lot after the sanctions started,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told American journalist Tucker Carlson earlier this month. “But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, you know. They would never kill us, so they are making us stronger.”

Amid an historic decline in living standards at home, the UK has given £8.34 billion ($10.52 billion) in military aid to Ukraine since February 2022, according to figures from Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks Western aid to Kiev.Starmer claimed last month that this outpouring of arms and ammunition will help the Ukrainians “secure a just and lasting peace on their terms.” However, the Kremlin has argued that any future peace terms will be worse for Ukraine than those rejected by Kiev during peace talks in Istanbul in April 2022. While Russia was prepared to settle the conflict in 2022 with Ukraine agreeing to stay out of NATO and grant autonomy to the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, Kiev must now accept the “realities on the ground,” Lavrov told Carlson, referring to the fact that Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye are now parts of the Russian federation and will not be ceded back to Ukraine.

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“The Russians are gaining more and more territory, the sanctions are not working, and Ukraine is no longer strong enough for possible negotiations..”

• Ukraine Will Have To Trade Land For Peace – Slovak President (RT)

The Ukraine conflict will not be resolved until Kiev accepts some “partial territorial losses,” Slovak President Peter Pellegrini has said. Pellegrini and Prime Minister Robert Fico have both called on Russia and Ukraine to enter immediate peace talks. Speaking to Slovakia’s STVR broadcaster on Sunday, Pellegrini said that daily updates from the front line have convinced him that Ukraine cannot hope to achieve its territorial goals – the return of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporozhye and Crimea – by force.“When it comes to peace, I believe that we need to remain realistic,” he told the network. “Today, probably no sane person in Europe believes that it will be possible to achieve peace without some partial territorial losses for Ukraine.” The president then called on Ukraine and Russia to sit down at the negotiating table as soon as possible.

Pellegrini’s comments echo those made by Fico earlier this week. Speaking to Brazil’s Folha de Sao Paulo news outlet, the Slovak prime minister said that it is necessary to be “at least a little realistic” and to “admit that Russia will never leave Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk.” After taking office last year, Fico immediately halted military aid from Bratislava to Kiev, and vowed to veto Ukraine’s potential accession to NATO. He has also accused “Ukrainian Nazis and fascists” of starting the conflict by “murdering the Russian population of Donbass,” and has condemned his fellow EU leaders for prolonging the fighting with military aid and sanctions on Moscow.

“What is the result? The Russians are gaining more and more territory, the sanctions are not working, and Ukraine is no longer strong enough for possible negotiations,” he told Folha de Sao Paulo. Fico also predicted that Kiev will likely be “betrayed” by its Western backers and possibly end up losing a third of its territories without being invited into NATO, receiving security guarantees only in the form of a foreign troop presence in the country. Moscow maintains that any settlement must begin with Ukraine ceasing military operations and acknowledging the “territorial reality” that it will never regain control of its former regions. In addition, the Kremlin insists that the goals of its military operation – which include Ukrainian neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification – will be achieved.

Read more …

Helmer enters PCR territory.

• The New Time Of Troubles, Part III – Don’t Worry, Be Happy (Helmer)

President Vladimir Putin gave a party rally speech in Moscow on Saturday in which he omitted to mention seven of the eight domestic issues most troubling Russian voters – inflation; high interest-rate caused stagnation in the economy; corruption; low quality education; poor public health care; terrorism; and illegal immigrants. He made an exception for the Special Military Operation and “the front to fight for the Motherland”.To Russians who tell pollsters the protracted war and the casualty rate are their biggest concerns, Putin said not to worry — he and his party are taking care of both: “The United Russia party has been supporting our troops literally from the first day of the special military operation: it submits important draft laws to create legal and social guarantees for our heroes and their families; assists the recovery of the liberated regions; collects and delivers everything the civilians there need.

“The party also does much for the veterans who are back from the combat areas, helps them realise themselves in civilian professions, in public and political life.” Reading methodically without departing from his script, Putin told delegates at the 22nd Congress of United Russia that the party stands for “the unity of people, faith in the country and in our victory…the desire to ensure the safety of the Motherland, to protect our sacred historical memory, spirituality, traditions.” This is political boilerplate — and it’s bullet-proof. The polls reinforce Putin’s message with the assurance that Russian voters see and fancy no alternative. In the current State Duma, elected in September 2021 to a five-year term, United Russia holds 324 of the 450 seats. The opposition is led by the Communist Party with 57 seats; Just Russia with 28, and New People with 16. In the Levada polling, support for United Russia is stable at 42%; the other political parties are polling between 4% and 10%.

No other Russian politician represents a challenge to the president; he does not face a new election until 2030. Public approval for Putin remains at 87% according to the Levada Centre; 79% according to the All-Russian Centre for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), and stable. There is no government or party figure drawing current voter support in opposition, and no public canvassing for the succession. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov trail after Putin in the polls but far behind; their political profiles and approval ratings are based on the frequency of their media appearances. But public trust for them is a fraction of Putin’s rating, and they are not candidates to succeed him. Trust in former President Dmitry Medvedev is a fraction of that for Mishustin and Lavrov because Medvedev – though head of the United Russia party and deputy head of the Security Council — is almost invisible in the mainstream media.

The general public mood, as measured by Levada between November 2 and 27, is overwhelmingly positive and confident – 72% of Russians believe the country is going in the right direction; only 18% think it’s headed in the wrong direction. In this domestic atmosphere, Putin is calculating there is no good reason for him to mention the Russian military withdrawal from Syria, or to answer press questions of why he decided to evacuate Russian bases in the country, allow Israel to destroy Syria’s military and industrial infrastructure, and accept Israeli, Turkish and American takeover of Syria’s sovereignty, territory, and natural wealth, particularly water and oil. A Moscow source comments: “I think the Russian public will not be convinced to risk a presence there especially when the propaganda has changed its tune to the line, ‘it’s impossible to help those who can’t help themselves.’ With Syrian statehood gone, this battle is lost.”

This is the rationale, several Moscow sources believe, for Putin to cut his losses and run from Syria without risking the appearance to Russian voters of having done either. The military and strategic implications of Putin’s decision-making on Syria, argued behind closed doors with the General Staff, are unmentioned in the Duma and the media. The Moscow source adds: “What happens in Ukraine and when are the main questions now. There could well be more surprises from the US. There might be a new ground assault into Russian territory and continuing missile attacks deep into Russian territory. So far, these are not disturbing the national mood of confidence and optimism. So for the time being Russians are not expecting and are not prepared for any escalation on any front – at least not on the ground.

“If Putin can negotiate to keep the four [Donbass] regions and a demilitarisation accord with [President Donald] Trump, there will be what the Defense Ministry calls retaliation, but no escalation. At least not for now, not for six months after Trump takes office if the talks head nowhere.” “What is needed now from Russian point of view is time to build the army and the economy for a bigger war. That, according to everyone I talk with, is going to be war with Turkey when the stakes will be much higher than they are with Ukraine. Putin is adopting a wait-and-see stance. Russian military sources believe that Putin and the General Staff have agreed to restrict their operations to electric war targeting; to avoid decapitation strikes at the Ukrainian leadership or US, French and British forces operating long-range Ukrainian missile units; and to characterize current air operations as “retaliation”, not “escalation”.

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They will never admit they cornered themselves.

• Germany ‘Cornered’ – Economy Minister (RT)

Germany has been forced into a corner by underinvestment and policies pursued by other leading economies, Economy Minister Robert Habeck has said, after the central bank warned of a difficult year ahead. In an interview with Bild newspaper published on Sunday, the politician, who intends to run for chancellor next year, insisted that Germany can turn the situation around. “Our business model is really cornered. Will it no longer work? It would be too early for me to throw in the towel,” Habeck said. The minister noted that Germany has failed to make sufficient investment in its infrastructure, tax system and workforce skills, resulting in a “negative impact” on its economy.

Germany is an export-oriented nation that needs open markets, Habeck argued, in reference to US President-elect Donald Trump’s threats of major tariff increases. Trump warned in November that he would impose steeper duties on foreign-made cars to protect US jobs, a move that would disproportionately affect Germany. Habeck also pointed to Chinese-made electric cars flooding the EU market and causing “a big problem” for the German automotive industry. Car manufacturing is one of the key drivers of the German economy, accounting for approximately 5% of GDP. The Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research estimates that future tariffs could cost Germany €33 billion ($34.6 billion), and that exports to the US could fall by 15%.

Germany does have a problem, “but one that can be solved,” Habeck told Bild, without elaborating. On Friday, the German central bank slashed its growth forecast for next year to 0.2%, from the 1.1% level it had predicted in June. The regulator also said it expects the economy to contract by 0.2% this year, having previously predicted modest growth of 0.3%. It would mark a second consecutive year of decline, after gross domestic product shrank by 0.3% in 2023, according to the Federal Statistics Office, Destatis. The agency attributed last year’s contraction to persistent inflation, high energy prices, and weak foreign demand. A snap federal election will be held in Germany on February 23. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition collapsed earlier this month after he fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner.

