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Debt Rattle October 4 2024

Oct 042024
 
 October 4, 2024  Posted by at 8:53 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  73 Responses »


Pablo Picasso Juan-Les-Pins 1920

 

• Will Trump Make It to Election? (Jim Rickards)
• Trump ‘Resorted To Crimes’ To Overturn 2020 Election: Jack Smith (BBC)
• Trump’s Opportunity for a Knockout (RCW)
• CISA Chief Says Foreign Interference Won’t Much Alter US Election Results (ET)
• Court Refuses to Throw Out Andrew Weissmann Defamation Lawsuit (Turley)
• Biden-Harris’ Mysterious Nationwide Migrant Network (ZH)
• 19 GOP AGs Launch Probe Into ActBlue Over Money Laundering Allegations (AmG)
• US Port Workers Agree To End Strike After Accepting 62% Wage Increase (ZH)
• Israel Planning Major Attack on Iran (Antiwar)
• Lebanon: Nasrallah Agreed To Temporary Ceasefire Just Before Assassination (ZH)
• ‘Iron Dome Proved to Be a Bust’: Larry Johnson (Sp.)
• ‘Who Do You Want to Win?’ (Patrick Lawrence)
• Musk Slams US Democrats Over Freedom Of Speech (RT)
• EU Car Industry Faces ‘Horror Fall’ – Bild (RT)
• Another Right-Wing Election Winner Is Sidelined in the EU (Marsden)
• Telegram Shares User Details With Governments – Durov (RT)

 

 

 

 

Trump signs
https://twitter.com/i/status/1841535009100107822

 

 

Butler
https://twitter.com/i/status/1841645637504217376

 

 

Sondland

 

 

Latest death toll: 215. Still hundreds missing.

 

 

Dore

 

 

JD Vance

 

 

Emhoff

 

 

Trump tariffs

 

 

 

 

“We only have to be lucky once, you will have to be lucky always.” In other words, the assassination attempts will keep coming.”

• Will Trump Make It to Election? (Jim Rickards)

MSNBC and CNN and the rest of corporate media put out these lies about Trump as a form of propaganda. The lies are aimed at a target audience of Trump-haters and progressive lightweights. Routh was the target audience. Corporate media are too cowardly to take direct action against Trump. But by putting out propaganda, they hope to trigger those who are prone to such action. The triggering propaganda was not limited to the media. Kamala Harris said of Trump, “Does one of us have to come out alive? Ha, ha, ha, ha!” Joe Biden said, “It’s time to put Trump in a bull’s-eye.” Tim Walz’s wife, Gwen Walz, said, “Buh-bye, Donald Trump.” Democratic member of Congress Dan Goldman said about Trump, “He is destructive to our democracy and… he has to be eliminated.” I could offer 100 similar quotes but you get the idea. The media class and the political class are calling for Trump to be killed. It’s just a matter of triggering someone to do it. In Routh’s case, he was completely triggered.

Then he picked up his rifle. Just as the USSS are responsible for letting these assassinations happen, corporate media and many Democrats are responsible for triggering unstable individuals to conduct the assassination attempts. It’s not a stretch to say the USSS, corporate media and many Democrats are all out to kill Trump. They simply rely on mentally ill zealots to do their wet work. Routh told the court on Monday, Sept. 16, that he had no material financial assets and owned no property. The court has appointed a public defender to represent Routh. If he has no assets, how was Routh able to afford his move to Hawaii? His travels to Ukraine? How did he finance his recruiting effort while in Ukraine? Where did he get the rifle? How could he afford to travel to Florida to carry out the assassination plan? It seems clear that Routh has a hidden source of financial support. The CIA typically deals in cash while running covert operations. Was Routh a CIA asset turned loose on a rogue mission with a predictable outcome?

I worked for the CIA for 10 years in various capacities, including special operations. Ukraine has been a CIA outpost since 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union and the creation of the Russian Federation. Ukraine is riddled with CIA operatives, bioweapons labs and forward-deployed assets intended to destabilize Russia. It’s impossible that a high-profile American like Routh could run around Ukraine recruiting mercenaries without coming to the attention of the CIA and coming in direct contact with CIA assets. This likely scenario strongly suggests that Routh may have been financed and otherwise assisted by the CIA to carry out his assassination plan. The fact that Routh was using a Russian-designed rifle (which would have been plentiful in Ukraine as Cold War surplus) is another tell. The parallels with Lee Harvey Oswald, who was a U.S. defector to the Soviet Union and who later returned to the U.S. and had contacts with anti-Castro Cubans working for the CIA, are too obvious to ignore.

As for Trump’s so-called protection, why was the golf course not secure? How did Routh set up a sniper’s nest on the sixth hole of the course without being detected until minutes before Trump came into sight? Routh stayed in his sniper’s nest for over 12 hours before he was confronted. Why was that area not swept several times in the period? How did Routh even know Trump would be playing golf there that day without a leak from Trump’s security detail? These and many other questions need to be answered quickly before the cover-up goes much further. The FBI official in charge of the Florida assassination attempt investigation is Jeffrey Veltri, a notorious Trump-hater who was ordered by the FBI director to scrub his social media accounts of anti-Trump posts. One bit of good news is that Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida will be conducting his own state-level investigation with full subpoena power and expert forensics.

The corporate media, Democrat politicians, the USSS and other branches of the deep state are largely to blame for these two assassination attempts because of their constantly repeated lies about Trump’s character, political platform and ostensible “threat to democracy.” Calling Trump “Hitler” (as the media continually do) offers deranged individuals like Routh a license to kill. In Routh’s case he apparently took up the challenge and almost succeeded. Saying the assassination attempt failed is not a source of comfort. One is reminded of the IRA’s near assassination of Margaret Thatcher in the Brighton Grand Hotel bombing in 1984. After the bombing, the IRA boasted to Thatcher: “We only have to be lucky once, you will have to be lucky always.” In other words, the assassination attempts will keep coming.

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Guess they will swear this is not election interference… This is one month before the election. DOJ always said 60 days minimum. 165 pages where 45 would be “normal”.

Jack Smith focuses on instances where he thinks he can plausibly claim Trump was not the president, but a private person. Because that’s the “niche” the Supreme Court left open.

Zero Hedge has a longer version on the topic. I stuck with BBC.

• Trump ‘Resorted To Crimes’ To Overturn 2020 Election: Jack Smith (BBC)

Donald Trump “resorted to crimes” while trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat, and should not escape charges, prosecutors say. A new court filing challenges Trump’s claim that he should avoid a trial thanks to a recent landmark US Supreme Court ruling. This said American presidents should be immune from prosecution when acting in an “official” capacity. Trump was president when the alleged offences were committed – but prosecutors say he was acting in a “private” capacity, not an official one. In response, Trump has repeated false claims that the 2020 vote was “rigged” and suggested the timing of the filing’s release was designed to hurt his 2024 campaign. In an interview with NewsNation, he also criticised Special Counsel Jack Smith, the lead prosecutor in the election interference probe who submitted the filing. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan released the document – filed by Mr Smith last week – with redactions on Wednesday.

This is one of four criminal cases Trump has faced since being voted out in 2020 – another of which led to a historic conviction in New York. He is accused of seeking to illegally block the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, but denies wrongdoing. The new 165-page document presents the clearest view yet of how Mr Smith’s team would pursue their case, having tweaked the wording of their charges after the Supreme Court’s intervention. It gives details of Trump’s alleged scheme, including his actions when his supporters rioted at the US Capitol building on 6 January 2021. It also outlines the efforts of Mike Pence, the vice-president at the time, to talk him down. The issue remains prominent in US politics almost four years later, ahead of the 2024 election in November, which will be contested by Trump and Kamala Harris. It came up in Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate, during which JD Vance refused to answer whether Trump, his running mate for 2024, lost in 2020.

The court filing may represent Mr Smith’s last chance to set out his case against Trump. The case has been frequently delayed since charges were filed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) more than a year ago. Trump will not face trial before November’s election – and he may seek to have the case dropped if he wins. Trump’s lawyers fought to keep the latest filing sealed. Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung has called it “falsehood-ridden” and “unconstitutional”. In the newly-released document, Mr Smith and his team try to navigate the summer Supreme Court ruling – which dented their case – by narrowing their scope. The Supreme Court ruling did not apply immunity to unofficial acts. The prosecutors argue that although Trump was still in office when attempting to overturn the 2020 vote, his attempts related to his campaign and his life as a private citizen. They call it a “private criminal effort”.

The court should therefore “determine that the defendant must stand trial for his private crimes as he would any other citizen,” the filing says. The filing lays out several instances in which Pence, expressed doubt about his boss’s voter fraud claims and tried to persuade him to accept he lost the election. In the court document, prosecutors say Trump was not upset when he learned his vice-president had been rushed to a secure location as rioters stormed the Capitol on 6 January 2021. “So what?” he allegedly said, when informed of the scenes. Pence would later go public about his falling out with Trump in the wake of the storming of Congress, when some rioters shouted “hang Mike Pence” because the vice-president refused to obstruct the certification of election results.

The filing also alleges that Trump always planned to declare victory no matter the result, and laid the groundwork for this long before election day. It also accuses him of knowingly spreading false claims about the vote that he himself deemed “crazy”. Mr Smith also provides several new details about the Trump campaign’s alleged role in sowing chaos in battleground states, where a large number of mail-in ballots were being counted in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the Democratic stronghold of Detroit, Michigan, when a large batch of ballots seemed to be in favour of Biden, a Trump campaign operative allegedly told his colleague to “find a reason” that something was wrong with the ballots to give him “options to file litigation”.

The filing also claims that Trump and his allies, including lawyer Rudy Giuliani, sought to “exploit the violence and chaos at the Capitol” on 6 January 2021 to delay the election certification. They allegedly did this by calling senators and leaving voicemails that asked them to object to the state electors. Trump said on Wednesday that the case would end with his “complete victory”. A trial date has not been set.

Trump lawsuit
https://twitter.com/i/status/1841569926844477847

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From the home of Tim Walz.

• Trump’s Opportunity for a Knockout (RCW)

In a very significant development — I am almost prepared to say the most significant development in the current presidential contest — it has recently been revealed that Brian D. Lozenski, an associate professor of urban and multicultural education at Macalester College and a leader in the development of Minnesota’s proposed ethnic studies curriculum, explicitly called for the “overthrow of the United States.” This goal has demonstrably shaped Minnesota’s ethnic studies standards, according to which students are taught as early as kindergarten that America is evil. The video recording of Lozenski was made two years ago but was taken down the day after it was spotted by Stanley Kurtz, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. This finding is pertinent to the national electorate because Lozenski is one of many anti-American ideologues contributing the “liberated” ingredient to Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s new ethnic studies requirements for public education in Minnesota.

These requirements are decisively shaped by Critical Race Theory (CRT), of which ethnic studies is a variant. As Kurtz aptly puts it, “…Essentially, ethnic studies is a kind of anti-civics in which students are taught to reject and replace America’s system of government.” CRT, of course, is part of the ideology Harris-Walz bring with them from the catastrophes of California and Minnesota straight to every schoolhouse in America. Kurtz has provided a good overview of Walz’s education policies and the Lozenski connection. As Kurtz writes: In a 2020 piece, “The Black Radical Tradition Can Help Us Imagine a More Just World,” Lozenski touts the work of Cedric Robinson and Robin D. G. Kelley — leading thinkers of the radical ethnic-studies movement — as the answer to Minnesota’s education woes. To Lozenski, the George Floyd “uprising” of 2020 presages the “inevitable death” of the current “social order.”

Lozenski oozes contempt for “the egoistic pursuits of U.S. society and its desperate cling to individualism.” Educationally, he adds, transforming the social order requires reforms like agitation for defunding the police and an end to all standardized testing. Shockingly, other than the Center of the American Experiment and Kurtz, this topic has been lightly covered, though the Trump campaign is aware of it. We shall probably know in the upcoming Vance/Walz debate whether the Trump campaign will highlight this issue. If it doesn’t, others must. There is a real danger that this issue will vanish down the memory hole. To make as explicit an assertion as did Lozenski is extremely rare; indeed, I have never seen or heard such an admission. The destructive intent of ethnic studies or CRT has been very apparent and much commented upon for many years by the conservative commentariat.

But Lozenski’s open, cavalier articulation makes the destructive nature of ethnic studies virtually impossible to deny. Defenders of ethnic studies may claim that Lozenski is an outlier, but as he is the leading figure in Minnesota’s ethnic studies movement and the prime mover of Minnesota’s ethnic studies initiative, it will not be possible to sustain such an denial. Although Democrats might try to stonewall until the election, the Republicans and the conservative media must not allow it. Lozenski not only admitted the goal of ethnic studies is American destruction, but also chastised his many fellow travelers for not revealing their purpose. Again, this is no surprise to those who have been paying even the slightest attention.

Lozenski is tethered to Governor Walz. Walz’s Education Department appointed Lozenski to the ethnic studies “implementation framework” committee and ethnic studies is a critical initiative for Walz. In 2021 he introduced what he called his “Due North” education plan, which featured funding for a major ethnic-studies initiative. Speaking about the initiative during his State of the State address, he said: This plan would tackle the racial and geographic opportunity gap by dramatically reforming school financing, expanding access to rigorous coursework, and ensuring our curriculum and teacher workforce better reflect our increasingly diverse student body.

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But but… Hillary, Mueller, Weismann, Adam Schiff!

In reality, it’s not FOREIGN interference that’s the problem.

• CISA Chief Says Foreign Interference Won’t Much Alter US Election Results (ET)

Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said that America’s election systems are so secure that foreign adversaries will be unable to manipulate the outcome of the 2024 presidential election in a “material” way. Easterly made the remarks in an Oct. 2 interview with The Associated Press, in which she said that foreign powers are actively seeking to influence U.S. voters and sow discord but that they lack the ability to interfere with core election infrastructure such as vote casting and ballot counting. “Malicious actors, even if they tried, could not have an impact at scale such that there would be a material effect on the outcome of the election,” Easterly told the outlet. U.S. intelligence agencies continue to raise concerns about disinformation and influence operations by foreign powers ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

A recent update from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) warned that countries such as Russia, Iran, and China are ramping up the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to shape public opinion in the United States. According to the ODNI report, AI has accelerated foreign influence operations. Russia’s efforts include the use of AI to produce misleading election-related content, from fake audio and videos to fabricated narratives. Iran has focused on generating fake news articles and social media posts to stoke divisions among U.S. voters. China’s efforts have been more indirect, aiming to shape global perceptions of its own policies while amplifying U.S. domestic issues such as illegal immigration and drug policy. Easterly acknowledged these attempts to influence public opinion in the United States, noting that China is “very interested” in swaying the 2024 election. However, she stressed that no cyber activities targeting America’s voting systems had been detected thus far.

“We have not seen specific cyber activity designed to interfere with actual election infrastructure or processes,” Easterly said. Several surveys have pointed to concerns over the integrity of U.S. elections, including doubts about their honesty and openness and the potential impacts of AI or foreign interference. One survey, carried out by the Public Affairs Council found that just 37 percent of Americans believe the 2024 election will be “honest and open.” Another survey from the University of South Florida found that a majority of U.S. voters think the federal government hasn’t done enough to deter foreign actors from interfering with this year’s presidential election. And a survey published in May by the Imagining the Digital Future Center at Elon University found that 78 percent of Americans think the upcoming election will be influenced by “abuses” related to AI-generated content that spreads on social media.

“Many aren’t sure they can sort through the garbage they know will be polluting campaign-related content,” Lee Rainie, director of the Digital Future Center, said in a statement. In March, The Epoch Times reported on the rising influence of political memes on election discourse. At the time, Pamela Rutledge, director of the Media Psychology Research Center, told The Epoch Times that deep fakes—which are realistic images, videos, and audio typically created by generative AI software—can and do effectively fool people Rutledge said that even if the content is obviously fake or of low quality, the messages can still be persuasive if they confirm people’s political biases.

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Andrew Weissmann effectively ran the Mueller investigation. Mueller was just a figurehead.

• Court Refuses to Throw Out Andrew Weissmann Defamation Lawsuit (Turley)

We previously discussed the defamation case against NYU Law Professor and MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissmann. He is being sued by lawyer Stefan Passantino after Weissmann said that he coached former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson to “lie” to Congress. At the time, I wrote that “it is hard to see how Weissmann can avoid a trial.” U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan apparently agrees. She just rejected Weissmann’s motion to dismiss the case. The controversial former aide to Special Counsel Robert Mueller (and NYU law professor) is being sued after declaring that attorney Stefan Passantino (who represented Hutchinson before Congress) told her to lie. Weissmann’s controversial commentary was not a surprise to many critics.

Many of us questioned Mueller hiring Weissmann given his reputation for stretching legal authority and perceived political bias. Weissmann reportedly congratulated acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she ordered the Justice Department not to assist President Donald Trump on his immigration ban. The Supreme Court would ultimately affirm Trump’s underlying authority, but Yates refused to allow the Justice Department to assist a sitting president in defending that authority. Weissmann gushed in an email to her, writing “I am so proud. And in awe. Thank you so much.” As noted earlier, Weissmann seemed to respond to those criticisms by aggressively proving them true. Weissmann has only become more controversial as an MSNBC analyst. He called on Justice Department officials to refuse to assist in the investigation of abuses in the Russian collusion investigation. While opposing investigations involving Democrats, he has seemingly supported every possible charge against Trump or his associates.

What Weissmann often lacked in precedent, he made up for in hyperbole. That signature is at the heart of the current lawsuit. On September 13, 2023, Weissmann was referring to Judy Hunt and noted on Twitter (now X) that “Hunt also is Cassidy Hutchinson’s good lawyer. (Not the one who coached her to lie).” In making this claim against Passantino, Weissmann actually triggered the “per se” defamation standard twice. These are categories that have been treated as defamatory per se. The allegation against Passantino would not only constitute criminal conduct but also unethical professional conduct. Passantino denounces the statement as an “insidious lie” and “smear.” AliKahn noted that “At her fifth deposition, Ms. Hutchinson discussed a line of questioning from her first deposition about the January 6 incident in the Presidential limousine,” AliKhan wrote.

“She explained that, during a break after facing repeated questions on the topic, she had told Mr. Passantino in private, ‘I’m f*****. I just lied.’ Mr. Passantino responded, ‘You didn’t lie. . . . They don’t know what you know, Cassidy. They don’t know that you can recall some of these things. So you [sic] saying ‘I don’t recall’ is an entirely acceptable response to this.’” Hutchinson repeatedly confirmed that Passantino “never told me to lie,” “didn’t tell me to lie,” and “He told me not to lie.” While Judge AliKhan on Monday tossed out the second count in the complaint as lacking foundation for the claim of financial harm, she refused to dismiss Passantino’s defamation claim and moved the case forward toward trial. That could prove embarrassing as Passantino’s team searches for evidence of malice in his emails and other communications.

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There’s a lot of money in illegals these days. “I don’t want to say it’s a gold rush, but business is very good.”

• Biden-Harris’ Mysterious Nationwide Migrant Network (ZH)

Large staffing companies that thrived during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars under the Bush-Obama years retooled their business models as the US involvement and war funding in the Middle East wound down. Now, these staffing firms seem to be profiting off the Biden-Harris administration’s open-border migrant invasion by providing essential services, such as private security, transportation, and many other services, to ensure the fed’s migrant network nationwide operates smoothly. These companies are likely awarded handsome federal contracts, paid for by the US taxpayer. Bussing and housing millions of illegal and legal aliens is big business for staffing companies and non-profits. Americans have to realize their tax dollars are paying for all of this while the migrants displace and replace blue-collar workers in small-town factories nationwide.

The folks in Springfield, Ohio, and Charleroi, Pennsylvania, know firsthand just how devastating globalist open border policies can be for them. Real America’s Voice host Ben Bergquam posted on X, “More breaking footage of the Democrats harboring illegals in Chicago. Now using unmarked brand new hotels like this Holiday Inn at [XXXXXXX] to disguise Kamala and Biden’s illegal invasion operations.” Bergquam’s video of the Holiday Inn filled-migrant hotel in the Chicago metro area is very intriguing. First, the security guards appear to be sourced from staffing firm GardaWorld.

Second, a person who seems to be another worker said the Holiday Inn is “federal property.” The focus should be on industrial-sized staffing companies that provide security and other services to keep the fed’s migrant network operational. But let’s take a step back and realize that some of these staffing companies could be part of the DC swamp that profited off the endless wars in the Middle East. In 2012, the head of GardaWorld told Reuters that Middle East conflicts had kept the staffing firm “busier than ever and has never been greater,” adding, “I don’t want to say it’s a gold rush, but business is very good.” Sticking with the staffing companies, just recently, Muckraker’s Anthony Rubin dropped a bombshell in a report titled “Finding The Feds’ Missing Children | CHILD TRAFFICKING IN AMERICA.” He provided intel that MVM, a private security contractor with ties to the CIA, NSA, FBI, and Homeland Security, was caught moving unaccompanied migrant children around the country.

