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Debt Rattle March 21 2026

Mar 212026
 
 March 21, 2026  Posted by at 10:49 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,  79 Responses »


Edward Hopper Summertime 1943

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• “I Think We’ve Won” Trump Says As Iran Refuses Hormuz Talks (ZH)
• IRGC Says Missile Production Intact, Contradicting Netanyahu (ZH)
• The Iranian Foreign Minister Seems to be Losing Focus (Paul Craig Roberts)
• And Then the World Changed (James Howard Kunstler)
• Arkansas Gov. Sanders Told to Leave Restaurant (Turley)
• John Fetterman Reveals Who’s Really The Leader Of His Party (ZH)
• Former Trump Allies Face ‘The Pence Effect’ (Tim O’Brien)
• Bagman and Enabler of ‘Spygate’ and ‘Russiagate’ Receives Subpoena (CTH) b
• Evidence of Manipulated Political Targeting within Mueller Probe (CTH)
• Comey Goes Full Beyoncé: Did the Former Director Reveal a Pop Secret? (Turley)
• The Political Left, Multiculturalism And The Dark Alliance With Islam (Alt-M)
• Putin’s Envoy Recommends EU Change Its Leadership, Abandon Russophobia (TASS)

 


 

https://twitter.com/IslamInvasion/status/2034647878006714666?s=20 https://twitter.com/Inevitablewest/status/2034703779447140540?s=20

 


 


Both sides win. Of course.

• “I Think We’ve Won” Trump Says As Iran Refuses Hormuz Talks

More somewhat confusing rhetoric on Iran plans from Trump: He said late in the afternoon Friday US strikes on Iran are “weeks ahead of schedule” – but caveated that he expects oil prices to surge more than they have. He repeatedly emphasized that he does not want a ceasefire – “we’re not looking to do that” – while leaving the door open to dialogue, insisting talks don’t necessarily require halting the fighting. He said all this while also proclaiming “I think we’ve won.” He also expressed he thinks Israel will wind down the war when the US does.


Trump asserted further that Iran’s military has been severely degraded, saying it has “no radar, spotters, aircraft” and that key leaders have been killed, concluding: “from a military standpoint Iran is finished” and “I think we’ve won.” He also said Israel would be ready to end the war when the US does, noting both countries “want more or less similar things.”mnLate in the day Friday Trump followed his verbal comments to reporters with this:


Oil plunged immediately after the latest Trump statement went out:



“NATO could help us, but they so far haven’t had the courage to do so. And others could help us, but we don’t use it,” he said. “At a certain point, it’ll open itself.” Again, some confusing messaging to say the least… “I don’t want to do a ceasefire. You know, you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side,” he said. “We’re not looking to do that.” Trump hinted at possible escalation options around Kharg Island—“I may have a plan or I may not”—while accusing Iran of “clogging up” Hormuz. He also continued to berate Tehran leadership as “thugs and animals” – and praised Secretary of State Marco Rubio for doing a “fantastic job.”

Meanwhile Iran too is saying it is not ready for ceasefire or dialogue (at least in its public statements), and has expressed intent on exacting revenge. All of this means: no offramp yet in sight amid fresh reports that ‘heavy preparations’ for ground forces are being planned: “Pentagon officials have made detailed preparations for deploying U.S. ground forces into Iran, multiple sources briefed on the discussions told CBS News.” More from CBS: “Senior military commanders have submitted specific requests aimed at preparing for such an option as President Trump weighs moves in the U.S.-Israel-led conflict with Iran, the sources said.”

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“.. the direction of travel is clear. “He wants Hormuz open… If he has to take Kharg Island… that’s going to happen..”

• IRGC Says Missile Production Intact, Contradicting Netanyahu (ZH)

On day 21, the Iran war shows no signs of abating. Iran’s IRGC spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naeini was reportedly killed in an Israeli overnight strike, another high-level hit as the decapitation campaign grinds on. However, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday that the Islamic republic has continued to produce missiles despite the war with Israel and the United States. This directly contradicts Israeli PM Netanyahu’s assertions from the day prior, where he said both missile production capacity and uranium enrichment capability have been destroyed. Netanyahu had claimed, “Iran no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium and manufacture ballistic missiles.” “Our missile industry deserves a perfect score…and there is no concern in this regard, because even under wartime conditions we continue missile production,” IRGC spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said according to Fars.


Energy Complexes From Gulf to Israel Burning; Casualties Mount
The energy war continues to be front and center. Israel confirmed major Thursday Iranian strikes hit its Haifa refining complex, damaging critical infrastructure, and leaving many in the area without power. Also, the attack on Qatar’s Ras Laffan facility is expected to slash LNG export capacity by roughly 17%. Kuwait hasn’t been spared either, with its massive Mina al-Ahmadi refinery hit for a second straight day, with fires ripping through processing units.mElsewhere, Bahrain says it has faced over 140 missiles and 240 drones since the war began, underscoring the scale of Iran’s regional barrage.

Across the region, escalation is bleeding into civilian life even in countries not directly part of the conflict. The biggest Muslim holiday of the year, Eid, is being celebrated, and in Iran the Persian New Year “Nowruz” – are unfolding under air raid sirens, also with fresh Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Syria. Currently Palestinians are being barred from Al-Aqsa during Eid. Casualties continue to mount with over 1,400 reported dead in Iran, including 204 children per the Red Crescent – and more than 1,000 killed in Lebanon.

Signs of US Plans to Take Kharg Island
But the real escalation risk surrounds what Washington’s next move may be, as the Trump administration is actively weighing seizing Kharg Island, Iran’s key export hub, in a desperate effort to force Hormuz back open. One source put it bluntly to Axios: “We need about a month to weaken the Iranians more with strikes, take the island, and then get them by the balls and use it for negotiations.” For all the bravado and rhetoric, some analysts see the situation as a classic escalation trap.

But the report says no final decision has been made, but the direction of travel is clear. “He wants Hormuz open… If he has to take Kharg Island… that’s going to happen,” one senior official said, while acknowledging a coastal invasion remains on the table. The Wall Street Journal in fresh reporting sees signs that an operation is already underway: “The U.S. and its allies have intensified the battle to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, sending low-flying attack jets over the sea lanes to blast Iranian naval vessels and Apache helicopters to shoot down Iran’s deadly drones, American military officials said.” it writes.

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“If he does, Israel will win.”

PCR brings up the USS Liberty incident from 1967. Not sure that makes any sense.

• The Iranian Foreign Minister Seems to be Losing Focus (Paul Craig Roberts)

Will Abbas Araghchi save Israeli-America from defeat? He has proposed turning over Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz to an international coalition that in the interest of uninterrupted oil flows would prevent further Israeli-American attacks on Iran.Araghchi said: “In my view, after the war, a new mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz should be designed so ships can pass safely under clear regulations that consider the interests of Iran and the region.”


Clearly Araghchi is a reasonable person. He is willing to sacrifice some of Iran’s sovereignty to prevent further Israeli-American attempts to destroy Iran in the interest of Greater Israel by placing an international coalition in front of Israel’s aggression toward Iran. Araghchi has made it sparkling clear that Iran is not the cause of the problem. But he overlooks that it is the Zionist Israeli agenda of Greater Israel–“seven countries in 5 years”–that is the cause of the problem. Araghchi’s phrase, “after the war,” indicates that he fails to understand that as long as the Zionist agenda exists, there is NO “after the war,” unless Iran submits to Israel’s domination of the Muslim Middle East.

As Iran has rejected acquiring nuclear weapons, which it could have done long ago, displaying instead a moral concern that overrides Iranian national security, Iran’s only choice is either to submit to domination and rule by Zionists or to destroy Israel and drive all US military bases out of the Arab oil sheikdoms. Araghchi’s proposal shows that he is reasonable, but that he has failed to understand that Iran’s sovereignty is inconsistent with the Zionist agenda of Greater Israel–“from the Nile to Pakistan.” Araghchi should instead be proposing negotiations that Zionist Israel renounce its agenda of Greater Israel.

Most of the Zionist agenda has already been accomplished. Acting for Greater Israel Washington has destroyed Iraq, Libya, and Syria and left chaos in the place of functioning Arab states. Iran is the current target, and the former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett last month told the Conference of American Jewish Organizations that “Turkey is the next Iran.” In other words, Bennett gave marching orders to the powerful US Israel Lobby to begin the demonization of Turkey to take the place as next in line for destruction after Iran.

In February the Israeli-American assumption was that Iran would collapse in 3 days. In March we are learning that Iran was better prepared for long term conflict than Israeli-America. Trump wants out as the rising energy prices threaten his presidency in the upcoming midterm elections. But Netanyahu, completely ignoring Trump’s need, has escalated the conflict by attacking Iran’s large gas field. Iran responded by destroying the largest gas facility in the Persian Gulf, a multibillion dollar facility that will take years to rebuild. It is Israel and their American puppet, President Donald Trump, whose unprovoked, gratuitous aggression against Iran in the interest of Greater Israel, is producing a world shortage of energy and fertilizer.

Billions of people are going to pay for the Israeli-American unprovoked and unjustified aggression agains Iran. Iran is already paying for it as the way the Israeli-Americans conduct war is to kill civilians as in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan. Iran is probably afraid to use the advantage it has to hand a humiliating defeat to Israeli-America, because to gain a victory from defeat the Israeli-Americans will nuke Iran. Thus, Iran will be tempted give up its victory because the Iranian government decided to present a moral front of rejecting nuclear weapons and, as a consequence, have endangered Iranian National Existence.

It is the Zionist Israelis who are the only determined nationalists on the face of the earth. It is Zionist Israel that has an agenda that Zionists think is worth risking all to fight for. Everywhere else ethnic identity is in abeyance and hardly exists. European ethnicities, such as Germans and French, are being turned into Europeans and multiculturalists. In the US Democrats identify with criminals, immigrant-invaders, and sexual perverts. They regard their fellow Americans as Trump Deplorables. It is OK for Israel to be an ethnic nationalist state, but everywhere else to be nationalist is racist and Nazi. In Europe today it is almost a crime to be a nationalist. France and Germany want to put nationalists, such as Marine Le Pen, in prison.

In the Western gentile world, nationalistic self-awareness has been sacrificed on the alter of Multicultarism. In place of national states there are Towers of Babel. Towers of Babel are extremely weak as the populations have no common values or interests or beliefs and are often arrayed against one another, such as Sunnis and Shia It is a strong sense of identity that gives the tiny Israeli state dominion over the so-called “superpowers.” Israel has had no difficulty controlling American foreign policy in the Middle East for decades. The US government is so cowed that it refused to hold Israel accountable for the intentional Israeli attack on the USS Liberty resulting in 200 casualties of US Navy personnel. That tells you who holds the power. It is Netanyahu, not Trump, and Netanyahu knows it.

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“Europe’s own regulatory architecture turned off Europe’s own energy supply. And America. . . on the other side of the Atlantic with a full tank of gas, watched it happen.” —Jeff Childers

• And Then the World Changed (James Howard Kunstler)

Let’s pause for a moment amid all the excitement to address an abiding mystery of these times: why does the news media seem to be rooting for American failure in the Iran operation? Or more generally, how did the media become handmaiden to the Lefty-left and all its ancillaries? How were they lured into their Cloward-Piven bunker of crypto-Marxian “resistance?”


It’s unlikely that the network executives, news producers, and editors are communists outright. That would take you into a simpleminded John Birch Society fantasyland. Or did they just read too much Antonio Gramsci on campus back in the day. If they’re merely whores pandering to an audience, it’s a dwindling one as the Woke mass formation dissolves and the insanity of its agenda stands naked. (Why not pander to the growing demographic that yearns for a restoration of normality?)

Is the news controlled by the so-called Deep State? Do cadres in the CIA send headlines to the Washington Post newsroom? Many think so. I don’t pretend to know one way or the other. The problem with lying, of course, is that you have to keep lying to protect your previous lies. Does the rise of alt-news across the Internet provoke them to lie harder in the face of better narratives? Or is it just plain old group-think, fear of stepping out-of-synch with tribal certainties and shibboleths? Which is to say, are they merely cowards and cads?

Do they really believe in the totalizing bad faith of the Democratic Party in its naked racketeering and power-seeking? That’s a sinking ship — the party that is now battling to obstruct simple straightforward election reform in the US Senate. Here’s a headline from today’s New York Times:

What will The New York Times do when bona fide, convincing evidence from material seized in recent FBI raids in Georgia and Arizona shows that recent elections were arrantly and knowingly rigged? It’s going to happen, you know. And if the procedural delays in the Senate drag out for weeks over the SAVE Act, the truth is likely to emerge while the bill is still in process, and will slam the whole country in the face, like thirty inches of re-bar. Will the newspaper print an apology to its readers?

We’re in a season of whacking great change in global and national affairs. “Epic Fury” in Iran will neutralize a regime dedicated to terrorizing the region and reorder the world’s energy flows to the disadvantage of America’s adversaries. China will lose its deep discount on imported Iranian oil just as in Venezuela a month ago. It already lost control of the Panama Canal as well. All its inroads around the western hemisphere have been nullified in this first year of Trump 2.0. China has to play nicer with America now.

The crisis has demonstrated that the US can’t depend on its NATO allies — who either refused to send ships to assist, or dawdled over it — which can allow the US to step away from the enormous expense that NATO imposes on us, and also from the tarbaby known as Ukraine. The truth is, we are ideologically more aligned with post-Soviet Russia than we are with France, Germany, and UK under their current regimes. Ironically, the Russians, with Hungary, Poland, and the Czechs, are the last earnest defenders of Western Civ. Europe has apparently elected to go medieval, anyway. They like to pretend that they can maintain a high standard of living without oil or natgas, a formula so obdurately stupid that only the most awful hardship might avail to change their policies.

This month, the US leaped to create a maritime insurance alternative to Lloyds of London, meaning the UK banks can no longer impose a 20-percent cost premium on Persian Gulf oil, which thunders through the global system and affects everyone. We’ve already stepped away from the UN-backed international Net Zero carbon pricing scam on tanker and container ships. The economics of oil are going through a quick and decisive readjustment. With an end to Iran’s threats to world peace, the US can eventually leave policing of the Persian Gulf to the nations that depend on its oil (we do not).

Meanwhile, the US will continue pounding Iran until it can’t launch so much as a distress flare. They will have no nukes, no navy or air force, no more missiles and drones and payloads, and no ability to manufacture anymore of them. And if they try, we will blow them up again. That’s real politics, not performative diplomatic jive. Sooner or later, the Revolutionary Guard regime will disintegrate and someone else will have to step up. The Iranian people deserve a chance to live in the sunlight after what they’ve been through for a half century. But it’s really up to them to make it happen. It’s pretty obvious that the American President and his people understand that.

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“Our Employees and Guests were Uncomfortable.”

With her? Or perhaps with her security detail?

• Arkansas Gov. Sanders Told to Leave Restaurant (Turley)

Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was kicked out of another restaurant this week. Years ago, I wrote about how Sanders, then the Trump White House spokesperson, was told to leave the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia. Now, the Croissanterie Restaurant in Little Rock, Arkansas, has told the governor to leave because employees said they felt uncomfortable having her in the restaurant. One person yelled at her and flipped her off as she left with her friends and security.


Sanders went to the restaurant with three other moms for a quick meal. She recounted how she and the other moms were then told to leave: “Last week I was having lunch with two other moms at a restaurant when the owner approached a member of the State Police Executive Protection Detail and said my presence made their employees feel threatened and told us to leave.” She added: “Arkansans are known for their warm hospitality, and while that restaurant certainly doesn’t meet that standard, my administration will continue to focus on lifting Arkansans up, not tearing others down with discrimination and hate.”

Sanders had already started to eat when the restaurant’s owner approached a member of the security detail and requested that the governor leave.The Croissanterie released a lengthy statement and admitted that they told the governor and her party to leave. While offering a hand-ringing explanation about being “surprised and uncertain how best to respond,” it admitted that it “ultimately made the decision” to “support our employees and guests who expressed they were uncomfortable.” It added, “We regret being placed in this position and having to make a difficult decision. However, we stand by our choice to support our employees and guests.” The restaurant is founded and owned by Jill McDonald, executive chef, and Wendy Schay, pastry chef.

We have seen various restaurants refusing to serve Trump supporters, conservatives, and even those deemed allies. Democratic members of Congress have defended such actions and even encouraged liberals to disrupt meals of conservatives. Liberals went to social media to celebrate the move by the restaurant. One posting from an employee declared: “Good Morning! Sarah Huckabee Sanders no amount of evil you send our way can ever take our smiles away!!! I’m proud af to work here! I’m proud af to be gay and I’m proud af to be an Arkansan. My voice matters. Try again.” There have been virtually no condemnations from leading Democrats, who either fear or support such mob actions.

In my book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” and my new book, Rage and the Republic, I discuss what I called this “age of rage.” Rage is a curious emotion. It is the ultimate release. It allows you to do things and say things that you would not otherwise do or say. That is why it is addictive and contagious. What people will not admit is that they like it. It allows them to hate completely; to dispense with notions of decency or civility. This restaurant yielded to hate and intolerance to appease not only its employees but the radical left.

This action occurs the same week as a poll showing that a majority of Americans now view those with opposing views as “morally bad.” The rage addiction is obvious in these postings, as shown most recently by James Carville. Democratic leaders believe that they can fuel this rage addiction and lead the mob to victory in the midterm elections. The cost is also to fuel the product of rage, including political violence. The most recent targeting of Sanders presents a moral choice for the left. If you rationalize this action or continue to patronize restaurants like the Croissanterie Restaurant, you have made a choice. You have embraced the intolerance and hatred sweeping over this nation.

For all of their superficial expressions of reluctance, Jill McDonald and Wendy Schay chose hate over tolerance. While claiming to be “uncertain how best to respond,” the answer was obvious for anyone with a sense of decency: you serve everyone regardless of your political differences. Food, like music, allows people to come together; share common experiences and environments. I truly believe that this age of rage will end as prior such ages ended. Eventually, the rage burns off and people recognize that their hatred had twisted them into grotesque figures. To reach that point, however, we must learn to speak to each other again and tolerate those who disagree with us. To put it simply, we have to break bread with one another and consider what we have in common.

Jill McDonald and Wendy Schay appear to want to cater to the rage and make their food exclusively available to those with whom they and their employees agree politically. We will have to see if that is a winning business strategy, but most of us have little appetite for their type of culinary-based hate.

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“Can I say a public prayer?” Carville began. “John Fetterman, whatever you do, keep your position. Don’t change. We don’t want you. Stay right where you are. Because you’ve been wrong about every goddam thing that you’ve ever said, and we don’t want you to break your streak.”

• John Fetterman Reveals Who’s Really The Leader Of His Party (ZH)

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) sat down for an interview on the “All-In Podcast” this week and made a telling admission about the Democratic Party.When co-host David Friedberg asked Fetterman point-blank, “Who do you think leads the Democratic Party today?” the Pennsylvania senator didn’t flinch. “Oh, we don’t have one,” he said. “I think the TDS, that’s the leader right now. You know, right now our party is governed by the TDS.” Fetterman then described what that governance actually looks like in practice – a kind of loyalty test that runs in reverse. Opposition to Trump has become the organizing principle, the ideological north star. Agree with anything the other side does and you face consequences. “It’s made it virtually impossible, without being punished, as a Democrat, to agree something’s good, or ‘I agree with the other side,'” he said.


He then cited Operation Epic Fury – the U.S. military campaign against Iran – as the latest illustration of the problem. Fetterman said he is “literally the only Democrat […] in Congress, that I’ve come across that’s saying, ‘I think it’s a great thing to break and destroy the Iranian regime.’ I think it’s entirely appropriate to hold them accountable.” Fetterman correctly pointed out that this is not a fringe or even partisan position, historically. Every Democrat who ran for president in recent memory vowed Iran would never get a nuclear weapon. Now that it’s actually happening, the party’s response has been mostly blind criticism of President Trump for finally taking action.

Fetterman previously accused Democrats of refusing to put “country over party” over the Iran strikes. “The last two professional candidates for the Democratic Party all agreed that we can never allow Iran to acquire nuclear bombs, and that’s made that possible now. I think we can say, ‘Hey, that’s a great thing. That makes the world more safe, more secure and holds Iran accountable,’” he told Fox News’s Sean Hannity earlier this month, after 53 House Democrats voted against a resolution declaring that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism — something which isn’t remotely in doubt. “That’s almost 25% of Democrats in the House that can’t just call Iran the world’s biggest terrorism underwriter,” Fetterman added.

“Virtually every Democrat that I’m aware of says we can never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb, and they were a significant risk to America,” Fetterman continued. “I know why they [Democrats] don’t say that now because I’m aware that it is very damaging as a Democrat to just happen to agree with the president on anything. But, for me, that’s easy — country over party.” This week, veteran Democratic strategist James Carville blasted Fetterman, accusing him of always being wrong. “Can I say a public prayer?” Carville began. “John Fetterman, whatever you do, keep your position. Don’t change. We don’t want you. Stay right where you are. Because you’ve been wrong about every goddam thing that you’ve ever said, and we don’t want you to break your streak.”

He continued, “And can I assure you that the fact that you think it’s a good idea is not going to matter one wit to any Democrat,” and went on to say that Fetterman’s support for the war in Iran was more likely to make Democrats oppose it anyway. “It might get your name in the paper more,” Carville added. “Fucking asshole.” Carville’s criticism isn’t likely to sway Fetterman either. In fact, recent polling suggests that while Americans are skeptical of the war in Iran, opposition is waning. According to a new Washington Post survey, 42% now support the U.S. military campaign against Iran, while 40% oppose it. That marks a dramatic shift from just days earlier, when the Post’s flash poll showed 52% opposed and only 39% in favor.

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“.. Kent resigned on March 17 “over Operation Epic Fury, asserting that Israel wrongly convinced America to strike Iran’s regime, the same regime that has been killing Americans for half a century.”

• Former Trump Allies Face ‘The Pence Effect’ (Tim O’Brien)

Most people who follow American politics are well aware of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). The term pretty much covers all of the left that hates President Donald Trump so much that it will side with terrorists, murderers, and communists just because Trump opposes them. But there’s an equally common dynamic at play that becomes more obvious the deeper the Trump administration gets into its second term. Let’s call it the “Pence effect,” named after Trump’s former disloyal vice president Mike Pence, who famously turned on Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. Ever since, based on the fact that he burned his bridges to Trump and the conservative movement in the process, Pence has essentially betrayed whatever sincere conservative standing he may have once had. He’s now swung far enough to the “moderate” wing of the Republican party to qualify as a Republican in Name Only (RINO).


What makes the Pence effect a thing is that it centers on someone who was once a Trump ally, perhaps a member of his inner circle. This is not garden-variety never-Trumpism. Over the years, a number of people in Trump’s universe have been experiencing the Pence effect for themselves as he weeds out the posers, the incompetents, the impostors, and the saboteurs in his circles. Joe Kent may be the most recent example of someone dealing with the Pence effect. Kent was the administration’s National Counterterrorism Center director until he tendered his public resignation this past week. CBS News reported that the FBI is investigating Kent, “in connection with alleged leaks of classified information,” saying that “multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter” informed the network.

Our Catherine Salgado reported on Kent’s departure, saying that in his resignation letter, Kent resigned on March 17 “over Operation Epic Fury, asserting that Israel wrongly convinced America to strike Iran’s regime, the same regime that has been killing Americans for half a century.” Catherine provided details, saying “a clue as to why Kent made this decision — so contradictory to many of his previous stated views — could come from his second wife’s past connection with a virulently anti-Israel, pro-terror website.”

In other words, it’s possible Kent didn’t resign for his stated reasons, and the legacy media’s narrative may be a cover for other things that could be at play. As a result, Kent has been very popular in recent days with leftist media, from Reuters and NPR to CNN and some of the more click-baity “conservative” interviewers out there. And why not? If I’m a leftist or a cynical opportunist and I don’t like Trump, and you leave the administration on bad terms, you’re going to be welcome on my show, right? Kent is not alone. The growing list of people who couldn’t maintain loyalty to Trump and paid the price includes: former generals and White House staffers John F. Kelly and James Mattis, John Bolton, Anthony Scaramucci, Bill Barr, and others.

It’s not clear to me where Tucker Carlson stands these days. So much of what he’s been doing can easily be read as something more than just criticizing Trump’s policy on Iran, but rather trying to undermine the administration, one that Carlson helped get elected. Even Elon Musk, one of Trump’s greatest champions in 2024, became one of the president’s most vocal critics and enemies last year – that is, before the two made up and moved on after the memorial service for the late Charlie Kirk.

If you study Trump, for better or worse, he views many of his business and political relationships as transactional. I’d never attempt to speak for his personal relationships. So, in that spirit, if he can help you, and you can help him, you’ll get along just great. To get on his bad side, publicly demean or criticize him. The rules are pretty clear. He views such behavior as disloyalty, and he’s not alone. Most people do.

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Anno Domini 2026, this is a long and complex story, 10 years later.

• Bagman and Enabler of ‘Spygate’ and ‘Russiagate’ Receives Subpoena (CTH)

In the next few days, much more about the overall investigative review underway in Florida will begin to surface. The review has been led by USAO Jason A. Reding Quiñones, a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida. As with all investigations containing multiple players and actors, the first investigative information is extracted from testimony by those furthest away from the principals, yet closest to the granular details of the events being reviewed. The questioning then goes upstream, using information collected to assembly more specific questions as the principal players are approached.


The widest concentric circles questioned first. Then using the responses and investigative information from that circle, the questioning and inquiry goes to the next inner circle of participants. The information is assembled, and more pointed questions are then targeted to the next inner circle; the process continues until the core is questioned.= Beginning with the end in mind. The biggest challenge is knowing what the correct questions are to ask of those who were closest to the corrupt activity (the outer circle). Background research is critical – CTH of value. From those pointed questions you get answers. Then next level of more specific questions get focus; and so on, and so on.

FLORIDA – Former FBI Director James Comey has been subpoenaed in connection with a wide-ranging investigation being run by a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor in Florida, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News on Thursday. The probe, which focuses on an earlier investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and other prosecutions related to President Donald Trump, is being led by Jason A. Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. The sprawling probe has been dubbed a “grand conspiracy” investigation by Trump allies.

An attorney for Comey did not have an immediate comment, while Quiñones’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (read more) Please remember, there are two distinct and different aspects to the overall conspiracy and timeline. There was surveillance of the 2016 Republican candidates by contractors working on behalf of the FBI who was institutionally collaborating with the Clinton campaign; that is known as “Spygate.” There was then an FBI operation to target and eliminate the threat represented by the 2016 GOP primary winner, Donald Trump; that is known as “Russiagate.”


‘Spygate’ and ‘Russiagate’ are two distinctly different corrupt pathways that eventually merged due to common interests. The Mueller investigation, an extension of Crossfire Hurricane (Russiagate) was used by Obama-era politicians and internal government officials as a mechanism to block President Trump from executing a divergent foreign policy. The primary policy of focus was to protect the Iran deal. Based on mounting evidence, a pattern in other international activities and U.S. participants, the Obama-Clinton-Kerry Iranian deal likely included a mechanism for return payments to U.S. officials following the release of billions in frozen Iranian asset funds and the loosening of sanctions. (ie. pallets of cash) Qatar were the mediator/broker.

However, it is speculated, perhaps being currently evidenced, that return payments to the Obama team contained a timing mechanism and the quid-pro-quo payments were stopped after President Trump withdrew from the Iran deal and re-instituted sanctions. Thus, a much larger background context exists for why the totality of the U.S. government and Intelligence Community opposed President Donald Trump. Is it all about the money? Time will tell. Current events may not be coincidental.

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Walid Phares was the 5th target within the Weissmann/Mueller probe [..] . The other four were Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Carter Page and George Papadopoulos.

• Evidence of Manipulated Political Targeting within Mueller Probe (CTH)

Let me start by saying there is a lot of misleading information circling current events, some of it by what CTH considers very dubious alt-right voices. I suggest just to be leery of “exclusive” insider information. There are motives and angles that are not obvious and would not be comfortable for those who follow events closely. [As an example, the election/voting information -connected to the Intelligence Community- and recently outlined by John Solomon, is not new. What Solomon is rehashing is the background information exposed by Catherine Engelbrecht and True the Vote surrounding Chinese involvement in prior elections (Konnech etc.). Engelbrecht gave the FBI the data, the FBI buried it and eventually targeted Engelbrecht. The hidden data and FBI conduct is now resurfacing.]


As a result of datamining the FBI ‘prohibited access’ records Chuck Grassley has released an FD-302 from an FBI agent who was on the Mueller team and became a whistleblower about the motives and agenda of the Mueller participants. One of the stories surfacing surrounds one of the Mueller targets, Walid Phares. Walid Phares was the 5th target within the Weissmann/Mueller probe who were using Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) violations as targeting mechanisms. The other four were Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Carter Page and George Papadopoulos.

Why Phares? This is a little complicated but becomes straightforward once you get it. One of the first things President Obama did when he took office was to travel to Cairo, Egypt, give a speech to the Islamic world and trigger what later became known as the “Arab Spring.” Obama was an ideological ally of the Muslim Brotherhood, which positioned him in alignment with Qatar, Iran, Turkey and various factions of the more extremist Muslim community. The Muslim Brotherhood is political Islam.

Trying to keep it short, essentially Walid Phares was on the opposite side of that ideology. He was a critic of the Brotherhood, and a supporter of the person who eventually shut down the Arab Spring uprisings, Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi. After success in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Libya, President Obama was furious when Army General al-Sisi stepped up and removed Muslim Brotherhood aligned Mohammed Morsi in Egypt. That military uprising stopped the Arab Spring, and it stalled out thereafter.

Obama’s efforts to give increased power and voice to the Muslim Brotherhood was essentially stopped by Sisi, and that made anyone on the stability side of Islam an enemy of Obama. Without Egypt, Team Obama couldn’t trigger Syria – they did get extremism to expand via ISIS, but the coalition of Arab states al-Sisi put together pushed back on the extremists. That’s the Muslim ideological part of the issue, and we could write a dozen deep articles about all of the ancillary issues within it. However, for the sake of reader time, we’ll just jump forward to the other, perhaps more important, issue.

Walid Phares was an advisor to Donald Trump, helping him to connect to middle east moderate Arab leaders like al-Sisi and frame policies to end the extremism aspect. As a policy advisor Phares saw the structural flaws in the Obama Iran-deal and, more importantly, Phares saw the outline of a financial relationship that intersected with Obama policy.mThe Obama Iran deal involved the U.S. dropping sanctions, feeding billions of dollars back to Iran (via Qatar) as part of the incentive for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to “eliminate Iran’s nuclear ambitions.” At least that was the forward face of the policy goal.

However, in the background there was a semi-opaque quid-pro-quo where Obama would transfer sanctioned funds back to Iran and then Iran would send a portion of the funds back to the Obama network. The problem was the return funds were contingent upon the success of the Iran deal. By advising President Trump against the Iran deal, Walid Phares was essentially putting a stop to the quid-pro-quo that was contingent upon the deal’s success. In the bigger picture, that made Phares a target and the Weissmann-Mueller probe was the mechanism to target him, using FARA as the weapon.

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Our weekly sing-along.