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“Ukraine was not ready to start any talks with Russia as there is insufficient support from the West to conduct negotiations from a position of strength..”

• Hungary Dismayed At ‘Unprecedented Gesture In Diplomacy’ By Zelensky (RT)

The Ukrainian leadership turned down a phone-call request from Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban in a manner that was “unprecedented” in nature, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has revealed. The rebuff followed an hour-long conversation between Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with public broadcaster Kossuth Radio on Sunday, Szijjarto said that he had approached Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga and Vladimir Zelensky’s top aide Andrey Yermak, asking for the authorization of a telephone conversation between Orban and the Ukrainian leader. ”In a gesture that was quite unprecedented in diplomacy,” the request was refused in “a somewhat strained” manner, Szijjarto said, as quoted by the Magyar Nemzet newspaper.

Hungary’s top diplomat did not elaborate on the exact wording used by the authorities in Kiev. Hungary has tried “everything” during the past six months of its EU presidency to use it “for a good cause, to initiate a ceasefire and peace negotiations,” Szijjarto noted. Budapest has held the rotating presidency of the EU Council in the second half of this year. Earlier this week Orban said he’d put forward a proposal for a Christmas ceasefire and a major prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. ”One side accepted it, the other rejected it,” the Premier told Kossuth Radio on Friday. Zelensky, in turn, claimed that the Hungarian leader was only trying to “boost personal image at the expense of unity” in the EU in terms of supporting Ukraine.

The authorities in Kiev have sent mixed messages about their readiness for negotiations with Russia. On Wednesday, Zelensky’s top adviser Mikhail Podoliak said Kiev could engage in talks with Moscow if they are not based on Russia’s conditions. Andrey Yermak said on Friday that Ukraine was not ready to start any talks with Russia as there is insufficient support from the West to conduct negotiations from a position of strength. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it’s ready to resume the negotiations. It has urged Kiev to accept the new realities “on the ground,” with President Vladimir Putin citing the complete withdrawal of all Ukrainian forces from all Russian territories as a key prerequisite for peace talks.

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“Syria was an imperfect yet incontestably successful pattern of civilisation, at least in the perspective of those who in human relations strive for a semblance of peace, cooperation, and harmony..”

• Syria: The Death of a Civilization (Karganovic)

Pepe Escobar was spot on when he stated that the downfall of Syria signified the “death of a nation.” Is it premature to chant a requiem for that marvellous land and its intriguing people, not just their virtues but also their flaws having duly been taken into account? And ought we to do it so soon, as the black flag of Syria’s latest conquerors, matching the darkness of its present circumstances, flutters over it, having just been raised in its capital? Time will tell, but reputable observers appear to be partial to precisely such a sombre conclusion. An argument could be advanced that Syria’s tragedy may prove to be even greater in scope than Pepe avers. Syria surely never was a “nation” in the conventional sense, signifying the homogeneity of shared ethnicity, faith, and moral purpose. It was in fact largely the opposite. Historically, however, Syria was an entity and perhaps even an idea much loftier than a mere homogeneity.

It was a concept of conviviality, not of the simple and easy kind, founded upon commonalities, but of the truly challenging and infinitely more complicated sort. Syria throughout the ages was a precarious, yet for the most part sustainably functional cultural crucible, consisting of a combination of disparate components thrown inexplicably together by the whims of fate. Yet astonishingly, and contrary to virtually every lesson of human interaction taught and learned elsewhere, Syria was an impossible combination that for the most part worked reasonably well. This patchwork of manifestly incompatible elements, of diverse faiths, often incongruous ethnicities, and real or imagined identities, willy-nilly and probably more by trial and error than by design, had developed a unique modus vivendi, a formula for practical coexistence from which the world has much to learn.

Instead of watching idly as freakish barbarians armed with sledgehammers pound it to smithereens, we should perhaps have reacted, contrary if need be to the tenets of geopolitical logic, to preserve this ancient land and cultural treasure from defilement and devastation. We can do no better now than to study for our own profit and edification that remarkable historically conditioned mechanism that Syria used to be, to emulate its spirit and apply its principles wherever practicable. I would argue, without idealising, that the now apparently defunct Syria, rather than being merely a nation whose death it is proper to mourn, as Pepe rightly does, conceptually was much more than the sum of its constituent parts. Syria was an imperfect yet incontestably successful pattern of civilisation, at least in the perspective of those who in human relations strive for a semblance of peace, cooperation, and harmony. Whether or not that pattern can ever be reconstituted is a question to which a ready answer is not at hand.

That having been said, we may skip the analysis of how Syria’s tragic and unexpected Untergang has come about, that topic being competently expounded by other commentators. There is, however, an aspect of the current events that needs to be particularly highlighted. That is the human dimension of the horror. Under the guise of opposing the excesses of a dictatorship, a combination of countries which purport to occupy the high moral ground in world affairs (the allusion is to the collective West and its lackeys, of course) have waged a relentless proxy war of attrition and extinction not against the Syrian “regime,” as they contemptuously referred to the legitimate government of that country, but against the people of Syria en masse, irrespective of their particular affiliation.

The objective was to oppress them and to destroy their common heritage in order to render them helpless and obedient to globalist masters and their regional collaborators, determined to impose their rapacious schemes in the form of oil pipelines, territorial recomposition, or whatever corrupt and self-serving goals they may have set. In that nefarious operation, the Syrian people, and even the jihadist condottieri themselves, the militia of goons trained and equipped to destroy the tranquillity and devastate the material and cultural assets of that unfortunate land, are all expendable.

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Just don’t.

• Trump Transition Team Considering Strikes on Iran (Antiwar)

Strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities are being seriously considered within the Donald Trump transition team, according to the Wall Street Journal. While there is no proof Tehran is trying to make a nuclear weapon, Washington and Tel Aviv are threatening to attack Iran’s nuclear energy infrastructure. “The military-strike option against nuclear facilities is now under more serious review by some members of his transition team,” the WSJ explained. “Iran’s weakened regional position and recent revelations of Tehran’s burgeoning nuclear work have turbocharged sensitive internal discussions, transition officials said.” Tel Aviv is undergoing a similar debate. “The Israel Defense Forces believes that following the weakening of Iranian proxy groups in the Middle East and the dramatic fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, there is an opportunity to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities,” the Times of Israel reported on Thursday.

Adding, “The Israeli Air Force has therefore continued to increase its readiness and preparations for such potential strikes in Iran.” According to WSJ, President-elect Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have recently discussed potentially attacking Iran. “Trump has told Netanyahu in recent calls that he is concerned about an Iranian nuclear breakout on his watch.” The report continues, “The president-elect wants plans that stop short of igniting a new war, particularly one that could pull in the US military.” The sources explained that the administration is considering two options. The first is bolstering American military presence in the Middle East while providing Israel with the ability to destroy Iranian nuclear sites without US assistance. The other option calls for American threats to force Tehran to make concessions at the negotiation table.

Whichever option Trump chooses, he is also expected to increase sanctions on Iran given his belief that he must economically cripple Tehran. While the US intelligence community, the IAEA, the Pentagon, and Tehran all say Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, the incoming Trump administration and Tel Aviv say they are concerned the Islamic Republic will obtain a nuke. Additionally, Trump believes Tehran was behind an assassination attempt on his life. However, Trump and Netanyahu may perceive Iran as weak, given Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in Syria and Hezbollah’s concessions in its truce with Israel. Emboldened by recent events, Washington and Tel Aviv could attempt to strike Iran, believing Tehran is vulnerable. Mark Dubowitzchief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told WSJ, “If you were going to actually do something to neutralize the nuclear-weapons program, this would be it.”

On Wednesday, Netanyahu published a video on X in English telling the Iranian people that regime change may come a lot sooner than many people think.

Clawson

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“..the accused were allowed no change of venue and faced juries pulled from a pool 95 percent anti-Trump. This needs to change.”

• 20 (or So) Obvious Questions about January 6 (Jack Cashill)

Even before Donald Trump ascends to the presidency on January 20, his appointees should ask themselves the questions that follow — all of them simple and straightforward. With Christopher Wray stepping down from the FBI directorship, they will have a much better chance of getting straight answers quickly. Trump’s team should then share those answers widely. This information will make President Trump’s pardon of more than 1,500 Americans much more comprehensible to the American public and much less controversial.

