Feb 082025
 
 February 8, 2025  Posted by at 10:50 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , ,  66 Responses »


M.C. Escher Gravitation 1952

 

How It Worked (James Howard Kunstler)
Trump Administration Sued Over USAID Clampdown (RT)
USAID Corruption At ‘Unexplainable’ Level – Trump (RT)
Trump’s Assault On USAID Could Change US Foreign Policy Forever (Bordachev)
Hungary Moves To Expose USAID Funding (RT)
14 States to File Lawsuit Against DOGE Access to Gov’t Payment Systems (ET)
Trump Nukes All Govt-MSM Contracts After Politico Firestorm (ZH)
Time Mag Puts ‘President Elon Musk’ on Cover, Trump Has Epic Response (PJM)
US ‘Will Lose The Next War Very Badly’ – Musk (RT)
Zelensky Extends Forced Conscription And Martial Law Again (RMX)
Trump Says He ‘Will Probably’ Meet Zelensky Next Week (RT)
UK Trying To Prevent Peace – Ukrainian MP (RT)
US-Russia War Would Be ‘Good For Ukraine’ – Zelensky’s Top Aide (RT)
Border Czar “Expects” Kinetic Warfare Between US Troops & Mexican Cartels (ZH)
TikTok’s Actual Offense? Innovating While Not Being American (Tamny)
Elizabeth Warren DESTROYED by X Community Notes (Bartee)
How Trump Suddenly Became A Feminist Champion (RT)
Microplastic Found in Brain Weighs as Much as a Plastic Spoon (ET)

 

 


Jim Kunstler 2024

 

 

Turley

Alina

Tax cuts

X

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Many lawsuits have been mounted by blob-adjacent attorneys to make all this stop. But one big problem for them is that their gigantic legal fees [..] were previously paid by exactly those NGOs that are getting shut down now.”

How It Worked (James Howard Kunstler)

If you wondered since 2016 how come the blob and the Democratic Party were aligned so exquisitely in their operations to destroy populism (personified by Mr. Trump) and to permanently entrench single party power in America for all time to come, it’s because an endless font of taxpayer money was streamed into countless non-governmental orgs creating a shadow civil service of Democratic Party activists that melded seamlessly with the big policy-making agencies.

The money was laundered through manifold layers of these orgs and their sub-orgs to pay for an ongoing “color revolution” in the USA — lawfare, election fraud, propaganda, censorship, career cancellation, medical fuckery, open borders, and other totalitarian ploys — while enriching political players at all those manifold layers from multi-millionaire congressmen and senators to thousands of NGO officials making six-figure salaries to street hustlers like Patrisse Cullors of Black Lives Matter and “anti-racism” racist Ibram X. Kendi and his $50-million Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University (recently axed) — and, of course, ultimately the former Potemkin president “Joe Biden” and his family.

It was all this money that drove eight years of sponsored insanity. Mainly, it kept the hands of the Democratic Party firmly on the levers of power so that nothing could be done about the insults and injuries they were inflicting on our country. So, is it a mystery now that nobody was prosecuted for burning the cities in 2020, or for magically creating millions of extra “Joe Biden” votes out of nowhere that year, or setting up the kickback machine from Ukraine to Congress, or forcing millions to get a janky vaccine?

Pam Bondi is going to be a busy girl. The DOGE has uncovered a government racketeering operation of which the USAID scandal is but one cog in a colossal engine of grift. What the public, including you readers, may not appreciate is how much planning went on over the past year to mount the DOGE effort, and how comprehensively the work of its many hundreds of computer techies (not just six whiz-kids) has laid bare the money-trails out of previously impenetrable government computers. Their algorithms have pierced the firewalls, revealing decades of fraud and deceit.

Mr. Trump’s cabinet officers have started the job of dismantling the machine by getting rid of the employees who set it up and worked for it. By Thursday, Secretary of State Rubio fired all but 300 of the 10,000 people working for USAID. CIA Director Ratcliffe offered the agency’s entire workforce a “deferred resignation” option that will allow them to bail out and still collect their salaries until September. Look for straight-up firings to ensue. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered the acting FBI director to terminate eight senior FBI officials and asked for a review of up to 5,000 involved in J-6 investigations (including, presumably, agents who engaged in abusive SWAT-team deployments).

Many lawsuits have been mounted by blob-adjacent attorneys to make all this stop. But one big problem for them is that their gigantic legal fees — hundreds of dollars an hour on the meter multiplied by x-hundreds of lawyers— were previously paid by exactly those NGOs that are getting shut down now. So, perhaps you see exactly how those levers of power worked. The money will have to come from somewhere else, and I doubt that Silicon Valley billionaire blob-supporter Reid Hoffman wants to piss away the rest of his fortune on this.

Some actual persons will have to be held accountable for all the mischief carried out in rogue agencies over many years. It has to start somewhere. I nominate Samantha Power as a first test case. She was in charge of USAID for nearly four years — until Jan 20, 2025 — including the duration of the Ukraine War. She was also personally very busy hands-on in arranging attempted color revolutions in Hungary (failed, against Viktor Orban), Georgia (failed), Mexico (failed), and Brazil (succeeded against Jair Bolsonaro). Ms. Power provided money from USAID-connected NGOs to foster instability in many more countries, including our country. It must have come as quite a shock to her that Kamala Harris did not win the 2024 election. USAID will not be paying for Ms.Power’s legal representation.

Much more will come to shock the blobsters and their legions — though just now, as the reformation of government begins, it’s comforting just to think of all those dedicated seditionists, Wokesters, Marxians, and Jacobins unable to make their rent payments or buy groceries all of a sudden. The paychecks have stopped coming for thousands who wanted to turn American life upside-down and inside-out. This happened most colorfully at the fake-news outfit called Politico this week. Turned out they were a subsidiary of the blob. Who knew? (Everyone who was paying attention to the jive they published.) Management had to send out a memo that reporters and editors would not get paid this week, or maybe ever again. Boo hoo.

It was also revealed this week that the Reuters News Agency, the Associated Press, The New York Times, the Wash-Po, and around 700-other news outfits altogether had been receiving financial support from USAID, the CIA, and other government entities. Now do you understand why the Democratic Party voters are so obdurately deluded and deranged?

USAID

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“The claimants alleged that Trump lacks the powers to dissolve USAID due to it being established under a 1998 law passed by Congress.”

Trump Administration Sued Over USAID Clampdown (RT)

The largest US government workers’ union and an association of foreign service workers have sued the administration of US President Donlad Trump in an attempt to prevent the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington’s primary vehicle for funding political projects abroad. Sources told Reuters on Thursday that the White House intends to keep fewer than 300 employees out of more than 10,000 at the independent agency, which had a budget of some $60 billion in 2023. Trump previously branded USAID “a criminal organization” run by “radical lunatics,” which he claimed had been involved in financing bioweapons research and used its funds to pay for positive coverage on the Democratic Party in the media.

The lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in Washington, DC on Thursday by the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Foreign Service Association, called the clampdown on USAID “unconstitutional and illegal.” Trump’s order on his inauguration day last month to suspend all US foreign aid for 90 days and the subsequent decision by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to halt USAID projects around the world created a “global humanitarian crisis,” it claimed. The lawsuit named the president and the State and Treasury Departments as the defendants. The claimants alleged that Trump lacks the powers to dissolve USAID due to it being established under a 1998 law passed by Congress. “Not a single one of defendants’ actions to dismantle USAID were taken pursuant to congressional authorization. And pursuant to federal statute, Congress is the only entity that may lawfully dismantle the agency,” the lawsuit read.

Those behind the action seek a temporary and eventually permanent order from the court to restore funding for USAID, reopen its offices and block any further orders by the Trump administration to dissolve it. On Wednesday, hundreds of former and current employees protested in Washington against Trump’s plans regarding the agency. They carried banners reading: “USAID saves lives,” “Stop the coup,” “Save our democracy” and others. Democratic members of Congress, including Senators Mark Warner and Chris Van Hollen, and Representative John Garamendi, were among those to address the crowd. SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who largely oversees the dismantling of USAID as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said on X earlier this week that the agency “is a ball of worms. There is no apple. And when there is no apple, you have just got to basically get rid of the whole thing.”

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“USAID stole billions of dollars, “much of it going to the fake news media as a ‘payoff’ for creating good stories about the democrats.”

USAID Corruption At ‘Unexplainable’ Level – Trump (RT)

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is riddled with almost unprecedented levels of corruption, and should be shut down, President Donald Trump has said. In one of the first executive orders after his unauguration, Trump suspended all US foreign aid, pending a three-month review, amid a wider push to cut down on government spending. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio subsequently halted a number of projects assigned to USAID, Washington’s main agency for administering funding to political projects abroad. Elon Musk, leading the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which is evaluating federal agencies’ spending, has branded USAID a “criminal organization.”

“USAID is driving the radical left crazy, and there is nothing they can do about it because the way in which the money has been spent, so much of it fraudulently, is totally unexplainable,” Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social on Friday. “The corruption is at levels rarely seen before. Close it down!” he said. The day before, the US president claimed that the agency funneled billions of taxpayer dollars into media companies to foster positive media coverage of Democrats. USAID stole billions of dollars, “much of it going to the fake news media as a ‘payoff’ for creating good stories about the democrats. the left wing ‘rag,’ known as ‘Politico,’ seems to have received $8,000,000,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. The decision reportedly followed findings by Musk’s team that millions of taxpayer dollars were being spent on Politico Pro subscriptions.

Subsequently, the White House has directed the General Services Administration to terminate all media contracts funded by USAID, Axios wrote on Thursday, citing an internal email the outlet obtained as saying. Politico has denied receiving direct funding from the government, explaining that their premium subscriptions service was being used by some US agencies. According to Reuters, the administration plans to retain fewer than 300 of USAID’s over 10,000 employees. This significant reduction has prompted a lawsuit from a major government workers’ union, challenging the legality of the cuts. The American Federation of Government Employees and the American Foreign Service Association sued Trump, Rubio, as well as the Treasury and State departments, branding the crackdown on USAID “unconstitutional and illegal.”

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“As significant in its influence as the Department of Defense or the State Department, USAID has long served as a powerful instrument for advancing Washington’s global agenda..”

Trump’s Assault On USAID Could Change US Foreign Policy Forever (Bordachev)

Over the decades, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has evolved into a “state within a state” within American foreign policy. As significant in its influence as the Department of Defense or the State Department, USAID has long served as a powerful instrument for advancing Washington’s global agenda. However, the recent actions of the new administration in Washington, led by Donald Trump, mark a significant shift, targeting this elite bribery agency with sweeping reforms. For Russia, these developments carry both challenges and opportunities.

USAID’s role in American foreign policy
USAID was created during the early years of the Cold War when the United States realized it could not defeat the Soviet Union in a direct armed conflict. Instead, it opted for a strategy of peaceful competition. Unlike the USSR, which sought to improve the lives of ordinary people in developing nations, the US focused on manipulating elites and influential actors. This philosophical divide between the two superpowers defined their approaches to foreign policy. Armed with substantial financial resources — approximately $40 billion last year — USAID has been the principal instrument of US interference in the internal affairs of other states. Its core mission has been the systematic bribery of elites to secure their loyalty to American interests. This strategy has been employed across Latin America, Asia, the Arab world, and, more recently, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

USAID: An instrument of destabilization
Far from promoting stability or development, USAID’s activities have often led to internal crises and even the collapse of statehood. Ukraine stands as a stark example of this, where the agency’s involvement has contributed to deepening political and social unrest. In other cases, USAID has propped up regimes that offer special privileges to the US, though such instances are relatively rare. The agency’s operations are not about making the United States more attractive to the rest of the world. Soft power, often romanticized in academic circles, is not the result of foreign policy maneuvers but of a nation’s internal appeal. The US is attractive to some because it offers a lifestyle rooted in selfishness and individualism, not because of its diplomatic or military actions.

Trump’s offensive: Reshaping USAID
The Trump administration’s reforms of USAID represent a decisive attempt to curb its unchecked power. Personnel reshuffling, increased oversight by diplomats, budget cuts, and the appointment of Trump-loyal officials are all part of this overhaul. This assault is not driven by a desire to end US interference in other nations’ affairs — such a policy is too central to maintaining America’s global dominance. Instead, it is an effort to reassert control over a bureaucracy that has grown too independent and self-serving. Trump’s disdain for the agency stems from its inefficiency and its bloated structure, which prioritizes its own survival over achieving tangible foreign policy results. For a leader as authoritarian as Trump, allowing such a structure to operate autonomously is unacceptable. All achievements must now be tied directly to his leadership and energy.

Panama: A case study in simplicity
A recent example of this new approach can be seen in Panama. The Trump administration launched a decisive diplomatic offensive against the Panamanian government, pressuring it to abandon cooperation with China. Without the need for elaborate schemes or massive expenditures, the US appears to have secured control over the Panama Canal’s logistics systems. This success raises an important question: if political pressure can achieve results, why waste billions on bribing elites?

Implications for Russia
For Russia, these developments offer both strategic advantages and lessons. The internal divisions within the US caused by such reforms will inevitably limit its foreign policy options. Even a temporary suspension of funding for USAID’s activities will create confusion among grant recipients, undermining their confidence in Washington’s support. Moreover, the changes in Washington highlight the importance of avoiding the pitfalls of copying Western methods wholesale. Russia must remain cautious in adapting American tactics to its own foreign policy. Simplified, traditional approaches, as demonstrated by the US in Panama, often yield better results than overcomplicated schemes.

The legacy of USAID
USAID’s history is one of extensive political manipulation. Initially, it focused on recruiting elites and intellectuals in Latin America, Asia, and the Arab world. After the Cold War, its activities expanded to include officials, law enforcement agencies, and activists in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Recently, the agency has intensified its efforts in the Transcaucasus and Central Asia, aiming to destabilize these regions in light of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. Despite its considerable financial resources and influence, USAID has failed to create lasting stability or prosperity in the regions it targets. Instead, its actions have often exacerbated tensions and conflicts, serving as a tool for advancing American hegemony rather than genuine development.

The way forward
The Trump administration’s actions against USAID signal a shift in US foreign policy, but they also expose the limitations of the American model. The reliance on bribery and coercion as primary tools of influence is unsustainable and increasingly ineffective. For Russia, this presents an opportunity to strengthen its own foreign policy strategies, emphasizing mutual respect and genuine cooperation. As the United States grapples with its internal divisions and reassesses its global role, Russia must continue to assert its interests while remaining vigilant against attempts to destabilize its neighbors. The lessons from USAID’s failures are clear: true influence comes not from manipulation but from fostering genuine partnerships. In conclusion, the Trump administration’s “riot” at USAID may not fundamentally alter America’s interventionist tendencies, but it does offer a glimpse into the vulnerabilities of its foreign policy apparatus. For Russia, this is both a challenge and an opportunity — to counteract American influence while charting a more effective and principled path in global affairs.

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“..these are people and organizations paid from abroad whose job is to overthrow the Hungarian government..”

Hungary Moves To Expose USAID Funding (RT)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has declared that he will implement measures ensuring the transparency of aid from the United States to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and media outlets critical of his government. Speaking on state radio on Friday, Orban emphasized the need to “eliminate these foreign networks” that meddle in the country’s domestic affairs, referencing US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs. An ally of US President Donald Trump, Orban highlighted the Trump administration’s plan to integrate USAID into the State Department, aligning it with the “America First” policy. “In America, we would call them agents, as they do not serve their own country but accept money from another power… We don’t call them agents… but these are people and organizations paid from abroad whose job is to overthrow the Hungarian government,” the prime minister said.

Orban, who has been in power since 2010 and faces the voters in early 2026, asserted that recipients of foreign funds must face “legal consequences” and be “squeezed out” as they pose a threat to Hungarian sovereignty. In late 2023, his government established the Sovereignty Protection Office to monitor and address the risk of political interference. Foreign financing for parties or groups running for office are banned in the country, with penalties of up to three years in prison. The European Commission launched an infringement procedure over the law in February 2024, citing its potential to undermine the bloc’s democratic values and fundamental rights.

Orban has a long history of taking measures against foreign-funded organizations, particularly those linked to Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros. He has repeatedly accused Soros of meddling in Hungary’s domestic affairs, undermining traditional family values, and promoting a globalist agenda. In 2018, Hungary implemented a “Stop Soros” law aimed at NGOs helping asylum seekers. That year, the Soros-funded Open Society Foundations announced it would move from Budapest to Berlin, citing a repressive environment under Viktor Orban. Hungary also forced the closure of Central European University (CEU), which relocated to Vienna due to regulatory challenges. The European Union has withheld funding from Orban’s government, accusing it of breaching democratic standards.

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Feels a bit like Audit the Fed.

14 States to File Lawsuit Against DOGE Access to Gov’t Payment Systems (ET)

A coalition of 14 state attorneys general said on Thursday that they will file a lawsuit to stop the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive federal payment systems. The coalition said that DOGE, an advisory committee led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has no authority to access federal government systems—which they said contain Americans’ personal data, state bank account data, and “some of our country’s most sensitive data.” “This level of access for unauthorized individuals is unlawful, unprecedented, and unacceptable,” the coalition said in a statement released by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin. “DOGE has no authority to access this information, which they explicitly sought in order to block critical payments that millions of Americans rely on—payments that support health care, childcare, and other essential programs.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted DOGE access to the Treasury’s payment system after Trump took office on Jan. 20. DOGE has been tasked with reviewing agencies for potential downsizing and termination, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to reduce federal spending and boost government efficiency. The attorneys general also argued that President Donald Trump “does not have the power” to grant DOGE access to Americans’ private information or to withhold federal payments approved by Congress. They planned to pursue legal action to defend “our Constitution, our right to privacy, and the essential funding that individuals and communities nationwide are counting on.” The coalition includes Platkin and attorneys general from New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

On Feb. 5, a coalition of labor unions sued to block DOGE access to federal payment systems, alleging that it violates “constitutional limits on executive power” and “laws protecting civil servants from arbitrary threats and adverse action.” The plaintiffs—which include the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union, and the Economic Policy Institute—sought a temporary restraining order or administrative stay against DOGE. Justice Department attorneys issued a proposed order on Feb. 5 saying the federal government will temporarily restrict DOGE from accessing information in the Treasury Department’s payment system and allow special government employees “read-only” access to payment records. “The Defendants will not provide access to any payment record or payment system of records maintained by or within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service,” it said.

The proposed order followed an incident in which Democratic members of Congress attempted to enter the Treasury building on Feb. 4, saying they wanted to provide oversight after DOGE was granted access to the federal payment system. Democratic lawmakers have been calling for the access to be revoked. Trump had previously said that Musk would not be able to take any action without approval from the White House and assured that the government would prevent him from acting in cases of conflict of interest. “Where we think there’s a conflict or there’s a problem, we won’t let him go near it, but he has some very good ideas,” the president told reporters at the Oval Office last month.

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“..the White House is also planning to cut USAID’s staff from roughly 10,000 employees to just 294..”

Trump Nukes All Govt-MSM Contracts After Politico Firestorm (ZH)

In light of the firestorm over tens of millions of dollars going from the US government to various media outlets in the form of subscriptions, particularly Politico, President Trump has directed the General Services Administration to terminate “every single media contract” expensed by the agency, according to an email obtained by Axios. “GSA team, please do two things,” the email begins.
• Pull all contracts for Politico, BBC, E&E (Politico sub) and Bloomberg
• Pull all media contracts for just GSA – cancel every single media contract today for GSA only.

The move comes after internet sleuths discovered tens of millions of dollars going towards Politico Pro subscriptions, with particular focus on one $8 million allocation. On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the executive branch would cancel their contract with Politico……and today we find that it goes much further than just the rag that laundered the deep state’s ’51 intel officials’ Hunter Biden laptop propaganda. For example, the NY Times was also cut off. Politico responded on Thursday, claiming that they have “never received any government funding — no subsidies, no grants, no handouts. Not one dime, ever, in 18 years.” No, just tens of millions in Politico Pro subscriptions from the government. Like Hunter Biden received $200,000 for a painting of his excrement, which was totally not influence peddling.

Deep Cuts To USAID
Meanwhile, the White House is also planning to cut USAID’s staff from roughly 10,000 employees to just 294 – a 97% reduction, after Elon Musk’s DOGE team revealed that the international aid organization has essentially been funding woke pet projects and anti-American activities. On Tuesday, the administration put a stop on all USAID work and placed all employees on leave, with thousands of overseas workers to be recalled within 30 days. According to Reuters, Secretary of State Marco Rubio – who was placed in charge of USAID earlier this week, said that the Trump administration was identifying and designating critical programs that would be exempted from the stop work order and deep cuts. According to the report, over 2/3 of USAID’s workers are located outside the United States. As of 2023, the ‘aid’ organization managed more than $40 billion in projects. USAID’s website informed people that as of midnight on Friday, February 7, “all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs.”

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“Is Time magazine still in business? I didn’t even know that.”

Time Mag Puts ‘President Elon Musk’ on Cover, Trump Has Epic Response (PJM)

Leftists have been whining about “President Musk” ever since Trump announced the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency. Now, Musk is uncovering staggering levels of government waste (as well as active aid and comfort of America’s enemies — which, of course, those who like to illustrate the old adage that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing will insist is not treason). It was inevitable that the empire would strike back. Time Magazine is just an old wheeze of its former self, but in its latest issue, it lashes out at Musk and Trump with all the feeble wallop it can muster. The cover of Time’s latest issue, dated Feb. 24, carries no caption, but its meaning is unmistakable. It depicts Elon Musk staring determinedly and unapologetically at the reader, clutching a cup of coffee, and sitting behind the Resolute Desk, that is, the president’s desk in the Oval Office.

The cover story laments that “for now, millions of government workers find themselves at Musk’s mercy. One described her team at the Department of Homeland Security assuming a ‘defensive crouch’ as they awaited a visit from the DOGE. For an inkling of their fate, she added, her colleagues had turned to a book called Character Limit, which chronicles the way Musk took over Twitter two years ago and fired 80% of its staff, often with chaotic and lasting results.” Chaotic, yeah, got it. Multitudes of useless and unproductive employees were sent packing, and Twitter, that is, X, runs just fine. Time’s apocalyptic hit piece nevertheless piles on much more of the same. An unnamed bureaucrat says: “‘There’s only so much Democrats can do,’ she said, not wanting to give her name lest it attract more attention from DOGE.” Yes, of course, although this fear rings hollow after one of Musk’s employees, not some supposedly courageous government leftist, was just doxxed.

Time concludes with a plea for someone, anyone, to help: “Her official email account had been shut down, and she could no longer access her desk at the agency. Like thousands of her colleagues and millions of Americans, she was left to watch Musk’s moves play out, wondering how far he would go, and what, if anything, could stop him.” Oh, horror! The cover, meanwhile, is directed as much at Trump as at Musk. Time hoped to annoy the president, whom the left loves to lampoon as narcissistic and self-absorbed, by suggesting that he was not actually in charge of his administration. Trump, however, coolly refused to take the bait. As he met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House on Friday, a reporter asked him: “Mr. President, do you have a reaction to the new Time Magazine cover that has Elon Musk sitting behind your Resolute Desk?”

The reporter and Time’s editors were no doubt hoping that Trump would hit the ceiling and launch into a long rant about how, not Musk, was calling the shots — something that the late-night comics could work with and use to try to regain the offensive from this administration, which has put the left on the defensive more than any other administration in recent memory. Trump, however, refused to play along, and instead tweaked the failing magazine, saying: “Is Time magazine still in business? I didn’t even know that.” This was an apposite response, as, unlike some other establishment publications that still like to pretend that they’re unbiased sources for news, Time’s hatred of Trump has been naked, open, and unapologetic. It made him Person of the Year for 2024, but this was no honor, as Hitler and Stalin both bore the title back when it was Man of the Year.

During Trump’s first term, Time ran a series of covers featuring him melting (twice), painting himself into a corner, barely keeping his head above water in a flooded Oval Office, melding into Vladimir Putin, heartlessly facing down a crying Hispanic child (presumably at the Southern border), and on and drearily on. On the other side of this crude propaganda was the magazine’s Soviet-style cover for its Aug. 26, 2024 issue, which featured Kamala Harris looking confident and resolute, her head tilted slightly upward as she looked calmly into a future that contained no challenges she could not overcome. The caption: “Her Moment.” This image could have hung in Tiananmen Square right next to the big picture of Chairman Mao and no one would have batted an eye.

But for Time magazine, it didn’t work: Harris lost the election anyway. And the Musk cover won’t work either. The Trump administration is clearly determined to be unsparing in rooting out government corruption. Only the corrupt could object.

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“The current strategy is to build a small number of weapons at a high price to fight yesterday’s war..”

US ‘Will Lose The Next War Very Badly’ – Musk (RT)

The US risks major defeat in the country’s next war unless it urgently reforms its outdated weapons programs, Elon Musk has warned in a stark assessment of the nation’s defense capabilities. Musk, who heads SpaceX and Tesla, has been appointed as a “special government employee” to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under US President Donald Trump and is now among his key advisers. “American weapons programs need to be completely redone. The current strategy is to build a small number of weapons at a high price to fight yesterday’s war. Unless there are immediate and dramatic changes made, America will lose the next war very badly,” Musk wrote on X. The billionaire has long been a vocal critic of inefficiencies within the US defense sector, arguing that excessive bureaucracy and outdated military strategies undermine national security.

Musk’s DOGE department has actively worked to streamline federal operations, including those related to defense. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, the maker of the Predator drone, has urged DOGE to reform the Pentagon’s contracting system, calling the current process too slow and bureaucratic to counter threats from nations such as China and Iran. L3Harris Technologies, a major defense contractor, has provided DOGE with recommendations to improve efficiency in the defense acquisition system. These include eliminating duplicative Cost Accounting Standard requirements and establishing a central contracting arm within the Office of the Secretary of Defense to manage joint procurement programs. DOGE has already canceled approximately $420 million in government contracts within its first 80 hours of operations, taking initial steps toward an ambitious goal of reducing federal spending by $2 trillion.

Musk’s critique also extends to specific defense programs. He has been particularly damning of the F-35 fighter jet program, labeling it a “sh*t design” and advocating for a shift toward unmanned systems, which he believes are more effective and economical in modern combat. Speaking at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York in February, Musk emphasized the transformative impact of drones and artificial intelligence (AI) on warfare, citing the Ukraine conflict as a prime example. “The current war in Ukraine is very much a drone war already,” Musk noted. “If there’s a major power war, it’s very much going to be a drone war.” He called for increased investment in drone production and a significant acceleration in manufacturing, warning against the pitfalls of preparing for past conflicts instead of future ones. “Countries pretty much are geared up to fight the last war, not the next war,” Musk cautioned.

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Trump is pushing for elections. Zelensky says no way.

Zelensky Extends Forced Conscription And Martial Law Again (RMX)

.Ukraine has long stopped being a democracy and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky just made sure to keep it that way for another 90 days by signing a decree to extend martial law and continue general mobilization effort. The measures in force so far were due to expire on Feb. 7. Parliament voted to extend the provisions on Jan. 15. Ukraine was supposed to have a new vote long ago, but due to the war, Zelensky argued that it was not possible. Ukraine declared a nationwide state of general mobilization on Feb. 24, 2022, and has since extended it several times. Due to staffing problems in the army, a bill on tightening mobilization rules came into force on May 18, 2024. Martial law and conscription come despite the majority of Ukrainians saying they want to end the war and are willing to accept territorial losses in order to do so, according to the independent Gallup Polling agency.

In recent months, mobilization efforts have increasingly involved the use of violence and forced conscription, leading men to attempt to leave the country, often at the risk of their lives. Zelensky, who fears losing power if the war ends, has an incentive to keep the conflict going. However, support for Zelensky has rapidly declined among the Ukrainian population. Almost every week, reports are coming in about forced conscription in Ukraine being carried out using increasingly brutal means. Hungarian channel M1-Hirado recently ran a special compiling some of the latest footage of Ukrainians being beaten and shoved into vans in forced mobilization operations.

As Remix News has previously reported, desertion rates at the frontline are high, with many Ukrainians fleeing before they ever even enter combat. To make up for shortfalls, authorities from the so-called Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center (TCK) are using increasingly aggressive methods to meet monthly draft quotas. After morning briefings, officers split into teams and search various locations around the city – cafes, restaurants, and even nightclubs – for men eligible for military service.

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“..He added that talks would most likely take place on US soil, as “I’m not going there.”

Trump Says He ‘Will Probably’ Meet Zelensky Next Week (RT)

US President Donald Trump has stated that he will likely have face-to-face talks with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky as early as next week, adding that he would like to talk with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin soon as well. Since his inauguration last month, Trump’s administration has been sending signals regarding potential peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. However, no details have been forthcoming to date. Commenting on the prospect of such dialogue, officials in Moscow have expressed cautious optimism. Addressing the press during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House on Friday, President Trump said: “I will probably be meeting with [Vladimir] Zelensky next week.”

He added that talks would most likely take place on US soil, as “I’m not going there.”“And I will probably be talking to President Putin. I’d like to see that war end,” Trump said, adding “President Putin and I have always had a good relationship.” Trump reiterated his long-standing point that the conflict would never have started had he been in office in February 2022. The US president also said that he would like to discuss the “security” of Ukraine’s rare-earth deposits with Zelensky. On Monday, he similarly stated that “we are looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they are going to secure what we are giving to them with the rare earths and other things.”

Trump once again accused NATO’s European member states of expending far fewer resources than the US on supporting Ukraine, promising to “equalize” the situation. Commenting on Trump’s latest remarks in a post on X, formerly Twitter, late on Friday, Zelensky wrote: “The coming weeks may be very intensive in diplomacy, and we will do what’s needed to make this time effective and productive.” “Right now Ukrainian and American teams are working out the details. A solid, lasting peace shall become closer,” he predicted.

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“The opposition lawmaker has been in custody since November 2023 facing a litany of charges, including high treason.”

UK Trying To Prevent Peace – Ukrainian MP (RT)

The purpose of UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s recent visit to Kiev was to disrupt peace negotiations with Russia on the settlement of the Ukraine conflict, according to jailed Ukrainian MP Aleksandr Dubinsky. Britain’s foreign secretary visited Kiev on Wednesday and announced a further 55 million pounds ($68.7 million) in financial aid. Dubinsky claimed on his Telegram channel on Thursday that the actual purpose of Lammy’s trip was to disrupt the peace process. The opposition lawmaker has been in custody since November 2023 facing a litany of charges, including high treason. According to him, Lammy’s “urgent” visit to Kiev as well as Vladimir Zelensky’s “urgent” interview with British media “were necessary to prevent a peaceful settlement” and to “discredit” US envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg’s plan to resolve the conflict.

“What is needed for this? An urgent counteroffensive. I believe Zelensky has been brought his plan,” Dubinsky stated. During his visit, Lammy met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrey Sybiga, who urged the UK authorities to scale up investments in Ukraine’s arms production. Bloomberg reported earlier this week, citing insiders, that Keith Kellogg is expected to present a peace plan at next week’s Munich Security Conference. However, in an interview with Newsmax on Wednesday, the envoy clarified that while he will be holding discussions with EU leaders in Germany, he will not publicly unveil the proposition. Instead, he stated that the deal would be presented by US President Donald Trump himself.

Last Friday, Trump said that communication is ongoing between his administration and the Russian government and reiterated his goal of putting a swift end to nearly three years of hostilities. The UK has beefed up its military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the year. Last month, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a £4.5 billion boost, which includes the procurement of hundreds of air defense systems, drones, and other equipment to support Kiev’s war effort.

The Istanbul round of peace talks was scrapped in April 2022 when then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a surprise visit to Kiev to discuss military aid and urge Ukraine to keep fighting. David Arakhamia, then head of the Ukrainian delegation at the negotiations, later acknowledged Moscow’s claims that Johnson had played an influential role. While the British politician denied involvement, former US undersecretary of state Victoria Nuland later confirmed that the negotiations fell apart after the US and UK pushed Kiev to reject the Istanbul deal.

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Leave guys like Zelensky and Podoliak in place and you’ll never have peace.

US-Russia War Would Be ‘Good For Ukraine’ – Zelensky’s Top Aide (RT)

A US-Russian war would be advantageous to Ukraine in the current conflict with Moscow, according to Vladimir Zelensky’s top aide, Mikhail Podoliak. In an interview with local media on Wednesday, published by RBK Ukraine he discussed the possibility of a US troop deployment in the country under President Donald Trump. When asked about the likelihood of US troops coming to Ukraine, Podoliak expressed skepticism but said that pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin “does not necessarily require pushing for a direct confrontation” between the US and Russia, however such a conflict “would certainly be good for us.” This week, the US leader announced a plan to turn Gaza into a “riviera” owned by the US, not ruling out deploying US soldiers to implement it.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later rejected the notion that Trump was reneging on a promise not to “entangle” the US in foreign conflicts, saying he had not “committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza.” Moscow has accused Kiev of violating the rules of war and employing terrorist tactics due to an inability to overpower Russia militarily. Some supporters of Ukraine concede that its government has resorted to controversial methods of fighting, including a state-sponsored program of targeted assassinations. Among the victims was Russian journalist Darya Dugina, killed by a bomb in 2022. Ukraine is also suspected of orchestrating sabotage missions, including the Nord Stream pipeline attacks. Reports suggest that the Ukrainian military leadership authorized the highly-challenging underwater demolition mission against the Russian-German energy link, though alternate scenarios involve the US.

Trump has pledged to resolve the Ukraine conflict swiftly and has suspended most US foreign aid programs since taking office last month, with Kiev also affected. While military assistance reportedly remains untouched, Zelensky recently acknowledged that without US weapons, his army could face collapse. Historically, Trump has shown a readiness to resort to military action under tenuous circumstances. In 2018, during his first term, he ordered missile strikes on Syria, carried out jointly with the UK and France, in response to an alleged chemical attack. However, a subsequent investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) revealed evidence that contradicted the US-endorsed narrative. The findings were allegedly suppressed, and the OPCW final report did not dispute Western justifications, prompting some inspectors to accuse their organization of scientific malpractice. Its leadership denied any wrongdoing.

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“..if US special forces operators kill cartel leaders, retaliatory attacks by cartel members could occur at Mexican beach resorts or, worse, on the streets of US cities.”

Border Czar “Expects” Kinetic Warfare Between US Troops & Mexican Cartels (ZH)

Trump administration Border Czar Tom Homan told ABC News in an exclusive interview that he anticipates a potential kinetic engagement between the US military and drug cartels, though he did not specify a location. His remarks come as thousands of US troops have been deployed to the southern border. Additionally, earlier this week, a US Air Force surveillance aircraft conducted a signals intelligence (SIGINT) operation over cartel-controlled areas in Baja California. “Look, I’m looking at numbers this morning, about 14,000 arrests, and about 76% of them are criminals,” Homan told ABC News’ Kyra Phillips and Terry Moran when asked about the ICE raids. “We’re not going to neighborhoods looking for people different than us. These are well-planned, investigated leads,” the border czar said. When Homan was asked whether the US military could get involved if cartels strike, Homan replied: “Yes, and we expect them to,” adding that US troops “need to protect themselves.”

At the start of the week, in what appeared to be the shortest trade war in history, Mexico and Canada each committed 10,000 troops to their respective borders, while the US reinforced its southern border with thousands of soldiers in the last few weeks. By Monday evening, a USAF RC-135V/W Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft conducted a SIGINT operation over the southern half of Baja California, a region home to heavily armed Tijuana Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel members. [..] Last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had some strong words for drug cartels.

Dismantling Mexican drug cartels could be a very messy operation, which is why the Trump administration fortified the border with the military. The challenge, however, is that if US special forces operators kill cartel leaders, retaliatory attacks by cartel members could occur at Mexican beach resorts or, worse, on the streets of US cities.

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“..the political class is taking a page from the antitrust playbook in its attempt to wrest TikTok away from its owners on the cheap..”

TikTok’s Actual Offense? Innovating While Not Being American (Tamny)

Ten days ago the shares of Nvidia corrected 17 percent. How could this have happened to such an “owned” and analyzed company? The answer, at least as of now, is that surprise over inexpensively trained and very capable DeepSeek forced investors to at least rethink Nvidia’s long-term dominance. The news on January 26th gave investors reason to at least question whether the current face of AI would perhaps be disrupted by dynamism within the sector that its chips had helped create. It’s worth thinking about Nvidia and the market meaning of DeepSeek’s surprising rollout with TikTok top of mind. China-fearful politicians have voted to ban TikTok in the United States unless it can find an American owner.

Forget for a moment that TikTok is already American owned, and simply ask the question about whether or not the same politicians would have pursued “sell or ban” legislation if TikTok were an unknown. Hopefully the question answers itself. TikTok’s problem is that it discovered the future of social media much more effectively than its American competition. At which point it can be said that the attacks on TikTok aren’t much different from antitrust attacks over the years on American companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Live Nation, and many others. What’s important about those suits is that none of them took place when Amazon had the nickname “Amazon.org,” or when Apple was near bankruptcy, when Google was an unknown David to Yahoo’s Goliath, or when Live Nation was one of many cheaply priced entertainment companies trying to divine how the internet and streaming would upend the music industry.

It’s just a comment that antitrust ankle biters never discover dominance in its ascendance. Antitrust is by definition a look backwards, and an attempt to penalize the businesses that had the temerity to discover a previously unknown commercial future. TikTok’s travails are a manifestation of the previous truth. Having led the needs of social media users much better than the American competition, TikTok faces a forced separation from the investors and innovators that made it great in the first place. In short, the political class is taking a page from the antitrust playbook in its attempt to wrest TikTok away from its owners on the cheap. Which requires more thought beyond the odious antitrust flavor of TikTok’s theft.

Its ascendance from unknown to the world’s most popular social media company plainly discredits the excuses bruited by politicians as they attempt to take it. Former Rep. Mike Gallagher has excused his own long fingers with op-eds at the Wall Street Journal asserting that TikTok is “controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.” No, government-controlled businesses are never this popular. Other conservatives (including Gallagher) claim the problem with TikTok is that it will gather data on American users for the Chinese Communist Party. That’s similarly an empty excuse when it’s remembered that all user supported sites attain their value from the data gleaned from those users; data that is subsequently sold.

Which brings us back to the “sell or ban” legislation from a U.S. political class that should hang its collective head in shame. As is the case with all antirust attacks, the attempt to break up and take TikTok personifies obnoxious conceit about the future of a commercial sector defined by relentless change, including change at the top. Assuming the political class can pull off its attempted heist, rest assured that the thieving of successful businesses for innovating while not being American won’t end with TikTok. And that’s because antitrust by its very name is once again a look backwards. See the DeepSeek surprise if you’re confused.

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“At one point, nearly every candidate decried the practice, before realizing it may be a necessity for survival.”

Elizabeth Warren DESTROYED by X Community Notes (Bartee)

If ever you needed proof that X Community Notes is vastly superior to corporate “fact checks” as a way for real journalists to do real work countering “misinformation” rather than as a bludgeon to suppress dissident narratives, this is it. Lying about being a Native American for DEI leg-ups, it turns out, isn’t the only dishonesty Elizabeth Warren peddles. This lie, however, is much more consequential in terms of policy impact: “I don’t take contributions from Big Pharma executives. I don’t take any corporate PAC money,” Elizabeth Warren says in the Senate hallway when confronted over her smears of RFK Jr.

But the contradictory proof is all right there in the X Community Notes window, just under the lying pharma tool, with links and links and links, rendering my job as a journalist exposing her blatant lies far easier: “Elizabeth Warren has in fact received donations from both Pharmaceutical companies and PAC organizations in the combined tune of millions of dollars.” Warren, in fact, is the second-biggest beneficiary of cash from pharma employees and/or PACs in the entire Congress, next to Bernie Sanders.

Via TIME, 2020: “In an ironic twist, that now makes Warren, who along with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has been the strongest opponent of super PACs in the 2020 campaign, the biggest beneficiary of such a group heading into Super Tuesday — the most prominent reversal yet among the candidates on the issue of high-dollar donations. At one point, nearly every candidate decried the practice, before realizing it may be a necessity for survival. Under campaign finance laws, donors can give unlimited amounts to a super PAC as long as the groups do not directly coordinate with the candidates they are supporting. Since launching her campaign, Warren has prided herself on her refusal to accept money from political action committees or federal lobbyists, and she has promised to disavow any super PAC that formed on her behalf.”

That pledge is still publicly available on her campaign website, but Warren has not distanced herself from Persist PAC. Instead, her rhetoric on the issue started to shift in the past month, as her once-promising campaign underperformed its expectations in the first three states to vote. “If all the candidates want to get rid of super PACs, count me in, I’ll lead the charge,” she told reporters on Feb. 20 in Nevada when asked if she would disavow Persist PAC. “But that’s how it has to be. It can’t be the case that a bunch of people keep them and only one or two don’t.”

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Just decrying men in women’s spaces doesn’t make you a feminist. It makes you a normal person.

Point in case: Trudeau calls himself a feminist, and he cheers on the craziness.

How Trump Suddenly Became A Feminist Champion (RT)

It was US President Donald Trump – a man who looked at Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner, and thought, “Now there’s a guy with life figured out” – who somehow became the only person in charge willing to pump the brakes on the surreal spectacle of born males bulldozing women on the rugby field, then waltzing right into the women’s locker room along with them. All while intersectional third-wave feminists are on the sidelines, basically acting like the hype squad… for the “dudes.” After allowing a dude to smoke all the women in college swim championships, the NCAA American collegiate sports league announced on Thursday that it was suddenly putting an end to the practice, limiting the participation of transsexuals in women’s events to those whose assigned gender at birth was female.

The move came in the wake of Trump’s executive order earlier in the week withdrawing federal funding from institutions that allowed biological males to compete against women. “If you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding,” Trump said. Under this Title IX civil rights law, considered a major victory for 60’s and 70s-era second-wave feminist icons like Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, and tennis icon and activist Billie Jean King, colleges receiving federal funding couldn’t just have sports teams and scholarships exclusively reserved for men anymore. Sports suddenly became a social elevator and opportunity springboard for young women, too. But all of that was clawed back, mostly to deafening silence from feminists.

How on earth did Donald “grab her by the p***y” Trump end up being the one to reestablish due north on this issue? One could argue that it’s feminism itself that has been ideologically corrupted by radical leftism, to the point where even the second-wave feminists – who were considered radical back when they were fighting for women to own property, have their own credit cards, or keep their own name in marriage – now seem almost conservative in comparison to this latest crop. Feminism didn’t need intersectionality. That is, to get mixed up with causes that detract from the straightforward focus on improving the lives of women.

There’s more than enough material to work with already when we still haven’t fully emerged from the turbulent wake of the MeToo movement, which shattered the long-standing omertà that mandated women’s silence about systemic second-class or abusive treatment as the price of fame and fortune in Western media and entertainment. I was personally once told, despite supposedly being hired for my political acumen at a certain New York-based American cable news outfit, to just sit there and laugh at my co-host’s jokes, deferring to him while crossing and uncrossing my bare legs on camera. The message was clear: You either leave or comply, because if you don’t, then some other ambitious woman with equally decent legs will.

And if you’re on the political right, good luck finding any feminists in your corner. Because leftist causes now take precedence over the defense of actual women, particularly if the woman in question doesn’t pass the ideological litmus test. Rather than fighting the creeping, increasingly institutionalized corruption-driven brand of globalist leftism, today’s feminists have embraced it, confounding their struggle with all sorts of other causes that dilute their original mission. If one wanted to hijack the feminist movement, and render it totally useless in the actual defense of women, it’s hard to imagine a better way of going about it than by confusing it with issues like climate change and gender bending.

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“..over just 8 years, the amount of microplastic fragments in the brain has increased by about 50 percent. Brain samples from 2024 contained microplastics equal in weight to a plastic spoon.”

“Brain tissue contained 7 to 30 times more microplastics than other vital organs like the livers or kidneys..”

Microplastic Found in Brain Weighs as Much as a Plastic Spoon (ET)

Microplastics are making their way into human brains at higher levels than in other vital organs, according to new findings. The study, published in Nature Medicine on Feb. 3, confirms that tiny plastic fragments are passing through the brain’s protective blood-brain barrier, potentially impacting health and cognitive function. Researchers from the University of New Mexico (UNM) tested autopsy samples from 2016 and 2024. They found that over just 8 years, the amount of microplastic fragments in the brain has increased by about 50 percent. Brain samples from 2024 contained microplastics equal in weight to a plastic spoon. Brains affected by dementia showed significantly higher concentrations of these plastic particles. Finding such high concentrations in the brain was unexpected and alarming, Matthew Campen, lead researcher and toxicologist, told The Epoch Times during a press conference.

“People are simply being exposed to ever-increasing levels of micro- and nanoplastics,” said Campen. The particles are so small, they’re roughly the width of two COVID viruses standing side by side, he noted. The rate of accumulation “is simply mirroring the environmental buildup and exposure.” As plastic breaks down over time, it degrades and becomes small enough to enter the human body and brain. Brain tissue contained 7 to 30 times more microplastics than other vital organs like the livers or kidneys, making it one of the most plastic-polluted tissues yet examined. Researchers tested 52 human brain samples from both 2016 and 2024, all taken from the frontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for judgment, decision-making, and muscle movement. In the brain, the microplastic concentration reached around 5,000 micrograms per gram—far higher than the liver and kidneys, which carried around 400 micrograms of plastics per gram.

The study also compared earlier brain samples from the eastern U.S. (1997–2013), which had lower microplastic levels, around 1,250 micrograms per gram. Their findings support a trend of gradual increases in plastic accumulation in the organs over time, with 2024 showing the highest levels. To visualize the amount of microplastics in the brain, Campen held up a plastic spoon. Since the brain weighs around 1,400 grams (or three pounds), having 5,000 micrograms of plastic per gram would amount to over 5 grams of plastic in total—roughly the weight of a plastic spoon. In deceased people with dementia, levels reached much higher levels of over 26,000 micrograms per gram. In the dementia samples, some particles were clumped together in areas with inflammation, raising concerns about a possible link between microplastics and brain tissue damage, according to the researchers.

However, while the study correlates microplastics to dementia, the study does not prove that higher plastic levels in the brain directly cause dementia symptoms. It is also possible that the disease process itself may hinder the brain’s ability to clear out the accumulated plastics, Campen added. Researchers found 12 types of plastic in the brain, with polyethylene (PE), commonly used in bottles, bags, and containers, making up 75 percent of the total. Other plastics included types commonly found in packaging, car parts, pipes, flooring, bottles, containers, fabrics, and other industrial products. “It was notable that these are largely mirroring proportions of polymers that we do see in our environment,” Marcus Garcia, study co-author and postdoctoral researcher at UNM, explained to The Epoch Times during the press briefing.

The particles in the brain were mostly sharp nanoscale shards and flakes. These tiny particles are small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier, although Campen says it’s still unclear how exactly the particles enter the brain. Researchers believe that micro- and nanoplastics may enter the body through eating, drinking, and breathing. These particles have been found in various parts of the body, including arteries, hearts, lungs, blood, and placentas. A study published on Jan. 30 found plastic pollution to be significantly higher in placentas from premature births. One possible reason for the buildup, according to Garcia, is that organs like the liver and kidneys are designed to filter toxins, while the brain has more limited clearance systems. Another theory is that brain tissue, which is about 60 percent fat, may better “trap” plastic particles.