• Comey Goes Full Beyoncé: Did the Former Director Reveal a Pop Secret? (Turley)

Former FBI Director James Comey has been called many things by critics and fans alike. However, it appears that his stab at being a pop singer did not pan out. Comey recently raised eyebrows with an account of his singing Beyoncé’s “Sandcastles” to FBI officials in a classified briefing … only to be met by a stony silence. It appears that some of his agents may have viewed the occasion as grounds for intervention rather than for rendition. In fairness to the agents, they were likely unaware of Comey’s use of beaches to uncover hidden intelligence and messages.


Comey has periodically popped up in the press with bizarre or self-edifying posts. However, this one left many scratching their heads. Yet, it was vintage Comey, including a surprising admission about his handling of classified information. Comey recalled the moment from a classified FBI briefing when he realized that a secret program being discussed was named after a favorite song. He wrote:

“One morning, I was sitting at the head of a big table in a crowded room to get briefed on a particular piece of work. The briefer started by saying, the operation was codenamed ‘Sandcastles.’ Now, this was 2016, and you may know that Beyoncé’s album ‘Lemonade’ had come out with a track called ‘Sandcastles.’ So, I said, ‘Oh, like the Beyoncé song.’ Blank stares all around the FBI conference room. So, I did the natural thing. I think I sang, ‘We rebuild sand castles that washed away.’ Nope, nothing — dead silence. ‘Never mind,’ I said, ‘continue.’ Only when I got home and told my family the story did I get the reaction I was looking for. When I write, I listen to classical or jazz because, in ways I can’t explain, the music unlocks something. It frees me.”

It also apparently freed Comey from security protocols. His charming story included the fact that, disappointed by his audience at the FBI, he decided to repeat it to his family. In doing so, he may have revealed the code name of a classified FBI program to uncleared individuals in an unsecured location. There is no indication from Comey whether the code name was considered sensitive information by the FBI before his encore performance. The Justice Department has fought in court to withhold code names as sensitive national security matters, including during Comey’s tenure as director.

For example, in N.Y. Times v. DOJ, 2023, it was uncontested that the FBI could withhold code names because “specific code names that [the] FBI used for certain FBI programs and that disclosure of these things ‘would risk circumvention of the law by revealing FBI processes and potential issues related to relationships with foreign countries.’” This is not the first time Comey has raised concerns of his violation of FBI protocols and procedures regarding classified material. The Justice Department inspector general issued a scathing account of how, after being fired by President Donald Trump, Comey improperly removed FBI files and then arranged for the information to be leaked to the media to undermine Trump.

The media immediately came to his defense despite his having led investigations into leakers in the past. On CNN and MSNBC, legal experts dismissed the arguments that this was improper or FBI material. The memos clearly reveal that Comey was likely aware they contained possible classified information. Comey wrote in a Jan. 7, 2017, memo that “I am not sure of the proper classification, so I have chosen secret.” The four memos, including two given to his friend to leak to the media, were later found to be classified.

What was notable about the leaks was Comey’s obsession with his own public persona. He took FBI material to bolster his image with the media. He later published “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” which portrayed him in heroic terms without addressing allegations that he was a leaker. During his term as director, the Justice Department investigated and prosecuted FBI personnel for leaks. The “higher loyalty” shown by Comey often seemed to be his blind loyalty to his own image.

Comey has previously recounted his obsession with Taylor Swift as well as Beyoncé, but insists that “I can’t explain, the music unlocks something. It frees me.” Given his history of leaks and other violations, it may be time to try a new musical genre. It appears that pop is a bit too liberating for James Comey. In the meantime, Comey may be misinterpreting tears of joy rather than regret when he made it to the line from “Sandcastles”: “I made you cry when I walked away.”

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Did John Cleese open Pandora’s Islam box?

• The Political Left, Multiculturalism And The Dark Alliance With Islam (Alt-M)

For 15 years the FBI was engaged in a landmark investigation into the largest Islamic-based charity in the United States, called The Holy Land Foundation. The organization was operating as a front for Muslim terror groups, funneling cash from western countries to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, until they were finally put on trial in 2008. Convicted leaders were known as the “Holy Land Five,” and included Shukri Abu Baker, Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader, Abdulrahman Odeh, and Mohammad El-Mezain. Among the documents seized from these individuals during the investigation was a strategic paper drafted by senior Muslim Brotherhood operative Mohamed Akram in 1991.


The paper was titled: “Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America”. It outlined an agenda called the “Civilization-Jihadist Process”, also known as “Stealth Jihad”. The memorandum gave detailed methods for establishing Islam as a “civilization alternative” in the West and a “grand Jihad” for eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within. It called for the ‘sabotaging’ of the west and its “miserable house” by domestic hands AND the hands of the believers so that the west is eliminated and “God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.” The plan explicitly referred to using western society’s own people, institutions, laws, and unwitting allies (progressive groups and NGOs, media, politicians, academics, or civil-rights organizations) to advance the Islamic agenda.

Tactics included infiltration of education, media, government, finance, and alliances with non-Islamic actors “when tactically beneficial” while maintaining ideological separation. This is also called “long-term settlement” (tamkeen); a form of demographic or cultural subversion rather than direct conquest. It is often mentioned in the paper as “the settlement mission”. A related 1982 Muslim Brotherhood document (called “The Project”) outlines a 100-year global plan with similar elements: building parallel societies, exploiting Western freedoms, and forming pragmatic coalitions.

One problem the Muslims wrestled with was the need for foreign alliances and western “advocates” to make immigration and the integration of Islam into target countries more “official”. Twenty-five years ago, this was considered all but impossible in the US and in Europe. However, since around 2014, the Sharia fundamentalists found a willing and ready ally in the new “woke” left.= Today, the notion of even discussing the agenda of “Stealth Jihad” in a public venue in 2026 is labeled “racist” by progressive activists and left wing politicians (even though Islam is not a race). If you were to go back in time around 15 years ago and explain to people what is happening today in terms of third-world immigration, they would probably laugh in your face and call you a conspiracy theorist.

In 2026 in Europe the plan is nearly complete and in the US the plan is well underway. The change in how our society views Islam as an untouchable subject is largely due to a dark and convenient political alliance between the woke left and the Stealth Jihad. Only recently has the problem of Muslim immigration risen to the forefront of media coverage, but only because of the work of citizen journalists like Nick Shirley who are exposing widespread fraud among migrants. The majority of this fraud, whether it is in Minnesota or California, is connected to Somali Muslim immigrants and is perpetrated with the help of leftist NGOs and politicians.

Coming from a country with an average IQ of 67, these people are not capable of instituting such a plan on their own. They had help and it is clear that Democrats are deeply involved in these operations, perhaps in exchange for financial kick-backs, but certainly in exchange for votes (Somali migrants in Minnesota voted 80% in favor of Democrats in 2024).It’s not surprising, but there are a lot of similarities between progressives in the west and third world Islamic migrants from the east.

Read more …

For the good of your people. Without Russia, Europe will be dark and cold.

• Putin’s Envoy Recommends EU Change Its Leadership, Abandon Russophobia (TASS)

Special Representative of the Russian President for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, Chief Executive Officer of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev advised Europe to acknowledge its previous blunders in energy and geopolitics, replace the EU leadership, and reconsider its policy course toward Russia. ”Told ya. Europe needs to acknowledge its strategic energy and geopolitical blunders, atone, change its EU leadership and Russophobic approach. As predicted, a devastating energy tsunami will soon decimate Europe. As explained many times, Europe needs Russia to survive,” he posted in English on the social network X, commenting on an FT Energy post stating that Europe should brace for an extended energy shock.


Earlier, Dmitriev warned that Europe is facing an “energy shock tsunami” over the European Union’s refusal to use Russian natural gas as he predicted that gas prices will rise further. At the end of January, the Council of the European Union finally approved a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports starting on January 1, 2027, and pipeline gas starting on September 30, 2027. At the same time, restrictions will begin to be introduced earlier. Imports of LNG under short-term contracts will be banned from April 25, 2026, while short-term contracts for pipeline gas supplies must be completed by June 17, 2026.

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https://twitter.com/itsme_urstruly/status/2034613572798652914?s=20 https://twitter.com/ThatOneFrank_/status/2034722298444276080?s=20 https://twitter.com/TMZ/status/2034992045165879785

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle March 5 2026

Mar 052026
 
 March 5, 2026  Posted by at 10:23 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  80 Responses »


“Flora” (Roman Goddess of Spring), Villa di Arianna, Pompei 1st Century A.D.


• Keir Starmer Takes Cowardice to New Lows (Tim O’Brien)
• Jeffrey Sachs: ‘Trump Is An Utter Disgrace To Our Nation – He Lied To Us’ (ZH)
• Iran Conflict – Oil Disruption Hits Key BRICS Members Hard (CTH)
• Fetterman Chooses Country Over Party After Iran Operation (David Manney)
• Trump: US Insurance for “All Maritime Trade Flowing Through the Gulf”
• US Sub Sinks Iranian Warship, First Such Hit Since WWII (Catherine Salgado)
• Trump Denies Israel ‘Forced His Hand.’ (Salgado)
• NY AG James Orders Hospital to Resume Gender-Transition for Minors (Turley)
• Trump’s 15% Global Tariff Will Take Effect This Week: Bessent (ET)
• Bessent Outlines U.S. Financial/Economic Stabilization Plan (CTH)
• Walz, Ellison Knew About Minnesota Fraud ‘for Years,’ House Report (DS)
• Minnesota Sues Federal Government Over Medicaid Funding Freeze (Aldgra Fredly)
• SCOTUS Decision Highlights Problems with Parents in Blue States (Turley)
• Ukraine Blocks EU Mission To Inspect Russian Oil Pipeline – FT (RT)

 


 

https://twitter.com/ivan_8848/status/2029139145168183437?s=20 https://twitter.com/GreereMedeea/status/2028870849718108499?s=20

 


 

 


 


They sold Britain. It is no longer a Christian nation. Prepare your kids.

• Keir Starmer Takes Cowardice to New Lows (Tim O’Brien)

To borrow a phrase from Foghorn Leghorn, when describing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, that boy is softer than a pound of wet leather, and he’s about as sharp as a bowling ball. Whether you agree strategically with the preemptive strikes against Iran by the U.S. and Israel, the reactions of the other developed nations have been a study in intelligence and loyalty on the part of their leaders. My colleague Catherine Salgado addressed this in her piece that focused on the reactions of Spain and Portugal reaction to the strikes: While Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was the most explicitly condemnatory, and forbade use of joint bases for the operation, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Radman, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and the Slovenian government all more or less criticized the United States and Israel.


Times like this, you learn who your friends are and who isn’t bright enough to act in their countries’ best interests. Even if they’re still stinging from President Donald Trump’s tariffs—and in some cases, his public beatdowns—smart leaders know how to rise above all of that in this new context. A quick victory and resolution to the war with Iran can serve the West’s best interests on a number of levels, if handled right. Instead, we have a group of largely beta males who partly fear backlash from the Islamic populations in their countries, along with backlash from the Never Trumpers around the world. Some people will do anything to see Trump fail even if it means defending by default the evil and ruthless regime that has run Iran for the past 46 years.

Keir Starmer stands out as a beta male’s beta male. He exudes cowardice—from that chronic deer-in-the-headlights look of fear, to his voice and its trademark trepidation, to a physical presence best described in one word: gooey. When G. Michael Hopf penned his novel Those Who Remain, it seems that he knew that a day would come when Starmer & Co. would arrive on the world stage when he wrote, “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, weak men create hard times.” This week, we’re at the last phase of that sentence. Weak men like Starmer do create hard times.

If the U.S. and Israel are successful, now that hostilities are under way, the world has a chance to benefit by putting an end to the proxy wars and terrorism Iran has funded and orchestrated for decades, killing thousands of Americans. If Trump does what he said he’ll do, he’ll deal a final blow to Iran’s campaign to possess nuclear arms and the weaponry to strike the West with them. In that scenario, the whole world benefits. If that’s all Trump achieves, it’s a win. Smart world leaders can see that and will want to position themselves to be in Trump’s good graces if he succeeds. Leaders who aren’t too bright, or who act out of fear, will lose if he succeeds. This is Starmer’s “courageous” stand on the matter of deciding not to support the U.S. Speaking in Parliament, he called Trump’s efforts to prevent Iran from having nukes an “unlawful action.”

https://twitter.com/g_gosden/status/2028519334612529596


In his first official statement after the strikes against Iran, Starmer practically ran to the nearest podium and microphone to make it clear that he and his government “played no role in these strikes.”

https://twitter.com/naijaamebonews/status/2027836993275576472


A real man in charge of a country like the UK would either openly support the U.S. in a situation like this or, if he disagreed with it, stay quiet while the situation is most volatile and give his ally a chance to take care of business. Instead, what Starmer did was to make sure the people he fears know that he’s not just distancing himself from the fighting, but running away from it. In doing this, he undermined the U.S, his supposed ally.He made it clear that he did not support any UK involvement in the attacks on Iran. He made it clear that his military would focus on defending itself and British installations.

He decided on Sunday, the day after hostilities started, to give the U.S. permission to use its bases for certain operations. This was a change of course after it was reported that, prior to the operation, the UK had denied America’s request to use British bases in its Operation Epic Fury. In reaction to Starmer, Trump told the news media, “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.” He said he was not happy with the Starmer, even though he eventually allowed the U.S. access to the base at Diego Garcia to mount strikes against Iranian missile facilities.

In a 24-hour period, Trump took the opportunity to let the world and Starmer know three times that Starmer’s initial rejection of American requests to use certain facilities had dealt a serious blow to U.S.-UK relations. Trump told the Sun that the “relationship is obviously not what it was,” and then he told the Telegraph that Starmer delayed giving the U.S. permission beyond what would have been reasonable. Trump suspects what everyone does at this point – that Starmer fears the Islamic community and is pandering to it, as he did here.

Read more …

Now, now, Jeff!!

• Jeffrey Sachs: ‘Trump Is An Utter Disgrace To Our Nation – He Lied To Us’ (ZH)

Columbia University economics professor Jeffrey D. Sachs appeared on Judge Napolitano’s ‘Judging Freedom’ podcast Monday, where he railed against the US-Israeli attack on Iran and the ‘CIA-led security state,’ calling President Donald Trump a ‘disgrace to our nation’ because ‘he lied to us.’



Sachs, a longtime critic of U.S. foreign policy, described the recent escalation as the continuation of a decades-old strategy he linked to Israeli and U.S. intelligence objectives dating back to 1996. “This is a long-term plan. This is a Mossad CIA plan for American control of the Middle East and Israeli military hegemony in the Middle East that has been underway since 1996,” Sachs said. “This is madness. This is murderous delusion.” The professor pointed to a series of U.S.-backed or U.S.-involved conflicts across the region, from Libya and Sudan to Somalia and the ongoing crisis in Gaza, as evidence of a consistent pattern aimed ultimately at confronting Iran.

“It has involved wars across the Middle East. It has left rivers of blood from Libya to Sudan, Somalia, the genocide in Gaza,” he said, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal since the mid-1990s has been “the destruction of Iran.”= Sachs reserved some of his strongest language for Trump, whom he said reversed course on key foreign-policy pledges after taking office. “Trump… is an utter disgrace to our nation. Utter disgrace. He lied to us. Every word about America first… And he did exactly the opposite of what he said,” Sachs stated. The economist also criticized Washington’s approach to diplomacy more broadly, arguing that the United States has abandoned genuine negotiation in favor of coercive tactics. “The United States does not negotiate. It cheats… Now they kill you because if you negotiate, it means you’re weak,” he said.

On the domestic front, Sachs connected the country’s infrastructure challenges to the enormous costs of overseas military engagements.“Why do the roads not work and the bridges not work in the United States?… It’s because we spend trillions of dollars in war,” he said. “China just completed its 50,000th kilometer of fast rail because China doesn’t go to war.” Sachs concluded by expressing deep skepticism about the current state of American governance. “We’re in the hands of gangsters. We’re not in the hands of a constitutional system,” he said, noting that only a handful of lawmakers – citing Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as one example – have pushed back.

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OK for now.

• Iran Conflict – Oil Disruption Hits Key BRICS Members Hard (CTH)

• First blow, the Trump tariffs hit Beijing hardest. • Second blow, the Beijing tentacle on the Panama Canal is severed. • Third blow, global tariff threats changed the risk dynamic for southeast Asia countries who acted as transnational shippers for China. • Fourth blow, cheap sanctioned oil from Venezuela was cut-off. • Now, the fifth blow; cheap, sanctioned Iranian oil is disrupted.


As noted by Politico: Following USA military strikes, “ships have begun to avoid the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran — a critical shipping lane for Gulf nations to export oil to Asia. China in 2025 received about half of its imported oil from the six Gulf countries that rely on the strait. Other large crude oil producers in the region — including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates — transport almost all their crude exports through the geographic bottleneck.”


It’s not just a factor of oil flow, but also the price that China will ultimately end up having to pay. Beijing was buying oil from Venezuela, Iran and Russia at steep discounts because their purchases were skirting western sanctions. With Iranian oil production now no longer a market option, China will seek to replace their needs with more Russian alternative. However, that diversion means the oil India was purchasing from Russia will come at a higher price, and the refined final product that was exported by India will arrive to the European Union carrying an additional cost. Simultaneously, Vladimir Putin was asked about Russia’s lack of military support to Iran in response to the U.S. military action, to wit the Russian president noted the technical terms of their joint military agreements did not include Russia’s immediate involvement. In shorthand, Russia is busy and is not getting involved.

Russia was/is partially dependent on receiving military supplies from Iran in exchange for oil transfers. The military component is reported to include drones from Iran for use in the Ukraine conflict. Now that exchange profile is shuttered. Taking Iran’s malign influence off the geopolitical chessboard is beginning to surface in major challenges to the BRICS assembly (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). Russia, China and India are impacted directly. The BRICS nations were skirting western oil sanctions by trading the commodity outside the petrodollar structure. However, President Trump now controls the flow of oil from Venezuela, and his administration controls the currency in which it is sold.

With Iranian oil removed from the non-petro supply chain, the only remaining non-petro oil producer is Russia – who is simultaneously hit with a loss in military hardware support. China may end up as a larger oil customer to Russia, but at what price and in what payment structure. With global oil supplies in a state of flux, and with the USA in control of the oil flow from Venezuela, North America is certainly in the best position for minimal energy disruption. Asia is heavily dependent on oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and the majority of Europe has already shut themselves off from Russian oil production, putting themselves in a position of dependency to the global markets. The short-term ramifications of this oil disruption hit China, Southeast Asia, Japan and Europe particularly hard.

“OPEC+ countries affirmed on Sunday that they would boost oil production starting in April by 206,000 barrels daily — a modest increase intended to dampen the war’s effect on prices down the road. The majority of the increase would come from Saudi Arabia and Russia.” {SOURCE}

All of a sudden, this happens: Zelenskyy not to be trusted? “Ukraine is under pressure to let the EU inspect a damaged pipeline carrying Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, as the two pro-Kremlin countries accuse Kyiv of overstating the impact of an attack by Moscow — despite what Ukrainian officials say is evidence of extensive destruction,” the report said. According to five diplomats and EU officials who spoke to the FT, even pro- Ukrainian governments within the European Union and the European Commission have also asked Ukraine to permit a delegation to inspect the pipeline. Two sources told the newspaper that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen requested access for EU experts during her visit to Kyiv on Feb. 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The request, according to the sources, was refused.

As tensions escalated, the EU’s ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, reportedly asked through the presidential office for permission to inspect the damaged pipeline herself or to allow visits by other EU diplomats. Those requests were denied for security reasons, the sources said.”

Read more …

John Fetterman thinks for himself. Works for me.

• Fetterman Chooses Country Over Party After Iran Operation (David Manney)

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) backed the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran without hesitation, calling Operation Epic Fury entirely appropriate, and said eliminating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the un-alived supreme leader of Iran, removed one of the most dangerous figures in modern history.


President Donald Trump confirmed the mission targeted senior regime leadership gathered in Tehran, with early reports stating roughly 40 to 50 of the top Iranian officials were killed in the attack’s early wave. Fetterman didn’t hedge, asking why anybody would grieve leaders of a regime tied to terror networks and decades of repression. He said that Americans should recognize the strategic impact of removing the head of a government that funds violence across the world.


Fetterman’s stance again puts him at odds with several Democratic colleagues who questioned the legality and timing of the strikes. He described their reactions as bizarre. He pointed to the regime’s record, including the 1988 mass executions of political prisoners that killed an estimated 30,000 dissidents under orders tied to regime leadership, making clear the target wasn’t the Iranian people, just the regime. Vice President JD Vance stated that the administration’s objectives remain preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Fetterman said he’d oppose efforts to restrict the president’s authority under the War Powers Resolution.

Because Fetterman’s policy beliefs keep him planted firmly on the left, Fetterman won’t switch parties. But when national security comes into focus, he regularly breaks from progressive orthodoxy and takes a position rooted in deterrence and strength. In a chamber full of Congresscritters using scripted responses, his statements read as uncommon steadiness. Critics raised legal concerns, questioning whether the threshold for immediate military action had been met, while others argued Congress should’ve been consulted before the strike. Raise of hands: who envisions Schiff, Jeffries, and Swalwell would keep their pie holes shut?

Fetterman countered that Iran’s nuclear development and missile expansion represent a continuing threat, even if not tied to a single launch window, saying that waiting for perfect conditions invites greater danger.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led his country’s role in the coordinated strike, and Fetterman defended both Netanyahu and Trump against critics who labeled the attack as reckless. Fetterman argued that removing senior regime leadership weakens proxy forces such as Hezbollah. His position exposed a visible split inside his party, particularly among lawmakers who reflexively oppose any military action.

The broader debate now turns on escalation and authority. President Trump said the objective remains stopping Iran’s nuclear ambitions and restoring deterrence in the region. Lawmakers continue to argue over oversight and limits, but Fetterman’s remarks show that support for the strikes crosses party lines, even if only in narrow lanes. The result of Operation Epic Fury and how it will reshape the relations between the U.S. and Iran remains to be seen. What’s clear is that one Democrat senator chose to defend a strike he believes strengthens American and Israeli security, even when doing so separates him from much of his caucus. National security debates test whether lawmakers follow party currents or independent judgment. Fetterman, thankfully, chose judgment.

Read more …

This will solve the economy at home. You just wait.

• Trump: US Insurance for “All Maritime Trade Flowing Through the Gulf”

This is a remarkable position for President Trump to take. Optimal Solutions: (President Trump) – “Effective IMMEDIATELY, I have ordered the United States Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide, at a very reasonable price, political risk insurance and guarantees for the Financial Security of ALL Maritime Trade, especially Energy, traveling through the Gulf. This will be available to all Shipping Lines.


If necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible. No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD. The United States’ ECONOMIC and MILITARY MIGHT is the GREATEST ON EARTH — More actions to come. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP“

President Trump will use the full weight of the U.S. military to change behavior in Iran. Not just to change the regime per se’, but to change the behavior of whoever surfaces to represent the interests of the people. The change in behavior is the goal. While this forced shift is underway, the full weight of the USA will also seek to mitigate any collateral economic damage to well behaved economic partners. Forceful action, optimal stewardship.

Read more …

“.. the first kill by a U.S. submarine since World War II. “

• US Sub Sinks Iranian Warship, First Such Hit Since WWII (Catherine Salgado)

A United States submarine successfully sank an Iranian regime warship, according to a Wednesday morning update from the secretary of war.The American submarine using a torpedo to sink an Iranian ship is particularly historic because, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, this is the first such sinking of a ship since World War II. And just as the USA demanded unconditional surrender during World War II, Hegseth emphasized, now the U.S. is in it to win it again. The U.S.-Israeli joint Operation Epic Fury continues to claim prizes, including a warship named for the terrorist Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) leader (Qasem Soleimani) whom Donald Trump eliminated during his first term and on behalf of whom the likewise assassinated Ayatollah Khamenei repeatedly vowed to assassinate President Donald Trump.


“The Iranian Navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf,” Hegseth confidently announced. “[It’s] combat ineffective, decimated, destroyed, defeated, pick your adjective. In fact, last night, we sunk their prize ship, the ‘Soleimani’.” Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans and the wounding of thousands more. Not only is he dead thanks to the first Trump administration, but the second Trump administration even took out the ship named for him. As Hegseth joked, “Looks like POTUS got him twice.”

Hegseth assured America and the world that the Iranian regime’s “navy is not a factor. Pick your adjective, it is no more.” He continued, “In fact, yesterday, in the Indian Ocean, and we’ll play it on the screen there, an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo, quiet death.” That is particularly impressive because it represents the U.S. Navy’s “first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II. Like in that war, back when we were still the War Department, we are fighting to win,” Hegseth declared.

Trump insisted on restoring the name of the War Department to the Defense Department, and from Venezuela to Iran to Ecuador, the U.S. military has been pulling off spectacular operations ever since. What’s in a name? The difference between weakness and strength, it seems. The Iranian regime had assassins in the United States attempting to kill President Trump even before he came to office again, as they seemed to understand that his return to power would spell disaster for them, as it did. But Hegseth noted, “Also, yesterday, the leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed. Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh.”

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Yeah yeah. Sure.

• Trump Denies Israel ‘Forced His Hand.’ (Salgado)

President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth summarily demolished the argument from Jew-haters that the Israeli government forced the USA into a joint strike on Iran’s regime. Despite what Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly, and the rest of the Jihad Squad claim, Israel didn’t strong-arm the United States into Operation Epic Fury. The Iranian terrorist regime brought it all upon themselves.The fact is that the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and co. were treating this administration the way they have treated almost every U.S. administration over decades. They defied the U.S., funded the terrorists who attacked our troops and our allies, screamed “death to America” over and over, and demanded we lie down and take it.


But this time, it didn’t turn out the way it usually does. Unlike Barack Obama or Joe Biden, who rewarded Iranian jihad, Donald Trump grew tired of being pushed around. A reporter asked Trump during a press conference if Israel “forced” his hand on the Operation Epic Fury strikes. Trump coolly replied, “No, I might have forced their hand. You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack. If we didn’t do it, they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that.”

Trump’s first priority and duty is to the American people. Democrats think we should always prioritize foreign terrorists, tyrants, and dictators, and that’s why they’re furious about this. Think of how much American money went to the Ayatollah’s regime through the hands of Democrats. At a certain point, America has to face reality about Islamic dictatorships and acknowledge that Muslim sacred texts have been commanding jihad against non-Muslims for some 1,400 years, and that the endless violence and conflict is not going to stop because of diplomacy. We have been at war with Iran’s regime for half a century, and eventually one government or the other must concede defeat.

Hence Trump observed, “And we have great negotiators, great people, people that do this very successfully, and have done it all their lives — very successful — and based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they were going to attack first. And I didn’t want that to happen.” Trump therefore preempted them with Operation Epic Fury, as Hegseth confirmed. “So if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand,” Trump added. “But Israel was ready, and we were ready, and we’ve had a — a very, very powerful impact.”

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Letitia, where did we go wrong?

• NY AG James Orders Hospital to Resume Gender-Transition for Minors (Turley)

In a rare and controversial move, New York Attorney General Letitia James has ordered a Manhattan hospital to resume offering gender-transition treatment to transgender youth. NYU Langone had discontinued such treatments after funding threats from the Trump administration. It is now caught between the proverbial rock (HHS) and a hard place (NYAG). Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order entitled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” seeking to restrict gender-transition treatment for people under 19. HHS then threatened hospitals with a cut off of federal Medicaid and Medicare funding for continuing such treatment for children.


Various European countries have also halted certain procedures after countervailing studies suggesting that the risks are too high. England’s National Health Service 2024 report on the subject, known as the Cass Report, found concerning evidence of harm for minors and inconclusive benefits. James threatened “further action” if NYU Langone does not defy the Trump Administration, declaring that the cessation of its Transgender Youth Health Program violates New York anti-discrimination law by “jeopardizing access to medically necessary healthcare for some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers.” NYU Langone had previously declared that it would no longer provide certain gender-transition treatments for patients under the age of 19.

James’s move could trigger a fascinating challenge. In the Feb. 25 letter signed by the attorney general’s health care bureau chief, Darsana Srinivasan, the state said that the federal regulatory change did not affect a “medical institution’s existing duties and obligations under New York law.” That raises an interesting conflict between state and federal regulations.The letter gives the hospital until March 11 to comply and resume these treatments. Effectively, James is ordering the hospital to defy the federal government. However, the hospital, not James or the state, would bear the financial and regulatory consequences.

While James does not state how she will penalize the hospital, the letter is likely sufficient to challenge the move. The question is whether the political costs for the NYU hospital are prohibitive. There is also the question of whether the HHS has standing or interest in challenging the move as a direct threat to federal authority. The problem with a federal challenge is that nothing in the New York threat prevents the federal government from carrying out its intent to cut off funding. Hospitals would have to choose between penalties in New York or loss of funding in Washington. Nevertheless, New York’s move is a direct attack on the enforcement of federal policy by state hospitals.

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The first ever openly gay Treasury Secretary is loyal to a T. He’s also very good at what he does.

• Trump’s 15% Global Tariff Will Take Effect This Week: Bessent (ET)

President Donald Trump’s 15 percent global tariff will take effect sometime this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. Following the Supreme Court’s rebuke of the president’s signature economic policy last month, Trump imposed a 10 percent global tariff, invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. A day later, Trump pledged to raise the rate to 15 percent. In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on March 4, Bessent confirmed that the new rate would be introduced sometime this week and remain in place for 150 days. He also anticipates tariff rates would return to the levels that were in place before the high court’s decision. “It’s my strong belief that the tariff rates will be back to their old rate within five months,” Bessent said.


“They have survived more than 4000 legal challenges. They are more slow moving, but they are more robust.” Bessent’s comments come two days after a U.S. federal appeals court rejected the president’s effort to postpone legal proceedings connected to tariff refunds, sending the battle to a lower court. Estimates suggest the federal government’s tariff refunds could total $175 billion. Fiscal year-to-date, the administration’s tariffs have generated more than $150 billion, according to Treasury data as of March 2. Global energy markets have been highly volatile since the Iran War, with crude oil and natural gas prices rocketing on fears of supply disruptions.

The president calmed down the oil market on March 3. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the White House would offer naval escorts and guarantee political risk insurance for commercial oil and gas tankers traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital global chokepoint that handles approximately 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products per day. It has effectively been shuttered as insurance companies canceled coverage or dramatically raised premiums. But the administration will make additional announcements to help stabilize prices, Bessent said. n“We have a series of announcements that we’re going to be making,” Bessent stated.

“We began yesterday with the announcement that [Development Finance Corporation] will provide the insurance for both the crude carriers and the cargo ships operating in around the Gulf over the weekend.” He shrugged off a possible energy shock as the Middle East conflict intensified, saying that the United States and the global marketplace maintain ample supplies. “This was a well telegraphed geopolitical event. The crude market had already moved substantially over the past two months. The crude markets are very well supplied,” Bessent said. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate—the U.S. benchmark for oil prices—fell by about 0.5 percent in pre-market trading to around $74 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent—the international benchmark—was little changed at slightly above $81 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. “Oil prices retreated after news the U.S. will ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, easing fears of a major global supply shock,” Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial, said in a note emailed to The Epoch Times. “Softer oil prices are also helping cool inflation concerns and pull interest rates lower.” Market watchers had warned that the risk of oil prices reaching $100 were high if the narrow waterway were closed for an extended period. U.S. stocks also rebounded midweek, with the leading benchmark averages in the green prior to the opening bell.

