Andy Warhol Ingrid Bergman 1984
The light of peace
https://twitter.com/i/status/1682407037227892739
RFK BBC
WATCH:
In a new documentary about vaccines called #Remedy, @RobertKennedyJr claims there was a secret agreement made by @BBCNews to suppress stories about COVID and the Hunter Biden laptop story during the election. He also claims BBC had a policy to deplatform other news… pic.twitter.com/Drkpa9G6ky
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) July 21, 2023
Trump trial
BREAKING: Judge Aileen Cannon has set the Trump classified doc trial date for May 20, 2024, less than 6 months before the 2024 election.
The ‘justice system’ meddled in the 2020 election and they’re doing it again in 2024.
At the moment, Trump is facing 71 felony counts and… pic.twitter.com/xLxB16DbXj
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 21, 2023
Propaganda
Covid era propaganda being used to push extreme climate change narrative
Source: GBNewshttps://t.co/D577gKFZb6 pic.twitter.com/LJHzlpDmAr— Wittgenstein (@backtolife_2023) July 21, 2023
Cue Yellen kow-towing.
• Biden Needs China to Bail Out US Economy (Sp.)
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s trip [to] Beijing was widely ridiculed in the media. But geopolitical and financial analyst Tom Luongo, publisher of the newsletter ‘Gold, Goats ‘n Guns’, said her real mission was to beg China for economic aid. He told Sputnik’s New Rules podcast that the Biden administration’s financial maneuvers during the debt ceiling stand-off with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives had cleaned out its “checking account”. “There’s a reason why US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen went to China,” he said. “I think Yellen went to Beijing to beg the Chinese to buy US Treasuries.” “The Chinese don’t have an open capital account, meaning they can buy a whole bunch of US treasuries without affecting the yuan onshore,” Luongo continued.
“They were the ones that could actually do this, buy a whole bunch of US treasuries, because Yellen needs to refill the Treasury general account since she drained it in order to blackmail the world into thinking the US was going to default over the debt ceiling crisis.” The pundit explained how the federal government’s new liquidity crisis began. “During the debt ceiling crisis back in May, and as we moved into June, the Treasury’s general account — basically checking account — was being drawn down,” he recalled. “And Yellen was out there every other day screaming, ‘Oh my God, we’re not going to have any money to pay our bills!’ Well, the way the Treasury raises money is by selling Treasuries.”
“The best estimates have been that she would need to raise somewhere between $1 trillion and $1.5 trillion this summer in order to fund the budget deficit of the United States and get the Treasury general account back up to a certain level now, in order for the American government to continue operating in this unbelievably dysfunctional manner,” Luongo said. Recently published data indicates that Yellen had reason to be concerned about China dumping US Treasuries. China sold more than $22 billion of its US Treasury bonds in May, bringing its total holdings to the lowest level since 2010, according to a report by the US Department of Treasury released on Tuesday. Given this context, the US Treasury Secretary likely traveled to Beijing to urge Chinese leaders to reverse course.
But Luongo pointed out the contradiction in Yellen’s plan: “if you’re buying a Treasury bond, you’re selling dollars” — accelerating de-dollarization and undercutting the value of the US fiat currency. “Someone needs to buy treasuries. They could be absorbed by the American domestic markets. But if you do so, you’re taking dollars out of the US domestic markets.”
“Hence the turn around by the Biden combo to “freeze” the conflict in the Donbass and change the subject. After all, “if that [China] is the threat, you don’t want Russia to fall apart..”
• Neocons Want War With China (Pepe Escobar)
It was a photo op for the ages: a visibly well-disposed President Xi Jinping receiving centenarian “old friend of China” Henry Kissinger in Beijing. Mirroring meticulous Chinese attention to protocol, they met at Villa 5 of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse – exactly where Kissinger first met in person with Zhou Enlai in 1971, preparing Nixon’s 1972 visit to China. The Mr. Kissinger Goes to Beijing saga was an “unofficial”, individual attempt to try to mend increasingly fractious Sino-American relations. He was not representing the current American administration. There’s the rub. Everyone involved in geopolitics is aware of the legendary Kissinger formulation: To be the US’s enemy is dangerous, to be the US’s friend is fatal. History abounds in examples, from Japan and South Korea to Germany, France and Ukraine. As quite a few Chinese scholars privately argued, if reason is to be upheld, and “respecting the wisdom of this 100-years-old diplomat”, Xi and the Politburo should maintain the China-US relation as it is: “icy”.