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MTV

 

 

Solstices

 

 

Bik&smol

 

 

Peg leg

 

 

Elephant
https://twitter.com/i/status/1887480828810133504

 

 

Team

 

 

@AINTGOTTADOLLAR

 

 

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Feb 052025
 
 February 5, 2025  Posted by at 11:06 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  123 Responses »


Pablo Picasso Girl with a Mandolin (Fanny Tellier) 1910

 

US Will ‘Take Over’ Gaza – Trump (RT)
Zelensky Says He’s Ready For Talks With Putin (RT)
The Dynamic Duo Have the Dems on the Run (Green)
Elon Musk Is ‘Special Government Employee,’ White House Confirms (ET)
Audit USAID…Then Shut It Down! (Ron Paul)
“Rank Insubordination”: Rubio Says USAID Full Of Rogue Employees (ZH)
RFK Jr. Moves Closer To Becoming US Health Chief (RT)
DOJ Seeks Information on FBI Employees Who Investigated Jan. 6 (ET)
Dept. of Ed on the Chopping Block as Trump Readies Executive Order (Moran)
House Panel Asks PBS, NPR Chiefs to Testify on Alleged ‘Biased Content’ (ET)
NY AG Letitia James Defies Trump’s EO On “Gender Affirming Care” (AmG)
20,000 Government Workers Take Trump Buyout Offer As Mass Layoffs Loom (ZH)
Trump Attack On The Deep State Spectacular And Almost Certainly Legal (Widburg)
Biden Spent Billions Promoting Illegal Immigration – Musk (RT)
Merkel To Blame For The Rise Of The AfD: Former Austrian Chancellor Kurz (RMX)
UK Hoping To Buy Its Way Out Of Trump Tariffs (RT)
El Salvador Abandons Bitcoin Legal Tender Experiment (RT)
Trump’s Withdrawal From the Paris Agreement Won’t Hurt the Climate (RCW)

 

 

 

 

Benz Glenn

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY

Leavitt

Raskin

 

 

 

 

McCain

McCabe

80%

Vivek

 

 

“Ukraine is not losing, but the front is moving in the wrong direction”
Mark Rutte

 

 

 

 

Force 2 million people from their homeland and turn it into a playground for the rich. As Tacitus said: “they make a desert and call it peace”. Not Trump’s finest idea. “Jordan and Egypt should take them”. “But they don’t want to..” “Oh well, we’ll give them money”. “It’s not about money, it’s about homeland”.

US Will ‘Take Over’ Gaza – Trump (RT)

US President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will assume control over the Gaza Strip, vowing to rebuild the war-torn enclave and create economic opportunities for its future residents. When asked whether US troops would be deployed to Gaza, Trump vowed to “do what is necessary.” Trump made the remarks on Tuesday following his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. The US president reiterated his view that Palestinians should be permanently resettled elsewhere, adding that the US would “take over” Gaza and lead efforts to clear the destruction left by 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas.“The US will take over the Gaza Strip. And we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” Trump said, promising to “level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings.”

Asked to clarify what exactly he meant by a “takeover,” the US leader said he envisions a “long-term ownership position” that would supposedly bring “great stability” to the entire Middle East. “Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing it, and creating thousands of jobs,” Trump claimed. Trump also said he is not ruling out deploying US troops to support his Gaza development plan. “We’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that. We’re going to take over that place,” he said. Approximately 92% of homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or severely damaged, and around 1.9 million people – more than 90% of Gaza’s population – have been displaced since the war broke out in October 2023, according to the UN. Trump, a former real estate mogul, has repeatedly referred to Gaza as a “demolition site” in recent weeks.

When asked who would populate Gaza once the US “takes over” and redevelops it, and whether the Palestinian people would be able to return, Trump responded: “I envision… the world’s people living there. I think the potential in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable. And I think the entire world, representatives from all over the world, will be there and they’ll live there… Palestinians also,” he said. “I don’t want to be a wise guy. But the Riviera of the Middle East – this could be so magnificent.”

Bibi

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Trump appears to do better at home than abroad. Gaza is a mess, and so is Kiev. Putin will not talk to Zelensky: “..when the current head of the regime – that’s the only way to call [Zelensky] today – signed this decree, he was a somewhat legitimate president. But now he can’t cancel it because he is illegitimate. That’s the trick, the catch, the trap..”

Trump also wants Ukraine to pay the US in rare earths. But those are all in the Lugansk and Donetsk areas, i.e. parts of Russia.

Zelensky Says He’s Ready For Talks With Putin (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has expressed his willingness to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin if it is the only way to bring the Ukraine conflict to an end. He made the remarks during an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, with excerpts published on Tuesday. Asked if he is prepared to meet with the Russian president, Zelensky indicated that he is.“If that is the only setup in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, definitely we will go for this setup, for this meeting,” he said. “What is my attitude to him [Putin]? I will not be kind to him and I… consider him an enemy. And to be honest, I believe he considers me an enemy as well,” he said.

The remarks appear to reflect a shift in Zelensky’s stance. He has refused to negotiate with Putin in the past and even signed a decree banning any negotiations with Moscow, and Putin specifically. Last month, Zelensky said the ban applies to all Ukrainian officials except himself, while the original 2022 decree only stated that negotiations are “impossible” without specifying any individuals or entities prohibited from engaging in them. Last week, Putin reiterated Moscow’s position that Zelensky lacks the legitimacy to sign agreements, given that his presidential term expired in May 2024 and no constitutional mechanism exists to extend it. However, the Russian president said he is willing to send negotiators to talk to Zelensky if he is open to discussions.

“It’s possible to negotiate with anyone. However, due to his illegitimacy, [Zelensky] has no right to sign anything. If he wishes to participate in talks, I will deploy people who will conduct such negotiations,” Putin stated.The Ukrainian decree banning negotiations with Russia remains an obstacle to meaningful talks between Kiev and Moscow, Putin said. He pledged to deploy a team of legal experts to assess the authority of any Ukrainian negotiating team and determine whether they have the proper legal standing to sign an agreement. “If we start negotiations now, they will be illegitimate… Because when the current head of the regime – that’s the only way to call [Zelensky] today – signed this decree, he was a somewhat legitimate president. But now he can’t cancel it because he is illegitimate. That’s the trick, the catch, the trap,” Putin explained.

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“This is the one shot the American people have to defeat BUREAUcracy, rule of the bureaucrats, and restore DEMOcracy, rule of the people. We’re never going to get another chance like this.”

The Dynamic Duo Have the Dems on the Run (Green)

“Get ’em skeered and keep the skeer on ’em,” was Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s timeless advice about combat. President Donald Trump is a Yankee and Elon Musk is an awkward super-genius immigrant but I swear those two have been reading up on their Confederate history. No, I’m not suggesting they’re going to “put y’all back in chains.” What do you think I am, a Democrat? [shudder] When your enemy is scared, don’t give him a moment to recover his wits. When he’s on the ground, don’t let him up. When he flees, pursue him. Because sometimes a simple win isn’t enough. Trump and Musk have the Democrats scared, and every indication is they mean to keep them scared. And Another Thing: I used to refer to Democrats as opponents. But after years of being treated like their enemy, it’s time to return the favor.

The panic set in over the weekend when Musk and his DOGE boys — more on them momentarily — showed up at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) like they owned the place. Correction: they showed up like we, the taxpayers, own the place. Which we do, by the way. It’s just been a long time since our civil servants had a good reminder of the “servant” half of their positions. By Monday, they were desperately flailing.

“Congress must take action to restore the rule of law,” he whined. You just want to grab Schumer by the lapels and give him a good shake while reminding him, “You ARE in Congress, you ninny. Take it up with your coworkers, assuming they’ll listen to your pathetic excuse for a United States senator.” Musk responded to Schumer, “This is the one shot the American people have to defeat BUREAUcracy, rule of the bureaucrats, and restore DEMOcracy, rule of the people. We’re never going to get another chance like this.” And I’ve just got to know which 22-year-old know-nothing intern posted this face-palmer on behalf of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee yesterday.

It’s like the Dems are so all-in on their illegal alien invasion that they no longer know the difference between a naturalized citizen and a foreigner. There are a great many examples of waste with which I’ve already amused you these last few days but I think Stephen Miller summed up best what’s wrong with USAID.

THIS is what they’re panicked about losing. Not because anybody gives a damn about condoms for Gaza or establishing DEI in Serbian elementary schools, but because of the skim they’ll miss out on. Think of Democrats as mobsters who get their beaks wet on every transaction. Intelligencer’s Ed Kilgore collected his wits enough to very calmly shriek about “Trump and his underlings” doing things “that rely on exotic and dangerous theories of imperial presidential powers that Richard Nixon could have only dreamed of possessing.” Refusing to release grants (that were never explicitly authorized by Congress) to Deep State cronies is imperial, you see. Anyway, Kilgore’s genius #Resist plan goes thusly: There is a steadily increasing possibility that the Trump offensive could go so far and so fast that congressional Democrats are tempted essentially to go on strike when it comes to actions where they do actually have some leverage.

These include an upcoming effort to keep the federal government operating when the stopgap spending authority enacted in December runs out on March 14. So they’re going to stop us from shutting down wasteful government by shutting down even more wasteful government? Oh, please don’t throw me in that briar patch! More seriously, Kilgore writes that “the emerging idea may be for congressional Democrats to insist that before they provide a single vote that Republicans need, Elon Musk and Russell Vought (the OMB director nominee widely thought to be behind the funding freeze) must be put on a leash.”There are the chains again. It always comes down to those for Dems, doesn’t it?

Wait until the news sinks in that Trump is serious about radically downsizing the Department of Education. That’s another one of the Left’s Holiest of Holies that exists for the sacred purposes of funneling money to favored Democrat constituencies while indoctrinating children. It isn’t all fun and games, sadly. The Left doxxed at least one of the young computer geniuses Musk brought with him to OPM to untangle the spilled spaghetti mess of slush-fund spending at USAID and other agencies. There were two assassination attempts on Trump last year, so there’s no doubt in my mind the Left won’t happily trigger some other nut into taking a shot or two at one of Musk’s whiz kids. “In a mature society,” Robert Heinlein’s (literally) timeless character Lazarus Long observed, “’civil servant’ is semantically equal to ‘civil master.'” Well, I’m not feeling all that mature right now. How about you?

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“Special government employees are appointed for no more than 130 days.”

Elon Musk Is ‘Special Government Employee,’ White House Confirms (ET)

The White House on Monday confirmed that Space X and Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk is considered a “special government employee” under the Trump administration amid questions about his work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Speaking to reporters at the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Musk’s federal status and added, “I can also confirm that he has abided by all applicable federal laws.” Leavitt was also asked about Musk’s security clearance. She said she didn’t know but would check on it. The designation allows Musk, the world’s richest person, to work for the federal government and potentially avoid disclosure rules regarding possible conflicts of interest and finances that generally apply to other government staff.

Special government employees are appointed for no more than 130 days. President Donald Trump said that Musk “can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval, and we’ll give him the approval where appropriate; where not appropriate, we won’t.” “He reports in … but he does have a good natural instinct,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. The Republican president also downplayed complaints about Musk’s alleged conflict of interests, saying, “Where we think there’s a conflict or there’s a problem, we won’t let him go near it, but he has some very good ideas.” One of the most significant steps was DOGE gaining access to the U.S. Treasury payment system, which is responsible for 1 billion payments per year totaling $5 trillion. It includes sensitive information involving bank accounts and Social Security payments.

It’s unclear what Musk wants to do with the payment system. He has said that he could trim $1 trillion from the federal deficit “just by addressing waste, fraud and abuse.” Democratic lawmakers have decried what they characterize as an unelected billionaire amassing too much power over the federal government. “That’s the biggest data hack ever in the world,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) told reporters in Madison, Wisconsin. “I am outraged about it,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Capitol Hill, adding that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent must revoke Musk’s access to the payment system. “We must halt this unlawful and dangerous power grab.” In a post on the Musk-owned social media platform X, Schumer said that DOGE isn’t “a real government agency” and lacks authority to make spending decisions or to shut down programs.

In response, Musk wrote on X on Tuesday morning that Schumer’s reaction is “hysterical” and that DOGE “is doing work that really matters.” He framed DOGE’s mission in existential terms. “This is the one shot the American people have to defeat BUREAUcracy, rule of the bureaucrats, and restore DEMOcracy, rule of the people,” Musk wrote. “We’re never going to get another chance like this.” Meanwhile, a group representing retirees and union workers sued Bessent and the U.S. Treasury Department on Monday in a bid to get them to stop sharing personal and financial information with DOGE.

“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is massive and unprecedented,” the groups wrote in their complaint, filed in the District of Columbia federal court. Aside from the Treasury Department, Musk and Trump have set their sights on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with both saying that the organization has been led by radicals and needs to be dissolved. On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that he is now the acting director of USAID. He said the agency lacked accountability and that its staff did not follow orders.

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“..the “news” from Ukraine is being written by US government-backed media outlets and then picked up by US and other western media.”

Audit USAID…Then Shut It Down! (Ron Paul)

As of this writing, when you attempt to access the US Agency for International Development (USAID) website or social media pages you are informed that, “This site can’t be reached.” The media reports that the new Trump Administration has not only frozen USAID activities but may be planning on bringing it back under control of the US State Department. Other reports, including statements by Elon Musk, suggest If true, the closing of USAID may be one of the most significant changes President Trump has made among many dramatic actions in his first couple of weeks in office. Many Americans may still have the idea that USAID is a government agency delivering relief at disaster sites overseas. They may still remember the bags of rice or grain with the USAID logo on them. But that is not USAID.

USAID is a key component of the US government’s “regime change” operations worldwide. USAID spends billions of dollars every year propping up “NGOs” overseas that function as shadow governments, eating away at elected governments that the US interventionists want to overthrow. Behind most US foreign policy disasters overseas you will see the fingerprints of USAID. From Ukraine to Georgia and far beyond, USAID is meddling in the internal affairs of foreign countries – something that would infuriate Americans if it was happening to us. When President Trump ordered a 90 day pause in USAID activities, we quickly learned just how pernicious the agency really is. The US media reported that Ukrainian press outlets were scrambling to keep their doors open when the US dollars stopped flowing. It is reported that 90 percent of the media outlets are funded by the US government!

This means that there is virtually no independent media in Ukraine, only fake news outlets willing to toe the US Administration’s propaganda line. Does anyone think these wholly US-funded “news” outlets would ever publish a story that the US government did not want published? This is plainly immoral, but it is also dangerous. Most US mainstream media stories about Ukraine have their origins in the “reporting” of the local media. From battlefield news to casualties to the state of the Ukrainian military, the “news” from Ukraine is being written by US government-backed media outlets and then picked up by US and other western media. It is a closed propaganda loop that not only propagandizes the US citizen but also feeds false information into US government outlets – such as Congress – that rely on mainstream US media reporting for their news on Ukraine.

No wonder so many in Washington continue to support this hopeless war! But USAID is not just in the business of disinformation. Elon Musk recently re-posted a New York Post article on X reporting that USAID funneled $53 million to EcoHealth Alliance to support gain-of-function research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan lab! Did USAID help fund COVID? Americans have a right to know. In natural catastrophes overseas Americans have shown themselves to be extremely generous. Private volunteer assistance organizations can more effectively assist victims of disasters worldwide. USAID needs a full and transparent audit. Americans deserve to know exactly what is being done in their name overseas. Then the agency needs to be shuttered completely, and its employees sent home. That would go a long way toward making America great again.

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“..their basic attitude is, ‘We don’t work for anyone, we work for ourselves, no agency of government can tell us what to do.”

“Rank Insubordination”: Rubio Says USAID Full Of Rogue Employees (ZH)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for what he called “rank insubordination,” and is full of rogue employees who do whatever the hell they want. “Well, that was always the goal was to reform it, but now we have rank insubordination,” Rubio told Fox News, in comments just one day after President Trump announced that Rubio would serve as the acting head of USAID – which itself came after Elon Musk’s DOGE team descended upon the agency and revealed that “USAID is a ball of worms. There is no apple. And when there is no apple you just need to get rid of the whole thing. That’s why it’s got to go. It’s beyond repair.” According to Rubio, “Now we have basically an active effort — their basic attitude is, ‘We don’t work for anyone, we work for ourselves, no agency of government can tell us what to do.”

“So the president made me the acting administrator,” he added. “I’ve delegated that power to someone who is there full-time, and we’re going to go through the same process at USAID as we’re going through now at the State Department.” According to Rubio, USAID has lost its focus and abandoned the “national interest” – telling Fox: “They have basically evolved into an agency that believes that they’re not even a U.S. government agency, that they are out — they’re a global charity, that they take the taxpayer money, and they spend it as a global charity irrespective of whether it is in the national interest or not in the national interest.”

“One of the most common complaints you will get if you go to embassies around the world from State Department officials and ambassadors and the like is USAID is not only not cooperative — they undermine the work that we’re doing in that country, they are supporting programs that upset the host government for whom we’re trying to work with on a broader scale, and so forth,” Rubio added. On Monday, deep state crusaders Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) staged a dramatic protest outside the USAID headquarters, with Omar suggesting that Trump’s move to fold the agency into the State Department was “what the beginning of dictatorship looks like!” – and Raskin suggesting that Elon Musk had “illegally seized power over the financial payment systems of the United States Department of Treasury,” adding “Elon Musk, you didn’t create USAID,” and that Musk “doesn’t have the power to destroy it.”

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Tulsi, too, is one final round of votes away from being confirmed.

RFK Jr. Moves Closer To Becoming US Health Chief (RT)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has moved closer to becoming the US secretary of health and human services after the Senate Finance Committee voted 14-13 to approve his nomination, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed. Kennedy, 71, an environmental lawyer and well-known vaccine skeptic, faced rigorous questioning during his confirmation hearings. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician and chairman of the Senate Health Committee, had initially expressed reservations about Kennedy’s stance on vaccines. However, Cassidy ultimately voted in favor after receiving assurances from Kennedy and the administration of their “commitment to protecting the public health benefit of vaccination.”

Democrats, led by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, strongly opposed the nomination, citing concerns over Kennedy’s views. Wyden warned that Kennedy’s leadership could erode public trust in vaccines and public health initiatives. “Mr. Kennedy has given us no reason to believe he will be anything other than a rubber stamp for plans to cut Medicaid and rip health care away from the American people,” Wyden stated. The full Senate, where Republicans currently hold a majority, is expected to vote on Kennedy’s nomination in the coming days or next week. A simple majority is required for confirmation.

US President Donald Trump nominated Kennedy shortly after winning reelection in November last year. If confirmed, Kennedy will oversee a vast budget and key agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other sub-agencies.Shortly before the committee’s vote, Trump endorsed his nominee in a post on Truth Social. “Twenty years ago, autism in children was 1 in 10,000. NOW IT’S 1 in 34. WOW! Something’s really wrong. We need BOBBY!!! Thank You! DJT,” the president wrote. Kennedy is the son of former US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He was a vocal critic of the Covid-19 response measures recommended by the World Health Organization, including the strict lockdowns and rapid rollout of vaccines.

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Zerohedge: “Update (1615ET): DOGE is at it again – kicking down the doors of FBI headquarters to obtain the names of roughly 5,000 agents who worked on Jan. 6 cases. This comes after the agency withheld specifics on those involved, such as their names. Officials working for Elon Musk’s DOGE were spotted by CNN entering FBI headquarters on Tuesday to collect the information.

DOJ Seeks Information on FBI Employees Who Investigated Jan. 6 (ET)

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has asked for the names of thousands of FBI employees who worked on investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove in a Jan. 31 missive to Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll directed the FBI to provide the names of all bureau personnel who investigated Jan. 6 and an unrelated terrorism case, Senate Democrats said in a Feb. 3 letter. Driscoll told FBI workers in a separate message to the FBI workforce that the request encompasses thousands of employees across the country, including himself, “who have supported these investigative efforts.” Bove warned that “additional personnel actions” could follow, Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said. [..] An FBI spokesperson confirmed that Bove has requested information about FBI personnel.

“The FBI is currently working to respond to a request for information from the Acting Deputy Attorney General about current and former FBI personnel assigned to certain investigations or prosecutions, including the events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” the spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. “The FBI will work within the law and policy to respond to official requests for information from the Department of Justice. To be clear, the FBI does not view anyone’s identification on one of these lists as an indicator of misconduct,” the bureau added. Ed Martin, interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, previously launched an investigation into why federal prosecutors brought a felony obstruction charge against hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants. Trump, after taking office, pardoned many people who had been charged over Jan. 6.

The new request for information comes after acting Department of Justice leadership terminated officials, including prosecutors involved in prosecuting Trump before he was elected, and six FBI executive assistant directors. “I do not believe the current leadership of the Justice Department can trust these FBI employees to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully,” Bove stated in his letter to Driscoll, Senate Democrats said. Durbin and the other senators told Acting Attorney General James McHenry and Driscoll that the terminations, and reassignments that have also taken place, “deprive DOJ and the FBI of experienced, senior leadership and decades of experience fighting violent crime, espionage, and terrorism.” They asked for details about the actions.

Leaders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association told members of Congress on Feb. 3 that the Department of Justice’s actions are threatening the jobs of thousands of FBI agents and “risk disrupting the bureau’s essential work.” “Any review of Special Agents should follow established disciplinary procedures that provide the necessary due process and transparency to our nation’s law enforcement officers,” the group said. McHenry and Driscoll are serving in acting positions as the Senate considers the nominations of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel to become, respectively, the attorney general and FBI director. Patel said during his confirmation hearing that he would not act against FBI employees solely due to their work on probes into Trump. “All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution,” he said. “I will not politicize that office,“ Bondi said during her confirmation hearing. ”I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation.”

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“Congress isn’t going to get rid of the Education Department. There simply aren’t the votes, as many Republicans have shown in the past that shuttering the Education Department is a bridge too far.”

Dept. of Ed on the Chopping Block as Trump Readies Executive Order (Moran)

Donald Trump has ordered a plan to shutter the U.S. Department of Education and transfer its programs to the states, giving Congress a roadmap on how to accomplish that. This is a long-term project with no certainty of success. While the Education Department has many enemies, it also has many friends in both parties. With an FY 2025 budget of $82.5 billion, there’s plenty of cash to spread around. That $82.5 billion is in addition to the $276 billion spent to help K-12 students “catch up” after the pandemic. The government called that program “The Education Stabilization Fund.” The truth is, it didn’t stabilize anything. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is often called “The Nation’s Report Card” because it’s administered to so many students.

The results from the 2024 NAEP test reveal the total failure of our Education Department. “The percentage of eighth graders who have ‘below basic’ reading skills according to NAEP was the largest it has been in the exam’s three-decade history — 33 percent,” reports the New York Times. “The percentage of fourth graders at “below basic” was the largest in 20 years, at 40 percent.” The teachers won’t take responsibility for that disaster. The Education Department isn’t either, despite creating programs they claimed would help kids “catch up.”

ABC News: “Closing down the department would be an extraordinary move that would help Trump inch closer to fulfilling the promise that he made for months on the campaign trail: dismantling it and sending education policy back to the states. But any executive action is likely to ask for a plan to shut down the department, but not an immediate directive to shut down the department, sources told ABC News. It’s also unclear how the next education secretary would handle plans to close the department and reallocate its functions. Trump’s education secretary choice Linda McMahon has not yet had a Senate confirmation hearing. A bill in the Senate to shutter the department would likely fail without a two-thirds majority vote.”

Without a semi-orderly transfer of responsibilities from federal to state agencies, chaos will ensue. That’s why the Trump administration will begin the process by moving carefully. The planned executive order would “shut down all functions of the agency that aren’t written explicitly into statute or move certain functions to other departments,” according to the Wall Street Journal.” “Fully abolishing the department would require an act of Congress, and lawmakers have for years shown little interest in doing so. Trump unsuccessfully tried to merge the education and labor departments in his first term. Last week, Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) introduced a bill to abolish the Education Department by the end of 2026. “Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,” Massie said. “States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students.”

I liken attempts to get rid of the Education Department to trying to get rid of Obamacare. Both of those huge entities have embedded themselves into every nook and cranny of American life. It’s not just a question of declaring them dead or repealed. Both Obamacare and federal education programs are a part of the DNA of many communities, and the chaos that would ensue by getting rid of either of those programs would cause enormous pain to some of the most vulnerable citizens. Congress isn’t going to get rid of the Education Department. There simply aren’t the votes, as many Republicans have shown in the past that shuttering the Education Department is a bridge too far. But if Trump and Elon Musk are able to shrink the Department of Education, curtailing many of its programs, the administration should consider it a victory.

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“Greene pointed to NPR’s refusal to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story because “we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions..”

House Panel Asks PBS, NPR Chiefs to Testify on Alleged ‘Biased Content’ (ET)

The heads of the taxpayer-funded Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) are being asked to testify at a congressional hearing on allegations of “blatantly ideological and partisan” coverage. In a Feb. 3 letter to PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), chairwoman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s (HOAC) Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), cited as an example of such coverage PBS reporting that characterized a recent gesture by Elon Musk as a “Nazi salute.” Musk vigorously denied the allegation and Greene pointed to the Anti-Defamation League’s statement that said Musk “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute.”

Greene told Kerger that “this sort of bias betrays the principles of objective reporting and undermines public trust. As an organization that receives federal funds through its member stations, PBS should provide reporting that serves the entire public, not just a narrow slice of like-minded individuals and ideological interest groups.” In response, a PBS spokesman released a statement to The Epoch Times saying the outlet is “grateful to have bipartisan support in Congress, and our country. We’ve earned this support from decades of noncommercial and nonpartisan work in local communities: providing all Americans with content they trust.” The statement continued, saying PBS is committed to offering “a broad range of stories and programs that help citizens understand our past and shape our future; and helping children and families open up worlds of possibilities through educational programming.”

In a similar Feb. 3 letter to NPR President and Chief Executive Officer Katherine Maher, Greene pointed to NPR’s refusal to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story because “we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions” as evidence of unacceptable bias in federally funded news coverage. An NPR spokesman released the following statement to The Epoch Times concerning the hearing: “Since its inception, NPR has collaborated with local nonprofit public media organizations to fill critical needs for news and information in America’s communities. We constantly strive to hold ourselves to the highest standards of journalism. … We welcome the opportunity to discuss the critical role of public media in delivering impartial, fact-based news and reporting to the American public.”

Greene offered the two media executives two alternative dates in March for the hearing. A subcommittee spokesman told The Epoch Times the date has not been set. In addition to the Musk and Hunter Biden laptop incidents, Greene said the forthcoming hearing was prompted in great part by the publication in 2024 of an exposé by former NPR senior editor Uri Berliner. Berliner criticized the organization for “only serving a liberal leaning audience and for failing to properly report major news stories—including Hunter Biden’s laptop, COVID-19 origins, and the Russian collusion hoax,” Greene said in a separate statement announcing the hearing.

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“..pausing so-called “gender-affirming care” for gender-confused minors violates state law.”

NY AG Letitia James Defies Trump’s EO On “Gender Affirming Care” (AmG)

In open defiance of President Trump’s January 28 executive order to “protect children from chemical and surgical mutilation,” New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday warned hospitals that pausing so-called “gender-affirming care” for gender-confused minors violates state law.

Trump specified in his executive order that the term “child” or “children” referred to individuals under 19 years of age, and the phrase “chemical and surgical mutilation” meant “the use of puberty blockers, including GnRH agonists and other interventions, to delay the onset or progression of normally timed puberty in an individual who does not identify as his or her sex; the use of sex hormones, such as androgen blockers, estrogen, progesterone, or testosterone, to align an individual’s physical appearance with an identity that differs from his or her sex; and surgical procedures that attempt to transform an individual’s physical appearance to align with an identity that differs from his or her sex or that attempt to alter or remove an individual’s sexual organs to minimize or destroy their natural biological functions.”

The EO notes that the above procedures are often referred to as “gender affirming care.”“Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding,” the EO states. “Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.” The EO continues: “Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called “transition” of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”

James stated in a letter to health care providers and organizations that receive federal funds that denying such “care” to children in New York violates state laws that protect against discrimination based on sex and gender identity. “Regardless of the availability of federal funding, we write to further remind you of your obligations to comply with New York State laws,” the letter states. “Electing to refuse services to a class of individuals based on their protected status, such as withholding the availability of services from transgender individuals based on their gender identity or their diagnosis of gender dysphoria, while offering such services to cisgender individuals, is discrimination under New York law.”

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1%. Not the same as Twitter yet..

20,000 Government Workers Take Trump Buyout Offer As Mass Layoffs Loom (ZH)

Approximately 20,000 federal workers, or around 1% of the federal workforce, have accepted the Trump administration’s “buyout” offer before Thursday’s deadline, Axios reports, citing a senior administration official. The offer allows federal employees to stop working immediately and continue to be paid through Sept. 30. And with the door open for another 48 hours, the White House expects more to take the offer. “We expect more to come. If you see what’s happening at USAID, it’s just one piece of the puzzle,” said the official, referring to the federal agency which oversees foreign aid programs full of rogue employees that were funding all sorts of woke, anti-American projects around the world.

The buyout offer has faced heavy opposition from unions and other organizations, which argue that the offer is illegal, there’s no guarantee people will actually get paid (lol), and it’s something that Congress would need to authorize. The Trump admin rejects those assertions, and says it’s following through on its promise to restructure the federal government. Last week, the administration sent out a memo offering to pay all federal workers an 8-month severance through Sept. 30.The official further stated that the administration is still trying to implement a hiring freeze, which has proven more difficult than expected as some agencies continue to hire new workers. According to the report, the normal attrition rate within the federal workforce is around 6% per year, suggesting that some of those who have taken the buyout offer were planning to leave government service anyway.

According to the Washington Post, the assistant commissioner of a division of the General Services Administration told staff early this week that mass layoffs across the federal government are “likely” after the ‘buyout’ offer expires Thursday. “Please know that I empathize with the tough decisions you each are having to make,” wrote Erv Koehler, assistant commissioner of general supplies and services at GSA, in an email obtained by the Post. “Please focus on making the best decision for you and your particular situation.” According to Koehler’s email, GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service “is being asked” to cut its program by 50%, which reflects the agency’s goal to half the size of its staff.

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“President Trump has appointed DOGE and Elon Musk to act as his agents when it comes to reasserting executive control over government agencies. Agents acting within the scope of their assigned agency have the same authority as the principal.”

Trump Attack On The Deep State Spectacular And Almost Certainly Legal (Widburg)

In the last few days, Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”) has effectively put an end to USAID, gelded the General Services Administration (GSA) tech division, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Treasury, and fired corrupt people in the FBI—and that’s just the short list. With the war on USAID, GSA, OPM, and the Treasury alone, DOGE is saving taxpayers at a rate of one billion per day. All of this has driven the Democrats into a frenzy as they insist that an elected president managing the government is a coup. Unfortunately for them (but not for us), they don’t have a legal leg to stand on.

President Kennedy founded USAID via Executive Order 10973 in November 1961: “Administration of Foreign Assistance and Related Functions.” It was meant to be a permanent clearing house that would work with the State Department to distribute money intended to help advance technology and financial competence in low-income countries. It reflected the fact that, in 1961, the U.S. was still the last country standing after WWII. The vision was to benefit America by fortifying poor countries against Soviet depredation. USAID has strayed far from that mandate. [..]Elon Musk revealed that the Treasury Department was cutting checks to terrorist organizations and known fraudsters. And, of course, Trump fired all the FBI agents involved in the war against those of Trump’s supporters who showed up at the Capitol on January 6. The Acting FBI Director fought back, which leads to the point of this article: It’s almost certain that none of these people has a legal leg to stand on, whether it comes to the way Trump has stopped the money flow or the firings.

First, Trump’s refusal to fund corrupt agencies: Since 1801, under the aegis of Thomas Jefferson, presidents have had a power known as impoundment. This means the president gets to decide how to spend—or not spend—money that Congress has allocated. In other words, the generation that ratified the Constitution believed that this was an appropriate exercise of executive power. However, in 1974, in yet another piece of Watergate fallout, Congress enacted the “Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974,” which says that the president must submit to Congress his plans not to spend money. Given the history of impoundment (the ratifying generation approved of it), it’s highly unlikely that this act is constitutional. The fact that no president has yet challenged it doesn’t change this reality.

Additionally, because Trump has a majority in Congress, if he were to submit his impoundment plan, the greater likelihood is that it would give him a pass. (RINOs would have a hard time explaining to voters why they want America to pay for “trans” comic books in Peru.) Second, Trump’s ability to fire employees: [..] In 1789, the First Congress debated whether the Constitution gives the president the unilateral power to remove Executive Branch officers. Ultimately, Congress simply said that when the president fires someone (a tacit acknowledgment that he has that unilateral power), a lower-level employee must take custody of records until a new officer is appointed. That debate has led the Supreme Court to hold several times that Congress has no direct role in firing officials. [..]

There was a fight over this power when Andrew Johnson attempted to fire an Executive Branch officer whom Lincoln had appointed, violating the Tenure of Office Act, and leading to Johnson’s impeachment. However, the Senate did not convict Johnson, and by 1887, Congress repealed any requirement that the Senate approve firings. When the 19th century ended, the president’s unilateral power to fire officers was unquestioned. This makes sense because if the Founders had wanted to extend the “advice and consent” power to firings, they could have done so. This standard continued through the 1920s. Things changed in the 1930s when an activist Supreme Court created a new standard, which has affected (or infected) the government to this day: It held that if Congress designates an agency as “independent,” Congress, not the president, has the power over dismissal, with the president as its agent.

This was the go-ahead to create a fourth branch of government that is neither legislative, executive, nor judicial, although, as we’ve repeatedly seen, these “independent” agencies all claim those powers. The big issue of our day is whether these “independent” agencies are constitutional—I say they’re not because they are not one of the three branches of government established under the Constitution. Thankfully, the Supreme Court has, of late, been pulling back from the 1930s template. Here’s another legal concept: “The greater includes the lesser.” In this case, it means that if the president has the power to fire officials, he has the power to fire lesser employees working under those officials.

And one last legal concept: President Trump has appointed DOGE and Elon Musk to act as his agents when it comes to reasserting executive control over government agencies. Agents acting within the scope of their assigned agency have the same authority as the principal. I’m confident that President Trump is acting entirely within the authority the Founding Fathers and ratifiers of our Constitution intended him to have. However, we know that these issues will end up before the Court and, perhaps, before Congress. I’m hopeful that, as President Trump and DOGE expose an escalating amount of government fraud, abuse, and waste, despite the escalating Democrat pushback, Congress and the Courts will understand that they will not have the American people at their backs if they strike down his legitimate use of constitutional power.

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“..billions of dollars were shifted from helping Americans in need to facilitating illegal immigration. Super messed up!”

Biden Spent Billions Promoting Illegal Immigration – Musk (RT)

Elon Musk has accused the administration of former US President Joe Biden of redirecting billions of dollars in taxpayer funds away from assisting Americans in need and instead using them to support undocumented migrants. The entrepreneur is a close ally of current US President Donald Trump and leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an organization responsible for reducing wasteful government spending. Musk has been vocal about the economic impact of illegal immigration, often criticizing government spending on social services for people in the country illegally. He has claimed that federal policies have incentivized unlawful border crossings while placing a significant financial burden on US citizens.

“Under the Biden administration, billions of dollars were shifted from helping Americans in need to facilitating illegal immigration. Super messed up!” Musk stated in a post on X on Tuesday. He previously estimated that illegal immigration cost US taxpayers over $150 billion in 2023 alone, citing data from the Federation for American Immigration Reform. This figure includes expenditures on healthcare, education, and law enforcement. The Biden administration had defended its approach to immigration, asserting that it was balancing border enforcement with humanitarian obligations. The previous administration claimed having expanded legal pathways for migrants while deporting those who failed to meet asylum requirements.

However, critics such as Musk and many Republican leaders maintain that Biden’s policies have weakened border security, incentivized illegal crossings, and strained government resources. Musk has shown a growing interest in political and social issues, particularly immigration. In 2023, he personally visited Eagle Pass, Texas, to witness the conditions at the US-Mexico border and spoke with officials about the challenges posed by the migrant surge. Since then, he has advocated for stronger border controls and policy reforms to curb illegal immigration.

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Staying in power for 16 years is far too long. You kill off the next generation of leadership.

Merkel To Blame For The Rise Of The AfD: Former Austrian Chancellor Kurz (RMX)

Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has openly blamed his former German counterpart Angela Merkel for the rise of right-wing populism in Germany, arguing that her 2015 open-border migration policy directly fueled the Alternative for Germany (AfD). Kurz stated that without Merkel’s migration stance, the AfD would never have gained the support it currently enjoys. Speaking to Bild, Kurz defended the asylum policies advocated by CDU leader Friedrich Merz, particularly his call to reject all illegal migrants at Germany’s borders. “I don’t just think that is correct, but it is absolutely necessary,” Kurz said. “If you look at how large parts of Europe — including Germany and Austria — have changed due to uncontrolled migration, it is obvious that this development is not good.”

Kurz, who was Austria’s foreign minister during the 2015 migrant crisis, emphasized that migration policies require not just words but concrete actions. He expressed hope that a policy shift in Germany would serve as a model for the rest of Europe. “In 2015, I saw firsthand how the Welkomkultur — or ‘welcome culture’ — triggered a negative domino effect, encouraging more migrants to come to Europe,” he explained. “When we shut down the Balkan route, other countries followed, and we saw a reversal of the migration wave. The same is possible today. If Germany takes the lead, other European nations will follow.”

Earlier this week, the CDU sought in the German parliament to implement a stricter immigration and asylum policy, legislation that could only pass with support from the Alternative for Germany (AfD). The move led to violent protests from left-wing activists at the CDU party headquarters in Berlin, but Kurz dismissed controversy surrounding the AfD’s support, arguing that leaders should focus on implementing the right policy irrespective of political alliances. “A politician should do what is right and not constantly worry about who supports or opposes it,” Kurz stated. “That is what leadership means.”

The Austrian politician criticized conservative politicians who shy away from necessary policies out of fear of aligning with right-wing populists on certain issues. “In Germany, there is a fear that a policy could be supported by the AfD,” he said. “But you cannot intentionally do something wrong just to avoid being on the same voting side as the AfD.” He pushed back against criticism that his own coalition with the right-wing FPÖ from 2017-2019 helped legitimize populist movements, emphasizing that he had won two elections against the FPÖ as leader of the Christian-democratic Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), proving that the center-right can defeat right-wing populists by pursuing strong policies. “The right-wing parties are always strongest when conservative parties fail to implement their policies consistently,” Kurz warned.

After the left-wing parties took control of Austria, the FPÖ rallied to win last September’s elections as the largest party, and its leader Herbert Kickl is now in talks with the ÖVP to form a coalition. He is expected to become the FPÖ’s first-ever chancellor.Kurz argued that Merkel’s migration policies since 2015 were the main factor behind the AfD’s rise, saying: “Without the wrong migration policy since 2015, there would not be such a strong AfD in Germany. The failed migration policy is the guarantee that the AfD will continue to grow.” Kurz concluded with a stark warning to Germany’s political leadership, urging them to address citizens’ legitimate concerns about migration before they drive more voters to right-wing populist parties. “If you really want right-wing parties to grow without limits, then you should continue ignoring the legitimate concerns of a large part of the population,” Kurz said. “Otherwise, you will only push more people into the arms of these parties.”

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“..more liquefied natural gas (LNG) as well as F-35 fighter jets..”

UK Hoping To Buy Its Way Out Of Trump Tariffs (RT)

The UK government is considering purchasing more liquefied natural gas (LNG) as well as F-35 fighter jets from the US in the hope of averting punitive tariffs on British goods, Politico has reported. Tariffs were a prominent tool in US President Donald Trump’s repertoire during his first term in office, with the Republican using the same tactics after returning to the White House last month. In an article on Tuesday, Politico quoted an anonymous former UK Energy Department figure as predicting that London and Washington could seal a deal that grants the US an even bigger share of the British market. According to the media outlet, American LNG currently accounts for 26% of the UK’s energy imports.

Former UK Energy Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng told Politico that with dwindling North Sea offshore gas production, London would inevitably have to turn to foreign suppliers. “The US is the natural place to go,” the official said, adding that the “only other options are Qatar or Russia – and we’re not going to get it from there.” Citing an unnamed “defense industry figure,” the report claimed that the UK could also place more orders for US-made F-35 warplanes. The media outlet noted that the prospect of further purchases had been uncertain given London’s participation in the multinational Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) aimed at building a new fighter-jet. However, with Trump back in office, “everything [is] on the table,” another anonymous senior UK government figure told Politico.

Speaking to the BBC earlier this week, Trump claimed that while the “UK is out of line,” trade issues “can be worked out.” Last Saturday, Trump slapped 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, and 10% tariffs on goods from China, suggesting that the European Union could soon face similar measures. On Tuesday, however, Trump placed the decisions on hold for a month after Canada and Mexico agreed to beef up security along their respective borders with the US. Trump argued that the agreements with both neighbors would help “stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants into our country.”

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It’s not over. The IMF, in exchange for a $1.4 billion loan, insisted bitcoin acceptance should not be mandatory everywhere. We have questions.

El Salvador Abandons Bitcoin Legal Tender Experiment (RT)

El Salvador’s Congress has approved a reform revoking Bitcoin’s status as legal tender, in a reversal of the country’s landmark 2021 decision, according to media reports. The amendments to its Bitcoin law come after a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund, which requires that the acceptance of the cryptocurrency be made voluntary in the country. In 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt cryptocurrency as legal tender, officially recognizing Bitcoin alongside the US dollar, which had been the nation’s primary currency for two decades. The legislative changes passed on January 30 removed Bitcoin’s mandatory acceptance in El Salvador, making its use entirely voluntary. The reform was approved with 55 votes in favor and two against.

The amendments reportedly come after nearly two years of pressure from the IMF, which urged the country to mitigate Bitcoin-related financial risks in exchange for a $1.4 billion loan, which was agreed to in December, to stabilize the country’s struggling economy. The IMF specifically pushed for Bitcoin acceptance to be voluntary in the private sector, according to Reuters. The move marks a significant policy reversal for El Salvador, as President Nayib Bukele championed Bitcoin’s legal tender status as a way to boost financial inclusion, particularly for the unbanked population.

However, recent surveys show that 92% of Salvadorans have refrained from using Bitcoin since its official adoption, highlighting public skepticism toward the digital currency, despite government efforts. Although Bitcoin has lost its legal tender status, the government has recently indicated that it will continue buying the cryptocurrency to add to its reserves. Last year, Bukele slammed the US dollar, claiming it is backed by nothing, and that the US economy is based on the “farce” of printing unlimited amounts of money. He went on to predict that Western civilization will collapse when this bubble “inevitably bursts.”

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“Talk is cheap. What matters is success. On that metric, the Trump administration is set to actually achieve what Paris Agreement signatories only write on paper.”

Trump’s Withdrawal From the Paris Agreement Won’t Hurt the Climate (RCW)

President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement. Cue the leftwing meltdown. Though everyone knew the withdrawal was coming, the left and the “international community” are still decrying America’s alleged abdication of leadership on climate. But toothless agreements window dressed with international summits and photo ops are not the same as leadership. The truth is America has led the world in reducing emissions for years not because of the Paris Agreement, but because innovation and the free market facilitate the deployment of cheaper and cleaner energy. Let’s review the record. In recent decades, America has achieved unprecedented — and unexpected — energy production thanks to fracking and horizontal drilling. Since the early 2000s when these twin technologies began to be deployed much more expansively, U.S. natural gas production has more than doubled.

By 2016, hydraulically fractured gas wells accessed through horizontal drilling accounted for nearly 70% of all oil and natural gas wells. While the left may clutch its pearls at the increased production of a fossil fuel like natural gas, this clean energy source has been a main driver of U.S. emissions reductions. Over the past 15 years when America has massively increased natural gas output, the U.S. reduced carbon emissions more than any other country. We can see this year by year. For example, from 2022 to 2023, America offset dirtier coal energy generation with natural gas. As coal declined by 121.9 terawatt hours of electric generation over that time, natural gas increased by 118.9 terawatt hours. At the same time, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions declined 1.9%. Notably, 80% of the U.S. carbon emissions reductions were driven by the electric power sector — precisely where natural gas has an outsized impact.

Notice what didn’t cause those emissions reductions? The Paris Agreement. The American energy sector — powered by innovation and good-old-fashioned free market economics — has been driving down carbon emissions cheaply and effectively before the Paris Agreement was a twinkle in climate activists’ eyes. And it will continue to reduce carbon emissions long after President Trump’s decision to withdraw. The Paris Agreement is far from the panacea some activists claim it is. It isn’t even a particularly effective tool to rally nations toward greater climate success. In the middle of the allegedly climate-conscious Biden administration, none of the world’s biggest emitters — America included — had reduced their emissions in accordance with the Paris goals. Apparently, the $1 trillion regulatory and subsidy regime erected by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act had little bang for the buck.

What Agreement supporters forget is that no number of high-profile international accords can make command-control tactics work — or instill other nations with the ambition to fulfill their empty promises. The Paris Agreement is the definition of bureaucratic failure, conflating meetings, busyness, and lofty goals as success. Its only achievement is to make climate ideologues and green jetsetters feel good about themselves as they fly to international conferences. It’s no wonder President Trump withdrew. Talk is cheap. What matters is success. On that metric, the Trump administration is set to actually achieve what Paris Agreement signatories only write on paper.

Trump entered office promising to deregulate the fossil fuel industry, increase permitting for natural gas extraction, approve the construction of energy facilities like natural gas export terminals, and re-establish American energy dominance. By leaning into America’s carbon advantage and exporting clean American energy abroad, he will boost the U.S. economy, supplant dirty energy from nations like Russia and Venezuela with a clean American alternative, and lower emissions both at home and abroad, all without the jaw-dropping price tag of the failed Biden-era green agenda. We should combine these steps with efforts to actually hold the biggest polluters accountable (which are being discussed by President Trump’s cabinet). This approach would be the antithesis of the Paris Accords’ America-last strategy.

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Netflix

 

 

Salesman

 

 

Babysit

 

 

Bond

 

 

88 pounds

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Feb 042025
 
 February 4, 2025  Posted by at 11:11 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  64 Responses »


Jean Metzinger The blue bird 1912-13

 

Panama Caves to Trump. Are You Tired of Winning Yet? (Margolis)
US Halts Tariffs On Mexican Goods After ‘Very Friendly’ Talk (RT)
Trudeau Announces Tariff Deal With Trump (RT)
China Retaliates Against Trump Tariffs (RT)
Tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, Tyranny on America (Paul Craig Roberts)
Medvedev Warns That US Deep State Might Swallow Musk (ZH)
USAID Closes Headquarters (RT)
Musk: “USAID A Ball Of Worms, No Apple. Must Get Rid Of Whole Thing” (ZH)
USAID Absorbed Into State Department Under Rubio (ZH)
Ukraine Has Lost – Arestovich (RT)
NATO Plans To Oust Zelensky – Russian Intel (RT)
Ukraine Renews Efforts To Seize Russian Assets – WaPo (RT)
‘Shy Musk Voter’ Could Hand Victory to AfD (Sp.)
NYT Shock Poll Reveals the Complete Collapse of Democratic Party (Pinsker)
Pro-Russian Versus Anti-Russian Social Media (Helmer)
Last Rites (James Howard Kunstler)
Lawmakers Urge RFK Jr to Recuse Himself From All Vaccine-Related Decisions (ET)
What Tulsi Gabbard Should Have Said About Ed Snowden (Larry Johnson)

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1886487372583637368

Kash

Mike Benz knows USAID

Jennings

Bernie

USAID Power
https://twitter.com/i/status/1886327327497285779

FCC

 

 

 

 

The tariff stories keep on coming, and rapidly. I put them in chronological order:

Panama Caves to Trump. Are You Tired of Winning Yet? (Margolis)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Sunday, making it clear that the U.S. won’t tolerate China’s growing influence over the Panama Canal. “Secretary Rubio informed President Mulino and Minister Martínez-Acha that President Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal and represents a violation of the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal,” the State Department said in a statement. “Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the Treaty.”

