Sep 292023
 
 September 29, 2023  Posted by at 9:00 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , ,  35 Responses »


Rene Magritte Memory 1944

 

Explaining the $18 Million Mar-a-Lago Valuation by NY Trump Case Judge (ET)
Georgia Senate GOP Ousts Senator for Trying to Remove c from Office (BB)
Fulton County DA’s Charges in Trump Case ‘Unnecessary’: CNN Legal Analyst (ET)
Sparks Fly on Day One of US House’s Biden Impeachment Hearing (Sp.)
House Committee Files Subpoena for Hunter, James Biden Bank Records (Sp.)
Turley Testifies at Biden Impeachment Hearing (Turley)
Russia ‘Making A Fortune’ – Trump (RT)
House Removes Ukraine Aid From Defense Spending Bill (Sp.)
West Pays for 70% of Kiev Expenses as Ukraine’s Debt Hits New High (Sp.)
Ukrainian Troops Surrendering En Masse – TASS (RT)
How Long Does It Take to Train an Abrams Crew and Who Will Be Manning Them? (Sp.)
Ukraine Dependence on NATO Intel Further Embroiling West in Conflict (Sp.)
America Needs Regime Change – John Rachel (Cunningham)
The Rape of Europa (Pepe Escobar)
Canada Must Face Up To Nazi Legacy – Immigration Minister (RT)

 

 

 

 

Timmons

 

 

This is truly shocking. Watch out.

 

 

 

 

MEP

Abrams

 

 

 

 

Putin history
https://twitter.com/i/status/1707357385012998186

 

 

 

 

McCarthy
https://twitter.com/i/status/1707043471494647926

Miyazawa

 

 

 

 

The judge cherry-picked the lowest appraisal and used that to accuse Trump of fraud.

“Valuing Mar-a-Lago at $425 million–$612 million was “appropriate and indeed conservative,” Mr. Moens told the court. The property is currently worth $1.51 billion, he opined.”

Explaining the $18 Million Mar-a-Lago Valuation by NY Trump Case Judge (ET)

Former President Donald Trump and two of his sons have criticized a New York judge for suggesting his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach resort is worth between $18–28 million. “If Mar-a-Lago is worth $18 million … I’ll take 10 please!!!” Donald Trump Jr., an executive vice president of Trump Organization, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Judge Arthur Engoron implied the market value of the property in a Sept. 26 summary ruling that found President Trump’s business empire liable for fraudulently inflating property values in loan paperwork. He revoked the Trump Organization’s business licenses in the state and ordered it dissolved. President Trump’s lawyers argued that the banks providing the loans didn’t care about the valuations produced by the company because they do their own.

All the loans have or are being properly repaid with interest, they noted. The judge ruled, however, that under New York law the state can sue for inflated property values even if nobody was harmed by them. Mar-a-Lago was overvalued by “at least 2,300%” because the Palm Beach County Assessor assigned it a market value of $18 million to $27.6 million between 2011–2021, while the Trump Organization valued it at $426,529,614–$612,110,496 on its Statements of Financial Condition (SFC) in those same years, the judge said There are problems with using either of the valuations. The county’s website says that “the estimate of Total Market Value is for tax assessment purposes only” and “the Total Market Value estimate may be less than the actual market value of the property.”

Meanwhile, the SFCs include a disclaimer that the asset values are “determined by Mr. Trump in conjunction with his associates and, in some instances, outside professionals” and “the estimates presented herein are not necessarily indicative of the amount that could be realized upon the disposition of the assets or payment of the related liabilities.” President Trump referred to the disclaimer as a “worthless clause,” saying it indicated to him that the documents were more an enumeration of his assets, rather than their actual market valuation. The judge rejected that reasoning, arguing the disclaimer is itself “worthless” as a defense because it “does not use the words ‘worthless’ or ‘useless’ or ‘ignore’ or ‘disregard’ or any similar words.” The actual market value of Mar-a-Lago is unclear.

