Sep 222025
 


 

Trump Praises Charlie Kirk: The ‘Martyr for American Freedom’ (Salgado)
The Band Is Back Together: Trump and Musk Reunite at Kirk Memorial (Margolis)
President Trump Asked if Truth Social Post Was Critical of Pam Bondi (CTH)
Rep. Crockett Slams ‘Caucasian’ Dems For Honoring ‘Racist’ Kirk (VF)
Great Tribulation Volcanos, Earthquakes & Tsunamis – Steve Quayle (USAW)
Kremlin Comments On State of Putin-Trump Relationship (RT)
Brussels Bureaucrats Are Running Around Like Panicked Chickens – Orban (RT)
Great Britain Recognizes Palestinian Statehood (TASS)
Antifa Is A Very Real And Organized Terror Threat (ZH)
Far-Left Protesters Will Not Be Satisfied Until France Collapses (ZH)

 

 


https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1969905443741802745

https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/1969903262955663756

 

 

President Trump’s Cabinet Remembers and Honors Charlie Kirk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And oh, that’s right: not one single instance of violence. Nothing at all.

I tried to watch it all yesterday. That was a long trek. Gospelrock -if that’s what it’s called- starts working on my patience after mere seconds. And all those speakers. Only two were interesting: Erika Kirk, because she’s who she is, and Donald Trump, because he’s so good at it, he’s a natural. Noticed also how safe Erika feels in Trump’s arms. None of the other speakers are really speakers. Much of that may be unlearning things, not learning.

Trump Praises Kirk: The ‘Martyr for American Freedom’ (Catherine Salgado)

On Sunday, President Donald Trump delivered a powerful eulogy to “our greatest evangelist,” a man to whom we owe a “profound and eternal debt of gratitude now,” Charlie Kirk. America is now “a nation in grief, a nation in shock,” Trump began, because it “was robbed of one of the giants of our nation.” Trump declared that “none of us will forget Charlie Kirk, and neither now will history.” Charlie Kirk, Trump continued, “was violently killed because he spoke for reason and for justice,” and “he argued brilliantly without apology.” The president described the work and legacy of a man he dubbed a true “martyr for American freedom.” Trump promised that “his voice on earth will echo through the generations,” and thanked Charlie’s widow Erika, promising to work for her and her children to create “a land where there father is honored and revered as a great American hero.”

He spoke directly to Charlie’s parents and described how Charlie went from being a teen with no money or connections to the leader of a history-shaping movement in a little over a decade. As Trump stated, Charlie “in his 31 years [did] than most people…can bring in a lifetime.” And as Kirk loved America, so “America loved Charlie Kirk.” Trump praised the faith of the crowd, labeling it “like an old time revival.” And while “it is agonizing and unthinkable to say goodbye to a patriot whose heart still had so much to give,” Trump said, we must carry on his work. For instance, Trump recalled that one of Charlie’s last messages was, “Please sir, save Chicago,” which Trump aims to do. “Inspired by faith and his love of freedom Charlie did something remarkable,” he “devoted his life to converting young people to the conservative cause,” and “the young man from Illinois whom no one had ever heard of started an organization” that launched him to international fame.

In the early days, Charlie wouldn’t accept a paycheck and wore Goodwill clothes, working around the clock, as “he was always in it for the mission.” Trump described Charlie as “actually a master builder, a master builder of people…it was Charlie who stood up for persecuted Jews and Christians,” who fought censorship, who “helped unite MAGA” and created the union of Robert F. Kennedy’s health movement with MAGA. When Trump makes an important health announcement, he “will be missing [Charlie] tomorrow.” Charlie also urged Trump to take notice of JD Vance. The president remembered with fondness how Charlie would call him up at night during the election campaign and ask, “Do you think you can come speak at the event [tomorrow]?” Trump said he would usually object, then often agree, because “you never wanted to let Charlie down, he worked so hard” and “he made me feel guilty…he always gave more than he took.”

Not only that, but “no one was too small for him to notice,” and Kirk even agreed to appear on a fourth grader’s podcast! Kirk worked tirelessly; “he did this until his dying breath.” Trump said that when Kirk was assassinated, he ordered some very important people out of the Oval Office to focus on Charlie. TPUSA under Trump’s leadership became “a juggernaut of American politics,” and “Charlie didn’t just bring young people into the movement,” he delivered a historic number of young votes for Trump in 2024. Even the day he was assassinated, when warned that Utah Valley University had hostile students and staff, Kirk declared, “I want to know them and love them.” This made him “a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose.” With a flash of humor, Trump admitted, “that’s where I disagree with Charlie, I hate my opponent.”

But “the more success Charlie had,” Trump said, “the more dangerous his mission became.” Leftist violence is a growing threat, which Trump plans to address. Charlie “knew the risks,” but he was determined to go on without fear, and “he was winning, and he was winning big, he was taking over college campuses….They lied about him because they did not want you to listen to him…. He won the hearts, he won the minds, and yes, he won the elections.” The 2024 GOP election victory was Charlie Kirk’s win. Trump remembered how when the results came through, Charlie “was overcome with emotion…his eyes were filled with tears,” and he put his face in his hands until his beloved Erika ran to give him a hat. Charlie “had a tremendous heart,” and when he finally looked up on Election Day he said, “I am humbled by God’s grace.”

