Apr 292025
 


Piet Mondriaan Trees by the Gein at Moonrise 1908

 

Stop the Digital Control Grid – Catherine Austin Fitts (USAW)
David Sacks Warns DOGE Will All Be For Nothing, Unless… (ZH)
Russians ‘Are Not Our Enemy’ – Trump Adviser David Sacks (RT)
Ukraine Won’t Win – J.D. Vance (RT)
Ukraine Eyes Teens And Women As Cannon Fodder (RT)
Forget Land – This Is Russia’s Main Demand From The West (Lukyanov)
Putin Announces 72-hour Victory Day Ceasefire (RT)
Ukraine Issues Ceasefire Demand To Russia (RT)
Ukraine Shows No Sign It Is Ready To Talk – Kremlin (RT)
Canadians Should Expect Disaster With Carney In Charge (ZH)
Federal District Courts Piling on Injunctions to Stop Trump (Turley)
Now You Know (James Howard Kunstler)
America Funded China’s Rise (Morrison)
Liberals Loathe Arrival of ‘MAGA Media’ Inside the White House (DS)
Make America Healthy Again Movement Extends Beyond RFK Jr (ET)
A HUGE Win for the Make America Healthy Again Movement (Margolis)
Robots Will Outperform Human Surgeons In Five Years – Musk (RT)

 

 

 

 

Don’t miss

Homan

Bessent
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1916879751240630535

Zel

19

 

 

 

 

She lost me a few years ago when she was endlessly talking about HUD. But this is good.

Two video’s. She was on Tucker Carlson too.

“Stop with the control grid, and we can do this. . . . If we can face it, God can fix it all.”

Stop the Digital Control Grid – Catherine Austin Fitts (USAW)

Catherine Austin Fitts (CAF), publisher of “The Solari Report,” is back to update us about the “Fast-Approaching Digital Control Grid.” (CAF) told us last time here on USAW, “There is no bigger ongoing battle for lovers of freedom than the battle taking place over the freedom killing idea of digital ID.” But it’s more that just ID, it’s an entire control grid that is being quietly built that is like a frog being put into pot and the water being brought to a boil. CAF explains, “You know our goal at Solari is each person has a free and inspired life. So, we have been working for several years to stop financial transaction control. If you get the ability to track each person and control their transactions, so if they don’t do what you say, they can turn off your money.

That is game over for the Constitution and for human liberty. If you look at how the control grid is coming together, there are many different pieces. There is digital ID, all digital currency or transaction system to a social credit system to the management to certain kinds of data and back-up energy. There are many different pieces. We look at the pieces, and we look at them as one-off things such as, oh, I don’t mind having a ‘Real ID’ because I can see why they might want a federal ID, or a passport or whatever. Each one of these things looks nonthreatening and even convenient, but when they snap together, they are in a control grid, and it’s completely something else. When Trump was elected, I was shocked to see, almost immediately, the President announce the Stargate AI initiative with the mRNA vaccines, which to me is the internet of bodies.”

CAF put together a long list of Trump Administration actions that are speeding up what looks like a control grid. It’s called “The Fast-Approaching Digital Control Grid.” It lists things such as crypto friendly currency actions, private Central Bank Digital Currency, shrinking banking sector, DOGE, undisclosed Epstein files and many more red flag items that could be used to allow crime to continue and build a digital prison for “We the People.” While the Trump Administration brings change at a record pace, not a single thing has been done to find out about the “$21 Trillion Missing Money” that has been well documented by CAF and Michigan State Professor Dr. Mark Skidmore. The money has been stolen from America, and the silence about this is deafening.

CAF says, “We know there has been tremendous fraud in the financials of the US government. We know that has happened. If you look at all the things that you or I would do to figure out what had happened, where the money went and how do we get it back, that’s not what they are doing. . . . If you look at how we would do a successful operation to reengineer government and identify the real fraud and stop it, I don’t see any indication that they are doing that. I do see some selected efforts that are probably sincere. . . . They are shutting things down lots of us would like to see shut down. . . . We know how to stop the death and disabilities that come from the Covid 19 vax injection, but you go the CDC website, and they are still recommending the Covid injections.”

The massive crime going on with government accounting makes it necessary for the control grid. CAF explains, “What happened in the last Trump Administration is they adopted FASAB 56. FASAB 56 basically said they could take the books of the US government dark. A secret group of people, by a secret process, could remove operations from the financial statement, and they don’t have to tell people what they removed. So, we have no idea what is in the financials. . . . This includes the big banks and contractors who do business with the government. So, looking at the US stock market and bond market, I have no idea what is true or not. . . . We are flying blind.”

CAF still likes gold for an investment. She is also very bullish on silver as it takes about 100 ounces of silver to buy a single ounce of gold. The gold/silver ratio is at record spreads. CAF says, “At some point, the gold/silver ratio will revert to something more sensible.” In closing, CAF says, “Everyone tell your Senator and Congressman and President Trump on X or Truth Social stop the control grid. Stop with the control grid, and we can do this. . . . If we can face it, God can fix it all.”

Tucker CAF

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Time for Congress to step up.

David Sacks Warns DOGE Will All Be For Nothing, Unless… (ZH)

AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks warns that Elon Musk’s efforts to expose waste and abuse at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) may be futile unless Congress significantly reduces federal spending. “What we really need is for Congress to now embrace all of the corruption that Elon has found and eliminate it from the budget, because at the end of the day, in order to capture the savings here, we do need those appropriations eliminated from the budget,” Sacks said on the All-In podcast. Sacks warned that the real danger isn’t Musk backing down, but Congress slipping back into its entrenched pattern of reckless spending. “These old bulls in Congress who control the appropriations process—are they going to basically backslide and just put the spending back in because it’s easier to engage in this logrolling, or do we take advantage of this?” he asked.

Sacks emphasized the immense personal cost Musk has borne to reveal systemic corruption, citing the widespread protests targeting Tesla properties. “This has cost him enormously. One of the reasons why Tesla is down is because you’ve had crazy leftists engaging in terrorism, firebombing Tesla dealerships,” the Trump official said. “We’ve basically learned that this whole NGO thing is a giant scam where the people in government give enormous amounts of money to their friends, probably with the expectation that when they leave government, they’re going to be next in line at the trough.” Since Musk took the helm at DOGE, Tesla has been under siege from a wave of protests and brazen acts of vandalism across the U.S. and beyond, with far-left activists resorting to arson, gunfire, and defacing dealerships, vehicles, and charging stations with hateful graffiti.

The so-called “Tesla Takedown” movement has orchestrated demonstrations at hundreds of Tesla locations, pushing an anti-DOGE agenda to tank Musk’s company by calling for mass sell-offs of Tesla stock and boycotts of the brand. Sacks then stressed that while Musk has laid bare the government’s dysfunction, without decisive action from Congress to slash spending, his efforts risk being squandered. “Elon’s done an enormous service exposing this. But it’s not entirely up to him. In order for us to realize the benefit, we need Congress now to act on that. I’m afraid that’s not going to happen,” he warned.

In March, President Donald Trump threw his support behind a rescission package to implement major spending cuts spearheaded by DOGE. “It would be great. I think we’re going to do that,” Trump told reporters. According to a memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) obtained by the New York Post, the administration is pushing two proposals to slash $9.3 billion. “The first includes a rescission of $8.3 billion in wasteful foreign aid spending (out of $22 billion) that does not expire in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. The second is a separate rescission of all Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) — which funds the politically biased public radio and public television system,” the Post said.

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“Russians are not our enemy. We shouldn’t be helping to kill them..”

Russians ‘Are Not Our Enemy’ – Trump Adviser David Sacks (RT)

The White House crypto csar has rejected the notion that Ukraine is aiding the United States against its enemies by fighting Russia. Kiev has consistently asserted that it is “defending” Western nations from Russia. Vladimir Zelensky reiterated the point in a recent interview with conservative journalist Ben Shapiro, where he urged the US to act as an arms supplier rather than a diplomatic mediator and stating that Ukrainians “are fighting against your enemies, the Russians.” “Russians are not our enemy. We shouldn’t be helping to kill them,” countered David Sacks, a venture entrepreneur and White House advisor on crypto and artificial intelligence, who responded on social media on Sunday to a clip from the interview.

Sacks has long criticized US support for Kiev, characterizing it as an attempt to transform the Ukraine conflict into a “forever war.” Zelensky has argued that modern Russia shares the same agenda as the former USSR and considers the US its “main enemy.” He accused Moscow of collaborating with Tehran and Pyongyang to undermine American interests. Conversely, he stated that Kiev views the US as a “strategic partner” and “friend.” However, he cautioned that any attempts to pressure Ukrainians could “turn them around very quickly.”

US President Donald Trump has claimed that Zelensky has undermined his efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Kiev and Moscow by publicly dismissing his proposals. In their latest meeting, held on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral last Saturday, the Ukrainian leader requested more weapons, the US president told the media, adding that “he has been saying that for three years.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told CBS last week that Moscow is interested in a relationship with the US which is based on “an equal, mutually respectful dialogue heading to finding a balance of interest.” With that approach, “everything is possible,” he added.

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“You could have millions of more people killed if this thing goes on for another few years, and it could risk escalating into a nuclear war. It has to stop…”

Ukraine Won’t Win – J.D. Vance (RT)

Ukraine is not poised to win the conflict with Russia, US Vice President J.D. Vance has said. He added that it was naive to expect Russia’s collapse if the fighting continues for several more years. “If this doesn’t stop, the Ukrainians aren’t winning the war,” Vance said during an interview on conservative organizer Charlie Kirk’s podcast on Monday. “I think there’s this weird idea among the mainstream media that if this thing goes on for just another few years, the Russians will collapse, the Ukrainians will take their territory back, and everything will go back to the way that it was before the war. That is not the reality that we live in,” the vice president said.

“You could have millions of more people killed if this thing goes on for another few years, and it could risk escalating into a nuclear war. It has to stop,” Vance added. He also said that, despite the challenges of dealing with both sides, American negotiators were “making progress.” “Sometimes you’re incredibly frustrated with Ukrainians. Sometimes you’re incredibly frustrated with the Russians,” Vance said. “And sometimes you just want to throw your hands up, but that’s what President Trump doesn’t let us do.”

Vance’s remarks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russian troops would observe a three-day ceasefire starting on May 8, marking the celebrations of victory in World War II. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky responded by accusing Moscow of “manipulation” and called for an immediate 30-day ceasefire. According to Russia, Ukraine violated both the 30-day ‘energy truce’ brokered by the US last month and the 30-hour Easter truce, despite having promised to respect both arrangements. Putin has argued that, for a comprehensive ceasefire to succeed, Ukraine must halt its mobilization campaign and the West must stop delivering weapons to Kiev.

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This is what it’s come to. This is what we support. Since at least 2014. Trump can say it’s Obama/Biden’s war, but he’s not exactly fully innocent. Repair it now.

Ukraine Eyes Teens And Women As Cannon Fodder (RT)

As Ukraine’s manpower crisis deepens, Kiev is resorting to increasingly desperate measures to fill the thinning ranks of its army. With conscription drives failing and volunteer numbers dwindling, authorities are now preparing to force ever-broader sections of the population – including women and barely adult men – into the front lines. Despite brutal mobilization efforts, Ukraine’s Armed Forces (AFU) remain critically understaffed. Even aggressive recruitment campaigns and tightening draft laws have failed to produce the needed surge in enlistments. Now the government is moving toward slashing the minimum conscription age from 25 to just 18 – sending teenagers straight into a bloody and grinding conflict. At the same time, serious discussions are underway about mobilizing women en masse, a step that would mark a historic escalation in Kiev’s attempts to prolong the war.

Interest in military service is declining sharply, especially among the youth. In mid-April, Pavel Palisa, deputy head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office, revealed that fewer than 500 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 24 had enlisted – and currently, those under 25 are not subject to mandatory mobilization. Two months earlier, Ukraine had launched a new initiative offering 18 to 24-year-olds the option of contract service. Rolled out on February 11, this program offered recruits a contract bonus of one million hryvnias (around $24,000), monthly salaries up to 120,000 hryvnias, and other perks in a desperate bid to bolster AFU numbers. Since then, other military branches – including the navy, airborne forces, National Guard, and border troops – have opened their ranks to young contractors. Yet even with financial incentives on the table, recruitment remains sluggish.

Palisa admitted that the current conscription system is outdated and hinders mobilization efforts. He stressed that Ukraine has “a huge mobilization resource” but that the system in place prevents it from being effectively tapped. “In my opinion, we have more people available than we need for specific tasks at the front. The mechanism simply isn’t efficient,” he said, calling for sweeping reforms in recruitment and organization. However, as Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries, pointed out in a conversation with RT, such optimistic estimates are little more than wishful thinking. In reality, Ukraine’s main mobilization base has long since fled the country. Official figures show over six million Ukrainian refugees registered across the European Union and more than two million in Russia. But according to Zharikhin, the true numbers are likely even higher.

“Roughly eight million have gone to Europe, about three million to Russia – that’s close to a quarter of Ukraine’s prewar population,” he explained. “In other words, Kiev isn’t drafting from the 50-plus million people who lived in Ukraine around the time of the Soviet collapse. It’s choosing from the 20-odd million who remain today. That’s why we’re seeing serious discussions about mobilizing yesterday’s schoolboys, women, and anyone else they can find.” Speaking about the dismal turnout among 18 to 25-year-olds, Palisa said that while many initially expressed interest, very few ultimately signed contracts. “People agreed in principle, but when it came to signing, they backed out,” he said. “Sometimes it was their parents’ influence; sometimes they believed peace was just around the corner. There are a lot of reasons.”

Former Ukrainian MP Vladimir Oleinik told RT that aggressive recruitment campaigns painted an overly rosy picture, falsely suggesting that enlistees would quickly become millionaires. Reality, however, tells a different story. Recruits receive 200,000 hryvnias, upfront, another 300,000 after completing training, and the remaining 500,000 only after their contracts end. “Parents would often take their sons to cemeteries, showing them the flags on soldiers’ graves,” Oleinik said. “Under these contracts, recruits must serve at least six months on the front lines – and everyone knows what the survival rate is.”

Nuland

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Military security. Leave us alone.

Forget Land – This Is Russia’s Main Demand From The West (Lukyanov)

Everyone is expecting news on a Ukrainian settlement this week. The diplomatic activity is real and intense, and the visible signs suggest something significant is underway. There is little point in trying to guess which of the leaked plans are genuine and which are misinformation. What is clear is that Russia is being offered a choice between “a bird in the hand and two in the bush.” The trouble is, the elements necessary for any sustainable agreement are still scattered among the various birds. Currently, discussions naturally revolve around territory. This is a sensitive subject, particularly since the territories under consideration are already under Russian control. The bird’s wings are clipped, however: legal recognition of Russia’s sovereignty over these lands seems unrealistic, at least in the near term. De facto recognition, with a pledge not to attempt to return them by force, could be the achievable result. In today’s global atmosphere, it is naive to view any legal agreement as genuinely final.

Yet territory was not the true cause of this conflict. The deeper issue was decades of unresolved security contradictions. ‘Demilitarization’ – so prominently featured in Russia’s original demands – encompasses both Ukraine’s neutral status and the broader limitation of its military capabilities, whether through curtailing domestic production, cutting off external supplies, or reducing existing forces. This demand is far from cosmetic. Fulfillment would overturn the international order that has reigned since the end of the Cold War – an order based on NATO’s unchecked expansion across Europe and Eurasia, without regard for Moscow’s objections. The military campaign thus became a way of exercising a “veto” that the West had long denied Russia. True demilitarization of Ukraine would, in effect, force international recognition of that veto. But many in the West remain unwilling to accept such a precedent.

As discussions have moved toward territorial issues, the central problem of military security seems to have been relegated to the background. Perhaps US President DonaldTrump’s administration – more skeptical of NATO itself – views it as less fundamental. Or perhaps it simply finds it easier to force Ukraine to cede territory than to make Western Europe recognize Russia’s security rights. Nevertheless, for Moscow, military security remains a matter of principle. Even if Washington offers major concessions – lifting sanctions, formalizing territorial changes – Russia cannot abandon this core demand. This creates a divergence in diplomatic tempo. Washington wants a quick deal; the Kremlin believes that haste will not produce a reliable settlement. Yet Moscow also knows that the political stars – especially in Washington – have aligned in a uniquely favorable way, and it does not want to miss the moment.

The outcome will be known soon enough. However, some important lessons from history should be remembered. First, achieving political goals often takes more than one campaign. A pause in fighting is not necessarily a resolution.Second, there is no such thing as an open-ended, unchangeable agreement. If a deal does not truly satisfy all parties, it will eventually collapse. The struggle will resume – though not necessarily through military means.Third, Ukraine is only one piece of a much larger process of global transformation in which Russia intends to play a central role. These changes are already underway, and will continue to deepen. Reaching some degree of understanding with the United States is important. Interestingly, the NATO issue might resolve itself over time, not because of Russian pressure but due to the alliance’s own growing irrelevance. But for now, that remains a matter for the future. In the immediate term, Russia faces a choice between the imperfect birds on offer – and must weigh carefully which to catch and which to let fly.

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Maybe the West should recognize what Victory Day means to Russia. Instead of erasing 26 million dead from history.

Putin Announces 72-hour Victory Day Ceasefire (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict for three days in honor of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. The truce will last from May 8 to May 10th, the Kremlin has said. Putin is said to have announced the ceasefire based on “humanitarian considerations” and has ordered the suspension of all military action against Ukraine’s forces from midnight on May 7-8 to midnight on May 10-11. The Kremlin noted that Moscow expects the Ukrainian side to abide by the truce and warned that if Kiev’s forces violate it, the Russian military will give an “adequate and effective response.” “The Russian side once again declares its readiness for peace talks without preconditions, aimed at eliminating the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, and for constructive interaction with international partners,” the Kremlin’s message concluded.

Putin previously declared a truce for Easter that started at 6pm on April 19 and lasted throughout April 20. The Russian Defense Ministry later said that while the Ukrainian side had violated the ceasefire several thousand times, the general level of military activity had significantly decreased across the front line. During a meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff last week, the Russian president also reaffirmed that Moscow is ready to hold unconditional peace talks with Kiev. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has reportedly promised not to walk away from the Ukraine peace process. He had previously warned that Washington could abandon its efforts to mediate if it did not see progress in negotiations.

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The western press claims Russia violated its own last ceasefire. The Russian press does not. “Oh, that’s just propaganda!” Really? Which one?

Ukraine Issues Ceasefire Demand To Russia (RT)

Ukraine has criticized Russia’s announcement of a three-day ceasefire in May timed to coincide with the celebration of the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazism. Earlier on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a 72-hour ceasefire which will last from midnight on May 7-8 to midnight on May 10-11. It follows a similar unilateral pause during the Easter weekend. “If Russia truly wants peace, it must cease fire immediately,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga responded on X. He claimed that the Russian move was not “real” but rather “just for a parade.” “Ukraine is ready to support a lasting, durable, and full ceasefire. And this is what we are constantly proposing, for at least 30 days,” he added. The Russian military previously observed a 30-day moratorium on strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which US President Donald Trump had proposed to Putin. According to Moscow, Kiev did not reciprocate despite publicly claiming support for the initiative.

The Easter ceasefire announced by Moscow was only partially successful, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, which said there was a decrease in the intensity of Ukrainian attacks but not a full lull. When Putin ordered the measure, he instructed Russian forces only to engage Ukrainian troops in retaliation. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that Russia’s failure to meet his demand for an unconditional 30-day truce proves that it does not want peace. Putin has pointed out that Kiev could use such a pause for rearmament and reinforcement rather than to engage in serious negotiations. Earlier on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that direct talks between Moscow and Kiev currently remain impossible due to a legal ban on such engagements issued by Zelensky in 2022.

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By their law, Zelensky still can’t talk to Putin.

Ukraine Shows No Sign It Is Ready To Talk – Kremlin (RT)

Ukraine is failing to take the necessary steps to initiate direct negotiations with Russia, while Moscow remains ready to engage at any time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Vladimir Zelensky prohibited direct bilateral talks in October 2022 for as long as Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in office, asserting that the moratorium was necessary to “stop separatism” purportedly stemming from backchannel communications with Moscow not controlled by his administration. ”At the very least, Kiev needs to act, given its judicial ban” on talks, Peskov reminded journalists during a briefing on Monday.

Putin has repeatedly stated that Russia is prepared to commence negotiations with Ukraine “without any preconditions, aiming to pave the way for peace,” the official added. Indirect contacts between Kiev and Moscow have continued on some issues, such as prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of fallen soldiers. US President Donald Trump has criticized Zelensky for undermining his mediation efforts by publicly opposing ideas, reportedly included in a Washington-proposed peace plan. The two leaders had a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral in the Vatican on Saturday.

“He told me that he needs more weapons, but he has been saying that for three years,” Trump said, recounting the engagement. “I want them to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal.” While Moscow has questioned Zelensky’s legitimacy since the conclusion of his presidential term last year, it does not view his removal from power as a goal in the conflict. However, Russia has concerns that “if an agreement were signed with Zelensky today, people could come forward later in Ukraine and legally challenge,” Peskov told the French media last week. Zelensky claims presidential powers, citing martial law that he first imposed in 2022.

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Mere weeks ago, the liberals polled just 10-20%. Then Canadian politics and media hit on Trump. Carney is a WEF globalist., worse than Trudy.

Canadians Should Expect Disaster With Carney In Charge (ZH)

Justin Trudeau’s far-left regime in Canada has finally come to an end as the politician exits leadership in disgrace. His legacy includes authoritarian governance during the pandemic, whereby he threw Christian church goers and pastors in prison for refusing to stop congregations. He called for mass forced vaccinations, and he locked the bank accounts of protesters speaking out against the covid mandates. His admin compared people donating to the cause to “terrorists”. His socialist economic policies helped to exacerbate Canada’s inflation crisis and his open immigration policies greatly expanded the the flood of third-world foreigners, driving up housing prices, crushing the labor market and straining social services. By most accounts, the majority of Canadians were ecstatic to see Trudeau exit the stage. But what if they still haven’t learned their lesson? How is that even possible?

