Sep 162023
 


Pablo Picasso TheBull state VII 1945

 

US Is ‘Going To Hell’ – Trump (RT)
Prosecutors Want To Silence Trump With Gag Order (RT)
Judge Halts New York Attorney General’s Fraud Trial Against Trump (ET)
Judge Delays Trial For Trump, Others In Georgia 2020 Election Case (Pol.)
Trump To Be ‘Imprisoned With Ivanka’ Says Maxine Waters As Trials Delayed (ZH)
Trump Ready to State Under Oath He Didn’t Order Mar-a-Lago Tapes Deleted (Sp.)
Trump ‘Liked’ What Putin Said About Him (RT)
The Conundrum (James Howard Kunstler)
Bidengate: Why Joe’s 2024 Bid Seems Doomed (Sp.)
Opposition to Further Ukraine Aid Growing Among US House Republicans (Sp.)
Russia Attracting Those Ready To Stand Up Against Parasitical West (TASS)
Poland Threatens Permanent Ban On Ukrainian Grain (RT)
Russia Doesn’t Need Mercenaries – Putin (RT)

 

 

And just like that, everything’s about Trump again. How does he do it?

 

 

 

 

Megyn Trump

 

 

Biden 2005
https://twitter.com/i/status/1702701015517077564

 

 

 

 

Tulsi

 

 

Maersheimer

 

 

Macgregor

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I watched him yesterday, he couldn’t put two sentences [together], he can’t talk,” he said of Biden. “It’s not an age thing, it’s a competence thing.”

US Is ‘Going To Hell’ – Trump (RT)

Former US President Donald Trump has said America is in rapid decline, and re-electing him would give the country a last chance to turn things around. “Our country’s going to hell. Our country’s going down,” Trump told journalist Megyn Kelly in an interview for the SiriusXM satellite radio station, aired on Thursday. The US “has one last chance,”which makes the presidential vote in 2024 “the most important election we’ve ever had,” he claimed. The former leader acknowledged that he said the same about his victorious presidential race of 2016, but insisted that the next year’s vote will be even more crucial. “Our country is going bad, our country is being destroyed” under the Biden administration, he insisted, adding: “We’re a nation in serious decline, and I think I can turn it around very fast.”

With Trump currently indicted in four separate cases, Kelly asked how concerned he was about potentially ending up behind bars. “I have a great attitude, it doesn’t affect me at all because I’m fighting for the country, I’m fighting for the people,” the Republican candidate replied. The 77-year old said the “good”polling numbers make him confident he is “going to win the election no matter what happens ”because the people know the charges are “fake.” A survey, published by Quinnipiac University on Wednesday, suggested that 62% of Republican voters want Trump to be their party’s nominee in 2024. The poll also said Trump is currently trailing the incumbent President Joe Biden by just 1%.

Trump reiterated his earlier claim that he does not believe Biden will stand for re-election in 2024 due to the 80-year-old’s apparent poor health. “I watched him yesterday, he couldn’t put two sentences [together], he can’t talk,” he said of Biden. “It’s not an age thing, it’s a competence thing.” In August, a Wall Street Journal poll found that 73% of US voters think Biden is too old to seek a second term, while only 36% described him as mentally fit to fulfil his duties. However, Trump’s age, at just three years younger than Biden, is apparently also an issue for many Americans. A study by the NBC in June said that 55% of those surveyed had concerns about his physical and mental health.

Poso Trump
https://twitter.com/i/status/1702766170225414431

Read more …

I can hear the media bosses going: gag order? Are you nuts? He’s our bread and butter!

“How else would I explain that Jack Smith is DERANGED, or Crooked Joe is INCOMPETENT?”

Prosecutors Want To Silence Trump With Gag Order (RT)

US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan has unsealed a redacted copy of a government filing in which special counsel Jack Smith asked for a “narrow, well-defined”gag order against former President Donald Trump in a criminal case related to an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The special counsel’s office claimed that Trump has been spreading “disparaging and inflammatory public posts on Truth Social on a near-daily basis regarding the citizens of the District of Columbia, the Court, prosecutors, and prospective witnesses.”

Trump’s statements are “intended to undermine public confidence in an institution—the judicial system—and to undermine confidence in and intimidate individuals—the Court, the jury pool, witnesses, and prosecutors,” they wrote in last week’s filing released on Friday, drawing parallels to “his previous public disinformation campaign regarding the 2020 presidential election.” Trump lashed out against the unsealed request, arguing that he is “campaigning for President against an incompetent person,”who has “weaponized” the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to silence his political opponent. “How else would I explain that Jack Smith is DERANGED, or Crooked Joe is INCOMPETENT?”he fumed. A spokesperson for the Trump campaign, Steven Cheung, also accused Biden of “corruptly and cynically continuing to attempt to deprive President Trump of his First Amendment rights.”

Trump is set to be tried on federal conspiracy charges related to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election on March 4 of next year, Judge Tanya Chutkan announced last month, rejecting the former president’s legal team’s request to postpone the federal case until April 2026. The ex-president has slammed the case as politically motivated, claiming he was unfairly targeted to remove him as a contender in the 2024 presidential race. The former president’s supporters have argued Judge Chutkan is not impartial and should recuse herself. Chutkan has famously doled out even harsher sentences to January 6 protesters than prosecutors demanded, sending dozens of them to prison. She has made no secret of her belief that the ‘Stop the Steal’ protest-turned-riot was an assault on US democracy directed by Trump.

Read more …

You can only know what a property is worth when it’s actually sold. Which makes me wonder what Letitia James bases her claim on.

“Do you know I don’t believe I ever got even a default notice, and even during COVID, the banks were all paid? And yet you’re suing on behalf of banks, I guess. It’s crazy. The whole case is crazy.”

