Jan 122025
 


René Magritte The victory 1939

 

Trump Starts Governing Early From His Palm Beach Shadow White House (Whedon)
Trump To Sign Around 100 Executive Orders Upon Taking Office (ZH)
Trump Admin Prepares Response to Starmer’s Election Interference (Ferguson)
Something Is Rotten In The State Of Starmer (Milbank)
Trump’s ‘Crazy’ Ideas Not So Crazy After All (Kadish)
Meloni: Soros Is Interfering In Democracies, Not Musk (RMX)
Musk Bought Twitter To “Destroy The Woke Mind Virus” (RT)
Trump To Place Investments In A Trust During Presidency (JTN)
Special Counsel Jack Smith Resigns (RT)
Merchan’s Frankenstein Monster (Turley)
House Judiciary Expected To Continue Hunter Biden Probe Despite Pardon (JTN)
CIA Can Read WhatsApp Messages – Zuckerberg (RT)
We Were Censored By Meta; We’re Taking Them to the Supreme Court (CHD)
US Playing ‘Fool’s Game’ By Ignoring Russia’s Red Lines – Peter Kuznick (RT)
AfD Delegates Reject Motion Condemning Putin (RT)
Why Was Pacific Palisades Reservoir EMPTY? It Gets Worse. (Victoria Taft)

 

 

 

 

No punishment

Maher

Watters

 

 

 

 

The ground running.

Trump Starts Governing Early From His Palm Beach Shadow White House (Whedon)

President-elect Donald Trump’s past few months have been unusually busy for an incoming president and have seen him notch key agenda wins before even returning to office. With President Joe Biden essentially absent from the public eye, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate has taken on the role of a shadow White House, from which he has begun to operate a sort of pre-presidential administration. Foreign dignitaries, domestic politicians, and billionaire investors alike have flocked to the Palm Beach resort to meet with the incoming president, some of whom have brought with them economic and/or ideological offerings. His reach has extended well beyond the confines of his compound, reverberating across allied nations while he and his surrogates work to seemingly push out opposition figures leading key American partners. Here’s a look at his biggest moves while waiting to reclaim the Oval Office:

Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speedily traveled to Mar-a-Lago after Trump floated the possibility of imposing tariffs on the country. The meeting was widely panned in Canadian media and even led to comedic skits depicting Trudeau eating a Big Mac without the use of his hands at Trump’s behest. The president-elect’s subsequent retorts referring to Trudeau as the “governor” of Canada further belittled his status in the eyes of the Canuck electorate. Already struggling in the polls, Trump’s proposition of making Canada the 51st state seems to have helped fuel Trudeau’s already significant decline in public opinion and he subsequently announced his plans to resign once the Liberal Party selected his replacement.

Trump notched a major win on digital censorship when Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the platform would end its partnerships with fact-checking organizations and instead switch to a user-driven correction system similar to X’s community notes. The move followed a late November meeting at Mar-a-Lago between Zuckerberg and Trump. Facebook was one of the major platforms that banned Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, incident at the U.S. Capitol, though it later restored his accounts. In December, Facebook parent company Meta donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. Google and Boeing this week each donated $1 million to the same fund, helping the pot reach a record $170 million. Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos, moreover, congratulated Trump on his comeback and later met with him at Mar-a-Lago as well. The owner of the Washington Post prevented the left-wing outlet from issuing an endorsement in the 2024 election. He has further worked to tone down the outlet’s anti-Trump bias in the wake of the election.

Trump’s victory evidently signaled to some Democrats that the public favors some of key policies, namely on reducing the size of government and cracking down on illegal immigration. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., made headlines this week with plans to visit Mar-a-Lago at Trump’s request. Fetterman has developed a reputation as a moderate willing to work with Republicans and co-sponsored the “Laken Riley Act” in the Senate, which would require the detention of illegal immigrants accused of a wide array of crimes. That bill passed the House this week and cleared a procedural hurdle in the upper chamber. It is expected to pass the Senate and reach the president’s desk in time for Trump’s inauguration. “I think it’s pretty reasonable that if the president would like to have a conversation — or invite someone to have a conversation — to have it. And no one is my gatekeeper.”

He also appears to have found an ally in Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., who in December joined the DOGE Caucus, a group of lawmakers dedicated to working with Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “The Caucus should look at the bureaucracy that the DHS has become and include recommendations to make Secret Service and FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] independent federal agencies with a direct report to the White House,” Moskowitz said of the bloc. Trump notched two multi-billion dollar investment deals with foreign companies during his transition, including from SoftBank and DAMAC Properties, which pledged $100 billion and $20 billion investments in the U.S., respectively. DAMAC Chairman Hussain Sajwani and SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son both visited Mar-a-Lago and announced their investments in joint press conferences with Trump.

The incoming president used the DAMAC conference to highlight his pledge to help clear administrative red tape for foreign investors as an incentive to do business in the U.S. “And I made it a point of telling people, if you invest a billion dollars or more, and we’ll do this for people with far less too, but we guarantee it, we’re going to move them quickly through the environmental process,” he said this week. Trump has also used the transition period to unveil an ambitious foreign policy agenda that includes the acquisition of foreign territory, including at the expense of treaty allies. He has vowed to use economic coercion to reclaim the Panama Canal and acquire Canada and Greenland. He further said he wouldn’t rule out military force to take Greenland or the Canal Zone. Denmark currently maintains official control over Greenland and is a member of NATO, as is Canada.

When pressed on whether he would rule out a military seizure, he told reporters that “I’m not going to commit to that now, it might, it might be that you’ll have to do something. Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country.” Trump has insisted that Panama, which purchased the canal zone for $1 dollar under President Jimmy Carter, has repeatedly violated the terms of the agreement by overcharging American ships for passage and allowing the Chinese government to exert control over the critical waterway. The president-elect has insisted that the United States needs the Panama Canal and Greenland “for economic security.” “The Panama Canal was built for our military,” he added during a press conference in Palm Beach, Fla. Donald Trump Jr. visited Greenland this week along with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in a highly publicized trip that saw them tour the area and meet with locals.

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There will be surprises.

Trump To Sign Around 100 Executive Orders Upon Taking Office (ZH)

President-elect Donald Trump will sign around 100 executive orders as soon as he takes office, according to Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK). Mullin did not go into details, however Trump has previously said he would sign a variety of border and immigration-related EOs following his second inauguration, including a national emergency over illegal immigration – and rolling back ‘climate agenda’ regulations surrounding drilling for oil and natural gas. “I will sign Day One orders to end all Biden restrictions on energy production, terminate his insane electric vehicle mandate, cancel his natural gas export ban, reopen ANWR in Alaska—the biggest site, potentially anywhere in the world—and declare a national energy emergency,” Trump said in December.

According to Trump transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, “The American people can bank on President Trump using his executive power on day one to deliver on the promises he made to them on the campaign trail.” Bloomberg reports that Trump will put a hiring freeze on the government, and mandate that federal employees return to the office for in-person work, a position pushed by billionaire Elon Musk as part of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In recent weeks, the Trump team has been working behind-the-scenes to make sure its initial months are as productive as possible.

“While chief of staff Susie Wiles has said she views the first 100 days as an artificial metric, she and the entire Trump team see the first two years — before midterm elections could imperil Republican majorities in the House and Senate — as the best opportunity for the term-limited incoming president to achieve his sweeping goals”. -Bloomberg. That said, as Mullin noted further in an appearance on Fox & Friends, EOs can easily be undone by future administrations. “As he said, it’s not permanent,” said Mullin. “I would like reconciliation so we can start making this stuff into legislation, so we can move forward.” “The president was very clear, he wants results,” Mullin continued. “He said he can wait if we can do one big, beautiful bill. He’d like to have one big, beautiful, beautiful bill. But if the House were to get bogged down, maybe we have to divide it up in two.”

As the Epoch Times notes, the senator was making reference to comments made by Trump this week after he met with Republicans in Washington. “I think there’s a lot of talk about two [bills], and there’s a lot of talk about one (bill), but it doesn’t matter,” Trump told reporters. “The end result is the same,” he said, adding that his meeting with GOP lawmakers showed the party is ”unified.” Mullin added that Republicans need to “deliver for the American people on securing the border, on energy independence, on getting the regulations rolled back and making sure that we have taxes that are permanent, so we don’t have a $4 trillion tax increase on the American people right now.”

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X thread.

Trump Admin Prepares Response to Starmer’s Election Interference (Ferguson)

In an unprecedented twist in global politics, the Trump administration is rumored to be preparing a dramatic response to revelations of foreign interference in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. With undeniable proof surfacing that UK Labour leader Keir Starmer allegedly orchestrated a covert operation involving 100 staffers to support Donald Trump’s rival, Kamala Harris, the political landscape has been shaken to its core. As Donald Trump triumphantly prepares to return to the White House, insiders close to the administration suggest that his approach to this betrayal could mark a turning point in U.S.-UK relations. The weight of the evidence reportedly leaves no room for doubt: this was not just meddling—it was a calculated assault on American democracy. And now, Trump may be ready to wield the full force of the presidency to hold the Starmer government accountable.

Extreme Measures on the Table Behind closed doors, discussions are said to be taking place within the Trump inner circle. Options under consideration range from economic sanctions targeting Starmer’s allies to severe diplomatic actions that could isolate the UK on the world stage. One unnamed senior advisor was quoted as saying, “This isn’t just politics—it’s treason against the American people. The response will be swift and decisive.” Whispers of even more drastic measures have surfaced, with some speculating that the administration may seek an international tribunal to prosecute Starmer for violating U.S. election integrity. Others suggest that covert operations to destabilize the Labour-led UK government could be on the table, a stark reminder that the Trump presidency is unafraid to take bold action when American sovereignty is at stake.

The End of the ‘Special Relationship’?This scandal threatens to unravel the longstanding “special relationship” between the United States and the United Kingdom. Trump, a known advocate of strong nationalist policies, could view this betrayal as the ultimate affront to American independence and might use it to justify a dramatic recalibration of the alliance. Sources close to the administration say Trump has already warned of “serious consequences” during private conversations, leaving the Starmer government scrambling to contain the fallout. Starmer’s alleged interference, if confirmed, could not only undermine his credibility at home but also plunge the UK into political chaos. Already, opposition voices in Parliament are calling for investigations into Starmer’s actions, fearing repercussions that could devastate Britain’s economy and its standing on the world stage.

A Warning to All Foreign Leaders By making an example of Starmer, Trump could send a stark message to any foreign leader contemplating interference in U.S. elections: no one is beyond the reach of American justice. The world is watching as the Trump administration crafts its response, knowing that the actions taken in the coming weeks could set a precedent for how the U.S. deals with foreign adversaries.

A New Era of Retribution This unfolding drama signals a new era in international politics, where foreign meddling in American elections is met with fierce and uncompromising retaliation. As Trump prepares to step back into the Oval Office, one thing is clear: the rules of the game have changed, and the cost of betrayal has never been higher. The stage is set for an international showdown, and the Starmer government may soon find itself in the crosshairs of an administration determined to defend American democracy at all costs. As the world holds its breath, one question looms: how far is Donald Trump willing to go to settle the score?

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I think he himself is rotten. This kind of “it’s everyone’s fault” and “it ain’t so bad” is precisely what’s wrong.

Something Is Rotten In The State Of Starmer (Milbank)

Elon Musk, and a host of other critics, have been going after Keir Starmer for his and Jess Phillips’ decision to refuse a national inquiry into the grooming gangs in Oldham. Keir Starmer is furiously angry about the grooming scandal. Unfortunately, what he is mostly angry about seems to be those attacking his record, rather than the rape gangs. Before we get to what was wrong with his response, and there was a great deal, we should first understand where he and his supporters are coming from. Musk is ill-informed, unconcerned with the truth and making reckless assertions, and he is doing so from a massive social media platform, on the eve of his becoming an official in the US government. Musk and his allies have attacked Starmer and Jess Phillips, both of whom believe they have taken a substantive role in fighting against sexual abuse.

From inside No 10, the situation feels desperately unfair, and manipulated by an irresponsible right wing press and social media. Labour refused a national inquiry into abuse in Oldham, instead encouraging the council to hold its own, as many others had already done so with some success. In this judgement, they were backed by none other than Professor Alexis Jay, who led the previous national inquiry in 2015, and who argues that another inquiry will just delay justice and vitally needed reforms. The government says they are intent on implementing her recommendations, and point out that much of the inaction happened on the watch of the Conservative Party. Labour allies understandably wonder where this anger on the issue has been for the last ten years, when the Conservatives were at the helm, and in a position to do something about it.

From Labour’s perspective, the issue they are handling responsibly is being turned into a cynical political football by a Right that cares little about white working class girls, and quite a lot about using migration to rack up votes. Reform, led by Nigel Farage, has been unrelenting online and in the press condemning Keir Starmer personally. Robert Jenrick attacked the culture of British Pakistanis in a statement that so offended the political Left that the leader of the Lib Dems called on him to resign. Aside from divisive language, an amendment mandating a national inquiry was added by the Tories to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill, which Labour says could kill the legislation and endanger children.

You can see why Labour feels it needs to be combative and set the record straight. Unfortunately, this approach is a catastrophic error of political judgment, and reveals severe moral failings in Starmer’s approach to leadership. Put aside the wild exaggerations bandied about online, and forget about the sickening tussle in Westminster to lay the blame at a rival party’s door. What actually matters here? The truth, public safety, and justice for victims. In this situation Starmer isn’t the former head of the CPS, he isn’t even the leader of the Labour Party — he is the leader of this country, and the representative of the British crown. The grooming gang scandal touches every political party and level of government. Police, courts, social workers, local councils, and the national government all failed victims, and many colluded in their victimisation.

The seriousness of Musk’s claims, which millions of people saw, needed to be addressed, but ultimately Musk is a private individual living in America, making these allegations on social media. A simple statement setting the record straight from a spokesperson was all that it merited, and the Prime Minister personally responding was wildly disproportionate. For all that Musk is an adolescent throwing fuel on the fire of British politics, he is also a father and a human being encountering, probably for the first time, reports of the British police allowing thousands of children to be raped and, in at least one case, killed, out of a fear of appearing racist. His untruths and half truths are unforgivably irresponsible from the owner of a social media company, but his anger was entirely legitimate.

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Canada, Panama, Greenland, it all makes a lot of sense from an American point of View.

Trump’s ‘Crazy’ Ideas Not So Crazy After All (Kadish)

Why is it that people are always calling for someone to think “outside the box,” then when someone does, say, “Aaaak! He thought outside the box!” In that view, President-elect Donald J. Trump has already committed (at least) three heresies: Buy Greenland, stop China from controlling the Panama Canal and deepen America’s affiliation with Canada. All three ideas are neither crazy nor even new. President Harry S. Truman looked at acquiring Greenland in 1946. Thomas Jefferson, after the Louisiana Purchase, proposed buying Cuba – just think how the Cubans would be prospering now, politically and economically, if that deal had gone through. Those acquisitions didn’t take place but in 1917, the US did acquire Denmark’s Virgin Islands for $25 million.

As historian Stephen Press writes, “As secretary of state, John Quincy Adams arranged debt relief for Spain in exchange for Florida. Secretary of State William Seward acquired Alaska. “What Mr. Trump proposes is consistent with this American tradition—and with our current borders. Sovereignty purchases are responsible for more than 40% of U.S. land… “History suggests the benefits of being open-minded about this. Inhabitants of Alaska wouldn’t be better off under Russian sovereignty. Bringing Greenlanders into closer affiliation with the U.S., and sweetening the deal with economic subsidies, could conceivably prove beneficial to all parties” As for the Panama Canal, President Jimmy Carter handed it to Panama for $1, but on the condition that it permanently remain a neutral zone – not one controlled at both ends by China.

“We gave the Panama Canal to Panama,” Trump has pointed out. “We didn’t give it to China. They’ve abused that gift.” The US built the Panama Canal in the first place to be able to avoid having commercial and military sea traffic avoid the long journey around South America’s southernmost sea route, the Strait of Magellan – where the Chinese Communist Party also located a base. If there were to be a conflict with Communist China, it would be easy enough for them to block the Canal to U.S. use. As China expert Gordon G. Chang has pointed out: “China’s port facilities are at both ends of the canal. And when Gen. Laura Richardson took a helicopter ride over the Canal Zone, this was the middle of 2022; she said she ‘looked down and saw all of these dual-use facilities.’ … at a time of war, they could make the canal totally useless…. They say that we have a two-ocean Navy. Well, we would have two separate navies. It’d be very difficult to get ships from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or vice versa.”

Closer ties with Canada, as Trump appears to see them, would make a united-in-some-way North America a formidable landmass to any would-be adversary. “You get rid of that artificially drawn line,” Trump stated, “and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security. Don’t forget, we protect Canada.” Trump seems to have been merely responding to the opening provided him by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, days before the latter announced that he would be resigning. According to Trump:

“I said what would happen if we didn’t do it. He said Canada would dissolve. Canada wouldn’t be able to function, if we didn’t take their 20% of our car market… So, I said to him, well, why are we doing it? He said, I don’t really know. He was unable to answer the question, but I can answer it. We’re doing it because of habit, and we’re doing it because we like our neighbors, and we’ve been good neighbors. But we can’t do it forever and it’s a tremendous amount of money. And why should we have a $200 billion deficit and add on to that many, many other things that we give them in terms of subsidy?” Trump has also announced a “Made in America,” tax break incentive for investment in the US, and a “Golden Age of America.” It seems to have begun already — and he is not even president yet.

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“I never talked about this with Musk. It’s not my habit to use my public role to do favors to friends,” Meloni said.

“Is the problem that Elon Musk is influential and rich or that he is not left-wing?”

Meloni: Soros Is Interfering In Democracies, Not Musk (RMX)

At a press conference in Rome earlier this year, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that Elon Musk’s political posts on X do not pose a threat to democracy; while oligarch George Soros, however, continuously interferes in the politics of other nations, according to Italy’s leader. “The problem is when wealthy people use their resources to finance parties, associations and political exponents all over the world to influence the political choices of nation states”, Meloni told reporters at an annual press conference. “That’s not what Musk is doing,” she added. “Elon Musk financed an election campaign in his country, by his candidate, in a system in which, by the way, I would point out that this is quite common,” Meloni said. “But I am not aware of Elon Musk financing parties, associations or political exponents around the world. This, for example, is what George Soros does.”

“And yes, I consider that to be dangerous interference in the affairs of nation states and in their sovereignty,” she noted. Meloni also pointed to other wealthy people actively funding parties and NGOs around the world to influence local policies. “This is not the first time that famous and wealthy people have expressed their opinions. I have seen many such cases, often against me, and no one was offended then…” Musk, she said, is a very rich man who expresses his opinion and does not pose a threat to democracy. “Is the problem that Elon Musk is influential and rich or that he is not left-wing?” asked Meloni. She also noted that she and many others on the right are not financially dependent on Musk, unlike many on the left who are funded by Soros, or have been funded by him over the years. Meloni denied ever taking any money from Musk, “unlike those who have taken it from Soros”.

She also denied various media reports that her government is on the verge of signing a massive deal with Musk’s company SpaceX. However, even if that were true, signing a business deal is far different than receiving financial aid for political activities, which is behavior that Soros often partakes in with his beneficiaries. In response to a journalist’s question, Meloni also spoke about Elon Musk’s open support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD). Meloni stressed that if anyone tried to influence the Italian elections, it was Germany, under the then Social Democratic-Liberal-Green government. “I would like to remind you of the German side’s interference in the Italian election campaign,” Meloni said, referring to previous German concerns about the right-wing position she represented.

Soros has long been a controversial figure due to his outsized role in the politics of nations around the world, however, few on the left-liberal spectrum ever criticized this interference. Soros has also long called for the removal of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, with both figures antagonistic towards each other over the years.

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“In 2021, I set out to destroy the woke mind virus and now it has been deleted..”

Musk Bought Twitter To “Destroy The Woke Mind Virus” (RT)

X owner Elon Musk has said that he purchased the platform, then known as Twitter, in order to “destroy the woke mind virus.” Musk has blamed much of modern society’s ills on radical liberalism. “In 2021, I set out to destroy the woke mind virus and now it has been deleted,” Musk wrote on X on Saturday, after sharing a post he made in 2021 reading “traceroute woke_mind_virus.” A traceroute is a diagnostic command used to troubleshoot Internet Protocol networks. Asked by a follower if this was “the main reason you bought twitter?” Musk replied “Yes.”Musk has frequently lashed out against the “woke mind virus,” a catch-all term used by some conservatives to condemn radical liberal philosophies and policies including transgenderism, censorship, and the promotion of diversity in the workplace at the expense of merit.

In an interview with Canadian psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson last July, Musk said that the “woke mind virus” killed his son, referring to his transgender child Xavier. Musk claimed that he was “tricked” by doctors into signing documents authorizing his son to undergo hormone treatment, which permanently sterilized him. “I lost my son, essentially. They call it deadnaming for a reason,” the billionaire said. “The reason it’s called deadnaming is because your son is dead. My son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke mind virus. I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus after that.” Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, rebranding the platform as X, firing most of its content moderation staff, and rolling back the majority of its censorship policies.

X was the first major social media platform to reinstate US President-elect Donald Trump’s account, which was suspended after his supporters rioted on Capitol Hill in January 2021. The platform’s overhaul initially made it an outlier, with most of its competitors maintaining their restrictive speech policies. However, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that his platforms – which include Facebook and Instagram – will dial back their moderation policies to “restore free expression” and will no longer work with third-party “fact checkers” to label political content. Alongside these planned changes, Meta ended its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring programs this week, and according to the New York Times, removed tampons from men’s bathrooms in its offices, where they had been provided “for nonbinary and transgender employees.”

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Someone will find fault.

Trump To Place Investments In A Trust During Presidency (JTN)

The Trump Organization on Friday announced that President-elect Donald Trump will place his investments into a trust controlled by his children and will have limited access to the company during his presidency. The organization released a five-page ethics plan on Friday that included several of the adjustments the company will make while Trump works from the Oval Office. The organization has also hired a new ethics advisor to ensure the company meets and exceeds its ethical and legal obligations. The release comes 10 days before Trump is set to take office on January 20. The company said that Trump would not be consulted on most matters related to the business and would only receive “general business updates,” according to NBC News. The investments will also be managed independently by “outside financial institutions” that will not seek his input on specific holdings or transactions.

It also said the company “will not enter into any new material transactions or contracts with a foreign government, except for Ordinary Course Transactions,” but does not mention whether it would do business with any foreign private entities. The disclosure comes after the Trump Organization backed away from foreign business dealings following Trump’s first election in 2016. The company also said that it would donate all profits from foreign governments at its hotels and similar businesses to the U.S. Treasury Department, as it did in 2016, and offer discounted rates to members of the U.S. Secret Service and other government agencies that lodge at Trump hotels. The Trump Organization is largely operated by the Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., who are executive vice presidents.

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Time to go after him.

Special Counsel Jack Smith Resigns (RT)

US Special Counsel Jack Smith, who led two federal cases against President-elect Donald Trump, has resigned after handing in his final report on his findings, according to court documents lodged on Saturday. The prosecution filed a motion to urge District Judge Aileen Cannon not to extend her injunction temporarily blocking the release of a portion of the special counsel’s report pertaining to the classified documents case against Trump. News of Smith’s resignation from the US Justice Department came in a brief footnote in the court filing. “The Special Counsel completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and separated from the Department on January 10,” the footnote said.

Judge Cannon presides over the mishandling of classified documents case against Trump. Her block on releasing Smith’s report on the case lasts until Monday. Attorney General Merrick Garland intends to publicly release the other part of Smith’s report – detailing his findings in the case of Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 US election, according to court documents released on Wednesday. Smith led two of the four criminal cases brought against Trump after his first presidency. Cannon dismissed the first case in July last year, while DC District Judge Tanya Chutkan dropped the second in November, citing legal immunity afforded a sitting US president.

Neither of the cases went to trial. Smith’s resignation comes just ten days before Trump takes office on January 20. The incoming president had said he would fire Smith “within two seconds” of assuming office. The president-elect has repeatedly stated that the charges against him are groundless and “lawless.” On Friday, Trump was sentenced in the ‘hush money’ case brought against him in New York. While the ruling means he will not face fines or jail time, Trump will be considered a felon under US law.

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The legal system is barely functioning anymore. The skin of Frankenstein’s teeth.

Merchan’s Frankenstein Monster (Turley)

This week, the sentencing of President-Elect Donald Trump saw one of the most impassioned defense arguments given at such a hearing in years . . . from the judge himself. Acting Justice Juan Merchan admitted that the case was “unique and remarkable” but insisted that “once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself was no more special, unique, and extraordinary than the other 32 cases in this courthouse.” If so, that is a chilling indictment of the entire New York court system. Merchan allowed a dead misdemeanor to be resuscitated by allowing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to effectively prosecute declined federal offenses. He allowed a jury to convict Trump without any agreement, let alone unanimity, on what actually occurred in the case. Merchan ruled that the jury did not have to agree on why Trump committed an alleged offense in describing settlement costs as legal costs.

Neither the defendant nor the public will ever know what the jury ultimately found in its verdict. I once described this case as a legal Frankenstein: “It is the ultimate gravedigger charge, where Bragg unearthed a case from 2016 and, through a series of novel steps, is seeking to bring it back to life…Bragg is combining parts from both state and federal codes.” Even liberal legal experts have denounced the case and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) recently called it total “b—s–t.” Now, Merchan seemed to assure this Frankenstein case that he was just like any other creature of the court. It did not matter that he was stitched together from dead cases and zapped into life through lawfare. Merchan knows that there is a fair chance this monstrosity will finally die on appeal, and he was making the case for his own conduct. The verdict, however, is likely to last far longer than the Trump verdict.

It is a judgment against not just Merchan but the New York legal system, which allowed itself to be weaponized against political opponents. In the Mary Shelley novel, Frankenstein says “I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel.” Trump can now appeal the case as a whole. Prior appeals in the New York court system were unsuccessful, and hopes are low that the system will redeem itself. However, Trump can eventually escape the vortex of the New York court system in search of jurists willing to see beyond the rage and bring reason to this case.

Notably, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass cited Chief Justice John Roberts in his argument before Merchan, noting that Roberts recently chastised those who attack the courts. (Roberts just the night before joined liberal justices and Justice Amy Coney Barrett in refusing to stay the sentencing). Steinglass portrayed Trump as an existential threat to the rule of law. Roberts, however, is everything that Merchan is not. You can disagree with him, but he has repeatedly ruled against his own preferred outcomes in cases, including rulings against President Trump and his campaign and Administration. For his part, Trump declined to criticize the court and declared that “This is a long way from finished and I respect the court’s opinion.” Indeed it is. Merchan’s monster will now go on the road and work its way back to the Supreme Court. Outside of New York this freak attraction will likely be viewed as less thrilling than chilling.

The election had the feel of the townspeople coming to the castle in the movie. In this case, however, the townspeople were right about what they saw in the making of a creature that threatened their very existence. Lawfare is that monster. It threatens us all, even those who hate Trump and his supporters. Once released, it spreads panic among the public which can no longer rely on the guarantees of blind and fair justice. That includes businesses who view this case and the equally absurd civil case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James as creating a dangerous and even lawless environment. Many are saying “but for the grace of God go I” in a system that allows for selective prosecution. In the sentencing proceeding, Merchan was downplaying his hand in creating this Frankenstein. However, the case is the fallen angel of the legal system. While heralded in court by Bragg’s office as the triumph of legal process, it is in fact the rawest and most grotesque form of lawfare. Many will be blamed as the creators of this monster but few will escape that blame, including Merchan himself.

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Hunter will have to talk. And under oath he can’t lie.

House Judiciary Expected To Continue Hunter Biden Probe Despite Pardon (JTN)

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan on Thursday indicated that he would keep the investigation into first son Hunter Biden going in the 119th Congress, even though President Joe Biden already pardoned him for all crimes committed in the past decade. The wide-ranging pardon was announced last month, and blamed Republicans for the reason he broke a promise he had made to voters. The pardon even forgives any theoretical crimes Hunter Biden may have committed when serving on the board of Burisma. President-elect Donald Trump has also threatened to go after his political adversaries after they allegedly targeted him in a series of court cases during the Biden administration.

Jordan said that one way the investigation can continue is by interviewing special counsel David Weiss, who ultimately recommended Hunter Biden be prosecuted on federal gun and tax evasion charges. Weiss was interviewed last year as part of the committee’s impeachment investigation into the president, per Politico. “We think we need to look at David Weiss, the special counsel,” Jordan said. “There will be some additional work we need to do, I think, there because when we deposed him, he wasn’t willing to — he didn’t answer any questions, really, because it was [an] ongoing investigation.”

The Judiciary committee also questioned Hunter Biden and Joe Biden’s brother, James Biden, in closed-door interviews last year regarding the impeachment inquiry. Jordan also declined to investigate the president’s pardon of his son, claiming that even though he did not support the decision, the president has proper authority to pardon whoever they like.

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“What they do is have access to your phone. So it doesn’t matter if anything’s encrypted, they could just see it in plain sight..”

CIA Can Read WhatsApp Messages – Zuckerberg (RT)

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged that US authorities, including the CIA, can access WhatsApp messages by remotely logging into users’ devices, effectively bypassing the platform’s end-to-end encryption. Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Friday, Zuckerberg explained that while WhatsApp’s encryption prevents Meta from viewing message content, it does not protect against physical access to a user’s phone. His comments came in the context of a question by Rogan about Tucker Carlson’s quest to set up an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In February last year, while speaking about finally succeeding in talking to Putin after three years of failed attempts, Carlson blamed the US authorities, namely the NSA and the CIA, for stalling his efforts.

According to Carlson, the agencies spied on him by tapping his messages and emails, and leaked his intentions to the media, which “spooked” Moscow from talking to him. Rogan asked Zuckerberg to explain how this could have happened given encryption safeguards that are supposed to protect messages. “The thing that encryption does that’s really good is it makes it so that the company that’s running the service doesn’t see it. So if you’re using WhatsApp, there’s no point at which the Meta servers see the contents of that message,” Zuckerberg said, noting that even if someone were to hack into Meta’s databases, they could not access users’ private texts. The Signal messaging app, which Carlson used, uses the same encryption, according to Zuckerberg, so the same rules apply. However, he noted that encryption does not stop law enforcement from viewing messages stored on devices.

“What they do is have access to your phone. So it doesn’t matter if anything’s encrypted, they could just see it in plain sight,” he clarified. Zuckerberg mentioned tools such as Pegasus, a spyware developed by the Israeli company NSO Group, which can be covertly installed on mobile phones to access data. According to Zuckerberg, the fact that users’ private messages can be jeopardized by directly breaking into their devices is the reason Meta came up with disappearing messages, where one can have one’s message thread erased after a certain period of time. “If someone has compromised your phone and they can see everything that’s going on there, then obviously they can see stuff as it comes in… So having it be encrypted and disappearing, I think is a pretty good kind of standard of security and privacy,” he stated.

Zuckerberg’s remarks come amid ongoing debates about digital privacy and government surveillance. While end-to-end encryption is lauded for protecting user data, agencies like the CIA and FBI have argued it can impede efforts to combat crime and terrorism. A 2021 FBI training document indicated that US law enforcement can gain limited access to encrypted messages from services like iMessage, Line, and WhatsApp, but not from platforms such as Signal, Telegram, Threema, Viber, WeChat, or Wickr. Additionally, while encrypted messages cannot be intercepted during transmission, reports indicate that backups stored in cloud services may be accessible to law enforcement if an encryption key is attached.

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Children’s Health Defense. RFK Jr’s organization.

We Were Censored By Meta; We’re Taking Them to the Supreme Court (CHD)

The headline from Politico’s “Playbook” would have been unthinkable eight years ago: “Meta sends Trump a friend request.” After all, Meta’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, is a political lightning rod in conservative political circles, especially after the $300 million worth of “Zuckerbucks” spent during the 2020 election to elect like-minded politicians. Yet lately, Zuckerberg has been singing a much different tune. He referred to President-elect Trump as “badass,” visited him at Mar-a-Lago, and donated one million dollars to his inaugural fund. This week, Meta made news by adding Dana White, a longtime Trump ally and head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), to its board of directors. Then came the real bombshell: Meta ended its so-called “independent fact-checking program,” ostensibly lifting restrictions on speech across Facebook, as well as their other platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp.

In doing so, Zuckerberg admitted the current content moderation practices – in place since criticism of his platform during the 2016 presidential election – have “gone too far” and stressed a commitment to “restoring free expression.” Make no mistake: Meta’s “independent fact-checkers” are neither independent nor fact-based. Their elimination is a positive step and should be encouraged. The announcement came less than 24 hours after the organization I lead – the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense – asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear our censorship lawsuit against Meta. But if Meta is serious about supporting “free expression,” they have a lot of work to do – and it requires more than moving workers from California to Texas, as Zuckerberg also pledged to do.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Meta not only censored our posts – many having to do with topics that the so-called medical “experts” like Dr. Anthony Fauci were dead wrong about – but outright kicked us off the platform without warning. Meta first took action against CHD in May 2019, from takedowns and restrictions to an outright ban in August 2022 that is still in effect. What were our offenses? Simply publishing data on the risks of COVID vaccines, Remdesivir, and ventilation, as well as having the temerity to raise the benefits of natural immunity and alternative treatment with ivermectin and other protocols. An unfettered discussion of all these issues would have saved lives. We knew that many of the government’s promises – on items like the pandemic’s origin and the best way to treat symptoms and prevent its spread – were not grounded in “science” as they claimed but political imperatives from the Biden administration.

In 2020, we took them to court, starting in the San Francisco federal court. We suffered some legal setbacks along the way, and this week ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court. Meta will not change its ways without a fight. They not only kicked us off the platform but censored our supporters and erased our past posts. Meta shut down the “free expression” they claim to be championing. Yes, Meta was coerced by the Biden administration, but there’s more to the story. Zuckerberg’s WhatsApp messages showed that he conspired with the government and chose to censor because he had “bigger fish to fry” than protecting free speech. He knew then that censorship violated the rights of free expression, and he knew then that it wouldn’t help the administration bring COVID under control, but he did it anyway.

The pandemic may be over, but speech about COVID is not. If the Supreme Court takes our case, it can guarantee accountability for Meta’s role in this man-made disaster – and prevent another in the future. Meta, like the other mega-platforms, must be held accountable when they knowingly conform their content-moderation process and decisions or cede active, meaningful control to the government’s preference to suppress constitutionally protected speech. This time it was CHD’s health and medical freedom issues. But who will be next?

Ultimately, this debate is not about any one group or individual but all of us. How many people suffered or lost their lives because they didn’t have access to information that could have helped them make better-informed decisions about their health? The American public is better served with more information rather than less, especially when it is grounded on data-based scientific information. People are smart enough to make up their own minds. Last November, voters sent an unmistakable message that they want a break from the status quo. Kudos to Mark Zuckerberg for recognizing the prevailing winds and saying the right things. But the free speech fight won’t be over until those who were kicked off his platforms are reinstated.

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“I don’t see Trump as a friend of Russia. I don’t see him being in Putin’s pocket the way a lot of people in the West do. But I see him as willing to make deals..”

US Playing ‘Fool’s Game’ By Ignoring Russia’s Red Lines – Peter Kuznick (RT)

The strategy pursued by the US in the Ukraine conflict risks provoking serious responses from Russia, Peter Kuznick, professor of history and director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University, has said. Kuznick earlier appeared on US journalist Tucker Carlson’s podcast show alongside director Oliver Stone. In an exclusive interview to RT on Saturday, he warned against assuming Russia’s red lines can be crossed without consequence. “Russia keeps drawing red lines, and the United States keeps crossing them” on the assumption that Russia is “bluffing” and that President Vladimir Putin “is not going to follow through on his threats,” Kuznick said.

He described this approach as a “fool’s game,” warning it could lead to severe repercussions. Kuznick criticized the belief that Russia will remain passive, calling it “insanity” and stressing that such assumptions gamble with global safety. In December, Putin accused the US of encouraging escalation by arming Kiev and pushing Russia to the “red line.” He claimed the West uses these provocations to instill fear in their populations. Reflecting on Donald Trump’s policies, Kuznick noted Trump “does not view Russia as an implacable enemy,” though his administration provided lethal aid to Ukraine in 2019 and increased sanctions on Russia. “I don’t see Trump as a friend of Russia. I don’t see him being in Putin’s pocket the way a lot of people in the West do. But I see him as willing to make deals,” he said.

“Trump doesn’t have any fixed values or strong beliefs,” which “means that he could either be worse, dramatically worse, or he could be dramatically better,” Kuznick added. He and director Oliver Stone appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show earlier this week in the hopes Trump “would be listening” and “encourage the side of Trump that looks for peaceful solutions.”Kuznick warned that crises in Ukraine, Gaza, Taiwan, or the South China Sea could rapidly escalate into broader conflicts, including nuclear war. Highlighting the growing danger, he said he “would have moved the Doomsday Clock to 60 seconds to midnight.”

In November, Putin approved changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine that expanded the scenarios that could warrant a nuclear response to include aggression by a non-nuclear state backed by a nuclear power. The doctrine describes nuclear weapons as an “extreme and forced measure” aimed at conflict prevention.Kuznick urged the US to adapt to a multipolar world, emphasizing diplomacy over unilateral action. He also criticized the administration of current President Joe Biden for its aggressive foreign policy and unwavering support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, which he argued undermines Washington’s global standing. “You can’t have it both ways,” Kuznick asserted, highlighting the inconsistency in condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine while supporting Israel’s in Gaza.

Kuznick

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Sounds more like the voice of reason instead of some extreme right wing party.

AfD Delegates Reject Motion Condemning Putin (RT)

The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has overwhelmingly voted against including in its 2025 election manifesto a condemnation of Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine conflict. The delegates gathered for a conference in Riesa, Germany on Saturday to decide on the platform for the snap parliamentary elections which will be held next month. Albrecht Glaser, a member of the Bundestag, proposed accusing Russia of failing to protect civilians in Ukraine and stating that the “AfD condemns the behavior of President Putin and once again calls on all warring parties to propose an immediate ceasefire and hold peace talks.” According to news channel N-tv, 69% of the delegates voted to reject the motion.

The draft program approved by the party leadership only briefly mentions the conflict, saying, “the war in Ukraine has disturbed the European peaceful order,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported. The draft reportedly says the AfD “sees Ukraine’s future as a neutral state outside of NATO and the EU,” and calls for the restoration of “undisturbed trade” with Russia. Known for its anti-immigration stance, the AfD is the second-most popular party in Germany, according to polls. The party has often been accused of parroting Russian narratives about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The party has rejected the ‘pro-Russian’ label, insisting that continuing military support for Kiev and sanctions on Russian trade and energy exports are counter to German national interests.

During a recent conversation with tech billionaire Elon Musk, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel argued that the EU has abandoned diplomatic efforts in favor of dangerous confrontation with Russia. The conflict could “escalate big time towards a nuclear exchange,” she warned. Early elections were called after Germany’s ruling three-party coalition collapsed in late 2024 due to disagreements over the budget.

Ursula

Former European Commissioner Thierry Breton says the EU has mechanisms to nullify a potential election victory of the AfD:
”We did it in Romania and we will obviously do it in Germany if necessary”

 

 

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The mismanagement is mindblowing.

Why Was Pacific Palisades Reservoir EMPTY? It Gets Worse. (Victoria Taft)

An empty reservoir and dry fire hydrants are now the symbols of California and local officials’ response to the horrific Pacific Palisades wildfire—one of six Santa Ana windblown firestorms still burning in Los Angeles. Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered an investigation to demonstrate that he’s doing something, but the damage is being done right now. The 117 million-gallon Santa Ynez Reservoir was empty and down for maintenance when the devastating fire was sparked, perhaps in the brush, between the homes and the Pacific Coast Highway. You can see a map of the area in my story Good Intentions Might Be the Cause of Devastating Palisades Fire. Friday, officials confirmed that the reservoir had been down for nearly a year —closing in February 2024—for maintenance to the cover of the reservoir.

The New York Times reports that a contractor was hired in November to fix a crack in the cover. It is unclear why the reservoir had to be shut down for that extended period of time. The ripple effect was beyond devastating. The fires broke out Tuesday, Jan. 7. By the next day, Janisse Quiñones, the head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said their system tanks went dry three times. You’ll want to remember that because the story is about to get worse. We have three large water tanks, about a million gallons each. We ran out of water in the first tank at about 4:45 p.m. yesterday. We ran out of water in the second tank about 8:30 p.m. and the third tank about 3 a.m. this morning. She never mentioned the empty reservoir, though former DWP Commissioner and mayoral candidate Rick Caruso did say that “the reservoir” hadn’t been filled. He was right and righteously angry.

Firefighters complained that there was no water coming out of the hydrants. The fires burned uncontrollably. In addition to the “investigation” by Newsom, the New York Times reported that the Department of Water and Power, whose job it is to fill the reservoirs, is looking into whether the empty Santa Ynez reservoir in Pacific Palisades made a difference in their fire response. We are not kidding. [..] Water for the Pacific Palisades is fed by a 36-inch line that flows by gravity from the larger Stone Canyon Reservoir, said Marty Adams, a former general manager and chief engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. That water line also fills the Santa Ynez Reservoir. Water from the two reservoirs then sustain the water system for the Pacific Palisades, and also pump systems that fill storage tanks that feed higher-elevation homes in the neighborhood.

It was unclear whether officials could have brought the reservoir back online before the fire, after forecasters began warning of dangerous wildfire conditions. Now, I’m no hydrologist or physicist, but wouldn’t water pressure be helped by having water in all the tanks and reservoirs? Am I missing something here? But, what ho! We get an answer. Mr. Adams said an operational reservoir would have been helpful initially to more fully feed the water system in the area. But he also said it appeared that that reservoir and the tanks would have eventually been drained in a fire that was consuming so many homes at once. Municipal water systems are generally designed to sustain water loads for much smaller fires than what consumed Pacific Palisades. [emphasis added]

Those are a lot of words to say that more water would have been helpful. Speaking of not being a hydrologist, I looked up the latest state hydrology report because the global warming crowd desperately hopes to blame “climate change/catastrophe” for the fires. Yeah, well, that dog won’t hunt. If you’re new here, from east to west Southern California, there’s desert, then mountains, then semi-arid land all the way to the ocean. While the media will tell you this is climate change, this is no change at all. This is the state of play in California all the time. However, California has received a surge in water in the last few years following a drought, but there have been no new reservoirs built to store water since the last one opened in 1979. According the latest hydrologist report, “Major flood control reservoirs are either near their respective top of conservation levels or below.”

Precipitation has been slow in the first couple of weeks of the year, but the “The statewide accumulated precipitation to end of November 2024 was 5.22 inches, which is 132% of average.” The snowpack, which is also where water is stored, and Gavin Newsom lets flow out to the Pacific Ocean to “save” a bait fish, is growing. “The statewide average snow water equivalent (SWE) was 5.1 inches for December 1, which is 168% percent of normal and 19% of April 1 average.” In other words, there’s been precipitation — remember all those atmospheric rivers? — and if there were more storage there would be more water available for drinking and fighting fires. I could go into the environmental rules that don’t allow much, if any, thinning in forests, road building, otherwise known as fire breaks, reservoir building, and preventative burning, which used to happen all the time to stop these conflagrations that the enviros like to blame on climate, but I do in my other stories.

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Pope
https://twitter.com/i/status/1877908221987291462

Stone

Train
https://twitter.com/i/status/1877829927334236235

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 112025
 
 January 11, 2025  Posted by at 10:48 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  56 Responses »


Salvador Dali Portrait of Gala with Two Lamb Chops Balanced on Her Shoulder 1933

 

Putin Ready For ‘Unconditional’ Trump Meeting – Kremlin (RT)
Could Merchan Pull a Bait-and-Switch? (Turley)
The Verdict is in . . . for the New York Legal System (Turley)
Greenland PM Says He’s Ready To Talk To Trump (RT)
US Blocked Sale Of Greenland Rare Earths Developer To China (RT)
US Creates Infrastructure for Nuclear-Capable Jets in Greenland – Russia (Sp.)
Trump Shares Video Calling Netanyahu ‘A Deep, Dark SOB’ (RT)
When The United States Tried To Conquer Canada (Pacini)
Double-Barreled Probes of Trump May Further Boomerang On Democrats (JTN)
Vast Majority Of Brits Want ‘Grooming Gangs’ Investigated – Poll (RT)
UK Gov’t Investigating Elon Musk’s TWEETS About Muslim Pedophile Gangs (MN)
Meta Nukes DEI Program; “Morale For Queer Staff In Shitter” (ZH)
Zuckerberg’s Sudden Censorship Thaw Is Not Free Speech (Marsden)
Apocalypse Still Unspooling (James Howard Kunstler)
AI To Displace Millions of Jobs By 2030 – WEF (RT)
DeSantis Blasts Media Coverage of California Wildfires (RT)
Empire of Chaos, Reloaded (Pepe Escobar)

 

 

 

 

Pope of Greenland

Baron

Joe Mel
https://twitter.com/i/status/1877537741153644903

Shellen

17 seconds

 

 

 

 

Necessary first step. They can achieve a lot together. Build things, not destroy them.

Putin Ready For ‘Unconditional’ Trump Meeting – Kremlin (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to direct talks with US President-elect Donald Trump, but no specific details have yet been finalized, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Previously, Trump announced that a meeting with Putin is being set up, suggesting that it will likely take place after he officially assumes office on January 20. Throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, the Republican repeatedly vowed to end the Ukraine conflict “within 24 hours” of entering office and said he would compel Moscow and Kiev to restart negotiations. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Peskov confirmed that Putin and Trump have expressed their readiness to communicate, adding that there are no preconditions to holding a meeting between the two leaders.

“President Putin has repeatedly stated his openness to contacts with international leaders, including the US president and, in particular, Donald Trump,” Peskov said. “No conditions are required for this. What is required is a mutual desire and political will to conduct a dialogue, to resolve existing problems through dialogue,” the spokesman added, noting that Moscow has recognized Trump’s readiness to solve problems through talks. “We welcome this.” Peskov stated that there are still no specifics on when and where the meeting would be held and that Moscow is currently acting on “the assumption of mutual readiness for the meeting.” He added that it is likely there will be “some movement” in this regard after Trump enters the Oval Office. Speaking to journalists at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida earlier this week, Trump said he might need up to six months after taking office to help Moscow and Kiev reach a deal.

His special envoy on the Ukraine conflict, retired US Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, told Fox News that he would like to set a 100-day timeline to end the conflict. While Trump has yet to lay out any specifics about how he would achieve a peace deal between Moscow and Kiev, some media reports have suggested that the president-elect’s team is considering a freeze of the conflict along the current battle lines. Moscow, however, has repeatedly stated that it seeks to end the conflict once and for all instead of putting it on hold, which it said could be used by Kiev to recuperate and rearm itself for a future conflict. Putin has stated that a ceasefire and peace negotiations with Ukraine can only take place after Kiev withdraws its forces from all Russian territories, abandons its NATO ambitions, and commits to a neutral and nuclear-weapons-free status.

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Trump at Truth Social: “The Radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, unAmerican Witch Hunt. After spending tens of millions of dollars, wasting over 6 years of obsessive work that should have been spent on protecting New Yorkers from violent, rampant crime that is destroying the City and State, coordinating with the Biden/Harris Department of Injustice in lawless Weaponization, and bringing completely baseless, illegal, and fake charges against your 45th and 47th President, ME, I was given an UNCONDITIONAL DISCHARGE. That result alone proves that, as all Legal Scholars and Experts have said, THERE IS NO CASE, THERE WAS NEVER A CASE, and this whole Scam fully deserves to be DISMISSED. The real Jury, the American People, have spoken, by Re-Electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential Elections in History. As the American People have seen, this “case” had no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts, no Law, only a highly conflicted Judge, a star witness who is a disbarred, disgraced, serial perjurer, and criminal Election Interference. Today’s event was a despicable charade, and now that it is over, we will appeal this Hoax, which has no merit, and restore the trust of Americans in our once great System of Justice. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Could Merchan Pull a Bait-and-Switch? (Turley)

The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the sentencing of President-elect Donald Trump to go forward today. The bare majority was secured when Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted with their liberal colleagues, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. However, part of the rationale for the decision was that Acting New York Justice Juan Merchan indicated that he was going to issue an unconditional discharge without any jail or probation. The question is whether Merchan could pull a bait-and-switch and decide to impose punishment. It is highly unlikely but intriguing. Some of us predicted this result and specifically noted that Chief Justice Roberts would not want to issue a stay. Roberts prefers regular order and, like many jurists, prefers for cases to be finalized to allow for a complete appellate review.

They tend to oppose interlocutory appeals for that reason. In his earlier order, Merchan discussed various options and only said “an unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution to ensure finality and allow Defendant to pursue his appellate options.” That is where some of us said that this case would land after the conviction. After the election, such a sentence became all but certain. It is the only option that would avoid the constitutional problems — and likely reversal — for Merchan. The majority took that as a done deal and noted that the President-elect would not have to attend in person and would not face any punishment. The Court may believe that it has sealed Merchan’s suggestion in legal amber. There is little likelihood that Merchan will depart from the course, but could he?