President Trump’s lawyers presented a real estate expert, Lawrence Moens, “who they purport is ‘the most accomplished and knowledgeable ultra-high net worth real estate broker in Palm Beach, Florida,’” the judge said. “His dominance of one of the country’s richest real estate markets is total,” a 2022 Real Deal profile of the secretive realtor said, noting that he closed perhaps $1 billion worth of deals in just the 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic real estate mania. Valuing Mar-a-Lago at $425 million–$612 million was “appropriate and indeed conservative,” Mr. Moens told the court. The property is currently worth $1.51 billion, he opined. The judge rejected the opinion as “speculative” and made as “without relying on any objective evidence.” The property isn’t currently for sale and the family has indicated it doesn’t plan to ever sell it, according to the Trump family.

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Kemp and State Senate Republicans apparently oppose working to investigate, defund, and impeach Willis, and instead ousted Moore..”

Georgia Senate GOP Ousts Senator for Trying to Remove Fani Willis from Office (BB)

The Georgia Senate Republican caucus voted on Thursday to remove State Sen. Colton Moore from the caucus for taking a first step in August to defund, investigate, and possibly impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who levied 13 counts against former President Donald Trump. In a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp (R), Moore announced an initiative in August to begin an emergency session to conduct a thorough investigation into the actions undertaken by Willis. An emergency legislative special session can come about two ways in Georgia: The governor can call an emergency session, or one can be called if 3/5 of both legislative chambers sign a letter demanding it.

Kemp and State Senate Republicans apparently oppose working to investigate, defund, and impeach Willis, and instead ousted Moore. “Today’s removal is a direct result of me calling on my Republican colleagues in the Senate to do their job and sign onto an emergency session to investigate Fani Willis,” Colton said in a statement exclusively obtained by Breitbart News: The Georgia Constitution clearly outlines the legislature’s power to call an emergency session to investigate a judicial officer. After urging my Republican Senate colleagues to join me — they responded by acting like children and throwing me out of the caucus.

I stand by my Republican principles. I stand by the Republican platform. I will continue to serve as a Republican Senator from the great state of Georgia. Unfortunately, now I will be forced to refer to my colleagues, who ran on being “Trump conservatives,” as the RINO caucus. The people of Georgia are 100 percent with me. This is the fight of our lifetime, and I will continue to double down to defend the rule of law and do what is right. Recent Rasmussen polling shows that 82 percent of Georgia Republicans say Trump is unfairly prosecuted by Willis. Seventy-seven percent of Republicans also say they are not satisfied with tax dollars being used to prosecute Trump. Another 74 percent of Republicans support the Georgia legislature convening a special session to stop Willis from prosecuting Trump.

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“If that’s the only goal, all seven states: Michigan, New Mexico, and on down the line, should be charging him too, but that would be ludicrous..s”

Fulton County DA’s Charges in Trump Case ‘Unnecessary’: CNN Legal Analyst (ET)

A prominent media analyst and former prosecutor suggested this week that the charges made by the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, against former President Donald Trump under the state’s racketeering law are “unnecessary” and only add to Mr. Trump’s allegations of a “Democratic Party pile on.” Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor and now a media legal analyst, told a podcast this week that federal special counsel Jack Smith already charged the former president with alleged election-related offenses “and in seven states in particular, including Georgia.” Notably, Mr. Honig, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, has been publicly critical of the former president, and he is now a senior legal analyst for CNN.

He’s also penned a critical book about former Trump Attorney General William Barr called “Hatchet Man.” He asked whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ indictment is for the “greater good and why is it promoting public confidence in the fairness of this [process] to have one of those seven state prosecutors pile on with a charge of her own? I don’t think it serves any greater good,” he stated, adding that Ms. Willis indicted him on partisan grounds. “I disagree with the exercise of prosecutorial discretion by an elected county prosecutor, a partisan, with a D next to her name,” he said, referring to the Democratic Party. There are differences between the Georgia and the federal election cases, he then claimed, saying they essentially serve the same purpose.

“I think it makes Trump’s chances of being convicted and punished higher if that’s the only goal here. If that’s the only goal, all seven states: Michigan, New Mexico, and on down the line, should be charging him too, but that would be ludicrous,” the former prosecutor said. Last month, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office indicted President Trump and 18 co-defendants under Georgia’s expansive anti-racketeering law, claiming that he and the others engaged in efforts to illegally overturn the 2020 election results in the state. All have pleaded not guilty and some defendants have attempted to get their charges thrown out.