Judge Halts New York Attorney General’s Fraud Trial Against Trump (ET)

A New York appeals court judge halted the scheduled Oct. 2 trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ fraud lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization, a spokesman for the court confirmed Thursday. State Justice David Friedman, with the 1st Department of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, granted an interim stay of the trial—slated to start Oct. 2—and referred the matter to a five-judge panel, which expects to rule in the last week of September, a spokesperson said. He also ordered the full appeals court to consider a reported lawsuit that President Trump had filed against the trial judge, Arthur Engoron, on an expedited basis.

President Trump’s lawyers had raised issue with Judge Engoron’s refusal to grant a request for a three-week trial delay, which he said was “completely without merit.” They also asked the judge to pause the trial until he issues a ruling on the statute of limitations regarding certain claims in Ms. James’s lawsuit, it was reported. First reported by the Daily Beast, the lawsuit against Judge Engoron also asserted that the jurist is overstepping his authority. A state appellate court issued a ruling several months ago that asked the judge to determine which Trump Organization real estate deals are too old and beyond the statue of limitations.

The judge declined to issue a comment on the matter via a court spokesperson. Meanwhile, Ms. James’ office issued a statement on Thursday ruling, telling multiple news organizations that “we are confident in our case and will be ready for trial.” The lawsuit filed by Ms. James, a Democrat, alleges President Trump defrauded banks, insurers, and others with annual financial statements that inflated the value of his skyscrapers, golf courses, and other assets and boosted his net worth by as much as $3.6 billion. Her lawsuit seeks $250 million in penalties and a ban on the former president doing business in New York.

The front-runner for the Republican nomination in next year’s presidential election, President Trump has denied wrongdoing. He’s noted that Ms. James pledged to go after him while she was campaigning for attorney general. In sworn testimony given for the lawsuit in April, the former commander-in-chief said he didn’t think his financial statements would be taken seriously because they have a disclaimer that says they shouldn’t be trusted. He told Ms. James: “You don’t have a case and you should drop this case.” “Do you know the banks were fully paid? Do you know the banks made a lot of money?” President Trump testified. “Do you know I don’t believe I ever got even a default notice, and even during COVID, the banks were all paid? And yet you’re suing on behalf of banks, I guess. It’s crazy. The whole case is crazy.”

Read more …

“The judge noted that five of the co-defendants are seeking to transfer their charges to federal court, a challenge that could take months to resolve and raise extraordinary complications if any of their motions are granted.”

Judge Delays Trial For Trump, Others In Georgia 2020 Election Case (Pol.)

The Georgia judge overseeing the massive, 2020 election-related racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants has ruled that the former president will not go on trial next month alongside attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, both of whom demanded an expedited schedule. In an order Thursday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee called the decision to split the sprawling case into multiple trials an “absolute necessity,” given the complexity of the case and the burden it would create for the state’s court system. McAfee said he doubted the Fulton County courthouse could handle a trial for all the defendants at once. He also worried that such a sprawling case would create an unmanageable process for selecting a jury and exacerbate the risk of delays if any defendant or attorney is unexpectedly absent.

Prosecutors had claimed they were prepared to put all 19 defendants on trial together on Oct. 23, but McAfee scoffed at that possibility. “The Fulton County Courthouse simply contains no courtroom adequately large enough to hold all 19 defendants, their multiple attorneys and support staff, the sheriff’s deputies, court personnel, and the State’s prosecutorial team. Relocating to another larger venue raises security concerns that cannot be rapidly addressed,” the judge wrote. McAfee’s order underscored the significant uncertainties hanging over the case, which charges Trump and 18 co-defendants with conspiring to subvert Georgia’s election. The judge noted that five of the co-defendants are seeking to transfer their charges to federal court, a challenge that could take months to resolve and raise extraordinary complications if any of their motions are granted.

“How a grant of removal midtrial would impact this case, particularly on the issue of double jeopardy … and overlooking or wrongly adjudicating these legal uncertainties risks automatic acquittal,” McAfee wrote. Though McAfee has not yet set a trial date for Trump, it appears likely to extend deep into 2024 or later. The judge has set a Dec. 1 deadline for the defendants — other than Chesebro and Powell, who are on an expedited timeline — to file any pretrial motions. The judge must also contend with the fact that Trump has two federal criminal trials scheduled for next year, one beginning on March 4 in Washington, D.C. and the other beginning on May 20 in Fort Pierce, Fla.

McAfee said there’s a possibility more than two trials will be required to handle all the defendants and he raised the specter of enlisting another state judge, should the necessary timelines intersect. If any defendants opt for a speedy trial this month, McAfee ruled, they will be joined with Chesebro and Powell. However, if any opt for an expedited timeline next month or later, he said he has “received assurances that other members of the Fulton County bench stand ready.”

Read more …

“Prosecutors wanted to put all 19 defendants in the case on trial at the same time, which Judge Scott McAfee laughed out of the courtroom.”

Out of curiosity: What exactly would Ivanka be jailed for?

Trump To Be ‘Imprisoned With Ivanka’ Says Maxine Waters As Trials Delayed (ZH)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who hooked her Daughter up with $750,000 in campaign funds over a decade with minimal repercussions, lashed out on X after former President Trump’s trial date in his Georgia RICO case was delayed – the first of two such delays issued late in the week. On Thursday, the Florida judge overseeing Trump’s 2020 election-related case ruled that the former president will not go on trial next month along with attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesbro, both of whom asked for an expedited schedule, Politico reported. Prosecutors wanted to put all 19 defendants in the case on trial at the same time, which Judge Scott McAfee laughed out of the courtroom. “The Fulton County Courthouse simply contains no courtroom adequately large enough to hold all 19 defendants, their multiple attorneys and support staff, the sheriff’s deputies, court personnel, and the State’s prosecutorial team.

Relocating to another larger venue raises security concerns that cannot be rapidly addressed,” he wrote. “Many are worried that the Judge has extended Trump’s trial date,” Waters posted Thursday night on X. “Not to worry! TRUMP CAN’T RUN. TRUMP CAN’T HIDE.” she continued, adding “He will be imprisoned with Ivanka by his side!” This is the same Maxine Waters that told Democrats in 2018 “wherever we have to show up. If you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd, and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere!” On Friday, a New York appeals court judge halted a trials scheduled for Oct. 2 in NY Attorney General Letitia James’ fraud lawsuit against Trump and the Trump Organization.