The Associated Press had an interesting take on the situation: “The statement was unusually blunt in diplomatic terms, but in keeping with the tenor and tone Trump has set for foreign policy. Trump has been increasing pressure on Washington’s neighbors and allies, including the canal demand and announcing Saturday that he was imposing major tariffs on Canada and Mexico. That launched a trade war by prompting retaliation from those close allies. Mulino, meanwhile, called his talks with Rubio “respectful” and “positive” and said he did not “feel like there’s a real threat against the treaty and its validity.” The news had barely settled before another bombshell dropped: Panama has backed down.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino announced that after his meeting Rubio, his government will not renew its 2017 memorandum with China on the “Belt and Road Initiative.” He also stated that Panama will seek to terminate its agreements with the Chinese government ahead of their scheduled end dates in 2027 and 2028. “One important thing, which is a decision I made and communicated to you, is that the 2017 MoU on the Silk Road, the Bell and Road Initiative, will not be renewed by my government. That is the case,” Mulino said according to a translation of his remarks. “We are going to study the possibility of whether it can be finished earlier or not, but I think it is due for renewal in one or two years, because it is every three years. So that initiative that was signed when it was signed, at the time it was signed, will not be renewed by my government. I think “that this visit opens a path to build a new stage of relations.”

He continued, “That’s how I see it, that’s how I felt from Secretary Marco Rubio, and at the same time, we’re trying as much as possible to increase U.S. investments in Panama. I explained to him a series of infrastructure projects that the government has in its portfolio, in the hope that they’ll be aware of them and that when the time comes, the bidding process that will begin very soon will be done, so that they can get involved.” They’re not just refusing to renew their 2017 deal with China; they’re scrambling to cut ties ahead of schedule. China’s influence over the canal is coming to an end.

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“..she agreed to deploy 10,000 Mexican soldiers to the northern border. The troops will be “specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our country..”

US Halts Tariffs On Mexican Goods After ‘Very Friendly’ Talk (RT)

US President Donald Trump has announced that he is pausing the planned tariffs on Mexican imports for one month following a “very friendly” talk with his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. The announcement on Monday came two days after Trump imposed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, citing concerns over illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Levies of 10% were also imposed on Chinese imports. Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform that he had held a “very friendly conversation” with Sheinbaum, during which she agreed to deploy 10,000 Mexican soldiers to the northern border. The troops will be “specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our country,” Trump stated.

He added that the nations will engage in high-level negotiations led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for commerce secretary, from the US side. Sheinbaum confirmed the troop deployment in a post on X, highlighting a US commitment to curbing the “trafficking of high-powered weapons” into Mexico. She described the exchange as a “good conversation.” Over the weekend, tensions escalated when Trump accused Sheinbaum’s administration of an “intolerable alliance” with Mexican crime groups. Sheinbaum rejected the claim as “slanderous” and, in response, threatened retaliatory tariffs on US imports along with other measures to protect Mexico’s national interests.

The US and Mexico have a strong trade relationship, anchored by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaced NAFTA in 2020. The deal eliminated most tariffs and trade barriers among the three nations. Millions of cars sold in the US each year are assembled in Canada and Mexico, with 30-50% of their parts sourced from these countries. While the tariffs on Mexico have been put on hold, the US is proceeding with those on Canada and China. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau swiftly announced 25% retaliatory tariffs on American goods following Trump’s measures on Canadian imports. China has also vowed “corresponding countermeasures” and signaled plans to challenge Trump’s move at the WTO. The tariff pause helped stabilize Wall Street on Monday, with major indices paring earlier losses.

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Rapidly shrinking big words.

Trudeau Announces Tariff Deal With Trump (RT)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the United States will postpone the imposition of 25% tariffs on Canadian imports for at least 30 days, following discussions with US President Donald Trump. The agreement was reached after a phone call between the two leaders on Monday, during which Canada committed to strengthening border security. The announcement follows President Donald Trump’s decision on Saturday to sign executive orders imposing tariffs—25% on imports from Mexico and Canada and 10% on imports from China—citing concerns over illegal immigration and drug trafficking. ”Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together,” Trudeau stated in a post on X.

“Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan — reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology, and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl,” Trudeau added. As part of the deal, nearly 10,000 frontline personnel will be deployed to secure the border, according to the Canadian PM. Canada also announced new initiatives, including the appointment of a Fentanyl Czar, a government official responsible for coordinating efforts to combat the opioid crisis and prevent the trafficking of fentanyl. ”We will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, and launch a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl, and money laundering,” Trudeau stated. “I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl, and we will be backing it with $200 million.”

President Donald Trump expressed his satisfaction with the initial outcome of the agreement with Canada in a recent post on Truth Social, stating, “I am very pleased with this initial outcome, and the Tariffs announced on Saturday will be paused for a 30 day period to see whether or not a final Economic deal with Canada can be structured. FAIRNESS FOR ALL!” Earlier in the day, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reached a similar agreement with President Trump, agreeing to deploy 10,000 National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border to address fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration. In return, the US pledged to intensify efforts to stop weapon trafficking into Mexico. Markets experienced increased volatility with major stock indices and cryptocurrency valuations fluctuating, following in response to what has been described as a “Trump tariff tantrum” before recovering some of their losses after news broke of the deal with Mexico.

Trump has consistently emphasized tariffs as a key negotiation tool in trade discussions, both during his first term and following his re-election in 2024. Trump has not yet offered a 30-day delay for the new 10% tariffs on Chinese imports but told reporters on Monday that he anticipated discussions with China “probably over the next 24 hours.” On Sunday, Trump signaled that the European Union could be the next target for US tariffs, without specifying a timeline. In response, EU leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, emphasized their readiness to defend Europe’s interests and consider reciprocal measures if necessary.

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They’ll be talking imminently.

China Retaliates Against Trump Tariffs (RT)

China has announced new tariffs and trade restrictions, following a similar move by the administration of US President Donald Trump, which views competition against China as a key foreign policy point. Last week, Trump ordered additional 10% tariffs on all goods from China, saying he is using his emergency authority to fight a national emergency caused by drug trafficking and illegal immigration. In the same executive action, the president targeted Canada and Mexico. Both US neighbors have since offered concessions on border security to deflate the growing trade conflict. The Chinese government responded minutes after the new tariffs came into force on Tuesday. It included restrictions on certain American goods – a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas, and a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, and some vehicles.

Announcing its policy change, the Chinese Finance Ministry condemned Trump’s decision, saying it “seriously violates the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO)” and “undermines the normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the US.” Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry announced that China has filed a complaint over the US tariffs with the WTO. Beijing has also introduced a licensing regime for exports of products containing tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum, and indium. The measure will “safeguard national security and interests” the Commerce Ministry said, without specifically mentioning the US. The minerals are essential for advanced manufacturing.

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“The United States has become too disunited for Congress to perform its constitutional function..”[..] “The same thing happened to Rome when executive authority took precedence over the Roman Senate..”

Tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, Tyranny on America (Paul Craig Roberts)

The US will impose 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and 10 percent on China, the Trump White House said. The purpose of tariffs is to protect domestic manufacturers and their work forces. What American manufacturers and workers are being protected by Trump’s tariffs? So much of US manufacturing is located offshore, what purpose are the tariffs serving? The “tariffs” in reality are taxes imposed on imports of foreign produced goods, including the offshored production of US corporations of goods and services sold in the US. If the tariffs are paid by the consumer rather than by the US corporations that offshore their production for the American market, the effect will be to reduce the quantity demanded because of the higher price. How much this harms the offshore producers depends on whether their products are price elastic or inelastic. Some are one and some are the other.

This approach to bringing offshored US jobs back to America is incorrect. It demonstrates the economic ignorance of Trump and his advisors. Consider, for example, if US auto assembly relies on parts made in Canada, a 25% rise in parts cost could shutdown auto assembly and result in US unemployment. As best as I can tell, few auto parts are any longer produced in the US, so there is no industry to protect or to supply the parts that tariffs keep out. Before you can protect industries, you first must have them. Instead of tariffs, the income tax should be used. US Corporations that produce domestically using American labor–not H-1B and L-1 imported labor– should have a lower tax rate. US corporations that produce abroad with foreign labor goods and services sold in the US should have a higher tax rate.

The tax rate should be high enough to more than offset the lower labor and regulatory cost of producing abroad for American markets. The higher after-tax profits from producing at home would bring manufacturing and jobs back to America where they belong. A country that divorces the consumers of products from the incomes associated with their production, as jobs offshoring does, is stupid and incompetent beyond belief. No such country can possibly be made great again. Some people believe, correctly or incorrectly, that this business model was imposed on America in an effort to destroy us, using threats to finance takeovers of the American firms that refused to abandon their American workforce and cities. In other words, offshoring America’s manufacturing sector was a step in turning America into third world country that makes nothing and imports its needs.

Is Trump overlooking one important element of making America Great Again? The moral element. It seems to be the case. Trump’s support for Israel is disturbing to Americans who still have a moral conscience and are shamed by Trumps support of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians and their country and their ethnic cleansing so that Trump’s son-in-law can become a multi-billionaire by developing Gaza as a resort. Another problem with Trump’s imposition of tariffs is that it is another encroachment of executive power on the authority of Congress. It used to be that tariffs were a legislative issue. For many years the South tried to prevent the North with the Missouri Compromise, and in other ways, from gaining a sufficient majority in Congress to impose a tariff on British goods that would require the South to finance in higher prices and lowered agricultural sales abroad the industrialization of the North.

The Morrill Tariff, a huge increase, was passed the day prior to Lincoln’s inauguration. The Northern congressmen also passed that day a resolution that if the South would stay in the Union and pay the tariff, a Constitutional Amendment would be passed institutionalizing slavery forever. Lincoln endorsed the federal government’s protection of slavery and declared that there would be no war against the South unless the South refused to pay the tariff. The agricultural South seeing ruin in the face succeeded from the Union. The tariff, not slavery was the issue. Lincoln called it insurrection and invaded. That is how the so-called “civil war” happened. Clearly it was no civil war. The South was not fighting for the control of the government, it had its own government. The South had to fight as it was invaded.

How did tariffs move from being an legislative issue to an issue of executive orders? We are witnessing in this transformation of power from the legislature to the executive the transformation of democracy into dictatorship. It has been going on for a long time: Lincoln, FDR, George W. Bush, Obama. The United States has become too disunited for Congress to perform its constitutional function. This is the real problem that America faces, and there is no awareness, no discussion. The same thing happened to Rome when executive authority took precedence over the Roman Senate. I look in vain for discussion of the real problem, and I cannot find it. In America despite Trump, or perhaps because of him, insouciance still rules.

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“Smart move by Elon Musk, trying to plug USAID’s Deep Throat. Let’s hope notorious Deep State doesn’t swallow him whole..”

Medvedev Warns That US Deep State Might Swallow Musk (ZH)

Having long witnessed the phenomenon of USAID-backed ‘color revolutions’ in neighboring and regional former Soviet satellite countries, Russia has been closely following the Trump administration’s efforts to fully dismantle the United States Agency for International Development. Head of the recently established US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk, has been spearheading this, saying on Monday that “We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could gone to some great parties. Did that instead.” And now Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has weighed in with a message and a warning.The former Russian president and top national security official expressed hope that the US deep state won’t consume Elon Musk after shutting down the long-running agency known for having funded regime change operations abroad for many decades.

“Smart move by Elon Musk, trying to plug USAID’s Deep Throat. Let’s hope notorious Deep State doesn’t swallow him whole,” Medvedev wrote on X.Ironically this came the same day that never-Trump neocon and intellectual architect behind Bush’s disastrous Iraq war issued a tweet declaring his preference for the deep state, and he was being quite literal. “The deep state is far preferable to the Trump state,” Kristol said, in a rare moment saying what many other career government operatives are thinking, or saying the quiet part out loud. Interestingly Medvedev also took the opportunity Monday to blast Ukraine and President Zelensky over alleged ‘missing’ USAID funds meant for Kiev. According to Russia’s RT:

“Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s recent claim that he is unaware of the whereabouts of more than $100 billion of Western aid funds allocated to Kiev is a “brazen and cynical lie,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has suggested. In a Telegram post on Monday, Medvedev, who now serves as the Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, accused Zelensky and his associates of embezzling significant sums. “In a fit of candor, the Bandera regime’s boss admitted that he and his cronies had siphoned off $100 billion,” he stated.” Zelensky had told the Associated Press in an interview published the day prior that Ukraine received just over $75 billion in military and other types of assistance, despite $177 billion in military aid had been approved under Biden.

“When it is said that Ukraine received $200 billion to support the army during the war – that’s not true. I don’t know where all that money went. Perhaps it’s true on paper with hundreds of different programs – I won’t argue, and we’re immensely grateful for everything. But in reality, we received about $76 billion. It’s significant aid, but it’s not $200 billion,” Zelensky said, in remarks that have raised eyebrows. There may also be serious questions from the new Trump administration over the line about not knowing where all that money went. Time for a full stoppage at least until there is a thorough US-sponsored audit? Medvedev has alleged, “The hundred billion lined the pockets of all kinds of kleptocrats from Washington to Kiev.”

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A lot of USAID news, some of it overlapping. Pretty insane that it could exist the way it did. This alone was enough reason to suspend foreign aid for 90 days. They knew reactions to that were inevitable.

USAID Closes Headquarters (RT)

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has closed its main office in Washington DC, multiple US media outlets reported on Monday. Most personnel have reportedly been told to stay away from the building. The development comes after US President Donald Trump accused the agency’s leadership of being “radical lunatics” and proposed major changes to the organization. Established in 1961, USAID is responsible for administering foreign aid and development programs abroad to promote American interests. According to an email obtained and shared by CNN, USAID leadership directed that the “headquarters at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, D.C. be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, February 3, 2025.”

“Agency personnel normally assigned to work at USAID headquarters will work remotely tomorrow, with the exception of personnel with essential on-site and building maintenance functions individually contacted by senior leadership,” the letter said. AP has confirmed the email, adding that more than 600 employees discovered overnight that they had been locked out of USAID’s computer systems. The development comes after Trump blasted the agency, arguing that “it’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics.” “We’re getting them out, and then we’ll make a decision,” he said. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and a close ally of the US president, has also been a fierce critic of USAID. He described it as a “criminal organization” which he believes was financing bioweapon research, including projects that allegedly led to the emergence of Covid-19.

“It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm in it. What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair,” Musk said. He also revealed that he had spoken with Trump, claiming that the president had “agreed” that USAID should be shut down. The crackdown on USAID comes after the Trump administration suspended foreign assistance, with a few exceptions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the US would carry out a program-by-program review to determine which projects make “America safer, stronger or more prosperous.” He claimed that shutting down US-funded programs during the 90-day review had resulted in “a lot more cooperation” from recipients of various assistance.

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“..USAID is a front for the CIA. And together with NGO’s like the Open Society Foundation, they have been using US tax dollars & govt resources as their personal piggy bank..”

“..Musk’s involvement with DOGE suggests that the rapid counteroffensive against the Deep State is underway. What likely happened with USAID is a precision-guided strike aimed at severing the Deep State’s key funding source..”

Musk: “USAID A Ball Of Worms, No Apple. Must Get Rid Of Whole Thing” (ZH)

About one day after the US Agency for International Development’s website went dark and its official X account disappeared, President Donald Trump addressed reporters Sunday night, declaring, “It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics. And we’re getting them out.” By midnight, Elon Musk—who oversees the government efficiency initiative “DOGE”—provided taxpayers with an update on USAID’s status during a live X Spaces session. Musk told the more than 682,000 listeners who tuned in that the president “agreed we should shut it [USAID] down.” This would be one of the largest planned cuts to date, and the fate of USAID is likely that it will lose its independence and be rolled into the State Department.

“As we dug into USAID it became apparent that what we have here is not an apple with a worm in it, but we have actually just a ball of worms. If you have an apple with a worm in it, you can take the worm out. If you have a whole ball of worms, it’s hopeless. USAID is a ball of worms. There is no apple. And when there is no apple you just need to get rid of the whole thing. That’s why it’s got to go. It’s beyond repair,” Musk explained. Musk wrote on X, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.” The move to end USAID as a stand-alone agency comes as the DOGE creator revealed: “Did you know that USAID, using YOUR tax dollars, funded bioweapon research, including COVID-19, that killed millions of people?”

AP noted: “Musk’s comments come after the administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Musk’s government-inspection teams, a current and a former US official told The Associated Press on Sunday. Members of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, eventually did gain access Saturday to the aid agency’s classified information, which includes intelligence reports, the former official said. Trump has already ordered a freeze on foreign aid as part of his “America First” foreign policy. As some note, USAID has effectively served as a laundering scheme for the Deep State. [..] “Like I said before, USAID is a front for the CIA. And together with NGO’s like the Open Society Foundation, they have been using US tax dollars & govt resources as their personal piggy bank. It has been infuriating to watch. Hopefully now the whole truth will come out,” journalist Lara Logan wrote on X.

Musk’s involvement with DOGE suggests that the rapid counteroffensive against the Deep State is underway. What likely happened with USAID is a precision-guided strike aimed at severing the Deep State’s key funding source. Always follow the money—neutralizing the Deep State’s ability to launder taxpayer funds is a good start. Musk was also joined by DOGE co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) on X Spaces. Ramaswamy noted: “If USAID is rolled into the State Department, Marco Rubio will ensure grant scrutiny, preventing taxpayer funds from being stuffed into the coffers of the Deep State. And this will ultimately mark a historic shift in America’s role in the world.”

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“If USAID is rolled into the State Department, Marco Rubio will ensure grant scrutiny, preventing taxpayer funds from being stuffed into the coffers of the Deep State. And this will ultimately mark a historic shift in America’s role in the world.”

USAID Absorbed Into State Department Under Rubio (ZH)

Update (1210ET) “USAID will be merged into the State Department with cuts in the workforce, but it will remain a humanitarian aid entity, sources told @saraecook and me. Trump admin expected to announce the moves in coming days. Discussions of reductions in funding were still fluid today,” CBS News senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs wrote on X. Over the last several days, the Trump administration’s move to strip USAID of its independence and be rolled into the State Department has been well-telegraphed with leaks and reports via media outlets. As we noted earlier: If USAID is rolled into the State Department, Marco Rubio will ensure grant scrutiny, preventing taxpayer funds from being stuffed into the coffers of the Deep State. And this will ultimately mark a historic shift in America’s role in the world.

All USAID lacked was grant distribution oversight, turning the agency into a Deep State slush fund. Not anymore, under Rubio at State.

* * *
About one day after the US Agency for International Development’s website went dark and its official X account disappeared, President Donald Trump addressed reporters Sunday night, declaring, “It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics. And we’re getting them out.”

By midnight, Elon Musk—who oversees the government efficiency initiative “DOGE”—provided taxpayers with an update on USAID’s status during a live X Spaces session. Musk told the more than 682,000 listeners who tuned in that the president “agreed we should shut it [USAID] down.” This would be one of the largest planned cuts to date, and the fate of USAID is likely that it will lose its independence and be rolled into the State Department. “As we dug into USAID it became apparent that what we have here is not an apple with a worm in it, but we have actually just a ball of worms. If you have an apple with a worm in it, you can take the worm out. If you have a whole ball of worms, it’s hopeless. USAID is a ball of worms. There is no apple. And when there is no apple you just need to get rid of the whole thing. That’s why it’s got to go. It’s beyond repair,” Musk explained. Musk wrote on X, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.”

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Arestovich is also still a candidate to succeed Zelensky.

“Trump will sort things out with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping “without consulting us, because engaging with those who deny reality is futile.”

Ukraine Has Lost – Arestovich (RT)

Ukraine has lost the armed conflict with Russia, primarily due to the inability of the Ukrainian people to take personal responsibility for their failures, Aleksey Arestovich, a former aide to Vladimir Zelensky, has argued. He expects the US, Russia, and China to decide on a resolution without consulting Kiev. Arestovich resigned from his government post in early 2023 after making claims about a missile incident that contradicted the official narrative. He is now a sharp critic of the Zelensky administration. In a Telegram post on Sunday, he argued that the changing tone of Western discourse about Ukraine signals a significant policy change. US President Donald Trump will sort things out with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping “without consulting us, because engaging with those who deny reality is futile,” he wrote.

“We have lost the war due to our own stupidity, pride and stubbornness. In truth, we have defeated ourselves,” Arestovich added. “We have created a society of mutual hatred and intolerance, in which every individual is right and everyone collectively is to blame.” He cited several recent news stories, calling them a wakeup call for Ukrainians to acknowledge defeat and their role in it. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for the Ukraine conflict, has called on Kiev to resume presidential and parliamentary elections, which Zelensky suspended under martial law. Conservative US political commentator Tucker Carlson branded the Ukrainian leader “a dictator” during a debate with British television host Piers Morgan. Additionally, Washington’s decision last month to suspend foreign aid programs has forced many Ukrainian NGOs and media outlets to solicit for private donations to avoid shutdown.

Public statements and media reports suggest that the Trump administration seeks a freeze of the Ukraine conflict along existing frontlines. Moscow has said that it won’t accept an outcome that would allow Kiev to rebuild its military and renew hostilities in the future. The core causes of the conflict, including NATO’s expansion in Europe, need to be addressed in order for a sustainable peace agreement to be reached, Russian officials have asserted. The Ukrainian military is reportedly plagued by large-scale desertion and poor morale, while Russia continues to advance. Zelensky, meanwhile, has called on Kiev’s Western backers to deploy at least 200,000 troops as “peacekeepers.” He has also urged Trump to adopt a “peace through strength” approach to pressure Moscow into accepting truce terms favorable to Kiev.

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“..the bloc is reportedly preparing a campaign to discredit Zelensky ahead of Ukraine’s next presidential elections..”

NATO Plans To Oust Zelensky – Russian Intel (RT)

NATO is considering trying to facilitate the removal of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky from power by discrediting him ahead of potential elections next fall, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed in a statement on Monday. The agency believes that Western officials see Zelensky as a key obstacle to peace talks with Moscow. Zelensky remains in office despite his term having officially expired last May. He has refused to step down and postponed presidential elections, citing the martial law imposed in 2022 following the escalation of the conflict with Russia. Western leaders are looking to “freeze” the conflict by pushing both Moscow and Kiev toward negotiations, but Zelensky is seen as a barrier, the SVR said.

“Washington and Brussels agree that the main obstacle to the implementation of such a scenario is Zelensky, who is referred to in Western circles as nothing more than ‘expendable material,’” the agency said in the statement, adding that “even NATO understands that Zelensky’s time is up.” To address this, the bloc is reportedly preparing a campaign to discredit Zelensky ahead of Ukraine’s next presidential elections, which the agency said could take place next fall. The SVR claimed that Western officials plan to release information linking Zelensky and his team to the embezzlement of over $1.5 billion in funds intended for purchasing military equipment.

Additionally, the report alleged that Zelensky’s administration was involved in schemes to divert the salaries of 130,000 deceased Ukrainian soldiers who remain listed as active service members. The SVR also claimed that Zelensky was implicated in the illegal sale of Western-supplied weapons to armed groups in Africa. The SVR suggested that the return of Donald Trump to the White House has created uncertainty over future Western support for Ukraine, which could accelerate efforts to replace Zelensky. According to the agency, NATO’s broader goal is to maintain Ukraine as an anti-Russian foothold, regardless of the situation on the battlefield. Neither NATO nor Ukrainian officials have responded to the SVR’s claims so far.

In an interview with the Associated Press on Saturday, Zelensky accused Russia of avoiding peace talks and reiterated his calls for Western security guarantees as a precondition for negotiations. He argued that Ukraine’s membership in NATO would be the “cheapest” option for the West to ensure such guarantees. Moscow has repeatedly stated its willingness to engage in peace talks but has pointed out that it is unable to do so because of the prohibition on negotiations with Russia announced by Zelensky in 2022. The Russian leadership has also stated that freezing the conflict is unacceptable and that Ukraine’s accession to NATO cannot be allowed. Russian officials have maintained that Ukraine’s neutrality, its withdrawal from Russian territories, and legal protections for Russian-speaking populations are necessary conditions for any settlement.

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“Kiev reportedly hopes to persuade Washington to back the move by suggesting the money be used to pay for US weapons..”

Ukraine Renews Efforts To Seize Russian Assets – WaPo (RT)

Ukraine has renewed its push to confiscate frozen Russian assets following Donald Trump’s reelection as US president, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing anonymous officials. Kiev hopes Trump’s business acumen and influence over the EU could sway opponents of the move toward supporting it, the newspaper claimed. After the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022, Western states froze an estimated $300 billion belonging to the Russian central bank held in foreign depositories, a move Russia has branded as theft. While proceeds from the assets are already being used to back a $50 billion loan for Ukraine from the G7, most Western nations have stopped short of seizing the assets themselves. Opponents of the move, including Belgium, Germany, and France, fear it could set a legal precedent and undermine trust in the Western banking system.

According to the Washington Post, Ukrainian officials believe Trump could persuade skeptical countries if he sees the move as beneficial for the US. “We firmly believe that it’s President Trump who can be a change maker,” Irina Mudra, deputy head of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’ office, told the news outlet. “[Trump] has the power to change the stance of more-skeptical countries… they know he’s not joking, that his are not just hollow words. That’s exactly why we need his help convincing our partners that transferring Russian assets is a necessary tool to finish this war,” she added. Kiev plans to frame the seizure of Russian assets as an alternative source of funding for weapons and reconstruction. Zelensky claimed in an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman that he had “spoken to Trump” about using the money to buy US-made arms.

“I told him, take the $300 billion of frozen Russian assets… and we will buy all the weapons from the US… It will be very good for your industry,” Zelensky said, describing it as one of Ukraine’s key security guarantees for future peace talks with Moscow. Analysts suggest the proposal may appeal to Trump, given his ‘America First’ stance and calls to cut foreign aid. “That’s a very clear quid pro quo. And they would love for Trump to adopt that argument and basically say to the Europeans, ‘Look, if you want me to continue to supply Ukraine with weapons, well, let’s buy them with Russian assets,’” Jacob Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics told the news outlet.

Former US President Joe Biden’s administration previously expressed cautious support for the idea, but Trump’s stance remains unclear. Some EU countries reportedly prefer to keep the assets frozen as potential leverage in future peace negotiations with Moscow. Russia has repeatedly condemned the freezing of its assets. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned in December that Moscow would pursue legal action against any attempts to channel the funds “stolen” from the country to Ukraine. Russian officials also warned Moscow could mirror the West’s actions by tapping income from frozen Western assets held in the country.

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“In a surprising twist, AfD co-chair Alice Weidel leads as the most popular choice for chancellor on 35%..”

‘Shy Musk Voter’ Could Hand Victory to AfD (Sp.)

A new survey by the Washington-based Democracy Institute has sent shockwaves through European politics. It suggests the Euroskeptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) is on the brink of winning the country’s snap elections—and Elon Musk might play a key role. The AfD is now the second-strongest party with 25% support, trailing the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) by just two points, the poll shows Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) are third place on 15% and the Greens fourth with 13%.

In a surprising twist, AfD co-chair Alice Weidel leads as the most popular choice for chancellor on 35%, leading CDU head Friedrich Merz by nine points. But the real shocker? A striking 28% of Germans say they are more likely to vote AfD due to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s endorsement, compared to 23% who say they are “less likely”. Democracy Institute director Patrick Basham dubbed the phenomenon the “shy Musk voter”. The German Bundestag elections are set for February 23.

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“..the Democrats are in a PR freefall. Keep an eye on the numbers: Should the Dems’ unfavorable rating hit the mid-60s, it will likely lead to a full-on liberal-on-liberal civil war for control of the party.”

NYT Shock Poll Reveals the Complete Collapse of Democratic Party (Pinsker)

It happens a lot: You’ll hear about a new movie or TV show with a really cool, totally original premise, but alas, the writers and actors fumbled the football in the execution. The first few minutes are promising, but you quickly realize that the script’s premise far exceeded the participants’ talents. It’s frustrating and annoying. An example of this is the 1995 supernatural thriller “The Prophecy,” starring Christopher Walken and Viggo Mortensen, where humans discover a “lost” chapter in the Book of Revelation:
Joseph: What is it?
Thomas Daggett: Twenty-third chapter of Saint John’s Revelations.
Joseph: And?
Thomas Daggett: There is no twenty-third chapter.
Joseph: Well, maybe this is the Teacher’s Edition.
Here’s the 78-second original trailer:

The film has its moments (and actually spawned a ridiculous number of straight-to-video sequels). But I can’t recommend it; way too much silliness and nonsensical writing. But there’s an absolutely brilliant line of dialogue in the very beginning: “Some people lose their faith because Heaven shows them too little. But how many people lose their faith because Heaven showed them too much?” I was thinking about that quote when I read today’s article in The New York Times, “Most Americans Say the Democratic Party Does Not Share Their Priorities.” As the article states:Many Americans say they do not believe the Democratic Party is focused on the economic issues that matter most to them and is instead placing too much emphasis on social issues that they consider less urgent.

Asked to identify the Democratic Party’s most important priorities, Americans most often listed abortion, L.G.B.T.Q. rights and climate change, according to a poll from The New York Times and Ipsos conducted from Jan. 2 to 10. The issues that people cited as most important to them personally were the economy and inflation, health care and immigration, the poll found. The kinds of social causes that progressive activists have championed in recent years ranked much lower. When it comes to publicity and brand-building, the GOP is often forced to go off-roading — hitting the podcasts or using alternative media — since the mainstream outlets are unwelcoming. At first, this greatly handicapped the GOP’s outreach, but as we say, “Necessity is the mother’s milk of invention.”

The Republican adapted and evolved: They learned how to streamline their message, master the social media game, and claim an ownership stake in emerging, nontraditional outlets. And now, we’re better at it. Meanwhile, the Democrats always had an embarrassment of riches: They didn’t have to streamline anything! They controlled broadcast television, the daily papers, and all the syndicated news services. There’s no need to streamline when you’ve been given unlimited real estate. And so, they didn’t: On issues likes gender, Hamas, late-term abortion, and radical climate change initiatives, they let their liberal freak flag fly. They kept circling further and further to the left. To echo “The Prophecy,” the Democrats didn’t lose in 2024 because they showed the voters too little. They lost because they showed the voters too much.

The article continued: “The country remains deeply divided over Mr. Trump’s leadership, with roughly equal shares of people saying that his second term is cause for celebration or concern. But the poll suggests that people do not view the Democratic Party as an appealing alternative. In a broad sense, the poll, which surveyed a representative sample of 2,128 adults nationwide, found that Americans think the Republican Party is more in sync with the mood of the country. The issues that people said mattered most to Republicans were also, for the most part, the issues that mattered to them: immigration, the economy, inflation and taxes. That’s the beauty of competing in a binary marketplace: You don’t have to be perfect. You can still make lots of mistakes. All that matters is that you’re better than the alternative. [..] The article continued:

“Overall, voters view the Democratic Party more negatively than the Republican Party, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted the week after Mr. Trump took office. The 57 percent unfavorable rating for Democrats is the highest Quinnipiac has recorded for the party since it first started asking the question in 2008.” Right now, the Democrats are in a PR freefall. Keep an eye on the numbers: Should the Dems’ unfavorable rating hit the mid-60s, it will likely lead to a full-on liberal-on-liberal civil war for control of the party. Those numbers would threaten their ability to raise money or compete nationally, and simply aren’t sustainable. And if we know anything about today’s Democratic Party, we know how much it values money. Interestingly, The New York Times specifically labeled the LGBTQ plank as especially problematic to the Democrats’ public image:

“On lesbian, gay and transgender rights, people perceive the Democratic Party’s priorities as particularly misaligned with their own. Just 4 percent of Americans listed L.G.B.T.Q. issues as very important to them personally. But 31 percent said they were a Democratic Party priority.” Once again, the Democrats lost because they showed the voters too much. They were marketing to their activists instead of to the voters. I’ve never met Democratic strategist Adam Jentleson (I don’t believe), but he 100% nailed the problem: “Politics is about perception,” said Adam Jentleson, a Democratic strategist who has urged his party to rethink how much influence it allows activist groups to have over its agenda. “And people perceive Democrats as being focused on the demands of activists instead of kitchen table issues.”I suspect Jentleson’s advice will fall on deaf ears. The liberal activists aren’t going away; they’d rather destroy the Democratic Party internally than cede an inch of ideological turf. They’re (im)moral absolutists. And thus, the cycle will continue.

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“As a rule you couldn’t win over your enemies, but you could lose your friends.”

Pro-Russian Versus Anti-Russian Social Media (Helmer)

When Tulsi Gabbard, nominee to be the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), was asked by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence what she thought of Russia Today (RT), she replied: “RT News is a propaganda arm of the Russian state government and is not a reliable source of objective news reporting.” This was one of the few unequivocal responses Gabbard gave to the hostile questioning she faced from the Russia warfighters on the Intelligence Committee last week. She also implied – but stopped short of saying — that if a news medium, publication, tweet, or podcast is paid for by a government or one of its agencies – any government, any medium including the Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corporation — it follows that whatever is reported is state propaganda, so its truth value is zero and should be dismissed. This is the 400-year old maxim that he who pays the piper calls the tune.

It’s not the rule for truth-telling which the Anglo-American courts observe – beyond reasonable doubt for capital crimes, balance of probabilities for civil offences. It is also not the rule of truth-telling in politics the world over. “It was worthwhile making sure of your potential friends,” the English science official and novelist C.P. Snow put into the mouth of an ambitious cabinet minister he knew in London a half-century ago. “As a rule you couldn’t win over your enemies, but you could lose your friends.” In the present information war accompanying the military and economic campaigns against Russia, Snow’s rule should be understood to mean that telling the truth isn’t going to win over the enemy. Gabbard’s condemnation of RT at the Senate is a proof of that. Snow’s rule is also a warning that truth-telling risks alienating your allies – particularly those allies competing for reward from the Pied Piper.

Throughout his career, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has accepted and followed the Snow rule: he always keeps his friends, the Russian ones. But Putin, his officials and friends have misunderstood the other half of the rule. Since 2000 their attempts to win over Russia’s enemies by persuasion have been a mistake they have been slow to acknowledge and learn from.

Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin were quicker learners. They understood it was impossible by means other than force against their enemies, so they didn’t put their trust in persuasion. They also shared an ideology explaining why the protracted combat which engaged them, including class war and war against imperialism, was relentless, permanent. Since Lenin and Stalin had few friends and ended up treating most of them as enemies, the second half of the rule, risking loss of friends, didn’t apply in Russia for the entire 20th century. Mikhail Gorbachev got both parts of the rule wrong. For different reasons, so did Boris Yeltsin. Their mistakes have cost Russia and the Russians severely, especially those who thought the permanent war between Russia and the US had ended with the collapse of Communist Party rule in 1991.

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“We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could have gone to some great parties. Did that instead.” — Elon Musk

Last Rites (James Howard Kunstler)

“In private meetings and at public events, elected Democrats appear leaderless, rudderless and divided. They disagree over how often and how stridently to oppose Mr. Trump. They have no shared understanding of why they lost the election, never mind how they can win in the future.” — The New York Times.

Maybe that’s because the four years of “Joe Biden” was little more than a vaudeville show in front of the curtain, distracting you from what was going on backstage — the world’s biggest political racketeering operation as conducted by a vast bureaucracy gone wild and mad: the blob in florid, mature efflorescence, doing its blob-thing to the max, looting and punking the nation. Now it is all being uncovered, disclosed, unmasked.

Think of the Democratic Party as the entertainment arm of the overall operation. Its aim has basically been to induce you to doubt your sanity. You were asked to swallow one fabulous absurdity after another — lockdowns, vaccines that don’t prevent illness, mostly-peaceful arson, US soldiers in puppy masks, pronoun police, shoplifting-is-reparations, the wide-open border — an epic acting-out of manifold mental illness in living color. The climax was drag-queens in the primary schools, obese men in fright-wigs presenting nightmare varieties of Mom-as-monster, often with some exposure of their male junk as part of the act. Suburban mothers watched approvingly, insisting on video that this was all wholesome, edifying fun for the kiddies (while some of the more insane moms went even further at home, coaxing their little kids toward medical “transitioning”).

Can you grok how insane all this was? So, if you were a Democratic Party strategist, perhaps the first thing you’d consider these days is to stop being insane. Second, at this particular juncture, you might consider apologizing to the people of this land for your heinous antics of recent years — like an alcoholic parent who has acted very badly against the family — and promise to make the effort to get your shit together. This is obviously the part that Democrats are struggling with now, and it explains why they pretend to be at such a loss to make course corrections. Of course, any further failure to come to grips with all this will lead to the death of the Democratic Party. Never in history has a political faction gone out in such pathetic ignominy.

Yet it is not just this feckless party that needs to expiate its shame, it is also America’s thinking class as a whole, its “experts,” its managers, its educated elites, its doctors and lawyers, its curators of “news” and opinion, and most of the denizens of showbiz. For the moment, they are all cowering and shuddering before the juggernaut of Mr. Trump, who they so grievously underestimated.

They know — they can see in plain view — that he is coming for them, and many might find themselves called to account in a rebalanced justice system. Many of them committed crimes against the nation and its citizens. The raft of lawyers fired out of the DC federal district this weekend for cause —namely, for conducting overtly malicious prosecutions under dubious predication — are an early sign. Ditto, the warning issued to Chuck Schumer concerning his 2020 incitement of violence against Supreme Court justices. Imagine, too, how many officials in the public health agencies need to answer for their roles in Covid-19 — the creation of it in their labs, the worthless vaccines, and the deadly treatment protocols they insisted on.

Now, the fate of the blob itself is a thing somewhat apart from the fate of this evil vaudevillian Democratic Party fronting for it. A purge of the blob is pretty clearly underway. USAID was shot dead like a rabid dog over the weekend. The agency had gone completely rogue, serving (Mike Benz explains) as the pivot between every nefarious operation coming out of the CIA, the DOD, and the State Department’s many black box units. The billions of dollars laundered out of USAID went to support hundreds of NGOs, many of them dedicated to harming the life of this nation, such as the orgs that handed out money to illegal aliens and advice on evading detection in-country. And these many NGOs represented an employment racket for the “elite overproduction” of grads coming out of universities with useless degrees and Maoist political training. There was, of course, a giant revolving door between these NGOs and the activist ranks of the Democratic Party.

The country needs a functioning, sane, opposition party to whoever is in power, since power inevitably corrupts. Like any other powerful office-holder, Mr. Trump needs a governor and guard-rails on his actions. Something will have to take the Democratic Party’s place, maybe even a group that uses the same name for convenience and the sake of tradition. But it will have to jettison just about everything the party stands for in its current incarnation, its insane ideas and policies. It might also consider the value of not lying about everything it does.

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Kennedy’s role is a bit murky.

Lawmakers Urge RFK Jr to Recuse Himself From All Vaccine-Related Decisions (ET)

Several Democrat lawmakers said on Feb. 2 that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should commit to avoiding all decisions related to vaccines if he becomes the next U.S. health secretary. “Given the breadth of your involvement in vaccine litigation, such a recusal would help ensure that you and your family do not benefit financially from official government actions that you will oversee and control,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), wrote in a letter to Kennedy. President Donald Trump has selected Kennedy, a lawyer, to take over the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The department includes the Food and Drug Administration, which clears vaccines, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which issues vaccine guidance that is widely adopted by states.

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled this week to vote on Kennedy’s nomination. If a majority approves, the nomination will be sent to the full Senate. Kennedy said in an ethics agreement that, if he is confirmed, he would resign from a consulting arrangement with the Wisner Baum law firm that involves referring cases to the firm. “Pursuant to the referral agreement, I am entitled to receive 10% of fees awarded in contingency fee cases referred to the firm. I am not trying these cases, I am not an attorney of record for the cases, and I will not provide representational services in connection with the cases during my appointment to the position of Secretary,” Kennedy wrote. The Finance Committee identified at least five cases related to litigation over the Gardasil human papillomavirus vaccine in which Kennedy is still listed as the attorney of record.

“When questioned by the Committee, you did not directly acknowledge this omission or provide clarity about any financial compensation you might receive related to these cases,” Wyden and Warren said. While Kennedy agreed to divest from those cases, Kennedy declined to recuse himself from decisions related to Gardasil in written communication with the panel, the senators said. He also disclosed that he was divesting his interest in cases referred to Wisner Baum to his adult son, which would let an immediate family member benefit from Kennedy’s secretary role if Kennedy is confirmed, they added. Recusing from vaccine-related decisions and communications will “ensure vaccine-related policymaking and communications are not inappropriately skewed by your personal views at the expense of scientific evidence,” they wrote.

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A number of senators insisted Tulsi should call Snowden a traitor. Larry Johnson has the perfect riposte:

“..the answer to your question is quite simple — Edward Snowden has not been charged with treason and has not met the legal standards required to impose such charges. Therefore, Edward Snowden is not a traitor.”

What Tulsi Gabbard Should Have Said About Ed Snowden (Larry Johnson)

Democrat Senator Michael Bennet, who I think is a disgraceful representative of his Colorado constituents, played a silly and dishonest game of gotcha with Tulsi Gabbard during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Bennet demanded that Tulsi declare Ed Snowden, who exposed Top Secret US government programs that illegally spied on US citizens, as a traitor. Tulsi refused to take the bait. Tulsi is a very smart person and a woman of unimpeachable character. I hope she is confirmed. That said, she missed a golden opportunity to school Senator Bennet. Here is what I wish she had said:

“Senator, Edward Snowden has not been charged with treason. You’re asking me, as part of a political stunt, to cave to political pressure and give you the answer you want. Sir, that is not what you want for a Director of National Intelligence (DNI). I am here today to explain to you why I am qualified and competent to serve as a DNI. My first obligation is to present the President and his aides with the best intelligence and facts. Not my opinions. Here are the facts: The U.S. government charged Mr. Snowden with two counts of violating the Espionage Act and theft of government property after he leaked classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA). He violated his Non-Disclosure Agreement.

I would note that The Espionage Act of 1917 is a U.S. federal law that primarily addresses issues related to national security, such as the unauthorized gathering, possession, or transmission of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign nation. That clearly applies to Mr. Snowden’s case. It covers a wide range of activities, including spying, sharing classified information, sabotage, and other acts that could undermine national security. In the case of Mr. Snowden, he stands accused of unlawfully divulging classified information. A violation of the Espionage Act does not necessarily require intent to betray the United States. It can involve negligence or recklessness in handling sensitive information. In Mr. Snowden’s case, we face a conundrum. Mr. Snowden also took a pledge to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Mr. Snowden claims that he only took the actions he did because of the consistent and demonstrated pattern of hostility by the US government towards whistleblowers. Mr. Snowden cited the precedent of the US government’s menacing actions towards previous NSA whistleblowers, such as Bill Binney, Ed Loomis, Kirk Wiebe and Thomas Drake. Drake was wrongly charged under the Espionage Act. You are demanding that I declare Edward Snowden a traitor, even thought the US government has declined to charge him with that count. Treason is explicitly defined in the U.S. Constitution (Article III, Section 3) as levying war against the United States or adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. It is a much narrower offense and requires a direct act of betrayal against the United States, such as providing material support to an enemy during wartime.

While Mr. Snowden was granted asylum in Russia, we were not at war, in the legal sense of the word, with Russia at the time. If confirmed as the DNI, my primary responsibility is to present the President and his team with the best facts and intelligence available. There is no place for my opinion or personal beliefs in carrying out those duties. I will set politics aside and ensure the President is provided with the best intelligence available, regardless of whether it promotes or threaten the President’s political agenda. I leave the politics to you. So, Senator Bennet, the answer to your question is quite simple — Edward Snowden has not been charged with treason and has not met the legal standards required to impose such charges. Therefore, Edward Snowden is not a traitor.”

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Psaki

 

 

Leavitt

 

 

33

 

 

Real girls

 

 

Bears

 

 

Italy husky

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Feb 032025
 
 February 3, 2025  Posted by at 11:10 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  63 Responses »


Jean Metzinger Soldier playing chess 1915

 

Musk Claims USAID Funded Bioweapon Research (RT)
USAID Tried To Block DOGE Audit (RT)
Trump’s Dismantling Of USAID A Seismic Shift In America’s Role In The World (ZH)
Panama Will Not Renew “Silk Road” Deal With China After Rubio Visit (ZH)
John Brennan’s Protests to Trump Lifting his Security Clearances are Absurd (AmG)
Military Strikes On Cartels Inside Mexico “On The Table”: Hegseth (MN)
Tariffs Could Cause ‘Some Pain’ – Trump (RT)
Trump’s Big Stick Strategy Will Make America Respected Again (Vasile)
European Leaders Will ‘Wag Tails’ For Trump – Putin (RT)
EU Incapable Of Helping End Ukraine Conflict – AfD Leader (RT)
Zelensky: Trump Talking To Putin About Ukraine Without Us ‘Very Dangerous’ (ZH)
Zelensky Has No Idea Where Most Of ‘$200 Billion’ In US Aid Went (RT)
Arab Nations Reject Trump’s Idea To Relocate Gaza Population (RT)
Musk Urges Astronauts To Lead Mars Investigation (RT)
Rosatom’s Quantum Breakthrough Set to Transform AI, Healthcare and More (Sp.)
CBS To Provide Unedited Version Of Harris ‘Word Salad’ Interview (RT)
Exhausted Media Begs Trump To Take A Day Off (BBee)

 

 

 

 

JD
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885894662369530009

Leavitt

DOGE

Cher
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885772428573319518

 

 

 

 

Gold

Mafia

FAFO

Tucker JFK

 

 

 

 

USAID was never an aid agency, that’s just a clever CIA disguise to wrap its front in. Full name is US Agency for International Development.

It’s over now. Trump will either kill it or make it part of the State Dept. Musk: “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die..”

Musk Claims USAID Funded Bioweapon Research (RT)

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has accused the US Agency for International Development (USAID) of financing bioweapon research, including projects that allegedly led to the emergence of Covid-19, branding the agency a “criminal organization.” Musk’s comment came in response to a post from user @KanekoaTheGreat on Sunday, which claimed that USAID had funneled $53 million to EcoHealth Alliance. The post alleged that these funds were used to support gain-of-function research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, potentially leading to the creation of Covid-19. “Did you know that USAID, using YOUR tax dollars, funded bioweapon research, including COVID-19, that killed millions of people?” Musk wrote.

Musk did not elaborate on the allegations, but the post he was responding to further asserted that “the CIA’s deception regarding COVID-19 origins becomes much clearer when considering USAID’s long history of serving as a CIA front organization.” “USAID is a criminal organization,” Musk wrote in another post, replying to a video about the alleged USAID involvement in internet censorship and “rogue CIA work.” EcoHealth Alliance, a US-based nonprofit organization, has been at the center of controversy due to its collaborations with China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. The organization has denied that its work involved gain-of-function research, but in May 2024, the US Department of Health and Human Services suspended all federal funding to EcoHealth Alliance, citing concerns over the organization’s oversight of high-risk experiments and failure to report research activities promptly.