The answer is probably yes. Defendants are allowed to address the court before sentencing and no sentence is finalized until the sentencing hearing. What if Trump came in and expressed open contempt for Merchan and mocked the case? Some judges might take such an allocution moment to increase punishment. Merchan could threaten contempt but that increasing punishment would go against the operating assumption of the Court’s 5-4 decision. The Supreme Court decision itself does not order Merchan to issue an unconditional discharge. It simply treats it as a done deal. It is not as a legal matter, but it is as a practical matter. Today, we will see the ignoble end to a raw form of lawfare by one of its most committed warriors. After millions in costs and years of litigation, it will result in no punishment.

What the left will get is the labeling of Trump as a convicted felon, a fact that will then be repeated like a mantra by the media. Merchan can be expected to add to that rhetoric with punishment soundbites, as he has in the past. However, the result shows how this case was more inflated by the Goodyear blimp. It will be punishment by soundbite in a case based on a ridiculous criminal theory. He will be sentenced without our even knowing what jurors concluded happened in the case since Merchan did not require them to agree on the specific motivation or purpose of underlying acts. The benefit for President Trump is that he can finally appeal this case. While expectations are low for the New York court system which failed to prevent the political weaponization of its criminal justice system, it can now be reviewed in its totality and eventually go back the United States Supreme Court.

Lawfare

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“The ultimate penalty on Friday morning from Judge Merchan reflects the lack of seriousness in the case. It was more inflated than the Goodyear blimp..”

The Verdict is in . . . for the New York Legal System (Turley)

With the sentencing of Donald Trump Friday, the final verdict on the New York criminal trial of the president-elect is in. The verdict is not the one that led to no jail or probation for the incoming president. Acting Justice Juan Merchan has brought down the gavel on the New York legal system as a whole. Once considered the premier legal system in the country, figures like New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Justices Arthur F. Engoron and Juan Merchan have caused the system to be weaponized for political purposes. Trump will walk away from this trial and into the White House in less than two weeks, but the New York system will walk into infamy after this day. The case has long been denounced by objective legal observers, including intense Trump critics, as a legal absurdity.

Even CNN’s senior legal analyst Elie Honig denounced the case as legally flawed and unprecedented while Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., simply called it total “b—s–t.” It is a case based on a non-crime. Bragg took a long-dead misdemeanor and zapped it back into life with a novel and unfounded theory. By using federal violations that were never charged, let alone tried, Bragg turned a misdemeanor into dozens of felonies and essentially tried Trump for federal offenses. Merchan not only allowed those charges to be brought to trial but then added layers of reversible errors in the effort to bag Trump at any cost. For that, he was lionized by the liberal media and many New Yorkers. However, Trump still managed to pull in 3.6 million New York votes, or 42.7%, in the 2024 election.

After all of the lawfare and every advantage (including a heavily biased media and a larger war chest), Vice President Kamala Harris lost hundreds of thousands of votes in 2024 in comparison to Joe Biden just four years earlier. Many polls showed that the public saw the Manhattan criminal case for what it was: raw lawfare targeting a leading political opponent. The election itself felt like the largest verdict in history as citizens rejected the political, legal, and media establishments in one of our nation’s most historic elections. The New York court system will now have a chance to redeem itself but few are holding their breath. The appellate court has still not ruled on an appeal of Attorney General Lettia James’s equally absurd civil lawsuit against Trump. Despite judges expressing skepticism over Engoron’s use of a law to impose a grotesque $455 million in fines and interest, we are still waiting for a decision.

Most are waiting for this criminal case to escape the vortex of the New York court system. With this appeal, this peddler’s wagon of reversible errors will finally pull up in front of the Supreme Court itself. With its ruling on Thursday night, the setting for a decision could not be better for Trump. The Supreme Court has again demonstrated that it has shown restraint and independence in these cases. In response to the ruling, Trump struck the perfect note Thursday night and declined to criticize the Court, stating that “This is a long way from finished and I respect the court’s opinion.” The ultimate penalty on Friday morning from Judge Merchan reflects the lack of seriousness in the case. It was more inflated than the Goodyear blimp, pumped up by hot rage and rhetoric. The sentence was the pinprick that showed the massive void within this case. The verdict is in. The New York legal system has rendered it against itself.

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45,000 Greenlanders. That’s 1 for every 8,000 Americans.

As someone noted: the US can make every Greenlander a millionaire. That would cost just $45 billion.

Note: the PM doesn’t seem to be overly happy with the role Denmark plays here. There’s definitely wiggle room.

Greenland PM Says He’s Ready To Talk To Trump (RT)

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede has said he is prepared to speak with US President-elect Donald Trump, who has stated that ownership of the Danish overseas territory is an “absolute necessity” for American national security. Trump, who takes office on January 20, refused to rule out military force or coercive economic methods to secure US ownership of the island, in a statement on Tuesday. At a press conference alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Copenhagen on Friday, Egede was asked whether he had been in contact with Trump. “No, but we are ready to talk,” he said. Asked about Trump’s refusal to rule out force in his goal of acquiring the island, Egede replied that he thinks the statement was “serious,” but “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”

Egede noted that international cooperation with allies is very important, and that the island will continue working with the US in the future. Greenland was allowed home rule by Denmark in 1979, and granted the right to declare independence via a referendum in 2009. The Arctic island’s pro-independence leader reiterated this ambition in Friday’s press conference. “The desire for independence, the wish to be in one’s own house, is probably understood by all people in the world,” Egede said. “We do not want to be Danish, we do not want to be Americans, we want to be Greenlandic.” Egede told journalists that an independence “vote will come soon.” The Danish prime minister noted “a strong desire among many Greenlanders to move towards independence,” an aspiration she described as “both legitimate and understandable.”

Both Frederiksen and Egede rejected Trump’s proposals to buy Greenland in the past. “We are not for sale and never will be for sale,” Egede said in December, after Trump first expressed his renewed interest in the island. On Thursday, Frederiksen stated that she had proposed a conversation with Trump’s team. “Intensive work is underway with the Americans,” she told Danish TV2. Denmark and its number one ally, the US, share the common goal of “strengthening the security of the Western alliance.” Greenland hosts a US military base and ballistic missile early-warning infrastructure.

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“..China accounted for some 60% of global production and 85% of processing capacity of rare earths..”

US Blocked Sale Of Greenland Rare Earths Developer To China (RT)

US officials pressured a Greenland-based precious minerals group not to sell a rare-earth project to Chinese investors, the company’s chief executive has claimed. Speaking to Reuters, Tanbreez Mining CEO Greg Barnes confirmed that the deposit was eventually sold to a US-based firm. The news comes amid US President-elect Donald Trump’s insistence that Washington should take over the island, which is rich in minerals and occupies a key strategic position in the Arctic. Barnes told Reuters that the privately owned developer struggled with funding for extraction and was forced to consider offers to sell its deposit at Kringlerne, in southern Greenland. He noted that he received a number of bids for the project from Chinese firms.

However, he also said that US officials, who visited the project twice last year, had repeatedly insisted that he not sell the deposit to a Beijing-linked buyer. According to the executive, he eventually decided to sell to Critical Metals, a New York-based mining development firm, as offers from Chinese and other companies had not clearly indicated how they would pay. Critical Metals CEO Tony Sage confirmed to the news outlet that “there was a lot of pressure not to sell to China” on Barnes. The latter was ultimately forced to accept a much less lucrative deal than what Chinese buyers offered, Sage claimed. Critical Metals paid Barnes $5 million in cash and $211 million in company stock. Neither Sage nor Barnes disclosed the names of officials they met or the Chinese companies that made offers. [..]

Rare earth minerals are critical components in advanced technologies and military equipment due to their strong magnetic properties, making them strategically important in industries ranging from electric vehicles to missile systems. The Tanbreez deposit is about 30% heavy rare earths. Among other minerals, the site contains gallium, which is common in semiconductors, transistors, and small electronic devices. Trump has voiced plans to acquire Greenland since his first term in office. The world’s largest island gained home rule from Denmark in 1979, and is already home to a big US military base. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said the island was an “absolute necessity” for US national security, and he would not rule out either military or economic steps to acquire it.

Greenland’s government has firmly rejected Trump’s plans, calling them “an absurd idea.” Denmark has also opposed the proposal. There have been increasingly vocal warnings from Washington about the risks posed by China’s dominance in the global rare earths market. As of 2022, China accounted for some 60% of global production and 85% of processing capacity of rare earths, and the US has been concerned about dependency on Beijing for essential materials.

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“The US military has been permanently present in Greenland since World War II..”

US Creates Infrastructure for Nuclear-Capable Jets in Greenland – Russia (Sp.)

The United States is creating an airfield infrastructure in Greenland for planes capable of carrying nuclear warheads, Russian Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin told Sputnik. Last month, US President-elect Trump, who is due to assume office on January 20, called it “an absolute necessity” for the United States to own Greenland, thus commenting on his decision to appoint a new US ambassador to Denmark. Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede has since responded, saying that the island is not for sale. “The island-based US Pituffik Space Base [ex-Thule Air Base] today is a part of the US’ system for warning about a nuclear strike from the Arctic direction. It is undergoing comprehensive modernization, including radar systems worth billions of dollars. It is also building airfield infrastructure for F-35 fighter jets, which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Such jets have already used the base’s airfield for training,” Barbin said.

The US military has been permanently present in Greenland since World War II, the ambassador added. “Russia supports boosting stability in the Arctic. It is possible only on the foundation of creating a system of international security equal for all Arctic states,” Barbin said. “Greenland is interested in developing mutually beneficial international cooperation, including with the United States. The question of Greenland’s fate should be decided on the basis of the expression of the will of the Greenlanders themselves within the framework of the current Danish legislation and without any outside interference,” Barbin said. US President-elect Donald Trump, due to assume office on January 20, in December 2024 called it “an absolute necessity” for the United States to own Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Danish Realm, thus commenting on his decision to appoint a new US ambassador to Denmark.

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede has since responded, saying that the island is not for sale. Trump told reporters earlier in January that he cannot guarantee he will not use military force to take over Greenland. Later, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said there are currently no military plans in place to take control over Greenland by force. Trump first announced his claims for Greenland in 2019, when he was serving his first presidential term.

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“The first person to congratulate Biden was Bibi. And not only did he congratulate him, he did it on tape,” Trump continued, adding: “I haven’t spoken to him since. F**k him.”

Trump Shares Video Calling Netanyahu ‘A Deep, Dark SOB’ (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has shared a video of an interview with Jeffrey Sachs in which the American economist calls Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a deep, dark son of a b***h.” Trump posted the clip on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday without comment. In the two-minute video, Sachs accuses former US President Barack Obama of arming jihadists in Syria in a bid to overthrow Bashar Assad’s government. Sachs also condemns former President George Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, and accuses Netanyahu of goading Bush into launching the two-decade war and pushing for US intervention in Syria and Iran. “He’s still trying to get us to fight Iran this day, this week,” Sachs says at the end of the clip. “He’s a deep, dark, son of a b***h… because he’s gotten us into endless wars.”

Trump was a close ally of Netanyahu during his term in the White House, and described himself as “history’s most pro-Israel US president.” He imposed sanctions on Iran at Netanyahu’s request, moved the US embassy in Israel to West Jerusalem, and brokered the Abraham Accords, which saw Israel normalize relations with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan. However, the two seemingly fell out after Netanyahu congratulated President Joe Biden while Trump was still attempting to challenge Biden’s electoral victory in the courts in late 2020. “I liked Bibi. I still like Bibi. But I also like loyalty,” Trump told Axios in 2021, using a nickname for the Israeli PM. “The first person to congratulate Biden was Bibi. And not only did he congratulate him, he did it on tape,” Trump continued, adding: “I haven’t spoken to him since. F**k him.”

Trump and Netanyahu have gotten back in contact in the meantime, with the pair speaking multiple times this year. Last month, Netanyahu said that he and Trump “had a very friendly, warm and important discussion” by phone, focused on Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. Trump has publicly called on Israel to “finish up” the war. During a meeting with Netanyahu at the Republican’s Mar-a-Lago estate in October, then-candidate Trump reportedly told the Israeli premier that he wanted to see the conflict resolved by the time he takes office later this month. The incoming president has also warned Hamas that there will be “all hell to pay in the Middle East” if the Palestinian militants do not free their remaining Israeli hostages before inauguration day.

Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that the Israel Defense Forces will continue to wage war until they achieve “total victory” over Hamas, and that Israel will maintain “full security control” over the enclave afterwards. Netanyahu will not attend Trump’s inauguration, an aide to the PM told the Times of Israel on Thursday, without commenting further.

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Read the original for the history lesson.

When The United States Tried To Conquer Canada (Pacini)

Thus we arrive at 2025, a year that is ushered in with Trump’s threats to trade relations with Canada and beyond. In light of what happened a couple of centuries ago, it is curious that in pursuit of his MAGA campaign motto, Trump has once again gone on the attack against Canada. It almost seems as if this thorn in the side never passes for Americans. The fact is even more interesting if one considers it from a strategic point of view: for the U.S., the ‘conquest’ of Canada or at least part of it, hand in hand with Greenland, would mean not only having access to the many energy delicacies found there, but also being able to position medium-range weapon systems towards Russia and China. Yes, the white war is more realistic than some mainstream analysts think. Geography is not an opinion and neither are international relations.

Going from the North, from the polar zone, is quicker than going round the entire world. However, there is the disadvantage of the inhospitable nature of the territory, so it is necessary to organize management strategies for this ‘new’ – so to speak – domain, so as to be able to play on a theatre of possible conflict with a certain familiarity. The urgency of this strategic acquisition is very strong. Indeed, a multipolar world is more complex to cope with than the old model, but it is still at an early stage, so the Nordic loophole must be played out with good timing. If we add to this the historical dislike for Canada, the combination works perfectly.

Politically, this can also be played out against liberalism and globalism: Trudeau is a progressive Dem leader, going against his presidency means gaining some support in the international conservative area. A more aligned Canada is convenient for the whole American bloc, according to the U.S. perspective. Moreover, Trudeau is too tied to Europe, so it is not convenient to keep him where he is. Let us therefore not be surprised if we see destabilization in the U.S.-Canadian border territories, beyond the usual migratory tensions: a continental infighting would be a nice play to achieve the strategic objectives of the northern route.

All this is consistent with the already well-known doctrine of the Northwest Passage, the sea route through the Canadian Arctic archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through polar waters. The increasing accessibility of the Northwest Passage, due to the melting of Arctic ice, has opened up new possibilities for maritime trade and the exploitation of natural resources, as well as for optimal military positions to ‘close’ Eurasia from above. However, this situation has raised a number of geopolitical issues, especially for the United States.

One of the main points of contention is the control of the sea route. Canada claims sovereignty over the waters of the Northwest Passage, classifying them as internal waters. The United States, on the contrary, considers the Passage an international waterway, arguing that it should be open to global navigation according to the rules of international law. This divergence reflects a potential conflict of interest, as recognition of Canadian sovereignty could restrict U.S. and other states’ freedom of movement. The presence of a navigable route in the Arctic increases the need to monitor and protect northern waters. For the U.S., this means developing military capabilities and infrastructure in the region to prevent intrusions from potential rivals, such as Russia and China, which are also expanding their influence in the Arctic.

Diplomatically, the U.S. could have sought a more balanced alliance with Canada to move beyond territorial issues, but American arrogance is apparently getting the better of them. The U.S. is planning quite a revival. Who knows if it will end up like the previous one? We only have to conclude with the irony of Dmitry Medvedev, who commented on X on the matter with these words: ‘It is not clear why the United States, as a country, should annex Canada, Greenland or even Great Britain and take back the Panama Canal. There is a more civilized way: Donald Trump and Elon Musk can simply buy the land, making it their own private property’. To each the president he deserves.

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“If I were Liz Cheney, I’d be very concerned about being prosecuted for witness tampering..”

Double-Barreled Probes of Trump May Further Boomerang On Democrats (JTN)

The first Trump term was marked by two impeachments that threatened to tarnish the legacy of his administration, namely, the Ukraine impeachment scandal and the aftermath of Jan. 6. But now, after both of those efforts were undermined by new evidence, their legacy could rebound on President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats. Donald Trump survived both impeachment attempts by House Democrats during his first term, but ultimately lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. When he departed the White House on Inauguration Day in January 2021, just weeks after the Capitol riot, Trump had the lowest approval rating of his presidency. Many suggested his political career might be over. Democrats moved to impeach Trump the first time with a simple storyline: The then-president abused his power by requesting an investigation of Hunter Biden’s dealings in Ukraine when Joe Biden’s son had done nothing wrong.

After the Republican Senate acquitted the president, this narrative was repeated by both candidate Joe Biden and friendly news anchors during the election. In the second attempt, Democrats tried to impeach Trump for allegedly inciting a riot against the Capitol building by claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election. After the second impeachment also failed, the Democrat-led Jan. 6 Select Committee echoed this narrative and ultimately asserted that Trump engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the election results and incited an insurrection. However, during Joe Biden’s term in office, evidence uncovered by dogged congressional investigators and the media have turned the premises of those dual impeachment pushes upside down, which in many ways exonerated the once and future president.

Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who will chair the investigating arm of the powerful Senate Homeland Security Committee, said congressional Republicans, with a new Washington, D.C., trifecta, may still have an interest in getting to the bottom of Hunter Biden’s dealings in Ukraine and the conduct of the Democrat-led Jan. 6 Select Committee. “I think the American people deserve the truth here,” Senator Johnson, who represents Wisconsin, told the John Solomon Reports podcast. “President Trump has falsely accused your son of doing something wrong while serving on a company board in Ukraine,” CNN anchor Anderson Cooper claimed setting up an interview question for Joe Biden during the campaign. “I want to point out there is no evidence of wrongdoing by either one of you.”

Evidence uncovered by House Republicans and Just the News in the intervening years show that, in fact, there is significant documentary evidence that Hunter Biden and his father engaged in an influence peddling scheme in Ukraine while the younger Biden was serving on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. The final report from House Republicans’ own impeachment inquiry into President Biden over the issue furnished several pieces of evidence to back this claim. Most importantly, evidence first reported by Just the News showed then-Vice President Biden changed official policy by calling an “audible” on a flight to Kyiv, linking a $1 billion loan guarantee for the struggling country to its firing of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma’s founder, Mykola Zlochevsky.

This evidence contradicted claims from several government witnesses and congressional Democrats during the 2019 probe that Joe Biden did not change U.S. policy and that the Ukrainian prosecutors were not investigating Burisma at the time Hunter Biden worked for the company. Now, Sen. Johnson says Joe Biden’s pardon of his son paves the way to call in Hunter Biden for his complete testimony on how his business role intersected with his father’s political responsibilities in Ukraine. “But what is interesting is, with the hunter Biden’s pardon, he has no Fifth Amendment right not to testify and tell the truth, and so he could be we could prosecute him for lying to Congress,” Sen. Johnson said. “He’s going to have to answer truthfully. So that’s a real possibility. Again, we’d have to get our ducks in a row. You know, you know me, I want documents, I don’t want to just come in for a show trial,” he continued.

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Good luck with that.

Vast Majority Of Brits Want ‘Grooming Gangs’ Investigated – Poll (RT)

Three out of four Britons want Prime Minister Keir Starmer to launch a national inquiry into the sexual abuse of thousands of underage girls by ‘grooming gangs’, according to a new poll. Starmer’s ruling Labour Party has already rejected calls for such an investigation. Conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Women’s Policy Center and published on Thursday by GB News, the survey suggested that 76% of the public back demands for a probe into the abuse, while only 13% reject these demands. Some 84% of Conservative voters and 65% of Labour voters support an inquiry, as do 91% of Reform voters, according to the poll. Hours before the poll was published, Parliament rejected a Conservative-proposed amendment to a child protection bill that would have set up a national inquiry into the gangs by 364 votes to 111.

All 411 Labour MPs either voted against the amendment or abstained, while 101 of 111 Conservatives and all five Reform MPs supported it. The vote came after weeks of constant posts by SpaceX CEO and X owner Elon Musk drawing attention to the activity of the gangs, and to Starmer’s handling of the rapes during his time in charge of the Crown Prosecutorial Service (CPS) from 2008 until 2013. The gangs systematically raped and tortured tens of thousands of underage girls in towns across northern England over the last two decades, according to multiple government and media reports. Almost all of the perpetrators were Pakistani men, and the victims white British girls. Successive governments declined to investigate the scandal – which received mainstream media attention after a series of reports by The Times in 2011 – and several police departments covered up the existence of the gangs, inquiries later found.

Under Starmer, the CPS was heavily criticized for declining to prosecute a gang in Rochdale, and police in Rotherham told a 2015 inquiry that they considered the CPS unwilling to bring charges against the alleged perpetrators. Musk has called Starmer “evil,” and according to the Financial Times, is working on a behind-the-scenes campaign to oust the British prime minister. Starmer’s already dismal approval rating has sunk even further since Musk began attacking his handling of the rape gangs last week. According to a YouGov poll published on Monday, 63% of voters disapprove of his government’s performance, while just 16% approve, a fall of two points since December.

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They don’t investigate the gangs, or the politicians, police and media that let them rape unhindered. No, they’re after Musk, who exposes it.

UK Gov’t Investigating Elon Musk’s TWEETS About Muslim Pedophile Gangs (MN)

Elon Musk’s tweets about Muslim pedophile gangs are being assessed by the UK Government’s counter-extremism unit, as a potential threat to the security of the country, it has emerged. The Daily Mirror reports that The Home Office unit has stepped up social media monitoring of accounts with large followings, including Musk’s, as pertains to the grooming gangs issue. Musk has posted hundreds of tweets in the past week related to the scandal, including openly calling Prime Minister Kier Starmer “evil,” accusing him of facilitating a cover up, and labelling Starmer and safeguarding minister Jess Philips as complicit in the “rape” of Britain. The Mirror report states that the UK government’s counterterrorism unit has “been involved in content analysis and wider risk assessment.” A government source told the Mirror “We keep a close eye on how disinformation and hate can proliferate, including online.”

John Woodcock, the government’s adviser on political violence and disruption, asserted that “Britain’s democracy isn’t a play thing for foreign billionaires – Elon Musk needs to back off and concentrate on his rockets and his cars or whatever he wants to obsess about next. Our electoral laws rightly forbid foreign donations and my recent review warns against our information channels being deliberately manipulated from abroad. We should be watching closely to ensure that doesn’t happen here.” The government’s website states that the counter-extremism unit “focuses on the highest harm risks to the homeland, whether from terrorists, state actors, or cyber and economic criminals,” While the tweets are being investigated, the government has rejected calls for a new national inquiry into the pedophile gangs scandal, with ministers voting down a move to legislate for an inquiry.

Ironically, the current head of counter-terrorism policing in the UK is an officer who served as Borough Commander in Rotherham, one of the areas most notorious for child sexual abuse at the hands of Muslim pedophile gangs, from 2006-2010. In comments to GB News, former Head of the Counter Terrorist Unit at Ministry of Defence, Major General Chip Chapman suggested that Musk’s tweets could influence others to take violent action, and that there is a history of ‘conspiracy theorists’ doing that in the UK.

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Don’t trust Zuck.

Meta Nukes DEI Program; “Morale For Queer Staff In Shitter” (ZH)

Days after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg eliminated “politically biased” fact-checkers—and on the same day his Joe Rogan podcast episode was dropped—Business Insider leaked an internal memo revealing that Meta dialed back its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. “The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,” Janelle Gale, vice president of human resources at Meta, wrote in the memo, adding, “The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI.” Gale pointed out, “The term “DEI” has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others.”

Meta is the latest mega-corporation to roll back toxic DEI initiatives, following Walmart and McDonald’s. Over a year ago, Robby Starbuck’s campaign to end DEI in corporate America ignited this trend. The tides have turned in corporate America, and the reelection of Donald Trump will accelerate and ensure Marxist DEI initiatives are replaced with meritocracy (not just in corporate America – but across the government and the military).

* * *
Earlier, Joe Rogan dropped a podcast featuring Zuck. Zuck seems to be trying to get on the right side of history…

Watch the full episode:


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Wherever the wind blows.

Zuckerberg’s Sudden Censorship Thaw Is Not Free Speech (Marsden)

Why are some folks gobbling up the notion that having the newly restored right to fire off as many “c**ts,” *d**ks,” and “a*****es” as you want on Facebook is the best thing for free speech since the Magna Carta? Facebook’s safe space for easily triggered mental midgets is now supposed to suddenly transform into a beacon of free speech and debate. But only for some. Sort of. Who are apparently now free to call transgenderism a mental illness, for example. Everyone else will have to wait for their potential future liberation from the virtual hall monitor. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and its parent company, Meta, has just announced that audiences won’t be subjected to thought policing through fact-checking anymore. Well, American audiences, at least. And not by professional gatekeepers designated specifically for the task. The language patrol will also apparently unclench a bit.

“Starting in the US, we are ending our third party fact-checking program and moving to a Community Notes model,” the company announced, citing the open collaborative model of Elon Musk’s X Platform. The move comes in the wake of Zuckerberg’s pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago where he met with incoming US President-elect Donald Trump – who was himself banned and restricted by Meta until last summer – and his perpetual sidekick, self-styled “free speech absolutist” Musk. Meta’s statement cites “societal and political pressure to moderate content,” claiming that it “has gone too far.” You think? It took Zuckerberg until August 2024 to admit to a congressional committee that “in 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire,” and that it led to “choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today.”

In the same letter, he said the FBI warned his team ahead of the 2020 US presidential election about a “Russian disinformation operation” involving the Biden family and Ukrainian energy company Burisma, on whose board President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, served. Zuckerberg says he now realizes that the story turned out to be legit, and not Russian fake news as the FBI claimed – but only after the New York Post dared to counter the official narrative that Facebook had colluded in protecting by censoring debate. Until now, designated “professionals” in various countries have been working with Meta to ensure narrative compliance. In Canada, for example, partner AFP Fact Check has recently posted that there’s “no evidence linking methane inhibitors for cows to human health problems.” It’s a reference to the Western establishment’s new strategy, introduced in Canada and elsewhere, of suppressing cow farts with feed additive called Bovaer 10 – all in a valiant effort to save the planet from climate change.

Some people have been asking whether the fart suppressor could somehow end up in milk or meat. But the fact checkers say that the government says it’s safe. So case closed. Until it isn’t, of course. But that would require alternative information to come to light, as is always the case when the public finds out after the fact that something officially authorized was in fact problematic. But good luck having that debate on Facebook, where you risk posting something that ends up being scarlet-lettered with an official message from the online Gestapo constantly scouring the website via algorithms for wrongthink.

At least in the US, this is all now supposed to be ending precisely where it began in the wake of the 2016 presidential election when Democrats and other assorted anti-Trumpers were in hysterics over the idea that Russia singlehandedly got Trump elected through social media. That led to pressure on outlets like Meta to censor fake news as defined by establishment-friendly fact checkers. The slippery censorship slope then led to a move by Meta to then prioritize approved “trustworthy” information sources in 2018 – a system that expanded further under the pretext of the Covid fiasco in 2020. After the Capitol riots in January 2021, Facebook dumped Trump’s account indefinitely, citing the need to prevent violence and disinformation.

And in September 2024, amid the most recent US presidential election campaign, Meta globally banned Russian media accounts, like RT, citing “foreign interference” – a move that effectively reduces the odds of users being exposed to unauthorized or alternative views that risk challenging the status quo. RT news articles posted on Facebook warn the user to proceed with caution when reading. No such call to engage critical thinking accompanies Western news sources, because they’re always in unfailing alignment with the objective truth. There’s no evidence yet that anyone outside the US will be spared from Meta’s digital thought safety patrol. Or even that Americans still won’t be subjected to less obvious censorship of information sources.

France is straight-up expressing concern over the rule loosening anyway. “France remains vigilant and committed to ensuring that META, along with other platforms, comply with their obligations under European law, particularly the Digital Services Act (DSA),” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, citing the same European law that led to the EU threatening Musk with 150 bureaucratic monitors ahead of his planned online interview with German right-wing populist leader Alice Weidel, currently polling as the voters’ favored choice for chancellor ahead of next month’s parliamentary elections.

“Freedom of expression, a fundamental right protected in France and Europe, should not be confused with a right to virality, which would permit the dissemination of inauthentic content to millions of users without any filtering or moderation,” the French government said. Yeah, well, it would also mean the dissemination of debate and an increased opportunity for contributions of all kinds.

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“‘Climate Change’ has been identified: it’s a 28-YO man from Reseda in a black hoodie holding a lighter and some matches.” — Peach Keenan

Apocalypse Still Unspooling (James Howard Kunstler)

“Life imitates art,” Oscar Wilde quipped, a most insightful glimpse into the human condition delivered as a wise-crack. Very Hollywood. Too bad there were no late-night talk shows in Oscar’s time. It took more than eighty years, but the apocalyptic burning of Los Angeles depicted at the climax of Nathanial West’s 1939 novel The Day of the Locust has finally come — the city of dreams turned into one big flaming nightmare. The adumbrations of this fiasco will darken our national life for years to come. Who knew that the best way to convert Utopian Woke Democrats back into a reality-based thought system would be to burn their houses down? The wealthy showbiz folk occupying the moral high ground of the Pacific Palisades voted Democratic by 90-percent. They were fully on-board with the agenda of the Party of Chaos, especially Diversity-Equity-and-Inclusion (DEI) and the open border that allowed a deluge of mysterious strangers to flood the country.

Now, reports come across the “X” wires that these mystery folk are cruising the wreckage in the canyons on scooters and in cars to loot anything left of value. The police are shown on video capturing a mystery migrant with a blowtorch suspected of starting the latest outbreak named the Kenneth Fire on the edge of the San Fernando Valley. Loud-and-proud DEI firefighters were stymied in their work by neighborhood fire hydrants that were disappointingly not “full of water,” as they put it. Is that how it works? Each hydrant is supposed to get filled up on a regular schedule by water pixies?

You know by now that LA Mayor Karen Bass was unavailable for the early innings of the conflagration, having flown to the West African nation of Ghana for the inauguration of the new president John Dramani Mahama. But she managed to scramble back in time to mourn the smoldering ruins of Malibu. Governor Gavin Newsom dallied on a smoke-filled street with CNN’s disaster specialist, Anderson Cooper, pretending to manage the situation, which was, in fact, completely out of control. Among the things the governor has been criticized for is poor forest and brush management. Mr. Newsom has been lately working to pass a $25-million bill to fund measures for “Trump-proofing” California. For that same $25-million, he could have hired 500 workers at $50,000-a-year to cut brush around Los Angeles County. That is, if he didn’t avail himself of work-gangs from the California penitentiaries.

Even “Joe Biden” was in town, to announce the creation of a new national monument, the Chuckwalla National Monument, south of Joshua Tree National Park — 125 miles out in the Mojave Desert from LA. But he had helpful phone conversations with Governor Newsom. . . promises of federal funding to build Malibu back better. I wonder if the folks still camping out in tents back in the Mountains of Carolina heard about that. This same week “JB” also announced another $500-million aid package for Ukraine. Anybody wondering why “America First” helped get Mr. Trump elected?

You can’t overstate the amount and degree of family devastation to be endured in the months and years ahead. For one thing, many homeowners recently had their fire insurance cancelled. Decades of punitive bureaucracy made rate increases difficult in wildfire-prone areas, so companies like Allstate decided to quit doing business in the state. So, many of the thousands of lost houses will be total losses. A great many of these were multi-million-dollar houses, even modest ones built in the 1960s, due to the extreme desirability of neighborhoods like Pacific Palisades, the Hollywood Hills, and Malibu Beach. Some middle-class people had their entire nest-eggs vested in these houses.

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“..170 million new jobs will be created by the end of the decade, while 92 million jobs will be displaced.”

AI To Displace Millions of Jobs By 2030 – WEF (RT)

The deployment of artificial intelligence could deal a heavy blow to the worldwide labor market and result in massive layoffs in global companies, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Future of Jobs report published on Wednesday, warns. The study, which surveyed hundreds of large businesses worldwide, found that 41% of companies plan to slash their workforce by 2030 in response to the increasing capabilities of AI. Further, 77% of companies are preparing to reskill and upskill their existing staff from 2025 to 2030 for better human-machine collaboration. The report predicted that 170 million new jobs will be created by the end of the decade, while 92 million jobs will be displaced. The WEF noted that skills in AI, big data, and cybersecurity are expected to be in high demand.

“Trends such as generative AI and rapid technological shifts are upending industries and labor markets, creating both unprecedented opportunities and profound risks,” Till Leopold, the head of Work, Wages and Job Creation at the WEF, said. The WEF said that advances in AI, robotics, and energy systems, particularly in renewable energy and environmental engineering, are expected to boost demand for specialist roles in these fields. The report also identified job categories that will face the largest decline in numbers due to AI and other technological trends. They include service clerks, executive secretaries, payroll clerks, and graphic designers.

“The presence of both graphic designers and legal secretaries just outside the top 10 fastest-declining job roles, a first-time prediction not seen in previous editions of the Future of Jobs Report, may illustrate GenAI’s increasing capacity to perform knowledge work,” the report said. The report stressed that the impact of AI extends beyond job displacement, highlighting the potential of the technology to augment human output, rather than replace it outright. The WEF concluded that “human-centered skills” such as creative thinking, resilience, flexibility, and agility will continue to be critical.

Meanwhile, high-profile figures and scientists have raised concerns in recent years over the potential dangers posed by AI. Last year, computer scientist and author Paul Graham warned that the use of AI for writing will result in the majority of people losing the skill in a few decades. The labor market will change significantly because of the adoption of advanced technology, according to Daniil Gavrilov, the head of the Artificial Intelligence Research Laboratory at T-Bank AI Research. Everything a human is capable of doing can be done by AI, and machines can do it well, he said in an interview with RIA Novosti last year. Gavrilov noted that in the short and medium term, employees will have to master AI skills in order to remain competitive.

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“If Newsom was a Republican… you guys would have him nailed to the wall for what they’re doing over there.”

DeSantis Blasts Media Coverage of California Wildfires (RT)

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has blasted the US media for what he perceives as partisan coverage of natural disasters in the country. California is battling some of the worst wildfires in recent history, with officials reporting ten fatalities in Los Angeles County as of Friday. Republican politicians are blaming the authorities in the Democratic-leaning state for undercutting the ability of emergency services to tackle the disaster with skewed policy priorities. On Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump called on Governor Gavin Newsom to resign for allegedly mismanaging water reserves in California. DeSantis confronted members of the press on Thursday evening, after one of them suggested that the call was inappropriate. The on-camera exchange took place during a press conference held by a group of Republican governors at Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago.

“Is it appropriate for people in your industry to try to create division and to try to create narratives anytime these things happen?” DeSantis reacted. “If Newsom was a Republican… you guys would have him nailed to the wall for what they’re doing over there.” The governor cited coverage of incidents in his own state, such as the deadly collapse of a condominium in the Miami suburb of Surfside in 2021. His people in Florida just assume that any such occurrence would be “politicized by the media,” he said, and other Republican state officials have similar expectations. Considering their track record, pro-Democratic journalists are in no position to complain about the party’s messaging now, DeSantis stated.

“You could criticize the president-elect, but I think you also have to hold these other people accountable, and I have not seen that,” he concluded, referring to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other elected officials in California. Bass was among the primary targets for conservative critics during the crisis. She was part of the US delegation to Ghana, which attended the inauguration of President John Mahama on Tuesday, and did not return home until Wednesday evening. By that time, more than 1,000 homes had been burned and some 100,000 people across the region had to evacuate, according to media reports. The mayor underestimated the risks to the city, when the National Weather Service in Los Angeles issued a warning of extreme weather conditions on Thursday last week, the New York Times has suggested.

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“Welcome to Terror and Genocide R Us.”

Empire of Chaos, Reloaded (Pepe Escobar)

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

The Empire of Chaos is relentless. Lawfare, destabilizations, sanctions, kidnappings, color revolutions, false flags, annexations: 2025 will be the year of BRICS – plus BRICS partners – as choice targets under fire. Inestimable Prof. Michael Hudson coined “chaos” as official US policy. That’s bipartisan – and it runs across all silos of the Deep State. In the absence of long-term strategic vision, and amidst the progressive imperial expulsion from Eurasia, all that’s left for the Hegemon is to unleash chaos from West Asia to Europe and parts of Latin America – a concerted attempt to Divide and Rule BRICS and thwart their collective drive affirming sovereignty and the primacy of national interests. US Think Tank had already floated a year and a half ago the notion of swing states. Not the parochial American electoral version, but its transposition to geopolitics.

All six candidates at the time were BRICS members (Brazil, India, South Africa), or potential BRICS members or partners (Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye). The code for “swing states” was unmistakable: all these are targets for destabilization – as in if you do not abide by the “rules-based international order”, you’re going down. Saudi Arabia, wary of its wealth parked in London and New York financial markets, is still cautiously hedging its bets: theoretically Riyadh is a BRICS member, but in practice not really. Turkiye has been invited as a partner (no official response yet). And then there’s Southeast Asia powerhouse Indonesia, which has just been admitted as a full member this week – under the Brazilian BRICs presidency. Call it BRIIICS: the predominant vector of a seismic recalibration of the geopolitical tectonic plates – bound to reshape trade, finance, and governance.

BRIIICS and selected partners are configuring a formidable network – bent on rewriting the rules of the game: currently 10 full members and 8 full partners – and counting, making up 41.4% of global GDP by PPP and roughly half of the world’s population. This is what the Empire of Chaos is up against. Imagine China-India-Russia-Iran-Indonesia-South Africa-Brazil-Egypt-Saudi Arabia as the transcontinental pearls of the emerging multi-nodal world. Huge populations; massive natural resources and industrial might; myriad development possibilities.

The ruling elites of the Empire of Chaos have nothing to offer as a counterpoint to this growing geopolitical powerhouse – complete with its own development bank (granted, that needs a lot of work); full commitment to develop and test alternative payment systems; and a sprawling transcontinental trade alliance bent on progressively sidestepping the US dollar. Instead of working on diplomacy, dialogue and cooperation, the Empire of Chaos – and the vassalized collective West – do “offer” something to the Global Majority: their full support for an ethnic cleansing genocide, and their full support for a suit-and-tie terror gang of “moderate” head choppers taking power in a former sovereign Arab nation. Welcome to Terror and Genocide R Us.

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Musk
https://twitter.com/i/status/1877690442889708006

 

 

Snow
https://twitter.com/i/status/1877317916359606466

 

 

Drown

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 072025
 


Jan van Eijk The Arnolfini portrait 1434

 

Trump Urges GOP to Pass Bill Advancing His Policies (ET)
Dollar Reverses Losses After Trump Blasts WaPo’s “Fake News” Tariff Report (ZH)
Curtain to Fall on Merchan’s Hamlet on the Hudson (Turley)
The Lawfare Sentencing of Trump On January 10 Will Backfire (ZH)
US Congress Formally Certifies Trump’s Election Victory (ZH)
Musk and Trump Can Bring A New Era That Blends Technology and Tradition (RT)
Conspiracies Too Awful to Imagine? (Victor Davis Hanson)
Prank-O-Rama (James Howard Kunstler)
Bannon Goes Off On Musk Over “Social Credit Score” Changes On X (ZH)
Moscow Reacts To Zelensky’s Request To Trump For Frozen Russian Cash (RT)
Ukraine Should Be ‘Realistic’ – Macron (RT)
Italy In Talks With Starlink For $1.6 Billion Telecom Security Deal (ZH)
Pfizergate: What is EC Chief Von Der Leyen Accused of? (Sp.)
Migrants Arrested For Sex Crimes At Triple The Rate Of Brits – UK Stats (RT)
Amazon Confirms Melania Trump Documentary (RT)
Nuclear Fusion Offers Safe And Clean Energy (JTN)

 

 

 

 

Starmer

Galloway

Poilievre

Dana White

 

 

 

 

Less than 2 weeks to go.

“..pass Trump’s legislative policies through a reconciliation bill, which would enable the policies to be passed with a simple majority, bypassing the Senate’s 60-vote threshold..”

Trump Urges GOP to Pass Bill Advancing His Policies (ET)

President-elect Donald Trump has called on Republican lawmakers to pass “one powerful bill” to advance his policies on border security and tax cuts as he prepares to return for a second term. In a social media post on Sunday, Trump said members of Congress will work on a single bill that is packed with policy items aimed at making America “greater than ever before.” “We must Secure our Border, Unleash American Energy, and Renew the Trump Tax Cuts, which were the largest in History, but we will make it even better – NO TAX ON TIPS,” the president-elect stated. Trump suggested that he plans to offset the taxes by imposing tariffs on imports from countries that “have taken advantage of the U.S. for years.” “Republicans must unite, and quickly deliver these Historic Victories for the American People. Get smart, tough, and send the Bill to my desk to sign as soon as possible,” he stated.

His remarks came after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) unveiled a plan to pass Trump’s legislative policies through a reconciliation bill, which would enable the policies to be passed with a simple majority, bypassing the Senate’s 60-vote threshold. Johnson told Fox News that the vote on the reconciliation bill could happen as early as April 3, and then move to the Senate. He said the bill could be delivered to Trump’s desk for signature by the end of April. “We’re 15 days out from the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump for his second term. And we want to make sure that we’re jump-starting the agenda now over the next two weeks, so that he’s prepared and ready on day one,” Johnson told the news outlet.

“At the end of the day, President Trump is going to prefer, as he likes to say, one big, beautiful bill. And there’s a lot of merit to that, because we can put it all together, one big up-or-down vote, which can save the country, quite literally, because there are so many elements to it. And it’ll give us a little bit more time to negotiate that and get it right.”

Johnson said that the reconciliation bill would address Trump’s priorities, such as the economy, border security, tax cuts, energy, and incentivizing U.S. companies to manufacture domestically. GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor in December that a reconciliation package “with a once-in-a-generation investment in border security and immigration enforcement” would be passed within the first 100 days of the Trump administration. Thune said the GOP also planned to use the Congressional Review Act to “undo some of the Biden administration regulations that are weighing down our economy” and pass another reconciliation package to expand the tax relief provided to Americans during Trump’s first administration.

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“That is wrong. The Washington Post knows it’s wrong. It’s just another example of Fake News..”

Dollar Reverses Losses After Trump Blasts WaPo’s “Fake News” Tariff Report (ZH)

Update (0930ET): On Truth Social, President-elect Donald Trump blasted the Washington Post for “quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don’t exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back.” “That is wrong. The Washington Post knows it’s wrong. It’s just another example of Fake News,” the former president said. Right away, we called out this malarkey. WaPo’s fake news reporting sent the Bloomberg Spot Dollar Index tumbling by over 1%, one of the biggest intra-day drops since 2023. There is nothing like fake news from legacy corporate media to start the week.

***
The US dollar slid on Monday after reports emerged that President-elect Donald Trump’s aides are considering a revised, less strict tariff plan. While Trump’s 2024 campaign promised a universal tariff on most imports, the new proposal would focus instead on imposing tariffs specifically on critical imports, according to the Washington Post, citing three people familiar with the plan. Trump repeatedly claimed during the campaign that he would implement a “universal” 10% to 20% import tariff on all foreign-made goods into the United States. He also spoke about a 60% import tariff on Chinese goods and a 100% tariff on all imported cars. According to WaPo: “Two weeks before Trump takes office, his aides are still discussing plans to impose import duties on goods from every country, the people said.

But rather than apply tariffs to all imports, the current discussions center on imposing them only on certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security — a shift that would jettison a key aspect of Trump’s campaign pledge, at least for now, said the people, who cautioned that no decisions have been finalized and that planning remains in flux.” While the Biden administration has not rescinded most of the existing tariffs enacted under Trump 1.0, a universal blanket of tariffs on all imports would have been part of the ‘America First’ trade policies. However, it seems unlikely that Trump would abandon such a key policy initiative right out of the gate. The sources familiar with the potential tariff change were unclear about which imports would be affected.

More from WaPo… “Preliminary discussions have largely focused on several key sectors that the Trump team wants to bring back to the United States, the people said. Those include the defense industrial supply chain (through tariffs on steel, iron, aluminum and copper); critical medical supplies (syringes, needles, vials and pharmaceutical materials); and energy production (batteries, rare earth minerals and even solar panels), two of the people said.” WaPo’s report sent the Bloomberg Dollar Index tumbling early Monday, breaking below $108. This marked a sharp reversal following the multi-month 9% rally that started at the beginning of October.

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Meannwhile, Merchan has rejected another appeal.

The Supreme Court will throw this out. But that’s not enough. Trump will have to ask them to retroactively strike Merchan’s verdict, so it will no longer be part of the record.

Curtain to Fall on Merchan’s Hamlet on the Hudson (Turley)

At 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 10, 2025, the curtain will fall on the longest performance of “Hamlet” in history. Acting Justice Juan Merchan will finally decide whether “to be or not to be” the judge to sentence Trump to jail. (Spoiler alert: He appears set to avoid a jail sentence and likely reversal.) Since Trump’s conviction in May 2024, Merchan has contemplated his sentencing options. This was to be the orange-jump-suit moment many longed for over years of unrequited lawfare. They will likely be disappointed. As some of us noted after the verdict, this type of case would often result in an unconditional discharge or a sentence without jail time. That prediction became more likely after Trump was reelected in November. Limits on Trump’s freedom or liberty would likely result in a fast reversal, and Merchan knew it. While various pundits predicted that Trump “will go to jail” after the trial, more realistic lawfare warriors had other ideas.

The next best thing was to suspend proceedings and leave Trump in a type of legal suspended animation. Merchan would hold a leash on the president as a criminal defendant awaiting punishment. But the whole point of a trophy-kill case is the trophy itself. Merchan will not disappoint. While indicating that he is inclined to a sentence without jail or probation, he will finalize the conviction of Trump just 10 days before his inauguration. In so doing, he will formally label the president-elect a convicted felon. It will be punishment by soundbite. Trump will become the first convicted felon to be sworn into office, a historical footnote that will be repeated mantra-like in the media. Merchan seems at points to be writing the actual talking points for the talking heads. In his order, he states grandly that the jurors found that this “was the premediated and continuous deception by the leader of the free world.”

He then adds that he could not vacate the conviction because it would … constitute a disproportionate result and cause immeasurable damage to the citizenry’s confidence in the Rule of Law.” Of course, this did not work out as many hoped. That apparently includes President Biden. Last week, the Washington Post reported that Biden was irate over the Justice Department’s failure to prosecute Trump more quickly to secure a conviction before the election. He also reportedly regretted his appointment of Attorney General Merrick Garland as insufficiently aggressive in pursuing Trump. It appears Garland was not sufficiently Bragg-like for Biden’s lawfare tastes. The sentencing, however, will have another impact. Trump will finally be able to appeal this horrendous case. It has always been a target-rich opportunity for appeal, but Trump could now launch a comprehensive appeal until after he was sentenced.

Those appellate issues include charges based on a novel criminal theory through which New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg not only zapped a dead misdemeanor into life (after the expiration of the statute of limitation) but based a state charge on federal election law and federal taxation violations. So, after the Justice Department declined to prosecute federal violations, Bragg effectively did so in state court with Merchan’s blessing. The issues also include Merchan’s absurd instructions to the jury. The novel theory demanded a secondary offense, the crime that Trump was seeking to conceal by listing payments as legal expenses. Merchan allowed the jury to find that the secondary offense was any of an array of vaguely defined options. Even on the jury form, they did not have to specify which crimes were found. Merchan did not require even a majority, let alone a unanimous jury, to agree on what actually occurred.

Under Merchan’s instruction, the jury could have split four-four-four on whether this was all done to conceal a federal election violation, falsification of business records or taxation violations. Neither Trump nor the public will ever know. Even CNN’s senior legal analyst Elie Honig denounced the case as legally flawed and unprecedented. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) recently put it more simply and called the case total “b—s–t.” While expectations are not great for the New York legal system itself, this case will eventually go to the United States Supreme Court. Of course, like so much else in the vortex of Merchan’s courtroom, the final leave to appeal comes at a cost. While Merchan admits begrudgingly that incarceration is no longer “practical,” Trump will now have to appeal this case over the course of his presidency.

When the sentence is imposed on Jan. 10, it is likely to feel comically downsized given the effort. After years and millions spent in the various Trump cases, Trump will likely receive an unconditional discharge and sent along his way . . . to the White House. As predicted, the two federal cases never saw a trial in Florida or Washington, D.C. In Georgia, Fani Willis was dropped from her racketeering case, which has gone nowhere due to her own misconduct. It is like the Allied forces launching the Normandy Invasion to capture Monaco.

In the meantime, the 2024 election proved to be the largest verdict in history after years of lawfare and biased media reporting came to nothing. Merchan showed little self-awareness in claiming that he was only trying to avoid “immeasurable damage to the citizenry’s confidence in the Rule of Law” in continuing the case. Polls show the public saw these cases as lawfare and Merchan is widely viewed as causing precisely that “immeasurable damage” with his handling of the case. Given this record, it may be fitting that the trophy from the New York case is a media talking point, while it lasts. So, Merchan’s performance of Hamlet on the Hudson will close off Broadway long after the audience has left. The reviews will be mixed since few minds will be changed. As the protagonist himself proclaimed, “I must be cruel only to be kind; thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.”