Trump urged everyone to think how twisted must be the “soul of a man who would kill a man like Charlie,” so charitable and good. “Charlie’s murder was not just an attack on one man,” the president said, but on “our entire nation…The gun was pointed at him but the bullet was aimed at all of us.” Yet Charlie is bigger than ever and “the depraved assassin who” killed Charlie, “God willing, he will receive the full and ultimate punishment.” Trump marveled at the hypocrisy of people who claim preferred pronouns are morally necessary but “were filled with glee at the murder of a young father.” Democrat rhetoric is to blame. “If speech is violence, some are bound to conclude that violence is [the response] to speech,” he cautioned. In spite of all the violence, our liberties are “among the most treasured achievements of civilization, and we will carry forward the torch of liberty that Charlie Kirk held,” working for “a spiritual reawakening,” because “without borders, law and order, and religion you really don’t have a country anymore.” So “we want God back.”

The marvel was that “within minutes of the gunshot in Utah millions of Americans young and old dropped to their knees” to pray for Charlie, Trump said. While Charlie died, “those prayers for a miracle have already been answered…his legacy has touched so many millions around the world,” as we have seen. Therefore, Trump said, “you should never underestimate what one man can do with …a righteous spirit” and “the will to fight, fight, fight.” While Charlie Kirk “started with only an idea,” Trump added, he ended up “changing history.” So “we grieve for the friend and leader that we have lost but we go forward …[to] defend the country he fought for.” And as Trump stood with his arms around Erika Kirk, facing that stadium, one could not doubt that he will try to carry on the legacy that Charlie Kirk left to him. May the same be said of us.

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Inevitable. They really like each other.

“..in June, Kirk predicted they would find their way back. “I actually think they’re going to reconcile at some point, though, because, deep down, I would like to believe they both want the same thing..”

The Band Is Back Together: Trump and Musk Reunite at Kirk Memorial (Margolis)

Charlie Kirk knew that if conservatives were going to stop the radical left, unity was non-negotiable. He often warned that America’s survival depended on it. And on Sunday, his words rang truer than ever. At his memorial service in Arizona, Kirk’s prediction that Donald Trump and Elon Musk would reconcile came to life as the two shook hands—a moment that felt like history bending to prove him right. There was Trump, sitting behind bulletproof glass in his presidential box, when Musk approached and extended his hand. The brief exchange captured by lip readers revealed something beautifully human: “It’s good to talk,” Trump said, according the lip reader who spoke with the Daily Mail, with Musk responding “very much so.” Then came the kicker—Trump’s admission that “I’ve missed you” as he squeezed Musk’s hand before the Tesla CEO quickly departed.

Eric Trump’s Instagram post said it all: “the band is back together!” The younger Trump understood what many observers missed — this wasn’t just political theater. This was two men who’d let their egos get in the way of a shared mission to save America, finally remembering what really mattered.Trump and Musk’s feud blew up in June over Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” and for a while, it looked irreparable. “Elon’s upset because we took the EV mandate,” Trump said at the time, calling the original subsidy a billion-dollar handout to Tesla and other EV makers. Trump insisted Musk knew every detail of the bill all along and only started complaining once the gravy train was derailed. “He knew everything about it… better than almost anybody,” Trump said. “He never had a problem until right after he left.”

Things got even uglier on Truth Social, where Trump accused Musk of going “CRAZY!” over the subsidy cuts and admitted he had grown tired of the Tesla CEO’s behavior. Then came the real bombshell: Trump threatened to terminate Musk’s federal contracts. “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” he wrote, taking an unmistakable jab at Biden for not doing it sooner. At the time, hopes of reconciliation seemed dead. Trump told reporters he had no desire to patch things up, leaving conservatives worried that a powerful and promising alliance had collapsed. “If [Musk] and the President are in some blood feud… most importantly, it’s going to be bad for the country,” Vice President JD Vance warned. “But I don’t think it’s going to be good for either of them.”

Charlie Kirk, though, saw what most missed. Even as the titans traded barbs in June, Kirk predicted they would find their way back. “I actually think they’re going to reconcile at some point, though, because, deep down, I would like to believe they both want the same thing,” he said. Kirk understood something crucial—shared purpose always outweighs wounded pride. So, I think Kirk would have loved seeing Trump and Musk bury the hatchet at his memorial service. He believed in the power of unity among conservatives, understanding that petty squabbles only strengthen the left. And maybe, just maybe, this is a sign that their alliance—the one so many of us have been waiting for—is finally on the path to restoration.

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“As long as Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is safe and in solid position, Pam Bondi is safe and in solid position.”

President Trump Asked if Truth Social Post Was Critical of Pam Bondi (CTH)

My analytical and historic opinion of Pam Bondi is well known. CTH previously faced anger and scorn from those who disagreed. However, from CTH long-term perspective, Bondi was/is a political animal lacking intellectual acumen and carrying outlooks subject to popular political perspectives. She was over her head from day one, but Susie Wiles liked her former colleague a lot. As U.S. Attorney General Bondi does not have the ability to independently strategize against the Lawfare system that has corrupted Main Justice and U.S. politics. That said, from the position of protecting President Trump from attacks Bondi is effective, and thus criticism of her inabilities should be tempered. Last night, President Trump posted on Truth Social that the clock was ticking and no accountability has yet been delivered against those who weaponized government power structures against himself and the American people. Shortly thereafter, President Trump was asked about his criticisms of Bondi. WATCH:

President Trump’s social media post: “Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, “same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.” Then we almost put in a Democrat supported U.S. Attorney, in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past. A Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job. That’s why two of the worst Dem Senators PUSHED him so hard. He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case. No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so. Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT“

One hour later, President Trump posted this:

As noted in the original post, “nothing is being done” because, well, nothing is being done. Apparently, President Trump is receiving information from those in/around his orbit who are increasingly hearing the frustrated voices of his supporters. However, simultaneously the value of AG Pam Bondi lies in her primary skillset of keeping President Trump protected from political and lawfare attacks. As previously noted by The Associated Press: […] Bondi worked as a lobbyist for Ballard Partners, the powerful Florida-based firm where Trump’s campaign chief and incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles was a partner. Her U.S. clients have included General Motors, the commissioner of Major League Baseball and a Christian anti-human-trafficking advocacy group.