After all, they reason, being the US’s enemy is dangerous but manageable for a Sovereign Civilizational State like China. So Beijing should keep “the honorable and less perilous status” of being a US enemy. What’s really going on in the back rooms of the current American administration was not reflected by Kissinger’s high-profile peace initiative, but by an extremely combative Edward Luttwak. Luttwak, 80, may not be as visibly influential as Kissinger, but as a behind the scenes strategist he’s been advising the Pentagon across the spectrum for over five decades. His book on Byzantine Empire strategy, for instance, heavily drawing on top Italian and British sources, is a classic. Luttwak, a master of deception, reveals precious nuggets in terms of contextualizing current Washington moves. That starts with his assertion that the US – represented by the Biden combo – is itching to do a deal with Russia.
That explains why CIA head William Burns, actually a capable diplomat, called his counterpart, SVR head Sergey Naryshkin (Russian Foreign Intelligence) to sort of straighten things up “because you have something else to worry about which is more unlimited”. What’s “unlimited”, depicted by Luttwak in a Spenglerian sweep, is Xi Jinping’s drive to “get ready for war”. And if there’s a war, Luttwak claims that “of course” China would lose. That dovetails with the supreme delusion of Straussian neocon psychos across the Beltway. Luttwak seems not to have understood China’s drive for food self-sufficiency: he qualifies it as a threat. Same for Xi using a “very dangerous” concept, the “rejuvenation of the Chinese people”: that’s “Mussolini stuff”, says Luttwak. “There has to be a war to rejuvenate China”.
The “rejuvenation” concept – actually better translated as “revival” – has been resonating in China circles at least since the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in 1911. It was not coined by Xi. Chinese scholars point out that if you see US troops arriving in Taiwan as “advisors”, you would probably make preparations to fight too. But Luttwak is on a mission: “This is not America, Europe, Ukraine, Russia. This is about ‘the sole dictator’. There is no China. There is only Xi Jinping,” he insisted. And Luttwak confirms the EU’s Josep “Garden vs. Jungle” Borrell and European Commission dominatrix Ursula von der Leyen fully support his vision. Luttwak, in just a few words, actually gives away the whole game: “The Russian Federation, as it is, is not strong enough to contain China as much as we would wish”. Hence the turn around by the Biden combo to “freeze” the conflict in the Donbass and change the subject. After all, “if that [China] is the threat, you don’t want Russia to fall apart,” Luttwak reasons. So much for Kissingerian “diplomacy.”
“..the Ukrainian cannon fodder is clearly not enough for the West, so they plan to use new consumables – the Poles themselves, Lithuanians, and the list goes on. All those who the West will not feel sorry for..”
• Putin: There are No Results of Ukrainian Counteroffensive (Sp.)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there are no results of Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Addressing a Russian Security Council meeting on Friday, Putin said that “as a result of suicidal attacks,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces have suffered extensive losses, with “tens of thousands” of soldiers killed. He stressed that despite the “constant raids and total mobilization” across Ukraine, the Kiev regime “is finding it increasingly difficult to drive new reinforcements to the front.” The Russian president stated that neither the supply of weapons nor the presence of foreign mercenaries and advisers helped Kiev. “Neither the colossal resources that were pumped into the Kiev regime, nor the supply of Western weapons, tanks, artillery, armored vehicles and missiles helped. The delivery of thousands of foreign mercenaries and advisers who were most actively used in attempts to break through the front of our army did not help either,” Putin said.
According to him, the West already lacks “Ukrainian cannon fodder,” which is why the Western leaders are considering using Lithuanians and Poles in hostilities. “Hatching their revanchist plans, Polish authorities don’t tell their people the truth. The truth is that the Ukrainian cannon fodder is clearly not enough for the West, so they plan to use new consumables – the Poles themselves, Lithuanians, and the list goes on. All those who the West will not feel sorry for,” Putin noted. He warned that “This is a very dangerous game, and the authors of such plans should think about the consequences.” The Russian president added that “The existing production capacities in the West do not allow it to quickly replenish the consumption of reserves of equipment and ammunition.” According to Putin, the West needs “Additional massive resources and time.”