Read more …

“And they were my tapes. I could have fought them. I didn’t even have to give them the tapes, I don’t think..”

Trump Ready to State Under Oath He Didn’t Order Mar-a-Lago Tapes Deleted (Sp.)

Former US President Donald Trump has confirmed his readiness to testify under oath that he did not order Mar-a-Lago security video linked to the investigation into his documents handling be deleted. “Sure, I’m going to — I’ll testify,” Trump told an American news agency in an interview. He further insisted that the tapes were not deleted, highlighting that he voluntarily shared them with investigators even though they are his property “In other words, there was nothing done to them. And they were my tapes. I could have fought them. I didn’t even have to give them the tapes, I don’t think,” Trump stated.

The allegation that Trump ordered the video tapes be deleted was the basis of a superseding indictment filed in July against Trump, his aide, Walt Nauta, and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira. The indictment added another three charges against Trump in the case related to obstruction and willful retention of national defense information, bringing the total number of counts against Trump in the case to 40.

Read more …

“[Trump] was accused of having a special relationship with Russia, which is total nonsense. But he was the president who introduced the most sanctions against Russia,” Putin noted..”

Trump ‘Liked’ What Putin Said About Him (RT)

Donald Trump has said he welcomed friendly comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who stated that Moscow would be glad if the former US president were to make good on his vow to resolve the Ukraine crisis within a matter of days. Speaking to NBC News’ Kristen Welker for an interview published on Friday, Trump was asked about the recent praise from the Russian leader, who said last week that “Mr. Trump keeps saying he will resolve all burning issues within several days, including the Ukrainian crisis… Well, that would be good.” “I like that he said that because that means what I’m saying is right,” Trump replied, referring to his stance on Ukraine, adding “I would get him into a room, I would get [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky into a room and I would get a deal worked out.”

However, in his remarks on Tuesday Putin actually went on to say that Moscow does not expect any substantial change in US foreign policy vis-a-vis Russia, regardless of who takes the White House after next year’s election. “[Trump] was accused of having a special relationship with Russia, which is total nonsense. But he was the president who introduced the most sanctions against Russia,” Putin noted. The former US president went on to reiterate vows to negotiate an end to the Ukraine conflict within “24 hours” should he win reelection next year, having previously stated, “I know Zelensky very well, I know Putin very well – even better – and I had a very good relationship with both of them.” He has also been critical of the billions of dollars in US military support to Kiev, urging Zelensky to “make a deal” with his Russian counterpart to bring an end to the fighting.

When pressed on how he would find a solution to the conflict, Trump declined to elaborate, only saying he would “make a fair deal for everybody.” “If I tell you exactly, I lose all my bargaining chips. I mean, you can’t really say exactly what you’re going to do. But I would say certain things to Putin. I would say certain things to Zelensky,” he continued. Though Trump faced near-constant criticism during his time in office for alleged “collusion” with the Kremlin to win the 2016 election, he insisted “there was nobody tougher than me with Russia.” He nevertheless stated that he “got along” with Putin “really well” during his presidency, saying “that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. He’s got 1,700 nuclear missiles. And so do we.”

Despite a string of criminal cases in multiple states over the alleged mishandling of classified documents, a purported hush-money scheme with porn actress Stormy Daniels and interference in the 2020 election, Trump is currently the front-runner for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination, consistently polling well ahead of his main competitor, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Trump has denied all wrongdoing in each of the cases, while President Putin also recently weighed in on the matter, saying the criminal charges amount to the “persecution of a political competitor.”

Read more …

“..an odor of rot and sulfur trails his every bumbling misstep while his maunderings from the podium set off alarms in party HQ. What to do, indeed…?”

The Conundrum (James Howard Kunstler)

Just as a janky investment can turn catastrophically ruinous in the finance world, “Joe Biden” has transmuted from an asset to a liability for the Party of Chaos as we enter the season when things get real. Just weeks ago, the phantasm in the White House could do nothing wrong, despite doing absolutely everything wrong in the thirty-two months he’s haunted the Oval Office. But now, an odor of rot and sulfur trails his every bumbling misstep while his maunderings from the podium set off alarms in party HQ. What to do, indeed…? As of five minutes ago, “JB” was still pretending to run for reelection, which, of course, was a bamboozle that only the Wokester rank-and-file, hoaxed into an epic psychotic rapture, might swallow.

The “president’s” stage managers run a “campaign committee” on next-to-zero contributions, you see, but all it really does is send out millions of algo-concocted, drivel-filled emails five times a day to keep the big pretend going while the DC Blob desperately looks for a way out. Ever since the fabled Laptop from Hell entered stage left, the un-raptured of the land have been exposed to gales of evidence that “Joe Biden” ran a family influence-peddling racket as veep, and that it likely has something to do with the extravagant mess spawned in Ukraine. The crude and lawless labors of the DOJ and the FBI to cover all that up have been failing lately as a harsh music of blown whistles ominously cleaves the dank night air over the Potomac swamp.

The coming House impeachment inquiry, with its extraordinary subpoena powers, can easily un-confuse these matters as Rep Comer (R-KY) goes after the Biden family bank records. The equation is pretty straightforward: Millions of dollars rattling around the coffers of “Joe” and Jill, and Jim and Frank, and the Biden kids and grand-kids divided by the low six-figure salaries of a senator and vice-president, times, say, the $20 to $50-million inflows of revenue (for no discernible services rendered) from Ukraine, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, and Gawd-knows how many other entities arguably hostile to the USA’s interests through Hunter Biden’s multitudinous shell companies. It’s called money-laundering.