Federal Judge Steve Jones last week rejected the attempt by Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to move his case to federal court and sent it back to state court, but Meadows is appealing that ruling. The four others who have already filed notice to move their cases have hearings before Jones scheduled for next week. It came after a Fulton County grand jury last month accused them of participating in an illegal scheme to keep the incumbent Republican president in power after the election against President Joe Biden. Republicans in her state and in Congress have accused Ms. Willis’s office of engaging in a politically motivated attack on the former president as he ramps up his 2024 presidential campaign as the leading GOP candidate.

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Well, they didn’t fly very high then…

Sparks Fly on Day One of US House’s Biden Impeachment Hearing (Sp.)

Members of the House of Representatives convened in the nation’s capital Thursday for day one of impeachment hearings against US President Joe Biden. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy initiated the inquiry last week after a monthslong campaign from conservative Republicans, but Democrats have dismissed the hearings as a political stunt. Sputnik has summarized and contextualized some of the key claims from today’s proceedings to help separate fact from fiction and innuendo from actuality. A combative atmosphere prevailed throughout the proceedings, with Democrats questioning the very basis for the inquiry. Early on in the day, Democratic representatives held up large placards featuring quotes from various Republicans casting an unflattering light on Speaker McCarthy’s management of the chamber’s Republican majority.

“These folks don’t have a plan,” read one sign quoting Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) blasting Republican Freedom Caucus members who insisted on the hearing. “This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down,” read another quoting McCarthy. “It’s hard to grasp the complete derangement of this moment,” proclaimed Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the highest-ranking Democrat on the House’s oversight committee, calling the inquiry a “baseless impeachment drive against President Biden.” Republicans were equally feisty, if not more so. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) adopted Trumpian language when she proclaimed Democratic attempts to exonerate President Biden were “complete and total bullshit.” “Hunter Biden referred to access to his father as the keys to his ‘family’s only asset,’” said Mace. “Those words are going to come back and haunt Hunter Biden and his family forever.”

Republicans have pointed to exotic financial arrangements on the part of the Biden family, including the establishment of over 20 shell companies to manage income. Although his family’s accounting maneuvers may seem alien to most Americans of average means, observers point out the GOP has not yet uncovered smoking gun evidence of any crime by Biden. Republicans’ own witnesses admitted as much. “I am not here today to even suggest that there was corruption, fraud or wrongdoing,” said Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant and founder of Dubinsky Consulting. “More information needs to be gathered before I can make such an assessment.” “I do not believe that the current evidence would support articles of impeachment,” said Jonathan Turley, a noted legal analyst and professor at George Washington University Law School. “That is something that an inquiry has to establish.”

Byron Donalds

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“..the Bidens and their associates established more than 20 shell companies, amassing more than $24 million from sources in China and other countries..”

House Committee Files Subpoena for Hunter, James Biden Bank Records (Sp.)

The US House Oversight Committee said in a news release that Chairman James Comer issued subpoenas for President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and his brother James Biden seeking to obtain their personal and business records. “As part of the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) today issued three subpoenas for Hunter and James Biden’s personal and business bank records,” the committee said. According to copies of the subpoenas, the panel is giving Hunter and James Biden until October 12 to provide the requested documents or they may risk facing criminal contempt of Congress charges. The Oversight Committee has disclosed since January that the Bidens and their associates established more than 20 shell companies, amassing more than $24 million from sources in China and other countries.

The investigation also identified nine Biden family members linked to these business operations and affirmed the president interacted with the business affiliates on at least 24 occasions. Thursday was the first day of impeachment inquiry hearings against the president. During the GOP-led House Oversight Committee hearing, Congressman James Comer announced his intention to subpoena the bank records of President Joe Biden’s son and brother, Hunter and James, as well as the records of their affiliated companies. “What we need to understand is where it [the money] goes next. That is the question this committee seeks to answer and the evidence supports that next step,” Comer said at the time. Citing bank records, the House Oversight Committee earlier revealed that Hunter in 2019 received two payments wired from China totaling $260,000 with President Biden’s Delaware home listed as the beneficiary address.

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“If we want to combat the deterioration of political discourse in our society, it begins here and now as we discuss these issues..”

Turley Testifies at Biden Impeachment Hearing (Turley)

As a law professor, there is no more solemn responsibility than advising the House in an impeachment. I come to this question as someone who has served both as lead counsel in the last judicial impeachment trial in the United States Senate and testified in two prior presidential impeachments. Roughly, twenty-five years ago, I appeared before Congress as an expert witness in the impeachment of former president William Jefferson Clinton. Four years ago, I appeared as an expert witness in the only impeachment hearing held in the first impeachment of former president Donald J. Trump. In the second impeachment just roughly three years ago, there was no hearing at all.