Putin also praised the command of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine for their professionalism. “Our soldiers and officers, as well as units and formations are doing their duty to the Motherland courageously, steadfastly, and heroically,” the Russian head of state pointed out. [..] “At the same time, the whole world sees the much-hyped ‘invulnerable’ Western military equipment on fire [on the battlefield]. And in terms of its performance characteristics, it often even yields to some pieces of Soviet-made military hardware.” The Russian president also warned of Eastern Europe leaders’ possible involvement in kindling “the fire of the war.” “The fire of war is currently being intensively kindled as they use the ambitions of Eastern European states’ leaders, who have long turned hatred for Russia and Russophobia into their main export product and into an instrument of their domestic policy. And now they want to profiteer from the Ukrainian tragedy,” he underscored.
There are no results of the Ukrainian counter-offensive – Putin
The President of the Russian Federation noted that it is obvious that the Western curators of the Kiev regime are disappointed with the results of the so-called Ukrainian counter-offensive.
“Neither the colossal… pic.twitter.com/lXUaJp6IWY
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) July 21, 2023
“..the issue of Ukraine’s defeat is only a matter of time,” regardless of the amount of Western military assistance sent to Kiev..”
“.. if the Polish units enter, for example, Lvov or other territories of Ukraine, then they will remain there. And they will remain there forever.”
• Putin Warns Of Poland’s Intentions In Ukraine And Belarus (RT)
Polish leaders are planning to form a NATO-backed coalition to intervene in the Ukraine conflict and take over parts of western Ukraine as well as, possibly, Belarus, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Friday. Speaking at a meeting with permanent members of Russia’s Security Council, Putin said the government in Kiev is willing to go to any lengths to stay in power, including selling out its own people and handing over Ukrainian territories to “foreign owners.” The first in line, according to the Russian president, are the Poles, who he claimed “probably expect to form some kind of coalition under the ‘NATO umbrella’ and directly intervene in the conflict in Ukraine, in order to then ‘tear off’ a bigger piece for themselves, to regain, as they believe, their historical territories – today’s western Ukraine.”
During Friday’s meeting, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin, also alleged that Warsaw if the Polish units enter, for example, Lvov or other territories of Ukraine, then they will remain there. And they will remain there forever.” was considering capturing western territories of Ukraine by deploying its own troops to the region as part of a Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian security initiative. According to Naryshkin, Polish officials are gradually coming to the realization that “the issue of Ukraine’s defeat is only a matter of time,” regardless of the amount of Western military assistance sent to Kiev. Commenting on the SVR report, Putin suggested that the true purpose of such a coalition would only be to occupy Ukrainian territories. “The prospect is obvious – – if the Polish units enter, for example, Lvov or other territories of Ukraine, then they will remain there. And they will remain there forever.”
Putin also noted that it is “well known” that Warsaw “dreams” of also claiming parts of Belarusian territory as well. The Russian leader warned, however, that while Ukraine has the right to sell off as much of its own territory as it wants, when it comes to Belarus, any aggression against a part of the Union State would mean aggression against Russia. “We will respond to this with all the means at our disposal,” Putin stated.
NATO in the Black Sea. Not great.
• Storm Clouds Gathering In The Black Sea (Bhadrakumar)
[..] in an ominous development, no sooner than Russia let the UN-brokered grain deal expire on July 17, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky disclosed that he had sent official letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan suggesting to continue the grain deal without Russia’s participation. On the very next day, Kiev followed up with an official letter to the UN’s International Maritime Organization spelling out a new maritime corridor passing through Romania’s territorial waters and exclusive maritime economic zone in the north-western part of the Black Sea.
Evidently, Kiev acted in concert with Romania (a NATO member country where the 101st Airborne Division of the US army is deployed). Presumably, the US and NATO are in the loop while the UN’s imprimatur is being arranged. It goes without saying that the NATO has been working on a new maritime route in the Black Sea for sometime already. This is a serious development, as it seems a precursor to involving the NATO in some way to challenge Russia’s domain dominance in the Black Sea. Indeed, the NATO’s Vilnius Summit Communiqué (July 11) had forecast that the alliance is gearing up for a vastly enhanced presence in the Black Sea region, which has been historically a Russian preserve, where its has important military bases.