Meanwhile, mirabile dictu, Special Counsel David Weiss goosed three counts of illegal gun possession against Hunter Biden out of a federal grand jury Thursday. Somehow, a loaded garbage barge of tax evasion charges that was last seen a few weeks ago steaming into Indictment Central happened to sail off into the Bermuda Triangle and vanish from the docket. Also in question: what about that “diversion agreement” sneakily embedded in the plea deal that blew up a month ago in Judge Maryellen Noreika’s courtroom? That little gem would have let Hunter B off the hook for any other past federal crime imputed in the many reams of evidence about Biden family moneygrubbing already made public. If the plea deal evaporated, did not the diversion agreement go up in a vapor with it? Hunter’s lawyers apparently say it’s still in force. How does that work?

Read more …

“That’s the tragedy of America in 2023, is that we would never have allowed Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln to get away with this stuff..”

Bidengate: Why Joe’s 2024 Bid Seems Doomed (Sp.)

The White House insists that the US president did nothing wrong and that GOP lawmakers don’t actually have any basis for the impeachment inquiry. Moreover, US legal observers have drawn attention to the fact that conviction is unlikely in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Republicans also don’t seem that united to bring the investigation to its logical end, per Steven Abramowicz, the owner and CEO of the Mill Creek View and the host of the Mill Creek View podcast. “An impeachment inquiry would do nothing but tell us what we’ve already known for over a year, and that is that there were crimes committed,” Abramowicz told Sputnik’s Fault Lines podcast. “Okay, great. We know about the Teapot Dome. We know about Watergate. We know everything we need to know from the history books.

But what we don’t know is will [House Speaker] Kevin McCarthy get a backbone, stand up to the Republicans who have maybe some vested interest and actually bring this guy to the floor for an impeachment for the history books? And the answer is, you know what? It doesn’t matter.” “This is September 20, 2023. There’s an election in just over a year from now. It would take way too long. And the Senate, filled with people like Mitt Romney, will never vote to remove [Joe Biden]. So I will know exactly what we already know, but it’ll be in the official record and nobody’s going to be removed from office. And the next five presidents are going to be able to say: ‘Oh, I don’t have to follow the rules because those guys did’. Whether you think Trump was a criminal or Biden’s, it doesn’t matter. We’ve had two presidents now under a cloud and no controlling legal authority, as Al Gore said, to do a darn thing about it. And I think that’s why we call it the swamp,” he continued.

What’s especially frustrating, according to Abramowicz, is that there is reportedly a vast number of genuine documents implicating the Biden family, and still, the Democratic Party and the White House claim that there is nothing there. “That’s the tragedy of America in 2023, is that we would never have allowed Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln to get away with this stuff. And so here we are in our new era with our current batch of leaders,” the US observer emphasized. Meanwhile, prominent American legal scholar Jonathan Turley argued in one of his recent blog posts that even though the House GOP impeachment inquiry is unlikely to be supported by the US Senate, it is still worth trying. “An impeachment inquiry does not mean that an impeachment itself is inevitable. But it dramatically increases the chances of finally forcing answers to troubling questions of influence-peddling and corruption,” Turley underscored.

To add insult to injury, the first son was indicted at the time when the GOP was closing in on the US president. Having been indicted by Weiss, Hunter faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Still, some US observers argue that the indictment may turn out to be a “ruse”. In particular, they suggest that the probe would be used by the DoJ as an excuse for declaring all evidence “sub judice” and off-limits to journalists (and even Republican lawmakers). In addition, the special counsel can stretch the investigation until long after the 2024 election, they say. “Well, I’m highly skeptical. I think this sort of reeks of BS,” journalist and author Daniel Lazare told Sputnik’s Critical Hour podcast, when asked what he thinks about the Hunter Biden’s indictment outcome.

“What I suspect is that the DoJ is throwing a bone and not even a very good bone at that in order to get people off the really important charge,” the journalist stressed, suggesting that Hunter’s alleged tax crimes were “really important” but neither the Justice Department nor Weiss appeared to have any appetite to catch the first son red-handed. As was previously suggested by a couple of IRS whistleblowers in Hunter’s case, the Justice Department simply let some damning cases expire.

Read more …

“Congress is set to vote on a continuing resolution before the end of September to temporarily fund the US government and avoid a shutdown..”

Opposition to Further Ukraine Aid Growing Among US House Republicans (Sp.)

Opposition to providing more US aid to Ukraine is growing among Republican members of the House of Representatives, an American news agency reported on Friday. An increasing number of Republican lawmakers, including some so-called moderates, are opposing the addition of further aid to Ukraine as part of a government funding measure slated for a vote later this month, the report stated, citing several Republican lawmakers. Not just the Freedom Caucus of conservative Republicans, but there are many lawmakers who are concerned with potential additional funding, the report cited US Congresswoman Lisa McClain as saying. Congress is set to vote on a continuing resolution before the end of September to temporarily fund the US government and avoid a shutdown. The Senate is seeking to include additional aid for Ukraine in the legislation.

Meanwhile, more and more House Republicans come out against further transfers of taxpayer dollars and military equipment to Ukraine. US Congressman Andy Biggs vowed not to support a new Ukraine aid package and expressed doubt that any such measure would reach the House floor soon, the report said. Biggs pointed out, however, that there still may be enough votes to advance additional aid to Ukraine given the presence of many “war hawks” in Congress, the report said. US Congresswoman Nancy Mace emphasized that the US House has many other issues to address ahead of further Ukraine funding, the news agency stated.

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has previously vowed to stop writing “blank checks” to Ukraine and is seeking to detach aid for Ukraine from the spending bill as well as hold a separate vote on it instead, media reported earlier. In addition to working on passing a spending measure by the end of the month, McCarthy also recently announced an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The Biden administration has repeatedly expressed confidence in lasting bipartisan support for Ukraine in Congress and in the lawmakers’ ability to pass more aid packages.

Read more …

Patrushev.

Russia Attracting Those Ready To Stand Up Against Parasitical West (TASS)

Russia has become a magnet drawing all those who wish to confront the West’s parasitical ways, an endeavor in which the majority of countries stand ready to lend a hand, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said in an interview with the Razvedchik (Intelligence Officer) magazine. “Russia has become a center of attraction for all those who are ready to oppose the parasitical practices of the West, because we are offering an alternative path,” he said. According to him, the main contours of this path are outlined in the latest edition of Russia’s official Foreign Policy Concept. Patrushev pointed out that Russia is open to cooperation with all constructively minded countries, and social and political forces that are ready to move forward together on the path of development and to lay the foundations for a new, truly democratic, multipolar world order.