As long as Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is safe and in solid position, Pam Bondi is safe and in solid position. Susie Wiles is the filter that controls information that reaches President Trump. Susie Wiles controls the people, subjects, inputs and information who reach the Oval Office. If President Trump is unaware of an issue, it’s entirely because Susie Wiles keeps that issue away from President Trump. If President Trump is advocating a specific position with strong determination, it’s because that position is very important to Susie Wiles. That’s the reality of the dynamic. According to Susie Wiles she was “asked by a mutual friend” to travel to New York and meet with candidate Trump in “late December 2015.” That timeline would be post-Fox Debate (Megyn Kelly attempted hit – Aug ’15) when President Trump was leading every republican primary poll and became the enemy of the professional Republican establishment.

That mutual friend was likely well-known lobbyist and friend of President Trump, Brian Ballard. Susie Wiles was a “partner” at Ballard Partners. Both Susie Wiles and Pam Bondi connect to President Trump personally and professionally through Brian Ballard. 2018 – “Ballard, like most of Florida’s Republican establishment, backed Jeb Bush in the primary, but when Trump called he offered to do what he could for his client. In September, as it became clear that Trump’s lead in the polls wasn’t going away, Ballard dispatched Wiles to New York to meet with Trump. Wiles was named the Trump campaign’s Florida co-chairwoman a few weeks later.” Susie Wiles was also the advocate behind Mike Waltz being selected as the first National Security Advisor. We said at the time of the announcement that NSA Waltz would fail and likely be the first to exit; he did and was.

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“..the Congresswoman calling President Donald Trump an “enemy to the United States” and comparing him to Hitler..”

Rep. Crockett Slams ‘Caucasian’ Dems For Honoring ‘Racist’ Kirk (VF)

Rep. Jasmine Crockett is now claiming that Charlie Kirk’s “rhetoric” was racist…and not only did she vote against the House resolution to honor him, she’s furious that MORE Democrats didn’t do the same. She’s now openly attacking the “Caucasians” in her own party who supported the resolution. What a sick and vile human being. “One of the things I do want to point out that’s not been laid out, that honestly hurts my heart, is when I saw the no votes, there were only two caucasians.” “For the most part, the only people that voted no were people of color.” “Because the rhetoric that Charlie Kirk continuously put out, there was rhetoric that specifically targeted people of color.” “And so it is unfortunate that even our colleagues could not see how harmful his rhetoric was specifically to us.”

“And I can tell you that a month prior to him passing away, he had actually gotten out on his podcast, I wasn’t aware of this at the time, but he got out there and he was talking negatively about me directly.” “So if there was any way that I was going to honor somebody who decided that they were just going to negatively talk about me and proclaim that I was somehow involved in the great white replacement, yeah, I’m not honoring that kind of stuff.”“So to me, just like we wanted to make sure that those confederate relics were taken down, the idea of a new age relic being propped up was something that I just could not subscribe to, and it is unfortunate that more of my colleagues, even on my side of the aisle, could not see the the amount of harm that this man was attempting to inflict upon our communities.” Disgraceful.

https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1969765432753107045

Scott Jennings just came out swinging in response to Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s vile comments about Charlie Kirk. He said what no one else on CNN seems willing to admit…after the network gave her a platform to smear a man who hasn’t even been buried yet. “To say that he was continuously targeting people of color is nothing but a malicious smear, on the very day that people are remembering Charlie, and he’s going to be laid to rest.” “And so I think when you combine the no votes on the resolution and then you look at the leading Democratic voices like Ilhan Omar and Jasmine Crockett, who’ve gone out to smear Charlie before he’s even had his funeral.” “When I hear people say, we need to come together and both sides need to turn down the rhetoric, you know, a lot of the people saying that need to look inward right now.”

https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1969814757503852911

But, Crockett was far from done. After CNN anchor Dana Bash on Sunday played clips of the Congresswoman calling President Donald Trump an “enemy to the United States” and comparing him to Hitler, the Texas Democrat doubled down. Bash asked Crockett on “State of the Union” if she had “a responsibility” to cool down her rhetoric, but she said she did not and that the president was using Hitler’s “playbook.” “I think that my responsibility is to be transparent and to be honest. And the reality is that we are living in a time in which this administration and this regime is not interested in making sure that people understand history,” Crockett said. “We need to understand why they are so problematic.” “So I am using that language because it is accurate language,” she continued, saying Trump’s policies are “a playbook out of Hitler and I won’t deny it! Like, these are the facts.” Speech may be free, but it has its costs!!

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“It’s not they are going to drag us in, they have drug us in.”

Great Tribulation Volcanos, Earthquakes & Tsunamis – Steve Quayle (USAW)

Renowned radio host, filmmaker, book author and archeological dig expert Steve Quayle is back warning about intensifying earthquakes, volcanos and tsunamis all over the world that governments and media are covering up. Add this to the political violence, possible financial breakdown, multiple wars intensifying at the same time, battles over catastrophic climate destroying geoengineering in Congress and you are witnessing a time like the world has never seen before. This is starting to look like what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 24:21 when he said, “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again.” Let’s start with the increasing numbers of volcanos becoming active such as the world-famous Mt. Kilauea in Hawaii shooting molten lava 500 feet into the air happening now.

Quayle says, “The Kilauea volcano on the big island of Hawaii has record lava plumes going off. Fountains is a more correct term. In the last week to 10 days, and this affects what is going on in Hawaii, we have watched the Kamchatka Peninsula with an 8.8 earthquake. Then we watched a 7.7, but what is not being talked about is the ring of fire with the volcanic activity with a ring around the Pacific Ocean. . .. I want people to understand the volcanos, earthquakes and tsunamis effect everything and everyone.” Quayle has been predicting a huge quake coming in the Pacific Northwest for a few years now, and he also points out the Hilina Slope in Hawaii could set off “a 500-foot-tall tsunami that could destroy the west coast of America.” Quayle says, “These are the mega events that are happening all over the world. There are earthquakes taking place on Mount Rainier.