The relevant para in the NATO Communiqué said: “The Black Sea region is of strategic importance for the Alliance. This is further highlighted by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. We underline our continued support to Allied regional efforts aimed at upholding security, safety, stability and freedom of navigation in the Black Sea region including, as appropriate, through the 1936 Montreux Convention. We will further monitor and assess developments in the region and enhance our situational awareness, with a particular focus on the threats to our security and potential opportunities for closer cooperation with our partners in the region, as appropriate.”
Four things need to be noted: one, the Ukraine conflict has been singled out as the context; the focus is on Crimea; two, “freedom of navigation” means an assertive US naval presence; reference to the 1936 Montreux Convention hinted at the role of Turkey, both as a NATO member country and the custodian of the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits; three, the NATO flags its intention to enhance its “situational awareness,” which as a military term involves 4 stages: observation, orientation, decision, and action. Situational awareness has two main elements, namely, one’s own knowledge of the situation and, secondly, one’s knowledge of what others are doing and might do if the situation were to change in certain ways. Simply put, the NATO surveillance of Russian activities in the Black Sea will intensify; and, four, the NATO seeks closer cooperation with “our partners in the region” (read Ukraine).
Most certainly, a new maritime route in northwestern and western regions of the Black Sea along Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey (all of whom are NATO member countries) will cut off the Russian garrison in Transnistria (Moldava) and would boost Kiev’s capability to strike at Crimea. The NATO involvement would complicate any future Russian operations to liberate Odessa as well, which is historically a Russian city. Apart from the huge legacy of culture and history, Odessa is a port head for the industrial products of Russia and Ukraine. The Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline (which the Ukrainian saboteurs blew up recently) is one of the best examples. The 2,471 km pipeline, the longest ammonia pipeline in the world, connected the world’s largest ammonia producer, TogliattiAzot, in Russia’s Samara region with Odessa Port.
In strategic terms, without control over Odessa, NATO cannot have force projection in the Black Sea region or hope to resurrect Ukraine as an anti-Russia outpost. Nor can NATO advance toward the Transcaucasus and the Caspian (bordering Iran) and Central Asia without dominating the Black Sea region. And for the same reasons, Russia cannot afford to cede the Black Sea region to the NATO, either.
Borrell
Borrell demands to punish Russia for withdrawing from the “grain deal”
According to the head of European diplomacy, Russia "without any reason" blocks and bombs Ukrainian seaports.
“Russia is destroying Ukrainian fields and robbing Ukrainian agricultural products. And contrary… pic.twitter.com/0g54VAKr9t
— Spriter Team (@SpriterTeam) July 21, 2023
John Helmer is a bit more optimistic.
• This Is How The New Black Sea Campaign Will Go (Helmer)
During the grain deal, the Ukraine was able to export about 33 million tonnes of grain by sea. The withdrawal of such a large volume of grain from the world market, of course, cannot but affect prices. However, it is unlikely there will be such losses. Now the options for sending Ukrainian grain by sea will be limited, but the Ukrainians can continue to send ships through their waters at their own risk. In addition, Ukraine has other ways of sending grain – by rail and by road. This, of course, is unlikely to appeal to Poland and other EU agricultural countries, since Ukrainian grain settling in Europe greatly knocks down prices there and ruins European farmers. However, the EU will have to solve this problem on its own.
Maximov believes that in the medium term, the price of grain will still rise, and this opens up a certain window of opportunity for our exporters to increase export revenue. Finally, the understanding that the grain deal is in the past can help by itself. This awareness will allow Russian companies not to hope for the lifting of restrictions and more actively build workarounds for the trade with the understanding that the sanctions situation will last for a long time. “The termination of the grain deal makes it possible to carry out the necessary restructuring of logistics routes and use the North–South route with maximum load with access to Asian and African markets through Iran. The development of this direction seems to be key for the level of food exports from Russia. This scenario will not only preserve the level of export earnings, but also supply grain, food and fertilizers to the poorest countries of the world.