“Most countries stand ready to cooperate in [moving] this trend [forward],” he stressed. According to the top security official, humanity has now entered a critical era, a new period in world history: We are witnessing the final disintegration of the “Western-centric colonialist world order,” at the core which is an inherently rapacious civilizational model. “Within the framework of this model, a narrow group of countries has built a pyramid, ensconced themselves at its pinnacle and self-endowed themselves with exceptional powers,” he said. “In essence, we are dealing with a multi-level parasitical superstructure on a global scale.” Patrushev highlighted the fact that the word “parasite” translates from the Greek as “sponger.”

“In ancient Greece, this was the name given to swindlers who preyed on the trust of wealthy fellow citizens and used cunning and guile, and often resorted to violence, to seize control over their [victims’] homes. This is exactly how the Western powers have acted, ensuring their dominance and employing the most brutal and inhumane methods,” he said. According to the Security Council Secretary, the 11th International Meeting of High Representatives on Security Issues, held in Russia on May 23-25, 2023, provided direct proof of this growing global disposition against the dominance of an overweening West. Even though the gathering took place in a difficult international environment, in conditions of open pressure, with the ambassadors of the US, the UK and France attempting to compel its participants to cancel their plans to travel to Russia, in the end it was attended by delegations from 101 countries and six international organizations.

At the same time, “such hostile actions [of the West] did not surprise anyone,” Patrushev pointed out, highlighting the fact that “the West does not recognize any [international meeting] formats that are organized without it taking the leading role, [nor does it recognize] bilateral and multilateral interaction based on equality [among nations] and international law.” Patrushev underscored that the meeting participants emphasized in their speeches and presentations that the turbulence now being seen in processes throughout the contemporary world is a direct consequence of the desire of the West and global transnational corporations to reverse the process of restoring balance and justice. In addition, the most important thesis of the meeting was that the main principle of international relations should be mutual respect and unconditional recognition of the right of others to choose their own development path, and their social, political and economic structures, Patrushev added.

Read more …

“..Ukrainian agricultural products should be sent to the destinations they were typically delivered to before the conflict with Russia broke out last year, adding that they “cannot constantly flood Europe.”

Poland Threatens Permanent Ban On Ukrainian Grain (RT)

Poland has threatened to introduce an indefinite embargo on supplies of Ukrainian grain if the EU does not extend its own bloc-wide import ban. Warsaw’s minister of economic development and technology, Waldemar Buda, said the measure could enter force at midnight on Friday. A temporary EU ban on Ukrainian grain imports, introduced after Poland and four other Eastern EU countries complained about cheap Ukrainian produce flooding the market, is set to expire on September 15. “If the European Commission does not make a decision on the issue of [banning imports of] Ukrainian grain, Poland will make its own at midnight. It [the ban] will be indefinite,” the minister said.

Echoing the remarks, Polish Minister for EU Affairs Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek stressed that his country would protect the interests of its farmers “one way or another,” regardless of whether a decision was made at EU or national level. “The decision [to ban Ukrainian agriculture produce] was made by the Council of Ministers. On Tuesday, the resolution was unanimously adopted. We intend to introduce a national import ban if such a measure would not be introduced at the EU level,” Szynkowski vel Sek warned. Poland would not be satisfied with another temporary extension of the embargo on Ukrainian grain, and is expecting “structural decisions” from the European Commission, Agriculture Minister Robert Telus warned earlier on Friday. “We should resolve this for the future. We need tools for future cooperation between Ukraine and the EU,” the minister urged.

In May, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovakia imposed a sweeping ban on Ukrainian grain imports. The move came after Brussels suspended customs duties on all agricultural produce from Ukraine for one year, to support the nation’s economy. However, a glut of cheap Ukrainian grain left EU producers struggling against what they viewed as unfair competition. Telus said Ukrainian agricultural products should be sent to the destinations they were typically delivered to before the conflict with Russia broke out last year, adding that they “cannot constantly flood Europe.” Farmers in the five EU countries most affected claim they have suffered substantial losses due to the surge in imports of Ukrainian agricultural produce, which was initially destined for Africa and the Middle East.

Read more …

”With 300,000 Russians signing military contracts just this year, Moscow has no need for foreign fighters..”

Russia Doesn’t Need Mercenaries – Putin (RT)

With 300,000 Russians signing military contracts just this year, Moscow has no need for foreign fighters, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. As media speculated on mercenary recruitment he told reporters in Sochi, after meeting with President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, that “this is total nonsense.” Russia “has no such need to invite people from abroad for combat operations,” he added. The Russian president was addressing a question about speculation in the West that North Korea might have pledged to send soldiers when Putin met with Kim Jong-un earlier this week. Putin reminded journalists of the 270,000 voluntary enlistments so far this year, then noted that this number was already obsolete.

“As of this morning, there are 300,000 contracts,” he said, praising the “highest patriotic considerations” that motivated Russians to volunteer for military service. The soldiers were also equipped with “state-of-the-art weapons and hardware,” he added. Lukashenko chimed in to note that American mercenaries are “fighting for Ukrainians already” and accused the US and some of its NATO allies – starting with Poland – of wanting to send regular troops as well. In early July, the Russian Foreign Ministry estimated that almost 12,000 foreign fighters had joined the Ukrainian armed forces since the conflict escalated in February 2022, but only 2,200 or so remained active.