I am watching the quakes taking place on Mount Hood and Mount Saint Helens. . .. People have to recognize, and this is an easy call, that our lives are going to change dramatically. . .. This will affect the whole country in terms of food and transportation, and it will also affect power throughout the electrical grid.” Quayle says his sources are telling him that we are close to a mega financial event. This is similar to what financial expert Ed Dowd said on USAW recently. What’s going to happen in the markets? Quayle says, “50% down and a cascading amount of failure in everything from banking to housing, emergency proclamations and even to the point of martial law. That is going to take place because the Blue states are getting ready to go to war with the Red states.”

Some people are hoping the US will stay out of the NATO war shaping up with Russia over Ukraine. Quayle says the US will get pulled in and says, “It’s not they are going to drag us in, they have drug us in. You can’t say you want peace with Russia and then send weapons to Ukraine. . .. You don’t steal $300 billion from Russia; that is what the West has done . . . and used it to buy weapons to make war on them.” Gold hit a record high on Friday, and silver is at levels not seen in years. Quayle says, “There is 750 ounces of fake paper gold for every ounce of real physical gold. . .. Whales, mega liquid investors, when they decide to go into the gold and silver markets, they can buy all deliverable gold in under three hours. . .. When you want your gold in hand, there will be no delivery. This is not a scare tactic. It’s the reality of what is going on behind the scenes.”

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“..adding that Trump’s “emotional” attitude toward the peace process is “completely understandable.”

Kremlin Comments On State of Putin-Trump Relationship (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin “values the constructive relations” he has with his US counterpart Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, adding that both leaders want the Ukraine conflict to move toward a peaceful resolution. In an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin aired on Sunday, Peskov said Putin appreciates that the two leaders can “openly discuss the most urgent and sensitive issues.” He added: “Putin, like President Trump, remains interested and open to bringing the entire Ukrainian crisis into the path of a peaceful settlement,” noting that Moscow will “keep working to feel out an opportunity” for continued diplomacy. “We count on the US and President Trump personally to make efforts to help in this matter. We’ll see what comes of it,” Peskov said.

The spokesman also weighed in on Trump’s recent visit to the UK, which has been one of Ukraine’s most stalwart supporters. “The United Kingdom is one of the leaders of this pro-war camp,” he said, adding that Trump “was probably told a lot about their plans to keep putting pressure on Russia,” including by using sanctions. Since taking office, Trump has made repeated attempts to mediate the Ukraine conflict, initiating numerous rounds of talks with Russian officials, which culminated in a summit with Putin in Alaska in mid-August. While no breakthrough was achieved, both sides described the talks as productive.

Since then, Trump has signaled a shift from pressing for an immediate ceasefire to seeking a permanent settlement. He said Ukraine cannot hope to join NATO or reclaim Crimea, which voted to join Russia in 2014 after a Western-backed coup in Kiev. On Friday, Trump suggested that Putin had “let me down” over the lack of progress in settling the conflict. Responding to those remarks, Peskov said Moscow assumes that the US leader maintains the “political will and intention” to pursue a settlement, adding that Trump’s “emotional” attitude toward the peace process is “completely understandable.”

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“Europe, as we knew and loved it, is over,” Orban warned. “If we deny this, we lose time. If we say it out loud, we gain time.”

Brussels Bureaucrats Are Running Around Like Panicked Chickens – Orban (RT)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has slammed Brussels, accusing the EU leadership of mismanaging key areas such as the economy, immigration, and security.In a critical speech at Digital Civic Circles, a network of digital groups promoting conservative values in Hungary, he claimed the bloc was on the brink of collapse due to the failures of its current leaders. The prime minister painted a stark picture of “mountains of debt, crowds of migrants, street violence, the increasingly dark shadow of war, mass layoffs, skyrocketing utility costs, impoverished households, and Brussels bureaucrats running around like panicked chickens,” on Saturday while describing the EU’s troubles.

According to Orban, the EU has fallen short of establishing itself as a credible global power. Instead of rising to meet these challenges, the bloc has become a symbol of weakness, indecision, and internal chaos, he said. He criticized what he called the “tragic” trade deal with the US signed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, adding that the EU’s green policies are “killing European industry.” Energy prices, Orban noted, are “three to four times higher” than in the US, while countries like France are edging toward unsustainable debt levels. “Europe, as we knew and loved it, is over,” Orban warned. “If we deny this, we lose time. If we say it out loud, we gain time.”

The politician contrasted Budapest’s own approach with that of Brussels, pointing to stricter migration controls, a family policy tied to employment, and a tax system that, he said, supports jobseekers. Orban’s criticism, while sharply worded, taps into broader concerns which have been echoed by economists and analysts. Experts from the International Monetary Fund and other institutions have warned that the EU risks long-term stagnation. The IMF projects euro-area growth at just 0.8% in 2025 and 1.2% in 2026, while public debt remains near 90% of GDP and deficits continue to exceed 3%, well above pre-pandemic levels.

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UK, Australia, Canada, and now Portugal.

Great Britain Recognizes Palestinian Statehood (TASS)

London has recognized the state of Palestine, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced. “Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognizes the State of Palestine,” he said in a video address broadcast on the X social network. The British premier announced the decision in a video message on Sunday afternoon at the same time that Canada and Australia also recognized Palestinian statehood. He said: “Let’s be frank. Hamas is a brutal terror organization. Our call for a genuine two-state solution is the exact opposite of their hateful vision. We are clear this solution is not a reward for Hamas, because it means Hamas can have no future, no role in government, no role in security.”