[..] when the war funding dried up in the Middle East, like GardaWorld, MVM pivoted to catering to the federal government’s next big globalist idea: profiting off the migrant invasion by providing migrant solutions. Their website reveals their ‘Mission Solutions,’ which include “Transportation and care for vulnerable populations [migrants].” MVM has operated a migrant bus network nationwide. Even though we cited only two large staffing companies that profited off Middle East wars and pivoted to providing domestic migrant solutions to the Biden-Harris administration, smaller staffing companies are operating nationwide, providing transportation for migrants, and even some firms are providing housing solutions. Taxpayers must realize the feds are funneling their monies to support open borders and operate a complex network of transportation and housing for millions of migrants. Blue-collar workers across the country are waking up to the fact that the feds are perfectly okay with displacing and replacing them with low-cost migrants at factories across small town America.

CBP One

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James O’Keefe has been on top of this. “..millions of dollars in campaign donations to Act Blue that have been laundered through unwitting small donors..”

• 19 GOP AGs Launch Probe Into ActBlue Over Money Laundering Allegations (AmG)

A coalition of 19 Republican state attorneys general have launched a criminal investigation into the Democrat fundraising platform ActBlue over allegations of money laundering. As American Greatness reported in April, multiple independent investigative journalists, including O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) and Election Watch have uncovered what appears to be illegal activity involving millions of dollars in campaign donations to Act Blue that have been laundered through unwitting small donors. The process of breaking up large donations and submitting them under the names of small donors to cover up illegal contributions has been dubbed “smurfing.” Suspicions that ActBlue routinely engages in this type of illicit fundraising have dogged the outfit since at least Joe Biden’s presidential campaign in 2020.

The Committee on House Administration, chaired by Congressman Bryan Steil (R-Wisc.), launched an investigation into Act Blue in November of 2023 to look into reports that the fundraising giant was skirting campaign donation laws and allowing rampant fraud on the site. The committee widened its probe in August 2024. In a letter sent to top officials on the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on August 5, Steil urged them to “immediately initiate an emergency rulemaking to require political campaigns to verify the card verification value (‘CVV’) of donors who contribute online using a credit or debit card, and to prohibit political campaigns from accepting online contributions from a gift card or other prepaid credit cards.”

In September, Steil sent letters to five states, urging them to launch criminal investigations into ActBlue’s alleged illicit activities, citing three specific areas of concern:
– Donations significantly disproportionate to an individual’s net worth or previous giving history.
– Uncharacteristic donations from party-affiliated registered voters suddenly contributing to candidates of the opposing party.
– Unusually frequent donations from elderly individuals or first-time donors.

The number of GOP AGs involved in the effort has since swelled to 19. On Tuesday, the 19 Republican Attorney’s General sent a letter to ActBlue CEO and President Regina Wallace-Jones demanding information and explanations regarding the suspicious donations.

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“This is the first strike in 50 years—these people know how to get to yes,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said Thursday [..] “They just need to get to yes.”

• US Port Workers Agree To End Strike After Accepting 62% Wage Increase (ZH)

Late on Thursday, 45,000 striking dockworkers at US East and Gulf coast ports agreed to return to work after port operators sweetened their contract offer, ending a three-day strike that threatened to disrupt the American economy. The International Longshoremen’s Association and port operators, in a joint statement, said they had reached a tentative agreement on wages and union members would return to work. They said the agreement would extend the prior contract, which expired at the start of this week, through Jan. 15, 2025 while the two sides negotiate on other issues, including automation on the docks. The breakthrough came after port employers offered a 62% increase in wages over six years, the WSJ reported citing people familiar with the matter. The new offer, up from an earlier proposed raise of 50%, came after the White House privately and publicly pressed the large shipping lines and cargo terminal operators who employ the longshore workers to make a new offer to the union.

The agreement ends a strike that had closed container ports from Maine to Texas and threatened to disrupt everything from the supply of bananas in supermarkets to the flow of cars through America’s factories, and cost the US economy billions each day in lost commerce. The latest offer would raise the base hourly rate for ILA port workers to $63 from $39 over six years. One of the people said the offer is being made on the condition that dockworkers go back to work and agree to efficiency gains. The offer is less than the union demand for an increase of 77% over the term of the contract but a far larger increase than most major labor contracts, including a contract reached last year covering the separate union representing West Coast longshore workers. Many U.S. dockworkers currently earn more than a $100,000 a year, with baseline hourly wages boosted by work rules and overtime requirements.

The strike came about five weeks from a presidential election where both main candidates are wooing working-class union voters. Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have voiced support for the workers, stressing that the carriers are mostly foreign-owned. Top White House aides have been in frequent contact with the employers, reiterating that Biden doesn’t plan to use his federal power to break the strike. “This is the first strike in 50 years—these people know how to get to yes,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said Thursday, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One. “They just need to get to yes.” The walkout had shut down some of the country’s main gateways for imports of food, vehicles, heavy machinery, construction materials, chemicals, furniture, clothes and toys. Many manufacturers and big retailers, with their busy fall shopping season just starting to kick in, said they could withstand a short strike because they brought in products earlier than usual this year and diverted other cargoes to West Coast ports.

But executives said a walkout lasting a week or longer would push up shipping costs and might trigger product shortages. The International Longshoremen’s Association said it had agreed to extend the contract until Jan. 15 and work will resume. Container ports from Houston to Miami and up to Boston have been closed since the labor contract between the ILA and the US Maritime Alliance, which represents terminal operators and shipping lines, expired on Tuesday. Dozens of ships carrying containers and autos have anchored off the coast of major trade hubs including New York, South Carolina and Virgina over the past few days. It remains to be seen if other US labor union will also go on strike hoping to repeat the staggering wage gains that were just handed to the Longshoremen. If so, watch as the color drains out of Powell’s face as wage inflation hits double digits in the coming months.

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“..G7 leaders agreed to impose new sanctions on Iran, which will have little impact since Iran is already under so many.”

• Israel Planning Major Attack on Iran (Antiwar)

Israel is planning to launch a “significant retaliation” attack against Iran over the Iranian missile barrage that targeted Israel on Tuesday, which was a response to several Israeli escalations in the region. Israeli officials acknowledged to Axios that the situation could lead to a full-blown regional war, which would involve the US. According to the Axios report, Israel could target oil production facilities inside Iran or other strategic sites. Israeli officials say that if Iran hits back, then all options will be on the table, including strikes on Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities. “We have a big question mark about how the Iranians are going to respond to an attack, but we take into consideration the possibility that they would go all in, which will be a whole different ball game,” an Israeli official told Axios. Other options being considered are attacks on Iran’s air defenses or targeted assassinations. Israel has a history of killing people inside Iran, including the July 31 assassination of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh.

Israel would likely need US military support to launch significant strikes on Iranian territory, and the Israeli officials speaking to Axios say they are coordinating with the Biden administration. Israel wants more US support if it provokes another Iranian attack. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tuesday that the US would work with Israel to ensure Iran faces “severe consequences.” President Biden has also said he is working with Israel on a response but said Wednesday that he wouldn’t support strikes on Iran’s nuclear facility. “All seven of us agree that they have a right to respond, but they have to respond proportionally,” he said, referring to the Group of Seven nations. He said G7 leaders agreed to impose new sanctions on Iran, which will have little impact since Iran is already under so many.

Israel acknowledged on Wednesday that Iranian missiles made an impact on several military bases but claimed there was no significant damage. Israel is also claiming there were no major casualties, with only two Israelis suffering minor injuries. One Palestinian was killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank when shrapnel from an intercepted missile hit him. Iran fired about 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in response to the Israeli assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran and the Israeli killing of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Abbas Nilforoushan, an IRGC commander who was killed alongside Nasrallah.

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The US plays dumb: “..it was never communicated to us..” Not credible. It was their own proposal. Communication lines were open.

• Lebanon: Nasrallah Agreed To Temporary Ceasefire Just Before Assassination (ZH)

In hugely surprising remarks given on American television this week, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has stated that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah issued his agreement to a US and French-proposed 21-day ceasefire with Israel just before Israel killed him by targeting a secretive meeting in south Beirut last Friday. Habib revealed the agreement in a PBS interview. He told PBS/CNN host Christiane Amanpour that “They told us that Mr. Netanyahu agreed on this, and so we also got the agreement of Hezbollah on that. And, you know what happened since then.” An incredulous-looking Amanpour asked: “are you saying that Hassan Nasrallah had agreed to a ceasefire just moments before he was assassinated?” “He agreed, he agreed–yes, yes. We agreed completely.”

The top Lebanese diplomat then followed with: “The Lebanese House Speaker, Mr Nabih Berri, consulted with Hezbollah and we informed the Americans and the French about the agreement. They told us that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu also agreed to the statement issued by both presidents.” This is all in reference to a Sept.25th joint statement by the US, France, the European Union, Saudi Arabia and other nations urging an immediate 21-day ceasefire during which a more permanent diplomatic solution would be worked out. CNN writes of the interview: “White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein was then set to go to Lebanon to negotiate the ceasefire, Habib continued. “They told us that Mr. Netanyahu agreed on this and so we also got the agreement of Hezbollah on that and you know what happened since then,” the foreign minister added.”

If the Lebanese government account is true, this would have huge implications. However, no specific further evidence that Nasrallah agreed to ceasefire has yet emerged. Reuters’ top foreign correspondent, Idrees Ali, has called the revelation “Pretty stunning.” Further reporting from CNN could point to the accuracy of FM Habib’s statements: “A Western source familiar with the negotiations also said Hezbollah had agreed to the temporary truce shortly before the US released the proposal last week. The source didn’t say whether the decision had come directly from Nasrallah, but said that for the movement to agree, they would have needed his approval. A second source familiar with the talks agreed that the US was aware that Hezbollah was agreeing to the ceasefire.”

But on an official level, the White House is denying all of this. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller didn’t rule it out entirely, but said that the Hezbollah chief agreeing to a deal is “not something we have heard before. If true, [it] was never communicated to us.” “I can’t speak to whether he ever agreed to it and told somebody inside Lebanon. Obviously, that could be something that happened that we wouldn’t be aware of. I can tell you that, if that’s true, it was never communicated to us in any way shape or form,” Miller said in a Thursday press briefing. Critics of Israel have accused PM Netanyahu of deliberately sabotaging efforts at peace in his drive to decimate Hamas, Hezbollah, and ultimately to weaken archnemesis Iran – all while prolonging his power and rule at home.

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“Israel is not in a position to fight a multi-front war and it does not have the strategic depth to fight wars of attrition. And that’s exactly what it’s got itself into now..”

• ‘Iron Dome Proved to Be a Bust’: Larry Johnson (Sp.)

Iran launched a significant retaliatory attack against Israel late Tuesday night, ending months of speculation about how or whether the country would strike back after its provocative killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. The United States reportedly provided Iran with assurances after the attack against Haniyeh in July that Israel and the US would move constructively towards the establishment of a Palestinian state, ending Israel’s military aggression against its neighbors and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where over 42,000 have died according to figures reported by the territory’s health ministry. Tel Aviv’s deadly attack against Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon last week dashed hopes of a cessation of violence as Israel claims it is preparing for a broader invasion of Lebanon. “I’ve seen the videos and you can see the missiles continue to rain down and hit targets. Israel is imposing a news blackout,” former CIA analyst Larry Johnson said.

“They don’t want the knowledge out there about what happened. But Iran made sure that it was not going to hit and run the risk of killing hundreds or thousands of Israeli civilians.” “They were not going to act like the Israelis,” the analyst claimed. “They really consider themselves, if you will, more humane, more honorable, and by virtue of their action, I think they can make that case.” Johnson claimed Iran was forced to strike Israel after false assurances from the United States that Israel would cease attacks on its neighbors after its killing of Haniyeh. Iran previously launched a retaliatory attack on Israel in April after Tel Aviv’s bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria killed two Iranian generals. The codename Operation True Promise was announced for the strike. Iran’s Tuesday attack, dubbed Operation True Promise II, appears significantly more substantial than April’s strike in which the vast majority of Iranian missiles, rockets and drones were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome.

Iran was reportedly able to successfully strike Israeli military targets Tuesday, including an Israeli air base where multiple US-provided F-35 aircraft were hit. Johnson claimed Israel’s attack against Nasrallah would’ve been launched from an F-35; the fighter jet would be key to any Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The commentator compared Israel’s Iron Dome to the US Patriot missile system, claiming the US is unable to replenish the defense system rapidly enough to allow Israel to fight a long war of attrition.
“Lockheed Martin… can make about one and a half, one and a quarter [missiles] a day,” said Johnson. “I think Israel’s in a similar situation… [Iran] put Israel on notice, ‘If you launch any further strikes against us in any retaliation, we’re going to hit you harder next time and with more lethality.’ So this right now has a chance to really get out of control.”

“I cannot rule out that Israel is going to try to launch some conventional weapons at Iran, but I think they’re going to be defeated,” Johnson claimed. “Israel may be tempted to try to use a nuclear device against an Iranian target,” he warned. “If that happens then we’re going to really be into another dimension, and this is going to get very, very serious. It’s already a serious situation, but it will get absolutely dangerous.” The analyst suggested Israel would not be able to support military engagement against multiple enemies, even with the United States backing it up. “Israel is not in a position to fight a multi-front war and it does not have the strategic depth to fight wars of attrition. And that’s exactly what it’s got itself into now,” Johnson pointed out. “It’s not going to be able to finish off Hezbollah in a week. It couldn’t even finish off Hamas in 12 months. It’s not going to be able to finish off Syria, finish off the Houthis or finish off Iran… That’s what Israel fails to understand.

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“..symptomatic of logical deficiencies—deficiencies encouraged by those shaping and executing the West’s collective foreign policies—such that most of us have very little grasp of the world in which we live..”

• ‘Who Do You Want to Win?’ (Patrick Lawrence)

A friend in England, a dweller in bucolic Somerset along with the Black Angus herds and the sheep, forwards a piece by a Times of London columnist that merits careful consideration. Matthew Syed, who has distinguished himself as a ping–pong champion, titles his commentary, “Israel–Hezbollah conflict hinges on a crude question: Who do you want to win?” Syed, who has also done well writing high-end self-help books (You Are Awesome, 2018; Dare to Be You, 2020) has posed a crude question. He is right about this, if little else. And because it is crude, an essentially unserious question, we must take it seriously. As I read Syed’s column it seemed to me symptomatic of logical deficiencies—deficiencies encouraged by those shaping and executing the West’s collective foreign policies—such that most of us have very little grasp of the world in which we live. Ours is a world, so we are urged to think, divided eternally into two.

There are good guys and bad, the benevolent and the malevolent—democrats and autocrats in the Biden regime’s terms. And so there must be winners and losers, just as Matthew Syed supposes. It is hopeless, or nearly. Such a view of our world misses the point most of humanity, 24 years in, wishes to make about the 21st century. Two points, actually. One, the 20th century, a century of binary enmities, is indeed over. We must finally leave it behind. Two, the thought of winners and losers is beyond retrograde. In our time we will all win or we will all lose. Matthew Syed is wholly representative of those who simply cannot grasp these realities. Israel must win, Hezbollah must lose. And as Israel’s long-running hostility toward Iran drifts toward the war the Zionist state has long sought, the Israelis must win, the Iranians lose. To dispense quickly with a minor matter of logic, the intensifying conflict between terrorist Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese political party and armed resistance movement, does not hinge in the slightest on which side you or I want to emerge the victor.

The outcome depends on the relative strengths and weaknesses of the Israeli and Lebanese forces, the wisdom or otherwise of their political leaders, the sense or otherwise of their military and diplomatic strategies, and, not least, the extent to which either side has the support of other powers. To suggest the great “you” Matthew Syed addresses will determine how Israel’s regional confrontations will turn out is the very height of narcissism. And the narcissism prevalent in the West is one of the problems Syed’s commentary requires us to confront. Syed is unambivalently a clash-of-civilizations man. And like others of this persuasion, he does not think we ought to look at matters too closely. He proposes we consider Israel’s barbarities—in Lebanon, Gaza, the Occupied Territories, who knows where next—as another case of the West against the rest.

Russia will invade Europe when it finishes in Ukraine. China is “an ancient and impressive civilization now run by a totalitarian clique.” Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. This is all we need to know as we address the question Syed’s headline poses, who do we want to win? He writes: “So perhaps you’ll forgive me for saying something that doesn’t get into the details of any single dispute, doesn’t opine on the precise logic of Israel’s killing of Hassan Nasrallah or its broader response to the October 7 attacks, doesn’t get into the weeds of Western policy over Ukraine; instead, it makes a simpler but, I hope, not simplistic point. In the conflagration that is coming, I back Israel 100 per cent, the West 100 per cent, civilization 100 per cent, progress 100 per cent. “There are hinge moments in history,” Syed writes to round off his point, “where simplicity is an asset.”

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They don’t see the benefit to themselves. Of the Constitution, SupremeCourt, democracy…

• Musk Slams US Democrats Over Freedom Of Speech (RT)

Tech mogul Elon Musk has accused the US Democratic Party of trying to stifle free speech in the country by claiming to combat hate speech and misinformation. The billionaire made the comment following Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate between Democratic candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, where they discussed a number of issues, including free speech and censorship. Walz stated during the debate that he does not believe that hate speech, threatening language or misinformation is protected under the First Amendment, which grants US citizens the right to free speech. “You can’t yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater, that’s the Supreme Court test,” Walz said, referring to a 1919 quote from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Writing on X on Wednesday, Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, warned that “the Democratic Party openly wants to take your freedom of speech under the guise of what THEY deem to be ‘hate.’” During the debate, Vance argued that censorship, which was being carried out by Big Tech companies and supported by Kamala Harris and US President Joe Biden, was a “much bigger threat to democracy than anything we’ve seen in the last four years,” including the January 6 Capitol Hill riots, which the Democratic Party has repeatedly cited as proof of the threat to democracy posed by Trump. “We do have a threat to democracy […] It’s big technology companies silencing their fellow citizens, and it’s Kamala Harris saying that rather than debate and persuade her fellow Americans, she’d like to censor people who engage in misinformation,” Vance said.

The Republican VP hopeful also accused the Biden-Harris administration of trying to get Americans banned from platforms like Facebook for criticizing government mask mandates for toddlers amid the Covid-19 pandemic. “That’s not yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded theater, that is criticizing the policies of the government, which is the right of every American,” Vance argued. Back in August, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the Biden administration had pressured Facebook to “censor” some Covid-19 content, and that the FBI had ordered the platform to suppress a New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s laptop in the lead-up to the 2020 election.

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“The company management did not specify how many of the company’s 120,000 employees in Germany would be laid off.”

• EU Car Industry Faces ‘Horror Fall’ – Bild (RT)

EU automakers are facing their worst months since the Covid-19 pandemic, the German tabloid Bild reported on Thursday, citing a prominent industry expert. Car sales within the bloc have fallen by 200,000 vehicles in the first eight months of 2024 compared to the same period last year and things are set to get worse, Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer told the outlet. Dudenhoeffer is the founder and former director of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) – a private institute specializing in industry analysis and transport policy. Sales of electric cars are down 8.3% from last year, the economist pointed out, with 140,000 fewer models sold through August. ”Important large car markets such as Germany and Italy were already slightly down in the first eight months of the year,” he noted, warning that things “are not getting better.”

According to Dudenhoeffer, car manufacturers are now seeking to compensate for their losses by increasing prices. The 20 most popular gasoline-powered car models are already approximately 10% more expensive, he told Bild. “The next few months will be very difficult for the industry. Worse than it was during [the Covid-19 pandemic],” he predicted. Germany is about to be hit particularly strongly, according to the expert, with the market not expected to recover before 2026. Last month, the EU’s biggest carmaker – Volkswagen – announced that it would consider plant closures or layoffs in Germany for the first time in its 87-year history. The company also announced it would be forced to end its employment security program, which had been set up to postpone all job cuts until at least 2029.

In early September, Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume called the situation the automobile market was facing “highly challenging and serious,” adding that the possibility of “plant closures are no longer excluded.” The company management did not specify how many of the company’s 120,000 employees in Germany would be laid off. Germany had already suffered a recession in late 2023. Europe’s largest economy also contracted in the second quarter of this year, according to official statistics. Weakness in the automotive sector became the main driver behind the decline in the country’s industrial production in July, Reuters reported in September, adding that the nation could face another recession.

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“..see it as their duty to defend democracy by ensuring that the party that gets the most votes gets completely sidelined. Why? Because, Hitler. Duh.”

• Another Right-Wing Election Winner Is Sidelined in the EU (Marsden)

The elites in Austria, like elsewhere in Europe, see it as their duty to defend democracy by ensuring that the party that gets the most votes gets completely sidelined. Why? Because, Hitler. Duh. According to the Associated Press, Austria’s Freedom Party secured the “first far-right national election win since World War 2.” And we all know which famous Austrian is synonymous with the Second World War. How subtle. “EU rocked as far-Right party founded by Nazi WW2 veterans storms to victory,” noted one British tabloid, the Express. “Herbert Kickl’s Freedom Party is on for a huge victory in Austria according to early projections.” Interesting how Nazi history is omitted entirely when Ukraine’s neo-Nazi Azov movement runs around with Nazi symbol flags and tattoos to kudos from the same establishment.

