Helmer Archives - The Automatic Earth

BOMBSHELL: CIA Director John Ratcliffe REVEALS that John Brennan, James Comey and Hillary Clinton are headed for AN INDICTMENT over the Russia Collusion Hoax.

The SPYING, LYING and ELECTION RIGGING MUST END pic.twitter.com/7ixE1Bv2vc
— Liz Churchill (@liz_churchill10) April 13, 2026

CIA Director John Ratcliffe: “Adam Schiff covertly conspired with the fake whistleblower Eric Ciaramella in an attempt to overthrow the sitting President.” (2025)

The Inspector General CONFIRMED it.

Tulsi declassified the memos TODAY.

THIS COVER UP IS OVER pic.twitter.com/bo6OW0qRae
— Liz Churchill (@liz_churchill10) April 13, 2026

I love that Trump and JFK Jr. were good friends. pic.twitter.com/LtbV5bhiW9
— Mila Joy (@Milajoy) April 14, 2026

I was looking for coverage of why the US insists on a 20-year moratorium, and sees 5 years as too little.

When Trump said he wanted 100% (Jeffrey Sachs didn’t get it), this is what he meant.

“..such a timeframe is necessary to permanently limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities.”

• Over 20 US-Approved Ships Pass Through Hormuz (ZH)

5-Years vs. 20-Year Nuclear Moratorium

More info and color has been added in the wake of failed talks between the US and Iran in Pakistan, per The New York Times citing officials from both countries. Iran signaled Monday it would halt uranium enrichment for up to five years. The Trump administration rejected the offer, according to two senior Iranian officials and one US official who spoke to the Times. The US position, shaped in part by Vice President JD Vance, calls for a roughly 20-year suspension. Vance has argued such a timeframe is necessary to permanently limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
“The Iranians, in a formal response sent on Monday, said they would agree to up to five years, according to two senior Iranian officials and one U.S. official. Trump has rejected that offer, the U.S. official said,” writes NY Times. “The official said the U.S. has also asked Iran to remove highly enriched uranium from the country, and the Iranians have insisted the fuel stays inside Iran. But they have offered to dilute it significantly, so that it could not be used to produce a nuclear weapon,” the report adds.

Bits and pieces.

• U.S. Says Israel and Lebanon Agree to More Peace Talks (New York Times)

President Trump reiterated that Iran wanted to negotiate a deal, telling Maria Bartiromo of Fox News that the war was near its end. “I think it’s close to over, yeah, I mean I view it as very close to over,” he said when asked if the war had ended, speaking in a clip from the interview posted on Tuesday night. The president has previously indicated that the war was ending. In his address to the nation on April 1, he estimated that it should wind down within three weeks. His interview with Bartiromo is scheduled to air on the Fox Business channel on Wednesday morning.

[..] The U.S. military has completely stopped commercial traffic to and from Iranian ports, Adm. Brad Cooper, the Central Command leader, said late Tuesday. The blockade began on Monday but trackers showed several Iranian-linked vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz after that. It was unclear if those ships departed within a grace period. Intelligence experts have also observed ships using tactics to avoid detection in waters in and around the strait.
… uptick in ‘spoofing’ by ships near the Strait of Hormuz.
[..] Maritime intelligence experts are starting to see a new pattern of “shadow” activity in waters in and around the Strait of Hormuz since the United States naval blockade on vessels coming in and out of Iranian ports went into effect on Monday, suggesting that more ships seem to be adopting tactics to avoid detection than during the previous weeks of war.“Now, we are starting to see vessels going dark or using ‘zombie’ or random identification,” said Ami Daniel, the chief executive of Windward, a maritime intelligence data provider, in an interview on Tuesday.
In the weeks after the American-Israeli attack on Iran in late February, Iranian exports went “uninterrupted” and had “almost no need to go off radar,” Mr. Daniel said. But in the past 24 hours, more ships appear to be manipulating the global system intended to keep tabs on vessel activity and traffic, suggesting that some vessels linked to Iran are being “a bit more cautious,” he said. Under international maritime law, most large commercial vessels must travel with a transponder that automatically transmits the ship’s name, location, route and other identifying information. That includes a 9-digit number with a country code, which serves as a digital fingerprint for a ship.
Vessels in Middle Eastern waters that are now trying to hide their location or are otherwise falsifying information are employing methods that have been perfected by Russian “shadow fleet” vessels evading sanctions related to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, some experts say. “Shadow fleet tankers have been experimenting with stateless ID numbers,” said John C.K. Daly, a nonresident fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute in Washington who has been tracking Russian shadow ships. “What the Russians have been doing is altering the numbers.”
When a ship is engaged in “spoofing,” as the practice is known, its captain can type in a false origin or destination or can pretend to be piloting another ship altogether. Vessels can also temporarily turn off their transponders, seeming to disappear in one place and reappear in another, sometimes with altered data. This approach has enabled Russia to keep up its energy exports and finance its war, generating up to $100 billion a year. It appears that vessels linked to Iran are using similar methods now, experts say. Some ships have gone dark, while sanctioned and falsely flagged vessels seem to still be active, a Windward report on Tuesday noted.
“Under previous enforcement frameworks, including the December blockade of Venezuela, sanctioned and stateless tankers were primary targets for interdiction,” the report said. “The continued movement of similar vessel profiles indicates that operators are testing the practical limits of enforcement in real time.” By manipulating the global system meant to illuminate ship movements, so-called ghost or shadow vessels may compound confusion about the state of the Strait of Hormuz, even if in the end they cannot breach the American blockade.
“Right now, the strait is a contested information environment,” said Erik Bethel, a partner at Mare Liberum, a maritime technology venture capital fund. Detection-avoidance tricksmay make it harder for the Navy to identify boats for interdiction. “A blockade is only as strong as the intelligence behind the interdictions,” Mr. Bethel said.The maritime system is complex. A vessel may be owned by one country, leased to another and travel under a third country’s flag of convenience, Mr. Bethel said. That makes determining who is truly behind any given journey a “really hard thing to do.”
Maritime intelligence companies and militaries use an array of sources to stitch together information about vessels, including optical satellites, radar satellites and radio frequencies. They also collect information being transmitted by sailors, sometimes unwittingly, through their own personal technology, like Fitbits and cellphones. Still, whatever ruses they employ, vessels off Iran might only get so far. It is difficult to get out to the open ocean via a waterway as narrow as the Strait of Hormuz without being detected.
A U.S. official said that more than 12 American military vessels were stationed in international waters in the Gulf of Oman. And on Tuesday, United States Central Command said that six merchant vessels had complied with directions by radio from U.S. forces to turn around and re-enter Iranian ports. “My expectation is that the U.S. Navy can sit out in the Gulf of Oman,” Mr. Daniel of Windward said. “I don’t think there’s a way to breach the blockade.”

“.. Trump has forced a hidden imperial system into the open “

• The Money in the Background of the Iran Conflict (CTH)

Promethean Action Follows the Money in the Background of the Iran Conflict. A generally good summary into some of the financial issues happening in the background of the dire Straits of Hormuz. Susan Kokinda highlights UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declining to join an American blockade and claims Britain has lost control of the choke point. She details financial actions targeting Iranian money flows, including UAE arrests of IRGC-linked money changers, Treasury Secretary Bessent using Patriot Act Section 311 against a Zurich bank, and scrutiny of London-based crypto exchanges and Santander UK. She cites a UK military chief admitting Britain’s war planning has lapsed since the Cold War and links fuel disruptions and protests to the conflict, concluding Trump has forced a hidden imperial system into the open.

Trump Names the Hidden War — Britain Has No Cards Left

Helmer lost track too. Iran has nothing left to fight with.

• Blood, Money, and The Trump Dynasty – Iran Shows How To Fight (Helmer)

In the world in which President Donald Trump plans his future and the presidential dynasty of his sons to succeed him, the gunman believes he can take away both lives and bribes. Unless the victim catches him by surprise, outgunning him and those of his allies who have paid the price of his protection. It’s blood for money. This is the new stage of Iran’s war. It is the stage which the Iranian and pro-Iranian post-mortem analyses of the Islamabad negotiations have not disclosed; the stage which the US and Israeli propaganda organs cannot comprehend; the stage which the Trump dynasty’s rivals are afraid of, Vice President JD Vance in front.

This stage of Iran’s war is also an example to President Vladimir Putin and President Xi Jinping of the futility of paying bribes, as their advisors tell them; and the vulnerability of Trump and his sons to political defeat at home. [..] In the Iranian account of the Islamabad negotiations, there was initial progress in the expert-level negotiations on release of Iranian assets and relief of trade and financial transfer sanctions. No detail has leaked or been disclosed officially by either side. The Iranian negotiator was Central Bank Governor, Naser Hemati. The Iranian pre-conditions – an Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon and release of Iranian assets blocked in Qatar – were partly fulfilled, partly glossed over.
A US attempt to send two destroyers into the Hormuz Strait boomeranged as a test of the IRGC’s readiness to open fire, and the vessels reversed course. However, when the talks reached the level of the principals – Vice President JD Vance, Steven Witkoff, Jared Kushner for the US; Mohammad Bakr (Bagher) Ghalibaf, Abbas Araghchi, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, and Ali Bagheri Kani – the US side added new deal-breaking conditons, according to the account of Mohammed Marandi, one of the Iranian delegation’s official spokesmen. The first of these was Iran’s agreement to give up its entire civilian nuclear programme, not only its nuclear material enrichment capacities and stockpiles; the second was a US half-share in the Hormuz Strait regime tolls. Neither of these proposals was included in the 15-point plan sent by the US to Iran through Pakistan in the run-up to the ceasefire announcement of April 8.
According to the Israeli-American outlet Axios, “the U.S. proposed that Iran accept a 20-year moratorium on uranium enrichment during negotiations in Islamabad over the weekend, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge.” The second source was Israeli. There has been no Iranian confirmation.
Several US moves were also unexpected, according to Marandi. Vance had interrupted the negotiations to make repeated telephone calls to Washington, including one — the Iranian delegation claims — to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Vance has acknowledged in his brief press appearance at the conclusion that he had made calls “half a dozen times, a dozen times”. In the Iranian interpretation, Vance did not have a clear negotiating mandate for the negotiations, and lacked personal authority.