The shortening intervals between impeachments is alarming and calls for circumspection and caution on both sides. My testimony addresses the historical baseline of past inquiries and what I consider to be “best practices” in the investigation of a sitting president. Some of those practices and presumptions work to the benefit of the President. That is as it should be. A presidential impeachment should not be a close question or a rush to judgment. Finally, I encourage members to consider the common article of faith in this constitutional process and to rise above the petty and personal attacks that characterize these times:

“There are constitutional moments that demand the best from each of us in transcending the passions and politics of time. These are moments when people of good faith can bring a solemnity and clarity to a national debate. We are living an age of rage where ad hominem attacks have replaced civil discourse. This toxic environment starts here with how members treat different views of our constitutional history and standards. As Justice Louis Brandeis stated “Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill it teaches the whole people by example.”

While Brandeis was speaking of criminal conduct, it is equally true of our public discourse. The license that some feel to engage in hateful rhetoric and personal attacks are the result of how members treat this moment. We can discuss these issues as Americans who may disagree but remain bound by a common faith in our constitutional system. We can disagree, but we need not hate each other. If we want to combat the deterioration of political discourse in our society, it begins here and now as we discuss these issues. Members can choose to be either potent teachers for civil discourse or political rage. I hope that this testimony will assist the Committee in offering the public an array of different viewpoints on how an impeachment inquiry should ideally progress under Article I.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1707456453265555733

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“The shift to EV will kill jobs at America’s biggest carmakers and eventually make them obsolete, Trump warned. “For auto workers, Biden’s transition to electric is a transition to hell..”

Russia ‘Making A Fortune’ – Trump (RT)

Soaring energy prices have boosted Russia’s revenues, while the US is facing major economic threats due to its transition to clean energy, former President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday. Addressing supporters at Drake Enterprises, a non-union auto parts manufacturer near Detroit, Trump condemned the administration of President Joe Biden for its policies on electric vehicles (EV) and clean energy, branding them a danger to the US auto industry. The shift to EV will kill jobs at America’s biggest carmakers and eventually make them obsolete, Trump warned. “For auto workers, Biden’s transition to electric is a transition to hell,” the former president declared. “A transition to unemployment.”

According to Trump, the US was “more energy-independent” than Russia and China during his tenure as president, while now “we are begging countries to give us gasoline.” “We are going to lose our country,” Trump warned, arguing that Moscow has “made a fortune” and continues to benefit from high oil prices. Global oil prices have surged by 30% since June after voluntary production cuts by OPEC and allies led by Russia. On Thursday, prices reached their highest level in over a year, with benchmark Brent rising above $97 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate futures touched $95 per barrel, marking the highest price since August 2022. Experts predict that prices will remain high for the rest of the year.

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“All 117 votes against the bill came from Republican members, but 101 Republicans joined all Democrats in supporting the measure..”

House Removes Ukraine Aid From Defense Spending Bill (Sp.)

GOP leaders have stripped Ukraine funding from a defense spending bill, in a move that came amid two separate votes. The House not only approved the 2024 Defense Department spending bill of $826 billion, but also passed another bill with a 311-117 vote on Thursday night. This separate bill aims to allocate a generous sum of $300 million to enhance security assistance for Ukraine. Included in the 2024 Defense Department spending legislation is an additional document that arranges $20 million for the establishment of a new Special Inspector General for Ukraine Assistance office to thoroughly review and conduct aid audits. All 117 votes against the bill came from Republican members, but 101 Republicans joined all Democrats in supporting the measure. The bills now move to the Senate for consideration.

Republican Senator Marjorie Taylor Greene commented on the developments, tweeting that “for weeks” she has been “calling for taxpayer funding for Ukraine to be removed from OUR [US] appropriations bills.” “On Tuesday, I protested on the steps of the Capitol. Tonight the House answered my call, we successfully voted to strip $300 million to Ukraine from the Defense Appropriations Act. This is a victory for the American people and for peace,” Greene added. Following House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s recent statement to the press, where he expressed his intent to remove the $300 million from the defense bill and schedule a separate vote specifically for the funding, the remarks were made. Shortly after, however, he backtracked by claiming that it would be “too difficult” to remove the Ukraine aid from the Department of Defense legislation. These developments unfold amid reports of an increasingly likely US government shutdown that could occur as early as October 1, temporarily furloughing thousands of non-essential federal workers.