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… the 3:00 minute mark of the video

• Bessent Outlines U.S. Financial/Economic Stabilization Plan (CTH)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears on CNBC to discuss the Trump administration policies that were proactively deployed during Operation Epic Fury. The goal of global financial stabilization is actually part of the strategic planning within the White House, including Treasury, Energy and Interior in alignment with the State Dept., Pentagon and national security agencies. Part of that plan was the announcement for the U.S. to underwrite maritime insurance to ensure a minimal disruption to the global energy markets. Secretary Bessent discusses the insurance facet at the 3:00 minute mark of the video below.
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Wasn’t this Walz figure part of the Kamala cloud posse in the 1800s? Losers cling together, right?

• Walz, Ellison Knew About Minnesota Fraud ‘for Years,’ House Report (DS)

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was aware of the widespread welfare fraud in his state “for years” and “repeatedly failed to act,” alleges a congressional report released on Wednesday. Walz and the state’s Attorney General Keith Ellison are set to testify Wednesday about the $9 billion scandal before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The report, which also alleges that Ellison knew of the welfare fraud in Minnesota, draws from interviews with state employees and whistleblowers. “Senior officials in the governor’s office and Attorney General Ellison’s office were aware of credible fraud concerns in Minnesota’s social services programs as early as 2019 within the Department of Human Services (DHS) and by April 2020 within the Department of Education (MDE), despite later public statements by Governor Walz suggesting otherwise,” the report says.


The committee and staff conducted transcribed interviews with nine key current and former Minnesota state officials. The investigation focuses on alleged money laundering and fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs, uncovered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. The report, titled “The Cost of Doing Nothing,” further alleges retaliation against whistleblowers, including surveillance, and quotes some officials as not acting against suspected fraud out of fear of being labeled a racist. “As a result, potentially billions of American taxpayer dollars were allowed to flow to fraudulent actors, while vulnerable populations were harmed and whistleblowers were ignored, sidelined, and retaliated against,” the House report says.

This led to about $300 million in federal child nutrition funds and potentially $9 billion in Medicaid-related funds lost or placed at significant risk, according to the report. “Testimony obtained by the committee reveals that Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison were aware of widespread fraud in social service programs, lied about their knowledge of the fraud, and retaliated against employees who dared to raise concerns,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement. The report also alleges whistleblower retaliation against state employees who raised red flags at the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

“Whistleblowers within the DHS have alleged that Governor Walz not only knew about this fraud, but that he retaliated against whistleblowers, ‘spen[ding] millions on surveilling staff and hiring private investigator (sic) or law firms to silence staff,’” the report says. The agency’s then-temporary commissioner confirmed to investigators that the agency “used outside entities” to investigate its own staff, according to the report. “Instead of protecting vulnerable Americans, they handed over billions in taxpayer dollars to fraudsters and threw their own state employees under the bus,” Comer added. “Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison are appearing before the committee because the American people deserve clear answers about how this rampant fraud was allowed to flourish under their watch.”

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“The state accused the government of weaponizing the Medicaid program as ‘political punishment.’”

• Minnesota Sues Federal Government Over Medicaid Funding Freeze (Aldgra Fredly)

Minnesota filed a lawsuit on March 2 to block the federal government from withholding $243 million in Medicaid funds, saying the freeze could lead to potential cuts in medical services for low-income individuals. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last month temporarily deferred $259 million in Medicaid funds to Minnesota over alleged fraud in the state’s program, according to the court filing. The lawsuit, filed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the state’s Human Services Department, asked the court to block the withholding of $243 million of those funds that were tied to 14 services the government identified as “high-risk” and subject to “noncompliance action.”


“These cuts are the latest in a long series of efforts to go around the law to punish Minnesotans — but just as we fought back and won when they illegally tried to cut funding for childcare, hungry families, and our schools, we are suing them again today to make them follow the law,” Ellison said in a statement. The suit called the funding freeze unlawful, alleging that the government used the program as “political punishment” against the state, citing its previous attempts to withhold other funding from the state, including funds tied to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). According to the lawsuit, the federal government announced in January that it would freeze more than $2 billion in annual Medicaid funding to Minnesota over allegations of noncompliance.

The state appealed but said the federal government has not clarified the alleged conduct it deemed noncompliant or how Minnesota can remedy the issue. n “Impatient that it cannot withhold the $2 billion until Minnesota is provided a hearing and other due process, the administration ‘deferred’ $243 million from the state on February 25, 2026,” it stated.The lawsuit is seeking a temporary restraining order to block the funding freeze, saying the withholding of funds would affect more than 1 million Minnesota residents enrolled in Medicaid.

“Unless the deferral is quickly reversed, the state will be irreparably harmed. The administration has already stated that the deferral will recur every quarter, crippling the state budget,” it stated. The lawsuit names the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as well as Dr. Mehmet Oz, in his official capacity as CMS administrator, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in his official capacity as health secretary.

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Problems? You suck!

• SCOTUS Decision Highlights Problems with Parents in Blue States (Turley)

In the law, the concept of In loco parentis refers to those who act in the place of parents. The problem is when that authority is taken rather than granted. It is a growing problem in blue states as parents push back on Democratic measures stripping them of notice or consent over their children in public schools. In the last few months, Democrats have been buoyed by protests over immigration enforcement. Many politicians have fueled a wave of rage sweeping major cities before the midterm elections, denouncing law enforcement as “Gestapo” and “Nazis.”


However, a Supreme Court decision this week may lay bare an even greater threat to Democratic aspirations over parental rights. For many parents, blue states are attacking the most fundamental right of citizens in raising their own children. This week, the Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal filed on behalf of Catholic parents in California. The order in Mirabelli v. Bonta proved a decisive victory for parental rights and an equally notable defeat for California democrats.

The action, filed by the Thomas More Society, challenged a policy under a state law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024, that prevented teachers from notifying parents of their children’s gender identity changes. The law was heralded as a protection against the “outing” of transgender students. Some of us have been following the litigation since the original filing and heralded the decision of District Court Judge Roger Benitez, who wrote a powerful opinion in support of the rights of all parents. However, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stayed his injunction.In issuing the order on its “shadow docket,” the Court delivered a key win for parental rights that many of us have been seeking for years.

Blue state legislators and educators have been waging a war on parental rights, particularly in the area of transgender policies. Recently, in Michigan, parents sued to defend their rights after the Rockford Public School District refused to inform them of gender identity changes in their children. Last year, I wrote about a startling decision in Foote v. Feliciano in which the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled against Massachusetts parents Marissa Silvestri and Stephen Foote seeking such notice. As in the California case, they learned that school administrators did not inform them that their 11-year-old child had self-declared as “genderqueer” and that teachers and staff were using a new name and new pronouns for the student.

The First Circuit dismissed the right of parents over their own children in the case, holding that “as per our understanding of Supreme Court precedent, our pluralistic society assigns those curricular and administrative decisions to the expertise of school officials, charged with the responsibility of educating children.” Foote was a chilling decision that reflected the view of state officials that parents give up their rights over their children when enrolling them in public schools. That view was evident in the comment of State Rep. Lee Snodgrass (D-Wis.), who once tweeted: “If parents want to ‘have a say’ in their child’s education, they should home school or pay for private school tuition out of their family budget.” [..]

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4 years of nothing.

• Ukraine Blocks EU Mission To Inspect Russian Oil Pipeline – FT (RT)

Ukraine has rejected a proposed EU mission to inspect the Soviet-era pipeline that transports Russian oil through Ukrainian territory to Central Europe, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing diplomats and officials. Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of deliberately blocking the flow through the Druzhba pipeline, while Ukraine said the infrastructure was damaged by Russian strikes in January. The EU is pressuring Ukraine to restore the operation of the Soviet-era pipeline that transports Russian oil through Ukrainian territory to Central Europe, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing diplomats and officials.


Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of deliberately blocking the flow through the Druzhba pipeline, while Ukraine claimed the infrastructure was damaged by Russian strikes in January. According to FT, some pro-Ukrainian EU member states and the European Commission are now asking Kiev to allow a visit to demonstrate that it is working to restore oil flows. Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa personally requested access to the pipeline for inspection but were denied, FT said.One of the newspaper’s sources argued that by blocking the inspection, Ukraine scored an “own goal” and gave Hungary an excuse to veto the planned $106 billion emergency loan for Ukraine and the EU’s 20th round of sanctions against Russia.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he had sent a letter to von der Leyen calling for enforcement of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which “obliges Ukraine to allow oil shipments to Hungary.” “As confirmed by recently published satellite evidence, there is no technical or operational reason preventing the pipeline from reverting to normal operations immediately,” Orban stated. nmOrban said that Hungary and Slovakia had proposed dispatching a “fact-finding mission” to inspect the pipeline, but their “efforts were rejected.”

In August, Hungary imposed sanctions on Ukraine’s top drone commander Robert Brovdi after attacks on sections of the Druzhba pipeline in Russia. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has called on Hungary to stop purchasing energy from Russia. Reuters reported on Tuesday that some EU members, including France and Germany, oppose the idea of granting Ukraine fast-tracked accession to the bloc, citing “rampant corruption.”

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https://twitter.com/AndrewBolis/status/2029168756661039225?s=20 https://twitter.com/Juliedonuts/status/2029187803414671858?s=20 https://twitter.com/HungaryBased/status/2028915815525781828?s=20 https://twitter.com/AstronomyVibes/status/2029110904508547240?s=20

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle September 30 2025

Sep 302025
 
 September 30, 2025  Posted by at 9:52 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  52 Responses »


Édouard Boubat Café La Tartine, Paris 1989

 

• Trump’s Plan For Gaza Could Affect Ukrainian Conflict — Witkoff (TASS)
• Trump Unveils 20-Point Gaza Cease-Fire Plan (NYP)
• ‘Putin Doesn’t Want World War III’ – Italian FM (RT)
• Trump Flip Flop on Ukraine Guarantees Nuke War – Martin Armstrong (USAW)
• EU Officials Fear New ‘Franz Ferdinand Moment’ – Politico (RT)
• Trump May Have Authorized Ukrainian Strikes Deep Inside Russia – Kellogg (RT)
• Kellogg Says Trump Has Authorized NATO Strikes Against Moscow (CTH)
• James Comey Tried to Take Down Trump (Victor Davis Hanson)
• The Big Lebowski Civil War (James Howard Kunstler)
• Trump Is About to Pull Off the Biggest Federal Workforce Cut in History (Margolis)
• Is This the Man to Save the Democrats? (Stephen Green)
• John Fetterman Throws His Party Under the Bus (Margolis)
• UK Records Unprecedented Migrant Boat Arrival (RT)
• Rowling Finally Gave Hermione the Spanking She Deserves (Green)

 

 

https://twitter.com/MdBreathe/status/1972472604025106792

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1972651695353241979
https://twitter.com/BrianJBerletic/status/1972649650298450274


https://twitter.com/RussiaIsntEnemy/status/1972639433699844592
https://twitter.com/ivan_8848/status/1972689953898303815

 

 

 

 

We can dream, but…

• Trump’s Plan For Gaza Could Affect Ukrainian Conflict — Witkoff (TASS)

The implementation of US President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could create momentum that would help bring peace to other regions of the Middle East and also influence the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff said. “President [Trump] wants to see an overall peace. It’s not just about Gaza; it’s about how this might percolate into all other areas in the Middle East, and what it’s going to achieve, maybe even percolate into Russia and Ukraine,” he told Fox News in an interview, commenting on the plan proposed by the US authorities to resolve the conflict in the Palestinian enclave. Witkoff added that Trump’s initiative is supported by both the Persian Gulf countries and European states.

Earlier, the White House published a plan to resolve the conflict in the Gaza Strip. It calls for a complete cessation of hostilities and the release of hostages held by Hamas within 72 hours. In addition, the document proposes transferring the enclave to external administration for a transitional period. During this time, residents of the enclave would be given the opportunity to leave and return.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced at a press conference with Trump in Washington that he supports the US president’s plan to end military operations in Gaza. However, he noted that if Hamas rejects or sabotages the proposal, Israel will “finish the job by itself.”.

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OK OK, I’ll give it all the space it wants. But this reads like Bibi’s plan, maybe signed, maybe not, under the threat of more violence. Shaky.

• Trump Unveils 20-Point Gaza Cease-Fire Plan (NYP)

President Trump formally unveiled a 20-point peace plan Monday calling for an international peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip and a post-Hamas transitional government overseen by a “Board of Peace” — that Trump himself would lead as chairman. Trump, 79, announced the plan alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House and said it could bring “eternal peace in the Middle East” — with eight Muslim-majority countries and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority quickly joining Israel in embracing the blueprint. “This is a beautiful day, potentially one of the great days ever in civilization,” Trump told reporters in the State Dining Room. “We discussed how to end the war in Gaza. But it’s just a part of the bigger picture, which is peace in the Middle East, and let’s call it eternal peace in the Middle East.”

The governments of Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates issued a rare joint statement praising the framework. The nations said they “welcome President Donald J. Trump’s leadership and his sincere efforts to end the war in Gaza” and “affirm their readiness to engage positively and constructively with the United States and the parties toward finalizing the agreement and ensuring its implementation.” The Palestinian Authority, which rules parts of the West Bank and lost a 2007 civil war with Hamas for control of Gaza, said: “The State of Palestine welcomes the sincere and determined efforts of President Donald J. Trump to end the war on Gaza and affirms its confidence in his ability to find a path toward peace.”

Trump warned, however, that Israel would have his permission to “finish the job” if Hamas refused to sign on to the plan, saying that “Israel would have my full backing” in subsequent fighting. Trump said at his press conference that “the leaders of the Arab world, Israel and everybody involved, asked me to” chair the proposed peace board board and floated the prospect of the deal leading to dramatic regional changes – including possible diplomatic relations between Israel and Iran. Netanyahu confirmed that his government had agreed to the provisions, adding that Israel would finish the war and end Hamas rule of Gaza “the easy way” or “the hard way.” In an interview with Qatar-based Al Jazeera following Trump’s and Netanyahu’s remarks, Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi claimed that Trump’s peace plan “has not reached us, nor has it reached any Palestinian party so far.

——-–
President Donald J. Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict:

1. Gaza will be a deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors.
2. Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough.
3. If both sides agree to this proposal, the war will immediately end. Israeli forces will withdraw to the agreed upon line to prepare for a hostage release. During this time, all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment, will be suspended, and battle lines will remain frozen until conditions are met for the complete staged withdrawal.
4. Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned.
5. Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1700 Gazans who were detained after October 7th, 2023, including all women and children detained in that context. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.

6. Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries.
7. Upon acceptance of this agreement, full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip. At a minimum, aid quantities will be consistent with what was included in the January 19, 2025, agreement regarding humanitarian aid, including rehabilitation of infrastructure (water, electricity, sewage), rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries, and entry of necessary equipment to remove rubble and open roads.
8. Entry of distribution and aid in the Gaza Strip will proceed without interference from the two parties through the United Nations and its agencies, and the Red Crescent, in addition to other international institutions not associated in any manner with either party. Opening the Rafah crossing in both directions will be subject to the same mechanism implemented under the January 19, 2025, agreement.
9. Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza. This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair. This body will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. This body will call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment.
10. A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East. Many thoughtful investment proposals and exciting development ideas have been crafted by well-meaning international groups and will be considered to synthesize the security and governance frameworks to attract and facilitate these investments that will create jobs, opportunity, and hope for future Gaza.

11. A special economic zone will be established with preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries.
12. No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.
13. Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form. All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt. There will be a process of demilitarization of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors, which will include placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning, and supported by an internationally funded buy back and reintegration program all verified by the independent monitors. New Gaza will be fully committed to building a prosperous economy and to peaceful coexistence with their neighbors.
14. A guarantee will be provided by regional partners to ensure that Hamas, and the factions, comply with their obligations and that New Gaza poses no threat to its neighbors or its people.
15. The United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) to immediately deploy in Gaza. The ISF will train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza and will consult with Jordan and Egypt who have extensive experience in this field. This force will be the long-term internal security solution. The ISF will work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas, along with newly trained Palestinian police forces. It is critical to prevent munitions from entering Gaza and to facilitate the rapid and secure flow of goods to rebuild and revitalize Gaza. A deconfliction mechanism will be agreed upon by the parties.

16. Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. As the ISF establishes control and stability, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization that will be agreed upon between the IDF, ISF, the guarantors, and the Unites States, with the objective of a secure Gaza that no longer poses a threat to Israel, Egypt, or its citizens. Practically, the IDF will progressively hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to the ISF according to an agreement they will make with the transitional authority until they are withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat.
17. In the event Hamas delays or rejects this proposal, the above, including the scaled-up aid operation, will proceed in the terror-free areas handed over from the IDF to the ISF.
18. An interfaith dialogue process will be established based on the values of tolerance and peaceful co-existence to try and change mindsets and narratives of Palestinians and Israelis by emphasizing the benefits that can be derived from peace.
19. While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.
20. The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence. [SOURCE]
The document released by the White House states that if all parties agree, “Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza.” “This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the ‘Board of Peace,’ which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced,” the paper says.The only potential member Trump announced by name was former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who released a statement calling the plan “bold and intelligent.”

The proposal also calls for Hamas to return all hostages, alive or dead, within 72 hours of Israeli acceptance of the terms. In exchange, the Israelis would pull back their troops, offer the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences as well as 1,700 additional Gazans, and offer Hamas members amnesty if they commit to peace. The plan also has a provision to rid the Gaza government of Hamas officials, with the terror group having to agree to dismantle tunnels and weapons production facilities. Many significant details were not spelled out, including the size of a so-called International Stabilization Force (ISF) to handle security in Gaza post-Hamas and what nations would contribute troops. That force would “immediately deploy in Gaza” and bring “control and stability” to the battle-torn region, including patrolling its borders and training police.“My plan calls for the creation of a new international oversight body, the Board of Peace. We call it the board of peace, sort of a beautiful name,” Trump told the media.

“Working with the World Bank and others, it will be responsible for recruiting and training a new government that will be made up of Palestinians along with highly qualified experts from all around the world,” he went on. “Hamas and other terrorist factions will play no role in the board, they will play no role in the governance of Gaza at all, directly or indirectly.” The president described the board as a “temporary” measure that will only be in place as the Palestinian Authority undergoes a “reform program” tied to Trump’s Middle East peace plan of 2020. Gaza will also be flooded with humanitarian aid upon the signing of the treaty, including the rehabilitation of food, medical and transportation infrastructure.The economic rebuilding will be overseen by a “panel of experts” responsible for the construction of thriving cities in the Middle East. That group will discuss potential investment opportunities that will create jobs and “hope,” a White House readout said.
————-–
Unlike Trump’s February plan for an American-led takeover of Gaza, with the native population deported to allow for the construction of “the Riviera of the Middle East,” the new plan would not require Palestinians to leave their homeland. “No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return,” the document said. “We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.” The peace plan was announced just 11 days before the selection of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize honoree, which White House officials say should be Trump due to his role in sealing seven other agreements to stop armed conflicts. Analysts greeted the proposal with skepticism, with longtime Middle East observers noting one key obstacle. “Gaza must be a de-radicalized terror-free zone,” said former Trump National Security Council staffer Richard Goldberg, now a senior adviser at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “All hostages must come home within 72 hours. The rest is commentary.”

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“Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.”

• ‘Putin Doesn’t Want World War III’ – Italian FM (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in igniting a global conflict, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Sunday, replying to claims that Moscow could send drones against the EU nation. Just a day earlier, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky claimed that Russia could target Italy or other European nations with drone attacks. This month, Poland and Estonia accused Moscow of breaching their airspace – accusations that Russia has dismissed as unfounded. “I don’t think Putin wants to start World War III, so I want to reassure all Italians,” Tajani said in a speech at a Forza Italia party event in Telese Terme on Sunday.

“I don’t believe Putin wants to send drones to swarm us,” he said, adding that he had discussed the subject with Italian Defense Minister Guido Crossetto that morning. In early September, Poland accused Russia of violating its airspace with a number of drones, with Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski later warning that any intrusions would be met with force. Moscow has stated that Warsaw’s accusations are baseless and argued that the incident was fabricated to derail the Ukraine peace process. According to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the drones allegedly found on Polish territory could not have been launched from Russia.

“If they are the ones we are thinking of, then their flight range is shorter than the distance from the border of the Russian Federation to the border with Poland,” he said on the sidelines of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly on Saturday. During his speech at the event, the top diplomat dismissed Western claims that Moscow is planning to attack NATO in the next few years. He also expressed concern that certain European bloc officials “are beginning to seriously talk about a third world war as a potential scenario.” Russia never intentionally launches missile or drone strikes toward members of the US-led military bloc, Lavrov stressed.

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“My computer says you are going to lose, and my computer has never been wrong. You can check it, and the CIA even wanted it. It’s got a 40-year track record you can document.”

• Trump Flip Flop on Ukraine Guarantees Nuke War – Martin Armstrong (USAW)

The last time legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong was on USAWatchdog, he was hopeful that Trump would keep America out of the coming NATO War with Russia. Trump was talking about not sending troops to Ukraine for any peace deal, and before that, he said he backed a Russian plan to trade land for peace in Ukraine. Fast forward a month, and now, Trumps says, “Ukraine can win back its territory,” Russia is a “paper tiger,” and NATO countries should shoot down Russia aircraft. What a flip-flop on foreign policy!

To Trump’s credit, it is reported he did deny sending long range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, but he is still sending a fresh batch of arms to NATO paid for with seized Russian money. What the heck is going on? Armstrong says, “It’s a double edge sword here. On one hand, he is being a bit sarcastic, and maybe if he says that somehow it will compel Putin to come to the table. Sorry, this is not negotiating trade issues. You are insulting the integrity of Russia saying it is a ‘paper tiger,’ etc. Everything Trump has said is exactly what the neocons have been saying. These EU leaders have been told that Russia is on the verge of collapse. . . .NATO has been telling them they have 3.4 million troops against Russia’s 1.5 million troops, and they can walk in and take Russia in a blink of an eye. This is the nonsense that they are putting out.”

This brings us to Armstrong’s predictive computer program called Socrates. Armstrong says, “I typed in here: Socrates, what are the prospects for nuclear war after 2025?” This is the first time Armstrong has let Socrates answer in an interview, and it says, “Marty, the prospects for nuclear war post 2025 appear to have risen to 100%. This may be tactical nuclear. All indicators show Ukraine remains the center point for Europe as a proxy war orchestrated by NATO. Ukraine will not survive as a country, and the European Union is also not likely to survive beyond 2030.”

Could Trump be one of the greatest President’s in history if he sidesteps this European war with Russia? Armstrong says, “Absolutely. The EU is not salvageable. I have been doing interviews in Europe, and three years ago, I was asked, ‘Do you really think the EU will break up?’ And now, I get, ‘When is it going to break up?’ . . .. These neocons will never accept any kind of a peace deal with Russia—period.” I asked Armstrong if he were to have a short one-on-one call with President Trump, what would you tell him? Armstrong says, “My computer says you are going to lose, and my computer has never been wrong. You can check it, and the CIA even wanted it. It’s got a 40-year track record you can document.”

What would Armstrong advise President Trump to do right now? Armstrong says, “I would tell President Trump to get the hell out of Europe, and get out the hell of NATO. I did pass a message to President Trump a few months ago with someone who is close to him. I said NATO is going to try to do a false flag to invoke an Article Five to drag us into the war. We have to get out of NATO ASAP.” On gold and silver and their big price increases lately, Armstrong says, “It’s not a surprise. They are going up because of war.” Armstrong predicts future price gains for both metals will explode, and on some instances start doubling in price. For example, on gold, Armstrong says, “When you cross $5,000 per ounce, and I am talking further out, these markets always jump exponentially to the next major psychological number. So, when you cross $5,000, it will jump to $10,000. That’s what everybody will be looking for then,” One last thing, Armstrong says, “China is on record to not let Russia lose to NATO, because if that happens, they are next.”

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Nostalgia?

• EU Officials Fear New ‘Franz Ferdinand Moment’ – Politico (RT)

The EU is increasingly wary that tensions with Russia could spill into a major conflict, in a scenario some officials privately liken to the chain reaction following the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand that triggered World War I, Politico reported on Monday. EU leaders are poised to meet in Copenhagen on Wednesday to discuss ways to contain Russia amid a surge in drone incidents across Europe. According to Politico, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is pushing for an “unprecedented discussion” of the EU’s military posture, going well beyond the bloc’s usual remit to include projects such as a “drone wall” to neutralize UAVs deemed hostile.

The outlet notes that the summit participants are certain to agree that Russia poses a “threat” to the bloc, and sign up based on the sentiment that “doing nothing… makes all-out war more likely.” However, unnamed diplomats told Politico that potential moves to deter Russia are “strewn with potential disasters,” with some officials warning privately of a possible “Franz Ferdinand moment” – a sudden escalation that could drag the continent into conflict. The phrase refers to the 1914 assassination Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, which set off a rapid chain of alliances and ultimatums that triggered WWI. EU military leaders reportedly believe the bloc is already in a “form of low-intensity war with Russia,” adding that historically, wars have been financed with public debt. However, it could prove very difficult to persuade all EU members – some of which are already grappling with economic problems – to expand the bloc’s budget for defense, Politico said.

The heightened caution follows a recent episode in which Warsaw claimed Russian drones violated Polish airspace during strikes on Ukraine, prompting discussion in NATO about whether the bloc should shoot down intruding jets. Moscow has dismissed Warsaw’s accusations, saying it did not provide any evidence, while denouncing the debates on downing Russian planes as “irresponsible.” Moscow has on numerous occasions said that “Russia has no intention” to attack NATO while expressing concern over the fact that Western officials “are beginning to seriously talk about a third world war as a potential scenario.”

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They would be NATO strikes, not Ukraine.

• Trump May Have Authorized Ukrainian Strikes Deep Inside Russia – Kellogg (RT)

US President Donald Trump may have already approved Ukrainian long-range strikes inside Russia, special envoy Keith Kellogg said on Sunday in an interview with Fox News. Kellogg, who is often described in the media as a pro-Kiev voice within Trump’s team, was asked about the president’s recent remark that Ukraine could recapture all the territory it has lost to Russia and “maybe even go further than that,” which the host interpreted as a sign of imminent long-range strikes. Ukraine must secure Washington’s approval to hit targets deep inside Russia with US-supplied weapons.

The first such permission was granted in November 2024 under President Joe Biden, shortly after Trump won that year’s election. Kellogg said the final call on any such request rests with Trump as commander-in-chief, noting that “sometimes the Ukrainians get some of these, sometimes they don’t.” Pressed on whether Trump supports Ukrainian strikes into Russia, Kellogg replied, “I think, reading what he has said and reading what Vice President [J.D.] Vance has said as well as [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio, the answer is, yes.” He added, “There are no such things as sanctuaries.”

Vance recently told Fox News that Trump is “certainly looking” at a renewed Ukrainian request for US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles. Kellogg said such weapons would allow Ukraine to deepen its reach inside Russian territory. The Kremlin has downplayed the potential impact of any Tomahawk deliveries. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no “wonder weapon” would change the battlefield dynamic, although he added that Ukrainian forces would likely be unable to operate Tomahawks without direct US involvement – something Moscow would consider a serious escalation.

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“The U.S. provides the missiles. The U.S. approves the missile locations in Ukraine. The U.S. authorizes the targets of the missiles from their location. NATO provides the satellite guidance system. Ukraine targets Moscow and launches the missiles. How is President Trump not directly responsible for a NATO proxy war against Russia?\”

• Kellogg Says Trump Has Authorized NATO Strikes Against Moscow (CTH)

Ukraine is not a member of NATO. The United States is the leading force within NATO. Most recently President Trump has repeatedly said that he is brokering missile sales to NATO for transfer to, and use from, Ukraine against Russia. To wit, President Donald Trump has authorized NATO member states to deploy offensive missile systems into non-NATO Ukraine, provided by the U.S. In the latest development, U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine General Keith Kellogg has announced Ukraine has the authority to launch those missile systems deep into Russia, including Moscow. According to General Kellogg, President Trump is authorizing NATO to strike Moscow with U.S. missiles, launched from Ukraine. How is Ukraine not a proxy war between NATO and Russia?

This is escalating madness. We are reasonably intelligent and pragmatic people. We have the objective capability to look at the issues from both sides of the equation. Look at this issue from the perspective of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. provides the missiles. The U.S. approves the missile locations in Ukraine. The U.S. authorizes the targets of the missiles from their location. NATO provides the satellite guidance system. Ukraine targets Moscow and launches the missiles. How is President Trump not directly responsible for a NATO proxy war against Russia?

The only way for President Trump to make the ‘accountability monkey’ jump now, is to exit NATO. The reason why the EU member states of NATO want escalated war with Russia is financial and economic. Through policy and ideology, the EU/NATO members have walked themselves into an economic dead end. They are out of assets to leverage. The only way out for the EU/NATO leadership is to create a war to erase debt, expand assets and reset the economics.

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When all else is said and done, he did.

• James Comey Tried to Take Down Trump (Victor Davis Hanson)

I’d like to do something different today and the next day, and that is to do a two-part, short, little videos. One is on the moral implications of James Comey’s recent indictment, the former FBI director. And then, the legal ramifications. Even though I’m not a lawyer, I thought we could talk about the legal separately from the moral indications. James Comey was indicted by the Trump Justice Department on two counts. One, he allegedly had lied under oath to Congress that he had not authorized leaks to the press by FBI subordinates. Probably, in particular, Andrew McCabe, who admittedly lied four times, I think three times under oath, according to the inspector general of the DOJ. And a second count that he obstructed, by lying to Congress, a congressional investigation.

But there’s larger questions here. James Comey, remember, was the FBI director when he interfered in the 2016 election. He said that Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee who was running against Donald Trump, had broken the law by using an unsecure private server, in which classified material was transmitted. But he didn’t think a jury would convict her, or he didn’t think it led to a level of such seriousness. That’s not his decision, really. That’s the Department of Justice. He’s supposed to bring evidence. James Comey, remember, also, he met with Donald Trump. And they had a confidential conversation. That’s not in dispute. And James Comey assured the president of the United States that he was not the subject of an FBI investigation. That was false. Now, he may not have said that under oath, but he admitted he said that, and so did Donald Trump. They agree on that.

So, he lied to the president of the United States. And then what did he do? He took that conversation and “memorialized it.” And then he had four memos involving his interactions with the president. They were recorded on FBI machinery or devices, but he did not file them officially with the FBI. He put them in his private safe as safekeeping or insurance, so that he could embarrass the president of the United States, if he was ever threatened with firing. And so, what did he do? He took one of those memos and gave it to a friend, who happened to be a professor at Columbia, for the express purpose of leaking it, leaking it to The New York Times, and then he wouldn’t have his fingerprints.

So, while he is legally charged with this other incident or crime—if he’s proven guilty of leaking—he admitted that he had leaked information about the president of the United States. And he also, essentially, admitted that he wasn’t the object of an investigation, when he likely was. In addition to this, he was the one that hired Christopher Steele. Christopher Steele was working for Hillary Clinton through three paywalls: through the Democratic National Committee, through the Perkins Coie law firm, and through Fusion GPS. It’s against the law, in a presidential federal campaign, to hire a foreign national. He was on the payroll of the Clinton effort, he was also a contractor that James Comey hired, and he was the one who compiled this phony dossier.