The rest had either died or left the country, according to Moscow, as Kiev used them “mostly as cannon fodder for meat assaults” with no regard for their lives. The US outlet ABC News reported in mid-August that casualty rates in some units of foreign fighters had reached 85% during the summer offensive, citing two Americans and several other Western mercenaries. Earlier this week, Putin estimated that Ukraine had lost 71,000 men in just the three months of the “summer counteroffensive,” along with much of the armor and vehicles provided by the West.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strijdom

 

 


This is the OmniVision OV6948, the world’s smallest camera, measuring just 0.575 x 0.575 x 0.232mm: it’s good for 40,000-pixel color images using an RGB Bayer back-side-illuminating chip

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Apr 072018
 
 April 7, 2018  Posted by at 10:24 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,  2 Responses »


Arthur Rothstein Grain elevators, Great Falls, Montana 1939

 

US Jobs: One Big Miss (CNBC)
Everything Has Changed In Macroeconomics, But.. (Murphy)
Income From UK Savings Accounts Dropped 16% In A Year (Ind.)
Social Media Users Treated As ‘Experimental Rats’ – EU Watchdog (CNBC)
Facebook Users Have To Pay To Opt Out Of Their Data Being Used (CNBC)
AI: An ‘Immortal Dictator From Which We Can Never Escape’ (CNBC)
960,000 Households In Australia Will Face ‘Mortgage Stress’ (IBT)
Another Mighty Conundrum (Kunstler)
Provocations (Dmitry Orlov)
Shipping Is a Big Part of the Climate Problem (BBG)
Chinese Man Caught Smuggling Five Rhino Horns Is Jailed By Dutch Court (G.)

 

 

93 million not in the labor force.

US Jobs: One Big Miss (CNBC)

Nonfarm payrolls rose 103,000 in March while the unemployment rate was 4.1%, falling well short of Wall Street expectations during a month where weather caused havoc on the jobs market, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Friday. Economists had been expecting a payrolls gain of 193,000 and the unemployment rate to decline one-tenth of a point to 4%. The monthly reading was a huge slip from the 326,000 reported in February. A broader measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time positions for economic reasons — the underemployed — fell two-tenths of a point to 8%, its lowest reading in 11 years.

“If one were to only focus on this single month, the March employment report is on the disappointing side,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com. “Broader context is appropriate, however. The job market is widely regarded to be close to full employment. So, hiring gains should be slowing at this point in the expansion.” In addition to the payrolls news, the closely watched average hourly earnings figure rose 0.3%, against estimates of 0.2%. The number equates to a healthy but not worrisome 2.7% rate on an annualized basis. The average work week was unchanged at 34.5 hours.

Stock market reaction to the report was muted, with major indexes lower largely on renewed worries over a U.S. trade war with China. “Wage growth continues to inch higher but not enough to worry markets at this point,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. “As we move closer and closer towards full employment expectations are that headline employment should slow. This number reflects a continued reversion to the mean.” Professional and business services led with 33,000 new jobs while manufacturing and health care added 22,000 new jobs apiece. Mining rose 9,000 while construction lost 15,000 positions and retail fell 4,000.

Read more …

Never again…

Everything Has Changed In Macroeconomics, But.. (Murphy)

I spend a lot of time writing about the Global Financial Crisis. Not much of it is published yet: academia is desperately slow. The crash of 2008 and its aftermath is, however, an ever-present reality both in my work life, and to be candid, the world beyond it. But I still do not think we appreciate how much everything has changed. A blog from John Lewis who works for the Bank of England gave some hint of the scale of this change this week. Lewis looked at real interest rates for three centuries i.e. those adjusted for inflation. When considering real bank rate, mortgage rates, and 10-year government bond yields over time this is what he found. As he notes: ‘the lines show the five-year moving averages of the ex-post real interest rate. The dots show the values over the years 2012 to 2016’:

As he notes: “The 5-year average of real bank rate rarely goes below zero – previous instances were mainly during the 1970s inflation and around world wars. The decline in real bond yields since the 1980s leaves them about 300bps below their all time average.” Now there may be good reason for that: broader markets, real reduced risk because of better information, and so on. The absence of world war helps too. But it also means that if we were to return to ‘normal’ or the mean then the change in rates would be massive:

The most useful contrast is with 1997 – 2007, of course. We’re talking adjustments of 4% or more. That is not going to happen. There are good reasons. Most mortgage holders would fail to make their payments. Most banks would then collapse. and government debt costs would increase and may politicians would panic at that whether appropriately or not. I will be blunt. Everything has changed. Those rates are history. This though has massive implications. If this is the case then monetary policy as a mechanism for controlling inflation and economic activity has died: rates that let it work cannot be recreated. And yet almost the whole of macroeconomic thinking is premised on its use, as is the role of central banks in our economies.

The reality is that everything has changed. And yet there is, so far, almost no reaction. Fiscal policy – spend and tax – is the only tool left to the government now and yet no one is saying so. No wonder I spend half my time wondering why we feel so out of control. We are.

Read more …

We’ll get you into the casino yet.

Income From UK Savings Accounts Dropped 16% In A Year (Ind.)

UK savers’ income from bank accounts fell 16 per cent in a year, according to new research, due to low interest rates from banks and building societies. According to easyMoney, the investment platform launched by easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the drop in savings income is worse in real terms due to rising inflation. The decline in income is based on numbers from the 2015/2016 financial year (the latest available data from HMRC) when savers made £5.7bn compared with £6.8bn in 2014/2015. At the end of the 2014/2015 fiscal year, inflation was -0.1 per cent; by January this year it had risen to 3 per cent.

With savers seeing less benefit from stashing their money in bank accounts and cash ISAs, easyMoney said, people are increasingly turning towards alternatives, with many inclined to “take on a sensible increase in risk”. Andrew de Candole, CEO of easyMoney, said: “Savers are increasingly fed up with seeing their money just sitting doing nothing in bank accounts. “It’s easy to see why: these figures show that savings accounts’ and cash ISAs’ performance has been getting worse. With inflation eating away at values, the reality is there’s very little incentive to save through these traditional routes. “For many people the time has come to take action. Investors need products that offer real returns, and many are prepared to accept a sensible, calculated increase in risk in order to achieve this.”

Read more …

So act.