According to recent polls for the 2025 election set for April 28th, it is likely that Canadians have very short memories or they’re gluttons for punishment. Why? Because Mark Carney and the Liberal Party are projected to make considerable gains. Carney has rebranded himself as a “centrist” in order to win public favor, but nothing could be further from the truth. Mark Carney is, in fact, worse than Trudeau on every level. What should Canadians expect under a Carney regime? More mass immigration, not less. Higher inflation and a suffocating housing market. Increasing political and economic tensions with the US, which Canada is dependent on for 75% of its export market (and there is no replacement). Policies pressuring Canadians into a cashless system. The detrimental institution of carbon controls and climate change rules for industry and energy. And, even less national sovereignty as Canada is made more beholden to the EU.

Lets start with immigration… While Carney claims he wants caps on immigration, his advisor choices suggest Canadians will get more of the same. The central banker has tapped Mark Wiseman, co-founder of the Century Initiative lobby group as part of his policy council. The Century Initiative under the former BlackRock executive publicly endorsed the Trudeau government’s moves to take in 500,000 new immigrants per year by 2025. It should be noted that as Canada increased immigration their economy suffered exponential decline. Between 2015 and 2024, Canada’s ranking in the Human Development Index plummeted from 9th to 18th, while the country fell behind Italy in the average growth of real GDP per capita. Canada’s housing market and social services are essentially broken. And how about individual freedom?

It’s no secret that the Liberal Party widely supported the lockdowns and mandatory vaccinations. However, where did Carney stand on the issue? Carney acted as an “informal adviser” to Trudeau throughout the covid event and supported the mandates wholeheartedly. In an opinion article for The Globe And Mail titled ‘It’s Time To End The Sedition In Ottawa By Enforcing The Law And Following The Money’, Carney wrote in reference to the Trucker Protests against the mandates: “No one should have any doubt…This is sedition. That’s a word I never thought I’d use in Canada. It means incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority.” “The constant blaring of horns at all hours, the harassment of people, the culture of fear have been making residents’ lives hell, will bankrupt our businesses and if left unchecked would help achieve the Convoy’s goal of undermining our democracy…Anyone sending money to the Convoy should be in no doubt: you are funding sedition. Foreign funders of an insurrection interfered in our domestic affairs.”

These are the words of an authoritarian, using “democracy” as a cover to institute a sweeping crackdown on public freedoms. Where does Carney stand on the economy? Mark Carney is a long time Davo elitist, and as such he is an adherent of Klaus Schwab’s “4th Industrial Revolution” theory and the concept of the “Great Reset”. Specifically, Carney is an avid champion of the WEF’s climate change agenda and their efforts to make “climate consciousness” inseparable from business culture. Meaning, Carney will undoubtedly bury Canada in climate controls and carbon taxes, snuffing out their industry and energy base just as the globalists have been doing in Europe. Furthermore, Carney is deeply involved in the push for national and global Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

In his 2021 book ‘Values”, Carney calls for revolutionary centralization of the global monetary system and the launch of CBDCs as the new standard. He has actively campaigned against cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and any form of decentralized money, claiming instead that the future requires a global digital currency to replace the dollar system (NOTE: Carney did not come up with this idea, this has been a ongoing plan within the BIS and IMF for decades). “If properly designed, a CBDC could serve all the functions to which private cryptocurrencies and stablecoins aspire while addressing the fundamental legal and governance issues that will, in time, undermine those alternatives…” At bottom, Carney is calling for a cashless society controlled by the banking oligarchy. Without cash or an independent form of trade, all personal economic freedom dies. Carney licks his chops over this prospect when he states (in reference to the covid crisis):

“With fear on the march, people were willing to surrender to Hobbes’ ‘Leviathan’ such basic rights as the freedom to leave their homes. And so it is with money. People will support the delegation to independent central banks of the tough decisions that are necessary to maintain the value of money provided the authorities deliver monetary and financial stability…” This is not the man Canadians should be voting for if they have any interest in changing the current Orwellian path their country is on. Critics claim that it’s Donald Trump’s tariffs that are to blame for the shift in the polls in Carney’s favor. Yet, if Carney is elected he would be the most disastrous choice in negotiating a settlement with the US. The situation will only become more ugly for Canada in every way. This is not a “new boss, same as the old boss” scenario. Carney is far higher up on the totem pole of degradation than Trudeau and much more devious.

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Turley no longer states that the system is working so great.

Federal District Courts Piling on Injunctions to Stop Trump (Turley)

“Here we are again.” Those words of Senior U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick may be the only uncontested line in his opinion this week, enjoining the Trump Administration from withholding federal funds to “sanctuary jurisdictions.” In President Trump’s first term, efforts to implement sweeping changes on immigration and other issues were met by a slew of injunctions. In 2017, one of those orders was from Judge Orrick, an Obama appointee in San Francisco. Trump has already faced a record number of national injunctions by district courts. His administration has objected to forum- and judge-shopping by political opponents by bringing the majority of such challenges in overwhelmingly Democratic states like California. Such injunctions did not exist at the founding, and only relatively recently became the rage among district court judges.

Under President George W. Bush, there were only six such injunctions, which increased to 12 under Obama. Both Democratic and Republican presidents have complained about district judges tying down presidents like so many judicial Lilliputians. However, when Trump came to office, the taste for national injunctions became a full-fledged addiction. Trump faced 64 such orders in his first term. When Biden and the Democrats returned to office, it fell back to 14. That was not due to more modest measures. Biden did precisely what Trump did in seeking to negate virtually all of his predecessors’ orders and then seek sweeping new legal reforms. He was repeatedly found to have violated the Constitution, but there was no torrent of preliminary injunctions at the start of his term. Now, however, with less than 100 days in office, Trump 2.0 has already surpassed that number for the entirety of Biden’s term.

The Supreme Court bears some of the blame for this. Although a majority of justices, including liberal Justice Elena Kagan, have complained about district courts’ issuance of national injunctions, the high court has done little to rein in district court judges. On May 15, the justices are poised to consider the issue in a case involving birthright citizenship. Many hope that the justices will bring what they have consistently failed to supply to lower courts: clarity and finality. Some judges have already seen their stays lifted by appellate courts. However, in just one day this week, three more major injunctions were issued on sanctuary cities, voter registration, and deportations. Some of these orders appear premature and overbroad. Take Judge Orrick’s order. Again, Trump is targeting cities offering sanctuary to unlawful immigrants as imposing high costs on the country, including increasing burdens for federal programs and grants to these cities.

Orrick previously stopped that effort in the first Trump term, and he was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. However, the orders are not identical, and so far no action has been taken against these cities. Under one of the orders, titled “Protecting the American People against Invasion,” Trump has ordered the attorney general and the secretary of Homeland Security to “evaluate and undertake any lawful actions to ensure that so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions, which seek to interfere with the lawful exercise of Federal law enforcement operations, do not receive access to Federal funds.” Orrick noted that the term “sanctuary jurisdiction” was not defined and dismissed the express reservation that such actions can only proceed to the extent that they are allowed under law.

The irony is that the opinion itself is overly broad and imprecise. There are indeed cases limiting the ability of the federal government to “commandeer” states and cities into carrying out federal functions. However, there are also cases upholding the right to withhold federal funds that contravene federal laws and policies. The operative language in the order is the focus on sanctuary policies that “interfere” or prevent federal enforcement. There must be some accommodation for the federal government in refusing to pay for the rope that it will hang by.

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“Being mean or telling the truth is indistinguishable to far too many people.” —Mike Thompson on X

Now You Know (James Howard Kunstler)

Woke liberalism is exactly what Christopher Lasch predicted in The Revolt of the Elites, published in 1995 the year after his early death at 61. Lasch saw how the juvenile idealism of Boomer hippiedom would slide into the narcissistic, sado-masochistic degeneracy of open borders, drag queen story hours, Covid-19 despotism, DEI racism, showbiz Satanism, censorship, forever wars, and now, the legal insurrection of lawfare. In doing so, Lasch also predicted the “mass formation psychosis” described by Belgian psychologist Mattias Desmet, spawned by a crisis of meaning and purpose in the thinking classes of Western Civ. And now you know exactly how come a place like Boston, with its concentration of “elites” in universities, computer tech, and medical research displays a batshit-crazy dedication to ideas bent on destroying our political culture: the American republic.

The word republic derives from the Latin, res publica: the public thing, the idea of a state dedicated to the common good. By “state” you can infer both a group of people in a certain place, but also the set of conditions they dwell in. You can’t have a common good without a common culture, which means a general agreement among citizens on values in that certain place — which is our country, the USA. You can’t overstate the importance of shared ideas and values in that enterprise of being a nation, we-the-people in our particular place. The juvenile idealism of Boomer hippiedom wrecked the crucial idea of a common culture, and I will tell you exactly how that happened. Two crusades: first, the civil rights campaign, and second, stopping the War in Vietnam, defined the era.

The first of these climaxed in twin landmark legislative acts designed to abolish Jim Crow racism: the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibiting discrimination in public places, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibited unfair obstacles to voting. The idealism in that moment of history was extreme. The dominant old-school Liberal ethos displayed a sense of triumph. Its cardinal belief in human progress was validated in the new law-of-the-land. We were supposedly entering a utopia of racial harmony. It proved to be a huge disappointment, a failure. In some fundamental ways, black and white America could not agree on certain values, especially language and behavior. These matters were so hypersensitive that discussing them became taboo, and when someone dared to — such as the rogue journalist Tom Wolfe in his book Radical Chic, which made fun of the cultural elites trying to socialize with the Black Panthers — he was buried in the most extreme censorious opprobrium by the elite good-thinkers of politics, academia, and the cultural media. They couldn’t believe old Tom dove clear through the Overton Window the way he did, head first.

In fact, a big segment of black America after 1965 became much more overtly separatist and oppositional, while white America became more frantically confounded and depressed by it. The result was the elite’s solution to that quandary: multiculturalism! Which basically meant: we don’t need a common culture in the USA. (We don’t need an agreement about values, language, and behavior.) Each group in America can have its own menu of these things. This accomplished two ends: it allowed criminal behavior to explode; and it allowed the elites to excuse themselves from any serious further attempts to manage the res publica. The people of the ghettos were free to do their thing; while the elites turned their full attention to Boomer careerism and Gordon Gecko style financial moneygrubbing.

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“..If we use the low estimate and do not adjust for inflation, the value of stolen technology would be at least $5.4 trillion.”

America Funded China’s Rise (Morrison)

The free trade brigade obsesses over economic minutiae—they cry that tariffs will raise the cost of plastic spatulas by 50 cents! What a disaster! Who cares? The reality is that trade with China is not in America’s interests because it funds our greatest rival. Here’s how America funded China’s rise, and why tariffs will help keep America safe and free. A Dragon Fed: How America Funded China’s Rise. Economists say freer trade benefits everyone—even trade with China. America gets cheap goods and China gets money. Win-win. Even if we assume America benefits, which is a false assumption as proven in my book Reshore, China has clearly benefited more. For example, China’s economy has grown by an average of 8.12% since joining the World Trade Organization in 2001—about four times greater than America’s. China and America benefited asymmetrically from trade.

Asymmetry may not be a problem economically, but it is a problem politically. Why? Power is zero-sum. The stronger China grows, the weaker America becomes relative to China. As such, trade with China is also a political issue. The question we should be asking ourselves is whether cheap goods are worth surrendering America’s political dominance. To be clear, trade is not the only way that America has funded China’s rise. There are three primary ways that America enriches and empowers China: investment, trade, and theft. First, America invested directly in China by building factories—offshoring 60,000 factories does not come cheap. The total value of American investment in China is unknown. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, cumulative foreign direct investment (“FDI”) totalled $2.7 trillion in 2023. Just 2.1% of this investment was categorized as American.

The reason that this amount is so low is because American investment is usually routed through intermediaries, mostly Hong Kong, Singapore, and the British Virgin Islands. This is why Hong Kong—a city smaller than Shanghai—owns 68% of FDI in China. Not coincidentally, Hong Kong is a major recipient of FDI from the U.S. and from the British Virgin Islands—a tiny banking archipelago that is itself capitalized by the U.S. and the City of London. Because of this shell game, we cannot know the actual amount American companies have invested in China, but if we assume that FDI correlates with the relative size of China’s trade surpluses, then America’s investments total $972 billion. This estimate is probably low. Why? China runs trade surpluses with countries that clearly contributed no investment, such as most countries in Africa and the Middle East. Given the level of economic integration, I would hazard an estimate that most FDI ultimately originated in America or the City of London, funneled through their banking havens.

Second, America indirectly funded China’s rise through the trade deficit, buying more Chinese goods than we sold. The cumulative trade deficit with China since 2001 is roughly $6 trillion, after accounting for inflation. Not only were the Chinese able to spend these profits, but they were also able to borrow against the revenue, greatly multiplying their access to capital. Third, China has stolen an almost unquantifiable amount of American technology. In 2017, the Office of the United States Trade Representative estimated that China steals intellectual property worth between $225 and $600 billion per year, more than the value of the annual trade deficit. If we use the low estimate and do not adjust for inflation, the value of stolen technology would be at least $5.4 trillion.

Interestingly, the above numbers actually undervalue the quantity of this theft. Why? Because most of the technological and IP outflows are not stolen in a traditional sense. For example, the main vector of technological transfer is via Chinese companies using their profits from the trade deficit to buy shares in American companies, at which point they own the technology. Currently, foreigners own 17% of American equities, and the number is growing. The other vector is through Sino-American corporate partnerships. Basically, American companies that build factories in China are forced to partner with a local Chinese company, a corporate clone. The plant is staffed by Chinese workers, who are taught America’s industrial processes and how to replicate American technology.

Providing China access to American technology is actually the price to enter China’s market—American companies cannot operate in China without giving up their technological and industrial secrets. Yet they do it anyways because the Chinese make it worth their while. In my view, the value of America’s stolen technology was priceless. Remember, mainland China’s economy was largely preindustrial—about as productive and technologically advanced as the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolution. Now, China has reached technological parity with the U.S. Theft allowed China to skip 200 years of technological and economic development. America funded China’s rise. This has not only impoverished America, but it has also ended America’s superpower era. We now live in a multipolar world, bought and paid for by America’s corrupt politicians and Wall Street.

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“..the divide between the MAGA-friendly media and their more mainstream counterparts.” The extreme hatred of Trump is “more mainstream.”

Liberals Loathe Arrival of ‘MAGA Media’ Inside the White House (DS)

The New York Times recently published a hissy fit about the White House allowing reporters into the Briefing Room who didn’t vote for Kamala Harris. Here was the amazing protest sentence: “Longtime White House reporters say the result has been an erosion of their independence.” The presence of a reporter who didn’t vote Democrat doesn’t “erode” the anti-Trump animus (“independence”) of liberal activist journalists. It might balance it, suggesting journalism and liberalism are not exactly the same thing. This spurred a trend. Politico’s Ian Ward profiled these invaders under the headline “Meet the 8 MAGA Outlets Disrupting the White House Briefing Room.” It carried the usual labeling about “the divide between the MAGA-friendly media and their more mainstream counterparts.” The extreme hatred of Trump is “more mainstream.”

Then came CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, who loves to wade into MAGA crowds, trying to find the dumbest-sounding Trump supporter he can find. In this case, he went looking for the dumbest-sounding White House reporter. The headline over the video was “‘Do you consider yourself a journalist?’ CNN meets MAGA media at White House.” O’Sullivan showed clips of these pro-Trump reporters admitting their bias, and he proclaimed, “These are White House correspondents like you’ve never seen before.” Really? He spotlighted Cara Castronuova of Lindell TV asking if they’ll release Trump’s fitness routine, since he “actually looks healthier than ever before.” In 2009, a Washington Post reporter touted Barack Obama’s “chiseled pectorals.” Then O’Sullivan replayed Real America’s Voice reporter Brian Glenn asking Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “Why don’t you wear a suit?” He suggested to Glenn he was “trolling,” but it’s a question lots of Americans would ask.

Natalie Winters from Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast said, “If it were up to me, I’d kick a lot of these outlets out.” In other words, she has the same opinion as CNN, only reversed. O’Sullivan asked Winters, “Do you consider yourself a journalist?” He said many say, “You don’t deserve to be here because you’re not a real journalist.” She attacked the pro-Joe Biden media: “I’m pretty sure the people in there spent four years covering for someone who was essentially dead, and that’s being charitable. … You guys failed, and that’s why we’re here.” CNN exemplified the point last year when anchor Dana Bash was deeply troubled over bumbling-Biden videos. They were “amplified on conservative media that in some cases are just not right and in other cases are highly, highly misleading of President Biden.”

O’Sullivan lectured about the “new media” people: “A lot of them are more cheerleading President Trump than challenging him.” He ended by quoting White House Correspondents’ Association leader Eugene Daniels: The public “needs news produced by experienced, professional journalists who ask tough questions and produce fair coverage.” Under Biden, Daniels wasn’t known for asking “tough questions.” At the 2024 Kamala cuddlefest before the National Association of Black Journalists, Daniels began by gently asking if the American people were better off after four years. Daniels went on shows such as “Washington Week” on PBS and denied Kamala was ever “border czar” and insisted she was a victim: “We’ve already seen a lot of racism and sexism, and that’s going to be a huge part of this campaign.”

Then there’s CNN itself. One of the most memorable tongue-bath questions came in 2009, when then-New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny asked Obama what “enchanted” him about being president. Then-CNN anchor John Roberts praised the softball and Obama’s “thoughtful” answer. Zeleny was later hired by CNN. Reporters asking softballs at the White House is nothing new. It’s OK when the “mainstream” does it for Democrats.

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It’s nice that people start growing their own food. But the real big impact is in the supermarkets. The artificial dyes are just the start.

Make America Healthy Again Movement Extends Beyond RFK Jr (ET)

For avid supporters, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement itself is not new. It began long before Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign and subsequent confirmation as health secretary. “The principles of the MAHA movement were once a way of life all over the country decades ago,” Samantha Rayburn, a 40-year-old mother of two teenage sons, told The Epoch Times. “It’s encouraging to see more people adopting those beliefs and understanding that God gave us what we need to feed our bodies and heal our bodies. With how sick and unhealthy we are as a society, this return to the basics is needed.” Rayburn developed an interest in foraging for herbs and plants when she was a little girl and was inspired to make her first tincture when her oldest son caught whooping cough when he was 2. She describes the MAHA movement as “a return to the basics.”

“It’s getting back to when we knew what was in our food because we grew it and got what we didn’t have from local farmers,” said Rayburn, who lives in southern Ohio. “RFK Jr. and MAHA have made what many of us believe in more mainstream. People are now contacting me and wanting to learn more about herbs. I don’t seem so crazy anymore.” She was referring to her business, Hadassah’s Herbs for Health and Healing. When Kennedy delivered a speech in August 2024 announcing that he was suspending his campaign and backing then-former President Donald Trump, he said that Trump was giving him the opportunity to help make America healthy again. What followed was a social media frenzy with “Make America Healthy Again” and “MAHA” hashtags. MAHA the acronym was born. Samantha Rayburn has treated her sons, Holden and Wyatt, with herbal remedies since they were infants and believes in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again platform.

She now heads the Victory Garden Alliance, which encourages people, communities, and organizations to grow their own food. “There is a revival in growing our own food, supporting local farms, and knowing what’s in our food. Bobby and the MAHA movement have catapulted that interest,” Capriotti told The Epoch Times. “We need this. Our kids need this. It’s important they understand how food is grown and where it comes from. That will inspire healthier new generations because they will become smarter consumers.” She calls what is happening with the MAHA movement a “health revolution.” She is working to educate elected officials and political candidates. “Many of us who worked on the presidential campaign didn’t stop our objectives when it ended. That’s an example of how MAHA is a movement not tied to one person,” Capriotti said.

As health secretary, Kennedy has a mandate to fight chronic disease, improve children’s health, and address corporate influence on government agencies. He has pledged to remove toxic chemicals from the nation’s food supply, increase transparency, improve vaccine safety, and make significant changes to the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—operating divisions within Health and Human Services. These plans, along with encouraging Americans to grow their own food and buy meat and produce from farmers who do not use pesticides and toxins, are among the initiatives of the MAHA movement.

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PepsiCo cares only about the bottom line.

A HUGE Win for the Make America Healthy Again Movement (Margolis)

Score one for the Make America Healthy Again movement. After Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called for a crackdown on artificial ingredients, PepsiCo wasted no time getting the message. On an April 24 conference call, PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta announced that the company has already begun reducing artificial ingredients across its products. “We’ve been leading the transformation of the industry now for a long time on sodium reduction, sugar reduction, and better fats,” Laguarta said. Now, under pressure from a public fed up with chemicals in their food, PepsiCo is finally moving faster toward cleaning up its act — a clear sign that the Make America Healthy Again movement is already having a powerful impact. “Sixty percent-plus of our (portfolio) today doesn’t have any artificial colors,” Laguarta added, indicating that the company is “undergoing that transition.”

Fox News Digital has more. “Laguarta cited examples such as Lay’s and Tostitos, which “will be out of artificial colors by the end of this year.” He added, “So, we’re well underway.” RFK Jr. and Dr. Martin Makary, U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner, announced a ban on petroleum-based synthetic dyes from America’s food supply last Tuesday. As the HHS noted in its news release, among the steps to be taken are “establishing a national standard and timeline for the food industry to transition from petrochemical-based dyes to natural alternatives.” “Initiating the process to revoke authorization for two synthetic food colorings — Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B — within the coming months; and working with industry to eliminate six remaining synthetic dyes — FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5, FD&C Yellow No. 6, FD&C Blue No. 1, and FD&C Blue No. 2 — from the food supply by the end of next year.”

Certified nutritionist and Make America Healthy Again supporter Liana Werner-Gray celebrated PepsiCo’s move as a major step forward. “This is a huge win for public health and long overdue,” she told Fox News Digital. Werner-Gray, author of “The Earth Diet,” explained her philosophy as “all about going back to nature and eating foods from nature, eating real nutrition, eating foods that God provides us with naturally.” She also shared that she has long avoided artificial dyes, saying, “I’ve personally eliminated artificial dyes like Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1 and others from my diet over 16 years ago when I started The Earth Diet, living a natural lifestyle.” She added, “Once I removed these dyes and switched to natural, whole-food-based alternatives, those symptoms [frequent major mood swings, anxiety, skin breakouts, and energy crashes] went away, too.”