MDCP= Major Defense Cooperation Partnership

• All in All, It’s Just Another Brick in the Wall Around China (Stephen Green)

Last year, Chinese Communist Party boss Xi Jinping played the rare earths card, forcing President Donald Trump to slow his roll on decoupling from the Middle Kingdom. This year, Trump played the oil card against China — first in Venezuela, then in Iran — and he just slapped it on the table again in Indonesia. Their summit in Beijing next month already promised to be interesting, with the U.S. enjoying significant leverage over Venezuela, Iran in tatters, and the U.S. Navy taking charge of the Strait of Hormuz. Until very recently, both countries served as Beijing’s reliable sources of discounted oil. Today, Xi might ask, “Et tu, Indonesia?” If he spoke Latin, that is.

It might have seemed like one of those dry, bureaucratic, almost meaningless announcements on Monday, when War Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that the U.S. and Indonesia “are elevating our relationship to a Major Defense Cooperation Partnership.” According to a joint statement, the partnership covers “military modernization and capacity building,” “training and professional military education,” “exercises and operational cooperation,” and I can hear you snoring already.But a Major Defense Cooperation Partnership is kind of a big deal — and it’s aimed directly at China’s oil imports. China’s difficulties begin in the Strait of Hormuz, but they peak at Malacca.
Nearly two-thirds of China’s imports — largely the raw materials that keep its export machine humming — and a whopping 80% of its energy imports pass through Indonesia’s Strait of Malacca. But that hardly means Beijing minds its manners around its southern neighbor. While the two countries maintain a close strategic partnership, there are also persistent strains, particularly around Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, Chinese fishing boat fleets intruding on Indonesian waters, resulting in naval tensions, and ongoing trade disputes. And here comes Washington — with no territorial ambitions and no invading fishing fleets — with an MDCP.
And Another Thing: Honestly, China is now so powerful and aggressive that its neighbors ought to be attracted to Washington like iron filings to a magnet. It took significant displays of American weakness and dithering — thanks, Obama and Biden! — for countries like Indonesia to have fallen even partly into China’s orbit in the first place.
An MDCP usually means regular joint military exercises, interoperability training, and streamlined access to U.S. weapons systems. In other words, even though an MDCP is less than a formal military alliance, it allows the U.S. and its partners to effectively act as allies, should the need arise. The MDCP with Indonesia, just announced by Hegseth, even includes military overflight access.= Unlike NATO, there’s no Article Five-type guarantee requiring us to come to Indonesia’s defense, but should the need arise to act against China, our two militaries ought to have enough familiarity with one another to make it work.
In response to Trump’s tariffs last year, Beijing used its control over the majority of rare earth processing to get a better deal. But rare earths aren’t actually all that rare, and the U.S. sits on major deposits. Our problem is that we outsourced the processing to China. We’re working to correct that mistake. When Trump and Xi meet in May, the balance between our two countries will have shifted significantly in our favor since 2025. Seen that way, our new defense partnership with Indonesia is just another brick in Trump’s Great Wall Around China.

BIG ruling against Boasberg et al.

• Appeals Court Terminates Criminal Contempt Proceedings Against Trump Admin (ET)

An appeals court has put a stop to criminal contempt proceedings initiated by a district judge against the Trump administration. In a brief, unsigned order on April 14, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated a previous order by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, and ordered him to terminate the contempt investigation he launched in December. The contempt proceedings stemmed from the deportation of illegal immigrants—suspected gang members—to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, last year. Boasberg had ordered planes carrying those detainees halted and turned around, but the men were sent to El Salvador anyway.

The Trump administration had appealed Boasberg’s order all the way to the Supreme Court, which overturned his ruling. Despite that, Boasberg tried to hold members of the administration in contempt of his order unless they returned the suspected gang members to the United States. The appeals court blocked that move by vacating Boasberg’s first contempt order, but he decided to move ahead with a contempt investigation in November. “Undeterred, the district court is proceeding with criminal contempt for the government’s decision to transfer the plaintiffs to the custody of El Salvador,” the Appeals Court’s opinion reads.

“.. the so-called whistleblower behind the 2019 impeachment singled out Director Patel by name, relied on hearsay, submitted false claims, and had documented political bias — all of which was hidden from the American people..”

• FBI “Is Reviewing Closely New Allegations On Ukraine Impeachment Accuser” (JTN)

The FBI said Monday night that it is “closely” reviewing newly declassified memos showing the intelligence community kept secret for years evidence raising questions about the credibility and bias of the main accuser in President Donald Trump’s 2019 impeachment case. “The declassified impeachment memos show the so-called whistleblower behind the 2019 impeachment singled out Director Patel by name, relied on hearsay, submitted false claims, and had documented political bias — all of which was hidden from the American people,” FBI spokesman Ben Williamson wrote on his X account.

“This is the same playbook used during the Russia collusion hoax — which Director Patel exposed. The FBI has previously been reviewing these revelations closely and will continue to do so,” he added. The FBI was one of several agencies to react to a story Sunday night by Just the News that revealed the CIA analyst who alleged wrongdoing by Trump involving Ukraine policy was flagged for the “potential for bias,” had lied to investigators about a key fact and only had hearsay evidence to back his claims.
That evidence was kept from Trump’s impeachment proceedings by ex-Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Monday. Gabbard accused the former watchdog of “weaponizing” the whistle-blower process to hurt Trump. The alleged whistleblower’s name was redacted from the newly declassified memos but has been identified in some media reports as retired CIA analyst Eric Ciaramella, who now works at a D.C. think tank and is a regular on a podcast critical of Trump policies.
Officials declined to publicly confirm whether Ciaramella was, in fact, the whistleblower when questioned by Just the News. Ciaramella has appeared on numerous podcast episodes put out by the anti-Trump Lawfare outlet. Benjamin Wittes, the editor-in-chief of Lawfare, appeared on multiple episodes with Ciaramella. Wittes was described by Politico in 2017 as “The Bard of the Deep State” and is a longtime Trump critic and a self-described friend of fired FBI Director James Comey and Strzok.

“The Lawfare impeachment crew, led by Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, Mary McCord, Dan Goldman, Barry Berke, Stephen Castor and Norm Eisen also weaponized the “ongoing investigation” classification to keep the CIA/ICIG report hidden during the impeachment effort.”

• Johnny Didn’t Bark – But Tulsi Did (CTH)

I’m going to try and keep this short. You can tell from the transcripts of the testimony from ICIG Michael Atkinson that at the time of his testimony, September 19, 2019 and October 4, 2019, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) was not in a classified session; simply closed-door. In fact, during the October 2019 deposition, Ranking Member Devin Nunes went out of his way to clarify the status of the hearing itself. Chairman Schiff reemphasized this was not part of the impeachment inquiry, simply a hearing to clarify questions from Republicans to ICIG Atkinson about the nature of the complaint created by CIA whistleblower Eric Ciaramella.

This is interesting, because that means at the time of the hearing itself in 2019 any one of the members could have immediately gone to the microphones and discussed all of the information gained from within the questioning. They didn’t. Later on, Chairman Adam Schiff classified the Atkinson testimony in order to bury it. The Lawfare impeachment crew, led by Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, Mary McCord, Dan Goldman, Barry Berke, Stephen Castor and Norm Eisen also weaponized the “ongoing investigation” classification to keep the CIA/ICIG report hidden during the impeachment effort.
President Trump was not even allowed to see/review the classified IC IG information that was being used to impeach him. Now, as you can see from the attendance above, John Ratcliffe was present for both Atkinson depositions. Despite his immediate silence, we know John Ratcliffe was concerned about the content within ICIG Atkinson’s statements as he relayed in a series of questions during a public hearing December 9, 2019. Ratcliffe questioned both Dan Goldman and Stephen Castor who were part of Adam Schiff’s staff and present during the October 2019, testimony of ICIG Atkinson.

John Ratcliffe knew all of the details from ICIG Atkinson’s testimony because he was present and part of the questioning during both sessions. Here’s where it gets interesting Following the failed impeachment effort (Senate acquittal), President Trump fired IC IG Michael Atkinson April 3, 2020, and then nominated John Ratcliffe to the position of DNI to replace Acting DNI Ric Grenell. The ICIG investigation of the alleged claims by CIA whistleblower Eric Ciaramella ended during the impeachment inquiry. Following the impeachment acquittal, and following the subsequent firing of Atkinson, all of the ICIG work product returned to the custodial review of the ODNI.
DNI nominee John Ratcliffe was confirmed by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on May 21 and sworn in on May 26, 2020. John Ratcliffe was now a constitutionally confirmed DNI with access to the full record and work product that led to the previous impeachment effort. Why didn’t DNI John Ratcliffe release the ICIG investigative material and CIA whistleblower report? Why did it take another six years and DNI Tulsi Gabbard to discover, dig out, declassify and release the material that was in the custodial review of DNI John Ratcliffe back in 2020?
Congressman Ratcliffe was in both Atkinson depositions during Sept/Oct 2019, and he knew the impeachment allegations were false. He essentially called out the HPSCI Democrat staff in December of 2019. Congressman Ratcliffe became DNI in May 2020 and knew the entire background of the IC IG material that was now at his fingertips. Ratcliffe knew President Trump was set up. Why didn’t John Ratcliffe release the evidence of it in 2020?
I might also note that following the 2022 midterm election, Republicans took back control of the House in January 2023.Why didn’t HPSCI Chairman Mike Turner (2023/2024) release the Atkinson transcripts to the public? Why didn’t HPSCI Chairman Rick Crawford (2025-present) release the Atkinson transcript in 2025, without the request of DNI Tulsi Gabbard. To be fair, former HPSCI Chairman Mike Turner might say that back in 2023 without the underlying CIA/ICIG report, the explosive Atkinson testimony didn’t have context…..
…. But that brings us back to the question of why DNI John Ratcliffe didn’t release the CIA/ICIG report as soon as he took office in 2020. Has the statute of limitations tolled? Johnny didn’t bark – Tulsi did!