–Although now the FBI admits to having 26 confidential human sources in the crowd on January 6, how many total “assets” did the FBI and other entities plant, and what roles did they play?
–Was Ray Epps working for an entity? And if so, under what terms?
–Who planted the pipe bombs outside the DNC and near the RNC headquarters?
–Who instructed Kamala Harris to conceal the fact that she was at the DNC when the bomb was found and why?
–Why did Harris allow hundreds of J6ers to be prosecuted for threatening her designated space at the Capitol when she wasn’t at the Capitol?
–Who were the “two law enforcement officials” who told the New York Times that “pro-Trump rioters” fatally struck Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick with a fire extinguisher, inflicting “a bloody gash in his head”?
–Who orchestrated the 100-day-plus suppression of Sicknick’s autopsy report?
–If Sicknick was not murdered, as the DOJ finally conceded, why did a federal judge give Julian Khater an 80-month prison sentence for spritzing Sicknick with an over-the-counter pepper spray?
–Has there been an official inquiry into the subsequent suicide deaths of four USCP officers, and if not, why has the DOJ routinely blamed the J6ers for causing those deaths?
–Why was there no crime scene investigation in the likely homicide of Rosanne Boyland?
–Who chose to ignore the obvious video evidence of Boyland being suffocated as a result of a police action and to falsely blame her death on an amphetamine overdose?
–Who suppressed the Boyland autopsy report for 90 days and stonewalled her family at every turn?
–Why was Lila Morris, the Metropolitan P.D. officer caught on video repeatedly bashing the unconscious Boyland over the head with a tree branch, not even disciplined?
–Why was Metropolitan P.D. lieutenant Jason Bagshaw promoted despite having been caught on video bashing the defenseless Victoria White bloody?
–Why did the DOJ not interview the eyewitnesses to the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt?
–Why did the USCP coddle and promote Babbitt’s killer, Michael Byrd, despite a shooting that, according to use-of-force expert Stan Kephart, “violated not only the law but his oath”?
–Who ordered the “shock and awe” raids on the homes of hundreds of non-violent protesters and why?
–Why has the so-called “Scaffold Commander” not been arrested despite multiple clear images of his face?
–Why has the man who constructed the mock gallows on the Capitol grounds not been arrested despite multiple clear images of his face?
–Why did the USCP allow the gallows to stand unmolested on Capitol grounds for more than four hours before the crowds gathered?
–Why was Emanuel Jackson quickly set free despite having been caught on video swinging a baseball bat at police officers over a two-hour period?
–If there was no insurrection, as the DOJ conceded, why were the sentences given to the J6ers so much more severe than the $30–50 fines given to the protesters who physically obstructed the Kavanaugh hearings?

These are the simple questions, the ones off the top. I am sure readers will think of others I may have overlooked. To be sure, more probing questions need to be asked about the January 6 Select Committee report as well as the charging documents for the J6ers. Having read through much of this material, I am impressed by how casually — and routinely — our elected officials and federal jurists distort the facts to protect the party line. In short, they lie, and some have done so under oath. I am impressed, too, by the shamelessness of a DOJ that can boast of its success rate in securing convictions, knowing that the accused were allowed no change of venue and faced juries pulled from a pool 95 percent anti-Trump. This needs to change.

More questions need to be asked as well about the security failures at all levels on January 6. In his otherwise worthy book, Government Gangsters, Kash Patel more or less exonerates the Pentagon. He should not have. Incompetence explains much of what went wrong on January 6, but so does treason. Nearly 1,600 American citizens were arrested for exercising their First Amendment rights on January 6, and roughly half of them have been incarcerated. Save for the insurrectionists among them — if there were any — the rest deserve not just commutation of their sentences, but a full pardon. Many may deserve compensation. And all deserve the truth.

To learn more, see Jack Cashill’s newest book, Ashli: The Untold Story of the Women of January 6.

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…But Continues Case Against New York..

“..should require the public release of all the evidence so that New Yorkers finally know the truth: Governor Cuomo never sexually harassed anyone.”

• Cuomo Accuser Drops Case Against The Former New York Governor (Turley)

A curious thing just happened in the sexual harassment lawsuit against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo: accuser Charlotte Bennett just dropped her claims against Cuomo despite continuing with litigation against the state over the alleged conduct of Cuomo. While the state has its own obligations as an employer, it is odd that you would drop the claim against the alleged actor himself. That is like dropping your product liability claim against Tesla while suing the electric company for powering the car. A significant number of women alleged sexual harassment against the former governor. They previously gave evidence in criminal investigations and spoke to state and federal investigators. However, in 2022, Albany County District Attorney David Soares dropped a criminal complaint against Cuomo for lack of evidence. Later, five additional criminal cases were dropped.

He has been facing pending civil litigation over the allegations of sexual harassment for years. The state is reportedly paying Cuomo’s legal fees. The strange profile of the litigation with this withdrawal may reflect the strikingly different interests of the legal teams representing Cuomo versus the state. Bennett was the second of several former aides to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment. She complained that Cuomo was harassing her with “invasive” demands of her medical records and pursuing testimony from friends. However, when you accuse someone of being a sexual harasser, such discovery is not just expected but often essential for the defense. The defense took a victory lap while responding to rumors of a settlement in the making with the state. It noted that the move came shortly before Bennett would appear for deposition:

“After falsely smearing Governor Cuomo for years, Ms. Bennett suddenly withdrew her federal lawsuit on the eve of her deposition to avoid having to admit under oath that her allegations were false and her claims had no merit. If New York State does give in to her public pressure campaign and settles, it will not be on the merits and should require the public release of all the evidence so that New Yorkers finally know the truth: Governor Cuomo never sexually harassed anyone.” The deposition was expected to be brutal, including questions raised by videotapes in which Bennett calls Cuomo “amazing” and “wonderful” to work with. The defense has also cited prior allegations against others that were later dropped. The settlement talks could amplify the different interests of the two legal teams.

The state team is answerable to Gov. Kathleen Hochul, who may have an interest in not only killing the case but also creating a record of a settlement over the allegations. Her office previously settled with the Biden Administration over federal claims. I previously expressed concern over the lack of fairness and due process for Cuomo in that case and how the settlement was being portrayed. The dropping of the case may undermine negotiations with the state unless they have reached an undisputed agreement. Between the settlement with the federal government and settlements with these accusers, Cuomo may be left without an adjudication on specific claims that he wants to clear his name. Such settlements create a stain of presumptive guilt for many. The only thing that is clear is that the case against Andrew Cuomo seems to get “curiouser and curiouser.”

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He appears to be successful. But from the MSM, crickets only.

• Milei Admin. Posts Record Reductions in Deficit and Inflation Numbers (Turley)

Argentinian President Javier Milei has long been an irresistible target of the press and pundits. When he came into power with his famous “Afuera” (or Out!) platform to dramatically shrink government spending. Argentina was viewed as a basket case that was well past the red line for recovery. He was mocked as a clown for seeking to apply libertarian policies on the economy. Milei may have the last laugh. After only a year, his government has wiped out the deficit and reduced inflation from 25% to 2.4%. Argentina’s monthly inflation rate slowed to 2.4% in November, the lowest in over four years. Inflation had slowed to 2.7% in October. Instead of a disastrous deficit, the country now posts a fiscal surplus of approximately 0.4% of GDP.

For the media outlets, there is a begrudging recognition. The Associated Press reported the economic improvement by first detailing how “Milei’s lack of government experience, unkempt hairdo, sexual boasts and missionary-like zeal for his dead dog, the Rolling Stones and the free market didn’t inspire much confidence in a country with a history of failed economic reforms.” After discussing the unemployment and “brutal” measures, the article finally get to the statistics roughly half way through by noting that “signs have emerged that Argentina’s bizarre and long mismanaged economy is starting to look a little more normal. Monthly inflation has plummeted, bonds have rallied and the closely watched gap between the black market dollar and the official rate has shrunk as much as 44%. Argentina’s country-risk index, an influential measure of the risk of default, is at its lowest point in five years.”

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“Once Pam Bondi comes in as attorney general under the Trump administration, we then have a partner at the United States Department of Justice to look at this..”

• House GOP Vows To Refer ActBlue Fundraising Probe To Incoming Trump DOJ (JTN)

House Administration Committee Chairman Brian Steil said he will refer findings from his ongoing probe into the progressive fundraising platform ActBlue to the incoming Trump Justice Department. Steil believes the new Attorney General Pam Bondi, if confirmed, will be more than willing to probe the Democratic fundraising powerhouse over allegations it failed to implement sufficient security measures on its platform to prevent illegal foreign monies from flowing into U.S. political campaigns. “Once Pam Bondi comes in as attorney general under the Trump administration, we then have a partner at the United States Department of Justice to look at this, to do the investigation into bad actors, and to hold anyone who is engaged in this activity accountable,” Steil told the Just the News, No Noise TV show on Thursday.

“The good news is President [Donald} Trump’s coming to office in just a few short weeks. We’re going to have an opportunity to move forward on the prosecutorial side, and then we in Congress have to continue this work, moving legislation forward.” Steil’s committee has probed ActBlue over lax security measures that may have allowed foreign entities to donate to U.S. political campaigns, which is illegal. In October, Steil and Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, a fellow Republican, wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines about concerns that four U.S. adversaries may have donated through the platform. “We write to you to raise an urgent concern regarding potential illicit election funding by foreign actors,” the lawmakers wrote Yellen in a letter dated Thursday.