Werner-Gray believes the manipulation of food has gone unchecked for far too long, and it’s finally time for a course correction. “This move by the FDA under Secretary Kennedy and Commissioner Makary’s leadership is a pivotal step toward restoring integrity in our food system,” she told Fox News Digital. “It’s time we raise the standard. Clean, natural and nourishing food should be the norm, not a luxury.” During the April 24 conference call, PepsiCo’s CEO emphasized that the company’s chips, puffs, and other snacks are still considered safe to consume and reaffirmed that PepsiCo stands by the existing science, according to reports. Still, there’s no denying the impact President Trump is already having in his second term. With leaders like RFK Jr. at the helm, the Make America Healthy Again movement isn’t just a slogan; it’s delivering real results and forcing even major corporations to change course.

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“.. in just a “few years,” robots will surpass “good human surgeons” and will beat the best doctors within about five years..”

“..the required speed and precision is “impossible for a human to achieve.”

Robots Will Outperform Human Surgeons In Five Years – Musk (RT)

Robots will soon replace human surgeons and are already capable of carrying out operations that are considered impossible for ordinary people to perform, Elon Musk has predicted. In a post on X on Saturday, the billionaire tech entrepreneur suggested that in just a “few years,” robots will surpass “good human surgeons” and will beat the best doctors within about five years. He noted that his Neuralink biotech company has already had to rely on robot surgeons to carry out the brain-computer electrode insertion of brain chips because the required speed and precision is “impossible for a human to achieve.” Musk’s comments came in response to a post by popular X influencer Mario Nawfal, who quoted an article about the rising success of robot surgeons such as the Medtronic ‘Hugo’.

It is reported that the robot has already been tested in 137 real surgeries such as fixing prostates, kidneys, and bladders. “The results were better than doctors expected,” Nawfal said, noting that the complication rates were 3.7% for prostate surgeries, 1.9% for kidney operations, and 17.9% for bladder procedures. “The robots got a 98.5% success rate, way above the 85% goal,” the post claimed, adding that out of the 137 surgeries, only two needed to be taken back over by real doctors due to a glitch and because of a “tricky patient case.” Previously, Musk suggested that brain-computer interfaces like those being developed by Neuralink would replace technologies such as cell phones.

Neuralink has already successfully implanted its brain chip – about the size of a coin – in three patients. After the procedure, they were able to control a computer cursor and play video games like chess and Counter-Strike using only their thoughts. One of the patients, who is non-verbal, was also able to use the device to communicate through an AI-generated voice clone. Musk has since announced plans to expand Neuralink’s clinical trials with the goal of implanting the brain chip in 20 to 30 more patients in 2025.

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Dim sun
https://twitter.com/BGatesIsaPyscho/status/1916602036361056379

Baby

Eyes


https://twitter.com/amzingnature1/status/1916669281288311066

Imagine

Gong
https://twitter.com/XPHOENIXDRAGON/status/1916504825019130021

13 years ago

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Mar 092025
 
 March 9, 2025  Posted by at 11:06 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,  34 Responses »


Raphael The transfiguration 1520

 

A New American Empire: Trump, Russia, and The End of Globalism (Kashin)
U.S. Admits Ukraine Proxy War Defeat (SCF)
Acute Dementia: Europe Declares War On Russia All Over Again (Pepe Escobar)
Keir Starmer Is Ditching Zelensky To Avoid Trump Tariffs (Proud)
UK Will Return Russian Money It Is ‘So Generously Giving Away’ – Moscow (RT)
“NO DISSENT”: Trump Asks “All Republicans” To “Give Us A Few Months” (ZH)
Federal Judge Denies Request to Block DOGE From Accessing Treasury Data (ET)
Early ICE Arrests Are Below 5% Of Trump’s Target: Here’s Why (JTN)
Something Huge for the MAHA Movement Is About To Happen (Margolis)
The Media Can’t Hide This Trump Victory Forever (Margolis)
US Pushing To Soften Anti-Russia Language In G7 Document (RT)
Ukraine Loses Access To US Commercial Satellites (RT)
Polish PM Plans To Double Size Of Army (RT)
Ukraine’s Losses Mounting Due To US Intel Freeze (RT)
Trump CDC to Probe Long-Rumored Vaccine-Autism Link (PJM)
Bezos Ousts Bond Producers Over ‘Idiots’ Remark (RT)

 

 

 

 

Candy

Article 2
https://twitter.com/i/status/1898352472546070902

Sacks


https://twitter.com/i/status/1898216959038439807

Cards
https://twitter.com/i/status/1897995649330598293

Promises
https://twitter.com/i/status/1898058853033365678

 

 

 

 

Daylight time in the US, not for another 3 weeks here in Europe. Always throws me off.

 

 

“Since the late 1990s, the costs of maintaining global hegemony have exceeded the benefits..”

A New American Empire: Trump, Russia, and The End of Globalism (Kashin)

Donald Trump’s return to the White House is shaping up to be nothing short of a political revolution. The new administration is rapidly dismantling the old order, purging the ruling elite, reshaping both domestic and foreign policy, and cementing changes that will be difficult to reverse – even if his opponents regain power in future elections. For Trump, as for all revolutionaries, the priority is to break the existing system and consolidate radical transformations. Many of the principles that guided US policy for decades – sometimes for over a century – are being deliberately discarded. Washington’s global strategy, long built on expansive military, diplomatic, and financial influence, is being rewritten to serve Trump’s domestic political needs.

The end of the American liberal empire For the past 100 years, the US has functioned as a global empire. Unlike traditional empires built on territorial expansion, the American empire extended its reach through financial dominance, military alliances, and ideological influence. This model, however, has become increasingly unsustainable. Since the late 1990s, the costs of maintaining global hegemony have exceeded the benefits, fueling discontent both at home and abroad. Trump and his allies seek to end this ‘liberal empire’ and return America to a more self-reliant, mercantilist model – one reminiscent of the late 19th and early 20th centuries under President William McKinley. Trump has openly praised this era, viewing it as the golden age of US prosperity, before the country took on the burdens of global leadership.

Under this vision, America will reduce unproductive foreign expenditures and refocus on its natural advantages: Vast resources, an advanced industrial base, and the world’s most valuable consumer market. Rather than policing the world, Washington will wield its economic power more aggressively to secure trade advantages. However, the transition to this model carries significant risks, particularly in a highly globalized economy.

A shift in global strategy Trump’s policies are driven by domestic concerns but will have major implications abroad. His administration is systematically dismantling key institutions of the old order, including those that irritated Moscow. For instance, USAID – a major vehicle for American influence in the post-Soviet space – has been gutted. Ironically, Trump had more motivation to destroy USAID than even Russian President Vladimir Putin, given that its resources had been repurposed for domestic political use by Trump’s rivals. If the US abandons its liberal empire model, many sources of tension with Russia will disappear. Historically, Moscow and Washington had relatively stable relations throughout the 19th century.

If Trump’s America reverts to a more isolationist approach, Russia will no longer be a primary target of US interference. The main friction point will likely be the Arctic, where both nations have strategic interests. China, however, remains Trump’s top adversary. Beijing’s state-led economic expansion is fundamentally at odds with Trump’s mercantilist vision. Unlike Biden, who sought to counter China through alliances, Trump is willing to go it alone – potentially weakening Western unity in the process. His administration is expected to escalate economic and technological warfare against Beijing, even if it means alienating European allies.

Europe’s strategic uncertainty One of Trump’s most disruptive moves has been his open hostility toward the EU. His vice president, J.D. Vance, recently delivered a speech in Munich that amounted to direct interference in European politics, signaling support for right-wing nationalist movements that challenge the EU’s authority. This shift is forcing Europe into an uncomfortable position. For years, China has viewed Western Europe as an ‘alternative West’ with which it could engage economically without the same level of confrontation it faces with the US. Trump’s approach could accelerate EU-Chinese ties, especially if Western European leaders feel abandoned by Washington.

There are already signs that European policymakers may loosen restrictions on Chinese investments, particularly in critical industries such as semiconductors. At the same time, the ambitions of some Europeans for NATO expansion into the Indo-Pacific may falter, as the bloc struggles to define its new role in a post-globalist US strategy. For years, Washington fantasized about splitting Russia and China apart. But Trump’s new approach is unlikely to achieve this goal. The Russia-China partnership is built on strong fundamentals: A massive shared border, complementary economies, and a shared interest in countering Western dominance.

If anything, the shifting geopolitical landscape could push Russia into a position similar to that of China in the early 2000s – focusing on economic development while maintaining strategic flexibility. Moscow may reduce its efforts to actively undermine the US and instead concentrate on strengthening its economic and security ties with Beijing. China, meanwhile, will bear the brunt of Trump’s new American empire. The US will no longer rely on alliances to contain Beijing but will use direct economic and military pressure. While this may make life more difficult for China, it does not necessarily mean the US will succeed. China has been preparing for economic decoupling for years, and Beijing may find opportunities in a more divided Western world.

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“European leaders are desperate. The about-turn in U.S. policy to walk away from the failed proxy war in Ukraine has left them holding a dead-end hand of cards..”

U.S. Admits Ukraine Proxy War Defeat (SCF)

In an interview on Fox News this week, America’s top diplomat Marco Rubio made a damning admission. He called the conflict in Ukraine a proxy war between the United States, its NATO allies and Russia. Stop the press. In one fell swoop, the narrative justifying the NATO-backed war for the past three years was exposed as a naked lie. It is not about “defending Ukraine” from alleged Russian unprovoked aggression. It is a proxy war. That means it has deeper causes and responsibilities. This is what Moscow and many other international observers have been saying all along. To recognize the conflict as a proxy war is to begin admitting wider culpability for it and to start addressing the root causes for a genuine peaceful settlement.

Secretary of State Rubio went on to emphatically call for an end to the war to spare lives. He claimed the conflict was in a stalemate, not quite bringing himself to utter the word, “defeat”. But defeat is what this debacle is. Rubio decried how the previous Biden administration and Congress (including himself as a Senator) had fueled the conflict along with other NATO members in a futile campaign. It is now time to bring the conflict to an end, he said. Appropriately, the U.S. foreign minister appeared on television with a prominent Lenten cross of ash marked on his forehead. Christians around the world begin preparations for Easter by donning ashes as a sign of repentance. Rubio’s “confession” of a failed U.S. policy of proxy war against Russia in Ukraine may be seen as a belated recognition in Washington that it needs to cease, desist and make amends for peace.

Not so the European leaders, however, who this week persisted in their lies about a noble purpose in Ukraine. Following the humiliating rebuke of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky by U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office last week, the European politicians have been rallying their support for the Kiev regime. Trump aides ejected Zelensky from the White House last Friday because he testily refused to comply with a U.S. initiative for peace in Ukraine. This week, the chastened Zelensky wrote a letter to Trump appealing for forgiveness – and more U.S. military aid. It’s not clear if the Ukrainian redundant president has convinced the Trump administration that he is ready to sign a peace deal. In the meantime, the White House has now cut off military aid and intelligence sharing with the Kiev regime. Again, proving the reality of a proxy war.

That move has thrown the European allies into a quandary and existential crisis. It is a crisis of their own making. An emergency EU leaders’ summit was convened to drum up more military support for Ukraine. The EU 27 could not agree on a package because Hungary vetoed it. Another summit is to be called on March 20, when it is intended to bypass Hungarian objection to funding the war in Ukraine. European leaders are desperate. The about-turn in U.S. policy to walk away from the failed proxy war in Ukraine has left them holding a dead-end hand of cards. Rather than folding, they are doubling down on their worthless chips. Trump upbraided Zelensky in the Oval Office by telling him, “You don’t have the cards” to keep this war going. The same advice can be leveled at the European governments, including the British, who strangely have wormed their way back into calling shots in Europe despite exiting the bloc five years ago.

This war has been lost with appalling losses. Three years of the biggest war in Europe since World War Two has resulted in over one million deaths – mainly on the Ukrainian military side – and hundreds of billions of dollars and euros wasted, which the American and European public will pay over generations through debts. This war is an abominable crime perpetrated by Washington and its European allies. All the more so because it could have been avoided if Russian diplomatic efforts in late 2021 had been reciprocated to deal with Moscow’s legitimate security concerns over NATO’s expansion. But no, the Western imperialists wanted to strategically defeat Russia and they used a NeoNazi regime in Ukraine as their pawn following the CIA-backed coup in Kiev in 2014 against an elected president.

Western leaders must be held to account for their nefarious machinations and the colossal damage in Ukraine and Russia. Russian civilians have been killed by NATO weapons and over $300 billion in Russian assets have been confiscated. Russia has the right to seek massive war reparations. At least, to their credit, the Trump administration has realized that the evil of this fraudulent war must stop.

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“..the overwhelming majority of France would gladly agree that mini-Napoleon should be dispatched to the battlefields in the black soil of Novorossiya right away…”

Acute Dementia: Europe Declares War On Russia All Over Again (Pepe Escobar)

Let’s start with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Road to Damascus moment: “Frankly, it’s a proxy war between nuclear powers, the United States helping Ukraine and Russia, and it needs to come to an end”. Now that’s a howler. Jeffrey Sachs to the rescue. Of course, the correct formulation would be “proxy war launched by the United States”. But still: Hallelujah! Such illumination – by proxy – from Heavens Above could never had hit the previous American Secretary of Genocide. Now cut to panic. Total European panic. Le Petit Roi, as popular in France as nighttime mosquitoes in a five-star beach resort, has declared that peace in Europe is only possible with a “tamed” Russia – and that Russia is a direct threat to France and Europe. On Ukraine, he pontificated that peace simply cannot take place under Russian terms or via the – inevitable – Ukrainian surrender.

Le breathless Petit Roi literally went nuclear. He stressed that France possesses a nuclear deterrent – and offered it to the rest of Europe, while insisting that Europe’s future should not be dictated by Moscow or Washington. Le Petit Roi napoleonically all but declared war on Russia. Well, the fact remains that the overwhelming majority of France would gladly agree that mini-Napoleon should be dispatched to the battlefields in the black soil of Novorossiya right away – where he would surrender in less than 5 minutes, waving a rainbow flag, as he realizes he’s about to be turned into an instant steak tartare. Now couple this Moliere farce with the fate of the much larger, fatter, pan-European New Model Woke Army regimented by the Fuhrerin SS von der Lugen out of Brussels, allegedly to be financed to the tune of 800 billion euros – money that no one has, and would have to be loaned then repaid with sky-high extorsion interest rates to the usual international financial system vultures.

SS von der Lugen insists Europe is in danger, so the solution is a massive expansion of the military-industrial complex – in practice, buying more overpriced American weapons – and “rearmament”. Talk about Gotterdammerung on crack. Were the New Model Woke Army ever come to light, surrender would also be a matter of less than 5 minutes – brandishing rainbow flags – as its woke warriors would face the dire prospect of being Oreshniked to a pile of charcoal grilled burgers. Add to it the Return of the Nord Stream Saga – with a new plot twist. Sy Hersh conclusively proved that the Nord Streams were bombed under orders of the previous Crash Test Dummy regime in Washington. Now Nord Stream 2, at least, could be back in business via a not-so-secret U.S.-Russia deal involving Gazprom and American oligarchs.

All that while fanatics in Berlin assure right and left they want to explore every possible way to prevent (italics mine) the Nord Stream system from being repaired – because after all no one, especially the new BlackRock chancellor, can deviate from the official policy of destroying the German economy by all means necessary. Compounding the Kafkaesque scenario, the Prime Minister of Denmark – which is on the brink of losing Greenland “one way or another” to Trump 2.0 – immortalized the words, “peace in Ukraine will be more dangerous than war.” The Polish Prime Minister did not miss a beat, adding that “Europe is stronger than Russia and capable of winning in any military, financial, or economic confrontation.” Europe is in such a “winning” streak now – as the record shows.

All this discombobulated Tower of Babel proves, without a shadow of a doubt, that Europe is geopolitically – and geoeconomically – dead and buried. No Teutonic Gods – complete with fat lady singin’ – will be able to resurrect it. The notion that Europe is able to pose a military threat to Russia does not even qualify as trashy propaganda for sub-zero IQs. It would take at least a decade to re-militarize Germany as its economy is moribund, serially stabbed by unmanageable energy costs. Russia for its part is protected from a possible nuclear attack by Le Petit Roi’s puny “umbrella” arsenal by the most sophisticated missile defenses in the world. The Aegis defensive missiles in Poland are relatively worthless – even if their prime danger to Russia remains that the system can be converted to handle offensive missiles. As a whole, the Aegis, Patriot, THAAD-PAC-3, SBIR-HIGH Ground Based Infrared Systems are all relatively useless.

Other than the U.S., NATO simply has no military worth. And Washington under Trump 2.0 simply will not be involved in the next European War. The U.S. has satellite systems for targeting but no one else in NATO has them. With the U.S. pulling out, and in the event of a hypothetical von der Lugen-led New Woke Army attack against Russia, Russian missiles can knock out all European ports, airports and manufacturing and energy systems in a day max – instantly returning Europe to the stone age. This applies to England, France, Germany, not to mention assorted chihuahuas: all of NATO. Russia can knock out all British power systems with Zircons launched from a conventional submarine. Stone Age, here we come. Russian hypersonic missiles cannot be intercepted.

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“..His Majesty King Charles II and President Trump are peers as Heads of State, and Prime Minister Starmer is a more junior Head of Government..”

Keir Starmer Is Ditching Zelensky To Avoid Trump Tariffs (Proud)

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Washington majored on an historic invitation for President Trump to make a second state visit to Britain. Despite considerable pre-visit hype among the UK mainstream media, Ukraine was barely mentioned. The cold truth is, Starmer is ditching Zelensky to avoid tariffs. The subtle art of diplomacy is often hard to fathom for the outsider. When Keir Starmer called on Donald Trump in the Oval Office on 27 February, there was an air of conviviality that belied what some considered to have been, hitherto, a difficult relationship. The set piece moment was the Prime Minster handing the President a letter from His Majesty, King Charles II. While it has attracted little comment, The King’s letter to President Trump was a diplomatic masterstroke. A section of the first page was captured by a photographer.

These were words crafted by His Majesty himself, with his distinct syntax, rather than written by an anonymous committee of officials in 10 Down Street. The preambular second paragraph appears to contain mere niceties about a possible Trump visit to Scotland, but it was so much more. Donald Trump’s mother was born in Scotland, and the President famously owns golf courses there. The King extends a deeply personal invitation for the President to stay at Balmoral, the favoured Residence in Scotland of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and the place she passed. There is also an offer to visit and stay at Dumfries House, which was His Majesty’s seat in Scotland before ascending to the throne, when his Royal title in Scotland was the Duke of Rothesay. He mentions that underprivileged young people are trained at the House and many end up working at the President’s golfing establishments.

Scotland holds a special place in the hearts of both Heads of State. And Diplomacy, ultimately, is about human connection. This was King Charles addressing President Trump as an equal, a peer and a cherished friend. And then the coup de grace, an invitation to an historic second State visit, historic because no US President has been afforded two State visits. President Trump appears to value the form of diplomacy at least as much as its substance. The style and class of King Charles’ letter sits in stark contrast, to the truculent, unshaven President Zelensky arguing in the Oval Office on 28 February. And the theatre behind Keir Starmer’s handing the letter to President Trump was designed to reinforce two perceptions. The first was that The King continues to regard the United States as a dear and trusted friend. The second, and perhaps more significantly, that Prime Minister Starmer was the messenger, not the peer.

Some British journalists jokingly referred to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s meeting in the Oval Office on Thursday 27 February as a visit to the King. Clearly, President Trump isn’t a monarch, nor is he Elvis Presley. But in the game of diplomacy between the United States and the United Kingdom, His Majesty King Charles II and President Trump are peers as Heads of State, and Prime Minister Starmer is a more junior Head of Government. While the first sentence of the letter is not fully visible, His Majesty is clearly thanking President Trump for receiving the British Prime Minister – i.e. His Head of Government – so soon after the inauguration. I don’t believe the optics of this would have been lost on the President. The Labour Prime Minister’s has had a bad start with Donald Trump. The King’s letter brings the adults back into the conversation in a way that can only help the UK repair some of the damage caused.

In inviting President Trump to Britain, with all the pomp and ceremony that Britain offers like no other country, the UK government wants to reprioritise its trade and investment relationship with the United States. As Europe and America teeter on the brink of a trade war, Britain wants a genuinely open trading relationship with America that both prevents the risk of US tariffs but also gives the UK economy a much-needed boost post-Brexit. America is Britain’s largest export partner accounting for 15.7% of business and trade in goods is fairly balanced, with a tiny surplus of £2.5bn going Britain’s way in 2023. This may help to explain why Britain appears less in the firing line for US tariffs than the European Union, which President Trump said was designed to ‘screw the US’ flooding America with a surplus of $300bn in goods trade.

After President Obama famously said that Britain would have to join the back of the queue in any post-Brexit trade talks with America, UK-US trade talks were not prioritised under the Biden administration. This has now become a top priority for the UK in its relationship with the Trump administration. And Starmer has recognised that he can’t have it all – he can’t criticise Trump on Ukraine, backing Zelensky and steering Europe on a pro-war course, while at the same time landing a lucrative trade deal and avoiding Trump tariffs. He has therefore decided quietly to ditch Zelensky and to line up behind Trump’s plans for a peace deal.

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“Volodin said Britain “will have to give back to Russia what they are now so generously giving away,” adding that Moscow has “every reason to respond in kind.”

UK Will Return Russian Money It Is ‘So Generously Giving Away’ – Moscow (RT)

The UK’s transfer of the proceeds from Russia’s frozen central bank funds to Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has said. On Friday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal said that Kiev had received a first tranche worth about $1 billion from the UK, secured by the proceeds from the Russian assets. He said the funds would go toward “strengthening” Ukraine’s defense and voiced hope that all frozen Russian assets would be “confiscated and transferred” to Kiev. Speaking to reporters later in the day, Volodin said Britain “will have to give back to Russia what they are now so generously giving away,” adding that Moscow has “every reason to respond in kind.”