That is, to realize the same goals that were laid in the foundation of the grain deal, but were shamelessly ignored by our former partners”, says Maximov. As for the export of Russian mineral fertilizers, this has decreased by about 15% due to the general sanctions restrictions. However, in 2023 Russia is gradually restoring fertilizer exports, and this year it may reach supply levels comparable to the record figures of 2021 of almost 38 million tonnes, Andrei Guriev, head of the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers (RAPU) said in May. And again, it’s not just been the grain deal, but the fact that fertilizer producers needed more effort and time to change buyers from unfriendly to friendly, to agree on payment, logistics and insurance.
Putin said 97%.
Zelesky cries for Africa, the sends his grain to the highest bidder.
• 95% Of Ukrainian Grain Under Grain Deal Does Not Reach Africa – Italy (RT)
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has claimed that only a tiny fraction of Ukraine’s grain exports are going to Africa, contrary to the goals of the Black Sea Initiative, causing prices of staple foods on the continent to soar. Speaking to the newspaper La Stampa news outlet on Friday, Crosetto was asked if the Ukrainian grain deal, which was recently suspended by Russia, could affect stability in North Africa. The minister replied by pointing out that “everything is connected and it is certainly an element of concern.” “95 percent of exported Ukrainian grain does not go to Africa, and when those countries don’t have the supplies they need they look elsewhere, and inevitably the global prices rise, making it even more difficult for African nations to import. It is destabilizing regions that are already in difficulty, and this problem clearly also affects Europe,” Crosetto said.
Grain prices surged earlier this week after Russia announced the “termination” of the Türkiye and UN-brokered Black Sea Initiative. Under the deal, which took effect in July 2022 and had been repeatedly extended since, Russia lifted its blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports to allow the export of Ukrainian grain to world markets. The agreement was also supposed to remove barriers to the export of Russian grain and fertilizer. However, Moscow has insisted that none of the promises made to it under the agreement were kept, with President Vladimir Putin claiming last week that “not a single goal linked to the interests of the Russian Federation was met” and describing the deal as a “one-sided game.”
Russia has also repeatedly criticized the West for failing to use the grain deal for its original purpose – to avert famine in poorer countries. According to Moscow, the vast majority of agricultural goods that should have been delivered to poorer nations under the deal, including those in Africa, have still not reached them and have instead ended up in Europe. Back in March, President Vladimir Putin also announced that if Russia were to suspend the Black Sea deal it would consider a plan to send “the entire volume [of grain] that was sent from Russia to African countries during the previous period” free of charge to countries in need.
I thought the sanctions tried to cut out Russia…
• FT: Kremlin Seeks To Cut Ukraine Out Of Global Grain Market (Az.)
Russia is pushing a plan to supply grain to Africa and cut Ukraine out of the global market after Moscow’s withdrawal this week from a UN-backed deal. Report informs via the Financial Times that President Vladimir Putin had proposed a replacement initiative whereby Qatar would pay Moscow to ship Russian grain to Türkiye, which would then distribute the crop to “countries in need”. Russia is expected to push its proposal at a summit with African leaders in St Petersburg next week and when Putin visits Türkiye in August.
Who has faith in the Sultan anymore?
• West Should Take Measures on Grain Deal – Erdogan (Sp.)
Western countries should take measures on the grain deal, as its termination will lead to famine and a migration influx, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. “The termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative will entail a range of consequences, including rising global food prices, famine in some regions and new waves of migration. We will not hesitate to take the initiative to prevent this … Western countries should also take action on this issue,” Erdogan told reporters. Erdogan added that he expects to hold talks on the grain deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future.
“We maintain relations with Russia … Together with the negotiations, we hope to bring this issue [of the grain deal] to a certain point with Putin in the very near future,” Erdogan stressed. Erdogan added that he had discussed the planned visit of Putin to Turkiye, noting that he expects the grain deal to be resumed after the meeting. “If Putin’s visit scheduled for August takes place, we will discuss these issues in detail. I believe that we will ensure the continuation of the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative without delaying this process,” Erdogan said. Moscow has certain expectations in connection with the grain deal, Erdogan said, adding that he expects to discuss them with Putin.