Social Media Users Treated As ‘Experimental Rats’ – EU Watchdog (CNBC)

Facebook needs to make sure the new tools it has introduced to help safeguard user data in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal is done in “practice and not only on paper,” the European Union’s top data watchdog told CNBC. The social network has unveiled a raft of new tools since news of the fiasco broke, with the aim of helping users understand and control how their data are used. Giovanni Buttarelli, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg needs to ensure these changes are done in practice. “I take note of what Zuckerberg has said recently, he said that he takes care of the privacy right. The question is they should do it in practice and not only on paper,” Buttarelli told CNBC in a phone interview on Thursday.

[..] Buttarelli criticized social media firms’ data collection practices. “There are days when you have the impression people are treated as battery animals or experimental rats. We are treated as a farm for data. We are in within a walled garden and every single action is monitored,” Buttarelli said. The EDPS is in charge of making sure that data are being handled correctly within EU institutions like the Commission. But it is also part of a working group made up of the data protection authorities from various member states.

[..] Buttarelli said there are likely to be far-reaching consequences which could include punishments for companies. “I’m expecting far-reaching consequences on the broader scale. There is a need of a change of culture,” he told CNBC. Last month, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani invited Zuckerberg to testify in front of lawmakers and give reassurances that EU citizens’ data were not used to “manipulate democracy.” Buttarelli said it would be “wise” for Zuckerberg to honor the invitation from Tajani.

Read more …

If you ask me, the highest tree ain’t high enough. But that’s just me. And it’s not those that do it, it’s those that let them.

Facebook Users Have To Pay To Opt Out Of Their Data Being Used (CNBC)

Facebook users could have to pay to completely opt out of their data being used to target them with advertising, the company’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told NBC News on Thursday. NBC asked if Facebook could come up with a tool to let people have a button that allows them to restrict the social network from using their profile data to stop targeted ads. Sandberg said that the company has “different forms of opt out” but not one button for everything. “We don’t have an opt-out at the highest level. That would be a paid product,” Sandberg told NBC. The comments come in the wake of the scandal in which 87 million Facebook profiles were scraped with the data being sent to political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologized for the company’s role in the data scandal and is now set to testify in front of Congress on April 11. Zuckerberg has also been summoned to appear in front of lawmakers in the U.K. and European Union. The data issue arose from a quiz app that collected data of Facebook users and their friends. This data was then passed on to Cambridge Analytica. Facebook banned the app in 2015, and said it got “assurances” from Cambridge Analytica and the app maker that the data was deleted. However, reports suggested this wasn’t the case. Facebook has been criticized for not checking the data had been erased, a mistake that Sandberg acknowledged.

Read more …

Even Musk makes sense once in a blue moon.

AI: An ‘Immortal Dictator From Which We Can Never Escape’ (CNBC)

Superintelligence — a form of artificial intelligence (AI) smarter than humans — could create an “immortal dictator,” billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk warned. In a documentary by American filmmaker Chris Paine, Musk said that the development of superintelligence by a company or other organization of people could result in a form of AI that governs the world. “The least scary future I can think of is one where we have at least democratized AI because if one company or small group of people manages to develop godlike digital superintelligence, they could take over the world,” Musk said. “At least when there’s an evil dictator, that human is going to die. But for an AI, there would be no death. It would live forever. And then you’d have an immortal dictator from which we can never escape.”

The documentary by Paine examines a number of examples of AI, including autonomous weapons, Wall Street technology and algorithms driving fake news. It also draws from cultural examples of AI, such as the 1999 film “The Matrix” and 2016 film “Ex Machina.” [..] “If AI has a goal and humanity just happens to be in the way, it will destroy humanity as a matter of course without even thinking about it. No hard feelings,” Musk said. “It’s just like, if we’re building a road and an anthill just happens to be in the way, we don’t hate ants, we’re just building a road, and so, goodbye anthill.”

Read more …

Lowballing.

960,000 Households In Australia Will Face ‘Mortgage Stress’ (IBT)

The number of Australian households facing “mortgage stress” will likely reach 960,000, according to a new data. Slow wage growth is blamed for the trend as it does not keep up with the rising cost of living. Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) has recently released data which suggests that the number of households facing mortgage stress will likely reach about one million. Mortgage stress is a term used to refer to households spending 30% or above of its pre-tax income on home loan repayments. Households are defined as “stressed” when cash flow does not cover ongoing costs.

As for access to other available assets, that is something that they may or may not have. Some households have paid ahead, but those in mild stress have little leeway in their net income while those in severe stress could not meet repayments from current income. The new data also shows that the figure was a climb of 30,000 in the last month, encapsulating low and high-income-earning households, according to 9 News. For DFA spokesperson Martin North, it was an indication of how dire the country’s housing situation is getting.

“Things will get more severe, especially as household debt continues to climb to new record levels, mortgage lending is still growing at two to three times income,” Daily Mail Australia reported him as saying. North added that those numbers were not sustainable. It was estimated that over 55,000 households risk 30-day default in the next 12 months. Bank portfolio losses were expected to be about 2.8 basis points. Aside from flat wages growth and rising costs of living, higher real mortgage rates are perceived to be a burden. Mortgage lending continues to grow at two to three times income. The latest household debt to income ratio is currently at a record 188.6.

Read more …

Pot and sanctuary.

Another Mighty Conundrum (Kunstler)

The sanctuary city movement seems to me the most mendacious element of the story, a nakedly emotional appeal against the rule of law. The attorney general of California, Xavier Becerra, lately threatened to fine corporations there that share employee information with federal agents. There has not been such arrant flouting of federal law by state officials since Governor George Wallace stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama crying “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” in June, 1963 — and we all know how that ended. I’m among those who would like to see the immigration laws honestly enforced. In fact, I would also like to see the 1965 immigration law reformed to admit far fewer people from any land into this country. We have economic and cultural interests to protect, and they would seem to be self-evident.