Merchan

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“Every effort has been made to put Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Hillary Clinton above the law. And every effort has been made to put Trump beneath the law..”

The Lawfare Sentencing of Trump On January 10 Will Backfire (ZH)

Update (1220ET): President-Elect Donald Trump is attempting to halt proceedings in his business records case, with his attorneys stating that they intend to file an appeal to reverse a decision setting sentencing for Jan. 10. His request came on Jan. 6, just days after Merchan’s decision on Jan. 3. Trump’s lawyers argued that their appeal should trigger what’s known as an automatic stay, or pause, in the proceedings. If that doesn’t happen, they argued, Merchan should then grant a pause and prevent sentencing from happening on Friday as scheduled. “Today, President Trump’s legal team moved to stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt,” Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said. “The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the state constitution of New York, and other established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately dismissed.” As a reminder, in December, Merchan rejected Trump’s various immunity-related objections to the evidence used during trial.

* * *
As MishTalk.com’s Mike Shedlock detailed earlier, MAGA supporters rail against Trump’s sentencing ahead of his inauguration. Instead, they should be pleased. Let’s discuss why… Sentencing on January 10. Politico reports Trump Will Be Sentenced but Won’t Get Jail Time. “A New York judge plans to sentence Donald Trump on Jan. 10 for his criminal hush money conviction, rejecting efforts by the president-elect to sweep aside a jury’s verdict that found him guilty of 34 felony counts. But Justice Juan Merchan indicated he will not sentence Trump to prison time, acknowledging that incarceration is not a “practicable” option. And the judge said Trump may attend the sentencing virtually rather than reporting to court in person. The long-delayed sentencing — unless a higher court blocks it — will force Trump to revisit the sordid hush money case just 10 days before his inauguration.

And by maintaining the jury’s verdict, Merchan all but ensured that Trump will take office with his sole criminal conviction still on his record. In an 18-page decision Friday, Merchan ruled that the Supreme Court’s July decision on presidential immunity does not shield Trump from facing sentencing for the conviction. And the judge rejected Trump’s arguments that the entire case should be thrown out in light of his victory in the 2024 election, calling the suggestion an affront to the justice system. Merchan also sharply criticized Trump for his “disdain” for the legal process. In addition to continually criticizing the case itself, Trump repeatedly argued for Merchan to recuse himself, claiming the judge was biased. During the trial, he disobeyed the judge’s gag order and often appeared to fall asleep in court.”

Democrats Cheer, for Now Sentencing ahead of the inauguration will let Democrats claim Trump will take office with his sole criminal conviction on his record. I view this as mostly good news. Q: Why? A: Sentencing now will speed up the appeals process. This is a sham trial that never should have happened. And the mistakes made by Merchan ensure the case will be tossed out. Had Merchan delayed sentencing, Democrats might have held sentencing over Trump for four more years. Hunter Biden Convicted On June 11, I commented Hunter Biden Convicted, Unlike Trump, Hunter’s Conviction Won’t Be OverturnedHey Joe, how does it feel to have a son convicted of a felony? For now you can call Trump a felon, but that won’t last due to numerous and flagrant judicial errors.

Trump Found Guilty – a Travesty of Justice for America I commented on Trump in my post Trump Found Guilty – a Travesty of Justice for America: I Am Outraged. I am outraged but not surprised. But the hypocrites will cheer hoping for a knockout. They will say “No one is above the law”. Indeed. But no one should be beneath the law either. Every effort has been made to put Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Hillary Clinton above the law. And every effort has been made to put Trump beneath the law, including judicial instructions. Everyone should be outraged. The trial was unfair because there should not have been a trial at all. The judge’s actions were outrageous.

Pardon vs Overturned Conviction President Biden lied about Hunter. Then in a disgraceful move, the president pardoned his son. However, accepting a pardon implies guilt. Hunter won’t go to prison where he belongs. But no one can say he wasn’t guilty. If New York Governor Kathy Hochul offers Trump a pardon, he should refuse it on grounds of innocence. And as soon as the Trump conviction is overturned, and it will be, no one will be able to call Trump a felon. Sentencing now will speed up an appeal, and the conviction will be tossed, hopefully with prejudice. So let the hypocrites have another month or whatever of bragging. Then reality will set in with an easy overturn on multiple grounds.

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“For both sides of the aisle, the certification of Trump’s re-election four years later is likely a reminder of the magnitude of the political comeback the president-elect has achieved.”

US Congress Formally Certifies Trump’s Election Victory (ZH)

Update (1335ET): Trump captured the presidency with 312 electoral votes to Harris’s 226 — a total that was confirmed during the certification on Monday, marking the final step in the election process before Trump formally takes back the White House on Jan. 20.. Republicans gave a standing ovation in the chamber when Harris announced Trump’s victory was now certified. A bipartisan standing ovation broke out in the House chamber after Harris declared the joint session of Congress dissolved. In a video released ahead of the certification, Harris hailed the “peaceful transfer of power” as a bedrock of U.S. democracy, calling her duty a “sacred obligation.” “As we have seen, our democracy can be fragile,” Harris said. “And it is up to each of us to stand up for our most cherished principles.” This year’s counting of the electoral votes was declared a “national special security event,” unlocking federal, state and local resources.

* * *
As The Epoch Times’ Joseph Lord detailed earlier, Congress will formally certify President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election on Jan. 6, marking the final ceremonial step to confirm Trump as the next commander-in-chief. Vice President Kamala Harris, as president of the Senate, will officiate the certification during a joint session of Congress and declare her erstwhile rival the winner in the presidential contest. It’s expected to be largely a quiet, formal process this year. Harris has said she intends to treat her role as ceremonial. Democrats in Congress have already made clear that they accept Trump’s win. For members of both parties, the day can’t help but recall the events that unfolded four years prior. During the certification of the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump protesters entered the Capitol, placing the certification process on hold and putting an end to a Republican effort to object to certain electoral slates.

Following the Capitol breach, Republican leaders like Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) distanced themselves from Trump, joining Democrats in saying he was ultimately responsible for the incident. The House quickly pushed through a second impeachment resolution against Trump, though it failed in the Senate. Pundits believed Trump’s political future was at an end. For both sides of the aisle, the certification of Trump’s re-election four years later is likely a reminder of the magnitude of the political comeback the president-elect has achieved.

The Process. Lawmakers from both chambers will gather in the House chamber, which is traditionally used for joint sessions, at 1 p.m. ET to begin the process of certification. Under the process mandated by law, the official electoral slates will be transported into the House chamber in large mahogany boxes. Harris will then open the sealed electoral slates and hand them to the congressional tellers to be read aloud in alphabetical order. As these votes are read off, lawmakers have the opportunity to raise any objections they see fit, so long as both a representative and a senator sign off on the objection. At that point, both chambers would meet for two hours to debate the objection before returning to a joint session. These objections have been a relatively common fixture of American political life in the 21st century, with objections to certain electoral votes brought in 2001, 2005, 2017, and 2021. This year, however, Democrats have indicated that they expect no objections will be brought against certifying Trump’s win.

Jan. 6, 2021. Though Jan. 6 was once seen as a relatively uneventful day in American political life, for the past four years, the date has been a cultural flashpoint. During a speech at the Ellipse four years ago, Trump, alleging that the 2020 election results were tainted by fraud, told his supporters to go to the Capitol to “peacefully and patriotically“ protest the certification of the results. In the speech, Trump urged then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject certain electoral slates from key battleground states. When the crowd arrived at the Capitol, chaos ensued as some protesters entered the Capitol. Most entered through the main entrances, though a minority entered through smashed windows. Ultimately, the Capitol was cleared of protesters after Trump urged his supporters to leave. Though some damages had been done to the building and some offices, certification proceeded without further objections. Critics of Trump alleged that the Capitol breach was the culmination of an attempted insurrection against the U.S. government. Supporters of Trump say the narratives surrounding the events of the day have been misrepresented and note Trump’s role in ending the breach and how he left office unchallenged on Jan. 20, 2021.

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Archeofuturism.

Musk and Trump Can Bring A New Era That Blends Technology and Tradition (RT)

Elon Musk’s technological ambitions and Guillaume Faye’s Archeofuturist philosophy come together in a vision where advanced innovation revives ancient values, blending tradition with progress. Under Trump’s conservative leadership, this synergy could forge a future where ancestral spirit and technological power redefine civilization. Elon Musk, the trailblazing entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX, and Guillaume Faye, the French thinker known for his concept of Archeofuturism, converge in their advocacy for a future that harmonizes technological advancement with traditional values. Musk builds rockets, electric cars, and brain-computer interfaces, but beneath the silicon and steel lies a worldview positively aligned with Faye’s vision of a world where cutting-edge technoscience intertwines with the primordial myths and ethoses of ancient societies.

Archeofuturism proposes that mankind’s future must reject linear progressivism in favor of a cyclical model where archaic principles are revived and fused with world-renewing technologies. Musk’s projects are engineering feats as well as vessels of a philosophy that reawakens mankind’s different ethnic souls while propelling it towards the stars. During Donald Trump’s second presidency, a unique synergy will emerge between Musk’s technological endeavors and the administration’s conservative policies. Trump’s emphasis on deregulation and national sovereignty will dismantle bureaucratic obstacles, creating fertile ground for Musk’s Faustian ambition to thrive. While many view Trump’s administration as emblematic of an older, more traditionalist America, Musk represents the forward-facing engine of a society redefining itself.

Together, their approaches provide the scaffolding for a world where technological innovation makes its influence felt without compromising the foundational principles of identity and sovereignty. Faye’s Archeofuturism predicts this dynamic: a synthesis of traditionalism and futurism, where governance nurtures innovation and cultural renewal in tandem instead of pitting them against each other. SpaceX, under Musk’s leadership, is a monumental expression of Archeofuturist ideals. The company’s reusable rocket technology shatters the constraints of old models, both economically and ideologically, paving the way for mankind’s long overdue exploration of the cosmos. Musk’s rhetoric about making life multiplanetary is not science fiction. It brings to mind Faye’s call to reignite mankind’s heroic spirit.

Musk’s planned colonization of Mars is framed both as a technological achievement and a necessity for human survival – a reclamation of the explorer archetype that has driven civilizations since antiquity. During the Trump administration, which celebrates American exceptionalism and a revived interest in space exploration, SpaceX will truly prosper. By partnering with NASA, Musk is able to leverage Trump’s nationalist energy into a cosmic ambition that goes beyond the political, tapping into the primal yearning to break frontiers. Tesla’s rise provides another layer to this Archeofuturist narrative. Electric vehicles have long been seen as symbols of sterile modernity, but Musk reshapes them into icons of power, speed, and autonomy.

Tesla cars, with their sleek design and state-of-the-art performance, marry ecological consciousness with technological dominance, reaffirming Faye’s insistence that future societies must balance environmental concerns with bold, dynamic solutions. Tesla’s emergence as the world’s most valuable car company is not just a market success. It symbolizes the cultural shift towards a future where sustainability is not synonymous with mediocrity. Trump’s administration, which prioritizes reducing regulatory burdens, will allow Tesla to innovate at an unprecedented pace, demonstrating how conservative policies can catalyze technological revolutions aligned with Archeofuturist principles.

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“This was a holistic effort, Ball proudly wrote, that helped guarantee a Biden victory.”

Conspiracies Too Awful to Imagine? (Victor Davis Hanson)

2. Indeed, during the Trump administration, we witnessed once more undreamed-of efforts to sabotage a presidency:

a) A former Pentagon lawyer publishing a call for either immediate Trump impeachment, 25th Amendment removal, or a military coup.

b) A planning session of the Deputy Attorney General and Interim FBI Director to discuss stealthily recording the President of the United States in hopes of finding enough off-the-record embarrassing conversations to justify a 25th Amendment removal.

c) A later 2020 campaign effort jumpstarted by the current Biden Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the former interim CIA Director Mike Morrell, with help from former CIA Directors John Brennan and Leon Panetta, along with former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, to round up 51 “former” (but actually many enjoying then-current CIA contractor status) “intelligence authorities” to publicly mislead the public by signing a letter that the incriminating Hunter Biden laptop (then in the hands of and authenticated as genuine by the FBI) was once again a Russian effort to throw the election to Trump. It was an obvious scripted lie, but timely scheduled before the last debate to arm Biden with plausible denials and thus to help swing the election to him. And it likely did.

d) There was, in addition, an effort by the heads of the NIH, Francis Collins, and NIAID, Anthony Fauci, deliberately to obfuscate, and allegedly in the case of Fauci, to lie under oath, about the efforts of American health authorities 1) to evade U.S. prohibitions on gain-in-function viral research, by funding the third-party EcoHealth Alliance to facilitate the transference of American money, instrumentation, and consulting to partner with the Chinese communist Wuhan virology lab; 2) to obfuscate the truth that the lab had somehow leaked the lethal, manmade virus—birthed with the help of U.S. expertise—that was killing millions worldwide; 3) to promulgate a false scenario of a bat/pangolin origin; 4) to deny under oath the American government’s role in the birth of the virus; 5) to suppress dissident scientific voices; and 6) to advise radical quarantine policies that would virtually destroy the U.S. economy along with the Trump 2020 reelection effort, and then shift blame from their own culpability to a false narrative that Trump was the chief driver of a disastrous national shutdown that had ruined the economy and yet was supposedly nearly criminally lax in controlling the outbreak.

e) The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, took it upon himself to 1) violate his own legal prerogatives as an advisory military official by unlawfully interrupting the chain of command when ordering theater commanders to report directly to him rather than as legally required to the Secretary of Defense in times of national crises, and 2) without presidential or Pentagon written authority, contacted his Chinese communist counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army. His stated aim apparently was to reassure the Chinese military that in Milley’s own view, if he should diagnose Trump, his own commander-in-chief, as unbalanced and intending to escalate tensions to the threshold of a possible nuclear war, Milley again would first contact General Zuocheng to reassure him that an erratic Trump would then be not in full command of American strategic forces.

Then he, Milley, with others, would seek to de-escalate tensions and preclude a conflict. Milley denied any impropriety. But he could not negate that he had no such authority to act on the part of the executive branch and was doing so in direct opposition to the President of the United States. Milley was also de facto creating a dangerous precedent for any future ambitious, freelancing chairmen of the Joint Chiefs, both to interrupt the chain of command and to self-diagnose their commander-in-chief to justify excluding him from exercising his responsibilities entailed in his oath of office.

f) In the 2020 election cycle, left-wing-funded legal teams systematically and under the guise of the COVID lockdown sued in favorable courts to overturn or modify state balloting laws to ensure the most radical and abrupt changes in U.S. voting procedures in history. The net result was that in many key states, traditional Election Day balloting that had accounted for 60-80 percent of the cast votes was made a mere construct. Instead, some 60-70 percent of voters in many key states cast early- or mail-in ballots, even as the traditional rejection rate of such ballots drastically fell—again, as the numbers to be counted soared.

g) During this same 2020 election, according to liberal journalist Molly Ball, writing triumphantly post facto in Time magazine, a named “cabal” and “conspiracy” of billionaire leftist grandees, Silicon Valley monopolists, Chamber of Commerce, corporate entities, labor, and street activists sought to change balloting laws, street modulate demonstrations, enlist social media to censor and shape the news, partner with the FBI, and provide hundreds of millions of dollars to absorb the work of state registrars by supplying their own adjutant employees and voting materials. This was a holistic effort, Ball proudly wrote, that helped guarantee a Biden victory.

h) During 2021-2024, there were 91 local, state, and federal felony indictments launched against the ex-president and then-current front-running Republican candidate and opponent of the sitting president Biden. The charges were so blatantly political, and the principals in direct or indirect contact with either the White House counsel, the Department of Justice, or each other, that the multifaceted effort could be rightly termed a conspiracy to warp the legal system by destroying a political opponent. The charges would never have been brought against any other political candidate or against Trump himself—had he not publicly announced his intention to run a third time for president.

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“They found a cure for gluttony. Now do narcissism.” — Peachy Keenan

Prank-O-Rama (James Howard Kunstler)

Poor “Joe Biden” can’t help himself as the sun sets on his ignominious career. He ordered the American flag to fly at half-staff into January 20, inauguration day, to signal grief and distress at Donald Trump’s swearing-in — not realizing, apparently, that Mr. Trump’s first act in office will be to order the flag raised back up, signaling symbolically the end to America’s grief and distress under “Joe Biden.” You might wonder: what other sort of vicious mischief the Party of Chaos has in store in the final ramp-up to a momentous change of government? Well, no sooner had ol’ “JB” draped the Wegovy-slenderized neck of Hillary Clinton with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, than Bill Clinton went on ABC’s The View to declare he was “open to talking with [‘President Biden’]” about a preemptive pardon for Hillary. Say, whu. . . ?

What crimes did Bill have in mind that such a pardon might avail? Skolkovo? Uranium One? The Clinton Foundation’s sketchy activities in Haiti after the earthquake there? Bill preemptively mentioned the old emails bidness as a ruse. Nothing to see there, folks, he protested. (Just don’t look anywhere else!) You must imagine that the incoming Solicitor General, John Sauer’s, first act in office will be to ask SCOTUS for a ruling on the legitimacy of preemptive pardons — blanket pardons for crimes alive perhaps in guilty consciences but nowhere extant as yet in the legal system. The justices might detect a certain logical incoherence in that proposition. “Joe Biden” should have just draped wreaths of garlic around the necks of Mrs. Clinton, Liz Cheney, and Alex Soros (standing in for ol’ George).

Judge Juan Merchan did not get a medal. He’s warming up for his January 10 stunt of sentencing Mr. Trump for the “felony” of recording a payment to lawyer Michael Cohen as a “legal expense” (times thirty-four) so Democrats can holler “nyah nyah, felon!” as Mr. Trump re-enters the Oval Office. Judge Merchan himself has racked-up an impressive list of federal offenses around deprivation of Mr. Trump’s civil and due-process rights as well as judicial misconduct, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power. Justice may await the judge. Today, January 6, of course, is electoral vote certification day in a joint session of Congress. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has been making noises about contesting certification on the grounds that Mr. Trump is an “insurrectionist” under the disqualification clause in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Don’t be surprised if Jamie makes a show of it to justify all his loose talk, but it will only be a performance.

He might as well bring a chicken into the chamber and bite its head off. The shadowy claque behind “Joe Biden” has been super-busy cooking up documents for the demented old bird to sign before leaving office, anything that supposedly might discommode the incoming Mr. Trump. “JB” is like a bandit fleeing the scene of a crime, throwing his stolen booty into the road off the back of his truck to trip up the police closing in. Close down offshore oil drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts for evermore. . . ban gas-powered water heaters. . . any old thing to make life more uncomfortable for the people of this land. The shadowy claque seems oblivious to the fact that the people won’t appreciate these pranks, that they just give more reasons for them to drive a wooden stake through the heart of the Democratic Party — as if it even had one.

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Does Bannon have evidence that Musk is “owned lock, stock, and barrel by the Chinese Communist Party?”

Bannon Goes Off On Musk Over “Social Credit Score” Changes On X (ZH)

To say Steve Bannon is not a fan of Elon Musk would be putting it lightly. In 2023, the former White House chief strategist suggested that Musk is a “total and complete phony,” who is “owned lock, stock, and barrel by the Chinese Communist Party.” Then last week, after Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy sparked a firestorm of criticism over H-1B visas, Bannon said that Musk and other tech companies utilizing H-1B labor “want a tech feudalism.” And on Saturday, Bannon suggested that Musk has “masters in Beijing” during a Sunday episode of WarRoom in which Bannon discussed Musk’s decision to change the algorithm on X to reduce “negativity.” “This is the CCP. This is a social credit score,” said Bannon, adding “He’s got a glass jaw…he’s got the maturity of an 11-year-old. It’s obvious, he can’t take criticism.”

“One of his weaknesses is that he needs to be loved. He needs the masses to love him. He needs the masses to love him, you can tell when he’s on the stage, he needs that glory.” Bannon then circled back on the H-1B visa debate for which Musk started catching major shit from the right. “So then when his apparatus turns against him, and particularly people that cheered him who said ‘hey, we hate what you’re doing to this country, we know now that you’re lying to us, bald-faced lie, these are not high-skilled people,’ and they turn, all of a sudden, he has to go to what is a Chinese credit score,” he continued.

“They have a digital ghetto. And to only have raised up what praises him. That is like the little boy’s mentally of ‘I want to be the superhero, I want to put the cape on and kind of skip around.'” “It’s an absolute indication of immaturity, of not being able to deal with things as an adult. And that’s what you’re seeing being implemented on Twitter here,” Bannon said. Musk’s decision to change the X algorithm to “maximize unregretted user-seconds” has not gone over well – particularly among the ‘free speech absolutist’ crowd, which recoiled in shock during the H-1B visa debate when those critical of the program found themselves demonetized or outright banned from the platform.

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“..a “hellish mixture of neo-Nazism and terrorism with drug delirium.”

Moscow Reacts To Zelensky’s Request To Trump For Frozen Russian Cash (RT)

Vladimir Zelensky’s claim that he told US President-elect Donald Trump that Kiev could use frozen Russian assets to buy American weapons is proof of “deep-rooted corrupt ties” between the Ukrainian leader and the West, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has claimed. During his three-hour-long interview with podcaster Lex Fridman on Sunday, Zelensky said he had proposed that Trump give Ukraine the $300 billion in Russian central bank funds that had been frozen by the US and EU after the escalation of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. The money would serve as one of the security guarantees to Ukraine during a possible diplomatic settlement of the conflict, he explained.

According to Zelensky, he told Trump to “take the $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. We will take it. Take money, what we need for our domestic production, and we will buy all the weapons from the US.” Such an arrangement “will be very good for your industry, for the US,” he added. Zakharova reacted to the claim in a post on Telegram on Monday, insisting that the fact that the Ukrainian leader “offered Trump ‘other people’s money in exchange for weapons’ testifies to Zelensky’s deep-rooted corrupt ties with the Anglo-Americans [the US and UK].”

US President Joe Biden has “firmly hooked the Kiev regime on: steal and kill, and then steal again – a bloody scheme in place since the time of Burisma,” a Ukrainian firm which employed the elderly politician’s son Hunter as a highly-paid director in the 2010s, she wrote. As for Zelensky’s interview as a whole, the spokeswoman described it as a “hellish mixture of neo-Nazism and terrorism with drug delirium.” The Ukrainian leader is “completely out of his mind,” Zakharova suggested.

During his conversation with Fridman, Zelensky, among other things, said that it was “bad” that Ukraine did not have nuclear weapons and confessed that he “despises” the Russian people. In late December, exiled Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk claimed that the “corrupt nature” of Zelensky’s rule is the reason why his country is now ruined. Medvedchuk also suggested that the whole conflict between Moscow and Kiev is “based on one large corrupt scheme that involves leading parties and politicians in Europe and the US.” The Western politicians that support Ukraine are afraid of losing power because it could lead to the new leaders finding out “that they had been robbing their own people under the guise of helping Zelensky,” he said.

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“Continued support for Kiev is vital for the “credibility” of the West..”

Ukraine Should Be ‘Realistic’ – Macron (RT)

Resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict will not be quick or easy and will require Kiev to face the issue of territory, French President Emmanuel Macron has warned. Speaking to an annual conference of ambassadors at the Elysee Palace on Monday, Macron addressed a number of global issues, including the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. “The Ukrainians need to hold a realistic discussion on the territorial questions and only they can do that,” the French president said. “The United States of America has to help us change the nature of the situation and convince Russia to come to the negotiating table,” while the European members of NATO have the responsibility to craft security guarantees for Ukraine, Macron added.

While no specific peace proposal has been made public, rumors in the media have suggested that US President-elect Donald Trump intends to propose a ceasefire that would “freeze” the conflict along the current front line. Some Western governments have sought to handle Kiev’s expected objections to this by offering Ukraine security guarantees, while stopping short of NATO membership. The French president also warned that there is “no quick and easy solution” in Ukraine, even though Trump has pledged to end the conflict swiftly once he takes office. Continued support for Kiev is vital for the “credibility” of the West, which would be “undermined” by any compromises brought about by “Ukraine fatigue,” Macron told the diplomats in Paris. “The new American president himself knows that the US has no chance of winning anything if Ukraine loses,” Macron said, adding that “capitulation of Ukraine cannot be good for Europeans and Americans.”

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has outlawed any talks with Russia so long as President Vladimir Putin is in office and has insisted on a “peace platform” that would see a unilateral Russian withdrawal from all territories claimed by Kiev, payment of reparations, and war crimes prosecutions. Moscow has dismissed Zelensky’s proposal as delusional. Russia’s terms for ending the hostilities insist on Ukraine becoming neutral, demilitarized and “denazified,” while accepting the “new territorial realities” on the ground and guaranteeing all the rights of ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers. Any peace will also require the removal of all Western sanctions on Russia as well, the Kremlin has said.

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Can Starlink cover all internet services for the whole country?

Italy In Talks With Starlink For $1.6 Billion Telecom Security Deal (ZH)

President-elect Donald Trump hosted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday. Following the meeting, Bloomberg reported that a deal between the Italian government and Elon Musk’s SpaceX for Starlink satellite internet service could soon be finalized to provide secure telecommunications. Starlink and the Italian government have been in discussions since mid-2023. According to the report, talks are ongoing and centered around a five-year contract valued at $1.6 billion. This contract would provide a broad range of top-level encryption for the government’s telephone and internet services. Sources indicated that Italy’s Intelligence Services and Defense Ministry have already signed a deal with SpaceX. Italy confirmed on Monday that discussions continue, stating that no deal has been reached. Officials added, “The talks with SpaceX are part of normal government business.”

On Saturday, Trump praised PM Meloni as a “fantastic woman” at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. “This is very exciting,” Trump said, adding, “I’m here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy. She’s really taken Europe by storm.” Trump and Meloni were joined by two of his nominees: Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) for Secretary of State and Representative Mike Waltz (R-Florida) for National Security Advisor. Following the meeting, Bloomberg reported that a deal between the Italian government and Elon Musk’s SpaceX for Starlink satellite internet service could soon be finalized to provide secure telecommunications.

Starlink and the Italian government have been in discussions since mid-2023. According to the report, talks are ongoing and centered around a five-year contract valued at $1.6 billion. This contract would provide a broad range of top-level encryption for the government’s telephone and internet services. Sources indicated that Italy’s Intelligence Services and Defense Ministry have already signed a deal with SpaceX. Italy confirmed on Monday that discussions continue, stating that no deal has been reached. Officials added, “The talks with SpaceX are part of normal government business.” On Saturday, Trump praised PM Meloni as a “fantastic woman” at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. “This is very exciting,” Trump said, adding, “I’m here with a fantastic woman, the prime minister of Italy. She’s really taken Europe by storm.”

https://twitter.com/Trump_Fact_News/status/1865559780557013248

Trump and Meloni were joined by two of his nominees: Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) for Secretary of State and Representative Mike Waltz (R-Florida) for National Security Advisor. Meloni’s visit to Mar-a-Lago follows her dinner with Trump and Musk in December during the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Last month, Reuters reported that Italy plans to begin tests as early as January to see if Starlink internet will boost the rollout of high-speed internet in the country. Musk’s SpaceX is the leader in rocket launches and satellite deployment, allowing the US to be many years ahead of China and Russia in the global space race. Starlink has more than 7,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit, along with next-gen satellites being launched regularly for direct-to-cell satellite services.

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This says Ursula and Bourla used SMS and then deleted the messages. WhatsApp seems more likely, since it is encrypted.

Pfizergate: What is EC Chief Von Der Leyen Accused of? (Sp.)

A court in Liege, Belgium, is due to consider whether European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has legal immunity against corruption charges related to her murky involvement in the purchase of coronavirus vaccines. What is the scandal all about? Sputnik explores. In 2022, US media reported that von der Leyen had communicated with Albert Bourla, chief executive of the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, about clinching a long-term contract to purchase 1.8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines worth €35 billion ($37.6 billion), even before they passed clinical trials. Negotiations on the deal were conducted informally in late 2020 via SMS messages and without prior consent of EU member states.

The European Commission President also texted her husband, Heiko von der Leyen, who serves as the medical director at Orgenesis, a company that collaborates with Pfizer. All the messages were then accidentally deleted, Ursula von der Leyen claimed. As a result, she has been accused of “usurpation of functions and title,” destruction of public documents, and high-level corruption charges that were initiated by Belgian lobbyist Frederic Baldan. The first hearing on his complaint was held on 17 May 2024, when the Liege court confirmed that the so-called Pfizegate case is in line with its jurisdiction and should not be handed to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), created on the initiative of von der Leyen herself, due to an obvious conflict of interests.

The second hearing slated for December 5 was actually disrupted due to a demarche by the EPPO, which sent a counter-request to the court for von der Leyen’s immunity. The EPPO argues that von der Leyen has immunity from prosecution for corruption. European Commission spokesperson Stefan de Keersmaecker said on January 5 that von der Leyen had canceled all “external engagements” in the coming days after contracting “severe pneumonia.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1876278016722010115

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“According to three separate reports published in 2013, 2014, and 2015, local politicians and police alike opted to cover up the rapes partly out of fear that bringing the perpetrators to justice would be seen as “racist.”

Migrants Arrested For Sex Crimes At Triple The Rate Of Brits – UK Stats (RT)

Foreigners are more than three times as likely to be arrested for sex crimes in the UK as British citizens, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by the Centre for Migration Control using data from the Home Office and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The report comes amid claims that the government has purposefully suppressed information on migrant crime stats, as well as a renewed uproar over institutional cover-ups in the ‘grooming gangs’ scandal. Groups of men across the UK, predominantly of Pakistani origin, have reportedly raped and tortured thousands of underage girls in towns across northern England over the last two decades. Police in England and Wales arrested more than 9,000 foreign nationals for sexual offenses between January and October last year, according to the data, which was released through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

That figure represented 26.1% of the total estimated 35,000 arrests for sexual offenses. The data show almost 165 arrests per 100,000 of the migrant population, in comparison to 48 arrests per 100,000 British citizens. In the City of London, foreign nationals accounted for almost 67% of arrests for sexual offenses. Looking at all crimes, the report showed that foreign nationals were arrested at twice the rate of Britons, with 131,000 arrests over the same period last year. While foreigners make up nine percent of the population, they accounted for more than 16% of arrests. Albanians were the nationality most likely to be arrested for sex crimes, followed by Afghans, Iraqis, and Algerians. Romanians accounted for the most arrests for crimes overall, followed by Poles, Albanians, Indians, Pakistanis, and Nigerians.

Robert Bates, the founder of the Centre for Migration Control, told The Telegraph that the government must implement “far stricter visa protocols” for those nationalities with a “disproportionately high propensity to engage in criminality.” A government spokesman said on Monday that the Ministry of Justice “already publishes the data on convicted foreign nationals serving in our prisons” and has a plan for “smashing the criminal gangs” in Britain. Calls have grown for a public inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal in recent days after Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk publicly attacked Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s handling of the issue when he led the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service, from 2008 to 2013.

In a series of posts on X, Musk pointed to reports that the Home Office allegedly urged the police forces in 2008 not to investigate sexual exploitation of underage girls. Musk called Starmer a “national embarrassment” and said he “must go.” According to three separate reports published in 2013, 2014, and 2015, local politicians and police alike opted to cover up the rapes partly out of fear that bringing the perpetrators to justice would be seen as “racist.”

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A guaranteed hit.

Amazon Confirms Melania Trump Documentary (RT)

A documentary about Melania Trump will be released later this year, Amazon has confirmed, touting the forthcoming release as “an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look” at the former and incoming US first lady. Filming began in December with former Hollywood heavyweight Brett Ratner as the director, Variety reported on Monday. “We are excited to share this truly unique story with our millions of customers around the world,” an Amazon spokesperson told the outlet. “Prime Video will be sharing more details on the project as filming progresses and release plans are finalized.” The film will reportedly be released in theaters as well as on the Prime streaming platform. Trump herself is listed as an executive producer, alongside Fernando Sulichin of New Element Media. Sulichin has worked with Oliver Stone on documentaries about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and Brazilian president Luiz Inacio ‘Lula’ da Silva.

Work on the project began about a month after her husband Donald decisively won the 2024 US presidential election. Slovenian-born Melania is Trump’s third wife and the mother of his youngest son, Barron. Amazon’s Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post, which was openly critical of Trump during his first term in the White House (2017-2021). Bezos has recently signaled a change of approach, praising Trump for “tremendous grace and courage under literal fire” after an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July. Ahead of the November election, he blocked the Post from endorsing Trump’s rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Last month, Bezos also announced he would be making a $1 million donation to Trump’s inauguration fund and another $1 million in-kind contribution by streaming the ceremony on Prime Video. Ratner’s involvement has attracted some controversy in Hollywood. The director of ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ and the ‘Rush Hour’ franchise has not worked since 2017, when several actresses publicly accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior. No charges were ever filed, however, and the entire episode played out in the court of public opinion at the height of the ‘Me Too’ era triggered by accusations against producer Harvey Weinstein.

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After all these years, the best they can do is “power a small refrigerator for about 3.5 hours”.

Nuclear Fusion Offers Safe And Clean Energy (JTN)

Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin announced last month that the largest private fusion company in the U.S. had selected the state to be the location for a multi-billion dollar investment in the world’s first grid-scale fusion power plant. Commonwealth Fusion Systems promises to deliver power to the grid within a decade from a facility 16 miles south of Richmond. Fusion power has been getting a lot of attention lately, including a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing in September, with a panel of experts speaking optimistically on the development of the technology. Even if developers manage to overcome the technical challenges of bringing fusion energy to fruition, nuclear proponents say that the barriers to development of nuclear fission remain political and not technical or economical. There’s little reason to think the same political challenges could stand in the way of fusion, even if the technology is realized.

The International Atomic Energy Commission explains that while fission splits a heavy element (with a high atomic mass number) into fragments; fusion joins two light elements (with a low atomic mass number), forming a heavier element. In both cases, energy is freed because the mass of the remaining nucleus is smaller than the mass of the reacting nuclei. Nuclear fission power plants have the disadvantage of generating unstable nuclei; some of these are radioactive for millions of years. “Fusion on the other hand does not create any long-lived radioactive nuclear waste. A fusion reactor produces helium, which is an inert gas.” Too cheap to meterFusion works by combining isotopes together, in a process that releases energy. It’s the same process that the sun uses. Theoretically, a fusion reactor could generate massive amounts of electricity, without any carbon dioxide emissions.

It also doesn’t carry the risks of a nuclear meltdown that, while very rare, can occur in a fission reactor, which releases energy by splitting atoms apart. There’s no chance of a chain reaction in a fusion generator. Fusion also doesn’t produce nuclear waste. While the prospect of an abundant, carbon-free energy source is attractive, the promise of fusion is nothing new. At an Atoms for Peace conference in 1955, Homi Bhabha, an influential Indian nuclear physicist predicted fusion would be a reality by the 1970s. “I venture to predict that a method will be found for liberating fusion energy in a controlled manner within the next two decades,” Bhabha said.

The prediction, of course, turned out to be wrong, and 70 years later, there are no commercial fusion reactors powering the grid anywhere in the world. While fission reactors have been deployed and have provided about 9% of global energy in 2023, that technology too had its share of hype, once promising to be “too cheap to meter.” In 2022, the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, became the only facility to achieve what’s called “net fusion energy,” which is a fusion reaction producing more energy than the reaction required. The reaction released 3.15 million joules of energy and required 2.05 million joules of laser power to produce it. The 3.15 million joules is the equivalent of 875 watt hours. That could power a small refrigerator for about 3.5 hours.

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Jan 6

 

 

Biden Is ‘Unequivocally’ More Mentally Fit Than Trump

 

 

Errol

 

 

Octopus

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 042025
 


Edouard Manet Osny, The road-menders, Rue de Berne 1878

 

Judge Orders Trump Sentenced On Jan. 10 In Stormy Daniels Case (Hill)
Mike Johnson Narrowly Re-Elected As US House Speaker (RT)
Mike Johnson Vows Big Spending Cuts, Like $200b Student Loan Giveaway (JTN)
Trump Fumes Over Half-Mast US Flags At His Inauguration (RT)
Devin Nunes Reemerges (Victor Davis Hanson)
Musk Considers Suing Media Over Cybertruck Incident Coverage (RT)
Elon Musk Dismisses ‘Cybertruck Bomber’ FSD Theory (ZH)
Trump Calls On UK To Open Up North Sea, Get Rid Of Wind Farms (OP)
‘Unpredictable’ Trump Could Help End Ukraine Conflict – Zelensky (RT)
Kiev Set To Comply With US Demand To Draft Teenagers – Moscow (RT)
Zelensky Criticizes EU’s Use Of ‘Cheap Labor’ From Ukraine (RT)
Western Europe Risks Losing Everything (Lukyanov)
The Twilight of Twilight (James Howard Kunstler)
California Rings in the New Year with New Push to Block Voter ID (Turley)
German MP Calls For NordStream To Be Reactivated (RT)
Germany Facing Longest Recession Ever – Handelsblatt (RT)
The Brewing US Debt Ceiling Crisis (David Stockman)
Study Finds DNA Contamination In Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccines (RT)

 

 


Grok

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1875017425089126794

1,000

Morissette

Chip Roy

Vegas

 

 


Ilias Makris

 

 

 

 

Why does Merchan do it? Because Trump would be the first -convicted- felon to assume the presidency. No need for a penalty, the conviction is the prize. And they know it will end up at the Supreme Court. And there’s still not one iota of proof.

Judge Orders Trump Sentenced On Jan. 10 In Stormy Daniels Case (Hill)

A New York judge has ordered President-elect Trump’s criminal sentencing for Jan. 10, rejecting his demand that his hush money case be dismissed to accommodate his presidency following his election victory. Judge Juan Merchan signaled he is inclined to impose no punishment for Trump’s 34-count felony conviction, given concerns about his immunity from criminal prosecution upon taking the oath of office. Merchan said an unconditional discharge “appears to be the most viable solution” and he would allow Trump to appear virtually.

“While this Court as a matter of law must not make any determination on sentencing prior to giving the parties and Defendant an opportunity to be heard, it seems proper at this juncture to make known the Court’s inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration, a sentence authorized by the conviction but one the People concede they no longer view as a practicable recommendation,” Merchan wrote. The jury of 12 New Yorkers in May found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment his ex-fixer made to porn actor Stormy Daniels with the intention of unlawfully influencing the 2016 presidential election.

Daniels was paid during the campaign to keep quiet about an affair she alleged with Trump, which he denies. Merchan’s decision keeps Trump’s criminal conviction on the books, meaning he would be the first felon to assume the presidency, though Trump still can appeal the jury’s verdict. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement following Merchan’s decision that there should be no sentencing, suggesting that the “deeply conflicted” judge’s ruling violates the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling. “This lawless case should have never been brought and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed,” Cheung said. “President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process and to execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this or any remnants of the Witch Hunts.”

[..] Trump was slated to be sentenced in New York in November. Since the election, his lawyers have argued his status as president-elect compels the case to be tossed entirely. The judge wrote that he was “not persuaded” and he would allow Trump to appear virtually at his sentencing to accommodate his transition duties as president-elect. “Having addressed and resolved all matters brought before this Court and the verdict now more than half a year behind us, all that remains outstanding in this case is the issuance of this Decision and the imposition of sentence,” Merchan wrote. “Scheduling sentence is a function that remains exclusively within the purview of the trial judge and can be easily set down for a date and time certain to minimize disruption and inconvenience, provided that applicable statutory obligations are met,” he added.

The judge also emphasized the importance of keeping the New York jury’s guilty verdict against Trump intact, writing that its importance could not “possibly be overstated.” “Indeed, the sanctity of a jury verdict and the deference that must be accorded to it, is a bedrock principle in our Nation’s jurisprudence,” he said. Merchan went on to reject an alternative suggested by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), whose office is prosecuting the case, that the judge treat the case as if Trump had passed away. Trump’s attorneys called the scenario “absurd” and a “dark dream scenario,” but Bragg said the first-of-its-kind solution was warranted given the unprecedented circumstances.

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He won, and in round 1. Now he, and the rest of the GOP, will have to do what Trump wants.

Mike Johnson Narrowly Re-Elected As US House Speaker (RT)

US House Speaker Mike Johnson has been re-elected, in a narrow, party-lines vote. Johnson was elected after a pause in voting, with multiple Republicans initially refusing to back him. Johnson was elected on Friday by 218 votes to 215, with Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie the sole member of the GOP to vote against him. All 215 House Democrats voted for New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries. With Republicans holding a slim 219-215 majority in the House, Johnson could afford only two defections. When voting opened earlier on Friday, Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas joined Massie in opposing Johnson’s nomination. However, both lawmakers changed their minds after speaking to Johnson during a brief recess.

Johnson replaced California Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker in October 2023, after a small band of hardline Republicans ousted McCarthy for his perceived loyalty to the party’s Democrat-friendly establishment. While Johnson was previously viewed as a member of the GOP’s establishment wing, he has spent much of his speakership portraying himself as a stalwart ally of President-elect Donald Trump. Trump lent Johnson his endorsement on Monday. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the incoming president described Johnson as “a good, hard working, religious man.”

“A win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party, and yet another acknowledgment of our 129-year most consequential Presidential Election,” Trump added. Johnson angered hardline Republicans last year when he passed a series of mammoth foreign aid bills, including one that gifted $65 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. The Louisiana lawmaker has since said that he no longer has “an appetite for further Ukraine funding,” and has backed Trump’s repeated promises to end the conflict shortly after being sworn into office later this month.

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From before the vote.

Mike Johnson Vows Big Spending Cuts, Like $200b Student Loan Giveaway (JTN)

House Speaker Mike Johnson told Just the News he is confident he will be reelected and is eager to craft large government spending cuts starting with Joe Biden’s green energy and student loan giveaways. “I’ve been working with all of our colleagues here today. We have a very small margin. We can only shed two votes. I think we’ll get over that threshold, and we’ll get this done,” Johnson said Thursday night during an interview on the Just the News, No Noise television show. He said he’s confident that Congress will make “significant” cuts to the budget, and they’ll use the budget reconciliation process to accomplish that, which allows Congress to enact legislation on taxes, spending, and the debt limit with only a majority.

“We’ve got to reduce the size and scope of government. Government’s too big. It does too many things and does almost nothing,” Johnson said. He said while some parts of the budget, such as Social Security, will need to be preserved, some non-mandatory discretionary spending could be targeted such as the Biden student loan bailout, which he estimated could save $200 billion. “Unwinding the green New Deal and all these aspects of what the Democrats did for the last few four years will help us substantially. Then we’ll be going through with the fine tooth comb the rest of the budget. So it’s going to be a long, laborious process, but I think in the end, the results will be well worth it, ” he added. The vote happens at 12 p.m. Friday.

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Raise the flags on Jan 20. Lower them again the next day. Done before. Problem solved.

Trump Fumes Over Half-Mast US Flags At His Inauguration (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has expressed his disapproval over the decision to keep American flags at half-mast during his inauguration on January 20. The lowering of the flags was ordered by President Joe Biden in honor of former President Jimmy Carter, who passed away on December 29 at the age of 100. According to US flag code, flags should remain at half-mast for 30 days following the death of a current or former president – in this case, until January 28. In a statement released on Friday, Trump accused Democrats of being pleased that the flags will remain at half-mast during his inauguration, suggesting it reflects a lack of patriotism.

“The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” he said. “They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves.” Trump claimed it would be “the first time ever” that US flags are flown at half-mast during a presidential inauguration, insisting that “nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it.” However, the flags were flown at half-mast when former President Richard Nixon was sworn in for his second term in January 1973, after he ordered them lowered following the death of former President Harry S. Truman.

Historically, there have also been instances where the 30-day half-mast period was temporarily adjusted at the discretion of the sitting president. In 1973, following the death of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, Nixon ordered flags raised to full-mast for one day to honor returning American prisoners of war from Vietnam before lowering them again to continue the mourning period. Trump has previously expressed dissatisfaction with the practice of lowering flags. In 2018, following the death of Senator John McCain, flags were briefly returned to full-mast before being lowered again after public outcry. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to Trump’s remarks, stating that the Biden administration does not intend to reconsider the decision to keep flags at half-mast during the inauguration.

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“Trump appointed him to become chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, which oversees the conduct and performance of America’s intelligence agencies.”

Devin Nunes Reemerges (Victor Davis Hanson)

2024 proved to be the year of the reemergence of many once and unfairly pilloried public figures. Elon Musk weathered nonstop attacks on his X social media platform. Furor escalated over his newfound 2024 Trump advocacy—even as he ended 2024 with his iconic Tesla brand still the best-selling car in six states and the most popular electric vehicle in the entire nation. Tesla’s rising stock prices ensured by year’s end that Musk was by far the richest man in the world with a net worth of well over $400 billion. His recyclable SpaceX Super Heavy starship rocket booster mesmerized the nation as it returned to the launch pad to be caught by a huge mechanical arm. After January 6, 2021, the media swore that Donald Trump was supposedly washed up. He left office with a 34 percent approval rating. Over nearly the next four years, Trump would face 91 felony indictments and be liable for over $400 million in assorted fines.

Now he is a reelected president. Former oppositional world leaders traipse to Mar-a-Lago to seek his approval even before his tenure begins. His erstwhile critics at home are scurrying about in disarray. The Trump-hating media who swore Joe Biden was “sharp as a tack” and “fit as a fiddle” are mostly discredited and are, for now, still bleeding audiences. And Trump’s chief political adversaries, Nancy Pelosi, Liz Cheney, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and the Obamas are increasingly either unpopular or irrelevant—or both. Yet one unremarked-upon return is that of former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), who, after 20 years of representing Central California in Congress, retired on January 1, 2022, from the House to become CEO of the newly formed Trump Media & Technology Group, tasked to oversee its social media platform, TruthSocial. Nunes has regained public attention over the last two weeks after Trump appointed him to become chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, which oversees the conduct and performance of America’s intelligence agencies.

And once more he too is the target of tired residual left-wing venom, as a “pugnacious Trump loyalist” in the words of the New York Times. Like almost all former chairs of this nonpaying advisory board, Nunes keeps his full-time job. His old critics claim he has conflicts of interest, given he serves Trump in both a private and public capacity. Of course, these complaints come from those who saw no conflict of interest when Vice President Joe Biden flew to China with his son on Air Force Two to shake down foreign communist oligarchs and apparatchiks by using his office to enrich, tax-free, the Biden family syndicate. And no one alleges that Nunes ever became rich, in the fashion of the two Pelosis, who leveraged privileged congressional insider knowledge to make “wise” investments.

But more importantly, why would Trump not pick Nunes to enact the board’s mission statement to oversee “the Intelligence Community’s compliance with the Constitution and all applicable laws, executive orders, and presidential directives?” After all, he shattered the Democratic hoax of Russian-Trump collusion between 2015 and 2018, even as his lead investigator, Kash Patel, the next FBI Director, was himself an object of FBI surveillance. As Nunes once pointed out, why did Obama’s non-intelligence officials, like UN Ambassador Samantha Power, seek to unmask dozens of names of U.S. officials, most of whom were political opponents? So, who could Trump better trust to oversee the intelligence and investigatory bureaus than someone who knows all too well the descent of these agencies into Trump-Derangement-Syndrome-inspired chronic dissimulation and illegal surveillance?

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“You don’t hate the legacy media enough.”

Musk Considers Suing Media Over Cybertruck Incident Coverage (RT)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk could take legal action against media outlets over their coverage of an explosion involving a Cybertruck in Las Vegas, renewing his criticism of mainstream media for perceived bias. The vehicle, which was parked outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day and loaded with fireworks and gas canisters, exploded in the hotel’s valet area. The sole occupant of the Cybertruck, 37-year-old Army Special Forces soldier Matthew Alan Livelsberger, shot himself prior to the blast. Authorities are investigating the incident as a possible act of terrorism. The incident has sparked heated debate over media coverage. Conservative activist Robby Starbuck criticized outlets for headlines that allegedly impugned Tesla’s reputation. He reposted Business Insider’s headline and claimed that Musk “should consider suing outlets who framed the story like this.”

“Maybe it is time to do so,” Musk replied. The Cybertruck’s design may have actually helped minimize damage, according to Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. ”The fact that this was a Cybertruck really limited the damage that occurred inside the valet because it had most of the blast go up through the truck and out,” he said.

Another user on X expressed similar frustration, stating: “Media headlines are misleading audiences, suggesting the Cybertruck caught fire or exploded due to a malfunction. The truth is that explosives were placed in the back and intentionally detonated, likely as part of a terrorist act.” Musk responded to the post, writing, “You don’t hate the legacy media enough.” He also accused the legacy media of distorting the facts, targeting the Associated Press (AP) in particular. Referring to the agency as “Associated Propaganda,” Musk claimed it had twisted the narrative surrounding the explosion.