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“Long-shot hopes of entry into the European Union to get access to hundreds of billions of euros in loans and subsidies..”

West Pays for 70% of Kiev Expenses as Ukraine’s Debt Hits New High (Sp.)

Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance revealed on Thursday that the nation’s national debt levels had grown by another billion dollars and reached a historically-unprecedented $133.93 billion, equivalent to more than 84 percent of the country’s projected 2023 GDP. Emerging from the rubble of the USSR in 1991 with a debt of $0, Kiev’ staggering obligations today are the result of successive governments’ liberal borrowing policies, including of cash loaned by the IMF in exchange for economic reforms, and the year-and-a-half long NATO proxy conflict with Russia. Debt ballooned by some $77 billion since the start of 2022 alone, with Kiev’s Western partners ignoring requests to write it off.

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov recently predicted that the country’s debt may reach $173 billion (107 percent of GDP) by the end of the year, while the IMF expects this to occur only in 2025. The Zelensky government recently began brainstorming new ways to collect cash to try to put a dent in next year’s predicted $40 billion deficit amid hikes in defense spending, and as money owed to Western vulture funds including BlackRock and Fidelity come due, with proposals including selling government bonds to foreigners.

Long-shot hopes of entry into the European Union to get access to hundreds of billions of euros in loans and subsidies also prevail, although European Parliament President Roberta Metsola warned this week that the EU’s economy wouldn’t be able to survive another enlargement. As Kiev’s financial troubles mount, a growing number of officials from the country’s top patron, the United States, are becoming increasingly weary of the idea of continuing to prop up the nation’s economy, particularly amid a steady stream of scandals of corrupt Ukrainian officials purchasing fleets of luxury cars, and reports of US aid sponsoring everything from Ukrainian designer knitwear companies to private equity firms that don’t even have anything to do with Ukraine, as Americans feel the squeeze of inflation, spiking energy costs and a debt crisis threatening to shut down the government.

The Biden administration has asked Congress to authorize an additional $24 billion in assistance to Ukraine, including $13 billion in military aid. However, GOP fiscal conservatives in Congress and some presidential candidates have sought to stop or at least reduce further assistance, so far to no avail. “I don’t know who can keep track of these figures anymore,” Dr. Nicolai Petro, an international politics professor at the University of Rhode Island, told Sputnik, commenting on the current battle in Congress over additional Ukraine aid.

Reznikov
https://twitter.com/i/status/1707364711497408738

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“..using a special radio frequency designed for fighters willing to lay down arms..”

Ukrainian Troops Surrendering En Masse – TASS (RT)

Large numbers of Ukrainian troops have surrendered to the Russian military in recent weeks, using a special radio frequency designed for fighters willing to lay down arms, TASS reported on Wednesday. The frequency, 149.200 call sign ‘Volga’, was set up by the Russian military during the summer. Thus far, it has been used by more than 10,000 Ukrainian servicemen who were subsequently taken into Russian custody, according to a source with knowledge of the situation cited by TASS. The person added that the radio frequency is active along the entire front line. “More than 10,0000 Ukrainian soldiers have chosen life and used the 149.200 ‘Volga’ frequency to surrender. The prisoners are well-fed and are provided with all the necessary medical care,” the source stated. The process has seemingly accelerated recently as Ukrainian troops have surrendered in groups rather than individually, particularly around Rabotino, according to the TASS source.

The village in Zaporozhye Region has become the scene of intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in recent weeks. Rabotino remains one of the major flashpoints of the conflict, with the area repeatedly subjected to attacks during the long-heralded Ukrainian counteroffensive launched in early June. The push has thus far failed to yield any tangible results, while reports have indicated that Ukrainian forces are sustaining heavy personnel and materiel losses in the process. According to Moscow’s latest estimates, Kiev has lost more than 17,000 servicemen this month alone. The total number of Ukrainian troops killed since the counteroffensive began has now surpassed 83,000, with over 10,000 pieces of heavy military hardware also destroyed, according to the Russian military.