So why has there been no move by the federal authorities to impose sovereign federal law over figures like Mr. Becerra, or Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who went through the barrio there Paul Revere style warning that the ICE agents were coming? Well, one big reason is the marijuana situation. Nine states have legalized cannabis for recreational use (i.e. for getting high), and 29 have legalized it for medical purposes. This includes all of the states on the “Left Coast.” All of them are flouting federal law in doing that. But imagine the political uproar if the feds tried to step in at this point and quash the cannabis trade. In the early adapters, like Colorado, California, and Washington State, the trade has blossomed into multi-million dollar corporate enterprise, with significant tax revenue.

So, much as I object to the dishonest practices around immigration, I don’t see how the federal government can take principled action against them without first addressing its attitude to the marijuana situation. Of course, that could be easily disposed of by congress adopting a simple law to the effect that the cultivation and sale of cannabis shall be regulated by the states. The craven members of congress apparently don’t even dare to raise the issue of resolving this conundrum, and the thought may have never even entered the mighty golden brain-pan of our president — not to mention The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox-News, or any of the other media organs of public debate. Well, maybe the time has come for that discussion.

Read more …

An absolutely fantastic story by Dmitry. Don’t miss this.

Provocations (Dmitry Orlov)

First, I will present just the facts. Next, I will indicate some huge, gaping holes in the plot which we must, perforce, fill using our imaginations (for lack of detailed factual information), but relying on real world knowledge as much as possible to build a plausible scenario (or two). In the end, the most plausible scenario wins. On February 22, 2018, the Argentine newspaper El Clarin has reported that a major shipment of drugs from Buenos Aires to Moscow—389 kg of pure cocaine, valued at over 60 million USD, and bearing the markings of the Sinaloa drug cartel of Northern Mexico—was prevented from taking place thanks to the efforts of Russia’s FSB and the Argentine authorities. Several people, including a member of the Argentine police and someone involved in charity work, have been detained.

Victor Coronelli, Russia’s ambassador to Argentina, related how all the way back in 2016 the embassy received information that possessions belonging to some third party had been found in a storage space at a children’s school operated by the embassy and located several blocks away from it. Suspicions arose and a thorough examination had uncovered 12 colorful suitcases filled with 389 “keys” (1-kilo blocks) of cocaine bearing the little star that is the symbol of the Sinaloa cartel of Northern Mexico. Shortly after the cocaine was discovered, Russia’s FSB, working together with the Argentine police, hatched an ingenious plan for a sting operation, to find out who is behind this shipment. To this end, they carefully replaced the cocaine with flour and placed the 12 colorful suitcases back in storage.

And there they sat for over a year. What has been done with the cocaine that was extracted isn’t known. Apparently, it took a great deal of effort to get anyone to take possession of these suitcases. Eventually, two people were found who agreed to take delivery of them in Moscow: Vladimir Kalmykov and Ishtimir Hudzhamov. They are currently in pretrial detention in Russia. A third suspect, Andrei Kovalchuk, is under arrest in Germany, awaiting extradition to Russia, but his extradition is conditional on whether the Russian side can offer evidence of his complicity or guilt in organizing the shipment.

Kovalchuk used to work for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, but most recently he has used his old ministerial connections to arrange for some small-scale contraband to be shipped to Russia via diplomatic mail: cigars, coffee, cognac, etc. Such trade had been common during the 1990s, when Russian diplomats had fallen on hard times and did whatever they could to make ends meet, but it has become unnecessary in recent years, now that they are very well provided for once again. Still, cigars, coffee and cognac is what Kovalchuk—an apparent throwback to this earlier, meager era—maintains was in the suitcases he had stashed at the school in Buenos Aires: he has kept all of the receipts. He plans to travel to Russia of his own free will once he has gathered all the evidence he needs to exonerate himself.

Read more …

Bloomberg editors are clueless, but the issue is real.

Shipping Is a Big Part of the Climate Problem (BBG)

When almost all the world’s governments agreed in Paris more than two years ago to address climate change, they sidestepped an important issue: carbon emissions from international shipping. Next week in London, they have a chance to put this right. Shipping is by far the most energy-efficient mode of transport, and it moves some 80% of world trade by volume. However, the fuel it uses is hard on the environment and human health — and ships last a long time, so deploying cleaner fleets takes time. Already, international shipping accounts for about as much carbon dioxide each year as Germany’s whole economy. On current trends, its share of the total will rise quickly. It could account for roughly 15% of the global carbon budget set by the Paris accord for 2050.

Next week, the International Maritime Organization is expected to announce a strategy for reducing these emissions. The plan is unlikely to be bold. Countries including Argentina, Brazil, India, Panama and Saudi Arabia are resisting carbon dioxide targets for shipping. Unsurprisingly, the industry itself is also opposed. Despite this resistance, the IMO needs to be ambitious. Ultimately, the most cost-effective approach would be to put a tax on carbon, and let that guide investment and innovation. But devising and implementing an international carbon-price system won’t be done overnight. In the short run, the IMO ought to propose a variety of useful course corrections.

Read more …

The problem in a nutshell: 1 year in jail (5 months with good conduct?!) for 5 rhinos. He’ll do it again as soon as he’s freed. $600,000. Another issue where the tallest tree isn’t high enough.

And we’re not even trying.

Chinese Man Caught Smuggling Five Rhino Horns Is Jailed By Dutch Court (G.)

A Dutch court has sentenced a Chinese man to a year in jail for smuggling five rhino horns and four other horn objects worth about €500,000 ($613,000) in his luggage. The man was caught by customs officials at Schiphol airport in December as he traveled through Amsterdam on his way from South Africa to the Chinese city of Shanghai. It recalled that trading in endangered species is banned under the CITES convention prohibiting sales of protected animals and plants. South Africa is battling a scourge of rhino poaching fuelled by insatiable demand for their horn in Asia.

The country’s ministry of environmental affairs said earlier this year that 1,028 rhinos were slaughtered in 2017. In the last eight years alone, roughly a quarter of the world population of rhinos has been killed in South Africa, home to 80% of the remaining animals. Most of the demand comes from China and Vietnam, where the horn is coveted as a traditional medicine, an aphrodisiac or as a status symbol.

Read more …