For those looking for a different way to smear Austrian voters other than comparing them to Hitler, there’s apparently also the opportunity here to compare them to the Führer’s World War 2 enemies: Russia. NBC is calling this “far-right” vote by average Austrians fed up with the establishment’s antics a “boost for Putin.” Looks like all the “bad guy” bases are covered across the entire spectrum of Western establishment propaganda. So how did this party actually win? The former Austrian minister who took the helm of the Freedom Party in 2021 constantly spoke of the average citizen suffering from an inability to pay for basic life necessities, like electricity and food. Doesn’t he understand that if Austrians are able to put food on the table, then Putin wins? Apparently not. And it doesn’t seem like voters get it either. And since this this guy and his party are increasingly resonating with voters’ objective reality while the elites dissociate from it, it’s translating into electoral wins.

It’s as simple as voters taking a look around at their lives and coming to the conclusion that his assessment aligns with their own more than the version presented by the establishment parties. Another big issue for Austria has been the large number of refugees per capita, one of the highest in Europe, with the issue resonating through incidents like the Islamic State threats to the Taylor Swift concert in Vienna over the summer, police raids ahead of the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the US, and refugee riots on Halloween a couple of years ago. The asylum issue in particular is one that Kickl, the former interior minister who now leads the Freedom Party, would be well-positioned to tackle. What exactly about his past could possibly qualify him for that in the minds of voters?

Maybe the fact that he was forced to step down from the job in 2019 for saying that he wanted to test the parameters of European human rights rules that “prevent us from doing what’s necessary” with asylum seekers – a subject that even the establishment left had to admit was an issue, but only saying that they’d merely reduce asylum applications. There’s considerable daylight between the positions of “we’re full” and “get out”, with the latter already being the actual position staked out by the so-called bleeding heart leftists, who only managed to get 21% of the vote.

Obviously a large number of Austrians didn’t clutch their pearls at Kickl’s remarks like the Austrian establishment did, awarding him nearly 29% of the popular vote. Kickl has called Ursula Von der Leyen, the unelected European Commission president, a warmonger. And, well, Austrian voters also handed his Freedom Party the most votes in the European parliamentary elections earlier this year. Nice little throne-warming gift, there. The party’s mandate from voters seems clear: to take on the national and European establishments that have made such a mess of things. Just like everywhere else in Europe where anti-establishment parties have been surging, particularly on the right. So who are they going to form a government with, in respect of the people’s choice? According to the establishment-right chancellor, no one. Because, well, screw them.

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The picture changes. You can no longer trust Telegram.

• Telegram Shares User Details With Governments – Durov (RT)

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov revealed on Wednesday that the messenger service has been complying with privacy policies in several countries and has been disclosing information about criminals to authorities for the past six years. The Russian tech billionaire has remained unable to leave France after he was arrested in Paris in late August and charged with multiple offenses, such as operating a platform used for organized crime and refusing to cooperate with French authorities. Last month, Durov, who is also a co-founder of the company, announced an update to the platform’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, which he said would make it clear that IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate the messenger’s rules “can be disclosed to relevant authorities in response to valid legal requests.”

In a follow-up post on his Du Rove’s Channel on Wednesday, the Telegram CEO noted that the new policy does not constitute a “major shift” in how the platform works and that it had already been sharing with relevant authorities the details of criminals abusing it. “Since 2018, Telegram has been able to disclose IP addresses/phone numbers of criminals to authorities, according to our Privacy Policy in most countries,” Durov explained, noting that whenever the platform received a “properly formed legal request via relevant communication lines,” it would verify it and disclose the IP addresses/phone numbers of dangerous criminals. Durov revealed that in Brazil, for example, Telegram had disclosed data for over 200 legal requests since the start of the year, and nearly 7,000 in India over the same period.

He also noted that there has been an uptick in the number of “valid legal requests” in Europe in recent months, suggesting that this could be attributed to the fact that more EU authorities have started to use the correct communication line for such requests. Durov explained that the recent update to the platform’s privacy policy was only meant to streamline and unify it, and stressed that Telegram’s core principles have not changed. “We’ve always strived to comply with relevant local laws – as long as they didn’t go against our values of freedom and privacy,” he said, adding that Telegram was built to “protect activists and ordinary people from corrupt governments and corporations” and has never allowed criminals to abuse the platform or evade justice.

Durov was detained after landing at a Paris airport in late August and released on bail several days later. He was charged on 12 counts, including complicity in distributing child porn, drug dealing and money laundering. The charges stem from the accusation that Telegram’s lax moderation rules allow for the widespread misuse of the messenger service. The businessman has vehemently denied the accusations, stressing that Telegram has always strived to work with state regulators to establish “the right balance between privacy and security.” He also noted that the platform takes down “millions of harmful posts and channels every day,” and publishes “daily transparency reports” about actions taken against the dissemination of illegal content.

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https://twitter.com/i/status/1841651197264199766

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cow

 

 

Cat win
https://twitter.com/i/status/1841588065321591132

 

 

Cat yoga

 

 

Shells

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle August 15 2024

Aug 152024
 
 August 15, 2024  Posted by at 8:38 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  97 Responses »


Vincent van Gogh The Rispal Restaurant at Asnieres 1887

 

• Will Trump End Elections? Anatomy Of A Failed Hoax (Miele)
• Olympic Boxer’s “Cyberbullies” Lawsuit A Threat To Free Speech (MN)
• Olympic Gold Winner Sues Musk Over ‘Cyber Harassment’ (RT)
• ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’ WaPo Urges White House Crackdown on Media (Sp.)
• WaPo Reporter Calls on White House to Censor Trump for America (Turley)
• Scott Ritter Says FBI Monitored Him For Years (TASS)
• The Murder of Others (Scott Ritter)
• Hunter Biden Asked State Department To Aid Burisma Deal While Joe Was VP (ZH)
• Biden Admits ‘Direct Contact’ With Ukraine Over Assault On Kursk (RT)
• Ukraine Wants Talks Using Kursk Nuclear Plant Seizure as Ultimatum (Sp.)
• Ukraine Has Defaulted – Fitch (RT)
• Pro-Israel Lobby Overrides US Public Opinion on Gaza (Miles)
• Cracks in the Dome: Israel’s Security Mirage (Raiss)
• FTC Hints Tech ‘Monopolist’ Google Should Be Broken Up (ZH)

 

 

 

 

Doocy

 

 

One time

 

 

Kamala headlines

 

 

Internet czar

 

 

Taliban

 

 

 

 

Benz

 

 

O’Leary

 

 

RFK
https://twitter.com/i/status/1823592168549728720

 

 

RFK

 

 

 

 

“This election will be the most important election in the history of our country. We’re going to save our country with this election.”

• Will Trump End Elections? Anatomy Of A Failed Hoax (Miele)

The good news is that Donald Trump is very familiar with the Democrats’ tactic of character assassination. For the past nine years he has been subjected to endless false attacks that aimed to polarize him as first a Russian stooge, then a white supremacist, and finally an enemy of democracy who threatened a “bloodbath” if he wasn’t reelected in 2024. Those attacks have all been exposed as partisan chicanery, but that doesn’t stop his opponents from repeating them every chance they get. Two weeks ago, Democrats and the mainstream media were caught red-handed as they tried to jump-start a new hoax that suggested Trump would cancel future elections if he were elected this year. The video that played on Sunday morning shows and across the universe of cable news channels for three days at the end of July came from a speech that Trump delivered to the Turning Point Action Believers Summit on Friday, July 26.

This clip from CNN typified the way Trump’s words were portrayed, with one commentator saying that “it certainly sounds like a presidential candidate that is determined to shut down the democratic process.” CBS News reached the same conclusion, saying that on social media there were “some calls of alarm in response to Trump’s comments, expressing concern that they alluded to authoritarianism and could be interpreted as an indication that he would not leave office if he wins the election.” That’s ridiculous, of course, and if there should be any concern about Trump’s words, it would be about how nonchalantly the media distorted them for the purpose of character assassination.

The part of Trump’s speech that was played or quoted ad infinitum by mainstream media for those three days was this: “Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote any more, my beautiful Christians … In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.” Twisting those words to suggest Trump was planning “to shut down the democratic process” is just cynical. But if anyone were sincerely alarmed, you’d think that their next step would be to listen to the entire speech where these words were uttered to find out if there was any missing context.

A real journalist would look for answers before running with a hugely damaging and potentially slanderous story. But this episode demonstrates conclusively that there are very few real journalists left in America. I knew the real meaning of Trump’s words because I had watched the speech live on a streaming channel, but how much work would it take for a highly paid network reporter or anchor to look at the Believers speech after the fact before accusing the former president of plotting to eliminate elections? If they had, they would have found that, a little over 37 minutes into his speech, Trump explained to his audience that Christians vote in disappointingly low numbers, and if they wanted him to return to the White House, they needed to go out and vote “at least this election.” Here’s the full quote that I don’t believe was ever played, not once, by any major media outlet:

“And by the way, Christians have to vote. You know, I don’t want to scold you, but do you know Christians do not vote proportionately, they don’t vote like they should. They’re not big voters … They have to vote. If they don’t vote, we’re not going to win the election. If you do vote, we’re going to win in a landslide. Too big to rig. We’re gonna win in a landslide. … You know, you have tremendous power, but you just don’t know that. But you have to use that power. Christians are a group that’s known not to vote very much. You have to go out at least this election, just get us into that beautiful White House. Vote for your congressmen and women. Vote for your senators. We will change this country for the better. This country will be great again like never before. You gotta vote. … This election will be the most important election in the history of our country. We’re going to save our country with this election.”

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Wonder who set up XY for this.

• Olympic Boxer’s “Cyberbullies” Lawsuit A Threat To Free Speech (MN)

A human rights lawyer has warned that a lawsuit brought by Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif against the likes of Elon Musk and JK Rowling could set a significant precedent against free speech. Khelif, who competed and won a gold medal in the women’s welterweight division, despite having XY chromosomes, is charging that prominent personalities and bodies engaged in “acts of aggravated cyber harassment.” Questions were raised by both the World Boxing Organisation and the International Boxing Association regarding Khelif’s eligibility to compete as a woman following two previous ‘failed’ gender tests. Speaking to GB News, human rights lawyer David Haigh warned that the lawsuit could lead to “policing of social media” across borders. Haigh outlined “If they proceed with this, the Paris prosecutors have the reach jurisdiction to come to other countries. And if that is the case, that then is a very concerning development.”

“You can have countries around the world basically policing social media in other countries. It could be a very, very significant case in free speech, the use of social media,” Haigh added. He continued, “are we now going to see France trying to extradite or issuing arrest warrants for JK Rowling? It’s a very slippery slope and it could become a very significant case.” The lawyer also noted that the case could also set a legal precedent in terms of gender ideology. “If it proceeds, and that’s a big if, it could have significant ramifications. Whether or not there has been harassment, you will have a debate on what is and isn’t a man or a woman in the court,” he noted. “If part of whether or not there has been harassment and abuse comes down to whether or not that boxer is a man or a woman, obviously evidence will need to be put forward on both sides of that,” Haigh further explained.

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Trump will also be part of the suit. You could get a Paris prosecutor go after a US president for saying “I will keep men out of women’s sports!”

They want a French judge to redefine for the whole world what a woman is.

• Olympic Gold Winner Sues Musk Over ‘Cyber Harassment’ (RT)

French prosecutors have opened a probe into a claim by Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif over alleged “acts of aggravated cyber harassment” during the games by several prominent figures, including Elon Musk, according to Variety magazine. Prosecutors reportedly said on Wednesday that the X (formerly Twitter) owner was named in the criminal complaint, along with Harry Potter author JK Rowling. In the complaint, Khelif claimed she was targeted by a “misogynist, racist and sexist campaign” as she fought her way to gold in the women’s welterweight division. Nabil Boudi, the Paris-based attorney for Khelif, told the magazine that the complaint was posted to the anti-online hatred center of the Paris Prosecutor’s Office on Friday.

The prosecutor’s office reportedly confirmed that an investigation had been launched. “J. K. Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” Boudi told the magazine, adding that former US President Donald Trump would be part of the investigation. “Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution,” he stated. The attorney also noted that the lawsuit was filed against X, which under French law means that it was filed against unknown persons. That “ensure[s] that the ‘prosecution has all the latitude to be able to investigate against all people,” Boudi said. The 25-year-old boxer, who on Saturday won the Olympic gold medal in the women’s 66-kilogram boxing competition, has found herself at the center of a gender controversy. Khelif became the subject of global attention after defeating Italian boxer Angela Carini in just 46 seconds in a preliminary match.

The short bout sparked outrage online, with many calling the Algerian athlete ‘male’ due to previous failed gender tests. According to Algeria, Khelif is not transgender at all but a woman affected by a condition known as hyperandrogenism, characterized by a high level of testosterone and the presence of XY chromosomes. Following the match, J. K. Rowling posted on X a picture of the boxers, accusing Khelif of being a man who was “enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head.” Musk, meanwhile, shared a post that claimed “men don’t belong in women’s sports,” captioning it “Absolutely.” Trump’s post about the boxing match was accompanied by the message: “I will keep men out of women’s sports!” The International Olympic Committee, for its part, defended Khelif and denounced those peddling misinformation.

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“..you think your job is to collude with the White House press secretary to censor Americans with whom you disagree?”

• ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’ WaPo Urges White House Crackdown on Media (Sp.)

Washington Post White House reporter Cleve Wootson Jr. is taking flak from conservatives, media impartiality and free speech activists after a controversial exchange with WH press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre apparently urging the federal government to “stop” the spread of “misinformation” relating to the 2024 campaign and beyond. “I think that misinformation on Twitter is not just a campaign issue. It’s an America issue. What role does the White House or the president have in sort of stopping that, or stopping the spread of that or intervening in that?” Wootson asked in anticipation of the Elon Musk-Donald Trump interview on X Monday night, which reportedly wound up garnering as many as a billion combined views. “You’ve heard us talking about this many times from here about the responsibilities that social media platforms have when it comes to misinformation and disinformation.

I don’t have anything to read out from here about specific ways that we’re working on it. But we believe that they have the responsibility. These are private companies, so we’re also mindful of that too. But I think it is incredibly important to call that out as you are doing. I just don’t have any specifics on what we have been doing internally,” Jean-Pierre responded. The Wootson-Jean-Pierre exchange spread like wildfire online, with commentators sarcastically recalling the Washington Post’s ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’ slogan and expressing concern over the outlet’s apparent request that the White House “cancel the Bill of Rights,” whose Free Press Clause protects the publication of information and opinions, no matter their content. “The Washington Post trying to get the government to shut down private citizen interviews with presidential candidates. Because democracy dies in people speaking freely,” one popular response quipped.

“Washington Post reporter asks if Biden/Kamala administration should permit Trump to talk to Elon Musk or if the government should block their conversation. This is where we are, much of the media opposes free speech,” one person lamented. “Truly pathetic…You are a White House reporter for the Washington Post. And you think your job is to collude with the White House press secretary to censor Americans with whom you disagree? Do you understand how dumb and dangerous you sound? You’re truly shameful,” another wrote. WaPo critics’ outrage over Wootson’s suggestion is itself somewhat of a surprise, given the increasingly well-documented collusion between the US government, traditional media and Big Tech, from orders to ban or otherwise restrict foreign media (including Sputnik), to revelations in the ‘Twitter Files’ detailing some of the “specifics” mentioned by Jean-Pierre of government-big tech complicity in taking down stories and banning users to try to control informational awareness on topical issues ranging from wars and politics to elections.

The Washington Post’s request that the White House cracks down on “misinformation” also comes in the face of increasingly bald-faced attempts by the mainstream media to control the narrative relating to the upcoming US election, with a slew of blunt efforts by outlets to prop up one candidate, or silence criticism of said candidate’s lack of media interviews, being met with increasingly loud resistance.

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“There was a time when a reporter calling for censorship of a political opponent would have been a matter for immediate termination in the media..”

• WaPo Reporter Calls on White House to Censor Trump for America (Turley)

In my new book on free speech, I discuss at length how the mainstream media has joined an alliance with the government and corporations in favor of censorship and blacklisting. The Washington Post, however, appears to be taking its anti-free speech campaign to a new level with open calls for a crackdown. The newspaper offered no objection or even qualification after its reporter, Cleve Wootson Jr., appeared to call upon the White House to censor the interview of Elon Musk with former President Donald Trump. Under the guise of a question, Wootson told White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre that censoring its leading political opponent is “an America issue.” During Monday’s press briefing, the Washington Post’s Cleve Wootson Jr. flagged the interview and said “I think that misinformation on Twitter is not just a campaign issue…it’s an America issue.” After making that affirmative statement, Wootson then asked

“…What role does the White House or the president have in sort of stopping that or stopping the spread of that or sort of intervening in that? Some of that was about campaign misinformation, but, you know, it’s a wider thing, right?” Note how his question was really a political statement. Wootson begins by stating as a fact that Musk and X are engaging in disinformation and it is a threat to the country. He then asks a perfunctory softball question at the end to maintain appearances. Jean-Pierre’s response was equally telling. While noting that this is a private company, she praised the Washington Post for calling for action, saying “[i]t is incredibly important to call that out, as you’re doing. I just don’t have any specifics on what we have been doing internally.” So let’s recap. The Washington Post used a White House presser to call for censorship of one of the leading candidates for the White House and then demanded to know what the White House would do about it. The censorship was framed as an “America issue.”

There was a time when a reporter calling for censorship of a political opponent would have been a matter for immediate termination in the media. Instead, the newspaper that prides itself on the slogan “Democracy dies in Darkness,” has been entirely silent. No correction. No qualification. The Washington Post has long run columns supporting censorship of information that it deems disinformation or misinformation. For many of us in the free speech community, it has become one of the most hostile newspapers to free speech values. Now censorship has become “an America issue” for the Washington Post. The collapse of any semblance of support for free speech is complete. The call for censorship for disinformation is ironic given the Post’s publication of a series of false stories and conspiracy theories. When confronted about columnists with demonstrably false statements, the Post simply shrugged.

[..] The decline of the Post has followed a familiar pattern. The editors and reporters simply wrote off half of their audience and became a publication for largely liberal and Democratic readers. In these difficult economic times with limited revenue sources, it is a lethal decision. Robert Lewis, a British media executive who joined the Post earlier this year, reportedly got into a “heated exchange” with a staffer. Lewis explained that, while reporters were protesting measures to expand readership, the very survival of the paper was now at stake: “We are going to turn this thing around, but let’s not sugarcoat it. It needs turning around,” Lewis said. “We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.”

Other staffers could not get beyond the gender and race of those who would be overseeing them. One staffer complained “we now have four White men running three newsrooms.” The Post has been buying out staff to avoid mass layoffs, but reporters are up in arms over the effort to turn the newspaper around. Yet, in this case, a reporter openly advocated for censorship and pushed the White House to take action against X and Trump; to use government authority to “intervene” to stop Trump from being able to make certain claims on social media.

We have previously written how the level of advocacy and bias in the press has created a danger of a de facto state media in the United States. It is possible to have such a system by consent rather than coercion. The Biden White House has become more open in its marching orders to media, including a letter drafted by the Biden White House Legal Counsel’s Office calling for major media to “ramp up their scrutiny” of House Republicans. President Biden has even instructed reporters “[t]hat is not the judgment of the press” when asked tough questions. To the credit of the Post, it is not killing “democracy in the darkness.” This incident occurred in the light of day for all to see as its reporter pushed the White House for the censoring of political opponents.

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“It came down to their concern about my relationship with the Russian government, and that somehow I’m taking direction from the Russian government..”

• Scott Ritter Says FBI Monitored Him For Years (TASS)

Former US intelligence officer Scott Ritter said the FBI had monitored him for years. “They admitted that they’ve been monitoring me for years,” he said on a podcast called Judging Freedom, which is hosted by Andrew Napolitano. “I got nothing to hide here. But they [the FBI] are concerned. It came down to their concern about my relationship with the Russian government, and that somehow I’m taking direction from the Russian government,” the former officer said. On August 7, NBC television reported Ritter’s home was subjected to a search. The FBI confirmed to TASS that its agents conducted investigative actions at the former officer’s home. Ritter had previously said the searches could be related to the US government’s concerns about violations of the US Foreign Agents Registration Act. The Times Union reported that the law requires individuals and organizations representing foreign interests in the United States to register with the Department of Justice and disclose their activities. Ritter strongly denies all of the allegations. He also stated the US government is seeking to intimidate him.

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“There was, literally, no valid reason to drop an atomic bomb on a Japanese city.”

• The Murder of Others (Scott Ritter)

Ignoring the fact that the Soviet Union and its leader, Joseph Stalin, were exhausted by a war that had destroyed a third of its industry and killed more than 27 million of its citizens and, as such, were looking for peace, not a new war with the West, Truman fell under the sway of his closest advisers, including his choice to be secretary of state, James Byrnes, who viewed the Soviets as a threat that had to be contained and, if necessary, confronted by U.S. military power in the post-war period. How to square the need to simultaneously defeat Japan, deal with the increasing political pressure to demobilize, and present a strong military posture to the Soviet Union was one of the more pressing challenges facing Truman and the men he had gathered in the White House cabinet room. The answer lay in the atomic bomb — J. Robert Oppenheimer’s “gadget ”— which was, at the time of the June 18 meeting, being prepared for testing in the badlands of New Mexico.