In addition, James Comey was in the room with John Brennan and James Clapper when Barack Obama essentially said to them, both during the campaign, but even after the election of 2016: I don’t believe that your subordinate intelligence reports are accurate about not finding actionable Russian collusion. I want you to bring me something—I’m paraphrasing—that would show that Donald Trump was colluding. He also, you remember, he laughed when he said that he sent his FBI team to interview Michael Flynn. But the administration, in 2016, during their transition, was so inept, so unprepared, they didn’t even have a lawyer. So, Michael Flynn just welcomed him naively into his office, and he talked to them and he incriminated himself without counsel. Of course, the FBI people involved felt that he had been honest to them and had not tried to mislead them.

What am I getting at? All of these things that James Comey has been responsible for—the Russian collusion hoax; trying to frame Donald Trump, or I don’t know what you would call it, by memorializing a conversation, and then hiding it from the FBI files and leaking it, indirectly, to The New York Times; or having anything to do with this scoundrel, Christopher Steele; or trying to override intelligence estimates and try to fabricate something else; or giving special treatment to Hillary Clinton. But add it all up, at least, morally and ethically, he was bankrupt, absolutely bankrupt. Maybe not in the legal, strict sense, or not in—he couldn’t be prosecuted in a New York or Washington courtroom and get a guilty verdict from one of those juries. But he is morally culpable. Next time we’ll talk about his legal exposure.

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“We really are living through Bloody September” —Will Chamberlain.

• The Big Lebowski Civil War (James Howard Kunstler)

When the newly-formed Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay, April 1861, they ignited the Civil War. They, at least, had a clearcut goal: to maintain an economy (and society) based on slavery. It was patently evil, but it was firmly established and it was their engine for daily life, and they didn’t want it to end. When Charlie Kirk was murdered in 2025, Civil War 2.0 kicked off. The enemy this time are not Confederates with a coherent command structure and a goal. They are an army of nihilists like the gang in The Big Lebowski, who, for one reason or another, have failed to launch lives of meaning and purpose, and so have adopted the purpose of destroying the country they cannot thrive in. Unlike The Big Lebowski, this is not a joke. But, it’s obviously a different sort of civil war than the first one.

It appears that many of these nihilists, especially the ones amalgamated as Antifa, are straight-up mentally ill — crazed young women too untamed to find a mate, many obese and self-mutilated like tattooed savages with steel bones in their noses. . . young men, hormones afire, likewise frustrated, escaping into sexual fetish and psychotic obsessions with demons, violence, blame, enmity. They are warriors for their own deformed ids. There is, for sure, plenty to complain about in American life as currently organized. It abounds with swindles and ruses, and much of the ill effect falls on young people who were rooked into college loans, are drowning in unpayable debt, are unable to find meaningful work in an economy dominated by cruelly gigantic companies, are unable to afford a place of their own to eat and sleep in, and whose bodies and minds are ravaged by junk food and pharma products.

Do not overlook the deleterious effects of the everyday environment we have created: the world of American suburbia. Above all, it requires a reliable car to even begin to function in, and that is beyond the reach of many newly-minted adults with no job or a shit-job. The sheer ugliness of American suburbia is punishing to human neurology. It induces anxiety and despair to a degree we can’t begin to reckon. Try walking a mile down a six-laner between the Sam’s Club and the DMV sometime. Suburbia atomizes social relations, making everyone an isolated unit and it defeats any attempt to form real communities. Its schools function like minimum security prisons, generators of anomie and ennui. On top of all that, suburbia has entered its arc of economic failure.

Even the gainfully employed middle-aged can no longer pay for it. It was built out of crappy materials that are falling apart now. A sane person would opt to not live in it, but since escape is so difficult from sea to shining sea, the other option is to go insane — especially if you’re just setting out in life. All of this discontent gets converted, abracadabra, into political ideology. The old, reliable package of Marxism works whenever people feel cheated out of meaning, purpose, and a livelihood. And so, this anguished cohort of the young, defeated in making a life, driven mentally ill by their surroundings, hounded by the endless prompts of their beloved smartphones, wrecked by the things they put in their bodies, and broken by their demoralizing failures, become the useful idiots of their political elders.

And the Democratic Party, having become little more than a grifting machine of hustles and hoaxes, uses the young to generate ever more ill-feeling across the land over issues that self-evidently are against the interests of the young — so that the party can survive its present existential crisis. It was not in young America’s interest to receive “Joe Biden’s” flood of illegal migrants across the border. Apart from their criminal histories, or the hidden agenda to form subversive cells for foreign enemies, the illegal migrants compete with young people in many realms of employment like the building trades, while they drive down wages generally. So why are the Antifas out there in front of the ICE facility affecting to “rescue” the deportees?

Because the mind-scrambling language of Marxian revolt has persuaded the Antifas that the illegal migrants are their “marginalized intersectional allies.” It’s bullshit, of course, but the mentally ill swallow it because they are desperate for meaning and filled with animus for all-and-any authority responsible for constructing and managing a system they have failed in. Mr. Trump, the primary demon in their fantasies, and certainly the enemy of the Democratic Party’s corrupt grifting machine, attempts to restore an economy based on producing things of value, rather than financial flimflams. The catch is, he may not be able to do that using the old armature of gigantic corporate organisms operating on rollover debt. That phase of history is probably over.

We need a new armature, but one based on voluntary exchange, which is to say economic liberty, not top-town communist-type centralized planning. Everywhere that has been tried, it failed and blew up. Euro-style Socialism Lite is not a workable choice anymore, either, because we are leaving behind the cheap energy economy and the geopolitical deals that made six-week vacations, retirement at 60, and free medicine possible.

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“..the government could shed roughly 275,000 employees by the end of 2025..”

• Trump Is About to Pull Off the Biggest Federal Workforce Cut in History (Margolis)

The Trump administration just pulled off something most Americans probably didn’t think was possible: shrinking the federal bureaucracy in a massive and meaningful way. On Tuesday, more than 100,000 federal workers are expected to walk out the door through a deferred resignation program, marking the largest single-year reduction in the civilian federal workforce since World War II. Factor in layoffs, buyouts, early retirements, and natural attrition, and the government could shed roughly 275,000 employees by the end of 2025. Of course, the federal workforce is enormous—roughly 2.4 million employees, not counting postal workers—and not everyone qualifies for these programs. Military personnel, immigration enforcement officers, national security staff, NTSB employees, postal service workers, and several other categories are excluded. Even so, the reductions represent a historic reshaping of government employment.

This didn’t happen by accident. The Trump administration executed a deliberate strategy to cut spending; eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse; and push the federal workforce closer to an at-will employment model more typical of the private sector. It’s a bold move that challenges entrenched bureaucracy and signals a new era of accountability in Washington. The Economic Times has more. Trump administration officials defend the expenditure. The Office of Personnel Management stated the one-time costs reduce longer-term federal government spending. The agency also criticized job protections for federal civil servants, arguing the government should adopt a “modern, at-will employment framework like most employers.”

A White House spokesperson said there was “no additional cost to the government” because employees would have received their salaries regardless of the program. “In fact, this is the largest and most effective workforce reduction plan in history and will save the government $28bn annually,” the spokesperson added. The total number of expected departures through the delayed resignation and voluntary separation programs, attrition, and early retirement programs is approximately 275,000 employees, according to the spokesman. Sources told CNN earlier this year that OPM offered an early retirement incentive through the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, or VERA, to employees who qualify and choose to participate in the deferred resignation program. To be eligible, workers must be at least 50 years old with 20 years of service—or any age with at least 25 years on the job.

What we’re witnessing is a permanent reduction of more than 10% in the civilian federal workforce. Agencies like the EPA and FEMA have offered voluntary buyouts to nearly all employees to speed up the process. Critics say this depletes institutional expertise and hurts morale. Supporters say it streamlines government, reduces regulatory burdens, and saves money. Legislative and legal efforts to stop the mass departures have largely failed. Congress faces a critical funding deadline on Tuesday, and agencies are already planning for additional large-scale firings if there’s a government shutdown. The Trump administration is making good on its promise to shrink the size and scope of the federal government, and the bureaucracy is feeling it.

If Washington can cut this deeply into its bloated bureaucracy and the sky doesn’t fall, then Americans should be demanding even more. For decades, politicians have promised to rein in government, only to hand us more waste and more debt. This moment proves it can actually be done, and voters must hold Washington accountable to deliver more of it.

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“Funny to think that Bill Clinton’s policies when he was President were essentially MAGA..,*

• Is This the Man to Save the Democrats? (Stephen Green)

The Democrat who once quipped, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do [big government] things that you think you could not do before,” seems like an unlikely choice for tearing the party from the revolutionaries and radicals who increasingly make up its public face. But that’s exactly the case the Wall Street Journal made today about former White House advisor and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who “appears increasingly serious about running for president.” The Journal’s John McCormick wrote that while Emanuel’s “centrist message clashes with an insurgent progressive base mesmerized by figures such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Zohran Mamdani,” and other so-called Democratic Socialists, “the seriousness of Emanuel’s ambitions was obvious throughout his two-day visit” to — you guessed it — Des Moines, Iowa over the weekend.

“It was instructive to see Emanuel surrounded over the weekend by the Democratic base in Iowa where he headlined an annual party fish-fry fundraiser in the state’s largest county,” McCormick reported. “While he wasn’t technically campaigning, it was the first time the famously combative Emanuel had made a high-profile retail political appearance on his own behalf for the better part of a decade.” Politico’s writeup of the same Iowa appearance included Emanuel’s repetition of a centrist message that could have come right out of his time in the Clinton White House: The former White House chief of staff offered a message centered on economic fairness, education and affordability. “This should not come as a surprise to you,” Emanuel said from the stage set up at the home of Iowa state Rep. Sean Bagniewski, who hosted the fish fry in his front yard for 400 Democrats. “The American Dream is unaffordable. It’s inaccessible, and we, as Democrats, that’s unacceptable to us.”

Yet the Journal noted that “gone were his recent criticisms of his party’s brand as ‘toxic’ and ‘weak and woke.'” The 65-year-old — who will be pushing 70 during the next presidential race and hasn’t run for anything since 2018 — has to do something to appeal to younger voters, after all. I suppose the best thing a conservative could say about Rahm Emanuel is that his corruption is well within Chicago’s Daley-era norms, and that, unlike his party’s Young Turks, he isn’t bat-guano crazy. But here’s the thing about being a member of a party that almost reflexively finds itself on the 20% side of every 80/20 issue: maybe the 20% is exactly what their remaining voters want. While I’m not always a huge fan of the GOP dragging itself toward the center and away from some of its core conservative policies — “Funny to think that Bill Clinton’s policies when he was President were essentially MAGA*,” Elon Musk quipped on Sunday — there’s a noteworthy silver lining.

A more centrist GOP effectively isolates Democrat radicals inside their shrunken, 80/20 party, where they’re less able to inflict serious damage outside the Deep Blue zones. It’s a huge win for the country, and we should be happy to take it. *At least on crime, welfare, and immigration.Maybe I’m wrong about this, but Emanuel’s effort has a bit of a Springsteen “Glory Days” feel to it. “Hey, remember when things were great under Clinton? Remember the Lightbringer? I remember!” Or maybe Emanuel is just the pol to pull the Dems back toward the center. He’s one of the few Obama-era people with name recognition (at least with the money people), and without any major ties to Obama’s Red Diaper radicalism. But the problem with being the one-eyed man in the land of the blind is that they’ll probably poke your eye out. Good luck, Rahm — you’ll need it.

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“..It’s always wrong to shut our government down.”

• John Fetterman Throws His Party Under the Bus (Margolis)

John Fetterman is throwing his own party under the bus, and frankly, it’s about time a Democrat did so. The Pennsylvania senator delivered a reality check, calling out the left’s tired playbook of labeling every Republican opponent a “Nazi” or “fascist.” During an appearance on Sunday Morning Futures on Fox News, Fetterman indicated that he won’t participate in the Democratic Party’s increasingly unhinged rhetoric. While his colleagues foam at the mouth with hyperbolic accusations, Fetterman positioned himself as an independent voice willing to break ranks when his party loses its collective mind. He’s not switching parties, but he’s certainly not drinking the Kool-Aid either. On Sunday, Fetterman sat down with Maria Bartiromo and said he has no intention of leaving the Democratic Party. However, he also stressed that he won’t hesitate to go against the party line when he feels it’s the right thing to do.

“I’m not going to switch, you know?” He said. “But I, I’m just going to be an independent voice in the Democratic Party.” He insisted that standing apart from the more radical elements in his party was important, saying, “I’m not gonna be afraid if people… I mean, and, and if there are groups a-attacking a, a Democrat, you know, the last one in Pennsylvania, then that’s… To me, that’s part of the problem, you know, in our party.” Fetterman also pushed back on the toxic rhetoric that has become standard on the left. “And if you want a Democrat that’s gonna call people Nazis or fascists or all these kinds of thing, well, I’m not gonna be that guy.” Instead, he cast himself as someone who would speak the truth even if it didn’t align with his party’s agenda:

“You know, independent thinking and views, wherever I happen to believe the truth, regardless if it’s the Republican or the Democratic voice, you know? But I think it’s the truth in this. Now, in this truth right now, it’s firmly on Israel through this, and it’s also… It’s always wrong to shut our government down.” Fetterman admitted that his positions might set him apart but said he’s comfortable with that. “And that’s where my voice is and if that puts me as an outlier, then, you know, that’s where I am.” Democrats face mounting criticism for their inflammatory language and divisive tactics, and Fetterman is the one choosing to be the adult in a room full of tantrum-throwing toddlers.

The senator’s departure from Democratic orthodoxy extends well beyond his refusal to take part in dangerous name-calling. His unwavering support for Israel during the ongoing conflict has put him at odds with the progressive wing of his party, many of whom seem more interested in appeasing Hamas sympathizers than supporting America’s democratic ally in the Middle East. Fetterman criticized efforts to recognize a Palestinian state, correctly identifying such moves as rewarding terrorism. Fetterman has also been critical of his party’s shutdown strategy. While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tries to pin blame on Republicans, Fetterman pointed out that it’s actually the Democrats who would be responsible. Unlike his colleagues, who seem to believe their media allies will always provide cover, Fetterman recognizes that voters notice when politicians create chaos and then try to blame others.

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It’s Farage’s country now.

• UK Records Unprecedented Migrant Boat Arrival (RT)

A small boat carrying 125 people crossed the English Channel from France to the UK on Saturday, the largest number ever recorded on a single vessel, Bloomberg has reported, citing the Home Office. The previous record was set in August, when 107 people arrived on what the British media described as a “mega-dinghy.” The latest crossing comes despite Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pledge to “smash” the smuggling gangs behind the journeys. It also follows the appointment of new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who has called small boat crossings “utterly unacceptable” and promised to “explore all options” to address the issue. Official figures show that around 33,000 people have crossed into the UK since the start of the year, the highest total for this point in the year since records began in 2018, according to The Independent.

Public discontent over illegal migration has grown sharply in Britain, with polls showing it among voters’ top concerns. Many see the rising number of crossings as evidence the government has lost control of the borders, while communities voice frustration over pressures on housing, health services, and schools. The discontent has boosted support for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which has made hardline immigration its central message. A recent YouGov poll put Reform in the lead with 29%, ahead of Labour on 21%. Labour has pledged to target people-smuggling networks while keeping legal migration routes, framing its approach as a balance of security and humanitarian obligations. In August, the UK and France ratified a treaty which states that migrants deemed inadmissible after arriving in Britain can be returned to France, while the UK accepts an equal number of asylum seekers via a legal route. The first removals under the scheme took place earlier this month.

The Reform party advocates abolishing Indefinite Leave to Remain, forcing settled migrants to reapply under stricter conditions, and limiting welfare benefits to British citizens. In an interview on Sunday, Starmer called Farage’s proposals “racist” and “immoral,” though he admitted many drawn to Reform are frustrated by the slow pace of change.

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Good word: “transanity”..

• Rowling Finally Gave Hermione the Spanking She Deserves (Green)

In happier times, child actress Emma Watson brought J.K. Rowling’s beloved Hermione character to life in the Harry Potter movies, beginning in 2001 when Watson was just 11 years old. She’s a big girl now but in serious need of a spanking — one that Rowling just belatedly, reluctantly, and devastatingly applied. Seriously, it might be weeks before Watson can sit down comfortably again. “Emma and [and Harry Potter costar Daniel Radcliffe] in particular have both made it clear over the last few years that they think our former professional association gives them a particular right – nay, obligation – to critique me and my views in public,” Rowling posted to X on Monday. “Years after they finished acting in Potter, they continue to assume the role of de facto spokespeople for the world I created.”

Ouch. Now 35, Watson spent years using public appearances and social media to take digs at Rowling and her so-called transphobia. “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are,” Watson tweeted in response to Rowling in 2020. And that was really just the start.For her part, Rowling has long used her fame and fortune to stand up for the sanctity of women’s spaces and women’s sports — even at the height of transanity. “Here to present the next award is Emma Watson,” BAFTA Awards host Rebel Wilson announced that same year. “She calls herself a feminist, but we all know she’s a witch.” After taking the stage, Watson smiled and said, “I’m here for all the witches,” in reference to Rowling’s recognition that men aren’t women.

“I wasn’t a multimillionaire at fourteen,” Rowling reminded Watson today. “I lived in poverty while writing the book that made Emma famous. I therefore understand from my own life experience what the trashing of women’s rights in which Emma has so enthusiastically participated means to women and girls without her privileges.” Rowling remembers 2020 as a time “when the death, rape and torture threats against me were at their peak.” She continued, “Emma had just publicly poured more petrol on the flames, yet thought a one line expression of concern from her would reassure me of her fundamental sympathy and kindness.” Rowling later said she would “never forgive” Watson — or co-stars Radcliffe and Rupert Grint — for having “cozied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights.”

Rowling’s post today was more in sorrow than in anger, however: The greatest irony here is that, had Emma not decided in her most recent interview to declare that she loves and treasures me – a change of tack I suspect she’s adopted because she’s noticed full-throated condemnation of me is no longer quite as fashionable as it was – I might never have been this honest. Stay honest, J.K. — women (and men) need to hear more of that from you.

I wasn’t aware of this until today, but Watson’s acting career appears to be dead in the water. She’s had only a baker’s dozen appearances since the last Harry Potter film debuted almost 15 years ago, including two single-episode appearances on TV. Her most recent film role was in 2019’s Little Women, and her last role, period, was in a 2022 short called “Prada Paradoxe,” which she directed herself and had no other actors. She’s currently attending Oxford in pursuit of a post-grad degree, but that hardly explains a film career long in decline. Watson isn’t hurting for money after all the success she enjoyed as a child, so maybe it’s relevance she’s trying to get with all the outbursts against her former benefactor. If it’s attention she wanted, she just got it — forcefully.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/catsscareme2021/status/1972635771560669676

 

 

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Debt Rattle May 10 2025

May 102025
 
 May 10, 2025  Posted by at 10:04 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  42 Responses »


Samuel Peploe Beach scene 1907

 

• America Humbled (Arthur Schaper)
• Hyperbole, Lies, and Delusions (Richard Porter)
• Trump Says “80% Tariffs On China Seems Right” (ZH)
• Fear Of Economic Collapse Forced China To Negotiate With Trump (ZH)
• Trump Delinks Saudi Nuclear Energy Deal From Israel Normalization (ZH)
• Putin and Trump Exchange Greetings On Victory Day – Moscow (RT)
• Germany To Declare Immigration Emergency (RT)
• Hungary Prepares for Battle Over EU’s Plan to Phase Out Russian Energy (Sp.)
• Putin ‘Doing Whatever Possible’ For Ukraine Peace – Kremlin (RT)
• Slovak PM Fico Slams Western ‘Iron Curtain’ In Talks With Putin (RT)
• UK Hits Russia With ‘Largest Ever’ Sanctions Package (RT)
• Poetic Justice Came for Letitia James, and It’s Glorious (Margolis)
• Going Around. . . Coming Back Around (James Howard Kunstler)
• Chris Cuomo Nails Why Dems Are Trying to Destroy John Fetterman (Matt Vespa)
• Ric Grenell Drops Some Reality on Kennedy Center Performers (Lower)
• Sources Say the Biden Crime Family Is Going Broke (Margolis)
• DNI Tulsi Gabbard Discusses Intel Community Leaks to Media Allies (CTH)

 

 

 

 

“He looks very old. He looks as if his first pet could have been a dinosaur.”
https://twitter.com/LangmanVince/status/1920594476948496894

Stock

Patterson

RFK


https://twitter.com/AutismCapital/status/1920607028852240726

We’re talking pedophilia now, child porn.

JD walk away

 

 

 

 

The first two pieces would usually be more background, but I brought them forward- for good reasons.

“After decades of drift and decline, a humbled America turns to Trump—renewed, resolute, and ready to reclaim its purpose under God.”

“Ulysses has come home. He has finished off all the suitors, he has his wife Penelope, and the gods are smiling at him. He learned his lesson. He gets it.”

• America Humbled (Arthur Schaper)

The United States, the American people, Donald Trump, and even myself: we have all been humbled over the last four years—or the last sixteen years … or even thirty years. And we needed it. More than thirty years ago, following the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the United States emerged as the leader of the pack in a once-bipolar world. The Soviet Union collapsed, socialism sloughed off, free enterprise became commonplace as the solution to all our problems, and the liberal democratic process was winning. “It is the End of History,” Francis Fukuyama (arrogantly, short-sightedly) prophesied.Of course, history didn’t stop, and we had lessons to learn. Some suggest that this fantasy of global liberalism came crashing down on September 11, 2001. Let’s not forget February 26th, 1993, when Islamic terrorists attempted to topple the World Trade Center by detonating the foundation of one tower to crash into the other.

Islamic terror replaced the adversarial communist regimes as our enemies. America was complacent, prosperous, and secure in its secular liberalism. Instead of remembering what made the West the best—the Gospel, our Judeo-Christian heritage, Biblical truth, our reliance on a Living Savior instead of humanist self-reliance—we got self-righteous and self-satisfied. “We beat the Russians! We are the only player on the world stage!” Thus, it seemed that there was nothing left to fight but ourselves. But that was never the case. Marxism’s vision of a stateless world dominated by class conflict never emerged, but Pan-Americanism would never work, either. An America-defined globalism not only offended other nations, but it also undermined the American citizen and the American experiment.

With an obsessive focus on free trade, cheap labor, and making money while ignoring national identity—borders, language, culture, faith, family, and freedom—Americans witnessed the wonders of the American dream turn into an elite fantasy that only the rich and politically connected could enjoy. We got arrogant, then fearful and angry; we stopped believing in what really made America great. We forgot who we are. We needed to be humbled. And what is humility? A biblical definition is apropos, I think: “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)

American exceptionalism is a real thing. We the People of the United States should be proud of our heritage. That recognition does not justify American supremacism, however. Nor does it mean our safety, security, or sovereignty depends on what other countries do and believe. The United States embraced some humiliating defeats not just on September 11, 2001, but in the waning year of the George W. Bush administration, when risky financing and overextended loans inflated housing prices and unleashed the Great Recession. Instead of taking stock of where we were wrong, we went with a false messiah, Barack Obama, who chimed, “We are the change we have been waiting for.” But we were the ones who caused our own downfall. How could we make changes if we did not change?

From this self-righteous refusal to own our failures came the Occupy Movement, Black Lives Matter, and the re-radicalization of race. Obama long harbored bitter disgust for the United States, and he seduced the American public. Under the Obama Administration, humility was minimized and disparaged, for sure. One of the most repeated words in the 44th president’s speeches was “I.” It was all about him, and to hell with America. And the country was humbled for the worse. Obama called us all racist and insisted that we needed the government to run our healthcare. He exhorted us to flood our country with “undocumented immigrants” so that we could pay back for all the wrongs that American imperialism had caused. America fell into decline. Then came Trump, and with him the mantra “Make America Great Again.”

He talked about God restoring America’s previous glory. But was that something he could do himself? Not at all. In too many ways, his first term had some of the hallmarks of amateur hour. He surrounded himself with bad advisors, went with tired ideas, and didn’t transform the Art of the Deal into the Art of Governing. Election 2020, with COVID, George Floyd, massive spending, and a frustrating Congress, did not help matters. Americans still had not learned their lesson. We need God. We need biblical truth. We need to restore our Judeo-Christian heritage, our Anglo-American legal traditions, and our revolutionary legacy. America’s further humbling came under bumbling Joe Biden. Defined by Biden-Harris’ arrogant incompetence, suffused with dementia and DEI, America became weaker, worn out, and adrift, all while witnessing the left’s culmination of all their wishes. Obama got his third term.

Then Trump ran again. He faced challenges from the right because he hadn’t gotten the job done. Perhaps those challenges shaped his second-term determination. Then came a would-be assassin’s bullet, which changed the course of history in our favor. Trump has acknowledged, “God saved my life.” And why? “To Make America Great Again.” His second inaugural speech was all business, with a clear reliance on where his—and our—power comes from: God. Trump is a different man, acting like the president I wanted in 2016, whom I had anticipated DeSantis would be. Like Homer’s eponymous hero, Trump is a man of many turns, and he’s turning out real results. Ulysses has come home. He has finished off all the suitors, he has his wife Penelope, and the gods are smiling at him. He learned his lesson. He gets it.

President Trump 2.0 has accomplished much of what we had expected in 2017, and more. Trump now knows his limits, and he knows what he can—and must—do. That is true humility. If his supercharged successes continue, it makes all the disappointments, frustrations, and confusions of the previous six years worth the aggravation.

Read more …

This is important because so many people claim Trump “lies all the time”. He doesn’t. He speaks in hyperbole all the time, but that’s not the same as lying. “Like the country’s never seen..”, “Better than anyone’s ever imagined..” or “I’ll end it in 24 hours..”, that’s just a way of talking (“exaggerated claims not meant to be taken literally”). And a 78-year old real estate developer will not change his way of talking. His vast majority of American voters didn’t demand it of him.

• Hyperbole, Lies, and Delusions (Richard Porter)

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s speech in New Hampshire last week was greeted by the media as yet another stirring call to arms for the rudderless Democratic Party. “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption – but I am now,” Pritzker thundered. “These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They have to understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box.” Republicans protested that the governor came close to inciting political violence – and they have a point, given the attempts to assassinate Donald Trump, the dangerous attacks on Tesla, and the near-kidnapping of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

However, what Pritzker had to say in his speech before channeling Maxine Waters’ infamous call to harass Republicans should not be overlooked. It raises an important question: Is Pritzker delusional, a liar, or merely hyperbolic? Hyperbole, lies, and delusions are all forms of falsehoods, but of different magnitudes. The first are exaggerated claims not meant to be taken literally. Trump himself is no stranger to this oratorical device. Lies are exaggerations or falsehoods the speaker wants others to believe – and, while shameful, are a too-frequent feature of modern political discourses. Delusions are false beliefs at odds with observable reality. Jerry Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi” is an example of hyperbolic name calling. Seinfeld and his audience understood it was an exaggeration so grotesque that it was funny. No one thought the soup guy was actually a member of the SS. Jussie Smollett’s claim that MAGA bros assaulted him was a lie, albeit a calculated, elaborate, and harmful hoax. The Salem witch trials were the terrible consequence of a mass delusion.

So, is Pritzker channeling Seinfeld, Smollett, or Cotton Mather? “It’s wrong to snatch a person off the street and ship them to a foreign gulag with no chance to defend themselves in a court of law,” Pritzker said. “Standing for the idea that the government doesn’t have the right to kidnap you without due process is arguably the most effective campaign slogan in history,” he said before adding, “Today it’s an immigrant with a tattoo, tomorrow it’s a citizen whose Facebook post annoys Donald Trump.” He went on in this vein for a while: “Our retirees don’t deserve to be left destitute by a Social Security Administration decimated by Elon Musk.” “Our citizens don’t deserve to lose health care coverage because Republicans want to hand a tax cut to billionaires.” “Our federal workers don’t deserve to have, well, a 19-year-old DOGE bro called Big Balls destroy their careers.”

“Autistic kids and adults who are loving contributors to our society don’t deserve to be stigmatized by a weird nepo baby who once stashed a dead bear in the back of his car.” This is all absurd. Activists have brought hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of illegal migrants, as Democrats fight to keep criminals and gang members from being deported. Long-standing immigration laws set forth the process that’s due to non-U.S. citizens before they are deported – processes pursuant to which prior presidents of both political parties deported millions of non-citizens. There’s not the slightest suggestion that Republicans (who have been fighting Big Tech censorship) support criminalizing Facebook posts. To the contrary, Vice President J.D. Vance was widely criticized by Democrats for condemning Britain and Germany for criminalizing Facebook posts.

Not a single person receiving Social Security payments legally is losing their government pension. Improving efficiency, eliminating waste, and rooting out fraud protects retirees and strengthens the system. No American receiving health care legally will lose health care coverage. And preventing states (like Illinois) from providing health care to noncitizens under Medicaid will result in more funding to cover health care for U.S. citizens. There will be no tax cut for high earners in the budget reconciliation; the existing rate structure will be maintained. Trump is reducing federal employment through buyouts, layoffs, and dismissals to improve government efficiency (i.e., doing more with fewer workers) and to redirect government policy (i.e., eliminating DEI). In his speech, Pritzker also accused Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of nepotism.

That’s rich coming from the heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune who used inherited money to buy his way into office. In any case, it’s the opposite of nepotism for the scion of Democrat royalty to become a Republican leader. And Kennedy is trying to stop the autism epidemic, not shame autistic people. So, everything Pritzker said in New Hampshire was obviously false. What’s interesting to consider is: What does he, and what does his audience, actually believe about these topics? When asked by Jen Psaki on MSNBC about his speech, Pritzker replied with yet another apocalyptic fantasy: “We are in a perilous moment in this country,” he replied. “There is, I mean, tumult around everyone in this country. We have had our economic rights taken away, we have had our civil rights taken away, and it’s only been a hundred days.”

Consider further that in February, Pritzker – who helped build the Illinois Holocaust Museum – compared the new Trump Administration to the Third Reich, volunteering that he didn’t make the comparison to Nazis lightly. Put it all together, and it sounds like Pritzker is channeling Jussie Smollett, not Jerry Seinfeld. He’s not trying to entertain, and I think he knows better. He wants to frighten and anger people. He wants outrage, not knowing smiles. There’s a worst-case scenario, however. What if the governor of Illinois, and apparent 2028 presidential candidate, is delusional and believes his falsehoods? He wouldn’t be alone – and that’s even more scary. In a world in which many progressives believe Luigi Mangione is a hero, Pritzker’s lies in the cause of his ambition to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president are more outrageous – and more perilous – than Smollett’s lies to make himself a civil rights icon.

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Consensus appears to be the 50%-to-54% range. Trump leaves himself space with 80%. Because negotiations are ongoing. And 80 is way down already from 145.

• Trump Says “80% Tariffs On China Seems Right” (ZH)

President Trump posted on Truth Social, “80% Tariff on China seems right!” while noting that the final decision rests with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.The comment lends credibility to an earlier New York Post report suggesting the administration is considering cutting tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to a significantly lower baseline.Trump also said: “CHINA SHOULD OPEN UP ITS MARKET TO USA — WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR THEM!!! CLOSED MARKETS DON’T WORK ANYMORE!!!” In markets, S&P 500 futures puked, then recovered some losses. Most of the overnight gains have been erased. Perhaps traders were expecting a higher percentage of tariffs to be removed ahead of Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s meeting on Saturday with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Switzerland.