“CHA has been investigating claims that foreign actors, primarily from Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and China, may be using ActBlue to launder illicit money into U.S. political campaigns.” They also said: “Our investigation has indicated that these actors may be exploiting existing U.S. donors by making straw donations without their knowledge.” The lawmakers specifically demanded access to any Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) related to money passing through the fundraising platform generated by any U.S. financial institution as part of their anti-money-laundering activities. ActBlue recently acknowledged to Congress that it has updated its donor verification policy to automatically reject donations that “use foreign prepaid/gift cards, domestic gift cards, are from high-risk/sanctioned countries, and have the highest level of risk as determined,” by its solution provider, Sift.

The change occurred just three days after Steil introduced the Secure Handling of Internet Electronic Donations (SHIELD) Act on Sept. 6 to ensure foreign money stayed out of online political fundraising. Before the change, Steil said, donations made with foreign gift cards were not automatically rejected by ActBlue before the change, Just the News reported. ActBlue has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and says that it is fully cooperating with ongoing investigations. “Democratic and progressive campaigns have trusted ActBlue’s two-decade-long track record of innovation and dependability to deliver during big fundraising moments,” ActBlue said in a statement in June celebrating its 20th anniversary in business. Steil also argues the Justice Department does not appear to be interested in conducting an investigation into what his committee has uncovered so far. “If they were, they would have started about four years ago,” he said.

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“..the projects will have “no measurable influence on climate change.”

• Offshore Wind Opponents From Deep Blue States Hope For Trump (JTN)

Shortly after taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden set a goal of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. Along the coasts, grassroots, community-based organizations concerned about the impacts of offshore wind development sprang up to express their opposition to the plan. They say they found their concerns ignored and dismissed as the federal government pushed full-steam-ahead with Biden’s goals. President-elect Donald Trump stated repeatedly during his campaign that he would end Biden’s offshore wind vision. Now offshore wind opponents in Democratic strongholds of the East and West coasts, while they may not be fans of Trump, they’re hopeful the new administration will finally give them a seat at the table.

In February 2024, the first phase of Vineyard Wind, a 62-turbine project 15 miles south of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard became the first large-scale offshore wind project to deliver power to the grid. Amy DiSibio, board member for ACK For Whales, told Just the News that people on Nantucket had, prior to this year, been supportive of Biden’s offshore wind agenda. ACK for Whales is a nonpartisan nonprofit representing Nantucket community members who are concerned about the negative impacts of offshore wind development off the coast of the island. DiSibio said there are a lot of misperceptions about Nantucket. “People think this is an island filled with a bunch of rich people. It’s actually a very economically diverse community. People don’t recognize that, especially the year-round population, these people work two and three jobs to make ends meet. It’s very expensive living 30 miles out to sea,” DiSibio said.

She said about a year ago, people on the island started seeing giant offshore wind turbines covering their ocean views. Concerns were growing about impacts of the industry to the viewshed and marine wildlife, DiSibio said, but when a blade broke off one of the turbines in July and scattered shards of debris across New England shores, the tide of public opinion turned against the industry. “People are like, ‘Are you kidding?’ This is expected to happen on a regular basis. This is an environmental disaster. People are still picking up stuff on the beach. This is a small target in a big ocean. So imagine what’s still out there,” DiSibio said. While the impacts have hit the island hard, the election outcomes suggest Trump’s vows against offshore wind weren’t a selling point for the state or the island.

Massachusetts residents voted 61% in favor of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, and in Nantucket nearly 67% of votes went for Harris. DiSibio said that as a 501(c)3, ACK for Whales is limited in what it can do, in terms of lobbying. She said that the organization will proceed now with what it’s been doing — educating the public and elected officials on the issue. She said they’ve got people in Congress who have been sympathetic to the issue, such as New Jersey Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith, as well as Maryland Rep. Andy Harris in Maryland — all Republicans — who are listening.

“There are people in Congress who have concerns. They’ve got concerns around the environment, economic concerns to what this does to not just coastal communities, but how this will impact the whole state. Concerns around this means for rate payers, concerns around search and rescue, for the Coast Guard, national security. There are many, many questions that are out there,” DiSibio said. She’s hoping there will be more questions not only about the impacts, but also if they’re worth it. Environmental impact statements for offshore wind projects, which are required as part of the federal permitting process, note that the projects will have “no measurable influence on climate change.”

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“The government is slow, slow, slow — decades slow on adopting new ways of doing things, and there’s a lot of [other] carrier services that became legal in the ’70s that are doing things so much better..”

• Trump Considers Privatizing US Postal Service (ZH)

Donald Trump is fired up about finally giving the money-losing US Postal Service its long-overdue shove into the private sector, according to three sources who talked to the Washington Post. Trump is said to have discussed the idea with Howard Lutnick, who’s co-chairing his transition team and who’s been tapped to serve as Commerce secretary in the new administration. He also held a meeting with various transition officials to exchange thoughts on privatization of the huge organization. Separately, the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, has held its own discussions about drastic action. Last month, USPS disclosed that it posted a net loss of $9.5 billion for the 2024 fiscal year — a loss that was 46% worse than the service’s $6.5 billion deficit in 2023.

The plunge came alongside a slight uptick in revenue enabled by the latest annual increase in postage rates, pursuant to the 2021 Delivering for America plan. That program was supposed to help the perennially-profitless behemoth “achieve financial sustainability and service excellence.” The service also has a crummy balance sheet, with nearly $80 billion in liabilities. After reviewing the numbers, Trump stated his opinion that the Postal Service shouldn’t be subsidized by the government, the Post’s sources said. Casey Mulligan, a University of Chicago economics professor who served on Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, tells the Post it’s time for a major change: “The government is slow, slow, slow — decades slow on adopting new ways of doing things, and there’s a lot of [other] carrier services that became legal in the ’70s that are doing things so much better with increased volumes and reduced costs. We didn’t finish the job in the first term, but we should finish it now.”

The Postal Service is politically powerful — starting with its raw headcount: While you may not guess it given the long lines that typify a visit to a post office, USPS has a staggering 650,000 employees, who become very active whenever privatization gains momentum. It’s also popular among Americans — 72% view it favorably, compared just 21% who view it unfavorably, according to a 2024 Pew Research poll. Meanwhile, though a belief in small government is supposedly a GOP cornerstone, the postal service is particularly valued by people living in rural, Republican districts. Earlier this month, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley angrily confronted Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over a plan to save costs by slowing delivery for some mail, something that would affect rural areas more than urban ones. “I hate this plan and I’m going to do everything I can to kill it,” said Hawley in a Senate hearing.

In addition to having GOP control of the Senate and the House in the next legislature, Trump is positioned to fill three vacancies on the Postal Service’s 11-member board. (Biden has submitted nominees, but you can expect the Senate to ignore them through Jan 20.) Of the incumbents, three are Republicans, with two of them appointed by Trump in his first term. Even if privatization doesn’t happen, Trump’s mere threat of pursuing it could help drive changes to the organization. As the Lexington Institute’s Paul Steilder tells the Post…

“At the end of the day, the Postal Service is going to need money, it’s going to need assistance, or it’s going to have to come up with some radical, draconian measures to break even in the near term. That gives both the White House and Congress an awful lot of power and an awful lot of leeway here.” Sound good on paper…but, as evidenced by the “profit”-and-loss chart above, Congress has long shown a lack of urgency about seeing the USPS “break even in the near term.” Even with a president who’s fired about it — for now — we’re not convinced it will be any different this time.

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“The wording of the bill has many worried that this will be a centerpiece of a new era of anti-communist hysteria, similar to previous McCarthyist periods.”

• Cold War Tactics With New Anti-Communism School Curriculum (Alan MacLeod)

Congress has just passed a new bill that will see the U.S. spend huge sums of money redesigning much of the public school system around the ideology of anti-communism. The “Crucial Communism Teaching Act” is now being read in the Senate, where it is all but certain to pass. The move comes amid growing public anger at the economic system and increased public support for socialism. The Crucial Communism Teaching Act, in its own words, is designed to teach children that “certain political ideologies, including communism and totalitarianism…conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy that are essential to the founding of the United States.” Although sponsored by Republicans, it enjoys widespread support from Democrats and is focused on China, Venezuela, Cuba and other targets of U.S. empire. The wording of the bill has many worried that this will be a centerpiece of a new era of anti-communist hysteria, similar to previous McCarthyist periods.

The curriculum will be designed by the controversial Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and will ensure all American high school students “understand the dangers of communism and similar political ideologies” and “learn that communism has led to the deaths of over 100,000,000 victims worldwide.” It will also develop a series titled “Portraits in Patriotism,” that will expose students to individuals who are “victims of the political ideologies” in question. The 100 million figure originates with the notorious pseudoscience text, “The Black Book of Communism.” A collection of political essays, the book’s central claim is that 100 million people have perished as a result of the communist ideology. However, even many of its contributors and co-writers have distanced themselves from it, claiming that the lead author was “obsessed” with reaching the 100 million figure, to the point that he simply conjured millions of deaths from nowhere.