In December, Musk also criticized AP for its coverage of a deadly incident in Germany, accusing it of spreading biased narratives. Last year, Musk remarked that the “propaganda level” in traditional media outlets was “tediously high,” and he has repeatedly accused established organizations of skewing narratives to fit particular biases. Officials have acknowledged the symbolic nature of the incident, given Tesla’s connection to Musk and its proximity to the Trump International Hotel. “It’s a Tesla truck, and we know that Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump, and it’s the Trump tower,” McMahill said. “There’s obviously things to be concerned about there.”

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“Autopilot will not function unless it detects an attentive person in the driver’s seat.”

Elon Musk Dismisses ‘Cybertruck Bomber’ FSD Theory (ZH)

Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters on Thursday that the Cybertruck bomber, Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret, died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head just moments before the detonation outside Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas. This sequence of events is based on the official statements from law enforcement. However, speculation on X, particularly among internet sleuths, has brought up alternative theories regarding the timing of Livelsberger’s death. Rogan O’Handley, aka “DC Draino” on X, floated two scenarios about Livelsberger’s final moments: Now that we know the Vegas suspect was found with a bullet in his head, I see 2 possible scenarios: 1. He shot himself – he was planning to commit suicide & didn’t want to risk being burned alive. 2. He was shot by someone else & the Tesla was auto-pilot navigated to the Trump hotel

“A long fuse could’ve been lit, a timer could have been set, or the bomb could have been remotely detonated I wonder if anyone in the vicinity heard a gunshot That would help confirm where the car was when he was shot,” O’Handley wrote in another post. Tesla’s Elon Musk quickly dismissed the second scenario, stating, “Autopilot will not function unless it detects an attentive person in the driver’s seat.” Tesla vehicles have a cabin camera that monitors driver attentiveness and provides audible alerts when FSD is engaged. The camera is mounted above the rearview mirror.

“Like other Autopilot features, Full Self-Driving requires that the driver pay attention to the road, their surroundings, and other road users,” Tesla wrote on its website under the “Driver Attentiveness” section of FSD. Tesla said, “The cabin camera does not require full visibility of the driver’s eyes in order to monitor attentiveness. The system is still active, for example, if the driver is wearing sunglasses.” “If the cabin camera does not have clear visibility of the driver’s hand and arm locations, Full Self-Driving periodically displays a message reminding the driver to apply slight force to the steering wheel,” Tesla continued.

It noted, “If the driver repeatedly ignore prompts to apply slight force to the steering wheel or to pay attention, Full Self-Driving displays a series of escalating warnings and, if those warnings are ignored, disables for the rest of the drive and displays the following message.” What’s apparent from Tesla’s description of how FSD works suggests any scenario with Livelsberger shot in the head well before the bombing would be extraordinarily hard to trick the camera. X users should call on Musk to release the cockpit camera footage and any other recordings from the high-tech EV truck to disprove O’Handley’s second scenario. Additionally, footage from charging stations could provide valuable insights into what happened leading up to the bombing. We’re sure the FBI is already doing this..

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He may have to wait until Farage is elected.

Trump Calls On UK To Open Up North Sea, Get Rid Of Wind Farms (OP)

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has called for opening up the UK North Sea to oil and gas and getting rid of windmills, in response to the recent announcement by Texas-based Apache that it would cease oil and gas production in the region due to the uneconomical windfall tax. “The U.K. is making a very big mistake. Open up the North Sea. Get rid of Windmills!” President-elect Trump posted late on Thursday on social media platform Truth Social. Trump attached an article about Apache’s recent announcement that it would exit the UK North Sea. In November 2024, U.S. oil producer Apache said that it plans to cease oil production at its assets in the UK North Sea by 2030, due to the windfall tax on operators.

Apache’s parent company APA Corporation said in an SEC filing that its assessment of the impact of the windfall tax, officially known as the Energy Profits Levy (EPL), resulted in findings that continued production in the UK North Sea would be uneconomical. The ruling Labour Party’s Autumn Statement confirmed that the windfall tax on UK North Sea operators is rising to 38% from 35%, effective November 1, 2024. The tax will now expire on 31 March 2030, a year later than the previous tax regime. The government is also removing the 29% investment allowance.

Since the tax was initially introduced by the Conservative government at the height of the energy crisis in 2022, oil and gas companies operating in the UK North Sea have been calling for certainty in the regulatory and tax framework. Recent changes in policies and the rising taxes have driven away operators, who say that a lack of North Sea investments would only make the UK more dependent on oil and gas imports. U.S. President-elect Trump, for his part, has been a vocal critic of offshore wind. In the United States, offshore wind faces an uncertain future under Trump’s second-term administration. The President-elect has criticized offshore wind as the most expensive form of energy which, Trump says, also ruins the environment.

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The last days of Volodymyr and the Banderites.

‘Unpredictable’ Trump Could Help End Ukraine Conflict – Zelensky (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump could play a major role in ending the Ukraine conflict, Vladimir Zelensky has suggested. He made the remarks during an interview with Ukrainian TV that aired on Thursday, describing Trump as “unpredictable” and capable of achieving peace through “resolute” actions. During his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed he could end the conflict in 24 hours. His team’s reported peace plans call for a 20-year delay in Ukraine’s NATO membership aspirations, a freeze in the fighting, and the establishment of a demilitarized zone patrolled by European peacekeepers to monitor the ceasefire. According to Zelensky, Trump’s pledge to end the conflict in one day may be unrealistic, but strong US leadership which he represents could make a significant difference in achieving peace.

“Trump can be decisive. I think for us this is the most important thing. He can be resolute, he can really stop [Russian President Vladimir] Putin or help us stop Putin,” Zelensky stated. “A lot depends on Trump… I think Putin is afraid of him… I think he is strong and unpredictable and I believe he really wants to end the war,” he added, saying that with Trump on Kiev’s side it would be “easier” for Ukraine to gain support from its European allies and approach negotiations with Russia “from a position of strength.” Zelensky also called for firm security guarantees for Ukraine, including NATO membership, as the foundation for long-term peace. He stressed that any settlement must respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In early December, Zelensky met with Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris for talks about possible steps toward peace. Following the meeting, Trump said Ukraine “would like to make a deal” with Russia and called for renewed negotiations and a ceasefire. Zelensky, however, later rejected Trump’s call, writing on X that a “ceasefire without guarantees can be reignited at any moment.” Moscow counts Kiev’s aspiration to join NATO as among the root causes of the conflict and has insisted that all the goals of its military operation, including Ukrainian neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification, must be a part of any potential peace deal. A settlement must also begin with Ukraine ceasing military operations and acknowledging the “territorial reality” that it will never regain control of its former regions that chose to join Russia.

Earlier this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian authorities do not believe the fighting between Moscow and Kiev can be stopped at the moment. He reiterated Russia’s readiness for peace talks, but added that it will continue its advances on the front line as long as Kiev remains reluctant to negotiate.

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That’s a big red line.

Kiev Set To Comply With US Demand To Draft Teenagers – Moscow (RT)

Kiev will make a decision soon on how to respond to US demands that it lower the conscription age in the country to 18, in order to bolster troop numbers on the front lines of the conflict with Moscow, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed on Friday. Concerns are growing in Western countries regarding the Ukrainian army’s capacity to withstand pressure from Russian forces, an SVR statement has claimed. US President Joe Biden could intervene to prevent this, according to the agency. Merely supplying advanced weaponry, including long-range missile systems, will not be enough to stabilize the front lines, the SVR added.

“Countries in Eastern Europe bordering Ukraine are quietly preparing to receive new waves of Ukrainian refugees, who this time will be fleeing not from an imaginary threat posed by Russia, but from the real danger of getting a one-way ticket to the front lines,” the press release claimed. According to the SVR, Western leaders are acutely aware that the conflict represents an “existential” challenge for Russia, and retreat is not an option. In a televised interview on Ukraine’s Telemarathon on Thursday, Zelensky acknowledged that desertions within the army surged in 2024 amid escalating war fatigue and a shortage of reserve forces.

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“..4.2 million Ukrainians have been granted temporary protection status within the EU..”

Zelensky Criticizes EU’s Use Of ‘Cheap Labor’ From Ukraine (RT)

Some Western countries regard Ukrainian immigrants as “cheap labor,” Vladimir Zelensky has said. He claimed that they want to keep those who benefit their economies, but would like to send the unemployed back home. In an interview on Friday during Ukraine’s Telemarathon, Zelensky expressed frustration with what he described as a selective approach to Ukrainians in some Western countries. ”Let’s be honest: There are many Ukrainians abroad. In some countries, they have been seen as a cheap labor force. And now, they realize Ukrainians are often more skilled than their own citizens,” he said. Zelensky went on to accuse his Western counterparts of trying to downplay the matter, adding that they want Ukraine to take back the unemployed, urging him to “just tell them to return.”

“I say: ‘Look, give me a bit more air defense, and I’ll tell everyone to come back immediately,’” he said, stressing that the appeal would be addressed to all Ukrainians, not only to the unemployed. “And they reply, ‘No, let those who work here stay, but the rest should return.” Zelensky went on to say that many Ukrainians are likely to return home once the conflict ends and reconstruction begins, as these efforts will potentially attract international investment and provide job opportunities. As of October 2024, approximately 4.2 million Ukrainians have been granted temporary protection status within the EU. The primary host countries include Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, which collectively accommodate a significant portion of these individuals.

Employment rates vary significantly, with about 65% in Poland finding work, while only 18% in Germany have secured employment. Kiev has reportedly been trying to force Ukrainian men to return home, barring them access to consular services, while pressuring the EU to cut financial aid to refugees. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has denied the allegations, explaining that it wants to encourage rather than force citizens to return. In Ukraine, however, the authorities have been organizing raids for potential recruits on the streets as part of a mobilization campaign, often leading to violent clashes between military officers and draftees.

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Nobody speaks for Western Europe.

Western Europe Risks Losing Everything (Lukyanov)

In February 2022, I argued that Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine symbolized – whether intentionally or not – a profound break with the policies initiated in the Gorbachev era. At that time, rapprochement with the West was seen as a way for Moscow to integrate into a larger, Western-led system. That path, pursued in one form or another for over three decades, failed to produce the desired results. The reasons for this failure – whether due to unrealistic expectations or irreconcilable differences – are a debate for another time. What is undeniable now is that the turnaround has been dramatic, accelerated by recent geopolitical shifts.

The world Russia once aspired to join is now itself in turmoil. A German acquaintance recently observed that US President-elect Donald Trump and Tesla tycoon Elon Musk are shaking up the Western establishment much like perestroika destabilized the Eastern Bloc. In the 1980s, the GDR government banned the Soviet magazine Sputnik, fearing its progressive ideas would undermine their rigid system. Today, the EU scrambles to deal with Musk’s growing influence, as his bold actions and statements threaten to undermine the stability of its institutions from within. Western Europe, once the chief beneficiary of Gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’, now finds itself as the potential main loser.

Questions long thought resolved – like the inviolability of borders – are resurfacing. Trump’s earlier remarks about Canada joining the US no longer come across as mere jokes, given his past comments about Greenland and the Panama Canal. In the Middle East, borders have become fluid abstractions, while Russia’s statements about “ever-changing realities” suggest a willingness to challenge territorial norms in practice. The US, meanwhile, has abandoned its role as the champion of a ‘rules-based’ global order. Instead, it pursues a doctrine of dominance, driven by technological and economic superiority. Trump’s ‘peace through strength’ strategy relies on exerting pressure, not building consensus.

This marks a departure not only from Gorbachev’s vision of institutional harmony, but also from America’s own post-Cold War strategy of embedding its dominance within international frameworks. Russia, for its part, has grown disillusioned with the ‘new thinking’ that once promised integration and mutual respect. Now, it finds itself pushing back against a global order that has failed to recognize its interests. Ironically, it is the US – through its rejection of the very rules it once championed – that has thrown the system into disarray. Trump embodies this shift, signaling a world where strength dictates outcomes, leaving institutions as secondary players. Western Europe faces an uncertain future. Its reliance on American leadership has become a double-edged sword.

While the US remains a critical ally, its increasing unpredictability under leaders like Trump threatens to destabilize the very order Europe depends on. The EU’s struggle to manage Musk’s influence is emblematic of a deeper malaise – a failure to adapt to a world no longer governed by clear rules or shared values. Meanwhile, its internal cohesion is threatened as the political center cracks. Perestroika sought to harmonize the world through institutions, offering hope to a generation weary of confrontation. Today, we see its inverse: Institutions seen as obstacles, multilateralism discarded, and power wielded unapologetically. Trump’s mantra of ‘America First’ has evolved into a broader ethos of ‘me first’, in which nations prioritize their immediate interests over collective solutions. The path forward promises no easy answers. But, as was often said in the USSR before perestroika, no one ever promised it would be easy.

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“Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, in 2024, agreed to play out their roles as uncontactable zombies, baying for the blood of Americans at the altar of a dying Moloch.” — Celia Farber

The Twilight of Twilight (James Howard Kunstler)

I hope that the first lesson of the Bourbon Street massacre is not lost on you: There is no end of opportunity now for Jihadis and other maniacs to attack soft targets across the land. Americans are sitting ducks. And there is no shortage of jihadis and maniacs at large in our land, thanks to “Joe Biden” and Alejandro Mayorkas. Do you have any idea how much carnage can be created with what are called small arms, meaning, light weapons, guns, rifles, grenades, and improvised explosives used tactically in public places by enemies of our country? It looks like we are going to find out. And just regular motor vehicles, too, as in New Orleans and Las Vegas. Among the millions of foreign vagabonds ushered across the border illegally are perhaps tens of thousands fanatically avid for mayhem, many of them surely organized into cadres trained to carry out atrocities, just hanging back with their US government-issued debit cards, enjoying DoorDash deliveries in their government supplied hotel rooms, waiting for the signal to activate themselves.

Do you think we can harden the millions of targets out there, make them secure? Forget about it. Many of these are plain old streets in the cities, countless bridges and tunnels, endless runs of railroad track and highway, hundreds of airports, not to mention malls, schools, big box stores, office buildings, restaurants, sports venues, cruise ships, skating rinks, theaters, churches. It would only take a couple-three more episodes like the New Orleans incident to paralyze public life in America just as badly as the Covid-19 op did. Are tourists rushing back to Bourbon Street now? Will they return for Mardi Gras on March 4? And now, of course, the matter of drones has been brought to your attention. How many thousands (millions?) of these ingenious toys have been sold over recent years.

You can walk into Best Buy today and get one, ranging from a couple of hundred bucks to models with advanced guidance electronics at several thousand bucks. Timers are cheap. C-4 and Semtex plastic explosives are easy to purloin from military bases, or just traded on black markets. Drones can be launched from anywhere, including out of windows anywhere. They can be launched in swarms. You must also imagine that these Jihadis and other maniacs are primed to let loose on the imminently incoming Trump admin. The “Joe Biden” regime years were just the set-up period. Why open up with terror ops and show your hand prematurely while “JB” offered so much free and easy assistance in preparing the battlefield? And anyway, since so much of what “Joe Biden” was up to on his own initiative was obviously damaging to the USA in three dimensions — economically, strategically, and psychologically — then why interrupt all that serendipitous mishchief?

In the twilight of his twilight presidency, “Joe Biden” makes his final moves — that is, the people in the shadows behind “Joe Biden” make their moves — to fortify the progress he made working to destroy his own country, really anything that might hamper Mr. Trump’s ability to correct the deliberate desecration of our national life. And, of course, to shelter any of those persons responsible from a legal reckoning in the future. In a most garish example, “JB” awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to former Rep. Liz Cheney for her role on Congress’s J-6 committee. This, you understand, was done in defiance of what is already known and alleged about the treasonous misconduct of that body — withholding and destruction of evidence, tampering with evidence, coaching witnesses, lying to the media about testimony received, and obstruction of justice. You might lay a conspiracy charge over all those misdeeds, since they involved the formal agreement, discussion, and knowledge of it all among committee members. That is, it was done clearly in concert. This is howThe New York Times put it:

The plea there is transparently and obviously mendacious, yet The Times, being the mouthpiece of the nervous DC blob, can’t resist laying out the game: how can you prosecute somebody for acts they’ve been given a presidential award for committing? Of course, a pardon will signal that Liz Cheney is, ipso facto, a criminal. And would “Joe Biden” then have to pardon every member of the J-6 Committee — since, being a conspiracy, are they not all culpable for the same crimes? But then, the J-6 Committee crimes against the people of America comprise only a small portion, a side dish, to the many other crimes committed by the officials working under “Joe Biden.” If he pardons Liz Cheney, won’t this president also have to pardon hundreds of other officials from Mayorkas, Wray, Garland, Fauci, Walensky, Austin, Blinken, Sullivan on down?

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“..as much as 80 percent of Americans support voter identification laws across party lines..”

California Rings in the New Year with New Push to Block Voter ID (Turley)

In California, Democrats are ringing in the New Year with a new push against voter identification. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been hammering Huntington Beach because the city recently amended its municipal laws to require basic voter identification. While voters overwhelmingly support voter identification, Democrats in California recently passed a law making it a crime to ask for voter identification at polling places. Now, Bonta is asking for an appellate court to intervene to prevent Huntington Beach from asking for IDs before people vote. After Huntington Beach passed Measure A requiring voter identification in 2026, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning voter identification requirements. Bonta then sued the city but the California Superior Court ruled it too soon for a lawsuit.

California Superior Court Judge Nico Dourbetas wrote that “this matter is not ripe for adjudication, as [the change to] the City’s Charter is permissive and discretionary in character, and thus currently presents no conflict with state elections law.” Bonta, however, wants a ruling to prevent voter identification before the 2026 elections. Secretary of State Shirley Weber insisted that California residents are already required to verify their identity when they register to vote, but the city argues that it does not mean that the person voting is that same person. Democrats have continued to block voter identification laws and policies despite Gallop and other polling showing as much as 80 percent of Americans support voter identification laws across party lines. The Biden Administration was widely criticized for its effort to prevent Virginia from removing the names of people who previously stated that they were not U.S. citizens.

Thirty-six states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls. While Weber denounced the laws as a form of voter suppression, there is no evidence that such laws have had any such material effect. Indeed, President Biden and Democrats widely denounced voting laws in states like Georgia as “Jim Crow 2.0,” but under these laws, Georgia and other states set records in the turnout of voters. Bonta’s actions show that Democrats will not yield on the effort to prevent voter identification at polling places. Instead, they seem to be doubling down with less than a third of Americans supporting the effort. So much for political resolutions to realign the party after the election losses in November.

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Left joins right.

German MP Calls For NordStream To Be Reactivated (RT)

Germany should respond to the rising energy prices caused by Ukraine’s halting of Russian gas transit by repairing and reactivating the Nord Stream pipelines, leftist German MP Sevim Dagdelen has said. Ukraine refused to extend its transit contract with Russia’s Gazprom beyond the end of 2024, effectively cutting off the flow of natural gas to some EU countries as of Wednesday. Under the old contract, Ukraine moved gas through its own pipeline network and into Moldova, Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, and then on to Austria and Italy. Ukraine’s decision caused EU gas prices to spike to €50 per megawatt hour, a figure unseen since October 2023. “Ukraine drives the energy price up further by stopping the transit of Russian gas in Europe,” Dagdelen wrote on X on Thursday, complaining that “the German government and the EU are happily watching the destruction of European industry due to high energy prices.”

Energy costs soared in Germany after the government renounced Russian oil and gas imports in 2022. Whereas the country once relied on Russia for around 55% of its natural gas supply, it has struggled to make up the shortfall, and its leading manufacturers – including Volkswagen, Bosch, and BASF – have all announced layoffs and plant closures. Prior to the start of the Ukraine conflict, Germany received gas from Russia via the Nord Stream 1 pipelines, while Nord Stream 2 was due to come online in 2022. Berlin revoked the certification for Nord Stream 2 several days before Russia’s military operation in Ukraine began, and both sets of lines were destroyed in an act of sabotage in September of that year.

While German investigators have reportedly settled on the theory that the pipelines were destroyed by Ukrainian saboteurs, American journalist Seymour Hersh maintains that they were blown up by the CIA and US Navy. The head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, has blamed “professional saboteurs from the Anglo-American special services,” referring to the US and UK. In her post, Dagdelen called for the pipelines to “finally be put into operation,” and for the German government to “stop giving money to Kiev!” Dagdelen is a member of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a leftist political faction that supports rapprochement with Russia and shares the right-wing Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) anti-immigration stance.

The party’s leader, Sahra Wagenknecht, recently blamed the Ukraine conflict on the failure of the US to acknowledge Russia’s “red lines.” Back in September, Wagenknecht declared that “if Ukraine is responsible for the terrorist act against the German energy supply, the arms deliveries must end immediately and the question of compensation must be put on the table.” Dagdelen is not the first German MP to demand that Nord Stream be reopened. In September, AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla called the undersea pipes “a lifeline of German industry,” and declared that “Nord Stream must be repaired, opened, and secured.”

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Creative with words: “The economy is at the beginning of a strong aging spurt..”

Germany Facing Longest Recession Ever – Handelsblatt (RT)

The German economy is on course for its longest post-war recession, with a third consecutive year of contraction projected for 2025, according to the Handelsblatt Research Institute (HRI). The institute predicts a 0.1% decline in 2025, following contractions of 0.3% in 2023 and 0.2% in 2024. This economic slump surpasses the two-year downturn of the early 2000s and reflects the compounded effects of an energy crisis, persistent inflation, and the Covid-19 pandemic. “The German economy is in the midst of its greatest crisis in post-war history,” HRI chief economist Bert Rurup said. Demographic challenges, such as an aging population, are adding to the strain. The HRI estimates Germany’s growth potential has fallen to just 0.5% annually. “The economy is at the beginning of a strong aging spurt,” Rurup noted. Official data from the Federal Statistical Office, expected on January 15, is likely to confirm the contraction in 2024.

While the HRI forecasts modest recovery in 2026, growth is expected to reach just 0.9%, far below pre-crisis levels. The German central bank has also adjusted its 2025 growth outlook, revising it down from 1.1% to 0.2% in December. Germany’s shift from affordable Russian gas to more expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US has driven up energy costs, severely affecting manufacturers and small businesses. Rising costs have led to shutdowns and bankruptcies across industries, including major players like Volkswagen. Before the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Germany relied on Russian gas for over half of its energy needs. Following EU sanctions on Moscow, gas deliveries were drastically reduced or cut off entirely. In September 2022, the Nord Stream pipelines, which transported Russian gas to Germany, were destroyed by explosions. On January 1, 2025, Russia was forced to officially suspend gas transit to the EU through Ukraine.

Germany’s export sector, particularly high-value manufacturing, remains one of the few strengths in the economy. However, it also faces challenges from global uncertainties and high energy prices. The loss of affordable Russian energy and rising costs have made recovery difficult. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel recently criticized the decision to abandon Russian gas. In an interview with France 2 TV in December, she called the past arrangement a “win-win situation,” saying it provided Germany with low-cost energy, while now prices have “exploded.” The economic crisis has become a pressing issue for Germans. A poll in December conducted by public broadcaster ARD revealed that the economy is the top concern for voters. The early general election scheduled for February 23 follows the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left coalition in November.

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“Carter’s biggest annual deficit in constant 2024 dollars of purchasing power was just $240 billion during the recession year of 1980 [..] the Federal deficit clocked in at $367 billion in the month of November 2024 alone..”

The Brewing US Debt Ceiling Crisis (David Stockman)

The MAGA folks are going to be in for a rude awakening. That’s because Donald Trump has been taking to the public stage in recent weeks promising a new “golden age” of American prosperity upon his return to the Oval Office, but nearly the opposite is just around the corner. What’s actually coming down the pike is the UniParty’s revenge— a financial and economic shitshow that is likely to dwarf all that has gone before. There is no mystery as to why. To wit, there is a demolition derby brewing in the bond pits that threatens to extinguish any even faint remaining hope that Washington’s Fiscal Doomsday Machine might be unplugged.

We are referring to the utter fiscal paralysis that stems from the combination of the GOP’s addiction to tax cuts and Big Defense budgets and the Dem’s demagoguery about Social Security, Medicare and the rest of the Welfare State. This means that down on the banks of the Potomac there is virtually no one left in the camp of fiscal rectitude. And, equally importantly, there is no political hay to be harvested by campaigning against the “borrow and spend” proclivities of an overweening central government, which has now become heavily insulated from the daily life of the people as they struggle to pay their bills and ward off the economic imprecations of inflation and taxes.

This embedded fiscal paralysis is actually something new under the sun, however. It was actually far different as recently as the late 1970s. Back then we found plenty of company among the GOP backbenchers in the US House as we launched full-throated political campaigns against the rising public debt and the “modest” rivers of red ink being incurred by “big spender” Jimmy Carter. We employ the quote marks here because as it has turned out Carter’s biggest annual deficit in constant 2024 dollars of purchasing power was just $240 billion during the recession year of 1980. Given that the Federal deficit clocked in at $367 billion in the month of November 2024 alone, it can be well and truly said that the Washington UniParty is now capable of generating more red ink in 20 days than Jimmy Carter did during his worst year.

Of course, that outcome earned him in short order a one-way ticket back to Plains Georgia. Yet that electoral rebuke was no fluke nor was it even due to the superior campaigning style of the Hollywood B actor who displaced him. Back then the deficit had immediate ramifications on main street because the Fed was not yet monetizing the flow of Treasury paper. Accordingly, the Treasury Department’s sharp elbows in the bond pits caused interest rates to materially rise and private sector borrowers to be “crowded out”.

Needless to say, representing a typical “town and country” district in Michigan, as we did, our political support base was especially attuned to the effects of Uncle Sam sucking up the available supply of private savings. Among these supporters, for instance, were car dealers, whose floor plan financing costs got jacked-up by rising interest rates, and Savings and Loan executives, whose book of fixed rate mortgages got nailed by sharply higher funding costs. There were also farmers, who suffered ballooning financing costs for fuel, fertilizer, tractors etc. and small manufacturers, who needed to finance inventories and equipment—among countless other productive citizens immediately and adversely impacted by Federal deficits.

Not surprisingly, therefore, the Federal deficit’s adverse economic impact on main street was rapidly and thoroughly transmitted to Washington via the incoming Congressional mail and hometown political pressure – a potent force that was not lost on the Congressional Democrats led by Speaker Tip O’Neill. In fact, we backbenchers used to send the Speaker into paroxysms of ill-temper with our deficit-howling on the floor of the US House because he knew full well that keeping his gavel in hand could be jeopardized in swing districts all around the country by GOP candidates on the warpath about spending and deficits—most especially during periods of rising inflation or other economic distress.

What existed until the era of Alan Greenspan and his subsequent heirs and assigns, therefore, was a form of politico-economic checks and balances. The Federal debt never really got out of hand because there was a feedback loop in the nation’s governance process that motivated the GOP to function as the anti-government party and Watchdog of the Treasury against the Dem’s self-designated role as the Government Party and champion of the people and the havenots.

The resulting tolerable political equilibrium is more than evident in the post WWII path of the Federal debt claim on the GDP. After bouts of bipartisan wartime finance, the debt ratio came down with regularity, falling from the 120% WWII peak to a bottom of just 31% in the early 1980s. Indeed, it was only after Paul Volcker was given his walking papers in 1987 by the easy money man at the US Treasury, James Baker, that this debt-containing governance equilibrium finally failed.

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“..guidelines state that a single vaccine dose should not contain more than 10 nanograms of residual DNA [..] levels in Pfizer’s vaccines exceeding this limit by six to 470 times.”

Study Finds DNA Contamination In Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccines (RT)

Pfizer’s mRNA Covid-19 vaccines contain residual DNA levels exceeding regulatory safety limits, according to a peer-reviewed study published this week in the Journal of High School Science. The research was conducted by student scientists at the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) White Oak Campus lab in Maryland. Residual DNA refers to small pieces of genetic material that may remain in vaccines or medicines after manufacturing. These fragments come from the cells or processes used to make the products. World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines state that a single vaccine dose should not contain more than 10 nanograms of residual DNA. The study, however, found levels in Pfizer’s vaccines exceeding this limit by six to 470 times.

Researchers analyzed vaccines obtained from BEI Resources, a supplier linked to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. They used NanoDrop and Qubit methods to measure DNA levels. Both methods showed contamination above acceptable thresholds. Residual DNA was found in six vials from two different vaccine lots. While the study stated that health risks posed by the DNA fragments are “currently unknown,” researchers warned that, in theory, they could integrate into human DNA and increase the risk of gene mutations. They also raised concerns that the fragments may contain oncogenes, which could lead to cancer. The authors recommended further testing to assess the potential risks.

The FDA has not yet commented on the findings. While reports of DNA contamination in Covid-19 vaccines have been circulating for years, US regulatory authorities have repeatedly brushed them off, stating that they pose no health risks. Kevin McKernan, founder of Medicinal Genomics, described the findings as a “bombshell,” and warned that DNA fragments might overstimulate the immune system, potentially “fueling cancer growth.” “Repeated exposure to foreign DNA through Covid-19 boosters may amplify this risk over time, creating conditions conducive to cancer development,” McKernan said in an interview with Maryanne Demasi, an Australia-based investigative journalist who first drew public attention to the study.

Nikolai Petrovsky, professor of immunology and head of Vaxine, an Australian biotechnology company, said the findings were a “smoking gun” and needed urgent attention from regulators. Petrovsky also accused the FDA of withholding information from the public, saying that the study “clearly shows the FDA was aware of these data,” given that it was conducted in its own lab under the supervision of its own scientists.

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Tommy

 

 

Vaccine

 

 

Math

 

 

Bit

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Nov 132024
 
 November 13, 2024  Posted by at 9:45 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,  92 Responses »


Wilhelm Trübner A Gorgon‘s head 1891

 

Did US Deep State Allow Trump to Win? (Sp.)
Trump Builds No-Nonsense Team (JTN)
Musk And Vivek Ramaswamy To Head Department Of Government Efficiency (ZH)
Can Trump Succeed? (Paul Craig Roberts)
Gorka Urges Trump To Intervene In Senate Leader Race, Endorse Rick Scott (JTN)
Marco Rubio Emerges As Finalist For Trump’s Secretary Of State (JTN)
Trump Names John Ratcliffe As CIA Director (ZH)
Florida Surgeon General Ladapo Ready To Serve Trump Admin (Attkisson)
Judge Merchan Delays Decision On Trump Guilty Verdict In Hush Money Case (JTN)
MSNBC, CNN Ratings Collapse After Election While Fox News Flourishes (ZH)
Zelensky Tries to Woo Trump With Revised ‘Victory Plan’ (Sp.)
UK Could Send Troops To Ukraine – Boris Johnson (RT)
Trump Will Abandon Two Key Principles Of US Foreign Policy (Gevorg Mirzayan)
What Rough Beast? (Juan Cole)
A 1984 Conference Forged Israel’s Influence Over US Media (Klarenberg)

 

 

 

 

Senate
https://twitter.com/i/status/1856400926937846131

Bannon

Sachs

Kamala broke

Voter ID
https://twitter.com/i/status/1855955650687246392

 

 

 

 

“They [the US establishment] need a charismatic, populist firebrand to boost recruitment and spearhead the rush to war..”

Did US Deep State Allow Trump to Win? (Sp.)

On election day Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton suggested that the vote count might take days as in 2020, triggering election rigging suspicions among X users. However, Donald Trump was declared the winner the day after the election. Amid pre-election claims from conservative commentators that the US establishment would not allow Donald Trump to win, some American commentators have suggested that Trump voter enthusiasm was “too big to rig” while others speculated that the purported vote-rigging mechanisms in place had been stopped by the ruling elites. According to this argument, the elites reasoned that Trump could be maneuvered into pro-war positions and would be more successful in marshaling public support than Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and, as such, the deep state ‘allowed Trump to win.’

Some commentators presume that the US establishment sees Trump and his popularity as a convenient vehicle for new overseas campaigns as part of his efforts to “make America great again”. Patriots often think of greatness in terms of military dominance, they say. “They [the US establishment] need a charismatic, populist firebrand to boost recruitment and spearhead the rush to war. Harris can’t do that. Harris had trouble attracting even a hundred supporters to her rallies,” wrote US political commentator Mike Whitney, suggesting Iran could be the next target. The fact that Trump has appointed Elise Stefanik, a firebrand for Israel, as US ambassador to the UN lends credibility to Whitney’s suspicion. It would be easy to seduce Americans into a new military adventure if they are led by a popular leader, warned former Ronald Reagan official Dr. Paul Craig Roberts on his website.

“MAGA Americans are tired of losing wars,” wrote Dr. Roberts. “They want to win. The military/security complex will have Trump supporters in the streets waving the flag. They will wave the flag and expect Trump to win. It is all part of making America great again. It is a war recipe for disaster.” Transparency website OpenSecrets and financial tech startup Quiver Quantitative have shown that US defense contractors funded the Trump campaign generously. Similarly, during his first term, Trump supported what at the time was seen as the largest military budget in US history in 2018. In 2020, the US press called him one of the military-industrial complex’s “biggest boosters”. Likewise, the Big Three financial powers – Wall Street giants BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street – weren’t disturbed by Trump’s possible victory. Their post-election prognoses were largely positive, foreseeing a rise in the US market, growth for tech and crypto and the dollar strengthening under Trump.

“I’m tired of hearing this is the biggest election in your lifetime,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink stated at an October 21 conference, as quoted by The Financial Times. “The reality is, over time it doesn’t matter.” He stressed that the world’s largest asset management firm “work[s] with both administrations and are having conversations with both candidates”, signaling that Trump will be fine for Wall Street. Moreover, there appeared to be one instance in which Trump surpassed his contender Harris in the eyes of BlackRock. The firm has been making headlines this year for its aggressive accumulation of crypto-currency assets. It launched its iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) on January 11, whose trust quickly grew into the world’s largest fund. Trump appears to be on the same page as BlackRock concerning crypto-currency even though he was previously skeptical about it.

While on the campaign trail, Trump promised to turn the US into “the crypto capital of the world”. He also announced plans to change some areas of government about crypto and suggested creating a strategic Bitcoin stockpile. In contrast, his contender Harris sounded less enthusiastic about crypto and advocated a “regulatory framework” for it, much in the vein of Joe Biden’s financial oversight approach which placed certain limits on their use. It’s hardly surprising, then, that crypto-currencies, especially Bitcoin, shot up in value on the news that Trump won. Needless to say, BlackRock benefitted from the development. The deep state is entrenched and institutionalized and has many ways to maneuver Trump to its purpose or block his efforts altogether, according to Dr. Roberts. During Trump’s first term, dissent from the intelligence community, the military, the State Department and media disrupted his plans.

The American media is already working hand-in-glove with the ruling establishment to position Trump contrary to his intentions, both in his appointments and in foreign policy. Trump has had to deny that he is going to appoint former colleagues Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley to his administration in order to assure his supporters that the mistakes of his first term will not be repeated. However, other reports that Trump allies Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. are being pushed aside into advisory positions without executive authority lead some to wonder if the Trump administration is over before it begins. The deep state’s policy of revolving doors connects the government, intelligence agencies, academia, Wall Street and big industries. A majority of Republican members of Congress are themselves part of the establishment.

Meanwhile, Trump supporters, including General Michael Flynn and Infowars host Alex Jones, warn about a possible new attempt on the president-elect’s life. In some sense, one could say that the deep state is now holding a metaphorical gun to Trump’s head. Time will tell whether Trump will manage to outplay the establishment.

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“Trump has already filled early positions on his team with get-it-done leaders who are more interested in execution than limelight.”

Trump Builds No-Nonsense Team (JTN)

Donald Trump sent an unmistakable message with his first few personnel choices for his second term, dispatching to the halls of power players like Elise Stefanik, Tom Homan, Lee Zeldin and Stephen Miller who take a no-nonsense approach to their jobs and will focus on everyday Americans’ wants and needs rather than those of global elitists and Washington special interests. And if the president-elect’s new team can stay focused on making America affordable again by defeating inflation, making the country secure again by fixing the border and rounding up criminals and restoring common sense to public policies from energy to transgenderism, one of the nation’s top pollsters believes he can cement a lofty place in history. “Donald Trump now has the opportunity to become the most influential president since Ronald Reagan,” pollster Scott Rasmussen wrote Monday in a private report to clients of his Napolitan Institute.

“If over the next four years he and the Republican Congress can achieve the three main priorities established by the American people, he will have presided over a fundamental political realignment and paved the way for ongoing GOP success.” [..] Rasmussen cautioned, however, that Trump’s legacy of impact will be determined by how well he can align a Congress that often finds excuses not to act behind executing his agenda. “Trump’s lasting influence and the potential realignment are far from assured,” Rasmussen wrote. “They depend entirely upon whether or not the incoming administration can do what voters are hoping for: making the economy work, securing the border, and returning to common sense about gender identity. If they fail, voters will move on, and the Trump era will be just a blip in the nation’s history.”

The need for a GOP Congress to act in convincing ways in 2025 led one of Trump’s former advisers to urge the president-elect to intervene in Wednesday’s battle for Senate majority leader, which pits establishment Sens. John Thune and John Cornyn against Florida’s Rick Scott, who has increasingly become a MAGA favorite. “I would like to see President Trump full throatedly say who he wants,” former White House aide Seb Gorka told the Just the News, No Noise television show Monday night. “And I would like that to be Scott because otherwise the swamp has that magnetic, huge, sucking vacuum power, and they’ll do what they normally do. So a public, you know, pro Scott action from the president is what we’ve got to see. That’s my humble request, Mr. President.” No matter how the Senate leader race ends, Trump has already filled early positions on his team with get-it-done leaders who are more interested in execution than limelight.

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“75% headcount reduction across the board in the federal bureaucracy, send them home packing, shut down agencies that shouldn’t exist..”

Musk And Vivek Ramaswamy To Head Department Of Government Efficiency (ZH)

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been selected by President-elect Donald Trump to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where they will “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” according to an official release from the Trump-Vance transition team, which called this “potentially, the “Manhattan Project” of our time.” According to the statement, “Their work will conclude no later than July 4, 2026” – the nation’s 250th anniversary. Musk previously predicted he could cut at least $2 trillion from the US federal budget, while Ramaswamy suggested firing federal workers based on their social security numbers. “Here’s how: if your [Social Security number] ends in an odd number, you’re fired,” he wrote on X.

In September, Ramaswamy told podcaster Lex Fridman: “Get in there on day one, say that anybody in the federal bureaucracy who is not elected, elected representatives obviously were elected by the people, but the people who are not elected, if your social security number ends in an odd number, you’re out, if it ends in an even number, you’re in. There’s a 50% cut right there. Of those who remain, if your social security number starts in an even number, you’re in and if it starts with an odd number, you’re out. Boom. That’s a 75% reduction done. Literally, stochastically, okay, one of the virtues of that, it’s a thought experiment, not a policy prescription, but one of the virtues of that thought experiment is that you don’t have a bunch of lawsuits you’re dealing with about gender discrimination or racial discrimination or political viewpoint discrimination.”

He also said: So the way I would do it, 75% headcount reduction across the board in the federal bureaucracy, send them home packing, shut down agencies that shouldn’t exist, rescind every unconstitutional regulation that Congress never passed. In a true self-governing democracy, it should be our elected representatives that make the laws and the rules not unelected bureaucrats. And that is the single greatest form of economic stimulus we could have in this country, but it is also the single most effective way to restore self-governance in our country as well. And it is the blueprint for, I think, how we save this country.[..] …most people who have run a company, especially larger companies know this, it’s 25% of the people who do 80 to 90% of the useful work, these government agencies are no different. And how many government workers do we have?

“This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people,” Musk said on Tuesday in a statement provided by the Trump transition team. Earlier in the day, Trump said the new government efficiency effort would develop a plan to eliminate “fraud and improper payments,” conducting a “complete financial and performance audit” of the federal government. Trump also said that the panel would partner with the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. In the last fiscal year, the federal government spent more than $6.75 trillion – of which more than $5.3 trillion was spent on Social Security, health care, defense and veterans’ benefits.

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“A weak appointment as Attorney General and the Trump administration is finished before it begins..”

Can Trump Succeed? (Paul Craig Roberts)

I have been speaking with MAGA Americans and, as I suspected, there is little comprehension of the vast impediments to renewal. The swamp that Trump is to drain is entrenched and institutionalized, but Trump supporters think that with Trump elected and the Senate and House in Republican hands the job is done. Nothing could be further from the truth. The majority of Republicans in the Senate and House are RINOs, not Trump supporters. They are part of the establishment and comfortable in it. Mitch McConnell is forever as he is in the process of demonstrating. This Wednesday McConnell is holding the election of the Senate Majority Leader. His two candidates, chosen without any input from Trump, are John Thune and John Cornyn, neither being MAGAs. Senator Rick Scott, more likely to be helpful to Trump, is running against the establishment’s candidates.

If the establishment prevails, Trump’s strong appointments are likely to be blocked or to languish unconfirmed. The prospect of being blocked can discourage an appointee from accepting the appointment. The establishment can also hamstring Trump by rushing through many unfriendly judicial appointments. Trump Americans need to understand that the enemy has not folded its tents and left the field. Here is Trump himself warning: President-elect Donald Trump on Nov. 10 publicly mentioned one condition for the next leader of the Senate Republican Conference: He or she must clear the way for recess appointments for Trump administration officials. “Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner,” Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social on Nov. 10, addressing the upcoming Senate leadership vote.

He noted that such votes can take “two years or more,” which is “what they did four years ago, and we cannot let it happen again.” “We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY!” he wrote. Aside from the request, Trump also said that Republicans should not confirm any judges in the coming months before his inauguration “because the Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership,” adding, “THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.” I know from experience that there are many ways in which things can go wrong. [..] The euphoria that Trump and his supporters are experiencing can easily lead to deadly mistakes. Appointments that face confirmation challenges can be avoided in the interest of not having a defeat before the new administration is underway. Consequently, when the new administration is underway, it will lack the strength it needs to succeed.

The Biden regime can enter into Ukraine and Middle East agreements that lock-in the Trump administration. A weak appointment as Attorney General and the Trump administration is finished before it begins. In order to succeed, Trump will have to bring the power of the people against the establishment. This means he will have to fight. With the wrong appointments the fight will never begin. Compromise for the sake of unity will be the weapon of the establishment and the presstitutes. Trump said he was going to unify the country. How does one unify with enemies who tried to kill you and who are opposed to the Constitution of the United States? Perhaps Trump should have thought about this before he handed the unity weapon to his enemies. Trump and his supporters must not forget that Trump is leading an insurrection against the establishment.

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“Hours after Donald Trump wins the most conclusive mandate in 40 years, Mitch McConnell engineers a coup against his agenda by calling early leadership elections in the senate. Two of the three candidates hate Trump and what he ran on.”

Gorka Urges Trump To Intervene In Senate Leader Race, Endorse Rick Scott (JTN)

One of Donald Trump’s former first-term advisers urged the President-elect on Monday night to directly intervene in the race for the next Senate Majority Leader by endorsing Florida Sen. Rick Scott. Sebastian Gorka, who currently has a popular show on Salem Radio Network after serving as a deputy assistant to the president for security affairs in 2017, became the latest prominent conservative to throw his weight behind Scott’s bid. But Gorka went further by personally appeals for Trump to get involved in the race. “I would like to see President Trump full throatedly say who he wants,” Gorka told the Just the News, No Noise television show Monday night. “And I would like that to be Scott because otherwise the swamp has that magnetic, huge, sucking vacuum power, and they’ll do what they normally do. “So a public, you know, pro-Scott action from the president is what we got to see. That’s my humble request, Mr. President,” Gorka added.

The Senate GOP Leader’s job, which is being vacated at the end of the year by Sen. Mitch McConnell after two decades, is expected to be decided Wednesday by a secret ballot. The race pits establishment Sens. John Thune and John Cornyn against Scott, who has increasingly become a MAGA favorite and easily won re-election to his Florida seat last week. Leaked “whip” head counts of senators’ preferences have shown Thune in the lead, followed by Cornyn and Scott. That has kicked many Trump supporters into action in a bid to increase Scott’s chances. “I will be supporting Rick Scott for Senate Majority Leader,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., wrote on X. “The status quo of $2 Trillion annual deficits is unsustainable.” Billionaire Elon Musk joined the chorus over the weekend, endorsing Scott. Many others have followed suit.

“The people who just gave Donald Trump a sweeping mandate do not want Thune or Cornyn to lead the US Senate,” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and conservative grassroots leader who helped the Trump campaign win all seven swing states, wrote on X. “They want Rick Scott. It’s very clear.” Talk show host Tucker Carlson made a blisering attack on Thune and Cornyn. “What the hell is going on in the US Senate?” Carlson wrote on X. “Hours after Donald Trump wins the most conclusive mandate in 40 years, Mitch McConnell engineers a coup against his agenda by calling early leadership elections in the senate. Two of the three candidates hate Trump and what he ran on.

“One of them, John Cornyn, is an angry liberal whose politics are indistinguishable from Liz Cheney’s. The election is Wednesday, it’s by secret ballot, and it will determine whether or not the new administration succeeds. “Rick Scott of Florida is the only candidate who agrees with Donald Trump,” Carlson added. “Call your senator and demand a public endorsement of Rick Scott. Don’t let McConnell get away with it again.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a lifelong Democrat who turned Trump supporter this election, also expressed support for Scott, who is viewed as more conservative than Cornyn and Thune. “Without Rick Scott, the entire Trump reform agenda wobbly,” Kennedy wrote on X.

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“Little Marco.”

Marco Rubio Emerges As Finalist For Trump’s Secretary Of State (JTN)

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a hawk on China and Iraq, has emerged as the finalist to be President-elect Donald Trump’s Secretary of State in his second term and his nomination could be announced as early as Tuesday, according directly familiar with the deliberations The New York Times, CNN and other legacy news outlets first reported Monday night that Trump had settled on Rubio. Just the News independently confirmed Trump had settled on the Florida senator. Rubio, a Cuban-American, would be the first Latino to serve as the nation’s top diplomat if nominated and confimed by the Senate. He has large experience on the foreign stage and ran unsuccessfully against Trump during the 2016 primaries, where his future boss humorously named him “Little Marco.”

But Rubio was an ally as Trump began his remarkable comeback to win the presidency in 2024. Trump has been filling out his national security team, on Monday formally naming Rep. Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador and Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida as his national security adviser. Advisors told Just the News on Monday night that Trump also was closing in on naming Scott Bessent as his Treasury Secretary nominee. Bessent, a 62-year-old hedge fund manager who once worked with liberal philanthropist George Soros, emerged in recent years as a top Trump adviser on the economy.

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Can you spell hornet’s nest?

Kash Patel was supposed to get this.

Trump Names John Ratcliffe As CIA Director (ZH)

President-elect Donald Trump has announced he has selected John Ratcliffe as director of the CIA. “John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public,” Trump wrote in a message sent on the evening of Nov. 12, the latest in a flurry of Tuesday evening appointments. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation’s highest Intelligence positions. He will be a fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans, while ensuring the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Ratcliffe, an attorney, served as director of national intelligence during the first Trump term. As Nathan Worcester reports, via The Epoch Times, Ratcliffe was previously a Republican congressman from Texas and an anti-terrorism and national security chief for Eastern Texas.

Originally from Illinois, Ratcliffe earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame before obtaining a law degree from Southern Methodist University. He was later U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas and, from 2004 until 2012, mayor of Heath, Texas, a community in metro Dallas-Fort Worth. While in Congress, he was a member of the House Intelligence Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. During Trump’s first term, Ratcliffe made a name for himself as a staunch Trump loyalist. Trump dropped an early attempt to elevate Ratcliffe to the director of national intelligence position in 2019. But the following year, he renewed the effort, nominating him in May against the backdrop of the COVID-19 response.

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Kennedy, Malhotra, Bhattacharya, Ladapo. Not a bad start.

Florida Surgeon General Ladapo Ready To Serve Trump Admin (Attkisson)

The 2024 campaign is the first since the end of the COVID-19 emergency. And important figures who turned from mainstream to maverick as a result may play crucial roles in an effort to transform the medical establishment. One key player is Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who spoke with me a few weeks before the Nov. 5 election about what he’d like to do in the next Trump administration. “I actually would like to be secretary of HHS,” he said. “And the reason I would like to do that is because I’m in it for impact. Like, if I can’t have impact, I’m not in it.” Dr. Ladapo’s desire to have impact became clear during the pandemic. When Covid hit, he was a professor of medicine at the University of California, researching heart health. He became one of the mainstream figures to break away and speak out early against what they considered the disastrous shutdowns, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mandates and government misinformation.

“The pandemic was really just something remarkable,” he said, “because … somehow you got so many people with good intentions to engage and really enroll in things that are obviously very clearly immoral and badly intended. And so that’s a remarkable thing.” Born in Nigeria, Ladapo earned his medical degree and a doctorate in health policy at Harvard University. In September 2021, he was tapped by Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis to be his state’s surgeon general. “I felt very clearly that my objective, my role, was to reset the tone,” he said. “And the tone was ‘fear, fear, fear, fear, fear.’ You know, ‘Must do this, must do this, must do this. Everyone get in line, everyone get in line, everyone get in line,’ And I just wanted to rip that all apart and remind people that people and individuals are what matter, and their will matters and their preferences matter and good health matters.”