The CIA believes it is “more likely” that Covid-19 originated from a lab-leak incident rather than a natural source, the agency’s spokesman said last month after the confirmation of John Ratcliffe as CIA director. US President Donald Trump’s nominee, Ratcliffe, has been a vocal supporter of the lab-leak version, calling it “the only theory supported by science, intelligence, and common sense.” Following the confirmation, Ratcliffe also said the CIA’s assessment of Covid’s origins would be a “day-one thing for me.” USAID has a history of funding global health initiatives, including the PREDICT program, which aimed to identify viruses with pandemic potential and ran from 2009 to 2020 in partnership with EcoHealth Alliance. In 2021, USAID launched a $125 million follow-up program known as the Discovery & Exploration of Emerging Pathogens – Viral Zoonoses – but it was shut down prematurely in 2023.

Russia has repeatedly raised concerns about the network of biological research laboratories supported by the Pentagon and other US agencies around the globe, particularly in Ukraine and other countries near its borders, alleging that these facilities are involved in bioweapon research. Reporting about US biolab activities was one of the main priorities of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the Russian military’s top official on the hazards posed by weapons of mass destruction. He was murdered along with his assistant in Moscow in December in the bombing attack allegedly ordered by Kiev. In its latest reports, the Russian Defense Ministry has drawn attention to the transfer of unfinished Ukrainian projects to post-Soviet states and Southeast Asia, and said that Africa has now become a focal point of interest for the US government, which views the region as an unlimited natural reservoir of dangerous pathogens and a testing ground for experimental medical treatments.

The US Department of Defense has acknowledged providing support to some laboratories in Ukraine, but insisted that these efforts are focused on preventing the outbreak of infectious diseases and developing vaccines, and that the laboratories are owned and operated by their respective countries, not by the United States. Western officials have consistently dismissed Moscow’s investigations as disinformation aimed at discrediting “legitimate” public health initiatives. Moscow and Beijing have nevertheless demanded greater transparency from the US regarding its military biological activities. Last year, the two countries agreed to unite against biological security threats and strengthen the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention (BTWC).


https://twitter.com/i/status/1886167348282863630

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It’s easier to just not see the mission Trump and Musk are on.

USAID Tried To Block DOGE Audit (RT)

Two senior security officials with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have reportedly been placed on leave by President Donald Trump’s administration after attempting to prevent an audit by the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. A team of DOGE inspectors sought to review “classified material in restricted areas” at USAID on Saturday but were stopped by security officials, AP reported on Sunday. The inspectors allegedly lacked the necessary security clearance, and USAID security was “legally obligated” to deny them access to the requested data, the news agency claimed. “No, they tried to lie to cover up their corruption,” Musk wrote on X, dismissing allegations that the team lacked security clearance. Katie Miller, who serves on an advisory board for DOGE, also said that “no classified material was accessed without proper security clearances.”

Eventually, the inspectors gained access to the requested materials, including personnel records and “intelligence reports,” according to AP. Meanwhile, the USAID officials, identified as John Vorhees and his deputy Brian McGill, were placed on leave. The DOGE has yet to publish any details of its review of USAID activities, but Musk had already attacked the agency in a series of fiery posts on Sunday. “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die,” Musk said, accusing the agency of “paying media organizations to publish their propaganda,” and even using US taxpayer dollars to fund “bioweapon research, including COVID-19, that killed millions of people.” Over the weekend, the official USAID website went offline, and its X account disappeared amid reports that the White House considered merging the agency into the US Department of State.

The DOGE was created by President Donald Trump as a presidential advisory commission dedicated to reducing government spending. Its goal is to cut at least $1 trillion in federal spending by July 2026. In late January, the DOGE claimed that it had already cutting federal spending by $1bn per day. It had allegedly saved over $1 billion solely by eliminating contracts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Musk’s department has also been granted full access to the US Treasury Department’s payment system, which is considered sensitive and was previously restricted to a small group of career civil servants.

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“..many allies as well as an assortment of US-backed ‘opposition groups’ will feel completely abandoned.”

Trump’s Dismantling Of USAID A Seismic Shift In America’s Role In The World (ZH)

The most consequential decision and executive order which came within the opening days of President Donald Trump’s administration has without doubt been his “reevaluating and realigning US foreign aid” — which sent shockwaves through Washington especially given federal funding has been cut to USAID in a shock blow to the agency. But it is also having a massive ripple effect throughout the world. Some foreign powers will welcome the news, while many allies as well as an assortment of US-backed ‘opposition groups’ will feel completely abandoned.

This has meant that pro-Western media outlets, NGOs, and ‘soft power’ organizations are in panic mode. This has basically overnight shutdown a multi-billion dollar regime change apparatus which pushed or often imposed American interests throughout the globe, especially in the very vulnerable Third World, as well as former Soviet satellite regions. The way this works on a practical, on the ground level is detailed in the well-known book Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man. As for Trump’s apparent efforts to dismantle the powerful USAID agency, we compiled some of the best current analysis from around the web outlining the huge significance of this move, which is nothing less than a historic reset (and we say a very welcome reset) of Washington’s relations with the rest of the world.

We’re looking at a seismic shift in the US’s relationship with the world, via Arnaud Bertrand:
1) The US is dismantling its foreign interference apparatuses (like USAID )
2) Marco Rubio stating that we’re now in a multipolar world with “multi-great powers in different parts of the planet” and that “the postwar global order is not just obsolete; it is now a weapon being used against us.”
3) The tariffs on supposed “allies” like Mexico, Canada or the EU: This is the US effectively saying “our attempt at running the world is over, to each his own, we’re now just another great power, not the ‘indispensable nation’.” It looks “dumb” (as the WSJ just wrote) if you are still mentally in the old paradigm but it’s always a mistake to think that what the US (or any country) does is dumb.

Hegemony was going to end sooner or later, and now the U.S. is basically choosing to end it on its own terms. It is the post-American world order – brought to you by America itself. Even the tariffs on allies, viewed under this angle, make sense, as it redefines the concept of “allies”: they don’t want – or maybe rather can’t afford – vassals anymore, but rather relationships that evolve based on current interests. You can either view it as decline – because it does unquestionably look like the end of the American empire – or as avoiding further decline: controlled withdrawal from imperial commitments in order to focus resources on core national interests rather than being forced into an even messier retreat at a later stage.

In any case it is the end of an era and, while the Trump administration looks like chaos to many observers, they’re probably much more attuned to the changing realities of the world and their own country’s predicament than their predecessors. Acknowledging the existence of a multipolar world and choosing to operate within it rather than trying to maintain an increasingly costly global hegemony couldn’t be delayed much further. It looks messy but it is probably better than maintaining the fiction of American primacy until it eventually collapses under its own weight. This is not to say that the U.S. won’t continue to wreak havoc on the world, and in fact we might be seeing it become even more aggressive than before.

Because when it previously was (badly, and very hypocritically) trying to maintain some semblance of self-proclaimed “rules-based order”, it now doesn’t even have to pretend it is under any constraint, not even the constraint of playing nice with allies. It’s the end of the U.S. empire, but definitely not the end of the U.S. as a major disruptive force in world affairs. All in all this transformation may mark one of the most significant shifts in international relations since the fall of the Soviet Union. And those most unprepared for it, as is already painfully obvious, are America’s vassals caught completely flat-footed by the realization that the patron they’ve relied on for decades is now treating them as just another set of countries to negotiate with.

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Got to love it: “John Bolton and John Brennan have been permanently banned from government buildings.”

Panama Will Not Renew “Silk Road” Deal With China After Rubio Visit (ZH)

The Trump administration is not messing around. Let’s review. In the past thirteen days;
• Border crossings are down 94% after Trump declared a national emergency and sent US troops to the southern US Border .
• Special Envoy Ric Grenell flew down to oil-rich Venezuela, got 6 hostages freed (that Biden didn’t even care to check up on), and convinced Maduro to accept tens of thousands of migrants we’re about to deport.
• Trump halted almost all foreign aid for 90 days, including to Ukraine, while each program undergoes review to make sure they align with the new agenda.
• Elon Musk’s DOGE descended upon the US Treasury and revealed that we’ve been ‘auto paying’ all sorts of bad actors, including terrorist groups. DOGE then kicked the door down at Deep State slush fund USAID, where employees were placed on paid leave last week for trying to circumvent Trump’s orders, causing a massive Democrat freakout.
• Trump just slapped tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico for failing to control the flow of illegal immigration and fentanyl.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a worldwide cable announcing the end of DEI policies within State, prioritizing American interests, and told his Chinese counterpart that America is done kowtowing. See below for more!

And now, Rubio has convinced Panama not to renew its deal with China’s Belt and Road economic program, after applying pressure to the Panamanian government to immediately take steps to address US concerns over Chinese businesses operating ports near the canal – which President Trump says represents a threat to US national security. “Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal,” said US State Department spox Tammy Bruce. Trump had also refused to rule out the use of military force over Panama, while US officials said in a senate hearing last week that fines and restrictions on Panamanian-flag vessels entering US ports could be imposed due to the dispute over the canal.

Now, Secretary of State Rubio has convinced Panama to reverse course on their deal with China – with President Jose Mulino making an announcement following a “respectful and cordial” meeting with Rubio in which Panama also agreed to expand a July MoU so that Venezuelans, Colombians and Ecuadoreans can be returned from the perilous Darien Gap at U.S. cost, through an airstrip in Panama, Reuters reports. According to the PanAm Post, Panama will not renew the memorandum of understanding on the “Silk Road” signed with China. “We are going to study the possibility of whether it can be finished earlier or not. I think it is due for renewal in one or two years,” said Molino.

As one ZH reader, the esteemed Pooper Popper, noted earlier today…
• All federal prosecutors handling January 6th cases fired, computers locked and marched out of their offices by security.
• David Sundberg, the FBI Assistant Director at the helm of the January 6th investigations, has been fired.
• 20 leaders of FBI field offices have been escorted out of FBI buildings around the country
• The 51 intelligence officers who spread misinformation about Hunter Biden’s laptop and interfered in elections are now banned from entering federal properties.
• Federal employees are now required to return to the office, with non-compliance leading to termination.
• John Bolton and John Brennan have been permanently banned from government buildings.
• Jarold Harold Rogers has been indicted for compromising U.S. trade secrets to China.
• Ban on all use of pronouns in government communications.
• All 2 million Feds sent a resignation offer. At this rate both Canada and Greenland will be US territories by the end of the month.

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Trump wasn’t going to ask Brennan’s advice. Now he knows.

John Brennan’s Protests to Trump Lifting his Security Clearances are Absurd (AmG)

Former CIA Director John Brennan is angry that President Trump signed an executive order last week lifting his security clearances. The president took this action because Brennan was one of 51 former intelligence officers who meddled in the 2020 presidential election by signing a letter they knew falsely claimed a damaging press story about a laptop owned by President Biden’s son Hunter was Russian disinformation.Brennan indignantly asserted in an MSNBC interview that President Trump’s action was “bizarre” and said he misrepresented the laptop letter, claiming that based on their intelligence experience, the signatories were “deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case.” Brennan also said he needs to hold security clearances as a former intelligence officer so administration officials can consult with him on national security matters.

Brennan’s objections are absurd and justify the President’s executive order. Brennan’s claims defending the laptop letter are patently false. The 51 former intelligence officers did not sign the letter as a well-intentioned initiative to warn the American people about a possible Russian attempt to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. They knew this wasn’t true. We know this because one of the principal organizers of the letter, former acting CIA Director Michael Morell, testified during an investigation by the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees about the letter’s purpose:“There were two intents. One intent was to share our concern with the American people that the Russians were playing on this issue, and two, it was to help Vice President Biden.” The House investigation also found that the letter signers were informed “of the intent of the statement prior to its publication, writing that the statement was meant to insulate Vice President Biden from serious electoral vulnerabilities created by his family’s influence peddling activities.”

This means there can be no doubt the laptop letter was an attempt by the 51 former intelligence officers to misuse their intelligence careers to provide political cover for Biden from damaging information that could have cost him the election. They knowingly misled the American people to give Biden a talking point to discredit the laptop story during the final presidential debate, held on October 22, 2020. There can be no doubt John Brennan knew about all of this. Brennan also made the preposterous argument that he only held security clearances as a former CIA officer so he could be a resource for the U.S. government. He said in an MSNBC interview: “The only reason I still had a clearance, as I have had for years since leaving government service, was for the benefit of the government. It was to facilitate classified discussions, should the CIA or any agency need to consult with me or other former directors and members of the intelligence community.”

I don’t doubt that the deeply incompetent Biden administration sought counsel on classified national security matters from disgraced former intelligence officers like John Brennan. However, there is zero chance that anyone in the second Trump administration will ever consult someone like Brennan on any issue. Brennan omitted the real reason he and most other laptop letter signers held security clearances after they left their intelligence jobs—to make money. High-level security clearances can be very lucrative for former U.S. government employees because they enable them to obtain highly paid contracts and jobs with defense firms and Beltway consulting companies that do business with intelligence and defense agencies. After intelligence officers retire, many retain their security clearances and return to their old offices as highly paid contractors.

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Better if Mexico does it, but it doesn’t.

“The military is orienting, shifting toward an understanding of homeland defense on our sovereign territorial border.”

Military Strikes On Cartels Inside Mexico “On The Table”: Hegseth (MN)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Announced Friday that all options, including military strikes against cartels on Mexican soil are “on the table.” Hegseth asserted that nothing is out of the question “if we’re dealing with what are designated to be foreign terrorist organizations who are specifically targeting Americans on our border.”The development comes after Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office to designate “cartels and other organizations as foreign terrorist organizations.” The order stated that “The Cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs.”

Hegseth urged “We’re finally securing our border. We’ve been securing other people’s border for a very long time. The military is orienting, shifting toward an understanding of homeland defense on our sovereign territorial border.” “That is something we will do and do robustly. So we’re already doing it,” Hegseth continued, adding “Should there be other options necessary to prevent the cartels from continuing to pour people gangs and drugs and violence into our country — we will take that on.” “So the president will make that call. I’ll work with him in that decision making process. Ultimately, we will hold nothing back to secure the American people,” he emphasized.

While campaigning, Trump repeatedly vowed to use the military against the cartels, suggesting that special forces could be deployed in Mexican territory. Border czar Tom Homan also recently stated that Trump intends to “use the full might of the United States Special Operations to take ’em out,” and “ take ’em off the face of Earth.” During a recent discussion with Joe Rogan, former Green Beret Evan Hafer, noted that if Trump does decide to go to war with the cartels he could opt to use Delta Force and Seal Team 6 to destroy them. “These dudes are not going to understand what the fuck is going on,” Hafer promised, adding “They are in for a world of ultra violence they’ve never actually felt before… we could just kind of like erase the problem in about two years. It’d be gone.”

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“WE ARE A COUNTRY THAT IS NOW BEING RUN WITH COMMON SENSE – AND THE RESULTS WILL BE.”

Tariffs Could Cause ‘Some Pain’ – Trump (RT)

US President Donald Trump has acknowledged that Americans could feel “some pain” from newly imposed tariffs on foreign trading partners, but insisted the measures were necessary to restore economic strength. He also warned that further tariffs could be levied on the European Union and possibly the UK if trade practices are not addressed. The latest tariffs, which take effect on Tuesday, include a 25% duty on all goods from Canada and Mexico, with a 10% tariff applied specifically to Canadian energy exports. Imports from China will also face a 10% tariff. “WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!),” Trump wrote in all caps on Truth Social on Sunday. “IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID. WE ARE A COUNTRY THAT IS NOW BEING RUN WITH COMMON SENSE – AND THE RESULTS WILL BE.”

Commenting on Canada’s retaliatory measures, announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump suggested the possibility of imposing steeper levies. “If they want to play the game, I don’t mind. We can play the game all they want,” he told reporters upon landing at Joint Base Andrews from Florida. In a separate social media post, Trump renewed his call for Canada to become a US state, arguing that “without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable country.”Addressing potential import taxes on the EU, Trump stated that with a trade deficit of $350 billion, “something is going to take place there.” He did not specify a timeline but suggested action was likely “pretty soon.”

He also called the UK “out of line” but expressed confidence that the situation “can be worked out.” Canada and Mexico have already responded to last week’s tariff announcement. Trudeau has imposed a 25% levy on US goods, including alcohol and cosmetics, and warned of further countermeasures. Mexico has also signaled it will implement retaliatory tariffs and promote domestic products in response to Washington’s policies. Meanwhile, China has announced “corresponding countermeasures” and plans to file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization.

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“The Inconvenient Truth: Tariffs Are Effective..”

Trump’s Big Stick Strategy Will Make America Respected Again (Vasile)

Under Biden, South and Central American countries had a free pass to send their citizens, freed criminals, and other migrants to America’s doorstep without repercussions. For the past four years, the Biden administration wrote a blank check to allow any and all migrants into our nation, without even a background check. This has led to a swelling of migrant gangs such as Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, which has been busy at work committing violent crime – including murders and rapes – on American soil. Thanks to Biden’s “humanitarian policy,” countries like Venezuela have emptied their prisons and have encouraged migrants to pass through with the promise of attaining the “American dream” in the form of free cell phones, food, and even housing at the expense of the American taxpayer. There’s one issue: Trump is back.

With U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ramping up deportation efforts of violent illegal aliens, the countries which for so long have benefited from the Democrats’ open-border approach are now forced to address the migrant crisis and take back the citizens they’ve abandoned time and time again. Colombia’s Petro is one of the first to actively resist Trump’s efforts to repatriate Colombian citizens, announcing: “From today on, Colombia is open to the entire world, with open arms.” Petro also tweeted out: “The U.S. cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals,” and “We are the opposite of the Nazis.” Trump responded, declaring that an immediate 25% tariff on “all goods” coming into the States from Colombia will be enacted; in one week’s time, the tariff would be raised to 50%.

Petro responded in the like, announcing his own 25% tax on American goods, if Trump keeps to his word: “Your blockade does not scare me, because Colombia, besides being the country of beauty, is the heart of the world.” Despite Petro’s poetic declarations, it appears he is all bark and no bite; within 24 hours of sparring with President Trump, Petro bent the knee and agreed to take in America’s deportation flights, ensuring that Colombia will, “facilitate the dignified return of the compatriots who were to arrive in the country this morning from deportation flights … [th]is measure responds to the Government’s commitment to guarantee decent conditions.” In fact, Trump’s tariff threat was so effective, Petro quickly agreed to all of Trump’s terms regarding facilitating deportation efforts; so much for being “open to the entire world.”

Petro even offered his own presidential plane to pick up migrants in Honduras in a good faith effort not to disrespect American sovereignty again. This nimble victory on migration policy isn’t just a nod to how effective Trump’s diplomatic strategy is on the world’s stage. It also highlights a fear establishment politicians and the legacy media have been dreading: Protectionism works. While the talking heads of CNN, CNBC, NBC and others are quick to fear-monger and forecast the potential price hikes associated with hypothetical tariffs on foreign goods, they conveniently ignore one important aspect of announcing tariffs: leverage. For the past four years, America has been the world’s laughing-stock. Under Biden, we have experienced war in Ukraine, renewed Chinese efforts to invade Taiwan, the funding of Islamic terrorism in the Middle East, a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, and blatant spying on American soil.

The world has taken American for granted, betting on a weak and ineffective commander in chief to do their bidding and continuously fund their morally questionable policies. With Trump back in the picture, the threat of tariffs shows that America means business after four long years of inept (and absent) leadership. While academics, “classical liberals,” and politicians decry Trump’s use of tariffs as “anti-democratic,” they fail to address tariffs in action. Trump needed only to voice the possibility of tariffs if Colombia did not take back its own citizens. Petro knows better than to spar head-to-head with Trump, as do most other world leaders; the threat of tariffs is sufficient to get countries to step in line. No actual tariffs need to be put in place if American foreign policy is respected. Colombia is the textbook case: Trump rescinded his order after Petro conceded.

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Europe has no leaders.

European Leaders Will ‘Wag Tails’ For Trump – Putin (RT)

The EU has always taken its political cues from Washington and will continue doing so with Donald Trump in office, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. Despite some EU leaders actively opposing Trump’s election, the newly inaugurated president “will restore order” and bring the bloc to heel “quite quickly,” Putin believes. The Russian president made the remarks on Sunday in an interview to Russia-1 TV journalist Pavel Zarubin. It has been decades since Europe last had strong politicians capable of forming opinions independently from Washington, Putin said, referring to the era of former French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder.

However, in recent years, the EU’s policies have been steered by “political small fries” who lack education and ability, Putin asserted. He noted that these individuals have “happily carried out any order from the president in Washington under Biden,” but “got confused when Trump suddenly won” the November election. “They just don’t like Trump, they actively fought him, interfered in political life, in the US election… Trump has different ideas about what is good and what is bad, including in gender policy, in some other issues, and they don’t like it,” Putin said. He believes, however, it won’t be long until the EU once again follows orders from Washington.

“I assure you, Trump, with his character and persistence, will restore order quite quickly. And all of them, you’ll see, soon all of them will stand at the master’s feet and gently wag their tails,” Putin argued. Many European leaders expressed concerns about Trump’s potential return to the White House throughout the presidential race last year, alarmed by his “America First” protectionist rhetoric, threats to impose tariffs on EU goods, criticism of the bloc’s low contribution to NATO defense spending, and calls to change course on the Ukraine conflict, among other things. After congratulating Trump on his election victory in November, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were nevertheless quick to call on the bloc to act in a united manner in the face of Trump’s return to office.

So far, Trump’s executive actions have not directly targeted the EU. However, this past week he reaffirmed his intention to place “substantial” tariffs on goods from the bloc. Brussels has pledged to respond to these actions “in a proportionate way,” while French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou last week called on the bloc to stand up to Trump and his policies or face being “crushed.” “The US has decided to embark upon an extremely domineering form of politics… and if we don’t do anything, our fate is very simple – we will be dominated. We will be crushed. We will be marginalized,” Bayrou stated.

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Any time the “extreme right” makes this much sense is a good time.

EU Incapable Of Helping End Ukraine Conflict – AfD Leader (RT)

Alice Weidel, the co-leader of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has said that the EU and Germany in particular are unable to assist in finding a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict due to being run by incompetent politicians. The AfD wants peace between Russia and Ukraine and is “committed to negotiations,” Weidel said during a campaign event in the town of Neu-Isenburg in central Germany on Saturday. She stressed that Trump “was the only one who actually spoke about peace during his election campaign” last year. “I personally have great hopes that the US, together with Russia, will end this terrible war as quickly as possible,” the AfD co-leader stressed.

According to Weidel, the EU, and Germany in particular, are “unfortunately no longer capable” of delivering peace because “we only have this small group of politicians sitting up there, who do not understand what they are actually talking about. They do not have the training; they do not have the experience.” Berlin should have started “to fight for peace immediately” after the escalation between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022 and hold talks with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky but failed to do so, she argued.

When German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock “refuses to shake hands… that is not how serious foreign policy works,” the AfD co-leader stressed. She appeared to have been referring to when Baerbock refused a handshake with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at a G20 summit in 2023. After his inauguration last week, Trump, who had repeatedly promised to quickly end the fighting between Moscow and Kiev if elected, said he was ready to meet Putin “any time” to find a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict.

The Kremlin replied by saying that the Russian president is also willing to talk to his US counterpart, but stressed that Moscow has not yet been approached by Washington about arranging contact between the two leaders. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated on Thursday that Trump believes that the fighting “needs to end now. It needs to end to a negotiation.” The AfD, which was established in 2013 and is known for its hardline anti-immigration stance, is currently polling around 20%, ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) at 16% but behind the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) at 31%. The German federal election is scheduled to take place on February 23.

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“Zelensky is essentially urging Trump to stand fast on the demand that Ukraine be invited into NATO. Of course, such a scenario could easily trigger WW3.”

Zelensky: Trump Talking To Putin About Ukraine Without Us ‘Very Dangerous’ (ZH)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that Russia and the United States are already talking about how to wind down the Russia-Ukraine war and this is “very dangerous” without Ukraine’s direct input. He said in an Associated Press interview published Saturday, “They may have their own relations, but talking about Ukraine without us — it is dangerous for everyone.” Zelensky issued this assessment the day after the Trump White House confirmed that discussions at a “general level” are happening with Moscow and that an in-person meeting between presidents will take place ‘soon’. According to an AP summary of Zelensky’s words: “Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Zelenskyy said Russia does not want to engage in ceasefire talks or to discuss any kind of concessions, which the Kremlin interprets as losing at a time when its troops have the upper hand on the battlefield.

He said U.S. President Donald Trump could bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the table with the threat of sanctions targeting Russia’s energy and banking system, as well as continued support of the Ukrainian military. “I think these are the closest and most important steps,” he said in the interview in the Ukrainian capital that lasted for more than an hour.” Zelensky did express openness to eventually entering negotiations with Putin, despite current active legislation which forbids entering direct communication with Moscow so long as Putin is head of state. But he emphasized Trump and Kiev should be on the same page first. “I believe that, first and foremost, we (must) hold a meeting with him, and that is important. And that is, by the way, something that everyone in Europe wants,” Zelensky said, describing this would be based on “a common vision of a quick end to the war.”

But importantly, Zelensky defines a key part of this ‘common vision’ as a path to NATO membership. “I really believe that these are the cheapest security guarantees that Ukraine can get, the cheapest for everyone,” he said. Putin has rejected this as a non-starter, and Trump too knows that negotiations would never get off the ground if this is held to. Zelensky continued, after the conversation with Trump, “we should move on to some kind of format of conversation with Russians. And I would like to see the United States of America, Ukraine and the Russians at the negotiating table. … And, to be honest, a European Union voice should also be there. I think it would be fair, effective. But how will it turn out? I don’t know.”

He warned against allowing Putin to take “control” of the war of the narrative, but the reality on the ground especially in the east strongly suggests this has already happened. Zelensky said “It will be a signal that it is not for Russia to decide who should be in NATO and who should not, but for the United States of America to decide. I think this is a great victory for Trump.” Zelensky is essentially urging Trump to stand fast on the demand that Ukraine be invited into NATO. Of course, such a scenario could easily trigger WW3.

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I think he got his share.

Zelensky Has No Idea Where Most Of ‘$200 Billion’ In US Aid Went (RT)

Washington has provided Kiev with just over $75 billion in military and other types of assistance, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has claimed, adding that he has no idea where US President Donald Trump’s estimate of $200 billion originated or where it could have vanished. Trump, who has been highly critical of his predecessor Joe Biden’s generosity toward Ukraine, has argued that NATO states and the EU should “equalize” their contributions with Washington’s support. “We are in there for $200 billion more than the EU. I mean, what are we, stupid?” Trump said last month. US Vice President J.D. Vance referenced the figure as early as last July, saying, “We have now spent $200 billion. What is the goal? What are we trying to accomplish?”

In an interview with AP published on Sunday, Zelensky insisted that Ukraine never received even half of that sum. “When it is said that Ukraine received $200 billion to support the army during the war – that’s not true. I don’t know where all that money went. Perhaps it’s true on paper with hundreds of different programs – I won’t argue, and we’re immensely grateful for everything. But in reality, we received about $76 billion. It’s significant aid, but it’s not $200 billion,” Zelensky said. Since 2022, the US Congress has authorized roughly $175 billion for Ukraine, but a significant portion of that funding has reportedly gone to American industries and various US government activities related to the conflict. According to Germany’s Kiel Institute, as of October 2024, the US had allocated approximately $92 billion in financial and military aid to Ukraine, while EU countries and the UK had allocated $131 billion.

Zelensky also insisted that he has seen little actual cash, as more than $70 billion of the aid came in the form of direct military assistance. “There are also many other humanitarian programs I’m uninformed about, except for knowing of their existence. Perhaps the US president’s administration will audit these programs and find additional billions, but I don’t know where those funds went,” he said. Among his first actions upon returning to office, Trump suspended US foreign aid for 90 days to review its alignment with his administration’s objectives, vowing to put “America first.” The cut affected many Kiev-related initiatives, particularly those funded by grants from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Over the weekend, USAID’s official website went offline, and its X account disappeared, amid reports that the White House was considering merging the agency into the State Department. The newly created US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, has reportedly sent inspectors to audit USAID’s activities. “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die,” Musk wrote on Sunday. In a brief comment the same day, Trump also criticized the agency as being “run by a bunch of radical lunatics and we are getting them out.”

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“..achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, based on the two-state solution..”

Arab Nations Reject Trump’s Idea To Relocate Gaza Population (RT)

A group of Arab nations has spoken out against the suggestion by US President Donald Trump that Palestinians from Gaza should be relocated to neighboring Egypt and Jordan. Trump claimed last week that Gaza has been turned into “literally a demolition site” by the fighting between Israel and Palestinian armed group Hamas, and that the best solution is to “just clean out that whole thing.” He vowed to “get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing [for Gaza’s population of 2.3 million] in a different location where I think they could maybe live in peace for a change.” According to the US president, the relocation “could be temporary” or “long term.”

Following a meeting of top diplomats in Cairo on Saturday, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, and the Arab League issued a joint statement, saying they “firmly rejected… the displacement of Palestinians through direct expulsion or coerced migration.” These actions would “threaten the region’s stability, risk expanding the conflict, and undermine prospects for peace and coexistence among its peoples,” the statement read. The Arab nations said they are looking forward to working with Trump to “achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, based on the two-state solution” between Israel and the Palestinians.

They also called on the international community to assist with a comprehensive reconstruction plan for Gaza to make sure that the Palestinians remain there. Last week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi stressed that the relocation of Palestinians “cannot ever be tolerated or allowed.” Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, also expressed his country’s “firm and unwavering” opposition to the move. Shortly after the escalation between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, the previous administration of US President Joe Biden suggested that Egypt should take in the Palestinians from Gaza, but the Arab nations rejected the idea.

Around 47,500 Palestinians have been killed and over 111,500 wounded during the 15 months of Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to the latest data from the enclave’s Health Ministry. UN data suggests that 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced by the fighting. Israel began its military operation in Gaza in response to a cross-border raid by Hamas, in which around 1,200 people died and 250 others were taken prisoner. A US-brokered ceasefire is currently underway between Israel and Hamas, with prisoner exchanges ongoing. The Israeli authorities say that 79 hostages still remain in Gaza, 35 of whom are presumed dead.

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An adventure.

Musk Urges Astronauts To Lead Mars Investigation (RT)

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has called for astronauts to be sent to Mars to investigate a peculiar square structure observed on the planet’s surface that has recently generated much public discussion. On Friday, Musk responded to a post on X by podcast host Joe Rogan, who shared images from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor showing a square-like formation on Mars. “We should send astronauts to Mars to investigate!” the US-based billionaire wrote. The photo was captured back in November 2001 but has recently gone viral on social media. The square formation has sparked discussions about its origin, with some speculating about it being artificial in nature.

However, similar formations have been observed on Mars before. For example, the “Face on Mars” in the Cydonia region, initially thought to be artificial, was later shown through higher-resolution imaging to be a natural landform. Such interest in anomalies on the Martian surface aligns with Musk’s long-standing ambition to colonize the planet. He has previously emphasized the importance of making life multiplanetary, stating that becoming a spacefaring civilization is essential for the future of humanity. SpaceX has been actively developing its Starship spacecraft, which is designed to carry both crew and cargo to far-flung destinations including Mars.

In December, Musk set a potential timeline for his company’s space missions to the Red Planet. “Uncrewed Starships landing on Mars in 2 years, perhaps with crewed versions passing near Mars, and crewed Starships heading there in 4 years are all possible,” he wrote on X. He has also stated that he would want to see “direct, rather than representative, democracy” on Mars if it’s ever settled by humans. He has previously outlined plans to send a million people to Mars by 2050 using a fleet of Starships. US President Donald Trump announced in his inaugural address plans to send American astronauts to Mars, stating: “We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.”

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Change the world.

Rosatom’s Quantum Breakthrough Set to Transform AI, Healthcare and More (Sp.)

A quantum research project conducted under the auspices of the Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom is poised to cement Moscow’s place as one of world’s technological powerhouses. Russia’s development of 50-qubit ion-based and rubidium neutral atom quantum computers in 2024 marks a key step in its quantum project roadmap. The next phase is going to be unveiled in Moscow on February 8. Russia’s accomplishments were made possible by a unique team of researchers and engineers of over 1,000 specialists, including about 600 scientists. By 2030, Rosatom intends to build a viable quantum industry in Russia, which entails industrial-scale manufacturing of quantum computers.

Quantum computing is expected to benefit Russia in the following areas:
• Healthcare and pharmaceuticals: development of new medicines thanks to the ability to model complex molecules, and prediction of future epidemics.
• Transportation and logistics: charting optimal transport routes and prevention of traffic congestion.
• Financial sector: minimization of risks and more accurate evaluation of credit ratings of various entities.
• Artificial intelligence: boosting machine learning, image recognition and data processing capabilities of AIs.

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So last year.

CBS To Provide Unedited Version Of Harris ‘Word Salad’ Interview (RT)

CBS News has agreed to provide the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with the unedited version of its controversial interview with former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. The interview is at the center of US President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit alleging that the network deceptively edited the interview to benefit Harris in the run-up to the 2024 election. The scandal erupted in October when CBS aired two versions of the interview with Harris. A preview version that aired on ‘Face the Nation’ included a question about the Middle East conflict, to which Harris gave a long and convoluted answer. The other full-length version shown on ‘60 Minutes’ featured a much clearer and more concise answer.

Just days ahead of the election, Trump lodged a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS, calling the interview “word salad” and accusing the network of “deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news.” The action also claims that CBS tried “to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party.” On Wednesday, as part of the legal proceedings, the FCC, under Trump appointee Brendan Carr, sent a letter to CBS requesting the “full, unedited transcript and camera feeds” of the Harris interview. On Friday, CBS agreed to hand over the data, stating, “We are working to comply with that inquiry as we are legally compelled to do.”

The network has admitted that it edited the Harris interview, but dismissed claims that it attempted to doctor it. “Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response. When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point,” CBS said. However, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing sources, that CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, is discussing a potential lawsuit settlement with Trump’s legal team. Some executives reportedly believe that the deal could improve the chances of obtaining regulatory approval for Paramount’s planned merger with Skydance Media, which falls under the FCC’s purview. The potential deal has reportedly caused concern among CBS reporters, with one unnamed correspondent telling CNN that “Trump’s lawsuit was a joke, but if we settle, we become the laughingstock.”

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It’s my turn now.

Exhausted Media Begs Trump To Take A Day Off (BBee)

Only one week into the new administration and struggling to keep up with the constant flow of things being accomplished, the exhausted news media collectively begged President Donald Trump to take a day off. Journalists and broadcasters who are not used to working quite this hard urgently asked Trump’s staff if they could please ask him to just pause for one single, solitary day. “Please… please… just let up for a second,” said a visibly disheveled Jake Tapper. “The executive orders, the trips to disaster-ravaged areas of the country, the manhandling of foreign leaders and making them do things that help the United States… it’s impossible to keep up this pace. We’re not used to working this much. Why is a president doing so much anyway?”

Other members of the media were just as adamant that Trump needed to take a day off. “What, he’s just going to keep, like… doing stuff? Like every day?” asked CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan. “I’m starting to wonder if Trump knows anything about being president. He clearly doesn’t if he thinks it’s okay to be accomplishing important tasks every day. He should be taking our well-being into account. We’re not used to this. All the… working.” At publishing time, several members of the White House press pool had reportedly been rushed to the hospital to be treated for exhaustion after passing out from being overworked.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Baron

 

 

Get rich

 

 

Mammogram

 

 

Eagle

 

 

Chains

 

 

Anemone

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Feb 022025
 


Pablo Picasso Les Demoiselles d’Avignon 1907

 

Musk Reveals Treasury Has Been Auto-Paying Everyone, ‘Even Known Terrorists’ (ZH)
USAID Website and X Account Go Dark (RT)
Trump’s Overhaul of Federal Bureaucracy Backed by Recent Survey Research (RCW)
US Federal Workers Told To Remove Pronouns From Email Signatures (RT)
NYT, NBC, NPR, Politico Evicted From Pentagon Press Offices (ZH)
Chuck Schumer Is Now Under Federal Investigation (Margolis)
Ric Grenell Scores Big Win For Trump In Venezuela (ZH)
Border Encounters Plummet 94% Under Trump (ZH)
Mexico Announces Retaliation Against US (RT)
Canada Strikes Back With Tariffs (RT)
Musk Sank $288 Million Into Trump Campaign – WaPo (RT)
Can Trump Make A Peace Deal With Putin? (SCF)
White House Wants Zelensky To Hold Elections – Trump Envoy (RT)
The Chihuahua Energy Policy: It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas (Pepe Escobar)
Russia and China Boost NVIDIA Performance 800-Fold (Sp.)
Norway Clears Russian-Crewed Ship In Sabotage Probe (RT)
Global Green Spending Is Falling Short of Net Zero Targets (OP)

 

 

 

 

AfD
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885741075509252315

 

 

 

 

What a story…: “..a handful of career officials within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service” … control “the US government’s payment system”, which includes Social Security, Medicare, federal salaries, payments to government contractors, tax refunds, grant recipients, and more. No payment is ever refused, and $6 trillion per year is disbursed this way. The Treasury Department’s highest-ranking career official flees the scene when Musk comes close.

I would take a good look at these guys’ bank accounts and other assets over the past 10 years. And it looks like DOGE can find a lot of savings here.

Musk Reveals Treasury Has Been Auto-Paying Everyone, ‘Even Known Terrorists’ (ZH)

Update (0942ET): Well, well, well – DOGE moves into the Treasury, triggering their longest-serving, highest-ranked career official to quit in a huff, and they find that department has essentially been auto-paying everyone, according to Elon Musk. “The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups,” said Musk in a Friday night tweet. “They literally never denied a payment in their entire career.”

***
The Treasury Department’s highest-ranking career official quit after a clash with aides of Elon Musk over access to sensitive payment systems, according to the Washington Post, citing (of course), three anonymous sources. David A. Lebryk, a decades-long Treasury official who President Trump named as acting secretary upon taking office last week, announced his retirement in a Friday email to colleagues. According to the report, Lebryk had a dispute with Musk surrogates over access to the US government’s payment system used to disburse trillions of dollars every year. [Imagine Musk and team uncover decades of improper payments and shady dealings?] The Musk surrogates are affiliated with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and have been asking since the election for access to the system, according to the report. The requests were reiterated after Trump’s inauguration.

After Trump pick Scott Bessent was confirmed as Treasury Secretary on Monday, Lebryk ceased to be acting agency head. The payment system in question is run by a handful of career officials within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service – which controls the flow of more than $6 trillion annually to households, businesses, and other entities nationwide – and includes Social Security, Medicare, federal salaries, payments to government contractors, tax refunds, grant recipients, and more. The clash is the latest incident involving career ‘deep state’ bureaucrats vs. the Trump administration. And of course, WaPo, the CIA’s favorite tentacle, frames it as follows:

“The clash reflects an intensifying battle between Musk and the federal bureaucracy as the Trump administration nears the conclusion of its second week. Musk has sought to exert sweeping control over the inner workings of the U.S. government, installing longtime surrogates at several agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management, which essentially handles federal human resources, and the General Services Administration, which manages real estate. (Musk was seen on Thursday visiting GSA, according to two other people familiar with his whereabouts, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal matters. That visit was first reported by the New York Times.) His Department of Government Efficiency, originally conceived as a nongovernmental panel, has since replaced the U.S. Digital Service.”

Translation: “Unfortunately for the career bureaucrats, Trump signed an executive order instructing all agencies to ensure DOGE has “full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems,” which appear to include the Treasury payment systems. Musk has previously slammed rising national debt as an existential threat to the country, while DOGE has already made progress in rooting out bullshit programs established by Democrat administrations.

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“About 98 percent of USAID grants pay for activities and not results..”

USAID operates like the typical NGO of today. A vehicle to ‘silently’ dole out money. Ukrainian media are fully dependent on such vehicles, to name an example.

USAID Website and X Account Go Dark (RT)

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) website has gone offline following an executive order by President Donald Trump that pauses most American foreign aid programs for three months to reassess US overseas spending. The website became inaccessible on Saturday afternoon, displaying a message stating that the “server IP address could not be found.” Later that day, the agency’s X account also disappeared. The outage follows reports that the Trump administration is considering placing USAID under the control of the State Department. Last week, Trump signed an executive order freezing most US foreign aid for 90 days, citing the need for a comprehensive review of how funds are allocated.

The order states that “billions of taxpayer dollars flow to programs that do not serve American interests and, in many cases, actively work against them.” The White House has framed the move as part of Trump’s “America First” policy, aimed at cutting wasteful spending and redirecting resources toward domestic priorities. USAID, which oversees humanitarian and development programs abroad, has been significantly impacted. The agency spent over $60 billion on foreign assistance in 2023 alone. On Friday, Reuters reported that the Trump administration is planning to strip USAID of its independence and place it under the control of the State Department. According to sources familiar with the discussions, the National Security Council has hosted meetings on the issue, and legal options are being explored for Trump to issue an executive order formalizing the merger.

Some officials believe the order could be signed as early as this weekend. Photographs of USAID headquarters reviewed by Reuters showed that signs bearing the agency’s official seal had already been removed. Critics have condemned the proposed reorganization, with Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warning that such a move could face legal challenges. “A president cannot eliminate an appropriated federal agency by executive order. That’s what a despot – who wants to steal the taxpayers’ money to enrich his billionaire cabal – does,” Murphy wrote in a post on X on Friday. US-based billionaire Elon Musk, who is advising Trump on downsizing the federal government, reacted by saying: “Live by executive order, die by executive order.”

USAID was created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy through an executive order, consolidating various foreign assistance programs under one agency. Its mission has been to promote economic growth, respond to humanitarian crises, and advance U.S. national security interests globally. However, the agency has faced growing criticism over its effectiveness, with experts questioning whether its assistance programs achieve their intended goals. “About 98 percent of USAID grants pay for activities and not results,” Walter Kerr, co-executive director of Unlock Aid, said earlier this month. “Less than 10 percent of our foreign assistance dollars flowing through USAID is actually reaching those communities.”

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“..just 45% of Federal Government Managers would follow a legal order from President Trump if they thought the order was bad policy, and instead would do what they thought was right.”

Trump’s Overhaul of Federal Bureaucracy Backed by Recent Survey Research (RCW)

Since returning to office for a second term, President Trump has taken aggressive action to overhaul the federal bureaucracy. After a week in office some of Trump actions towards federal workers include: removing employment protections for civil servants, firing 17 inspectors general, reassigning career officials in the Department of Justice, sending home 160 staffers from the National Security Agency and firing the lawyers at the Department of Justice who prosecuted Trump under special counsel Jack Smith. Trump’s efforts have been met with hostility and criticism from the media and predictably from his political opposition. Opinionist Phillip Bump at the Washington Post writes Trump’s actions are “a sharp disruption of how the government works.” Bump laments that “Trump is clearly interested in…seeding loyalists throughout the executive branch.”

At Axios, Zachary Basu and Dave Lawler explain that Trump is “transform[ing] the federal bureaucracy into an army of loyalists.” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who represents 140,000 federal workers in Virginia, told reporters “This gleeful hatred of the federal workforce will lead to nothing good. “But are Trump’s efforts to transform the government workforce justified by a real concern that his policy platforms–which earned him a presidential victory–will be thwarted by anonymous bureaucrats? Recent survey research suggests Trump is right to be concerned. Napolitan Institute found that just 45% of Federal Government Managers would follow a legal order from President Trump if they thought the order was bad policy and instead would do what they thought was right.

Among managers who voted for Kamala Harris that figure jumps to nearly three-quarters (69%.) The survey also found a majority (52%) of the federal managerial class voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Those current survey results are consistent with events that developed in the first Trump Administration, where we learned how bureaucratic opinions on “right” policy interfered with the power of the duly elected executive officer. Former diplomat Jim Jeffrey revealed that his team routinely mislead the Trump Administration after the president had ordered the withdrawal of troops from Syria. “What Syria withdrawal? There was never a Syria withdrawal,” Jeffrey said. “When the situation in northeast Syria had been fairly stable after we defeated ISIS, [Trump] was inclined to pull out. In each case, we then decided to come up with five better arguments for why we needed to stay. And we succeeded both times. That’s the story.”

“We were always playing shell games to not make clear to our leadership how many troops we had there,” Jeffrey said in an interview.While Jeffrey’s revelation came after Trump had left office from his first term, there was a real time revelation of a policy conflict between President Trump and the “interagency consensus” that would become foundation of the first Trump impeachment.The policy difference originated from a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when Trump requested Zelensky open an investigation into possible corruption at the Burisma energy company before receiving a military aid package. Trump’s 2020 election opponent Joe Biden’s son was on the board of Burisma. A central part of the subsequent impeachment case was testimony from Lt. Alexander Vindman (ret.), who had been detailed to the National Security Council and present for the phone call.

Vindman explained in his opening statement to the House impeachment committee he was concerned the president chose to wield his executive authority in a way that was at odds with the “interagency consensus.” Vindman testified “…a false narrative of Ukraine inconsistent with the consensus views of the interagency,” Vindman said in his opening statement. “This narrative was harmful to U.S. government policy. While my interagency colleagues and I were becoming increasingly optimistic on Ukraine’s prospects, this alternative narrative undermined U.S. government efforts to expand cooperation with Ukraine.” But Vindman and the “interagency consensus” have no authority to determine or execute their interpretation of U.S. government policy or in other words, “do what they thought was right.”

The New York Times editorial board supported and encouraged the usurpation of executive authority in favor of the “right” bureaucratic opinion by praising the government bureaucracy overriding or ignoring President Trump’s lawful authority. “…patriotic public servants — career diplomats, scientists, intelligence officers and others…have somehow remembered that their duty is to protect the interests, not of a particular leader, but of the American people.” There is no way to know exactly how extensive bureaucratic resistance interfered with Trump’s ability to govern in his first term, but we do know 46% of current Federal Government Managers would ignore the legal order of President Trump and instead do what was “right.” Trump is making the correct move to overhaul the federal bureaucracy in order to deliver on the campaign promises that got him back in office.

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How did we ever get here?

US Federal Workers Told To Remove Pronouns From Email Signatures (RT)

Employees at US federal agencies have been ordered to remove pronouns from their email signatures, according to internal memos obtained by several media outlets. The directive reportedly cites two presidential executive orders seeking to curb diversity and equity programs across the government.On his first day back in office, US President Donald Trump repealed 78 executive orders signed by his predecessor, Joe Biden. They included several measures to protect transgender rights and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The orders also set a 60-day timeframe for federal agencies and departments to cease DEI-related practices.The memos on removing pronouns from signatures reportedly set Friday afternoon as the deadline.

“Pronouns and any other information not permitted in the policy must be removed from CDC/ATSDR employee signatures by 5 p.m. ET on Friday,” ABC News cited one such message as saying. It was sent to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees on Friday morning. The outlet reported that a similar notice urging the removal of DEI “language in Federal discourse, communications, and publications” had been received by federal employees with the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation on Thursday.

Several federal government agency websites, including the Federal Aviation Administration and the Census Bureau, temporarily went down on Friday, according to The Guardian. Some pages displayed as blank before reappearing later that day. The British newspaper noted that the Bureau of Prisons had renamed a webpage called “inmate gender” to “inmate sex” and stopped displaying a list of trans inmates. Donald Trump declared in his inaugural address on January 1 that the US would officially recognize only two genders. ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’, one of the orders signed by the president later that day, states that “there are only two genders, male and female,” and orders agencies to update official documents such as passports and visas in accordingly.