Its methodology was also universally panned, with many pointing out that the tens of millions of Soviet and Nazi losses during World War II were attributed to communist ideology. This means that both Adolf Hitler himself and many of his victims are counted towards the vastly overinflated figure. The book was condemned by Holocaust remembrance groups as whitewashing and even lionizing genocidal fascist groups as anti-communist heroes. The principal organization promoting the 100 million figure today is the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, which has shown a similar level of both anti-communist devotion and methodological rigor. The group, set up by the U.S. government in 1993, added all worldwide COVID-19 deaths to the victims of communism list, arguing that the coronavirus was a communist disease because it originated in China. It is these people who will be designing the new curriculum that will be taught in social studies, government, history, and economics classes across the country.

One of the central goals of the bill is also to “ensure that high school students in the United States understand that 1,500,000,000 people still suffer under communism.” This is a clear reference to China, a rapidly developing country that, in just two generations, has gone from one of the poorest on Earth to a global superpower, challenging and even surpassing the United States on many quality-of-life indicators. The bill goes on to detail how the school curriculum will “focus on ongoing human rights abuses by such regimes, such as the treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region” by the Chinese “regime” and its “aggression” towards “pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong,” and Taiwan, who it labels “a democratic friend of the United States.”

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

 

Malhotra

 

 

Bone cancer

 

 

3d

 

 

Lynx

 

 

Fox

 

 

Bowhead

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle December 14 2024

Dec 142024
 
 December 14, 2024  Posted by at 10:27 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  39 Responses »


René Magritte The menaced assassin 1927

 

• Trump Wants ‘Day One’ Ukraine Ceasefire – NBC (RT)
• Christmas Ceasefire Still Possible – Orban (RT)
• Trump’s Ukraine Envoy Pick Predicts End Of Conflict Within Months (RT)
• Ukraine Vows ‘Zero Gas Transit’ To EU (RT)
• Kremlin Reacts To Trump’s Stance On Long-Range Strikes Into Russia
• Clintons Open to Preemptive Pardon as Deep State May Abandon Them (Sp.)
• Modified Limited Hang-out (Kunstler)
• Mounting Boeing Delays Suggest Trump Won’t Fly In New Air Force One (ZH)
• Texas Lt Gov Patrick Wants To Buy Construction Materials Auctioned By DHS (JTN)
• Turley Raises Concerns Over DOJ Hiding FBI Informants At Jan. 6 (HUSA)
• NYC Mayor Eric Adams Stuns Lefty Reporters By Going Full MAGA (MN)
• Jeff Bezos’ Amazon To Donate $1 Million To Trump (RT)
• JD Vance Honors New York ‘Subway Vigilante’ (RT)
• United Kingdom Upholds Ban on Puberty-Blocking Drugs for Minors (Turley)
• Musk’s Charity Sent Most Money To His Own Entities – Bloomberg (RT)
• Elon Musk: “Starbase Is Going To Be A City” In Texas (ZH)

 

 

 

 

Rogan 5050

Kash

Don Jr
https://twitter.com/i/status/1867404091846275578

Vance

Elon

Pardon

 

 

 

 

The shooting stops on Jan 20 at the very latest, validating Trump’s promise. By then, peace negotiations will already have started.

• Trump Wants ‘Day One’ Ukraine Ceasefire – NBC (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump’s team has been working hard to broker a truce between Ukraine and Russia that could pave the way to peace talks, NBC reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Trump has repeatedly slammed the Biden administration’s handling of the conflict and claimed that it would have happened at all with him in charge at the White House. He campaigned on stopping the conflict even before inauguration, though that has proven to be a tall order. “Trump is really serious about wanting to get to a ceasefire on day one,” a source told NBC News. According to the outlet, Trump’s national security team has already held talks with the outgoing White House and the Kiev leadership.

Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg met with Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff Andrey Yermak last week. Meanwhile, outgoing President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan has been in touch with his prospective successor Mike Waltz to share “relevant information,” according to NBC. However, they reportedly have not explored strategies for a ceasefire or ending the conflict. The discussions are meant to ensure Trump is not surprised by any of Biden’s actions before the January 20 inauguration, according to an unnamed senior administration official.

“The goal is for the world to understand there is a desire for the time of transition to be seen as a strong America, working for peace and stability around the world, until President-elect Trump is sworn in,” transition spokesman Brian Hughes has said. Trump’s aides “hold a range of views” on Ukraine and have not yet presented “a conceptual or specific peace plan” to Kiev, NBC reported, citing former US officials in touch with the Ukrainians and two sources in Kiev. These sources described the Trump team’s contacts with Zelensky and his aides as “constructive” and “positive.”

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“Orban intimates Russia agreed to Christmas ceasefire proposal..”

• Christmas Ceasefire Still Possible – Orban (RT)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that there is still time to consider his proposal for a Christmas ceasefire and a major prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. Speaking about the offer he made to Moscow and Kiev earlier this week in an interview with Kossuth Radio on Friday, Orban said “one side accepted it, the other rejected it.” Judging by comments coming from Ukraine, it is Kiev that is currently reluctant to support Budapest’s initiative. ”But there are still a few days until Christmas [December 25], and this may change,” he stressed. The Hungarian proposal is aimed at making sure that “no one should die, at least, on Christmas. If the parties can come to an agreement, there could be a ceasefire on Christmas – as was the case in the First World War,” the prime minister explained. “And if a large prisoner exchange could be agreed, then hundreds… of families could be made happy,” he added.

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Orban had made such an offer to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their phone conversation on the previous day. Peskov did not say if Russia went along with the idea of having a truce during the holiday, but stressed that, in the hours following their phone call, Moscow provided a paper to the Hungarian embassy with its suggestions about how the prisoner exchange should happen. On Wednesday, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky belittled Orban’s diplomatic activities, claiming that the Hungarian leader was only trying to “boost personal image at the expense of unity” in the EU in terms of supporting Kiev. “There can be no discussions about the war that Russia wages against Ukraine without Ukraine,” he wrote on X. Shortly after that, an aide to Zelensky, Dmitry Litvin, denied that any contacts between Kiev and Budapest on a proposed Christmas ceasefire and prisoner swap took place at all.

According to Peskov, unlike Ukraine, Russia “fully supports Orban’s efforts aimed at finding a peaceful settlement and resolving humanitarian issues related to the exchange of prisoners.” “Russia has never refused peace talks and has repeatedly stated its readiness to resume them on the basis of the Istanbul agreements of 2022. We proceed from the assumption that consultations on establishing peace will continue,” the Kremlin spokesman said. Earlier this year, Vladimir Putin said that, during the talks in Türkiye’s largest city, Ukraine was willing to declare military neutrality, to limit its armed forces, and vow not to discriminate against ethnic Russians. In return, Moscow would have joined other leading powers in offering security guarantees to Kiev.

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“..the Ukraine conflict will be solved “within the next few months” because Trump is “the only person” who can and will do it.”

• Trump’s Ukraine Envoy Pick Predicts End Of Conflict Within Months (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump could solve the conflict between Moscow and Kiev “within the next few months,” retired US Army General Keith Kellogg, slated to become a special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, has suggested. Speaking to Fox News on Friday, Kellogg did not rule out the idea that Trump could potentially invite both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to his presidential inauguration. “President Trump plays three-level chess, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he did something like that. Could he do it? Of course, he could do it. He could make such a bold move,” Kellogg said, adding that he really believes the Ukraine conflict will be solved “within the next few months” because Trump is “the only person” who can and will do it.

Nothing should be put “beyond the realm of possible” at the moment, Kellogg said, adding that “he wouldn’t be surprised” by any unexpected moves made by the next US president. During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly pledged to end the conflict between Moscow and Kiev literally overnight, yet he has never provided any precise details on how exactly he plans to achieve such a result. Earlier this week, he said that resolving the Ukrainian crisis and the hostility in the Middle East were among his “big priorities.” He suggested, however, that achieving the latter was “less difficult” than the former.

Moscow has previously expressed skepticism about Trump’s repeated pledges to somehow settle the Ukrainian conflict, dismissing his promises as campaign talk. Shortly after he secured the election win, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the promises of resolving the conflict overnight were clearly “an exaggeration of sorts.” “If the new [US] administration seeks peace rather than a continuation of the conflict, it will be better than the previous one,” Peskov said at the time.

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“The bloc’s policies will result in further deindustrialization, increased volatility on the gas market, and may lead to a new gas price shock and supply disruptions..”