Volodin also warned that London’s actions would “undermine confidence” in its financial system, as they “violate the principle of property inviolability, a cornerstone of the global financial system.” Western countries froze around $300 billion in Russian central bank assets after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Of this total, more than $200 billion is reportedly held at the Brussels-based clearinghouse Euroclear, while up to $30 billion is in the UK. The assets have already generated billions in interest. Euroclear transferred over $1 billion directly to Ukraine last July. Kiev has been pressing its Western backers to expropriate the assets to finance its military and reconstruction efforts.

The West remains divided over the fate of the frozen assets. Many EU countries are reluctant to tap the reserves themselves, opting instead for the interest earned on them. Some have raised concerns that seizing the assets could damage the Western financial system and erode trust in the euro. The International Monetary Fund has also warned that taking the funds without a clear legal basis could undermine global confidence in Western financial institutions. The Kremlin has repeatedly denounced the asset freeze as “theft” and warned of legal action against those involved in the asset seizure.

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“..a March 14 deadline approaches for the latest government shutdown threat..”

“NO DISSENT”: Trump Asks “All Republicans” To “Give Us A Few Months” (ZH)

President Trump on Saturday implored ‘All Republicans’ to vote on a 99-page spending bill that would keep the government funded through September, as a March 14 deadline approaches for the latest government shutdown threat. The bill largely maintains current spending levels, while an additional $8 billion would be included for defense programs, and $6 billion for veterans’ healthcare. Non-defense spending would drop by approximately $13 billion. Johnson is setting up the bill for a vote on Tuesday, despite a lack of buy-in from Democrats – essentially daring them to vote against it and risk a shutdown. He’s also betting that Republicans will be able to quash inner divisions over spending and force it through.

As Bloomberg notes, unlike previous shutdowns, this one would impact all discretionary spending since none of the 12 appropriations bills have been signed into law. While key entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid would continue making payments, administrative delays could affect new enrollments. With a razor-thin Republican majority in the House and the need for bipartisan cooperation in the Senate, negotiations remain fraught, as both parties clash over budgetary provisions that could make or break a last-minute deal. The economic consequences of a prolonged shutdown, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, would be immediate yet largely reversible. A month-long halt in government operations could shave 0.4 percentage points off GDP growth in the first quarter, though a rebound is expected once normal spending resumes. While federal workers may face furloughs, unemployment figures would not be affected in March but could rise by 0.5 percentage points in April if the impasse drags on. Inflation would see a temporary uptick because furloughed federal workers’ output wouldn’t be counted, even though they will eventually be paid.

More:
• Economic Data Collection: The shutdown will delay crucial economic reports like the consumer price index (CPI), unemployment rate, and retail sales data.
• Federal Agencies: Around 850,000 workers could be furloughed.
• Impact on the Fed: The Federal Reserve, which operates independently, will continue normal operations, including the scheduled March 18-19 FOMC meeting.

As Bloomberg concludes: In normal times, avoiding a shutdown would be a big priority – but now, amid the flurry of dramatic steps early in Trump’s term, it’s just one of many competing priorities. It’s not clear if the two sides can find common ground. Only twice before has the government been shuttered when one party controlled the White House, House of Representatives and Senate – and both were during the first Trump administration. Whether a third such episode can be avoided will depend on how the two sides assess the tactical risks of bringing the normal operations of government to a halt.

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The first judge DID block DOGE, “citing concerns over insufficient vetting and training” and saying “..the potential consequences of a cybersecurity breach could be catastrophic.”

Really, the Treasury is better at training and security than Musk and Big Balls? Is that judge just ignorant or is something else amiss?

Federal Judge Denies Request to Block DOGE From Accessing Treasury Data (ET)

A federal judge in Washington has refused to block staff from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the Treasury Department’s systems that contain millions of Americans’ personal data. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly—who previously restricted DOGE’s work at the Treasury to two employees with read-only access—issued a decision on March 7 that rejects a request from the Alliance for Retired Americans and several employee unions to bar DOGE staff from the Treasury’s Fiscal Service system, which processes roughly 90 percent of federal payments. In her ruling, Kollar-Kotelly determined that the plaintiffs had failed to establish that allowing DOGE employees access to the system would result in irreparable harm.

“If Plaintiffs could show that Defendants imminently planned to make their private information public or to share that information with individuals outside the federal government with no obligation to maintain its confidentiality, the Court would not hesitate to find a likelihood of irreparable harm,” the judge wrote. She found no indication of any plans to misuse or improperly disclose sensitive data, and noted that the plaintiffs are free to return to court to seek emergency remedy if these circumstances change. The decision also lifts Kollar-Kotelly’s earlier access restrictions, which had permitted two DOGE-affiliated individuals to view the Fiscal Service system on a read-only basis. DOGE staff remain barred from the Fiscal Service under a separate order issued by U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in New York.

Vargas, responding to a lawsuit from 19 Democratic attorneys general, partially granted their request to block DOGE personnel from the Treasury’s payment system, citing concerns over insufficient vetting and training. “Indeed, taking the time to adequately mitigate potential security concerns and properly onboard members to engage in this work outweighs the defendants’ immediate need to access and redevelop [the] Treasury system,” Vargas stated in her 64-page order. “Without addressing these issues, the potential consequences of a cybersecurity breach could be catastrophic.”

Vargas left open the possibility of lifting or modifying her order if the administration certifies that DOGE staff have undergone proper training and obtained necessary security clearances. She also denied the plaintiffs’ request to impose broader restrictions preventing DOGE from creating processes to stop payments within the Treasury’s systems. Vargas argued that such measures would “far exceed” the scope of the earlier temporary restraining order and that the plaintiffs had not justified the need for such extensive relief against DOGE.

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Homan will get there.

Early ICE Arrests Are Below 5% Of Trump’s Target: Here’s Why (JTN)

President Donald Trump put the figure of illegal aliens in the U.S. under President Joe Biden at 21 million during his Tuesday address to Congress, but the latest arrest figures show his administration on pace to apprehend less than 5% of that amount by the end of his term. “Over the past four years, 21 million people poured into the United States,” Trump said. “Many of them were murders, human traffickers, gang members and other criminals from the streets of dangerous cities all throughout the world because of Joe Biden’s insane and very dangerous open border policies, they are now strongly embedded in our country.” The latest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) figures pointed to 20,000 arrests in Trump’s first month. Calculated as 20,000 in 30 days, the daily rate came to 667 arrests, which projected over four years would lead to slightly fewer than one million arrests by the end of Trump’s term, or 4.8% of the 21 million.

Put simply, ICE arrests are significantly behind schedule and would need to total roughly 440,000 per month to see Trump’s target met. Border Czar Tom Homan has expressed optimism that federal law enforcement can meet that target. So, why then the sluggish pace? The short answer is money. After a string of continuing resolutions from Congress to avoid government shutdowns, ICE and other immigration-related agencies are operating at Biden-era funding levels. That administration prioritized processing illegal entrants to the United States rather than removing them and former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas did not make arrests at a comparable rate to current figures.

Border funding is on the table, of course, but pending the resolution of House and Senate budget battles, there exists little in the way of resources to expand operations. Capacity issues prompted efforts to expand detention at Guantanamo Bay, though an early effort to use tents to expand the facility was abandoned over standards concerns. On Wednesday, reports emerged that the administration had halted deportation flights using military aircraft due to cost concerns. At present, the House and Senate remain divided on a one-step vs. two-step funding plan, with Trump himself favoring the former. The upper chamber has sought to advance border funding in the first phase while addressing Trump’s tax promises in a second. But no surge in additional funding to address the border crisis is expected until the resolution of that standoff.

Homan initially outlined plans to prioritize illegal alien violent criminals, namely those tied to gangs such as Tren de Aragua, repeat deportees, and those convicted of crimes. Recent ICE social media posts have pointed to MS-13 gang member arrests and efforts to handle trafficking operations. On February 20, the U.S. Department of State announced that Executive Order 14157 designates drug cartels and international gangs as “as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs).” “We are prioritizing public safety threats, child predators, rapists, murderers. These are the worst of the worst walking around your communities,” Homan told Fox News’s Sean Hannity in late February. “And you would think any elected mayor, any elected governor, any elected city councilwoman would want public safety threats removed from their communities.”

ICE stopped posting regular updates on daily arrests weeks ago, leading to speculation that arrests had ground to a halt. The recently unveiled 20,000 figure appeared to confirm that the pace was not on target. Arrests and deportation figures are not the same. Potentially simplifying things for ICE, however, is the precipitous decline in new entrants to the U.S., with U.S. Customs and Border Protection reporting only 61,465 encounters at the southwest land border in January. The agency has yet to report on February’s numbers, which are expected to be much lower, but the January figures still represent a significant decline from the December 2023 high of 301,981.

ICE enforcement statistics are not currently up to date and are published on a quarterly basis. An ICE spokesperson told Just the News that “since Jan. 20, ICE has significantly increased its immigration enforcement activities with additional support from other federal law enforcement and DOD partners. In an effort to keep the American people informed about the results of our efforts with only the most accurate information, ICE is compiling and validating the data and is working toward publishing our enforcement statistics on a monthly basis.”

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“It’s about time someone in Washington had the courage to stand up to these corporate giants. Monday can’t come soon enough.”

Something Huge for the MAHA Movement Is About To Happen (Margolis)

The foxes are about to meet the new guardian of the henhouse, and it promises to be quite the showdown! Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is scheduled to meet with executives from General Mills, PepsiCo, and other food industry giants on Monday, according to a report from Politico. And boy, do they have some explaining to do. Kennedy, who’s been waging war against what he calls the “chemical-intensive processed foods” poisoning Americans, isn’t exactly known for pulling punches. During his Senate confirmation hearing in January, he boldly declared what many of us have known for years: “Something is poisoning the American people.” Now he’s taking his fight directly to the corporate boardrooms of Big Food.

The timing couldn’t be more perfect—or more terrifying—for these corporate executives. With the Health and Agriculture Departments set to craft new Dietary Guidelines for Americans this year, the stakes couldn’t be higher. These guidelines shape everything from what our kids eat at school to what your doctor tells you about nutrition. What’s particularly interesting about this whole situation is that the Consumer Brands Association—the very group representing these food giants—initiated the meeting proposal back in February. This could be a sign they’re willing to do what it takes to make foods healthy again, or they’re going to play offense against the changes Kennedy wants to make. So what’s going to happen with to their precious seed oils and chemical additives? Will Big Food capitulate to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement?

The meeting agenda remains “undecided” as of Friday, which has apparently caused quite the stir among CBA board members. It could mean they are trying to figure out how to defend their ultra-processed food empire against someone who’s made it his mission to expose their role in America’s chronic illness epidemic. But some industry insiders are whispering that these CEOs might actually cave to Kennedy’s demands. The real question is whether these corporate bigwigs will finally acknowledge their role in America’s health crisis, or continue hiding behind their slick marketing campaigns and army of lobbyists. Kennedy’s appointment signals that the days of business as usual might be coming to an end for Big Food.

Several fast food chains have recently announced they are switching to beef tallow for frying. One such chain is Steak ‘n Shake, which announced its support of RFK Jr. and the MAHA movement on Friday. One thing’s certain: Monday’s meeting won’t be your typical corporate kumbaya session. With Kennedy’s track record of calling out food conglomerates for their role in increasing childhood chronic illnesses, these executives better bring more than their usual PR talking points to the table. The American people are watching, and they’re tired of being force-fed chemicals disguised as food. It’s about time someone in Washington had the courage to stand up to these corporate giants. Monday can’t come soon enough.

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“..completed the hazardous materials cleanup in Los Angeles in just 29 days—far ahead of initial projections. “The estimates were it was going to take 18 months..”

The Media Can’t Hide This Trump Victory Forever (Margolis)

The Trump administration has shattered expectations with its rapid response to the Los Angeles wildfire cleanup, delivering results in record time and proving critics wrong. Despite accusations of inefficiency and political grandstanding, the administration worked closely with California officials to expedite the recovery effort. And no one is covering it. CNN’s Scott Jennings pointed this out Friday night on “Laura Coates Live” on CNN, after Keith Boykin, a Democratic strategist and former Clinton White House aide, made a wild accusation that the Trump administration was responsible for “waste, fraud, and abuse” across various sectors, including water management and foreign aid.

“Not to mention the $400 million going to Elon Musk for his Cybertruck,” Boykin claimed. “This is the waste, fraud, and abuse in America. It’s not because of the federal workers doing their jobs. It’s because Donald Trump is self-dealing.” The Cybertruck story was debunked last month, by the way. But to the larger point that somehow Trump is causing “waste, fraud, and abuse” in America, Jennings destroyed that claim in a matter of seconds by highlighting an achievement that has gotten virtually no coverage in the media. It turns out that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Trump completed the hazardous materials cleanup in Los Angeles in just 29 days—far ahead of initial projections. “The estimates were it was going to take 18 months,” Jennings pointed out. “But this is the cleanup of the hazardous material that you have to do in order to start rebuilding. Twenty-nine days.”

Jennings dismissed the narrative that Trump was neglecting California, emphasizing instead the growing confidence in government efficiency under his leadership. “All this idea that there’s photo ops and waste and fraud and whatever and that Donald Trump was going to abandon California and L.A.—the EPA under Donald Trump, 29 days.”

Have you heard anything about this? Probably not, but it’s true. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the achievement on February 26. “President Trump set an extremely ambitious deadline for EPA to clean up all hazardous materials in the wake of the deadly California wildfires. Thanks to his leadership and the hard work of countless personnel in the field, we got it done in record time. There is still a long road ahead for thousands of residents who lost everything just a few weeks ago, but EPA is proud to do our part in the recovery process. The community will rebuild stronger than ever before,” Zeldin said in a statement. According to the agency, this effort “has been the largest wildfire hazardous waste cleanup in the history of the EPA.”

At the direction of President Trump, EPA partnered with the U.S. military and U.S. Department of Homeland Security to develop and execute a response plan. Under EPA leadership, crews identified and cleared hazardous materials from 13,612 residential properties and 305 commercial properties, paving the way for debris removal and other stages of the recovery effort to move forward. Administrator Zeldin traveled to Los Angeles on February 6, 2025, to survey damage and meet with EPA personnel on the ground. The results speak for themselves. Make no mistake about it, the Biden administration would have taken at least 18 months to get it done. The Trump administration took 29 days. Thanks to Trump, the government is working more efficiently and effectively, and the rebuilding process will be able to begin far sooner than anticipated. Once again, Trump delivered where bureaucrats and politicians had long failed.

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Found this funny: “..replace the wording about Russia’s ability to “maintain its war” with “earn revenue..”

US Pushing To Soften Anti-Russia Language In G7 Document (RT)

The US has been pushing to soften the language aimed at Russia in the final communique of the upcoming G7 foreign ministers’ meeting, Bloomberg has reported, citing a draft of the joint statement and people familiar with the matter. The Group of Seven, comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and US, will meet next week in the Canadian city of Charlevoix. According to the report published on Saturday, the administration of US President Donald Trump is pushing to strengthen the language on China while “watering down” the wording on Russia. The US wants to remove the word ‘sanctions’ from the final statement and replace the wording about Russia’s ability to “maintain its war” with “earn revenue,” Bloomberg said. The US has reportedly rejected Canada’s proposal to establish a task force that would monitor the so-called ‘shadow fleet’ of oil tankers the West claims Russia is operating to bypass sanctions on energy exports.

During the final weeks of the previous administration of President Joe Biden, the US blacklisted more than 180 vessels allegedly used to illegally transport Russian oil. Moscow insists that all Western sanctions are illegal and has denied that it operates a shadow fleet. Trump has abandoned his predecessor’s strategy of “isolating” Russia on the world stage and reopened direct talks with Russia, which were suspended in 2022. He has stressed that his priority is to end the conflict through diplomacy and reach a ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev. Last week, Trump suggested that the US could lift the sanctions “at some point” during peace talks. He has since threatened Moscow with a new round of “large-scale” sanctions until a ceasefire and a “final settlement agreement on peace” is reached. Moscow has stated that the Western sanctions have failed to weaken or isolate Russia, instead harming the countries that imposed them.

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“..it would “probably be the best contribution to the cause of peace.”

Ukraine Loses Access To US Commercial Satellites (RT)

The US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has stopped providing Ukraine with satellite imagery paid for by Washington, several media outlets have reported, citing a statement by the agency. The decision was made in line with President Donald Trump’s “directive on support to Ukraine,” it said. The move follows Washington’s recent freeze on further weapons deliveries and intelligence sharing with Kiev, which, in turn, came on the heels of last Friday’s altercation between Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance at the White House. The US head of state accused Zelensky of ingratitude and “gambling with World War III” by refusing to seek peace with Russia.

On Friday, the Washington Post, ABC News, and several other media outlets reported, citing a statement from the agency itself, that the NGA had “temporarily suspended [Ukraine’s] access” to commercial satellite imagery purchased by the US government. The NGA is a unit within the Department of Defense. The same day, Maxar, a leading US provider of commercial satellite imagery, issued a statement, confirming that the “U.S. government has temporarily suspended Ukrainian accounts” in the Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery program. According to the Washington Post, the Ukrainian military, artillery and drone units in particular, had heavily relied on the NGA service. The media outlet quoted several Ukrainian service members as saying that the “suspension was immediately felt” by Kiev’s forces.

The publication noted, however, that Kiev could still access this kind of satellite imagery via its own accounts. In a post on X on Wednesday, Oliver Carroll, a staff writer for The Economist, claimed that the US had ceased providing Ukraine with the data needed to conduct long-range strikes on Russian targets with the help of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). Also on Wednesday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox Business that Trump had “asked for a pause” in intelligence sharing with Ukraine to determine whether Kiev was ready to negotiate peace with Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Washington’s decision to halt intelligence sharing with Kiev proved that without the West’s direct involvement “Ukraine would not be able to… launch long-range missiles at our territory.” Commenting on Tuesday on the halt of US intelligence sharing with Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed cautious optimism, noting that if the US were to suspend supplies altogether, it would “probably be the best contribution to the cause of peace.”

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“..that would require every adult male in Poland to undergo “large-scale military training” to prepare for a potential conflict with Russia..”

Polish PM Plans To Double Size Of Army (RT)

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has unveiled plans to more than double the size of the country’s military to 500,000. Speaking in the Polish Parliament on Friday, Tusk said Poland must be prepared for future conflicts and strengthen its defenses. Tusk reiterated his earlier claims that Russia poses a threat to Europe, saying Moscow could launch a “full-scale operation” against a “larger” target than Ukraine within three to four years – which Russia has repeatedly dismissed as unfounded. He argued that Poland must serve as a “bastion” to protect NATO’s eastern flank and should expand its military capabilities. “We’re talking about the need to have an army of half-a-million in Poland, including the reservists,” he stated, noting that Poland’s current armed forces number around 200,000, which he compared to Russia’s estimated 1.3 million troops.

Tusk said his government is drafting legislation that would require every adult male in Poland to undergo “large-scale military training” to prepare for a potential conflict with Russia. “We will try to have a model ready by the end of this year so that every adult male in Poland is trained in the event of war, so that this reserve is comparable and adequate to the potential threats,” he said. He added that Polish women may also be required to undergo military training, thought “war is still to a greater extent the domain of men.” Tusk’s remarks came a day after EU leaders approved a major military spending plan to unlock billions of euros to build up defense capabilities. The initiative – ReArm Europe – which was adopted following an emergency summit in Brussels, hikes defense spending by up to €800 billion ($840 billion) – twice the total EU defense expenditures in 2024.

The Kremlin condemned the bloc’s “militarization” plan, calling it a path towards confrontation that hinders peace efforts with Ukraine. In addition to a larger army, Tusk said Poland must enhance its military capabilities, including through the acquisition of nuclear and “modern unconventional weapons.” Tusk’s speech followed his recent accusations that Moscow is fueling a new arms race, and calls for fellow EU nations to ramp up defense spending. The Kremlin has criticized Tusk’s rhetoric as confrontational and militaristic. Moscow has rejected accusations that it poses a military threat to Europe, with President Vladimir Putin dismissing the claims as “nonsense” designed to justify increased military budgets.

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Kursk.

Ukraine’s Losses Mounting Due To US Intel Freeze (RT)

The recent suspension of US intelligence sharing with Ukraine has critically weakened Kiev’s defense capabilities, leading to substantial casualties, territorial losses – particularly in the occupied part of Russia’s Kursk Region – and plummeting morale, Time reported on Friday, citing Western and Ukrainian officials familiar with the situation. One unnamed official claimed that the lack of US intel directly resulted in “hundreds of dead Ukrainians,” adding that “the biggest problem is morale,” as Kiev is unable to effectively use some of its most powerful Western-supplied weapons. According to Time, the abrupt halt in intelligence sharing has affected the Ukrainian foothold in the Russian border region of Kursk, which Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky regards as a bargaining chip in potential peace talks with Russia.

The magazine said, citing sources, that Russia has made swift advances in the area, aiming to cut off Ukrainian supply lines into the region. According to Ukrainian media reports citing the Deep State monitoring website, Russian forces have nearly cut off Kiev’s foothold in Kursk Region from the border. The New York Post reported, citing sources, that Ukrainian forces in the region could wrap up their incursion within as little as two weeks due to supply shortages and deteriorating battlefield conditions. On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed gains in the region, saying Russian troops had liberated three villages. Ukraine invaded Kursk Region last August, and while it initially made some gains, the advance was soon halted.

A source in Zelensky’s government told Time that the loss of US intel has had major consequences beyond Kursk. The magazine noted that Ukraine has lost its ability to track Russian bombers and fighter jets, leaving the country vulnerable to surprise attacks. “It’s very dangerous for our people,” the source said. “It has to be immediately changed.” The halt in intelligence sharing has also weakened Ukraine’s ability to launch long-range and intermediate-range strikes against Russian military positions, as these operations rely heavily on precise targeting information from US reconnaissance data, Time added.

The US froze military aid and intelligence support for Ukraine following a heated exchange between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump on February 28 at the White House. During the televised meeting, Zelensky cast doubt on the possibility of diplomacy with Russia and told Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance that the US “will feel” the impact of the conflict. Trump accused Zelensky of being disrespectful and ungrateful for the US aid to Kiev, as well as being reluctant to seek peace with Russia while “gambling with World War III.” US officials have said the suspension of aid will remain in place until Kiev shows a commitment to holding peace talks.