“The spirit of revolution hangs in the air.”

• Irish Patriots are Fighting Back (J.B. Shurk)

So you say you want a revolution? Well, take a look at what’s happening in Ireland right now. Tens of thousands of farmers, truckers, and other fed-up “normies” are taking to the streets of Dublin to protest fuel taxes, mass immigration, and poverty-inducing “climate change” policies. For the most part, corporate news propagandists in both Europe and North America are intentionally ignoring the combustible situation. Just when I had begun to think that all the “fighting Irish” had moved to America, the Old Country has started to show signs of life. Perhaps there are still a few irascible pugilists willing to bash heads and take on the globalist empire after all.

Speaking of irascible pugilists, Irish slugger Conor McGregor issued a bit of an ultimatum to the ruling class after the government mobilized the military and sent tanks to intimidate the protesters: “One wrong move by government here, and you will see, at the very least, 250k Irish people descend on the capital in a blink. They must step down, there is no other way.” Declaring war against ordinary Irishmen isn’t a good look for an Irish Deep State that can’t be bothered to guard its borders from hordes of invading foreigners. While McGregor and his compatriots are out feeding protesters in the streets, the Irish government is hiking taxes on those who can least afford to pay them. “One wrong move” could spark a revolution.
Perhaps that’s why — after an initial show of force — Ireland’s globalist government appears to be trying to settle things down. Reports on the ground say that police officers have remained friendly with protesters. Some have suggested that Irish authorities are wary of following in the footsteps of Canada’s former prime minister, Justin Trudeau, when he exercised martial law powers to seize the bank accounts of and jail “Freedom Convoy” truckers protesting coercive COVID “vaccination” mandates. On the other hand, a lot of the Irish protesters have also described a sense that many of the law enforcement officers patrolling the streets appear to be on their side. If that’s the case, then Ireland’s political class may be worried about the effectiveness of siccing the military on a broadly-backed citizen uprising.
Although few people saw the present brouhaha coming, Ireland makes a natural “ground zero” in the war between Big Government globalists (aka, the “international rules-based order” club of World Economic Forum totalitarians) and ordinary citizens willing to defend their nation’s sovereignty and their own personal freedoms. For two decades, the globalists have been taking over Ireland and stripping it for parts. As a country that once took pride in its meaningful traditions, customs, family loyalties, and Catholic heritage, Ireland has been one of the globalists’ favorite targets for conquest.
If the “multicultural” atheists could convert Ireland into another globalist outpost devoid of religious or civilizational allegiances, they knew that they would collect a valuable scalp in their war against the West. Sadly, the globalists have been largely successful. By transforming a conservative, staunchly pro-life, Catholic nation into a “woke” re-education zone embracing abortion, “trans” surgeries for children, open borders, Islamic supremacy, and the fetishization of “diversity,” the World Economic Forum’s “Borg” hive mind gutted one of the most culturally rich nations on the planet and mounted Ireland’s head on globalism’s wall of slaughtered states.
Two months ago, free speech defenders Lorcán Price and Graham Linehan testified before the House Judiciary Committee concerning the mass censorship operation being run through the expanding Big Tech enclave in Dublin. There are over 32,000 NGOs in Ireland receiving billions of dollars in U.S. and E.U. grants meant to help shape public opinion. These organizations — one for every 155 Irishmen — represent the “information warfare” army that supports Europe’s globalist policies. Over 70% of Irish legislation is copy-and-pasted from bureaucratic edicts originating in the European Union. These laws include special incentives for illegal immigrants who arrive on Ireland’s shores. They also include “hate speech” laws that have been used to criminally prosecute Irish citizens who object to foreigners raping and murdering their children. The NGO-E.U. takeover of the Irish political system this century has drastically reshaped the country.
Once Christian Ireland now has constitutional protections for gay “marriage” and abortion up to a baby’s birth. Two years ago, Ireland’s globalist cabal nearly succeeded in removing all mentions of “women” from the national constitution, as well as nearly redefining “family” as a “durable relationship.” The Irish government continues to attack Ireland’s Catholic history, going so far as to depict Catholic saints as pagan goddesses in shameless acts of historical revisionism. Globalists continue to rename historic institutions due to ludicrous accusations that Irish clergymen and scholars had ties to slavery and “white supremacy.” As Irish writer Roger Berkeley sorrowfully observes, “Ireland shows what happens when elites, bureaucracies, and ideology override national identity.”
[..] What is clear is that ordinary people in nations across the West are becoming aware of the information war that has long been waged against them. For decades, they have been conditioned to believe false things: “Diversity is our strength.” “Islam is a religion of peace.” “Trans-women are real women.” “Sex is a social construct.” “Man-made climate change is killing the planet.” “New taxes will save the planet.” “Christianity is hate speech.” “Hate speech is a violent crime.” “Free speech requires government-moderated censorship.” “National sovereignty is fascist.” “Families promote white supremacy.” “Merit is white supremacy.” “Math, home ownership, mowed lawns, and punctuality are all forms of white supremacy.” “Equal rights require ‘Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity.’” “Unelected bureaucrats protect democracy.” “NATO must protect non-NATO Ukraine.” Et cetera ad infinitum.

That he was.

• Eric Swalwell and the Fall of a Made Man (Turley)

The resignation of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Cal.) came with one of the most spectacular falls in political history. Just days ago, Swalwell was the leading Democratic candidate for governor of California and positioned to be one of two final candidates (the other a Republican). He expected that, regardless of his unpopularity, California Democrats would never vote for a Republican. Now Swalwell has pulled out of the race, pulled out of Congress, and was even tossed out of the home of a billionaire who had been letting him crash there during the scandal. Swalwell continues to deny the allegations and pledges to fight them.

For the record, I have been one of Swalwell’s most vocal critics for the last ten years. Yet, while I am not surprised by the allegations, I am surprised by how quickly Swalwell was abandoned by his political patrons in Congress and the unions. In Washington, Harry Truman advised politicians that if you want a friend in this city, get a dog. However, even Swalwell’s dog Penny has yet to appear in public with him. Presumably, she is consulting with her own canine crisis team. Swalwell has spent his entire career protected by an enabling establishment and media. He was a made man in Washington, and those who made him protected him despite years of rumors and allegations of misconduct.
He was never much of a legislator. One 2025 study showed that he was outvoted in Congress by a colleague who had died months earlier. His value was his vicious signature. He was always first to a mob. When Sen. Susan Collins received death threats, it was Swalwell who mocked her. In running for governor, he not only pledged to arrest ICE agents but to deny them driver’s licenses and jobs. He trafficked in unadulterated rage to a nation of rage addicts. His greatest patron was Nancy Pelosi, who single-handedly saved Swalwell’s career when he was found to have had an affair with an alleged Chinese spy. She told the media, “I don’t have any concern about Mr. Swalwell.”
For most of the media, that was enough and they slinked away. When critics sought to remove him from the classified House Intelligence Committee, Pelosi shocked many by insisting that he remain in the sensitive position, lashing out at those “trying to make an issue of this.” Now, Pelosi and the media allies are gone. Even Swalwell’s friend, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D., Ariz.), has morphed into Claude Rains and proclaimed that he is “shocked” by the allegations. His former campaign chair, Gallego was shown in a picture bare-chested and riding camels with Swalwell on a luxury junket paid for by Qatar business interests. The photo has not aged well for Gallego any more than his earlier lament that the Democratic party “used to be the party of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.”
The abandonment of Swalwell is a familiar move of political triage. By letting Swalwell succumb to the scandal, Pelosi and others hope to protect the establishment from any blowback after years of enabling his career. The media, as usual, is complying. The media will cover a scandal involving a leading Democrat if there is no real alternative. What is interesting is how the Democratic establishment is now signaling that they want Swalwell destroyed — quickly and surgically. The media is content calling Swalwell a monster without delving into who created and released that monster. Swalwell is no self-made man. He is a made man of the Democratic establishment.
The alleged victims have lashed out not only at Swalwell but also at many in the establishment. They allege that they were rebuffed when they tried to bring their allegations to reporters. One independent reporter said that he had been raising similar allegations about Swalwell with California Democrats from before Swalwell was elected to Congress. He was also turned away. Swalwell had a use and that made his “appetites” irrelevant. If even half of these allegations are true, it shows the sense of license that Swalwell developed for years in Washington. He lost that political immunity this week and now faces real legal liability. That does not mean that Democrats will not try to control the damage. They want Swalwell to take a deal to avoid any investigations that will pull other Democrats into the vortex of the scandal.
They are counting on New York and California district attorneys to produce the type of controlled explosion seen in construction where a hotel is brought down without damaging the adjacent structures. The problem is Republicans may not just accept his resignation as the final act. They could call the women to testify and even call some of his congressional friends who took trips and partied with him. They could cite Swalwell himself for demanding such total transparency.

“La Marxista: Mamdani Pledges to Open First City-Run Store with Projected $30 Million Initial Cost “

Turley is not his biggest fan.

• Mamdani Pledges to Open First City-Run Store (Tuirley)

Mayor Zohran Mamdani used his “First 100 Days” speech this week to announce that he has kept his promise to create a chain of city-run stores . . . by pledging to open one store sometime “next year.” According to the New York Post, the city is planning to make an East Harlem location the first store at a cost of $30 million. It will be located in La Marqueta near Park Avenue. Hopefully, La Marqueta will be renamed La Marxista for clarity. It will follow a long line of failed state-operated and city-operated stores. Chicago’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, also pledged such city-run stores.