* * *
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his Chinese counterpart are set to begin the first round of trade talks in Switzerland on Saturday. Traders and analysts are looking to yesterday’s “breakthrough” U.S.-U.K. trade deal as a potential preview of what may be announced over the weekend or early next week—possibly signaling a peak in the ongoing trade war. According to a source familiar with the discussions, the New York Post reports that the Trump administration is weighing a plan to slash tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to between 50% and 54%. The same source said levies on neighboring South Asian countries would also be reduced to 25%. “They are going to be bringing it down to 50% while the negotiations are ongoing,” the source said, referring to tariffs on China.

Here’s more color from NYPost: Insiders said the 50%-to-54% range — down from the triple-digit level that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week “isn’t sustainable” this week — is in keeping with rates that were discussed last month when President Trump met with the bosses of the three biggest retailers in the U.S. Market participants are considering Thursday’s U.S.-U.K. trade framework as a potential preview of what to expect in upcoming trade announcements—not just with China but with dozens of other countries. The deal hints at broad tariff reductions and expanded market access for American exports, particularly in agriculture, energy, and industrial goods. However, as with the U.K. framework, a baseline 10% tariff appears likely to remain in place. Last week, Goldman offered some good news: peak trade war.

Earlier this week, Goldman chief economist Jan Hatzius told clients, “The mood music with China has improved, and we expect the U.S. tariff rate on China to drop from around 160% to around 60% relatively soon. (China is likely to reduce tariffs on the U.S. by a similar amount.)”

Plus, the Milken Institute Global Conference attendees in Beverly Hills on Monday “warmed up” to the tariff environment. Jay Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun—which manufactures retro toys like Tonka Trucks, Care Bears, and My Little Pony in China—told NYPost that “there will be an adjustment” in tariff policy “by the end of this week or next,” adding that it could begin a surge in orders from China. “We are hearing China at 50% to 54% and [other] Asian countries at 25%,” said Lawrence Rosen, chairman of New Jersey-based arts-and-crafts distributor Cra-Z-Art. During the US-UK trade deal, Trump told investors, “Better buy stocks now.”

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Not suprising. China maxed out its production capacity, and then lost its no. 1 client.

• Fear Of Economic Collapse Forced China To Negotiate With Trump (ZH)

Three weeks ago, when we first reported that as a result of the ongoing Trump trade war with China, “chinese factories are shutting down, laying off workers”, we said that as a result of this war of attrition in which the outcome of every incremental clash and battle will be used just as aggressively for media propaganda, “the fact that any marginal pain will be amplified as trade war weakness will mean that Beijing will do everything in its power to prevent the full extent of the shutdowns from being revealed.” Sure enough, last week the WSJ reported that whereas “not long ago, anyone could comb through a wide range of official data from China… then it started to disappear.” We detailed the unprecedented disappearance of Chinese “data”, fake as it traditionally may have been, earlier this week.

But while we had our theories why China quietly vaporized hundreds of data sets – naturally one wouldn’t be deleting the data if it was good, or could at least be massaged in a credible way – it was not until today when a Reuters report confirmed what we said from day one, namely that in the long run China’s economy has more to lose than the US, where the hit would be faster but would focus primarily on the market, and once the initial selloff shock wears off leverage would swing to benefit the White House. And just as we supposed, Beijing’s unprecedented propaganda campaign, it was the cracks in the economy that forced Xi to the negotiating. According to the Reuters report, “since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on China last month, Beijing had responded in kind. On state and social media, it posted images of Mao Zedong, lambasted “imperialists,” and sent a message: capitulation to bullies is dangerous, and it wouldn’t back down.”

But behind closed doors, China was quietly preparing to do just that, and Reuters reports that according three sources, officials had grown “increasingly alarmed about tariffs’ impact on the economy and the risk of isolation as China’s trading partners have started negotiating deals with Washington.” China’s reasons for deciding to negotiate, Washington’s letter on fentanyl, U.S. diplomatic challenges in Beijing, and the early outreach between the two sides are reported by Reuters for the first time, based on interviews with nearly a dozen government officials and experts on both sides. As usual, China’s diplomatic efforts had two faces, one for popular domestic consumption, and one for private engagement with the adversary, in this case the US. Sure enough, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement to Reuters that it reiterated that “China’s firm opposition to the U.S. abuse of tariffs is consistent and clear, and there is no change.”

It added that “the U.S. has ignored China’s goodwill and unreasonably imposed tariffs on China under the pretext of fentanyl. This is a typical act of bullying, which seriously undermines dialogue and cooperation between the two sides in the field of drug control.” In retrospect, the pretext may have been “fentanyl” but as we learn in a follow up report today from the WSJ, it was anything but a facade: according to the Journal, Xi Jinping is sending his top public-security aide to Switzerland as part of Beijing’s trade talks with Washington, signaling the importance of the fentanyl issue to bilateral relations. Wang Xiaohong, who is the minister of public security and a senior leader within the State Council, China’s cabinet, will be part of the Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng, a trusted aide to Xi and a gatekeeper to the world’s second-largest economy….

Xi has designated Wang, a close lieutenant, as the point person in Beijing’s recent discussions with Washington over how to address President Trump’s concerns about China’s role in the fentanyl trade, The Wall Street Journal has reported, helping pave the way for the weekend trade talks. So no, the US had not “ignored China’s goodwill”, and judging by Xi’s response, clearly the issue of fentanyl is a very serious one, and more importantly, one which will allow Trump to score a quick and easy victory over the weekend, one which will further demonstrate the Trump admin’s growing leverage in the ongoing negotiations. But back to the Reuters report, according to which China’s Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said on Friday that China has full confidence in its ability to manage U.S. trade issues, adding that “the Trump administration’s approach cannot be sustained.” Once again, however, we learn that it was China’s approach which was far more unsustainable.

The trade war between the world’s two largest economies, combined with Trump’s decision last month to impose duties on dozens of other countries, has disrupted supply chains, unsettled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp downturn in global growth. After Trump’s tariff salvo last month, China took a hard line in its public messaging. Beijing posted footage on its official social media feeds of a Chinese MiG-15 fighter shooting down a U.S. jet in the Korean War, with commentary: “China won’t kneel down, because we know standing up for ourselves keeps the possibility of cooperation alive, while compromise snuffs it out.” The tone began to shift on April 30, when a state media-affiliated blog said the U.S. had “proactively reached out to China through multiple channels, hoping to discuss tariffs”, commentary which according to the White House was a lie.

Meanwhile, China was adamantly denying that there were any discussions taking place about trade talks, which was also a lie as just a day later we learned that discussions were in fact taking place ahead of this weekend’s trade talks. CSIS’s Kennedy said contacts between Chinese agencies, Beijing’s embassy in Washington and the Trump administration had been increasing in frequency in recent weeks. Some in-person interactions took place at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in late April, including with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which paved the way for the Swiss meeting, said Kennedy, confirming what we reported two weeks ago (see “Chinese Delegation Spotted Entering Treasury Department, Demands Photos Be Deleted: Report”.) More importantly, we also learn today that it was China that first reached out, more than a month ago.

After Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, Reuters reports that Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao quietly reached out to his U.S. counterpart, Howard Lutnick, but was rebuffed as not senior enough, according to one official familiar with the exchanges. While Trump has been pushing for direct talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, China had originally rejected that idea as not in keeping with its traditional approach of working out the details first before the leaders sign any deal, according to public statements by both sides. Which is why after the original Chinese overture was shut down, both sides engaged in unprecedented diplomatic jingoism to deflect attention from the failure to pursue a diplomatic solution.

Read more …

Major development. Maybe Trump can show that Bibi is not the same as Israel. Bibi stands in the way of peace. Just like Zelensky.

• Trump Delinks Saudi Nuclear Energy Deal From Israel Normalization (ZH)

The United States is no longer linking negotiations for a Saudi nuclear energy program with a normalization deal for Riyadh to recognize Israel based on the Abraham Accords. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright in April while on a visit to Saudi Arabia mentioned a “pathway” to a civil nuclear agreement, even though the Saudis were insisting that there would be no normalized ties with Israel until it ceases Gaza military action, and allows for a Palestinian state. This was a first strong hint that the new administration was ready to delink the two issues. “Dropping the demand that Saudi Arabia establish diplomatic relations with Israel would be a major concession by Washington,” Reuters now reports. “Under former President Joe Biden, nuclear talks were an element of a wider U.S.-Saudi deal tied to normalization and to Riyadh’s goal of a defense treaty with Washington.”

This could pave the way for a Saudi nuclear deal breakthrough during President Trump’s visit next week. Wright explained, “For a US partnership and involvement in nuclear here, there will definitely be a 123 agreement … there’s lots of ways to structure a deal that will accomplish both the Saudi objectives and the American objectives.” As we detailed previously, US involvement in Saudi Arabia’s nuclear program would require a so-called “123 Agreement,” referring to Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954. This section outlines nine non-proliferation requirements designed to prevent the use of civil nuclear technology for weapons development or the transfer of sensitive materials. Washington appears to be readying an issuance of official permission regarding this key restriction. After all, Trump typically visits the Gulf while bearing ‘gifts’.

While the Joe Biden White House had sought a broader deal involving nuclear cooperation, security guarantees for the kingdom, and normalization with Israel, Wright’s April remarks focused narrowly on energy partnership. Saudi Arabia aims to expand renewable and nuclear energy as part of its Vision 2030 reforms. In addition to dropping the demand to normalize with Israel, the US has also nixed efforts to ink a US-Saudi mutual defense treaty with Riyadh. And crucially, these talks to approve a Saudi nuclear program are being advanced without consulting Israel. The Netanyahu government will no doubt reject the possibility of a future nuclear-capable Saudi Arabia.

Israel Hayom has written that “The president won’t be able to get approval to push forward a civilian nuclear program for Saudi Arabia without the Israeli component,” according to an Israeli official. “He doesn’t have a Senate majority for any agreement that doesn’t include Israel or that moves forward without its consent.” As for other things Trump is expected to announce on his Gulf tour next week, he will likely to announce a series of new major arms deals with the kingdom. While during his first administration he visited Saudi Arabia very early on, the Saudis have appeared to be lower on the list of priorities this time around.

Bibi
https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/1920594558636999134
https://twitter.com/Megatron_ron/status/1920559405411786795

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Via aides… Both have felt the irony of that. They should be able to just pick up a phone.

• Putin and Trump Exchange Greetings On Victory Day – Moscow (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump have congratulated each other on Victory Day, an aide to the Russian president, Yury Ushakov, told journalists on Friday. The two leaders extended the greetings through aides, according to the official. The presidents shared “heartfelt words, mutual greetings on a common holiday, great holiday,” Ushakov told the Russian Channel 1 broadcaster. Washington has not officially commented on the matter. On Friday, Russia celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Soviet triumph in the World War II against Nazi Germany. The day was packed with military parades and other ceremonial events across the nation that paid tribute to the valor and sacrifice of the Soviet people during the war.

The celebrations in Moscow, including the military parade on Red Square, were attended by upwards of 30 foreign leaders, including those of China, Brazil, Egypt, Slovakia, Serbia, and Uzbekistan. US Ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy skipped the event despite receiving an invitation, according to TASS. The Moscow parade was still attended by several US WWII veterans, who were invited alongside other foreign veterans, including from Mongolia, Israel and Armenia. On Thursday, Trump issued a public statement on the ‘Victory Day for World War II’. He described the victory over Nazism as “the Allied Powers’ triumph,” highlighting the role of the US and never mentioning the Soviet Union.

Earlier this month, similar statements by the US president drew criticism from Moscow. On Friday, during his speech at the annual military parade in Moscow, Putin stressed that Russia remembers the lessons of World War II and “will never accept the distortion of its events.” Since returning to office in January, Trump has pushed both Moscow and Kiev toward a truce in the ongoing conflict between the two nations but has recently voiced frustration over the lack of progress. On Thursday, he called for a month-long “unconditional ceasefire” amid a 72-hour Victory Day truce unilaterally declared by Russia. He expressed his hope that “an acceptable ceasefire will be observed” but warned that both sides would be held accountable if a ceasefire is reached but not respected.

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10+ years after Merkel f*cked it up.

• Germany To Declare Immigration Emergency (RT)

New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will declare a national emergency to tackle the country’s issues with migration, Die Welt has reported. Merz, who was elected chancellor on Tuesday, said on his first day in office that his government would begin turning back illegal migrants at the border. Germany remains the top destination for asylum seekers in the EU. Last year, it received a quarter (over 237,000) of all asylum applications across the 27-member bloc. Berlin has already informed the ambassadors of neighboring countries about the chancellor’s decision to impose a national emergency, the paper said in an article on Thursday. The move would allow the German government to prioritize its own decisions over EU regulations, according to Die Welt.

In order to turn away migrants, Berlin will invoke Article 72 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which provides for “the maintenance of law and order and the safeguarding of internal security” by member states. Germany has a 3,700km land border with nine countries, including Poland, Austria, France, and the Netherlands. They are all part of the EU’s Schengen area, which allows passport-free travel for most EU citizens and many non-EU nationals.

On Wednesday, Germany’s newly appointed interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, told journalists: “we will control the borders more strictly,” which will lead “to a higher number of rejections” of asylum applications. The goal is to “send a clear signal to the world and to Europe that the policy in Germany has changed,” he explained. In a letter seen by Bild, Dobrindt instructed the head of the Federal Police to disregard a 2015 directive from then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, who allowed more than a million migrants into the country at the height of Europe’s 2015-16 refugee crisis.

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This can’t go on forever. The EU must go.

• Hungary Prepares for Battle Over EU’s Plan to Phase Out Russian Energy (Sp.)

The EU executive is considering bypassing Hungary in the vote on its plan to phase out Russian energy imports by relying on a “qualified majority,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday. “We need to gather allies, to prepare legally. There really is a plan to bypass a unanimous decision and pass it by a qualified majority,” Orban told Kossuth Radio. Hungary is gearing up for an uphill battle in the coming weeks and months to ensure that Hungarian households are not forced to pay twice as much for power and utilities, Orban said. Orban estimated that Hungary would have to pay about 2 billion euros ($2.23 billion) more for energy than it does now if the European Commission gets its plan to abandon Russian energy imports adopted by the Council of the European Union.

A qualified majority requires at least 15 out of 27 EU member states representing at least 65% of the total EU population to support the proposal. On Tuesday, the Commission presented a project on ending Russian energy imports to the EU by the end of 2027. The Commission intends to submit a legislative proposal in June to ban all imports under new Russian gas contracts and existing spot contracts. This ban could come into effect by the end of 2025. Remaining imports of pipeline gas and LNG from Russia under long-term contracts could stop by the end of 2027.

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Vance et al may pretend that the past 3 years never happened, but they did. Putin does what he can inside the new paradigm, not some old one. He can’t, it would be like time travel.

• Putin ‘Doing Whatever Possible’ For Ukraine Peace – Kremlin (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is “doing whatever is possible” to pursue peace in the Ukraine conflict, but has no other choice than to continue its military operation as long as Kiev refuses to hold talks with Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. In an interview with ABC News on Friday, Peskov said Ukraine “is trying to escape from negotiations” despite declaring that it is ready for a ceasefire. However, Moscow believes a truce will only give Kiev the opportunity to regroup its battered troops. ”Ukraine will continue their total mobilization, bringing new troops to [the] front line. Ukraine will use this period to train new military personnel and to give a rest to their existing ones. So why should we grant such an advantage to Ukraine?”

Another issue, he said, is arms shipments from the West, which should be ceased during a truce. “Otherwise, it will be [an] advantage for Ukraine.” “President Putin is doing whatever is possible to solve the problem, to achieve a settlement through peaceful and diplomatic means,” Peskov said. “But having no peaceful and democratic means at hand, we have to continue [the] military operation.” The Kremlin spokesman went on to say Moscow is hopeful that US President Donald Trump could play a role in mediating the conflict. Trump, he suggested, could help “bring a little bit more flexibility and a little more political will and wisdom to [the] Kiev regime.”

Russia offered a 72-hour ceasefire from midnight May 8 to midnight May 11 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Moscow described the offer as a humanitarian gesture aimed at paving the way for direct peace talks without preconditions.Ukraine has dismissed the overture as “manipulation” and demanded a 30-day ceasefire instead. Russian officials have said the pause would allow Ukraine to regroup and strengthen its military. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine has launched thousands of attacks of various kinds, including four cross-border incursions into the Russian regions of Kursk and Belgorod.

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“There is a huge desire to build a new Iron Curtain in various forms..” “We will do everything to ensure that we can shake hands through this curtain.”

• Slovak PM Fico Slams Western ‘Iron Curtain’ In Talks With Putin (RT)

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin after attending the Victory Day parade on Red Square and other festivities marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. During talks at the Kremlin on Friday evening, Fico criticized what he described as a new “Iron Curtain” being imposed by Western nations, calling the obstacles he faced en route to Moscow due to airspace restrictions by some EU member states “a childish joke.” “There is a huge desire to build a new Iron Curtain in various forms,” Fico said, according to a Kremlin transcript. “We will do everything to ensure that we can shake hands through this curtain.”

Amid systematic desecration and destruction of World War II memorials in the Baltic states and Eastern Europe, Fico reaffirmed Slovakia’s commitment to preserving Soviet memorials – and proposed erecting a monument to Marshal Ivan Konev, a Soviet commander involved in the liberation of Czechoslovakia during the war. Putin welcomed Fico’s efforts to restore “long-standing ties between Russia and Slovakia that were effectively frozen” by the previous government in Bratislava, “which strictly followed the collective line of the West.” The Russian president noted that those in the EU who tried to prevent Fico from attending the event in Moscow “have once again been convinced that it is better not to do this… You achieve your goals no matter what.” Fico also expressed skepticism about the EU sanctions on Russia, arguing they harm the bloc more than Moscow. He stressed Slovakia’s interest in maintaining pragmatic relations with Russia, particularly in the energy sector. He noted that Slovakia’s nuclear power plants are not compatible with fuel from Western suppliers and warned that halting Russian gas and oil imports could destabilize the country’s energy infrastructure.

The Slovak prime minister’s visit drew condemnation from Brussels, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen describing his attendance as “regrettable.” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it “unthinkable” for an EU leader to stand alongside Putin at the celebration of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Fico maintained that his presence in Moscow was a gesture of respect for the Soviet soldiers who sacrificed their lives to defeat fascism. “For me, it was a moral obligation to come here and commemorate,” he said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic as heroes for defying EU pressure. “These days… it is simply an act of heroism – showing one’s sovereign will to pay tribute to the memory of Victory Day, despite blatant, frenzied pressure,” Peskov said.

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Feels like it’s from 1999 or thereabouts.

• UK Hits Russia With ‘Largest Ever’ Sanctions Package (RT)

The British government has announced its “largest-ever” sanctions package against Russia, according to an official statement. The measure aim to deal a blow to the Russia’s oil transportation network and reduce Moscow’s energy revenues. The announcement was timed to coincide with Russia’s celebration of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany on Friday. London, one of Kiev’s staunchest supporters – providing it with military and tactical support and billions in cash – has long claimed that Moscow poses a threat to the UK’s national security. Various British governments have implemented over 2,000 sanctions against Russian individuals and entities, since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict over three years ago. “The threat Russia poses to our national security cannot be underestimated. To ramp up the pressure on Putin, I’m announcing the largest package of sanctions yet,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on X.

The new measures blacklist up to 100 oil tankers that the West claims are part of a Russian “shadow fleet,” older vessels operating outside Western insurance systems. According to London, the vessels have carried more than $24 billion worth of cargo since the start of 2024. The EU and the US have also targeted Russian shipping and a 17th European sanctions package that would blacklist another 150 ships is expected to be approved later this month. Moscow has dismissed the restrictions as a “futile” gesture that will not harm the Russian economy, but instead drive-up energy costs and inflation across Europe. Russia’s oil revenues have remained robust thanks to non-Western buyers, such as China and India. Last month, the Russian Embassy in London urged the British government to stop “theatrical and short-lived gestures of hostility towards Russia.”

The UK has also accused the vessels of posing a threat to critical undersea infrastructure, such as telecommunications cables and oil and gas pipelines, dismissed by Moscow as “hastily concocted fantasy stories.” London’s tough sanctions rhetoric comes as Britain, along with the EU, is being sidelined from the peace process around Ukraine. A key London meeting on the conflict was downgraded last month after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled his attendance. US President Donald Trump has also floated the idea of a possible partial lifting of restrictions on Moscow as part of a possible peace settlement.

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“She campaigned on a promise to bag Donald Trump on something. She didn’t even bother to name what it was. She literally campaigned… on the promise that she would nail him on anything, and then she filled in the violation later.”

• Poetic Justice Came for Letitia James, and It’s Glorious (Margolis)

On Thursday, we reported that federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James over allegations of mortgage fraud. Later, during a Fox Business interview about these charges, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told host Elizabeth MacDonald that “the karma is crushing here.” During the segment, Turley pointed to contradictions in James’ defense strategy that he believes mirror accusations she previously made against former President Donald Trump. “These all have to be combed out,” Turley explained when asked about the seriousness of the charges. “The James defense team is saying that there were contradictions that were corrected, that, for example, that home was the primary residence of the other signatory.”

According to the referral from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, James is accused of falsifying records to obtain favorable loan terms on two properties: a Brooklyn brownstone she’s owned since 2001 and a Virginia home purchased in 2023. The case is now being handled by U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III, whose office in New York’s Northern District is leading the investigation. Pulte stated that James “appears to have falsified records” to meet lending requirements and secure better mortgage terms. Turley noted that James’ defense relies on an argument that financial institutions should have conducted their own due diligence, a standard she outright refused to grant Trump in her own case against him. “It’s an ironic defense because they’re saying, ‘Look, if the bank simply looked into this on their own, they could see that these were more units than just four, that this was not the primary residence of James,'” Turley stated.

He continued, “That’s a type of understanding and leeway that she refused to allow to Donald Trump. She insisted that everything that was… signed in his name… really are bound legally to him. And so, they said you have an obligation to make sure everything filed was absolutely accurate.” Turley did not hold back in his assessment of the situation, suggesting a certain poetic justice was at play. He reserved his strongest criticism for what he characterized as the most significant contradiction in James’ position. “The greatest irony, of course, is to hear her counsel and her spokesperson say, ‘You know, this is just wrong because Trump campaigned on moving against his enemies,'” he said.

This defense strategy particularly struck Turley as hypocritical, given James’ own campaign rhetoric when running for attorney general. “For those of us who have covered this litigation for years, having those words come out of the mouths of James’ staff really is breathtaking,” he emphasized. Turley recalled James’ previous statements during her campaign, noting, “She campaigned on a promise to bag Donald Trump on something. She didn’t even bother to name what it was. She literally campaigned… on the promise that she would nail him on anything, and then she filled in the violation later.” Naturally, we’ve come to expect that Democrats have one set of rules for themselves and another for everyone else. In their version of justice, Democrats commit the crimes—and Republicans serve the time.

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“I hope Ed Martin’s 1st assignment at DOJ is to investigate Thom Tillis’ corruption.” — Rogan O’Handley (aka’ DC Draino’ on X)

• Going Around. . . Coming Back Around (James Howard Kunstler)

The funny part is that this swarm of Jacobin botflies from Norm Eisen to Sen. Thom Tillis thought (and acted) as if Ed Martin was the only MAGA lawyer capable of uncovering the steaming pile of seditious poo festering, lo these many years, in the DC federal district (i.e., the Swamp). Like, get rid of Ed and our troubles are over. Really? Don’t you suppose that there are dozens of other capable, patriotic, seasoned lawyers, seething over the corruption that is Swamp crime, who can effectively occupy the office of US Attorney for the District of Columbia?

The second funniest part is apparently the Jacobins thought that Ed Martin would just skulk off into the gloaming like a whipped dog and be gone — when, in fact, Mr. Trump folded him at once into three jobs in the Department of Justice that don’t require confirmation by the Senate, and will allow him to attend to exactly the same set of grave problems afflicting this republic from a position of power. Mr. Martin will now serve as Director of the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group, Associate Deputy Attorney General, and Pardon Attorney reviewing the legitimacy of “Joe Biden’s” auto-pen signing of important documents — meaning, he’ll have the power to bring cases on his own and make criminal referrals to the US Attorney for DC.

You must also imagine that in his 100-plus days as Interim US Attorney for DC, Mr. Martin assembled quite a portfolio of evidence around the manifold blob wrong-doings of the past decade, but especially the treachery of the J-6 / 2021 blob operation at the US Capitol, and the ensuing cover-up of all that, including the intel community’s role in it, the perfidy and perjuries of Chris Wray, Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and others, and the gong show of lies and villainy that was the House J-6 committee chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), (with remedial support from Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, Jamie Raskin, and, backstage as always, lawfare ninjas Norm Eisen, Mary McCord, Marc Elias, Ben Wittes, and Andrew Weissmann).

On the ostensible defeat of Ed Martin’s nomination, the president instantly turned around and installed Jeanine Pirro as Interim US Attorney for DC. Before retiring into a career as a TV talking head, Ms. Pirro was a Westchester County, New York, judge, and then elected District Attorney, so she knows how to work criminal cases. The interim appointment runs 120 days. In theory, Mr. Trump can appoint a new Interim US Attorney every 120 days, and keep rotating them until the cows come home — each successive one with the same support staff of assistant US attorneys underneath, the same cases ongoing, and the same trove of evidence catalogued.

All of which is to say, the blob officials and lawfare stormtroopers are mistaken to think that their ongoing circus of legalistic monkey business has somehow gained immunity from appraisal, investigation, and prosecution by de-railing Ed Martin. The cases themselves are bigger than any one particular US attorney and have a momentum of their own as the nation struggles to overcome the organized assault on the law itself that lawfare represents.

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“He’s someone we can work with, and that makes him MAGA in the eyes of the Left, which is insane.”

• Chris Cuomo Nails Why Dems Are Trying to Destroy John Fetterman (Matt Vespa)

I’m not a fan of Chris Cuomo, but he has become more sensible since he left the confines of CNN. It’s funny how he, Chuck Todd, and others seem to be making more sense now that they don’t have to kowtow to the hyper-left-wing sensibilities of their former employers. They’re not red-pilled, but they dish out some decent takes now and then. Cuomo nailed why Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is being targeted for destruction. He’s not a crazy person. He’s pro-Israel, focused on working Americans, and understands the realities of the 2024 election. You can’t scream about Trump 24/7 and block all his nominees. His side lost, and there were consequences. The former CNN host pointed out that’s the irony here: that Fetterman is being ‘canceled’ for trying to rebuild the party into one that can win elections:

Fetterman has been reaching across the aisle too much for them. The senator crushes Hamas and campus protests, which, as we all know, is a pet project of the radical left. He met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago — that’s a huge sin. And he worked with Republicans on passing the Laken Riley Act and voted for 10 of Trump’s cabinet picks. And now the senator is saying that Trump has keyed in correctly on the most important concern in our country: Helping the majority do better when it comes to workers and economic benefits. New York Magazine released a lengthy article that attacked the Pennsylvania Democrat, describing him as reckless, a quasi-conspiratorial thinker, and one who is not taking his mental health seriously. It was a textbook case of character assassination.

“Democrats, this is why you lost. You can’t cancel everyone who doesn’t hate the right and play by your stilted rules of purity,” Cuomo added. He’s right. I’m not going to endorse Fetterman. I wouldn’t vote for him if I were a Pennsylvania resident, but should he survive, it’s not a devastating loss. He’s someone we can work with, and that makes him MAGA in the eyes of the Left, which is insane.

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Trump’s envoy for the hardest cases. “Warn them that there are real-world consequences for their emotional virtue signaling–and let the chips fall where they may.”

• Ric Grenell Drops Some Reality on Kennedy Center Performers (Lower)

To paraphrase something my colleague Susie Moore stated in an earlier piece about the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals providing much-needed guidance to lower courts on a miniscule group of the barrage of cases against President Trump and his administration, we continue to follow the saga of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Readers likely remember the brouhaha by progressives near the beginning of Trump’s new term when he announced he was kicking off some of the board members and appointing himself the new chair of the famed arts venue. Although a few days later, the president named former U.S. ambassador to Germany and U.S. Envoy for Special Missions, Ric Grenell, as interim executive director.

During CPAC 2025, Grenell addressed the poor state of the Kennedy Center’s finances, sharing that Pres. Trump likely has the same concerns about the organization’s ability to “Make Art Great Again,” as Grenell put it in the interview with Politico’s Dasha Burns. I think, I don’t know for sure, but I think the frustration President Trump has is that the Kennedy Center has no cash on hand. No reserves. And they have been paying for the salaries with the debt reserves. While taking around more than 40 million dollars in public money. You can’t have that. If you’re going to take public money, then you get to have public input.

So, what we’re gonna say at the Kennedy Center, first of all, we gotta clean up the financial situation. We have to do the big productions that the masses and the public want to see. We want to have really big programming. And my colleague Jennifer Oliver O’Connell included one tidbit that leftists went wild over before Grenell cleared it up–and it relates to Thursday’s story: Grenell also cleared up some misinformation about an artist who supposedly dropped out from performing on the Kennedy Center stage because Trump took over the center and installed Grenell. Grenell made it known that some of these decisions were made before Trump took over, and the decision to drop the act was based on the performance not producing adequate ticket sales.

He also hinted that the Center will have a special Christmas show. Maybe we’ll get more details on that in the coming months. Anyway, earlier this week, some performers in the traveling cast of “Les Misérables” who were slated to take part in an upcoming charity fundraiser/performance at the Center threatened to boycott it … because Pres. Trump is set to appear. On Wednesday, while speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Ric Grenell just laid out the “Les Miz” performers, according to industry publication Variety. First, it seemed this was the first time he had heard the “rumor” about the controversy, then he added, “But the Kennedy Center will no longer fund intolerance.” He stated that it shows who isn’t “professional” in the performance company, and that any producer thinking of hiring any of these performers might be inspired to think again. Here’s his full quote:

“Any performer who isn’t professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation, won’t be welcomed,” Grenell added. “In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they shouldn’t hire — and that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience.” He continued, “The Kennedy Center wants to be a place where people of all political stripes sit next to each other and never ask who someone voted for but instead enjoy a performance together.” This is exactly how Republicans need to handle this sort of childish wokeness from the “resistance” to America First principles and all things Trump. Let’s keep on this path. Warn them that there are real-world consequences for their emotional virtue signaling–and let the chips fall where they may.

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The whole family lived large. Now income has dried up.

• Sources Say the Biden Crime Family Is Going Broke (Margolis)

Aww, now isn’t this nice? The Biden crime family is facing a serious cash crunch now that its patriarch is out of power and the influence-peddling machine has ground to a halt. As we previously reported, on Thursday, Joe and Jill Biden made a live appearance on “The View” in New York City, and according to Mark Halperin, the move is part of a broader effort to rehabilitate Joe Biden’s image after a disastrous first 100 days back in private life. “There’s a story in Politico today that says they’ve hired the former Pentagon spokesperson to manage the Biden comeback,” Halperin said. “Joe Biden wants to be out there… He wants to speak out against Donald Trump. He wants to defend his reputation.” Halperin also noted that Politico is reporting the Trump administration plans to release audio of Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur, the one that led Hur to describe Biden as “an elderly man with a poor memory.”