• Ukraine Vows ‘Zero Gas Transit’ To EU (RT)

Ukraine will stop the flow of Russian natural gas via its transit network on January 1, Energy Minister German Galushchenko has confirmed. A key gas transit agreement between Moscow and Kiev is due to expire on December 31, and the Ukrainian leadership has repeatedly warned that it has no plans to extend it. Several EU countries continue to rely on Russian gas, despite the sharp drop in supplies due to sanctions on Moscow and a push by Brussels to sever energy ties with Russia. Ukraine has made preparations to shut off the gas, Galushchenko told the German-Ukrainian Business Forum in Berlin on Wednesday. “Our position is completely open. We are preparing for zero transit from January 1. And we have been [preparing] for a long time. This year alone we conducted several stress tests for our gas system to see how it will function with zero transit,” Galushchenko said, as quoted by the Ukrinform news agency.

The transit agreement between Ukraine’s state energy firm Naftogaz and Russia’s energy giant Gazprom was signed in 2019. Naftogaz praised the deal at the time as ensuring security on the domestic gas market. It also revealed that Gazprom had paid nearly $3 billion for the transit service, thus ensuring that the Ukrainian system would operate without a loss over the following five years. Ukraine’s transit network is connected to the pipeline systems of Moldova, Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. The EU still receives around 5% of its gas from Russia via Ukraine, according to the latest data. The Naftogaz transit system and the European arm of TurkStream are the only two remaining conduits for piped Russian gas to reach central and southern Europe.

The TurkStream gas pipeline runs from Russia to Türkiye via the Black Sea, and then continues to the border with EU member Greece. Russia has said it is ready to continue deliveries beyond 2024. Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller warned in October that the EU would be committing “energy suicide” by shunning Russian gas. The bloc’s policies will result in further deindustrialization, increased volatility on the gas market, and may lead to a new gas price shock and supply disruptions, Miller predicted. Similar concerns have been voiced by Hungary and Slovakia, the two EU nations most reliant on Russian gas. Budapest continues to receive more than a half of the gas it consumes from Russia under a 15-year contract signed with Gazprom in 2021. An increased reliance on TurkStream and replacing Russian gas with supplies from Azerbaijan for transit to the EU through Ukraine have been named as possible solutions.

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Peskov: “It is obvious that Trump understands what exactly is escalating the situation around the conflict..”

• Kremlin Reacts To Trump’s Stance On Long-Range Strikes Into Russia

US President-elect Donald Trump’s statement regarding Ukraine’s use of Western long-range missiles to strike deep into Russia is completely in line with Moscow’s stance on the matter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. Peskov was commenting on Trump’s sharp criticism this week of President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Kiev to conduct long-range strikes on Russian territory with US-supplied missiles. “The statement itself completely coincides with our position,” Peskov told reporters. “In this case we have the same vision of the reasons for the escalation.” He added that Trump’s thinking on the matter “appeals” to Russia. “It is obvious that Trump understands what exactly is escalating the situation around the conflict,” he said.

At the same time, the Russian presidential spokesman warned against “jumping ahead of ourselves” and predicting the actions of the incoming US administration. “Let’s wait until the moment when the president-elect takes his post in the Oval Office,” he advised. In an interview with Time magazine, which named him the 2024 Person of the Year, Trump stated that he disagrees “very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia,” asking rhetorically: “Why are we doing that?” Trump said that missile strikes deep into Russia’s internationally recognized territory are “just escalating this war and making it worse,” and described such attacks as a “very big mistake.” The US president-elect’s comments came a day after the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukrainian forces had launched six US-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles towards an airfield in Rostov Region.

In response to Kiev’s attacks, Moscow hit a number of Ukraine’s key energy facilities overnight into Friday.Russia has repeatedly warned that long-range strikes using foreign-made weapons would escalate the conflict and be seen as NATO’s direct participation in the hostilities. In late November, Moscow used its new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile system for the first time, striking the Yuzhmash military plant in the Ukrainian city of Dnepr. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned at the time that if Ukraine’s attacks deep inside Russia continue, Moscow reserves the right “to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow the use of their weapons against our facilities.

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“Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden have outlived their usefulness to rich globalists..”

• Clintons Open to Preemptive Pardon as Deep State May Abandon Them (Sp.)

Former President Bill Clinton has indicated he is open to discussing a “pre-emptive pardon” for his wife, Hillary Clinton, with outgoing head of state Joe Biden, while maintaining that she has done nothing wrong. This development was anticipated, according to Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel, who tells Sputnik that Bill Clinton is also likely to seek a pardon for himself and his daughter. Ortel adds that the proposed pardon could cover a period starting much earlier than Hillary’s 2016 email scandal, which Bill Clinton mentioned on “The View” talk show. The alleged fraud and pay-to-play activities involving the Clinton Foundation were significant issues, according to Ortel, who has been investigating the charity for many years.

“As in the case of the first Biden family pardon, my view is that a federal pardon for the Clinton family will have to go back, perhaps, to 1992 and continue so long as ‘The Clinton Foundation’ and its affiliates may operate,” Ortel suggests. Earlier, Biden provided his son with an unusual blanket pardon covering all possible crimes between 2014 and 2024. The Clintons “have been insiders in a rigged political system at the federal level” since Bill’s first presidential campaign in 1992, Ortel claims. However, even a federal pre-emptive pardon from Biden “is likely to leave Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton vulnerable to state and foreign prosecutions, along with others,” the analyst believes. Bill Clinton’s readiness to discuss a pre-emptive pardon with President Joe Biden is likely influenced by FBI Director Christopher Wray’s decision to step down and Donald Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel, according to Ortel.

Ortel suggests that Wray is part of the same cabal as former FBI Director James Comey, who allowed Hillary Clinton to escape consequences for her 2016 email scandal. In contrast, Patel has never been part of the D.C. “swamp” and played a key role in debunking the Trump-Russia collusion allegations, which, based on then-CIA Director John Brennan’s declassified memo, may have been fabricated by Hillary Clinton to divert attention from her email scandal. According to Ortel, the Department of Justice (DoJ), FBI, and IRS have long covered up the Clintons’ apparent felonies, despite many being evident. “When the FBI finally spoke with me in December 2018, they focused on my connections with Peter Smith, Jerry Corsi, and Roger Stone, claiming they lacked the scope to investigate why so many in the Obama and Bush administrations might be interested in covering up Clinton Foundation crimes,” Ortel says.

If Patel takes charge of the FBI, he is expected to overhaul the bureau and could investigate the Clintons earnestly, according to Ortel. Reports indicate that Hillary Clinton is on Patel’s “government gangsters” list. The globalist elites and much-discussed US “deep state” may no longer shield the Clintons, as they have outlived their usefulness, Ortel says. “Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden have outlived their usefulness to rich globalists,” Ortel states. The election defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris, along with the inability of the Clintons, Obamas, and Bidens to produce a more vibrant and popular presidential candidate, apparently exposed their political bankruptcy.

As a result, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who has long been considered an ally of the Democrats, dismissed the party’s gloom-and-doom warnings and openly signaled in October that a Donald Trump victory would be acceptable for Wall Street. “Should the Trump administration prioritize prosecuting charity crimes, starting with wealthy donors like Bill Gates and George Soros and wealthy ‘educational public charities,’ whistleblowers and the incoming administration could make America proud by [taking down] the Clinton family and many other charity grifters who, even today, seem arrogantly unrepentant and unbowed,” Ortel concludes.

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“.. a barrage of prosecutions against Mr. Trump himself, guaranteed to prevent him from ever running again, to bankrupt him, and to stuff him into prison for the rest of his natural life.”

• Modified Limited Hang-out (Kunstler)

For eight years — including the four when Mr. Trump as president — the FBI and DOJ worked tirelessly to run him out of office and make sure he could never return. The effort was prodigious and, astoundingly, it failed. It was launched initially to conceal the crimes of Bill and Hillary Clinton, especially their moneygrubbing in Russia around the Skolkovo project — Russia’s Silicon Valley — and the Uranium One scandal — which involved the sale of US nuclear assets to Russia’s state-owned Rosatom company. The Clinton’s problems became especially acute in the summer of 2016 when Hillary’s private (outside government) email server came to light with its thousands of potentially incriminating memos. Looked like trouble. The cure for that was to accuse candidate Trump of conniving with Russia, a sort of political homeopathy.

It began as a mere Hillary campaign prank — the Steele Dossier — but CIA Director John Brennan and Barack Obama dumped it in FBI Director James Comey’s lap, and asked him to run with it. Mr. Comey stupidly complied, and before long he marshaled the executive officers of the FBI into the massive hoax that became RussiaGate. The Mueller Investigation was intended to convert all that into a prosecutable Trump crime while covering up the FBI’s own crimes, but it proved a fiasco when the Mueller report issued in March, 2019, came up empty — to the horror of the Trump-deranged public. Inspector General Horowitz’s report on these FBI shenanigans came out in December of that year, finding little amiss besides some “errors” in FISA applications and FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith’s forgery of an email as to whether one Carter Page was ever a CIA asset. The big news media let it all slide.