It is notable that the stores received such emphasis by Mamdani. It is not difficult to set up a grocery store, particularly when you run the city that approves permits and compliance conditions. It is not even difficult to set up a money-losing store as long as you have a city budget to pay for it. It is far more difficult to set up an independently sustainable store. In my book, “Rage and the Republic,” I discuss the rise of support for socialism and communism among young citizens who have no experience or memory with the failures of such systems in the 20th Century. I specifically discuss Mamdani and his policies. These are calls that are likely to increase with the emerging new economy:
With the rise of American socialism, there are new calls for state subsidies and even the establishment of state-run grocery stores in places like Chicago. Past efforts have been colossal failures, including the still-ongoing effort in Kansas City. Over seven years, KC Sun Fresh is gushing money with losses in 2024 at $885,000. The millions lost on this store are on top of the $17 million that the city paid to buy the entire strip mall. By 2025, many of the shelves were entirely bare, while private grocery stores were successfully operating in the area. Despite these failures, there are new calls in other states to create their own state-owned stores.
In New York City, socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was heralded for his campaign to open up “government-owned, government-operated grocery stores” in 2025. There are also calls to subsidize key industries that are becoming less competitive in the global market—an effort that is unlikely to succeed as jobs are lost to cheap labor markets or automation. Since the city already owns La Marqueta, it can avoid paying rent. However, it will lose any rent that could be earned by renting the property to a business.
Mamdani pledged that these will be “stores where prices are fair, where workers are treated with dignity, and where New Yorkers can actually afford to shop at our stores…Eggs will be cheaper, bread will be cheaper, grocery shopping will no longer be an unsolvable equation.” Of course, that has not worked out that way in other cities. Governments are not known to be either efficient or competitive. The start-up costs of this first store will consume almost half of the budget for the original cost estimate for all five stores.
Soon, New Yorkers will be subsidizing grocery stores to artificially support the myth of socialism. In the Soviet Union, state-run grocery stores were the subject of gallows humor. The “reimagining” of grocery stores left shelves bare with only imagined essential products. The most widely told joke spread just before the fall of the Soviet Union:
A man walks into a shop. He asks the clerk, “You don’t have any meat?” The clerk says, “No, here we don’t have any fish. The shop that doesn’t have any meat is across the street.” As Mamdani demands a 10% property tax to fund his promises of free buses and other socialist programs, he is returning to the same socialist script. Of course, as the University of Chicago’s Milton Friedman noted, “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.”

“.. was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”

• American Pope Leo Has a Massive Case of TDS (Rick Moran)

The papacy is one of the most unique institutions in the world. The pope is not “elected” in any meaningful sense. A bunch of older males who played the same kind of political games that Republicans, Democrats, Communists, and Socialists play to get ahead, to become “cardinal,” meet to fill a vacancy following the death of a pope. How a new pope is chosen is steeped in tradition and ritual. It’s all baloney. The pomp and circumstance were created to hide the simple fact that choosing a pope is no different than choosing a CEO or president of a large company. The assembled cardinals decide who should lead the church, the same way a board of directors chooses a new leader: someone who can best advance the goals and interests of the Catholic church.

There’s nothing holy about it. There’s nothing sacred in the process. It’s politics, plain and simple. Pope Leo XIV played the game exceptionally well in order to get elected last year. He had a huge obstacle to overcome; he is an American (and Peruvian), and there is a large faction in the Vatican that hates America. Leo was seen as a compromise candidate who, although close to the radical Pope Francis, who died in 2025, was not considered as confrontational as the former pope. That belief turned out to be very wrong.
In April 2025, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica stated that Leo was seen as a “cosmopolitan and shy figure” who was “appreciated by conservatives and progressives” within the church. The pope destroyed that illusion by going after Donald Trump in a very un-papal way. On Sunday, Trump let loose on Leo for his constant sermonizing. Of course, that’s what popes do, but Trump saw an opening to attack Leo on very secular grounds.
Truth Social:”I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country. And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History. “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote.
“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,” Trump said. “He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”
I don’t think there’s any doubt that the church considered an American for pope because Donald Trump was president. Trump’s roundup of illegal aliens was bound to cause friction with the Vatican. Leo tried to sound diplomatic in his response, which was, in itself, a shocking departure from tradition. Popes aren’t supposed to play the tit-for-tat political game.”I don’t want to get into a debate with him [Trump],” the U.S.-born pope said. “I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing.” The pope is referring to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asking “the American people to pray “every day, on bended knee” for a military victory in the Middle East “in the name of Jesus Christ.” “
We are not politicians, we don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, Leo told reporters. The pope said that “to put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think, is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is.” Leo has entered the political fray with his words and has lost the moral authority to comment as the leader of one billion Roman Catholics. Commenting as a famous religious celebrity is perfectly fine, but getting in the mud and rolling around with a politician should be beneath Leo and the papacy. “I do not look at my role as being political, a politician,” Leo said. “Too many people are suffering in the world today, too many innocent people are being killed, and someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.

Holocaust Remembrance Day was Jan 27. Then why this? “Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day this year starting on the evening of April 13 into today, April 14.”

• ‘Unwavering Commitment’ to Fight Hatred (Salgado)

President Donald Trump issued a powerful message against antisemitism and a commitment to honoring the memory of Holocaust victims through a freer future in his message for Holocaust Remembrance Day. Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day this year starting on the evening of April 13 into today, April 14. While the Nazis killed political dissidents, Catholics, other Christians, and ethnic minorities, their death camps were most strongly focused on wiping out the Jewish people. In fact, the global Jewish population has never fully recovered since the Holocaust.

The Trump White House issued a message on April 13. “During the Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust, our Nation remembers the more than 6 million innocent Jewish lives taken in one of the most horrific atrocities and worst acts of anti-Semitism in human history; we commemorate the Roma and Sinti, Slavic and Polish people, persons with disabilities, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah’s Witnesses, people targeted for their sexual orientation, and countless others who were victims of the Holocaust; and we renew our unwavering commitment to ensuring that such evil is vanquished forever,” President Trump wrote.
Unfortunately, the fundamentalist Muslims who were allies of Hitler during World War II, because of their shared goal of destroying Jews, are more powerful than ever, somehow gaining the sympathy of the West every time they attack Israel and commit heinous atrocities. To give just one number for context, Hezbollah alone launched over 6,500 missiles, UAVs, and rockets at Israeli civilians during the first five weeks of Operation Epic Fury/Roaring Lion.
Trump continued, “On Yom HaShoah, we recall the horrors Nazi Germany inflicted across Europe during the harrowing years of the Second World War, where men, women, and children of many backgrounds were subjected to vicious acts of persecution, degradation, and death by methods beyond comprehension. Yet, in the midst of this unfathomable darkness, the resilience of the human spirit endured.” “From the outset of my Administration, I have taken decisive action to defend the God-given worth of every human being,” Trump affirmed. “By establishing the Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, my Administration is bolstering coordination across federal agencies in an effort to prevent acts of hatred and violence in our streets and on our college campuses that were allowed to spread under my predecessor.”
He concluded: “I am directing the Department of Justice to relentlessly pursue those who threaten or harm Jewish Americans, and we will not stop until every case of terrorism perpetrated against the Jewish people is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
As our Nation marks these Days of Remembrance, we honor the memory of all who were murdered and vow to never forget the victims of the Holocaust—the most heinous violation of human dignity in the history of the world. Together, we reaffirm our solemn obligation to stand guard against antisemitism in every form and carry forward the enduring legacy of the more than 6 million innocent souls of the Holocaust with vigilance and unwavering resolve. May the memories of all who perished forever be a blessing. Global antisemitism has been on the rise ever since Hamas committed the Oct. 7 massacre. Each one of us is responsible for seeing that “never again” is more than a slogan.

Forever ago, I read a biography of Abe. Which was John Hay’s POV.

• Remembering the Faith of Lincoln on the Anniversary of His Death (Tom Griffin)

On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head and killed by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre during the showing of “Our American Cousin.” It was Good Friday. It is eerily fitting that the murder occurred on the most somber day of the Christian year. Lincoln mentioned God frequently in his presidency, and his journey with God was deeply connected to the gravity of his work during the Civil War.
Between his election in November 1860 and his inauguration in March 1861, several southern states seceded from the Union. In Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861, he spoke about how the nation must be firm in faith: “Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty.” Here Lincoln showcased his distinctively American spirit. He believed that our nation was built on faith as well as love for both neighbor and country. Those qualities, in his view, can sustain the American people during tumultuous times.
In September 1862, during one of the most personally challenging parts of the Civil War, Lincoln wrote a private “Meditation on the Divine Will.” The Union had recently lost the Second Battle of Bull Run, and there were immense challenges ahead for the president. The country was tiring of the war. The growing death toll weighed heavily on the president. Had the time come to end the war? According to one of his White House secretaries John Hay, the letter was the president’s way of working through his confusion and stress about the most important decision of his life. Hay also noted that this letter was not meant to be seen by men, which is why we have only one section. Lincoln writes:
“The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God’s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party — and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that this is probably true — that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By his mere great power, on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And, having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.”
The words above are filled with religious significance and depth. They relate the broken heart of a man—and a president—for his fellow countrymen. Faith demands that we be utterly honest with both ourselves and God. Lincoln’s meditation was more than a mere method to inform the president’s decision making; it was itself a prayer.
First, Lincoln writes that God’s will is victorious. To understand what that means for him, Lincoln then references a philosophical idea called “the principle of noncontradiction.” Most famously explained by Aristotle, the principle holds that two opposing claims cannot both be true in the same way at the same time. Therefore, either the south was right that human beings are not equal, and some can thus be owned by others. Or the north was right that the expansion of slavery—even its existence—is immoral because all human beings have dignity.
Second, Lincoln writes that the outcome of the war might be different from what either side hopes for. God often works in unexpected ways. God’s logic often makes itself known through challenging and confusing times. Though painful, this can ultimately teach us to rely on God and trust that providence will lead us through. Finally, the president’s meditation on God’s will does not seem to have resolved all Lincoln’s confusion. The war must continue, for now. This brings him much grief, but he knows that it is right.

You driving? Not on a public road any more. Go to a private circuit.

Every year, approximately 1.19 million people die in road accidents worldwide.

That’s like a massive, invisible pandemic killing over 3,200 people every single day.

When a deadly virus spreads, the world drops everything to develop a vaccine as fast as possible.