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“It’s supposed to be eight months of training, but they want to do it in 12 weeks – three months. This is something out of the realm of fantasy..”

How Long Does It Take to Train an Abrams Crew and Who Will Be Manning Them? (Sp.)

The delivery of the first batch of American-made M1 Abrams to Ukraine has been met with a flurry of expert opinion on just what impact the tanks will have on the battlefield, with military experts from both Russia and Western countries pointing to numerous problems with the armored juggernauts, from their weight, size and complexity, to the ubiquitous threat of Russian drones, airpower, artillery and tanks. Speaking to French media this week, former Leclerc battalion commander Yann Boivin pointed to the Abrams’ finicky nature, emphasizing that the tanks could quickly turn into 70-ton armored coffins if not maintained properly and in a timely fashion. “The real drawback of the American tank is the high level of maintenance and logistics required.

Servicing turbine engines requires a far better trained personnel than servicing diesel ones,” the French officer warned. Issues with seals in ammunition chambers, and their vulnerability to enemy fire, are two more major problems, Boivin said General Mark Hertling, a decorated Gulf and Iraq War veteran and former commander of United States Army Europe, warned that if the Abrams’ engines are used improperly, the tanks could simply explode.Ukraine’s 31 Abrams have been modified and downgraded from the ones operated by the US Army, refurbished and rebuilt from the ground up, with their secrecy-laden Chobham composite ceramic, steel, and depleted uranium-laced armor swapped out, presumably due to fears that Russia might capture the tanks and drag them back behind Russian lines to hand them over to military engineers. ]

Russian social media is already flooded with videos and photos of trophy Leopards, Bradleys, and other advanced Western military hardware seized by the Russian military, so the probability of Abrams falling into Russian hands is not insignificant – if they’re ever deployed on the battlefield, that is. Training is another problem, with US media reporting this week that NATO countries’ crash course approach to instructing Ukrainian servicemen to operate alliance equipment has led to poor maintenance, a higher-than-expected incidence of breakdowns, and malfunctioning of heavy weapons’ onboard systems. About 200 Ukrainian tankers are reported to have received 10-12 weeks of training to operate and repair Abrams, far below the 22 weeks the US Army takes to train a crewman, and the up to 34 weeks to teach a maintenance operator to repair the complex tanks.

In the US military, becoming an Abrams repairman requires applicants to score within the top 99th percentile of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, or the top 88th percentile of the Mechanical Maintenance and 92nd percentile of the General Technical test. Whether and how these issues have been addressed for Ukraine’s tankmen is unclear. “It’s supposed to be eight months of training, but they want to do it in 12 weeks – three months. This is something out of the realm of fantasy,” Viktor Litovkin, a retired Russian Army colonel and veteran military observer specializing in tanks, told Sputnik, when asked just how realistic it is to train an Abrams tanker in such a short time frame.

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“..collecting intelligence is part of carrying out an armed conflict which makes the US, the UK and others participants in this conflict already.”

Ukraine Dependence on NATO Intel Further Embroiling West in Conflict (Sp.)

With the failure of its summer counteroffensive, the Kiev regime is stepping up revenge attacks on high-profile targets in Russia’s Crimea and other regions — with help from NATO. Former US Marine, independent geopolitical researcher and writer Brian Berletic has warned that the West was sailing dangerously close to the wind. NATO members are drawing dangerously close to direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict, a former US Marine told Sputnik, noting that when it came to the military bloc’s stand-off approach to hostilities, “the ten foot pole is now two feet long.” “We saw this all throughout the US proxy war in Syria until they ended up invading Syria themselves, occupying the eastern part of the country east of the Euphrates River,” independent journalist and commentator Brian Berletic said.

“And they continued participating in the hostilities, which included against Russia in a more or less indirect way. But they did get closer and closer to direct confrontation, and there were some close calls.” The webcast presenter said the same situation was now playing out in Ukraine, where last Friday’s attack on the headquarters building of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol were carried out with British and French-supplied cruise missiles — allegedly guided by US surveillance aircraft flying off the Romanian coast. The Ukrainian armed forces “don’t have their own satellites. They don’t have their own long range intelligence gathering capabilities,” Berletic pointed out. “They have throughout the entirety of this conflict depended on the West for intelligence — and collecting intelligence is part of carrying out an armed conflict which makes the US, the UK and others participants in this conflict already.”