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“..perhaps his handlers figured out that rolling a diseased-looking hippo in a white coat out in front of the cameras to parrot pharma industry talking points isn’t the compelling sell they would hope it might be.”

Trump CDC to Probe Long-Rumored Vaccine-Autism Link (PJM)

Sources inside the Trump administration have leaked reported plans to put the CDC to work studying the “potential connections between vaccines and autism,” per the Washington Post. Via Washington Post:

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning a study into the potential connections between vaccines and autism, according to two people familiar with the plan, despite overwhelming scientific evidence that there is no link between the two. The request for the study came from Trump administration officials, said the two people familiar with the plan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy have repeatedly linked vaccines to autism… In a statement, HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said: “As President Trump said in his Joint Address to Congress, the rate of autism in American children has skyrocketed. CDC will leave no stone unturned in its mission to figure out what exactly is happening. The American people expect high quality research and transparency and that is what CDC is delivering.”… The number of autism cases is rising in the United States. About 1 in 36 children has received such a diagnosis, according to data the CDC collected from 11 states, compared with 1 in 150 children in 2000.”

For the first time in history, the American people might actually get an exhaustive, thorough, (fingers-crossed) unbiased examination of the long-suspected link between the ever-growing list of recommended (for all practical purposes, mandated) childhood vaccines and skyrocketing autism rates among American children. The biomedical industry that would stand to lose billions — along with its credibility, possibly forever — if the results of this investigation don’t go its way is not likely to simply allow the research to go forward unimpeded. And it has a major asset on its side: the legacy corporate state media machine that, although it’s losing influence, still holds massive sway in terms of narrative-setting.

For such propagandistic purposes, MSNBC turned to the de facto face of the “vaccinate everything and let God sort it out” side of the ideological spectrum, Dr. Peter Hotez. (To be radically fair to Hotez, he’s looking significantly less bloated these days than we are accustomed to seeing him. Speculatively, perhaps his handlers figured out that rolling a diseased-looking hippo in a white coat out in front of the cameras to parrot pharma industry talking points isn’t the compelling sell they would hope it might be.)

Me thinks the doctor doth protest too much; if he’s as sure of his professed belief in vaccine safety as he portrays, why wouldn’t he be eager to put the conspiracy theories to bed once and for all rather than shut down any inquiry before it gets off the ground? For the record, Peter Hotez got everything wrong that he possibly could have during the pandemic in terms of his pronouncements regarding the COVID shots as a frequent guest on corporate state media. Hotez also — and he should never be allowed to skirt this stain either — declared himself, with none of the commensurate shame, a “junk-food-a-holic” on Joe Rogan’s podcast a few years back at the height of COVID insanity. He then, like the weasel that he is, justified his horrific dietary habits by hiding behind his autistic daughter, claiming that their trips to the “Burger Joint” are ritual bonding experiences that they share.

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A Moneypenny spinoff?!

Bezos Ousts Bond Producers Over ‘Idiots’ Remark (RT)

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has taken full creative control of the James Bond franchise after longtime producer Barbara Broccoli reportedly called his executives “f**king idiots,” the Hollywood Reporter wrote on Friday. According to insiders, Bezos reacted immediately, ordering her removal at any cost, which ultimately led to a $1 billion deal. As a result, Amazon now holds full control over the future of James Bond. Amazon acquired MGM in 2022, gaining distribution rights to the films, but creative control remained with Eon Productions under Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. The duo resisted Amazon’s proposed spin-offs, including a Moneypenny series and a female-led 007 project, preferring to maintain James Bond’s traditional narrative.

Tensions between Broccoli, Wilson, and Amazon executives escalated in late 2024. In December, the Wall Street Journal reported that Broccoli privately told friends she did not trust “algorithm-centric Amazon with a character she helped to mythologize through big-screen storytelling and gut instinct.” She also described the status of the next Bond film as dire, with no script, no story, and no actor chosen for the role. In the same conversation, referring to the company while among executives, she said, “These people are f**king idiots.”

The comment enraged Bezos, prompting him to take drastic action, the Hollywood Reporter stated. “He read her quote in the Journal and got on the phone and said, ‘I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her,’” an insider told the magazine. Soon afterwards, Amazon struck a deal worth nearly $1 billion to remove Broccoli and Wilson from creative control and bring the franchise under Amazon MGM Studios. After the deal was finalized in February 2025, Bezos shared a headline on X that read, “James Bond’s long-serving producers give control to Amazon,” adding the caption, “Who’d you pick as the next Bond?”

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Dore

 

 

Milk

 

 

Genius
https://twitter.com/i/status/1898335037918945515

 

 

Toucan

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Feb 162025
 


Edgar Degas L’absinthe (In a café) 1875-76

 

Trump Sends Defense Stocks Crashing (RT)
Trump Establishes Make America Healthy Again Commission (ET)
DOGE Workers ‘Energetic and Dug In’ Despite Threats: Source (ET)
Who Will Rule? An Elected President or an Unaccountable Judiciary? (PCR)
Vance Only Said What Americans Really Think (Lukyanov)
Medvedev Applauds Vance’s ‘Humiliating Rebuke’ Of Europe (RT)
Judge Blocks Trump’s Ban On “Chemical And Surgical Mutilation” Of Children (ZH)
Ukraine Not Invited To Russia-US Talks – Zelensky (RT)
No Place For Europe In Ukraine Talks – Trump Envoy (RT) /td>
European Pro-War Elites Seek To Derail Ukraine Peace – Hungarian FM (RT)
Zelensky Begged Trump To Meet In Person, Also Defends Canceled Elections (ZH)
Zelensky Refused To Sign Rare Earths Deal With US (RT)
Trump Determined to Undo Damage to US-Russian Relations (Sp.)
Prisoner Swap Builds Confidence Between US, Russia – Trump Envoy Witkoff (TASS)
Europe Would Go Broke Trying to Keep Ukraine Afloat if US Dropped Support (Sp.)
Certain EU countries Think of Annexing Ukrainian Lands – Medvedchuk (TASS)
EU Nations Secretly Discussing Ukraine Troop Deployment – AP (RT)
‘It Doesn’t Harm Us’: Russian Scientist Busts Myths About Microplastics (RT)

 

 

 

 

Irony
https://twitter.com/i/status/1890664712993476748

MTG

Musk

JD Greenwald

Tucker Orban
https://twitter.com/i/status/1890625837084651597

Woke

Sachs

 

 

 

 

Leading up to the Pentagon audit.

Trump Sends Defense Stocks Crashing (RT)

US defense stocks took a sharp dive this week after President Donald Trump announced that he could slash military spending in half. The announcement came amid a wider cost-saving push by his administration. Companies which saw share prices fall this week include aerospace manufacturers Lockheed Martin (-4.86%) and Northrop Grumman (-6.58%) as well as General Dynamics (-5.30%), according to Friday’s trading data. Speaking at a White House press conference on Thursday, Trump said he planned to discuss a potential reduction in defense budgets with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “At some point, when things settle down, I’m going to meet with China and I’m going to meet with Russia… and I’m going to say there’s no reason for us to be spending almost $1 trillion on the military… and I want to say let’s cut our military budget in half,” Trump said.

Defense firms have enjoyed increased demand for weapons and military equipment since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Lockheed Martin, the primary producer of the F-16 fighter jets and Patriot missile systems used in Ukraine, posted a 21% year-on-year increase in revenues in 2023. The new US administration has so far sent mixed messages on military spending. Trump has tasked Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency with cutting federal costs, including at the Pentagon. The president has also pushed for a quick resolution of the Ukraine conflict, announcing imminent talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The current $1 trillion in annual US military spending accounts for about 3.4% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said during his confirmation hearings at the US Senate in January that he wouldn’t want to spend less than 3% of GDP on defense.

Russia has criticized the US arms sector for fueling global instability. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed in September that soaring profits prompt defense firms to provoke new armed conflicts. Meanwhile, claims have resurfaced in recent months about NATO weapons and ammunition being put on sale on the dark web. Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson alleged earlier this month that the Ukrainian military was selling American weapons systems on the black market, including to drug cartels. In January 2024, a US Department of Defense Office of Inspector General report revealed that the Pentagon was unable to fully account for over $1 billion worth of military aid to Kiev. In 2023, CNN reported that criminals and arms traffickers in Ukraine had stolen some Western-provided weapons and equipment intended for troops.

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“And I’ve told you before, I genuinely believe that you are a pivotal historical figure, and you are going to transform this country.”

Trump Establishes Make America Healthy Again Commission (ET)

Hours after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gained Senate confirmation as secretary of Health and Human Services, President Donald Trump signed a new executive order establishing the President’s Commission to Make America Healthy Again. Trump made the announcement on Feb. 13 in the Oval Office, where Kennedy was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. Kennedy will serve as chair of the task force, which will investigate the “root causes of America’s escalating health crisis,” including childhood chronic diseases, according to a White House fact sheet. Within 100 days, an assessment of the childhood chronic disease crisis will be released, the executive order said. The investigation will target the “over-utilization of medication” and also highlight the impact of food ingredients and chemicals along with “certain other exposures.”

The impact of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antipsychotic drugs, mood stabilizers stimulants, and weight-loss drugs will also be studied. According to the executive order, the commission will look into contributing causes to childhood chronic diseases like “the American diet, absorption of toxic material, medical treatments, lifestyle, environmental factors, government policies, food production techniques, electromagnetic radiation, and corporate influence or cronyism.” Federally funded health research should “avoid conflicts of interest” by transparency and open-source data, a White House fact sheet said. The commission will demonstrate “gold-standard research on why Americans are getting sick in all health-related research funded by the federal government,” the fact sheet said.

Upon completion of the research, a strategic report based on the assessment will be released, according to the executive order. “The commission shall not reconvene, following submission of the strategy, until an updated mission is submitted to the president through the executive director,” the executive order reads. Kennedy ran for president as a Democrat and then as an independent before leaving the race in August 2024 and backing then-former President Donald Trump. After ending his White House bid, Kennedy established the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement and vowed to end the nation’s chronic disease epidemic. HHS manages 13 agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health.

In the Oval Office, Kennedy thanked Trump before a pool of reporters. “I have prayed each morning for the past two decades for God to put me in a position to solve the childhood chronic disease epidemic, and now, thanks to you Mr. President, we will make this promise a reality,” Kennedy said. Addressing Trump, Kennedy added: “And I’ve told you before, I genuinely believe that you are a pivotal historical figure, and you are going to transform this country.” The commission will include Trump’s Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy Vince Haley, Office of Management and Budget lead Russel Vought, and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who was also confirmed on Feb. 13. Department heads from the EPA, Veterans Affairs, Education, Housing and Urban Development, and several economic advisers will also compose the task force as will the commissioner, and CDC and NIH directors.

Before Kennedy was sworn in, Trump said Kennedy is “absolutely committed to getting dangerous chemicals out of our environment and out of our food supply, and getting the American people the facts and the answers that we deserve after years in which our public health system has squandered the trust of our citizens.”

Seed oils
https://twitter.com/i/status/1890773490485297463

Read more …

They’re working with/for Musk, and loving it.

DOGE Workers ‘Energetic and Dug In’ Despite Threats: Source (ET)

After reporters revealed the names of multiple Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees, threats have proliferated against them and the department’s head, Elon Musk. Sources familiar with DOGE staff described a mood of resilience among those working to fulfill President Donald Trump’s pledge for government reform. “The young DOGE engineers seemed surprised and initially unprepared to be personally targeted by so much animus,” one source familiar with DOGE’s operations, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they were unauthorized to speak to the media, told The Epoch Times. “But they are energetic and dug in.” Even as DOGE faces criticism from many congressional Democrats and is beset by lawsuits seeking to restrict its access to government data, its early results—including billions in cuts identified to The Epoch Times by the White House—may just be the tip of the iceberg.

DOGE aims to deliver $2 trillion in federal spending cuts during its 18-month lifespan. It ends in 2026 on the 250th anniversary of July 4th, 1776. A source familiar with DOGE said it was “still in the sorting stage.” As DOGE seeks to overcome hurdles, billions could be just the beginning. The Epoch Times has reviewed numerous posts on the social media platform Bluesky that are aimed at DOGE and its reported staff members. Many disseminated personally identifiable information, including names, ages, and home addresses. A source told The Epoch Times that federal law enforcement was dispatched to protect family members of DOGE employees after their names were leaked. As of publication time, the Department of Homeland Security had not confirmed that with The Epoch Times. On Bluesky, an anonymous user called DOGE workers “Nazi scum,” adding, “The only good nazi is a dead nazi.” The post listed the reported names of several DOGE workers.

A Bluesky user whose name matched that of an employee at Boston University’s business school posted a “Wanted” graphic with DOGE employees’ names, faces, and the words “Dead or Alive.” A statement from the university described the post as one from “an employee on his personal social media account,” adding, “the views expressed do not reflect the values of Questrom School of Business.” Members of Congress, including DOGE oversight leaders, voiced shock and anger at the threats.“That’s horrible,” Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), co-chair of the House DOGE Caucus, told The Epoch Times. “I haven’t really seen the severity of it, but that’s horrible.”On the other side of the aisle, a spokesperson for DOGE critic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) told The Epoch Times that she “strongly opposes political violence toward anyone, for any reason, in all forms.”

[..] A spokesperson for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said the congressman “condemns threats against DOGE employees.” Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), who is also concerned about DOGE’s impact, told The Epoch Times, “I unequivocally condemn violence of any kind.” Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), who oversees the House DOGE Caucus’s defense and veterans’ affairs portfolio, told The Epoch Times that “if those people broke the law by doxxing these folks and doing that and threatening them, they should be thrown into prison.” “I don’t mean jail. I don’t mean a fine,” he added. ”People that are doing these death threats need to go to prison, or it’s not going to stop.”

Under the Privacy Act, agency officials or others who disclose the personally identifiable information of federal employees could be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined up to $5,000. Threats on social media may also cross the line into threatening interstate communications, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. Ed Martin, the new U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, wrote in an open letter to Musk and DOGE recruiter Steve Davis that those “discovered to have broken the law or even acted simply unethically” against DOGE would be pursued “to the end of the Earth” in the name of accountability.

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“Something must be done about judicial overreach or the renewal of America is a lost cause.”

Who Will Rule? An Elected President or an Unaccountable Judiciary? (PCR)

The Democrats are using the judiciary to cover up their corrupt operations and theft of taxpayers’ money. If you will notice, the slew of judges countermanding Trump’s executive orders are themselves issuing executive orders, and they are doing so with no reference to law. Instead, they are ruling that Trump’s executive orders are harming someone, including illegal immigrant-invaders who are not US citizens. This is outrageous. Harm is a subjective standard. Moreover, the judges are overlooking the harm that their rulings do. What can Trump do? Like Andrew Jackson, he could ignore the judges. He could order the federal marshall’s, who report to the president and not to the judiciary, to cease delivering the judges’ edicts and to stop providing any service to the judges other than life protection.

The rulings by these judges are so egregious that they demonstrate both that some judges are in on the grift and the danger to Democrats from having their corruption revealed is so great that it has to be prevented by having the judiciary dictate to the executive. We have judges blocking Trump’s order against birthright citizenship which prevents illegals from gaining US citizenship by illegally entering the US in order to give birth. Such births are known as “anchor babies” as they result in citizenship for the entire family. Hows corrupt does a judge have to be to claim that the Constitution provides nefarious ways for foreigners to acquire US citizenship? We have judges ordering Trump to reinstate federal funding for private NGOs working to undermine foreign governments and to spread sexual perversion and anti-white woke propaganda.

Judges ordering the continuation of these harmful activities are arguing that it is harmful to prevent harm. Moreover, many and probably most of these NGOs are grift money-laundering operations dumping taxpayers’ money into the hands of Democrats and their children via NGO salaries and grants. Judges are even ordering Trump to continue financing private DEI and gender operation websites. Judges do not have executive powers. They can interpret existing law and the Constitution, but not on the basis of some subjective factor as their personal notion of harm or their determination to cover up corruption. I predicted that Trump’s attempt to restore America would be tied down in lawsuits aided and abetted by a corrupt judiciary. Something must be done about judicial overreach or the renewal of America is a lost cause.

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“The EU has a vested interest in escalating tensions to a level where even a reluctant US administration cannot stand aside.”

Vance Only Said What Americans Really Think (Lukyanov)

US Vice President J.D. Vance’s landmark speech at the Munich Security Conference on Friday has been attributed to various factors. Some say it was an act of revenge. For years, Western European leaders have denounced Donald Trump and his supporters, never considering that they might one day have to answer for their words. Now, the response has arrived, and the EU is left bewildered, asking: “Why us?” But beyond personal grievances, there is a deeper ideological divergence at play. In many ways, Vance’s critique of the Europeans echoed the same accusations that the settlers of the New World leveled at the Old Continent centuries ago: tyranny, hypocrisy, and parasitism. The rejection of European political traditions laid the ideological foundation for the American state three hundred years ago.

Now that dispute over what constitutes real democracy has evolved from an internal American debate into a transatlantic one – and its outcome will shape the future. Yet the most crucial element of Vance’s speech goes beyond personalities or ideological rifts. It reflects a fundamental shift in global politics. The key question today is whether the Cold War should finally end within the framework of the 20th century or whether it should continue indefinitely. Western Europe insists on the latter – not because of any grand strategy, but because it has failed to integrate its former adversaries peacefully. The US, on the other hand, appears ready to move on. This shift is not a product of Trump, nor even of Vance, but rather of America’s evolving priorities. The pivot away from Europe began under George W. Bush and has continued under every president since. Trump merely said out loud what his predecessors preferred to leave unsaid.

For Western Europe, clinging to the ideological and geopolitical framework of the Cold War is about survival. Maintaining the old order allows the EU to sustain its centrality in global affairs and, more importantly, to preserve its own internal cohesion, which is already under strain. For the United States, however, letting go of Cold War-era structures offers a chance to focus on present and future challenges — China, the Pacific, North America, and the Arctic. Western Europe cannot prove itself indispensable in any of these areas, but it can serve as a costly distraction. This leads to an uncomfortable conclusion: The EU has a vested interest in escalating tensions to a level where even a reluctant US administration cannot stand aside. The real question now is whether the Old World is capable of pushing events in that direction.

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“..your democracy is weak, your elections are crap, your rules that violate normal human morality are crap..”

Medvedev Applauds Vance’s ‘Humiliating Rebuke’ Of Europe (RT)

The deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, has hailed US Vice President J.D. Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference, calling it a rare moment of American honesty about Europe’s weaknesses and Vance himself “a brave guy.” In his speech on Friday, Vance touched on the migration crisis, security, freedom of speech, and apparent democratic backsliding on the continent. Medvedev said Vance “unexpectedly lit up” the conference, calling his remarks a harsh but truthful indictment of modern Europe.“Everyone expected to hear the usual partner-like curtseys to Europe and comments on Donald Trump’s words about the end of the Ukrainian conflict. But he went and harshly scolded the Europeans who have completely lost themselves in recent years: your democracy is weak, your elections are crap, your rules that violate normal human morality are crap,” Medvedev wrote.

He added that the Europeans would retaliate against him if he did not hold such a high post. “However, they will forgive him; they will begrudgingly accept the humiliating rebuke from their senior partner with resentment,” Medvedev concluded. Vance was particularly severe in his indictment of European democracy. He voiced concerns over the erosion of democratic values in Europe, drawing attention to the annulment of the presidential election in Romania. The first round in November saw right-wing anti-establishment candidate Calin Georgescu come out on top with 22.94%, beating liberal leftist and social democrat candidates. Romania’s top court cited intelligence documents alleging “irregularities” in his campaign performance in making their ruling, although the validity of that evidence has been questioned.

The US vice president also cautioned against rising censorship in the region, told European member-states to take greater responsibility for their own defense, and raised the alarm over mass migration. US President Donald Trump praised Vance’s speech as “brilliant.” However, some European officials were not so keen on the address. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas warned that it signaled growing transatlantic tension. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius meanwhile, blasted the remarks, calling them “not acceptable.” On the other hand, Russian Senator Alexander Shenderyuk-Zhidkov described Vance’s statements as a “cold shower” for European Russophobes.

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More judge shopping?!

Judge Blocks Trump’s Ban On “Chemical And Surgical Mutilation” Of Children (ZH)

A Biden-appointed Judge on Thursday blocked parts of two executive orders issued by President Trump banning or restricting various forms of ‘gender-affirming care’ – or as one of the executive orders is titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.” US District Judge Brendan Hurson of Baltimore ruled that a group of transgender teens and LGBTQ organizations that sued were likely to prevail on all of their claims that the EOs are without authority and amount to illegal and unconstitutional discrimination. “Stopping care in the middle of receiving it, any care, really, casts doubt on whether in fact the goals are to protect the recipients of the care,” said Hurson. Under Hurson’s ruling, various federal agencies are now temporarily prohibited from withholding or conditioning funding based on whether a health care facility provides ‘gender-affirming’ care anywhere in the country.

In addition to the transgender teens, two organizations – PFLAG and GLMA – claimed that hospitals across the country have quickly moved to cancel appointments after Trump’s two executive orders, which the administration deemed a crackdown on “gender ideology.” The first order which Trump signed on day one states that “federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology,” while another signed on Jan. 28 directs agencies to ensure that any institution receiving federal funds does not provide gender-transition treatments for individuals up to the age of 19. “That order had immediate consequences,” ACLU lawyer Joshua Block said during Thursday’s hearing, The Hill reports. The DOJ contested the lawsuit, insisting that the case was premature and required additional guidance. Judge Hurson rejected those arguments, calling their position “disingenuous.”

“When there’s smoke coming out of your house, you don’t know what room it’s in, but you don’t wait to call 911 until you know the exact location of the fire,” said Hurson, adding “These plaintiffs have received phone calls stopping their care.” The ruling is the latest in a series of court orders across the country in recent days blocking Trump’s actions – including orders restricting birthright citizenship, and another which restricts transgender prison inmates from living in women’s facilities. Another Thursday lawsuit from a group of government employees sought to block Musk and DOGE from accessing sensitive data and removing federal employees until “Musk is properly appointed pursuant to the U.S. constitution.”