Tesla’s Full… https://t.co/kmeKSV7PU6 pic.twitter.com/SOX2waM0In
— Captain Eli (@TheCaptainEli) April 13, 2026

https://twitter.com/HungaryBased/status/2043743519664185462?s=20 https://twitter.com/NiohBerg/status/2043783291178782888?s=20

List of 15 websites where you can download unlimited books for free:

1. planetebook .com

2. oceanofpdf .com

3. freecomputerbooks .com

4. zlibrary .to

5. bookboon .com

6. gutenberg .org

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8. pdfdrive .com

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10. openlibrary .org

11.… https://t.co/UertrqbuSa pic.twitter.com/0IV7b3oHw0
— Nelly; (@nrqa__) April 13, 2026

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

Debt Rattle February 7 2026

Feb 072026

February 7, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 11:05 am Finance Tagged with: China, Clinton, Cuba, Epstein, Helmer, ICE, Iran, Ketanji 43 Responses »

Pablo Picasso Bull – Plate IV 1945

• Pam Bondi’s DOJ Is Sabotaging The Trump Coalition (Velleco)

• Why is the Deep State Targeting DNI Tulsi Gabbard with Such Ferocity? (CTH)

• Anti-ICE Applause: Jackson’s Disqualifying Moment (David Manney)

• Gutfeld Destroys the Democrats’ Voter ID Double Standard (Matt Margolis)

• Jeffrey Epstein’s Putin Hustle (Helmer)

• Spain’s Far-Left Government Threatens To “Limit And Likely BAN” X (MN)

• Mark Warner Finds Out DNI Tulsi Gabbard Has Puerto Rico Voting Machines (CTH)

• Blood in the Water (James Howard Kunstler)

• The Triumphant Return of the Clinton PR Machine (Pinsker)

• US Blockade Threatens ‘Humanitarian Collapse’ In Cuba – UN Chief (RT)

• China Backs Cuba During Tensions With US (RT)

• Taking a Ride on Newsom’s “Train to Nowhere” (Turley)

• The Tehran Times Interviews John Helmer (Helmer)_

For sure https://t.co/7LMtK5gYCB
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2026

https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/2019635041748611276 https://twitter.com/DerrickEvans4WV/status/2019267737365934296

It’s hard to turm around even just one department in four years. Most people in it will just stay.

• Pam Bondi’s DOJ Is Sabotaging The Trump Coalition (Velleco)

In November 2024, the American people decisively elected President Trump to a second term in office. After four intolerable years of controlled national demolition under the Biden autopen, the newly elected 47th President was poised to keep his promises and fulfill his mandate. President Trump had the opportunity to stop the federal government’s leftward push, steer the government back in the right direction, and make significant and lasting progress in that new direction. That third point is the most critical. Indeed, without permanent change, President Trump’s historic election – and this nation’s generational opportunity to course-correct – will turn out to have been nothing more than a momentary pause in America’s long-term decline.

Yet inexplicably, the Trump Administration has failed to take even basic steps to effect permanent change. For example, the Administration often has taken the easy path of using temporary Executive Orders rather than insisting on permanent legislation. Of course, Executive Orders are temporary, and can be undone by any future President with the stroke of a pen.m The same dynamic exists in the world of litigation, where Pam Bondi’s DOJ has chosen the temporary fix over the permanent solution. In addition to having repeatedly bungled implementation of President Trump’s agenda, Bondi’s DOJ has deliberately avoided letting cases reach final judgment.
For example, DOJ has repeatedly attempted to moot litigation involving Biden-era policies, even after a judge seems on the verge of striking down those bad policies through a precedent-setting decision. Yet all this tactic does is ensure that a future Democrat administration will be able to put these Biden policies right back into effect. But why would the Bondi DOJ work so hard to prevent lasting victories in court for Trump Coalition interests? Indeed, with DOJ friends like that, who needs enemies? If the Bondi DOJ’s hostility to the groups that made up the Trump Coalition in 2024 continues, it will seriously damage any chance of success in the 2026 midterms. This article will examine the Bondi DOJ’s infuriating pattern of obstruction, sabotage, and outright friendly fire against the Trump Coalition and ask one simple question: Why?
DOJ’s Failure to Implement the President’s Mandate
But first, let’s examine what DOJ could have done in service of the American people during this past year. As it turns out, DOJ has a number of legal tools available that it inexplicably has declined to use.nnConsider the role litigation plays in shaping domestic policy. A court order can bind the government to a certain legal interpretation or specific course of conduct, and generally will survive a change in administrations. Thus, if the federal government is a party to a lawsuit, a court order against it can codify policy – good or bad.
So what happens when a new administration inherits an ongoing lawsuit that was originally brought by its political allies against the prior administration? Well, in the past, DOJ often has simply settled cases, either privately or via court-enforceable consent judgment. Perhaps to no one’s surprise, this tactic has been a favorite of Democrat administrations. The Biden DOJ’s handling of a prior Trump-era lawsuit illustrates the point.
When Biden took office in 2021, his DOJ inherited a pending ACLU-led lawsuit against the first Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration enforcement policy. Rather than litigate the case any further, the Biden DOJ settled with its friends at the ACLU, barring the federal government “from reenacting the zero-tolerance policy” until 2031, and agreeing to pay the ACLU some $6 million in attorneys’ fees to boot. In addition to settling cases, DOJ also can (and has) let its friends’ lawsuits play out. For example, if a judge appears poised to rule in favor of an outcome the administration wants, DOJ can simply wait for that ruling. Then, not only will the federal government be bound by that ruling, but also it will generate favorable legal precedent for use in future cases.

“The need for control is a reaction to fear…”

• Why is the Deep State Targeting DNI Tulsi Gabbard with Such Ferocity? (CTH)

Each day more and more people are starting to realize/notice there are elements of the United States intelligence apparatus that are targeting Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. The need for control is a reaction to fear, and Tulsi Gabbard has the DC Intelligence Community very worried. What you will read below is something that was written back in 2024 about the potential for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), if President Trump were to win the election. Subsequently, he did win; and while we are not saying this is the exact ODNI script that is being followed, we are certainly not disputing that either.

Read the roadmap below –Written in 2024– compare it to current events and decide for yourself if this is something that rings a bell and may explain the IC apoplexy. The ODNI was created as an outcome of the 9-11 Commission recommendations. In the era shortly after 9/11, the DC national security apparatus was constructed to preserve continuity of government and simultaneously view all Americans as potential threats. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) were created specifically for this purpose.

Washington DC created the modern national security apparatus immediately and hurriedly after 9/11/01. DHS came along in 2002, and within the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 the ODNI was formed. When Barack Obama and Eric Holder arrived a few years later, those newly formed institutions were viewed as opportunities to create a very specific national security apparatus that would focus almost exclusively against their political opposition.
Here is the weird part. The ODNI was formed in 2004, with the intent for the office to be the pivot point of a national security radar. The DNI was intended to provide information to domestic agencies about foreign terror networks that would prevent something like 9-11 from happening again. However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has never, not for one day, operated on this intent. This is why they are such a critical position from my perspective.
The office was new, not established yet as a functioning silo, when Barack Obama and Eric Holder arrived in 2009. They quickly dispatched an idiot, James Clapper, into the operation so they could weaponize around the offices’ fulcrum point. Prior to the DNI office existing, the CIA radar would sweep externally and then report to the Office of the President. The DNI was intended to take external radar sweep (CIA) and make it a full 360° circle, adding a sweep inside the USA that would be handled by the Dept of Homeland Security.

“…very rarely—if ever—have justices of our nation’s highest Court been present at an event at which attendees have amplified such far-left rhetoric…”

• Anti-ICE Applause: Jackson’s Disqualifying Moment (David Manney)

One thing we should never see is judges high-fiving criminals at parties; they enforce the law, not celebrate those who mock it. Neutrality demands distance from chaos, especially when robes hang in the closet. Attending events that trash law enforcement turns impartiality into a punchline. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) urged Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Blackburn pointed to Jackson’s attendance at the Grammy Awards on Jan. 29 in Los Angeles.

“While it is by no means unheard of or unusual for a Supreme Court justice to attend a public function, very rarely—if ever—have justices of our nation’s highest Court been present at an event at which attendees have amplified such far-left rhetoric,” Blackburn wrote in a letter to Roberts. Blackburn, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for an investigation into whether Jackson’s actions violate the high court’s Code of Conduct and would require her to recuse herself from certain cases.”
During speeches filled with anti-ICE rhetoric, Jackson clapped along with attendees who also wore “ICE Out” pins, while speakers shouted “F— ICE” and “No one is illegal on stolen land.”Jackson attended the Grammys, nominated for narrating the audiobook of her memoir, Lovely One. She lost to Patti LuPone, but stayed for the show. Blackburn argued that Jackson’s presence at an event that amplified far-left rhetoric violates the Supreme Court Code of Conduct, which requires justices to avoid actions that undermine public confidence in impartiality. Highlighting potential recusal issues, Blackburn said Jackson should step aside from immigration cases, such as those involving birthright citizenship or ICE operations.
Applauding calls to abolish ICE suggests bias against enforcement, unlike the baseless attacks on Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. Jackson’s actions raise genuine concerns about impartiality. She swore an oath to uphold the law, yet cheered rhetoric that trashes border security. Jackson enjoys theater and music, but Supreme Court justices hold a unique position; ordinary people freely applaud, while justices represent the law’s integrity. Showing up at an anti-ICE rally mocks that duty; she forgot her job requires neutrality, not nods to celebrities cursing federal agents. That’s the choice that disqualifies her from any future ICE-related litigation, where recusal protects justices from perceived favoritism.
Coinciding with Trump’s deportation pushes in Minneapolis, activists at the Grammys pushed out anti-ICE messages, turning the event into a protest. Jackson’s applause aligns her with that crowd. Blackburn contrasted it with Democratic demands for conservative justices’ recusal. If Jackson ignores the code, it erodes trust in the court.
Chief Justice Roberts needs to act to maintain standards.
Supreme Court justices hold a position unlike any other: they interpret and uphold the Constitution, not openly cheer for defiance. Ordinary people can clap at concerts without consequence, but when a justice claps and nods along to chants that demonize federal law enforcement, the robe’s weight should demand justice. Jackson’s choice to attend and applaud that night traded judicial restraint for celebrity applause. Impartiality isn’t optional: it’s the job. When any justice forgets that, the court itself loses credibility, one careless clap at a time.