That includes, he says, safety of the controversial Covid vaccines. In January, he said the Food and Drug Administration had failed to examine unique risks, and he concluded that “these vaccines are not appropriate for use in human beings.” Dr. Ladapo isn’t the only esteemed medical figure who bucked the establishment over Covid and is now allied with now President -elect Donald Trump. Others who’ve been speaking with Trump officials about taking a role in the new administration include Stanford’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. He was among the first to formally organize opposition to the shutdowns. He also co-authored The Great Barrington Declaration, a petition that raised concerns about establishment Covid response strategies and was signed by over 63,000 scientists and medical practitioners.

Also, Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a top British cardiologist. He became an activist on Covid vaccine safety after he says his father, also a cardiologist, died from the vaccine. Another person who stands to factor in, in a big way, is attorney and children’s health advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He joined the Trump campaign with a “Make America Healthy Again” mantra. He may take on a new role to oversee an end to corruption in public health agencies.

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“.. the hush money trial was “tainted” by evidence that should be protected under presidential immunity…”

Judge Merchan Delays Decision On Trump Guilty Verdict In Hush Money Case (JTN)

Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday agreed to delay issuing a decision on whether to toss out President-elect Donald Trump’s guilty verdict on state charges of falsifying business records until Nov. 19. This pause in the proceedings to consider what effects Trump’s victory in the presidential election means for the case moving forward was requested by Trump’s legal team, which wants Merchan to dismiss the guilty verdict. Trump was found guilty in May after a six-week trial on 34 counts of falsifying business records during the 2016 presidential election to hide a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels so that she would stay quiet about an alleged sexual encounter. The former president pleaded not guilty to the charges. The chargers were brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg last year.

In July, after a landmark Supreme Court ruling outlining presidential immunity, Trump asked Judge Merchan to toss out the guilty verdict. The Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 opinion earlier that month that presidents have presidential immunity for some “official acts,” but not unofficial ones. The high court did not specified what would constitute official versus unofficial acts, leaving Merchan to parse the evidence cited in the case. Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove argued that the hush money trial was “tainted” by evidence that should be protected under presidential immunity.

“Because of the implications for the institution of the Presidency, the use of official-acts evidence was a structural error under the federal Constitution that tainted [the District Attorney’s] grand jury proceedings as well as the trial,” the lawyers wrote. The lawyers argued specifically that testimony from former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks and former Special Assistant to the President Madeleine Westerhout as well as other testimony about the inner workings of the executive branch should not have been admitted under the high court’s ruling. Merchan was originally set to rule in September, but delayed the decision to “avoid any appearance” that he was attempting to influence the election.

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“Though the networks could try to manufacture another phony scandal, who would believe them?”

MSNBC, CNN Ratings Collapse After Election While Fox News Flourishes (ZH)

Mainstream propaganda outlets MSNBC and CNN have seen an absolute collapse in viewership following the 2024 presidential election. According to Neilsen data, last Thursday’s total views on Fox News came in at 2.6 million – of which 375,000 were in the coveted 25-54 age demographic, Mediaite reports. In comparison, MSNBC only had 596,000/71,000 25-54 viewers and CNN brought in 419,000 / 91,000 25-54. Fox News was up some 60 percent year over year for the day, while MSNBC and CNN were down 23 and 40 percent – respectively. In prime time the news was even more bleak for CNN and MSNBC as they shed 30 percent and 54 percent of their viewers, respectively, compared to the same day last year.

MSNBC host Alex Wagner had her lowest-rated show ever in terms of total viewers, while Chris Hayes’s show brought in its worst numbers since May of 2016. On Friday, seven MSNBC shows recorded their lowest Friday ratings for the year. While Fox averaged 4.4M viewers Wed-Fri in prime time and 701,000 in that key demographic, MSNBC had just 808,000 total viewers for the same period (90k in demo), and CNN had 611,000 total average prime time viewers (159k in demo). No wonder CNN’s Chris Wallace is about to explore podcasting. Fox’s Elizabeth MacDonald breaks down the carnage at MSNBC by time slot between Oct. 30 and Nov. 8:

Morning Joe 1st hour – down 39.6%
Morning Joe 2d hour – down 36.9%
Andrea Mitchell – down 39.7%
Ari Melber – down 49.6%
Joy Reid’s Reidout – down 54.6%
All-in w Chris Hayes – down 47.2%
Alex Wagner Tonight- down 53.6%
Lawrence O’Donnell – down 60.6%
Stephanie Ruhle – down 67%

Three weeks ago Axios, citing Gallup, pointed out that Americans’ trust in media has plummeted to a historic low… What’s interesting is that Democrats have the highest trust in mass media, yet their networks are ghost towns. As Outkick.com reports further; CNN and MSNBC’s futures are bleak. The two networks maintained relevancy during Trump’s first term by aggressively promoting the Russia hoax. Though the networks could try to manufacture another phony scandal, who would believe them? Trump’s decisive victory demonstrated that the left-wing cable news networks have lost their influence. CNN and MSNBC exhausted every resource at their disposal to stop Donald Trump from achieving victory, eventually stooping to a plot to depict him as the second coming of Adolf Hitler, the most ruthless dictator in modern world history. It didn’t work. The lies, the hysteria, and the besmirchment only made Trump more popular and sunk CNN and MSNBC deeper. Here is how race lady Joy Reid is handling the results:

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“..the Ukrainian leader proposes inviting Ukraine to NATO, lifting restrictions on strikes deep into Russian territory, and deploying a “comprehensive non-nuclear deterrence package” in Ukraine.”

Zelensky Tries to Woo Trump With Revised ‘Victory Plan’ (Sp.)

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky showed his “victory plan” to Donald Trump back in September, with two clauses designed specifically to spark the US president-elect’s interest in potential resource-related deals, Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing several European and Ukrainian sources. According to the newspaper, Ukraine is adjusting its “victory plan” for the future Trump administration, emphasizing potential business deals, access to raw materials and the deployment of troops in an attempt to secure his support. According to the sources, Ukraine’s allies in Europe and the US, including leading representatives of the Republican Party, gave advice on how best to formulate proposals that would stimulate close cooperation with Kiev, rather than stop critically important assistance to the country.

One of the two tailored clauses suggested replacing part of the US’s contingent in Europe with Ukrainian troops after the end of the conflict. The other, which was first developed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (listed in Russia as a terrorist and extremist), involves the sharing of Ukraine’s most important natural resources with Western partners. Zelensky unveiled his “victory plan” in mid-October, insisting that it could help end the conflict in Ukraine no later than 2025. The document includes five clauses and three secret addendums. In particular, the Ukrainian leader proposes inviting Ukraine to NATO, lifting restrictions on strikes deep into Russian territory, and deploying a “comprehensive non-nuclear deterrence package” in Ukraine.

Zelensky’s plan drew criticism in the EU and NATO for outlining in detail the multiple obligations of Ukraine’s Western allies but not assigning any to Kiev itself. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed it as a set of incoherent slogans that pushed NATO into a direct conflict with Russia, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the real peace plan for Kiev would be to realize the futility of the Ukrainian policy. He said that Kiev should “wake up” and understand the reasons that led it to the conflict.

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“Donald Trump has lots of different voices in his ears and there’s a front of the Republican Party, quite a lot of them actually, who take the wrong line on Ukraine..”

UK Could Send Troops To Ukraine – Boris Johnson (RT)

The UK cannot let Ukraine suffer a defeat in its ongoing conflict with Russia, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told GB News in an interview published on Tuesday. London could go as far as sending in troops if Kiev “goes down,” he warned. According to Johnson, Russia’s success in Ukraine would spark a security crisis for the US and its allies on a multitude of fronts. “It’ll be the Baltic states. It’ll be in Georgia. You’ll see the impact of a Ukrainian defeat in the Pacific theater. You’ll see it in the South China Sea,” the politician said, without specifying what exactly could happen in those regions. He also described military and financial assistance to Kiev as a “sensible investment” and a “good” way to spend public funds, arguing that the UK would supposedly have to pay much more otherwise because “our collective security will be really degraded by a resurgent Russia threatening all sorts of parts of Europe.”

The former prime minister also pointed to the prospect of the US cutting aid to Kiev as a potential risk, claiming some people with “wrong” views on the issue were in president-elect Donald Trump’s inner circle. “Donald Trump has lots of different voices in his ears and there’s a front of the Republican Party, quite a lot of them actually, who take the wrong line on Ukraine,” he said. If aid to Ukraine is reduced and Kiev starts losing, London could be forced to deploy troops to the region, Johnson claimed. “We will then have to pay to send British troops to help defend Ukraine,” the politician stated.

Russia has repeatedly stated that it had no plans to attack NATO or any of its members. At the same time, Moscow has also warned on multiple occasions that by providing military aid to Kiev, the bloc increases the risk of a direct clash, specifying that it would treat the provision of long-range missiles for Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russian territory as a direct assault by the countries which had supplied the weapons. Earlier, Putin ordered changes to the nation’s nuclear doctrine that listed attacks by a non-nuclear state supported by a nuclear power as a reason for a nuclear response on Russia’s part, among other things. Last week, The Telegraph reported that the UK, together with France, could push for further escalation of the Ukraine conflict by attempting to convince Washington to allow Kiev strike targets deep inside Russia with Western weapons, including Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missiles.

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“First, the United States will refuse to export liberal democracy.”

Trump Will Abandon Two Key Principles Of US Foreign Policy (Gevorg Mirzayan)

The return of Donald Trump to the White House portends significant changes in American foreign policy. Experts name at least two US foreign policy features that Trump will be forced to abandon. Why from them and who personally in the immediate circle of the US president will embody this new approach? A two–month period of political fortune–telling begins in the United States before Trump takes office. American experts and journalists are trying to figure out who will join the new administration of the President-elect. And in particular, who will lead his foreign policy – who, that is, will take the posts of Secretary of State, National Security Adviser, and head of the Pentagon. Various candidates have been named, including former Defense Secretary Mike Pompeo and U.S. representative to the United Nations Nikki Haley. However, Trump has made it clear: he will not rely massively on his ex-officials, even those who served under him during his first term.

And this has its own logic – after all, the classic Washington establishment is unlikely to fit into Donald Trump’s new foreign policy strategy. A strategy that will not comply with a number of principles of classical American diplomacy. First, the United States will refuse to export liberal democracy. “We have built our foreign policy on intimidation, moralizing and lecturing countries that seek to avoid cooperation with us. In contrast, China’s foreign policy is focused on building roads and bridges, as well as providing food for the poor. And I think we should follow a foreign policy based on respect… and the national interests of the United States,” U.S. Vice President–elect J.D. Vance said a year and a half ago when he criticized the appointment of the “moralizing Stephanie Sullivan” as the American ambassador to the African Union.

And Trump fully shares this approach. “The new Trump administration will try to implement a realistic foreign policy course and abandon the liberal hegemonic traditions that were characteristic of American foreign policy throughout the period after the end of the Cold War. They will try to make American policy more pragmatic and more successfully counter American rivals,” Dmitry Suslov, the Deputy Director of the Higher School of Economics Center for Integrated European and International Studies, explains to Vzglyad. That is, to China, Russia and their global projects (like the BRICS). This approach has actually been overdue for a long time – after all, moralizing no longer works. Not only because the United States has ceased to be a moral beacon, but also because many countries (including a number of American allies) have begun to pay increasing attention to their own sovereignty; and, accordingly, to resist the imposition of any values destructive to their societies from the outside.

Under Trump, moralizing is generally impossible. After all, it implies demonstrative loyalty in exchange for the material benefits provided by America – in particular, access to the American market. And Trump is not going to hand out economic carrots. “The new administration will pursue a more protectionist and self-seeking foreign policy line. We strive to ensure that investments go to the United States, and not from the United States to third world countries,” Dmitry Suslov explains. Following moralizing, another important principle of Western globalist diplomacy will be thrown into the trash: “whoever is not with us is against us.”

Unlike Russia, which professed the principle of “we work with those who are not against us” (allowing states to pursue a multi-vector policy), the West has rigidly forced Third World countries to make a choice between it and its opponents. For example, the West has forced Ukraine to cooperate with either the EU or Russia in 2013. And then it forced Ukraine to turn into an anti-Russian springboard within the framework of “who is with us”. Perhaps eleven years ago, this strategy was effective – then the collective West was strong and had a reputation as a player who should not be messed with. However, the situation has changed now. And just in recent years the strategy “who is not with us is against us” has produced at least five misfires.

With Turkey, which, while remaining in NATO, has continued to cooperate with the Russian Federation. With India, which the United States unsuccessfully tried to force to stop working with Iran and Russia (in particular, to buy Russian hydrocarbons). With Saudi Arabia, which is establishing relations with China and has even transferred oil trade with it to the yuan. Washington’s attempts to train the Saudi leadership only led to a humiliating hours-long wait for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to have an audience with the head of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. With Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban has refused to follow the pan-European policy of isolating Russia. He is betting on national interests – and as part of this bet, he is blocking Brussels’ initiatives on new sanctions, He even flies to Moscow. And also, with Georgia where the local leadership has defiantly refused to open a second front against Russia, participate in anti–Russian sanctions, or accept Western LGBT values.

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“..Biden’s hardline policy toward Tehran ultimately harmed his major foreign policy initiative, of defeating Moscow..”

What Rough Beast? (Juan Cole)

President Joe Biden has now joined the ranks of Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush as a president whose Middle East policy crashed and burned spectacularly. Unlike Carter, who was stymied by the Iranian hostage crisis, or Bush, who faced a popular Iraqi resistance movement, Biden’s woes weren’t inflicted by an enemy. Quite the opposite, it was this country’s putative partner, the Israeli government, that implicated the president in its still ongoing genocide in Gaza, as well as its disproportionate attacks on Lebanon and Iran, for which Biden steadfastly declined to impose the slightest penalties. Instead, he’s continued to arm the Israelis to the teeth. Israel’s total war on Palestinian civilians, in turn, significantly reduced enthusiasm for Biden among youth and minorities at home, helping usher him out of office. It also created electoral obstacles for Kamala Harris’s presidential bid.

By his insistence on impunity for the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden has left the Middle East in flames and the U.S. and the world distinctly in peril. During his first three years in office, his administration wielded the tools of diplomacy in the Middle East. Donald Trump’s sanctions against the Houthis in Yemen had imperiled the civilian population there by denying them humanitarian aid and gasoline to drive to the market for food. Biden lifted those sanctions and sponsored continued negotiations between those in power in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and in the neighboring Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. Only relatively small contingents of American troops remained in Syria and Iraq to help with the mopping-up operations against the so-called Islamic State terrorist organization.

Danger signals nonetheless soon began flashing bright red among friend and foe alike in the region, as Biden’s team quickly squandered an opportunity to restore the 2015 “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” or JCPOA, between the U.N. Security Council and the Iranian regime in Tehran, which Trump had so tellingly trashed. Between 2015 and 2019, that deal had successfully kept Iran’s civilian nuclear enrichment program purely civilian, closing off the four most plausible pathways to a nuclear weapon. In those years, the Iranians had, in fact, mothballed 80% of their nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. While the U.N. Security Council lifted economic sanctions on that country, Republicans in Congress refused to halt unilateral American sanctions, which applied to third parties as well. European investors had to jump through hoops to invest in Iran while avoiding Treasury Department fines. As a result, a disappointed Iranian leadership went unrewarded for its careful compliance with the JCPOA.

Then, in May 2018, Trump stabbed the Iranians in the back, withdrawing the U.S. from the JCPOA and slapping the most severe economic sanctions ever applied by one country to another in peacetime on Iran. It essentially added up to an invisible blockade of the Iranian economy, even interfering with ordinary commerce like that country’s oil sales. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted of having convinced the gullible Trump to take such a step, which led Iran’s petroleum exports to plummet over the next three years. Trump even designated the Iranian National Bank a terrorist organization, again with potentially crippling consequences for the entire economy. In revenge, Iran went back to enriching uranium to high levels and building more centrifuges, though without actually producing weapons-grade material. To this day, its civilian nuclear program remains a form of “the Japan option,” an attempt at deterrence by making it clear that it does not want a bomb but that, if it feels sufficiently threatened, it can build a nuclear weapon relatively quickly.

As soon as Joe Biden defeated Trump in 2020, the centrist Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared that the JCPOA could be restored by the two leaders virtually by fiat. And Biden’s foreign policy team initially appeared to consider negotiations to reinstate the treaty, only to ultimately retain Trump’s outrageous sanctions as “leverage,” demanding that Iran return to compliance with the JCPOA before the two sides could talk. Perhaps the Iranian public got the message that Biden was determined to be as hostile as Trump. Certainly, in the next round of voting in the summer of 2021, they swung behind hardliner Ebrahim Raisi. And despite occasional modest diplomatic forays since then, relations have been in a dumpster for the remainder of Biden’s term, with most of Trump’s “maximum pressure” sanctions still in place. And once again, as in the Trump years, the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu has lobbied Biden hard to cease all negotiations with Tehran.

Iran, which might have been drawn into the Western camp, has instead become a hostage to Beijing. Starting in 2019, China accepted smuggled Iranian petroleum at a substantial price discount. Then, when the Ukraine War broke out and Biden imposed maximum sanctions on the Russian Federation, Moscow and Tehran found themselves pushed ever closer. Now, the two countries plan to sign a “strategic partnership agreement,” while, in July 2023, Iran joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, cementing the alliances with both China and Russia into which it had been so vigorously pushed by Washington. Iran also became a definite asset for Russia in its Ukraine War, providing Vladimir Putin with crucial weaponry. In short, Biden’s hardline policy toward Tehran ultimately harmed his major foreign policy initiative, of defeating Moscow.

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“What in the world is going on? Israel’s security problem, on its border, is 50 miles to the south. What’s an Israeli army doing here in Beirut?”

A 1984 Conference Forged Israel’s Influence Over US Media (Klarenberg)

The story of how Western media was transformed into Israel’s doting, servile propaganda appendage is not only a fascinating and sordid hidden chronicle. It is a deeply educational lesson in how imperial power can easily subordinate supposed arbiters of truth to its will. Comprehending how we got to this point equips us with the tools to assess, identify, and deconstruct lies large and small – and effectively challenge and counter not only Israel’s falsehoods but the entire settler colonial endeavor.

On June 6, 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. The effort was ostensibly intended to drive Palestinian Liberation Organization freedom fighters away from their positions on Israel’s northern border. But, as the IDF savagely pushed ever-deeper into the country, including Beirut, it became clear that ethnic cleansing, massacres, and land theft were – as in Palestine – the true goal. Throughout the Lebanese capital, news crews from major networks and reporters from the West’s biggest newspapers were waiting. Israel’s rapacious bloodlust and casual contempt for Arab lives had hitherto been, by and large, successfully concealed from the outside world. Suddenly, though, scenes of deliberate IDF airstrikes on residential housing blocks, Tel Aviv’s trigger-happy soldiers running amok in Beirut’s streets, and hospitals overflowing with civilians suffering from grave injuries, including chemical burns due to Israel’s use of phosphorus shells, were broadcast the world over, to nigh-universal outcry.

As veteran NBC news anchor John Chancellor contemporarily explained to Western viewers: “What in the world is going on? Israel’s security problem, on its border, is 50 miles to the south. What’s an Israeli army doing here in Beirut? The answer is we are now dealing with an imperial Israel, which is solving its problems in someone else’s country, world opinion be damned.” Global shock and repulsion at Israel’s conduct would only ratchet during the IDF’s resultant illegal military occupation of swaths of Lebanon. In September 1982, an Israel-backed armed Christian militia, Phalange, entered Sabra, a Beirut neighborhood home to many Palestinians displaced by the 1948 Nakba. Over a two-day span, they slaughtered up to 3,500 people while mutilating and raping countless others. Again, unfortunately for Tel Aviv, mainstream journalists were on hand to document these heinous crimes first-hand.

To say the least, Israel had an international PR disaster of historic proportions on its blood-soaked hands. The risk that further exposure of its genocidal nature might decisively and permanently shift global opinion in favor of the Palestinians and the Arab world more generally was significant. The attack on Lebanon had already spurred Western news outlets to critically reassess other illegal annexations and occupations in which Israel was and remains engaged. As ABC News reporter Richard Threlkeld commented at the time: “Israel was always that gallant little underdog democracy fighting for survival against all the odds. Now, the Israelis have annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, settled down more or less permanently on the West Bank, and occupied close to half of Lebanon. In the interests of self-defense, that gallant little underdog, Israel, has suddenly started behaving like the neighborhood bully.”

So it was that in the summer of 1984, the American Jewish Congress – a major Zionist lobby organization – convened a conference in Jerusalem, Israel’s Public Image: Problems and Remedies. It was chaired by U.S. advertising supremo Carl Spielgovel, who a decade earlier provided pro bono advice to the Israeli government on strategies for publicly communicating why Tel Aviv refused to adhere to the terms of the Henry Kissinger-brokered 1973 Sinai Accords. Spielgovel later recalled: “It occurred to me then that the Israelis were doing a good job at training their military people, and they were doing a relatively good job at training their diplomatic corps. But they weren’t spending any time training information officers, people who could present Israel’s case to embassies and TV anchormen around the world. Over the years, I made this a personal cause celebre.”

The 1984 Jerusalem conference offered Spielgovel and a welter of Western advertising and public relations executives, media specialists, editors, journalists, and leaders of major Zionist advocacy groups an opportunity to achieve that malign objective. Together, they hammered out a dedicated strategy for ensuring the “crisis” caused by news reporting on the invasion of Lebanon two years earlier would never be repeated. Their antidote? Ceaseless, methodical, and wide-ranging “Hasbara” – Hebrew for propaganda – for “changing people’s minds [and] making them think differently.”

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Roman precision
https://twitter.com/i/status/1856294347643199665

 

 

Feed fish

 

 

Tesla Berlin

 

 

Madre

 

 

Tuck in horse

 

 

SOS

 

 

Dog

 

 

2 points

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Sep 072024
 


Paul Gauguin Christ in the garden of olives 1889

 

Judge Delays Trump’s Hush Money Sentencing Until After Election (ZH)
Ghosts in the Machine (Kunstler)
Hunter Biden Loses Game of Chicken With Himself (Turley)
Hunter Biden: Plot to Clear Harris of Blot of Biden Family Corruption? (Sp.)
Russia, Russia, Russia Rerun (Sp.)
Biden Steals Trump’s Idea To Launch Sovereign Wealth Fund (ZH)
The Media Lies Add Up (Victor Davis Hanson)
Kremlin Refuses To Be Drawn On Putin’s ‘Endorsement’ Of Harris (RT)
YouTube Bans Alleged Russia-linked Right-wing Channels (RT)
Archaic Crypto Law Charges Reveal French Access to Private Communications (Sp.)
The Edifying Misadventure of The Chevalier du Rove (Despot)
Chip Roy Report On Impact Of Biden-Harris Border Policies (ZH)
FBI Raids Homes of New York Mayor’s Allies, Police Chief (Sp.)
War In Ukraine Must End ‘This Fall’ – Zelensky (RT)

 

 

 

 

Will Scharf is good
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832093648613454095

 

 

Alina is a treasure
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832091397328875733

 

 

RFK
https://twitter.com/i/status/1831881225679859954

 

 

JFK peace
https://twitter.com/i/status/1831883090710659336

 

 

Vivek
https://twitter.com/i/status/1831881487412547907

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many had their hopes up that Merchan would put him away. But he caved.

“..it would be inappropriate to sentence the former president this month since early voting in the presidential election has already begun..”

Judge Delays Trump’s Hush Money Sentencing Until After Election (ZH)

The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal case has postponed his sentencing for the second time. According to Reuters, the new sentencing date has been pushed to November 26, after the presidential election on November 5. Trump’s lawyers asked Judge Juan M. Merchan, who oversaw Trump’s seven-week trial earlier this year, to postpone the September 18 sentencing. They argued there wouldn’t be enough time for the defense to appeal Merchan’s upcoming ruling on Trump’s request to overturn the conviction, citing the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision on presidential immunity. Judge Juan Merchan wrote in the court filing: “This matter is one that stands alone, in a unique place in this Nation’s history, and this Court has presided over it since its inception – from arraignment to jury verdict and a plenitude of motions and other matters in-between.

Were this Court to decide, after careful consideration of the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump, that this case should proceed, it will be faced with one of the most critical and difficult decisions a trial court judge faces – the sentencing of a defendant found guilty of crimes by a unanimous jury of his peers. “The adjournment request has now been decided in the same way this Court has decided every other issue that has arisen since the origination of this case, applying the facts and the law after carefully considering the issues and respective arguments of the parties to ensure that the integrity of the proceeding, is protected, justice is served, and the independence of this judiciary kept firmly intact.” In May, Trump was convicted by a unanimous jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors said Trump signed off on the scheme to conceal reimbursements to a lawyer who wired $130,000 “hush money” payment to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump pleaded not guilty and denied the encounter.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of four years in jail. Most legal observers expect Trump to avoid jail time, given the alternatives to incarceration, including probation. Trump’s original sentencing was set for July 11, but it was delayed after he filed a motion to overturn his conviction, citing a landmark Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity. Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove’s request for a postponement argued it would be inappropriate to sentence the former president this month since early voting in the presidential election has already begun. “By adjourning the sentencing until after that election … the Court would reduce, even if not eliminate, issues regarding the integrity of any future proceedings,” they wrote.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Hill that there should be no sentencing at all in the case and that, “as mandated by the United States Supreme Court,” Trump’s hush money case and other legal matters should be dismissed. Prosecutors did not oppose the delay, leaving the decision to the judge. They noted, “The People respectfully defer to the Court on the appropriate post-trial schedule.” A Trump win in November indicates he could order the Department of Justice to drop federal election interference charges against him. However, he would not have the authority to end the case in Manhattan or an election interference case in Georgia.

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“Are you comforted to know that the US government is on auto-pilot, a colossal, menacing machine run by ghosts?”

Ghosts in the Machine (Kunstler)

Russia is about to roll up on what’s left of Ukraine. Our State Department neocon division thought it was wicked-smart to start a little action there in 2014, to provoke Russia into a ruinous war against NATO (the game: “Let’s You and Him Fight”) in order, theoretically, to wreck Russia and depose Mr. Putin. Didn’t work. Do you know why? I will tell you (it’s really simple): Russia’s leadership is more intelligent than ours, and far less psychopathic. They perceived correctly that we were only wrecking ourselves. Ten years later, the Ukraine caper draws to a humiliating end for our neocons, and a ruinous end for NATO and the EU. So far this year, it appears that “Joe Biden’s” party has ceased paying attention to Ukraine. The pretty yellow and blue flags have all but disappeared — except in Massachusetts, we noticed, the most highly “educated” and most deeply insane state in the union. I’ll be interested in how Kamala Harris explains our Ukraine war policy in Tuesday’s presidential debate. Defending democracy, I suppose.

The governments of the major EU nations stupidly followed the bidding of America’s psychopathic neocons and now they ‘ll have to answer for it as their people awake to the destruction of the EU nations’ economies. Early elections will be called and globalist stooges will be swept away. The turmoil will rhyme with the chaos of 1848, a year of revolution. NATO, finding itself not just purposeless but toxic to Europe’s well-being, must dissolve as members on the periphery withdraw, some seeking to join the BRICs economic bloc. Germany, France, and the UK get sucked helplessly into a new great depression and social turmoil as they contend with many millions of hostile migrants.

Here in America, you can already hear the fake anguished cry of “Russia, Russia, Russia” echoing out of Merrick Garland’s fake Justice Department. We’re to understand that the Russians are coming for our election — more gaslight — when it’s actually the Democratic party, led surreptitiously by its lawfare cadres, Norm Eisen, Marc Elias, Andrew Weissmann, Mary McCord, Lisa Monaco, et al. Their many courtroom pranks have failed against Mr. Trump. Judge Chutkan was bloviating in the DC federal court this week to generate a little heat on MSNBC, but her case has a wooden stake through its heart and Xs where its eyes used to be.

Up in New York, Judge Juan Merchan pretends to wrassle with whether or not to start Civil War Two by remanding Mr. Trump to Rikers Island on September 18 (I doubt that happens). In the event, though, I believe Mr. Trump might simply say, “No thank you,” and go about his business running for president. That would be a counter-prank I’d be eager to see. Who gets in the act then? Federal marshals? The FBI (ha!)? The Supreme Court term begins the first Monday in October. They could have something to say about the steaming pile of horseshit that was Alvin Bragg’s and Mathew Colangelo’s case. (Also, Weissmann’s, Eisen’s, Monaco’s, and McCord’s.)

Gawd knows where things might stand after next Tuesday’s great debate. The rules are pretty stringent. No candidates questioning each other. No audience. No confab with staff during commercial breaks. The mute buttons will be on. Without her “I’m speaking” routine, Ms. Harris has. . . zotz. All Mr. Trump really has to do is be polite for 90-minutes. More than a few people, meanwhile, are beginning to ask who is running the country, since “Joe Biden” is mostly off-duty, beaching it, not attending cabinet meetings, and probably not being consulted on any number of matters being carried out in his name. Are you comforted to know that the US government is on auto-pilot, a colossal, menacing machine run by ghosts?

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“If Hunter still hopes for a presidential commutation or pardon, the chances of such executive action is dramatically improved after a sentencing.”

Hunter Biden Loses Game of Chicken With Himself (Turley)

Hunter Biden just showed the perils of playing the game of chicken with yourself. For months, many of us have marveled at the sight of Hunter careening toward a cliff while declaring publicly that he was prepared to go all the way. The Justice Department was never going over the cliff because they had nothing to gain or lose in open-and-shut cases in Delaware and California. There was never a serious question of convicting Hunter of these crimes, just a will of the Justice Department to secure them. Special Counsel David Weiss inexplicably allowed serious felonies to expire, refused to bring obvious crimes as an unregistered foreign agent, and sought to cut an embarrassing sweetheart deal with Hunter to avoid any jail time on a couple of minor crimes. The deal then collapsed in open court when a judge balked at a provision that would give Hunter sweeping immunity for any crime.

When she asked the federal prosecutor if he had ever seen such a plea bargain offered a defendant other than the President’s son, he admitted that he had not. That is when the chest pounding began. Unwilling to accept anything but the sweetheart deal, Hunter’s defense counsel told the prosecutors in court to “just rip it up.” They did and Weiss was forced to actually prosecute Hunter.According to the Justice Department, Weiss continued to try to cut a plea bargain with Hunter but was rebuffed by the defense. They then went to Delaware, the home of the Bidens, and tried to convince a sympathetic jury that Hunter was a drug addict who was not responsible for his action as well as other unsupported claims. It failed in spectacular fashion with a conviction on all counts. Hunter then floored it for the California cliff on the tax charges as the Justice Department and most of us watched confused about how he was trying to intimidate. He hit the brakes as the trial was beginning.

Hunter has succeeded in putting himself in the worst possible position for a plea. He waited until he had little to trade and reportedly did not even inform the prosecutors of his decision. But it gets worse. If he had agreed to a less generous plea deal last year, he could have secured a recommended sentence on both the gun and tax charges. Instead, he will go into this sentencing with a past criminal record, an aggravating factor that could reduce the benefit of the belated plea. In the end, Hunter had nothing to offer, nothing to bargain. He plead guilty to all nine counts. This decision may still be based more on political than legal calculations. Hunter was almost certain to be convicted. But it would have taken time as his father’s administration (and pardon authority) wanes. If Hunter still hopes for a presidential commutation or pardon, the chances of such executive action is dramatically improved after a sentencing.

The White House rarely considers pardons before a trial and sentencing. Indeed, they often wait for appeals to run their course. Moreover, a demand for jail time seems likely from the Justice Department given this history and it is equally likely to be granted. If that sentence is lengthy, it will add pressure on President Biden to take action with a commutation or pardon. If President Biden does violate his promise to not pardon Hunter, it would not be a surprise for many. In 2022, I wrote that the President could resign or withdraw as a candidate and pardon Hunter. I referred to this as “break-the-glass option”: “He would end his political career with an act as a father, which some would condemn but most would understand.”

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He counts on his dad if Kamala loses.

Hunter Biden: Plot to Clear Harris of Blot of Biden Family Corruption? (Sp.)

President Joe Biden’s son Hunter has pleaded guilty to all nine counts against him in a sprawling, $1.4 million tax evasion case highlighting his history of indulgence in drugs and hookers. The surprise resolution of the case came just days before opening statements in his trial were set to begin. If it had proceeded, the trial would have likely run through the remainder of Joe Biden’s presidency, and proven politically damaging for the Biden’s successor – Vice President Kamala Harris, just two months out from the November 5 election. Hunter Biden faces up to 17 years in jail and fines of up to $1.2 million in the tax case, although observers expect leniency for the 54-year-old businessman – whose business allegedly included an elaborate influence-peddling scheme involving the selling of access to his powerful father for cash. Sentencing in the tax case is set for December 16.

The guilty plea adds to Biden’s conviction in a Delaware court in June on three felony counts related to a 2018 handgun purchase, for which he could get up to 25 years in jail. The judge in the case did not set a sentencing date. Hunter Biden has followed his father like a corruption ball and chain since 2020 when, just weeks from the November election, the New York Post began the publication of a series of stories based on information from his recovered lost laptop about his alleged pay-to-play dealings. The stories threatened to derail the Biden campaign, were it not for social media companies’ move to censor them as ‘Russian disinformation’ – claims which tech execs including Mark Zuckerberg later confirmed were bogus. The Harris campaign has already made a push to carefully distance itself from Biden on some issues, from capital gains taxes to the Border wall, and may now hope that Biden’s tax charges guilty plea will conclude the Hunter Biden saga, or at least leave him out of the spotlight until safely after the election.

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Hmmm. Still think they accepted a lot of money. Without too many questions.

Russia, Russia, Russia Rerun (Sp.)

Western media outlets are fervently perpetuating the narrative of “Russian meddling in the US election.” As this fabricated story intensifies, marked by sanctions, indictments, and the seizure of web domains labeled as “influenced by the Kremlin” according to US officials, an increasing number of media sources are jumping on the bandwagon. The New York Times noted that American spy agencies have assessed that the Kremlin “favors” Donald Trump, and warned how the US was “caught flat-footed in 2016” over Russia’s alleged (and unproven) endeavors to ‘influence’ American elections. ABC News said that the US was rushing to “take aim at Russian disinformation” just weeks ahead of the November elections.

The Washington Post dove in for a closer look at what it described as a pro-Trump “supergroup” allegedly bankrolled by Russia. The six right-wing influencers involved are currently engaged in damage control, asserting on social media that if the allegations prove to be true, they should be regarded as “victims” of this supposed “plot.” Forbes also threw its focus on Tenet’s talent roster of six influencers: Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, Benny Johnson, Lauren Southern, Taylor Hansen and Matt Christiansen. Together, the content-creators boasted a cumulative YouTube subscriber count of 7.16 million, noted the outlet. Also, Germany’s Die Welt ran with a headline that warned of “deep fakes being spread by Moscow.”

On Wednesday, the United States imposed sanctions against the Rossiya Segodnya media group, RIA Novosti, RT, Sputnik and Ruptly. The new measures also affected Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik’s parent media group Rossiya Segodnya. “Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated ten individuals and two entities as part of a coordinated US government response to Moscow’s malign influence efforts targeting the 2024 US presidential election,” a statement released on Wednesday said.

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“..Bloomberg had to make it seem that Biden had been working on their version of Trump’s idea “for months” and that’s precisely what it said..”

Biden Steals Trump’s Idea To Launch Sovereign Wealth Fund (ZH)

Two days ago when president Trump first floated the idea of a sovereign wealth fund… hard-core Democrats and/or socialist billionaires balked at the idea, mocking it as wannabe Saudi Arabia. Trump, speaking to economic leaders on Thursday, said he envisioned the fund as a way to address persistent debt issues and said it would be funded through his plan to impose tariffs on all imports. “We’ll be able to invest in state-of-the-art manufacturing hubs, advanced defense capabilities, cutting-edge medical research and help save billions of dollars in preventing disease in the first place,” Trump said. “And it is many of the people in this room who will be helping to advise and recommend investments for this fund.”

But expect all the leftist critics to positively love the idea now, just a few hours later, because late on Friday Bloomberg reported that the Kamala/Biden admin has stolen yet another idea from Trump (after eliminating tax on tips, and stimulating new business creation): aides to Joe Biden “have been crafting a proposal to create a sovereign wealth fund” that would allow the US to invest in national security interests including technology, energy, and critical links in the supply chain, a person familiar with the effort, told Bloomberg. As Bloomberg admits, the “behind-the-scenes work” by NSA Jake Sullivan and his deputy, Daleep Singh, mirrors – at least in spirit – a proposal floated Thursday by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who called for a government-owned investment fund to finance “great national endeavors” during a speech to the Economic Club of New York.

Of course, it would look just a little suspicious if the admin of the president in absentia were to float a wealth fund idea just one day after Trump did the same, so Bloomberg had to make it seem that Biden had been working on their version of Trump’s idea “for months” and that’s precisely what it said: “Sullivan and Singh have been working on the project for months across a series of weekly brainstorming efforts, and have met with economic experts on the National Security Council to debate the size, structure, funding, leadership, and potential guardrails for a proposed fund.” It “wasn’t clear if it was the “sources” that clarified on the ongoing duration of the project, or just Bloomberg’s attempt to make the latest policy theft appear a bit more organic. It gets funnier: “The work has progressed to the point where planning documents have been circulated among White House staffers and key agencies, according to the person familiar, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.”

Sure it has: and Biden waited until 2 months before the end of his presidency to make the push… or rather waht push: “But even as the work has progressed, key details — including, critically, the fund’s structure, funding model, and investment strategy — remain unclear.” And so, just like every aspect in Kamala’s policy agenda, we’ll have to wait for Trump to reveal the details of his own plan before “sources” leak what Biden was working on before he decided to hit Rehoboth beach permanently after Nancy Pelosi’s July putsch. One thing is certain though: whether it its Trump or the puppetmasters who control Kamala, a SWF – especially one of material size in the $1+ trillion range – will lead to another sharp spike in US debt, pushing US debt sharply higher from its latest record daily print just over $35.3 trillion, and making holders of non fiat assets richer as the US careens toward a monetary and fiscal solvency crisis.

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“..they have all but destroyed democracy, ruined the reputation of the media, alienated the public—and embarrassed their country before the world.”

The Media Lies Add Up (Victor Davis Hanson)

On the eve of the first 2020 debate, Biden aide and now Secretary of State Antony Blinken helped to round up “51 former intelligence authorities” to claim falsely that Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop—full of incriminating evidence of felonious Biden family behavior—was fabricated by the Russians. Yet the FBI already had the laptop and had authenticated it as genuine. The FBI was also actively enlisting Silicon Valley social media companies to suppress accurate news accounts of the laptop’s embarrassing contents—ostensibly to aid the Biden campaign. The signees of the false letter included former intelligence kingpins such as Leon Panetta, James Clapper, and John Brennan. None has ever apologized for deliberating lying to the country in a (successful) attempt to help alter an election. During the summer of 2021, top military officials, at least publicly, parroted the Biden administration’s lie that it was safe to abruptly withdraw all troops from Afghanistan.

The Biden plan was to take political credit for ending the two-decade-long war on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and the American invasion of Afghanistan.Yet many intelligence officials in and outside the Pentagon had warned both Biden and the Pentagon top brass that any such reckless and total withdrawal would collapse Afghanistan.They rightly also advised that sudden flight would give terrorists a windfall of equipment and infrastructure. But they were ignored and during the subsequent Biden misadventure, thirteen American Marines were needlessly killed. After the greatest military humiliation in a half-century, Biden and many in the media lied that the mission was nevertheless a successful withdrawal. But that was not all. For the first time in history, a presidential candidate, Donald Trump, was subjected to numerous criminal and civil suits in an election year.

Yet the federal prosecutor, Jack Smith, met with Biden officials. A high-ranking Biden Justice federal attorney joined the New York municipal prosecution. The Georgia prosecutor met stealthily with Biden’s legal counsel. And a major Biden donor funded the civil suit. The once collusion-hungry media ignored all such lawfare and rank collusion. During the 2020 Democratic primaries, the general election, and throughout the first three years of the Biden administration, it was evident that Joe Biden was physically and mentally incapable of serving as president. Yet his aides and the media all misled the American people. They insisted that Biden was vigorous and sharp. Then suddenly in June 2024, within a 24-hour period, Biden was declared by these same insiders as unfit to continue as the Democratic nominee. Their new problem with Biden was not just his long-standing embarrassing dementia.

Rather bad polls increasingly warned that voters no longer believed their lies and thus would likely not reelect Biden but would instead punish most Democrats in the upcoming 2024 election. So, a new media narrative arose: the once-hale Biden was forced to resign as the Democrat nominee. His once widely caricatured vice president, Kamala Harris, just as abruptly was coronated as his replacement candidate by an equally suddenly gushing and colluding media. In sum, for some nine years, the media and the left have successfully fed the country a succession of rank deceptions and conspiracies. They did so because they proclaimed Donald Trump too dangerous to be president and therefore any means they employed to stop him were to be justified. And they are doing so yet a third time in 2024. As they continue, they have all but destroyed democracy, ruined the reputation of the media, alienated the public—and embarrassed their country before the world.

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”As for his tone, people abroad who are interested in it should reflect on it. Let’s not steal the opportunity to do so..”

Kremlin Refuses To Be Drawn On Putin’s ‘Endorsement’ Of Harris (RT)

People are free to interpret the tone of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks about his preferred candidate in the upcoming US presidential election any way they like, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. He was commenting on the reaction to statements made by the Russian leader the previous day during a panel discussion. Putin said he favored Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, since she has the backing of President Joe Biden. She also “laughs infectiously,” Putin added, suggesting that Harris would not be as likely to impose new sanctions on Russia. Peskov said American domestic politics is not at the top of the Russian president’s agenda, but that he does comment on international affairs when asked.

”As for his tone, people abroad who are interested in it should reflect on it. Let’s not steal the opportunity to do so,” the official added. Moscow would rather not be dragged into American affairs, but does not expect Russia to stop being used as a foil for US domestic politics anytime soon, Peskov said. Washington routinely accuses the Russian government of “meddling” and “interfering” in American elections, which Moscow denies. The White House on Thursday rebuked Putin’s remark, with John Kirby, its national security spokesman, stating that he “ought to stop talking about our elections, period.” Meanwhile former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, reacted by saying that he was not sure whether to be insulted by Putin’s words or take them as a favor to him.

Officials in Moscow have repeatedly denied having a preference for either candidate, since they believe neither would improve US relations with Russia. Some US media interpreted Putin’s “endorsement” of Harris as a form of trolling, similarly to his previously expressed support for Biden. In February, he described the US leader a predictable old-school politician, unlike Trump. Biden has since dropped out of the race amid unfavorable opinion polls and pressure from donors and party heavyweights.

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“..testifies to the irreversible degradation of the democratic state in the United States and its transformation into a totalitarian neoliberal dictatorship.”

YouTube Bans Alleged Russia-linked Right-wing Channels (RT)

YouTube has removed five right-wing political channels linked to what the US Department of Justice (DOJ) claims is a Russian effort to sow division in America and influence its domestic landscape. In a statement cited by the Washington Post on Thursday, the Google-owned video hosting service said it had “terminated” the accounts of the Tenet Media company and four other entities linked to conservative commentator Lauren Chen in a bid “to combat coordinated influence operations.” The move comes after the DOJ on Wednesday charged two Russians, identified as RT employees, with violating the Foreign Agents Act, money laundering, and illegally funneling millions of dollars to US-based entities to promote Moscow’s narrative on various politically charged issues.

While the DOJ did not directly name the company which was allegedly involved in those activities, saying only that it was based in Tennessee and had posted around 2,000 videos since its launch in November 2023, some observers and social media users suggested that the indictment referred to Tenet Media.The company was founded by Chen and her husband Liam Donovan in early 2022 and often features right-wing influencers that provide commentary on such topics as immigration, inflation, and foreign policy.

Following the indictment, conservative outlet Blaze Media said, as quoted by Semafor, that it had terminated a contact with Chen, whom it described as “an independent contractor,” without providing an explanation for the move. In a separate development, the US Treasury Department on Wednesday sanctioned several Russian nationals, including RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan and three other senior RT employees, over alleged efforts to influence the US election. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has denounced the new restrictions, arguing that the move “testifies to the irreversible degradation of the democratic state in the United States and its transformation into a totalitarian neoliberal dictatorship.”

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“..an obscure, never-used twenty-year-old law obliging companies providing cryptography tools to inform the French Cybersecurity Agency..”

Archaic Crypto Law Charges Reveal French Access to Private Communications (Sp.)

The Durov saga in France and the continued efforts by countries around the world to crack down on his popular cloud-based, end-to-end encrypted private messenger and social media software has divulged a string of embarrassing details about the sorry state of internet privacy and freedom of information. Two of the six charges facing Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France are grounded in an obscure, never-used twenty-year-old law obliging companies providing cryptography tools to inform the French Cybersecurity Agency (French acronym ANSSI) and grant it access to the software’s source code and “a description of [its] technical characteristics.” The 2004 law – uniquely blunt in its demand that companies divulge info about the tech tools used for private communications, is being used against Durov by accusing him of providing encrypted communications services “without certified declaration.”

The legal requirement also means, if it is applied evenly across the board, that the array of instant messengers available to French users, from WhatsApp and Signal to iMessage and the French-made Olvid ‘secure’ messenger used by the French government, do comply with ANSSI regulations, meaning French intelligence can potentially spy on any or all French users at any time. Adding credence to this idea is the fact that Pavel Durov is reportedly the first-ever tech mogul to be charged under the 2004 law, and the fact that many big-name tech companies have been silent on the Durov case, with the exception of Proton CEO Andy Yen, who characterized the charges against the Russian-born tech mogul as “economic suicide” that’s “rapidly and permanently changing the perception of founders and investors” toward France.

“If sustained, I don’t see how tech founders could possibly travel to France, much less hire in France,” Yen wrote last week. The law is also reminiscent of the case against WikiLeaks cofounder Julian Assange, who was threatened with decades of jail time by the US under the obscure Espionage Act of 1917, even though that he was not an American citizen, and a publisher, not a spy. Former president Donald Trump was charged under the same act in his classified documents case, which got thrown out by a judge in July.

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“America is a stage where standing ovations are paid at the price of blood..”

The Edifying Misadventure of The Chevalier du Rove (Despot)

The owner of Telegram, as far as we know, is still in France. The bird without a nest now lives with a police ankle tag on its foot. It is still unclear why he himself landed in the trap set. But we are beginning to understand how he thinks. The intelligence services too, no doubt. More than thirty years ago, when he was living in Paris, Edward Limonov gave me a very valuable piece of advice: ‘Do whatever you want, but avoid making out with the French police. They are the toughest bastards.’ Limonov had been expelled from the USSR before landing in the New York underground, so he knew a bit about police in many places. Limonov was not only a political punk, but also a very good writer. In his collection of short stories about Russia in decay which we had published in French (La sentinelle assassinée, ed. L’Age d’Homme), he dissected the anatomy of certain Russian illusions about the West.

In a piece named ‘A Tragedy of Ignorance’ he delivered the burlesque and heartbreaking story of the exodus of a family of Soviet musicians who had enjoyed great success playing jazz. Drunk with glory, they had convinced themselves that it was nothing to succeed in Russia if one did not succeed in America. In the homeland of jazz! The unfortunate people did not know where they were setting foot. America is a stage where standing ovations are paid at the price of blood. Fooled by promises without cover, rushed into tours as exhausting as they were low-paying, they had ended up crashing in a poorly maintained plane. Limonov would have done better to address his warning to the founder of Telegram, but would the Chevalier du Rove have listened to it? Anyway, the bird without a nest now lives with a police ankle tag on its foot. Unless otherwise indicated, he has not tried to flee his new homeland where he faces twenty years in prison. Around the world, there is speculation about the reasons and the behind-the-scenes story of his arrest.

His personality interests us in two ways. Both as a product and illustration of a certain mentality specific to the westernized Russian intelligentsia, and as a geopolitical factor because Pavel Durov is the sole owner-at least that’s what he claims-of the most coveted internet messaging service in the world. Last May, Tucker Carlson travelled to Dubai to record a very captivating interview with Durov. That was mainly about the fight against censorship, the independence of ideas and freedom of movement, and the best way to resist the global Leviathan. Perhaps Carlson had oriented the interview according to his own domestic political imperatives, where the fight against Democratic media censorship plays a central role. In any case, this interview undoubtedly contributed to imposing a certain ‘reading’ of the Parisian incident.