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Legacy no more: “The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media that are seated in this room..”

NYT, NBC, NPR, Politico Evicted From Pentagon Press Offices (ZH)

The innumerable consequences of the 2024 election keep gushing forth at a pace that’s hard to keep up with. Here’s a new gem: On Friday evening, the Department of Defense told The New York Times, NBC News, National Public Radio and Politico that they have two weeks to vacate their long-held and treasured offices inside the Pentagon. Three of their four replacements skew decidedly to the Trump-friendly sector of the political spectrum: the New York Post, One America News Network and Breitbart. Throwing a bone to leftists, HuffPost news snagged Politico’s old slot. The Pentagon Press Association said it was “greatly troubled by this unprecedented move by DOD to single out highly professional media.”

The short-notice evictions from the hallowed “Correspondents’ Corridor” spring from the launch of a “new annual media rotation program for [the] Pentagon Press Corps,” according to a memorandum sent by DOD spokesman John Ullyot on Friday and posted by CNN Pentagon correspondent Haley Britzky. The program seeks to “broaden access to the limited space…to outlets that have not previously enjoyed the privilege and journalist value of working from physical office space in the Pentagon,” said Ullyot. The booted outlets will retain their status as full members of the Pentagon Press Corps, entitled to attend briefings and be considered for travel with officials. “The only change will be giving up their physical workspaces in the building to allow new outlets to have their turn to become resident members of the Pentagon Press Corps,” wrote Ullyot.

Make no mistake: Those physical workspaces are a big deal. “Kicking out reporters HURTS coverage. If you can’t file your stories from inside the building you are disadvantaged. If you don’t have a work space you are disadvantaged,” wrote former Pentagon Press Corps VP Kevin Baron on X. That commentary was part of a thread condemning the development as “the erasure of journalism at the Pentagon.” The Pentagon Press Corps comprises more than two dozen outlets. The program calls for one outlet from each press medium to rotate from the premises every year. As if Breitbart’s invitation into the Pentagon weren’t enough to outrage establishment media types, the fact that it’s taking the “radio” slot from NPR only compounded the indignation. In a Friday night article, CNN’s Brian Stelter called foul:

“Breitbart – a well-known web site for pro-Trump coverage and commentary – barely has a radio operation of its own. The word ‘radio’ doesn’t appear on its home page at all. The media outlet has a distribution deal with SiriusXM and one big podcast, Breitbart News Daily. Its footprint pales in comparison to NPR, which provides news coverage for local stations all across the country.” In another hilarious, leftist-pummeling swap, One America News Network will be sliding into NBC’s slot. Expressing sympathetic disbelief, CNN’s Britzky emphasized that NBC “has an entire booth w/ cameras etc.” NBC News promised to soldier on, telling Reuters, “We’re disappointed by the decision to deny us access to a broadcasting booth at the Pentagon that we’ve used for many decades. Despite the significant obstacles this presents to our ability to gather and report news in the national public interest, we will continue to report with the same integrity and rigor NBC News always has.”

For the many Americans who are still angry about legacy media’s aggressive role in working to derail Trump’s 2020 re-election bid, Politico’s punishment is perhaps the most satisfying. The outlet took the lead in spreading the consequential, Deep State lie that Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” — first reported by the New York Post — was part of a Russian misinformation scheme. That lie helped ignite unprecedented censorship of the Post’s coverage. Fittingly, the Post — the country’s longest-running newspaper — is among the outlets graduating to space in the Pentagon.

“The National Press Club is deeply concerned by the Defense Department’s decision to remove certain media organizations from their dedicated spaces in the Pentagon,” club president Mike Balsamo said in a statement. “Any action that restricts the ability of journalists to report on the operations of the U.S. government should alarm all who value transparency and press freedom.” Balsamo pointed to the Pentagon press corps’ history of “diversity,” yet the announced swaps inarguably increase viewpoint diversity. The Pentagon’s shot across the bow of legacy media follows Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s announcement that the White House will significantly broaden media access, with an emphasis on alternative media. “The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media that are seated in this room,” she said in her first press conference. Never a dull moment in Trump II: The Revenge. What’s next?

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“I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price,” Schumer said to a chorus of cheers..

Chuck Schumer Is Now Under Federal Investigation (Margolis)

Interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. has made a bold move, dismissing about 30 federal prosecutors involved in the Capitol riot cases. This decision, announced on Friday, signals a significant housecleaning of the top prosecutor’s office in Washington, D.C., as Martin gears up to purge partisans who weaponized the Justice Department against Joe Biden’s political enemies, including Trump, pro-life activists, and others. But he’s also taken another bold step, effectively launching an investigation into Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over comments he made back in March 2020 during a #MyRightMyDecision rally outside the Supreme Court. During the rally, Schumer blatantly threatened Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch over their potential votes in the first abortion case before the Supreme Court with the new conservative majority.

“I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price,” Schumer said to a chorus of cheers. “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” According to 18 U.S. Code ß/ 115, whoever threatens a federal official, with intent to impede, intimidate, or interfere with such official, judge, or law enforcement officer while engaged in the performance of official duties, or with intent to retaliate against such official, judge, or law enforcement officer on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment of as much as ten years. Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, has been calling on Schumer to be federally prosecuted for years. “Schumer should have been (and should be) criminally prosecuted for his threats targeting two Supreme Court justices,” Fitton wrote.

“If I had said that, I’d have two U.S. marshals in my office, or frankly, probably in my home in the least, questioning me, questioning my family, questioning everyone here at Judicial Watch,” he said back in 2022. “Anyone else I had talked to about that threat on the Supreme Court, Justice Roberts responded, rightly so, said that type of language is dangerous.” “We take threats against public officials very seriously. I look forward to your cooperation,” Martin wrote Schumer in a letter obtained by the Washington Post.

According to the Post, while Martin’s actions are “likely to be welcomed by Trump and allies, who assert they were unfairly targeted by the past administration,” but “career prosecutors who have served under presidents of both parties say Martin is politicizing the office and potentially breaking with 50 years of Justice Department policy and practice intended to shield criminal prosecutions from political considerations.” That’s cute. I wonder what those “career prosecutors” had to say about the various cases the Biden administration launched against Donald Trump.

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Grenell truly is a special envoy. When the going gets tough…

Ric Grenell Scores Big Win For Trump In Venezuela (ZH)

Update (1815ET): The government of Venezuela has agreed not only to release six detained Americans, who arrived home Friday evening with Trump envoy Richard Grenell, the Maduro government has will take back tens of thousands of migrants, President Trump said on Saturday. “It is so good to have the Venezuela Hostages back home, and, very important to note, that Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their Country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S.,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that Venezuela would take back members of the Tren de Aragua transnational gang that has recently expanded into America from various Latin American countries. According to the WSJ, Maduro’s government will provide transport for its citizens to return.”This is good news for all who care about ensuring that Venezuelans with removal orders actually get sent home,” said Kevin Whitaker, a former U.S. ambassador to Colombia who also had served as deputy chief of mission in Venezuela.

* * *
More of the Trump effect: six imprisoned Americans have been freed by Venezuela after President Trump’s envoy Richard Grenell visited the country this week. They were released and flown home on a State Dept. aircraft on Friday. “Just been informed that we are bringing six hostages home from Venezuela,” Trump announced on social media. “Thank you to Ric Grenell and my entire staff. Great job!” This comes amid reports of some significant behind-the-scenes deal-making with Venezuela, as Washington demands the Latin American country receive back illegal migrants in the US.The six men were not named, but previously the White House had called on Venezuela to release what it dubbed “US hostages” or else suffer consequences. Grenell had reportedly met directly with President Maduro.

At least nine people with American citizenship or residency had been detained in Venezuela, after authorities accused them of planning to kill President Nicolás Maduro. According to the NY Times: Relatives of three detained U.S. citizens said they had gotten very little information from the American government and had not heard from their loved ones for months since they had disappeared. David Estrella, 64, who worked in quality control for pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey, was among those released, according to his family. “After such horrible moments that we and David have suffered unjustly, we look forward to welcoming him home and taking care of him until he fully recovers and leaves all this unfortunate incident behind him,” said Elvia Macias, Mr. Estrella’s former wife and close friend.

He had entered Venezuela from Colombia to visit friends, Ms. Macias said. Another reason this is such an unexpected positive development is that the United States has no diplomatic presence or embassy in Venezuela, and also has sanctions against the country and its top officials.As for what could be a factor in the release, Financial Times speculated that “a deal could involve an easing of US sanctions on Venezuela and dropping a US reward offered for Maduro’s capture in return for Caracas taking back thousands of [Venezuelan] migrants from the US, shipping more oil to American Gulf Coast refineries and releasing US nationals held in Caracas.” The jubilant freed Americans thanked President Trump in a phone call on the plane ride home:

The US State Department special envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, has meanwhile said the discussions and this new initiative with Caracas will not change Washington’s overall Venezuela policy. “President Trump expects Nicolás Maduro to take back all of the Venezuelan criminals and gang members that have been exported to the US, and to do so unequivocally and without condition,” he said.

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Now add the threat of Guantanamo. It’s ugly, but it may work.

Border Encounters Plummet 94% Under Trump (ZH)

Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, illegal alien encounters at the southern US border have plummeted an average of 94% during his first 9 days, compared to President Biden’s last 19 days in office. During Trump’s first 9 days in office, after new border measures were implemented, there were an average of 126 daily encounters at the border vs. 2,087 per day during the last 2.5 weeks of the Biden administration.

As Rasmussen’s Mark Mitchell put it last week, “It’s like a switch was flipped.” During his 2024 campaign, Trump vowed to crack down on illegal immigration by continuing construction on the border wall, conducting the largest mass deportation in US history, slapping tariffs on Canada and Mexico until they control the situation from their end, and increasing penalties for illegal aliens.

To that end, there were more than 3,500 illegal immigrants who were arrested during Trump’s first week in office, including over 1,100 in a single day. As American Greatness notes further, on Wednesday, shortly before signing the Laken Riley Act into law, the 45th and 47th President announced his intention to send 30,000 of the most dangerous criminal illegals to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Laken Riley Act, named after the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was murdered by a Venezuelan illegal, is the first bill signed into law during President Trump’s second term. It gives federal immigration authorities broader power to arrest illegals who commit dangerous crimes, including drunk driving and assaulting police officers.

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Pete Hegseth is talking about US military action against cartels inside Mexico.

Mexico Announces Retaliation Against US (RT)

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has accused the United States of fueling cartel violence by allowing powerful firearms to flow south, pushing back against President Donald Trump’s claims that Mexico is failing to stop illegal migration and drug trafficking. Sheinbaum’s comments late Saturday came as she ordered retaliatory tariffs on US goods in response to Trump’s sweeping 25% duties on imports from Mexico and Canada. “We categorically reject the slander made by the White House against the Government of Mexico, accusing it of having alliances with criminal organizations,” Sheinbaum wrote in a fiery post on X. “If such an alliance exists anywhere, it is in the armories of the United States that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups – as demonstrated by the US Department of Justice itself.”

Her remarks apparetly referred to a recent report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which indicated that a significant number of military-grade firearms used by Mexican cartels originate in the United States. Sheinbaum also touted her administration’s anti-narcotics efforts, stating that in just four months, Mexican security forces have seized over 40 tons of drugs, including 20 million doses of fentanyl, and arrested more than 10,000 people linked to organized crime. She criticized the US government’s approach to the drug crisis, arguing that if Washington were serious about combating drug abuse, it would “start a massive campaign to prevent the consumption of these drugs and take care of its young people, as we have done in Mexico.”

Trump’s new tariffs, set to take effect on February 4, impose a 25% duty on goods from Mexico and Canada and a 10% duty on imports from China. The US administration justifies these measures by citing concerns over illegal immigration and drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl entering the United States. In response, Sheinbaum has instructed the Ministry of Economy to “implement the Plan B that we have been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests.” While details have not been disclosed, sources indicate that Mexico aims to impose measures targeting key US industries, particularly agriculture, while seeking to avoid further escalation.

The Mexican leader called for bilateral cooperation to address the drug crisis but insisted on equal footing. ”If the United States truly wants to combat the criminal groups that traffic drugs and generate violence, we must work together comprehensively,” she said. “But always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration, and, above all, respect for sovereignty, which is non-negotiable.”

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Trudy is far too woke for Trump, and far too close to “Joe Biden”. That will never work.

Canada Strikes Back With Tariffs (RT)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced retaliatory 25% tariffs on American goods, hours after US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping trade restrictions on Canadian imports. “Tonight, I am announcing Canada will be responding to the US trade action with 25% trade tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods,” Trudeau said at a news conference on Saturday. The first wave of tariffs, covering $30 billion worth of US goods, will take effect on Tuesday, with broader measures following in 21 days to allow Canadian companies to adjust.

“These tariffs will be far-reaching and include everyday items,” the Canadian leader said, listing alcohol, fruits, vegetables, clothing, and shoes. In addition to direct tariffs, Ottawa is exploring “several non-tariff measures,” which could include restrictions on critical minerals, energy procurement, and other trade partnerships. “We will stand strong for Canada,” Trudeau said. “We will stand strong to ensure our countries continue to be the best neighbors in the world,” he added, urging citizens to support domestic businesses.

Trump’s 25% tariffs on nearly all Canadian goods were announced earlier on Saturday, with the White House citing concerns over illegal drug trafficking and immigration. “The extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, constitutes a national emergency,” a White House fact sheet read. “President Trump is taking bold action to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.”

The US president claimed that Canada has played “a central role” in America’s fentanyl crisis and failed to “devote sufficient attention and resources” to combat the flow of illicit drugs. In an effort to avert the tariffs, Ottawa introduced a $1.3 billion spending plan aimed at strengthening border surveillance and tackling drug trafficking. Trump said on Friday, however, that there is “nothing Canada can do right now” to avoid the new tariffs. Economists warn that the escalating trade dispute could lead to rising consumer prices and economic disruptions in both countries.

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Is that him, or the PAC?

Musk Sank $288 Million Into Trump Campaign – WaPo (RT)

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk was “the biggest political donor” of the 2024 election cycle, contributing at least $288 million to Donald Trump’s presidential bid, the Washington Post has reported, citing an analysis of new Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. Trump appointed Musk to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to cut federal spending and regulations. In an article published on Friday, the Washington Post said, “the staggering 2024 political spending by Musk” cemented his influence within Trump’s political network, with some critics calling him a “de facto, unelected co-president.”

Musk’s political spending largely flowed through America PAC, a super PAC he helped establish to support Trump by mobilizing low-turnout voters in key battleground states. The group raised $263 million, backed not only by Musk but also by his close allies, including Tesla board member Antonio Gracias, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, and Sequoia Capital investor Shaun Maguire. According to the report covering the period from November 26 to the end of the year, Musk contributed $11.2 million on December 31, which was described as “petition incentives.”

The billionaire launched the initiative in October, pledging “$1M to someone in swing states who signed our petition to support free speech & the right to bear arms.” Those who signed the petition could also receive $47 for referring a registered voter in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. With earlier FEC filings showing an in-kind contribution of nearly $40.5 million, the total spending for petition incentives alone amounts to at least $52.7 million.

Musk’s “investment in the 2024 election has already paid off enormously,” the newspaper said, with his net worth surging by more than $200 billion since Trump’s victory on November 5. This is primarily attributed to the soaring stock price of Tesla. Shares of the electric vehicle manufacturer have risen approximately 70% since the election, significantly boosting Musk’s wealth. His fortune was estimated at around $442 billion as of mid-December. Musk, who previously positioned himself as politically neutral, publicly endorsed Trump shortly after the failed assassination attempt on the Republican nominee on July 13.

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“The U.S. is a party to this war, not a peace broker..”

Can Trump Make A Peace Deal With Putin? (SCF)

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to open talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to end the war in Ukraine. Trump has spoken about the urgency of bringing the conflict to a peaceful conclusion. Fair enough. For his part, President Putin has magnanimously reciprocated, saying he is ready to engage in talks with Trump. So far, so good. At least the American side is no longer encumbered with the stupid intransigent, hostile mentality of the Biden administration, which refused to have any diplomatic contact with Russia. Russia, for its part, has always been willing to negotiate a genuine way to not just end the conflict but to avoid future conflict.

Before the war in Ukraine erupted three years ago in February 2022, Moscow put forward a comprehensive proposal for a security treaty in Europe in December 2021. The proposal stipulated that the U.S.-led NATO military alliance desist from aggressive expansion on Russia’s borders and, in particular, for Ukraine never to be a member of NATO. Those proposals were rejected out of hand by the U.S. and its European partners. At the earliest stage of the Ukraine conflict, in March 2022, Russia negotiated a potential peace settlement with the Kiev regime in Istanbul, only for that proposal to be rejected by Washington and its British surrogate. The result has been three years of bloodshed and destruction, with millions of Ukrainian casualties and refugees. Ukraine has been destroyed thanks to the intransigence of its NATO sponsors.

If diplomacy is the art of making politics work then anything is possible. Opening talks is at least a start to exchanging ideas and demands to bring the conflict to an end and stop it from spiraling into a catastrophic global war between nuclear powers. President Trump says he wants to end the conflict. But does he understand what the conflict is really about? If a problem is not correctly defined, then a solution is elusive.Trump has a showman style of doing politics. He bragged about ending the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of being elected. Now he is talking about ending it in 100 days. There are some positive indicators of good intentions. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said this week that he believed the Trump administration is determined to do a peace deal.

Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, told senators during confirmation hearings for the post that her “priority would be to support President Trump’s efforts to get Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table.” (She may not be confirmed, however.) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an interview this week, repeated his calls for the war in Ukraine to end. In a telling comment, Rubio said the onus was on Russia and Ukraine to make compromises. Here’s where the problems emerge. The Trump administration seems to think that a resolution is a matter for two sides – Russia and Ukraine – and that the U.S. is acting as a mere peace broker instead of being the instigator. This was reflected in Trump’s own recent comments when he boorishly and stupidly warned Russia that if it did not come to the negotiating table, he would impose crippling sanctions on the Russian economy.

Trump is delusional if he thinks he can bully Russia or threaten the Russian economy. Such a fatuous attitude is out of order and counterproductive. The fact is the American and European sanctions against Russia have already failed. Russia’s economy has strengthened by being more independent and developing new trade relations with the rest of the world. It is now ranked 4th in the world, above Germany and other European nations. More importantly, Russia is decisively winning the war in Ukraine despite the colossal arming of the Kiev regime by the U.S. and its NATO partners. Ukrainian military lines are crumbling amid mounting losses. Even the Western media are reporting on the disarray and mass desertion of Ukrainian soldiers. The notion that Russia can be pressured to the negotiating table by the Trump administration is a fallacy and a serious misconception about the nature of the conflict.

Furthermore, the two parties that need to negotiate are not the corrupt puppet regime in Kiev and Russia. It is the United States and Russia. The U.S. is a party to this war, not a peace broker. If Trump’s administration is serious about making a peace deal, then it will have to be understood that the United States must accept Russia’s terms. A mere ceasefire and freezing the hostilities in Ukraine, which is what Trump aides are touting, is far from adequate as a solution. As we pointed out in our editorial last week, the conflict in Ukraine has deep roots in the imperialist machinations of the U.S. and its NATO proxy toward Russia. The history of this goes back decades, not just a few years. Only by addressing the root causes of the conflict can an authentic peaceful resolution begin.

Russia’s terms have been adumbrated clearly for a long time. The United States and its NATO war machine need to respect Russia’s national security interests. The security treaty that Moscow proposed in December 2021 is a basis for negotiation. So too are the realities on the ground. Russia’s new territories of Donbass, Kherson, Zaporozhye, as well as Crimea – all historic lands of Russia – are not negotiable. Neither is Russia’s insistence that Ukraine can never be part of the NATO alliance.

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Get rid of Zelensky first, then hold elections.

White House Wants Zelensky To Hold Elections – Trump Envoy (RT)

Washington wants Kiev to have presidential and parliamentary elections, potentially by this year’s end, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Ukraine conflict, Keith Kellogg. According to the report, Kellogg and other White House officials have discussed asking Kiev to hold the votes as part of a potential truce deal with Moscow. Speaking to the agency, Kellogg said that both the presidential and parliamentary elections “need to be done.”“Most democratic nations have elections in their time of war. I think it is important they do so,” the special envoy said. “I think it is good for democracy. That’s the beauty of a solid democracy, you have more than one person potentially running.”

Parliamentary and presidential elections in Ukraine scheduled for October 2023 and March 2024 were not held after Vladimir Zelensky announced in December 2023 that they would not take place while martial law imposed during the conflict with Russia remains in force. Martial law was declared after the escalation of hostilities between Kiev and Moscow in February 2022 and has been repeatedly extended ever since. In November 2024, it was prolonged once again and is now expected to continue at least until February 7, 2025. US President Doland Trump has repeatedly vowed to swiftly end the Ukraine conflict. On Friday, he claimed that the US was “having very serious discussions about that war” with Russia – something that Moscow has not confirmed so far.

The American president also stated on multiple occasions that he was ready to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as possible to negotiate an end to the fighting. Moscow has repeatedly stated it its ready for dialogue at any time, but has received no specific signals from the US. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, no such talks are currently planned and all communications are being conducted at the embassy level. If the US plan eventually involves a temporary ceasefire deal prior to a more permanent agreement, the winner of the Ukrainian presidential election could be responsible for negotiating the terms of the final treaty, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing discussions in the White House.

Moscow has questioned Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s legitimacy and said that he is no longer qualified to sign international agreements on behalf of Ukraine as his presidential term officially expired in May 2024. Earlier this week, Putin said that although Zelensky could take part in any potential negotiations, he could not be part of a final deal. “It’s possible to negotiate with anyone,” the Russian leader said, adding that any agreement would be a “very serious question” and must “guarantee the security of both Ukraine and Russia” for a “serious” period of time.Putin had previously stated on multiple occasions that the Ukrainian constitution does not envisage any extensions of the president’s term, only authorizing this for the parliament. Moscow has also said it will not agree to a temporary truce and that a settlement must include “reliable, legally binding agreements eliminating the root causes of the conflict.”

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“..the European logic is completely different from the American logic: one is the logic of war and the other is the logic of peace.”

Orban: US Now Seeks Peace In Ukraine, While EU Wants War To Continue (TASS)

The new US administration and the EU leadership have different approaches to the conflict in Ukraine: Washington now favors a peaceful settlement, while Brussels wants to continue the war, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said during a Kossuth radio broadcast. “The Europeans are saying that sanctions must be maintained and even tightened in order for the Ukrainians to win the war against Russia. Yesterday US Secretary of State [Marco Rubio] said in a big interview that it would be unfair to fool everyone by saying that the Ukrainians can win this war. Well, thank him for that interview, because it showed that the Americans want peace, not sanctions, and the Europeans want sanctions, not peace,” the prime minister said.

He emphasized that now “the European logic is completely different from the American logic: one is the logic of war and the other is the logic of peace.” Orban reiterated that the Hungarian government still favors a negotiated settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, and is counting on US President Donald Trump in this endeavor.

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The Chihuahua Strategic Victory Plan. For Pepe, Europeans are chihuahua’s.

The Chihuahua Energy Policy: It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas (Pepe Escobar)

As highlighted before, the U.S. – via fracking – has enough gas for domestic consumption, but not enough to export en masse to the EU, because of liquification problems. That explains why even buying more American energy for exorbitant prices, the EU de facto remains largely dependent on Russian LNG – and non-U.S. sources – since the sabotage of the Nord Streams, unveiled in detail by Sy Hersh. Even at full capacity, the Empire of Chaos simply cannot deliver all the gas the EU needs; add to it virtually no investment in both badly needed extra exploration plus the infrastructure necessary to meet increased EU demand. On the domestic U.S. oil market, things do get positively Kafkaesque. U.S. trucking – a massive service industry – is dependent on imported Russian diesel, which needs to be mixed with Made in America oil in order to be suitable for trucks.

Now cut again to Davos, which came and went barely registering a blip. Toxic EC Medusa von der Leyen told Davos that Europe had “substantially reduced”, and “in record time”, its dependency on Russian fossil fuels. Nonsense. Europe’s energy reality is bleak. Russian LNG from Novatek is currently priced at around $4.5–$4.7 per MMBtu. That’s more expensive than pipeline gas but still much (italics mine) cheaper than American LNG. Every industry pro from the Persian Gulf to Antwerp knows that Europe is now importing Russian LNG like it never did before. That’s it – or a dry death. In parallel, Russia will triple its LNG supply capacity by 2035. End result: whatever those “energy commissioners” in Brussels may come up with, Russia will remain essential when it comes to European energy security.

There are no limits – even stratospheric – for Eurocracy stupidity, which corrodes the system like a plague. The Europeans not only have managed to shut off their own gas pipelines but are still “investigating” the Nord Stream de facto terror attack. End result: they are now importing more (italics mine) Russian gas, but by different means, from third-party suppliers, and paying a fortune. This is what can be described as the Chihuahua Strategic Victory Plan. Russia’s LNG exports hit a record high last year, growing by 4% – and delivering 33.6 million tons. The monthly record was 3.25 million tons in December 2024 – 13.7% more than November. The largest Russian exporter is Yamal LNG: 21.1 million tons, 6% more than in 2023. Now cut to proverbial American rumble, in the form of Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt ordering the “full termination” of Russian gas exported to Europe.

To hell with what nations like Hungary, Austria and Slovakia may think – and do need. Pyatt told the Atlantic Council, “Today we are the largest LNG exporter in the world, and by the end of the Trump administration, we will have doubled what we’re doing today […] The decision has clearly been made in Brussels to get to zero [gas supplies from Russia] by 2027…and the United States strongly supports that goal.” Oh dear. Do these people even read the basic headlines? As reported by Politico, the EU is “devouring” Russian gas at unprecedented levels since the start of 2025, importing 837,300 metric tons of LNG just in the first two weeks of the year. The Ukraine transit deal was shut off for good – at least for now – starting on January 1st. The action now is on the maritime routes.

Enter the U.S. Treasury with a new – what else – sanctions package against Russian oil trade, targeting up to 5.8 million barrels a day shipped by sea. As it stands, the global oil market is experiencing a surplus of about 0.8 million barrels a day. Oil prices for 2025 should remain at around $71 for a barrel of Brent crude (as it stands, it’s $76.2). Not exactly what Mr. Disco Inferno wants. So let’s assume these 5.8 million barrels of Russian oil – under stiff sanctions – would vanish from the global market. In this case we would have oil prices skyrocketing to an average of $150 to $160 a barrel. Once again, not what Mr. Disco Inferno wants: he vociferously promised – and keeps promising – a MAGA oil superpower, while lowering oil prices to max $50 a barrel.

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“The algorithm allows gaming GPUs to be used for scientific computing..”

Russia and China Boost NVIDIA Performance 800-Fold (Sp.)

Scientists from the two countries have developed a breakthrough algorithm using information from reverse engineering video card accelerators. The algorithm allows gaming GPUs to be used for scientific computing. The innovation was achieved by specialists from Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, co-founded by Lomonosov Moscow State University and Beijing Institute of Technology. This enables Russia and China to reduce their reliance on NVIDIA GPUs, weakening the impact of US sanctions.

It also means that Russia and China need to buy less NVIDIA GPUs, which likely led to the collapse of NVIDIA stock price, Russoft association President Valentin Makarov tells Sputnik. He believes ongoing research includes new machine learning algorithms and a next-gen GPU being developed in Russia. These advancements highlight Russia’s technological expertise, allowing collaboration with China and potential future partnerships with India.

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“It is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason.”

Norway Clears Russian-Crewed Ship In Sabotage Probe (RT)

Norwegian police have released a Russian-crewed vessel after finding no evidence linking it to recent damage to an undersea fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and Sweden. The Norwegian-owned Silver Dania, which operates between St. Petersburg and the northern Russian port of Murmansk, was detained on Thursday night following a request from Latvian authorities and a ruling from a local court. Norwegian police said that the ship, which was escorted to the northern port of Tromso, could have damaged a critical fiber optic link belonging to Latvia’s state broadcaster and connecting the Baltic nation and Sweden’s Gotland island. It added that the law enforcement is “conducting an operation on the ship to search, conduct interviews, and secure evidence.”

However, less than a day later, the police stated that Silver Dania “will be able to leave Tromso already on Friday evening.” They added that while the investigation will continue, “no findings have been made linking the ship to the act,” and the crew had been cooperative. The cable sabotage case is the latest in a string of incidents involving damage to critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, with speculation rife that Russia could have played a role. Short of any proof, however, Western officials have refrained from leveling direct accusations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed allegations of Moscow’s involvement. “It is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason.” The Washington Post, citing Western intelligence sources, reported earlier this month that the damage to Baltic Sea infrastructure likely stemmed from maritime accidents involving poorly maintained ships and inexperienced crews rather than deliberate sabotage. NATO has launched a mission dubbed “Baltic Sentry” to enhance surveillance and protection of critical undersea infrastructure in the area and address concerns about possible sabotage.

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The only thing that will reach net zero is the spending.

It’s all just a money grab delusion: “..the world needs to pour in $5.6 trillion each year..”

Global Green Spending Is Falling Short of Net Zero Targets (OP)

Global investments in green energy solutions topped $2 trillion last year, for the first time ever, but the world needs to pour in $5.6 trillion each year into low-carbon energy to get on track for global net zero by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement, BloombergNEF said in a new report on Thursday. Last year, green energy investments reached a record high globally, but the pace of growth has slowed from the 2021-2023 period, according to BNEF’s report Energy Transition Investment Trends 2025. The world invested a total of $2.1 trillion in low-carbon energy in 2024, up by 11% compared to 2023, the report found.

However, the pace of growth has slowed. In the years 2021 to 2023, global investment in clean energy jumped by between 24% and 29% each year, according to BNEF. Electrified transport continued to be the top segment for low-carbon energy investment, drawing in $757 billion in 2024. China remained the single biggest market with $818 billion of investment, up by 20% from 2023 and increasing investment in all sectors. China’s total investment last year was greater than the combined investment of the U.S., the EU, and the UK. However, investment was stagnant in the U.S., at $338 billion, and fell in both the EU and UK, hitting $381 billion and $65.3 billion, respectively, BNEF said.

The research provider also noted that energy transition investment will have to average $5.6 trillion each year from 2025 to 2030, in order to get on track for global net zero by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. The current investment level of $2.1 trillion implies that the world is only at 37% of what is required to get on track, BNEF said. “There is still much more that needs to be done, especially in emerging areas like industrial decarbonization, hydrogen and carbon capture, in order to reach global net-zero goals,” commented Albert Cheung, Deputy CEO of BNEF.

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Bats

 

 

Orca
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885682013589414176

 

 

Elephant
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885538600085053571

 

 

Daddy
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885737803666825299

 

 

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Jan 162025
 


Marcel Duchamp The king and queen surrounded by swift nudes 1912

 

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

 

 


A Final Toast – by Mr. Fish

 

 

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

RFK

Cuomo

Bondi

Sheehy

Newsom

Palisades

Tucker

Sen. Kennedy

Gov. Taxes

 

 

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

Trump Announces Israel-Hamas Ceasefire (RT)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Rubio presents the hawkish case.

Marco Rubio Urges End to Ukraine Conflict (Sp.)

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

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

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NATO wants war. Nobody else does.

Prepare For War – NATO Chief (RT)

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

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

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

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

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

What Trump Should Do (Paul Craig Roberts)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The talks won’t involve Ukraine.

Ban On Talks With Moscow Remains – Kiev (RT)

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

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

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

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Oh wait…

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

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

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

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

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Who cares?

German Military Retreats From X (RT)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JD Vance Gensler

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

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

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

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

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Trump wants TikTok as a negotiating tool with China.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why Europe Fears Free Speech (Munchau)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Garland

 

 

Rescue

 

 

Encantadora

 

 

Shark attack

 

 

Snow cats

 

 

Penguin

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 152025
 


Marcel Duchamp The chess game 1910

 

America Is Winning – Biden (RT)
Biden Trying To Spoil Everything Before Trump Arrives – Lavrov (RT)
Ukraine Not Yet In Strong Enough Position For Negotiations: NATO Chief (ZH)
Trump ‘Not Invested’ In Ukraine – Bloomberg (RT)
UK Monitoring of Musk Online Reveals “Pathetic” Priorities (Curzon)
California Governor Newsom Calls Musk A Liar (RT)
TikTok Dismisses Bloomberg’s Report Of Potential Sale To Musk (ZH)
Musk Hits Back At US Market Watchdog After Lawsuit (RT)
LA Fires Worse Than Nuclear Strike – Trump (RT)
The Real Heroes And Villains Of The California Wildfires (Tara Reade)
DOJ Releases Jack Smith’s Report on Trump (ET)
FBI Director Wray On Why He’s Resigning, Defends Search of Mar-a-Lago (ET)
Special Prosecutor Cements Biden Family Corruption For History (JTN)
I’m Gonna MAGA You, Baby (Pepe Escobar)
Judge Threatens To Break UK Wall Of Secrecy In Assange Persecution (Cook)
New Book Published Today – LONG LIVE NOVICHOK! (Helmer)

 

 

 

 

Trump Ad
https://twitter.com/i/status/1878992707286421868

Carr
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879154235830600004

Doocy

Hegseth
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879201147887706441

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 days before Inauguration Day, the news feels like a bunch of bits and snippets and loose ends. Guess there’s no other way. We’re getting ready.

 

 

Here’s why Biden lost the elections in a landslide. It’s because he’s winning. Or rather, he’s lost but America’s winning. Does that also mean that if he were winning, America would lose?

America Is Winning – Biden (RT)

Outgoing US President Joe Biden has claimed that his four years of leadership have made America stronger and its enemies weaker. In remarks about the foreign policy achievements of his administration at the Department of State on Monday, Biden hailed his time in office as a boon to America’s global standing. “The United States is winning the worldwide competition compared to four years ago. America is stronger. Our alliances are stronger. Our adversaries and competitors are weaker. We have not gone to war to make these things happen,” he said. He described his handling of the Ukraine conflict as a success. Biden urged people to “think about” the fact that he “stood in the center of Kiev” since the tensions with Russia escalated into open hostilities. “I’m the only commander-in-chief to visit a war zone not controlled by US forces,” he said of his visit to Ukraine in February 2023.

“I had two jobs. One, to rally the world to defend Ukraine, and the other is to avoid war between two nuclear powers. We did both those things,” the US leader said. The remarks confirm that Washington was intentionally engaging in nuclear brinkmanship in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said, commenting on Biden’s speech. His administration “knew it was pushing the world towards the abyss and escalated the conflict nevertheless,” she said. Biden has claimed credit for undermining other rivals of the US, particularly Iran and Syria in the Middle East, while giving Israel credit for doing “plenty of damage to Iran and its proxies.” He also said the US was now in a stronger position to compete with China militarily and economically.

“On China’s current course, they will never surpass us. Period,” he declared. America has been forging new alliances all around the world, Biden said. Nations like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have been growing closer together too, he acknowledged, but “that’s more out of weakness than out of strength,” according to Biden. The president also claimed credit for “not leaving a war in Afghanistan to his successor,” referring to the chaotic withdrawal of the US-led coalition from the nation in the early years of his term.

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“..Obama “banished 120 [Russian] diplomats from the US and arrested five sites of [Russian] diplomatic property” just three weeks before his successor’s inauguration.”

Biden Trying To Spoil Everything Before Trump Arrives – Lavrov (RT)

The outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden is working hard to create problems for President-elect Donald Trump before he arrives at the White House, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. Lavrov made the statement during a press conference on Tuesday when asked about the sweeping new sanctions against the Russian energy industry, which Washington announced last week. The curbs target two major petroleum producers – Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz – as well as their subsidiaries, including Naftna industrija Srbije (NIS), which handles deliveries of Russian oil to Serbia and neighboring European nations. Related insurance providers, as well as more than 30 oilfield service companies and over 180 vessels used to deliver Russian oil, have also been slapped with restrictions.

According to the foreign minister, the move made by the Biden administration simultaneously targets Serbia, Russia and Trump, who expressed a readiness to resume dialogue with Moscow in order to try to find a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict. “The Democrats have such a manner in American politics to spoil the whole thing for the next administration before the end of their mandate,” he said. Lavrov reminded that the same thing had happened before Trump’s first term when outgoing Democratic President Barack Obama “banished 120 [Russian] diplomats from the US and arrested five sites of [Russian] diplomatic property” just three weeks before his successor’s inauguration.

“This whole case did not help Russian-American relations” back in 2017, he stressed. Regarding the Biden administration, the minister suggested that after not winning reelection “from the moral point of view, you should just wait before the inauguration [of Trump on January 20]; you should understand that your people want a different kind of policy.” “No, they are unwilling to do so. They want to spoil the whole thing,” he stressed.

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How about in ten years?

Ukraine Not Yet In Strong Enough Position For Negotiations: NATO Chief (ZH)

The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has just made an admission which surely won’t help Ukraine at the negotiating table in any potential future talks. The fresh words might also be by designed aimed at sabotaging expected Trump efforts to quickly end the war. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday described that Ukraine is not yet in a strong position to begin peace talks, now with less than a week before President-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. “At this moment, clearly, Ukraine is not there,” Rutte told the European parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committees. “Because they cannot, at this moment, negotiate from a position of strength. And we have to do more to make sure, by changing the trajectory of the conflict, that they can get to the position of strength.”

He went on to say that the hope is to obtain security guarantees so that Ukraine can never be attacked by Russia again. He said that this involves mapping out Ukraine’s future relations with NATO. “But it’s too early now to exactly sketch out what that exactly will mean, also something we have to discuss with the incoming U.S. administration,” he stated. “But let’s hope that we will get to that point as soon as possible.” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said last Friday that the latest energy sanctions placed on Russia were not intended to be a “bargaining chip” that can be taken off the table when Ukraine is ready to negotiate. “There’s no expectation right now that either side is ready to negotiate,” he stated, also emphasizing that timing is up to the Ukrainian government.

Another Biden official has been quoted as saying, “It’s entirely up to [the next administration] to determine whether, when, and on what terms they might lift any sanctions we put in place.” The Kremlin has described this as a “sanctions trap” left by the Biden administration to make things harder for Trump to negotiate and maneuver: “Of course, we are aware that the administration will try to leave the most difficult legacy possible in bilateral relations to Trump and his associates,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said ahead of the sanctions announcement. Biden officials have framed the sanctions as a long-term strategy. “We believe our actions are leaving a solid foundation upon which the next administration can build,” one official said, predicting the measures would cost Russia billions in monthly revenue and force “hard decisions” between sustaining its economy.

The Washington Post had also observed of the comments, “Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking before the widely anticipated sanctions were announced, said Friday that the Biden administration was trying to make things difficult for the incoming Trump team.” Continued defense and economic aid to the Ukraine has also been something that Europe and the Biden administration have long been trying to ‘Trump-proof’. So far, the president-elect has said he doesn’t immediately plan to cut or end aid, but this could be him telegraphing negotiations or an attempt to maintain leverage in this regard over the Russian side. As for the battlefield, there’s near universal consensus at this point that Russian forces are winning. Steady gains have persisted in the Donetsk region, while Ukraine tries to make life difficult for Russian leadership in Kursk region.

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“I just don’t think it’s realistic to say we’re going to expel every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian soil.”

Trump ‘Not Invested’ In Ukraine – Bloomberg (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump does not consider the Ukraine conflict a key priority for America’s national interests, according to Bloomberg, which cited several anonymous EU officials. The media outlet alleged on Tuesday that the Republican had given his European counterparts the “impression that he wasn’t strongly invested in Ukraine’s destiny or didn’t recognize a strategic significance of the war to US interests.” Nevertheless, the latest signals coming out of Trump’s team gave European governments grounds for cautious optimism, suggesting that the US president-elect would not push Ukraine into “premature negotiations with Russia,” the publication wrote, citing a “series of private talks” with his entourage. According to Bloomberg, Trump may continue supporting Ukraine to ensure it occupies a “position of strength before any talks take place.”

The incoming president is supposedly anxious to avoid a humiliating debacle in Ukraine like the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan overseen by President Joe Biden in 2021. The article alleged that Trump is also wary that an outright Russian victory in Ukraine could embolden China to make more aggressive moves. Bloomberg also quoted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who said after her recent meeting with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that she did not expect Washington to disengage from Kiev. Sources told the media outlet, however, that Trump’s unpredictability means that no one can reliably say what course of action he might take after assuming office on January 20. During an interview with Newsmax on Monday, Trump insisted that Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants to meet, and I’m going to meet very quickly.”

The Kremlin has responded positively to Trump’s declared intention to engage with Russia. However, it said the Ukraine conflict needed to be resolved in a way that addresses its core causes, including NATO’s eastward expansion. Speaking to ABC News on Sunday, incoming US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz stated: “I just don’t think it’s realistic to say we’re going to expel every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian soil.” “President Trump has acknowledged that reality, and I think it has been a huge step forward that the entire world is acknowledging that reality,” he added, suggesting that this realization could pave the way to ending the bloodshed. Shortly before the US election on November 5, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance similarly suggested that Kiev might have to cede some territory to Moscow in the end.

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“..the idea the taxpayer needs to fund a government unit to ‘monitor’ Elon Musk’s tweets is ridiculous” since “it costs nothing to open an account on X and once you’ve done that Elon’s tweets are completely unavoidable.”

UK Monitoring of Musk Online Reveals “Pathetic” Priorities (Curzon)

The British establishment will not hold a national inquiry into gangs of mostly Pakistani men who raped girls across the UK, but it will expend its resources on monitoring tweets shared by Elon Musk. A government counter-extremism unit has been assessing the risk posed by Musk’s often outlandish claims, The Mirror has revealed. Last week, the Twitter/X boss labelled Labour’s Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, a “rape genocide apologist” after it emerged that she rejected a request for the government to commission a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, Greater Manchester, in October. The monitoring unit is part of the Homeland Security Group, which claims to focus on “the highest harm risks to the homeland, whether from terrorists, state actors, or cyber and economic criminals.”

However, it will now devote some of its time to Musk’s free-to-access ramblings, even while experts share concerns of the potential return of Islamic State terrorism. Reform MP Rupert Lowe said this “spying” is “pathetic,” given that there is to be “no inquiry into thousands of foreign rapists.” (Musk later shared Lowe’s post.) And even before news of the monitoring came to light, Allison Pearson—the journalist who was visited by the police in November over a year-old tweet—pointed to one hideous incident in the rape gang scandal to suggest that the PM “genuinely seems more outraged” about Musk’s posts “than he is about the 12-year-old who was driven at night to a Yorkshire wood where she was forced to give oral sex to at least 10 men … before being left alone in the dark.”

Priority concerns aside, Free Speech Union director Toby Young told europeanconservative.com that “the idea the taxpayer needs to fund a government unit to ‘monitor’ Elon Musk’s tweets is ridiculous” since “it costs nothing to open an account on X and once you’ve done that Elon’s tweets are completely unavoidable.” What, asked Young, is the government’s ‘report’ going to consist of? “A compendium of those tweets? You can see all of them by clicking on Elon’s avatar and it’s completely free.” What piece of world class detective work is this spy unit going to produce next? The revelation that the person responsible for these ‘dangerous’ tweets is a close friend of the President of the United States?

Meanwhile, fresh calls for an inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal continue to proliferate, including from survivors and, with potentially more influence, leading Labour figures. There is also talk of Starmer “appearing to soften his opposition to a new probe,” just days after he used a three-line whip to order Labour MPs to block one in Parliament—but skipped the vote himself. The Mirror’s report has since come under fire after a government spokesman “denied” that Musk was being monitored, although—as veteran press officer Gawain Towler pointed out —it is more likely that he was being snooped but no longer is “because of the Mirror scoop.”

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Newsom seems to claim there’s plenty water.

California Governor Newsom Calls Musk A Liar (RT)

California Governor Gavin Newsom has lashed out at Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk over his “lies” after the billionaire businessman blasted the state’s response to raging wildfires in Los Angeles. In a series of posts on X, Musk – a longtime critic of the Democrat politician – blamed the scale of damage in LA on “bad governance at a state and local level that resulted in a shortage of water” and retweeted a post calling on the governor to resign. Musk’s claim comes as LA mayor Karen Bass admitted that around 20% of the city’s fire hydrants ran dry last week, with Newsom calling for an independent investigation into the issue on Friday. Responding to Musk on Monday, however, Newsom posted a video clip showing the business mogul asking a firefighter if water availability was an issue.

The firefighter explained that there was water in “several reservoirs,” but the problem is that they are “flowing an amount of water that the system couldn’t bear,” which is why water trucks are being brought in to compensate as “mobile hydrants.” “(Musk) exposed by firefighters for his own lies,” Newsom wrote. According to former chief engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Marty Adams, the scale of the wildfires has created a situation that is “just completely not part of any domestic water system design.” There needs to be “some new thinking about how systems are designed,” he told the New York Times. Wildfire and water expert Faith Kearns told National Geographic that the current situation “was like a worst-case scenario.” “But I think we should be planning for those worst-case scenarios…I do think this is where we’re headed,” she said.

Musk and Newsom have also sparred on X over the issue of looting amid reports that criminals were raiding areas where people had been forced to evacuate their homes. Newsom accused Musk of “encouraging looting by lying” after the tech CEO claimed that California Democrats had “decriminalized looting.” “It’s illegal – as it always has been,” Newsom wrote, adding that “bad actors will be arrested and prosecuted.” US President-elect Donald Trump has also taken aim at Newsom, with Trump accusing the governor of refusing to sign a “water restoration declaration” which Newsom said does not exist. Musk, a close Trump ally, has been appointed to co-lead the president-elect’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory board. The devastating LA wildfires have killed at least 24 people so far and displaced thousands more. Fierce winds are expected to pick up this week, making the blazes more difficult to control.

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“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction..”

TikTok Dismisses Bloomberg’s Report Of Potential Sale To Musk (ZH)

Bloomberg is relying upon unnamed sources “familiar with the matter” as anchor sources in an overnight report about Elon Musk potentially acquiring the US operations of Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok. The company faces a Sunday deadline to find a US buyer or risk a ban. The report said: “Senior Chinese officials had already begun to debate contingency plans for TikTok as part of an expansive discussion on how to work with Donald Trump’s administration, one of which involves Musk, said the people, asking not to be identified revealing confidential discussions. Under one scenario that’s been discussed by the Chinese government, Musk’s X would take control of TikTok US and run the businesses together, the people said. With more than 170 million users in the US, TikTok could bolster X’s efforts to attract advertisers. Musk also founded a separate artificial intelligence company, xAI, that could benefit from the huge amounts of data generated from TikTok.”

Following Bloomberg’s report citing anonymous sources, a TikTok spokesperson told BBC News the whole story about China considering to sell the video-sharing platform to Musk as “pure fiction.” “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” the spokesperson told the British media outlet. BBC noted, “TikTok has repeatedly said that it will not sell its US operation.” On X, Musk responded with laughing emojis to Autism Capital’s video of angry white liberals melting down in a forest, referring to them as the potential response of TikTok’s audience if Musk bought the Chinese video-sharing platform.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1878970370335928670

In April of 2024, Musk wrote on X, “In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the 5yO› platform,” adding, “Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Mandeep Singh and Damian Reimertz recently estimated that TikTok’s US operations could be valued between $40 and $50 billion. Recall that Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter in 2022. President-elect Trump, who takes office next Monday, one day after TikTok’s deadline to sell or risk a ban, has sought to delay the ban on the video-sharing platform to allow time for negotiations. Trump has previously stated that he wants to “save” the app. Also, the Supreme Court is set to rule on the constitutionality of a law that would ban the platform from the US if the TikTok’s owner ByteDance does not find a buyer by Sunday.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1878985530588750049

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“The action by the agency “is an admission… that they cannot bring an actual case”..