On September 19, in an open letter, the US Republican Party threatened allied countries with response measures should they recognize Palestine as an independent state. The letter was addressed to Australia, the UK, Canada and France, among others. Tensions erupted again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian movement Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border settlements and seizing hostages. In response, Israel initiated a military operation in the enclave to dismantle Hamas’ military and political structure and rescue all those kidnapped.

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“The end game, though, is always the same. Burn the west to the ground. Burn free markets to the ground.”

Antifa Is A Very Real And Organized Terror Threat (ZH)

In the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination as well as the confirmation that alleged killer Tyler Robinson is a far-left ideologue and gay man living with a transgender partner, the public’s attention has once again turned to the issue of Antifa, an activist network that shares many similar political beliefs with the shooter. Federal authorities are currently investigating the Discord sever groups used by Robinson in the lead up to the attack to find any potential co-conspirators. Discord has been identified as a common forum used by Antifa for organizing members for specific events while pretending as if their protests are random and “grassroots”. In the meantime, the corporate media is once again running interference for Antifa, claiming that the group is nothing more than a gaggle of disconnected people without no affiliation other than they “agree to oppose fascists”.

Of course, simply declaring yourself the “good guys” does not necessarily make it so. The Antifa of pre-war and post-war Europe used a similar tactic, claiming that they were a loose collection of concerned citizens seeking to fight fascism and participate in civil discourse. In reality, they were being directly funded by the Soviet Union and their ultimate goal was the downfall of the western world to make way for a communist “Utopia”. One expert on Antifa, Andy Ngo, says that the claim that Antifa is nothing more than a disorganized protest ideal is a lie. He notes that the decentralized cell structure of Antifa is similar to structures used by Islamic terror groups. Ngo is deeply acquainted with the operations of Antifa; he has tracked hundreds of violent incidents involving member of the group over the years. He was also attacked and nearly killed by a mob of Antifa activists in Portland, Oregon after they recognized him in the street.

Portland authorities failed to arrest and prosecute the attackers despite some of them being identified on video footage. In a subsequent civil trial, Antifa intimidated the jury into returning a verdict which favored the assailants. Andy Ngo and many other investigators into Antifa activities note that the group enjoys a number of protections, including legal protections and funding for operations. Financial aid comes from crowdfunding pages, but also from NGOs and even government agencies feeding cash into adjacent activism groups. This helps to explain why Antifa protesters often have the same signs, the same tents, the same riot shields, access to safe houses, etc. Many activists travel from outside of the locations that they protest in, which means funding for gas, food, lodging, etc.

Considering the average full-time protester isn’t able to maintain a job to pay for these excursions, the money has to come from somewhere. NGOs and state government funds are the primary sources. Antifa and related leftist groups exploit various civil and political conflicts, hijack these causes and then use them as a means to further their own goals. Recent examples include the mass deportation debate and the protests over Gaza. It’s important to understand that leftist militants do not necessarily care about immigrants or Palestinians, they only see their “plight” as a useful tool for radicalizing activists into using violent tactics.

The problems of the world become the justifications for Antifa terror, melding gay, trans, migrant and Islamic grievances under a single communist umbrella. The end game, though, is always the same. Burn the west to the ground. Burn free markets to the ground. Destroy as many conservatives and nationalists as possible in the process until there is no one left to oppose them.

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Antifa in Europe too.

Far-Left Protesters Will Not Be Satisfied Until France Collapses (ZH)

Paris is crippled this week by constant protests designed to throttle traffic and shit down basic services, and the majority of the mob is comprised of far left activists including Antifa. The Paris actions are coupled with nationwide demonstrations that saw sporadic clashes with police who fired volleys of tear gas. Activists argue that eight years of leadership by France’s “business-friendly president” Emmanuel Macron have benefited too few people and hurt too many. The protests ignited in response to austerity measures issued by the struggling government, including cuts to socialist programs and an increase in the national retirement age.

Macron’s opponents complain that taxpayer-funded public services – free schools and public hospitals, subsidized health care, unemployment benefits and other safety nets that are cherished in France – are being eroded. France has crawled from one crisis to another since he dissolved parliament in 2024, triggering a legislative election that stacked Parliament’s lower house with critics of the president. Left-wing parties and their supporters want higher taxes for the wealthy and businesses to pay more to help rein in France’s debts, rather than see public spending cuts that they contend will hit low-paid and middle-class workers. France’s national debt was reported at $3.6 trillion US by the end of 2024, growing by nearly $1 trillion since 2023. This is over 100% of the country’s annual GDP.

Placards at the Paris demonstration read: “Tax the rich.” However, similar taxation efforts have been tried across the EU and in the UK, causing companies and business owners to simply close up shop and leave. In 2024, the UK lost 25% of its billionaires and 16,500 millionaires due to increasing taxation. This has led to a black hole effect in the economy, with an acceleration in job losses and slowing investment. The current tax rate for top earners in France is 45% of income over €180,471 ($211,000). High-income earners also face additional surtaxes and social charges that significantly increase the total tax rate. As is common in any country or US state that targets high earners with socialist tax measures, the people with the money walk away and go where they are better appreciated.

Leftists protesters indicate that they are not interested in fair taxation, but rather, wealth redistribution. Activists argue that French President Emmanuel Macron is “far right wing” and compared him to Donald Trump while espousing a laundry list of communist demands. Macron is a previous member of the socialist party now described as a “centrist liberal”. He has angered leftists with his shift to center and his increasing support for border controls. In other words, being “centrist” is “far right wing” in the minds of Antifa activists. The riots seem to be motivated more by typical Antifa goals, including the “Free Palestine” movement and the destruction of “nationalism”.