After the captive, let’s take a look at the jailer. Since the Gilets Jaunes revolt, the French state has established for itself a solid reputation as an enemy of freedoms. It is from France, in particular, that the largest number of blocking requests to Twitter came before it was taken over by Elon Musk. The Macronian apparatchik Thierry Breton, France’s nominee as European Commissioner, exported this Orwellian craze to the European Union with extravagant high-handedness until he was disavowed by the Eurocrats themselves. Macron and his henchmen had set a trap for the new Julian Assange to gag him and his network. The accusation of complicity in paedophilia or terrorism was just their alibi. It was that simple. Maybe. But there are also less romantic ways of looking at events.

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“..the “ultimate goal” of the Democratic party is to grant citizenship to “all 11 million or however many” illegals in the country..”

Chip Roy Report On Impact Of Biden-Harris Border Policies (ZH)

Democrats have made no secret that they plan to grant blanket amnesty to tens of millions of illegal immigrants who flooded into the country after President Joe Biden shredded President Trump’s sweeping efforts to secure the border – and whose worst elements are committing heinous crimes and taking over apartment complexes in several major Democrat-run cities. The plan appears to be to provide Democrats with a reliable stream of votes, no matter the cost to the country (which, according to the NY Post, was $150 billion last year). That’s not hyperbole – last week Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) openly stated that the Democrat party’s plan is to turn all “undocumented” migrants into “documented” ones, and supported the idea of providing subsidized housing to illegal aliens.

And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made it clear in a resurfaced 2022 speech that the “ultimate goal” of the Democratic party is to grant citizenship to “all 11 million or however many” illegals in the country. According to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the plan is “ALL about getting Democrat votes.” Meanwhile, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) has released a lengthy report detailing how the Biden-Harris immigration allowed a flood of noncitizens to “fundamentally transform” the United States. Roy notably sticks to government statistics (second only to lies and damn lies) for his report, citing just 8.5 million illegal migrants – though the number is far higher according to some estimates. Key points:

• Over 8.5 million illegal aliens have crossed the U.S. southern border since the Biden-Harris administration took office, exceeding the population of 37 states.
• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released 5.6 million illegal aliens into the U.S., and 1.9 million “got-aways” have evaded capture.
• Border Patrol is overwhelmed, suffering from low morale and recruitment levels, leading to a significant increase in agent suicides.
• Fentanyl, primarily produced by Mexican drug cartels using Chinese chemicals, has led to nearly 75,000 American deaths in 2023.
• Criminal activities committed by illegal aliens, including murders and assaults, have spiked under the Biden-Harris administration.
• At least 169 known or suspected terrorists were arrested at the southern border in FY 2023.
• Mexican cartels have increased their profits to over $13 billion a year through human smuggling and drug trafficking operations.
• States like Texas have spent billions on border security, citing a lack of federal support.
• Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are facilitating illegal immigration, funded by U.S. taxpayers.
• The Biden-Harris administration’s catch-and-release policies have contributed to a surge in crime and human trafficking.
• There has been a significant rise in illegal aliens from non-Western countries, especially China, with record numbers crossing the border in FY 2024.
• The number of illegal aliens involved in crimes has increased, with many committing serious offenses after being released into the U.S.
• Thousands of migrant children have been lost by U.S. authorities, with over 320,000 minors unaccounted for as of 2024.
• Venezuelan gangs, like Tren de Aragua, are committing crimes in major U.S. cities.

Pelosi+

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Squeaky clean, I’m sure.

FBI Raids Homes of New York Mayor’s Allies, Police Chief (Sp.)

Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) officers have raided the homes of New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Edward Caban and other senior city officials in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, according to media reports. The reason for the action against the top New York City officials was not immediately known and the FBI did not comment. Shockwaves rippled across the political and economic elite of the US metropolis as news broke of the raids that occurred early Wednesday at the residences of Caban and New York deputy mayors Phil Banks and Sheena Wright. Cellphones of the implicated officials were seized as well to aid in investigations, reports claim. “I’ve been around a long time and that’s never happened before,” said CNN analyst and former NYPD deputy commissioner for counterterrorism John Miller.

“I would say that this is the first time in history that a sitting New York City Police Commissioner has been visited by his colleagues from federal law enforcement who have said, ‘hand over your electronic devices pursuant to a grand jury subpoena.’”Mayor Adams’ office has distanced itself from the investigations, The New York Times reported.”Investigators have not indicated to us the mayor or his staff are targets of any investigation,” Adams’ Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg said in a statement made available to the Times. “As a former member of law enforcement, the mayor has repeatedly made clear that all members of the team need to follow the law.” At least two more figures in Adams’ inner circle were also subjected to FBI scrutiny according to reports, with senior Adams aide Timothy Pearson and former Metropolitan Transport Authority official Terence Banks, the brother of the deputy mayor, also being searched.

Reports claimed deputy mayor Banks abruptly resigned as department chief of the NYPD in 2014 amid a federal bribery investigation in which agents allegedly uncovered evidence that he had accepted thousands of dollars in free meals and sports tickets.Additionally, prior to this week the home of Brianna Suggs, the top fundraiser for Adams’s mayoral campaign, was raided in November 2023. The FBI was reportedly investigating whether the campaign “conspired with the Turkish government and others to funnel money into its coffers”. The reports added that since Adams took office in January 2022 his campaign had ignored multiple requests from city regulators to disclose the identities of more than 500 supporters who provided $300,000 in contributions to his campaign.

The controversial mayor has raised eyebrows for appointing many of his close friends to top positions in the city. In addition to Banks and Wright, Adams — himself a former New York police captain — hired longtime friend Lisa White as deputy commissioner for employee relations at the NYPD, with an annual salary of more than $241,000.

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Easy. Step 1: you step down.

War In Ukraine Must End ‘This Fall’ – Zelensky (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has urged NATO countries to pressure Russia to agree to Kiev’s peace terms this fall. He made his statement during a meeting with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Regular gatherings at Ramstein are designed to coordinate military aid to Kiev. Zelensky urged Western countries to help arrange joint production of weapons on Ukrainian soil, including drones and missiles. “To achieve this, we need funding – we are ready to quickly produce everything that will help us bring this war to an end, namely, by putting decisive pressure on Russia for real peace,” Zelensky said, according to his website. “Let’s make this fall a time for Russian aggression to fall – in a way that will end the war and restore a reliable international security order.”

Austin also stressed the importance of weapons manufacturing, saying that the US was “working with Ukraine to design and build a substitute for the S-300 surface-to-air missile system and the R-27 air-to-air missile.” Washington has set aside more than $200 million to purchase “critical components” to allow Ukraine to make drones and electronic-warfare systems, he said. Kiev has faced several setbacks on the battlefield in recent months, with the Russian troops steadily making gains in the Donbass and advancing towards the city of Pokrovsk. In the hope of forcing Moscow to recall most of its soldiers from the Donbass, Ukraine launched an invasion in Russia’s Kursk Region on August 6, capturing several villages and the border city of Sudzha. The Russian advances have not stopped, however.

By sending its most well-equipped and experienced units in Kursk, the Ukrainian army has “weakened” its positions on other fronts, Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week. He added that the Russian forces have only increased their push in the Donbass. Peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev broke down in the spring of 2022. Moscow has since stated that Zelensky’s demand to restore Ukraine to its 1991 borders was completely unacceptable. Speaking on Monday, Putin said that Russia was ready to reopen peace negotiations, but only on its own terms. But Moscow needs to neutralize Ukrainian attempts to “destabilize the situation” in Kursk and other border regions first, he stressed.

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Questions

 

 

Toll road

 

 

Lion

 

 

The future of energy
https://twitter.com/i/status/1832068739203821610

 

 

 

 

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Aug 062024
 


Pablo Picasso The actor 1904

 

And Suddenly Things Change (Kunstler)
Apocalypse Now or Later? (Johnston)
Bitcoin Falls Below $50,000 (RT)
Biden-Harris Released 99 Illegal Aliens On FBI Terror Watchlist Into US (ZH)
Scientific Consensus Needed in Sports Gender Debate – IOC
From The Glass House, A Hail Of Stones Rains Down On Venezuela (Karganovic)
America’s Election Meddling Will Finally Be Its Own Sword To Fall On (Jay)
The 1948 Irgun re-born? (Alastair Crooke)
West Too Fearful Of Escalation With Russia – Zelensky (RT)
Jailed US Reporter Knew He Was Handling Classified Russian Data (RT)
In ‘Biggest Antitrust Case Of The 21st Century’, Google Ruled A Monopoly (CD)
Neil Gorsuch Issues Dire Warning Over Biden’s Reforms (HUSA)
House Judiciary Launches Probe into Loren Merchan’s Work for Kamala (HUSA)
Downing Street In Row With Musk Over UK Riots (RT)
British Army Won’t Act Against Protesters – MOD (RT)

 

 

 

 

Trump ad
https://twitter.com/i/status/1820293998277165106

 

 

Woke

 

 

O’Leary
https://twitter.com/i/status/1820614293643223286

 

 

Byron Donalds

 

 

Orban Soros

 

 

Bukele

 

 

JD
https://twitter.com/i/status/1820281495879118921

 

 

Tucker Maine

 

 

 

 

“..the epic revaluation of everything humans make and own — with much of it losing value and quite a bit losing all value because it never really had any..”

And Suddenly Things Change (Kunstler)

That two-by-four upside our country’s head you’ve been waiting to get whomped with? Looks like it’s landing now. We got a banger in 2008, but it didn’t make a much of an impression. Maybe you don’t even remember these people, but then Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed Chair Ben Bernanke came in like a code blue squad and hooked up the banks to an IV-drip speedball of cocaine and heroin, i.e., “money” that didn’t actually exist (a.k.a. “liquidity,” hallucinated capital), and that crew kept it coming for years. And then Janet Yellen and her posse kept it coming with never-ending zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) until the national debt canceled America’s future. And that left Jerome Powell pretending there was a way out of this doom-loop. Then came the repo market spasm in September 2019 that freaked out the blob so badly they shut down the whole world with Covid and locked-down economies.

And everything since then has been a waiting game. The financial world was in hospice. The wait is over. Everything that can break is breaking: stock markets, bond markets, the galaxy of derivatives — bets on this and that, which will never be honored. Banks are next. Gold and silver are hanging in there for dear life just now, because they’re actually worth something. (And because they are worth something, they‘ll eventually sell off some too, to cover margin calls on other stuff hemorrhaging value. But they will not go to zero like a lot of other stuff, and they’ll come back stronger.)

You understand this can’t play out like it did in 2008-9. The authorities are out of tricks and out of fake money. They can try the emergency interest rate cut, but it won’t change what is actually happening: the epic revaluation of everything humans make and own — with much of it losing value and quite a bit losing all value because it never really had any. The spooky catch is that there will be an attempt in this wild and terrifying process, for certain devious, unprincipled parties to take possession of many things shaking loose — what remains of collateral. . . real things. . . commodities. . . facilities. . . properties. . . chattels. . . artworks. . . and, of course, whatever securities still have a relationship to realities of production.

This brings a sharp end to the current political sitcom, especially the situation of the Democratic Party. They will get blamed for the economic carnage left behind by the shattered money system. They lied about everything for years, every number, every index, every supposed “policy”. Kamala Harris won’t be cackling her way out of this. It’s hard to see how she might remain the party’s nominee. She can’t even speak to the massive catalog of prior failures to govern our country coherently and effectively. And it’s equally hard to figure how “Joe Biden,” still presiding emptily over this fiasco, can get Twenty-fifthed out of the way for his feckless veep. More likely, the coming convention will be a desperate, bloody mass cage fight and somebody else will stagger out of it to go through the motions of campaigning in a hopeless cause. Hillary might even decline the roll in this horror show.

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Little later.

Apocalypse Now or Later? (Johnston)

It’s carnage out there in the markets, and things have been moving with the force of a tsunami. Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunged more than 12% on Monday in what was the biggest single-day drop since ‘Black Monday’ in 1987. As of this writing, the Dow has dropped some 1,000 points, while the Nasdaq has cratered nearly 4% in what has turned out to be a global market rout. The triggers for the selloff are clear enough and have been well covered in the financial media. Friday’s disappointing US jobs report ignited fears of a US recession. The once-hot but overly leveraged and overhyped AI trade has gone sour, which has led to a bloodbath for tech stocks.

Largely responsible for the latter development is the breaking of the massive dollar-yen carry trade – where investors were borrowing cheaply in yen and investing in higher-yielding US assets. This can be thought of roughly as a big interest-rate arbitrage: Borrow at low rates and lend (invest) at higher rates. But when the Bank of Japan raised rates on July 31 and, perhaps even more importantly, signaled more hikes to come, a massive capitulation in these carry-trade positions ensued. This has reverberated through markets and led to a lot of margin calls. And since investors often have to sell other assets to meet margin calls, it creates even more selling pressure.

Predicting where markets may be headed in the coming days and weeks is a hazardous endeavor that I won’t venture. Many investors are of course trying to catch the proverbial ‘falling knife’ – meaning buying in during or immediately after a sharp selloff. A number of analysts are already saying that the panic is overblown and things will soon stabilize. If I had high conviction about how things will shape up over the short term, I would simply trade the market, not write about it.

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HODL.

Bitcoin Falls Below $50,000 (RT)

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has shed more than 10% of its value in one day, amid a global stock market crash that has affected the cryptocurrency market, according to trading data. The price of Bitcoin has fallen below $50,000 for the first time since February, hitting a low of $48,126 at 08:41 GMT on Monday. It has recovered slightly since then. In late July, Bitcoin traded at above $62,000, and in March, it briefly touched an all-time high of $70,136. Since Friday, the cryptocurrency market has recorded its most significant sell-off in three days in almost a year, Cointelegraph said. The panic selling in Bitcoin and the overall crypto market was sparked by a wider crash in the financial markets, amid fears that the US could be heading for a recession. Stock markets went into a meltdown on Monday morning. Apart from the global stock market rout, the uncertainty regarding the fiscal policy of the US Federal Reserve, Bitcoin’s low liquidity, and soaring tensions in the Middle East have contributed to the slide, industry experts say.

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“For Harris and Obama’s Democrat party, there’s no escaping that disastrous border issue.”

Biden-Harris Released 99 Illegal Aliens On FBI Terror Watchlist Into US (ZH)

A new interim staff report from the House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, published on Monday, highlights how the Biden administration, with ‘Border Czar’ VP Kamala Harris, facilitated the greatest illegal alien invasion ever on the United States. The report titled “Terror At Our Door: How The Biden-Harris Administration’s Open-Borders Policies Undermine National Security And Endanger Americans” revealed that the failed southern border policies of President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris have flooded the nation with more than 5.4 million illegal aliens. Additionally, at least 1.9 million known “gotaways” also entered, bringing the total to 7.3 million illegal entries. Fox News’ Bill Melugin, who also reviewed the report, said the border data that dates back between 2021-23 shows “at least 99 illegal aliens on the FBI terror watchlist were released into the US after being arrested by Border Patrol at the southern border, and another 34 watchlisted aliens are still in DHS custody.” And this.

“With the border in chaos under the Biden-Harris Administration, the terrorist threat to the homeland has skyrocketed. This border insecurity has been the Administration’s choice, and it is a mistake,” the report stated. The report noted that 375 illegal aliens on the US Gov’ts terrorist watchlist have been apprehended by Border Patrol agents under Biden’s first term with VP Harris as Border Czar. The report continued, “That is a more than 3,000 percent increase of watchlisted alien encounters compared to all four years of the Trump Administration.” At the end of last month, leftist MSM spent days in an all-out propaganda media blitz to convince voters that VP Harris was never border Czar – that’s because the nation killing open southern borders pushed by Biden & Harris is such a disastrous topic during the election cycle.

Meanwhile, national security ‘experts’ have warned countless times that the Biden-Harris Administration’s open-border policies can only suggest it’s only a matter of time before a terror event unfolds in the US. [..] A majority of Americans care about two things ahead of the elections: 1) inflation and 2) the border. For Harris and Obama’s Democrat party, there’s no escaping that disastrous border issue.

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“He assured reporters that the IOC was working to protect the athletes who failed gender tests from bullying..”

No no no, the IOC should protect women, not failed gender tests. Best way to do that: everyone who has a Y chromosome is not a woman. Perhaps that leaves out a few people, but at least not half the population.

Scientific Consensus Needed in Sports Gender Debate – IOC

International Olympic Committee (IOC) communications director Mark Adams admitted on Friday that there was no scientific or political consensus on the gender test issue in sports after a controversial Olympic boxing match revived the debate. “On the wider issue, there is, there still is, the need of scientific or political consensus on this issue. It is not a black-and-white issue. And we would, the IOC, be very interested to hear of such a solution, such a consensus on this,” Adams told a news conference. He spoke a day after Italian female boxer Angela Carini surrendered after 46 seconds in the 1/8 finals with Algerian boxer Imane Khelif. The IOC approved Khelif’s participation in the Olympic women’s tournament despite that the boxer was disqualified from the 2023 World Cup for failing an unspecified gender eligibility test. The International Boxing Association (IBA) found the presence of XY-chromosomes and increased testosterone levels in her body.

Changing the rules during a competition is forbidden, Adams said. The IOC relied on the norms that were in effect during the last Olympic Games. He assured reporters that the IOC was working to protect the athletes who failed gender tests from bullying. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said after the match that athletes with male genetic characteristics should be barred from women’s competitions. The IOC previously suspended the International Boxing Association from holding a boxing tournament in Paris.

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“.. it is much safer for a country to produce every year a bumper crop of broccoli than to be cursed with a commodity coveted by the high and mighty of this world..”

From The Glass House, A Hail Of Stones Rains Down On Venezuela (Karganovic)

Since the 1920s, Venezuela has been a very unlucky country. That was when vast oil deposits were discovered on its territory. Its misfortune began when global predators grasped that it was fabulously rich. It has the largest petroleum reserves in the world, exceeding those of Saudi Arabia, as well as huge amounts of gold and other valuable ores and minerals. Being a wealthy country, far from a cause for jubilation, when it is unable to effectively defend itself is a huge vulnerability. As Gerald Celente observed at the time when Libya was in the global predators’ cross-hairs in the way that Venezuela is being targeted today,. The torments Venezuela has experienced over the last two decades corroborate Celente’s point.

In 1998, the people of Venezuela elected Hugo Chavez over the assortment of stooges and grifters that previously had always been put forward by their imperial overlords for “democratic” approval by the inert populace. It turned out that on that occasion they had voted the wrong way, and that is when their troubles began. Since then, they have been subjected to punishing and increasingly devastating sanctions. The brutality of those sanctions was such that the program of redistribution of the nationalised national wealth to benefit the poor and the hitherto disenfranchised had to be abruptly curtailed. The vindictive assault on the Venezuelan people and their means of sustenance conducted over the last twenty years with cumulative ferocity can only be interpreted as the collective economic and political equivalent of the tortures inflicted individually in Abu Ghra it is much safer for a country to produce every year a bumper crop of broccoli than to be cursed with a commodity coveted by the high and mighty of this worldib.

On Sunday, 28 July, in Venezuela Presidential elections were held. The incumbent Nicolas Maduro of the United Socialist Party was declared by the electoral commission to be the winner, having received 51% of the votes, whilst the challenger, collective West’s favourite Edmundo Gonzales gained 44%, with the balance split by two minor candidates. The polls had barely closed and vote counting, in the presence of 910 international observers, was still in progress when a concerted campaign was launched abroad to dispute Maduro’s victory as fraudulent and to put forward the assertion that it was the opposition candidate who had actually won. Where had we seen such a sequence of events before?

The relatively close tally was a perfect ambush, the ideal scenario to activate Gene Sharp’s colour revolution playbook. Within hours of the results being announced, factually unsupported claims were issued, according to unverified exit polls, that Gonzales had received twice as many votes as officially conceded. Ancillary mechanisms were promptly put in motion. Exactly as it did following the 2020 elections in Bolivia, which were won by Evo Morales, a figure loathed by the imperialists as much as Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, the Organisation of American States duly issued a statement denouncing the Venezuelan vote as “unreliable.” The governments of several other dependencies, Argentina, Chile, and Peru, followed suit in even stronger terms and announced that they would not recognise Maduro’s election to a new six-year term. Ironically, the current Peruvian government is itself the product of a constitutionally irregular palace coup in 2022, in which the democratically elected President of that country, Pedro Castillo, was deposed. Yet the Peruvian coup regime sees nothing awkward in lecturing Venezuela on the fine points of democratic procedure.

The tragedy that has struck Venezuela is a clear illustration of the inherent vulnerability of relatively weak countries endowed with immense natural resources. They are fair game for plunder and from the moment they refuse to remain prostrate and decide to resist, as Venezuela did under Chavez and Bolivia under Morales, they become objects of subversion by the foulest of means, with the sole objective of reinstating the ancien régime and the system of neo-colonialist pillage that characterised it.

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“..the opportunity for the West to fight Russia without committing one dead western soldier..”

America’s Election Meddling Will Finally Be Its Own Sword To Fall On (Jay)

“Interventionism” could simply be called “western-backed coup”. Since the end of the WWII, the U.S., it is reported, has meddled with the elections of 81 countries and so it should come as little surprise that it tried its best to topple Nicolás Maduro, as it had previously in 2019 under Trump. U.S. election meddling though has changed considerably since the end of the Cold War. Previous to 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell, the U.S. was quite brazen about toppling left-wing dictators it hated or supporting right-wing candidates with their campaigns. Most notably its dirty tricks were seen as early as 1948 when it did all it could in Italy to oust a communist government. Later on, in the 80s, while the Cold War was still running and Soviet troops were in Afghanistan, the U.S. gave the contras in Nicaragua 18m USD in profits from the illegal arms sales to Iran, which ultimately led to Daniel Ortega being overthrown in a 1990 election. In the same year, Vaclav Havel was backed to the hilt in Czechoslovakia to be enthroned as a western leader in the first democratic elections to be held there.

The U.S. also backs campaigns to reinstate their puppets, when they lose one in a fair, democratic election. In 1986, for example, in Haiti, the U.S. lost Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” who was the incumbent president and a great ally of the West. Later on, his successor was finally overthrown when another friend was installed after years of a nefarious campaign. Sometimes they threw money at their own favoured incumbents who would be useful idiots to them. In 1996, the Clinton government lent 10m USD to Boris Yeltsin for his own campaign, a staggering amount of money at that time. Other times, they would pump money into campaigns run by opposition groups to oust the incumbent who was considered an enemy of the U.S., disregarding any pretentions of democratic collective conscience.

In 2000, five years after the Serbs had been bombed into submission in the Yugoslav War by an illegal air strike campaign – which came about when Bosnian Muslims staged a false flag attack on their own people in a Sarajevo marketplace – the U.S. went all out to fund campaigns for all opposition groups in Serbia which finally led to those groups using the same dictator type tactics when the polls were counted by giving Milosevic to leave quietly with his life, or face the same consequences as Romania’s Ceausescu. The Serbian leader later was to mysteriously die in 2006 while held in prison at a specially convened war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Netherlands.

Arguably, the best example of U.S. election meddling, especially for one which has so spectacularly backfired on the U.S., has got to be Ukraine. Both in 2004 and 2014, the U.S. created a revolutionary movement and pumped an estimated 4bn USD into it, just to unseat the Russian-leaning incumbent Viktor Yanukovych. With Ukraine, there were not energy reserves to act as a catalyst but a bigger prize for those red in tooth and claw determined to have their glory fighting Russia: the opportunity for the West to fight Russia without committing one dead western soldier. It proved irresistible and to this day, the West’s economies continue to plunder as this foolish decision takes a grip on those economies pulling them down, while Russia’s gains.

While we don’t know all of the facts which drew the U.S. to the Ukraine, its fatal attraction may well be part of Joe Biden’s corruption escapades there, clearly the Ukraine stands out as the West’s greatest defeat with election engineering which started off as a “colour revolution” but ended up as full-on support of military intervention, shrouded by dirty aid and military deals. The U.S. usually can’t see election interference for what it is as its people have gleaned a certain self-righteous coping mechanism to messing up other people’s lives just for the charred profits from other people’s losses, often deaths. As a general rule, if we overlook Ukraine, in recent years these “colour revolutions” are, compared to the gruesome coup d’états in Central and South America during the cold war years, benign. But it’s where the thinking leads.

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“.. this concept rests on Jewish supremacy: Mein Kampf in reverse”.

The 1948 Irgun re-born? (Alastair Crooke)

Again, overlooked but not in the news: The situation at Sde Teiman was widely-known and said to be “more horrific than anything we’ve heard about Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo”. A UN report has detailed how Palestinians arbitrarily detained faced torture and mistreatment. The vigilantes from the settlements nevertheless described those committing the anal rape as “heroes” – and cast the IDF investigators as fifth columnists. Reports suggest that the perpetrators at Sde Teiman enjoy high level protection. This account of systematic torture followed earlier revelations that the Israeli army had marked tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects for assassination, using an AI targeting system, called Lavender, with little human oversight and a permissive policy for casualties.

In the same vein, Right wing Cabinet ministers celebrated the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on social media Wednesday morning, as: “This is the right way to purge the world of this filth”, Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, a member of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, tweeted: “No more imaginary ‘peace’/surrender agreements, no more mercy for these dead men walking. The iron fist that will strike them is the one that will bring quiet and a modicum of comfort, and strengthen our ability to live in peace with those who seek peace. Haniyeh’s death makes the world a slightly better place”. What then is this ‘truth’ that the West ignores and silences reality, whilst amplifying its narrative frauds? It is that the Israel which they presume to understand is now something very different. And that it has an epistemology at odds with mechanistic rationalism.

An eschatological Right-wing cult now holds the majority in cabinet – and wields a vigilante militia ready to attack the military establishment, and the Israeli state. No one was arrested for the attack and take-over of the two bases. They do not dare. Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon, former Chief of Staff of the IDF, who also served as Israel’s Defence Minister, had this to say in a video interview on the forces taking over in Israel: “When you talk about Smotrich and Ben Gvir: They have a Rabbi. His name is Dov Lior. He is the Rabbi of the Jewish Underground, who intended to blow up the Dome of the Rock – and before that the buses in Jerusalem. Why? In order to hurry up the ‘Last War’. Do you [not] hear them talking in terms of the Last War; or of Smotrich’s concept of ‘subjugation’? Read the article he published in Shiloh in 2017. First of all, this concept rests on Jewish supremacy: Mein Kampf in reverse”.

“My hair stands on end when I say that – as he said it. I learned and grew up in the house of Holocaust survivors and ‘never again’. It is Mein Kampf in reverse: Jewish supremacy: and therefore [Smotrich] says: “My wife won’t go into a room with an Arab”. It is anchored in ideology. And then actually what he aspires to – as soon as possible – is to go to a big war. A war of Gog and Magog. How do you start the flames? A massacre like the [1994] Cave of the Patriarchs? Baruch Goldstein is a student of this Rabbi. Ben Gvir has hung up Goldstein’s picture [in his house]”.

“This is what goes into the decision-making process in the Israeli government”. Rabbi Dov Lior has been described by Netanyahu as the “élite unit that leads Israel”, because of his influence and control over the settler forces. The 1948 Irgun, drawing heavily on the Mizrahim, is being reborn? Isn’t it time that the western ruling structures raised their eyes from their reverie, and read the runes that manifest all around them? Some serious players don’t think as you westerners do; they seek Gog and Magog (the prophecy that “the children of Israel” will be victorious in the battle of Armageddon). That is what you risk.

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He gets uneasy.

West Too Fearful Of Escalation With Russia – Zelensky (RT)

Ukraine is pushing NATO nations to create a coalition that would attempt to intercept Russian missiles, Vladimir Zelensky has said. The US-led military bloc has previously declined to do so. Kiev has long been pressuring its Western backers to become more involved in the conflict with Moscow and start shooting down Russian drones and missiles over Ukrainian territory. However, its efforts have been rebuffed by foreign powers reluctant to engage in a direct military confrontation with Russia. “[Western nations] are always concerned about possible escalation. We are fighting against that. We will work on it,” Zelensky told journalists on Sunday. The government in Kiev is considering “technical possibilities for neighboring nations to use military aircraft against missiles that strike Ukraine” after flying in the general direction of NATO countries, he added.

Zelensky has been calling for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine since the outbreak of hostilities with Russia in February 2022. Military experts pointed out that any realistic enforcement of Kiev’s wish would require NATO members to attack Russian planes in the air and at airfields inside Russia. The idea of a less ambitious shield over Western Ukraine was floated last month, as Kiev signed a bilateral security deal with Warsaw and ramped up its lobbying efforts ahead of a NATO leaders’ summit in the US. The Polish government indicated it was willing to answer the Ukrainian call, provided that NATO approved, although other nations, including the US, objected. Washington said it believed that supplying more air defense systems to Ukraine to operate on its own was the best way to counter Russian barrages.

Zelensky spoke to the press after confirming that sponsors had delivered US-designed F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Media reports have suggested that the new Ukrainian capability is too small-scale to become a gamechanger on the front line. It would likely be used to intercept cruise missiles delivering long-range strikes instead, defense experts have suggested. Moscow has been targeting Ukrainian military assets as well as some key infrastructure sites, such as power stations, which it considers crucial for Kiev’s war effort. According to Russian officials, the conflict is a US-led proxy war in which Ukrainian troops serve as “cannon fodder” for Western geostrategic interests. On Saturday, Zelensky said Kiev wants to attack targets deep inside Russia, a type of operation for which Ukraine is not allowed to use donated Western weapons and relies on domestically produced kamikaze drones instead.

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Of course he did.

Jailed US Reporter Knew He Was Handling Classified Russian Data (RT)

RT has obtained an exclusive video showing the moment Russian law enforcement detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, as he attempted to hide what appeared to be a flash drive with illegally obtained classified data. The journalist was among those exchanged in last week’s historic prisoner swap between Russia and the West. The previously unpublished clip released on Monday shows Gershkovich’s arrest in March 2023 in the Russian city of Ekaterinburg. The journalist is seen sitting in a restaurant with his ‘source,’ as the pair discuss in Russian how to hand over secret data on the country’s defense industry in a way that won’t allow the authorities to track the leak.

As Russian operatives swoop in, Gershkovich tries to hide what appears to be a flash drive containing the data under the table before being arrested. Commenting on the incident at the time, the Kremlin said the reporter had been “caught red-handed,” while Russia’s Investigative Committee claimed he had engaged in espionage on behalf of the CIA. Gershkovich has denied any wrongdoing and insisted he was merely doing his job as a reporter. While the administration of US President Joe Biden declared Gershkovich – the first American reporter arrested on espionage allegations since the Cold War – as “wrongfully detained,” a Russian court sentenced him to 16 years in prison last month.

The journalist, however, was among 16 Western prisoners included in the landmark swap deal last week. In exchange, Russia secured the release of ten of its nationals. Intelligence operative Vadim Krasikov, who was sentenced by a German court for allegedly killing Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Chechen separatist with Georgian citizenship, in a Berlin park in 2019, was one of the most prominent Russian figures on the list. Some of the evidence against Krasikov was provided by German magazine Der Spiegel, US government-funded website Bellingcat, and Russian opposition outlet The Insider.

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Good. Now break ’em up.

In ‘Biggest Antitrust Case Of The 21st Century’, Google Ruled A Monopoly (CD)

A federal judge left no room for ambiguity Monday in a landmark ruling in a case brought by the Justice Department and states against tech giant Google, in which the government argued the company had illegally monopolized the search engine and advertising market. “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” said Judge Amit Mehta, who sits of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In U.S. et al. v. Google, Mehta found that Google has “violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by maintaining its monopoly in two product markets in the United States—general services and general text advertising—through its exclusive distribution agreements.” The American Economic Liberties Project (ALEP) called the ruling a “tremendous win for consumers, innovation, and the entire tech industry.”

During a 10-week trial last year, the DOJ argued Google had used exclusionary contracts to block its competitors from reaching potential users. The company’s deals with web firms such as Mozilla and cell phone companies like Apple and Samsung have made Google the default search engine on millions of people’s phones and computers, as has its contracts with other major tech firms and service providers. The trial revealed that Google shares 36% of its search ad revenues from Safari with Apple and paid the company $20 billion in 2022 to ensure Google’s search engine would have default status for Apple customers. While paying billions of dollars per year to maintain its default status, Google has been using its dominance over ad space to collect more data about users and improve its search engine, while its rivals have been cut off from that ad space.

“If that’s what it takes for somebody to dislodge Google as the default search engine, wouldn’t the folks that wrote the Sherman Act be concerned about it?” asked Mehta. The Justice Department proved to the court that Google had ensured its search engine would conduct nearly 90% of all web searches. Vanderbilt University law professor Rebecca Haw Allensworth toldThe New York Times the ruling represents “a very prominent test of the Biden administration’s new antitrust enforcement agenda.” The DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have also sued Apple, Meta, and Amazon for monopolizing the smartphone, social media, and online selling markets.William Kovacic, former chairman of the FTC, told the Times in June that a victory against Google would create “momentum that supports [the government’s] other cases.” U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) was among those who applauded the ruling, saying the unfair practices Mehta outlined “are the exact behaviors that hurt consumers, competition, and small businesses.”

Lee Hepner, senior legal counsel at ALEP, said the ruling “strikes at the core of how hundreds of millions of Americans experience the internet.” “It illustrates how Google has become one of the most powerful companies in the world while undermining innovation and degrading the quality of its core product,” said Hepner. “The remedy must match the court’s striking verdict in this case. At a minimum that means an end to Google’s exclusive default agreements and breaking up business lines that have allowed Google to extend its monopoly into every corner of the internet.” Google is expected to appeal Mehta’s decision, but as it faces another antitrust case brought by the DOJ over its advertising technology business—set to go to trial September 9—ALEP interim executive director Nidhi Hegde expressed hope that Monday’s ruling “sends a resounding signal that the antimonopoly movement is here to stay.” “The promise of antitrust enforcement is that it will fully restore competition where it has been lost,” said Hepner, “and we’ll be advocating that the court use all of its power to do so.”

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“..the independent judiciary … means that when you’re unpopular, you can get a fair hearing under the law and under the Constitution.”

Neil Gorsuch Issues Dire Warning Over Biden’s Reforms (HUSA)

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch issued a stern warning about President Joe Biden’s proposals to reform the court system, which many have described as a desperate effort to thwart the conservative majority. Justice Gorsuch, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017, declined to comment on specific proposals like age limits but cautioned against hindering the judiciary’s independence during a Sunday interview with Fox News Sunday with anchor Shannon Bream. “You are not in a bubble here at the courts. There are real world events happening. … How does the court feel about potential changes, term limits, ethics codes that are enforced by someone in ways that it isn’t now?” Bream asked. In response, Gorsuch said, “Shannon, you’re not going to be surprised that I’m not going to get into what is now a political issue during a presidential election year. I don’t think that would be helpful.”

He added, “I have one thought to add, it is that the independent judiciary … means that when you’re unpopular, you can get a fair hearing under the law and under the Constitution.” Gorsuch emphasized that the judiciary’s role is to protect Americans’ rights against government persecution. “Don’t you want a ferociously independent judge and a jury of your peers to make those decisions? Isn’t that your right as an American? And so, I just say be careful,” Gorsuch concluded. Gorsuch appeared on Fox News to promote his new book, Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law, where he scolds the unprecedented growth of laws and regulations in the U.S.

His remarks came less than a week after Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris announced a “bold plan” to reform the Supreme Court and “ensure no president is above the law.” The proposed changes include abolishing presidential immunity, imposing term limits on justices and radically reforming ethics codes. These changes are seen as a direct challenge to President Donald Trump and the six conservative justices currently on the bench. Last month, the court ruled that Trump enjoyed presidential immunity from prosecution, reaffirming long-standing legal theories and angering the Democratic Party. The proposed ethics code appears to target Justice Clarence Thomas, who faced criticism from ProPublica for allegedly failing to disclose gifts from friends. ProPublica is a leftist organization claiming to be a news organization.

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“Given the judge’s overt biases, some believe the punishment will be disproportionate to the offense and likely to disrupt the ongoing presidential campaign.”

House Judiciary Launches Probe into Loren Merchan’s Work for Kamala (HUSA)

The House Judiciary Committee launched a probe into New York Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter over her work for Vice President Kamala Harris—work that could present a conflict of interest for the judge given his role overseeing one of the cases against former President Donald Trump. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent a letter last week to Loren Merchan asking for all documents and communications related to her work for Authentic Campaigns, a Democratic marketing firm that has been contracted by several of Trump’s top political rivals, including Harris. Jordan specifically requested all contracts or invoices the firm has sent to President Joe Biden’s campaign, which is now Harris’s campaign as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

So far this election cycle, Authentic Campaigns has provided the Biden–Harris campaign with “digital paid media, design and development, social media, mobile messaging, [and] artificial intelligence,” Jordan noted. “Experts have raised substantial concerns with Judge [Juan] Merchan, your father, refusing to recuse himself from President Trump’s case despite your work on behalf of President Trump’s political adversaries and the financial benefit that your firm, Authentic Campaigns Inc., could receive from the prosecution and conviction,” Jordan wrote. Judge Juan Merchan is presiding over New York v. Trump, in which Trump was found guilty on multiple felony counts for falsifying records in the first degree. Trump’s legal team has appealed the jury’s conviction, asking Merchan to overturn it.

However, he is also due to make a determination in early September on Trump’s sentencing. Given the judge’s overt biases, some believe the punishment will be disproportionate to the offense and likely to disrupt the ongoing presidential campaign. Trump’s lawyers have also called on Judge Merchan to recuse himself from the case given his daughter’s political work, noting that Authentic Campaigns was ranked as one of the top vendors in the country “in connection with the 2024 election.” Thus, Loren Merchan not only has a political interest in the outcome of her father’s case, but also a “direct financial interest in these proceedings by virtue of her ownership stake and leadership role at Authentic Campaigns, Inc.,” Trump’s team said.

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“Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?” Musk replied..”

Downing Street In Row With Musk Over UK Riots (RT)

A heated back-and-forth has broken out between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, with the bone of contention being the anti-immigration riots wracking the UK. More than a dozen cities and towns in the UK have been gripped by demonstrations, triggered by a deadly knife attack in Southport, England. Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, a 17-year-old British boy born to Rwandan parents has been charged with stabbing three little girls to death and injuring eight other children and two adults in an attack on a Southport dance class last week. A Liverpool judge ruled on Thursday that Rudakubana’s name, whose identity was initially concealed due to laws protecting minors, be released to the public as he turns 18 this week. Despite the rapid spread of rumours that the suspect was a Muslim immigrant, the police have stated he appears to have no known links to Islam.

Musk had claimed that “civil war was inevitable,” commenting a video on X (formerly Twitter) that showed the unrest. The video was posted by a user that suggested the root cause was mass migration to the UK and open-border policies. Downing Street has hit back against the statement. “There is no justification for comments like that,” Starmer’s spokesperson told reporters, calling the unrest “organized, illegal thuggery which has no place on our streets or online.” The UK Prime Minister slammed the unrest as “pure violence,” promising to field a “standing army of public duty officers,” in response. “The criminal law applies online as well as offline, and I’m assured that is the approach that is being taken,” Starmer said in a statement released on X. “Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not protest. It is pure violence, and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities,” he stressed. The riots have seen mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers attacked.

“Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?” Musk replied. The comment came as reports of counter-protester violence surfaced in the UK media. Police in Bolton clashed with 300 “mostly Asian” counter-demonstrators after two protests met and turned ugly, the Manchester Evening News reported on Monday. In a video circulating online, customers of a Birmingham pub could be seen violently assaulted. The Yardley pub, ‘The Clumsy Swan’ was attacked by “a group of Muslim youths, who broke away from the main demonstration and were wearing masks and carrying weapons,” the BBC wrote on Sunday. The UK’s top police official was pressed on double standards over the riots, which have allegedly been dealt with more harshly than other recent unrest and protests shaking the country. To a question about ending “two-tier policing,” Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley ripped the Sky News reporter’s microphone out of his hands and walked away. He took no questions from journalists.

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I think they will.

British Army Won’t Act Against Protesters – MOD (RT)

The British Army will not be involved in dealing with widespread rioting across the UK, Defense Secretary John Healey has said, insisting that police have the powers to protect the nation. Healey was speaking to Sky News on Monday in Rotherham, where protesters set fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers. Dozens of British towns and cities have been rocked by right-wing protests and riots against immigration and Islam since last Monday, when a British teenager of Rwandan descent stabbed three children to death and injured ten others in the town of Southport, near Liverpool. Asked whether the army might have to be brought in to deal with any future riots, Healey replied: “No… it’s the police’s responsibility to respond first and currently they’ve got the means to do it.” “They will make sure that people are safe,” Healey added.

The remarks come after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage condemned the violence against police officers in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, saying he was “appalled” by the weekend’s unrest and that “deeper long-term problems remain.” He also urged the recall of parliament and said the government should consider deploying the army. At least 400 people have been arrested after riots rocked Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Hull, Belfast, Stoke, and other cities across UK over weekend, according to media reports. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday announced that a “standing army” of specialist police officers would be set up to prevent any further disorder.

The prime minister’s official spokesman told The Guardian that no requests had been made for army assistance to quell the riots. “The police are very clear that they’ve got the powers and resources they need to protect communities and keep people safe,” the spokesperson said. “There’s been no requests made for any military assistance, that I’m aware of.”

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Sit down

 

 

Unclog

 

 

Cat elevator
https://twitter.com/i/status/1820530525272199634

 

 

Service dogs

 

 

Landing
https://twitter.com/i/status/1820557150952837204

 

 

Friend guest
https://twitter.com/i/status/1820432123087700064

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Jun 082024
 
 June 8, 2024  Posted by at 8:12 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  51 Responses »


René Magritte Le Mal du Pays (Homesickness) 1940

 

Trump Judge Flags Facebook Post Suggesting Possible Mistrial (RT)
Putin’s 4D Chess: West ‘Losing’ War on Four Fronts (Sp.)
West Will Remove Zelensky – Kremlin (RT)
Kremlin Responds After Biden Claims He’s Known Putin For 40 Years (RT)
Some Dads Don’t Pardon (Manley)
Media Shrugs as Biden Laptop is Authenticated in Federal Court (Turley)
Retired US Army Officer: West Pushing World to Brink of Nuclear War (Sp.)
US Won’t Tolerate Dissent On Russia Narrative – Scott Ritter (RT)
Tara Reade: If Biden is Reelected, ‘We’re Looking at World War III’ (Sp.)
US Faces ‘Economic Degradation And Misery’ Due To Foreign Policy – Hinkle (RT)
Most Germans Disagree With Berlin On Russia Policy – Bismarck Descendant (RT)
The Myth That Biden Had Nothing To Do with the Prosecutions of Trump (VDH)
Time to Jettison the Animals (Kunstler)
FBI Agents Fear Being Jailed By Trump – McCabe (RT)
Power Play: Von der Leyen Faces Showdown in EU Leadership Race (Sp.)
EU Is In ‘War Psychosis’ – Orban (RT)
Bob Iger, DEI, and Wokism Broke Disney’s Trust with America (AmG)

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1798909398288392653

 

 

Trump Dr Phil

 

 

Yale Law professor

 

 

Bomb jobs – The Arsenal of democracy
https://twitter.com/i/status/1798965632022819096

 

 

Holder

 

 

Trump Arpaio

 

 

Roseanne

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making sure that Trump cannot use it on appeal?!

Trump Judge Flags Facebook Post Suggesting Possible Mistrial (RT)

The judge presiding over the New York criminal case in which former US President Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felony charges has notified defense lawyers and prosecutors of a social media post indicating possible jury misconduct, raising questions over whether the verdict could be nullified. Judge Juan Merchan sent a letter to attorneys in the case on Friday, flagging a comment that was apparently posted on the New York State Unified Court System’s Facebook page on May 29, the day before Trump’s guilty verdict was announced. The author, identified as Michael Anderson, said, “My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted. Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!” Merchan gave no indication of whether he considered the post to be legitimate, and he didn’t ask the prosecution or defense teams to do anything in response.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1799193726557868517

The judge said the court “became aware” of the pre-verdict comment and was therefore bringing it to the attention of parties in the case. Jurors were given strict instructions not to discuss the case or their deliberations with anyone besides each other. If those rules were proven to have been violated, Trump could seek a mistrial to have his conviction thrown out based on jury misconduct. The jury deliberated from May 28 to May 30 before finding Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to boost his chances of winning the 2016 presidential election. Lawyers for the ex-president had unsuccessfully sought a change of venue in the case, arguing that they couldn’t get a fair trial with a jury in one of the most staunchly Democrat cities in the nation.

It’s not clear whether Anderson was actually related to one of the 12 jurors; nor has it been verified that he posted his message before the verdict was declared. Nevertheless, Trump supporters quickly seized on Merchan’s letter as further evidence that the trial wasn’t fair. “If true, this is likely headed to a mistrial because a juror isn’t allowed to discuss the case with family or friends like this,” conservative podcast host Robby Starbuck said. “Big deal.” Former federal prosecutor Joyce Alene said that it was smart for Merchan to notify the parties of the potentially incriminating post and hold a hearing to resolve the issue. “Why does a clear record matter?” she asked. “Because Trump will raise this on appeal to argue for reversal. Now, both sides have notice of this issue, and there’s an opportunity to get all of the details and facts out so that if there is nothing to this, it won’t affect the appeal.”

Juror
https://twitter.com/i/status/1799191685735305423

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“The West is losing four wars in one – economically (in trade and debt), financially (de-dollarization and international payment systems), militarily (in Ukraine in battle and in a comparison of weapons systems) and geopolitically with a massive loss of influence around the world..”

Putin’s 4D Chess: West ‘Losing’ War on Four Fronts (Sp.)

Tens of thousands of sanctions leveled against Russia by Western countries have paradoxically failed to crush the Russian economy, and on the contrary the country is seeing economic growth at rates almost unprecedented in its post-Soviet history. “We have set a goal to enter the top four largest economies in the world,” President Putin said during his speech at SPIEF on Friday. “Just last week the World Bank made additional calculations and put Russia in fourth place. We found ourselves ahead of Japan. Russia ranks fourth in terms of purchasing power parity GDP.” But Russia won’t rest on its laurels, Putin said, noting that the difference in GDP remains “small,” that other countries are not standing in one place, and that “leadership positions need to be constantly confirmed and strengthened.”

To that end, Putin outlined an economic growth and investment strategy over the next six year period, including, among other things, a drive toward increased self-sufficiency, a substantial jump in capital investment, changes to the tax code, and a renewed push to attract private investment. Highlighting Russia’s reorientation in trade and payments away from the West toward the developing world, the Russian president said the West had “been dealt a significant blow,” largely “by Western countries themselves,” with countries boosting trade in currencies other than the dollar and the euro. At the same time, Putin said, the hegemon of the Western economic order, the United States, faces serious financial straits which would be even more serious were it not for its continued plunder of developing nations. “They have a current account deficit of a trillion dollars. What is this? I think, everyone will understand what I’m talking about. This is neocolonialism in its modern iteration. Using the monopoly position of the dollar, the United States consumes a trillion dollars a year more than it produces. They seem to be pumping out these resources from other countries,” Putin said. He added that America’s gargantuan debt, which runs in the tens of trillions of dollars, is not backed by any tangible assets.

“The growth in the Russian economy (outpacing Western economies) is spectacular and it shows that the 15,000 sanctions applied by the West have blown back on them,” British academic and author Rodney Atkinson told Sputnik, offering his key takeaways from Putin’s speech. “The West is losing four wars in one – economically (in trade and debt), financially (de-dollarization and international payment systems), militarily (in Ukraine in battle and in a comparison of weapons systems) and geopolitically with a massive loss of influence around the world,” Atkinson explained. To make matters worse, the political and economic commentator stressed that the hostility with which the West has responded to the metamorphosis of a unipolar world order into a multipolar one has only made matters worse for itself thanks to its selfish and short-sighted policy elites.

“Even before the 20-year expansion towards Russia and the 2014 Maidan-instigated war, European imperial ambitions and US neocon aggression were unpopular. Now that the Global South has witnessed recent events and the BRICS offer an alternative and the US has descended into record debt and industrial weakness, it is very difficult for the West to recover its influence. Plagued by geopolitical ignorance, financially irresponsible policies and weak leadership, the US and its allies may not even survive as one of the poles of the multi-polar world,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson emphasized the madness of the West’s logic of slapping sanctions against a country the size of Russia with its abundance of food, mineral and energy resources. What’s worse (for the West) is that Moscow has been trailblazing a path to independence which can be emulated by other nations. “Import substitution by Russia and the unwillingness of Western companies to leave Russia (1,600 international companies have left Russia since 2022 but there are more than 2,100 left) and the substitution of national currencies for dollar-based trade (i.e. rupee, yuan, ruble) all show the Global South that there are alternatives to a Western-based system based on sanctions,” Atkinson said.

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“..Putin explained. It is now June 2024, and in order to do this, I feel, it will take a year. He will be tolerated until the spring, until the beginning of next year..”

West Will Remove Zelensky – Kremlin (RT)

The US and its allies will tolerate Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky until he has served his purpose, at which point he will be replaced, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman gave an interview to Izvestia on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), where he addressed recent remarks by the president about the likely fate of Zelensky. “Obviously, he will be removed,” Peskov said. “Obviously, reducing the mobilization age will cause an increasing wave of negativity in Ukrainian society.”