He warned that NATO was “creeping even further into direct conflict with Russia,” a situation he called “very dangerous.” “The West trying to goad Russia into some sort of escalation,” Berletic said, “because you can see how disinterested the general West is in this conflict.” He cited the ongoing international scandal after the Canadian parliament gave two standing ovations to 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, an immigrant from Ukraine who fought for the Nazis in the Second World War as part of the 14th Waffen SS Grenadier Division, during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “People are growing tired of this, and the West needs something extreme to stir everyone up and galvanize them to supercharge this, to give them the political capital they need to escalate,” Berletic said, because “Russia has more or less won this.” Those who are aware of NATO’s push to escalate the conflict are “increasingly appalled” by them, he said.

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“The entire U.S. capitalist economy needs to be demilitarized..”

America Needs Regime Change – John Rachel (Cunningham)

Author and writer John Rachel warns in this interview that the United States needs to undergo regime change if the country is to have any chance of restoring its democracy. Not only for restoring democracy and a decent society for the majority of its people but also for adhering to peaceful diplomatic relations and avoiding a nuclear world war with Russia and China. This urgent need for regime change in the United States has been building for decades, as John Rachel explains in his latest book, Electing a Kennedy Congress. The great irony is that the U.S. establishment has for decades been engaging in illegal regime change around the world, sabotaging countless other nations and sowing chaos and violence. The people of the U.S. need their own regime change to get rid of the imperialist national security state.

The U.S. political system has become endemically corrupted by powerful corporate dominance over the White House and Congress (and media). Both the Democratic and Republican parties have become “the War Party” whose politicians are bought and sold by corporate power. Believing that one political figure can deliver the necessary change is a futile aspiration. The necessary change must be systemic involving mass mobilization of people and radical overhaul of the Congressional members as well as the future occupant of the White House. The entire U.S. capitalist economy needs to be demilitarized. That means challenging the very essence of the U.S. power structure. And that is what makes democratic change in the U.S. so dangerous and fraught with difficulty. The vested power structure is determined to prevail over any challenge… even to the point of assassinating anyone who threatens it. It really is a horrific reflection on the barbaric nature of U.S. politics and power.

Robert Kennedy Jr. is only an initial sign of what is fully needed, says Rachel. Getting behind Kennedy could be a way to mobilize people and to confront the systemic corruption. However, Rachel warns of the constant pitfall of a “sellout” as with previous figures like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. Preventing a sellout requires a critical mass of people and a Congress of new members who also share the vision of radical overhaul. The overhaul must be centered on meeting the needs of ordinary people and workers (the majority), such as decent jobs, education, healthcare and housing. Meeting such needs is what a democracy should do, by definition. But meeting such needs is incompatible with trillion-dollar military budgets and endless wars. In short, it is either democracy or imperialism. That is the stark choice.

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“The remixed Rape of Europa comes complete with ancillary financial bulls BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street totally controlling the spot market for anything the EU wants to buy..”

The Rape of Europa (Pepe Escobar)

The abuse of Europe is never-ending. In geoeconomics, German industrial exports – which were a key factor in its positive balance of payments – are going down the drain. Germany and assorted EU nations are now dependent on ultra-costly American LNG. An enslaved EU was forced by the American “ally” to simply give up on the Russian market for its own auto and other exports that paid for cheap energy imports. In a matter of months, balanced trade Looking East was turned into deficit trade with the Hegemon. That is the key legacy of the tactical victory obtained by the Hegemon with the bombing of Nord Stream 1 and 2 – exactly a year ago. Seymour Hersh’s sources inside the U.S. Deep State revealed who did it. The whole Global Majority with an IQ over room temperature knows who did it – and who ordered it. And still the current Straussian neo-con psychos controlling U.S. foreign policy are able to get away with it.

The bombing of the Nord Streams was the Rape of Europe Remixed – now performed by an American bull. As the indispensable Michael Hudson has detailed, domestic budgets of Germany and other EU/NATO nations are already in deficit territory – with the added “incentive” of the non-stop militarization of the EU. That will “force cutbacks in domestic government programs – just as Germany and its NATO neighbors are moving into a post-industrial depression in which families and businesses need subsidies to cover their rising heating and energy costs, and unemployment insurance.” Moreover, the euro will continue to plunge against the U.S. dollar, and may soon fall to 90 cents, or lower. Prof. Hudson’s conclusion is stark: “So what seemed to be a U.S./NATO war against Russia in Ukraine has been a stunning U.S. military victory to lock European NATO members into the U.S. orbit and block their plan to turn East for trade and investment with Russia and China.”