France’s conservative and anti-mass immigration movements have been growing exponentially along with similar movements across Europe. Leftists may be trying to flex their numbers as a way to frighten political leaders from seeking to appease these movements with tighter borders and fiscal responsibility. Ultimately, Antifa activists want a the collapse of the current government and a reformation. What the reformation would look like is hard to say, given that many of the protesters don’t seem to know. Of course, if the Bolshevik campaigns of the early 20th Century are any indication, then the end game will not be pleasant for the vast majority of people.

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Nobivac
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Sep 072019
 
 September 7, 2019  Posted by at 9:47 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,  13 Responses »


Pablo Picasso Portrait of Dora Maar 1942

 

The Financialization of the US Economy (WS)
Fed Chair Powell Repeats Vow To Act ‘As Appropriate’ (R.)
Tariffs Are No Longer China’s Biggest Problem In The Trade War (CNBC)
Boris Johnson Urged To Become A ‘Brexit Martyr’ (DM)
A Trump Brexit Threatens (Wight)
A Crackup Is Inevitable (Kunstler)
CIA, Mossad, “the Epstein Network” and an Orwellian Nightmare (Whitney Webb)
How MIT Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein (Farrow)
Boeing’s Chief Technical Pilot On The 737 MAX Project Pleads The Fifth (ST)
For The First Time In My Life, I’m Frightened To Be Jewish (David Graeber)
Edward Snowden’s Guardian Angels (F24)

 

 

But services don’t make stuff.

The Financialization of the US Economy (WS)

Service-producing industries dominate the US economy, accounting for over 70% of GDP. And this sector is hopping. Revenues in the major services categories rose 5.3% in the second quarter of 2019, compared to the same quarter a year earlier, to $4.05 trillion, not seasonally adjusted, according to the Commerce Department’s Quarterly Selected Services Estimates released today. For the first two quarters of 2019, service revenues rose 5.5% to $8.0 trillion. The pace of growth so far this year is slightly lower than the hot 6.0% growth for the year 2018.


Four biggies dominate the service sector, and the US economy overall. They accounted for $2.92 trillion in revenues in Q1, or about 72% of total service revenues, with the biggest of them all, finance and insurance, accounting for 32%, up from 31% at the end of last year. It is also the fastest-growing segment, even faster than healthcare, as the US economy is getting more and more financialized. The share of each of the big four of overall service revenues: • Finance and insurance: 32% • Healthcare: 17% • Professional, scientific, and technical services: 12% • “Information” services, such as telecommunications, software, and data processing: 11%.

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Only one act is appropriate: go home. Did you know Jay Powell is worth some $100 million? Do you think he’s concerned about Americans living paycheck to paycheck?

Fed Chair Powell Repeats Vow To Act ‘As Appropriate’ (R.)

The U.S. Federal Reserve will continue to act “as appropriate” to sustain the economic expansion in the world’s biggest economy, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Friday in Zurich, sticking to a phrase that financial markets have read as signaling further interest-rate reductions ahead. “Our obligation is to use our tools to support the economy, and that’s what we’ll continue to do,” Powell said at the University of Zurich. Still, he said, “We are clearly at a time where there is a range of views” among Fed policymakers meeting Sept. 17-18 to decide on rates.


Powell’s careful wording reflects a split within the U.S. central bank about how best to respond to an economy where the job market and consumer spending are strong but rising trade tensions between Beijing and Washington, Britain’s possibly messy exit from the European Union, and a broad global slowdown pose risks. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren for instance has made the case for leaving rates where they are until those risks are more tangible in the economic data. Others including St. Louis Fed President James Bullard have called for a half-a-percentage point interest-rate cut to get ahead of the trade war risks and bring the Fed’s policy rate more in line with market expectations. Meanwhile, financial markets are betting Fed policymakers will agree to split the difference and follow their quarter-point rate cut in July with another one later this month.

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Decoupling.

Tariffs Are No Longer China’s Biggest Problem In The Trade War (CNBC)

It’s not the new round of tariffs that went into effect; we’ve been playing the tit-for-tat tariff war for more than a year. It’s not the economic reports; they’ve been a little too mixed lately to force any dramatic moves. It’s not even the decision by Hong Kong administrator Carrie Lam to fully withdraw the controversial mainland extradition bill; it’s still not clear that the Hong Kong unrest would be affected in any way by a trade deal. Given the timing of the change in tone, it seems more likely that what’s making the difference is a realization on both sides that there’s another way this trade war could end – and that possible ending is one the U.S. is very unlikely to lose.


That alternate ending is summed up in one word: decoupling. The decoupling push is quite different than any U.S. efforts to get China to open up more of its economy to American companies. Instead, it focuses on reducing America’s extremely heavy reliance on China for so much of its manufacturing needs. Even if China’s economy weren’t so closed off to so many American goods and services, a strong argument has long been made that the U.S. needs to diversify its sources for imports. While finding those new sources wouldn’t necessarily do anything to dent America’s trade imbalances, it would reduce the risks of a major disruption to the U.S. economy based on disputes or other problems connected to a single foreign country.

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As I wrote yesterday, he has little to lose by resigning.

Boris Johnson Urged To Become A ‘Brexit Martyr’ (DM)

Boris Johnson wrote to all Tory members last night to indicate that he would rather defy the law than beg Brussels for a delay in bringing Britain out of the EU. The Prime Minister said he was only bound ‘in theory’ by a law which is expected to receive Royal Assent on Monday, taking a No Deal Brexit off the table. In his letter, he reiterated his determination to stand firm against Remainers, saying: ‘They just passed a law that would force me to beg Brussels for an extension to the Brexit deadline. This is something I will never do.’ Earlier on Friday he told reporters he would not entertain seeking another deadline extension from Brussels, as the incoming law compels him to do if no agreement is in place by October 19.