Peskov’s comments came as clarification to statements made by Putin on Wednesday, in a meeting with the heads of international news agencies that lasted more than three hours. At one point, the Russian president noted that the US has been pressuring Ukraine to mobilize increasingly younger men. According to Putin, Washington has already compelled Kiev to lower the draft age from 27 to 25, with a view of moving it down to 23 next, and then to 20 or straight to 18. “The law has to be passed and certain steps have to be taken,” Putin explained. “It is now June 2024, and in order to do this, I feel, it will take a year. He will be tolerated until the spring, until the beginning of next year at the very least. When it is done, they will say goodbye.”

Ukraine is currently losing around 50,000 troops per month and is able to mobilize only 30,000 replacements, leaving Kiev with an unsolvable problem, Putin added. The West already has “a few candidates” lined up to serve as president of Ukraine, according to the Russian president. Earlier in the conversation, Putin said that Zelensky had effectively carried out a coup by extending his presidential term past May 20, when it legally expired. Zelensky has argued that Ukrainian law forbids elections during a state of emergency, so he has to stay in office until the end of the conflict with Russia. The Ukrainian constitution, however, contains no such provisions – and in fact stipulates that the head of the parliament should assume power.

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“..The two officially met for the first time in 2011..”

Kremlin Responds After Biden Claims He’s Known Putin For 40 Years (RT)


Vladimir Putin wearing KGB uniform in 1980. © Wikipedia

It is often difficult to fathom what US President Joe Biden means with his statements, including when he claims to have known his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for 40 years, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Biden lashed out at Putin during an interview with ABC News on Thursday, saying: “I have known him for over 40 years. He has concerned me for 40 years. He is not a decent man. He is a dictator.” Speaking on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday, Peskov stated that Putin “does not react and will not react” to insults such as Biden’s. The spokesman added that he could only express regret that “in international politics at this level such rhetoric and such expressions are employed regarding a head of state.”

Referring to Biden’s claim that he has known the Russian leader for four decades, Peskov added that “sometimes one can only wonder what the US president means, including when he speaks about [knowing Putin for] 40 years.” Some commentators have already “rolled back time to understand what Putin was doing 40 years ago. One can make very deep analytical conclusions about how Biden could have become acquainted with him [at that time],” Peskov said, prompting laughter from journalists. The presidential spokesman was apparently referring to the fact that 40 years ago, the then 32-year-old Putin was working for the Soviet security agency, the KGB. Biden was 41 at the time, serving as senator for the US state of Delaware. The two officially met for the first time in 2011, when Putin held the post of prime minister under President Dmitry Medvedev, and Biden was US vice president in the administration of Barack Obama.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, conservative commentator and former US Senate staffer Steve Guest wrote that by claiming he had known Putin for four decades, the 81-year-old Biden was “either… lying or he is admitting he was in contact with a KGB agent since 1984 or Biden’s brain is so cooked that he doesn’t know what on earth he is talking about.” The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week, citing dozens of people who have been in contact with Biden recently, that beyond his frequent mental gaffes in public, the president is also showing “signs of slipping” in closed-door meetings with US lawmakers. Biden has directed insults at Putin throughout his presidency, among other things calling the Russian leader a “killer” in 2021 and a “crazy SOB” in February. The Kremlin has denounced the comments as “shameful,” but has declined to respond with equally harsh rhetoric.

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He says he won’t pardon Hunter because he knows he doesn’t have to..

Some Dads Don’t Pardon (Manley)

The maximum sentence for the first son’s most serious charge is 10 years in prison, but if he is convicted he would most likely face a lighter sentence. US President Joe Biden said he would not pardon his son, Hunter Biden, if he is convicted in his criminal trial in Delaware. The president sat down for an interview with ABC News in Normandy, France during a trip in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the WWII D-Day landings. During the interview, the president was asked if he would accept the outcome of his son’s trial in Wilmington, Delaware, to which he said, “Yes.” During the interview, Biden said that former President Donald Trump got a “fair trial” and said the “jury spoke”. The president also said he would not pardon his son if he is convicted, which he has reportedly been saying for months. Biden issued a personal statement on Monday offering support for his son and said he was a father as well as the president.

“I’ve been very clear — the president is not going to pardon his son,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, told reporters in December. Former Republican presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, said on social media that Hunter Biden’s trial is a “smoke screen”, and is “designed to make the prosecution of Trump appear nonpartisan, yet the outcome of the Hunter trial doesn’t matter” because the president “can and will pardon him.” The trial is on felony charges related to the first son’s efforts to obtain a .38 revolver from a gun shop in 2018 while allegedly battling drug addiction. Prosecutors allege that in October 2018, the president’s son visited StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington to purchase the gun but say he lied about his drug addiction.

The younger Biden is now facing charges of false statement in purchasing of a firearm, false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer, and possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. This is the first time that the son of a sitting president has faced a criminal trial. On Thursday, the widow of Hunter Biden’s late brother, Hallie Biden, testified. Following Beau Biden’s death in 2015, Hunter began an affair with Hallie Biden who said she “panicked” when she found a Colt Cobra revolver in Hunter’s vehicle on October 23, 2018. She said she threw it away in a trash can as a result. Hallie claims that Hunter smoked crack on a “daily” basis or “frequently” during her testimony. However, she told the jury that she did not see Hunter Biden abusing drugs or alcohol for most of the month of October.

Prosecutors said that they will rest their case on Friday and that they have two more witnesses – a DEA drug specialist and an FBI chemist. Meanwhile, the defense counsel said they would call two or three witnesses and would likely rest their case by the end of the day on Monday. The trial comes on the heels of Trump’s own criminal trial, the conclusion of which found the former president guilty of 34 felonies, making him the first president in US history to be criminally convicted. Hours before leaving office, Trump himself pardoned 70 people and commuted the sentences of 73 others. Of the 143 people he excused, his former chief strategist Steve Bannon and his former top fundraiser Elliott Broidy, were on the list. Others he pardoned included those committed of fraud schemes, the illegal use of a disadvantage business enterprise to receive government-funded construction contracts, a Google engineer sentenced for stealing a trade secret, bank fraud over the 2009 collapse of a mortgage company, and the ex-husband of a Fox News host.

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51 former spooks (+ Blinken) to prosecute… for election interference..

Media Shrugs as Biden Laptop is Authenticated in Federal Court (Turley)

Watching the coverage this week out of Delaware was like finding oneself in a parallel universe. There were ABC, NBC, CBS, the Washington Post and other news outlets reporting matter-of-factly that the Hunter Biden laptop showed no evidence of tampering and was both real and authentic. These are the same outlets, and some of the same reporters, who eagerly spread the false claims that the laptop was “Russian disinformation.” Yet, what followed the testimony of FBI agent Erika Jensen was absolute crickets. There was no effort to track down the signatories of the now-debunked letter from former intelligence officials just before the election. In the letter, figures such as Leon Panetta, former CIA director in the Obama administration, claimed that the laptop had all the markings of a Russian disinformation effort by intelligence services. (Panetta continued to make the assertion even in late 2023 in pushing what the federal government is now calling a “conspiracy theory.”)

There was no attempt by the media to confront associates of the Biden campaign (including now Secretary of State Antony Blinken) who pushed a long effort to get former intelligence officials to sign a letter. There was no attempt to question President Joe Biden, who made this false claim in the presidential election to deflect any questions about the evidence of corrupt influence peddling on the laptop. Years ago, I wrote that the Biden campaign had pulled off the single greatest political trick in history. As I wrote back then, the key to this Houdini-esque trick was to get the media to invest in the deception like audience members called to the stage.Houdini used to make his elephant Jennifer disappear on stage every night because he knew that the audience wanted her to disappear. They were part of the act. The Bidens made the media part of the act, and these reporters have to back the illusion or admit that they were part of the deception.

They are all laptop deniers, but they know that there are few who will call them to account for their conspiracy theory. Rather, it is social media where readers can see videos of leading media claiming that the laptop is the work of Russian intelligence. In 2020, CBS News’ Lesley Stahl literally laughed mockingly at then-President Donald Trump when he raised the Hunter Biden laptop and what it revealed about the Bidens. Figures like former Chief of Staff at the CIA and Department of Defense Jeremy Bash, who told MSNBC that the laptop “looked like Russian intelligence” and “walked like Russian intelligence.” He dismissed the relevance of the laptop before the election by declaring that “this effort by Rudy Giuliani and the New York Post and Steve Bannon to cook up supposed dirt on Joe Biden looks like a classic, Russian playbook disinformation campaign.”

Bash added that it made Trump an effective agent of Russian intelligence since he kept referencing the laptop: “[when] Rudy Giuliani suddenly comes forward with these mysteriously created emails, probably hacked through a Russian intelligence operation, we have to acknowledge the fact that the President of the United States is supporting, is condoning, is welcoming a Russian intelligence operation in 2020. … This is collusion in plain sight.” Bash, like others behind the conspiracy theory, was later given an intelligence position by Biden.

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“.. there are facilities that the entire US Congress and their families will be safe with, if we get to a nuclear stage. But they don’t care about the actual people. They don’t care about their own people..”

Retired US Army Officer: West Pushing World to Brink of Nuclear War (Sp.)

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with foreign journalists on June 5 within the framework of the 27th annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Addressing the Ukraine conflict the Russian president noted that Western weapon deliveries to the Kiev regime, coupled with the approval to hit targets deep inside Russia, is fraught with severe escalation risks. “How do you respond to this use of weapons and allowing them to attack and basically violate the sovereignty of Russia itself?” Earl Rasmussen, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel and international consultant told Sputnik. “If we look at these attacks, they’re not targeting military targets, or they’re targeting strategic targets. They’re targeting civilians, many of them, or strategic targets as well. It’s essentially, basically authorizing and supporting terrorism.”

Russia is aware of the fact that while Ukrainian military personnel can participate in the selection of targets for long-range NATO-grade missiles, decisions to strike are made by those who supply the weapons, the president emphasized. Putin made it clear that Russia will respond and consider various options to do this. To illustrate his point, the president suggested delivering weapons to third countries confronting NATO member states involved in the Ukraine conflict. “Why do we not have the right to supply our weapons of the same class to those regions of the world where attacks on sensitive facilities will be carried out… The answer may be asymmetric. We will think about it,” Putin remarked. For his part, Rasmussen said that, “He could be looking at something that’s not the typical type of response, but much broader, perhaps looking at other areas of the world, perhaps looking at where weapons are originating from, or where advisers or intelligence information is gathered to provide for firing. Perhaps we’re looking at Western efforts in the Middle East or in Asia.”

While Russia pursues a policy of no first use (NFU) of nukes, Putin did not rule out using all means available to Russia if the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are threatened in accordance with its nuclear doctrine. “Russia, and to another extent China as well, has been very patient,” Rasmussen highlighted. “They have been measured in their responses to different situations. (…) We need to have a grasp, and President Putin has shown a much more understanding and grasp of where we are in this situation. He went on to say that, unfortunately, Western leaders continue to move up the escalation ladder being completely detached from reality. “[Western leaders] really would not accept failure. It’s scary. They’re moving the world to the precipice, to the cliff. And they would rather destroy the world, I think. It’s astonishing that we’ve somehow come to the point with leaders that have very little vision,” Rasmussen said.

“Sometimes I think that they have their nuclear-hardened bunkers for senior decision makers. I mean, there are facilities that the entire US Congress and their families will be safe with, if we get to a nuclear stage. But they don’t care about the actual people. They don’t care about their own people,” Rasmussen said. The expert lamented the fact that the Western establishment is trying to silence voices in the US and Europe which are warning against raising stakes in Ukraine and bringing the ongoing proxy war with Russia to a direct confrontation. Rasmussen particularly referred to the US authorities’ decision to seize the passport of former Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter to prevent him from traveling to Russia. Given all of the above, it’s hardly surprising that Western elites are eager to fight for the last Ukrainian in its proxy war against Russia, the expert remarked. During the meeting with foreign journalists, Putin drew attention to the US behind-the-scenes efforts to force the Kiev regime to lower the draft age to 18 in order to replenish its huge losses on the battleground.

According to Putin, the Ukrainian Army loses about 50,000 soldiers a month, with sanitary losses accounting for only 50% of them. “I said 50,000, but this is the most modest estimate. These are 50,000, this is what we see on the battlefield,” the president said, adding that Russia’s losses are several times less with an approximate one-to-five ratio. “The unacceptance of the Western leaders to recognize this clearly shows they do not care or have any ambitions or any desire to support Ukraine itself,” the military expert said. “Their entire desire is to try to weaken Russia. And it has been a complete failure. Yet politically they don’t want to accept that.” “It’s almost as if Western leaders are living in a parallel universe and they couldn’t care less. They do not care about the Ukrainian people whatsoever. They don’t care about Ukraine as a country. They do not care. They’re purely using it as a tool and it has not been working. The Ukraine project is a failure and the current leadership will not accept it,” Rasmussen concluded.

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“Anyone who goes against US national security goals, including the escalation of tensions with Russia, is “deemed an enemy of the state – literally..”

US Won’t Tolerate Dissent On Russia Narrative – Scott Ritter (RT)

Western governments need the people to perceive Russia as a threat, so they target anyone who tries to show the reality of the country, American political commentator Scott Ritter said at a St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) panel on Friday. Ritter was invited to take part in an RT-hosted panel discussion on Western efforts to vilify Russia. He was not able to do so in person because his passport was seized by the US authorities just as he was boarding a plane, so he joined the event remotely via video link. The former US Marine and UN weapons inspector in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq became a vocal critic of Washington’s foreign policy in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of the Middle Eastern country.

Anyone who goes against US national security goals, including the escalation of tensions with Russia, is “deemed an enemy of the state – literally,” he told the audience. ”It comes down to perception vs. reality, and perception is going to win if you are not able to put an alternative point of view out there. It’s a constant struggle.” The US and its allies need Russia as an enemy, since they are consolidating resources on the pretext of countering a threat, Ritter, who is an RT contributor, explained. Apart from Ritter, the event gathered several high-profile speakers, including Tara Reade – a former aide to Joe Biden – former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, and the great nephew of Otto von Bismarck, Alexander von Bismarck.

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The Dems are all about #MeToo, but they force Tara Reade to flee the country.

“I don’t think the US wants their citizens to know how good it is because the Russian state provides education, medical care, and housing in a way that America does not..”

Tara Reade: If Biden is Reelected, ‘We’re Looking at World War III’ (Sp.)

If Biden is reelected for another four years, “we’re looking at World War III,” Tara Reade, a writer, and former assistant in Joe Biden’s Senate office, told Sputnik. “There’s no question, that’s where we’re at right now,” she said on the sidelines of the 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). “So the administration is very hawkish, the people around him and behind him. His leadership is feeble at best. I don’t even know if he’ll last that long, much less through the campaign. So no, I don’t think America economically and existentially can survive Joe Biden and his administration,” Reade said. Tara Reade, a former staffer in Biden’s US Senate office, spoke out about allegedly being sexually assaulted by the current president in 1993 after several women reported Biden’s unwelcomed “touching.” She was also spurred on by the #MeToo movement.

However, after telling her story in 2019 about then-candidate Joe Biden, she found herself branded “a Russian asset.” The Biden administration has vehemently denied her claims.Reade currently lives in Russia, where she has continued writing, and hosts a podcast. She claims she was forced to move to Russia because the FBI was harassing her, noting that they issued sealed subpoenas against her social media accounts. Weighing in on her impressions of life in Russia under sanctions, she extolled the thriving economy of the country, and how safe she felt living here. “Russia is so safe. It’s safer than the United States actually. You have a much lower crime rate. And I have been here a year and I can’t tell you how much I love it,” said Reade.

The former Senate staffer lauded everything from the culture to the food and the efficiency of the transportation. She added that her travels had taken her outside Moscow, and everywhere across the country she witnessed, “a lot of development and building because …Russians have a thriving middle class and working class.” “I don’t think the US wants their citizens to know how good it is because the Russian state provides education, medical care, and housing in a way that America does not. So we have 700,000 homeless right in comparison to Russia where there is virtually no homeless.” People in Russia enjoy “a better standard of living because the economy is really thriving,” said Reade, pointing to the 5.7% growth rate of one of the world’s largest economies. “That’s a thriving economy. That’s a sign that things are going the right direction,” underscored Tara Reade.

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“You cannot have 1% of the world that stands on the neck of the 99% of the world and expect that to continue..”

US Faces ‘Economic Degradation And Misery’ Due To Foreign Policy – Hinkle (RT)

Washington is wasting money on foreign policy blunders like Ukraine, instead of improving the lives of American people, US journalist Jackson Hinkle has said.The political commentator was one of the guests for a discussion panel on US information warfare against Russia, which RT hosted on Friday as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). He lampooned the administration of US President Joe Biden for trying to justify continued military assistance to Ukraine by highlighting its intention to spend the money at home to ramp up military production. Biden and other senior officials have repeatedly used this narrative when a White House appropriation request stalls in Congress due to Republican opposition.

It was a “pragmatic” decision to tell the Americans that “the money is actually going to Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, which are, of course, historic friends of the American people, right?” Hinkle joked. People in the US would rather see the funds spent “to fix our roads, our infrastructure, the trains that are blowing up, the planes that are cruising,” he added. But there are also indirect consequences, since the US is antagonizing the rest of the world with its foreign policy, Hinkle warned. As Washington loses its clout, Americans face “economic degradation and misery,” he said, adding that America’s claim to global hegemony is leading it towards disaster. “Unipolarity cannot exist. You cannot have 1% of the world that stands on the neck of the 99% of the world and expect that to continue,” he said.

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“[Otto] used to say: if Russia and Germany go together and be friends together, then Europe will be well,” he stated.”

Most Germans Disagree With Berlin On Russia Policy – Bismarck Descendant (RT)

The Western mainstream media is distorting reality regarding Russia and doesn’t reflect what people really think of the country and its actions, German politician Alexander von Bismarck, great nephew of his nation’s first chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, has claimed. Speaking during an RT panel discussion titled ‘The Empire of Evil: Has the West Successfully Demonized Russia?’ at the 2024 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday, the politician argued that the media toeing the line drawn by Western governments regarding Russia and the Ukraine conflict. Berlin and its Western partners sided with Kiev when the conflict began in 2022, and has been instrumental in supporting Ukraine’s military effort with financial aid and sanctions against Moscow. Bismarck, however, said ordinary Germans are not fooled by the anti-Russian narrative.

“[The view of] the German political elite on Russia is very different to the rest of Germany. 80% don’t believe what our government does and says… The mainstream media want to push the people, they want to give another picture, but most young people look not at the mainstream – they look at the social media and […] the thinking of the young people is other than the political elite,” he stressed. Bismarck also stated that the policy of painting Russia in an unfavorable light dates back to the days of the Cold War, when the US wanted to promote the idea of “the crazy Russian people” in West Germany. The general opinion of those living in East Germany always focused on separating people from politics when forming opinions on Russia and Russians, he added. The politician signaled that his renowned ancestor, who at one point served as an envoy to Russia, would not have approved of the current state of relations between Moscow and Berlin.

“[Otto] used to say: if Russia and Germany go together and be friends together, then Europe will be well,” he stated. He added that he has faith in the younger generation, which has an opportunity to communicate globally through social media and form opinions without the influence of political agendas, to change Berlin’s policies. Otherwise, Bismarck warned, Germany may find itself “the biggest loser” in the Ukraine conflict by continuing to act on orders from Washington. “The younger generation… they look to many countries and say: yes, America does bad things, they only think about themselves for money, and Europe pays for this conflict, and Germany is the biggest loser in the whole of Europe,” he stated.

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Victor Davis Hanson sees just the little parts, but not the connection.

The Myth That Biden Had Nothing To Do with the Prosecutions of Trump (VDH)

Given Politico was publicly reporting six months ago about Biden’s anger at the pace of his DOJ’s prosecution of Trump, does anyone believe his special counsel, Jack Smith, was not aware of such presidential displeasure and pressure? Note Smith had petitioned and was denied an unusual request to the court to speed up the course of his Trump indictment. And why would Biden’s own Attorney General, Garland, select such an obvious partisan as Smith? Remember, in his last tenure as special counsel, Smith had previously gone after popular Republican and conservative Virginia governor Bob MacDonald. Yet Smith’s politicized persecution of the innocent [MacDonald] was reversed by a unanimous verdict of the U.S. Supreme Court. That rare court unanimity normally should have raised a red flag to the Biden DOJ about both Smith’s partiality and his incompetence. But then again, Smith’s wife had donated to the 2020 Biden campaign fund. And she was previously known for producing a hagiographic 2020 documentary (“Becoming”) about Michelle Obama.

Selecting a special counsel with a successful record of prior nonpartisan convictions was clearly not why the DOJ appointed Smith. The White House’s involvement is not limited to the Smith federal indictments. Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis’s paramour and erstwhile lead prosecutor in her indictment of Trump, Nathan Wade, met twice with the White House counsel’s office. On one occasion, Wade met inside the Biden White House. Subpoenaed records reveal that the brazen Wade actually billed the federal government for his time spent with the White House counsel’s staff — although so far no one has disclosed under oath the nature of such meetings. Of the tens of thousands of local prosecutions each year, in how many instances does a county prosecutor consult with the White House counsel’s office — and then bill it for his knowledge? Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s just-completed felony convictions of Trump were spearheaded by former prominent federal prosecutor Matthew Colangelo.

He is not just a well-known Democratic partisan who served as a political consultant to the Democratic National Committee. Colangelo had also just left his prior position in the Biden Justice Department — reputedly as Garland’s third-ranking prosecutor — to join the local Bragg team. Again, among all the multitudes of annual municipal indictments nationwide, how many local prosecutors manage to enlist one of the nation’s three top federal attorneys to head their case? So, apparently, it was not enough for the shameless Bragg to campaign flagrantly on promises to go after Trump. In addition, Bragg brashly drafted a top Democratic operative and political appointee from inside Joe Biden’s DOJ to head his prosecution. Not surprisingly, it took only a few hours after the Colangelo-Bragg conviction of Trump for Biden on spec to start blasting his rival as a “convicted felon.” Biden is delighted that his own former prosecutor, a left-wing judge, and a Manhattan jury may well keep Trump off the campaign trail.

So, it is past time for the media and Democrats to drop this ridiculous ruse of Biden’s White House “neutrality.” Instead, they should admit that they are terrified of the will of the people in November and so are conniving to silence them.

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“More than twenty states have “motor-voter laws” that automatically register anybody with a driver’s license. And these enrollees don’t even have to cast their ballot..”

Time to Jettison the Animals (Kunstler)

The most astounding part of America’s “Joe Biden” three-plus-years thrill ride is that the Party of Chaos and Hoaxes was able to pretend until just a few days ago that this political phantasm could run for re-election. Now, regime insiders are forced to confess that they can’t hide it anymore. They spilled the beans as “unnamed sources” this week in a huge Wall Street Journal article. The president is going necrotic in full view of the whole world. His mind is gone. He looks ridiculous when he shuffles in front of the cameras. He utters obvious absurdities and lies. His wife has to lead him around like a dog on a leash. Everyone can see it. He’s got to go. ASAP.

The embarrassing ineptitude has been on view since the 2020 campaign, yet his handlers managed to flimflam half the country ever since, thanks to a news media captured by intel blob gaslighters and to half the country’s susceptibility to mass formation psychosis — fear driven thought disorder — that gave cover to treasonous actors seeking to save their asses even if they had to wreck the USA doing it. Who were these actors? The Clintons and the coterie around them, steeped in financial crime and sex trafficking; the Obama coterie of anti-white racists and bungling Marxists; the batshit-crazy Woke race-and-gender hustlers working to derange the merit-based social order (and get paid for doing it); the congressional grifters living off Pharma and Pentagon loot; the agency top bureaucrats who became a corrupt praetorian guard for all the above players, now desperate to evade accountability.

Everything they’ve done since 2020 has been in the service of covering up their crimes, and each hoax has just compounded the damage done to our country. The Covid-19 prank was pulled to enable mail-in ballot fraud so as to assure a permanent government-by-blob, of which the Democratic Party is now a mere tentacle. We don’t know yet whether the mRNA vaccine module of the prank was a deliberate effort to kill a lot of people or a grievous blunder by greedy drug-makers, or some wicked combo — with assistance from the WEF or China.

They can’t afford to lose their grip on the levers of power in the 2024 election — lose control of the Justice Department, the FBI, and the so-called “national security” apparatus, especially. The open border is just an effort to illegally import and enlist a vast wad of potential new voters to ensure an election victory. More than twenty states have “motor-voter laws” that automatically register anybody with a driver’s license. And these enrollees don’t even have to cast their ballot. Their names can just be “harvested” systematically, attached to voting documents, and bundled to be submitted for them. Millions have entered the country illegally since 2021 at “Joe Biden’s” direct invitation. There’s nothing hidden about this — but all you see is the learned helplessness of actual US citizens unable to stop it.

And yet, even that prank may not work to keep the Party of Chaos and Hoaxes in power. Designated candidate “Joe Biden” is obviously so far gone that even actual citizen voters under the mass formation spell can’t be counted on anymore. His poll numbers look abysmal. He’s scheduled to debate his opponent, the outlaw Donald Trump, on June 27. If his handlers allow that to actually happen, it will be like the unmasking scene in The Phantom of the Opera: brain-ringing horror, from sea to shining sea! Of course, an insult to the zeitgeist that severe will force the party leaders into some ‘splainin’, and I personally doubt they will be able to ‘splain their way out of it. Did all of you Democrats not notice?

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“On a very personal level, these are torturous discussions with their family members about whether or not they have to leave the country to avoid being unconstitutionally and illegally detained..”

FBI Agents Fear Being Jailed By Trump – McCabe (RT)

Former US intelligence and law enforcement officials are fretting that they may face retribution, including incarceration, if Donald Trump wins back the presidency in November, an ex-deputy director of the FBI has claimed. Andrew McCabe, who was fired by the Trump administration in 2018 for lying to investigators about a media leak, revealed his fears in a CNN segment on Thursday. Now working as an analyst for the media outlet, he called the prospect of a potential Trump victory in the presidential election “terrifying” and “frightening.” “If he feels like he’s been wronged in some way, then he focuses on revenge and vengeance,” McCabe said. “And so, he’s made it perfectly clear that that’s what he’s going to do.” McCabe did not spell out what he and other Washington officials had done to make themselves enemies of the former president, but some of their clashes with Trump are well known.

Trump has accused the US Department of Justice (DOJ) of trying to help block his return to the White House by filing bogus criminal charges against him. Just last month, Trump said FBI agents were “locked and loaded” to potentially shoot him when they raided his home for classified documents in 2022. The FBI improperly spied on a Trump campaign staffer in 2016 and lied to the US FISA court to obtain warrants in a probe of alleged Russian interference in that year’s election. The agency also covered up its knowledge that the ‘Russiagate’ conspiracy narrative was false. A high-level FBI agent and his mistress, an FBI lawyer, discussed the use of the Russia investigation as an “insurance policy” to ensure that Trump did not win the election. Trump suggested in 2019 that McCabe and other FBI leaders had committed treason. More than 50 former intelligence agency officials put their thumbs on the scale in the 2020 election when Trump was running against Joe Biden.

They falsely claimed that a Biden influence-peddling scandal – reported by the New York Post just weeks before the election – appeared to stem from “Russian disinformation.” McCabe said he has spoken to many former intelligence and law enforcement colleagues who are trying to assess the risks they would face in a second Trump presidential term. “On a very personal level, these are torturous discussions with their family members about whether or not they have to leave the country to avoid being unconstitutionally and illegally detained. I mean, people are actually worried about being thrown in jail or grabbed in some sort of extrajudicial detention.” Trump runs the risk of “dismantling and gravely incapacitating” the DOJ and the FBI, McCabe argued. “That is something that Americans on both sides of the political aisle should be worried about. We depend on those institutions to protect us, and he is proposing to tear them down.”

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“She must be turned out of office. But for this salutary change to happen, the rightist parties must achieve big results on June 9th.”

Hmm. I’d say if she plays her cards, she’ll become the elected head.

Power Play: Von der Leyen Faces Showdown in EU Leadership Race (Sp.)

With the European Parliament (MEPs) elections taking place on June 6-9, the chances of the European Commission’s head Ursula von der Leyen keeping her job are slimming. Rising non-systemic right-wing mobilization may boost Eurosceptic MEPs, challenging von der Leyen’s pro-American stance. Loss of support in the European Council adds to her woes. On the eve of the Euroelections, Politico has published a story headlined “Charles Michel Plots A Revenge Against Ursula Von Der Leyen.” The story attracted a lot of attention, since the position of the European Commission’s president is crucial. The president heads the whole executive branch of power inside the EU. But that is not all: only the commission and its head can present draft laws for the vote in the European Parliament, which gave von der Leyen (VDL) some legislative leverage, too.

During her mandate, VDL made several controversial steps, which make her, too, a divisive candidate. These steps included:
• Invitation of embattled and impoverished Ukraine to the EU and a promise of speedy membership amid the protests in Poland and Rumania against cheap Ukrainian exports;
• Non-collegial way of running EU policy, with even the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell telling El País* that “she should not take personal credit for all the successes of the European Commission”;
• active lobbying of greater involvement of the EU in anti-Russian sanctions and of EU member countries in military aid to Ukraine, which led to protests from Hungary and the non-systemic right wing in France and Germany.

No wonder that news about von der Leyen having a powerful enemy in the person of Michel, the head of the European Council, attracted attention. Gilbert Doctorow an international relations and Russian affairs analyst accused VDL of “usurping” power. “The biggest usurper is, of course, the Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen who has taken into her hands all manner of decision-making which under her predecessors was left to the [European] Council, meaning the heads of state acting together, or to individual EU member states,” he told Sputnik. “She must be turned out of office. But for this salutary change to happen, the rightist parties must achieve big results on June 9th.”

Several European media outlets have recalled that VDL became the president of the European Commission in 2019 in an undemocratic way, with Michel’s European Council involved. As Germany’s Der Spiegel reported, von der Leyen did not win an honest vote in the newly elected European Parliament with many candidates running. Instead, her candidacy was “handpicked at a confidential meeting” of the European Council. An unelected institution, the European Council is a body that unites presidents and prime ministers of the EU’s member countries. This time, von der Leyen, most likely, will have to go through a real election through the European Parliament, without the European Council throwing its weight behind her candidacy. So, relying on its own calculations, Politico concludes in another headline, “Von der Leyen needs 361 votes to keep her job.” But this is a tricky challenge.

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“..if Budapest’s troops were to do so, they would be commanded by officers appointed by the US-led military bloc. “If this happens, then we have lost a very important part of our sovereignty..”

EU Is In ‘War Psychosis’ – Orban (RT)

The EU has plunged into “war psychosis” in the Ukraine conflict, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said, arguing that this mindset will almost certainly lead to the deployment of Western troops in the country. In an interview with Radio Kossuth on Friday, Orban said the West was “approaching the end of its possibilities” for the conflict between Moscow and Kiev to be ended, adding that “whoever claims that there is no immediate danger of war is deceiving people.” “Only a blind person does not see that there is a war psychosis in Europe, the logical conclusion of which will be the arrival of the military units of the Western European countries on the territory of Ukraine, at best not on the front line,” the prime minister said.

Orban said that, despite tensions reaching boiling point, “hope dies last” and the ongoing European Parliament election could defuse the crisis to a certain extent. According to the Hungarian leader, if the conflict does not spill beyond the Russian-Ukrainian front in the coming weeks, “as early as November if [US presidential candidate] Donald Trump returns, and with a good European election behind us, we can make a pan-Western, transatlantic peace coalition” to cease hostilities. Orban insisted that Hungary must refrain from taking part in any possible NATO mission in Ukraine, noting that if Budapest’s troops were to do so, they would be commanded by officers appointed by the US-led military bloc.

“If this happens, then we have lost a very important part of our sovereignty,” he said, adding that Hungary was already paying an economic price for the conflict. Budapest has consistently slammed the Western approach to the Ukraine conflict, warning that it could result in an escalation and direct NATO-Russia clash. The EU country has also opposed arms shipments to Kiev and called for immediate ceasefire talks. It has also pushed back against remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron, who had suggested that the West should not rule out the option of sending troops to Ukraine, warning that such a move could trigger World War III.

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It’s like it is all on purpose. How many blunders is credible?

Bob Iger, DEI, and Wokism Broke Disney’s Trust with America (AmG)

On May 7, 2024, in the wake of its successful battle to keep activist investor Nelson Peltz off its Board of Directors back in April (after which Peltz liquidated his Disney holdings, walking away with more than $1 billion), Disney CEO Bob Iger held Disney’s quarterly earnings call, during which its stock tanked almost 10%, losing $20 billion in its market cap. While it has recovered a bit, to $105 a share, it’s well below its 52-week high, $123.72, and off its all-time highest closing price of $201.91 on March 8, 2021. Those investors who abandoned Peltz in his proxy battle for two seats on the Disney Board of Directors can now lick their financial wounds. There is speculation in the financial community that if Disney stock again falls below $90 a share, Peltz could mount a third bid for two or more seats on the Disney board or possibly oust Iger.

It’s hilarious to watch the New York Times put its spin on the battle, saying Peltz lost his battle with Iger. Actually, Peltz and his Trian Partners investment group walked away with $1 billion. Yes, Peltz lost the battle, but he won the war. Despite the current dip, many stock analysts are predicting that Disney stock will rebound. That seems unlikely. Here are the reasons why things are likely to get worse, not better, for The Walt Disney Company for the remainder of 2024 and into 2025. Disney is one of America’s wokest companies. It sees itself as being out in front on cultural and social issues, especially where Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are concerned. This has been a huge issue in America’s—especially American parents’—loss of trust in the House of Mouse. You can’t watch this clip from Disney programming Vice President Latoya Raveneau bragging about how she pushed LGBTQ messages anywhere she could into Disney’s programming without parents seeing that agenda.

Because of this agenda, Disney parks, Disney feature films, Disney animation, and especially the Disney Channel have lost trust with many parents. Disney has lost its decades-long leadership in animation to NBCUniversal’s Dreamworks Animation studio. Its slate of feature films—with their bloated $250,000,000 production budgets requiring a $500,000,000 theatrical run to just break even—has been an unmitigated disaster. Along the way, it has destroyed two of the successful film franchises it acquired during Iger’s first term as CEO: Star Wars and Indiana Jones. And its long-delayed live-action remake of its own 1937 Snow White classic animated film is mired in its own disaster, mostly due to woke comments from its star, Rachel Ziegler. It was moved back a year from a March 2024 release to 2025. But could its theatrical release be scrapped entirely and go directly to the Disney+ streaming service?

Related to its film franchises, which also include Marvel and Pixar (which just laid off 175 employees), was the company’s $250,000,000 misadventure, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, a $6,000 two-night Star Wars-themed hotel experience that opened on March 1, 2022, and closed on September 30, 2023. It was forced to take a charge against earnings for this catastrophe. This disaster was documented in a four-hour viral video by YouTuber Jenny Nicholson that has received an incredible seven million views in a little more than two weeks. (That was 10 times the number of views CNN’s coverage of the debacle received.)

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Marathon

 

 

Dogbed

 

 

Argue
https://twitter.com/i/status/1798616700549759035

 

 

Maravilloso

 

 

Productive
https://twitter.com/i/status/1798683288539697184

 

 

Car washer

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Jun 012024
 
 June 1, 2024  Posted by at 8:26 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , ,  58 Responses »


John French Sloan South Beach Bathers 1908

 

Trump is Convicted: What Comes Next? (Turley)
“This Is A Scam”: Trump Rails Against Judge Following Guilty Verdict (ZH)
Questioning Trump’s Guilt Is ‘Dangerous’ – Biden (RT)
Reuters: Trump Supporters Want RIOTS, Violent Retribution After Verdict (MN)
Trump Raises $53 Million in 24 Hours After Conviction (Sp.)
X To Host Town Halls With Trump, RFK Jr. (ZH)
Musk To Host Trump Town Hall After Slamming NY Verdict (RT)
Gloat While You Still Can (Kunstler)
Paul Craig Roberts: Western Involvement Escalates Ukraine Conflict (Sp.)
Zelensky’s Illegitimacy Deliberately Created – Constitution Author (Sp.)
“A Full-Scale War Isn’t A Foregone Conclusion” – Timofeev (ZH)
Medvedev Warns NATO of Nuclear ‘Miscalculation’ (RT)
Nordic Countries Greenlight Long-Range Ukrainian Strikes On Russia (RT)
Moscow Has Right to Take Proxy War With NATO Global (Sp.)
First French Troops En Route To Ukraine (RT)
Scott Ritter: Georgian ‘Foreign Agents’ Law Exposes Western Influence (Sp.)

 

 

 

 

Trump July 4th

 

 

“This article by Elie Honig, the CNN legal commentator who followed every twist and turn of the Trump Trial, and formerly worked with Alvin Bragg in the Manhattan DA’s office, is totally devastating as to the due process violations of this prosecution — particularly this stunner:”

 

 

RFK Trump
https://twitter.com/i/status/1796334429847052677

 

 

Maddow

 

 

Schiff

 

 

Never President
https://twitter.com/i/status/1796349789530972592

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only the Supreme Court can make this whole. Turley doesn’t think they will. So we’ll have a circus.

Trump is Convicted: What Comes Next? (Turley)

This morning, many of us are emerging from the late coverage last night after the conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 felonies. I was in the courtroom for the verdict, which hit like a thunderclap (particularly after a strange snafu with the judge). The question that everyone is asking: what happens next? The scene in the court was a madhouse. Judge Juan Merchan told the court that the jury had not reached a verdict and would be dismissed for the day. Many reporters in the overflow courtroom were leaving when Merchan suddenly said that there was a verdict. People came running back into the courtroom. That was followed by 34 guilty verdicts. I am obviously saddened by the verdict, but not surprised. Until the very end, I was hopeful that there would be a hung jury, a result that could restore some integrity to the New York criminal justice system. However, I previously noted that the jury instructions made conviction much more likely. I referred to the deliberations as a legal “canned hunt” due to instructions that made conviction a near certainty.

[..] So what happens next? Obviously, appeals will be taken. As I said last night, we must keep the faith. Indeed, moments like this require us to take a leap of faith in a nation that remains committed to the rule of law. Manhattan is neither the entirety of the country nor the legal system. I believe that these convictions will be overturned, but it will take time. Judge Merchan committed, in my view, layers of reversible error. Eventually, this case may reach the United States Supreme Court. It has been suggested that an appeal could be taken directly to the Supreme Court. I find that doubtful after the Supreme Court rejected an expedited process for Special Counsel Jack Smith in his federal prosecutions. It will work first through the New York appellate system.

As for the criminal process, Trump will have to meet with a probation officer for an interview. That officer will make recommendations to the court. There is a possibility of a jail sentence for felonies that come with up to four years for each offense. Any jail sentences would almost certainly run concurrently. However, any jail sentence would be ridiculous in Manhattan for an elderly first-offender in a non-violent offense. Consistent with his past commentary, MSNBC legal analyst and former Mueller aide Andrew Weissmann predicted that Merchan will give Trump jail time. He is not alone as legal analysts seemed to get caught up in a thrill-kill conviction.

It is much more likely that Merchan will impose a sentence without a jail sentence, though with fines. The most appropriate, in my view, would be a conditional discharge that requires Trump not to commit a new crime or face potential imprisonment. Merchan could also tailor a sentence to require home confinement or even weekend jailing. Those options would raise serious conflicts with his campaigning and obviously, if elected, serving as president. Even the probation process will be awkward since a convicted defendant ordinarily has to get approval for any travel outside of the state from his probation officer. Sentences can also include community service, counseling and other requirements. After his ruling in this trial, it is impossible to rule anything out. However, any jail sentence would add even more outrage to an abuse of the criminal law system.

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“I’m the leading person for president, and I’m under a gag order by a man that can’t put two sentences together.”

“This Is A Scam”: Trump Rails Against Judge Following Guilty Verdict (ZH)

President Trump is giving a live press conference following Thursday’s guilty verdict in his ‘hush money’ trial, in which he was convicted on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. “I paid a lawyer, totally legal. I paid a lawyer, a legal expense,” Trump said in reference to the payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels by convicted liar and former Trump fixer Michael Cohen. “It’s not sheetrock construction, or any other thing. It’s a legal expense. Think of that. This is what the falsification of business records were. And I said, what else are you going to call it?” Trump said he would have testified during the trial, and wanted to, but “The theory is you never testify because as soon as you testify … they’ll get you on something that you said slightly wrong, and then they sue you for perjury, but I didn’t care about that. I wanted to.” “This is a scam. There’s a rigged trial. It shouldn’t have been in that venue. We shouldn’t have had that judge,” he continued. “As far as the trial itself, it was very unfair. We weren’t allowed to use our election expert under any circumstances.”

According to Trump, witnesses on his side “were literally crucified” by judge Juan Merchan. “You saw what happened to some of the witnesses that were on our side. They were literally crucified by this man, who looks like an angel, but he’s really a devil,” Trump said, referring to Merchan. A crowd of Trump Organization employees cheered the former president as he walked to the podium, passing by the escalator he descended nine years ago to announce what would become a successful 2016 presidential bid. The former president rehashed many of the complaints he’s raised for months. He bemoaned that his request for a venue change was denied, and his push for Merchan to recuse himself was dismissed. -The Hill. Trump also slammed Merchan’s gag order that prohibited him from talking about witnesses in the case, along with court staff and their family members. “Think of it: I’m the leading candidate. I’m leading Biden by a lot, and I’m leading the Republicans to the point where that’s over,” Trump said. “So I’m the leading person for president, and I’m under a gag order by a man that can’t put two sentences together.”

Following the verdict, several notable Trump supporters and prospective running mates condemned the verdict. “Massively conflicted, Biden donor and Liberal judge + stacked jury with unconstitutional jury instructions + radical leftist prosecutor = wrongful conviction,” said South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem in a statement posted to X. “No doubt Trump will be easily vindicated soon as the case will obviously be overturned on appeal.” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) weighed in as well, posting “The verdict in New York is a complete travesty that makes a mockery of our system of justice,” adding that it was a “jury from the most liberal county in America.” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) called the verdict “a disgrace to the rule of law and our Constitution.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Friday that he believes Supreme Court justices are “deeply concerned,” and urged the court to step in when the case is appealed. Johnson told “Fox and Friends” that the conviction was “totally unprecedented” and “dangerous to our system” because it ruins people’s faith in the criminal process and the courts. “People have to believe that justice is fair, that there’s equal justice under law. They don’t see that right now,” he said. “And I think that the justices on the court, I know many of them personally, I think they’re deeply concerned about that, as we are. So I think they’ll set this straight but it’s going to take a while.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the outcome “the culmination of a legal process that has been bent to the political will of the actors involved.”

“Today’s verdict represents the culmination of a legal process that has been bent to the political will of the actors involved: a leftist prosecutor, a partisan judge and a jury reflective of one of the most liberal enclaves in America—all in an effort to “get” Donald Trump. That this case—involving alleged misdemeanor business records violations from nearly a decade ago—was even brought is a testament to the political debasement of the justice system in places like New York City. This is especially true considering this same district attorney routinely excuses criminal conduct in a way that has endangered law-abiding citizens in his jurisdiction. It is often said that no one is above the law, but it is also true that no one is below the law. If the defendant were not Donald Trump, this case would never have been brought, the judge would have never issued similar rulings, and the jury would have never returned a guilty verdict. In America, the rule of law should be applied in a dispassionate, even-handed manner, not become captive to the political agenda of some kangaroo court. -Ron DeSantis.

Bragg

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A “political prisoner” is exactly what he is.

Questioning Trump’s Guilt Is ‘Dangerous’ – Biden (RT)

US President Joe Biden has called on Americans to accept the guilty verdict handed down to his political rival, Donald Trump. Biden argued that his presidential predecessor was “reckless” and “irresponsible” to suggest that the trial was orchestrated by the White House. Trump, currently the presumptive Republican nominee to challenge Biden in this November’s presidential election, was found guilty on Thursday of 34 counts of falsifying business records. New York prosecutors successfully argued that Trump concealed the payments – made to porn star Stormy Daniels – in order to influence the 2016 election.

“The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed,” Biden said on Friday, in his first public remarks since the conviction. “Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself,” the president continued, adding that Trump was judged “by a jury of 12 citizens” and can now appeal the conviction “like anyone else.” Trump has long maintained that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, brought the case on Biden’s orders, and that judge Juan Merchan, whose family fundraises for Democrats, was too “conflicted” to oversee the trial fairly. The former president also complained that a jury in New York, which overwhelmingly votes Democrat, would be inherently biased against him.

“They’re in total conjunction with the White House and [Department of Justice],” Trump told reporters outside his Trump Tower property earlier on Friday. “This is all done by Biden and his people. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it.” Trump said that he intends to appeal the “scam” judgment, and called November’s election date “the most important day in the history of our country.” “It’s my honor to be doing this, but it’s a really unpleasant thing, to be honest,” he said, reiterating that he considered the trial “rigged.” “It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict,” Biden shot back. Asked after the speech whether Trump was right to call himself a “political prisoner” and blame Biden for his conviction, the president paused, said nothing, and grinned at reporters. The Republican Party has described Biden’s grin as “pure evil.”

Freckless

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Jan 6 revisited.

Reuters: Trump Supporters Want RIOTS, Violent Retribution After Verdict (MN)

Reuters has published an article claiming that Trump supporters have called for “riots and violent retribution” after the GOP nominee was convicted in the New York Trial Thursday. Here’s a screenshot of the article (in case they change it):

Reuters says that it has conducted a “review of comments on three Trump-aligned websites: the former president’s own Truth Social platform, Patriots.Win and the Gateway Pundit.” The piece continues, “Some called for attacks on jurors, the execution of the judge, Justice Juan Merchan, or outright civil war and armed insurrection.” The article then quoted one comment that stated “Someone in NY with nothing to lose needs to take care of Merchan,” referring to the judge, and adding “Hopefully he gets met with illegals with a machete.” The piece quotes another comment on Gateway Pundit, that states “Time to start capping some leftys. This cannot be fixed by voting.” The article quotes several more comments calling for violence, but admits that some have since been removed.

Reuters also charges that since the 2020 election Trump “loyalists have responded with a campaign of threats and intimidation targeting judges and court officials.” The article also quotes Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who has recently published a book on “far right terrorism.” Ware charges that Trump has an “ironclad ability to mobilize more extreme supporters to action, both at the ballot box and through violence.” “Until and unless he accepts the process, the extremist reaction to his legal troubles will be militant,” Ware added. This all comes after Joe Biden labelled violent BLM protests “peaceful” and contrasted them to January 6th protesters “storming” the capitol. Wow. They really are going all out on in their attack on Trump and his supporters.

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“In the 24 hours since Crooked Joe Biden and his New York henchmen got their sham trial verdict, the Trump Campaign has raised $52.8 million through the online digital fundraising platform..”

The platform was so busy it crashed multiple times..

Trump Raises $53Mln in 24 Hours After Conviction (Sp.)

Former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign said in a press release that it raised a record $53 million in the span of 24 hours following his New York conviction. “In the 24 hours since Crooked Joe Biden and his New York henchmen got their sham trial verdict, the Trump Campaign has raised $52.8 million through the online digital fundraising platform,” the release said on Friday The new total means Trump’s campaign is receiving an average of $2 million in donations each hour, according to the release. More than one third of these contributions are from new donors to the campaign, the release said, adding that it showcases a growing opposition to the jury’s decision.

On Thursday, a New York jury found Trump guilty on all 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump said the verdict was a disgrace and part of a sham trial pushed by the Biden administration via a weaponized judicial system and a partisan judge in order to interfere in the 2024 presidential election. Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential candidate. Trump also said he will appeal the verdict while his campaign and various legal scholars noted that it does not affect his right to run for president of the United States.

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“Today they said, ‘We’d like to set up tables so you sit down.’ I said, ‘I don’t want to sit down for a debate. Let’s go,'” Trump told the crowd..”

X To Host Town Halls With Trump, RFK Jr. (ZH)

Former President Donald Trump and independent presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will participate in live town halls hosted by X and cable news network NewsNation, Axios reports. The events have yet to be scheduled, nor moderators picked – however, X users will be able to ask questions of the candidates during the events, called “The People’s Town Hall,” according to the report. The Biden campaign has declined to participate. In a Wednesday evening appearance on News Nation, Kennedy confirmed his plans to participate, adding that X owner Elon Musk offered use of his platform. The moderators, which will likely include at least one NewsNation host, will have final say over the questions asked.

Axios reports that X CEO Linda Yaccarino approached NewsNation parent Nextar with the idea. NewsNation notably hosted the fourth GOP presidential primary debate last December, which was watched by over 4 million people across NewsNation and sister network CW. Meanwhile, Biden and Trump have agreed to a June 27 debate hosted by CNN – over which RFK Jr. has filed a FEC complaint over the criteria required to participate. On Thursday, CNN announced that it plans to run commercials during the event – which has been ad-free for many years under the management of the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates, Variety reports. CNN’s plan to include commercials was noted in rules for access that were recently issued to members of the DC Television News Pool and subscribers of its feed as well as to CNN’s affiliates.