]But Halperin offered a blunt insight from someone close to the family: “I talked to someone very familiar with the Bidens, and I think they’ve pointed out something that I’m gonna say now, that to me, is the explanation, or at least part of the explanation, which is Biden Inc. has collapsed.” He didn’t sugarcoat the financial rot. “All those Biden grandkids had a lavish lifestyle, which they very much liked. Hunter made hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars. Joe, as a former president, is not in a position to get the same kind of paid speeches, corporate boards, book deals.” “Wait, wait, wait! The paintings aren’t worth a lot?” Sean Spicer quipped. “The grift is over,” Spicer observed. “The big guy’s not getting his cut anymore, and that’s a problem. I get it; they’ve lived a very lavish lifestyle. There’s the beach house. I gotta imagine the property taxes aren’t cheap. Uh, they’re used to a certain lifestyle, but not just them. To your point, the whole family was coming from one source and they lost their USAID funding basically.”

Of course, we all know the “source” was the global network of influence built while Joe Biden was vice president and continued into his presidency. But that operation doesn’t function without power, and now, without it, the Bidens are scrambling to find new income. “They were pulling in $10 million a year, maybe more,” Halperin estimated. “What’s Biden Inc. pulling in today?” That really puts Biden’s decision to seek a second term into perspective, doesn’t it? Spicer was just as candid: “No one wants to know what he thinks. Number two, he doesn’t know what he thinks, and that’s a bigger problem.” Even Biden’s future prospects as a paid speaker are bleak. “You don’t think the Washington Speakers Bureau looked at him and said, ‘That guy needs to be flown all over the country giving $800,000 speeches’?” Halperin asked sarcastically.

Spicer replied, “No. I think they looked at him and said, ‘We’ll get back to you after the company retreat.’” As for the prospects of a presidential library — a traditional source of prestige and fundraising — Halperin was blunt: “He’s not a good fundraiser, and the donors are not currently in love with him.” So the Biden crime family is out of gas, out of influence, and running on fumes. The free ride is over — and the scramble for relevance (and revenue) has begun.

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“.. the politicization of our intelligence community needs to end—to even begin to start to earn the trust of the American people..”

• DNI Tulsi Gabbard Discusses Intel Community Leaks to Media Allies (CTH)

One of the least understood dynamics about how the DC silos operate, pertains to review and investigative work done by government officials into government misconduct. In essence, special counsels, special investigators and appointed special prosecutors do not look at government activity if that activity can be framed as political. The silos protect themselves from external review. As a consequence, the only administrative review of government misconduct happens when the silos look internally at their own agency. In this short video below Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard outlines that 11 internal investigations are ongoing to target Intelligence Community officials, staff and employees who are leaking classified information to the media. After the internal review, the DNI then sends (criminal) referrals to Main Justice and the FBI if warranted. Currently three criminal referrals have been sent to the FBI/DOJ as eleven investigations continue. WATCH:

TRANSCRIPT … […] “as I said, the politicization of our intelligence community needs to end—to even begin to start to earn the trust of the American people. The actions that we’ve taken—unfortunately—there continue to be significant leaks coming out of the intelligence community. Not only my organization, but the CIA and others—again, by those who are very directly trying to undermine the agenda and actions of President Trump. Once again, the President who was elected by the American people with an overwhelming mandate. The way that we start to end this is by bringing about transparency and accountability. In these cases, we conducted our own internal investigation.

In three cases, we referred them to the Department of Justice. As you know well, Matt, sometimes—or historically—we could refer things to the Department of Justice, and they would sit on a desk somewhere or get lost in the paper shuffle. And you end up having to wait and you wonder, Well, is anything ever going to happen? Well, I can tell you, with the leadership we have there now, not only has there been action taken, but they have been actioned by the FBI and are going through immediately to investigate these cases with the intent of bringing about prosecution. We have 11 other internal investigations ongoing now within ODNI, and we intend to continue to carry them out to completion—to hold those who are illegally leaking classified information, trying to undermine the President, politicizing intelligence—hold them accountable. Because this has got to end.”

DNI Tulsi Gabbard is following a frustratingly slow process. However, if she is successful the DC apparatus will target her for removal.

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https://twitter.com/NicHulscher/status/1920925406829703262

Fauci

EPIC
https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1920899852776489123

Burkina


https://twitter.com/Joe__Bassey/status/1920244279655481686

Jews

Greenwald

Solar
https://twitter.com/ryankatzrosene/status/1920683016583520573

Throw
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1920830164415447378

Lamp
https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1920859565396009418

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle March 27 2025

Mar 272025
 
 March 27, 2025  Posted by at 10:57 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  41 Responses »


Henri Matisse Woman with a hat 1905

 

• Trump Admin Hit by Record Number of Injunctions From Partisan Courts (McCarthy)
• When Judges Violate the Constitution (Joecks)
• President Trump Unleashes 25% Tariffs On Foreign-Made Auto Imports (ZH)
• Japanese Carmakers Face Catastrophic Profit Hit From Trump’s Auto Tariffs (ZH)
• Goldberg Accidentally Proved His ‘Signalgate’ Narrative Is a Hoax (Margolis)
• “Those Are Some Really Sh*tty War Plans”: Hegseth Ridicules ‘Bombshell’ (ZH)
• White House Selects Elon Musk To Investigate SignalGate Controversy (JTN)
• Distinguishing the Signal From the Noise (Victoria Taft)
• Might of the Living Feds: 1,500+ Cash-Sucking ‘Zombies’ (RCW)
• “Sometimes a Little Brain Damage Can Help.” (Pinsker)
• Trump Declassifies FBI Crossfire Hurricane Files (RT)
• US Government is a Big Money Laundering Operation – John Rubino (USAW)
• RFK Jr. is Pushing Big Pharma Ad Ban – And Corporate Media is Panicking (Becker)
• EU Officials Unhappy With Kallas – Politico (RT)
• Moscow Backs Ceasefire Despite Kiev’s Breaches – Kremlin (RT)
• Russia Winning In Ukraine, Continually Gaining Leverage: US Intel (ZH)
• Ukraine Never Had Nuclear Weapons – Grenell (RT)
• US Looking For ‘Proper Way’ To Reconnect Russia to SWIFT – Bessent (RT)
• Moody’s Issues Warning On US Finances (RT)

 

 

 

 

Elon why

XO

 

 

Russian steel

2016
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1904948216447008882

 

 

 

 

 

 

“..69 District Court judges presiding over cases involving the Trump administration..”

• Trump Admin Hit by Record Number of Injunctions From Partisan Courts (McCarthy)

Since returning to the White House on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has unleashed a storm of executive orders, a great many of which have been halted or blocked—not by the now-Republican-controlled Congress, but by federal District Courts. According to numbers compiled by the Harvard Law Review, U.S. District Courts have issued more sweeping injunctions against Trump in the past two months than they have against three former presidents over their entire terms. Since Jan. 20, lower courts have imposed 15 nationwide injunctions against the Trump administration, compared to what the Harvard Law Review recounts as six over the course of George W. Bush’s eight-year presidency, 12 over the course of Barack Obama’s eight years in the White House, and 14 during Joe Biden’s single four-year term.

During his first term, Trump was subjected to 64 nationwide injunctions. If inferior courts continue issuing nationwide injunctions against the Trump administration at the current rate (15 for every two months in office), then the second Trump administration will have accumulated 360 nationwide injunctions by the time the president leaves office—and a grand total of 424 over the course of both of Trump’s terms. However, there have been a total of over 45 rulings or more targeted injunctions leveled against the second Trump administration overall, according to The New York Times.

The Harvard Law Review’s tally (published in 2024) also noted the increased partisanship of the federal judiciary. Of the six injunctions imposed against Republican Bush, half came from judges appointed by Democrats and half from judges appointed by Republicans. Of the 12 injunctions imposed against Democrat Obama, seven (less than 60%) were issued by judges appointed by Republicans. Of the 64 injunctions Trump’s first Republican administration was slapped with, 92.2% were issued by judges appointed by Democrats. All—100%—of the 14 injunctions issued against Democrat Biden came from Republican-appointed judges.

Almost a year before Trump’s return to the White House, the Harvard Law Review also warned against the practice of “judge shopping,” essentially looking at the partisan leanings of various federal judges and bringing a complaint in a given district based on a judge’s presumed political leanings. During the first Trump administration, more injunctions were issued against the president by federal District Court judges in deep-blue California than by judges in any other state.

The second Trump term is seemingly witnessing a repeat of this effect. The Washington Stand conducted an analysis of all the lawsuits either already heard or pending a ruling or injunction at the District Court level against the second Trump administration, disregarding the handful of cases being overseen by federal magistrate judges. Of the 69 District Court judges presiding over cases involving the Trump administration, 21 were appointed by Republican presidents: two by Ronald Reagan, one by George H.W. Bush, eight by George W. Bush, and 10 by Trump himself. Already, several of those Republican-appointed judges have issued injunctions or rulings against Trump’s executive orders and actions. The other 48 District Court judges overseeing complaints against the Trump administration were appointed by Democrats: seven by Bill Clinton, 20 by Obama, and 21 by Biden.

In its analysis, The Harvard Law Review observed that “the extreme use of nationwide injunctions during the Trump Administration could reflect judicial responsiveness to the unprecedented degree to which President Trump tested the limits of presidential power.” However, the legal journal added that “in the Biden years, judges appear to be ordering vacatur in cases where plaintiffs requested an injunction.” An order of vacatur is binding only on the agency to which it is directed—as opposed to nationwide injunctions, which are, as the name suggests, binding nationwide and enforceable by holding violators in contempt—and simply vacates a rule, declaring that it shall have no legal effect.

The Harvard Law Review continued, “Whether the falling rate of injunctions from the Trump to the Biden Administration reflects a decrease in abuses of executive power, judicial responsiveness to growing criticism of the nationwide injunction, or the replacement of some injunctions with the ‘lesser remedy’ of vacatur, the decrease should not mislead: district court judges appear to be striking down executive policies of opposing administrations with unprecedented frequency.”

The growing use of nationwide injunctions by inferior courts, the prestigious legal journal warned, necessarily has a chilling effect on the development of law and precedent. When several inferior courts of different jurisdictions issue conflicting rulings, the matter often winds up at the U.S. Supreme Court, where a definitive standard is set for addressing similar issues going forward. However, nationwide injunctions halt the continued challenging of executive orders, executive actions, or laws, since, as the Harvard Law Review pointed out, various other inferior courts simply refuse to take up related cases, determining that there can be no demonstration of injury in fact while the nationwide injunctions are in place.

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“..Constitution. Article II gives “executive power” to the president, who is also commander in chief of the military. Yet, according to some federal judges, the judiciary is in charge of the executive branch’s military policy, hiring, spending decisions and deportation flights. The Trump administration can’t even take down a website.”

• When Judges Violate the Constitution (Joecks)

Leftist judges want to turn President Donald Trump into a president in name only. Look at all the ways that individual judges have hamstrung the Trump administration. A district court judge recently blocked Trump’s executive order removing transgender individuals from the military. Another judge ordered the Trump administration to send two men who are pretending to be women into a women’s prison. One federal judge ordered the administration to restore government webpages that promote the Left’s transgender narrative. A different district court judge stopped the Trump administration from disbanding the wasteful United States Agency for International Development. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appointed Jeremy Lewin to a high-level position in USAID. The judge later ruled that Lewin wasn’t allowed to serve in that role.

Last weekend, another federal judge blocked the Trump administration from deporting illegal immigrant gang members. He even unsuccessfully attempted to force them to turn around flights that were already in the air. These examples are only the tip of the judicial overreach iceberg. Now, all presidential administrations face lawsuits, but what’s happening here is well beyond historical norms. In his four years in office, former President Joe Biden’s administration received 14 federal injunctions. In less than two months, judges have already hit the Trump administration with more than that. These rulings are an affront to the Constitution. Article II gives “executive power” to the president, who is also commander in chief of the military. Yet, according to some federal judges, the judiciary is in charge of the executive branch’s military policy, hiring, spending decisions and deportation flights. The Trump administration can’t even take down a website.

Contrast that judicial activism with what Alexander Hamilton laid out in Federalist 78. “The judiciary is beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power,” he wrote. And “it can never attack with success either of the other two.” But, Hamilton warned, while “liberty can have nothing to fear from the judiciary alone,” it “would have everything to fear from its union with either of the other departments.” That’s what some district court judges are attempting to do. These unelected, unaccountable judges are attempting to upend the constitutional order. Most people take it for granted that the executive and legislative branches will abide by judicial decisions. And despite Trump’s social media bluster, his administration has been remarkably deferential to the judicial process in its actions.

That’s likely in part due to a belief that higher courts, including the Supreme Court, will largely overrule these individual judges. That’s already happened in one case involving Trump’s push to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion. Republicans in Congress are also working on potential solutions, such as requiring a three-judge panel to rule on injunctive relief. The judiciary is more vulnerable than many activist judges seem to realize. As Hamilton wrote, the judiciary “may truly be said to have neither force nor will, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments.” In other words, if Trump tells the court to enforce its own rulings, the court can’t. It can only hope there would be a political price to pay for openly defying a court order.

Public support for the judiciary, however, could collapse quickly. The Left has been attacking it for years. Biden openly disregarded a Supreme Court decision on student loan forgiveness. Some Democrats pushed to pack the Supreme Court, while others have wrongly smeared conservative justices as corrupt. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts needs to stop rogue district court judges from violating the Constitution–and quickly. If he doesn’t, support from the right could evaporate quickly. A diminished court isn’t ideal, but neither is one that flagrantly violates the Constitution.

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There are hardly any American cars in Europe. But the US is full of Mercs and Beamers. The issue is quite obvious.

• President Trump Unleashes 25% Tariffs On Foreign-Made Auto Imports (ZH)

Update (1600ET): President Trump has announced a 25% tariff on all cars not made in the US. “This will continue to spur growth,” Trump told reporters. Trump confirmed that these new tariffs are in addition to existing tariffs and are expected to result in $100 billion in revenues. To underscore his seriousness, Trump said, “This is permanent.” In addition to the tariffs, Trump discussed his plan to allow Americans to deduct interest payments on cars that are made in America. If the car is built in the US, there will be no tariffs. “We are going to charge countries for doing business in our country and taking our jobs, taking our wealth, taking a lot of things that they have been taking over the years.” GM and Ford shares are tumbling further on the news…

European and Canadian officials have already thrown their teddy-bears out of the stroller. Ontario Premier Doug Ford (who folded like broken deckchair on his last threat to hike electricity costs to Americans), warned that: “…he’ll “encourage Carney to target US automobiles… and will inflict as much trade pain as possible.” Canadian PM Mark Carney commented that US tariffs are a “direct attack” on Canadian auto workers, adding that the Trump tariffs “will hurt us.” “We will defend our workers, our companies, and our country.” European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen immediately posted her disappointment on X:

“I deeply regret the US decision to impose tariffs on European automotive exports. The automotive industry is a driver of innovation, competitiveness, and high quality jobs, through deeply integrated supply chains on both sides of the Atlantic. As I have said before, tariffs are taxes – bad for businesses, worse for consumers equally in the US and the European Union. We will now assess this announcement, together with other measures the US is envisaging in the next days. The EU will continue to seek negotiated solutions, while safeguarding its economic interests. As a major trading power and a strong community of 27 Member States, we will jointly protect our workers, businesses and consumers across our European Union.”

“Our automobile industry will flourish like it’s never flourished before,” Trump commented, seemingly unflapped by the possibility of retaliation.

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“..about 46% of all new cars sold in the US are imported.”

• Japanese Carmakers Face Catastrophic Profit Hit From Trump’s Auto Tariffs (ZH)

As the fallout from Trump’s tariff plans comes into relief, a harsh truth is emerging for the automotive industry: there are lots of losers and not many winners. But foreign automakers, those without US facilities, will be hit especially hard. As Bloomberg notes, from South Korea’s Hyundai to Germany’s Volkswagen, and to a lesser extent America’s own General Motors, many of the world’s most prominent carmakers will soon face higher costs from Trump’s new levies on auto imports and key components. That’s because about 46% of all new cars sold in the US are imported.

“There are very few winners,” Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, said in a phone interview. “Consumers will be losers because they will have reduced choice and higher prices.” One notable winner in the tariff chaos is Elon Musk. His Tesla, which has large factories in California and Texas, churns out all the electric vehicles it sells in the US, although as Elon noted late on Wednesday, the company will also not remain unscathed.

Ford could also face a less-severe impact than some rivals, with about 80% of the cars it sells in the US being built domestically. Others will be less lucky: starting April 2, the new 25% tariffs will apply to all imported passenger vehicles and light trucks, as well as key parts like engines, transmissions. Not surprisingly, the tariffs give automakers that heavily source parts in the US an edge, and Trump also allowed an exemption: the new levies will only apply to the non-US share of vehicles and parts imported under a free-trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. That may soften the blow for vehicles whose supply lines zig-zag across the continent. Tariffs on parts from Canada and Mexico that comply with the trade deal also won’t take effect until the US sets up a process to collect those levies. The US neighbors could use that window to try to stave off full implementation, even if it’s a long shot.

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There are whole lists of Goldberg’s anti-Trump articles.

• Goldberg Accidentally Proved His ‘Signalgate’ Narrative Is a Hoax (Margolis)

The Democrats’ latest effort to manufacture a Trump administration scandal blew up in their faces this week after Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, reported that he was somehow included in an encrypted Signal chat group with top administration officials discussing a planned attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen. According to Goldberg, officials discussed classified and/or top-secret war plans. No one disputes that Goldberg was erroneously included in the chat, but the real issue is whether classified or top-secret war plans were actually discussed. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard testified that nothing classified or top secret was discussed in the chat. Others in the administration have said the same thing. Goldberg had been given the opening to release the chats in their entirety to prove them wrong. But he insisted that he wouldn’t.

During an interview on The Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller, Goldberg repeatedly evaded calls to produce evidence, raising serious questions about the credibility of his claims. Miller directly challenged Goldberg, pointing out that top Trump administration officials had accused him of lying. “Now, the Secretary of Defense and the White House Press Secretary have said you’re lying, have said there are no war plans there, have said there’s no classified information,” Miller stated. “So the obvious question is, shouldn’t you now demonstrate it? Shouldn’t you publish the text?” Goldberg flatly refused. “No, because they’re wrong. They’re wrong,” he insisted, offering no proof to back up his claims.

Here’s the problem with that claim: In the encrypted chat, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz explicitly mentioned the participants’ “high side” inboxes, a reference to the classified system. This made it clear they knew certain topics couldn’t be discussed on the Signal platform. Miller pressed Goldberg further in the interview, asking whether he would at least provide the alleged messages to congressional intelligence committees. Instead of responding substantively, Goldberg deflected with sarcasm. “Wow. What? You wanna become my lawyer?” he quipped with an annoyed tone. He clearly wasn’t comfortable with the line of questioning, and I got the sense he was hiding something.

As the conversation continued, Goldberg struggled to justify his refusal to produce evidence, resorting to vague justifications. “Just because they’re irresponsible with material doesn’t mean that I’m gonna be irresponsible with this material,” he said. He further attempted to cast doubt on the administration’s credibility, suggesting officials were merely trying to “get out of a jam.” In a final attempt to defend his decision, Goldberg framed it as a matter of principle. “I have a pretty clear standard in my own behavior of what I consider… information that I consider to be in the public interest, even if it’s technically classified or not,” he said, adding that he was “sticking to my principles.”

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“No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information.” ..”some really shitty war plans.”

• “Those Are Some Really Sh*tty War Plans”: Hegseth Ridicules ‘Bombshell’ (ZH)

Update(1326ET): Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has responded to the growing calls among Dems for him to step down. This is hours after The Atlantic published the fuller chat logs, alleging that he’s discussing ‘war plans’ in an unsecure and unclassified setting – also with a journalist inadvertently added to the group chat. Hegseth emphasized on X that there were No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information.” And he said sarcastically these these make for “some really shitty war plans.”

Still, this is unlikely to appease the Trump White House’s enemies, who are also now claiming that national security officials ‘lied’ before the Senate yesterday.

* * *
The Atlantic has published the fuller chat thread from the Signal group that journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was ‘inadvertently’ included in. This comes after the top Trump officials involved denied that they shared secret “attack plans” in an unsecure, unclassified setting. The President has downplayed it, defending both national security adviser Mike Walz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has called for both Hegseth Waltz to either resign or be fired from their top national security posts. “When the stakes are this high, incompetence is not an option,” Warner wrote on social media Tuesday. “Pete Hegseth should resign. Mike Waltz should resign.”And in a a letter to President Trump, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has urged Hegseth’s termination, calling him “unqualified” and a national security risk.

“The so-called secretary of defense recklessly and casually disclosed highly sensitive war plans — including the timing of a pending attack, possible strike targets and the weapons to be used — during an unclassified national security group chat that inexplicably included a reporter,” Jeffries wrote. “His behavior shocks the conscience, risked American lives and likely violated the law.” The newly published messages were sent on March 15 and purport to be from an account identified as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Amid the ongoing controversy, Golberg and The Atlantic are seeking to present a ‘smoking gun’ of sorts. The messages include times of strikes and the types of aircraft being used in attacks on Yemen’s Houthis, who have for many months been sending drone and missiles against Red Sea shipping, including American warships and even at times a carrier.

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The “chat” group is invite only. It should be simple to see who invited, and then added, the journalist.

• White House Selects Elon Musk To Investigate SignalGate Controversy (JTN)

The White House on Wednesday asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk to lead a probe into the so-called SignalGate scandal, which refers to the accidental addition of a journalist to a national security chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal. Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, reported on Monday that he was added to a chain last week containing messages from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, and 15 other senior national security officials. The discussion regarded the Defense Department’s strike plans on the Houthis. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to reporters that Musk had been asked to help lead the investigation, along with his team at the Department of Government Efficiency, per The Hill.

“Elon Musk has offered to put his technical experts on this to figure out how this number was inadvertently added to the chat, again to take responsibility and ensure this can never happen again,” she said. The White House Counsel’s office and the National Security Council are also helping with the investigation. President Donald Trump said a staffer on Waltz’s team was responsible for Goldberg’s inclusion, and Waltz has denied ever meeting or talking to Goldberg. The journalist’s invitation allegedly came from Waltz’s account. Waltz has accepted “full responsibility” for the scandal.

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“I won’t make excuses for the security breach, for that’s what you call it when Jeffrey Goldberg is on the text chain hiding under the name “Jeffrey Goldberg.”

• Distinguishing the Signal From the Noise (Victoria Taft)

After the hypersonic quickness and near-flawlessness of the first few weeks of the Trump 47 presidency, the mediacrats have seized upon a Signal chat between 17 high-level administration officials and Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg. They’ve attempted to turn a discussion about attacking Houthis into the theft of the Manhattan Project. It won’t work, but it doesn’t mean that between applauding the Tesla showroom fire bombings and threatening the drivers of those cars, the left won’t keep trying to make this fetch happen. The Morning Joe gadflies, endless CNN panels, even Hillary Clinton and everyone at the Trump White House agree on one thing: Jeffrey Goldberg shouldn’t have been on that Signal text chain because no one can trust him.

Financier, Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, often says, “To be effective you must be able to distinguish the signal from the noise.” The way this issue has been discussed by mediacrats, it’s been all noise. Endless noise. First, Goldberg hates Trump. His wife works for Hillary Clinton, for goodness’ sake. Goldberg is “The Atlantic’s” Bob Woodward: the guy that comes up with all kinds of uncorroborated stories that no one has ever heard of, much less seen evidence for. If it’s true, why is it only stated in front of Bob or Jeffrey and never reported or even alluded to by anyone before or since? Even actor Bill Murray worked out that puzzle. Goldberg put the words “suckers and losers” into Donald Trump’s mouth at the same time he allegedly petulantly refused to go to a World War II cemetery in Normandy. Yeah, that’s totally on brand for Trump. Not.

Of course, it had nothing to do with the weather making it impossible to fly over the French countryside and near the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc to get to the cemetery. I mean, there are never weather problems there. Take the Normandy invasion as an example, the reason why Trump was there. That whole Normandy invasion thing wasn’t beset by weather problems. Dwight Eisenhower had no problems with the weather. He parked those Higgins Boats without an issue, and everyone got to Omaha without a scratch — in Jeffrey Goldberg’s imagination, anyway. Also, do you think a president, especially one who owned his own aircraft, might take the word of a helo pilot when things are too dangerous? Naw. Never happen. The whole thing’s absurd. Matt’s got a nice round-up of the rest of the boneheaded things Goldberg has said about Trump over here.

This isn’t a bash Jeffrey Goldberg session; there are plenty of pieces around here doing that because he makes it so deliciously easy. I must mention, however, that “The Atlantic” editor reported that they discussed war plans on the Signal text chain. Or maybe that’s what he thought this discussion was. Let’s ask Jeffrey. Jeffrey, how did this compare to the last time you were privy to “military plans”? Did you get all the troop movements, LZs, and weapons packages the last time? Were you included in further communications when members of the national security team said on the Signal chat, “we need to move to the high side” to continue the discussion on a more secure apparatus? I won’t make excuses for the security breach, for that’s what you call it when Jeffrey Goldberg is on the text chain hiding under the name “Jeffrey Goldberg.” But who had Goldberg in their contacts, anyway? What the actual hell?

The noise continued with the hilarious and beside-the-point reactions by former Obama and Biden officials. They are pure irony. Honestly, who thought it was a good idea to get Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice’s reactions? That is comedy gold. What, no Tony Blinken to discuss his expertly executed Afghanistan pullout that included an agreement not to kill the terrorists killing innocents in front of American soldiers? Or was it the bug-out at Bagram, giving China a home base? The woman who destroyed documents, emails, phones under preservation orders, and also had her own server, which even Mike Morrell, one of the 51 spies who lied, said was certainly spied on by the ChiComs and Russians, and worse, weighed in. Goldberg’s wife’s boss, Hillary Clinton, said:

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1,500+ organizations that haven’t been (re-) authorized by Congress for 45 years, but should have been. And have kept functioning, and received funding, as if they have been.

• Might of the Living Feds: 1,500+ Cash-Sucking ‘Zombies’ (RCW)

In 1974, Congress created the Legal Services Corporation to connect lower-income Americans involved in civil disputes with free legal help. The law that established the agency stipulated that authorization for its funding would expire in 1980, when lawmakers were required to vote on whether to keep it alive. They never did. Still, Congress has funded LSC every year since. In fiscal 2025, its 51st year, LSC’s 135 employees will spend 95% of its now $560 million annual budget paying legal groups to represent Americans in cases such as eviction, domestic violence, and disputes over government benefits, according to Ron Flagg, the agency’s president since 2020. “LSC would welcome reauthorization,” Flagg said. “We haven’t hidden from it. Every budget cycle, we go through an exhaustive process before Congress appropriates funds — dozens of meetings with leaders of both parties. We demonstrate our return on investment, how we help 2 million Americans get life-saving legal help.”

The Legal Services Corp. now stands as America’s oldest “Zombie” program, but it’s far from unique. At a time when the Trump administration is moving aggressively to scale back government, including eliminating the entire Education Department, it’s sobering to note that 1,503 agencies or programs live on despite expired authorizations, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Another 155 will expire on Sept. 30. The Zombies, nearly half of which have been officially dead for more than a decade, persist in a budgetary netherworld. In a deep dive last year, CBO analysts were able to find dollar amounts for 491 of the programs, with total expenditures of $516 billion. They don’t know how much funding the other programs received.

The total federal budget in 2024 was $6.8 trillion, meaning expired Zombie programs take up at least 8% of the budget, and likely much more. “A lot of programs don’t get reauthorized because Congress is okay with how they’re operating,” said Josh Huder, former congressional staffer now at the Georgetown University Government Affairs Institute. “They continue to get annual appropriations because most members think they’re worthwhile.” Many Zombie programs now soak up far more funding than lawmakers originally envisioned. The Federal Election Commission, for example, was expected to spend $9.4 million per year before its authorization expired in 1981. Yet the agency continued to receive funding and spent $95 million in 2024, auditors at government watchdog Open The Books found. The Federal Communications Commission was originally allocated $339.6 million per year. Its funding authorization expired in 2020, yet it spent $28.4 billion last year.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency hasn’t addressed the Zombies that are prowling the federal spreadsheets. Given DOGE’s headlong push to first root out alleged waste, fraud, and abuse and ask questions later, experts say, Zombies may offer a ripe target. “One could imagine that if DOGE is clued into the notion of expired authorizations, they’ll think a program is defunct,” said Sarah Binder, senior fellow at Brookings and professor of political science at George Washington University. She said this would be a mistake. “If Congress is still appropriating money to the programs, they’re not Zombies. They’re living, breathing agencies.” Binder says the fault lies not with the agencies, some of which have become important enough to be household names, but Congress. Lawmakers have made it so difficult to accomplish their most fundamental tasks, such as funding the government for another year, that they hardly ever get around to doing other important things, such as reauthorizing existing programs.

The Foreign Relations Authorization Act, for example, expired in 2003. Yet in 2024, Congress spent $38.4 billion on 24 of the law’s programs, allowing legislators to influence the White House’s foreign policy and security assistance to other nations. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, now led by Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), supported the funding of 346 expired programs, more than any other committee, the CBO found. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, now chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), spent more identifiable money than any other group: $153.5 billion. “Congress’ job doesn’t stop when they allocate the money,” said Casey Burgat, professor at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.

“They have to oversee it. And when they fail to do that they open themselves up to somebody else doing that. In this case, an aggressive executive branch in the form of DOGE.” Of the 1,503 agencies or programs, 22 remain alive that required a reauthorization vote as long ago as the 1980s, according to the CBO. In addition to the Legal Services Corp., whose authorization expired in 1980, and the FEC (a 1981 reauthorization deadline), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, which oversees the country’s power grids (1984) and the Energy Information Administration, or EIA, whose data informs U.S. policymaking (1984), are among the Zombies pushing middle age.

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Fetterman.

• “Sometimes a Little Brain Damage Can Help.” (Pinsker)

He might be dead, but George Carlin is having a career year on social media. Seems the 20-something liberal crowd has discovered his standup material, and short clips of him lambasting the establishment are still going viral. Of course, Carlin was also waaaay to the left: In one of his books, he wrote, “Property is theft. Nobody ‘owns’ anything. When you die, it all stays here.” Liberals love that. (Interestingly, clips of his 1990 “Doin’ It Again” HBO concert, where he condemns euphemistic language, censorship, PC gibberish, and even defends the use of the N-word, are seldom shared online. Can’t imagine why.) Whenever Carlin’s clips are uploaded, the youngsters all seem to have the same reaction: “Wow, this guy was REALLY ahead of his time!” And in some ways, he absolutely was. But perhaps he was most notably ahead of his time with his 1984 book, “Sometimes a Little Brain Damage Can Help.”