The huge responsibility that attached itself to the existence and potential use of this new weapon weighed heavily on the attendees. During this meeting, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson reminded those present that “our leadership in the war and in the development of this weapon [the atomic bomb] has placed a certain moral responsibility upon us which we cannot shirk without very serious responsibility for any disaster to civilization which it would further.” When the discussion turned to the use of the atomic bomb as a “war winning” tool designed to break the spirit of the Japanese and compel them to surrender unconditionally, Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy proposed a compromise: why not show flexibility regarding the need for “unconditional surrender,” such as allowing the Japanese emperor to stay in place as the head of state, and, as a way of reinforcing to the Japanese the reality of America’s overwhelming superiority in arms, tell the Japanese about the existence of the atomic bomb, giving them the clear option of capitulating under reasonable terms or watching their cities be destroyed?

Truman, intrigued with the concept, had McCloy take his proposal to Byrnes to see what the future secretary of state thought about it (Byrnes was, at the time, in the process of being confirmed by the U.S. Senate). Byrnes, concerned about the perceived threat from the Soviet Union, rejected McCloy’s proposal, opting instead to go forward with the use of the atomic bomb on Japan with the dual mission of helping bring a rapid end to the war with Japan and, perhaps more importantly, since McCloy and others believed Japan was ready to surrender, obviating the need to use the bomb, as a demonstration of U.S. military power to the Soviet Union in an effort to deter any post-war antics on their part in Europe.

Byrnes’ strategy, however, was nonsensical given what subsequently transpired. On July 17, 1945, Truman was in Potsdam, Germany, for a major post-war conference with Joseph Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (the “Big Three”). The day before, July 16, Oppenheimer had successfully tested a prototype of a plutonium bomb in the deserts of Alamogordo, New Mexico. (Oppenheimer and his team of nuclear scientists had also developed an atomic bomb that made use of highly enriched uranium as its core. This weapon was far simpler in its design, and as such the need to test it was not as acute.)

Truman revealed the existence of this weapon to Stalin on July 24. The Soviet leader, nonplussed, said he hoped the Americans would put it to good use against the Japanese. Stalin had committed to entering the war against Japan no later than Aug. 15. Soviet forces, fresh from their victory over Nazi Germany, were being redeployed to the Soviet Far East, where they would be used to defeat the more than 1 million Japanese soldiers who occupied northern China and Korea. With the promised involvement of the Red Army, the military defeat of Japan was assured. Truman, in notifying Russia of the existence of the bomb, had put the Soviets on notice about the reality of American military might. There was, literally, no valid reason to drop an atomic bomb on a Japanese city.

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“The Ambassador already replied to one letter from Mr. Biden. He may be shopping for more support than he got here..”

• Hunter Biden Asked State Department To Aid Burisma Deal While Joe Was VP (ZH)

While Joe Biden was vice president, his son Hunter attempted to obtain State Department assistance in securing a deal for Ukrainian gas company Burisma, of which Hunter was a highly-compensated board member despite having no experience in its industry, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. The revelation of the 2016 episode underscores allegations that Hunter sought to enrich himself by trading on his father’s influence. The Times report draws on newly-released government records pertaining to Hunter’s pushing of a Burisma deal in Italy. The Biden White House had resisted releasing the files for years, only to relent soon after Biden was pressured into abandoning his reelection bid. The Times says it was unable to read Hunter’s email to the US ambassador, as it appears to have been “redacted in its entirety” somewhere within the trove of documents turned over by the government.

However, in communications sparked by Hunter’s 2016 inquiries, federal government officials appear to have been anxious about Hunter’s request. For example, a Commerce Department official assigned to America’s embassy in Rome wrote: “I want to be careful about promising too much. This is a Ukrainian company and, purely to protect ourselves, USG should not be actively advocating with the government of Italy without the company going through the [Commerce Department] Advocacy Center.”

The White House told the Times that then-Vice President Biden had no knowledge of his son’s inquiries. Hunter’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, acknowledged that Hunter asked US ambassador to Italy John R. Phillips and “various people” for help facilitating a dialogue between the president of Tuscany and Burisma leaders. “No meeting occurred, no project materialized, no request for anything in the U.S. was ever sought and only an introduction in Italy was requested,” Abbe told the Times. Burisma was pursuing a geothermal energy project. Though Burisma didn’t respond to inquiries, an unnamed businessman associated with the Italian machinations told the Times that Biden’s moves came when Burisma or partner entities were struggling to obtain regulatory approval for a geothermal project.

The initiative was also the subject of communications that were found in Hunter’s infamous laptop, which he abandoned at a Delaware repair shop. For example, Hunter business partner Eric Schwerin wrote an email to an Italian businessman who had connections to Tuscany’s president. “Burisma is hoping that some of its executives can get a meeting with the president to discuss their geothermal business in Tuscany,” he wrote in July 2016. Meanwhile, the government records seem to suggest a persistent effort by Hunter across multiple US government channels. “The Ambassador already replied to one letter from Mr. Biden. He may be shopping for more support than he got here,” a Commerce official emailed other federal officials.

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To what extent did they push for the assault?

• Biden Admits ‘Direct Contact’ With Ukraine Over Assault On Kursk (RT)

Washington is in touch with Kiev about Ukraine’s ongoing incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region, which is creating a problem for Moscow, US President Joe Biden has said. Last week, Ukraine sent several thousand troops across the Russian border to seize a dozen villages and indiscriminately target civilians, according to Moscow. “I have spoken with my staff on a regular basis, probably every four or five hours for the last six or eight days and it’s creating a real dilemma for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” Biden told reporters on Tuesday, in his first remarks about the Kursk offensive. “And we’ve been in direct contact, constant contact with the Ukrainians. That’s all I’m going to say about it while it’s active,” he added. The US leader spoke just outside Air Force One, as he arrived in New Orleans. Earlier in the day, EU foreign policy commissioner Josep Borrell said that Kiev had the bloc’s “full support” for the Kursk offensive.

Washington and Brussels have previously responded to press inquiries about the events in Kursk by quoting generalities about support for Ukraine and unchanging policies. “We’re in touch with our Ukrainian counterparts, and we are working to gain a better understanding of what they’re doing, what their goals are, what their strategy is, and I’m going to leave a little bit of space for us to have those conversations before I try to characterize what’s going on,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday. Later that same day, the US announced another $125 million in military aid to Ukraine. On Monday, however, Senator Lindsey Graham – a South Carolina Republican – went to Kiev and praised the Kursk incursion as “bold” and “beautiful.” He also urged retired Western pilots to enlist in the Ukrainian air force and fly NATO-provided F-16 fighters against Russia.

At least 12 Russian civilians have been killed and another 121 wounded by Ukrainian invaders, acting regional governor Aleksey Smirnov said on Monday. Ukrainian soldiers who spoke to Western outlets have admitted taking significant casualties in the invasion. They also said their objectives were to capture some territory that could be traded away in possible peace talks with Moscow, as well as to relieve pressure on the Donbass front. On Monday, Putin said that the Russian forces were actually advancing at a faster pace, while military enlistments were up because of the fighting in Kursk.

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Failed.

• Ukraine Wants Talks Using Kursk Nuclear Plant Seizure as Ultimatum (Sp.)

The Ukrainian Armed Forces went on the offensive on August 6 to seize territory in Russia’s Kursk region, but their advance was stopped, said Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s General Staff. He stressed that the operation in Kursk will be completed by defeating the enemy and reaching the state border. Units of the Russian Armed Forces are in the Kursk city of Sudzha, which the enemy does not control but there are daily clashes, commander of the Akhmat special forces Apti Alaudinov told Russian media. “Today there are units of the Russian Defense Ministry in Sudzha. There is an enemy around and in some parts of the city. There are active clashes there every day. The enemy cannot say that he completely controls Sudzha, because he does not really control it,” Alaudinov said.

The major general also said that Kiev is planning on seizing the Kursk nuclear power plant on August 11 and use this to start negotiations with Moscow with an ultimatum. “We received very interesting materials — the whole layout of the operation, which was being prepared, by what forces and what was planned. What can I say: on the 11th [of August] it was necessary to take the nuclear power plant in Kurchatov… [Ukrainian President] Zelensky’s blitzkrieg, which was planned with the seizure of the Kursk nuclear power plant and already entering negotiations with an ultimatum… failed,” Alaudinov explained. The operation had not been completed, despite all the reserves directed by Kiev in this direction, Alaudinov said. “Most of the equipment has already been destroyed from what was deployed in the Kursk direction,” Alaudinov concluded.

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There’ll be nothing left after Zelensky.

• Ukraine Has Defaulted – Fitch (RT)

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Ukraine’s credit rating to ‘restricted default’ on Tuesday, citing the expiry of a ten-day grace period for the coupon payment on the country’s $750 million 2026 Eurobond, which was due on August 1. The US-based credit-rating agency said it has lowered the rating on the 2026 Eurobond to ‘D from ‘C’ and affirmed the other foreign-currency bonds at ‘C.’ The downgrade comes after Kiev passed a law permitting the suspension of foreign debt payments until October 1. On July 18, the Ukrainian parliament approved legislation that allows the government to temporarily suspend payments on state and state-guaranteed external commercial debt until a restructuring agreement with external commercial debt creditors is completed. “This marks an event of default under Fitch’s criteria with respect to the sovereign’s IDR [Issuer Default Rating] as well as the individual issue rating of the affected security,” Fitch stated.

Rival US ratings agency S&P Global also cut Ukraine’s rating to ‘selective’ default on August 2. Ukraine has been negotiating with creditors a restructuring of its nearly $20 billion in international debt. A preliminary deal with a committee of its main bondholders was achieved on July 22, two weeks before the grace period for coupon payment expired. Kiev secured a preliminary deal to suspend debt repayments back in 2022 after the escalation of its conflict with Russia. The two-year payment moratorium on payments expired on August 1. Fitch had earlier projected Ukraine’s state deficit to remain high, at 17.1% of the country’s GDP this year, noting that defense spending amounted to 31.3% of its annual economic output in 2023. The agency expects government debt to surge to 92.5% of GDP in 2024.

According to the Ukrainian Finance Ministry, the country’s public debt surged by more than $1 billion in June, with its total volume now exceeding $152 billion. The International Monetary Fund in June revised downwards Ukraine’s gross domestic product forecast for this year to 2.5% from its April estimate of 3.2%, citing worsening sentiment among consumers and businesses over the course of the conflict with Russia.

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“It is acting with complete, insouciant, contemptuous disregard for international law, conventions, and common morality..”

• Pro-Israel Lobby Overrides US Public Opinion on Gaza (Miles)

“It is most especially in the conduct of foreign relations that democratic governments appear to me to be decidedly inferior to governments carried on upon different principles,” wrote Alexis de Tocqueville in 1835 after his famous visit to the United States. The famed French political philosopher was impressed by the still-nascent experiment in self rule underway in the young country, walking away with numerous insights and accolades. But Tocqueville questioned whether the country’s democratic principles could extend to the realm of international affairs, writing, “foreign politics demand scarcely any of those qualities which a democracy possesses; and they require, on the contrary, the perfect use of almost all those faculties in which it is deficient.” Nearly two centuries later questions remain over the extent to which the popular will can dictate matters of foreign relations, which often require rapid and complex decision making.

Analysts claim the functioning of the US government has only become more opaque since the mid-twentieth century, with the development of nuclear weapons requiring an unprecedented level of secrecy that informed the creation of the modern-day “deep state.” Independent journalist Dr. Jim Kavanagh joined Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Tuesday to discuss the Biden administration’s foreign policy and the growing gulf between public opinion in the United States and its actions on the world stage. “Israel has crossed all and everybody’s red lines,” Kavanagh wrote in a recent piece published on the website The Polemicist. “Israel is telling the world it will kill anyone and any number of people, anywhere, at any time of its choosing and it does not give a damn about what anyone in the world thinks of it. It is acting with complete, insouciant, contemptuous disregard for international law, conventions, and common morality, certainly of the people and nations it considers its adversaries and of the countries on whose support it depends.”

“Israel is only slightly less contemptuous of Americans than the Palestinians,” the journalist claimed, noting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s skill in manipulating the United States to serve his interests. “Palestinians they consider subhuman and dispensable persons versus the Americans they consider necessary fools whom they have to pretend they’re interested in ceasefires and two-state solutions for because the Americans are stupid enough to believe it.” “They just got to keep the Americans around because the Americans are their patrons,” he continued. “The United States of America is the indispensable patron of Israel. They could not do anything that they’re doing without it. And we are completely complicit in it.” The longtime Israeli Prime Minister once claimed the United States is “a thing you can move very easily” in private comments secretly recorded in 2001. Since then the controversial leader has often publicly waded into US politics, perhaps most famously in 2015 when he gave a speech to a session of the United States Congress denouncing former President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal.

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“..its most prized defensive weapon is part of a broader branding effort, rooted in techniques pioneered by Edward Bernays..”

• Cracks in the Dome: Israel’s Security Mirage (Raiss)

The Iron Dome, touted as Israel’s most-effective defense shield, was designed to project an image of security and technological superiority. Promoted as a cutting-edge mobile air defense system, it was intended to symbolize an impenetrable barrier safeguarding the occupation state from external threats. However, the reality reveals a different picture: much like a child in a knight costume – impressive against plastic swords but utterly defenseless against real weapons – the Iron Dome excels mainly against the relatively crude weapons of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza. Israel’s carefully-crafted image of its most prized defensive weapon is part of a broader branding effort, rooted in techniques pioneered by Edward Bernays. The occupation state has positioned itself as a cosmopolitan, progressive, and democratic society – in stark contrast to neighboring West Asian states, which it portrays as violent and repressive.

The Iron Dome is not just a defense system but also a psychological construct designed to reinforce the image of an invulnerable entity under constant threat from less enlightened neighbors. Despite its reputation, the Iron Dome’s performance has often fallen short. Numerous videos have surfaced showing malfunctions – the Tamir missiles performing erratic maneuvers, exploding near civilian areas, or being triggered by false alarms and causing damage to infrastructure. These failures contrast starkly with Israel’s claims of a 90–99 percent interception rate. Professor Emeritus Theodore Postal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers a vastly different assessment. “I would say that the intercept rate is at best 4 or 5 percent,” Postal said in an interview with the Boston Globe last October. In a 2018 study published in the Journal of Global Security Studies, Michael Armstrong also questions the Iron Dome’s touted “90 to 99 percent” interception rate.

For starters, he clarifies that “the interception rate is the percentage of rockets destroyed before they hit defended areas; it ignores rockets over undefended areas.” In other words, the defense system is, from the onset, only targeting a small portion of the rockets fired. For example, Israeli officials claimed that of the approximately 1,000 projectiles fired into Israel by Hamas during November 2012’s Operation Pillar of Defense operation, Iron Dome identified two-thirds as “not posing a threat” and only intercepted 90 percent of the remaining 300 rockets. Armstrong points out further holes in the calculations of Iron Dome proponents:

The empirical analysis suggests that Iron Dome batteries intercepted less than 32 percent of all hazardous rockets during Pillar of Defense, but between 59 and 75 percent during Protective Edge … The calculations further suggest the number of rockets hitting populated areas during Pillar of Defense may have been understated. The number of threats to populated areas, on the other hand, may have been overstated. This implies that Iron Dome’s effective interception rate may have been significantly lower than reported.

The situation is particularly dire in northern occupied territories, where the town of Kiryat Shmona – a settlement once believed to be under the Iron Dome’s protection – has seen its population flee from rising threats. Thousands of residents have abandoned their homes, exposing the vulnerabilities the Iron Dome was supposed to eliminate. With Hezbollah expanding its rules of engagement, the number of displaced persons is likely to rise, further exposing the system’s inadequacies. As Israel desperately scrambles to expand its defense options, the new solutions prove equally flawed, leaving the population vulnerable beneath a defense system that no longer lives up to its myth. The once-vaunted shield is crumbling, and with it, the carefully constructed narrative of invincibility that has long underpinned Israel’s security strategy.

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No-one ever mentions their ad monopoly.

• FTC Hints Tech ‘Monopolist’ Google Should Be Broken Up (ZH)

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an amicus brief in the Epic Games antitrust lawsuit against Google’s monopolistic behavior, suggesting that the court impose stringent actions against such practices. The lawsuit was filed in 2020 by developer Epic Games against Google. Epic claimed that Google violated antitrust regulations by monopolizing two markets: the market for distribution of mobile apps for Android users and the market for processing payments. In addition, Google benefits from gaining access to user data. “Google has thus installed itself as an unavoidable middleman for app developers who wish to reach Android users and vice versa,” Epic said. In December 2023, a district court jury in California ruled in favor of Epic, finding that the game developer proved that Google was in violation of antitrust laws. District Judge James Donato has yet to decide on what relief Epic should be provided.

Naveen Athrappully reports for The Epoch Times that on Aug. 12, the FTC filed an amicus brief in the case, suggesting how the court could consider remedies. Ensuring antitrust laws are strictly enforced “is essential for protecting and preserving economic freedom and the free-enterprise system,” the agency pointed out. “When a company engages in business practices that are found to violate the antitrust laws, courts are empowered to remedy those violations by ordering all relief necessary to restore competition in the affected markets,” it stated. This includes “identifying and requiring actions that the defendant must affirmatively take toward that end.” If companies violating antitrust laws reap the advantages secured through such actions, it will end up incentivizing other firms to engage in similar behavior, the agency warned. As such, the district court should ensure that the violating firm does not continue securing the benefits obtained via breaching antitrust rules, it stated.

Though it should be said that at no point does the FTC outright say that Google should be broken up, Duncan Riley reports via SiliconAngle.com, that any lay reader with a knowledge of U.S. antitrust law and English can reasonably come to that conclusion. And there’s more. “Looking forward in cases like Epic v. Google often requires the consideration of network effects, data feedback loops, and other key features of digital markets,” the FTC writes. “This could help ensure that potential competitors can overcome the advantages established digital platforms often gain, which include network effects and data incumbency.” But the real kicker comes towards the end. “Google’s monopolistic behavior has significantly harmed millions of users in the United States,” the FTC adds. “Allowing monopolists to reap the rewards of illegal monopolization while avoiding the costs of restoring the competition that they unlawfully eliminated would undermine deterrence.” There is a strong possibility that the FTC is hinting at a possible breakup of Google as a negotiating tactic; nonetheless, it should be taken seriously.

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D*ck

 

 

Trump Roseanne
https://twitter.com/i/status/1823751458988167540

 

 

AI
https://twitter.com/i/status/1823742501884453312

 

 

Mark Jon
https://twitter.com/i/status/1823790299061030988

 

 

Lesson

 

 

Why?

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle August 13 2024

Aug 132024
 
 August 13, 2024  Posted by at 8:40 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,  59 Responses »


Claude Monet The sheltered path 1888

 

• America Is Entering End Times (Paul Craig Roberts)
• The Party Line Is a Mighty Squishy Line (Jim Kunstler)
• A Harris-Walz Administration Would Be A Nightmare for Free Speech (Turley)
• Trump’s ‘Interview Of The Century’ With Elon Musk: As It Happened (RT)
• Ex-Twitter Executive Calls For Musk To Be Arrested (RT)
• EU Threatens Elon Musk Before Trump Interview (RT)
• Trump To Sue DOJ For $100 Million Over Mar-a-Lago Raid (ZH)
• Biden: If Trump Wins, There’ll Be No Peaceful Transfer of Power (MN)
• American Stasi: Tulsi Gabbard Confirms “Quiet Skies” Nightmare (Matt Taibbi)
• Israel Runs the US. No, the US Runs Israel. No, Wait .. (Patrick Lawrence)
• Incursion Into Russia Could Spell Doom For Kiev – ex-Austrian Official (RT)
• No Talks With Kiev After Attack On Civilians – Putin (RT)
• Anyone Not Supporting Ukraine Gets Shot – Serbian Deputy PM (RT)
• Debt-Riddled Ukraine Blames ‘Slow’ US Aid, Scrambles to Pay Its Army (Sp.)
• Washington’s Web Of Lies Is Backfiring Over Venezuela (Blankenship)
• Iron Dome Failure? (ZH)
• NASA Inspector General Report Criticizes Boeing’s Quality Control (ET)

 

 

 

 

Vance Walz
https://twitter.com/i/status/1822636313754972262

 

 

Biden KKK

 

 

Crooks

 

 

Golden Voyager=Lucifer.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1822738399079674326

 

 

2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

PCR has his dark-tinted glasses on.

“With Republican fundraisers agreeing with the presstitutes that the election is a toss up, the election is perfectly set to be stolen. And it will be.”

• America Is Entering End Times (Paul Craig Roberts)

Does anyone remember the 2020 presidential campaign? Trump campaigned widely and had massive audiences. Enthusiasm was everywhere. Biden ventured out of the basement a few times and no one attended his campaign rallies. Trump got more votes in the 2020 election than he got in the 2016 election, but Biden got more votes than any president in history. Somehow the people elected an invisible candidate. In the swing states vote counting was stopped in the middle of the night while truck loads of boxes arrived, some from out of state, in Democrat controlled vote counting centers. The votes were almost entirely for Biden, and when counting resumed, Trump’s lead disappeared. The same thing is going to happen this November. Trump supporters, clearly a majority of legitimate voters, think Trump is going to win. Trump voters are energized and enthusiasm is high. Has anyone seen a Trump-sized turnout for Kamala? Trump will again win as he did in 2020, but Democrats count swing state votes, and Kamala will “win.”