Mr. Trump somehow survived, to the blob’s horror, and prepared to run for re-election. The 2020 election was a fantastic trip laid on the American public. Covid-19 allowed for drastic changes in voting rules. The Democratic Party managed in plain sight to maneuver the obviously senile Joe Biden to head their ticket, and an array of very conspicuous late-night frauds got him elected. On Jan 6, 2021, Republican legislators were poised to contest the results out of several swing states where the frauds occurred in the requisite Congressional certification ceremony. The law plainly allowed for such challenges. It could not be allowed to happen. Hence: the operations to interrupt the proceedings. The primary device would be the pipe bombs planted at the nearby DNC and RNC headquarters — terrorists on-the-loose!

The backup plan was to turn the large protest group gathered around the Capitol into a mob that would somehow provoke an evacuation of the building. Between the FBI’s assets (“confidential human sources”) planted in the crowd, plus the Capitol police firing rubber bullets and “flash-bangs” into them, and mysterious figures ushering-in protesters through unlocked security doors, the breach of the Capitol was accomplished and the lawmakers fled the building. Nancy Pelosi arranged for the national guard to not be called onto the scene to fortify the understaffed Capitol Police. She was thrilled at how well it worked (captured on film). And the pipe bomb caper was swept under the rug, despite a ton of evidence that indicated the person-of-interest on the scene was a federal contractor, his movements recorded in cell-phone records and closed-circuit cameras.

When the lawmakers returned late that night in a great fugue of histrionic consternation, the majority decided to dispense with those challenges to the vote in swing states. “Joe Biden” became president and the DOJ under new Attorney General Merrick Garland commenced a raft of vicious prosecutions against anyone and everyone present at the Capitol on Jan 6. The next step was to mount a barrage of prosecutions against Mr. Trump himself, guaranteed to prevent him from ever running again, to bankrupt him, and to stuff him into prison for the rest of his natural life.

Read more …

Should Elon start building planes?

• Mounting Boeing Delays Suggest Trump Won’t Fly In New Air Force One (ZH)

Aerospace giant Boeing warned earlier this year that supply chain snarls, persistent inflation, and workforce challenges have impacted the construction timeline of two new Air Force One presidential aircraft. A new report from the Wall Street Journal suggests that continued delays indicate President-elect Donald Trump will not get to fly in the new Boeing 747s during his second term, with the latest projections targeting 2029 or later. Trump is frustrated with the delays. Here’s more from WSJ: “Frustrated with the delays, Trump raised the project with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg when the two men spoke by phone in November. As he prepares to return to the White House, Trump has repeatedly asked advisers about the status of Boeing’s work. Boeing used to be a great American company, he has told aides, according to people briefed on the discussions. What happened to them? Trump has asked.”

In 2018, during President-elect Trump’s first term, Boeing received a $3.9 billion contract to build two new 747-8 aircraft for use as Air Force One. The aircraft were supposed to be delivered by the end of this year. Ted Colbert, head of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, spoke with Fox Bussiness in July, revealing that supply chain, inflation, workforce, and other challenges in building the airplanes pushed out delivery timelines. “Our team is fighting through a very, very challenging program – two very complex airplanes,” Colbert said at the time, adding, “We’ve done a ton of investment in our workforce and training, efficiency, work on the factory floor.” In 2023, the Biden administration decided to reverse Trump’s decision to switch to a red, white, and blue scheme, from the current white with two shades of blue, a design that dates back to the Kennedy administration. “The delay is startling given that Boeing isn’t building the planes from scratch,” WSJ noted.

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“.. will bid on all of that wall and we will buy it in Texas and we will give it to Donald Trump.” “I got a billion dollars in my pocket to do it..”

• Texas Lt Gov Patrick Wants To Buy Construction Materials Auctioned By DHS (JTN)

Texas GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he want to buy border-construction material being auctioned by the Department of Homeland and give it to President-elect Donald Trump. “Joe Biden is now hauling off the border wall that’s been lying down for years and he wants to auction it off starting at five dollars a piece,” Patrick told Fox News opinion-show host Laura Ingraham on Thursday. “Message to the White House right now: I will bid on all of that wall and we will buy it in Texas and we will give it to Donald Trump.”

Patrick also said he has the authority to spend Texas tax dollars that way. “I got a billion dollars in my pocket to do it,” he said. “I write the budget with [state] Sen. Joan Huffman. We have the money.” Border security was a top campaign issue for Trump this year, as it was when he first won the presidency in 2016. In Trump’s next term, he is expected to ramp up border security and perhaps conduct mass deportations and end birthright citizenship.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1867412563656683730

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“We’ve had cases in the past where the defense has argued that sources and agents have been extremely active in pushing people towards criminal conduct..”

• Turley Raises Concerns Over DOJ Hiding FBI Informants At Jan. 6 (HUSA)

Renowned legal scholar and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley sounded the alarm about the DOJ’s failure to disclose to Jan. 6 defendants that FBI informants were present in the U.S. Capitol that day in 2021, as detailed in a DOJ Inspector General report. In a Thursday interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, Turley said the report raised “more questions than answers” about the FBI’s rumored role in inciting violence at the Capitol. The law professor specifically such information would have been critical to defendants of the Jan. 6 protests who fell victim to the Biden DOJ’s aggressive prosecutions. “In some ways, it raises more questions than answers. It does support Wray’s testimony that there were no undercover agents in the crowd,” Turley said, referring to FBI Director Christopher Wray. “I think that for others, there is going to be a lot of concern as to what the sources were doing there,” he said, as reported first by the Daily Caller.

DOJ Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz revealed that at least 26 FBI confidential human sources (CHSs) were present among the crowd protesting the contentious 2020 presidential election results. “Our review determined that none of these FBI CHSs was authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6,” Horowitz found. Of the 26 agents, only three were summoned to the U.S. Capitol that day, Turley noted, before highlighting that FBI informants had previously been accused of inciting crimes. “We’ve had cases in the past where the defense has argued that sources and agents have been extremely active in pushing people towards criminal conduct,” Turley said. “We saw those allegations raised in the Michigan case involving the governor there.”

The FBI’s potential role in inciting violence was highlighted in the “kidnapping” plot of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Two men indicted in the alleged plot were acquitted by a jury, while two others faced hung juries. The latter two were convicted in a retrial. Turley argued that Jan. 6 defense attorneys would have used the FBI informants’ presence during the protests if they had known about it. “I think that some defense attorneys may raise the question as [to] why they weren’t told, if they weren’t told about the confidential sources that might have been involved tangentially with their own cases, because usually defense counsel says we want to know what asset, what personnel the government had there. So there is going to be questions of that kind, that arise,” Turley said.

Read more …

“I’m going to answer a few questions and then I am leaving because it’s not going to matter what I respond to anyway, you have your preconceived thoughts already.”

• NYC Mayor Eric Adams Stuns Lefty Reporters By Going Full MAGA (MN)

New York City mayor Eric Adams continued his recent pivot away from the Democratic Party and toward the incoming administration by declaring in a press conference that he will not provide any sanctuary for criminal illegal aliens. Adams met with President Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan Thursday and made remarks afterwards to the press that stunned reporters into silence. “We’re not going to be a safe haven for those who commit repeated violent crimes against innocent migrants, immigrants and long-standing New Yorkers,” Adams said after the meeting.

He continued, “From what I heard from the incoming head of ICE is that we have the same desire to go after those who are committing violent acts, repeated violent acts among innocent New Yorkers and among migration asylum seekers.” “That’s what I heard from him. And I was pleased to hear that, because we share the same desire,” Adams urged. “I’ve said this before, and I’m surprised the way everyone is attempting to state this is a ‘new coming of Eric Adams…[New York City] can’t be a safe haven for violent individuals,” the mayor said. Adams also referred to the hundreds of thousands of missing children who have been trafficked over the border.

“We have 500,000 children who had sponsors in this country that we can’t find. We can’t find them. We can’t find them. We don’t know if they’re doing child labor. We don’t know if they’re doing sex crimes. We don’t know if they’re being exploited – 500,000 children. There’s a level of hypocrisy…” Adams said. Adams then slammed the media, stating “I’m going to answer a few questions and then I am leaving because it’s not going to matter what I respond to anyway, you have your preconceived thoughts already.” Last week, Adams vowed to work with Trump on mass deportations, outlining that he doesn’t care if he gets ‘cancelled’ by leftists for it.

Read more …

How original.

• Jeff Bezos’ Amazon To Donate $1 Million To Trump (RT)

The US online giant Amazon has confirmed it will donate $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund and stream the ceremony as well, in what has been widely interpreted as a peace offering by CEO Jeff Bezos. The Washington Post, owned by Bezos since 2013, has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics since his first term in the White House. “Bezos is donating through Amazon,” a source told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. The company has since confirmed this in a statement to CNN. In addition to the direct donation to the inaugural fund, Amazon’s Prime Video will stream Trump’s inauguration as an in-kind contribution valued at another $1 million. Bezos is also supposed to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida next week.