“They hate it ‘cause it creates something they can’t compete with: oversight…”

• Gutfeld Destroys the Democrats’ Voter ID Double Standard (Matt Margolis)

Greg Gutfeld did what Greg Gutfeld does best on his late-night show this week: he grabbed a Democrat talking point, shook it until the hypocrisy fell out, and then held it up for everyone to see. The target was Democrats’ favorite attack line against voter ID laws, and specifically the SAVE Act, which they have hysterically branded as “Jim Crow 2.0.” Gutfeld opened by zeroing in on the left’s most glaring contradiction. “You got to hand it to the Democrats,” he said. “On one hand, they think a child can handle the decision to lop off their genitals, but then on the other, they think black people can’t get a photo ID.”

Dems' Voter ID Double Standard pic.twitter.com/2aCMAjiwkq
— Gutfeld! (@Gutfeldfox) February 5, 2026

To make his point, Gutfeld played a clip of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer having a meltdown over the legislation. “The SAVE Act is an abomination,” Schumer declared. “It’s Jim Crow 2.0 across the country.” Schumer went on to vow, “We are going to do everything we can to stop it.” From there, Gutfeld dismantled the comparison itself. “To them, showing an ID to vote is no different than forcing people to drink from separate water fountains,” he said. The absurdity becomes obvious when placed next to everyday life. “Meanwhile, you need an ID to buy Sudafed, rent a U-Haul, and date Bill Belichick.”
The problem, as it always is, is that facts refuse to cooperate with the Democrats’ narrative. Gutfeld pointed out what that voter ID enjoys broad support across racial and partisan lines, then played a clip of CNN data analyst Harry Enten reporting how “85% of white people favor it, 82% of Latino, 76% of black Americans favor it,” concluding that “the bottom line is this: voter ID is not controversial in this country.” Hearing CNN concede reality, according to Gutfeld, was “like Dracula admitting he owns a tanning bed.” When “Nicki Minaj, your grandma, and CNN’s Pee-wee Herman agree on something,” Gutfeld added, “that’s eating crow.”
Gutfeld argued the real reason Democrats oppose the SAVE Act has nothing to do with race. “They hate it ‘cause it creates something they can’t compete with: oversight,” he said. He compared voter ID to putting a lock on a door. Law-abiding people welcome it. Those trying to break in suddenly complain that locks “divide people.” That, Gutfeld said, explains the left’s fixation on accusing others of racism. He described it as “the soft racism of lowered expectations,” a mindset that assumes minorities cannot meet the same basic standards everyone else meets without complaint.
The contradiction gets worse when Democrats lecture Americans about trusting elections. “The same people who tell you borders are fake, gender is a choice, and crime is a social construct,” Gutfeld said, “suddenly insist elections should be taken on faith.” He closed by boiling the issue down to its core. “The SAVE Act isn’t about stopping people from voting,” Gutfeld said. “It’s about stopping people from cheating.” In other words, sanity. And when Democrats label sanity as racism, the problem sits with them, not the voters they keep pretending cannot handle an ID.

…. sopshiticated …

• Jeffrey Epstein’s Putin Hustle (Helmer)

In Jeffrey Epstein’s decade between 2009 and 2019 he tried ever so hard to meet the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. That’s to say, between Epstein’s release from prison on his Florida state conviction and sentence for procuring a minor for prostitution and for soliciting a prostitute, and then his re-arrest and imprisonment in New York on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors, he asked his staff, friends, business associates, US Government retirees, ex-government officials from Norway, Israel, UAE, and Japan, and Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin (died in February 2017), to procure an invitation for him to meet Putin,

They succeeded in getting Epstein invitations to business promotions in Sochi, Vladivostok, and St. Petersburg, at which crowd meetings with Putin were promised. But Epstein refused. On May 13, 2013, he claimed in an email to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak that Putin “had asked that I meet him the same time as his economic conference. I told him no. If he wants to meet he will need to set aside real time and privacy. Let’s see what happens.”
Nothing ever did. Epstein’s scheme was simple. He targeted one connection to make another connection he believed the first already had to the Kremlin in order to then trade the appearance of the Kremlin connection for Epstein to others willing to pay Epstein introducing, consulting or finder’s fees if the appearance of Putin’s agreement could be fabricated into money. Epstein also needed to prove that his criminal conviction and jail time counted for nothing in international politics, investment banking, high society. Like washing money, this was reputation laundering.
“You can explain to Putin,” Epstein told Thorbjorn Jagland, a former Norwegian prime minister and Council of Europe politician, “that there should be a sopshiticated [sic] Russian version of bitcoin, It would be the most advanced financial instrument available on a global basis”.
This was amusingly familiar to a Russian, especially one who knew enough English to appreciate the double meaning of Epstein’s misspelling; more importantly, it exposes the naïve superiority complex he was demonstrating to Russians whose experience in laundering, transferring, and crypto-hiding amounted to multiple billions to trillions of dollars more than Epstein had ever handled. As a money launderer, Russians understood Epstein was never clever enough himself and employed no organization to work for him.
Jagland did nothing with the email. Jagland could do nothing for himself except exaggerate the group session he had at the Kremlin in December 2016 when the Kremlin published an 8-line speech Putin gave. Two years later, in December 2018, there were even more officials with Jagland at the table and Putin’s communiqué was three lines shorter. Jagland’s refusal to withdraw support for European sanctions of Russia on Crimea and for prejudicial judgements of the European Court of Justice against Russia left him in a tupik – that’s Russian for dead end. That’s where Jagland’s “connection” with Putin ended too.
Its remaining value to Jagland was to trade it to Epstein in return for an evening’s accommodation and entertainment at his Paris house. “Is it same prosedure [sic] as last time that I can stay with you,” Jagland asked Epstein. “I promise not make noice [sic] or ruin you.” In both directions, Jagland’s and Epstein’s, this operation was a hustle. Jagland got what he didn’t pay for; Epstein got nothing.

Will the people protest when X gets banned?

• Spain’s Far-Left Government Threatens To “Limit And Likely BAN” X (MN)

Spain’s Minister of Youth and Children, Sira Rego, has declared that the far-left government under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez intends to “limit and likely ban” the use of X across the entire country, marking yet another assault on free speech by European regimes desperate to control narratives.nThis revelation, captured in a video statement by Rego, underscores a broader pattern of censorship under the guise of protecting minors, even as platforms like Snapchat remain untouched despite their documented role in child grooming scandals.

In the clip, Rego states: “La ministra Sira Rego afirma que el siguiente paso del Gobierno será “limitar y seguramente prohibir” el uso de X a todos los españoles.” Translated, this means the minister affirms that the next step of the Government will be to “limit and surely prohibit” the use of X to all Spaniards. While the statement appears sweeping, recent reports clarify that Spain is pushing for a nationwide ban on social media access for those under 16, requiring platforms to enforce strict age verification. Prime Minister Sánchez emphasized that platforms must implement “effective age verification systems—not just checkboxes, but real barriers that work.”
This move aligns with similar initiatives in other European nations, but the focus on X raises questions about selective targeting, especially given Elon Musk’s vocal opposition to censorship. The timing couldn’t be more suspicious, as Sánchez’s regime faces a firestorm over its massively unpopular amnesty for up to 500,000 illegal migrants, a policy slammed as a voter importation scheme that incentivizes further border chaos from North Africa. On X, criticism has exploded with users accusing Sánchez of corruption—his inner circle mired in bribery scandals involving public contracts and even his family under probe—while branding the amnesty treasonous for prioritizing foreign arrivals over Spanish citizens, fueling demands for accountability that the government seems eager to silence through platform restrictions.
Spain’s announcement follows a wave of regulatory aggression against X. Just days ago, French authorities raided X’s Paris offices as part of an expanding probe into alleged offenses, including the spread of child sexual abuse material, deepfakes, and antisemitic content. The raid, conducted by the Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime unit with Europol’s assistance, led to a summons for Elon Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino to face questioning. Prosecutors are examining X’s algorithms, data practices, and compliance with French law, amid accusations of unlawful data extraction and complicity in possessing illegal material. Musk dismissed the action as a “political attack,” while X called it an “abusive act” in a statement.
On the EU level, the European Commission has intensified its scrutiny. In January 2026, the Commission launched a formal investigation into Grok, X’s AI tool, over risks of generating manipulated sexually explicit images, including those involving children. This builds on a €120 million fine imposed on X in December 2025 for violations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), including deceptive blue checkmarks and insufficient researcher data access.
The Commission has ordered X to preserve all Grok-related documents until the end of 2026, signaling deep doubts about the platform’s compliance. A spokesperson noted: “This is saying to a platform, keep your internal documents, don’t get rid of them, because we have doubts about your compliance … and we need to be able to have access to them if we request it explicitly.” These actions echo the UK’s threats to ban X entirely, as detailed in our previous coverage. As we highlighted, Keir Starmer’s Labour government has weaponized the Online Safety Act to target X over Grok’s image generation, ignoring similar capabilities in tools like ChatGPT or Gemini.
And as exposed, the UK’s “protect the children” rhetoric falls flat when Snapchat accounts for nearly half of online child sexual crimes, while X sits at just 1-2%. The pattern is clear: from London to Madrid to Brussels, globalist forces are coordinating to dismantle X, the one platform where community notes and unfiltered discourse routinely dismantle official narratives. Musk’s resistance, including his jab at Sánchez as “dirty Sanchez,” highlights the stakes in this battle for digital freedom. As these regimes tighten their grip, platforms like X stand as critical bulwarks against authoritarian overreach. Banning access won’t silence truth—it will only amplify the pushback from those committed to free expression.

“The weaponized IC elements, of which Warner is a key participant, need to get Tulsi Gabbard removed from her position.”