As I have reported, the presstitutes are busy at work building Kamala into a formidable candidate who is in the lead, especially in the swing states. Fake polls are being reported that Kamala is the favorite. No one has explained why American voters want open borders, war with Russia and Iran, LGBT+ celebrated and normalized, white school children taught that they and their parents are racists, and that they could be born into the wrong body. As the Democrats have made completely clear, this is what Americans are voting for if they vote for Kamala. Unless the American people are further gone that I think, a majority are not voting for Kamala. She will win anyway. Biden had to go because the Democrats knew he could not run a close enough race for them to be able to again steal the election. The fact that not even the Democrats wanted Kamala last month has been consigned to the Memory Hole. Kamala is being media-created as one of the strongest presidential candidates in American history.

Republican fundraisers themselves are playing into the Democrats’ election steal. I get numerous fundraising appeals–even from the usually astute Marjorie Taylor Greene–that Trump might lose because Democrats are raising more money. The opportunistic Republican fundraisers by emphasizing Trump’s possible loss thus support the propaganda spun by the presstitutes that the race is so close that Trump can lose. Only Republicans can be this stupid. With Republican fundraisers agreeing with the presstitutes that the election is a toss up, the election is perfectly set to be stolen. And it will be. In the swing states the election theft methods have been legalized. Just as Republicans and the American people accepted the thefts of the 2020 and 2022 elections, they will accept the theft of the 2024 election. There will be no civil war or anything of the kind. The American people will have been taught that there is nothing they can do to regain their control over government. Neither will they resist when Kamala ignores the Supreme Court, which has no army, and takes away their guns.

If Americans won’t resist stolen elections, they will no more resist the cancellation of the Second Amendment than they resisted the destruction of the First Amendment. By the second year of the Kamala regime the United States will no longer exist as even a remnant of what the Founding Fathers created. The United States will be the worst tyranny ever created. My advice to young white heterosexual males is to get out of America while you still can. A holocaust is coming your way. You are demonized and reduced to second class citizenship. You can be discriminated against in university admissions, employment and promotion. You are not allowed to defend your self from racist charges, because white self-defense is considered racist, as proof of racism. The position of a white gentile heterosexual male American today is the same as that of a Jew in Nazi Germany and a Palestinian in Gaza. There is always hope, but hope requires warriors. Does America have warriors, or only submissive wimps?

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“I am in no position to predict any actual outcome, but it’s hard to imagine any winning moves by the Harris & Walz team in actual play-by-play.”

• The Party Line Is a Mighty Squishy Line (Jim Kunstler)

Does anybody know what this shape-shifting chimera passed off as “our democracy” actually is? I will tell you. Like everything else in the Democratic Party’s tool-bag these days, it’s the opposite of what it appears to mean, namely: You, the demos, give us, officialdom, the power to take whatever we like from you: your savings, your liberty, your stuff, your identity, and your posterity — because we are the boss-of-you, and don’t you forget it. . . and, by the way, the beatings will continue until morale improves. It’s really that simple, though the deceptions cooked up to hide it are convoluted to the max. Like: engineering the illegal entrance to the US of millions from other lands and then using procedural hocus-pocus such as motor-voter registration and public assistance applications (free money + automatic voter registration) to stuff the election drop-boxes with the ballots of non-citizens — who, get this, don’t even have to be the ones casting those ballots, which can just be harvested, like so many oven-ready pullets, by lowly hired shills.

If you catch onto the ruse, you’ll be instructed that borders are arbitrary roadblocks to social justice thrown up by the old white male patriarchy, and that these are “free and fair elections.” And if you object loudly enough, you lose your job, your livelihood, your Facebook account, and maybe get thrown into solitary confinement for a year. Our democracy. Meanwhile, we’re enjoying the spectacle of this evil party’s candidate selection tour with their joyful warriors/avatars, Harris and Walz — joyful because they laugh and laugh in the absence of articulating any actual views on the particulars of governance, and it’s infectious to witness all that mirth. There is, of course, an artificially strenuous air about all this hoopla. It rolls out in an alternative reality like one of those summer techno-pop raves where everyone is stoned on MDMA. The dream girl gets launched into center-stage by invisible forces and is joined by her prom king, and it’s just so heartwarming to get waved at by the grinning, hand-holding couple nobody voted for. This is your demos-free ticket!

Will anybody at the imminent Democratic National Convention notice how this all mysteriously came to be? And might there be any active consternation over it? Perhaps even a welling movement to pull the plug on this rave? You may be apt to wonder what is going on in the Chappaqua redoubt of She-Whose-Turn-Has-Been-(so far)-Thwarted, HRC, boss-of-all-girl-bosses, putatively retired from public life. She’s been awfully quiet since that night over a week ago when she was obliged on-stage somewhere to hug and air-kiss Ms. Harris, and made a face seconds after as if she had thrown up in her mouth. Is she stewing in the broth of grievance but still and nonetheless tirelessly working her phone to canvas the delegates of that looming party meet-up? She might remind them that the DNC (that is, the Democratic National Committee, Inc), went broke in 2016 and got bailed out by the Clinton Foundation checkbook, and, Jeez, we can’t seem to find any repayment check from all’y’all. It seems maybe you owe us. . . something.

And, by the way, HRC could remind said delegates: you have allowed a laughing hyena who drinks her lunch to land at the head of the ticket for the worst reasons (viz., DEI) minus any votes from the party membership, and then managed to duct-tape a China-owned, Cluster-B head-case to her as the veep sidekick. . . and maybe when all the hee-hawing and hooting dies down, you’ll discover what a pair of losers you’ve allowed to be undemocratically implanted to (ha!) represent you. And also, by the way, I happen to be available as her capable-and-experienced replacement. . . whom you can actually vote for on the convention floor, if you manage to get your shit together. . . you know. . . our democracy, and all. Just sayin’. That is, I’m just sayin’ what She might be thinkin’ (and sayin’). I am in no position to predict any actual outcome, but it’s hard to imagine any winning moves by the Harris & Walz team in actual play-by-play.

In case you have forgotten amid all the week-long laughter and euphoria, there are important national issues to discuss about how to manage the malevolent leviathan the federal government has become, and many dilemmas and threats the people face. And there are very different records of each team’s views on these things, party by party. Some of that discussion could happen in the (so far) one scheduled September 10 debate. If Mr. Trump can manage to be polite, he can press Kamala Harris to explain herself on things like the wide-open border, failure to negotiate with the Russians to end the Ukraine War, her party’s antipathy to public safety, her party’s promotion of gender identity insanity, its Gestapo-style lawfare operations, its endless hoaxes, and its disgraceful documented efforts to censor free speech. The record is pretty clear on all of that, and there’s a fair chance that Ms. Harris can’t possibly explain it away. Or laugh it off.

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“..the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express ‘the thought that we hate.’”

• A Harris-Walz Administration Would Be A Nightmare for Free Speech (Turley)

The selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as the running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris has led to intense debates over crime policy, war claims, gender identity policies and other issues. Some attacks have, in my view, been inaccurate or overwrought. However, the greatest danger from this ticket is neither speculative nor sensational. A Harris-Walz administration would be a nightmare for free speech. For over three years, the Biden-Harris administration has sustained an unrelenting attack on the freedom of speech, from supporting a massive censorship system (described by a federal court as an “Orwellian Ministry of Truth“) to funding blacklisting operations targeting groups and individuals with opposing views. President Biden made censorship a central part of his legacy, even accusing social media companies of “killing people” for failing to increase levels of censorship.

Democrats in Congress pushed that agenda by demanding censorship on subjects ranging from climate change to gender identity — even to banking policy — in the name of combatting “disinformation.” The administration also created offices like the Disinformation Governance Board before it was shut down after public outcry. But it quickly shifted this censorship work to other offices and groups. As vice president, Harris has long supported these anti-free speech policies. The addition of Walz completes a perfect nightmare for free speech advocates. Walz has shown not only a shocking disregard for free speech values but an equally shocking lack of understanding of the First Amendment. Walz went on MSNBC to support censoring disinformation and declared, “There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our democracy.”

Ironically, this false claim, repeated by many Democrats, constitutes one of the most dangerous forms of disinformation. It is being used to convince a free people to give up some of their freedom with a “nothing to see here” pitch. In prior testimony before Congress on the censorship system under the Biden administration, I was taken aback when the committee’s ranking Democrat, Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands), declared, “I hope that [all members] recognize that there is speech that is not constitutionally protected,” and then referenced hate speech as an example. That false claim has been echoed by others such as Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who is a lawyer. “If you espouse hate,” he said, “…you’re not protected under the First Amendment.” Former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean declared the identical position: “Hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment.”

Even some dictionaries now espouse this false premise, defining “hate speech” as “Speech not protected by the First Amendment, because it is intended to foster hatred against individuals or groups based on race, religion, gender, sexual preference, place of national origin, or other improper classification.” The Supreme Court has consistently rejected the claim of Gov. Walz. For example, in the 2016 Matal v. Tam decision, the court stressed that this precise position “strikes at the heart of the First Amendment. Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful; but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express ‘the thought that we hate.’” As the new Democratic vice-presidential candidate, Walz is running alongside one of the most enthusiastic supporters of censorship and blacklisting systems.

In her failed 2020 presidential bid, Harris ran on censorship and pledged that her administration “will hold social media platforms accountable for the hate infiltrating their platforms, because they have a responsibility to help fight against this threat to our democracy.” In October 2019, Harris dramatically spoke directly to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, insisting “This is not a matter of free speech….This is a matter of holding corporate America and these Big Tech companies responsible and accountable for what they are facilitating.” She asked voters to join her in the effort. They didn’t, but Harris ultimately succeeded in the Biden-Harris administration to an unprecedented degree with a comprehensive federal effort to target and silence individuals and groups on social media.

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The most shocking thing about the Musk-Trump conversation is that it took place, not so much what was said. And after a lot of DDOS and other tech issues.

• Trump’s ‘Interview Of The Century’ With Elon Musk: As It Happened (RT)

13 August 2024

02:40 GMT With the interview seemingly concluding, Musk explained to independent and undecided voters why he decided to endorse Trump. ”I’ve not been really political before…and it’s not like I;m some dyed in the wool long-term Republican,” he said, adding that he feels the upcoming election marks a “critical juncture for the country.” “A lot of people thought the Biden administration would be a moderate administration but it’s not, and I think we’re going to see an even further left administration with Kamala,” he continued. “We want to have a future that is prosperous. You are the path to prosperity, and Kamala is the opposite.” “That endorsement meant a lot to me,” Trump replied.

02:23 GMT “Biden actually did something that was impossible. Both sides hate him,” Trump said, referring to the president’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. “She’s going to be worse than him,” he continued, referring to Harris. “If you’re a person who is very pro-Israel and you vote for her, you ought to have your head examined.” Harris has attempted to court the Democratic Party’s pro-Israel establishment wing and its pro-Palestine progressive wing, with mixed results. When one of her rallies was interrupted by pro-Palestine protesters last week, Harris shushed the demonstrators, telling them “I am speaking now.”

02:18 GMT “Biden is close to vegetable stage, in my opinion,” Trump jeered, referring to photographs of the president taken in Delaware at the weekend. “He couldn’t even lift the chair. The chair is meant for children and old people. He couldn’t lift it.” Trump has repeatedly mocked Biden’s mental acuity, saying earlier in the interview that he had a “very low IQ 30 years ago,” but now he “might not have IQ at all.”

02:04 GMT Musk’s first major difference with Trump is on the subject of climate change, with the Tesla CEO arguing that the US needs to “lean toward” sustainable energy without impeding on Americans’ living standards, and Trump arguing that fossil fuels are essential in manufacturing and charging electric cars. ”Even to create your electric car and create the electricity needed for the electric car, you know, fossil fuel is what really creates that at the generating plants … so you sort of can’t get away from it at this moment,” Trump declared. However, Trump and Musk both agreed that nuclear power is an “underrated” form of green energy.

01:48 GMT Trump has vowed to close the Department of Education if elected, and pass responsibility for education back to the states. The former president complained that despite spending more money per pupil than any other developed country, the US regularly appears at the bottom of most league tables for academic performance.

01:42 GMT Musk has called on Trump to set up a “government efficiency commission” to ensure that taxpayer money is better spent, offering to help out with such a commission. Trump replied that Musk would be ideal for such a role.

01:33 GMT Trump issued a grim pronouncement on Ukraine’s prospects of success against Russia, reminding listeners that Russia managed to defeat the might of Nazi Germany, while Ukraine has been reduced to “using young men and very old men to fight.” “You don’t read about how bloody Ukraine is. Just between the two armies you’ve lost half a million people… Ukraine now doesn’t have enough men,” he said. “I could have stopped that… but we had a president saying stupid stuff, and this could end up in WWIII.”

01:31 GMT Trump said that he watched Russia’s troop buildup on the Ukrainian border in 2022 and thought Putin was attempting to gain leverage with the US. “Then Biden started saying such stupid things,” like publicly declaring that Ukraine “can be a NATO country,” Trump continued. “He said things that were so stupid…that war had zero chance of happening if I were there.”

01:27 GMT Musk and Trump have turned to foreign relations, with Musk insisting that the US must have an “intimidating” president in order to deter “evil dictators” around the world. Trump took the opportunity to talk up his relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Trump recalled his “little rocket man” dispute with Kim in 2017, laughing as he recalled how after lobbing insults at the North Korean leader, “all of a sudden I got a call from him… and we got along great.”

01:15 GMT “She’s incompetent, and he’s incompetent, and frankly I think that she’s more incompetent than he is,” Trump told Musk, referring to Harris and Biden. Trump slammed Harris for promising to secure the US’ border if elected president, despite having been in power for three years already. Musk concurred that the US should have a “smooth and efficient” legal immigration system, and that border security is “a fundamental existential issue for the United States.”

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“Before Musk’s takeover, Daisley claimed, Twitter was “joyously good fun to use,” thanks to restrictive policies that stifled “antisocial behavior.”

We only like people who agree with us. The rest we ban, boycott and arrest.

• Ex-Twitter Executive Calls For Musk To Be Arrested (RT)

Tech mogul Elon Musk should be threatened with arrest and detention if he refuses to censor right-wing content on X, the platform’s former vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa has suggested. In an op-ed published by The Guardian on Monday, Bruce Daisley lamented the free-speech idealism that Musk brought to Twitter when he bought the platform (and renamed it X) in 2022. Before Musk’s takeover, Daisley claimed, Twitter was “joyously good fun to use,” thanks to restrictive policies that stifled “antisocial behavior.” Musk must now be punished for lifting these policies and allowing right-wing thought to spread, Daisley declared. By allowing users to share content related to the recent riots in the UK, and by posting about the riots himself, Musk has “sowed discord.” “In my experience, that threat of personal sanction is much more effective on executives than the risk of corporate fines. Were Musk to continue stirring up unrest, an arrest warrant for him might produce fireworks from his fingertips, but as an international jet-setter it would have the effect of focusing his mind,” Daisley wrote.

Furthermore, British regulators should demand that right-wing influencers like Tommy Robinson be “deplatformed,” while “Britain’s Online Safety Act 2023 should be beefed up with immediate effect.” According to The Telegraph, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is considering amending the act – to punish social media companies that allow the spread of “legal but harmful” content. The act, which comes into force next year, holds social media companies liable for illegal content posted on their platforms. Drafted by the UK’s previous Conservative government, it was originally set to include a “legal but harmful” clause, but the passage was ultimately pulled after Business and Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch complained that it amounted to “legislating for hurt feelings.” London’s Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir. Mark Rowley, announced last week that his officers may charge foreigners for social media posts about the unrest.

“Being a keyboard warrior does not make you safe from the law,” he said, naming “the likes of Elon Musk” as potential targets for investigation. As of Friday, more than 700 people had been arrested and more than 300 charged over their alleged participation in the riots, which kicked off after a teenager of Rwandan descent killed three children and injured ten others in a stabbing spree in the town of Southport late last month. Of those arrested, more than 30 have been charged with online offenses, such as sharing footage of the riots or posting content that – according to the Crown Prosecutorial Service – “incites violence or hatred.” Musk has heavily criticized the response to the riots, accusing the British government of operating a “two-tier” justice system where dissent is punished more harshly than violent crime. In a post to X on Monday, he shared an excerpt from a 1946 UN resolution, stating that “freedom of information is a fundamental human right, and the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.”

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The original headline said “EU Threatens Elon Musk Over Trump Interview”, but Breton really threatened him BEFORE a single word was spoken.

• EU Threatens Elon Musk Before Trump Interview (RT)

European Commissioner Thierry Breton has ordered X owner Elon Musk to step up censorship of “harmful content” related to his upcoming interview with former US President Donald Trump, or face a “full toolbox” of legal repercussions. Musk is set to interview Trump on Monday night, with the conversation airing live on the tech mogul’s X platform. Trump made his long-anticipated return to X earlier on Monday, posting a slew of campaign videos after an almost uninterrupted three-and-a-half year hiatus from the platform. In a letter to Musk, European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton warned that Brussels will be monitoring the interview closely. Musk must ensure that “effective mitigation measures are put in place regarding the amplification of harmful content” in connection with the live interview, Breton wrote, before claiming that Musk had failed to stop the spread of such content during a recent spate of right-wing riots in the UK.

“We are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political – or societal – events around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections,” he continued. Breton did not explain whether EU regulators would blame X for allegedly inciteful comments uttered by Trump, or by X users watching the interview. Under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), X is considered a ‘Very Large Online Platform’ and is legally required to restrict the “dissemination of illegal content” and “address the spread of disinformation. The entire text of the DSA mentions the word “disinformation” 13 times without defining it.

X is already under investigation by Breton’s office for alleged breaches of the DSA, with EU regulators accusing the platform of misleading users by allowing anyone to pay for a verification checkmark, and refusing to allow its data to be scraped by “researchers.” If found liable, X could be ordered to pay a fine equal to 6% of its annual turnover. In his letter on Monday, Breton said that any “negative effect” stemming from the Trump interview could influence the investigation and the EU’s “overall assessment of X’s compliance with EU law.” Musk claimed last month that the investigation was opened because he refused to accept a “secret” censorship deal with the EU. “If we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us,” Musk said. “The other platforms accepted that deal. X did not.” Responding to Breton’s letter on Monday, Musk shared a meme containing the text: “Take a big step back and literally, f**k your own face!”

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Interesting for sure. Do read it all at ZH (click the headline).
Note: there is no way to bring this case before the election, so they can all keep -falsely- labeling Trump a “convicted felon” (he’s not).
Note 2: Trump is persecuted by Garland, Wray and Smith using taxpayers’ money, but has to defend himself with his own.
Note 3: Trump attorney Daniel Epstein sounds sharp.

• Trump To Sue DOJ For $100 Million Over Mar-a-Lago Raid (ZH)

Former President Donald Trump is set to sue the DOJ for $100 million in damages over the 2022 raid on his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida – arguing that it was done “clear intent to engage in political persecution.” According to a memo obtained by Fox News, the lawsuit will claim “tortious conduct by the United States against President Trump.” Trump and his legal team intend to sue the Justice Department for its conduct during the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, 2022, amid the federal investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records. After the raid, Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed to investigate. Smith ultimately brought 37 felony counts against Trump, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts. Last month, US District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the DOJ’s case against Trump – ruling that Smith was unlawfully appointed and funded, citing the Appointments Clause in the constitution.

The notice to sue was filed by Trump attorney Daniel Epstein, and gives the DOJ 180 days from the date of receipt to respond and come to a resolution. If no agreement is made, Trump’s case will move to federal court in the Southern District of Florida. “What President Trump is doing here is not just standing up for himself – he is standing up for all Americans who believe in the rule of law and believe that you should hold the government accountable when it wrongs you,” Epstein told Fox Business’ Lydia Hu. According to the filing, the “tortious acts against the president are rooted in intrusion upon seclusion, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process resulting from the August 8, 2022 raid of his and his family’s home at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach Florida,” adding that decisions made by the DOJ and FBI in conducting the raid were “inconsistent with protocols requiring the consent of an investigative target, disclosure to that individual’s attorneys, and the use of the local U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

Epstein further argues that decisions made by Attorney General Merrick Garland as well as FBI Director Christopher Wray were not based on “social, economic, and political policy,” but instead were in “clear dereliction of constitutional principles, inconsistent standards as applied to” Trump and a “clear intent to engage in political persecution – not to advance good law enforcement practices.” “Garland and Wray should have never approved a raid and subsequent indictment of President Trump because the well-established protocol with former U.S. presidents is to use non-enforcement means to obtain records of the United States,” wrote Epstein. “But notwithstanding the fact that the raid should have never occurred, Garland and Wray should have ensured their agents sought consent from President Trump, notified his lawyers, and sought cooperation.” “Garland and Wray decided to stray from established protocol to injure President Trump,” the filing continues.

Epstein argued that the DOJ violated Florida law, intrusion upon seclusion, which is recognized as a form of invasion of privacy. Intrusion upon seclusion includes “an intentional intrusion, physically or otherwise, into the private quarters of another person” and the intrusion “must occur in a manner that a reasonable person would find highly offensive.” -Fox News “The FBI’s demonstrated activity was inconsistent with protocols used in routine searches of an investigative target’s premises,” the filing continues, adding that Trump “had a clear expectation of privacy at Mar-a-Lago. Worse, the FBI’s conduct in the raid – where established protocol was violated – constitutes a severe and unacceptable intrusion that is highly offensive to a reasonable person.”