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“..there are also “no plans for representatives from other major European powers to join the talks..”

There are no “major European powers” left. That’s a thing of the past. Get used to it.

Ukraine Not Invited To Russia-US Talks – Zelensky (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has confirmed that Kiev was not invited to the discussions between delegations from Washington and Moscow which are expected to take place in Saudi Arabia in the coming days.Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump spoke by phone on Wednesday, marking their first known direct conversation since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. On Saturday, the countries’ top diplomats followed up with a call to discuss “preparations for a potential high-level Russian-American summit.” Moscow has yet to confirm any details, but according to multiple media reports, a US delegation – likely composed of national security advisers – will travel to Saudi Arabia in the coming days for talks with their Russian counterparts.

“Maybe there is something at the table, but not on our table. I didn’t see any invitations, invoices, et cetera, for Ukraine to meet with some other…,” Zelensky told journalists on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. “We don’t have any papers, any invitations,” he reiterated. “And it’s something strange for me to speak in this case, in this format, if before we don’t have any negotiations between us and our strategic partners.” The Ukrainian side was “neither invited to, nor informed about” the upcoming US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, Fox News reporter Nana Sajaia said earlier in the day, citing an unnamed senior official in Kiev. According to Politico, there are also “no plans for representatives from other major European powers to join the talks,” while Bloomberg reported that European officials had not even been notified.

Kiev and its Western backers, including the previous US administration, have long insisted that no discussions about Ukraine’s future should take place without its direct participation. Following his call with Putin on Wednesday, Trump phoned Zelensky “to inform him of the conversation” with the Russian leader. The Ukrainian leader allegedly told Trump that he, just “like President Putin, wants to make PEACE.” Addressing attendees at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, Zelensky reiterated that he was “not going to meet with Russians.”

“I will meet with one Russian only – with Putin,” he stated, stressing that he would sit down with the Russian leader to “stop the war” only after Ukraine, the US, and the EU had devised a “common plan.” Last month, Putin stated that while it is “possible to negotiate with anyone,” Zelensky no longer has the legitimacy to override his own decree banning talks with the Russian president. The Ukrainian leader’s presidential term expired in May 2024, but he has refused to hold elections, citing martial law. The Kremlin has stressed that any potential peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev must be legally binding. Trump has also acknowledged that Kiev will eventually have to hold elections and noted that Zelensky might not serve another term, saying his domestic poll numbers “aren’t particularly great, to put it mildly.”

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“The European pro-war, liberal elite will try to do everything in its power to ensure that the peace agreement that ends the war in Ukraine is not reached..”

No Place For Europe In Ukraine Talks – Trump Envoy (RT)

Europe may not be at the table when the US holds talks with Russia over Ukraine, US Special Envoy Keith Kellogg said on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference. However, Kiev will undoubtedly be present, he added. Kellogg clarified that the interests of other concerned parties would be taken into account. “What we don’t want to do is get into a large group discussion,” he added, as quoted by CNBC. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump discussed possible Ukraine negotiations during a phone call on Wednesday. Following the conversation, the Trump said that American and Russian officials would meet in Munich on Friday, with Ukraine also invited to participate. However, no such meeting was announced by the conference or media outlets.

When asked if he could name the requirements for a credible security guarantee for Ukraine, Kellogg replied, “The answer right now is no,” noting that he was attending the Munich conference to gather insights from Ukraine and Europe. He opined that the US sometimes has a tendency to view issues solely from its own perspective. US Vice President J.D. Vance, who attended the event as well, also insisted on the start of direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. “It’s important for us to get together and start to have the conversations that are going to be necessary to bring this thing to a close,” he said.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said coming negotiations could mark a watershed in EU-US relations. “[The US] expects Europe to take the lead in securing any agreement that follows. These negotiations can be a turning point for our continent and transatlantic relations. A historic turning point that can go in very different directions.” However, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has cautioned that some vested interests want to sabotage the peace process. “The European pro-war, liberal elite will try to do everything in its power to ensure that the peace agreement that ends the war in Ukraine is not reached, which is currently closer than ever,” the diplomat said.

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Desparately searching for relevance.

European Pro-War Elites Seek To Derail Ukraine Peace – Hungarian FM (RT)

While the end of the Ukraine conflict has never been so close, European “pro-war” elites are seeking to sabotage the process, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has warned. Speaking to Hungarian broadcaster DTV on Friday, the top diplomat expressed cautious optimism regarding a solution to the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. Szijjarto welcomed recent discussions between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the fact that they had agreed to meet in person in the near future. “Now we can not only see the light at the end of the tunnel, but that it gets closer and shines brighter and brighter,” Szijjarto stated, adding that the prospect of peace is now more tangible than ever before.

However, Szijjarto cautioned that achieving peace would not be straightforward and anticipated resistance from European pro-war liberal elites. He believes these groups will make concerted efforts to prevent an agreement, but remains confident that strong US leadership can secure a deal with Russia, regardless of opposition from other leaders and bureaucrats. “The European pro-war, liberal elite will try to do everything in its power to ensure that the peace agreement that ends the war in Ukraine is not reached, which is currently closer than ever,” the top diplomat said.

Putin and Trump spoke for nearly 90 minutes by phone on Wednesday. The conversation is the first publicly known top-level contact between the US and Russian leadership since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. During the call, the two leaders invited each other to visit their respective countries and agreed to hold a meeting on neutral ground beforehand. According to Trump, that will likely take place in Saudi Arabia, and Riyadh has already warmed to the idea. “The Kingdom welcomes holding the summit in its territory and affirms its continued efforts to achieve lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine, which began since the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis,” the Saudi government said on Friday.

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“Ukrainians don’t want, totally don’t want, because they are afraid, because otherwise we will lose the military loan, the war loan, our soldiers will come back home, and (Russian President) Putin will occupy all our territory.”

Zelensky Begged Trump To Meet In Person, Also Defends Canceled Elections (ZH)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed more details of the content of his Wednesday call with US President Donald Trump, in Saturday remarks given before the Munich Security Conference. Zelensky disclosed that he repeatedly urged Trump to meet with him in person, and there was no assent from Trump on the matter. “I think I said first that we have to meet. But we understood each other because I didn’t say (anything) about it once,” the Ukrainian leader said. Zelensky as well as European leaders have expressed deep frustration that Trump chose to call Russia’s President Putin first, wherein they talked for 90-minutes, amid fears that Zelensky will be cut out from US-Moscow negotiations to end the war.

French President Emmanuel Macron has demanded that Zelensky be at the table, and that nothing can be decided regarding a future peace deal without consulting Ukraine. Also on Saturday, Zelensky said that his country can’t hold elections as martial law is still in effect, amid growing criticism that he’s extending martial law to stay in power, and establishing anti-democratic norms. His term expired in May 2024, but he asserted, “I’m focusing on the survival of our country, and I am doing it really all my term.” “I’m ready to speak about elections if you want,” he said, claiming that “Ukrainians don’t want, totally don’t want, because they are afraid, because otherwise we will lose the military loan, the war loan, our soldiers will come back home, and (Russian President) Putin will occupy all our territory.”

He argued that he has maintained the unity of the country amid the Russian invasion… “So it’s not about myself. It’s about the future of our country. The question is to survive to save Ukraine, our independence, our people, (and) our homes. And if somebody doesn’t like (it), they can choose another citizenship,” he said. He was also asked about the question of the US taking NATO membership off the table, somewhat shocking European allies this week. “If we are not in NATO, then as I said, NATO has to be in Ukraine. We will need an army comparable with soldiers of Russia; it’s 1.3 or 1.5 million soldiers,” he said.

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There’s even talk of sending US troops to protect the rare earths.

Zelensky Refused To Sign Rare Earths Deal With US (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has declined to sign an agreement that would give the US access to his country’s rare earth minerals, Washington Post reporter Josh Rogin and Reuters have claimed. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump made it clear that he wanted Kiev to pay for the assistance it has received from Washington with its natural resources. According to the 2024 World Economic Forum report, Ukraine “holds immense potential as a major global supplier of critical raw materials” that could be “essential” for defense, the technology sector, and green energy. The nation boasts Europe’s largest titanium and lithium reserves, which are not classified as rare-earth elements. Kiev also has considerable beryllium, manganese, gallium, uranium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite, and nickel deposits.

In a post on X on Friday, the Washington Post’s Rogin claimed that “multiple lawmakers here in Munich told me the US Congressional delegation presented Zelensky with a piece of paper they wanted him to sign which would grant the US rights to 50% of Ukraine’s future mineral reserves. Zelensky politely declined to sign it.” Reuters also cited anonymous members of the Ukrainian delegation at the Munich Security Conference as saying essentially the same thing. The supposed meeting between the Ukrainian leader and a bipartisan group of US lawmakers reportedly lasted 90 minutes. According to the agency, Zelensky “felt he was being asked unreasonably to sign something he hadn’t had a chance to read,” with two of the sources describing the proposal as “one-sided.” Kiev still needs to work out “some details,” according to the report.

On Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to Kiev, where he presented the draft to the Ukrainian leader. In an interview with Reuters last week, Zelensky said he would like to have a mutually beneficial partnership with the US as opposed to simply giving Ukraine’s natural resources away. Zelensky acknowledged however, that a large chunk of mineral-rich territories is currently under Russian control. According to Forbes, around $7 trillion worth of Ukraine’s total mineral wealth is located in what is now the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, which joined Russia in 2022. Ukraine has “tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth [and] in terms of oil and gas,” President Trump told Fox News this week. He stated he had told the leadership in Kiev “that I want the equivalent, like $500 billion worth of rare earths, and they’ve essentially agreed to do that.”

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“Trump’s statement today telling Volodymyr Zelensky he will start bilateral talks with Russia – without Ukraine – also demonstrates that he recognizes Zelensky as the chief obstacle to peace..”

Trump Determined to Undo Damage to US-Russian Relations (Sp.)

The phone call between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump marks the formal beginning of peace negotiations between the US and Russia, EMP Task Force scholar and former US Department of Defense officer David Pyne tells Sputnik. Trump’s decision to appoint Secretary of State Marco Rubio to lead negotiations with Russia, rather than his Special Envoy to Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg, underlines the importance Washington places on the talks, Pyne said.

That, “combined with his invitation for Putin to visit the US and acceptance of Putin’s invitation to visit Moscow, show that Trump is assigning the highest possible priority both to repairing all the damage Biden did to US-Russia relations [and] ending the war in Ukraine within the next few months,” stressed Pyne, a Republican Party activist. Trump’s statement today telling Volodymyr Zelensky he will start bilateral talks with Russia – without Ukraine – also demonstrates that he recognizes Zelensky as the chief obstacle to peace, the expert said.

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Smooth.

Prisoner Swap Builds Confidence Between US, Russia – Trump Envoy Witkoff (TASS)

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East Steven Witkoff expects build-up of confidence between Washington and Moscow after Russian national Alexander Vinnik was released in exchange for US national Marc Fogel. “We had a really good back channel, and it turned out to be very, very credible and enormously helpful. And that led to, I think, a lot of trust building candidly between the Trump administration and President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin,” Witkoff said in an interview aired by the Fox News TV channel.

He also suggested that the exchange that just took place, will probably “pay some large dividends in the future,” including in settlement of the Ukraine conflict. Earlier, Witkoff visited Russia. He departed Russian airspace with Fogel, who had been serving a prison sentence in the country for drug smuggling. Witkoff was also among those representatives of Washington who Trump mentioned as negotiators with Moscow on the issue of the Ukrainian conflict settlement.

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“Trump has “driven a stake through the heart of EU solidarity by essentially withdrawing the United States from the conflict..”

Europe Would Go Broke Trying to Keep Ukraine Afloat if US Dropped Support (Sp.)

It would cost NATO’s European allies an additional $3.1 trillion over ten years to fund Ukraine and expand their own defense capabilities if President Trump left the burden to them, US business media have calculated. Sputnik asked a leading Brussels-based observer of international affairs to comment. Europe simply “does not have the wherewithal to continue” the proxy war with Moscow, and would “be obliged to strike its own separate peace with Russia,” even if it tried to sustain the conflict for some time after a hypothetical withdrawal of US support, Dr. Gilbert Doctorow says. Trump has “driven a stake through the heart of EU solidarity by essentially withdrawing the United States from the conflict and leaving it to Europe to cope as best they can,” Doctorow explained.

“But they cannot cope. It is not just a matter of money. They do not have the military supplies needed by Ukraine to continue the fight. Absent US participation the situation is hopeless for Ukraine and everyone knows that,” the observer stressed. The new reality for Ukraine signals what Doctorow says is a much larger transformation of the US defense posture toward Europe, with Washington ready to continue extending its ‘nuclear umbrella’ to the region, while drawing down the commitment of conventional forces. “The further implication is that when the Europeans understand they cannot on their own stand up to the Russian armies, then they will on their own understand that they have to make some accommodation with the Russians on Europe-wide security,” Doctorow said.

Bloomberg Economics calculated Thursday that independent European support for Ukraine and buildup of their own militaries would cost an additional $3.1 trillion, including: $175 billion to build up Ukraine’s army, $30 billion for a 40,000-troop strong “peacekeeping force,” and $2.7 trillion in debt-financed defense spending by the five largest European NATO members on artillery stockpiles, air defenses and missiles, plus deployments on the NATO’s eastern frontiers.

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“..Medvedchuk stated that historical events show that Ukrainians have always been saved by Russians, which should happen naturally now.”

Certain EU countries Think of Annexing Ukrainian Lands — Medvedchuk (TASS)

Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria are nourishing ideas of annexing certain Ukrainian lands, Viktor Medvedchuk, former leader of Ukraine’s banned “Opposition Platform – For Life” party, who now leads the “Another Ukraine” movement, said in an interview with TASS. “It is reliably known that certain countries of the European Union, such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria, have long been nourishing ideas of annexing certain Ukrainian lands, which were artificially made part of modern Ukraine. Those countries’ politicians have repeatedly voiced and even strongly encouraged their governments to implement those ideas, which are historically valid and reasonable,” he said.

During the presidency of Pyotr Poroshenko (ex-Ukrainian president designated by Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service as a person involved in extremist or terrorist activities) and Vladimir Zelensky, cases of “glaring violation of constitutional rights, freedoms, guarantees regarding ethnic minorities of mentioned states” were allowed in the country, the politician noted. “The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is brazenly violated and ignored. And all of the attempts by the governments of those states to influence and protect their fellow citizens from the criminal policy of Kiev’s authorities came up dry,” he added.

“This is why the only reasonable way out of this situation is to implement the ideas of those countries’ politicians to shield the population and territories where representatives of ethnic minorities live. Today this way is relevant as never before and determined by historical justice and the interests of ordinary citizens, which have got under the weight of the Nazi regime of Zelensky and should be protected,” Medvedchuk stressed. “That said, it is natural and legitimate that Russia has every reason to get back historical Russian lands that it used to own for centuries, to take people under protection from Nazism and militarism, to save the Ukrainian people and ensure its future,” he concluded. Earlier, Medvedchuk stated that historical events show that Ukrainians have always been saved by Russians, which should happen naturally now.

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They have no troops to speak of.

EU Nations Secretly Discussing Ukraine Troop Deployment – AP (RT)

A number of European Union member states have been discussing plans to send their military personnel to Ukraine once hostilities end, the Associated Press has claimed. Several senior EU officials, most notably French President Emmanuel Macron, have been floating such ideas since at least last February. In its article on Friday, the AP reported that the UK and France are “at the forefront of the effort.” The media outlet quoted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as stating on Thursday that “if there is peace then there needs to be some sort of security guarantee for Ukraine and the UK will play its part in that.” US President Donald Trump’s victory in the November 5 election galvanized such deliberations among European leaders, the publication alleged.

It further suggested that a group of leaders and ministers from the UK, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland as well as Ukraine, NATO and the EU held a meeting in Brussels in December, where they presumably discussed a potential Western troop deployment to the Eastern European country. The AP quoted Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur as noting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that “we are in a very early stage.” The official pointed out that much would depend on the situation along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) long front line as well as the number of troops Russia and Ukraine would keep in the area if and when any truce took hold, according to the article. Last month, Reuters quoted Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky as insisting that he expected European nations to send 200,000 troops to his country. “It’s a minimum, otherwise it’s nothing,” he remarked, according to the news agency.

Also in January, The Times, citing anonymous military and diplomatic sources, reported that Germany as well as the Baltic states and Poland opposed any potential deployment for various reasons, with the UK, France and the Nordic nations being in favor. Earlier this month, the New York Times quoted an unnamed senior European official as saying that the “continent doesn’t even have 200,000 troops to offer,” apparently referring to Zelensky’s reported demand in January. Speaking late last month, senior Russian diplomat Rodion Miroshnik warned that “any contingent entering the territory of Ukraine without the consent and permission of Russia is a military target, with quite understandable consequences.” In an interview with RIA Novosti on Monday, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, echoed his colleague’s statement, emphasizing that “peacekeepers cannot operate without a mandate from the UN Security Council.”

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“When any particle enters the human body, it is coated by biological fluids that include fragments of bacteria, proteins, etc. A ‘biocorona’, or coating made up of these fragments, forms around the particle, so it cannot affect the human organism.”

‘It Doesn’t Harm Us’: Russian Scientist Busts Myths About Microplastics (RT)

Microplastics are among the most widely discussed environmental topics today. The media often highlights the harmful effects of polymer nanoparticles on living organisms. However, as head of the Department of Polymer and Crystal Physics at Moscow State University, and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexei Khokhlov told RT, there is no scientific basis for these claims. Khokhlov argues that microplastic particles are no more hazardous to humans than tiny wood or concrete particles which exist in the environment in much greater quantities.

RT: In recent years, many scientific studies and media reports have been published about microplastics. What exactly are they made of? Khokhlov: Microplastics are defined as fragments of polymer materials smaller than 5 mm. These particles can break down into even smaller micron-sized pieces, and there are also polymer nanoparticles. We live in an era dominated by new materials. Just 100 years ago, the polymer industry was virtually nonexistent. The widespread use of plastics began in the 1950s, and today, approximately 400 million tons of various plastics are produced annually worldwide. The main types of polymers include polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, and polyvinyl chloride. These materials are used to make plastic wrap, packaging, and so on. Essentially, we are surrounded by polymer materials; life today would be unimaginable without them.

RT: Is it true that microplastics are everywhere, even in our food and water? Khokhlov: The molecular structure of polymers consists of long chains of monomer units. Interestingly, we are made up of polymers ourselves, since proteins, DNA and RNA chains are molecules of such type. As for their presence in the environment, particles from all natural and man-made materials find their way into the environment. Nanoparticles of dust, sand, and natural polymers like cellulose can enter cells. Wood itself is essentially a composite material made from cellulose and lignin. Annually, around 2.5 billion tons of wood are produced globally, while plastics account for only 400 million tons. It’s a very small amount compared to natural polymers.

RT: How do microplastics affect living cells? Can particles penetrate cells and disrupt their function? Khokhlov: Any material will break down into smaller particles as a result of environmental exposure. All nanoparticles can enter the human bloodstream, not just microplastics. For instance, walls gradually disintegrate into dust and sand, which also make their way into the human body. There is no evidence that microplastic particles are particularly harmful. Humanity has coexisted with ordinary dust for millions of years, and it doesn’t harm us. When any particle enters the human body, it is coated by biological fluids that include fragments of bacteria, proteins, etc.

A ‘biocorona’, or coating made up of these fragments, forms around the particle, so it cannot affect the human organism. This process occurs with all particles, regardless of their composition — microplastics included. For the body, there is no difference between microplastics and dust. Currently, plastic makes up only 15% of the total volume of solid waste. This is relatively low, and the concentration of microplastics in the environment remains minimal. Laboratory studies claiming harmful effects are often conducted using extremely high concentrations of microplastics that do not reflect real-world scenarios.

RT: If the environmental impact isn’t significant, why do you think the media and public are so concerned about this issue? Khokhlov: Because the media needs sensational stories. The idea that wood particles can enter human cells isn’t shocking because wood is familiar to us and no one believes it could pose any risk. Synthetic polymers, however, evoke fear because they are unfamiliar and artificial. But there’s no evidence to suggest they act differently than other particles. For example, there has been a lot of talk about eliminating plastic bottles since microplastics can get into the water. However, further research has shown that most of the microplastics found in water primarily come from polyamides, which are synthetic fibers used in textiles. When these fabrics are washed, tiny particles make their way into wastewater and eventually into our waterways.

RT: Can we replace plastic containers with alternatives that won’t break down into microplastics, or ones that would be made up of particles that are safe for nature and humans? Khokhlov: There are always alternatives, but they tend to be much more expensive. And in many industries, such as healthcare, the alternative isn’t the same. For example, we can switch from single-use syringes and gloves to reusable options, but what will the consequences be?In regions where access to clean water is inconsistent and sanitation is poor, single-use items and plastic bottles serve as the only means to avoid poisoning and infectious diseases. However, it’s crucial to ensure that plastic packaging isn’t carelessly discarded outdoors but is properly disposed of.

Out of 400 million tons of plastic, 300 million end up in landfills or incinerators, meaning that 100 million tons aren’t disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner. This is a significant issue that warrants attention and action. Moreover, the primary sources of microplastics are not plastic utensils or packaging but washed [synthetic] clothes, worn automobile tires, urban dust, and even road markings and marine paint. This suggests that combating microplastics would require us to give up driving cars and using washing machines. But what would that lead to? People cannot forgo hygiene standards, and our current infrastructure and logistics cannot provide alternative solutions that would meet the needs of society.