Musk Hits Back At US Market Watchdog After Lawsuit (RT)

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has labeled the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “a totally broken organization” after it filed a lawsuit against him, linked to his purchase of Twitter (later re-branded as X). The SEC, which is tasked with enforcing laws against market manipulation, sued Musk in a federal court in Washington on Tuesday, claiming that he had failed to disclose his ownership of more than 5% of Twitter stock in a timely fashion in early 2022, several months before buying the social media platform. The agency alleged that this allowed the tech billionaire to “underpay by at least $150 million for shares he purchased after his beneficial ownership report was due.”

On Wednesday, the tycoon responded to a post on X by an account under the name Satoshi Nakamoto – a reference to the unidentified creator of Bitcoin – who expressed surprise that “the SEC is suing Elon Musk for buying Twitter at ‘artificially low prices’ even though he bought it for $44 billion and industry analysts said it was worth more like $30 billion.” The Securities and Exchange Commission is “a totally broken organization,” Musk, who has been tapped by US President-elect Donald Trump to head DOGE, a special advisory body tasked with identifying government inefficiency, wrote. “They spend their time on sh*t like this when there are so many actual crimes that go unpunished,” he said.

Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, insisted that his client has “done nothing wrong” and called the SEC’s lawsuit a “sham.” The action by the agency “is an admission… that they cannot bring an actual case” against the billionaire, he said in a statement. The SEC’s “multi-year campaign of harassment” targeting Musk resulted “in the filing of a single-count ticky tack complaint… for an alleged administrative failure to file a single form – an offense that, even if proven, carries a nominal penalty,” Spiro stressed. The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, has said that he will step down from his post on January 20 when Trump is inaugurated. Last month, the president-elect nominated Paul Atkins, a cryptocurrency advocate and CEO of the Patomak Partners consultancy firm, to become the new chair of the SEC.

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Sounds crazy. Until, like him, you see the aerial footage.

LA Fires Worse Than Nuclear Strike – Trump (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has compared the devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires to a nuclear attack, warning that the death toll may rise in the coming days. He criticized California’s leadership, particularly Governor Gavin Newsom, suggesting that mismanagement has exacerbated the crisis. The wildfires that began last week in southern California have claimed at least 24 lives, burned more than 40,000 acres, and destroyed over 12,000 structures, leveling entire neighborhoods. Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna has reported 16 deaths from the Eaton fire and eight from the Palisades fire, with 16 individuals still missing. Authorities expect the death toll to rise as search teams with cadaver-sniffing dogs continue to comb through the rubble.


Aerial view of homes destroyed in wildfires in Pacific Palisades, California © Getty Images / Mario Tama

In an interview with Newsmax, Trump predicted that rescuers would find “many more dead” and expressed bewilderment at the scale of destruction. “I believe it’s greater damage than if they got hit by a nuclear weapon. I’ve never seen anything like it. Vast miles and miles of houses just burned to a crisp. There’s nothing standing,” Trump told the outlet. He added that he had seen “very guarded pictures” of the destruction, claiming that the catastrophe is “far worse than you even see on television, if that’s believable.” The president-elect went on to blame the Californian leadership for the scale of the tragedy, insisting that the crisis could have been prevented if water from Canada was allowed to flow to the state and its forests were properly maintained. Trump specifically accused California Governor Newsom of prioritizing environmental policies over human lives and called for his resignation.

Trump is considering paying a personal visit to southern California to survey the damage caused by the fires, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with his plans. In his interview with Newsmax, the president-elect also expressed interest in taking part in the rebuilding of the area, stating that “we’re gonna do things with Los Angeles. You know, I’m already putting my developer cap on.” Newsom has declared a state of emergency in the affected areas and has called on federal agencies for additional support in dealing with the fires. Outgoing President Joe Biden has also approved a Major Disaster Declaration, which enables federal resources to be directed toward response and recovery operations. According to the latest estimates by the AccuWeather forecasting service, the wildfires have caused losses of between $250 billion and $275 billion, accounting for property destruction, firefighting expenses, and economic disruption.

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” While Southern California’s fires have exposed the resilience of its residents and the bravery of its first responders, they have also laid bare the failures of leadership.”

The Real Heroes And Villains Of The California Wildfires (Tara Reade)

The catastrophic wildfires raging across Southern California have brought widespread devastation, but also incredible stories of heroism. As human and animal rescues showcase the bravery of citizens and the resilience of communities, questions arise about the roles of California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in wildfire prevention and response. The Palisades and Eaton fires have ravaged over 27,000 acres combined, destroying more than 10,000 structures, displacing over 180,000 people, and claiming at least 42 lives, according to updated reports. These numbers highlight the immense human and environmental toll. However, amidst the chaos, tales of heroism have emerged.

In Pacific Palisades, 83-year-old Parkinson’s patient Aaron Samson narrowly escaped the flames thanks to the quick thinking and bravery of his son-in-law and neighbors. In Altadena, volunteers and emergency responders evacuated 90 elderly residents from a senior care facility, saving lives as the flames closed in. Animals have also been gravely impacted. In Altadena, residents risked their own safety to rescue horses, with dramatic footage showing people running through embers with the animals. Veterinarian Annie Harvilicz transformed her clinic into a sanctuary for over 40 displaced pets, demonstrating selflessness and dedication.

While these acts of bravery unfolded, critics point to systemic failures at the leadership level. Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass have faced mounting criticism for decisions that may have exacerbated the wildfire crisis. In 2020, Governor Newsom reduced the state’s wildfire prevention budget by $150 million, and reports revealed that actual fire prevention efforts were significantly below publicly stated targets. Mayor Bass has also come under scrutiny for a $17.6 million budget cut to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), impacting the department’s emergency response capabilities. During the fires, Mayor Bass was on a diplomatic trip to Ghana as part of a Biden delegation, sparking public outrage over her absence despite days of warnings about unprecedented winds increasing fire risk.

Accountability and allegations. Critics argue that a combination of budget cuts, resource mismanagement, and misleading public statements about wildfire preparedness could amount to gross negligence. Advocacy groups have called for investigations into whether these leaders violated their duty to protect the public. Some legal experts suggest that proven negligence could lead to lawsuits or even criminal charges. Additionally, speculation about potential “land grabs” following the destruction of valuable property has fueled public mistrust. Some residents have accused officials of using the crisis to advance agendas favoring developers and special interests.

Insurance crisis. The crisis has been compounded by insurance companies dropping fire coverage for residents in high-risk areas. Months before the fires, many Los Angeles homeowners received notices that their fire insurance policies were being canceled or not renewed. Insurers cited the increasing frequency and severity of wildfires as reasons for deeming many areas uninsurable. In the mid-1990s I worked for a California Stare Senator, another Willie Brown protegee like Newsom. Fraudulent practices with fire and earthquake insurance were a problem back then, and they are worse now, having been left unchecked. The insurance groups have lobbied both political parties very hard to not hold them accountable for fraudulent practices. And they succeeded.

Without fire coverage, families face the prospect of financial ruin, unable to rebuild their homes and communities. This has left thousands of Californians vulnerable to not only the immediate dangers of the flames but also long-term economic hardship. The Palisades and Eaton fires will eventually be contained, but the damage to communities may be irreversible due to restrictive rebuilding permits and the lack of insurance options. Residents and advocacy groups are demanding accountability from state and local officials, though skepticism remains about whether meaningful investigations will occur.

I was in my late teens and early twenties when I lived around many of the iconic places which are now on fire or gone. Generations of families lived in some of these communities and it is heartbreaking to see the direct result of mismanaged fire policies, with millions in funding, having been squandered by corrupt officials. Los Angeles, once a beautiful dream for many, has now become a hellscape of ruin. Governor Gavin Newsom’s rumored ambitions for higher office, including a potential presidential bid, have drawn attention to his track record. Critics warn that his leadership during California’s wildfire crises reveals systemic corruption and mismanagement, which could have broader implications if he ascends to national leadership. While Southern California’s fires have exposed the resilience of its residents and the bravery of its first responders, they have also laid bare the failures of leadership that allowed this devastation to occur.

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When impotence doubles down.

DOJ Releases Jack Smith’s Report on Trump (ET)

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials have released part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s report about President-elect Donald Trump. Part one of Smith’s report was made public early on Jan. 14 (1am), after U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon allowed its release. In the report, Smith – who recently resigned – said that he believes the evidence against Trump was strong enough to yield a conviction, even though the DOJ dropped its prosecutions of the president-elect. “As alleged in the original and superseding indictments, substantial evidence demonstrates that Mr. Trump then engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn the legitimate results of the election in order to retain power,” Smith wrote. An indictment against Trump charged him with multiple federal crimes, including conspiring to obstruct the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

After the charges were brought, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that presidents are immune from prosecution for official conduct. Smith’s team subsequently reanalyzed the evidence it had gathered. “Given the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Office reevaluated the evidence and assessed whether Mr. Trump’s non-immune conduct—either his private conduct as a candidate or official conduct for which the Office could rebut the presumption of immunity—violated federal law,” Smith wrote in the newly released report. “The Office concluded that it did. After doing so, the Office sought, and a new grand jury issued, a superseding indictment with identical charges but based only on conduct that was not immune because it was either unofficial or any presumptive immunity could be rebutted.” Part two of the report is being kept back, at least for now, as Trump’s co-defendants in the case fight its release on grounds such as Smith being found to be unconstitutionally appointed.

Smith said in the report that Trump sought to defraud the United States and obstruct the certification of electoral votes in part by conspiring with others to send alternate slates of electors to Washington. After Trump won the 2024 election, consistent with the DOJ’s interpretation that the U.S. Constitution prohibits prosecution of a sitting president, the DOJ dropped the charges against Trump. “The Department’s view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a President is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Office stands fully behind,” Smith said in the report. “Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the Presidency, the Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”

Trump’s lawyers said in a recent letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland that the DOJ’s actions represented a “complete exoneration” of their client. Trump wrote on his Truth Social website early Tuesday that Smith “was unable to successfully prosecute the Political Opponent of his ‘boss’ … so he ends up writing yet another ’Report.’” “THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN!!!” Trump added later. Smith, who was appointed by Garland, said in the report that the decision to prosecute Trump was solely his and refuted any allegations to the contrary. “Nobody within the Department of Justice ever sought to interfere with, or improperly influence, my prosecutorial decision making. The regulations under which I was appointed provided you with the authority to countermand my decisions, 28 C.F.R. § 600.7, but you did not do so,” Smith said.

“Nor did you, the Deputy Attorney General, or members of your staff ever attempt to improperly influence my decision as to whether to bring charges against Mr. Trump. And to all who know me well, the claim from Mr. Trump that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable.” Smith also defended prosecuting Trump, arguing that doing so served federal interests, including the interest in applying the law equally with regards to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “There is a substantial federal interest in ensuring the evenhanded administration of the law with respect to accountability for the events of January 6, 2021, and the Office determined that interest would not be satisfied absent Mr. Trump’s prosecution for his role,” Smith said.

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I believe every word he says.

FBI Director Wray On Why He’s Resigning, Defends Search of Mar-a-Lago (ET)

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Sunday explained why he is stepping down as head of the law enforcement bureau as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in one week. “My decision to retire from the FBI, I have to tell you, it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” Wray told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in what is likely his last interview as FBI chief. “I care deeply, deeply about the FBI, about our mission, and in particular, about our people. However, he said, the “president-elect had made clear that he intended to make a change and the law is that that is something he’s able to do for any reason or no reason at all.” In December 2024, Wray announced he would be leaving his post at the end of President Joe Biden’s term amid comments made by Trump signaling he would replace him. Trump has since named Kash Patel, a former intelligence official, to be in charge of the FBI, a position that needs Senate confirmation.

Trump in his first term nominated Wray to lead the FBI in 2017 for a 10-year term ending in 2027. However, the president-elect has often expressed his displeasure with the federal law enforcement bureau, particularly after its agents searched his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in August 2022 for classified documents. Trump was later charged by special counsel Jack Smith for what prosecutors say was the illegal retention of classified materials and for obstructing attempts to get them back. Last month, Smith opted to drop an appeal of a federal judge’s earlier order that had dissolved the case, and late last week, Smith resigned as special counsel. When Wray announced last month that he would leave, Trump responded in a Truth Social post that it is a “great day for America” because, according to him, “it will end the Weaponization of” the Department of Justice.

“I just don’t know what happened to him. We will now restore the Rule of Law for all Americans,” Trump wrote. The president-elect then praised Patel, saying he would be “committed” to bringing “law, order, and justice” to the United States. In Sunday’s interview with “60 Minutes,” Wray elaborated on why he would leave the law enforcement bureau. “My conclusion was that the thing that was best for the Bureau was to try to do this in an orderly way, to not thrust the FBI deeper into the fray,” he said before praising FBI officials and agents. “They tackle the job with a level of rigor and tenacity and professionalism and objectivity that I think is unparalleled, and I will tell you, it’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve with them,” he said of the agents. Regarding the Mar-a-Lago search, Wray backed his agents’ decision, saying it is the FBI’s responsibility to “follow the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it.”

He also said that searching Trump’s Palm Beach property and resort was seen as a last resort. “And when we learn that information, classified material, is not being properly stored, we have a duty to act. And I can tell you that in investigations like this one, a search warrant is not and here was not anybody’s first choice,” he told the outlet. When he was asked about Patel and other Cabinet nominees, Wray said he would not weigh in on Trump’s selections. “Facts and the law drive investigations, not politics or partisan preferences,” he said, referring to the FBI. Aside from speaking on his tenure as FBI director, Wray again warned that the greatest threat that the United States faces is the Chinese communist regime as state-backed malign actors have repeatedly targeted and hacked into U.S. infrastructure and companies.

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Pardon Joe! He will need it!

Special Prosecutor Cements Biden Family Corruption For History (JTN)

An epic political scandal derailed for years from the public attention it deserved by false Democrat and news media claims of “conspiracy theories” and “Russian misinformation” came to an abrupt and harsh conclusion Monday. And that repudiation was delivered by an unlikely source: the prosecutor who originally tried to give Hunter Biden a sweetheart deal that would have spared the first son prison time. Special Counsel David Weiss’ report was not a manifesto of new disclosures dug up by the FBI or a grand jury. It barely filled 27 pages and failed to answer several questions submitted by Congress, and thus it was blasted by lawmakers for being “incomplete.”

But in simple terms it affirmed for history some simple conclusions: 1.) Hunter Biden broke the law. 2.) The Biden family engaged in a political grift that sucked millions from foreign interests by trading on its powerful name. And 3.) the family patriarch, Joe Biden, misled the public by suggesting his family was a victim of politics that warranted a pardon that erased his son’s dual convictions in tax and gun cases. “The Constitution provides the President with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history,” Weiss wrote in one of several poignant repudiations of the sitting president.

Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, a member of the House Judiciary Committee that investigated a large part of the Biden scandal, told Just the News on Monday evening that Weiss’ report left much to be still investigated by Congress, including the potential national security implications of Joe Biden’s decisions for countries where his son collected millions. “To what extent has our national security been compromised because of the activities and actions of Hunter Biden?” she asked during an appearance on the Just the News, No Noise television show. “I constantly have to question the position that this administration has taken with regard to China, what we’re seeing with the with the drones on the East Coast and even in Wyoming, the Chinese spy balloon that was allowed to traverse the entirety of the entire United States, the situation in Ukraine, with spending another $500 million there in the last week that he is in office.

“All of these are countries that had contact with and were paying Hunter Biden massive amounts of money, and that’s why this is an important issue for the American people, because we cannot allow family members of elected officials to be able to sell our country to the highest bidder of foreign countries,” she added. House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who led an impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden, said the report was “incomplete” but that its most important contribution was to confirm for history that the Biden family engaged in corruption and tried to cover it up as his committee had shown. “Joe Biden will be remembered for using his last few weeks in office to shield his son from the law and protect himself. The president’s legacy is the same as his family’s business dealings: corrupt,” he said.

Most of Weiss’ grievances dealt with Joe Biden’s attacks on the FBI and IRS agents and federal prosecutors who brought charges against his son, a proverbial defense of institutions by a career prosecutor who eventually was appointed U.S. Attorney by President Donald Trump, then special counsel by Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland. “Politicians who attack the decisions of career prosecutors as politically motivated when they disagree with the outcome of a case undermine the public’s confidence in our criminal justice system,” he wrote. “The President’s statements unfairly impugn the integrity not only of Department of Justice personnel, but all of the public servants making these difficult decisions in good faith.”

Weiss himself faced questions about the judgement of his staff after his team tried to give Hunter Biden a prison-sparing deal that was scuttled by a federal judge only when two IRS whistleblowers, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, came forward to Congress with evidence of political interference in the case. Weiss then doubled back and sought more serious cases against Hunter Biden after the embarrassment, securing a jury conviction in his home state of Delaware on gun charges and a guilty plea on sweeping tax charges in California.

The dual convictions placed the first son in jeopardy of facing prison time, but President Biden intervened before sentencing and issued a pardon in December that he earlier had vowed to avoid. His office’s wobbly performance left just one final unknown: How would the special prosecutor define Hunter Biden’s conduct for history in the final report. The first few paragraphs gave a succinct answer. “I prosecuted the two cases against Mr. Biden because he broke the law,” Weiss wrote in a passage that refuted years of claims by the family and its defenders that Joe Biden’s son had done nothing wrong. “Eight judges across numerous courts have rejected claims that they were the result of selective or vindictive motives,” he added for emphasis.

Weiss then proceeded to describe the scheme that led to the charges: Hunter Biden traded on his politically powerful family name to collect millions from foreigners seeking influence, performed little work, then failed to pay taxes on some of the income. Some of that money came from Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian energy firm deemed corrupt by the State Department that prompted the scandal back in 2019 in a series of columns written by this author in The Hill newspaper. “Mr. Biden made this money by using his last name and connections to secure lucrative business opportunities, such as a board seat at a Ukrainian industrial conglomerate, Burisma Holdings Limited, and a joint venture with individuals associated with a Chinese energy conglomerate,” the prosecutor wrote. Weiss added for emphasis: “He negotiated and executed contracts and agreements that paid him millions of dollars for limited work.”

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“Trump 2.0 is gearing up to be an extended exercise in the capacity to hurt The Other. Any Other. Hostile takeovers – and blood on the tracks. That’s how we “negotiate”.

I’m Gonna MAGA You, Baby (Pepe Escobar)

It’s the greatest show on earth – unleashing a double bill of New Paradigm and Manifest Destiny on crack. We are the greatest. We will rock you – in every sense. We will crush you. We will take whatever we want because we can. And if you wanna walk away from the U.S. dollar, we will destroy you. BRICS, we’re coming to get ya. Trump 2.0 – a mix of professional wrestling and MMA played in a giant planetary cage – is in da house starting next Monday. Trump 2.0 aims to be on the driving seat on the global financial system; on control of the world’s oil trade and LNG supply; and on strategic media platforms. Trump 2.0 is gearing up to be an extended exercise in the capacity to hurt The Other. Any Other. Hostile takeovers – and blood on the tracks. That’s how we “negotiate”.

Under Trump 2.0, global tech infrastructure must run on U.S. software, not just on the profit front but also on the spy front. AI data chips must be American only. AI data centers must be controlled by America only. “Free trade” and “globalization”? That’s for losers. Welcome to neo-imperial, techno-feudal mercantilism – powered by U.S. tech supremacy. Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has named a few of the targets ahead: Greenland; Canada; assorted cartels; the Arctic; the Gulf of “America”; oil and gas; rare earth minerals. All in the name of strengthening “national security”. A key plank: total control of the “Western Hemisphere”. Monroe Doctrine 2.0 – actually the Donroe Doctrine. America First, Last and Always.

Well, let’s delve a bit on pesky material imperatives. The Empire of Chaos faces a humongous debt, owed to usual suspect loan sharks, that may only be – partially – repaid by selected export surpluses. That would imply re-industrialization – a long, costly affair – and securing smooth military supply chains. Where the resource base will be for this Sisyphean task? Washington simply cannot rely on Chinese exports and rare earths. The chessboard needs to be rejigged – with trade and tech unified under U.S. unilateral, monopoly control. Plan A, so far, was to simultaneously confront Russia and China: the two top BRICS, and key vectors of Eurasia integration. China’s strategy, since the start of the millennium, has been to trade resources for infrastructure, developing Global South markets as China itself keeps developing.

Russia’s strategy has been to help nations recover their sovereignty; actually helping nations to help themselves on the sustainable development front. Plan A against the concerted geoeconomic and geostrategic strategies of the Russia-China strategic partnership miserably failed. What has been attempted by the ghastly, exiting U.S. administration generated serial, massive blowbacks. So it’s time for Plan B: Looting the allies. They are already dominated chihuahuas anyway. The – exploitation – show must go on. And there are plenty of chihuahuas available to be exploited. Canada has loads of fresh water plus oil and mining wealth. The Canadian business class in fact has always dreamed of deep integration with the Empire of Chaos. Trump 2.0 and his team have been careful not to name names. When it comes to the Arctic as a crucial, evolving battlefield, there may be a vague allusion to the Northwest Passage.

But never a mention of what really matters; the Northern Sea Route – the Russian denomination; the Chinese call it the Arctic Silk Road. That’s one of the key connectivity corridors of the future. The Northern Sea Route encompasses at least 15% of the world’s unexplored oil and 30% of the world’s unexplored natural gas. Greenland is smack in the middle of this New Great Game – capable of supplying years of uranium, as much oil as Alaska (bought from Russia in 1867), plus rare earths – not to mention providing useful real state for missile defense and offense. Washington has been trying to grab Greenland from Denmark since 1946. There’s a deal with Copenhagen in place guaranteeing military control – mostly naval. Now Greenland is being revamped as the ideal U.S. entry point into the Arctic Great Game against Russia.

At the St. Petersburg forum last June, I had the privilege to follow an exceptional round table on the Northern Sea Route: that’s an integral part of Russia’s 21st century development project, focused on commercial navigation – “We need more icebreakers!” – and bound to surpass Suez and Gibraltar in the near future. Slightly over 50,000 Greenland residents – which already enjoy autonomy, especially vis a vis the EU – would more than accept a full Danish exit; Copenhagen actually abandoned them since 1951. Greenlanders will love to profit from vast U.S. investments. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov went straight to the point: “The first step is to listen to the Greenlanders” – comparing it to how Russia listened to the residents of Crimea, Donbass and Novorossiya vis a vis Kiev.

What Trump 2.0 actually wants from Greenland is crystal clear: total militarization; privileged access to rare earths; and commercially excluding Russia and Chinese companies. Chinese military expert Yu Chun noted that “soon, the long-desired ‘golden waterway’ of the Arctic Ocean is expected to open, allowing ships to traverse the Pacific Ocean and sail along the northern coasts of North America and Eurasia into the Atlantic Ocean.” As the Northern Sea Route is “a key element of Sino-Russian cooperation”, it’s inevitable that the U.S.’s “strategic vision is to prevent the establishment of a ‘golden waterway’ between China, Russia, and Europe by controlling Greenland.”

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It’s Starmer again..

Judge Threatens To Break UK Wall Of Secrecy In Assange Persecution (Cook)

Judge Foss, sitting at the London First-Tier Tribunal, has ruled that the Crown Prosecution Service must explain how it came to destroy key files that would have shed light on why it pursued Assange for 14 years. The CPS appears to have done so in breach of its own procedures. Assange was finally released from Belmarsh high-security prison last year in a plea deal after Washington had spent years seeking his extradition for publishing documents revealing US and UK war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. The CPS files relate to lengthy correspondence between the UK and Sweden over a preliminary investigation into rape allegations in Sweden that predate the US extradition case. A few CPS emails from that time were not destroyed and have been released under Freedom of Information rules. They show that it was the UK authorities pushing reluctant Swedish prosecutors to pursue the case against Assange.

Eventually, Swedish prosecutors dropped the case after running it into the ground. In other words, the few documents that have come to light show that it was the CPS — led at that time by Keir Starmer, later knighted and now Britain’s prime minister — that waged what appears to have been a campaign of political persecution against Assange, rather than one based on proper legal considerations. It is not just Britain concealing documents relating to Assange. The US, Swedish and Australian authorities have also put up what Stefania Maurizi, an Italian journalist who has been doggedly pursuing the FoI requests, has called “a wall of darkness”. There are good grounds for believing that all four governments have co-ordinated their moves to cover up what would amount to legal abuses in the Assange case.

Starmer headed the CPS when many highly suspect decisions regarding Assange were made. If the documents truly have been destroyed, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to ever know how directly he was involved in those decisions. Extraordinarily, and conveniently for both the UK and Sweden, it emerged during legal hearings in early 2023 that prosecutors in Stockholm claim to have destroyed the very same correspondence deleted by the CPS.

The new ruling by Judge Foss will require the CPS to explain how and why it destroyed the documents, and provide them unless it can demonstrate that there is no way they can ever be retrieved. Failure to do so by 21 February will be treated as contempt of court. The UK and the US have similarly sought to stonewall separate FoI requests from Maurizi concerning their lengthy correspondence while Washington sought to extradite Assange on “espionage” charges for revealing their war crimes. The British judiciary approved locking Assange up for years while the extradition case dragged on, despite United Nations legal experts ruling that Assange was being “arbitrarily detained” and the UN’s expert on torture, Nils Melzer, finding that Assange was being subjected to prolonged psychological torture that posed a threat to his life.

Read more …

Never ending.

New Book Published Today – LONG LIVE NOVICHOK! (Helmer)

From the beginning, the Russian Embassy in London issued formal requests for consular access to the Skripals and protest notes when this was denied by the Foreign Office. In reply to British stonewalling on access and propagandizing the allegations against the Russian government, the Embassy issued a detailed summary of every action Russian officials had taken and the statements they made. The one option the Embassy in London did not take was to engage British lawyers to obtain a hearing and an order of habeas corpus in the High Court to compel the appearance of the Skripals to testify for themselves. This option was obvious to the Embassy and lawyers in London between March 21, 2018, when the Home Office went to the court for legal authority to allow blood testing of the Skripals, and April 9, when Salisbury District Hospital announced that Yulia Skripal had been released; and then on May 18 when Sergei Skripal was also discharged from hospital.

During this period it was reported that Yulia was able to telephone her cousin Viktoria in Russia. Years later, as Chapters 67, 71, and 73 reveal, it became clear in retrospect that Yulia had recovered consciousness in hospital much earlier than the hospital allowed to be known, and that doctors had then forcibly sedated her. At the time the Russian Embassy was announcing it “questioned the authenticity” of the statements issued by the London police and media on Yulia’s behalf. The Embassy was right; it was not believed. It is possible the Embassy did attempt to engage barristers to go to court for a habeas corpus hearing for the Skripals, but learned that no one would take the case. At the time I made an independent request for this engagement to the well-known human rights barristers in London; the outcome was that none agreed to represent the Skripals. The refusals were point-blank – no one would give a reason.

British officials anticipated that an effort might succeed in forcing a High Court hearing, however. So, on May 24, 2018, a one minute fifty-five second speech by Yulia Skripal was presented on video in which she spoke from a script and appeared to sign a statement. Referring to “offers of assistance from the Russian Embassy,” she claimed “at the moment I do not wish to avail myself of their services.” Skripal’s Russian text spoke of “help” from the Russian Embassy: “now I don’t want and [I am] not ready to use it.” “Obviously, Yulia was reading a pre-written text,” the Russian Embassy responded publicly. “[This] was a translation from English and had been initially written by a native English-speaker…With all respect for Yulia’s privacy and security, this video does not discharge the UK authorities from their obligations under Consular Conventions.”

At first, Putin seemed unprepared on the facts of the case – the Russian facts – and unprepared for the British government’s propaganda blitz. The president cannot have been unprepared. On March 15, 2018, the Kremlin revealed that at a Security Council meeting on that day Putin was briefed by the Foreign and Defense Ministers and the intelligence chiefs. “While talking about international affairs,” the official communiqué said, “the Council members held an in-depth discussion on Russia-UK relations against the backdrop of Sergei Skripal’s case. They expressed grave concern over the destructive and provocative position of the British side.”

The line which Putin and his advisers decided at that meeting they planned to follow in public was revealed by Putin three days later at a press conference. He tried to feign ignorance himself, and then dissimulated on the weapon, the motive, and the opportunity. “Regarding the tragedy you have mentioned,” Putin told reporters, “I learned about it from the media. The first thing that comes to mind is that, had it been a warfare agent, the victims would have died immediately. It is an obvious fact which must be taken into account. This is first.”

“The second is that Russia does not have such chemical agents. We destroyed all our chemical weapons, and international observers monitored the destruction process. Moreover, we were the first to do this, unlike some of our partners who promised to destroy their chemical weapons but have not done so to this day, regrettably. Therefore, we are ready for cooperation, as we said immediately. We are ready to take part in any investigations necessary, provided the other side wants this too. We do not see their interest so far, but we have not removed the possibility of cooperation on this matter from the agenda.” “As for the overall situation, I believe that any reasonable person can see that this is total nonsense. It is unthinkable that anyone on Russia would do such a thing ahead of the presidential election and the FIFA World Cup. Absolutely unthinkable. However, we are ready for cooperation despite the above things. We are ready to discuss any issues and to deal with any problems.”

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Badger

 

 

Peacock
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879213811472941088

 

 

Shark

 

 

Sound

 

 

San Carlo

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 092025
 


Pablo Picasso Face female study 1925

 

Elon Musk Brands British PM ‘Evil’ (RT)
France Calls For EU Action Against Elon Musk (RT)
EU Ministers Plan Joint Trip To US (RT)
Trump Envoy Will Join Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Qatar (Antiwar)
Genocidal President, Genocidal Politics (Solomon)
Biden Confirms He’s Considering Preemptive Pardons (ZH)
Trump’s Ukraine Aide Sets 100-Day Timeline To End Conflict (RT)
Victor Davis Hanson: FBI “Afraid” Trump Will “Re-Examine” Conduct (ZH)
Klobuchar Repeats Common False Claim About January 6th (Turley)
Trump Asks Supreme Court To Halt Sentencing In Hush Money Case (ZH)
Guess Who Is Already Talking About Impeaching Trump Again (Margolis)
NATO Members Should Increase Defense Spending – Trump (RT)
Senate Democrats Attempt To Delay Tulsi Gabbard Confirmation Hearings (ZH)
DOJ Confirms It Will Release Jack Smith’s Report On Trump, But… (ZH)
FBI Is Still Hiding Details Of Russiagate (Maté)

 

 


And So Castles Made of Sand – by Mr. Fish

 

 

Rogan 2024
https://twitter.com/i/status/1877190941909438598

Water

Sachs

Reagan

Watters Zuck

 

 

 

 

 

 

No. 1 priority in Britain today: block any attempt at an inquiry. What a sad place.

Elon Musk Brands British PM ‘Evil’ (RT)

SpaceX CEO and X owner Elon Musk has hammered Prime Minister of Britain Keir Starmer for his refusal to prosecute Pakistani gangs involved in the mass rape of underage British girls, calling the PM “evil” incarnate. ”Starmer is evil,” Musk wrote on his social platform on Wednesday morning, above a meme condemning Starmer for demanding an investigation into former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s lockdown-breaching parties during the Covid-19 pandemic, but declining to prosecute “politically protected UK rape gangs.” Musk has spent much of the last two weeks drawing attention to the UK’s so-called “grooming gangs,” and to the police departments, politicians, and prosecutors who allegedly failed to protect children from them.

The gangs in question systematically raped and tortured tens of thousands of underage girls in towns across northern England over the last two decades, according to multiple government and media reports. Almost all of the perpetrators were Pakistani men, and the victims white British girls. Successive governments declined to investigate the scandal – which received mainstream media attention after a series of reports by The Times in 2011 – and several police departments covered up the existence of the gangs, inquiries later found. “What was done to thousands of defenseless little girls in Britain was vile beyond belief,” Musk wrote in another post on Wednesday. “When the fathers of the little girls tried to save them, the authorities arrested their fathers,” he continued, referring to at least one infamous case in the town of Rotherham.

Starmer led the Crown Prosecutorial Service (CPS) from 2008 to 2013, at the height of the scandal. Under his leadership, the CPS was heavily criticized for declining to prosecute a gang in Rochdale, and police in Rotherham told a 2015 inquiry that they considered the CPS unwilling to bring charges against alleged perpetrators. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Starmer accused Musk of spreading “lies and misinformation” about his handling of the scandal. The PM claimed that he changed the CPS’ “whole prosecution approach” to cases of child sexual abuse and left the agency with the highest number in history of such prosecutions.

However, a BBC investigation noted that “the prime minister referred only to the broad category of child sex abuse prosecution data” and that CPS records do not distinguish between sexual abuse perpetrated by gangs and abuse perpetrated by individuals. The broadcaster also found that prosecutions under Starmer peaked at 4,794 between April 2010 and March 2011 but rose to 7,200 per year in 2016-2017, after Starmer left the CPS. Starmer’s already dismal approval rating has sunk even further since last week when Musk began attacking his handling of the rape gangs. According to a YouGov poll published on Monday, 63% of voters disapprove of his government’s performance, while just 16% approve, a fall of two points since December.

In a debate in parliament on Wednesday, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch demanded that an upcoming child protection bill include an amendment setting up a national inquiry into the gangs. Starmer rejected the proposition, arguing that a lengthy inquiry would stall the implementation of the rest of the bill. With Starmer’s Labour Party holding a 163-seat majority, the amendment is unlikely to pass “Now why would Keir Starmtrooper order his own party to block such an inquiry?” Musk wrote on X. “Because he is hiding terrible things. That is why.”

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Sure, ban X. Musk has his interview with AfD leader Alice Weidel later today. Can Germany ban it?

France Calls For EU Action Against Elon Musk (RT)

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has urged the EU executive branch to use existing legislation to crack down on outside interference. His comment to French media on Wednesday is related to US-based billionaire Elon Musk weighing in on European politics on his platform X (formerly Twitter). His words come a day after French President Emmanuel Macron slammed the owner of X for interfering in EU matters. He accused the world’s richest man of intervening directly in elections across the continent, including next month’s snap federal polls in Germany. “Either the European Commission applies with the greatest firmness the laws that we have to protect our unique space, or it does not, and then it should think about giving the capacity to do so back to EU member states,” Barrot said in an interview with France Inter radio, urging the lawmakers to “wake up.”

Asked whether the X platform could be banned in the bloc, the minister replied that a mechanism allowing the move “is laid out in our laws.” The foreign minister’s comments came ahead of a livestream conversation on X with the co-leader of the right-wing AfD (Alternative for Germany) party, Alice Weidel, scheduled for Thursday, where the South African-born tech mogul is set to participate as a host. On Monday, an EC spokesperson said the institution will investigate whether the conversation is in breach of the bloc’s social media rules. In December, Musk provoked major controversy by claiming in a post on X that “only the AfD can save Germany.” The statement was followed by an op-ed piece posted by the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag later that month, in which the entrepreneur defended the party against accusations of extremism and praised its economic policies.

Additionally, Musk sparked indignation across the block with a wave of verbal attacks on various political leaders. Last month, following a tragic attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, the billionaire demanded the immediate resignation of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, calling him an “incompetent fool.” Last week, the tech mogul lambasted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, accusing him of failing to tackle the Pakistani grooming gang issue and refusing to properly investigate the mass rape of underage girls while head of the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service from 2008 to 2013. He also urged Washington to step in and “liberate” the Brits from their “tyrannical government.”

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They want to show unity where there is none.

Hopefully, Trump will invite Elon Musk into the room.

EU Ministers Plan Joint Trip To US (RT)

The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland are planning a joint trip to the US as a show of unity, Politico EU has reported. While the visit is still at the planning stage and no date has been set, the trio wants to arrive shortly after the January 20 inauguration of President Donald Trump, three EU diplomats told the outlet on condition of anonymity on Wednesday. Jean-Noel Barrot of France, Annalena Baerbock of Germany and Radoslaw Sikorski of Poland might even be accompanied by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, according to two of the diplomats. The idea behind the trip would be to make a “show of European unity,” one of the diplomats said. The EU has struggled to respond to Trump’s talk of the US taking over Greenland, an Arctic island that is currently an autonomous territory of Denmark.

The Danish government has ruled out selling the island and suggested it would be unacceptable of the US to take it from a fellow NATO member by force. “There is no question of the EU letting other nations in the world, whoever they may be, attack its sovereign borders,” Barrot has told France Inter radio. The European Commission, however, declined to take a position on the issue. French President Emmanuel Macron has argued that Trump won’t be able to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict quickly and that the role of Washington should be to bring Moscow to the table. Barrot, who has been France’s foreign minister since September, is a holdover from Michel Barnier’s cabinet that lost parliamentary confidence in early December. Germany’s ‘traffic light’ coalition that Baerbock is part of crumbled in November and faces a general election in February.

The current government of Poland took power in December 2023 through post-electoral coalition-building. While still in the opposition, Sikorski caused a minor scandal by posting “Thank you, USA” after the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines which had delivered Russian gas to Germany. Trump has also rattled the European NATO members by declaring this week that their levels of military spending were too low. As many as 15 members of the bloc have failed to reach the minimum target of 2% of their GDP by mid-2024. According to the US president-elect, even that is nowhere near enough and they ought to be spending at least 5%, which none of the members of the bloc are currently capable of.

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Trump must put a leash on Bibi. And he knows it.

Trump Envoy Will Join Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Qatar (Antiwar)

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Tuesday that he was traveling to Qatar to take part in Gaza hostage and ceasefire negotiations with Biden administration officials. Chances of a deal seem slim as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear he has no intention of ending the genocidal war, and Hamas is saying any deal must lead to a permanent ceasefire, but Witkoff insisted progress was being made. “We’re making a lot of progress, and I don’t want to say too much because I think they’re doing a really good job back in Doha,” Witkoff, a real estate investor, said at a press conference with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Witkoff said he was “really hopeful that by the inaugural, we’ll have some good things to announce on behalf of the president.” When asked what has been impeding a deal, Witkoff declined to answer.

“I believe we’ve been on the verge of [a deal]. I don’t want to discuss what’s delayed it — no point to be negative in any way,” he said. Standing alongside Witkoff, Trump repeated his threat that there would be “all hell to pay” if Hamas doesn’t start releasing hostages by his inauguration on January 20. “If those hostages aren’t back — if they’re not back by the time I get into office — all hell will break out in the Middle East and it will not be good for Hamas and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone. All hell will break out. I don’t have to say anymore, but that’s what it is and they should have been back a long time ago,” Trump said. The president-elect has vowed to be a staunch supporter of Israel, as he was in his first term, and said on Monday that he was the “best friend that Israel ever had.”

According to media reports, Hamas has released a list of 34 hostages it is willing to release as part of the first phase of a ceasefire deal in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners. The Times of Israel reported that a potential deal that’s on the table would only involve a six to seven-week temporary ceasefire. Relatives of Israelis still held in Gaza are calling for the government to pursue a comprehensive deal that releases all the hostages and brings an end to the conflict. During previous rounds of negotiations, Netanyahu sabotaged the chances of a deal by constantly declaring that he wouldn’t agree to a permanent truce and adding new demands.

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“President Biden and his loyalists, who were especially motivated to pretend that he wasn’t really doing what he was really doing.”

Genocidal President, Genocidal Politics (Solomon)

When news broke over the weekend that President Biden just approved an $8 billion deal for shipping weapons to Israel, a nameless official vowed that “we will continue to provide the capabilities necessary for Israel’s defense.” Following the reports last month from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch concluding that Israeli actions in Gaza are genocide, Biden’s decision was a new low for his presidency. It’s logical to focus on Biden as an individual. His choices to keep sending huge quantities of weaponry to Israel have been pivotal and calamitous. But the presidential genocide and the active acquiescence of the vast majority of Congress are matched by the dominant media and overall politics of the United States.

Forty days after the Gaza war began, Anne Boyer announced her resignation as poetry editor of the New York Times Magazine. More than a year later, her statement illuminates why the moral credibility of so many liberal institutions has collapsed in the wake of Gaza’s destruction. While Boyer denounced “the Israeli state’s U.S.-backed war against the people of Gaza,” she emphatically chose to disassociate herself from the nation’s leading liberal news organization: “I can’t write about poetry amidst the ‘reasonable’ tones of those who aim to acclimatize us to this unreasonable suffering. No more ghoulish euphemisms. No more verbally sanitized hellscapes. No more warmongering lies.” The acclimatizing process soon became routine. It was most crucially abetted by President Biden and his loyalists, who were especially motivated to pretend that he wasn’t really doing what he was really doing.

For mainline journalists, the process required the willing suspension of belief in a consistent standard of language and humanity. When Boyer acutely grasped the dire significance of its Gaza coverage, she withdrew from “the newspaper of record.” Content analysis of the war’s first six weeks found that coverage by the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times had a steeply dehumanizing slant toward Palestinians. The three papers “disproportionately emphasized Israeli deaths in the conflict” and “used emotive language to describe the killings of Israelis, but not Palestinians,” a study by The Intercept showed. “The term ‘slaughter’ was used by editors and reporters to describe the killing of Israelis versus Palestinians 60 to 1, and ‘massacre’ was used to describe the killing of Israelis versus Palestinians 125 to 2. ‘Horrific’ was used to describe the killing of Israelis versus Palestinians 36 to 4.”

After a year of the Gaza war, Arab-American historian Rashid Khalidi said: “My objection to organs of opinion like the New York Times is that they see absolutely everything from an Israeli perspective. ‘How does it affect Israel, how do the Israelis see it?’ Israel is at the center of their worldview, and that’s true of our elites generally, all over the West. The Israelis have very shrewdly, by preventing direct reportage from Gaza, further enabled that Israelocentric perspective.” Khalidi summed up: “The mainstream media is as blind as it ever was, as willing to shill for any monstrous Israeli lie, to act as stenographers for power, repeating what is said in Washington.”

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Some people will refuse pardons. That makes the rest look extra very bad.

Biden Confirms He’s Considering Preemptive Pardons (ZH)

President Joe Biden in a Jan. 5 interview confirmed that he is considering whether to issue preemptive pardons. White House officials have said that Biden plans to issue additional pardons and commutations before his term ends. Preemptive pardons would differ from those Biden has already issued and those issued by other presidents in their final days in office. They would protect people from prosecution for charges that have not yet been brought, reports Zachary Stieber at The Epoch Times. “Some of your supporters have encouraged you to issue preemptive pardons to people like Liz Cheney and Anthony Fauci … will you do that?” USA TODAY’s Susan Page asked Biden during the interview. The individuals suggested have drawn criticism from President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to take office again on Jan. 20.

Biden referenced a meeting with Trump at the White House in November 2024. “I tried to make it clear that there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores,” Biden said, recounting the conversation they had. Trump did not respond directly to that advice, according to the president. “He didn’t. But he didn’t say, ‘No, I’m going to…’ You know. He didn’t reinforce it. He just basically listened,” Biden said. “So you haven’t decided yet. You’re still assessing this issue?” Page asked. “No, I haven’t,” Biden responded. “A little bit of it depends on who he puts in what positions,” Biden said. The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment. Inquiries sent to the employers of Cheney and Fauci were not returned.

Biden in late 2024 pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, whom a jury convicted of federal gun charges and who pleaded guilty to intentionally failing to pay taxes. Biden later pardoned another 39 people and commuted the sentences of some 1,500 others, including 37 death row prisoners. One individual floated as a possible preemptive pardon candidate is Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state. Clinton, who mishandled confidential emails and whose campaign funded opposition research against Trump, was included in a list compiled by Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI director. The list, Patel has said, are participants in the so-called deep state.

Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, has said that he does not think Biden should preemptively pardon his wife. “I hope he won’t do that,” he said during a recent television appearance on Dec. 11. A Clinton Foundation spokesperson did not return a request for comment. Biden this month awarded Cheney, who was mentioned during the interview, a Presidential Citizens Medal for her work as vice chair of a House panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. Biden said Cheney and other former officials who received the medal in the ceremony had “dedicated their careers to serving our democracy” and “served in difficult times with honor, decency and ensure our democracy delivers.”

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100 days is more than 24 hours.

Trump’s Ukraine Aide Sets 100-Day Timeline To End Conflict (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming special envoy has said he hopes to mediate a resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict within 100 days, starting on Inauguration Day on January 20. “I know I’m on the clock,” retired US Army lieutenant general Keith Kellogg told Fox News on Wednesday. “I would like to set a goal on a personal level, on a professional level. I would say let’s set it at 100 days and move your way back.” Kellogg stressed that Trump remains committed to restarting negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to find a settlement to the fighting, which has claimed “enormous” casualties on both sides. “He’s not trying to give something to Putin or to the Russians. He’s actually trying to save Ukraine and save their sovereignty. And he’s going to make sure that it’s equitable and that it’s fair,” Kellogg said.

He argued that “the biggest mistake President [Joe] Biden made is the fact that he’s never engaged in any conversations with Putin.” “He hasn’t talked to him in over two years,” Kellogg said, adding that Trump “does talk to adversaries and allies alike.” Trump has repeatedly vowed to quickly mediate a successful peace deal, but offered little specifics. According to media reports, his team is considering freezing the conflict along the current front line. Negotiations between Moscow and Kiev broke down in spring 2022, with both sides accusing each other of making unrealistic demands. Putin stated that for any settlement to work, Ukraine must abandon its plans to join NATO and renounce its claims on Crimea and four other former Ukrainian territories that have joined Russia.

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“They’re afraid that if they were Donald Trump and they had suffered what they did to him, they would be very frightened..”

Victor Davis Hanson: FBI “Afraid” Trump Will “Re-Examine” Conduct (ZH)

Victor Davis Hanson said on Monday that he thinks the FBI is “afraid” of the incoming Trump administration over the possibility that their shady dealings will be ‘re-examined.’ Speaking with Fox News on Monday about new evidence released of a suspect in the DC pipe bomb case, the Hoover Institution Senior Fellow told host Laura Ingraham; “I think they’re afraid the narrative changed over the four years, and they were afraid to release any information during the election. Now they feel that there’s a new administration and there might be some exposure or culpability. They’re afraid that if they were Donald Trump and they had suffered what they did to him, they would be very frightened the way they think,” adding “So they think Donald Trump is going to re-examine a lot of this.”

A new video published by the FBI’s DC Field Office shows a suspect appearing to plant a bomb near the Democratic National Committee. Hanson went on to call out what he said were the FBI’s “lies,” highlighting the neglect to immediately release Lt. Michael Byrd’s identity after fatally shooting Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 riot. The senior fellow additionally cited the number of charges brought against attendees of the Jan. 6 attack compared to those not charged during the 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots. -Daily Caller. “A lot of the things they said, Laura, were abject lies,” Hanson continued. “There were not four officers killed. There were not 10 people killed. There was only one violent death, we think, and that was a Trump supporter, Ashli Babbitt. Then there was no need to hide Officer Byrd’s identity. Anytime an officer lethally shoots an unarmed person in this country, they’re identified. For some reason, they wanted to suppress that.”

“They wanted to suppress the FBI video. They wanted to suppress the information about Lynn [sic] Cheney, maybe witness tampering, that’s alleged,” Hanson continued. “They wanted to suppress some of the erosion of the evidence. They didn’t tell us how many people were charged. It ended up [with] 1,500 felony charges. It was [an] almost 75% conviction rate. That never happens. Compare that with the 14,000 people that were arrested in 2020. Almost 90% of them were never charged or indicted. They were released. So there was a lot of things that they want to suppress.”