The filing also argues that the DOJ and special counsel’s office “brought a lawless criminal indictment,” which constitutes “malicious prosecution.” “As such, given the Supreme Court’s immunity decision and Judge Cannon’s dismissal of the prosecution on grounds that the Special Counsel’s appointment violated the appointments clause and his office was funded through an improper appropriation, there was no constitutional basis for the search or the subsequent indictment.” Trump is also planning to sue for punitive damages. “For these harms to President Trump, the respondents must pay punitive damages of $100 million,” Epstein wrote, adding that there was an “abuse of process,” and that the methods used against Trump were “unconstitutional and aimed at politically persecuting the former President, which led to extensive legal costs and negative consequences for him.”

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Joseph Robinette Biden and Sigismund Schlomo Freud.

• Biden: If Trump Wins, There’ll Be No Peaceful Transfer of Power (MN)

President Joe Biden uttered an interesting Freudian slip when he said that “if Trump wins” the election he’s not confident there’ll be a peaceful transfer of power. Biden made the remarks during an interview with CBS News. “Are you confident that there will be a peaceful transfer of power in January 2025,” Biden was asked. “If Trump wins, no, I’m not confident at all,” he responded. There then appeared to be a cut in the interview before Biden corrected himself, “I mean, if Trump loses, I’m not confident at all.”

While Biden is infamous for his verbal gaffes, many respondents on X actually believed this to be a revealing Freudian slip. As we highlighted earlier, during the same interview, Biden confirmed that high ranking Democrats pushed him out of the race, essentially corroborating the accusations of a coup. “A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races,” Biden said. The president was reportedly told by Nancy Pelosi that he would be removed either by means of “the easy way” or “the hard way,” after he desperately tried to cling onto the nomination despite being humiliated during a presidential debate with Donald Trump.

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Lawfare. Against an Iraq war veteran and current Army reservist. “..it’s bringing to the forefront… how brazen the political retaliation and abuse of power continues to be under the Biden-Harris administration.”

• American Stasi: Tulsi Gabbard Confirms “Quiet Skies” Nightmare (Matt Taibbi)

Tuesday night, while self-styled Democratic nominee Kamala Harris pledged to defend “freedom, compassion, and the rule of law” to cheers in Philadelphia, Hawaii’s Tulsi Gabbard described being tracked by teams of government agents in a surveillance regime more reminiscent of East Germany than a free country. Whistleblowing Air Marshals told Uncover DC Gabbard was singled out as a terror threat under the so-called “Quiet Skies” program, and the former presidential candidate says she noticed. “The whistleblowers’ account matches my experience,” says Gabbard. “Everything lines up to the day.” This story began two weeks ago, when the former Hawaii congresswoman returned home after a short trip abroad. In airport after airport, she and her husband Abraham Williams encountered obstacles.

First on a flight from Rome to Dallas, then a connecting flight to Austin, and later on different flights for both to cities like Nashville, Orlando, and Atlanta, their boarding passes were marked with the “SSSS” designation, which stands for “Secondary Security Screening Selection.” The “Quad-S” marker is often a sign the traveler has been put on a threat list, and Gabbard and Williams were forced into extensive “random” searches lasting as long as 45 minutes. “It happened every time I boarded,” says Gabbard. The Iraq war veteran and current Army reservist tends to pack light, but no matter. “I’ve got a couple of blazers in there, and they’re squeezing every inch of the entire collar, every inch of the sleeves, every inch of the edging of the blazers,” she says. “They’re squeezing or padding down underwear, bras, workout clothes, every inch of every piece of clothing.”

Agents unzipped the lining inside the roller board of her suitcase, patting down every inch inside the liner. Gabbard was asked to take every piece of electronics out and turn each on, including her military phone and computer. That was the other strange thing. “I use my military ID to get through security sometimes,” says Gabbard, who among other things traveled to her reservist base in Oklahoma during this period. Once, she was unable to get through security with military ID. A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent saw the “SSSS” marker. “The TSA agent said, ‘Why are you Quad-S? You’re in the military,’” explains Gabbard. “And I said, ‘That’s exactly what I’m wondering.’ Gabbard goes on: “Then I said, ‘The only thing I can think of is, I work in politics.’ And he said, oh.”

The agent told her he’d encountered supporters of a certain former president who’d had no issues traveling before, but were now “marked quad-S every time they traveled.” Gabbard shrugged and slogged through, still encountering extra security. At one flight, she says, there were “at least six TSA agents doing additional screening,” along with canine support. “There were dogs in Dallas when we got there, dogs at a couple of the gates.” She called a colleague, who told her: these things happen, don’t worry. “So I thought, ‘Maybe I’m just being paranoid,’” Gabbard says. Then she saw this past Sunday’s report in Uncover DC, a site edited by the well-known Twitter writer Tracy Beanz. Uncover interviewed Sonya LaBosco, the Executive Director of the Air Marshal National Council (AMNC), an advocacy association for Federal Air Marshals. Disclosing Gabbard had been placed on a domestic terror watch list, the former Marshal LaBosco told a disturbing story:

According to LaBosco… Gabbard is unaware she has two Explosive Detection Canine Teams, one Transportation Security Specialist (explosives), one plainclothes TSA Supervisor, and three Federal Air Marshals on every flight she boards. Uncover DC said Gabbard was initially placed on the list on July 23rd, and that trios of Air Marshals first began following her on flights on July 25th. As Racket would learn, surveillance was conducted on at least eight flights, with different three-Marshal teams for each flight, part of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) “Quiet Skies” regimen that can literally surround people with human watchers. There are “potentially 15 or more TSA uniformed and plain clothes” at a gate for such assignments, LaBosco told Racket. The story about Gabbard was surfaced by two TSA whistleblowers, including one detailed to follow her. When Gabbard read this, she felt a shock of recognition.

“When I saw that, I thought, ‘Wow, okay. So everything I was experiencing was exactly what I feared was going on,’” she says. Though clearly outraged, Gabbard stresses the important part of her story isn’t any inconvenience or insult she’s gone through. “This is not a woe-is-me situation,” she explains. Instead, “it’s bringing to the forefront… how brazen the political retaliation and abuse of power continues to be under the Biden-Harris administration.”

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“Who controlled whom that day? The immediate answer, perhaps obvious, is the terrorist at the podium..”

• Israel Runs the US. No, the US Runs Israel. No, Wait .. (Patrick Lawrence)

That deranged speech Bibi Netanyahu delivered to a joint session of Congress last month: I cannot get it entirely out of my mind. It did not change anything — neither the Israeli prime minister nor his hosts seem to desire or intend to change anything in U.S.–Israeli relations. And in this way, there is not much to say about that weird hour the world’s No. 1 terrorist — yes, think about it and tell me I’m wrong — spent at the podium under the Capitol’s rotunda. But the speech did clarify certain things, and then it raised an important question. Let us see about these matters. There is, to begin with, the question of Netanyahu’s mental stability. If we consider his many outlandish assertions — Israel has minimized civilian casualties in Gaza, Israeli soldiers are to be commended for their moral conduct, those protesting in behalf of Palestinians are probably in Iran’s pay, and so on — we must conclude that the man given to such preposterous misrepresentations is, let’s say, perpendicular to reality.

I am sure Netanyahu spoke in large measure for effect. This must be so. But I am equally sure — note the demeanor in the videos, for instance — he was certain of the truth of what he had to say. Dr. Lawrence’s diagnosis: A man consumed with resentment and hatred, who has led Israel to the brink of a cataclysmic war at the irretrievable cost of its international standing, while dragging the U.S. into it (at similar cost), suffers from severe psychosis with symptoms of paranoia and obsessive-compulsive megalomania. I do not say this to indulge some cheap denigration of one of the many contemptible political figures now walking around the Western world and its appendages. After Netanyahu’s notably strange performance in Congress July 24 — at times he seemed pure id — I say this diagnosis would hold in a clinical setting. We should all take note of this and brace ourselves accordingly. Never mind who’s driving the bus: It would be better in this case if no one were driving it.

There is also the reception Netanyahu enjoyed on Capitol Hill. Seventy-two ovations by my count, 60–odd of them standing, for a war criminal, a flouter of international law, a man who commits to waging “a seven-front war” across the Middle East? Bibi’s big theme, running all through his remarks, was congruence, the perfect alignment of Israeli and American interests. Remember? “Our enemies are your enemies, our fight is your fight, and”—here the left fist pounded—“our victory is your victory.” The response among those in attendance tells you all you need to know about what America’s lawmakers think of this idea. Netanyahu was looking merely for reaffirmation of standing arrangements at a moment when when terrorist Israel’s conduct had begun to turn more stomachs than he had bargained for. And he got what he wanted, needless to say.

This brings us to the question Netanyahu’s speech forces upon us. Does the U.S. control Israel or does Israel control the U.S.? Is the apartheid state another of Washington’s client regimes, albeit — let’s borrow a little from the Chinese — a client with Zionist characteristics? Or is Israel a case — rare, if not unique — of a distant outpost that dictates to the imperial center? The periphery exercises power over the metropole, this to say: This would have to be something new under the sun, surely. This is not a new question. A lot of people have pondered it for months, if not longer — over dining tables or on barstools or in published material on the internet. Who’s in charge, anyway? It has sometimes struck me as an absolutely classic Gordian Knot: Untie this and you will understand all. And at other times it reminds me of a Zen koan, insoluble short of a sudden satori. I haven’t, accordingly, spent much time thinking this through. To date I have concluded it is an angels-on-a-pin question and the answer does not much matter. When others bring it up, my mind drifts.

But after that shocking spectacle in Congress a few weeks ago, I don’t think I can get away with this dodge any longer. The occasion of Netanyahu’s address, his fourth before a joint session, puts all the complexities before us. Who was, in that hour, in charge — the insane man from the periphery, driven by rage, or his audience of adoring lawmakers at the imperial center, driven by… driven by what? I would say driven by greed, ideology and the work of running an imperium that is failing but has not failed yet. Who controlled whom that day? The immediate answer, perhaps obvious, is the terrorist at the podium. It cannot be lost on anyone paying attention that more or less every member of Congress in attendance — and good on the 100 or so members who boycotted — has in the past taken and continues to take money from the Israel lobby, notably but not only the profoundly antidemocratic American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the infamous AIPAC.

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They set their own trap. And walked right into it.

• Incursion Into Russia Could Spell Doom For Kiev – ex-Austrian Official (RT)

Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk Region across the border in Russia is a risky gamble that could backfire and lead to a major defeat and a loss of Western support, Gustav Gressel, a former Austrian Defense Ministry official, has told Der Spiegel. Kiev’s forces launched a major cross-border operation in Kursk Region earlier this week. Clashes in the border areas have been ongoing since last Tuesday. The Kremlin called Kiev’s move a large-scale provocation and accused Ukrainian troops of indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. The Russian Defense Ministry has stated on multiple occasions that Ukrainian attempts to penetrate deeper into the region have been thwarted. Nevertheless, Kiev’s troops are still present in some border settlements in Kursk Region where heavy fighting continues, according to the ministry. Gressel, who is currently a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, described Kiev’s actions as a “risky strategy.”

“If Ukraine wants to hold the area for several months, this will result in military costs that are hardly sustainable,” the expert, who previously served in the Austrian military, explained. Extending the front line “benefits Russia first and foremost,” he said an interview published on Saturday. The incursion failed to force Russia to divert forces away from its ongoing major offensive in Donbass, where Moscow’s troops continue to gain ground. Ukraine’s units in the area are “pretty worn out” and are in dire need of reinforcements, according to the expert. Moscow “has more weapons, ammunition and personnel that it can deploy to a longer frontline. Ukraine’s advantage of surprise could quickly turn into a disadvantage,” said Gressel, who also held a post in the Bureau for Security Policy of the Austrian Defense Ministry.

The worst-case scenario for Kiev would be a defeat both in Kursk Region and Donbass, the expert warned. According to Gressel, Ukraine is hoping its operation on Russian soil will lift the morale both of its soldiers and the Ukrainian population, and, he believes, it will not give up on it even in the face of Russia’s military superiority. Russia would then “first hold Ukraine back and then wear it down” as Kiev would pour its limited resources into the operation. “Ukraine could be seen as an unreliable daredevil,” Gressel said, adding that Kiev’s forces in Donbass “would run out of strength” as well. “There would be major territorial losses there.” Kiev’s Western backers such as Germany and the US would also likely reduce their support under these circumstances or even withdraw it completely, the expert warned. “The Kursk maneuver could herald the end of Ukraine militarily,” Gressel stated.

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“The enemy will receive a worthy response. All of our goals will undoubtedly be achieved.”

• No Talks With Kiev After Attack On Civilians – Putin (RT)

Any peace talks with Ukraine are impossible as long as it conducts strikes on civilian populations and threatens nuclear power plants, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. Speaking at a meeting with senior officials on Monday, Putin addressed Ukraine’s recent incursion into the border region of Kursk, as well as a drone strike that damaged Russia’s Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. He suggested that Ukraine’s most recent actions show why it has refused to revisit plans to settle the conflict based on either on a Russian proposal, or roadmaps presented by neutral parties. Apparently, the enemy, relying on the help of its Western masters… is striving to improve its negotiating positions in the future. But how can we talk about negotiations with those who conduct indiscriminate strikes on civilians, civilian infrastructure, or try to threaten nuclear energy facilities?

Putin went on to say that one of Kiev’s main goals in Kursk is to divert attention from Donbass, where Russian forces have been steadily gaining ground in recent months. “But what are the results? The pace of offensive operations… not only have not slowed down, but on the contrary increased by one and a half times.” By striking into Kursk Region, Ukraine also sought to undermine the morale of the Russian population, but also achieved contrary results, Putin said, noting an increased stream of volunteers to join the military and defend the border.

Moscow’s main goal at this stage is to drive back the Ukrainian forces from Russian territory. “The enemy will receive a worthy response. All of our goals will undoubtedly be achieved.” Ukraine launched an attack on Kursk Region last week, the largest cross-border assault since the outbreak of the conflict, with media reports suggesting that the offensive involved some of Kiev’s best-equipped brigades. While Ukrainian forces made some gains, the Russian Defense Ministry said the advance had been halted. The Russian military has estimated Kiev’s losses at around 1,600 troops and 200 armored vehicles. On Sunday, Moscow accused Kiev of launching a drone attack on Russia’s Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, which damaged one of its cooling towers.

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“..something happens to everyone calling for a peaceful resolution on Ukraine, they get shot at.”

• Anyone Not Supporting Ukraine Gets Shot – Serbian Deputy PM (RT)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is risking his life by refusing to back Western nations on the Ukraine conflict, a senior member of his government has claimed. Serbia, a traditional Russian ally, has declined to impose sanctions on Russia or support the policies of the US and Kiev’s other backers. Brussels in-turn has insisted that Belgrade’s aspiration to join the EU will not be realized unless it changes course. In an interview with Russia’s RIA Novosti published on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin said that Serbian authorities are concerned about the president’s safety, following attempts on the lives of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and former US President Donald Trump. “After the attempt on Mr. Fico, and later Trump, I told Vucic to be on guard,” Vulin said, “that’s because something happens to everyone calling for a peaceful resolution on Ukraine, they get shot at.”

In May, Fico, a vocal critic of the Western Ukraine policy, survived a shooting by a 71-year-old man. His government blamed incendiary rhetoric by opposition politicians for motivating the shooter. Trump, who claims he could end the Ukraine conflict in 24 hours if reelected, was grazed by a bullet during a presidential campaign rally in July. The shooter was killed by a counter-sniper. US investigators have not disclosed any suspected motive for the attempted assassination. Vulin also criticized organizers of a mass protest which took place in Belgrade last Saturday, claiming that its ultimate goal may be to topple the Serbian government. “As we know, [sometimes] ouster [of the national leader] means not only the change of power, but also physical elimination of the person imbued with the power,” the minister said.

The demonstration, which attracted some 27,000 protesters, according to government estimates, was staged in opposition to a project to develop lithium mining, which critics claim will cause massive environmental damage. Belgrade granted a license to extract the valuable metal to the British-Australian company Rio Tinto in 2022, but later revoked it following public pressure. The project resumed last month, however, after a Serbian court overruled the government’s decision. President Vucic intends to put the issue to a referendum. Vucic also said last week that the Russian government had warned Serbian authorities that the rally may be a cover for a ‘color revolution’ – a hostile foreign operation that uses anti-government demonstrations and spiraling public disorder to force regime change.

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“To fill the gaping hole of military expenses, the official claimed, Ukraine will have to fall back on unpopular measures such as cutting spending, selling state assets, and hiking up taxes..”

• Debt-Riddled Ukraine Blames ‘Slow’ US Aid, Scrambles to Pay Its Army (Sp.)

An increasingly debt-riddled and ingrate Ukraine is starting to turn on its Western sponsors, blaming them for lagging weapons deliveries to bolster the ongoing proxy war. Kiev is particularly faulting the US for its huge budget deficit, which has brought Ukraine to the brink of default. A US loan payout worth $50 billion needs to be accelerated, the Zelensky regime’s Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko told the Financial Times. According to him, it’s the slow delivery of NATO weapons, especially from Washington, that is to blame for the $12 billion rise in military spending. While the US Congress approved $27 billion in direct US military aid in April this year, Marchenko bemoaned the fact that its disbursement was too “slow.” With the Western cash infusion delayed, the regime was forced to dip into its own coffers to buy weapons and ammunition, he was quoted as saying, using up money set aside “to cover salaries for our troops.”

To fill the gaping hole of military expenses, the official claimed, Ukraine will have to fall back on unpopular measures such as cutting spending, selling state assets, and hiking up taxes. The Ukrainian government has proposed a rise in its tax charged on people’s salaries from 1.5% to 5%. Ukraine’s national debt has almost doubled under Zelensky. According to the country’s Finance Ministry, its state debt amounted to $152.2 billion by July, a record 88.4% of GDP. The main growth is due to Ukraine’s external debt, which increased by $59.5 billion to reach $103.7. The domestic debt increased by $14.4 billion to $40.5 billion. The $50 billion that Ukraine is clamoring for is to be finalized by the Group of Seven this year.

In June, the G7 countries agreed during their summit in Italy to provide the funds by utilizing revenues generated from the interest on Russia’s $325 billion in assets illegally frozen in countries of the collective West. Most of these assets are held at Belgium’s Euroclear. However, talks between the US and EU on finalizing the $50 billion loan have stalled. Furthermore, there has been a lack of unanimity within the European bloc, as Hungary has repeatedly objected to the use of Russian frozen assets for funding NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine. Time is of the essence for the neo-Nazis lodged in Kiev as they suffer combat failures on the front line and manpower shortages. They are also hounded by fears that a potential triumph by Republican candidate Donald Trump in the US presidential election in November could throw a wrench in the works. Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut off US aid to Ukraine.

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“The days preceding the election showed a monumental advantage that Nicolas Maduro and the PSUV had over the opposition in terms of manpower and the sheer strength of its electoral mobilization.”

• Washington’s Web Of Lies Is Backfiring Over Venezuela (Blankenship)

The 2024 presidential election in Venezuela, held on July 28, has stirred international concern – much like the preceding elections in the Caribbean state. A clear divide has emerged, with the United States and its allies supporting the opposition, while countries in the emerging multipolar world order are backing President Nicolas Maduro. In much the same way that the US and its allies have disputed the legitimacy of Maduro’s presidency since the 2018 election, spurring an artificial “presidential crisis” with former opposition leader Juan Guaido recognized by Washington as the “legitimate” president, the West is doing this again with former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez.The opposition has released copies of official tally sheets collected by poll watchers from most of the nation’s polling centers. The sheets show an apparent landslide victory of 80% for Gonzalez, a claim that is now being widely circulated and amplified by the Western press.

Meanwhile, the results released by the National Electoral Council showed a narrow victory for Maduro with 52%, resulting in opposition protests. The Venezuelan government has criminalized such demonstrations and moved to stamp down opposition leaders. Given the state of the Venezuelan economy and widespread poverty, it is not outside the realm of basic reason that Maduro could have actually lost. Researchers, including Steve Levitsky, an expert on democracy at Harvard University, have also noted how improbable the official results are. He told the New York Times that this recent vote is “one of the most egregious electoral frauds in modern Latin American history.” But others disagree. Denis Rogatyuk, a reporter with El Ciudadano who covered the election for the independent media platform, told RT: “The days preceding the election showed a monumental advantage that Nicolas Maduro and the PSUV had over the opposition in terms of manpower and the sheer strength of its electoral mobilization.”

“The closing rallies for President Maduro drew in crowds six to seven times larger than those of Gonzalez and Machado. And the second bulletin released by the CNE on August 2nd, showing 6,408,844 votes for Maduro, aligns perfectly with this notion, and the fact that the combined membership of the PSUV and its allied parties is just over 6 million as well,” he concluded. However, the more interesting dynamic with regard to the situation in Venezuela is the fact that the US is failing to garner the requisite support needed to apply the pressure it wants on Caracas. It shows a dwindling of American soft power in what was once considered the empire’s backyard. For example, the situation in Bolivia in 2019, in which former President Evo Morales was forced to resign in the wake of widespread pressure from the police and military after international interference, has clearly left a sour taste in Latin Americans’ collective mouths.