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AOC
https://twitter.com/i/status/1890439128480633075

 

 

Joinery

 

 

Bday
https://twitter.com/i/status/1890725981557539086

 

 

Fren
https://twitter.com/i/status/1890757964815905198

 

 

Baby
https://twitter.com/i/status/1890494657995362379

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Sep 092024
 


Pieter Bruegel the Elder Two monkeys 1562

 

A Harris Victory in 2024 Makes the US a One-Party State (AmG)
Election Guru In US Claims Harris Will Beat Trump (RT)
$10 mln Is Serious Money – What’s Lacking? Serious Evidence Of Crime (Flores)
Now It Is the White House that Is Smearing Tucker Carlson (Paul Craig Roberts)
PAC Runs Ads In Muslim-Heavy Michigan Lauding Harris For Israel Support (ZH)
Musk Set To Become World’s First Trillionaire (RT)
Elon Musk Reveals When He Will Be Able To Send Humans To Mars (RT)
Elon Musk: First Mars Mission In Two Years; Make America Healthy Again (ZH)
Vive la Démocratie! (Manley)
CIA, MI6 Chiefs Warn Of Threats To ‘World Order’ (RT)
US Military Suicide As A Result Of The Ongoing War On Terror (Van den Ende)
Zakharova Likens US To Hollywood Ax-Wielding Maniac (RT)
Why Turkiye’s Move to Join BRICS as Full Member is Big Deal (Sp.)
Erdogan Wants Greater Islamic Alliance To Combat Israeli ‘Expansionism’ (ZH)
Iran’s New President Wants To Move Capital Out Of Tehran (RT)
China Bans Foreigners From Adopting Its Children (RT)
A Post-Google World (Stoller)

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1832488452333457440

 

 

Wi.

 

 

Vivek

 

 

Clapping like seals
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832586177268031781

 

 

Bill Clinton’s 1995 SOTU

 

 

Vivek Tucker

 

 

Trump DOJ chief
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832497260867023272

 

 

Tim Pool
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832378642824864033

 

 

 

 

Excellent from James E. Fanell and Bradley A. Thayer.

A Harris Victory in 2024 Makes the US a One-Party State (AmG)

The election of 2024 will be epochal for the United States. It will be as impactful on the course of the nation as the election of 1860 and the ensuing Civil War. This November’s election will determine whether the U.S. remains a viable constitutional republic or becomes a one-party state. If Vice President Kamala Harris wins, the result will be the realization of President Obama’s intent, voiced in his famous 2008 remark, to “fundamentally transform” the United States. Thus, the election is important for all Americans, particularly the voting public, to be aware that should Harris win, then 2024 is likely to be the last free, fair, and competitive election in the U.S. If she does win, then the U.S. by 2028 will be a one-party country, with the Democrats in permanent control, as California, Illinois, Massachusetts, or Hawaii are at the state level today. In the wake of her 2024 election, Harris, by her own words, is certain to take the following actions in pursuit of the agenda of the one-party government.

Harris will target the Supreme Court, as that is the most potent source of resistance to Democratic rule. To defeat the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, the Harris administration will push to pack the Court so that it may nominate justices who support judicial activism and oppose originalism—that the constitution, or subsequent laws, be interpreted by their original meanings. A Harris administration that packed the Court, with new Justices confirmed by a Democratic-controlled Senate, would usher in the one-party state that would never give up power. Additionally, a Harris administration would seek to add states to the Electoral College. Specifically, the Harris administration supports the push to add the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as states, adding four Senators and at least two Representatives to the House of Representatives. The addition of these states to the Union would give the Democrat Party permanent control over the presidency.

Again, another example of a one-party state, something that is anathema to freedom and liberty and has always resulted in death and destruction to the citizens of the people of other countries. Given the decisions by the Biden-Harris administration to open America’s border, illegal immigration will continue and be accelerated. Although no one knows the total numbers, at least 10-12 million illegal aliens have entered the U.S. during the Biden-Harris presidency. These illegal aliens will be placed on an immediate path to citizenship so that they may vote legally. Conceivably, at least 12 million more illegal aliens can be expected to enter the U.S. during a Harris presidency, and this will only accelerate a permanent pathway for illegal aliens to become citizens. This will open the doors to many more scores of millions of people to enter the U.S. in numbers that are certain to destabilize American society, economy, and politics and forever change the country.

Regarding the economy, Americans can expect a Harris administration to make good on their pledges to institute federally mandated price controls and dramatically increase tax burdens on average Americans, including taxes on unrealized income, also known as wealth taxes. These actions will culminate in even worse hyperinflation, devaluation of the dollar, and the essential establishment of a state-run economy like that run by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the PRC—the disastrous results notwithstanding. Her Department of Justice will build on Biden’s efforts to decapitate the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement by imprisoning President Trump, senior Trump officials, attorneys, and prospective Republican rivals whose support is rooted in the MAGA movement. Lindsay Graham and other RINOs will be safe, at least in the near term, but not J.D. Vance or Josh Hawley. Censorship in all forms will worsen. Government interference in social media will tighten so that all media, including social media, are de facto state-controlled. Orwell’s “thought police” would become a reality.

Policies to destroy American culture, including the nuclear family, and Western civilization will be expanded to bring America to a “Year Zero” moment, where American society, culture, and family life may be remade in accord with Marxism-Leninism. A Harris administration’s policy towards the People’s Republic of China will continue President Biden’s swath of Engagement policies. The consequence of this will be that the dictatorship of the illegitimate CCP is saved from the crises that they themselves created due to many decades of their political tyranny over the Chinese people. In turn, this will result in Taiwan’s fall to the PRC and introduce tremendous strain on U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific and Europe. Americans will find that the world will be very different, very quickly, and for a very long time.

The Beijing-Moscow axis will be emboldened to commit additional aggression in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. Current National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Philip Gordon have been rumored to receive major positions, Sullivan as Secretary of State and Gordon as National Security Adviser. This will ensure the deepening of Biden’s disastrous Engagement policies. The rapidity with which a Harris administration will be able to advance this agenda will depend to some degree on its control of Congress. Much will depend on whether the House stays in the Republican hands with a sufficient majority to guarantee that weak Republicans do not cross the aisle. If the House does not remain in effective Republican control, the Democrats’ ambitions will be realized immediately. But if it does in 2024, the principal aim of the Democrats will be to ensure its capture in 2026.

In the meantime, Harris will work through executive orders, pressure, and workarounds to achieve these aims. Harris, who is now 59 years old, will run for reelection in 2028, further solidifying what she achieved since 2024 so that the 2032 election will be decided in the Democratic primary as the Republican party will no longer be a national party, just as it is not a true state-wide party in states like California and New York. At the time that they occur, elections are very difficult to perceive as having a historical impact. For instance, the voters of 1860 did not know that a Civil War was coming. Those voting for Woodrow Wilson in 1916 on his campaign of staying out of World War I did not know that he would take them into World War I. Americans should understand how important this choice is, despite Harris-Walz doing their best to minimize how radical they are by not giving interviews, not being honest about what their policies are, and how radical they would be.

Their campaign is one of profound deceit. Their expectation is that supportive media, pollsters, popular culture, and donors will carry them through the election. In that expectation, they certainly are correct. Their deception reveals that they have nothing but contempt for the Declaration and Constitution and, thus, the American people. Americans must consider why Harris and Walz are so contemptuous of them, whether it is wise to vote for them, and whether they will be better off in 2028 than they are now, or whether that future might be a far worse one—one from which they may never recover. The American people have a choice at the polling booth. 2024 is everything for the future of the American Republic. It is a fork in the road for the U.S. and the American people to choose to continue the path our Founders established in 1776 or a radically different one that will take the U.S. into the ever-worsening tyrannical rule of a one-party state.

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Based on votes? I don’t see it. But there are other ways.

Election Guru In US Claims Harris Will Beat Trump (RT)

Historian Allan Lichtman, widely acclaimed as the ‘Nostradamus’ of US presidential elections, has predicted that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will beat her Republican rival Donald Trump in November. The history professor at American University says his method shuns polls altogether, and is instead based on a set of 13 true-or-false questions that supposedly hold the “keys” to the White House. Originally, the anticipated GOP candidate was supposed to run against incumbent president Joe Biden. However, following the veteran politician’s dismal showing during a televised debate in late June, the Democrats replaced him with Vice President Harris as their nominee. Speaking to The New York Times on Thursday, Lichtman said: “Kamala Harris will be the next president of the United States – at least that’s my prediction for the outcome of this race.” He explained that of the 13 so-called ‘keys,’ eight favored the Democratic nominee.

He claimed that Harris has gained from the absence of a strong third-party candidate after Robert F Kennedy Jr. pulled out of the race last month. He also cited positive short- and long-term economic indicators, supposed legislative achievements enacted by the Biden administration, and a perceived absence of social unrest or scandal attached to the White House, as stacking the odds in the Democratic candidate’s favor. In addition, Lichtman says, the fact that Harris did not have to undergo a party nomination process, with all the other candidates rallying behind her, is also a plus for the vice president. Speaking to Fox News Digital on Saturday, the renowned election forecaster stood by his prediction, saying that, following the “unprecedented” withdrawal of Biden from the race, the “Democrats finally got smart and united behind Harris.”

Lichtman says he has correctly predicted the outcomes of nine out of ten presidential elections since 1984. The only time he failed was during the contested faceoff between George W Bush and Al Gore back in 2000, the historian insists. That election was decided after the US supreme court ruled in Bush’s favor following weeks of legal wrangling over disputed ballots. Meanwhile, another influential American election analyst, Nate Silver, claimed on Wednesday that Trump’s chances of beating Harris were higher than at any point since the vice president entered the race in July. His prediction stood in stark contrast with several polls over the past few weeks that have consistently shown Harris slightly ahead of Trump.

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$10 mln Is NOT Serious Money in the context of a US presidential election.

$10 mln Is Serious Money – What’s Lacking? Serious Evidence Of Crime (Flores)

The entrenched authorities are bent on inserting Kamala Harris into office using lawfare, despite her resounding unpopularity and anti-populism. On September 4th, 2024, the United States Department of Justice issued a press release from its Office of Public Affairs, detailing and making public a sealed indictment against two Russian nationals, who are said to be employees of RT, for ‘funneling’ US $10mln to various high-profile social media content creators. What strikes us immediately is that this is not a crime, even though the word ‘funneling’ is a strongly loaded term in the sense of neuro-linguistic programming, and so the DOJ’s approach to geopolitical lawfare as an extended form of political warfare in the information sphere, has been to find a legal theory that would support ‘finding’ and ‘creating’ charges on the basis of the two accused having conspired to fail to register as foreign agents.

The opening paragraphs of the DOJ press release read: “An indictment charging Russian nationals Kostiantyn [for some reason DOJ uses the Ukrainian version of the Russian name Konstantin – SCF] Kalashnikov, 31, also known as Kostya, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, also known as Lena, with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering was unsealed today in the Southern District of New York. Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva are at large. “The Justice Department has charged two employees of RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet, in a $10 million scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.

“The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing.” “Our approach to combating foreign malign influence is actor-driven, exposing the hidden hand of adversaries pulling strings of influence from behind the curtain,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “As alleged in today’s indictment, Russian state broadcaster RT and its employees, including the charged defendants, co-opted online commentators by funneling them nearly $10 million to pump pro-Russia propaganda and disinformation across social media to U.S. audiences. The Department will not tolerate foreign efforts to illegally manipulate American public opinion by sowing discord and division.”

Based on the language of the charges, it would appear that the foreign nationals were physically in the United States for the duration, or at least the initiation, of the project. That they are ‘at large’ and have not been taken into custody would seem to imply that this arrest will happen imminently, or that the two accused are no longer in the US. It is important to keep in mind that it is not illegal for Russians to spend money in the US, and it is not illegal for Russians or any other foreign nationals to start a business, or engage in protected 1st Amendment activities such as blogging and news or opinion writing or broadcasting. Assuming that some parts of the described predicate are true, (that a Russian citizen’s money was spent in the US), provided that the individual is not an a US Treasury Department sanctions list, the relevant Executive Order, or legislation, has not obviously been violated.

There are some limitations to speech in the US for foreign nationals, and while there is some nuance here, generally 1st Amendment activities are protected unless there is either a reasonable or articulable risk (which standard may depend on the circumstances) to national security that could reasonably lead to a grand jury indictment – think insider whistle-blowing or releasing government/corporate secrets. ‘Funneling’ moneys to individual content creators – YouTuber Tim Pool is believed to be prominent among these – may or may not have influenced the content they were creating – another important part of the nuanced questions that arise. And if the opinions of said content creators (on the subjects they are known for) had not changed after the influx of private party backing, it is more difficult to make the whole claim that the DOJ is now making.

Garland, for his part, also adds a proviso – the messages are “hidden”. At face value, this would seem to give the accuseds’ lawyers an additional challenge. To the contrary, the opposite would be true: making a charge in which no method of falsifiability can be established, is a baseless charge. It is not a ‘hidden crime’, but an activity indistinguishable from lawful behavior. More to the point, the subjects being discussed, whether influenced by the alleged money or not, were matters already in the public domain, expressing views and sharing information which is already readily available everywhere, and which were commonplace beliefs among an already significant part of the American population. We are not talking state or corporate secrets, calls for violence or other seditious activity, which rise to the level of a national security risk.

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Honest questions.

Now It Is the White House that Is Smearing Tucker Carlson (Paul Craig Roberts)

Tucker interviewed Darryl Cooper whose view of World War II appears to be based in the 50-year research of historian David Irving. It is not the official view established by court historians. Consequently, the “White House condemns Tucker Carlson’s ‘Nazi propaganda’ interview as ‘disgusting and sadistic insult.’” In his well researched books, World War II historian David Irving reported that whereas he found evidence that Jews were murdered in the hundreds of thousands, he cannot find evidence of an organized Holocaust. He said that from all the documents he could find and force out of sealed archives, the crimes against the Jews resulted from decisions unrelated to an organized plan of extermination. No historian has ever found a Nazi plan for Jewish extermination. Such a massive undertaking as a Holocaust could not be undertaken without a bureaucratic organization and an organized plan, but there is no evidence of any such organization and plan.

Hitler repeatedly said that the Jewish question would be settled after the war. He spoke of relocating Jews to Madagascar. Later with the initial success of his invasion of the Soviet Union, Hitler spoke of relocating Jews to the eastern part of the Soviet Union that he would leave to Stalin. Reporting Irving’s findings does not make Irving or me or anyone an anti-semite or holocaust denier. Irving simply reported what he found, and I merely reported what Irving found. It sounds like that is what Darryl Cooper is doing on Carlson’s program. Ron Unz, himself a Jew, has raised his own questions about Holocaust evidence in the Unz Review. Western civilization works by raising questions, not by imposing dogmas. If all research results are denounced by those who don’t like the findings, how is truth established? It seems to me that Jews hurt their case by shouting down with name-calling and threats against reputations and careers every time they hear something that they don’t like or that doesn’t fit the narrative.

If the Holocaust story is accurate, it will stand on its own feet without name-calling and enemies lists. The indoctrinated notion of the unparalleled evil of Nazi Germany rests more on war propaganda than in fact. Irving’s books, Churchill’s War and Hitler’s War are the most researched and most honest books about the war. On the basis of an honest rendition of the record, Churchill comes across as a worse war criminal than Hitler. Read the two books, and make your own decision. Why rely on ancient war propaganda? The widespread view that Hitler started World War II and intended to conquer the world is total ignorance kept alive by court historians. World War II was started by the British and French when they declared war on Germany. What Hitler was doing in Poland was the same as Putin is doing in Ukraine. What Putin is doing is protecting Russian people, who found themselves included in a foreign country by the political decisions made by others than themselves, from persecution and slaughter by Ukrainians.

In Poland Hitler was protecting German people, who were stuck into Poland by decisions made by others than themselves, from persecution, dispossession, and death by the Polish. Hitler’s protection of German people was no business of the British any more than Putin’s protection of Russians is any business of the US. No one has answered David Irving’s findings. They just call him names. That tells you where the stronger case resides. I am not a WW II historian and neither is Tucker Carlson, but we both wonder why views are suppressed if they can be factually disproved. The propagandistic way in which WW II has been presented for 83 years has had major harmful effects on countries, their populations, foreign affairs and world history. Those who bring balance to the story should be celebrated, not demonized.

If you will notice, during the 21st century in every country in the Western world what can be discussed or even mentioned has been massively narrowed. We have reached the point where almost anything said or written is hate speech, racist, misogynist, a threat to democracy, offensive, insensitive, anti-semitic, or Russian propaganda. The great writings in the English language, such as Shakespeare, cannot be read in schools because they violate strictures that have been imposed on language. Bigots now dictate our use of language. Official narratives dictate our understanding of history and current events. A world is being created for us in which facts and truth are objectionable.

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“Harris has done nothing to distance herself from Biden’s policies on Israel and Palestine. Her official campaign site doesn’t spell out any stance on the conflict — or any other issue, for that matter.”

PAC Runs Ads In Muslim-Heavy Michigan Lauding Harris For Israel Support (ZH)

Hoping to further estrange Michigan’s Muslim voters from Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a Republican political action committee has launched a clever ad campaign that praises Harris for supporting the State of Israel and for putting “supporters of a free Palestine…in their place.” The ads are the work of the Future Coalition PAC. Launched in July, its treasurer is Pennsylvania Republican Ray Zaborney, according to Huffington Post’s Kevin Robillard, who was first to report the campaign. Distributed via digital platforms, the videos feature a female narrator speaking approvingly of Harris: “Vice President Harris has chosen a side — the right side. Harris has made herself clear: She stands with Israel and the Jewish people. She has, again and again. She understands the unbreakable bond between the U.S. and Israel. So when Netanyahu came to DC, Harris hosted the [Israeli] prime minister at the White House.

And when supporters of a free Palestine stood up for Gaza, Harris put them in their place. And supporters of free Palestine? They hate her…because Kamala Harris gets it. You can trust she’ll always support Israel.” While it would be difficult to dispute the general accuracy of the messaging, the ads have Michigan Democrats fuming, such as an anonymous operative who vented to Robillard: “Clearly, this ad is designed to get low-information and low-engagement Arab-American and left-leaning voters to oppose Harris…a classic ratfucking operation by a PAC that is helping a former president that uses ‘Palestinian’ as a slur.” Along with Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin, Michigan is one of seven battleground states that will likely decide the 2024 presidential election. It’s also home to one of America’s largest Muslim populations, whose presidential preference could prove decisive in the state.

In the current RealClearPolitics polling average, Harris leads in Michigan by only 1.5% — less than half the 3.3% lead Biden held at the same time in 2020. He officially won by 2.8%. In this year’s Michigan Democratic primary, more than 100,000 Dems voted “uncommitted” to protest the Biden-Harris administration’s lopsided support for the State of Israel in its war in Gaza. Since that protest vote was more than 9 times Donald Trump’s 10,704-vote margin in his 2016 Michigan win over Hillary Clinton, it alarmed Democratic strategists. The Biden-Harris campaign has since struggled to walk a political tight-rope, attempting to give Muslims an audience on the issue while still reiterating unwavering support for Israel. Muslims have generally favored the Democratic Party. However, a poll released in August by the Council on American-Islamic Relations found that Harris is the choice of only 29% of Muslims — putting her in a tie with Green Party candidate Jill Stein; 11% back Trump.

The sneaky GOP ad’s line about Harris putting vocal supporters of a free Palestine “in their place” refers to an Aug. 7 incident at a Harris rally in Detroit, in which pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted her speech with chants of “Kamala, Kamala you can’t hide! We won’t vote for genocide.” Harris reflexively resorted to her trusty two-word debate line that exhilarates low-IQ leftists with its sheen of phony feminism, stating, “You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win, then say, that, otherwise I’m speaking.” Harris proceeded to stare down the protesters as if they were wearing MAGA hats and waving Confederate flags, rather than advocating for millions of civilians being subjected to devastation, disease and malnutrition. According to Palestinian authorities, the confirmed death toll from Israel’s 11-month-long attack on Gaza exceeds 40,000.

However, researchers writing in the medical journal Lancet estimate the eventual tally of dead could surpass 186,000, after factoring in the removal of undiscovered bodies in rubble, and the long-term effects from starvation, disease and destroyed housing and sanitation facilities. While Harris’ “I’m speaking” routine left the likes of vacuous New York Times columnists positively starry-eyed, Harris’ directive that pro-Palestinian protesters should be silent so as to assure Democratic control of the White House left many Michigan Muslims incensed, including one of the protesters at the rally. “Harris belittled us and used her event as a platform to say, ‘You are stuck with me and there is nothing we will do to help Palestinians’,” Salma Hamamy told Foreign Policy.

Joe Biden has long been a zealous backer of Israel. In 1986, he infamously — and bewilderingly — declared from the Senate floor, “Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interests in the region.” In the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, the Biden White House has poured weapons into the Israeli Defense Forces arsenal, while providing diplomatic cover at the United Nations — to the detriment of America’s reputation in much of the world. Meanwhile, Harris has done nothing to distance herself from Biden’s policies on Israel and Palestine. Her official campaign site doesn’t spell out any stance on the conflict — or any other issue, for that matter.

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“Musk has co-founded six companies [..] Tesla, which has a market capitalization of $669.28 billion, is expected to hit the trillion dollar mark next year..”

Musk Set To Become World’s First Trillionaire (RT)

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027, according to an estimate by the global education company Informa Connect Academy. The projection published on Friday is based on Musk’s average annual wealth growth rate which stands at 109.88%. The owner of X (formerly Twitter) is the richest man in the world with a fortune of $237 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk has co-founded six companies, including electric car maker Tesla and spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX. Tesla, which has a market capitalization of $669.28 billion, is expected to hit the trillion dollar mark next year. Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, renaming the platform X and promising more fairness and transparency.

Other multi-billionaires who are likely to join the Trillionaires Club in the near future are India’s richest man Gautam Adani, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Indonesian magnate Prajogo Pangestu. All three are expected to become trillionaires by 2028, Informa Connect Academy said. French businessman Bernard Arnault, the chairman of the world’s largest luxury conglomerate LVMH, is likely to become a trillionaire by 2030. Musk first appeared on the Forbes Billionaire list in 2012 with a net worth of $2 billion. In 2021, he became the world’s wealthiest man, displacing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Musk lost this status in December 2022 to Arnault when Tesla stock tumbled, but topped the list once again six months later.

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“..the technology needs to be 10,000 times better. Extremely difficult, but not impossible..”