“..strike the right balance in order to avoid upsetting Washington, as well as not drawing the ire of Moscow..”
• Ukraine Fails To Realize That Israel Is Not The US, EU or UK (Inlakesh)
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky stated to the Israeli Knesset in March of last year, that “the threat we face is the same, for us and for you. The destruction of a people and even a name”, attempting to paint both countries as moral actors fighting for freedom. Ukraine accuses Russia of being an illegal occupier, annexing territory and committing daily war crimes, all things that are well documented of Israel, which severely weakens Kiev’s credibility when making its various moral analyses. On one hand, it claims to oppose illegal occupation and annexation, then on the other it compares its struggle to that of one of the most infamous occupiers of foreign territory.
What Ukraine fails to recognise is that despite Israel being very much aligned with the West in many ways, it is not the same as NATO members. Tel Aviv* is, just like Kiev, a strategic asset for Washington, and prior to the war in 2022, it was the top US foreign aid recipient. Israel however relies on the collective West to continue its mutually beneficial mission in the Middle East, but isn’t looking to try and deviate its current course whatsoever. This is something that Netanyahu understands well and hence continues to strike the right balance in order to avoid upsetting Washington, as well as not drawing the ire of Moscow. In fact, when Netanyahu was head of the Israeli opposition last year, he criticized then Israeli PM, Yair Lapid, for his “blabbing” about Russia and accused him of endangering national security.
When Netanyahu was asked by the New York Times, earlier this year, about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he characterized it as “still very important.” He made it clear that a mechanism had been set up between Russia and Israel in the context of Israeli offensive operations against Iran in the region, “to prevent this clash, this war, this Russian-Israeli war” that Netanyahu fears could occur if there is no coordination. He has made it very clear that the most important aspect of Russian-Israeli cordiality is the maintenance of the Israeli military’s freedom of action in Syria.
One of the primary foreign policy concerns of Israel, is the expansion of Iranian relations and power inside the Middle East. It is clear that the Israeli PM is also bothered by the tightening of the Tehran-Moscow relationship on a number of levels, which he fears could result in an even more threatening position in the event of any deterioration in ties between Israel and Russia. It is in this spirit that earlier this month the Israeli government advanced relations by settling a land dispute with Moscow in mid June, and in return Russia decided to open a branch of its Tel Aviv* based embassy inside Jerusalem.
RFK: @Newsweek writer Paul Bond is the first MSM journalist I’ve spoken to in a decade who asked me for the scientific citations that supported my arguments, read the journal papers, and then wrote an honest and fair article. I commend him. #Kennedy24
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr: Why Not Stop the Conspiracy Theories? (NW)
Kennedy is regularly criticized from the left as a DINO, a Democrat in Name Only. As well as his views on COVID, he’s in favor of sealing the southern border; he’s against allowing trans women to compete against female athletes and he’s anti-war—including war in Ukraine. “Some Democrats like him because he is a Kennedy,” notes John Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College. “As more have learned about who he is and what he stands for, his Democratic support has edged downward.” Kennedy responds to criticism of his positions with the argument that he is a proponent of free speech, accusing the Biden administration of orchestrating censorship—again in part over COVID.
Indeed, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty recently issued a preliminary injunction barring federal agencies and officials from contacting social media firms for the purpose of discouraging speech, and the alleged censorship of Kennedy is mentioned three times in the judge’s written opinion. The Biden administration is appealing the decision and did not respond to a request for comment on Kennedy’s accusations. “I’m the last liberal. A JFK, RFK, FDR liberal. I’m for middle-class labor, the environment, anti-war, anti-corporatist takeover of government agencies, anti-subversion of democracy without redress, and protection of minorities,” Kennedy said.
“Real liberals don’t censor, and he (Biden) has been promoting censorship from the White House. He’s been working with social-media companies to silence his critics, including me,” he said, accusing social-media companies of continuing to censor him. “YouTube took down three videos this week. They took down my pre-announcement speech where I first said I’m thinking of running for president. They take down stuff of mine every day. Some of it is related to the war in Ukraine,” he said. “Some reporters call it a conspiracy theory that the government censored me, or even that I’ve been censored at all.”