Because, 40 years later — which sounds almost biblical, an irony Carlin would probably appreciate — an enormously large, brain-damaged Pennsylvania senator named John Fetterman is having a career year, too. I mentioned his size because it’s striking: At six foot eight, he’s the only man left in D.C. who can look Barron Trump in the eye. With his shaved head and “gym bro” sweats, he’s one of a handful of Democrats who wouldn’t be out of place on the set of the “Joe Rogan Experience.” In fact, he’s already recorded one episode with Rogan and will probably be taping more. (Over two million views on YouTube and Spotify.) Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is just beginning to realize that it’s lost an entire generation of young male voters. As we discussed two days ago, “75-year-old white men supported Kamala Harris at a significantly higher rate than 20-year-old white men.”

As Newsweek described it: “This is the thing I am the most shocked by in the last four years—that young people have gone from being the most progressive generation since the Baby Boomers… to becoming potentially the most conservative generation that we’ve experienced maybe in 50 to 60 years,” Shor [the head of data science at the pro-Democratic polling firm Blue Rose Research] stated. It’s quickly becoming an existential problem for the Democratic Party. This is still a closely divided country; neither party can afford to lose key members of their constituencies. It’s all hands on deck! As professor David B. Cohen told Newsweek: Young voters compose a crucial part of the Democratic base, and if that is eroding, where do they make up for that? Going forward, Democrats will have to figure out how to bring young voters back to the fold — particularly young men — if they want to be competitive nationally.

Enter John Fetterman. He’s been candid about his mental health struggles — something which disproportionately afflicts young men, by the way. When pro-Hamas hoodlums protested outside of his home, he took to the roof and waved the Israeli flag. And he’s had it with the wackjobs in his own party: “I was really the first Democrat to refuse to shut our government down, and my party was so desperate to pander to shut the government down,” Fetterman said. “Absurd, absolutely absurd. Six months ago, we were lecturing the Republicans, ‘You can’t shut the government down.’ Now it’s, ‘Well, yeah, let’s do these things.’” He added, “It’s like that’s part of the problem, to pander, and they want to pander to the extreme parts of our party, to shut the government down. I said I will never burn the village down and claim that I’m saving it.”

Fetterman also pointed to Michigan as an example of political “pandering” that failed, claiming the Democratic Party tried to appeal to the left-wing Arab-American population only to lose the state to President Donald Trump anyway. He specifically called out Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., for refusing to support President Joe Biden and later Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election because of their support for Israel. Fetterman claimed that she and other far-left Democrats ultimately helped to elect Trump. [Emphasis added] But his stance came at a cost: It put him in the crosshairs of the Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez/Bernie Sanders wing of the party. They hate him! But Big John isn’t backing down:

It’s a power struggle. And it’s one that Fetterman won’t win: He might be big, but his “wing” of the party is puny. The Democratic Party is essentially a coalition party, where the common denominator is that everyone agrees that they’ll work together. For most of the last 50 years, the coalition has been comprised of women, minorities, liberals, young voters, and “left-leaning libertarians” — folks like Bill Maher, who generally lean to the left but mostly want to be left alone. And you could probably include John Fetterman in that group, too.

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After JFK and MLK, people will be sleptical.

• Trump Declassifies FBI Crossfire Hurricane Files (RT)

US President Donald Trump has ordered the declassification of all FBI files related to the agency’s investigation into his first election campaign’s alleged contacts with Russia. The FBI launched the ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ investigation in July 2016 to examine whether Trump – then a presidential candidate – or members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating with Moscow to influence the election. In a memorandum released on Tuesday by the White House, Trump directed the Attorney General to make the materials available to the public “immediately.” Crossfire Hurricane was prompted by the ‘Steele Dossier’ – a compilation of unverified rumors about Trump and his alleged links to Russia. The dossier was compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, and reportedly funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Crossfire Hurricane preceded the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whose subsequent ‘Russiagate’ investigation found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. In 2023, the US Justice Department’s (DOJ) special counsel John Durham – appointed to review the origins of the Crossfire Hurricane probe – concluded that the FBI and DOJ had “failed to uphold their mission” by relying on biased information to surveil Trump. Durham criticized the FBI for showing a “serious lack of analytical rigor,” particularly when handling information from politically-affiliated sources. It was also revealed that the Steele Dossier had been used by the FBI to obtain court permission to spy on Trump’s campaign. In 2019, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz reported that the FBI had made “basic, fundamental, and serious errors” in its warrant application.

Mike Davis
https://twitter.com/liz_churchill10/status/1904725820863578255

‘Crossfire Hurricane’ and Mueller’s Russiagate investigation cast a long shadow over Trump’s presidency, with allegations of “Russian collusion” persisting in the media even after Mueller’s report found no evidence to back them up. In a video posted on Tuesday on Truth Social, Trump said after signing the order: “This was total weaponization. It’s a disgrace…but now you’ll be able to see for yourselves.” Addressing journalists, he added: “You probably won’t bother because you’re not going to like what you see.” Trump had previously ordered a full declassification of Crossfire Hurricane during the final days of his first term, but the documents were never released. According to a 2023 CNN report, a binder containing highly classified information later went missing.

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“There is a decent chance of instead of having this gigantic collapse because the dollar is basically evaporating, that this government will be smart enough to do the monetary reset. Go back to a gold standard . . . go back to some sort of commodity base standard..”

• US Government is a Big Money Laundering Operation – John Rubino (USAW)

Analyst and financial writer John Rubino warned last October that “Chaos is Coming.” With exploding Tesla dealerships, mass deportations of violent gangs, DOGE uncovering massive fraud and waste, and an out-of-control Leftist judiciary trying to stop President Trump at every turn, you could say chaos is here. Rubino contends it’s not going away anytime soon as government grifters are going to try to keep the cash flowing. Now, AG Pam Bondi says her office is going after the fraudsters ripping off America. Rubino explains, “We are finding out that the federal government is a big money laundering operation. There are so many different ways and so many different avenues that take cash from taxpayers or newly created cash . . . and it basically funnels it to political operatives, political class and the ‘expert’ class all around the world. . . . We have created this class of people who are effectively grifters . . . because they don’t do anything worthwhile at all. Do you think that think-tanks produce anything of value, or lobbyists or Washington law firms or regulators? The regulator is basically on a long job interview for the company you are regulating. You prove you are a team player and then Pfizer hires you for 10 times your FDA salary. So, everywhere you look it’s a form of money laundering.”

So, now interest payments are spiraling to infinity with massive amounts of debt and currency creation. Rubino says, “We have hit the death spiral point for the dollar and the other big fiat currencies, which means the cost to maintain this debt starts to spiral out of control and people lose faith in the currency or the currency collapses or you have a currency reset. What is really interesting about the Trump Administration is it contains a lot of gold bugs. . . . There is a decent chance of instead of having this gigantic collapse because the dollar is basically evaporating, that this government will be smart enough to do the monetary reset. Go back to a gold standard . . . go back to some sort of commodity base standard where we peg the dollar to something that is real and cannot be created in infinite quantities on a printing press. It could be we do that without insane amounts of pain and stress, but it would still be painful. Anybody who has dollars will watch those dollars be devalued dramatically.”

In this scenario, the dollar sinks in value. What happens to gold? Rubino says, “Everybody who runs the numbers says gold has to be $10,000 per ounce at a minimum and maybe much higher. Gold has to go way up in price in a currency reset. . . . So, your gold becomes much more valuable, and your silver gets pulled along by gold and goes up by some multiple of gold’s percentage gains. If gold goes up three times, silver will go up five to ten times.” Rubino thinks Europe is headed for war with Russia or civil war. Either way, the Euro will not survive. Rubino says the domestic violence will continue here in America but thinks the Deep State won’t stop President Trump’s agenda. Rubino also says everybody should concentrate on owning real things such as farm land, gold, silver and a good vehicle. Rubino also says some emergency food and a garden are good ideas too.

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“Nearly 31% of ad minutes on major nightly news broadcasts in 2024 came from pharmaceutical brands.”

• RFK Jr. is Pushing Big Pharma Ad Ban – And Corporate Media is Panicking (Becker)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary, is pushing a plan to ban pharmaceutical ads from television. He’s right to push for it—and not just because the U.S. is one of only two countries on earth that allows such advertising (the other being New Zealand). America’s health system isn’t just flawed; it’s harming public health, distorting journalism, and fueling Big Pharma’s malignant influence over our daily lives. Let’s start with the obvious: TV drug ads aren’t designed to inform—they’re designed to manipulate. The formula is always the same. Cue soft lighting and sappy piano music. A sad, listless person pops a pill and suddenly life is vibrant again. They’re running through fields, laughing with family, walking dogs across idyllic bridges. Then, in a breathless voiceover, the side effects come tumbling out like a legal disclaimer roulette wheel—stroke, heart failure, suicidal thoughts. The goal? Make viewers want a drug before they even talk to their doctor. It’s emotional coercion dressed up as health education.

This completely inverts how medicine is supposed to work. Health care decisions should be made inside the exam room, not in a 60-second marketing spot. Patients should go to their doctors with symptoms, and those doctors—armed with clinical training and knowledge of the patient’s full health profile—should decide whether a drug is even necessary. Many issues could be better addressed through lifestyle changes, diet, supplements, or preventative care. But instead, America has normalized a pill-for-everything culture, supercharged by the fact that doctors are often nudged by patients demanding whatever drug they saw advertised last night during a commercial break. This isn’t just bad medicine—it’s dangerous. And it’s no accident.

Big Pharma isn’t spending billions on advertising because it cares about your health. It’s doing it because the return on investment is enormous. Studies estimate the ROI on direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug ads ranges from 100% to 500%, depending on the drug. In 2025 alone, pharmaceutical companies are projected to spend over $5 billion on national linear TV ads, according to iSpot.tv. That number balloons even higher when you include digital and streaming. Just a handful of blockbuster drugs—like Skyrizi, Jardiance, and Ozempic—are burning through tens of millions in TV ads every month. This revenue isn’t just padding Big Pharma’s pockets—it’s quietly buying influence in the media. Nearly 31% of ad minutes on major nightly news broadcasts in 2024 came from pharmaceutical brands.

That means a huge portion of media budgets depend on the very companies they should be holding accountable. And surprise, surprise: when Big Pharma misleads the public, many news outlets are either silent or hesitant to report critically. The financial conflict of interest is baked in. We saw the worst-case version of this during the COVID-19 pandemic. The novel mRNA shots—rushed to market under emergency use—were sold to the public as miracle solutions. Government officials and media outlets claimed these vaccines would “stop infection,” “prevent death entirely,” and “end the pandemic.” Younger, healthy individuals were told they needed them for everyone’s safety, despite already low statistical risk. None of these claims held up. As the data evolved, we learned the vaccines offered some reduction in severe disease, but not sterilizing immunity. Yet the media rarely corrected course.

Why would they? Pharma ads were paying the bills. Meanwhile, federal workers were mandated—and many private sector employees coerced—into getting injections under false pretenses. Billions of dollars flowed to Big Pharma. The American public was misled. This pattern of deception is not new. Pfizer alone has paid billions in legal penalties over the years for unethical marketing, off-label promotion, and other violations. The most infamous: a $2.3 billion settlement in 2009—the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history at the time. Yet companies like Pfizer, AbbVie, and Johnson & Johnson still enjoy a polished image on TV, thanks in part to relentless ad spending and regulatory leniency.

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They hired her for her Russophobia. What did they think they would get?

• EU Officials Unhappy With Kallas – Politico (RT)

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has been criticized by nearly a dozen EU officials over her hawkish stance on Russia and leadership style, Politico has reported, citing unnamed sources. According to the outlet, Kallas’ challenges began on her first day in office in December, following her tweet stating, “The European Union wants Ukraine to win this war” against Russia. Several EU officials reportedly felt uneasy that the former Estonian prime minister, within a day of assuming her new role, “felt at liberty to go beyond” established language norms. ”If you listen to her, it seems we are at war with Russia, which is not the EU line,” Politico cited one EU official as complaining on Wednesday.

Kallas has been a vocal critic of Russia and an advocate for increased military support to Ukraine. Her initiative to increase EU military aid to Kiev to up to €40 billion ($43.1 million) this year faced opposition from member states like Italy and Spain, who do not perceive Moscow as an immediate threat to the EU. Kallas, however, still has her defenders among the EU’s northern and eastern states, noted Politico. Russia has openly criticized the top diplomat, labeling her statements “rabidly Russophobic,” and “undiplomatic,” and accusing her of pushing for militarization amid ongoing US-brokered peace talks on Ukraine. She’s also reportedly been criticized for continuing to act like a prime minister by failing to consult diplomats from member countries before making sensitive proposals.

Kallas’ relationship with the United States has been questioned by some officials. After the sudden cancellation of her February meeting in Washington with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, attributed to “scheduling issues,” Politico sources suggested that Kallas had not adequately prepared by providing a clear agenda to US counterparts. After a contentious February Oval Office exchange involving US President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, Kallas tweeted, “The free world needs a new leader.” The apparent jab at Trump reportedly unsettled nations eager to maintain strong ties with the US administration.

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” Moscow suspects that Kiev is attempting to derail Washington’s efforts to mediate a comprehensive truce by continuing its attacks on energy infrastructure.”

• Moscow Backs Ceasefire Despite Kiev’s Breaches – Kremlin (RT)

Ukraine’s ongoing attacks on energy infrastructure are in breach of a US-mediated ceasefire but will not dissuade Russia from maintaining its commitment to the pause, Dmitry Peskov stated on Wednesday. The agreement to refrain from attacking such sites was brokered by US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a phone conversation last week. Ukraine launched three separate assaults over two days, aimed at a natural gas reservoir and two segments of the national power grid, the Russian military reported on Wednesday; the latter two resulted in supply disruptions. At a press briefing, Peskov acknowledged Kiev’s “inability to adhere to agreements,” citing the incidents as evidence. Nevertheless, the Russian military is adhering to the suspension of strikes.

Peskov expressed the Kremlin’s commitment to the moratorium, saying it signifies progress in the improvement of US-Russia bilateral relations. He reminded journalists that Moscow has specified the types of targets protected under the partial ceasefire, which were discussed during consultations in Saudi Arabia earlier this week. Moscow suspects that Kiev is attempting to derail Washington’s efforts to mediate a comprehensive truce by continuing its attacks on energy infrastructure. The Foreign Ministry had previously warned that Russia could withdraw from the agreement in response to Ukrainian “provocations.”

Discussions in Riyadh reportedly focused on reviving the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a defunct security framework under which Moscow guaranteed the safety of civilian transportation to and from Ukrainian ports. Russia turned down the renewal of the agreement in 2023, citing Kiev’s misuse of the arrangement for military goals and the West’s failure to ease sanctions in order to facilitate food and fertilizer exports. Peskov assured that if past commitments made to Russia are finally honored, the initiative would be “reactivated.”

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“..a gradual but steady erosion of Kyiv’s position on the battlefield, regardless of any U.S. or allied attempts to impose new and greater costs on Moscow..”

• Russia Winning In Ukraine, Continually Gaining Leverage: US Intel (ZH)

The US government in its 2025 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community – which was just released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in conjunction with top officials’ testimony at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday – has admitted that Ukraine’s battlefield prospects are fading amid the onslaught of superior Russian forces. Currently, Moscow has “seized the upper hand” in the war over the past year, the fresh assessment warns, and “is on a path to accrue greater leverage” as peace talks with Washington are underway. “Even though Russian President [Vladimir] Putin will be unable to achieve the total victory he envisioned when initiating the large-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia retains momentum as a grinding war of attrition plays to Russia’s military advantages,” the report states.

“This grinding war of attrition will lead to a gradual but steady erosion of Kyiv’s position on the battlefield, regardless of any U.S. or allied attempts to impose new and greater costs on Moscow,” it continues. This should come as no surprise to any objective observer; however, what is surprising is the huge amount of Russian losses estimated by US intelligence. While there’s no way of verifying such information, the report claims that there are over 750,000 dead and wounded on the Russian side. Still, the intel community emphasizes the Russian military machine’s ability to quickly replenish personnel while growing its industrial capacity to continually support the war.

On the prospect for achieving a quick peace settlement, the report notes that both Russian and Ukrainian leadership “probably still see the risks of a longer war as less than those of an unsatisfying settlement.” “For Russia, positive battlefield trends allow for some strategic patience, and for Ukraine, conceding territory or neutrality to Russia without substantial security guarantees from the West could prompt domestic backlash and future insecurity.” “Regardless of how and when the war in Ukraine ends, Russia’s current geopolitical, economic, military, and domestic political trends underscore its resilience and enduring potential threat to U.S. power, presence, and global interests,” it adds.

https://twiter.com/yarotrof/status/1904857430925648010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1904857430925648010%7Ctwgr%5E23ccd6fdd0351c2bcd235f92faf7645aa404b476%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Frussia-winning-ukraine-continually-gaining-leverage-us-intel-community

* * *
A note from UBS … US Intelligence On Russia Nuclear Capacity, China And Taiwan . The US annual threat assessment from the Director of National Intelligence carries warnings about Russia and China. The 2025 edition warned that Russia is developing a satellite capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. It said that China was making aggressive efforts to assert its sovereignty in the south and east China seas, and seems likely to increase its economic pressure on Taiwan. Indeed the report warned that China represented the most comprehensive and robust military threat to US security. The report claimed that both Russia and China are eyeing up Greenland for natural resources.

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“..the weapons remained under Russian operational control and Kiev lacked the technical capability to launch them..”

• Ukraine Never Had Nuclear Weapons – Grenell (RT)

The nuclear weapons that Ukraine transferred to Russia under the terms of the Budapest Memorandum in the 1990s were never under Kiev’s control, US Presidential Envoy for Special Assignments Richard Grenell has said. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine inherited a significant portion of the USSR’s nuclear arsenal, temporarily making it the third-largest nuclear power at the time. However, the weapons remained under Russian operational control and Kiev lacked the technical capability to launch them. In 1994, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum along with the US, Russia and the UK, under which Kiev agreed to transfer all of its nuclear weapons to Russia in exchange for security assurances.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Grenell wrote: “Let’s clarify the Budapest Memorandum situation: the nuclear weapons belonged to Russia and were leftovers. Ukraine returned the nuclear weapons back to Russia. They did not belong to Ukraine. That’s an inconvenient fact.” Grenell’s comments come amid renewed statements by Ukrainian officials criticizing the country’s disarmament in the 1990s. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky recently told British journalist Piers Morgan that Ukraine was “forced” to give up its nuclear weapons and described the Budapest Memorandum as “stupid, illogical, and very irresponsible.” He argued that Kiev should now either be fast-tracked into NATO or given nuclear weapons and missile systems to counter Russia.

Retired US General Keith Kellogg, who serves as Trump’s envoy to Ukraine and Russia, dismissed the proposal. Speaking to Fox News Digital last month, Kellogg said, “The chance of them getting their nuclear weapons back is somewhere between slim and none. Let’s be honest about it, we both know that’s not going to happen.”

Russia has repeatedly stated that Ukraine never possessed any nuclear weapons of its own, as the assets belonged to Moscow as the sole legal successor of the Soviet Union. Russian officials also maintain that the Budapest Memorandum envisioned Ukraine’s neutral status, which has since been undermined by NATO’s eastward expansion and Kiev’s aspirations to join the bloc. Moscow has cited Ukraine’s ambition to join NATO and its threat to obtain nuclear weapons as root causes for the Ukraine conflict. In November, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that if Ukraine were to obtain nuclear weapons, Moscow would use “all the means of destruction at Russia’s disposal.”

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Major step.

• US Looking For ‘Proper Way’ To Reconnect Russia to SWIFT – Bessent (RT)

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has confirmed that all options remain on the table as Washington considers lifting certain sanctions against Moscow, including the possible reconnection of Russian banks to the Belgium-based SWIFT network. The US and EU cut off major Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system as part of a decade-long sanctions campaign, which was significantly expanded following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. As part of the Black Sea ceasefire initiative discussed in Saudi Arabia earlier this week, Moscow requested that its Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) and other institutions involved in food and fertilizer sales be reconnected to the international payment system. “There would be a long discussion about many things in terms of the proper way to bring Russia back into the international system,” Bessent told Fox News on Wednesday, emphasizing that it was “premature to discuss the terms of a deal before we have a deal.”

“I think everything is on the table,” he added, noting that “it will be determined by the Russian leadership’s next moves whether the sanctions go up or down, and President Trump, I think, would not hesitate to raise the sanctions if it gives him a negotiating advantage.” Reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT was part of the original Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered in July 2022 by the UN and Türkiye. A Western failure to deliver on that commitment, along with Kiev’s alleged misuse of the arrangement for military purposes, prompted Moscow to reject the renewal of the agreement in 2023. The US and Russia agreed to revive the defunct Black Sea deal following 12 hours of talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday. President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that his administration is considering lifting some sanctions on Moscow. “There are about five or six conditions. We’re looking at all of them,” he said.

The Brussels-based SWIFT system is incorporated under Belgian law and must comply with EU regulations and restrictions. European Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper stated on Wednesday that the bloc will not amend or lift its sanctions until Russia “unconditionally” withdraws all forces from the “entire territory of Ukraine.” Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Western sanctions are not a temporary measure but a long-term tool used to apply strategic pressure on Moscow, and that Russia’s rivals will always seek out ways to weaken the country. According to Putin, a total of 28,595 sanctions have been imposed on Russian individuals and entities in recent years – more than the total number imposed on all other countries combined – which have only strengthened the national economy by encouraging self-reliance.

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“..without effective policy interventions, America’s debt-to-GDP ratio could rise from the current 124% to approximately 130% by 2035, with interest payments consuming about 30% of federal revenue.”

• Moody’s Issues Warning On US Finances (RT)

Ratings agency Moody’s has sounded the alarm on the United States fiscal health, warning of a continued decline due to widening budget deficits and increasing concerns over debt affordability. The warning comes as the national debt surpasses $36 trillion and annual deficits exceed $1.7 trillion, raising concerns about the government’s ability to manage its financial obligations. ”[US] fiscal strength is on course for a continued multiyear decline”, having already “deteriorated further” since Moody’s assigned a negative outlook to America’s top-notch AAA credit rating in November 2023, the agency said in a report on Tuesday, as cited by Financial Times.

US President Donald Trump has advocated measures aimed at stabilizing the nation’s finances, including implementing significant tariffs and proposing tax cuts intended to stimulate economic growth. However, Moody’s has cautioned that extending substantial tax cuts without implementing significant spending reductions could exacerbate the country’s fiscal challenges. ”We see diminished prospects that these strengths will continue to offset widening fiscal deficits and declining debt affordability,” it said, according to Reuters.

Republicans are pushing for a $4.5 trillion extension of tax cuts, which would in turn require significant spending reductions, something that may conflict with Trump’s commitment to protect social programs, the agency noted. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, tasked with reducing wasteful spending, claims to have achieved $115 billion in savings nationwide. However, according to Moody’s, such cuts are relatively minor compared to mandatory spending obligations. The agency projects that, without effective policy interventions, America’s debt-to-GDP ratio could rise from the current 124% to approximately 130% by 2035, with interest payments consuming about 30% of federal revenue.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Tucker cancer

 

 

Change

 

 

IVM

 

 

Water

 

 

Bike
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1904655016427741277

 

 

Best friend
https://twitter.com/Yoda4ever/status/1904589189267808471

 

 

PB

 

 

Family
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1904965543695663410

 

 

Herds

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle November 4 2024

Nov 042024
 
 November 4, 2024  Posted by at 9:22 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  42 Responses »


Berthe Morisot After luncheon1881

 

• Trump Could Become Second JFK – Medvedev (RT)
• Can A Tsunami of Trump Votes Give Power Back to the American People? (PCR)
• Trump’s Supporters Deserve A “Smack” – Biden (RT)
• I Shouldn’t Have Left The White House – Trump (RT)
• Rogan Exposes Democrats’ Plan To Destroy American Democracy (ZH)
• The Latest Harris Campaign Gaslighting Is Comedy Gold (Margolis)
• “We’re Not Going to Allow Them to Steal it”: Raskin (Turley)
• AI Will Kill Writing – Scientist (RT)
• The Internet Is Getting Flushed Down Orwell’s Memory Hole (ZH)
• The BRICS Summit Should Mark the End of Neocon Delusions (Jeffrey Sachs)
• Ukraine’s Territorial Losses Are Its Own Fault – Lavrov (RT)
• 101 Staff Members Accuse BBC of Pro-Israel Bias – Media (RT)
• UK FM Blames Civil Unrest In Europe On “Russian Disinformation” (ZH)
• Zakharova: Ukraine Took Back Just 279 POWs, Although 935 Were Offered (TASS)
• British King ‘Making Millions’ From Secret Property Empire – The Times (RT)

 

 

 

 

Polls

https://twitter.com/i/status/1853115111336276152

65 Project

Elon PA

Free speech

Young man

 

 

 

 

 

 

“..if he really attempts to [end the Ukraine conflict], he could become a new JFK..”

• Trump Could Become Second JFK – Medvedev (RT)

Should Donald Trump be elected US president and attempt to end the Ukraine conflict in earnest, he could end up sharing the fate of John F. Kennedy, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has claimed. He also argued that relations between Washington and Moscow will likely remain highly strained regardless of who comes out on top in the November 5 presidential election. During the course of his campaign, the GOP candidate has repeatedly vowed to put an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine in short order, if elected. However, he has not provided any specifics. His Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, has suggested that Trump would essentially force Kiev to surrender. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also expressed skepticism regarding the Republican nominee’s ability to stop the conflict overnight, noting that no “magic wand” exists with which he could do so.

In a post on his Telegram channel on Sunday, Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote that Moscow does not have high expectations regarding the outcome of Tuesday’s US presidential election. He argued that “for Russia, the election won’t change anything, as both candidates’ stances completely reflect the bipartisan consensus that our country has to be defeated.” According to Medvedev, while on the campaign trail, a “somewhat fatigued Trump” has been dishing out “banalities” regarding peace prospects for Ukraine, and his supposedly good relations with world leaders. However, if elected, the Republican “would be forced to observe all of the rules of the system,” and would be “unable to stop the war. Not in a day, not in three days, not in three months.” “And if he really attempts to [end the Ukraine conflict], he could become a new JFK,” the former Russian president warned.

John F. Kennedy, the 35th US president, was assassinated in 1963. As for Harris, the Russian official dismissed her as “stupid, inexperienced [and] controllable.” Medvedev alleged that if elected, she would be a mere figurehead, with other officials and members of former President Barack Obama’s family pulling the strings. In an exclusive interview with RT earlier this week, Medvedev stated that “if Western countries, especially the United States, had had enough flexibility and wisdom to make a security agreement with Russia, there would have been no special military operation [in Ukraine].” He said that the US and its allies failed to realize this in time because “they’re in the habit of bullying everyone into submission,” and operating “on the principle of American exceptionalism and the primacy of US interests.”

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“I caution Trump that he cannot merely make Kennedy and Musk advisors. He must give them an executive power base by putting them in charge of the agencies.”

• Can A Tsunami of Trump Votes Give Power Back to the American People? (PCR)

The Democrats are set to steal the election. They have everything in place except enough votes to hide their theft. Watch the video of the Trump Grand Finale, listen to the speeches by Robert Kennedy and Tucker Carlson. Marvel at the massive audience. It appears that Americans have cast off their insouciance and are going to take back their country from the two corrupt political parties, both of which have unleashed evil on America and the world. The American ruling elite, which is evil beyond comprehension, will not take kindly to their loss of power and exposure of their crimes. The FBI, CIA, NSA, Secret Service, and Clinton murder machine only have to assassinate four people–Trump, Bobby Kennedy, Tucker Carlson, and Elon Musk–and the country is back in their hands. Considering the extraordinary support that both Trump and Bobby Kennedy extend to Israel, it is unclear how an America that supports and enables the Genocide of Palestine can be made great again.

I do have to say that I am disturbed by Trump seeing Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea as enemies that he will be tough with. This leaves Trump susceptible to neoconservative influence. If Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are our enemies, it is because Washington made them enemies. It is not Russia that pulled off a Maidan Revolution in Germany and then used a Russian installed puppet to cause problems for NATO and the EU. It is Washington that used Ukraine to do that to Russia. It is not China that offshored its manufacturing to the US and then blames the US. It was not Iran that initiated 24 years of war in the Middle East. It was the US and Israel. It is Washington that has done everything possible to isolate and demonize North Korea for 70 years.

There is one threat in making American great again, and that threat is restoring American militarily dominance. The neoconservatives will use this American desire not only to foment wars but also in the name of national security to restore the spying, the restraints on free expression, and the name-calling that have eroded our civil liberties. “You are with us or against us” will be used to silence the voices of peace. Will MAGA Americans understand that a country can be great without being a hegemon? Permit me to explain that when Trump says there will never again be rallies like his MAGA ones, he is not being egotistical or claiming that no future candidate will be as popular with the people as he is. Neither is he giving assurance that he will not hold Third Reich style rallies. He is saying that once power is restored to the people, in place of political rallies there will be meetings to work out how to best get America back on course.

With Trump in the Oval Office, Elon Musk as Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Robert Kennedy as head of the Food and Drug Administration, Tucker Carlson as White House Press Spokesman, General Flynn as Director of the CIA, Edward Snowden as head of the National Security Agency, John W. Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute as Attorney General, Michael Hudson as Secretary of the Treasury, and Tulsi Gabbard as Secretary of State, there is a chance that America can be rescued and restored. These appointments might be too imaginative for Trump, and if Trump were to make them would the corrupt US Senate confirm them? I caution Trump that he cannot merely make Kennedy and Musk advisors. He must give them an executive power base by putting them in charge of the agencies. Otherwise, they will be cut out of the action by those in charge. If Kennedy and Musk are merely to give advice, they will soon quit out of frustration.

I caution Trump that he cannot give Scooter Libby a pardon and leave his January 6 supporters imprisoned. He cannot leave the attorneys legally harassed who collected evidence that the 2020 election was stolen by Democrats. There are a lot of people on his side who need rescuing. If Trump’s ego or stupid advisors cause him to be magnanimous to his deadly enemies who tried to assassinate him both politically and physically, he will fail. I think Trump has won the election. Nevertheless, the Democrats might try to steal it again, orchestrate an “insurrection,” invoke Pentagon Directive 5240.01, and prevent Trump from being inaugurated. We must keep in mind that the inauguration of a president comes two and one-half months after his election. There is plenty of time for Democrat and ruling elite mischief. The high and mighty have committed so many crimes that they are vulnerable if Trump regains the presidency. In many ways, for the ruling elite this election is an existential matter.

Read more …

He likes talking tough. Think he ever won a -fair- fight in his life?

• Trump’s Supporters Deserve A “Smack” – Biden (RT)

US President Joe Biden has condemned Republican nominee Donald Trump’s promise of lower taxes for high earners, and lashed out at “macho guys” who support such ideas. He made the remarks during a campaign stop in his birthplace of Scranton, Pennsylvania on Saturday, in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for the November 5 election. “There’s one more thing Trump and his Republican friends want to do. They want to have a giant tax cut for the wealthy,” Biden told the local chapter of the carpenters union. “Now, I know some of you guys are tempted to think it’s macho guys,” he continued in an apparent reference to Trump’s supporters.

“I tell you what, man, when I was in Scranton, we used to have a little trouble going down the plot once in a while. These are the kind of guys you’d like to smack in the ass,” he said while gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. “By the way, I’m serious,” he added. Throughout his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has proposed various tax cuts along with tariff increases on imported goods. This includes a 20% reduction in corporate tax rate. He also pledged to eliminate tax on overtime pay and on tips for service workers, and to make Social Security benefits for seniors tax-free.