He was urged last night by Tory grandee Iain Duncan Smith to hold his nerve, saying he would be ‘martyred’ if he chose to break the law and risk a possible prison sentence for contempt of Parliament. Mr Duncan Smith told The Telegraph: ‘This is about Parliament versus the people. Boris Johnson is on the side of the people, who voted to leave the EU. ‘The people are sovereign because they elect Parliament. But Parliament wants to stop the will of the people.’ If Mr Johnson fails to carry out the will of Parliament, he risks being taken to court and, if a judge ordered him to obey Parliament, he could be held in contempt and even jailed for refusing.


Mr Johnson’s latest plans for a snap election appeared to have been scuppered yet again last night by a ’stitch-up’ between Jeremy Corbyn and Remain parties. Labour, the Lib Dems and Scots and Welsh nationalists agreed to block the public going to the polls before October 31. It leaves the Prime Minister in limbo, forced to choose between resigning or defying a law passed by MPs ruling out a No Deal Brexit.

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“This desire for godlike powers of total creation is precisely why free market ideologues are so drawn to crises and disasters.”

A Trump Brexit Threatens (Wight)

Trump’s otherworldly vice president, Mike Pence, has just said more in one short sentence to unravel the complexities of the Brexit crisis that continues to bedevil the UK, than the ocean of column inches that have been devoted to the subject since the referendum was held in 2016. Speaking at a black tie event in London on Thursday night, attended by an array of business executives, Pence proclaimed, “The minute the UK is out, America is in.” Pence, a man who stands as living proof that human evolution is not wedded to an ever upwards path, delivered these words with the bombast of a Roman proconsul addressing the notables of a soon-to-be client state.

Thus let there be no doubt that the hard no-deal Brexit advocated by the UK’s newly installed Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his supporters is to all intents a Trump Brexit – one that will see the UK economy opened up to the tender mercies of U.S. corporations on terms set not by London but Washington. In other words, we’re talking disaster capitalism on steroids, bringing with it the likely prospect of the decimation of what’s left of the UK’s welfare state, including that most revered totem to social solidarity, the National Health Service (NHS), which since the end of WWII, when it was established, has provided generations of British citizens with free healthcare at the point of need, funded out of general taxation, regardless of social class or personal wealth.


The NHS is therefore a socialist institution in all but name, which Johnson and his privileged right wing establishment acolytes in the hard Brexit camp would sooner see broken up and sold off to U.S. insurance companies in sacrifice to their god, the market. This is regardless of any and all assurances given to the contrary. In her classic work, Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein writes: “Believers in the shock doctrine [of disaster capitalism] are convinced that only a great rupture – a flood, a war, a terrorist attack – can generate the kind of vast, clean canvases they crave,” while earlier in the same passage, warning that “This desire for godlike powers of total creation is precisely why free market ideologues are so drawn to crises and disasters.”

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National sovereignty.

A Crackup Is Inevitable (Kunstler)

What’s at stake behind all the pushing-and-shoving is the question of national sovereignty. Does it matter anymore? I suspect it will matter increasingly for everyone in many nations, and at a smaller and smaller scale of political divisions so that, for instance, Great Britain itself will be faced with surrendering its dominion over Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is churning in the zeitgeist now, actually has been for some time since the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia cracked up. Even the United States finds itself increasingly disunited and it’s not inconceivable that before the century ends some regions may go their own way. Texans have been talking it up for years, and California is already acting like she’s started divorce proceedings.

China, meanwhile, is whipping its quasi-vassal Hong Kong like a dog because Xi Jinping is not in a position to bust Donald Trump upside the head and Xi’s got to take it out on somebody. Everything was looking so rosy for China as it burst out of its medieval cocoon into industrial adulthood, and now Mr. Trump is ruining the global arrangements that turned the sclerotic old outfit into a global super-dragon. They’ve had a blast driving down the capitalist road — even if they’re actually ruled by communists — but a storm of bad debt is coming up on them from behind, and if it catches up, the joyride is over and some kind of dreadful crackup happens.


All the abiding normality of the past seventy years is slipping away into flux. Modernity is finally yielding – to what? Nobody knows. And nowhere is this more obvious than in the realm of money and economy. Beyond all the other quarrels of modern times — democracy versus communism, Islam versus the West, the wealthy north versus the poor south — one thing remained pretty steady: the flow of oil into the engines of economy. Turned out, the world didn’t have to run out of oil for that normality to fray badly; the oil just had to become marginally unaffordable, and voila! It’s hard for people to grok, especially here in the USA with oil production so far above the old 1970 prior peak that the proposition seems absurd.

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Whitney’s latest. Obvious must read.

CIA, Mossad, “the Epstein Network” and an Orwellian Nightmare (Whitney Webb)

Prior to the public scrutiny of Barak’s relationship to Jeffrey Epstein, following the latter’s arrest this past July and subsequent death, Barak had come under fire for his ties to disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein. Indeed, it was Ehud Barak who put Weinstein in contact with the Israeli private intelligence outfit Black Cube, which employs former Mossad agents and Israeli military intelligence operatives, as Weinstein sought to intimidate the women who had accused him of sexual assault and sexual harassment. Former Mossad director Meir Dagan led Black Cube’s board until his death in 2016 and Carbyne co-founder Lital Leshem is Black Cube’s former director of marketing.

After Barak put him in contact with Black Cube’s leadership, Weinstein, according to The New Yorker, used the private spy firm to “‘target,’ or collect information on, dozens of individuals, and compile psychological profiles that sometimes focused on their personal or sexual histories.” In addition, The New Yorker noted that “Weinstein monitored the progress of the investigations personally” and “also enlisted former employees from his film enterprises to join in the effort, collecting names and placing calls that, according to some sources who received them, felt intimidating.”