[..] Kennedy reels off the list of rights he believes have come under assault, particularly since the government imposed extraordinary measures during COVID. “Freedom of speech; though it’s harder to censor me now that I’m running for president. Freedom of worship; they closed churches for a year. Freedom of assembly; they created social distancing. Private property rights; they closed 3.3 million businesses without due process or just compensation. They also shut down the Seventh Amendment right to jury trials,” he said.
RFK malinformation
Censorship & cancel culture is the path to technocratic dictatorship & punitive social credit scores pic.twitter.com/tLdouidggg
— Robin Monotti (@robinmonotti) July 21, 2023
And then came the 51 former intelligence officials…
• FBI Told Twitter Hunter Biden Laptop Was Real On Day Of Post Scoop (NYP)
A senior FBI official told Twitter that Hunter Biden’s laptop was legitimate on the same day The Post published the first article in a bombshell reporting series on documents linking President Biden to his son’s foreign business deals, according to deposition testimony released Thursday by the House Judiciary Committee. That confirmation was not shared with voters ahead of the 2020 election as dozens of former intelligence officials and then-presidential candidate Joe Biden falsely suggested that incriminating documents were Russian disinformation. “Somebody from Twitter essentially asked whether the laptop was real. And one of the FBI folks who was on the call did confirm that, ‘yes, it was,’ before another participant jumped in and said, ‘no further comment,’” Laura Dehmlow, section chief of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, recollected in a closed-door deposition Monday, according to a release from the Republican-led committee.
The FBI’s non-public verification of the laptop occurred on Oct. 14, 2020, hours after The Post published a story detailing how an email showed Joe Biden met while vice president with an executive at Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings — contradicting his claims that he “never” discussed foreign business dealings with his relatives. Dehmlow’s deposition was released during a hearing on social media censorship featuring journalist Emma-Jo Morris, who authored the initial laptop stories as a deputy politics editor at The Post. Among them was the revelation that Joe Biden — referred to as the “big guy” — was penciled in for a 10% cut of proceeds from son Hunter and brother James Biden’s partnership with Chinese government-linked CEFC China Energy.
Twitter banned distribution of The Post’s initial article for two days for potentially violating its hacked materials policy — despite no evidence the material was hacked and transparency in The Post’s reporting about how the laptop was acquired from a Delaware repairman after it was legally abandoned by Hunter. Although The Post also published an FBI form describing the bureau as taking possession of the laptop in December 2019, there remained broad public uncertainty about the authenticity of the laptop until well after the election, in large part due to warnings of possible disinformation from senior retired intelligence agency officials.
Although The Post also published an FBI form describing the bureau as taking possession of the laptop in December 2019, there remained broad public uncertainty about the authenticity of the laptop until well after the election, in large part due to warnings of possible disinformation from senior retired intelligence agency officials. The Washington Post and New York Times verified the contents of the laptop in March 2022 — more than 17 months after The Post’s initial reports and more than 16 months after Joe Biden narrowly won the 2020 election. Twitter’s ban on sharing links to the initial laptop article remained in effect until around 10 p.m. Oct. 15, 2020, and Twitter continued to bar The Post from accessing its accounts for another two weeks for refusing to delete initial links to the story.
Then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden claimed at the final presidential debate on Oct. 22, 2020 — more than a week after The Post broke the story — that the laptop was a “Russian plant,” citing a letter from 51 former intelligence agency leaders that said the incriminating documents bore “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” The letter casting doubt on the laptop was signed by five former directors or acting directors of the CIA and many of their high-ranking former subordinates. Recent testimony indicates that Antony Blinken, who was advising Biden’s campaign, inspired former CIA acting director Michael Morell to draft the document. After he won the election, Biden tapped Blinken to be secretary of state.
How about an ethics probe into Hunter?
• Hunter Biden Attorney Requests Ethics Probe Into Marjorie Taylor Greene (Sp.)
An attorney representing Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, sent a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) on Friday to request they open a probe into US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) for making allegedly defamatory statements about Biden In April, Biden’s legal team wrote to OCE to request a review and actions against Greene for allegedly making defamatory statements and false accusations about the president’s son. Earlier this week, Greene shared graphic photos during a US House hearing, which purportedly showed Biden making sex tapes with prostitutes paid through his law firm.