Bezos’ net worth has been estimated at almost $250 billion, so the amount of the donations is largely symbolic. The tech mogul began shifting away from overt support to the Democrats earlier this year, praising Trump’s “tremendous grace and courage under literal fire” after the July 13 assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. He then vetoed the Post’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris in October, causing no small consternation among staff and subscribers. Earlier this week, the Journal reported that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg would also contribute $1 million to the Trump inaugural fund. Zuckerberg visited Mar-a-Lago last month and had dinner with the president-elect. Both gestures were seen as an attempt to atone for donating over $400 million to Democrats and to various institutions in majority-Democrat areas, and later banning the sitting president from Facebook and Instagram after the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.

Donations to an inaugural committee are not subject to any contribution amount limitations, but need to be reported to the Federal Elections Commission as such. Earlier this month, at an event hosted by the New York Times, Bezos said he would try to talk Trump out of the idea that the legacy media is “the enemy of the people.” “What I’ve seen so far is that he is calmer than he was the first time and more confident, more settled,” Bezos said, suggesting that Trump might be amenable to persuasion. Meanwhile, SpaceX owner Elon Musk has emerged as one of Trump’s closest allies, first by buying Twitter in 2022 and ending most censorship on that platform, and later by openly endorsing Trump and donating an estimated $200 million to his re-election bid.

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What are the odds that Alvin Bragg will still have a job in the new year?

• JD Vance Honors New York ‘Subway Vigilante’ (RT)

US Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has invited Daniel Penny to be his personal guest at the upcoming Army-Navy football game in Washington, just days after a Manhattan jury cleared the former Marine of racially motivated murder charges. New York prosecutors had charged Penny, like Vance a former US Marine, with homicide over a May 2023 incident that ended in the death of Jordan Neely, a mentally ill black homeless man. Neely had entered a subway car shouting that “someone is going to die today,” before Penny and two of his friends subdued him. “Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone. I’m grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he’s able to have fun. I appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage,” Vance posted on X on Friday.

Earlier reports quoted anonymous sources saying that Vance had invited Penny to the presidential suite at the Washington, DC stadium, where President-elect Donald Trump is also expected to attend. The Army-Navy Game is played by West Point cadets and Annapolis midshipmen and is one of the most enduring rivalries in US college football. Following the handing down of the verdict on Monday Vance declared on X that it was “a scandal Penny was ever prosecuted in the first place.” Penny himself denied being a vigilante or having any racial animus towards Neely, arguing he was only trying to defend the other subway passengers amid a spate of violent attacks on the network around that time. He did not take the witness stand during the trial.

Charges against Penny became a hot-button issue in the US, with Republicans such as Trump and Vance accusing the Democrats ruling New York of wanting to criminalize the defense of self and others, while Democrats tried to present the incident as driven by racism and bigotry. During the trial, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office repeatedly referred to Penny only as “the white man” and claimed he had “choked” Neely, setting up comparisons to the 2020 death of George Floyd that triggered a wave of race riots across the US. Bragg also prosecuted Trump on questionable grounds for alleged “hush money” payments, securing a conviction that is currently in legal limbo due to the outcome of November’s presidential election and Supreme Court rulings about executive immunity.

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This we need to stop. Woke destroys lives.

• United Kingdom Upholds Ban on Puberty-Blocking Drugs for Minors (Turley)

In the aftermath of the contentious Supreme Court arguments in United States v. Skrmetti over state bans on puberty blockers and gender-altering surgeries, the United Kingdom reaffirmed that it finds the risks far outweigh the benefits of such treatments for minors under the currently available scientific evidence. The move by the liberal Labour Party stands in sharp contrast with the portrayal of the Biden Administration and the treatment of the subject by the liberal justices. Justice Sonia Sotomayor was widely criticized for analogizing puberty-blocking drugs to taking aspirin. It appears that doctors in the UK are not ready to tell minors to just “take two puberty blockers and call me in the morning.”

UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting said last week, “Children’s health care must always be evidence-led. The independent expert Commission on Human Medicines found that the current prescribing and care pathway for gender dysphoria and incongruence presents an unacceptable safety risk for children and young people.” The decision follows the release of the Cass Review, which was raised by the conservative justices as contradicting the factual representations of the Biden Administration, even leading Justice Samuel Alito to suggest that Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar and the government might not have fulfilled their duty of candor to the tribunal. He noted that the Cass study found scant evidence that the benefits of transgender treatment are greater than the risks. He then delivered the haymaker: “I wonder if you would like to stand by the statement in your position or if you think it would now be appropriate to modify that and withdraw your statement.”

Streeting cited significant doubts about the benefits of puberty blockers while noting the “significant risks” to children. The government will allow puberty blockers to be administered to children in clinical trials. It is not clear if the Supreme Court will take “judicial notice” of the new decision, but it can. In fairness to Sotomayor, she was trying to argue that all treatments have risks in making her aspirin analogy. Yet, the comment was taken as trivializing the alleged harm and trauma raised by many in this debate. These studies clearly show greater risks than those associated with aspirin. However, what the Biden Administration was arguing (and the liberal justices were seemingly supporting) is that states would be barred by the Court from reaching the same conclusion as the UK and other countries. Indeed, Streeting echoed what the states argued to the Supreme Court that the government must “act with caution and care when it comes to this vulnerable group of young people, and follow the expert advice.”

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“..the IRS mandates that all charitable foundations deploy, on average, at least 5% of their assets a year..”

“..saw his net worth surpass a record $440 billion this week..”

• Musk’s Charity Sent Most Money To His Own Entities – Bloomberg (RT)

Elon Musk’s charitable foundation has reportedly failed to give away the amount of money required by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), while also sending millions of dollars to other entities controlled by the billionaire, Bloomberg reported on Friday. According to the outlet, which has obtained the Musk Foundation’s latest tax filing, the organization grew to $9.5 billion in assets last year while handing out $237 million in gifts, most of which went to Musk’s other nonprofits, such as The Foundation, X Prize Foundation, and Fidelity Charitable. The New York Times has reported that the tax filings suggest that the Musk Foundation fell $421 million short of the amount it was required to give away in 2023, meaning that the billionaire now has until the end of the year to distribute that money or be required to pay a sizable penalty to the IRS.

As noted by Bloomberg, the IRS mandates that all charitable foundations deploy, on average, at least 5% of their assets a year. Musk, however, has apparently missed that bar on numerous occasions. The entrepreneur, who is estimated to be the richest person on the planet, saw his net worth surpass a record $440 billion this week after an insider share sale of his privately held SpaceX, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Musk’s new fortune puts him nearly $200 billion ahead of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. He is also now worth more on paper than most US public companies, including Costco, Home Depot, and Netflix, as per Business Insider. Meanwhile, the entrepreneur has emerged as one of the top Republican donors this year and has become one of the most prominent members of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inner circle. Following the Republican’s election victory last month, Musk also pledged to audit the entire US government and cut government spending by up to $2 trillion as the head of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

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“SpaceX is why America is years ahead of the rest of the world in the space race. ..”

• Elon Musk: “Starbase Is Going To Be A City” In Texas (ZH)

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has sent a letter to local officials in southern Texas outlining a new mission: to transform the remote area where the company launches rockets into an incorporated town named “Starbase, Texas.” SpaceX launches rockets on the southern tip of Texas at Boca Chica Beach, near the Mexican border. Incorporating the remote area would “streamline the processes required to build the amenities necessary to make the area a world-class place to live—for the hundreds already calling it home, as well as for prospective workers eager to help build humanity’s future in space,” the company wrote in a letter to Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr., the county’s top elected official.

“As you know, through agreements with the County, SpaceX currently performs several civil functions around Starbase due to its remote location, including management of the roads, utilities, and the provision of schooling and medical care for the residents. Incorporation would move the management of some of these functions to a more appropriate public body,” the letter said. AP News quoted Judge Treviño, who said there were incorporation talks in 2021. However, this was the first time a petition was officially filed. “Our legal and elections administration will review the petition, see whether or not it complied with all of the statutory requirements and then we’ll go from there,” the judge said. Earlier this year, the judge issued a local impact study finding that 3,400 full-time SpaceX employees and contractors work at the rocket launch site.

SpaceX’s rapid expansion comes as Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, told investors last month that Starship launches over the next four years could exceed 400. CNBC confirmed on Wednesday that the latest valuation for SpaceX hit $350 billion based on a secondary share sale. As previously noted, SpaceX launched 362 metric tons of upmass to space in the third quarter. In other words, Musk’s company launched 86% of the upmass in the world, beating all rocket programs, including ones funded by nation-states. Starship’s fifth test flight in early October was groundbreaking… SpaceX is why America is years ahead of the rest of the world in the space race.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1867486338645471488

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Nixon

 

 

Recycle

 

 

Lion

 

 

Moose

 

 

Kidding

 

 

AI

 

 

Bird leaves
https://twitter.com/i/status/1867221356175294913

 

 

 

 

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