Earlier this week, Biden caused an uproar when he branded Republican supporters “garbage,” accusing Trump of dividing the country “based on the race.” The White House later edited the transcript, claiming that there was “a difference in interpretation” while Biden said his comment was in response to “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporters at his Madison Square Garden rally.” Both Democrats and Republicans have frequently engaged in harsh rhetoric, with Trump often describing Harris as a “low IQ individual,” calling her policies “plans of a simpleton” and the vice president accusing the former president of constantly lying and branding him a “petty tyrant.”

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“..the US has turned “a failed country” under the leadership of an “incompetent group of fools.”

• I Shouldn’t Have Left The White House – Trump (RT)

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said that he regrets leaving the White House after losing to Joe Biden in 2020, reiterating his claim of “stolen elections.” Speaking at a campaign rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania on Sunday, two days before Election Day, the former president said that the US has turned “a failed country” under the leadership of an “incompetent group of fools.” He went on to accuse the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris of being unable to prevent the flow of illegal migrants across the border with Mexico. “We had the safest border in the history of our country, the day I left,” Trump said. “I shouldn’t have left. I mean, honestly, because we did so, we did so well.”

Trump labeled the Democratic Party a “corrupt machine” and claimed that the integrity of the election could only be guaranteed if US states only use paper ballots and require voter IDs. “In California, you are not even allowed to ask for a voter ID. They are only doing it because they want to cheat,” he suggested. Trump has never admitted that he lost the 2020 election, despite courts failing to find evidence of widespread voter fraud. He eventually stepped down as president after a crowd of his supporters stormed the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021, briefly interrupting the certification of Biden’s victory.

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“”There’s a significant number of these people that are illegal immigrants that have made their way to swing states. And then there’s been calls for amnesty..”

• Rogan Exposes Democrats’ Plan To Destroy American Democracy (ZH)

“Undeniably,” admits Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman to podcaster Joe Rogan, “immigration is changing our nation.” The two men spoke about a wide variety of political topics ranging from how Donald Trump won in 2016 to how immigration stands as a key issue in the election today. Specifically, Fetterman played the Democratic Party card, claiming that Republicans in 2024 “had an opportunity to do a comprehensive border-bipartisan-and that went down because Trump, he declared that that’s a bad deal after it was negotiated with the other side.” Rogan then brutally ‘fact-checked’ the stammering senator, pointing out the reality that that the deal made many concessions that Republicans concerned about the border found to be unacceptable. “But, didn’t that deal also involved amnesty,” responded Rogan,”and didn’t that deal also involve a significant number of illegal aliens being allowed into the country every year?”

Silence from Fetterman. Rogan continued: “I think it was 2 million people. So still the same sort of situation. And their fear is exactly what I talked about, that these people will be moved to swing states and that that will be used to essentially rig those states and turn them blue forever.” Finally, the PA Senator responded “I’ve never witnessed those kinds [illegals voting] of a thing… I don’t think there’s that level kinds of organization.” But Rogan once again would not allow the politician to ‘lie’ pointing out that “there is an organization that’s moving these people [illegals] to swing states.” “There’s a significant number of these people that are illegal immigrants that have made their way to swing states. And then there’s been calls for amnesty. There’s been calls for allowing these people to have a pathway to citizenship and allow them to vote.

The fear that a lot of people have is that this is a coordinated effort to take these people that you’re allowing to come into the country, then you’re providing them with all sorts of services like food stamps and housing and setting them up and then providing a pathway to amnesty. And then you would have voters that would be significantly voting towards the Democrats because they’re the people that enabled them to come into the country in the first place, first place and provided them with those services. This is a big fear that people have and that you’re rigging this system and that this will turn all these states into essentially locked blue like California is.” Fetterman’s responds: “undeniably,” adding that “immigration is changing our nation.” “I haven’t spent a lot of time in Texas but it’s very clear that immigration has remade Texas and I think it’s generally, it’s a good thing.”

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“The only thing the Harris campaign has functional at this point is a bulls**t machine that is dutifully repeated by the legacy media as if fact.”

• The Latest Harris Campaign Gaslighting Is Comedy Gold (Margolis)

The Harris-Walz campaign claims late-deciding voters are breaking their way, and by a lot. Former Obama campaign manager and current senior advisor to the Harris-Walz campaign made a rather bold claim on X/Twitter on Friday. According to Politico, Plouffe’s comments “echo[ed] those shared by senior campaign officials earlier Friday on a call with reporters.” “We have believed all along that there were still undecided voters here, and that the close of this race was really, really important,” said one of the senior campaign officials, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the state of the race. “And we are seeing that be the case as we are closing out in the last week.” The official said that a recent focus group with undecided voters in a battleground state showed that the racist, misogynistic and vulgar language at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in New York over the weekend isn’t just impacting Puerto Rican and Latino voters, but undecided voters as a whole.

“It really kind of crystallized for them the choice in their minds between the vice president, who they’re seeing talk about being a president for everyone, someone focused on them and solving their problems, and Trump, and these really kind of dark, divisive language and events and activities,” the official said. “We don’t always see, when we’re talking to swing voters, anything that you can really see them kind of finalize their point of view or finalize their opinion.” According to the Harris campaign, we’re supposed to believe that a comedian’s joke holds more significance than pressing issues like the economy, immigration, and foreign policy. During a 2WAY livestream, Mark Halperin took aim at the media for uncritically accepting David Plouffe’s claims, saying the assertion “seems questionable on the face.”

He argued that proving whether undecided voters were truly swayed by the Madison Square Garden event would require precise analytics, but that hasn’t stopped the media from treating Plouffe’s statements “like it’s a fact” despite lacking hard evidence. Halperin also shared that, based on his conversations with the Trump campaign, they believe undecided voters lean 2-to-1 in Trump’s favor. He may not believe that’s entirely true, but was clearly less convinced by Plouffe’s suggestion, which Halperin believes was intended to create a “bandwagon effect” for Kamala, shifting the narrative to portray her as gaining momentum. Consider this: if the Access Hollywood tape couldn’t derail Trump’s campaign in 2016, there’s little reason to believe that a comedian’s joke at one of his rallies would, either. Americans recognized Trump’s comments as “locker room talk” back then, just as they understand that a comedian known for crude humor is simply aiming for laughs.

When Halperin asked Trump’s campaign advisor, Chris LaCivita, for his take, LaCivita responded bluntly: “What the hell is he going to say? He’s losing? Fact of the matter is David can’t do anything but bulls**t until Tuesday because we are kicking his a**. The only thing the Harris campaign has functional at this point is a bulls**t machine that is dutifully repeated by the legacy media as if fact.” In the end, both campaigns believe, or are at least claiming, that they have the edge with late-deciding voters. Ignore it all. Just get out there and vote, and make sure every Trump supporter you know votes.

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“This could prove a long night, if not a long week.”

• “We’re Not Going to Allow Them to Steal it”: Raskin (Turley)

On Bill Maher’s HBO Show on Friday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) appeared to repeat his reservation about accepting a Trump win in the presidential election. Raskin said that Democrats will only support a “free and fair election.” Trump was widely criticized for the same position when he said “If everything’s honest, I’ll gladly accept the results.” Raskin previously said that he would not guarantee certifying Trump and that, if he wins, he may be declared as disqualified by Congress: “It’s going to be up to us on January 6th, 2025 to tell the rampaging Trump mobs that he’s disqualified. And then we need bodyguards for everybody and civil war conditions.” Raskin went on HBO to repeat his reservation on accepting the results of any Trump victory: “When I say we will support a free and fair election, no, we we’re not going to allow them to steal it in the states, or steal it in the Department of Justice or steal it with any other election official in the country.

If it’s a free and fair election, we will do what we’ve always done. We will honor it.” Remarkably, as the audience applauded Raskin, Maher added “That is the Democrats’ history: They honor it. That’s the big difference between the parties.” However, that is not the history and Raskin knows it. The certification of President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election was opposed by Democrats and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) praised the effort of then-Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) who organized to challenge. Jan. 6 committee head Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) voted to challenge it in the House. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) sought to block certification of the 2016 election result.

Raskin also insisted on CNN that the effort to prevent citizens from voting for Trump is the very embodiment of democracy: “If you think about it, of all of the forms of disqualification that we have, the one that disqualifies people for engaging in insurrection is the most democratic because it’s the one where people choose themselves to be disqualified.” Democrats not only sought to strip Trump from the ballot this election, but sought to cleanse ballots of 126 House members. We are already seeing an ominous uptick of challenges, which I discuss in my column this weekend. There are also new allegations of systemic fraudulent registrations in multiple districts. Raskin presumably expects any voters to protest “peacefully” if they are declared the losers.

I am leaving for New York today to join in the coverage. This could prove a long night, if not a long week.

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“Some 86% of students use AI in their studies..”

“There will still be smart people, but only those who choose to be.”

• AI Will Kill Writing – Scientist (RT)

The use of Artificial intelligence (AI) for writing both at work and in school will result in the majority of people losing the skill in several short decades, Paul Graham, a computer scientist and author, has warned. This will create a problem because writing means thinking, Graham, a veteran investor and cofounder of Y Combinator, a startup accelerator and venture capital firm, believes. “The reason so many people have trouble writing is that it’s fundamentally difficult. To write well, you have to think clearly, and thinking clearly is hard,” he said in an essay posted on his website last week. However, the development of technology has allowed people to outsource writing to AI.

There’s no longer a need to actually learn how to write, or hire someone to do it for you, or even plagiarize, the English-American scientist wrote. “I’m usually reluctant to make predictions about technology, but I feel fairly confident about this one: in a couple decades there won’t be many people who can write,” Graham said. It’s common for skills to disappear as technologies replace them; after all, “there aren’t many blacksmiths left, and it doesn’t seem to be a problem,” he admitted. But people being unable to write is “bad,” he insisted. “A world divided into writes and write-nots is more dangerous than it sounds. It will be a world of thinks and think-nots,” Graham believes.

It won’t be an unprecedented situation, he observed, referring to preindustrial times, when “most people’s jobs made them strong.” “Now if you want to be strong, you work out. So there are still strong people, but only those who choose to be,” Graham said. In his view, it will be the same with writing. “There will still be smart people, but only those who choose to be.” Some 86% of students use AI in their studies, according to a recent survey by the Digital Education Council. While 28% of them resort to technologies to paraphrase documents, 24% use AI to create first drafts, the study has found.

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“For the first time in 30 years, we have gone a long swath of time – since October 8-10 – since [the Wayback Machine] has chronicled the life of the Internet in real time..”

• The Internet Is Getting Flushed Down Orwell’s Memory Hole (ZH)

We interrupt today’s important election coverage for a story that could have impacts even longer-lasting than President Kamala Harris’s first ten-trillion-dollar budget. I’ll wash my keyboard out with soap later for typing the phrase “President Kamala Harris.” When the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine was hacked in early October, it looked at first like just another email-and-password smash-and-grab. But that was followed up by repeated Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks that crippled the service. The Internet Archive was hit again on Oct. 20, “this time with the threat actors gaining access to their Zendesk support email system.” The Wayback Machine came back but as a read-only service. What that means is, while you can search archived webpages from before the attacks, “you can’t currently capture an existing web page into the archive.”

That matters bigly. When the New York Times, Washington Post, or anyone else stealth-edits a news report to hide the truth, you could still find the original on the Wayback Machine. That’s no longer true. “For the first time in 30 years, we have gone a long swath of time – since October 8-10 – since this service has chronicled the life of the Internet in real time,” the Brownstone Institute reported this week. As of this writing, fully three weeks of web content have not been archived. What we are missing and what has changed is anyone’s guess. And we have no idea when the service will come back. It is entirely possible that it will not come back, that the only real history to which we can take recourse will be pre-October 8, 2024, the date on which everything changed. But it gets worse. Google killed off its cache feature — similar to the Wayback Machine — right around the time the Internet Archive got hacked. Coincidence? Probably. But I’m making a tinfoil hat, just in case.

The White House just got caught altering Presidentish Joe Biden’s “garbage” remarks. “Nothing to see here,” Sean Davis quipped, “just the Biden-Harris administration deliberately falsifying federal records.” They got caught this time, and sources like X still have the original video. But what happens next time, when some politician or MSM editor waits until the furor dies down before making their stealth edit — and there’s no Wayback Machine to catch them? Wikipedia is the defacto internet encyclopedia but has proven time and again to be biased at best and subject to stealth edits at worst. More people are using AI to perform their web searches and summaries for them, but the large language models are scraping data from sources increasingly subject to manipulation.

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“Time has run out on the neocon delusions, and the U.S. wars of choice..”

• The BRICS Summit Should Mark the End of Neocon Delusions (Jeffrey Sachs)

The recent BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia should mark the end of the Neocon delusions encapsulated in the subtitle of Zbigniew Brzezinski’s 1997 book, The Global Chessboard: American Primacy and its Geostrategic Imperatives. Since the 1990s, the goal of American foreign policy has been “primacy,” aka global hegemony. The U.S. methods of choice have been wars, regime change operations, and unilateral coercive measures (economic sanctions). Kazan brought together 35 countries with more than half the world population that reject the U.S. bullying and that are not cowed by U.S. claims of hegemony. In the Kazan Declaration, the countries underscored “the emergence of new centres of power, policy decision-making and economic growth, which can pave the way for a more equitable, just, democratic and balanced multipolar world order.”

They emphasized “the need to adapt the current architecture of international relations to better reflect the contemporary realities,” while declaring their “commitment to multilateralism and upholding the international law, including the Purposes and Principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations (UN) as its indispensable cornerstone.” They took particular aim at the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies, holding that “Such measures undermine the UN Charter, the multilateral trading system, the sustainable development and environmental agreements.” Time has run out on the neocon delusions, and the U.S. wars of choice.

The neocon quest for global hegemony has deep historical roots in America’s belief in its exceptionalism. In 1630, John Winthrop invoked the Gospels in describing the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a “City on the Hill,” declaring grandiosely that “The eyes of all people are upon us.” In the 19th century, America was guided by Manifest Destiny, to conquer North America by displacing or exterminating the native peoples. In the course of World War II, Americans embraced the idea of the “American Century,” that after the war the U.S. would lead the world. The U.S. delusions of grandeur were supercharged with the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991. With America’s Cold War nemesis gone, the ascendant American neoconservatives conceived of a new world order in which the U.S. was the sole superpower and the policeman of the world. Their foreign policy instruments of choice were wars and regime-change operations to overthrow governments they disliked.

Following 9/11, the neocons planned to overthrow seven governments in the Islamic world, starting with Iraq, and then moving on to Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran. According to Wesley Clark, former Supreme Commander of NATO, the neocons expected the U.S. to prevail in these wars in 5 years. Yet now, more than 20 years on, the neocon-instigated wars continue while the U.S. has achieved absolutely none of its hegemonic objectives. The neocons reasoned back in the 1990s that no country or group of countries would ever dare to stand up to U.S. power. Brzezinski, for example, argued in The Grand Chessboard that Russia would have no choice but to submit to the U.S.-led expansion of NATO and the geopolitical dictates of the U.S. and Europe, since there was no realistic prospect of Russia successfully forming an anti-hegemonic coalition with China, Iran and others. As Brzezinski put it:

“Russia’s only real geostrategic option—the option that could give Russia a realistic international role and also maximize the opportunity of transforming and socially modernizing itself—is Europe. And not just any Europe, but the transatlantic Europe of the enlarging EU and NATO.” (emphasis added, Kindle edition, p. 118) Brzezinski was decisively wrong, and his misjudgment helped to lead to the disaster of the war in Ukraine. Russia did not simply succumb to the U.S. plan to expand NATO to Ukraine, as Brzezinski assumed it would. Russia said a firm no, and was prepared to wage war to stop the U.S. plans. As a result of the neocon miscalculations vis-à-vis Ukraine, Russia is now prevailing on the battlefield, and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are dead. Nor—and this is the plain message from Kazan—did U.S. sanctions and diplomatic pressures isolate Russian in the least. In response to pervasive U.S. bullying, an anti-hegemonic counterweight has emerged.

Simply put, the majority of the world does not want or accept U.S. hegemony, and is prepared to face it down rather than submit to its dictates. Nor does the U.S. anymore possess the economic, financial, or military power to enforce its will, if it ever did. The countries that assembled in Kazan represent a clear majority of the world’s population. The nine BRICS members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as the original five, plus Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates), in addition to the delegations of 27 aspiring members, constitute 57 percent of the world’s population and 47 percent of the world’s output (measured at purchasing-power adjusted prices). The U.S., by contrast, constitutes 4.1 percent of the world population and 15 percent of world output. Add in the U.S. allies, and the population share of the U.S.-led alliance is around 15 percent of the global population.

The BRICS will gain in relative economic weight, technological prowess, and military strength in the years ahead. The combined GDP of the BRICS countries is growing at around 5 percent per annum, while the combined GDP of the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the Asia-Pacific is growing at around 2 percent per annum. Even with their growing clout, however, the BRICS can’t replace the U.S. as a new global hegemon. They simply lack the military, financial, and technological power to defeat the U.S. or even to threaten its vital interests. The BRICS are in practice calling for a new and realistic multipolarity, not an alternative hegemony in which they are in charge.

American strategists should heed the ultimately positive message coming from Kazan. Not only has the neocon quest for global hegemony failed, it has been a costly disaster for the US and the world, leading to bloody and pointless wars, economic shocks, mass displacements of populations, and rising threats of nuclear confrontation. A more inclusive and equitable multipolar world order offers a promising path out of the current morass, one that can benefit the U.S. and its allies as well as the nations that met in Kazan. The rise of the BRICS is therefore not merely a rebuke to the U.S., but also a potential opening for a far more peaceful and secure world order. The multipolar world order envisioned by the BRICS can be a boon for all countries, including the United States. Time has run out on the neocon delusions, and the U.S. wars of choice. The moment has arrived for a renewed diplomacy to end the conflicts raging around the world.

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“The longer the Ukrainian leadership, with Western support, keeps scuttling one agreement after another, the less territory remains under its control..”

• Ukraine’s Territorial Losses Are Its Own Fault – Lavrov (RT)

The more agreements with Russia and other parties the Ukrainian government violates, the less territory will remain under Kiev’s control, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned. During his speech at the 16th Assembly of the Russian World in Moscow on Saturday, Lavrov reiterated the country’s readiness to search for a diplomatic solution to the conflict with Kiev. According to Moscow, an integral part of the political settlement should be “protecting the rights and freedoms, as well as the legal interests of the Russian people and Russian speakers… alongside ensuring Ukraine’s non-aligned, neutral, and non-nuclear status, and eliminating any and all threats to Russia’s security that may come from within its borders,” he said. “Acknowledging the actual state of affairs on the ground is of paramount importance,” the minister stressed. Lavrov urged Kiev against delaying the launch of substantive negotiations any further.

“The longer the Ukrainian leadership, with Western support, keeps scuttling one agreement after another, the less territory remains under its control,” he warned. “Had they honored their commitments in February 2014, nothing would have happened, and Crimea would still be part of Ukraine. However, they chose to break the agreement because they couldn’t wait to seize power,” the foreign ministry recalled. On February 21, 2014, at the height of the Maidan protests in Kiev, an EU- and Russia-brokered deal to deescalate tensions was struck between Ukraine’s democratically elected president, Viktor Yanukovich and the opposition. However, the coup leaders violated it almost immediately, with the head of state being forced to flee the violence the next day. The regime change in the nation’s capital prompted Crimea to hold a referendum the following month, in which the peninsula’s population voted overwhelmingly to reunite with Russia.

“Had it [the Kiev government] honored the Minsk Agreements in February 2015, Ukraine would have still kept all its territories within its borders, including all of Donbass (Crimea was already gone by that time). They chose not to implement these agreements and not to grant a special status to a portion of Donbass,” Lavrov continued. The Minsk II deal, the guarantors of which were Germany, France and Russia, introduced a ceasefire between the authorities in Kiev and the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, and was intended to pave the way for administrative and political reform in Ukraine as well as for autonomy and local elections in the Donbass republics. In December 2022, former Chancellor Angela Merkel and former President Francois Hollande, who helped broker the accord, admitted that it had been nothing more than a ruse to help Ukraine buy time and prepare for a future conflict with Russia.

“Their third chance came up in Istanbul in April 2022,” when Russia and Ukraine last sat at the negotiating table, the foreign minister said. Russia, which initially expressed satisfaction with the results of the meeting and withdrew its forces from the outskirts of Kiev as a goodwill gesture, later accused Ukraine of backtracking on all progress achieved in Türkiye, saying it had lost trust in Kiev’s negotiators. Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed earlier this year that, during the talks in Istanbul, Ukraine was willing to declare military neutrality, limit its armed forces, and vow not to discriminate against ethnic Russians. In return, Moscow would have joined other leading powers in offering Ukraine security guarantees, he said. According to the Russian leader, Kiev withdrew from the talks on the order of its Western backers. “Without a doubt, today looks quite different from April 2022,” Lavrov said, referring to any future negotiations with Kiev.

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“..holds itself to very high standards, and we strive to live up to our responsibility to deliver the most trusted and impartial news.”

• 101 Staff Members Accuse BBC of Pro-Israel Bias – Media (RT)

Dozens of BBC employees have accused the British state broadcaster of exhibiting pro-Israel bias in its coverage of the Gaza conflict, The Independent reported on Saturday. The newspaper, citing a letter allegedly sent to BBC Director-General Tim Davie, said the appeal was also publicly signed by other media representatives, including broadcaster Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who previously served as senior minister of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs. The Independent claimed that accusations of partiality were levelled at the BBC by 101 staff members, who chose not to reveal their identities. The letter allegedly highlights a lack of “fair and accurate evidence-based journalism in coverage of Gaza.” BBC employees urged the organization to report “without fear or favour” and to “recommit to the highest editorial standards – with emphasis on fairness, accuracy, and due impartiality.”

The letter allegedly stressed the need to make it clearer in BBC reporting that Israel is preventing foreign journalists from accessing Gaza, and to provide more historical context behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Independent quoted an anonymous BBC employee, who signed the letter, as saying that “levels of staff confidence” are unprecedentedly low, with some of colleagues having “left the BBC in recent months because they just don’t believe our reporting on Israel and Palestine is honest.” Another supposedly told the newspaper that they “see that we are losing the trust of audiences across the world.” The unnamed signatory cited headlines that often leave out Israel, in an apparent attempt to deflect blame.

A BBC spokesperson has rejected the allegations of bias, stressing that the broadcaster “holds itself to very high standards, and we strive to live up to our responsibility to deliver the most trusted and impartial news.” Meanwhile, in September, The Telegraph published a report pointing to a “deeply worrying pattern of bias and multiple breaches by the BBC of its own editorial guidelines on impartiality, fairness and establishing the truth.” According to an analysis prepared by a group of lawyers and data scientists, the broadcaster exhibited anti-Israel bias in its output on television, radio, podcasts, websites, and social media over a period of at least four months in the wake of the deadly Hamas incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023. The BBC has dismissed the findings, calling into question the reliability of AI tools employed by the researchers.

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“..Russia is involved in psy-ops as any country at war would be. That said, so is David Lammy and his ilk and they aren’t only at war with Russia, they’re also at war with the UK and EU populace.”

• UK FM Blames Civil Unrest In Europe On “Russian Disinformation” (ZH)

The majority of official surveys monitoring American and European support for Ukraine are many months old now. The last time we saw a flurry of polling on the issue was this summer and the media has been rather quiet on the issue since. Why? Because public support for the proxy war is in steep decline. The last numbers show that 52% of Americans no longer want additional funding for Ukraine. With Donald Trump increasingly likely to return to the White House in 2025 the Ukrainians are already preparing for steep cuts to military aid (the US provides the vast majority of arms to Ukraine). This leaves the EU to pick up the slack. However, Europe simply doesn’t have the capacity to provide enough military aid to make a difference in the war and is currently discussing schemes to transfer frozen Russian assets to the effort while simultaneously scaling back their own funding. Central EU nations like Germany are already cutting their contributions in half in the coming year.

The decline in aid follows two important factors: Public support for the war in America and Europe is waning. And, Ukraine is clearly losing the conflict with their defensive lines in the east collapsing. Ukraine has received well over $200 billion in the past two years from NATO nations, which eclipses Ukraine’s annual GDP of around $160 billion. In other words, the war cannot continue without NATO. The disconnect between US and European governments vs the desires of the general public could not be more obvious. Even the Washington Post admits: “As they signaled enduring support for Ukraine last week, European leaders worried about how long they can sustain it…” “European leaders promise to support Ukraine as long as it takes, but they are increasingly threatened by public fatigue, a weakening of the political center and the prospect of Trump’s return…”

“More than 20 years into Russia’s war, public fatigue risks taking hold in some countries. Some European leaders are now in politically precarious positions and more constrained in what they can do. And across the continent, parties from the hard right to the hard left are pushing narratives against sending cash or arms…” In the UK and Europe, protests have erupted over a number of problems, most importantly the threat of mass immigration from third world countries and the deliberate agenda to erase traditional European culture. Some of the unrest has also been related to the Ukraine war and ongoing discussions about “conscription” among government officials. The UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, is one of many bureaucrats that are trying to lump all civil actions together, labeling them a “threat to democracy.” The narrative also seeks to tie these events to “Russian disinformation.” In other words, according to David Lammy the public is being brainwashed by Vladimir Putin into protesting and this is a strategy by the Kremlin to sow discord within Europe.

The U.K. government sanctioned three Russian agencies and their senior executives this month, accusing them of orchestrating disinformation campaigns and seeking to fuel anti-Ukraine protests across Europe. The Social Design Agency (SDA), Structura National Technologies, and Ano Dialog, alongside their directors, are accused of spearheading a vast malign online network commonly known as “Doppelganger.” The network used deceitful tactics… to mask the truth around Russia s illegal invasion of Ukraine and distract from the true nature of the war, the U.K. Foreign Office said in a statement Monday. Lammy and others claim this constitutes a “threat to democracy” and he says he will take action to shut down all sources of disinformation. To be sure, Russia is involved in psy-ops as any country at war would be. That said, so is David Lammy and his ilk and they aren’t only at war with Russia, they’re also at war with the UK and EU populace.

It should be noted that Lammy is becoming a regular fixture at The Atlantic Council, which has been deeply involved in the escalation of Ukrainian tensions with Russia for over a decade. He is also on the advisory board for the European branch of the Council On Foreign Relations. His relationships with globalist institutions helps to explain his hostility to conservative and anti-progressive movements. As Lammy argues in his recent conference with Ukrainian officials, any sense that allies are not united ‘only benefits Putin.’ Clearly this “unity” must also extend to the civilian population (by force if necessary), otherwise Lammy and his cohorts look rather ridiculous. The tactic of attaching all civil dissent to the schemes of a foreign adversary is a tale as old as oligarchy. It’s a way for governments to negate or dismiss public opposition to policy without losing face, because they can claim all the dissent is astroturf created by malicious foreign agencies.

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“These are practically 700 people who could have returned to their families in Ukraine..”

• Zakharova: Ukraine Took Back Just 279 POWs, Although 935 Were Offered (TASS)

The Russian Defense Ministry offered to hand over 935 Ukrainian prisoners of war this year, but Kiev took only 279 of them, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. “This year, the Russian Defense Ministry handed over to the Coordination Headquarters for the Handling of Prisoners of War a proposal to give back 935 Ukrainian prisoners of war to the Ukrainian side as part of exchanges,” the diplomat said in an online news conference. “How many of this number of people do you think the Kiev regime took back? I will emphasize they are its own citizens. Only 279.” “These are practically 700 people who could have returned to their families in Ukraine,” Zakharova went on to say.

“They were simply shrugged off by the Kiev regime, and yet its representatives continue to travel to Canada and around the world and supposedly call on, and negotiate with the international community for mediation efforts and, as [former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry] Kuleba said, for protection of Ukrainian nationals in Russia.” The spokeswoman called such actions of the Kiev regime “political tourism on the blood of its own citizens, its own servicemen.” “Not those who have been experiencing hatred for years, not the thugs who are ready to kill everyone with weapons in their hands – both Russian citizens and residents of the African continent, as it now turns out, but those whom they literally forcibly mobilized, telling them that Ukraine must be saved, sending them into these human wave attacks. They are not interested in their fate,” Zakharova said.

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Stuck in the Middle Ages.

• British King ‘Making Millions’ From Secret Property Empire – The Times (RT)

King Charles III and his son Prince William have contracts with UK taxpayer-funded public services, charities, government departments and even a prison, which help them earn millions every year, the Sunday Times has claimed. That’s in addition to the so-called sovereign grant the royals get from the government. In 2023 alone, Charles and William’s “private fiefdoms,” the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall – raised £27.4 million (over $35 million) and £23.6 million ($30 million) respectively for the British royal family, the newspaper found as part of a joint investigation with Channel 4’s Dispatches program. The paper said Saturday that they used the royal addresses to uncover their business contracts and discovered how the duchies are making money “via a series of commercial rents and feudal levies on land largely seized by medieval monarchs.”

Dubbed “Duchy Files,” the investigation claims to have found that King Charles and Prince William “charge for the right to cross rivers, offload cargo onto the shore, run cables under their beaches, operate schools and charities, and even dig graves.” “They earn revenue from toll bridges, ferries, sewage pipes, churches, village halls, pubs, distilleries, gas pipelines, boat moorings, opencast and underground mines, car parks, rental homes and wind turbines,” The Times claims. Some 5,410 landholdings and properties are held by the royal duchies, the investigation claims. For instance, a deal with an NHS foundation trust will reportedly pay the King’s Duchy of Lancaster £11 million ($14 million) over 15 years to rent a warehouse for ambulances. Prince William’s Duchy of Cornwall receives £1.5 million ($1.9 million) a year from the Ministry of Justice for using Dartmoor Prison, The Times claims.

The duchy of the King’s eldest son, the Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, also charges the military “for the right to train” on its 67,500 acres of land in Dartmoor. The sum it gets has not been revealed. The estates also rent out over 900 residential homes and farms to tenants, according to the report. The duchies, both established in the 14th century, are operating as commercial landlords, but are exempt from paying tax on their corporate profits, the paper notes. The King and Prince pay income tax voluntarily at the highest rate, 45%. In 2022, the last time King Charles published his tax filings, he paid 25% of the £23 million ($30 million) in duchy profit “because he deducted expenses he considered related to his official duties,” The Times pointed out.

The “Duchy Files” investigation marks the first time that the complete list of property holdings for the two royal estates has been made public, the paper says, adding that even the British parliament was denied access to it. “The ancient property empires that fund the King and the Prince of Wales have remained a closely guarded secret within the royal family and its small circle of advisers for centuries,” it claimed. The two duchies are separate from the Crown Estate, a vast property business owned by the British monarch but run independently. Because of its soaring profits, the taxpayer-funded sovereign grant that pays for official royal duties will rise from £86.3 million ($111 million) in 2024-25 to £132 million ($170 million) in 2025-26.

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Whats Ur name?

 

 

Thank you
https://twitter.com/i/status/1852753037242319021

 

 

Performer

 

 

Deer brush
https://twitter.com/i/status/1852760089603813813

 

 

Octopus
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Turtle

 

 

Jesus
https://twitter.com/i/status/1852973368519152063

 

 

 

 

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