The three most prominent countries in the region – Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia – have not condemned Maduro. In fact, the Organization of American States (OAS), which had previously passed a resolution against Morales in 2019, failed to pass a resolution over the situation in Venezuela. While 17 members voted to condemn Maduro, 11 abstained – including Brazil and Colombia – and five delegations, including Mexico, skipped the session altogether. The OAS needed 18 votes to pass it. Even the European Union has failed to muster support after Hungary blocked a joint statement by the bloc that would have cited “flaws and irregularities” in the election, forcing EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to publish it in a personal capacity.

What we see here is a classic case of the boy who cried wolf. The US has continually cried wolf over alleged breakdowns of democracy in Latin America, using its soft power to thwart independent governments through international forums and mafia diplomacy. It has spawned coup after coup, leaving nothing but destruction and destitution in its wake. People in the hemisphere – and indeed the world – are sick of injustice and maltreatment. This time, Washington may have actually been right. It could be the case that Maduro lost in this election. It could also not be the case, and that is well-established by the fact that the US and its henchmen are pathological liars. In any case, wherever objective truth may lie, no one believes Uncle Sam’s claims anymore, evidently because he has abused his power for too long in his cynical pursuit of domination.

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“..it is clear from widely circulating videos (though unverified) that many of them got through Israel’s sophisticated anti-air systems.”

• Iron Dome Failure? (ZH)

Hezbollah has fired dozens of rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel, calling it retaliation for Israeli attacks last week. Israel’s military says its Iron Dome defence system intercepted some, but not all, of the projectiles. In the overnight and early morning hours Hezbollah pounded northern Israel and the Western Galilee with at least 30 rockets. While Israel’s military says intercepted some of the rockets, it is clear from widely circulating videos (though unverified) that many of them got through Israel’s sophisticated anti-air systems.

A number of regional analysts are remarking on the utter failure of Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system during the salvo; however, Ynet says many rockets struck open fields and uninhabited areas, causing fires. Lebanese Hezbollah said the target was an IDF military installation near Kibbutz Ga’aton. The Israeli side reported no casualties in the wake of the overnight assault. A regional source indicates that “One of Israel’s interceptors hit the Hydro Therapy Centre located in the Mount Hermon region, damaging a building.” The Iran-backed Lebanese paramilitary group has been vowing revenge for the assassination strike by Israel of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut on July 30.

The next day, an Israeli operation in Tehran killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Israel says it is busy strengthening defenses ahead of the still anticipated Iranian response, which is expected to include stepped-up Hezbollah action. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told a meeting of defense leader, “We are in the days of vigilance and readiness, the threats from Tehran and Beirut may materialize and it is important to explain to everyone that readiness, preparedness, and vigilance are not synonyms for fear and panic.” As for the claims of the Iron Dome utterly failing in the latest attack, others pointed to the following video, which like the above remains unverified…

Israeli officials are meanwhile monitoring Lebanese media reports which say Hezbollah has entirely evacuated its Beirut headquarters in anticipation of a significant flareup. Some Hezbollah-aligned Lebanese politicians have also issued new threats: Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon and a staunch Hezbollah ally, says of a tensely anticipated joint Iranian and Hezbollah attack on Israel that “revenge is a dish best served cold.” He warns that the “response is inevitable” after the recent killings of top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

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It’s not just the civil aviation sector, the rot is everywhere at Boeing.

• NASA Inspector General Report Criticizes Boeing’s Quality Control (ET)

NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has raised concerns over quality control and standards at plane maker Boeing and its efforts to help the space agency return astronauts to the Moon. A report from NASA’s OIG released on Aug. 8 focuses on the Space Launch System (SLS) version 1B—the powerful heavy-lift rocket system that NASA plans to use to send the crewed Orion spacecraft and large cargo to the Moon in 2028 as part of the Artemis IV mission. According to NASA’s report, a “critical component” of this upgrade is Boeing’s development of the SLS’s new upper stage, the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), which will aid in sending the Orion on its mission. Once it is complete, EUS will give the SLS a 40 percent upgrade in carrying capability, going from 27 metric tons under Block 1—the SLS rocket’s first iteration—to 38 metric tons with Block 1B, according to the report.

However, progress on the SLS, which has been under development since 2014, has been plagued with issues, including Boeing’s “ineffective quality management and inexperienced workforce,” along with continued cost increases and schedule delays, the report said. As part of its report, NASA’s OIG interviewed officials at NASA Headquarters, Marshall Space Flight Center, Boeing, and DCMA between August 2023 through May 2024. It also visited the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, to observe the SLS core stage and EUS production. The OIG found that Boeing’s quality management system at Michoud “does not adhere” to international standards established under the global association SAE International. The report pointed to 71 “Corrective Action Requests”(CARs) issued by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) at Michoud between 2021 and 2023 to address “deficiencies in quality.”

NASA’s OIG said this is a “high number of CARs for a space flight system at this stage in development and reflects a recurring and degraded state of product quality control.” “Boeing’s process to address deficiencies to date has been ineffective, and the company has generally been nonresponsive in taking corrective actions when the same quality control issues reoccur,” the report said. The report highlights other issues, including “foreign object debris ” identified inside the SLS Core Stage 2 liquid hydrogen fuel tank.The debris included “metal shavings, Teflon, and other debris on and underneath the entry platform and ladder assembly on the forward dome panels inside of the tank.” “Foreign object debris can damage hardware and potentially injure flight crew when entrapped within crewed flight articles,” the report stated. The liquid hydrogen fuel tank was subsequently cleaned, reinspected, and found to meet standards, according to the report.

In another incident during its visit to Michoud in April 2023, the OIG said it observed substandard welding on a liquid oxygen fuel tank dome, a critical component of the SLS Core Stage 3. The report said that on another occasion, Boeing officials “incorrectly approved hardware processing under unacceptable environmental conditions.” Boeing’s EUS contract has soared from the initially agreed-upon cost of $962 million in 2017 to over $2 billion through 2025, and the company’s delivery of the EUS to NASA has been postponed six years from an initial February 2021 date established in 2016 to April 2027, the report stated. “Given Boeing’s quality management and its related workforce challenges, we are concerned these factors could potentially impact the safety of the SLS and Orion spacecraft including its crew and cargo,” it concluded.

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Right after 9/11, there was a clip in which Larry Silverstein said: “We decided to pull the building” (WTC7). To do that, you need to first have it fitted out with explosives. Takes days. But why were there explosives there? And if WTC7, what about the others? I stopped following 9/11 “news” right there and then.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1822601565577883747

 

 

Dog kisses

 

 

Elephant

 

 

Lots a frens
https://twitter.com/i/status/1822668304856785284

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle October 21 2023

Oct 212023
 
 October 21, 2023  Posted by at 8:44 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  40 Responses »


Pablo Picasso Les femmes d’Alger 1955

 

• US State Department Arms Transfers Chief Resigns Over Israel (RT)
• Russia’s Neutrality Ballet On Israel-Palestine (Pepe Escobar)
• Scott Ritter: Hamas ‘Laid Trap’ for Israel as US Cannot Replenish Iron Dome (Sp.)
• Biden Speech ‘Awkwardly Militaristic, Threatening’ – Former DoD Analyst s(Sp.)
• Biden Speech Embodied ‘America Last’ Policy – Ex-Diplomat (Sp.)
• Iran’s Missile Program (DD)
• Western Leaders Complicit in Israeli War Crimes and Genocide (SCF Op-ed)
• White House Proposes To Cut Ukraine Financial Support (RT)
• Washington Pressures Israel To Delay Gaza Ground Op – Bloomberg (RT)
• Blind Israel Support Makes US Global Pariah – Analyst (Sp.)
• How Von Der Leyen Discredited The EU In The Israel-Palestine Conflict (Fomenko)
• NATO Envoys Hold ’Emergency Meeting’ Over Putin-Orban Talks – Media (RT)
• “The Whole George Floyd Story Was A Lie”: Tucker Carlson (ZH)
• The Trump Gag Order Should Be Struck Down (Turley)

 

 

 

 

IDF
https://twitter.com/i/status/1715135551672901890

 

 

Rogan

 

 

 

 

Channel 4

 

 

Brook Jackson
https://twitter.com/i/status/1715408401071530101

 

 

Biden’s request to Congress includes:
$14 billion for Israel
$60 billion for Ukraine
$10 billion for general humanitarian aid
$7 billion for the Indo-Pacific
$100 million for Gaza
$14 billion to process illegals faster at the border

 

 

 

 

A thinking man.

“I believe that in our current course with regards to the continued – indeed, expanded and expedited – provision of lethal arms to Israel – I have reached the end of that bargain..”

• US State Department Arms Transfers Chief Resigns Over Israel (RT)

A senior official in the US Department of State responsible for weapons transfers has resigned in protest, stating that Washington’s rush to arm Israel was “shortsighted, destructive, unjust, and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse.” Josh Paul had served as the director of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM) for more than 11 years. On Wednesday, he published his resignation letter on his LinkedIn profile. Huffington Post was the first major news outlet to report it on the same day. Paul said he took the job knowing that it entailed “moral complexity and moral compromises” and strived to make sure that “the harm I might do could be outweighed by the good I could do.” “I believe that in our current course with regards to the continued – indeed, expanded and expedited – provision of lethal arms to Israel – I have reached the end of that bargain,” he explained his decision.

Washington was repeating the same mistakes that it made for decades, he wrote. The policy is “an impulsive reaction built on confirmation bias, political convenience, intellectual bankruptcy, and bureaucratic inertia.” The letter cited Paul’s academic experience in the Middle East and official work with Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He said he had “deep personal ties” to both sides of the conflict, and denounced the biased approach, which he claimed obfuscates wrongdoing by the party that the US is partnered with. Paul condemned the murder of civilians by “terrorists” whether the victims “dance at a rave” or “harvest their olive grove” and the kidnapping of children “whether taken at gunpoint from their kibbutz or taken at gunpoint from their village.”

Collective punishment is an enemy of the desire to build a better world, “whether it involves demolishing one home, or one thousand; as too is ethnic cleansing; as too is occupation; as too is apartheid,” he stated. Violence escalated in the region after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into southern Israel this month, killing hundreds of people and capturing scores of hostages. Paul described the raid as “a monstrosity of monstrosities” in his letter. Israel responded by ramping up its blockade of Gaza and subjecting it to intense bombardment. The Israeli government said it was determined to “obliterate” Hamas. US President Joe Biden visited Israel on the day Paul tendered his resignation letter, pledging to ask Congress to allocate additional aid to meet the ally’s military needs. He will reportedly ask for $10 billion in emergency spending this week.

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“All three West Asian powers are Muslim-majority states, important affiliations for a multipolar Russia that hosts its own sizable Muslim population.”

• Russia’s Neutrality Ballet On Israel-Palestine (Pepe Escobar)

Is it possible that the philo-Semitic Russian President Vladimir Putin is slowly but surely re-evaluating his geopolitical assessment of Israel? To call this the key riddle in Moscow’s corridors of power is actually an understatement. There are no outward signs of such a seismic shift – at least when it comes to the officially “neutral” Russian position on the intractable Israel-Palestine drama. Except for one stunning statement last Friday at the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Summit in Bishkek, when Putin blasted Israel’s “cruel methods” employed to blockade Gaza, and compared it with “the siege of Leningrad during World War Two.” “That’s unacceptable,” declared the Russian president, and warned that when all of Gaza’s 2.2 million civilians “have to suffer, including women and children, it’s hard for anyone to agree with this.”

Putin’s comments may have been one hint at the changes underway in the frustratingly opaque Russia-Israel relationship. A close second is this very important article published last Friday on Vzglyad, a security strategy website close to the Kremlin, diplomatically titled “Why Russia remains neutral in the conflict in the Middle East.” It’s crucial to note that only six months ago and mirroring a near consensus among Russia’s intelligence community, Vzglyad editors were calling for Moscow to shift its considerable political weight toward supporting the number one issue for the Arab and Islamic worlds. The article noted the key points Putin voiced in Bishkek: there’s no alternative to negotiations; Tel Aviv was subjected to a brutal attack and has the right to defend itself; a real settlement is possible only via an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.

The Russian president favors the UN’s original “two states” solution and believes that a Palestinian state should be established “by peaceful means.” But, as much as the conflict was “a direct result of the failed policy of the United States in the Middle East,” Putin rejects Tel Aviv’s plans to launch a ground operation in Gaza. This qualified hedging is certainly not evidence of Putin swinging to what is a near consensus among the General Staff, the siloviki in several intel agencies, and his ministry of defense: They consider that Israel may be a de facto enemy of the Russian Federation, allied with Ukraine, the US and NATO. Tel Aviv has been extremely cautious not to frontally antagonize Russia in Ukraine, and this may be a direct consequence of the notoriously cordial relations between Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Yet way more consequential than Israel on the geopolitical chessboard are Moscow’s evolving relations with Arab states today, especially OPEC+ partner Saudi Arabia which has helped thwart western efforts to control oil prices. Also highly central to Russia’s regional policymaking is its strategic partnership with Iran, which has reaped dividends in Syria and the Caucasus, and which helps contain US expansionism. Finally, Moscow’s complex, multi-layered, back-and-forth with Ankara is crucial to Russian economic and geopolitical ambitions in Eurasia. All three West Asian powers are Muslim-majority states, important affiliations for a multipolar Russia that hosts its own sizable Muslim population.

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“..if Hezbollah comes in with everything they have, they will seize northern Israel in its totality, all the way up to the Sea of Galilee. Syria will recapture the Golan Heights, and there isn’t anything Israel can do to stop it.”

• Scott Ritter: Hamas ‘Laid Trap’ for Israel as US Cannot Replenish Iron Dome (Sp.)

The US cannot give Israel the arms it needs for a war with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran — or even maintain its own forces — says a military veteran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared war on the Hamas movement that rules in the besieged Gaza Strip in the wake of the surprise attack by several allied militant groups on October 7. The incursion and subsequent skirmishes — including with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas on Israel’s northern border – has left almost 300 Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) troops dead with 200 more held captive in Gaza. around 1,000 Israeli civilians were also killed. That represents Israel’s worst losses since its 1982 invasion of southern Lebanon. Tel Aviv has called up some 350,000 IDF reservists and has bombed Gaza for almost two weeks in preparation for a ground offensive, which Economy Minister Nir Barkat said had been given the “green light” on Thursday.

But that invasion has yet to materialise. Former US Marine and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter told Sputnik the IDF simply “can’t go into Gaza.” “If they go into Gaza, they will be slaughtered by Hamas who has deliberately set this trap,” Ritter stressed. “Hamas is waiting for them to come in. Hamas will kill them in large numbers.” Along with the risk of heavy casualties in Gaza, Israel is wary of Hezbollah’s threat to launch a major attack from the north if the IDF goes in. “Israel cannot beat Hezbollah,” Ritter argued. “There’s a real likelihood that if Hezbollah comes in with everything they have, they will seize northern Israel in its totality, all the way up to the Sea of Galilee. Syria will recapture the Golan Heights, and there isn’t anything Israel can do to stop it.”

US president Joe Biden visited Tel Aviv on Wednesday to pledge unqualified support to Israel — while endorsing Netanyahu’s claim that it was a stray Islamic Jihad rocket that killed 471 Palestinian refugees at the al-Ahli Baptist hospital in Gaza, not an Israeli bomb or missile. Israel has asked Washington for large quantities of military equipment and munitions, including tens of thousands of 155mm-calibre artillery shells previously earmarked for Ukraine, and as many missiles for its Iron Dome air defense system — used to intercept rockets launched from Gaza — as the US could supply. “Israel has exhausted its Iron Dome. They sent an emergency request to the United States for all of the Iron Dome ammunition we had,” Ritter noted. But while “Israel’s hoping to get several thousand rounds, maybe 10,000 rounds,” all the US could offer was “360-some odd. That’s all we have.”

“Hamas will exhaust that in one night, firing two salvos of 150 rockets each. That’s it,” he warned. “And Hezbollah’s sitting on a stockpile of tens of thousands. And if they fire these… and Israel has nothing to knock them down, that means Hamas will eviscerate Israel will destroy Israel’s leadership capacity, industrial capacity, military capacity.” Ritter said Israel’s leaders had “backed themselves into a corner” by vowing to destroy Hamas, a goal they have failed to achieve several times in the past. “They’ve let their rhetoric get the better of them,” he said, noting that even Biden had told Netanyahu to “calm down.”

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“..and how great it was that in these wars we support – we don’t have to die in them, that is for the Ukrainians and the Israelis..”

• Biden Speech ‘Awkwardly Militaristic, Threatening’ – Former DoD Analyst (Sp.)

Joe Biden’s speech from the Oval Office on Thursday was at once “militaristic”, “threatening”, steeped in “self-aggrandizement”, and permeated with “direct lies”, retired Lt-Col Karen Kwiatkowski, a former analyst for the US Department of Defense, told Sputnik. Joe Biden’s slurred address to the nation, conceived as an impassioned plea to support Israel and Ukraine, also appeared to have been pre-recorded, suggested Kwiatkowski, who noticed a glitch in the footage. It would hardly be surprising if that were the case, bearing in mind how prone the 80-year-old POTUS is for making gaffe-riddled public statements. In his rare address on Thursday, Biden announced he would be sending a budget request to Congress to “fund America’s national security needs.”

By that he meant sending further support to the ongoing NATO proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, and aiding Israel in its fight against Hamas. Previous reports indicated that the additional funding request may include as much as $60 billion in aid to the Kiev regime and a total of $40 billion in aid for Tel Aviv, as well as Taiwan and the US-Mexico border. The US President underscored that the bill he is sending to Congress will help Israel “have what they need” and will “sharpen” their qualitative military edge, including helping to fund their Iron Dome defense system. Biden likened Russia’s military operation in Ukraine to hostilities between Palestine and Israel, and warned that if the US were to step away from aiding Ukraine, “conflict and chaos could spread” abroad.

“That’s why tomorrow I’m going to send to Congress an urgent budget request to fund America’s national security needs – needs to support our critical partners, including Israel and Ukraine. It’s a smart investment that’s gonna pay dividends for American security for generations,” Biden said. Biden’s martial speech making the case for pumping further aid to Ukraine, and for supporting Israel, ended with the words “God protect our troops”, Kwiatkowski pointed out. “It is usually ‘God Bless America’… His ending tonight is unusual, especially given that the wars he is talking about in Ukraine and Israel are not covered by any existing US mutual defense treaties. Congress certainly has not declared war, or even approved US troops – and Biden himself noted that we give this ‘aid’ that he supports and is asking for as an ‘investment’ in America’s own upgrade of its military capacity. He mentioned several states where military weapons and munitions are made, and how great it was that in these wars we support – we don’t have to die in them, that is for the Ukrainians and the Israelis,” the former DoD analyst said.

[..] Biden, who recently visited Israel to show his support for the long-time non-NATO ally, “coughed when he spoke of concern and protection of innocents in Gaza, under the laws of war,” Kwiatkowski said. “He also curiously spoke of the United States as a beacon of freedom of religion and speech – even as he was asking for billions more to send to countries where churches and religions are being banned, where elections are suspended, and the allied governments’ – in Tel Aviv and in Kiev – intolerance and war against different ethnicities, religions and cultures reminds the world of 1939 Germany,” Kwiatkowski emphasized.

As to the “lies” littering Biden’s speech, the former DoD analyst pointed to his reporting to the nation that “the Ukrainian Army has taken back 50 percent of the territory initially taken by Russia”, and said that that did not ring true. Surprised that Biden’s speechwriters even allowed this to remain in his address, Kwiatkowski continued: “I understand that the line of demarcation between Russian and Ukrainian troops is roughly what it was last year, and that the summer counteroffensive was a net loss to Ukraine. I’m not sure how they are going to explain that 50% of territory taken back by Kiev.”

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“..validated George Kennan’s view that the United States is similar to one of those prehistoric monsters with a body as long as this room and a brain the size of a pin,”

• Biden Speech Embodied ‘America Last’ Policy – Ex-Diplomat (Sp.)

President Joe Biden’s nationally broadcast speech seeking broad support for stepping up already huge levels of US aid to Ukraine and Israel was another unthinking, reflexive expression of the globalist mindset that has been destroying the US economy and society over the past several decades in pursuit of crazed international goals, former State Department diplomat James Carden said. “The speech will be remembered, if at all, as a perfect encapsulation of the ‘America Last’ mindset of our ruling class, which privileges foreign countries over middle and working class Americans,” Carden said. The US president said he was requesting that Congress fund renewed supplies of weapons and other aid to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s regime in Ukraine and he was linking that goal with pushing through a parallel enormous increased aid package to Israel as it prepares to invade Gaza to eliminate Hamas.

However, Carden pointed out that Biden paid no attention to the out of control crime, security, economic, social and drug crises now sweeping the United States. “Biden spent no time at all addressing the sufferings of the domestic communities that have been destroyed over the past three decades by free trade agreements, endless wars and an open border policy that has flooded the country with fentanyl and opioids which are killing what little remains of their communities”, Carden said. The almost-81-year-old president gave no hint of new thinking, moderation, compromise or flexibility in his address, Carden added. “Biden’s speech signals that there will be no rethinking US policy toward Ukraine or the Middle East,” he said, adding that instead, the “strategic assumptions in the speech were absurd and obsolete”.