“Today we write again because, this week, your colleague has lowered herself, and by extension the entire House of Representatives, to a new level of abhorrent behavior that blatantly violates House Ethics rules and standards of official conduct,” attorney Abbe David Lowell said in the letter. Greene displayed the graphic photos during the hearing in an effort to advance “untethered conspiracy theories,” the letter said. The letter also criticizes Greene for continuing to share the images and allegations via social media. Moreover, Greene may have violated federal law by sending out links to the graphic images in a fundraising email without ensuring the materials were not transferred to minors, the letter said The letter reiterates Biden’s request for OCE to immediately review Greene’s conduct.
BREAKING – YOUR REACTION: Hunter Biden’s attorney has just requested that a congressional ethics panel take action against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene @RepMTG over the use of "sexually explicit images" of President @JoeBiden's son that she displayed during a congressional hearing… pic.twitter.com/RJzcWXQf3H
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) July 21, 2023
“Sultan is broke. Turkiye is broke. Foreign exchange reserves are going down the Bosphorus drain. So what’s Sultan to do? Miserably default? Sell what’s left of the palace gold? Or bend over backwards to the IMF?”
• Watching the New Barbarians (Pepe Escobar)
Now let’s get to the main plot in the clown show. NATO explicitly formulated it “does not want” a war with Russia. Translation: they are absolutely terrified. More scared than if Zeus in the flesh was threatening them with a million thunderbolts (or their post-modern epigone: Mr. Khinzal). What NATO – via the real masters, the Americans, or their piece of Norwegian wood posing as the man in charge – could not possibly admit in public is that they have less than zero resources for a real war. Russia, on the other hand, has them – in droves. NATO, already miserably humiliated in Afghanistan, is now being ruthlessly, methodically demilitarized, a process running in parallel to the increasingly abysmal state of the economy prevailing amongst all NATOstan members. War? Against a nuclear, hypersonic superpower? Give us a – Thucydides – break.
Then there’s the story of a major character that ended up making a big splash: the Sultan. He may be a Neo-Ottoman potentate or just a plain streetwise grifter, but in the end he got what he needed: the moolah in the coolah. Well, not yet in the coolah: considering this is an IMF racket, the moolah will come with a zillion conditions attached. It goes like this. Sultan is broke. Turkiye is broke. Foreign exchange reserves are going down the Bosphorus drain. So what’s Sultan to do? Miserably default? Sell what’s left of the palace gold? Or bend over backwards to the IMF? There’s no smokin’ gun on who called who first to set up the deal. Ankara may have been promised a lifeline of up to $13 billion – in fact pocket money. The Sultan could have gotten a much better deal with the “win-win” Chinese – complete with serial BRI investment projects.
And yet he decided to play his cards with NATO, not Eurasia. Reality won’t take much time to dictate its terms. Turkiye will never be admitted into the – floundering – EU. The Americans may force Brussels to do it – remember those “rules” – but up to a point. Selling tons of extra Bayraktar drones to Kiev – yes, it’s a Sultan family racket – won’t alter anything on the battlefield. Yet simultaneously antagonizing the Russia-China strategic partnership and their push for Eurasia integration – via SCO, BRICS, EAEU – does alter the chessboard. The Sultan may be condemning Turkiye to the role of extra minor sidekick – with nearly zero screen time – in the plot line that really matters: the Eurasian Century. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow, reflecting on the Vilnius clown show, remarked that the world will not be turned into a “NATO globe”. Of course not: what’s ahead has been defined by Old Man Luka, the Oracle of Minsk, as the “Global Globe”.
1934 job application in Hollywood. He had a successful career as a scriptwriter.
Kathmandu
This muddle of cables in Kathmandu, Nepal, is possibly the best visual description of entanglementpic.twitter.com/yoPe7r5plB
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) July 21, 2023
Alsomitra
Alsomitra macrocarpa has seeds which use paper-thin wings to disperse like giant gliders. The seeds, which are produced by a football-sized pod, can glide hundreds of metres across the forest
[full video: https://t.co/0cwEY0BDE4]pic.twitter.com/1QR81wdbC6
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) July 21, 2023
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