Yet, more recently, it has been Barak’s close relationship to Epstein that has raised eyebrows and opened him up to political attacks from his rivals. Epstein and Barak were first introduced by former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres in 2002, a time when Epstein’s pedophile blackmail and sex trafficking operation was in full swing.

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Pecunia non olet.

How MIT Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein (Farrow)

The M.I.T. Media Lab, which has been embroiled in a scandal over accepting donations from the financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, had a deeper fund-raising relationship with Epstein than it has previously acknowledged, and it attempted to conceal the extent of its contacts with him. Dozens of pages of e-mails and other documents obtained by The New Yorker reveal that, although Epstein was listed as “disqualified” in M.I.T.’s official donor database, the Media Lab continued to accept gifts from him, consulted him about the use of the funds, and, by marking his contributions as anonymous, avoided disclosing their full extent, both publicly and within the university.


Perhaps most notably, Epstein appeared to serve as an intermediary between the lab and other wealthy donors, soliciting millions of dollars in donations from individuals and organizations, including the technologist and philanthropist Bill Gates and the investor Leon Black. According to the records obtained by The New Yorker and accounts from current and former faculty and staff of the media lab, Epstein was credited with securing at least $7.5 million in donations for the lab, including two million dollars from Gates and $5.5 million from Black, gifts the e-mails describe as “directed” by Epstein or made at his behest. The effort to conceal the lab’s contact with Epstein was so widely known that some staff in the office of the lab’s director, Joi Ito, referred to Epstein as Voldemort or “he who must not be named.”

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By refusing to send documents.

Boeing’s Chief Technical Pilot On The 737 MAX Project Pleads The Fifth (ST)

A former Boeing official who played a key role in the development of the 737 MAX has refused to provide documents sought by federal prosecutors investigating two fatal crashes of the jetliner, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mark Forkner, Boeing’s chief technical pilot on the MAX project, invoked the privilege in response to a grand jury subpoena issued by U.S. Justice Department prosecutors looking into the design and certification of the plane, the person said.

Invoking the Fifth to avoid testifying, while a legal right, is sometimes interpreted as an admission of guilt. Its use to resist a subpoena for documents is less common and may only imply a dance between prosecutors and defense attorneys, legal experts say. Forkner, now a first officer for Southwest Airlines, referred questions to his attorney when reached by phone. His attorney, David Gerger, of Houston, did not respond to inquiries.


Forkner, who worked at Boeing from 2011 to 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile, was frequently anxious about the deadlines and pressures faced in the MAX program, going to some of his peers in the piloting world for help, a person who worked on the project previously told The Seattle Times, speaking on condition of anonymity. The MCAS system, designed to move a powerful control surface at the tail to push the airplane’s nose down in certain rare situations, played a critical role in the crashes when the planes nose-dived out of the sky. During the certification process, Forkner suggested to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that MCAS not be included in the pilot manual, according to previous Seattle Times reporting.

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The anti-Corbyn campaign fallout.

For The First Time In My Life, I’m Frightened To Be Jewish (David Graeber)

I am 58 years old, and for the first time in my life, I am frightened to be Jewish. We live in a time when racism is being normalized, when Nazis parade in the streets in Europe and America; Jew baiters like Hungary’s Orban are treated as respectable players on the international scene, “white nationalist” propagandist Steve Bannon can openly coordinate scare-mongering tactics with Boris Johnson in London at the same time as in Pittsburg, murderers deluded by white nationalist propaganda are literally mowing Jews down with automatic weapons. How is it, then, that our political class has come to a consensus that the greatest threat to Britain’s Jewish community is a lifelong anti-racist accused of not being assiduous enough in disciplining party members who make offensive comments on the internet?


For almost all my Jewish friends, this is what is currently creating the greatest and most immediate sense of trepidation, even more than the actual Nazis: the apparently endless campaign by politicians like Margaret Hodge, Wes Streeting, and Tom Watson to weaponize antisemitism accusations against the current leadership of the Labour party. It is a campaign – which however it started, has been sustained primarily by people who are not themselves Jewish – so cynical and irresponsible that I genuinely believe it to be a form of antisemitism in itself. And it is a clear and present danger to Jewish people. To any of these politicians who may be reading this, I am begging you: if you really do care about Jews, please, stop this.

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Justin better act.

Edward Snowden’s Guardian Angels (F24)

After he revealed the National Security Agency’s illegal mass surveillance programmes in 2013, Edward Snowden received help from some unlikely accomplices. Four refugees and their lawyer allowed the whistleblower to escape and stay under the radar, at a time when he was the world’s most wanted man. For 13 days, they sheltered him in their tiny apartments located in the poorest area of Hong Kong, home to the marginalised community of asylum seekers. The mastermind behind the idea of hiding the American fugitive in plain sight was Robert Tibbo, a Canadian human rights lawyer, well known for defending asylum seekers in the region.

Snowden told FRANCE 24 he believes he owes his life to these unexpected allies, who could have turned him in at any time: “They could have written an email to the CIA and they could have gotten a big cheque or they could have finally gotten asylum in exchange. But they would have had to do it by selling someone into a grave. And for that, I’ll never be able to repay them.”


But since their identity was revealed, especially with the release of the Oliver Stone film “Snowden” in 2016, these refugees are being persecuted by Hong Kong authorities. Arrested on several occasions, they have been questioned about their ties with Snowden. The little welfare they received from the government has been cut. Today, they all live in constant fear in Hong Kong. If deported to their home country of Sri Lanka, they could face imprisonment, torture and even death. All of them have applied for asylum in Canada.

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