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How lies survive.

Klobuchar Repeats Common False Claim About January 6th (Turley)

Minnesota Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar this week was hit by a “community note” flagging a common false statement made about January 6th and how multiple officers were killed that day. Democratic leaders routinely refer to multiple deaths of officers when the only person to die on January 6th was Ashli Babbitt, a killing of an unarmed protester that remains controversial after a whitewashing by the Capitol Police. Klobuchar, who has been a vocal supporter of censorship to quell “disinformation” on social media, repeated the false narrative and declared that “Police officers were injured and killed.” Klobuchar joined other Democrats in repeating the claim in her post on X: “Four years ago, the electoral vote certification was interrupted by a violent mob. Police officers were injured and killed. Our democracy hung in the balance. I knew we had to do our duty and complete the count – and in the early hours of January 7th, we did.”

That posting quickly led to a “Community Note” by X that said, “No officers were killed.” Immediately after the riot, Democrats started to repeat this claim, particularly concerning the later death of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. The New York Times helped spread the false claim that he died as a result of being hit with a fire extinguisher. In reality, Sicknick suffered two strokes and died of natural causes the day after the riot. As the note states, “The medical examiner found Sicknick died of natural causes which means ‘a disease alone causes death. If death is hastened by an injury, the manner of death is not considered natural.’ Four other officers committed suicide days to months later.” While repeating this claim, Democrats also downplay the riot around the White House in the previous summer, including some like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D., Md), who has bizarrely insisted that the protests were “peaceful.”

While many today still claim that the protests were “entirely peaceful” and there was no “attack on the White House,” that claim is demonstrably false. It is only plausible if one looks at the level of violence at the start of the clearing operation as opposed to the prior 48 hours. There was, in fact, an exceptionally high number of officers injured during the protests. In addition to a reported 150 officers injured (including at least 49 Park Police officers around the White House), protesters caused extensive property damage including the torching of a historic structure and the attempted arson of St. John’s. The threat was so great that Trump had to be moved into the bunker because the Secret Service feared a breach of security around the White House.

Of course, January 6th was bad enough—it does not need embellishment. Many of us immediately condemned it at the time as a desecration of our traditions and values. It was a disgraceful riot that interrupted the constitutionally mandated transition of power. However, the repeated use of this false claim is a disservice to the public and a misuse of this national tragedy. This repetition is referred to by psychologists as creating the “illusion of truth.” If repeated enough times, the lie becomes the truth, and those who object are then attacked as “deniers” or “insurrectionist sympathizers.” On “misinformation,” Klobuchar has pushed social media companies to “take this crap off.” She has sponsored legislation to support censorship, particularly when it comes to the pandemic and COVID-19. She has stressed “how lethal misinformation can be and it is our responsibility to take action.” In this case, the lethality was the misinformation.

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“The Supreme Court requested a response from New York prosecutors by Thursday.”

Trump Asks Supreme Court To Halt Sentencing In Hush Money Case (ZH)

Donald Trump petitioned the US Supreme Court to postpone his sentencing in the Stormy Daniels/hush money case, scheduled for Friday, Jan. 10. This move comes after a New York appeals courts rejected his requests for a delay, including a recent denial from the state’s appeals court, the Epoch Times reported. This move comes after New York courts rejected his requests for a delay, including a recent denial from the state’s appeals court. Trump’s legal team filed an emergency request with the nation’s highest court on Wednesday, arguing that proceeding with the sentencing could cause “grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government,” according to The Associated Press.

The Supreme Court requested a response from New York prosecutors by Thursday. The case, presided over by New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, resulted in Trump’s conviction in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Merchan has indicated that he does not intend to impose jail time, fines, or probation at the sentencing, and in fact the only reason for the sentencing is so CNN/MSNBC can officially claim that Trump is a convicted felon.

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Can’t miss.

Guess Who Is Already Talking About Impeaching Trump Again (Margolis)

Donald Trump is set to make history on January 20, becoming the 47th president of the United States. After winning both the Electoral College and the popular vote, he enters this term with a stronger mandate than his first. Yet as sure as the sun rises, Democrats are gearing up for their favorite pastime: impeaching Trump. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has already signaled as much. During an interview on CNN, Dana Bash pressed him on balancing governance with his previous focus on investigations into Trump’s conduct, and Schiff vowed to “push back” against Trump for any perceived “abuse of power.” Schiff responded hesitantly, initially stumbling over his words. “Well, I — look, I think we hope for the best. We keep a focus on trying to get positive, affirmative things done for the country,” he said.

However, he quickly pivoted, adding, “But a lot will depend on how he chooses to govern. If he violates the law, if he violates the Constitution, if he abuses his office, we will vigorously push back, fight back, stand up to him, as we had to do during his first term in office.” Schiff added, “My priority is to try to get things done for my California constituents.” Still, he noted that his constituents also “expect me to stand up to him when he attacks the Constitution or their freedom.” Despite claiming to focus on policy, Schiff’s rhetoric suggests that he is really gearing up for another round of battles with Trump, just as he did during Trump’s first term. This is the same man who lied about having seen evidence of Trump colluding with Russia. So obviously, the issue isn’t whether Trump violates the law; it’s whether Democrats can frame him for some violation of the law.

Remember, before Trump even stepped into the Oval Office, left-wing activists and their media allies were already speculating about his removal. Politico broached the topic of impeachment in April 2016, months before he won the presidency. Articles like “The Case for Donald Trump’s Impeachability” popped up before he was even sworn in. Vanity Fair explicitly reported on Dec. 15, 2016, that Democrats were “paving the way” to impeach him. The Washington Post didn’t even wait a full hour after Trump’s first inauguration, declaring less than 20 minutes into his presidency that the impeachment campaign had begun. For Democrats, impeachment has never been about legitimate concerns. Their motives have always been political: to stop Trump and appease their donor base. Despite their best efforts — including two failed impeachment attempts and numerous legal maneuvers to prevent him from being able to return to office — Trump’s support has endured, and his momentum has grown.

Their relentless attacks on him have only fatigued the public, including many on the left. You would think they’d try a new tactic for a change. For Democrats, simply holding the office of president seems to qualify as an “abuse of power” in Trump’s case. Unlike his first term, however, this time Trump has a Republican-controlled Senate to act as a firewall against such antics, ensuring that his agenda can proceed with fewer roadblocks. Trump’s victory isn’t just a win for his supporters; it’s a repudiation of the Left’s years-long campaign of lawfare and political gamesmanship. With the country increasingly weary of futile anti-Trump hysteria, Democrats might find that their impeachment rhetoric falls flat this time around. But don’t expect that to stop them — they’ve been plotting this for years, and they’re not about to stop now.

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No, they should all decrease it.

NATO Members Should Increase Defense Spending – Trump (RT)

NATO countries should start spending 5% of their GDP on defense, US President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday. European members of the US-led military bloc, he told a press conference, continue to spend “only a tiny fraction” of what Washington spends on defense, even though they are more affected by the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev. “It should be 5%, not 2%,” Trump told journalists at his Florida estate, referring to the spending threshold set by the bloc for its members. Some countries in the organization “have taken advantage of us,” the US president-elect said, repeating the statements he made during his first presidential term, when he pushed fellow NATO states to spend more on defense, arguing that the US would not protect them in case of a foreign aggression otherwise.

On Tuesday, Trump also spoke about a disparity in defense spending between various member countries. According to him, Washington was spending “billions and billions of dollars more … than Europe.” The president-elect then argued that the economy of the European NATO members combined is of a “similar size” to that of the US, adding that “they can all afford” an increase in defense spending. The US-led bloc simply “can’t do it at [a 2% threshold],” the president-elect said, without going into details about his reasoning behind that statement. He even warned that European NATO member states are currently “in a dangerous territory” and also claimed his previous insistence on fellow members’ defense-spend increases “saved” the bloc. According to a NATO report into defense spending published last June, none of the bloc’s members, including the US itself, currently spends 5% of their GDP on defense.

Poland was the NATO member with the largest relative level of defense spending, having allocated over 4% of its GDP to this concern. The US occupied third place in relative terms, behind Poland and Estonia, with just under 3.5% of its GDP spent on defense. As many as 15 members of the bloc, including Canada, Italy and France, continued to fall behind the organization’s 2% spending threshold as of June 2024, according to its own data. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has also spoken about bloc members’ need to increase this allocation in their budgets. “It is true that we spend more on defense now than we did a decade ago,” he said last month in Brussels, adding that the bloc nonetheless spends less on defense then during the Cold War, when “Europeans spent far more than 3% of their GDP” on it.

Asked about what new threshold he would consider sufficient, Rutte said “you have to go to at least 4%,” adding that “even with 4% you can’t defend yourselves, because then you would not have the latest technologies implemented… in your armies.” Trump’s latest reiterations come as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sharply criticized a proposal by his Economy Minister Robert Habeck to drastically increase the nation’s defense budget. According to Scholz, the proposed increase would only end up as additional burden for the German taxpayers.

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Trump can’t afford to lose her.

Senate Democrats Attempt To Delay Tulsi Gabbard Confirmation Hearings (ZH)

Just days after the new members of the United States Senate were sworn into office, Democrats in the upper chamber have already taken steps to delay the confirmation hearings of one major nominee for President-elect Donald Trump’s second Cabinet. As reported by Axios, Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.), who serves as the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is delaying Republican efforts to hold confirmation hearings as early as next week for former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (R-Hawaii), President-elect Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Warner’s excuse for the delay is that the committee has allegedly not yet received certain materials from Gabbard, including her FBI background check, ethics disclosure, and her pre-hearing questionnaire. The background check, as per committee rules, must be submitted at least one week before the hearing is to take place.

However, Gabbard had in fact completed her background check last week. Furthermore, her confirmation could be much smoother than most due to her already possessing a security clearance. She also already submitted her pre-hearing questionnaire, but will submit a second one by Thursday due to Warner’s demands. As for the ethics report, logistical issues have prevented the timely delivery of such information due to the Washington D.C. area being struck by a heavy snowstorm on Monday, which has caused similar delays for other nominees. Despite Warner’s efforts to block the hearing, Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) reaffirmed that the Senate “intends to hold these hearings before Inauguration Day,” according to a spokesman. “The Intelligence Committee, the nominees, and the transition are diligently working toward that goal.”

“After the terrorist attacks on New Year’s Eve and New Years Day, it’s sad to see Sen. Warner and Democrats playing politics with Americans’ safety and our national security,” said Alexa Henning, a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition. Gabbard has generally been considered one of President-elect Trump’s most controversial nominees. Originally a Democrat who rose to the rank of vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Gabbard came to be at odds with her own party over its deliberate suppression of the presidential campaigns of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2016 and 2020. She left the House to run for President herself in 2020, then left the Democratic Party and switched to Independent. She became a vocal supporter of President Trump’s comeback bid in 2024, and switched her party affiliation to Republican shortly after his victory in November.

Fetterman

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Some logic:

“DOJ lawyers said in the new filing that whether Smith was unconstitutionally appointed is irrelevant because the issue at hand is how Garland handles Smith’s report..”

You mean the report that the Constitution says shouldn’t have existed?

DOJ Confirms It Will Release Jack Smith’s Report On Trump, But… (ZH)

Attorney General Merrick Garland plans to release only the volume of special counsel Jack Smith’s report dealing with Donald Trump’s plans to subvert the transfer of power after his loss in the 2020 election, holding back on sharing the Mar-a-Lago report while the president-elect’s two co-defendants still face trial. Garland’s decision all but assures the public will never see Smith’s report reviewing Trump’s mishandling of classified records at his Palm Beach, Fla., resort. However, the filing says the top members of the House and Senate Judiciary committees will be able to review the Mar-a-Lago report at the Department of Justice (DOJ)… so don’t be surprised when the leaks start.

As Zachary Stieber reports for The Epoch Times, DOJ officials said in a court filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit that AG Garland intends to release part one of the report, which deals with Trump, “in furtherance of the public interest in informing a co-equal branch and the public regarding this significant matter.” Smith has already transmitted the report to Garland, officials said. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday had ordered the department not to release the report until the 11th Circuit reviewed a motion by Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, Trump’s co-defendants in a federal case. While prosecutors dropped charges against Trump following his November 2024 election win, they are still pursuing Nauta, a former Trump aide, and De Oliveira, a manager at Trump’s resort in Florida.

Nauta and De Oliveira say Smith should be fired and that his report should not be released to the public, given he was found by Cannon to be unconstitutionally appointed. DOJ lawyers said in the new filing that whether Smith was unconstitutionally appointed is irrelevant because the issue at hand is how Garland handles Smith’s report. They also argued that Nauta and De Oliveira have no interest in part one, and do not have standing to block the publication of that part. “There is also no valid basis for this Court to pretermit the Attorney General’s discretion with respect to Volume One,” they wrote. Officials said that while part two of the report will not be made available to the public, a redacted version will be available for certain lawmakers to view in camera as long as the lawmakers agree not to publicly release any of the report’s contents.

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Enter Kash Patel.

FBI Is Still Hiding Details Of Russiagate (Maté)

Just two days before McCabe opened the May 2017 probe, the FBI, via Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, renewed contact with dossier author Christopher Steele despite having terminated him as a source back in November 2016. As RCI’s Paul Sperry has previously reported, this sudden outreach to Steele right before the opening of a new Trump-Russia conspiracy investigation indicated that the FBI was seeking to re-engage the Clinton-funded British operative to help it build a case against the president for espionage and obstruction of justice. At the time, the FBI was still relying on Steele’s fabrications for its surveillance warrants against Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page. The following month, the FBI filed the last of its four FISA court warrants based on Steele’s material. The Justice Department has since invalidated two of those warrants on the grounds that they were based on “material misstatements.”

The FBI re-enlisted Steele despite possessing information that thoroughly discredited him. Five months before it newly sought Steele’s help to investigate the sitting president, the FBI interviewed Igor Danchenko, whom Steele had used as his dossier’s key “sub-source.” In that January 2017 meeting, Danchenko told FBI agents that corroboration for the dossier’s claims was “zero”; that he had “no idea” where claims sourced to him came from; and that the Russia-Trump rumors he passed along to Steele came from alcohol-fueled “word of mouth and hearsay.” The FBI had also been unable to corroborate any of Steele’s incendiary claims.

A previously disclosed document also shows that former CIA Director John Brennan – who insistently advanced the Trump/Russia conspiracy theory – informed then-president Barack Obama in July 2016 that the Clinton campaign was planning to tie Trump to Russia in order to distract attention from the controversy over Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state. By that point, the Clinton campaign was already paying for the fabricated reports produced by Steele, who made contact with the FBI as early as July 5.

Although the newly declassified document attempts to suggest that the FBI had actionable intelligence to suspect Trump of being a Russian agent, McCabe’s subsequent comments indicate that there was no such evidence on offer. Instead, McCabe has said his counterintelligence probe of Trump was primarily motivated by the president’s firing of Comey. In a February 2019 interview with CBS News, McCabe explained his thinking as follows: “[T]he idea is, if the president committed obstruction of justice, fired the director of the of the FBI to negatively impact or to shut down our investigation of Russia’s malign activity and possibly in support of his campaign, as a counter intelligence investigator you have to ask yourself, ‘Why would a president of the United States do that?’ So all those same sorts of facts cause us to wonder is there an inappropriate relationship, a connection between this president and our most fearsome enemy, the government of Russia.”

McCabe therefore had no evidence that Trump had a “connection” to Russia, and in fact could only “wonder” if there was one. Yet because Trump had fired Comey, whose FBI was already investigating Trump’s campaign for Russia ties and relying on the Clinton-funded Steele dossier in the process, McCabe decided that he had grounds to order an espionage investigation of the commander in chief. With the official predicate for that May 2017 investigation still redacted by the FBI, McCabe’s public statements offer the only insider window into why it was opened. In all of the investigations related to alleged Russian interference to date, the Justice Department has pointedly avoided the question.

Despite inheriting McCabe’s probe – and debunking claims of a Trump-Russia conspiracy related to the 2016 election – Special Counsel Mueller made no mention of the Trump as Russian agent theory in his final report of March 2019. Without informing the public, the FBI closed down the Trump counterintelligence investigation the following month. The case’s closing Electronic Communication, which has previously been declassified in redacted form, states that the McCabe probe “was transferred to FBI personnel assisting” the Mueller team, and entailed the use of “a variety of investigative techniques.” An inquiry led by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz of the FBI’s conduct during Crossfire Hurricane also ignored McCabe’s decision to investigate Trump as an agent of Russia.

And in a footnote in his final report of May 2023, John Durham – the Special Counsel appointed to launch a sweeping review of the Russia investigation – claimed that McCabe’s May 2017 probe was outside of his purview. By contrast, when it comes to Crossfire Hurricane, Durham’s report concluded that the FBI did not have a legitimate basis to launch that investigation, repeatedly ignored exculpatory evidence, and buried warnings that Clinton’s campaign was trying to frame Trump as a Russian conspirator. While the original Trump-Russia investigation has been discredited, the public remains in the dark about why the FBI launched a follow-up counterintelligence probe that targeted Trump while he was newly in the White House – and what ends it took to pursue it.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Panama
https://twitter.com/i/status/1876988453205746021

 

 

Stay at home dog
https://twitter.com/i/status/1876904648981831764

 

 

Eagle

 

 

Parrots

 

 

Street art

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 082025
 


Pablo Picasso Portrait de femme au col d’hermine (Olga) 1923

 

Trump Not Ruling Out Using Military Force To Reclaim Panama Canal, Greenland (ET)
Trump Posts Maps Of Canada As US Territory (RT)
Trump Confirms Visit By His Son, Donald Trump Jr, to Greenland (Sp.)
EU Commission Threatens Musk Ahead of Interview With AfD Leader (RMX)
Germany’s Gun Grab? Saxony-Anhalt Begins Disarming AfD Members (RMX)
Senate Democrats Consider Support For RFK Jr. As Health Secretary (ZH)
National Sheriffs’ Association Endorses Kash Patel For FBI Director (JTN)
Federal Judge Blocks Release Of Jack Smith’s Classified Documents Report
Merchan Rejects Trump’s Attempts To Delay Sentencing In Hush Money Case (JTN)
Trump Blames Biden For Ukraine War (RT)
Trump’s Ukraine Aide Postpones Trip To Kiev – Reuters (RT)
Trump Plan to “Un-Ban” the Biden Drilling Order Could Prove Difficult (Turley)
Meta Culpa: Zuckerberg Joins Musk in the Global Fight for Free Speech (Turley)
McDonald’s Latest To Bail On DEI Goals (ZH)

 

 

 

 

Gulf
https://twitter.com/i/status/1876677300399362196

CNN Musk

Denmark

Rob Roos

 

 

 

 

2 weeks out, and who dominates the headlines? The king himself.

Trump Not Ruling Out Using Military Force To Reclaim Panama Canal, Greenland (ET)

President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would not rule out the possibility of using military or economic coercion to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, emphasizing their strategic significance to U.S. national security. Speaking at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump said that he “cannot assure” that military or economic coercion would not be used to take control of these two strategic locations, in response to a question. “ No, I can’t assure you on either of those two, but I can say this, we need them for economic security,” Trump responded. “It might be that you’ll have to do something. Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China. We gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China, and they’ve abused it. They’ve abused that gift.”

Trump in recent social media posts expressed his frustration over China’s expanding influence in the canal, despite it having been built by the United States more than 110 years ago at great financial and human cost. The Panama Canal, which opened in 1914 after a decade of construction led by the United States, was gradually handed back to Panama under a 1977 treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter. During his speech, Trump criticized Carter for handing over the Panama Canal. “Carter gave it to them for $1. … I thought it was a terrible thing to do. It was the most expensive structure ever built in the history of our country,” Trump said. The president-elect said that this action cost Carter the election in 1980. In 1999, Panama assumed full control of the canal, which has since become one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Construction of the canal, however, came at a high human cost. Official estimates suggest that around 5,600 workers died during the U.S.-led effort to build the canal. Additionally, nearly 22,000 people are estimated to have died during an earlier French-led construction attempt. Trump reiterated that 38,000 people died during the waterway’s construction. “They laugh at us because they think we’re stupid, but we’re not stupid anymore. So the Panama Canal is under discussion with them right now,” Trump said during the press conference. Trump also said the United States needs Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, for “national security purposes.”

“People have been talking about it for a long time. You have approximately 45,000 people there,” Trump said. “They should give it up, because we need it for national security. That’s for the free world. I’m talking about protecting the free world. “You have China ships all over the place. You have Russian ships all over the place. We’re not letting that happen. We’re not letting it happen.”

Fetterman
https://twitter.com/i/status/1876817024359518631

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The last 4 years have been so bad in both countries…

Trump Posts Maps Of Canada As US Territory (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has shared two maps on social media showing Canada as American territory. He posted the images hours after officials in Ottawa rejected his repeated claim that Canadians would be better off under US rule. Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Tuesday to share a map of the US and Canada as a single country, with the state border erased and the words ‘United States’ superimposed on the new entity. He then posted an image of the territory of both nations painted in the colors of the US flag, accompanied by the words “Oh Canada.” Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump suggested that the US could use “economic force” to absorb its northern neighbor, whose goods he threatened to hit with harsh tariffs.

“You get rid of that artificially-drawn line and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security,” Trump argued. Canada’s outgoing prime minister, Justin Trudeau, wrote on X that “there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.” Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, similarly said that “Canada will never be the 51st state.” Despite the rejection of Trump’s proposal to absorb America’s northern neighbor, politicians in Ottawa have stressed the importance of maintaining good bilateral ties as Canada enters election season. Trudeau announced earlier this week that he would step down as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party, due to his shrinking popularity.

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Greenland can’t defend itself. Neither can Denmark. Yeah, they’re part of NATO. But that already means the US must defend it.

Trump Confirms Visit By His Son, Donald Trump Jr, to Greenland (Sp.)

US President-elect Donald Trump confirmed that his son Donald Trump Jr. and a number of representatives would travel to Greenland on a visit. Earlier, the DR broadcaster reported that Trump’s son would arrive on Tuesday on a private visit to Greenland. “I am hearing that the people of Greenland are ‘MAGA.’ My son, Don Jr, and various representatives, will be traveling there to visit some of the most magnificent areas and sights,” Trump said on Truth Social. According to Trump, “if, and when” Greenland becomes part of the United States, its residents will benefit greatly.

“We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!” the politician added. Greenland was a colony of Denmark until 1953. It remains part of the kingdom, but it received autonomy with the possibility of self-government and independent choice in domestic policy in 2009. In 2019, a series of publications appeared in the media that Trump was considering the possibility of buying Greenland. Later, Trump himself confirmed to journalists that he was interested in this issue “strategically.” At the same time, Greenland said that the island was not for sale, and Denmark expressed hope that Trump was joking, calling the very idea of a sale absurd.

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“..if the conversation with Weidel gains above-average visibility on X [..] the European Commission will look into whether the service provided users with the option to, for example, turn off streaming..”

They just want to ban AfD.

EU Commission Threatens Musk Ahead of Interview With AfD Leader (RMX)

The European Commission will check whether the X platform promotes an interview between its owner, American entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk, and the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) Alice Weidel, the body’s spokesman Thomas Regnier said on Monday, reports the Do Rzeczy news portal. Regnier said that under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which among other things governs content moderation rules on internet platforms, platforms must respond to “potential threats to EU electoral processes,” including providing above-average visibility to content promoting political forces, including content posted on X by Musk himself, the EU official said. The interview is taking place ahead of Germany’s snap parliamentary elections, enraging the political establishment. “The foundation of the DSA is freedom of speech. Mr. Musk has the right to express his private views and political opinions about the EU both online and offline,” Regnier said, adding that nothing prevents Musk from conducting an interview with Weidel, which will be streamed on his platform.

However, if the conversation with Weidel gains above-average visibility on X, as part of the procedure against this platform conducted in December 2023, the European Commission will look into whether the service provided users with the option to, for example, turn off streaming and whether it used algorithms to give it greater visibility. It is unclear what threshold the EU commission would set for “greater visibility,” as Musk’s posts tend to garner millions of views and sometimes tens of millions of views regardless of what he posts. He does have, after all, over 200 million and followers. In addition, both he, Weidel, and many others have been promoting the interview in the last weeks. Last month, Musk openly expressed his opinion that “only the AfD can save Germany.”

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And they called it democracy..

Germany’s Gun Grab? Saxony-Anhalt Begins Disarming AfD Members (RMX)

Authorities in Germany have begun withdrawing gun ownership licenses from Alternative for Germany (AfD) members, who are deemed a “danger to public safety.” So far, five AfD members have received a notice that their gun license would be revoked, while another member voluntarily returned his license after a revocation procedure was initiated. Another 51 cases are currently being examined by authorities, according to data released by the Saxony-Anhalt Interior Ministry in response to a request for information from the Left Party. Hunters and sport shooters will also have their gun licenses canceled by authorities. In total, there are 74 members of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt that hold a firearms license, with 49 registered as sport shooters and 25 as hunters.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1787484137600733207

The revocation of gun licenses comes after the Office of the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s powerful domestic intelligence agency, classified the AfD as “certainly right-wing extremist.” With this designation, AfD members suddenly faced a litany of problems. For one, authorities could spy on their communications without any warrant; however, authorities could also seize their firearms, and members could also face issues with government employment. The efforts to disarm AfD members won praise from the Left Party’s parliamentary group leader Eva von Angern. “The first revocation notices show that, after individual examination, these people pose a threat to public safety,” she said to German news outlet Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.

As Remix News has reported in the past, the BfV has also been active designating the AfD as an extremist threat in other states such as North Rhine-Westphalia, where gun owners are also under threat of having their firearms taken away from them. The BfV is a highly politicized intelligence agency targeting domestic “threats” to the constitutional order, while critics contend it is designed to snuff out political opposition. The agency is currently monitoring AfD members in a number of states, including tapping their phones and surveilling their internet communications, all without a warrant. Currently, their membership in the party offers enough legal grounds to target what is the second-largest party in the country. In 2023, the Gera Administrative Court ruled that the Thuringian Ministry of the Interior cannot revoke firearms licenses of AfD members in a blanket measure; however, it left the door open for individual cases.

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If they try to block him, they’ll have a huge fight on their hands. Kennedy’s presence is important for Trump.

Senate Democrats Consider Support For RFK Jr. As Health Secretary (ZH)

As the Biden administration gears up for the confirmation hearings of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the role of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, a surprising development has occurred within the Senate. Despite considerable backlash from many in the Democratic Party due to Kennedy’s controversial views on vaccinations, a few Senate Democrats are reportedly keeping an open mind about voting for him. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and John Fetterman (D-PA) may throw support behind Kennedy, according to The Hill. They share Kennedy’s criticisms of heavy corporate influence over the food industry and advocate for a shift towards less chemical-laden approaches in America. This openness aligns with their ongoing efforts to address the shortcomings in the U.S. food system, despite the contentious nature of Kennedy’s nomination.

“I think Bernie will give him a fair review,” said one source close to the Senator’s office. “I definitely think his Senate office will use the opportunity to point out the shortcomings of the industrial food system, supply chains, etc.,” the source continued. “I think they’ve been doing a little of that already.” “Their perceived openness comes despite a fervent backlash against Kennedy’s nomination from many within the Democratic Party, where his controversial stances on vaccinations still could be a deciding factor for many who see his views as dangerous for public health.” -The Hill. Kennedy’s efforts to be confirmed involve reaching out to Republican senators as well, from whom he needs a substantial majority to secure his position, given the potential lack of unanimous Democratic support.

His meetings on Capitol Hill and public calls for support are part of a strategic push to showcase his health agenda, which focuses heavily on reforming food industry practices and promoting healthier lifestyles. The nomination has placed Democrats in a difficult position. Many spent the last election distancing themselves from Kennedy after his switch from the Independent party, wary of his ability to draw third-party support that could impact general election outcomes. His nomination by Trump has forced them to reassess their stance, especially as Kennedy reemerges in the political spotlight. Despite some Democrats’ willingness to consider Kennedy’s nomination, others remain staunchly opposed. Senators like Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and potential concerns from other liberal members reflect the deep divisions within the party regarding Kennedy’s fitness for the role, especially concerning his vaccine views.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), has publicly criticized efforts associated with Kennedy’s nomination, particularly around vaccines – calling it “outrageous and dangerous for people in the Trump Transition to try and get rid of the polio vaccine” in a post last month to X. Kennedy recently visited Capitol Hill to discuss his health agenda – which he telegraphed would be central to his approach at HHS. While there, he met with Republican Sens. John Barrasso (WY), Shelley Moore Capito (W. VA.), and Marsha Blackburn (TN). That said, he’ll have slightly more breathing room if he can convince even one Democrat to vote for him. “I am no expert on Fetterman, but my sense is that he and [Sanders] will vote for RFK,” said progressive Nina Turner, a former congressional candidate who’s close to Sanders.

Fetterman had previously talked shit about Kennedy, however, saying in November, “I’m not going to really take any kind of advice [from] a dude that chainsaws whale heads and delivers dead bears into a park.” That said, the Pennsylvania politician may be open after all. “Fetterman has impressed me with his willingness to meet with Trump’s nominees without the normal partisan spin and insults attached to the process,” one pro-Kennedy source told the outlet. “To me, he’s signaling to MAGA that he’s open to working together on areas that can benefit the people and help everyday people.” “Fetterman,” the source added, is “definitely a swing vote for all of Trump’s nominees.”

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In 12 days, he’ll head the FBI. Check your engines..

National Sheriffs’ Association Endorses Kash Patel For FBI Director (JTN)

The National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) on Monday endorsed President-elect Donald Trump’s FBI director nominee Kash Patel, and urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to confirm his nomination quickly. Trump nominated Patel in November, before FBI Director Christopher Wray even announced his intention to resign under the next Trump administration. Wray said he will resign his post on Jan. 20, the first day of Trump’s new administration. NSA President Kieran Donahue shared his endorsement in a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dick Durbin, saying the association believed Patel had the “credentials, skills, temperament, commitment, and experience” for the post.

“We are pleased to give our enthusiastic endorsement of Mr. Patel’s nomination to be the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and urge the Committee hold hearings expeditiously,” Donahue wrote, per Fox News. “We believe there will be broad support for Mr. Patel and we look forward to his swift confirmation by the full United States Senate.” Donahue stated that Patel would prioritize bringing the FBI back to its previous standards, and restore confidence in the bureau by providing more transparency, and collaboration.

“Mr. Patel promised NSA – if confirmed – his unwavering dedication to working hand in glove with local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement at the rank-and- file and leadership levels,” the president wrote. “His commitment to the reciprocity of access-to-advise is essential to combating the most serious security and policing challenges ahead. We are certain Mr. Patel’s engagement will result in vital and effective partnerships nationwide to protect communities large and small.” Donahue also highlighted the importance of Patel’s position in keeping the country safe, after the Biden administration’s policies reportedly “undermined the rule of law and burdened our nation with great risk and vulnerability.”

“Equally detrimental are the border policies that permit unchecked access to our homeland,” he continued. “These two factors have sadly but predictably granted domestic and international criminals unprecedented opportunity to victimize or endanger the citizens and residents of our nation. As a result, countless communities across America are under siege.” The sheriff said that the association wants to work more closely with federal law enforcement but was not granted the opportunity under President Joe Biden. “Our federal law enforcement hierarchy, armed with knowledge gained through local collaboration, must be heard by the decisionmakers in Washington,” he concluded. “In this time of uncertainty, it is critical the Federal Bureau of Investigation be led by someone who has the complete confidence of the President.”

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Stuck.

Federal Judge Blocks Release Of Jack Smith’s Classified Documents Report

Update (1240ET): U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday blocked the release of a special counsel’s final report into President-elect Donald Trump, pending a decision by an appeals court. The order bars special counsel Jack Smith and the Department of Justice (DOJ) from releasing the report until the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals reviews a motion submitted by Trump’s co-defendants. “Pending resolution of the Emergency Motion filed in the Eleventh Circuit … Attorney General Garland, the Department of Justice, Special Counsel Smith, all of their officers, agents, and employees, and all persons acting in active concert or participation with such individuals are temporarily enjoined” from releasing or transmitting the final report, Cannon’s order stated.

* * *
As Zachary Stieber detailed earlier via The Epoch Times, Special counsel Jack Smith is preparing a final report on the case involving President-elect Donald Trump and two others, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed on Jan. 7. Smith’s office is preparing a two-volume report to explain Smith’s prosecution decisions, lawyers for Smith’s office and the DOJ said in a filing to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. One of the volumes pertains to the case Smith brought against Trump, former aide Walt Nauta, and Mar-a-Lago manager Carlos De Oliveira. Attorney General Merrick Garland “has not yet determined how to handle the report volume pertaining to this case,” but will commit to not releasing it to the public before 10 a.m. on Jan. 10, the lawyers added. Smith will not transmit the report to Garland before 1 p.m. on Jan. 7.

The details by the government came after Nauta and De Oliveira, through their lawyers, urged Cannon to enter an order blocking Smith from sharing the report with anybody else, and from taking any further actions to complete it. The release of the report, they said, “would directly infringe on Nauta’s and De Oliveira’s Fifth Amendment due process rights, taking on the status of a public form of an invalid new indictment, replete with unfairly prejudicial assertions of alleged offenses going well beyond any assertions in the indictment and other public filings.” The lawyers said that Cannon needs to act quickly because they believe that the government will issue the final report within the next few days. Federal law states that each special counsel shall provide the attorney general with a confidential report “explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached by the Special Counsel.”

Smith brought two cases against Trump. Both were dropped after Trump won the 2024 election and started preparing to take office again. Trump’s lawyers told Garland in a separate letter that they were able to review a draft of the report recently in Washington and that there are serious problems with the document. “The Draft Report violates fundamental norms regarding the presumption of innocence, including with respect to third parties unnecessarily impugned by Smith’s false claims,” the lawyers said. Releasing the report to the public would violate the Presidential Transition Act, according to the lawyers. Both sets of lawyers highlighted how Cannon previously found that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed as a special counsel.

“Because Smith has proposed an unlawful course of action, you must countermand his plan and remove him promptly. If Smith is not removed, then the handling of his report should be deferred to President Trump’s incoming attorney general, consistent with the expressed will of the People,” Trump’s lawyers told Garland. “Finally, should you disagree with the positions set forth below, we respectfully request notice of that decision prior to the unlawful release of any report so that we can pursue injunctive and other relief to protect the rights of President Trump, others unfairly implicated by Smith’s work, and the people of this great Nation who elected President Trump to run the government and put an end to the weaponization of the justice system,” they added. Smith’s office and the DOJ said the brief, early morning filing would be followed by a more detailed response to the emergency motion by 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Cannon

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Extreme lawfare.

Merchan Rejects Trump’s Attempts To Delay Sentencing In Hush Money Case (JTN)

New York Judge Juan Merchan on Monday rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s legal team’s attempts to delay the sentencing in the former president’s hush money case. The judge last week set the sentencing date for this coming Friday, Jan. 10, just 10 days before Trump is scheduled to be sworn into office. Merchan also rejected Trump’s attempt to dismiss the case, after his legal team cited the former president’s reelection and the fact that other pending cases against the president-elect that have already been dropped. Merchan has indicated that he is unlikely to impose any jail time in the case. Trump was convicted last year on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a 2016 payment his then-attorney, Michael Cohen.

“This Court has considered Defendant’s arguments in support of his motion and finds that they are for the most part, a repetition of the arguments he has raised numerous times in the past,” Merchan wrote in Monday’s ruling. Merchan’s decision not to dismiss the case now that Trump has won the presidency, means that the convictions still stand, making Trump the first person convicted of a felony to win the Oval Office. However, Trump has vowed to appeal the verdict.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1876380949157667314

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“There were a lot of mistakes made” in negotiations between Moscow and Washington during the period preceding Russia’s military campaign against Kiev..”

Trump Blames Biden For Ukraine War (RT)

US President Joe Biden’s inept handling of the tensions between Russia, Ukraine and NATO has led to a conflict between Moscow and Kiev, President-elect Donald Trump told a press conference on Tuesday. Had Washington not offered the Ukrainian authorities a prospect of joining the US-led military bloc, the war could have been avoided, Trump believes. Washington’s desire to see Ukraine in NATO at some point despite Moscow’s legitimate concerns is what has triggered the conflict, the president-elect told journalists, adding that he believes that Biden “broke” a deal that America had with Russia on how far the US-led military bloc could expand. “Moscow has repeatedly stated even before President Vladimir Putin came to power that it does not want to see NATO in Ukraine,” Trump stated, adding that it “has been written in stone.”

Biden nonetheless insisted that “they should be able to join NATO,” he added. The president-elect also said he “could understand” how Russia was “feeling about” having a foreign military bloc “right on their doorstep.” “There were a lot of mistakes made” in negotiations between Moscow and Washington during the period preceding Russia’s military campaign against Kiev, he said. “When I heard the way that Biden was negotiating, I said: ‘you’re going to end up in a war,’ and it turned out to be a very bad war,” Trump said, adding that the ongoing conflict could still escalate even further and become “much worse than it is now.” The president-elect referred to the ongoing conflict as a “disaster” that “should have never happened” and called it “Biden’s fiasco.” He also vowed to “straighten up” the situation, while still admitting it will be “a tough one.”

According to Trump, it would have been much easier to prevent the conflict from breaking out back in 2022 than to settle it now. Answering one of the journalists’ questions, Trump said that he might need up to six months after taking office to help Moscow and Kiev reach a deal. Previously, he had repeatedly vowed to end the conflict in 24 hours. He still expressed his hope that it could be done “long before six months.” In late December, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that Biden offered him to delay Ukraine’s membership in NATO at the organization’s 2021 summit in Geneva. For Moscow, Kiev’s accession to the US-led bloc was unacceptable “whether it’s in one year or ten years,” the Russian leader said at that time.

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First, do your homework: “Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Kellogg needs to “delve deeper into the Ukrainian issue”.

Trump’s Ukraine Aide Postpones Trip To Kiev – Reuters (RT)

US president-elect Donald Trump’s key Ukraine aide has postponed a planned trip to Kiev until after the Republican’s inauguration, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg initially planned to visit the city in early January to meet the Ukrainian leadership. No specific date for a future visit has been set, the news agency added. Bloomberg reported last month that Kellogg was also open to meetings in Moscow, if invited. The trip would focus on gathering information rather than implementing any specific policy goal, the outlet claimed. Reuters, however, did not mention the Russian capital in its report on Monday. Kellogg previously expressed concerns about the protracted nature of the Ukraine conflict, stating that “this has become a war of attrition that’s going to kill a whole generation of young men.”

Trump has repeatedly claimed he can resolve the conflict within 24 hours of taking office. The president-elect has also criticized outgoing President Joe Biden’s decision to permit Kiev to launch US-supplied missiles deep into Russia, describing it as a dangerous escalation. Trump has warned that he may cut off aid to Ukraine if it refuses to pursue a peace agreement. He indicated last month that he expects Vladimir Zelensky to consider accepting certain territorial concessions as part of a potential peace deal.

Moscow has repeatedly stated that it is ready to engage in a dialogue on Ukraine without preconditions, based on the 2022 Istanbul preliminary agreements and the situation on the ground. Among the conditions for a peaceful settlement, Vladimir Putin has named the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donbass, along with the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as Kiev abandoning its plan to join NATO. A peace plan, co-authored by Keith Kellogg and presented to Trump earlier this year, proposes freezing the conflict along the current front line and preventing Ukraine from joining NATO for ten years. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Kellogg needs to “delve deeper into the Ukrainian issue”.

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“..there are grounds to assert this authority of reversal, but it will take years in court..”

Trump Plan to “Un-Ban” the Biden Drilling Order Could Prove Difficult (Turley)

After a presidential campaign where both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris pushed back on claims that they were trying to shut down much of the fossil fuel industry, Biden waited until the final days of his administration to ban oil and gas drilling over 670 million acres of America’s coastline. President-elect Donald Trump responded that“It’s ridiculous. I’ll un-ban it immediately. I have the right to un-ban it immediately.” It will likely be more difficult than a simple “un-ban” order. Environmental groups will likely push a “sue, baby, sue” campaign to counter Trump’s “drill, baby, drill.” In his statement, Biden justified the move to counter the “climate crisis.” A White House announcement stated that “President Biden has determined that the environmental and economic risks and harms that would result from drilling in these areas outweigh their limited fossil fuel resource potential.”

The question is whether the order can handcuff Trump in pursuing one of the main parts of his campaign platform to unleash America’s fossil fuel resources. This is all familiar ground. Biden acted under Section 12(a) of the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), which states that the president “may, from time to time, withdraw from disposition any of the unleased lands of the Outer Continental Shelf.” As noted in a Congressional Research Service report there is an ongoing debate over whether presidents can reverse the withdrawals of prior presidents. Trump faced that question in 2017 when he sought to overturn a ban by President Barack Obama in order to open up Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas and some parts of the Atlantic to oil and gas exploration.

Two years later, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska struck down Trump’s order. While acknowledging that the law is ambiguous, it did not find express authority for such reversals. Litigation ran out the clock and Biden later overturned Trump’s executive order. So, there are grounds to assert this authority of reversal, but it will take years in court. The alternative and preferred route would be Congress. This is an issue that should ultimately rest with Congress. This ambiguous law is unfortunately common in poorly crafted provisions giving presidents sweeping authority. Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has already pledged to “push back using every tool at our disposal.”

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The no. 1 censor…

Meta Culpa: Zuckerberg Joins Musk in the Global Fight for Free Speech (Turley)

“Faithful friends are hard to find.” For the free speech community, those words from Shakespeare have long been tragically true. Indeed, until Elon Musk bought Twitter (now X), we were losing ground around the world to an unprecedented anti-free speech coalition of government, corporate, media, and academic interests. Now, Musk may have added a major new ally that could help turn the tide for free speech: Mark Zuckerberg. In a new video, Meta’s CEO announced that the company would adopt X standards and restore free speech protections across Facebook, Instagram, and Meta platforms. Meta will also end its third-party fact-checking program, introduce a ‘community notes’ system, and focus on removing criminal and fraudulent material—the very guidelines proposed by some of us in prior years. For the free speech community, it was like the United States entering World War II to support Great Britain.

Where Musk stopped the progress of the global anti-free speech movement, Zuckerberg could actually help us regain ground around the world. As one of Zuckerberg’s most vocal critics over free speech, it is admittedly hard to trust. We all love redemptive sinners, but it would be more impressive if the redemption preceded the apprehension. So allow me a brief cathartic moment… In the last few years, a mix of House investigations and litigation has forced more of the censorship system under the Biden Administration into public view. That is expected to draw even greater attention with the continued discovery in Missouri v. Biden, showing years of false statements about the extent of this government-corporate alliance across social media platforms. In my recent book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage, I wrote about Zuckerberg and Meta’s record on censorship, including their failure (until recently) to release the Facebook files.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1876630108158787925

Meta resisted efforts to uncover this evidence for years, even after Musk released the Twitter Files and revealed a censorship system described by one court as perfectly “Orwellian.” While Zuckerberg portrayed Meta as an unwilling partner in this censorship system in his video, he and the company ignored many years of objections from many of us regarding the critical role the company plays in targeting and censoring opposing viewpoints. Facebook even ran a creepy ad campaign to try to convince young people to embrace what they call “content modification” as part of their evolution with technology. It did not work. When the anti-free speech movement targeted Musk, Zuckerberg did nothing for years. Fearing that other companies might restore free speech protections, members of Congress, including now Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), sent a chilling letter to Facebook stating that it should not even consider such a move or risk becoming “part of our ongoing oversight efforts.”

In a November 2020 Senate hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), D-Conn., warned Zuckerberg and other CEOs that he and his Senate colleagues would not tolerate any “backsliding or retrenching” by “failing to take action against dangerous disinformation.” While Musk defied those threats, the pressure seemed to work with Zuckerberg. It was not until the Republicans won both houses and the White House that Zuckerberg and Meta decided that free speech was worth fighting for. In his exclusive interview with Fox News, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, admitted that the Trump election changed the situation for Meta: “We have a new administration coming in that is far from pressuring companies to censor and [is more] a huge supporter of free expression.”

It is a chilling statement if one thinks of what might have happened if Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, arguably the most anti-free speech ticket in history, had won. The suggestion is that the new spring at Meta would have turned into a frozen tundra for free speech. Around the world, free speech is in a free fall. Speech crimes and censorship have become the norm in the West. A new industry of “disinformation” experts has commoditized censorship, making millions in the targeting and silencing of others. An anti-free speech culture has taken root in government, higher education, and the media. We will either hold the line now or we will lose this indispensable right for future generations. Zuckerberg could make this a truly transformative moment but it will take more than a passing meta-culpa. We need Zuckerberg now more than ever. So, with that off my chest, I can get to what I have longed to say: Mr. Zuckerberg, welcome to the fight.

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“..similar developments in a host of huge US companies, including Walmart, Ford, John Deere, Lowe’s, Harley-Davidson, Jack Daniel’s, Microsoft, United Airlines and Boeing.”

McDonald’s Latest To Bail On DEI Goals (ZH)

Bowing to a mix of court rulings, consumer backlash, and rational attentiveness to self-interest, US institutions are abandoning the cult of diversity, equity and inclusion. The latest domino to fall is an American icon: McDonald’s on Monday announced it is curtailing many of its diversity initiatives. The news came in an open letter to McDonald’s its owner/operators, employees and suppliers. Among other factors influencing the move away from DEI, the company pointed to the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling that struck down race-centric admissions practice. “We…assessed the shifting legal landscape to anticipate how this ruling may impact corporations such as McDonald’s,” the firm wrote. The McDonald’s return to rationality follows similar developments in a host of huge US companies, including Walmart, Ford, John Deere, Lowe’s, Harley-Davidson, Jack Daniel’s, Microsoft, United Airlines and Boeing. While reaffirming McDonald’s commitment to inclusion, the company announced it would “modify…a few practices.” Among them:

• We are retiring setting aspirational representation goals and instead keeping our focus on continuing to embed inclusion practices that grow our business into our everyday process and operations.
• We are pausing external surveys to focus on the work we are doing internally to grow the business.
• We are retiring Supply Chain’s Mutual Commitment to DEI pledge in favor of a more integrated discussion with suppliers about inclusion as it relates to business performance.
McDonald’s vague reference to “pausing external surveys” almost certainly refers to an annual Human Rights Campaign survey that grades companies on LGBTQ inclusion, while the supply chain DEI pledge was McDonald’s quest to impose DEI schemes on the company’s suppliers, demanding they promise to “accelerate cultures of inclusion and belonging.” When announcing that pledge, McDonald’s said it was starting with 20 US-based suppliers, with an ambition to impose it “across McDonald’s value chain by 2025.” Instead, 2025 is the year the scheme is evaporating.

Perhaps the best component of McDonald’s announcement was an embrace of what might be called benevolent neutrality: “We are also excited to introduce a new concept: the power of OUR “Golden Rule” — treating everyone with dignity, fairness and respect, always.” Robby Starbuck, the conservative who’s been blazing a highly effective, boycott-threatening, anti-DEI warpath on prominent consumer-brand companies, implied that his imminent targeting of McDonald’s triggered the announcement, noting that he’d told the company on Friday that he was working on a story about their practices. In a social media post, Starbuck celebrated the McDonald’s move and the broader trend it’s part of: “Our campaigns are so effective that we’re getting the biggest companies on earth to change their policies without me even posting a story exposing their woke policies first. Companies can see that America wants sanity back. The era of wokeness is dying right in front of our eyes. The landscape of corporate America is quickly shifting to sanity and neutrality. We are the trend, not the anomaly anymore.”