Biden’s comments “validated George Kennan’s view that the United States is similar to one of those prehistoric monsters with a body as long as this room and a brain the size of a pin,” Carden added. sThe Biden administration is requesting from Congress funds in the amount of $106 billion, primarily for the defense needs of Ukraine and Israel, but also for strengthening the United States’ position in the Indo-Pacific and for operations on the southern US border. Of the total sum, the administration is requesting more than $60 billion for Ukraine.

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X thread. “Russia has openly shown interest in Iranian missiles, not the other way round..”

• Iran’s Missile Program (DD)

About the expiry of the UN’s resolution regarding Iran’s missile program Some have commented and shared news that due to the expiry of the UN’s resolution on Iranian missiles, Russia can now freely export missiles to Iran, which is technically true. However, they also claim more specifically and without evidence, that Russian hypersonic missiles are ‘probably’ already arriving in Iranian ports. First of all, Iran has their own domestically produced hypersonic missile (Fatah HGV) which was released earlier this year, they don’t need Russian ones, and there is no evidence to suggest that Iran has expressed any interest in Russian missiles, and they’re definitely not already arriving in Iranian ports. This whole story was made up on the spot and based on a false premise, and to be honest I don’t know where it came from.

Second of all, whoever wrote that Iran will be interested in obtaining Russian missile technology, is seeing it the wrong way. The significance of the expiry of this UN charter was not for Russia to be able to export to Iran, but for Iran to be able to export to Russia. Iranian missiles are known to be extremely accurate, hard to intercept, and most importantly cost effective. This is why Russia has openly shown interest in Iranian missiles, not the other way round. Iran’s ballistic missile industry is fully domestic and self sufficient, and Iran does not seek to acquire any foreign missiles, as this is not needed. However, cooperation in the field of technological development, specifically when it comes to increasing the missile’s range, cannot be excluded.

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“Biden and the parade of other Western politicians to Israel to embrace the warmongering regime of Benjamin Netanyahu is a disgusting spectacle. It is a parade of criminals and psychopaths.”

• Western Leaders Complicit in Israeli War Crimes and Genocide (SCF Op-ed)

What needs to be recognized is that the Israeli state has been waging a murderous occupation against Palestinians for decades since the violent establishment of the state in 1948. The sordid inception of Israel was a deal worked out by British and American imperialism to cover up for their own guilt of anti-Semitism and manipulation of Arab nations. The Palestinians paid the price and continue to pay the price. bWestern states, primarily the United States, have given Israeli regimes a license to continue and expand their occupation in flagrant violation of international law. Washington has used the Israeli state as a garrison to project its imperialist power in the oil-rich Middle East. When that crime is resisted by Palestinians the acts of defiance are desperate and bloody. No one can condone the killing of innocent civilians. But one has to understand the systematic conditions for violence and the hegemonic power play that ensures no peace can ever be achieved.

Ending the cycle of violence means ending the Western-sponsored Israeli occupation and genocidal repression against the Palestinians. The denial of national rights and statehood to Palestinians is unacceptable but this prolonged denial is partly why there is no peace in that region. Russia, China and most other nations of the world recognize that there must be justice for Palestinians if there is ever to be peace. For Western leaders to keep invoking Israel’s right to self-defense is a cynical distortion of reality. An illegal, brutal occupying regime does not have such a right. It is an oxymoron and an insult on top of injury. Biden and the parade of other Western politicians to Israel to embrace the warmongering regime of Benjamin Netanyahu is a disgusting spectacle. It is a parade of criminals and psychopaths.

Netanyahu had the gall to describe this week’s situation as “the world’s darkest hour”. How right he is, but for completely opposite reasons. When men, women and children are being butchered and the killers are openly backed by Western governments then that situation certainly amounts to a “darkest hour”. The war crimes being committed in Gaza and the West Bank are comparable to the murderous conduct of the Nazi Third Reich. And yet the Zionist regime carrying out the present-day genocide shamelessly, relentlessly invokes the Nazi Holocaust for its supposed credentials. Netanyahu called Hamas the “new Nazis”.

Western leaders lining up with the Israeli regime in its genocidal barbarity are fully complicit in that genocide. The Western public and the rest of the world can see the real and ugly quality of the United States and its allies who have indulged in duplicity and deceit for so long. Biden on returning to Washington after giving Tel Aviv license to expand its mass murder had the brass neck to address his nation in a prime-time speech from the Oval Office. He announced his administration was seeking to give $100 billion in “emergency aid” to Israel and the Nazi regime in Kiev fighting the proxy war against Russia. Biden called this a “smart investment”. In his mumble-filled, incoherent televised address, Biden said: “American leadership is what holds the world together.”

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Between the lines…

• White House Proposes To Cut Ukraine Financial Support (RT)

The $105 billion funding request US President Joe Biden sent to Congress would see the monthly subsidy to the Ukrainian government slashed to $825 million, according to documents made public on Friday. As Biden outlined in his Thursday evening speech, the aid to Ukraine is getting bundled with funding for Israel, Taiwan, and the US border. The bundling is intended to secure bipartisan support in Congress, according to the US media. Ukraine aid would account for $61.4 billion and Israel would get $10.6 billion, under the 69-page proposal the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent to the acting Speaker of the House, Patrick McHenry. One of the revelations in the document is that the US has been sending $1.1 billion a month to Ukraine as part of the Economic Support Fund program, enabling Kiev to plug holes in its budget and pay government employees.

“This request provides a glidepath from $1.1 billion per month in direct budget support to $825 million per month,” for a total of $11.775 billion, the OMB request states. These numbers are based on the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates of Ukraine’s 2024 budget and US “assumptions of robust burden sharing by the EU, Japan, and other donors.” Propping up Kiev is necessary because Russia “is explicitly seeking to ensure that Ukraine’s economy collapses in order to secure Ukraine’s surrender,” according to the OBM letter. It adds that the money will be provided “through the World Bank as reimbursements for authorized and verified expenditures to the Government of Ukraine in line with the current conditionality framework” developed by the US.

Among the other notable requests in the OMB proposal were changing the drawdown limit for military aid from $100 million to $7 billion and doubling the loan guarantees for Ukraine from $4 billion to $8 billion. Congressional action is needed “to ensure that we can continue to meet Ukraine’s battlefield needs and protect its people,” because the funding previously approved by Congress “has nearly run out,” Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters in a conference call on Friday. The House of Representatives has been without a speaker since October 3, when Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a rebellion by several Republicans, reportedly over striking a secret deal on Ukraine funding with the White House. His replacement has yet to be elected.

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“Asked on Friday whether Israel should delay the ground operation, President Joe Biden told reporters “Yes.” However, the White House later clarified that the president was “far away” and had misheard the question.”

• Washington Pressures Israel To Delay Gaza Ground Op – Bloomberg (RT)

The US government and some European allies are pushing Israel to postpone its ground attack on the Gaza Strip in order to negotiate the release of more hostages held by Hamas, Bloomberg reported. Israeli forces are planning a major operation in the Palestinian enclave in response to a deadly terrorist attack earlier this month. Though Israel previously signaled it would soon deploy troops to Gaza, it has “agreed under US pressure to hold off,” multiple sources familiar with the hostage negotiations told the outlet on Friday. Hamas, the Palestinian militant faction that rules Gaza, captured more than 200 people during its October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, including several US citizens. Washington has taken part in “secret,” Qatari-brokered talks to free the captives in the weeks since, according to Bloomberg.

On Friday, US officials confirmed that two American hostages had been released, a mother and daughter identified as Judith Tai Raanan and 17-year-old Natalie Raanan. They are now under the care of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which attributed their release to military “pressure” placed on Hamas. The Qatari Foreign Ministry later called the move a “breakthrough,” adding that it followed “many days of continuous communication between all the parties involved.” The ministry vowed to maintain dialogue with Hamas in hopes of freeing “all civilian hostages from every nationality.” Though the White House has been vocal in its support for Israel in recent weeks, Washington has also warned against a lengthy occupation of Gaza in private talks, according to US and other Western officials cited by CNN.

One unnamed NATO defense minister told the outlet that Israel’s allies “completely respect their right to go after Hamas,” but have merely urged caution. “So it’s not ‘Don’t do it,’ but it is ‘Think about what happens and have a strategy, not just a tactical maneuver.’ We expect Israel to act within international humanitarian law, but we understand that they’re dealing with an enemy here,” the official said, echoing public comments from other Western governments. Asked on Friday whether Israel should delay the ground operation, President Joe Biden told reporters “Yes.” However, the White House later clarified that the president was “far away” and had misheard the question.

“The question sounded like ‘Would you like to see more hostages released?’ He wasn’t commenting on anything else,” White House spokesperson Ben LaBolt said in a statement. The latest round of violence has left thousands killed and injured on both sides, with over 4,100 Palestinians and some 1,400 Israelis reported dead, according to local officials. The IDF has launched weeks of heavy airstrikes on Gaza since the Hamas attack earlier this month, prompting warnings from the United Nations and other rights groups about a looming humanitarian disaster in the enclave.

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“All the work we have done with the Global South [over Ukraine] has been lost … Forget about rules, forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again.”

• Blind Israel Support Makes US Global Pariah – Analyst (Sp.)

The Biden administration has continued to firmly back Israel after two weeks of war in the Gaza Strip, refusing calls for a ceasefire and blocking attempts in the United Nations to bring a stop to the fighting. While Hamas’ initial and unprecedented attack on Israeli border towns killed more than 1,300 Israelis, the all-out siege and bombing campaign in Gaza has killed more than 4,000 Palestinians. Now, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are gathering their strength for an invasion of Gaza to destroy Hamas, ordering 1.1 million people to evacuate. The shocking destruction of the conflict had sharply divided the world into supporters of Israel and of the Palestinians, with citizens and governments alike either demanding a ceasefire, or sending money and weapons to Israel, or even joining in attacking Israeli forces from nearby countries.

As a consequence, the conflict in Ukraine is no longer dominating headlines, and as one senior diplomat from a Group of Seven nation told a London-based newspaper earlier this week, the dissonance in Washington’s positions has undermined efforts to win global support for Ukraine and to isolate Russia. “We have definitely lost the battle in the Global South,” the diplomat said. All the work we have done with the Global South [over Ukraine] has been lost … Forget about rules, forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again.” “What we said about Ukraine has to apply to Gaza. Otherwise we lose all our credibility,” the diplomat added. “The Brazilians, the South Africans, the Indonesians: why should they ever believe what we say about human rights?”

US labor and human rights lawyer, writer and activist Dan Kovalik told Radio Sputnik’s The Critical Hour that in fact, Moscow was never a global pariah, it’s the G7 nations that have isolated themselves from the majority of humanity. “The majority of countries, representing a majority of the world’s people, have been backing Russia ever since the special military operation began last year. But even putting that aside, I mean, I think the point is well taken that the US claims to be so offended that Russia, in their words, ‘invaded Ukraine’ … now the US is is backing Israel to the hilt in an assault on Gaza, which is much worse in terms of its intended effect on civilians, than Russia’s intervention in Ukraine.” “Especially in light of the bombing of the hospital that killed at least 500 people in an instant – there’s no type of incident like that that we know of in Russia’s intervention in Ukraine.

And the number of children killed: Israel’s killed over a thousand children in Gaza since in the last, what, ten days or so – again, that’s on a scale that has not happened in Ukraine. So, yeah, the US looks like a huge hypocrite and that’s obvious to the world.” However, the hosts noted there was one way the US had been consistent: in both Israel and Ukraine, US President Joe Biden has intervened to shut down potential peace deals championed by Russia and China in favor of keeping the conflicts going. “The US does this time and time again,” Kovalik pointed out. “It kills peace in order to keep the wheels of war moving.”

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“.. an unapologetic neoconservative and transatlanticist who is single-handedly undermining the autonomy, respect, and foreign policy stature of the EU..”

• How Von Der Leyen Discredited The EU In The Israel-Palestine Conflict (Fomenko)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s showboating in support of Israel in the current Middle East conflict has reportedly provoked a backlash from EU lawmakers and diplomats. When the Israel-Gaza war broke out just over a week ago, von der Leyen made the decision to offer unconditional support to West Jerusalem rather than urge for calm or mediation, having Israel’s flag projected onto the European Commission headquarters and paying a visit to Israel herself. She clearly did so out of an inclination to appear in line with the US. But her actions have aged poorly as reports of civilian deaths and humanitarian disaster in the besieged Gaza Strip continue to mount.

Anyone familiar with von der Leyen knows that she is an unapologetic neoconservative and transatlanticist who is single-handedly undermining the autonomy, respect, and foreign policy stature of the EU by actively working to make the bloc subordinate to the US in multiple areas, all while attempting to showcase herself as a true regional leader. If the EU sees itself in a fundamental competition with China and Russia, there could not be a worse advert to the rest of the world than her leadership, and her Israel blunders may be her most damaging decisions yet.

Von der Leyen’s foreign policy legacy involves dragging the EU into several confrontations it could have done without. This week, she is heading to Washington DC to try to forge a deal on steel and aluminum trade targeted at China, but that will ultimately resort in throwing the EU market under the bus, again. Other acts have included backing the American position on Ukraine and striving for full escalation of the war there, promoting energy decoupling with Russia, as well as inventing the term “de-risking” with China and seeking to undermine the bloc’s lucrative relationship with Beijing. Throughout this, she has been repeatedly eager to pull large sums of money out of thin air and propose fantasy projects which amount to little more than posturing, and which her office alone is not even able to authorize.

For example, that includes offering Belarus billions if it goes ahead with a US-backed regime change, or inventing numerous “infrastructure” schemes to compete with China, such as the Global Gateway, among other things. She has thus repeatedly used the stature of her office to follow American objectives and try to shape the continent without establishing any kind of due consensus. Almost immediately after the war in Gaza broke out, the European Commission announced all EU aid to Palestine would be frozen. Regardless of what you think of Hamas, with hindsight that decision now appears spiteful, reactionary and inhumane, which tells you how fast the Commission was to jump to the American position of unconditional support for Israel.

But this time there is a widespread feeling it has gone too far. Rather than allowing Europe to have staked out a moderate position on the Gaza conflict, even if it would not be too sympathetic to Palestine, the decision was essentially outsourced to the US, discrediting the EU and only serving to contribute to the growing backlash starting to emerge among Muslim communities in response to the conflict. For countries such as France, this is disastrous. This hurts the EU’s image across the Islamic world and the Global South by seemingly siding with the oppressors.

Soon enough, a series of embarrassing U-turns followed, including the reinstatement of aid, combined with tweets in Arabic, but the damage had already been done, because Israel has long been given the green light to pursue unparalleled destruction in Gaza, at seemingly whatever the cost. In doing so, von der Leyen has in fact undermined, in yet another way, the bloc’s ability to present itself as a serious and comprehensive political actor. She seems to have no love for the idea that the EU should have strategic autonomy and be capable of calibrating its own interests and place in the world, and would prefer that it instead be a simple parrot of the US.

Of course, if she took into greater consideration the interests and positions of member states it would be less of a problem. But she does not and instead essentially serves as a completely disruptive force, in practice undermining European diplomacy and preventing the EU from building relations with a wide range of states. In the end, this favors only the US.

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“European people have become poorer, while Russia has not fallen on its knees.”

• NATO Envoys Hold ’Emergency Meeting’ Over Putin-Orban Talks – Media (RT)

The ambassadors to Hungary of NATO countries have held an unscheduled meeting amid concerns about a recent encounter between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Beijing, the US state-run media outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported Thursday. The gathering of the bloc’s ambassadors and the representative of Sweden, whose NATO membership has yet to be ratified by Türkiye and Hungary, took place in Budapest on Thursday. At the meeting, the diplomats discussed “security concerns” about the “deepening relations” between Moscow and the NATO and EU member, David Pressman, the US ambassador to Hungary, told the outlet.

Pressman also noted that Washington expects the Hungarian government to take these “legitimate security concerns” seriously, calling the Putin-Orban meeting “worrying.” On Tuesday, the day of the meeting, Pressman posted a picture on X (formerly Twitter) of Orban and Putin shaking hands, with the caption that Hungary’s prime minister was choosing to stand with Russia “alone among our allies.” Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, told ATV channel on Wednesday that “the US ambassador is not competent to determine Hungarian foreign policy because that is the job of the Hungarian government.” Putin and Orban met on October 17 in the Chinese capital, where the international Belt and Road Forum was held.

It was the first meeting between the Russian president and the Hungarian prime minister since the conflict in Ukraine erupted. Over the past decades, relations between Moscow and Budapest “have been built solely on the basis of taking into account each other’s interests,” Putin said during the meeting, noting that Russia’s relations with many European countries are “maintained and developed,” which can only cause satisfaction. Last September, Orban criticized EU sanctions on Moscow, claiming that “European people have become poorer, while Russia has not fallen on its knees.” He called for a ceasefire to end the Ukraine conflict, noting that the restrictions on Russia were hurting Europe’s economy.

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“The Democratic party uses BLM and Antifa as theirs, throwing the rock and hiding the hand. Of course, they’re going to do it; they’ve always done it, even at the beginning, they used the Ku Klux Klan..”

• “The Whole George Floyd Story Was A Lie”: Tucker Carlson (ZH)

“In other words, George Floyd, according to the official autopsy, was not murdered. He died instead of what we used to call natural causes, which, in his case, would include decades of drug use, as well as the fatal concentration of fentanyl that was in his system on his final day,” Carlson continued – laying out how the initial George Floyd storyline was endorsed and amplified by mainstream media, and ignited nationwide protests, intensive racial discourse, and movements like Black Lives Matter. These changes encompassed police defunding efforts, corporate hiring practices, and the institutionalization of new cultural observances like Juneteenth. Carlson interviewed Vince Everett Ellison, author of “Crime Inc.” – who discussed the possibility of orchestrated degradation and victimization within the Black community by political entities, particularly the Democratic party.

Ellison suggests that the glorification of figures like George Floyd represents an insidious strategy to perpetuate a certain stereotype of blacks who are reliant on the system, thereby solidifying a voting base and maintaining a form of socio-political control. Drawing parallels between movements like BLM and historical or international groups used for political leverage, Ellison’s commentary insinuates that these organizations could be modern iterations of ‘domestic militias’ utilized by the Democrats for social manipulation and power consolidation. The unsettling comparison of BLM to groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, or the historical utilization of the Ku Klux Klan, paints a grim picture of political machinations where civil unrest is a tool rather than a byproduct. “The Democratic party uses BLM and Antifa as theirs, throwing the rock and hiding the hand. Of course, they’re going to do it; they’ve always done it, even at the beginning, they used the Ku Klux Klan,” he said.

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“..she has imposed a vaguely worded court order that could turn campaign speeches into criminal contempt..”

• The Trump Gag Order Should Be Struck Down (Turley)

The imposition of a gag order on former President Donald Trump was overwhelmingly applauded by pundits and press alike. Journalists described the order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan as “narrow” and “limited.” Most of them lionized Chutkan as an “unflinching” and “no-nonsense” judge who would not tolerate Trump’s penchant for personal attacks and reckless rhetoric. However, this order should concern everyone who values freedom of speech. While the odds may favor Chutkan on appeal, this order should be overturned as overbroad and dangerous. For years, many of us have been criticized Trump for his personal attacks on judges and opponents alike. Undeterred, Trump has continued such inflammatory attacks on “deranged” Special Counsel Jack Smith and the “biased, Trump-hating Judge” Chutkan.

Smith has pushed aggressively for a gag order, even though one of the major issues in Trump’s campaign is whether the Biden Administration has weaponized the criminal justice system against him and other Republicans. This week, Chutkan issued a partial gag order and stressed that she will not allow Trump to conduct a “smear campaign” in which he seeks to “vilify and implicitly encourage violence against public servants who are simply doing their jobs.” She stressed that “no other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and I’m not going to allow it in this case.” Chutkan reflects this trend in stating categorically that these are the limits that must be imposed regardless of the defendant. These orders come at a great cost — limiting both parties and counsels in raising objections to alleged abuses of the government.

The First Amendment was written in the aftermath of such abuses, including the infamous prosecution of publisher John Peter Zenger 290 years ago in 1733. Some polls show that a majority now believe the Trump prosecutions are “politically motivated.” Tens of millions oppose the prosecutions, and this will be the single most-discussed issue of the campaign. Yet, one candidate would be both the subject of this national debate and a gag order barring full participation in it. Chutkan steadfastly refused to recognize that either this case or this defendant are far from typical. Her order bars Trump from making statements against Smith, his staff, court personnel, and potential witnesses. That last category could include one of Trump’s opponents in the presidential election, former Vice President Mike Pence.

If Chutkan had simply barred statements targeting court staff or jurors, there would be no controversy. But she has imposed a vaguely worded court order that could turn campaign speeches into criminal contempt. While appellate courts have largely ruled in favor of lower courts’ gag orders, there have long been constitutional concerns over these limits on not just the free speech rights of defendants but also their zealous representation by defense counsel. It is not surprising that Smith dismisses such concerns. Smith has long adopted extreme legal positions that ignore constitutional values. This includes his prosecution of the former governor of Virginia, Robert McDonnell (R), which was reversed in a unanimous 8-0 decision by the Supreme Court in 2016.

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Grass cutter ants
https://twitter.com/i/status/1715293925802426403

 

 

 

 

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