• Mark Warner Finds Out DNI Tulsi Gabbard Has Puerto Rico Voting Machines (CTH)

This is funny, not because the narrative is so obvious, but because the well-used script is so transparent. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), a misnomer if there is one, Vice Chairman Mark Warner, finds out that Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, had previously (May ’25) retrieved voting machines from Puerto Rico for analytical review. Of course, he needs immediate camera time to clutch his pearls, but it gets better.

For those who walk the deep weeds, you will remember when the Warner operation in 2017 needed to promote the intel script about the first discussion of the Christopher Steele “dossier”, they enlisted CNN’s Manu Raju, Jim Scuitto, Jake Tapper and Carl Bernstein. That ‘breaking news’ was the original trigger for the Daily Beast to then publish the “dossier.” Senator Mark Warner then came in for the close with the leak of the Carter Page FISA. That was the script in 2017. We watched it in real time.
So, now Mark Warner finds out Tulsi Gabbard is on the trail of the intelligence manipulation of election machines. In this video below, Mark Warner appears for an entirely scripted segment with… wait for it… Manu Raju. How do you know this was pre-scripted for TV? Because: (a) that’s what they do, and (b) Raju is the only one who asks questions – while Warner doesn’t even look at him because he knows the narrative in advance. Seriously, watch it. It’s funny:

[A completely unrelated side note: Notice how the U.K, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have refused to join the Board of Peace? You know what they all have in common…. 5-eyes.]

“(REUTERS) – WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) – A team working for President Donald Trump’s spy chief, Tulsi Gabbard, last spring led an investigation into Puerto Rico’s voting machines, said Gabbard’s office and three sources familiar with the previously unreported events. The sources said the goal was to work with the FBI to investigate claims that Venezuela had hacked voting machines in Puerto Rico, but added the probe did not produce any clear evidence of Venezuelan interference in the U.S. territory’s elections. Reuters first reported the investigation.
Gabbard’s office, in a statement to Reuters, confirmed the May investigation but denied a link to Venezuela, saying its focus was on vulnerabilities in the island’s electronic voting systems. Her team took an unspecified number of Puerto Rico’s voting machines and additional copies of data from the machines as part of its investigation, a spokesperson for Gabbard’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence said. Her office said the taking of voting machines and data was “standard practice in forensics analysis.” Noting similar voting infrastructure elsewhere in the United States, it added: “ODNI found extremely concerning cyber security and operational deployment practices that pose a significant risk to U.S. elections.”
Jorge Rivera Rueda, head of Puerto Rico’s State Elections Commission, said he could not comment on any ongoing investigations. He added in a statement, “the Commission will fully cooperate with any investigative process conducted by the appropriate authorities, whether at the state or federal level.” Venezuela’s government did not respond to a request for comment. ODNI said some security gaps in voting machines used in Puerto Rico stemmed from their use of vulnerable cellular technology and that software flaws existed that could give hackers access deep into vital electoral systems. (more)”
Warner is super nervous. DNI Tulsi Gabbard is off the range of control. The next play is obvious. Warner et al will attempt to put DNI Gabbard into a position where an answer to a Senate question will need some kind of classified response. The weaponized IC elements, of which Warner is a key participant, need to get Tulsi Gabbard removed from her position.

“Subversion works by importing an inverted moral frame and getting the target population to install it as its own conscience.” — Yuri Bezmenov’s Ghost on X

• Blood in the Water (James Howard Kunstler)

Even in the deep-frozen fastness of midwinter, events and tensions surge, and America awaits . . . Bad Bunny! You perceive that there is some message in the genderfluid Puerto Rican songster’s upcoming Superbowl halftime gig, but what is the message? A 180-degree counterpoint to the earnest bashing and mashing of giants on the field? The official annunciation of Reconquesta? A thumb in the eye of President Donald Trump and the white supremacist horse he rode in on?

This bread and circuses routine is looking pretty played out. The bread, of course, is pizza, the Soylent Green of these seeming end-times, underwriting the nation’s romance with morbid obesity (and perhaps with degenerate sex). The circuses — last week’s Grammy Awards, the Winter Olympics tonight, Sunday’s looming Superbowl — give off an odor of utter cultural exhaustion. What will it finally take for Western Civ, and its avatar, the USA, to stop embarrassing itself before God and history, and find better things to do?
You have been following the Epstein papers, no doubt. The sordidness grows like a yeast infection in the body politic, and yet to date hardly one prosecutable crime? What gives with that? Last week’s release of the final super-batch of Epstein papers brought on a harvest of reputations, at least. The docs revealed Microsoft zillionaire Bill Gates conniving with the late (possibly) Jeffrey Epstein to turn pandemics and vaccines into a profitable enterprise, with a spate of email discussions years before Covid got sprung on the world.
Then, it just happened that Mr. Gates sponsored the Event 201 pandemic exercise in October 2019 (with Johns Hopkins and the World Economic Forum), around the same time that the first outbreaks of Covid-19 occurred in Wuhan China with the World Military Games, a sort of Olympics for soldiers. Many athletes from various countries (including the U.S., France, Germany, and others) fell ill with a respiratory infection.
Naturally, you wonder how long, exactly, was the Covid prank in the works and among whom? If Mr. Gates was involved with Johns Hopkins planning Event 201, wouldn’t you suppose he was also in contact with US NIAID, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s agency, and with Dr. Fauci himself? Dr. Fauci had a special talent for augmenting taxpayer funding of his activities with money from outside government, and Bill Gates certainly had a lot of it, plus an obsessive drive equal to Dr. Fauci’s for messing around with viruses. And 2019 was exactly the time that scientists at the Wuhan Virology Institute happened to be experimenting with corona viruses associated with bats. Whoops.
It happens that Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chair of the House Oversight Committee now looking into the Epstein matter, indicated this week that he was interested in calling Bill Gates to testify about his activities with Jeffrey Epstein. Wouldn’t it be nice to hear from Bill about his adventures in virology? Bill Gates is not a doctor or an accredited medical researcher, by the way. Virology is his hobby.
As a sort of tail on the donkey, an email written by Jeffrey Epstein in 2013 surfaced this week stating that Bill Gates said he caught a sexually transmitted disease from Russian girls and sought help from Epstein getting antibiotics to secretly dose his then-wife Melinda with. It blew up the Internet, but do you detect a whiff of a cockamamie story (no pun intended)? Bill Gates surely had the resources to virtually buy a doctor and have him prescribe whatever Mr. Gates wanted. In any case, Bill Gates’s long-running consort with Jeffrey Epstein has apparently sunk his reputation as a medical philanthropist, so expect him to look for another hobby as he skulks off into the gloaming of ignominy.

He’s a winner, she’s a loser. But don’t let her hear it.

• The Triumphant Return of the Clinton PR Machine (Pinsker)

It was such an absurdly over-the-top PR move, I was half-convinced the inimitable Dick Morris had wormed his way back into the fold: Hilary Clinton demanded her Epstein testimony be done before the public! That’s right: The same Hillary Clinton who refused to speak on the record about Jeffrey Epstein’s close, intimate ties to the Clinton family — dodging subpoenas and stonewalling inquiries — is now positioning herself as the paragon of openness, candor, and full transparency. She doesn’t just WANT to testify in public — she DEMANDS it!

https://x.com/HillaryClinton/status/2019394858767798349 So disregard any allegations of Epstein-related sexual impropriety, cover-ups, or financial wrongdoings. It’s all obviously the handiwork of a “vast right-wing conspiracy.” And, curses and drat, this right-wing conspiracy now includes Axios, a member-in-good-standing of the mainstream media. And horses: “Scoop: Epstein Files Include ‘Hung Like a Horse’ Message to Clinton Email” Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell once sent a message to an email address associated with former President Clinton that complimented the size of the recipient’s genitals, according to a Trump administration official familiar with the email released in the latest batch of Epstein files. […]
Included in Friday’s Epstein files dump is an email from Maxwell — dated “Sat, 01 Jan 4501,” with the recipient name fully redacted in the public files. But the recipient was an email address with the initials “WJC” that is associated with Clinton, according to the person familiar with the unredacted documents.”Sorry to hear that the Belzburg stuff is bad … I could not help myself — there was one juicy little tit bit I did let out — The one about what a supper stud you are and how I have a crush on you and how you are hung like a horse and — well you get the picture. Hope you don’t mind,” Maxwell wrote.
But perhaps this wasn’t Dick Morris playing, ahem, footsie once again with the Clintons. Say whatever you want about Bill and Hillary, but they fully understand the political PR game. We’re talking about an ex-president who never once received over 50% of the popular vote and was repeatedly humiliated by scandals, stains, and “bimbo eruptions,” yet left office with a 66% approval rating — higher than any other president over the last 70 years. bThat’s because Bill Clinton was one of the most spectacularly gifted politicians in American history.
Among his tactics: Use your enemies as a foil (cough, Newt Gingrich, Ken Starr, cough); Triangulate whenever your opponents’ platform is more popular than your own; Aggressively leverage institutional power — media, legal, political, pop-culture, and PR — to overwhelm the opposition.
It worked wonderfully in the 1990s. By triangulating with the GOP on financial issues, he coopted a key cog of their platform — and because Newt Gingrich/Ken Starr were (obviously) so scary, dangerous, and extreme, liberal voters stayed loyally in his pocket. Meanwhile, he certainly wasn’t shy about leveraging every inch of institutional power against his enemies. (That’s one of the reasons why he was impeached: Clinton used the power of the executive branch to undermine the judicial branch, depriving Paula Jones, an alleged victim of workplace sexual harassment, of a fair trial.)
But more than anything else, he won. Over and over again! Hillary Clinton lacks her hubby’s charisma, political instincts, and God-given likeability. She’s also a two-time loser for president: A newcomer named Barack Obama crushed her dreams in 2008, and her 2016 loss to Donald Trump stuck a fork in her career as a Democratic frontrunner. Of all the X posts that aged like milk, this one’s gotta be at the top of the list:

Happy birthday to this future president. pic.twitter.com/JT3HiBjYdj
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 26, 2016

Be nice to Cuba. Be a friend. They’re neighbors. And Castro’s gone after 75 years of antagonism.