Some of McDonald’s woke infrastructure will remain, but it’s being renamed to better align with how the company will approach things going forward. “We are evolving how we refer to our diversity team, which will now be the Global Inclusion Team. This name change is more fitting for McDonald’s in light of our inclusion value and better aligns with this team’s work,” McDonald’s said. McDonald’s noted that 30% of its US leaders come from “underrepresented groups.” However, that’s only 1% higher than it was in 2021, according to Associated Press. It had targeted 35% as the goal for year-end 2025. McDonalds went all-in on diversity schemes in 2021, the year after George Floyd’s death in the custody of Minneapolis police set off a DEI mania that swept across America and western Europe. In addition to the social pressure, the company had also been hit by lawsuits alleging sexual harassment against employees and racial discrimination against black former franchise owners. As the Great DEI Rollback continues, the only question is…who’s next?

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16

Sharks

Everytime

Joke

Turn around

Louis

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 072025
 


Jan van Eijk The Arnolfini portrait 1434

 

Trump Urges GOP to Pass Bill Advancing His Policies (ET)
Dollar Reverses Losses After Trump Blasts WaPo’s “Fake News” Tariff Report (ZH)
Curtain to Fall on Merchan’s Hamlet on the Hudson (Turley)
The Lawfare Sentencing of Trump On January 10 Will Backfire (ZH)
US Congress Formally Certifies Trump’s Election Victory (ZH)
Musk and Trump Can Bring A New Era That Blends Technology and Tradition (RT)
Conspiracies Too Awful to Imagine? (Victor Davis Hanson)
Prank-O-Rama (James Howard Kunstler)
Bannon Goes Off On Musk Over “Social Credit Score” Changes On X (ZH)
Moscow Reacts To Zelensky’s Request To Trump For Frozen Russian Cash (RT)
Ukraine Should Be ‘Realistic’ – Macron (RT)
Italy In Talks With Starlink For $1.6 Billion Telecom Security Deal (ZH)
Pfizergate: What is EC Chief Von Der Leyen Accused of? (Sp.)
Migrants Arrested For Sex Crimes At Triple The Rate Of Brits – UK Stats (RT)
Amazon Confirms Melania Trump Documentary (RT)
Nuclear Fusion Offers Safe And Clean Energy (JTN)

 

 

 

 

Starmer

Galloway

Poilievre

Dana White

 

 

 

 

Less than 2 weeks to go.

“..pass Trump’s legislative policies through a reconciliation bill, which would enable the policies to be passed with a simple majority, bypassing the Senate’s 60-vote threshold..”

Trump Urges GOP to Pass Bill Advancing His Policies (ET)

President-elect Donald Trump has called on Republican lawmakers to pass “one powerful bill” to advance his policies on border security and tax cuts as he prepares to return for a second term. In a social media post on Sunday, Trump said members of Congress will work on a single bill that is packed with policy items aimed at making America “greater than ever before.” “We must Secure our Border, Unleash American Energy, and Renew the Trump Tax Cuts, which were the largest in History, but we will make it even better – NO TAX ON TIPS,” the president-elect stated. Trump suggested that he plans to offset the taxes by imposing tariffs on imports from countries that “have taken advantage of the U.S. for years.” “Republicans must unite, and quickly deliver these Historic Victories for the American People. Get smart, tough, and send the Bill to my desk to sign as soon as possible,” he stated.

His remarks came after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) unveiled a plan to pass Trump’s legislative policies through a reconciliation bill, which would enable the policies to be passed with a simple majority, bypassing the Senate’s 60-vote threshold. Johnson told Fox News that the vote on the reconciliation bill could happen as early as April 3, and then move to the Senate. He said the bill could be delivered to Trump’s desk for signature by the end of April. “We’re 15 days out from the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump for his second term. And we want to make sure that we’re jump-starting the agenda now over the next two weeks, so that he’s prepared and ready on day one,” Johnson told the news outlet.

“At the end of the day, President Trump is going to prefer, as he likes to say, one big, beautiful bill. And there’s a lot of merit to that, because we can put it all together, one big up-or-down vote, which can save the country, quite literally, because there are so many elements to it. And it’ll give us a little bit more time to negotiate that and get it right.”

Johnson said that the reconciliation bill would address Trump’s priorities, such as the economy, border security, tax cuts, energy, and incentivizing U.S. companies to manufacture domestically. GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor in December that a reconciliation package “with a once-in-a-generation investment in border security and immigration enforcement” would be passed within the first 100 days of the Trump administration. Thune said the GOP also planned to use the Congressional Review Act to “undo some of the Biden administration regulations that are weighing down our economy” and pass another reconciliation package to expand the tax relief provided to Americans during Trump’s first administration.

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“That is wrong. The Washington Post knows it’s wrong. It’s just another example of Fake News..”

Dollar Reverses Losses After Trump Blasts WaPo’s “Fake News” Tariff Report (ZH)

Update (0930ET): On Truth Social, President-elect Donald Trump blasted the Washington Post for “quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don’t exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back.” “That is wrong. The Washington Post knows it’s wrong. It’s just another example of Fake News,” the former president said. Right away, we called out this malarkey. WaPo’s fake news reporting sent the Bloomberg Spot Dollar Index tumbling by over 1%, one of the biggest intra-day drops since 2023. There is nothing like fake news from legacy corporate media to start the week.

***
The US dollar slid on Monday after reports emerged that President-elect Donald Trump’s aides are considering a revised, less strict tariff plan. While Trump’s 2024 campaign promised a universal tariff on most imports, the new proposal would focus instead on imposing tariffs specifically on critical imports, according to the Washington Post, citing three people familiar with the plan. Trump repeatedly claimed during the campaign that he would implement a “universal” 10% to 20% import tariff on all foreign-made goods into the United States. He also spoke about a 60% import tariff on Chinese goods and a 100% tariff on all imported cars. According to WaPo: “Two weeks before Trump takes office, his aides are still discussing plans to impose import duties on goods from every country, the people said.

But rather than apply tariffs to all imports, the current discussions center on imposing them only on certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security — a shift that would jettison a key aspect of Trump’s campaign pledge, at least for now, said the people, who cautioned that no decisions have been finalized and that planning remains in flux.” While the Biden administration has not rescinded most of the existing tariffs enacted under Trump 1.0, a universal blanket of tariffs on all imports would have been part of the ‘America First’ trade policies. However, it seems unlikely that Trump would abandon such a key policy initiative right out of the gate. The sources familiar with the potential tariff change were unclear about which imports would be affected.

More from WaPo… “Preliminary discussions have largely focused on several key sectors that the Trump team wants to bring back to the United States, the people said. Those include the defense industrial supply chain (through tariffs on steel, iron, aluminum and copper); critical medical supplies (syringes, needles, vials and pharmaceutical materials); and energy production (batteries, rare earth minerals and even solar panels), two of the people said.” WaPo’s report sent the Bloomberg Dollar Index tumbling early Monday, breaking below $108. This marked a sharp reversal following the multi-month 9% rally that started at the beginning of October.

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Meannwhile, Merchan has rejected another appeal.

The Supreme Court will throw this out. But that’s not enough. Trump will have to ask them to retroactively strike Merchan’s verdict, so it will no longer be part of the record.

Curtain to Fall on Merchan’s Hamlet on the Hudson (Turley)

At 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 10, 2025, the curtain will fall on the longest performance of “Hamlet” in history. Acting Justice Juan Merchan will finally decide whether “to be or not to be” the judge to sentence Trump to jail. (Spoiler alert: He appears set to avoid a jail sentence and likely reversal.) Since Trump’s conviction in May 2024, Merchan has contemplated his sentencing options. This was to be the orange-jump-suit moment many longed for over years of unrequited lawfare. They will likely be disappointed. As some of us noted after the verdict, this type of case would often result in an unconditional discharge or a sentence without jail time. That prediction became more likely after Trump was reelected in November. Limits on Trump’s freedom or liberty would likely result in a fast reversal, and Merchan knew it. While various pundits predicted that Trump “will go to jail” after the trial, more realistic lawfare warriors had other ideas.

The next best thing was to suspend proceedings and leave Trump in a type of legal suspended animation. Merchan would hold a leash on the president as a criminal defendant awaiting punishment. But the whole point of a trophy-kill case is the trophy itself. Merchan will not disappoint. While indicating that he is inclined to a sentence without jail or probation, he will finalize the conviction of Trump just 10 days before his inauguration. In so doing, he will formally label the president-elect a convicted felon. It will be punishment by soundbite. Trump will become the first convicted felon to be sworn into office, a historical footnote that will be repeated mantra-like in the media. Merchan seems at points to be writing the actual talking points for the talking heads. In his order, he states grandly that the jurors found that this “was the premediated and continuous deception by the leader of the free world.”

He then adds that he could not vacate the conviction because it would … constitute a disproportionate result and cause immeasurable damage to the citizenry’s confidence in the Rule of Law.” Of course, this did not work out as many hoped. That apparently includes President Biden. Last week, the Washington Post reported that Biden was irate over the Justice Department’s failure to prosecute Trump more quickly to secure a conviction before the election. He also reportedly regretted his appointment of Attorney General Merrick Garland as insufficiently aggressive in pursuing Trump. It appears Garland was not sufficiently Bragg-like for Biden’s lawfare tastes. The sentencing, however, will have another impact. Trump will finally be able to appeal this horrendous case. It has always been a target-rich opportunity for appeal, but Trump could now launch a comprehensive appeal until after he was sentenced.

Those appellate issues include charges based on a novel criminal theory through which New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg not only zapped a dead misdemeanor into life (after the expiration of the statute of limitation) but based a state charge on federal election law and federal taxation violations. So, after the Justice Department declined to prosecute federal violations, Bragg effectively did so in state court with Merchan’s blessing. The issues also include Merchan’s absurd instructions to the jury. The novel theory demanded a secondary offense, the crime that Trump was seeking to conceal by listing payments as legal expenses. Merchan allowed the jury to find that the secondary offense was any of an array of vaguely defined options. Even on the jury form, they did not have to specify which crimes were found. Merchan did not require even a majority, let alone a unanimous jury, to agree on what actually occurred.

Under Merchan’s instruction, the jury could have split four-four-four on whether this was all done to conceal a federal election violation, falsification of business records or taxation violations. Neither Trump nor the public will ever know. Even CNN’s senior legal analyst Elie Honig denounced the case as legally flawed and unprecedented. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) recently put it more simply and called the case total “b—s–t.” While expectations are not great for the New York legal system itself, this case will eventually go to the United States Supreme Court. Of course, like so much else in the vortex of Merchan’s courtroom, the final leave to appeal comes at a cost. While Merchan admits begrudgingly that incarceration is no longer “practical,” Trump will now have to appeal this case over the course of his presidency.

When the sentence is imposed on Jan. 10, it is likely to feel comically downsized given the effort. After years and millions spent in the various Trump cases, Trump will likely receive an unconditional discharge and sent along his way . . . to the White House. As predicted, the two federal cases never saw a trial in Florida or Washington, D.C. In Georgia, Fani Willis was dropped from her racketeering case, which has gone nowhere due to her own misconduct. It is like the Allied forces launching the Normandy Invasion to capture Monaco.

In the meantime, the 2024 election proved to be the largest verdict in history after years of lawfare and biased media reporting came to nothing. Merchan showed little self-awareness in claiming that he was only trying to avoid “immeasurable damage to the citizenry’s confidence in the Rule of Law” in continuing the case. Polls show the public saw these cases as lawfare and Merchan is widely viewed as causing precisely that “immeasurable damage” with his handling of the case. Given this record, it may be fitting that the trophy from the New York case is a media talking point, while it lasts. So, Merchan’s performance of Hamlet on the Hudson will close off Broadway long after the audience has left. The reviews will be mixed since few minds will be changed. As the protagonist himself proclaimed, “I must be cruel only to be kind; thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.”

Merchan

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“Every effort has been made to put Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Hillary Clinton above the law. And every effort has been made to put Trump beneath the law..”

The Lawfare Sentencing of Trump On January 10 Will Backfire (ZH)

Update (1220ET): President-Elect Donald Trump is attempting to halt proceedings in his business records case, with his attorneys stating that they intend to file an appeal to reverse a decision setting sentencing for Jan. 10. His request came on Jan. 6, just days after Merchan’s decision on Jan. 3. Trump’s lawyers argued that their appeal should trigger what’s known as an automatic stay, or pause, in the proceedings. If that doesn’t happen, they argued, Merchan should then grant a pause and prevent sentencing from happening on Friday as scheduled. “Today, President Trump’s legal team moved to stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt,” Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said. “The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the state constitution of New York, and other established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately dismissed.” As a reminder, in December, Merchan rejected Trump’s various immunity-related objections to the evidence used during trial.

* * *
As MishTalk.com’s Mike Shedlock detailed earlier, MAGA supporters rail against Trump’s sentencing ahead of his inauguration. Instead, they should be pleased. Let’s discuss why… Sentencing on January 10. Politico reports Trump Will Be Sentenced but Won’t Get Jail Time. “A New York judge plans to sentence Donald Trump on Jan. 10 for his criminal hush money conviction, rejecting efforts by the president-elect to sweep aside a jury’s verdict that found him guilty of 34 felony counts. But Justice Juan Merchan indicated he will not sentence Trump to prison time, acknowledging that incarceration is not a “practicable” option. And the judge said Trump may attend the sentencing virtually rather than reporting to court in person. The long-delayed sentencing — unless a higher court blocks it — will force Trump to revisit the sordid hush money case just 10 days before his inauguration.

And by maintaining the jury’s verdict, Merchan all but ensured that Trump will take office with his sole criminal conviction still on his record. In an 18-page decision Friday, Merchan ruled that the Supreme Court’s July decision on presidential immunity does not shield Trump from facing sentencing for the conviction. And the judge rejected Trump’s arguments that the entire case should be thrown out in light of his victory in the 2024 election, calling the suggestion an affront to the justice system. Merchan also sharply criticized Trump for his “disdain” for the legal process. In addition to continually criticizing the case itself, Trump repeatedly argued for Merchan to recuse himself, claiming the judge was biased. During the trial, he disobeyed the judge’s gag order and often appeared to fall asleep in court.”

Democrats Cheer, for Now Sentencing ahead of the inauguration will let Democrats claim Trump will take office with his sole criminal conviction on his record. I view this as mostly good news. Q: Why? A: Sentencing now will speed up the appeals process. This is a sham trial that never should have happened. And the mistakes made by Merchan ensure the case will be tossed out. Had Merchan delayed sentencing, Democrats might have held sentencing over Trump for four more years. Hunter Biden Convicted On June 11, I commented Hunter Biden Convicted, Unlike Trump, Hunter’s Conviction Won’t Be OverturnedHey Joe, how does it feel to have a son convicted of a felony? For now you can call Trump a felon, but that won’t last due to numerous and flagrant judicial errors.

Trump Found Guilty – a Travesty of Justice for America I commented on Trump in my post Trump Found Guilty – a Travesty of Justice for America: I Am Outraged. I am outraged but not surprised. But the hypocrites will cheer hoping for a knockout. They will say “No one is above the law”. Indeed. But no one should be beneath the law either. Every effort has been made to put Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Hillary Clinton above the law. And every effort has been made to put Trump beneath the law, including judicial instructions. Everyone should be outraged. The trial was unfair because there should not have been a trial at all. The judge’s actions were outrageous.

Pardon vs Overturned Conviction President Biden lied about Hunter. Then in a disgraceful move, the president pardoned his son. However, accepting a pardon implies guilt. Hunter won’t go to prison where he belongs. But no one can say he wasn’t guilty. If New York Governor Kathy Hochul offers Trump a pardon, he should refuse it on grounds of innocence. And as soon as the Trump conviction is overturned, and it will be, no one will be able to call Trump a felon. Sentencing now will speed up an appeal, and the conviction will be tossed, hopefully with prejudice. So let the hypocrites have another month or whatever of bragging. Then reality will set in with an easy overturn on multiple grounds.

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“For both sides of the aisle, the certification of Trump’s re-election four years later is likely a reminder of the magnitude of the political comeback the president-elect has achieved.”

US Congress Formally Certifies Trump’s Election Victory (ZH)

Update (1335ET): Trump captured the presidency with 312 electoral votes to Harris’s 226 — a total that was confirmed during the certification on Monday, marking the final step in the election process before Trump formally takes back the White House on Jan. 20.. Republicans gave a standing ovation in the chamber when Harris announced Trump’s victory was now certified. A bipartisan standing ovation broke out in the House chamber after Harris declared the joint session of Congress dissolved. In a video released ahead of the certification, Harris hailed the “peaceful transfer of power” as a bedrock of U.S. democracy, calling her duty a “sacred obligation.” “As we have seen, our democracy can be fragile,” Harris said. “And it is up to each of us to stand up for our most cherished principles.” This year’s counting of the electoral votes was declared a “national special security event,” unlocking federal, state and local resources.

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As The Epoch Times’ Joseph Lord detailed earlier, Congress will formally certify President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election on Jan. 6, marking the final ceremonial step to confirm Trump as the next commander-in-chief. Vice President Kamala Harris, as president of the Senate, will officiate the certification during a joint session of Congress and declare her erstwhile rival the winner in the presidential contest. It’s expected to be largely a quiet, formal process this year. Harris has said she intends to treat her role as ceremonial. Democrats in Congress have already made clear that they accept Trump’s win. For members of both parties, the day can’t help but recall the events that unfolded four years prior. During the certification of the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump protesters entered the Capitol, placing the certification process on hold and putting an end to a Republican effort to object to certain electoral slates.

Following the Capitol breach, Republican leaders like Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) distanced themselves from Trump, joining Democrats in saying he was ultimately responsible for the incident. The House quickly pushed through a second impeachment resolution against Trump, though it failed in the Senate. Pundits believed Trump’s political future was at an end. For both sides of the aisle, the certification of Trump’s re-election four years later is likely a reminder of the magnitude of the political comeback the president-elect has achieved.

The Process. Lawmakers from both chambers will gather in the House chamber, which is traditionally used for joint sessions, at 1 p.m. ET to begin the process of certification. Under the process mandated by law, the official electoral slates will be transported into the House chamber in large mahogany boxes. Harris will then open the sealed electoral slates and hand them to the congressional tellers to be read aloud in alphabetical order. As these votes are read off, lawmakers have the opportunity to raise any objections they see fit, so long as both a representative and a senator sign off on the objection. At that point, both chambers would meet for two hours to debate the objection before returning to a joint session. These objections have been a relatively common fixture of American political life in the 21st century, with objections to certain electoral votes brought in 2001, 2005, 2017, and 2021. This year, however, Democrats have indicated that they expect no objections will be brought against certifying Trump’s win.

Jan. 6, 2021. Though Jan. 6 was once seen as a relatively uneventful day in American political life, for the past four years, the date has been a cultural flashpoint. During a speech at the Ellipse four years ago, Trump, alleging that the 2020 election results were tainted by fraud, told his supporters to go to the Capitol to “peacefully and patriotically“ protest the certification of the results. In the speech, Trump urged then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject certain electoral slates from key battleground states. When the crowd arrived at the Capitol, chaos ensued as some protesters entered the Capitol. Most entered through the main entrances, though a minority entered through smashed windows. Ultimately, the Capitol was cleared of protesters after Trump urged his supporters to leave. Though some damages had been done to the building and some offices, certification proceeded without further objections. Critics of Trump alleged that the Capitol breach was the culmination of an attempted insurrection against the U.S. government. Supporters of Trump say the narratives surrounding the events of the day have been misrepresented and note Trump’s role in ending the breach and how he left office unchallenged on Jan. 20, 2021.

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Archeofuturism.

Musk and Trump Can Bring A New Era That Blends Technology and Tradition (RT)

Elon Musk’s technological ambitions and Guillaume Faye’s Archeofuturist philosophy come together in a vision where advanced innovation revives ancient values, blending tradition with progress. Under Trump’s conservative leadership, this synergy could forge a future where ancestral spirit and technological power redefine civilization. Elon Musk, the trailblazing entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX, and Guillaume Faye, the French thinker known for his concept of Archeofuturism, converge in their advocacy for a future that harmonizes technological advancement with traditional values. Musk builds rockets, electric cars, and brain-computer interfaces, but beneath the silicon and steel lies a worldview positively aligned with Faye’s vision of a world where cutting-edge technoscience intertwines with the primordial myths and ethoses of ancient societies.

Archeofuturism proposes that mankind’s future must reject linear progressivism in favor of a cyclical model where archaic principles are revived and fused with world-renewing technologies. Musk’s projects are engineering feats as well as vessels of a philosophy that reawakens mankind’s different ethnic souls while propelling it towards the stars. During Donald Trump’s second presidency, a unique synergy will emerge between Musk’s technological endeavors and the administration’s conservative policies. Trump’s emphasis on deregulation and national sovereignty will dismantle bureaucratic obstacles, creating fertile ground for Musk’s Faustian ambition to thrive. While many view Trump’s administration as emblematic of an older, more traditionalist America, Musk represents the forward-facing engine of a society redefining itself.

Together, their approaches provide the scaffolding for a world where technological innovation makes its influence felt without compromising the foundational principles of identity and sovereignty. Faye’s Archeofuturism predicts this dynamic: a synthesis of traditionalism and futurism, where governance nurtures innovation and cultural renewal in tandem instead of pitting them against each other. SpaceX, under Musk’s leadership, is a monumental expression of Archeofuturist ideals. The company’s reusable rocket technology shatters the constraints of old models, both economically and ideologically, paving the way for mankind’s long overdue exploration of the cosmos. Musk’s rhetoric about making life multiplanetary is not science fiction. It brings to mind Faye’s call to reignite mankind’s heroic spirit.

Musk’s planned colonization of Mars is framed both as a technological achievement and a necessity for human survival – a reclamation of the explorer archetype that has driven civilizations since antiquity. During the Trump administration, which celebrates American exceptionalism and a revived interest in space exploration, SpaceX will truly prosper. By partnering with NASA, Musk is able to leverage Trump’s nationalist energy into a cosmic ambition that goes beyond the political, tapping into the primal yearning to break frontiers. Tesla’s rise provides another layer to this Archeofuturist narrative. Electric vehicles have long been seen as symbols of sterile modernity, but Musk reshapes them into icons of power, speed, and autonomy.

Tesla cars, with their sleek design and state-of-the-art performance, marry ecological consciousness with technological dominance, reaffirming Faye’s insistence that future societies must balance environmental concerns with bold, dynamic solutions. Tesla’s emergence as the world’s most valuable car company is not just a market success. It symbolizes the cultural shift towards a future where sustainability is not synonymous with mediocrity. Trump’s administration, which prioritizes reducing regulatory burdens, will allow Tesla to innovate at an unprecedented pace, demonstrating how conservative policies can catalyze technological revolutions aligned with Archeofuturist principles.

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“This was a holistic effort, Ball proudly wrote, that helped guarantee a Biden victory.”

Conspiracies Too Awful to Imagine? (Victor Davis Hanson)

2. Indeed, during the Trump administration, we witnessed once more undreamed-of efforts to sabotage a presidency:

a) A former Pentagon lawyer publishing a call for either immediate Trump impeachment, 25th Amendment removal, or a military coup.

b) A planning session of the Deputy Attorney General and Interim FBI Director to discuss stealthily recording the President of the United States in hopes of finding enough off-the-record embarrassing conversations to justify a 25th Amendment removal.

c) A later 2020 campaign effort jumpstarted by the current Biden Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the former interim CIA Director Mike Morrell, with help from former CIA Directors John Brennan and Leon Panetta, along with former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, to round up 51 “former” (but actually many enjoying then-current CIA contractor status) “intelligence authorities” to publicly mislead the public by signing a letter that the incriminating Hunter Biden laptop (then in the hands of and authenticated as genuine by the FBI) was once again a Russian effort to throw the election to Trump. It was an obvious scripted lie, but timely scheduled before the last debate to arm Biden with plausible denials and thus to help swing the election to him. And it likely did.

d) There was, in addition, an effort by the heads of the NIH, Francis Collins, and NIAID, Anthony Fauci, deliberately to obfuscate, and allegedly in the case of Fauci, to lie under oath, about the efforts of American health authorities 1) to evade U.S. prohibitions on gain-in-function viral research, by funding the third-party EcoHealth Alliance to facilitate the transference of American money, instrumentation, and consulting to partner with the Chinese communist Wuhan virology lab; 2) to obfuscate the truth that the lab had somehow leaked the lethal, manmade virus—birthed with the help of U.S. expertise—that was killing millions worldwide; 3) to promulgate a false scenario of a bat/pangolin origin; 4) to deny under oath the American government’s role in the birth of the virus; 5) to suppress dissident scientific voices; and 6) to advise radical quarantine policies that would virtually destroy the U.S. economy along with the Trump 2020 reelection effort, and then shift blame from their own culpability to a false narrative that Trump was the chief driver of a disastrous national shutdown that had ruined the economy and yet was supposedly nearly criminally lax in controlling the outbreak.

e) The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, took it upon himself to 1) violate his own legal prerogatives as an advisory military official by unlawfully interrupting the chain of command when ordering theater commanders to report directly to him rather than as legally required to the Secretary of Defense in times of national crises, and 2) without presidential or Pentagon written authority, contacted his Chinese communist counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army. His stated aim apparently was to reassure the Chinese military that in Milley’s own view, if he should diagnose Trump, his own commander-in-chief, as unbalanced and intending to escalate tensions to the threshold of a possible nuclear war, Milley again would first contact General Zuocheng to reassure him that an erratic Trump would then be not in full command of American strategic forces.

Then he, Milley, with others, would seek to de-escalate tensions and preclude a conflict. Milley denied any impropriety. But he could not negate that he had no such authority to act on the part of the executive branch and was doing so in direct opposition to the President of the United States. Milley was also de facto creating a dangerous precedent for any future ambitious, freelancing chairmen of the Joint Chiefs, both to interrupt the chain of command and to self-diagnose their commander-in-chief to justify excluding him from exercising his responsibilities entailed in his oath of office.

f) In the 2020 election cycle, left-wing-funded legal teams systematically and under the guise of the COVID lockdown sued in favorable courts to overturn or modify state balloting laws to ensure the most radical and abrupt changes in U.S. voting procedures in history. The net result was that in many key states, traditional Election Day balloting that had accounted for 60-80 percent of the cast votes was made a mere construct. Instead, some 60-70 percent of voters in many key states cast early- or mail-in ballots, even as the traditional rejection rate of such ballots drastically fell—again, as the numbers to be counted soared.

g) During this same 2020 election, according to liberal journalist Molly Ball, writing triumphantly post facto in Time magazine, a named “cabal” and “conspiracy” of billionaire leftist grandees, Silicon Valley monopolists, Chamber of Commerce, corporate entities, labor, and street activists sought to change balloting laws, street modulate demonstrations, enlist social media to censor and shape the news, partner with the FBI, and provide hundreds of millions of dollars to absorb the work of state registrars by supplying their own adjutant employees and voting materials. This was a holistic effort, Ball proudly wrote, that helped guarantee a Biden victory.

h) During 2021-2024, there were 91 local, state, and federal felony indictments launched against the ex-president and then-current front-running Republican candidate and opponent of the sitting president Biden. The charges were so blatantly political, and the principals in direct or indirect contact with either the White House counsel, the Department of Justice, or each other, that the multifaceted effort could be rightly termed a conspiracy to warp the legal system by destroying a political opponent. The charges would never have been brought against any other political candidate or against Trump himself—had he not publicly announced his intention to run a third time for president.

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“They found a cure for gluttony. Now do narcissism.” — Peachy Keenan

Prank-O-Rama (James Howard Kunstler)

Poor “Joe Biden” can’t help himself as the sun sets on his ignominious career. He ordered the American flag to fly at half-staff into January 20, inauguration day, to signal grief and distress at Donald Trump’s swearing-in — not realizing, apparently, that Mr. Trump’s first act in office will be to order the flag raised back up, signaling symbolically the end to America’s grief and distress under “Joe Biden.” You might wonder: what other sort of vicious mischief the Party of Chaos has in store in the final ramp-up to a momentous change of government? Well, no sooner had ol’ “JB” draped the Wegovy-slenderized neck of Hillary Clinton with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, than Bill Clinton went on ABC’s The View to declare he was “open to talking with [‘President Biden’]” about a preemptive pardon for Hillary. Say, whu. . . ?

What crimes did Bill have in mind that such a pardon might avail? Skolkovo? Uranium One? The Clinton Foundation’s sketchy activities in Haiti after the earthquake there? Bill preemptively mentioned the old emails bidness as a ruse. Nothing to see there, folks, he protested. (Just don’t look anywhere else!) You must imagine that the incoming Solicitor General, John Sauer’s, first act in office will be to ask SCOTUS for a ruling on the legitimacy of preemptive pardons — blanket pardons for crimes alive perhaps in guilty consciences but nowhere extant as yet in the legal system. The justices might detect a certain logical incoherence in that proposition. “Joe Biden” should have just draped wreaths of garlic around the necks of Mrs. Clinton, Liz Cheney, and Alex Soros (standing in for ol’ George).

Judge Juan Merchan did not get a medal. He’s warming up for his January 10 stunt of sentencing Mr. Trump for the “felony” of recording a payment to lawyer Michael Cohen as a “legal expense” (times thirty-four) so Democrats can holler “nyah nyah, felon!” as Mr. Trump re-enters the Oval Office. Judge Merchan himself has racked-up an impressive list of federal offenses around deprivation of Mr. Trump’s civil and due-process rights as well as judicial misconduct, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power. Justice may await the judge. Today, January 6, of course, is electoral vote certification day in a joint session of Congress. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has been making noises about contesting certification on the grounds that Mr. Trump is an “insurrectionist” under the disqualification clause in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Don’t be surprised if Jamie makes a show of it to justify all his loose talk, but it will only be a performance.

He might as well bring a chicken into the chamber and bite its head off. The shadowy claque behind “Joe Biden” has been super-busy cooking up documents for the demented old bird to sign before leaving office, anything that supposedly might discommode the incoming Mr. Trump. “JB” is like a bandit fleeing the scene of a crime, throwing his stolen booty into the road off the back of his truck to trip up the police closing in. Close down offshore oil drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts for evermore. . . ban gas-powered water heaters. . . any old thing to make life more uncomfortable for the people of this land. The shadowy claque seems oblivious to the fact that the people won’t appreciate these pranks, that they just give more reasons for them to drive a wooden stake through the heart of the Democratic Party — as if it even had one.

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Does Bannon have evidence that Musk is “owned lock, stock, and barrel by the Chinese Communist Party?”

Bannon Goes Off On Musk Over “Social Credit Score” Changes On X (ZH)

To say Steve Bannon is not a fan of Elon Musk would be putting it lightly. In 2023, the former White House chief strategist suggested that Musk is a “total and complete phony,” who is “owned lock, stock, and barrel by the Chinese Communist Party.” Then last week, after Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy sparked a firestorm of criticism over H-1B visas, Bannon said that Musk and other tech companies utilizing H-1B labor “want a tech feudalism.” And on Saturday, Bannon suggested that Musk has “masters in Beijing” during a Sunday episode of WarRoom in which Bannon discussed Musk’s decision to change the algorithm on X to reduce “negativity.” “This is the CCP. This is a social credit score,” said Bannon, adding “He’s got a glass jaw…he’s got the maturity of an 11-year-old. It’s obvious, he can’t take criticism.”

“One of his weaknesses is that he needs to be loved. He needs the masses to love him. He needs the masses to love him, you can tell when he’s on the stage, he needs that glory.” Bannon then circled back on the H-1B visa debate for which Musk started catching major shit from the right. “So then when his apparatus turns against him, and particularly people that cheered him who said ‘hey, we hate what you’re doing to this country, we know now that you’re lying to us, bald-faced lie, these are not high-skilled people,’ and they turn, all of a sudden, he has to go to what is a Chinese credit score,” he continued.

“They have a digital ghetto. And to only have raised up what praises him. That is like the little boy’s mentally of ‘I want to be the superhero, I want to put the cape on and kind of skip around.'” “It’s an absolute indication of immaturity, of not being able to deal with things as an adult. And that’s what you’re seeing being implemented on Twitter here,” Bannon said. Musk’s decision to change the X algorithm to “maximize unregretted user-seconds” has not gone over well – particularly among the ‘free speech absolutist’ crowd, which recoiled in shock during the H-1B visa debate when those critical of the program found themselves demonetized or outright banned from the platform.

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“..a “hellish mixture of neo-Nazism and terrorism with drug delirium.”

Moscow Reacts To Zelensky’s Request To Trump For Frozen Russian Cash (RT)

Vladimir Zelensky’s claim that he told US President-elect Donald Trump that Kiev could use frozen Russian assets to buy American weapons is proof of “deep-rooted corrupt ties” between the Ukrainian leader and the West, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has claimed. During his three-hour-long interview with podcaster Lex Fridman on Sunday, Zelensky said he had proposed that Trump give Ukraine the $300 billion in Russian central bank funds that had been frozen by the US and EU after the escalation of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. The money would serve as one of the security guarantees to Ukraine during a possible diplomatic settlement of the conflict, he explained.

According to Zelensky, he told Trump to “take the $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. We will take it. Take money, what we need for our domestic production, and we will buy all the weapons from the US.” Such an arrangement “will be very good for your industry, for the US,” he added. Zakharova reacted to the claim in a post on Telegram on Monday, insisting that the fact that the Ukrainian leader “offered Trump ‘other people’s money in exchange for weapons’ testifies to Zelensky’s deep-rooted corrupt ties with the Anglo-Americans [the US and UK].”

US President Joe Biden has “firmly hooked the Kiev regime on: steal and kill, and then steal again – a bloody scheme in place since the time of Burisma,” a Ukrainian firm which employed the elderly politician’s son Hunter as a highly-paid director in the 2010s, she wrote. As for Zelensky’s interview as a whole, the spokeswoman described it as a “hellish mixture of neo-Nazism and terrorism with drug delirium.” The Ukrainian leader is “completely out of his mind,” Zakharova suggested.

During his conversation with Fridman, Zelensky, among other things, said that it was “bad” that Ukraine did not have nuclear weapons and confessed that he “despises” the Russian people. In late December, exiled Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk claimed that the “corrupt nature” of Zelensky’s rule is the reason why his country is now ruined. Medvedchuk also suggested that the whole conflict between Moscow and Kiev is “based on one large corrupt scheme that involves leading parties and politicians in Europe and the US.” The Western politicians that support Ukraine are afraid of losing power because it could lead to the new leaders finding out “that they had been robbing their own people under the guise of helping Zelensky,” he said.

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“Continued support for Kiev is vital for the “credibility” of the West..”

Ukraine Should Be ‘Realistic’ – Macron (RT)

Resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict will not be quick or easy and will require Kiev to face the issue of territory, French President Emmanuel Macron has warned. Speaking to an annual conference of ambassadors at the Elysee Palace on Monday, Macron addressed a number of global issues, including the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. “The Ukrainians need to hold a realistic discussion on the territorial questions and only they can do that,” the French president said. “The United States of America has to help us change the nature of the situation and convince Russia to come to the negotiating table,” while the European members of NATO have the responsibility to craft security guarantees for Ukraine, Macron added.

While no specific peace proposal has been made public, rumors in the media have suggested that US President-elect Donald Trump intends to propose a ceasefire that would “freeze” the conflict along the current front line. Some Western governments have sought to handle Kiev’s expected objections to this by offering Ukraine security guarantees, while stopping short of NATO membership. The French president also warned that there is “no quick and easy solution” in Ukraine, even though Trump has pledged to end the conflict swiftly once he takes office. Continued support for Kiev is vital for the “credibility” of the West, which would be “undermined” by any compromises brought about by “Ukraine fatigue,” Macron told the diplomats in Paris. “The new American president himself knows that the US has no chance of winning anything if Ukraine loses,” Macron said, adding that “capitulation of Ukraine cannot be good for Europeans and Americans.”

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has outlawed any talks with Russia so long as President Vladimir Putin is in office and has insisted on a “peace platform” that would see a unilateral Russian withdrawal from all territories claimed by Kiev, payment of reparations, and war crimes prosecutions. Moscow has dismissed Zelensky’s proposal as delusional. Russia’s terms for ending the hostilities insist on Ukraine becoming neutral, demilitarized and “denazified,” while accepting the “new territorial realities” on the ground and guaranteeing all the rights of ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers. Any peace will also require the removal of all Western sanctions on Russia as well, the Kremlin has said.

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Can Starlink cover all internet services for the whole country?

Italy In Talks With Starlink For $1.6 Billion Telecom Security Deal (ZH)

President-elect Donald Trump hosted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday. Following the meeting, Bloomberg reported that a deal between the Italian government and Elon Musk’s SpaceX for Starlink satellite internet service could soon be finalized to provide secure telecommunications. Starlink and the Italian government have been in discussions since mid-2023. According to the report, talks are ongoing and centered around a five-year contract valued at $1.6 billion. This contract would provide a broad range of top-level encryption for the government’s telephone and internet services. Sources indicated that Italy’s Intelligence Services and Defense Ministry have already signed a deal with SpaceX. Italy confirmed on Monday that discussions continue, stating that no deal has been reached. Officials added, “The talks with SpaceX are part of normal government business.”

On Saturday, Trump praised PM Meloni as a “fantastic woman” at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. “This is very exciting,” Trump said, adding, “I’m here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy. She’s really taken Europe by storm.” Trump and Meloni were joined by two of his nominees: Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) for Secretary of State and Representative Mike Waltz (R-Florida) for National Security Advisor. Following the meeting, Bloomberg reported that a deal between the Italian government and Elon Musk’s SpaceX for Starlink satellite internet service could soon be finalized to provide secure telecommunications.

Starlink and the Italian government have been in discussions since mid-2023. According to the report, talks are ongoing and centered around a five-year contract valued at $1.6 billion. This contract would provide a broad range of top-level encryption for the government’s telephone and internet services. Sources indicated that Italy’s Intelligence Services and Defense Ministry have already signed a deal with SpaceX. Italy confirmed on Monday that discussions continue, stating that no deal has been reached. Officials added, “The talks with SpaceX are part of normal government business.” On Saturday, Trump praised PM Meloni as a “fantastic woman” at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. “This is very exciting,” Trump said, adding, “I’m here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy. She’s really taken Europe by storm.”

https://twitter.com/Trump_Fact_News/status/1865559780557013248

Trump and Meloni were joined by two of his nominees: Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) for Secretary of State and Representative Mike Waltz (R-Florida) for National Security Advisor. Meloni’s visit to Mar-a-Lago follows her dinner with Trump and Musk in December during the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Last month, Reuters reported that Italy plans to begin tests as early as January to see if Starlink internet will boost the rollout of high-speed internet in the country. Musk’s SpaceX is the leader in rocket launches and satellite deployment, allowing the US to be many years ahead of China and Russia in the global space race. Starlink has more than 7,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit, along with next-gen satellites being launched regularly for direct-to-cell satellite services.

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This says Ursula and Bourla used SMS and then deleted the messages. WhatsApp seems more likely, since it is encrypted.

Pfizergate: What is EC Chief Von Der Leyen Accused of? (Sp.)

A court in Liege, Belgium, is due to consider whether European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has legal immunity against corruption charges related to her murky involvement in the purchase of coronavirus vaccines. What is the scandal all about? Sputnik explores. In 2022, US media reported that von der Leyen had communicated with Albert Bourla, chief executive of the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, about clinching a long-term contract to purchase 1.8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines worth €35 billion ($37.6 billion), even before they passed clinical trials. Negotiations on the deal were conducted informally in late 2020 via SMS messages and without prior consent of EU member states.

The European Commission President also texted her husband, Heiko von der Leyen, who serves as the medical director at Orgenesis, a company that collaborates with Pfizer. All the messages were then accidentally deleted, Ursula von der Leyen claimed. As a result, she has been accused of “usurpation of functions and title,” destruction of public documents, and high-level corruption charges that were initiated by Belgian lobbyist Frederic Baldan. The first hearing on his complaint was held on 17 May 2024, when the Liege court confirmed that the so-called Pfizegate case is in line with its jurisdiction and should not be handed to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), created on the initiative of von der Leyen herself, due to an obvious conflict of interests.

The second hearing slated for December 5 was actually disrupted due to a demarche by the EPPO, which sent a counter-request to the court for von der Leyen’s immunity. The EPPO argues that von der Leyen has immunity from prosecution for corruption. European Commission spokesperson Stefan de Keersmaecker said on January 5 that von der Leyen had canceled all “external engagements” in the coming days after contracting “severe pneumonia.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1876278016722010115

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“According to three separate reports published in 2013, 2014, and 2015, local politicians and police alike opted to cover up the rapes partly out of fear that bringing the perpetrators to justice would be seen as “racist.”

Migrants Arrested For Sex Crimes At Triple The Rate Of Brits – UK Stats (RT)

Foreigners are more than three times as likely to be arrested for sex crimes in the UK as British citizens, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by the Centre for Migration Control using data from the Home Office and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The report comes amid claims that the government has purposefully suppressed information on migrant crime stats, as well as a renewed uproar over institutional cover-ups in the ‘grooming gangs’ scandal. Groups of men across the UK, predominantly of Pakistani origin, have reportedly raped and tortured thousands of underage girls in towns across northern England over the last two decades. Police in England and Wales arrested more than 9,000 foreign nationals for sexual offenses between January and October last year, according to the data, which was released through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

That figure represented 26.1% of the total estimated 35,000 arrests for sexual offenses. The data show almost 165 arrests per 100,000 of the migrant population, in comparison to 48 arrests per 100,000 British citizens. In the City of London, foreign nationals accounted for almost 67% of arrests for sexual offenses. Looking at all crimes, the report showed that foreign nationals were arrested at twice the rate of Britons, with 131,000 arrests over the same period last year. While foreigners make up nine percent of the population, they accounted for more than 16% of arrests. Albanians were the nationality most likely to be arrested for sex crimes, followed by Afghans, Iraqis, and Algerians. Romanians accounted for the most arrests for crimes overall, followed by Poles, Albanians, Indians, Pakistanis, and Nigerians.

Robert Bates, the founder of the Centre for Migration Control, told The Telegraph that the government must implement “far stricter visa protocols” for those nationalities with a “disproportionately high propensity to engage in criminality.” A government spokesman said on Monday that the Ministry of Justice “already publishes the data on convicted foreign nationals serving in our prisons” and has a plan for “smashing the criminal gangs” in Britain. Calls have grown for a public inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal in recent days after Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk publicly attacked Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s handling of the issue when he led the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service, from 2008 to 2013.

In a series of posts on X, Musk pointed to reports that the Home Office allegedly urged the police forces in 2008 not to investigate sexual exploitation of underage girls. Musk called Starmer a “national embarrassment” and said he “must go.” According to three separate reports published in 2013, 2014, and 2015, local politicians and police alike opted to cover up the rapes partly out of fear that bringing the perpetrators to justice would be seen as “racist.”

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A guaranteed hit.

Amazon Confirms Melania Trump Documentary (RT)

A documentary about Melania Trump will be released later this year, Amazon has confirmed, touting the forthcoming release as “an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look” at the former and incoming US first lady. Filming began in December with former Hollywood heavyweight Brett Ratner as the director, Variety reported on Monday. “We are excited to share this truly unique story with our millions of customers around the world,” an Amazon spokesperson told the outlet. “Prime Video will be sharing more details on the project as filming progresses and release plans are finalized.” The film will reportedly be released in theaters as well as on the Prime streaming platform. Trump herself is listed as an executive producer, alongside Fernando Sulichin of New Element Media. Sulichin has worked with Oliver Stone on documentaries about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and Brazilian president Luiz Inacio ‘Lula’ da Silva.

Work on the project began about a month after her husband Donald decisively won the 2024 US presidential election. Slovenian-born Melania is Trump’s third wife and the mother of his youngest son, Barron. Amazon’s Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post, which was openly critical of Trump during his first term in the White House (2017-2021). Bezos has recently signaled a change of approach, praising Trump for “tremendous grace and courage under literal fire” after an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July. Ahead of the November election, he blocked the Post from endorsing Trump’s rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Last month, Bezos also announced he would be making a $1 million donation to Trump’s inauguration fund and another $1 million in-kind contribution by streaming the ceremony on Prime Video. Ratner’s involvement has attracted some controversy in Hollywood. The director of ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ and the ‘Rush Hour’ franchise has not worked since 2017, when several actresses publicly accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior. No charges were ever filed, however, and the entire episode played out in the court of public opinion at the height of the ‘Me Too’ era triggered by accusations against producer Harvey Weinstein.

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After all these years, the best they can do is “power a small refrigerator for about 3.5 hours”.

Nuclear Fusion Offers Safe And Clean Energy (JTN)

Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin announced last month that the largest private fusion company in the U.S. had selected the state to be the location for a multi-billion dollar investment in the world’s first grid-scale fusion power plant. Commonwealth Fusion Systems promises to deliver power to the grid within a decade from a facility 16 miles south of Richmond. Fusion power has been getting a lot of attention lately, including a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing in September, with a panel of experts speaking optimistically on the development of the technology. Even if developers manage to overcome the technical challenges of bringing fusion energy to fruition, nuclear proponents say that the barriers to development of nuclear fission remain political and not technical or economical. There’s little reason to think the same political challenges could stand in the way of fusion, even if the technology is realized.

The International Atomic Energy Commission explains that while fission splits a heavy element (with a high atomic mass number) into fragments; fusion joins two light elements (with a low atomic mass number), forming a heavier element. In both cases, energy is freed because the mass of the remaining nucleus is smaller than the mass of the reacting nuclei. Nuclear fission power plants have the disadvantage of generating unstable nuclei; some of these are radioactive for millions of years. “Fusion on the other hand does not create any long-lived radioactive nuclear waste. A fusion reactor produces helium, which is an inert gas.” Too cheap to meterFusion works by combining isotopes together, in a process that releases energy. It’s the same process that the sun uses. Theoretically, a fusion reactor could generate massive amounts of electricity, without any carbon dioxide emissions.

It also doesn’t carry the risks of a nuclear meltdown that, while very rare, can occur in a fission reactor, which releases energy by splitting atoms apart. There’s no chance of a chain reaction in a fusion generator. Fusion also doesn’t produce nuclear waste. While the prospect of an abundant, carbon-free energy source is attractive, the promise of fusion is nothing new. At an Atoms for Peace conference in 1955, Homi Bhabha, an influential Indian nuclear physicist predicted fusion would be a reality by the 1970s. “I venture to predict that a method will be found for liberating fusion energy in a controlled manner within the next two decades,” Bhabha said.

The prediction, of course, turned out to be wrong, and 70 years later, there are no commercial fusion reactors powering the grid anywhere in the world. While fission reactors have been deployed and have provided about 9% of global energy in 2023, that technology too had its share of hype, once promising to be “too cheap to meter.” In 2022, the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, became the only facility to achieve what’s called “net fusion energy,” which is a fusion reaction producing more energy than the reaction required. The reaction released 3.15 million joules of energy and required 2.05 million joules of laser power to produce it. The 3.15 million joules is the equivalent of 875 watt hours. That could power a small refrigerator for about 3.5 hours.

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Jan 6

 

 

Biden Is ‘Unequivocally’ More Mentally Fit Than Trump

 

 

Errol

 

 

Octopus

 

 

 

 

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