Meanwhile, the Hegemon is making a killing – literally – with its proxy war in Ukraine. The basics: over half of agro-Ukraine is now owned by Monsanto, Cargill and Dupont, bought for a pittance and profiting from the most corrupt environment in any country in the world. Ukraine seeds were destroyed: Monsanto now runs the whole GMO racket. Ukraine cereals going to raped Europa equal full control of the EU’s agriculture and food market. On the military front, the U.S. weapons matrix and its satellites continue to profit immensely from what is in effect money laundering of public funds. Ukraine simultaneously became: 1. The graveyard for outdated weapons in need of recycling. 2. A privileged “laboratory for military innovation” (like Afghanistan and Iraq, previously) – as admitted by the Pentagon’s number two, Mara Carlin, at the Ronald Reagan University. 3. A show room for global exports (well, Abrams tanks about to be incinerated by the Russians don’t exactly qualify as a strong selling point).

On the energy front, it’s all about the Nord Streams, all over again. The remixed Rape of Europa comes complete with ancillary financial bulls BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street totally controlling the spot market for anything the EU wants to buy, with prices occasionally 20 times higher than before. This is just the short version of what “helping Ukraine” is really about.And still the wunderwaffen keep coming: F16s are next in line. Andrei Martyanov summed it all up, concisely: “The combined West failed at war”. As in NATO’s utter humiliation will be cosmic. And that comes with a – possible – punchline – for which obviously one cannot have direct confirmation in the corridors of power in Moscow: “Russians did plan for that, they just couldn’t anticipate that the West would self-annihilate itself that fast”.

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“There was a point in our history where it was easier to get in as a Nazi than it was as a Jewish person. I think that’s a history we have to reconcile.”

Canada Must Face Up To Nazi Legacy – Immigration Minister (RT)

Canada may declassify records of Nazi war criminals admitted to the country after the Second World War, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said on Wednesday. Canada’s liberal government is currently mired in controversy over the veneration of a Ukrainian veteran of the Waffen SS in parliament last week. “Canada has a really dark history with Nazis,” Miller told the National Post. “There was a point in our history where it was easier to get in as a Nazi than it was as a Jewish person. I think that’s a history we have to reconcile.” A report commissioned by the Canadian government in 1985 found that there were almost 900 Nazi soldiers, scientists, and their associates living in Canada at the time, including around 600 members of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS.

Also known as the First Ukrainian or First Galician Division, this unit was formed in 1943 and staffed by Ukrainian volunteers, and is known to have committed atrocities against Jews and Poles during its campaign against the Soviet Union. The report recommended that individual members of the division not be prosecuted for their unit’s war crimes. It also stated that members of the division should not be deported, as “Canadian authorities were fully aware” of their wartime activities when they entered the country after the conflict. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish organization that tracks down fugitive Nazis, claimed in 1997 that the true number of war criminals hiding in Canada was closer to 3,000 than 900. While Jewish immigrants were detained as “enemy aliens,” Nazis could freely enter Canada “by showing the SS tattoo,” historian Irving Abella told ‘60 Minutes’ in 1997, explaining that this distinguishing mark proved that its bearer had served in the elite outfit and was a committed “anti-Communist.”

Miller, a member of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party, suggested that the government could declassify the names of Nazis known to have entered Canada after the war. Justice Minister Arif Virani, however, refused to say whether he backs this idea. Instead, he told the National Post that Canadian war crimes investigators should only prosecute those who committed “crimes like genocide.” Canada’s relationship with the Third Reich made international news last Friday when 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, a veteran of the First Ukrainian Division, was invited to a meeting of parliament with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and given a standing ovation. House Speaker Anthony Rota, who invited Hunka to the event and introduced him as “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero… who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians,” resigned on Tuesday, and Trudeau offered “unreserved apologies” on Wednesday for applauding the Nazi veteran.

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Mama chimp
https://twitter.com/i/status/1707216268384784782

 

 

Shimmering

 

 

Young elephant

 

 

 

 

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