• US Blockade Threatens ‘Humanitarian Collapse’ In Cuba – UN Chief (RT)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the US-imposed energy blockade could cause a humanitarian collapse in Cuba. The Cuban authorities have been preparing to roll out rationing plans to address worsening fuel shortages after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on goods from countries shipping oil to the island. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the blockade has caused blackouts and disrupted schools, hospitals, and public transportation. At a briefing on Thursday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres is “extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Cuba, which will worsen, if not collapse, if its oil needs go unmet.”

According to Dujarric, Guterres stated that the UN General Assembly “has consistently called for an end to the embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba.” The US has maintained a trade embargo against Cuba since 1960. In December 2025, the US Navy and Coast Guard began seizing tankers in the Caribbean for allegedly violating sanctions. Trump accused Cuba of supporting terrorist groups and described Havana’s ties with Russia, China, and Iran as a threat to US national security.
On Thursday, the US announced it would deliver an additional $6 million in aid to Cuba, largely for the island’s eastern regions hit last year by Hurricane Melissa. Jeremy Lewin, a senior State Department official responsible for humanitarian assistance, accused the Cuban government of hoarding resources and denied that food shortages were linked to the ban on oil shipments. In an address on Thursday, Diaz-Canel rejected claims that Cuba supports terrorism or poses a threat to the US. He said the government is ready for dialogue with Washington, but only on the basis of equality and respect for Cuba’s sovereignty.

Look on a map where Cuba is. You can’t get closer to the states. Of course China backs it. Free food.

• China Backs Cuba During Tensions With US (RT)

China has voiced support for Cuba’s sovereignty after the US labeled the island’s socialist government a security threat. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, in Beijing on Thursday. “China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and security, opposes unwarranted interference by external forces, and rejects any attempt to deprive the Cuban people of their rights to survival and development,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said after the meeting. Lin added that China is ready to support Cuba “to the best of its ability.”

Parrilla wrote on X that the sides “affirmed the special and strategic nature of the historical ties between the two socialist countries.” Last week, US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in relations with Cuba, accusing the island of aligning itself with “hostile countries, transnational terrorist groups, and malign actors.” He said Cuba’s military cooperation and contacts with Russia, China, Iran, as well as Palestinian armed groups Hamas and Hezbollah, “directly threaten” US national security “The United States has zero tolerance for the depredations of the communist Cuban regime,” Trump’s executive order said.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel rejected the allegations. “Cuba is not a terrorist country. Cuba is also not a threat to the security of the United States. We do not protect terrorists,” he said on Thursday. Díaz-Canel said Cuba is ready for dialogue with the US “without pressure and without preconditions, and on the basis of equality and respect.”Last month, the US abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a commando raid on his compound in Caracas. Maduro denied drug-trafficking and weapons charges when he was brought before a New York court. Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have also made threats toward the left-wing governments of Colombia and Nicaragua. Trump hosted Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House this week, with both leaders describing the meeting as cordial.

“”Let’s get this out of the way: He is embarrassingly handsome, his hair seasoned with silver, at ease with his own eminence as he delivers his final State of the State address….“

• Taking a Ride on Newsom’s “Train to Nowhere” (Turley)

In the dystopian novel 1984, George Orwell wrote, “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” The true meaning of that line was never more clear than watching the truly bizarre photo op of California governor Gavin Newsom heralding the success of the greatest boondoggle in history: his high-speed train to nowhere. Without laying a single yard of track after burning $12 billion, Newsom showed a diesel freight train on a conventional track to create the appearance of a working railroad. I have been writing about this boondoggle for years. Newsom promised years ago that the project would be transformative. It was, but not as he promised.

Voters approved a $9.95 billion bond issue in 2008 after absurdly low estimates of the projected cost. Influential figures and companies stood to make a fortune, and the key was to secure a “buy-in” worth billions, so that it would become increasingly difficult to abandon the project as overruns and delays sent costs soaring. Now the official estimate of future ridership has dropped by 25% , and it demands billions more to complete a project delayed by decades. Remember that this entire project was meant to create a rail line of only 171 miles. It is projected to exceed $128 billion and could ultimately cost a billion dollars per mile. There are still uncompleted environmental assessments and challenging rail lines through the mountains.
There is still no train and not a yard of track almost 20 years later. The inspector general, Benjamin Belnap, issued a scathing report on the first phase of the still uncompleted project. That is only the stretch from Merced to Bakersfield which was supposed to be completed by 2033. Belnap wrote: “With a smaller remaining schedule envelope and the potential for significant uncertainty and risk during subsequent phases of the project, staying within the 2033 schedule envelope is unlikely. In fact, uncertainty about some parts of the project has increased as the authority has recently made decisions that deviated from the procurement and funding strategies that were part of its plans for staying on schedule.”
Rather than deliver on the promise of high-speed rail from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the Merced-Bakersfield line would now cost $35.3 billion, exceeding the 2008 projection for a complete system. Merced and Bakersfield have a combined population of roughly 500,000. That works out to roughly $22,000 per person, based on state ridership estimates. However, Newsom still wants to be president even as citizens are fleeing his state in record numbers. The “train to nowhere” is a problem. Even the New York Times is writing editorials on whether Newsom will be the next mistake of the Democratic Party. Newsom’s response is to arrange for gushing columns like Maya Singer’s embarrassing piece in Vogue:
“Let’s get this out of the way: He is embarrassingly handsome, his hair seasoned with silver, at ease with his own eminence as he delivers his final State of the State address… Newsom’s lanky frame was folded onto a sofa a bit too low-slung for him. This made him lean back—away from me. Or it could be that his body language had nothing to do with ergonomics and is a function of Newsom’s quality of being at once gregarious and aloof.” It is the type of teenybopper heartthrob coverage that Newsom is counting on from the media. It is not the billions burned on a non-existent railway but his glorious hair and “eminence.”

“Ayatollah Khamenei warned that any US military action would expand into a regional war.”

• The Tehran Times Interviews John Helmer (Helmer)_

As tensions persist between Iran and the United States amid intensified military signaling and renewed talk of negotiations, critical questions remain about Washington’s real strategy and the risk of a broader regional conflict. In this context, Tehran Times spoke with John Helmer, a veteran journalist and geopolitical analyst based in Moscow, to examine the shifting balance of power and the prospects for de-escalation.

Q: In his February 1 statement, Ayatollah Khamenei warned that any US military action would expand into a regional war. How does this reflect the interconnected military and political dynamics of today’s Middle East?
You understand—and I hope your audience understands—that I am a Russia correspondent. I have spent 30 years in Russia, so I am speaking from a Russian point of view. I think it is valuable for your audience to understand that perspective. I understood the February 1 statement as expressing something obvious, but with implications that are less obvious. It is very clear that Iran’s security is being threatened from the region. The US negotiator, Steven Witkoff, has been shuttling from Miami—where he was on Saturday speaking with the Russian business representative Kirill Dmitriev—to Israel, and then to Abu Dhabi for discussions on the military terms of a settlement to the Ukraine war with Russian negotiators. These include an admiral in charge of Russian military intelligence and a general.
On February 3 Witkoff met in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gen Eyal Zamir, IDF chief, and David Barnea, head of Mossad. To the extent that I understand Ayatollah Khamenei’s statement, he is saying that Iran is facing the prospect of war from Israel, from the United States, and from those Arab states that host military bases from which attacks on Iran have been launched in the past and could be launched again. The regional dimension is that Iran is being threatened simultaneously and in coordination by Israel, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, to name a few.
That is the first point. Therefore, Ayatollah Khamenei is saying that if Iran faces such a coordinated attack from these territories and states, its defensive response must be directed against each of them. That makes it a regional war. The consequence is an interesting one. Is Ayatollah Khamenei saying that Iran wishes to negotiate with all of its enemies at the table at the same time? In other words, why Witkoff alone? Why not an Israeli representative, given that Witkoff appears to be shuttling between Israel and negotiations with Iran? Why not a Saudi representative? Why not an Emirati representative, or any other state—including Iraq—on whose territory an attack on Iran could be launched or threatened?
If this is a regional war, then all regional representatives should attend and be part of the negotiating process. This position is not new at all. Ayatollah Khamenei is restating what has long been the Russian position, as articulated years ago by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: that the only viable form of security for the Persian Gulf states must be comprehensive. It cannot be partial. It must involve all states pledging mutual security with one another—without exception.
Q: President Trump says Iran is open to nuclear talks, yet the US is also increasing its naval presence in the region. How do you interpret this mix of diplomacy and military pressure? What does it tell us about Washington’s real strategy? That is a complicated question. Let me answer it this way. In the first place, President Trump aims for all strategy to be about winning, not losing. Winning, from Trump’s point of view, has been a combination of force, coercion, and extortion—both in the trade arena through tariffs, penalty tariffs, and secondary tariffs against states such as China and India.
So the idea of a mix of diplomacy and pressure does not quite describe it accurately. All of Trump’s moves are a form of pressure. There is no real credibility to the diplomacy. Diplomacy, in this case, is the talking at the table, but the gun at the table is economic warfare and sanctions warfare. This is not a combination of diplomacy and military pressure. It is a single combination of different types of pressure—extortion. It is negotiating at the point of a gun. President Trump’s view is that he must win.

Maxine's Meltdown: The Chaotic Clash with Scott Bessent pic.twitter.com/LFrfPOTY5l
— Gutfeld! (@Gutfeldfox) February 6, 2026

https://twitter.com/dana916/status/2019526639416176989

The United States and Israel are facing a much different battle in Iran at this juncture.

Enormous amounts of weaponry, munitions and missiles have been delivered over the last few weeks by the Chinese.

The Russians have been on the ground and have been working to help with… pic.twitter.com/yj1vPwSi3A
— Douglas Macgregor (@DougAMacgregor) February 6, 2026

The facts I learned that made me stop fearing climate change.

1. Deaths from natural disasters are down 95%.
2. 10x more people die from cold than from heat.
3. Global greening has increased.
4. Growers add up to 1,500 ppm of CO2 to their greenhouses.
5. Extreme weather has… pic.twitter.com/nj7NugPTA6
— Lucy Biggers (@LLBiggers) February 4, 2026

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