Elon Musk Reveals When He Will Be Able To Send Humans To Mars (RT)

SpaceX will launch its first crewed flights to Mars in four years if its unmanned landings go well, CEO Elon Musk has said. The first uncrewed Starships to the Red Planet are expected to be launched in two years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens, the billionaire announced on social media on Saturday.“These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars,” Musk explained in a post on X. He expressed hope that if those landings go well, his space company will launch its first crewed flights to Mars in four years. The idea of building a sustainable human settlement on Mars within two decades is not out of reach, the billionaire pledged. “Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years,” Musk said, stressing that being multi-planetary will “vastly increase the probable lifespan of consciousness.”

“We will no longer have all our eggs, literally and metabolically, on one planet,” the SpaceX founder explained. In another post, he said SpaceX had created the first fully reusable rocket stage and, much more importantly, made the launch process economically viable. Making life multi-planetary is “fundamentally a cost per ton to Mars problem,” Musk said. “It currently costs about a billion dollars per ton of useful payload to the surface of Mars. That needs to be improved to $100k/ton to build a self-sustaining city there, so the technology needs to be 10,000 times better. Extremely difficult, but not impossible,” he concluded. In June, a Starship rocket returned from space and successfully landed in the Indian Ocean, completing a full mission around the globe on its fourth test flight.

The entrepreneur is counting on Starship, the largest rocket ever made, to help him achieve his goal of building a spacecraft capable of sending humans and cargo to the moon later this decade and eventually to Mars. The Starship spacecraft is designed to carry “both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond,” SpaceX’s website notes.Mars is one of Earth’s “closest habitable neighbors,” and has “decent sunlight,” the site continues. “It is a little cold, but we can warm it up.” Gravity on Mars is about 38% that of Earth, “making it possible to lift heavy things and bound around,” SpaceX noted. “Furthermore, the day is remarkably close to that of Earth.”In February, Musk said that he wants to take one million people to Mars, claiming that he is working on a “game plan” to achieve this. “Humanity should have a moon base, cities on Mars, and be out there among the stars,” he said.

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“..the Trump-RFK Jr.-Musk team..”

Elon Musk: First Mars Mission In Two Years; Make America Healthy Again (ZH)

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said via X on Saturday evening that the Starship mega rocket will begin flying Mars missions in two years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens. The mission will be uncrewed and aim to test the rocket’s ability to land intact on Mars, as Musk’s dreams of occupying the Red Planet could become a reality within the next two decades. “The first Starships to Mars will launch in 2 years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens,” Musk wrote on X. He explained, “These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars. If those landings go well, then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in 4 years,” adding, “Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years. Being multiplanetary will vastly increase the probable lifespan of consciousness, as we will no longer have all our eggs, literally and metabolically, on one planet.”

Musk’s post quoted his post about making life multi-planetary while quoting billionaire Bill Ackman’s post about ‘Making America Healthy Again.’ Here’s the new Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ ad…

How occupying Mars overlaps with the dire need to reverse America’s imploding health trends could be explained by attorney and activist Tom Renz: “Perhaps NASA funding would be better used working on projects like this rather than wasting time on nonsense like DEI and climate change. A settlement on mars would be an incredible step forward for humanity… DEI is a step backwards towards the racism and sexism of the past.”

Kids now versus kids in the 1960s… We’re sure there has never been morbidity obese astronauts. Spacecrafts have weight limits after all.

One of the emerging themes from the Trump-RFK Jr.-Musk team could be the unification of America around proper health and the pursuit of becoming a multi-planetary species. Fix America’s health first before Starship makes life multi-planetary.

RFK MAHA

Trump RFK

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“..he thinks we’re going to change everything he did and it’s true that is our intention…”

Vive la Démocratie! (Manley)

In April last year protestors in Paris swarmed BlackRock’s office to protest Macron’s pension reforms. A spokesperson for a French union told reporters at the time that they were there to let the world’s largest asset manager know they were taking workers’ pensions. President Emmanuel Macron appointed Michel Barnier, a right-wing politician who played a major role in the 2016 Brexit Task Force, as the new prime minister of France Thursday. In July Macron accepted the resignation of Gabriel Attal following the president’s electoral defeat. Attal was the country’s youngest ever prime minister and held the position for eight months. Macron’s decision is his effort to break a political stalemate that has grasped France since snap legislative elections which were held in July. In a statement which came from Macron’s office the president said that “the new prime minister and his government will create the conditions for the greatest stability.”

Macron, 46, had failed to appoint a new prime minister for a record period of time following a narrow victory for the leftwing New Popular Front in July. Over 80 lawmakers called for Macron to step down in the following weeks after Macron decided to reject the New Popular Front’s candidacy of Lucie Castets for prime minister, despite the coalition winning the most seats in July’s elections. Castets had voiced her desire to create a political alliance that would allow roll backs on pension reforms and tax hikes for the “ultra rich”. “They are all very worried. Nobody understands what Emmanuel Macron is doing, even the Macronists. He is not giving us [political parties] the chance to work together. If you ask me of course I will say I want our program to be the priority, but if you ask what can we change, what can we compromise on, I say we can compromise,” Castets told The Guardian. In March of last year France’s Senate passed a controversial reform bill to raise the retirement age for French citizens by two years. The Senate passed the bill by 195 votes to 112.

Macron’s decision to push through a bill that is extremely unpopular among voters for the alleged sake of the economy clearly went unforgiven during July’s election. “Macron says the problem is the [New Popular Front] program. He feels threatened because he thinks we’re going to change everything he did and it’s true that is our intention. But we’re not saying we will be able to change everything because we will need to find an agreement on every issue and we are fully aware of this,” Castets added. A study conducted by the French Observatory of Economic Conditions in 2020 found that those who have an unfavorable view of Macron believe him to be the “president of the rich”. The author of the report said the losers of Macron’s economic policy are among the “poorest, the unemployed, and the retired.”

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Democracy or world order? You must choose.

CIA, MI6 Chiefs Warn Of Threats To ‘World Order’ (RT)

The global order is under threat from a number of state actors, the heads of the American and British foreign intelligence agencies – the CIA and MI6 – claimed in a joint op-ed published by the Financial Times on Saturday. In the piece, Bill Burns and Richard Moore pledged that Washington and London would work in lockstep to retain the status quo in a world where technology has considerably accelerated geo-political trends. Following the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, and the sharp downturn in ties with the West, senior Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have repeatedly proclaimed the end of US hegemony and a global shift to multipolarity. In the op-ed, Burns and Moore observed that “there is no question that the international world order – the balanced system that has led to relative peace and stability and delivered rising living standards, opportunities and prosperity – is under threat in a way we haven’t seen since the cold war.”

“Today, we co-operate in a contested international system where our two countries face an unprecedented array of threats,” the top spies wrote. The piece singles out an “assertive Russia” in the context of the Ukraine conflict, which both the CIA and MI6 “saw… coming.” The spy agencies’ chiefs noted that the hostilities have demonstrated the increased role of technology in modern warfare, in particular unmanned systems and satellite reconnaissance. In addition, Burns and Moore accused Moscow of waging a “reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe” as well as spreading “lies and disinformation designed to drive wedges between us.” However, according to the op-ed, in the eyes of the CIA and MI6 “the principal intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the 21st century” is the “rise of China.” Both agencies have already reorganized their processes to “reflect that priority.”

Speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in early June, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated: “We are talking about polycentrism, a departure from previous norms, and we see the desperate resistance of the collective West… They see the norm differently, as their own dominance, as a world order based on one rule, that they must dominate as before, and everyone must do only what the dominant power allows them to do.” The diplomat insisted that Western narratives are, however, not shared by the global majority, which has embraced the concept of multipolarity. “We should not forget that the collective West are a minority,” Zakharova stressed at the time.

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“..2,530 soldiers died between 2014 and 2019 from causes ranging from car crashes to drug overdoses to cancer, while more than one-third took their own lives..”

US Military Suicide As A Result Of The Ongoing War On Terror (Van den Ende)

Long ago, the U.S. wanted to give itself the image of a true democracy, the defender of human rights, the policeman of the world, the defender of justice and humanity. Perhaps the “founding fathers” of the American Republic had this in mind, but the ideal was never realized and has been in ruins since the so-called “War on Terror” was launched in 2001. Before this episode, there were already countless wars by the U.S., like the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The Americans tried to justify all that by claiming they had liberated Europe from Hitler’s fascism, and subsequently, they were purportedly freeing the world from “evil communism”. However, a fateful turning point emerged, heralding the demise of the American empire. The terror attack of 9/11 was allegedly by radicalized Muslims. But there are too many questions and above all lies. The U.S. has become an empire of lies about what happened, and who did it.

The biggest lies were told about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. After all the alleged attackers almost all came from Saudi Arabia. That their leader, Osama bin Laden, would have hidden in the caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan might be possible, but there was still no justification for the war and bombing of that country back to the Stone Age. As with Iraq, a country which mainly consists of 80 percent Shia, not radical Sunnis typical of Al Qaeda. The Americans then under President George Bush Sr. left these Shia in 1991 to die at the end of the First Gulf War against Iraq. His son President George W Bush Jr. started it again in 2003, reportedly as revenge for the failed assassination plan on his father, justifying it by the so-called 9/11 attack. As Nick Turse details in this article, Suicide Squad, the War on Terror is not over yet and the majority of victims these days are American soldiers and servicemen who commit suicide in large numbers.

The United States, which now spends more on its military than the other top 10 countries combined, has failed to win a single war that matters. It lost the Korean and Vietnam Wars. It lost the never-ending Global War on Terror, and it spent 20 years losing in Afghanistan and Iraq. About 7,000 American soldiers lost their lives in combat during the War on Terror since 2001, but the real epidemic of deaths can be found in the U.S. itself. Approximately 2,530 soldiers died between 2014 and 2019 from causes ranging from car crashes to drug overdoses to cancer, while more than one-third took their own lives. Just 96 soldiers died in combat during those same five years. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

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“Many countries are seeking membership in BRICS because they are tired of the “hidden” and “sometimes open aggression” of the US..”

Zakharova Likens US To Hollywood Ax-Wielding Maniac (RT)

Many countries are seeking membership in BRICS because they are tired of the “hidden” and “sometimes open aggression” of the US and are looking for new forms of cooperation, Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on Sunday. Earlier this week, Moscow said that Türkiye had officially applied to join BRICS, becoming the first NATO state to seek membership in the non-Western economic alliance. Over 30 countries have so far applied to become part of the group, which currently incorporates ten, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Commenting to TASS news agency on why various nations are willing to join BRICS, Zakharova said that “the world is tired of American attacks” and “is voting for a different form of relationship.”

Nations would like to keep building ties on the principles of international law, “but since Washington, like some kind of maniac from its own Hollywood movie, destroys everything with a lawn mower, a saw, or some kind of an ax, the world is forced to look for new forms of interaction,” she explained. And these forms are the likes of BRICS, but not NATO, according to the Russian diplomat. On Wednesday, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov confirmed earlier media reports that Türkiye has officially applied to join BRICS and added that the group’s member states will consider the bid. According to the official, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also accepted Moscow’s invitation to attend the BRICS summit next month in the Russian city of Kazan. Russia is currently chairing the organization. BRICS was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2011. The group expanded this year when Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates became full members.

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NATO as well as BRICS.

Why Turkiye’s Move to Join BRICS as Full Member is Big Deal (Sp.)

BRICS may receive a new addition in the near future as Turkiye lodged an application for a full-fledged membership with the economic bloc this week. Turkiye’s membership may be welcome news for BRICS as the Turkish economy was rated by the IMF in 2023 as the 17th largest in the world, with the country’s GPD last year being appraised at a little over $1 trillion. According to the World Bank, Turkiye displayed a steady real GDP growth rate (averaged 5.4%) from 2002 till 2022, as well as a decrease in poverty that dropped from over 20% in 2007 to 7.6% in 2021. Turkiye’s geographical location, right on the boundary between Europe and Asia, along with its control of the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits linking the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, make the country a natural logistical hub for moving goods between the Global South and Global North.

Ankara’s considerable clout in the Middle Eastern affairs, where it has long been one of the top players, and its influence on the African continent may also benefit Turkiye’s future fellow members in the BRICS. At the same time, better access to the BRICS members’ markets may help Turkiye deal with its own economic problems such as, for example, rampant inflation that remains a concern for Ankara today. Ironically, the World Bank notes that the reliance of Turkish industries on “carbon-intensive processes and fossil fuels” presents a challenge in Turkiye’s cooperation with the EU in light of the latter’s focus on “green” technologies and climate change. Meanwhile, BRICS members are not so fixated on destroying their economies for the sake of an environmental agenda and thus might make much better business partners for Turkiye.

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NATO as well as BRICS AND an islamic alliance.

Erdogan Wants Greater Islamic Alliance To Combat Israeli ‘Expansionism’ (ZH)

On Saturday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a blistering speech at an Islamic schools’ association event near Istanbul once again condemning Israel. But this time he ratcheted the rhetoric as the remarks came a day after a Turkish-American woman was shot during a protest by Israeli troops in the West Bank. Erdogan essentially called for an Islamic uprising against the Jewish state, saying that a Muslim alliance of countries and populations is needed against what he called “the growing threat of expansionism” from Israel. “The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state terrorism is the alliance of Islamic countries,” Erdogan said.

And in a very rare positive reference to Assad of Syria, he described that recent steps by Turkey to advance ties with Egypt and Syria are aimed fundamentally at “forming a line of solidarity against the growing threat of expansionism.” Interestingly, this would bring NATO’s number two largest miliary into an indirect alliance with Iran. But improvement of Turkish ties with the Syrian state also has a lot to do with squeezing out the Kurds in northern Syria. Both Ankara and Damascus have long wanted to see US troops, who are supporting local Kurdish militias, kicked out of the region. This week Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with Erdogan in Turkey, and heavily focused their discussions on the Gaza crisis. Egypt-Israel tensions have been evident over accusations from Tel Aviv that Egyptian border troops have turned a blind eye to smuggling and underground tunnels.

Erdogan’s threats against Israel have grown of late, sending Turkey’s relations with Israel spiraling, and with trade embargos on a list of export items to boot. In late July Erdogan had threatened that his country could intervene militarily in Gaza to defend Palestinians against the Israelis. “We need to be very strong so that Israel cannot do these ridiculous things to Palestine. Just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we can do something similar to them,” Erdogan had said in a speech to his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party. But now given Turkish citizen (and American dual national) Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was killed Friday in the West Bank, such rhetoric from Turkish leaders is set to ratchet further.

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“..the Iranian capital since 1786..”

Iran’s New President Wants To Move Capital Out Of Tehran (RT)

The capital of Iran should be transferred from Tehran to a city closer to the country’s south coast, President Masoud Pezeshkian has said.In a speech on Saturday, Pezeshkian, who took office in July, suggested that it is pointless to keep developing Tehran due to the numerous difficulties faced by the city. The capital is currently plagued by “water shortages, land subsidence and air pollution,” among other things, he said, as cited by the news outlet Javan Online. “Tehran as the capital of the country is facing problems to which we have no solution,” the president acknowledged, suggesting that the best way out would be to “relocate the political and economic center of the country.” Simply telling residents that they should move out of Tehran will not work, and the government “must first go ourselves so that the people would follow us,” Pezeshkian argued.

There are also economic reasons for finding a new capital closer to the Persian Gulf, through which key trading routes pass, he stressed. “Further development of the country is impossible with the continuation of the current trend, when we bring the resources from the south of the country and the sea to the center, turn them into products there and send them back to the south for export,” the president argued. Such a state of affairs “severely depreciates and reduces our competitiveness, and we have no other choice but to transfer the economic and political center of the country to the south and closer to the sea,” he insisted. Gholamhossein Karbaschi, who served as Tehran’s mayor in the 1990s, has disputed Pezeshkian’s idea, arguing that there is no suitable substitute for Tehran. “Where do you want to go?” he said in an interview with the Asr Iran outlet. The former mayor warned that some countries that previously decided to relocate their capitals have ended up losing money and getting two problematic cites instead of one.

Tehran, which has been the Iranian capital since 1786, is located in the north of the country, 100km (63 miles) from the Caspian Sea. The city is home to 9.4 million people, nearly 17 million in its greater metropolitan area, making Tehran the biggest city in Iran and Western Asia, and the second-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East, after Cairo. It is not the first time that the Iranian authorities have suggesting moving the capital out of Tehran. Similar proposals were made during the term of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad between 2005 and 2013. At the time, parliament voted to set up a special council to seek a replacement. However, a final decision on transferring the capital was never made. Pezeshkian was inaugurated as Iranian president in late July after beating his rival Saeed Jalili by 53.7% to 44.3% in the second round of the election earlier that month. The snap poll was called after the death of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.

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Western “values” change (aka erode) too much too fast.

China Bans Foreigners From Adopting Its Children (RT)

China has officially shut down its international adoption program, the Foreign Ministry has announced. The move comes at a time when hundreds of American families have pending applications to adopt Chinese children, according to the Associated Press. “Apart from the adoption…from one’s collateral relatives by blood of the same generation…China will not send children abroad for adoption. This is also in line with the spirit of relevant international covenants,” Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the ministry, said in a first official announcement of the rule change. AP reported that in a phone call with American diplomats in China, government officials said they “will not continue to process cases at any stage” other than special cases covered by an exemption clause. Over the last three decades the US has been the most common destination for overseas adoptions of Chinese children.

“We understand there are hundreds of families still pending completion of their adoption, and we sympathize with their situation,” the State Department said.Back in 2007, Beijing toughened the vetting process for foreign adopters, with an emphasis on family lifestyle and age, and only accepting applications from heterosexual married couples. Beijing temporarily suspended foreign adoptions during the coronavirus pandemic, but later resumed for them couples who had travel authorizations prior to 2020. China’s ban follows similar steps from other countries. In January, Denmark’s only overseas adoption agency ceased operations, after concerns were raised over irregularities and fabricated documents. In June, Norway tightened controls over foreign adoptions and is now conducting an investigation into whether past adoptions were legal and ethical.

Citizens of several countries are already prohibited from adopting Russian children. The 2013 ‘Dima Yakovlev Law’ banned adoptions by Americans, after a Russian orphan adopted by a Virginia couple was left in a car for nine hours and died of heat stroke. In August 2022, a proposal was put to the State Duma to expand the adoption ban to all “unfriendly countries.” Sending Russian children there would be a “blow to the future of the nation,” they argued, since the West “destroys traditional values.” President Vladimir Putin objected, however, saying that the way it was drafted, the bill would infringe on the rights of Ukrainians living on Russian territory. Russia banned same-sex couples from adopting children in 2013. The Russian Orthodox Church has since proposed banning international adoptions by couples from countries that allow “gender reassignment” procedures, an idea that was then backed by lawmakers.

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Long overview. Notable: a break up might be lucrative financially. But they would have to abandon their power dreams.

A Post-Google World (Stoller)

When Google first started, it was a high-quality search engine, and its founders believed that advertising presented an inherent conflict of interest for any such product. “Advertising funded search engines,” they wrote, “will be inherently biased towards the advertisers and away from the needs of consumers.” Nevertheless, in 2000, the venture funded company, after failing to build a technology licensing business, started an advertising arm, quickly building up a large number of advertising customers who liked the ability to put text ads next to relevant search results. In the early 2000s, Google started a third party advertising business, cutting deals with publishers that let them put Google Ads on their web pages and take a slice of the ad money. In this way, publishers began accessing the ad demand that Google had control over. But this new line of business introduced another conflict of interest, since Google was now edging closer to controlling both the buyers of ads and the sellers of them, and all the user data advertising and publishing tracked.

In 2007, Google bought YouTube, a source of ad inventory, giving it more power over the selling of ads. In 2008, Google purchased an adtech company called DoubleClick, which had been the leading provider of software to allow publishers to manage their ad inventory, as well as a large repository of data. Slowly, subtly, Google was intermediating as both the buyer and seller in the ad market, an obvious set of conflicts. Before its purchase, Google had tried to enter DoubleClick’s business, but failed, because it’s hard to move from one software platform to another. DoubleClick’s former CEO had observed, “Nothing has such high switching costs. . . .Takes an act of God to do it.” That same year, Google also bought an ad exchange (AdX), where buyers of advertising could match with sellers of ad inventory, in a quasi-financial market.

After buying DoubleClick, Google tied its control over advertising demand to publisher use of its software. As the DOJ put it in the complaint, “If publishers wanted access to exclusive Google Ads’ advertising demand, they had to use Google’s publisher ad server (DFP) and ad exchange (AdX), rather than equivalent tools offered by Google’s rivals.” The result is that it acquired a monopoly across the entire industry, in the software publishers use and the matching engine for advertisers. It also built a ubiquitous service Google Analytics that measured web traffic for publishers, so it did all the measurement as well. One consequences was that Google charged high prices, keeping between 30-50% of every advertising dollar that went through its system. That take rate was bad enough. But Google also acquired surveillance capacity over every publisher and advertiser.

It was as if every night Google could break into the offices of the Wall Street Journal and take its subscriber list, and then go to its own advertising clients and tell them that it could sell them access to Wall Street Journal readers for much cheaper rates when those readers opened Google owned and operated properties, like Gmail, YouTube, search, and so forth. In doing so, Google gained the ability to direct ad revenue away from third party publishers to itself. To buttress its ability to target, in 2016 Google violated a promise it made when it bought DoubleClick. It had told enforcers it would guard user privacy and segment data. Instead, it decided to combine all data across all its different services, from Gmail to YouTube to search, into detailed dossiers of each user. Google now had a machine, where it could spy on users across the open web, and then use that data to manipulate ad auctions, both charging high prices when display ads went on third party sites, and simply moving broad ad demand to its own properties instead of third party sites.

The same template repeated over the next ten to fifteen years. Publishers or ad entrepreneurs would try to find a way into auctions for ads to take some of Google’s margin and protect their data, and Google would respond by either buying their rival, locking out their rival with some sort of tying of its products, or both. There were a host of code words and programs to engage in these kinds of tactics, like “Project Nernanke,” “Project Narnia,” and “Jedi Blue.” And since publishers and adtech startups needed the huge amount of advertising buying power that Google controlled, and advertisers needed Google search and YouTube, it was a chicken and egg problem. You couldn’t get into either market without Google’s permission.

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Media is the biggest threat
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832127702662324409

 

 

Eva DSA

 

 

Thai cat

 

 

Thunderstruck
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832410969382768774

 

 

 

 

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