What’s more, networks will have the option of selling their own commercials instead of running the ones that air on CNN. CNN has yet to offer information about how many ad breaks the debate will contain and how long they will be, according to one of these people. Last week Trump announced during a rally in the Bronx that one of his conditions for debating will be that they stand up. “Today they said, ‘We’d like to set up tables so you sit down.’ I said, ‘I don’t want to sit down for a debate. Let’s go,'” Trump told the crowd. “So we’re not sitting down. We’re gonna be standing up for the debate.” “If crooked Joe Biden makes it through the debate, which I think he will, [the media are] going to say it was one of the great debate performances in history,” Trump added.

Trump Musk

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“If a former President can be criminally convicted over such a trivial matter – motivated by politics, rather than justice – then anyone is at risk of a similar fate,” Musk wrote on X..”

Musk To Host Trump Town Hall After Slamming NY Verdict (RT)

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has confirmed reports that he will host a live town hall event with presidential candidate Donald Trump, after criticizing his felony conviction as politically motivated. X (formerly Twitter), which Musk owns, has partnered with the TV network NewsNation to live-stream town halls with presidential candidates on both platforms, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an individual familiar with the matter. “This will be interesting,” Musk said on X Friday, linking to a New York Post story about the town halls. The idea is reportedly the brainchild of X CEO Linda Yaccarino. Musk apparently extended the town hall invitations to Trump, President Joe Biden, and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Biden’s campaign reportedly declined, however.

According to the reports, X users will get to submit questions for the town hall, which will then be curated by moderators, who will include at least one NewsNation host. The date, location and moderators for the events have not yet been announced. Earlier this month, the Biden campaign sent a debate offer to Trump to appear on two legacy TV outlets – CNN and ABC News, and with no audience in the studio. The Trump campaign accepted and the debates were scheduled for June 27 and September 10. The arrangement completely bypassed the Presidential Debates Commission. On Thursday, however, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on 34 charges of “falsifying business records,” related to his reimbursement of then-lawyer Michael Cohen for the alleged hush money payment to adult actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump has denounced the trial and the verdict as politically motivated – as has Musk. “If a former President can be criminally convicted over such a trivial matter – motivated by politics, rather than justice – then anyone is at risk of a similar fate,” Musk wrote on X, adding that the verdict did “great damage” to the Americans’ faith in their legal system. The day before, the Wall Street Journal reported a rumor that Musk might become a White House adviser should Trump win the November election. The alleged connection has been widely interpreted as a sign that some Silicon Valley moguls were moving away from the Democrats.

Trump was a prolific user of Twitter and leveraged the platform to get his message out in 2016, when he beat the legacy media favorite Hillary Clinton. The company “permanently suspended” his account while he was still the sitting president in January 2021, following the US Capitol riot over the alleged irregularities in the 2020 election. Trump had called on his supporters to stand down, not break any laws and go home, but Democrats accused him of “inciting an insurrection” and he was banned by all major social media shortly thereafter. Musk bought Twitter in October 2022 and restored Trump’s account last year, but the former president has chosen not to actively post on the platform.

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“..Ukraine’s military lacks the know-how to actually launch the missiles, so American military “advisors” will have to be on hand to do it..”

Gloat While You Still Can (Kunstler)

Of course, the Alvin Bragg victory in the artfully constructed “Stormy Daniels Payoff Case” decided late Thursday calls to question how come the Mueller Special Counsel Probe into 2016 election interference (actually run by Mr. Weissmann, due to Mr. Mueller’s declining cognitive ability) failed to spot the same web of evidence — hard as they toiled, and they had a good two years and millions of taxpayer dollars to git’er done? My guess: too many white lawyers on the Mueller staff. Everybody knows now from watching the latest crop of television commercials that white people are unusually stupid and helpless and cannot cope with common problems without assistance from helpful people of color (POCs). So, God bless Alvin Bragg for finally fixing what Bob Mueller’s fifteen bloodhounds led by a pitbull somehow botched.

The former president is now convicted on thirty-four counts of book-keeping errors in furtherance of an alleged 2016 federal election violation that the Federal Election Commission declined to charge — that is, paying a porn star to sign a non-disclosure agreement about a sexual liaison — because it is not a crime under federal election law, and about which the head of the FEC, James E. “Trey” Trainor III, was barred by Judge Merchan from testifying on during the course of the trial for reasons yet unknown. Of course, that is but one of a great many points of law that will merit appeal in what everybody — even some white people (people of non-color, PONCs) — knows was a case so crookedly contrived that it is fated to get tossed in the higher courts, and probably with harsh remonstrance to the degenerate officers of the court who brought it and adjudicated it. But you will have to wait on that because the mills of the law grind slowly.


Joshua Lisec

Now, in the radiance of the full Woke gloat, we await Judge Merchan’s sentence, to be announced a mere few days before the Republican Convention in Milwaukee in early July. Jail time at Rikers? Home confinement (with ankle bracelet)? Severe travel restrictions? Reporting to a parole officer? Drug tests? Hey, No one is above the law! It is hard to imagine that the judge will demur from inflicting maximum humiliation on this wanton repeat violator (thirty-four times!) of book-keeping errors. It would tend to interfere with the presidential candidate’s campaign schedule, but so what? Where does it say in the Constitution that an election must be fair? Or Judge Merchan could suspend all that pending appeal and just allow Mr. Trump to go about his election business free on bail. But why would he? After all the trouble he went to. And all the glory he’s reaping for it. “Joe Biden’s” party has Mr. Trump exactly where they want him, they think: pinned down like a moth in a shadow-box, inert and pathetic. (But, in reality, more like King Kong, chained in the rank basement below the stage of a Broadway theater before busting loose in midtown and upending subway cars so as to devour the little humans tumbling out like so many tic-tacs.)

Expect Mr. Trump’s lawyers to file writs to the SCOTUS requesting expedited attention to the denial of due process issues and the election interference question. The situation is comparable to the year 2000 presidential race, where the SCOTUS stepped in on probable cause that the lower court (in Florida that time) had violated the Equal Protection clause of the constitution. In the meantime, through the luminescent fog of gloat, perhaps you did not notice that “Joe Biden” took a giant step yesterday toward commencing World War Three. The move was framed as the US gives Ukraine permission to use American missiles to strike deep within Russia. That was a bit disingenuous, you see, because Ukraine’s military lacks the know-how to actually launch the missiles, so American military “advisors” will have to be on hand to do it, meaning US military personnel will commit an act of aggression upon Russia.

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“Long-range missiles are not battlefront weapons, Roberts asserted. “If the missiles are not intended to be used for their purpose, why give them to Ukraine?”

Paul Craig Roberts: Western Involvement Escalates Ukraine Conflict (Sp.)

The West is thoroughly involved in the ongoing Ukraine conflict and is also widening it, former US Assistant Treasury Secretary in the Reagan administration Paul Craig Roberts told Sputnik commenting on the latest US announcement that President Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to use its weapons near Kharkov. Roberts pointed out that the Ukraine conflict has been widening ever since it started with the West sending every weapon to Ukraine that initially it said it would not. “Troops would never be sent, but the French Foreign Legion is now sent, and the NATO consensus is building to send NATO troops,” he said. A State Department spokesperson told Sputnik that Biden has greenlighted Ukrainian strikes using US-supplied weapons inside the Russian territory for counter-fire purposes in the Kharkov region of Ukraine, but has not authorized the use of long-range missiles, including ATACMS, inside Russia. “There is no reason for long-range missiles supplied to Ukraine by Washington except to hit distant targets. Long-range missiles are not battlefront weapons, Roberts asserted.

“If the missiles are not intended to be used for their purpose, why give them to Ukraine?” Roberts went on to say that although Russia has won in its stated goal of liberating Donbas, that region is not the endgame for the West.
“Putin has won his version of the war – the liberation of Donbas – but Washington’s version of the war is not limited to Donbas,” he said. “If Putin doesn’t quickly use the necessary force to bring the conflict to a quick end, he will be faced with NATO troops in Western Ukraine and the incorporation of Ukraine west of the Dnieper into NATO with nuclear missile bases on Russia’s expanded border.” Ukraine has received billions of dollars in donations and loans from its allies since Russia launched its special military operation in February 2022. The United States alone has provided more than $100 billion in military, economic and humanitarian aid. Russia has repeatedly warned countries supplying weapons to Ukraine that it sees military shipments as legitimate targets.

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“..The illegitimacy of Volodymyr Zelensky’s rule was intentionally set up to make negotiations with Russia impossible..”

Zelensky’s Illegitimacy Deliberately Created – Constitution Author (Sp.)

The presidential term of Volodymyr Zelensky expired on May 20. The 2024 presidential election in Ukraine has been canceled citing martial law and general mobilization. Zelensky said that the election was now “untimely”. The illegitimacy of Volodymyr Zelensky’s rule was intentionally set up to make negotiations with Russia impossible, one of the Ukrainian constitution’s authors tells Sputnik. The current constitution was adopted in 1996. Dmytro Tabachnik, then head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, was one of the members of the constitutional commission that drafted the charter. “Knowing the constitutional norms, I can say that according to Article 103 of the Constitution and the explanation of the Constitutional Court, which clearly states that the terms of the president’s powers are determined solely by the articles of the Constitution, it can be said that after May 20, Zelensky is not the legitimate leader of Ukraine,” Tabachnik said.

“According to the constitution, there can be no other interpretation — Zelensky is an illegitimate leader of Ukraine, this clearly follows from the norms of the constitution,” he underlined. Tabachnik argued that Zelensky’s illegitimacy was “specially created.” “There are various interested parties in the bloody conflict in Ukraine. One of the most devious and cynical is Britain,” Tabachnik noted. “Over the past few years, Britain has been trying to play its own separate game. Britain is primarily interested in prolonging the military actions and their escalation.” “Britain absolutely does not care about Zelensky’s illegitimacy,” the constitutional expert said. “They need to solve a task to prolong hostilities as long as possible and exhaust and not only Russia, but also their favorite senior ally, in the past younger brother [the US],” Tabachnik argued. As evidence of this, he recalled that London has already repeatedly interfered in events in Ukraine.

“The Istanbul agreements were destroyed by the direct, brazen interference of the former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. All the initial statements on the use of heavy and long-range weapons usually came from Britain as well,” Tabachnik said. “Creating stalemates between different great powers is Britain’s typical method. To bring the great powers together along the lines of their immediate neighbors,” he pointed out. “This is how they tried to shake up the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 19th century, this is how they made mischief along the entire perimeter of the Russian Empire.” He noted that the “British model of prolonging” the conflict in Ukraine has several aspects. “The first is the gradual escalation of hostilities. Notice that British politicians are always the actors and promoters of this escalation,” Tabachnik explained. “The second is the complication of negotiations. A special Jesuitical formula was designed to complicate negotiations, consisting of three points.”

“First, the so-called ‘Zelensky formula’ was promoted, repeatedly assessed by leaders of various countries as completely unrealistic and not based on the real situation. The second point of delay was when Zelensky himself issued a decree banning any negotiations with Russia. And the third was moving towards artificial illegitimacy,” he continued. According to Tabachnkik, London is well aware that Russia, represented by its top leadership and Foreign Ministry, relies on the impeccable purity of legal formulas in international relations, so it will not negotiate with an illegitimate president. However, if negotiations with Kiev are impossible, there remains only one solution — Kiev’s capitulation.

“In the case of accepting capitulation, [legitimacy] becomes secondary,” Tabachnik argued. For instance, after Adolf Hitler’s suicide, the Third Reich was headed by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, solely based on Hitler’s will — Dönitz was neither elected nor approved by the German parliament. “Nevertheless, the delegation formed was recognized by all allies and agreed in Potsdam on the night of May 8-9 that these individuals would sign the capitulation,” Tabachnik recalled. Russian President Vladimir Putin, following Russian-Belarusian talks on May 24, stated that Russia assumes Zelensky’s presidential mandate has ended.

Zel

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“..these “dividing lines between” Russia and the West “may be there for decades.”

“A Full-Scale War Isn’t A Foregone Conclusion” – Timofeev (ZH)

Ahead of the “Russia and China: Cooperation in a New Era” conference in Moscow on Thursday, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) Director General Ivan Timofeev told Russian state-owned news agency Tass about the increasing likelihood of a full-scale war between Russia and the West. “A full-scale war is not is not a foregone conclusion, but unfortunately, its likelihood is growing,” Timofeev said in an interview with Tass. He said, “One option is that there will be a great rise in confrontation between us. At the root of this is the Ukraine issue, as the West continues to provide large-scale military assistance to Kyiv.” At a separate meeting on Thursday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told foreign ministers about the need to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to penetrate deep inside Russia.

Timofeev warned about the rising possibility of a direct conflict with NATO: “A number of officials, particularly in France and the United Kingdom, have said that individual military units from NATO countries may be deployed to Ukraine. If they take part in military operations against Russian forces, they will become a legitimate target for our army. “Let’s hope this possible escalation involves conventional arms and not nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, NATO is spending ten times as much as Russia – if not more – on defense. It’s certainly a dangerous scenario. The RIAC director general continued: “The NATO leadership has made statements that no troops will be sent to Ukraine, and a number of EU politicians have said that this is counterproductive. That means they aren’t united on the issue.”

Timofeev added: “As for Russia, we must take every possible scenario into account. We have the capacity to deter these threats. “However, such a scenario will cause irreparable damage to everyone.” He concluded that the West will likely continue assisting Ukraine through weapons and equipment supplies, indicating these “dividing lines between” Russia and the West “may be there for decades.” Daniel Blake, Asia and emerging market equity strategist at Morgan Stanley wrote in a note to clients in April that the shift towards a multipolar world has been underway for the last five years. With that comes a war cycle, and, as we’ve penned before, a splurge in defense spending is bullish for defense companies.

Mearsheimer

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“This is not some kind of ‘military assistance, this is taking part in a war against us.”

Medvedev Warns NATO of Nuclear ‘Miscalculation’ (RT)

The West is bringing the Ukraine conflict to a stage in which it could spiral into uncontrolled escalation with potentially global repercussions, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said. This comes amid reports that many Western countries have allowed Ukraine to use foreign-made weapons to strike deep into Russia. Writing on Telegram on Friday, Medvedev, who serves as the deputy chief of Russia’s Security Council, stated that Western countries, which are said to have signed off on long-range strikes, must understand that their military equipment and personnel either operating in Ukraine or carrying out attacks on Russia from other countries, “will be destroyed.” He stressed that Russia considers all long-range systems used by Ukraine to be directly controlled by NATO personnel. “This is not some kind of ‘military assistance, this is taking part in a war against us.”

Medvedev said NATO wants Western involvement in the conflict to be seen as the independent initiative of certain countries, hoping to avoid the need to invoke the collective defense clause. The former president dismissed this narrative as a “dangerous and harmful delusion.” According to him, actions such as sending troops to Ukraine or guiding long-range weapons are a “serious escalation of the conflict.” While the US-led military bloc wants to believe that Russia would never use tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine or NATO, “life could be much worse than their frivolous reasoning” allows, Medvedev warned. He went on to say that the West risks miscalculating the chances of nuclear weapons being used, just as it failed to anticipate the start of Russia’s Ukraine operation. This is not intimidation or nuclear bluff. The current military conflict with the West is developing according to the worst possible scenario. The power of the deployed NATO-made weapons is constantly escalating. That is why today no one can exclude the transition of the conflict to its final stage.

Russia has repeatedly said that a nuclear war must never be fought, ruling out the use of any nuclear weapons against Ukraine. Some Western countries have supported NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s call last week to the bloc’s members to consider lifting “some of the restrictions they have put on the use of weapons” sent to Ukraine. Several Western media outlets also reported this week that the US, Kiev’s key backer, has allowed Ukraine to conduct “limited” long-range strikes deep into Russia. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s office confirmed the reports, saying Kiev will now have a better chance of “countering Russian attempts to mass across the border.” Moscow has warned that the actions Kiev’s Western backers could lead to an escalation and serious consequences.

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The hunger for war is palpable.

Nordic Countries Greenlight Long-Range Ukrainian Strikes On Russia (RT)

NATO members Norway and Finland have said Ukraine can carry out long-range strikes against Russia using Western weapons provided by the US-led military bloc. The statement came after US President Joe Biden reportedly gave Kiev permission to use American weapons to hit targets in the part of Russia bordering Ukraine’s Kharkov Region. On Thursday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called on member states to permit Ukraine to use weapons for striking targets inside Russian territory. Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide has said there should be no restrictions on the use of weapons provided to Ukraine by Western countries.

“We also believe that Ukraine has an absolutely clear international right to attack Russia on its territory as part of its defense of its own territory,” Eide said in an interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK.In an interview with Japanese media on Thursday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said there was no problem with Ukraine striking Russian territory with weapons provided by the West, as long as it complies with international law.“There is no problem with using the weapons provided to attack Russia in self-defense. It would be hypocritical to send weapons that cannot be used,” he said, as quoted by Nikkei news agency.The Ukrainian leadership has been demanding for NATO to permit the use of its weapons to attack targets deep inside Russia.

Latvia and Poland earlier said they were in favor of such strikes. However, Italy and Hungary have voiced their opposition to the idea. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reportedly made a U-turn on the issue, saying on Wednesday that he now supports Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia, despite earlier concerns about escalation with Moscow, according to Politico. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Kiev’s Western backers need to understand that long-range strikes on Russian territory using weaponry they have supplied would represent a conflict escalation and lead to “serious consequences.”

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“Medvedev said Friday that Russia would “proceed from the fact” that all long-range weapons used by Ukraine “are directly controlled by military personnel of NATO country..”

Moscow Has Right to Take Proxy War With NATO Global (Sp.)

The Biden administration joined with the leaders of Germany, Nordic countries and the Baltic states on Thursday by lifting formal restrictions on the use of NATO long-range strike systems sent to Ukraine to target areas deep inside Russia. Sputnik asked a leading European defense commentator about the move’s political and strategic implications.Russian officials blasted Washington and its allies on Friday over the escalation of the Ukrainian proxy war through NATO countries’ decision to approve long-range attacks on Russia, with both the Kremlin and the Foreign Ministry pointing out that the alliance never shied away from allowing its proxies in Kiev to target the Russian hinterland.“We are aware that attempts to strike Russian territory with American-made weapons are already being made. This is sufficient for us, and it clearly demonstrates the extent of the United States’ involvement in this conflict,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

Separately on Friday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that allies had approved long-range strike weapons’ deployment, and said the bloc expects Kiev to use these arms “in a responsible way” in line with international law. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed Stoltenberg, saying in a Telegram post that it was “obvious that NATO was lying and creating a smokescreen, inventing a story that they supposedly had not yet decided to allow or not allow the Kiev regime to carry out strikes using Western weapons on Russian territory.” Former Russian president and deputy Security Council head Dmitry Medvedev said Friday that Russia would “proceed from the fact” that all long-range weapons used by Ukraine “are directly controlled by military personnel of NATO country,” and emphasized that “this is not ‘military assistance’, but participation in a war against us” which constitutes a possible “casus belli.”

[..] “The Russian offensive near Kharkov has been used as a reason to change Western policy,” Mikael Valtersson, a former Swedish Armed Forces officer and military observer specializing in air defense, told Sputnik. “The reasoning in Western circles was that Ukraine must be able to answer if attacks come from the Russian side of the 1991 border. From a military point of view this might be understandable, but it is still another huge step towards escalation from the West toward Russia,” the observer said. Valtersson expects the military consequences of NATO’s green light for Kiev to be “minor,” since Ukraine’s military has a limited number of long-range strike systems.

Then there’s the experience Russian Air Defense Forces have amassed over the past two years in fine-tuning their equipment specifically to target projectiles like the ATACMS and Storm Shadow. Still, the threat posed by the long-range missiles is not insignificant, particularly given Kiev’s willingness to use them in the past to target civilian areas in the Donbass and the Russian city of Belgorod. The “big question,” according to Valtersson, is “how involved the Western powers will be in targeting and other preparations for the attacks.”

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Western military personnel are already active in Ukraine and “have been there for a long time,” President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. “They are [foreign] specialists under the guise of mercenaries..”

First French Troops En Route To Ukraine (RT)

The first group of French military instructors are coming to Ukraine, high-profile Ukrainian politician Aleksey Goncharenko said on Friday. His statement comes just days after Ukraine’s top commander Aleksandr Syrsky announced that had authorized the presence of the French personnel in the country. “My sources informed me that the first group of French instructors is already on its way to Ukraine,” Goncharenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and a delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday evening. NATO boots on the ground is a contentious issue inside the US-led alliance, whose members maintain that they are not parties to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Moscow, meanwhile, has said that it views Ukraine’s Western backers as direct participants, stressing that Western-supplied weapons are being used to strike targets on Russian soil. In February, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he could not rule out the possibility of NATO member states sending troops to Ukraine in the future, although French officials soon clarified that he meant non-combat personnel. Macron later argued that NATO should adopt a policy of “strategic ambiguity” towards Russia. The French leader has been working behind the scenes to forge a coalition of countries willing to dispatch trainers to Kiev, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

Syrsky, who was made Ukraine’s top general in February, said on Monday that he had signed the papers allowing instructors from France to visit Kiev’s training facilities and “familiarize themselves with their infrastructure and personnel,” and had notified French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu. Moscow has warned that any additional military aid to Kiev amounts to serious escalation. Western military personnel are already active in Ukraine and “have been there for a long time,” President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. “They are [foreign] specialists under the guise of mercenaries,” he told the press. He said that the deployment of Western forces to Ukraine would be “another step towards a serious conflict in Europe and a global conflict.”

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“In Georgia today, as we speak, there are 27,000 Western-funded NGOs..”

Scott Ritter: Georgian ‘Foreign Agents’ Law Exposes Western Influence (Sp.)

The new “foreign agents” law will help Georgians tell right from wrong and real friends from fake ones, former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter told Sputnik, arguing that the legislation should be called the “transparency law.”Georgia’s “foreign agents bill,” which designates non-governmental organizations (NGOs) receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power,” became law on May 28. The US immediately announced sanctions against Georgian politicians backing the legislation, while the EU threatened to freeze the country’s candidate status. One might wonder as to why the law, which resembles the US’ Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), has been received with such animosity in the West. The crux of the matter is that the legislation is aimed at exposing the West’s deep disrespect of Georgia’s sovereignty, according to former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter.

“In Georgia today, as we speak, there are 27,000 Western-funded NGOs. What are these non-governmental organizations doing? It’s about buying a generation of Georgian citizens, a young generation, a generation that has lost touch with who they are and what they are as Georgians, a generation that is out of touch with the reality of what happened to Georgia in the 1990s,” Ritter told Sputnik.Over the past several decades, Georgians have experienced what the “European choice” really entails, Ritter continued, referring to US-backed Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s aggression against South Ossetia and Russian peacekeepers in August 2008, which was quickly repelled by Moscow. Following Saakashvili’s botched invasion, Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which had declared their independence from Tbilisi in the early 1990s. Currently, the Western-backed Georgian opposition wants to create a “second front” against Russia, something that would be nothing short of suicidal, according to Ritter.

This policy of confronting Russia is part and parcel of an overall package that includes Georgia becoming a member of the European Union and member of NATO, which would also mean ceding Georgia’s sovereignty to the West, the military expert warned. “Georgian Dream has the best interests of Georgia in mind,” said Ritter. “The EU wants Georgia to participate in the economic sanctioning of Russia. The Georgian Dream Party so far has said no. Look what happened to Europe when they sanctioned Russia, it boomeranged, backfired. What about Georgia? By not participating in the economic sanction of Russia, the Georgian economy has grown more than 10% over the course of the last two years and is on pace to continue this level of growth.

That’s called looking out for Georgia first.” When it comes to Georgian NATO membership, many of the nation’s seasoned military officers, who participated in NATO’s Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo campaigns and brought home the dead bodies of Georgian soldiers, are no longer enthusiastic about joining the alliance, the expert remarked. Ritter explained that territorial disputes with South Ossetia and Abkhazia will not allow Georgia to join NATO any time soon, adding that the irony is that the two breakaway republics will not start settling their disagreements with Tbilisi until the latter gives up its NATO aspirations.

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Bird flu
https://twitter.com/i/status/1796193970097172641

 

 

Coyote
https://twitter.com/i/status/1796116009058746450

 

 

Emanuel is back

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

May 312024
 


Ivan Aivazovsky Stormy Night at Sea 1850

 

It’s Time For Russia To Drop A Nuclear Bomb (Dmitry Suslov)
The West is Hell-Bent on Provoking Russia Into Hot War (Pepe Escobar)
Biden Allows Ukraine To Use US Weapons To Attack Inside Russia (ZH)
US Leaders Pushing for Three-Front War When They Can’t Handle One (Sp.)
Le Pen: Backing of Ukraine Strikes Inside Russia Step Toward World War (Sp.)
US Preparing Major Propaganda Campaign Against Russia In Scandinavia (RT)
Trump Responds After NY Guilty Verdict (ZH)
‘Mother Teresa Could Not Beat Those Charges’ – Trump (RT)
Canned Hunt: The Trump Jury is Out But is the Case in the Bag? (Turley)
Hush Money Trial To Boost Trump’s Odds Of Winning, Taking House, Senate (Every)
Musk Denies Report Of Trump Admin Advisory Role (ZH)
Judge Denies Hunter Biden’s ‘Frivolous’ Bid to Halt Delaware Gun Case (ET)
‘Paranoid’ Zelensky Lashing Out At US – FT (RT)
Israel’s Gantz Moves To Dissolve Knesset, Hold New Elections (ZH)
Sergey Lavrov Full Interview (Sp.)

 

 

Two major issues today: the Trump verdict and the rapid escalation in the West’s attitude vs Russia. Hard to choose 😉

 

 

 

 

Trump after verdict
https://twitter.com/i/status/1796309856091300285

 

 

Merchan
https://twitter.com/i/status/1796140639161143740

 

 

Mike Davis Trump 47
https://twitter.com/i/status/1795807037432984050

 

 

RFK Trump

 

 

Ballot access

 

 

Polls

 

 

 

 

Dmitry Suslov is a member of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, deputy director of World Economy and International Politics at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, and Valdai Club expert.

It’s Time For Russia To Drop A Nuclear Bomb (Dmitry Suslov)

There’s every indication that the US and several of its allies may soon allow Ukraine to use Western weapons, including long-range missiles, to attack targets located within – how do we put this? – Russia’s internationally recognized borders. Or those that existed before the 2014 Maidan in Kiev. In America, as the New York Times recently reported, backers of the idea include Secretary of State Antony Blinken, most Republicans in Congress (including the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson), and many members of the foreign policy establishment, including Victoria Nuland, who recently resigned as deputy secretary of state. In Europe, Poland, the Baltic states, Germany’s main opposition party, the CDU/CSU, and some Western European figures, including the head of the UK Foreign Office, David Cameron, are agitating for the measure. Recently, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made a similar appeal, but he would not have made such statements if the issue had not already been considered on a practical level and had not received substantial support from Washington.

It has already come to the point where the topic has been discussed at the level of the heads of defense ministries of EU member states. Such a decision would take the conflict to a fundamentally different level, would mean the erasure of one of the brightest “red lines” that has existed since February 24, 2022, and signal the direct entry of the US and its NATO bloc into the war against Russia. Indeed, the strikes would be carried out on the basis of coordinates provided by Western intelligence systems; the decisions on these strikes would be taken by Western military officers (the media has repeatedly relayed confessions from Ukrainian military officers that every case of Western missile use is coordinated in advance by Western military advisers); and even the button would probably be pressed directly by Western military officers. It is no coincidence that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz justifies his reluctance to transfer Taurus missiles on the grounds that they would have to be operated by German, not Ukrainian, military personnel.

This is why denying Kiev such a right was the main condition for providing it with military aid and one of the main principles of Western involvement in the conflict from the very beginning. There are at least two reasons why the West is now discussing abandoning this principle. The first and main one is the increasingly difficult position of the Ukrainian army on the battlefield. Don’t forget that NATO leaders have been saying throughout that the outcome is of existential importance not only for Ukraine, but also for themselves, as it will determine the nature of the new world order. In other words, the West itself has given the Ukrainian conflict the status of a World War, and therefore Kiev’s defeat will mean its own strategic defeat, the final collapse of the Western-centered international order. Accordingly, the worse the situation for Kiev at the front, the greater the risks of escalation that the West is willing to take.

The second reason is Russia’s unwillingness to escalate relations with the West each time it crossed a ‘red line’ and became more involved in the conflict (supplying Kiev with tanks, aircraft and, eventually, long-range missiles). As a result, the fear of escalation, which was relatively high at the beginning of the military operation, has gradually diminished, as Western publications have repeatedly pointed out. Thus, the West has come to believe that the cost of Kiev’s defeat is far greater than the risks of a direct military confrontation with Russia, as a result of allowing Western weapons to strike deep into its ‘old’ territory. The voices of those who argue that even this time Moscow will not inflict direct military damage on Western countries are growing louder. This logic can inevitably lead to World War III. And if the West’s further involvement in the conflict in Ukraine is not stopped now, a full-scale “hot” war between Russia and NATO will become inevitable. Moreover, due to the superiority of the US and its 31 NATO members in the field of conventional weapons, this war will inevitably move to the nuclear level.

In a few months (or maybe even weeks), the same logic will be applied to stationing regular Western troops in Ukraine and then starting to shoot down Russian missiles over it. The Kiev regime has been making these proposals more and more insistently of late. According to even the current Russian nuclear doctrine (certainly a ‘peacetime’ doctrine in need of tightening), such a scenario would amount to official grounds for the use of nuclear weapons. There is only one way to prevent such a catastrophic development of events: a sharp increase in Moscow’s policy of deterrence and intimidation. The option of ‘freezing’ military operations along the current line of demarcation without any political conditions for Kiev and modalities for its security relations with the West is completely unacceptable.

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“This is a continuation of the pattern in which the NATO forces recognize they are losing the war in Ukraine, with the fragile lines of defense breaking, and the NATO response is to escalate..”

The West is Hell-Bent on Provoking Russia Into Hot War (Pepe Escobar)

The warning by President Putin could not be starker: “In the event of the use of long-range weapons, the Russian Armed Forces will again have to make decisions about expanding the sanitary zone further (…) Do they want global conflict? It seemed they wanted to negotiate [with us], but we don’t see much desire to do this.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov then came up with the appropriate metaphor to designate NATO’s ramped-up military outbursts: not only NATO is raising the degree of escalation but delving into a warlike “ecstasy”. It does not get more serious than that. “They”, as Putin alluded to, do seem to want “global conflict”. That’s at the heart of NATO’s new suicidal “ecstasy” strategy. For all their circumlocutions, NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have effectively greenlighted Kiev using Western weapons for attacks deep inside the Russian Federation.

The alleged debate, still ongoing, is just a “smokescreen” for the real objective: a pretext that could lead to WWIII. There’s no reason to think Kiev will stick to “limited” strikes against relatively unimportant targets. Instead, it is likely to target critical security infrastructure in hopes of provoking an unrelenting Russian response, which in turn would pave the way for NATO to invoke Article 5 and de facto engage in a Hot War. The escalation “ecstasy” defined by Peskov went out of control since a – secret – new batch of ATACMS was dispatched to Kiev earlier this year, complemented with longer-range ATACMS. Kiev has been using them for serious hits on Russian air bases and key air defense nodes. These ATACMS fire missiles at Mach 3 speed: a serious challenge even for the best Russian air defense systems. All that seems to point to a crucial decision enveloped in several layers of fog: as the incoming, cosmic NATO humiliation in the black soil of Novorossiya becomes self-evident day after day, the Western elites who really run the show are betting on provoking a full Hot War against Russia.

Richard H. Black, a former US senator from Virginia, offers a sobering analysis: “This is a continuation of the pattern in which the NATO forces recognize they are losing the war in Ukraine, with the fragile lines of defense breaking, and the NATO response is to escalate. This is not accidental, but very deliberate. It is not the first attack on the Russian nuclear triad. The ideological folks are seeing their world crumbling, after flying the rainbow flag over conservative countries and [waging] perpetual wars. They are frantic and could escalate to nuclear war to get out of the bind. They are taking a series of baby steps, and respond that ‘they don’t do anything in response,’ and so they keep taking baby steps until one of them lands on a land mine and we are into World War III. (…) Putin is very aware of the disconnect in the West, who keep saying he is just saber rattling, but he is not—he is informing the West of the dangerous reality.”

In Russia, Senator Dmitry Rogozin, a former head of Roscosmos, directly warned Washington: “We are not just on the threshold, but already on the edge, beyond which, if the enemy is not stopped in such actions, an irreversible collapse of the strategic security of the nuclear powers will begin.” General Evgeny Buzhinky advanced an ominous scenario: “I am sure that if the strikes of Taurus of ATACMS are very harmful for Russia, then I presume we will at least strike the logistical hub in the territory of Poland in Rzeszów” where the missiles are staged for delivery to Ukraine. The connection in this case would be irreversible: Russia hits Poland; NATO invokes Article 5; WW3.

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“.. this is surely going to be a distinction without substance or meaning from Russia’s point of view, as it makes attacking Russia’s sovereign territory with US weaponry ‘allowable’ for the first time..”

Biden Allows Ukraine To Use US Weapons To Attack Inside Russia (ZH)

Given the last days of momentum and growing pressure coming from some NATO countries, this was perhaps inevitable: the United States has now greenlighted Ukraine’s use of American-supplied weapons against Russian territory in a huge escalation which takes the world a big step closer to WW3 and nuclear-armed confrontation. Politico is reporting Thursday afternoon, “The Biden administration has quietly given Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia — solely near the area of Kharkiv — using U.S.-provided weapons, two U.S. officials and two other people familiar with the move said Thursday, a major reversal that will help Ukraine to better defend its second-largest city.” An anonymous US official was cited a saying, “The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S. weapons for counter-fire purposes in Kharkiv so Ukraine can hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them.”

The same official stipulated that the policy of not allowing long-range strikes inside Russia “has not changed.” However, this is surely going to be a distinction without substance or meaning from Russia’s point of view, as it makes attacking Russia’s sovereign territory with US weaponry ‘allowable’ for the first time. According to more details of what are expected to be the immediate implications: In effect, Ukraine can now use American-provided weapons, such as rockets and rocket launchers, to shoot down launched Russian missiles heading toward Kharkiv, at troops massing just over the Russian border near the city, or Russian bombers launching bombs toward Ukrainian territory. But the official said Ukraine cannot use those weapons to hit civilian infrastructure or launch long-range missiles, such as the Army Tactical Missile System, to hit military targets deep inside Russia.

It’s a stunning shift the administration initially said would escalate the war by more directly involving the U.S. in the fight. But worsening conditions for Ukraine on the battlefield –– namely Russia’s advances and improved position in Kharkiv –– led the president to change his mind.Ukraine has been complaining that all restrictions need to be taken off if it is to defend against Russia’s recent major offensive in Kharkiv, which was launched from across the border. For example, Russian artillery is able to fire from rear positions within the Belgorod region near the border. It meanwhile remains part of Moscow’s stated aim to push the border deeper into Ukraine to create a ‘buffer zone’ – making it harder for pro-Kiev forces to shell Russian towns and villages.

Politico’s fresh reporting is consistent with something Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. While visiting Moldova – itself feeling the pressure of the war right next door – Blinken laid out that the US does not “encourage or enable” Ukrainian attacks inside Russia – but he then moved the goalpost by stressing the US would “adapt and adjust” this position based on developing battlefield needs. A reporter followed up by asking if he meant the White House will now support Ukrainian attacks inside Russia. Blinken responded with: “Adapt and adjust means exactly that.”

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“Despite a nearly $1 trillion budget, the United States military is unable to secure a major shipping lane from a government they don’t officially recognize in one of the poorest countries in the world..”

US Leaders Pushing for Three-Front War When They Can’t Handle One (Sp.)

On Monday, a bipartisan group of US representatives visited Taiwan against the protests of Beijing, promising Taiwanese lawmakers that the US-supplied weapons would be coming soon and publicly warning China from invading the island. The meeting, which included the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), was the latest in a string of meetings between US and Taiwanese officials that have taken place during the Biden administration. The saber-rattling of China by the United States is insanity, as it cannot handle the crises it is already facing, retired senior policy analyst Michael Maloof told Sputnik’s The Critical Hour on Wednesday. “We don’t have the means to fight that [one-front] war, let alone, a three-front war. Right now, we’re doing very poorly. The United States is doing very poorly just trying to work through a proxy against Russia,” Maloof explained.

“If you have a direct confrontational approach to war with Russia, then China and… Iran, there’s no way the United States is going to be able to sustain that. On Wednesday, Yemeni Houthi forces announced that they had brought down a US MQ-9 Reaper reconnaissance and strike drone. The US claimed that the drone was lost due to technical problems but it was the sixth such drone to be lost over Yemen since the Houthi movement began blockading the Red Sea against ships it says are connected to Israel. Despite a nearly $1 trillion budget, the United States military is unable to secure a major shipping lane from a government they don’t officially recognize in one of the poorest countries in the world, resulting in a 50% reduction of shipping through the Suez Canal compared to last year. In 2022, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), then speaker of the House, visited Taiwan against the protests of Beijing. Then, US President Joe Biden claimed he did not authorize her visit, but this statement caused some reasonable doubts.

The next year, then-Taiwanese head of administration Tsai Ing-wen traveled to California where she and other Taiwanese politicians met with then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Again, US and Taiwanese officials attempted to soften the diplomatic outcry from China by claiming it was just part of a layover on her tour of Central America. Again, China didn’t buy it. On this latest trip, Washington provided no pretenses. The bipartisan delegation met with the newly elected head of Taiwanese administration and publicly promised them weapons and further support. “There should be no doubt, there should be no skepticism in the United States, Taiwan or anywhere in the world, of American resolve to maintain the status quo and peace in the Taiwan Strait,” Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY), the co-chair of the Taiwan caucus said while meeting Taiwan’s new head of administration Lai Ching-te. “If the island in an unprovoked manner was invaded, then it would be to the American people and the United States Congress and my committee that has the power to declare war, how to deal with that,” McCaul said.

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“..The parties should return to diplomacy and start talks, but Macron is preparing French society for the announcement he is sending troops to Ukraine, Le Pen said..”

Le Pen: Backing of Ukraine Strikes Inside Russia Step Toward World War (Sp.)

French President Emmanuel Macron’s support for Ukraine’s targeting of military facilities in Russia’s internationally recognized territory is another step toward a world war, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French right-wing National Rally party, said on Thursday. “Macron wants France to enter the war. This statement is an additional step in that direction. I am against it and I think it creates an enormous risk for the security of our citizens,” Le Pen told French radio broadcaster Franceinfo. The right-wing politician only supports the supplying of defensive weapons to Kiev, she added. “Similarly to the United States and Germany, I am against permitting Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets on the territory of Russia. This is a mechanism for entering the third world war. I am against anything that might create the risk of a global conflict, with France being on its front line,” she added.

The parties should return to diplomacy and start talks, but Macron is preparing French society for the announcement he is sending troops to Ukraine, Le Pen said. “It is necessary to find a way towards a dialogue. Everyone knows that the victory will not be a military one. The only way is to find paths for negotiations. We have to provide Ukraine with military aid without sending troops. But Macron is preparing us to send military personnel to Ukraine. It is another concerning step,” the politician told the radio station. France does not try to play a role of a mediator anymore while other countries are doing this, she said. “No one except Ukraine and Russia can resolve this [conflict], but some countries might try to bring their positions closer. Others are doing that instead of us, and France is not doing that,” Le Pen said On Tuesday, Macron said that Ukraine should be allowed to strike military sites in Russia. The supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine capable of hitting Russian military facilities is not an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, he said.

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“..high-ranking Swedish and Finnish officials are being trained, “like diligent students,” to repeat the “Russophobic mantras of their American patrons without hesitation..”

US Preparing Major Propaganda Campaign Against Russia In Scandinavia (RT)

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service claims that the US is preparing a major propaganda campaign aimed at sparking fear among the population of Sweden and Finland about Moscow’s alleged “territorial appetites.” In a press release on Thursday, the service claimed that the US State Department, “gripped with anti-Russian hysteria,” has transformed into an “unprincipled propaganda mouthpiece” that is now striving to turn the entire international community against Russia. The first targets of this propaganda machine, according to Moscow, are the residents of Sweden and Finland, which recently joined NATO.

The Foreign Intelligence Service has claimed that, under the patronage of the US State Department, a series of short videos will soon flood social media networks and instant messengers to demonstrate “the ‘seriousness of the Russian threat’ and drum up ‘universal fear’ of Moscow’s ‘territorial appetites’” among the Scandinavian population. The campaign, according to the service, will be presented as a “spiritual impulse” of a team of independent experts and journalists, and will aim to spread panic among the residents of Sweden and Finland like the times of McCarthyism in the US. After that, Washington supposedly expects top officials in the two countries to “start throwing themselves out of the windows, shouting ‘the Russians are coming, the Russians are coming! They are everywhere.’”

At the same time, high-ranking Swedish and Finnish officials are being trained, “like diligent students,” to repeat the “Russophobic mantras of their American patrons without hesitation,” the service wrote. Specifically, it mentioned the commander-in-chief of the Swedish Armed Forces, Micael Byden, who has recently claimed that Russia is planning to invade the island of Gotland to establish control in the Baltic Sea; and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has been claiming that Russia poses an “existential threat” and has insisted that the only way to achieve peace is “through the battlefield.” Moscow has repeatedly stated that it has no plans to attack any NATO nations or revise its existing borders with the West. Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed such talk as “nonsense,” and an attempt to scare local citizens “to extract additional expenses from people.”

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“..The crime has a maximum sentence of four years in prison. That said, Merchan could also opt for home confinement, probation, supervised release, fines or community service..”

The appeal could take years. They just want to be able to call him a convicted felon.

Trump Responds After NY Guilty Verdict (ZH)

Former President Donald Trump has been found guilty on all 34 counts in his New York ‘hush money’ trial. The outcome makes him the first former president to become a convicted felon. Trump reportedly stared ahead motionless as the verdict was read. The trial centered on allegations that Trump falsified business records in order to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 US election. Prosecutors under Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg argued that Trump oversaw a scheme to influence the 2016 election by using Trump Organization records to conceal the payments. “Everything Mr. Trump and his cohorts did in this case is cloaked in lies,” said prosecutor Joshua Steinglass. “The evidence is literally overwhelming.” “This is a rigged, disgraceful trial,” Trump said in response, adding “The real verdict will be on November 5.”

Judge Juan Merchan will now decide Trump’s sentence on July 11 – days before Republicans are set to select him as the 2024 nominee. The crime has a maximum sentence of four years in prison. That said, Merchan could also opt for home confinement, probation, supervised release, fines or community service. “In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law,” reads a statement. “Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain. But today’s verdict does not change the fact that American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president.”

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“It’s the people that surround him in the office. They’re smart. They’re fascists, they’re communist, but they’re smart.”

‘Mother Teresa Could Not Beat Those Charges’ – Trump (RT)

Former US President Donald Trump has decried the charges against him in the Manhattan hush-money trial as of the kind that even Mother Teresa would not beat. Trump made the comment while speaking to reporters on Wednesday after the jury started deliberating the verdict. The ex-president and presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 election faces a litany of accusations in several separate cases. The proceedings, which concluded on Tuesday, revolved around hush money that the ex-president’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, claims to have paid in 2016 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about an affair with the then-candidate. Speaking with the press after his fate was handed over to the 12 New Yorkers constituting the jury, Trump reiterated his claims that the trial was politically motivated and meant to disrupt his bid to retake the White House.

“Mother Teresa could not beat those charges, but we’ll see,” he fumed. “We’ll see how we do. It’s a very disgraceful situation.” He criticized judge Juan Merchan for supposedly being “conflicted and corrupt,” placing a gag order on him and allegedly barring some of the people that Trump’s defense wanted to testify from doing so. The judge significantly limited what election law expert Brad Smith, a former member of the Federal Election Commission, could talk about during the trial. Merchan said he wanted to avoid a “battle of the experts” in the courtroom. Trump claimed that “the whole thing is rigged” and amounts to weaponization of the justice system by the Democratic Party against its political opponent. The trial has kept him from campaigning, he complained. “This is all because of Joe Biden,” he claimed, pointing the finger at the incumbent president. “It’s the people that surround him in the office. They’re smart. They’re fascists, they’re communist, but they’re smart.”

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“Putting aside that the federal government found no basis to impose a civil fine, let alone bring a criminal charge, the court barred a legal expert who could have shown that no such violation occurred. The jury does not know that. Instead, the judge allowed them to be repeatedly told a false fact that could make it difficult for anyone to acquit.”

Canned Hunt: The Trump Jury is Out But is the Case in the Bag? (Turley)

Today the jury began its deliberations in the trial of former president Donald Trump. Before jurors left, however, Judge Juan Merchan framed their deliberations in a way that seemed less like a jury deliberation than a canned hunt. For many of us, the Trump trial has seemed otherworldly, a vaguely familiar proceeding where common elements of a trial seem to have been flipped. Even before the jury instructions, the trial was controversial for both liberal and conservative commentators. At the start of closing arguments, most honest observers were still wondering what the prosecutors were alleging as to the crime that Trump was allegedly concealing with the falsification of business records. Then came the closing arguments. Around the country, it is standard for the government to go first with a closing to allow the defense to respond. The government is then given the privilege of a rebuttal after the defense rests.

In New York, the defense must go first, giving the government free rein over its closing with no risk of contradiction from the defense. With the exception of objections, any abusive or improper arguments are left to the judge to address.In the case of Judge Merchan, that protection was all but absent as the prosecution engaged in flagrant violations from offering testimony on unestablished facts to directly contradicting prior instructions. In one of the most egregious moments, Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the jury that it is an established fact that former Trump counsel Michael Cohen committed a federal election law violation on the direct orders of Donald Trump. Merchan had repeatedly said that Cohen’s earlier plea could not be used to imply the guilt of Trump. Merchan overruled an objection and Steinglass proceeded, as he did earlier in trial, to repeat the false statement. Merchan did nothing as Steinglass told the jury that Hope Hicks cried in court because she knew that she had destroyed Trump’s defense (Hicks has never explained why she cried).

Merchan did nothing as Steinglass falsely told the jury that the media and political campaigns do not do what Trump did in seeking to kill and plant stories. (This ignored, for example, that the Clinton campaign did precisely that repeatedly in the very same election, including with the false Russian collusion allegations).mIt was only when Steinglass repeatedly instructed the jury on the law that Merchan finally sustained objections, at the end of his closing arguments. So going into the deliberations, the court allowed the jury to be told repeatedly that there were federal campaign violations committed by Trump. That is not true. Putting aside that the federal government found no basis to impose a civil fine, let alone bring a criminal charge, the court barred a legal expert who could have shown that no such violation occurred. The jury does not know that. Instead, the judge allowed them to be repeatedly told a false fact that could make it difficult for anyone to acquit.

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In every trial, there are always two opinions: the prosecution and the defense. In this trial there are three: anti-Trump, pro-Trump, and anti-Trump but concerned about the rule of law..”

Hush Money Trial To Boost Trump’s Odds Of Winning, Taking House, Senate (Every)

The Financial Times main headline is that ‘NATO has just 5% of air defences needed to protect eastern flank.’ No, NATO doesn’t have an eastern flank but an eastern FRONT: it faces east, so its vulnerable flanks are to the north and south. Regardless, it urgently needs to spend 20x more on air defence alone. Meanwhile, Poland is reinforcing its border with Belarus and Russia, as the former withdrew from the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe treaty, and the Baltics and Scandinavia plan a ‘drone wall’. Many EU countries will also now allow Ukraine to use their donated weapons to attack Russian forces inside Russia proper. Militarily, that’s the best strategy; geopolitically, it m”eans the West escalating to deescalate – which Russia will only mirror. The UK Telegraph is running a series of articles starting today on the topic ‘What if Putin Wins?’ The first argues, “A Russian victory would unleash a cascade of events triggering irreversible changes, pushing the world to the brink of chaos.”

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” (Dick the Butcher, Henry VI, Part 2). We can also expect imminent market headlines from the Trump trial in New York, where the jury are still out. In every trial, there are always two opinions: the prosecution and the defense. In this trial there are three: anti-Trump, pro-Trump, and anti-Trump but concerned about the rule of law. Alan Dershowitz, a Democrat, has been withering in his criticism of how this trial has been prosecuted. Legal expert Jonathan Turley notes it “has seemed otherworldly, a vaguely familiar proceeding where common elements of a trial seem to have been flipped,” listing the numerous ways normal practice has not been followed – which those pro-Trump naturally allege have occurred for nefarious political purposes. Given how the judge –‘The Merchan of Vengeance’– instructed the jury, experts think the most likely outcomes are a hung jury or a conviction.

If it’s the former, Trump will gain huge publicity, and cry he was wronged by Democrat ‘lawfare’; and if he’s convicted, that is arguably even more the case (even if the latter will prompt a rapid appeal, potentially all the way up to the Supreme Court, which many observers think will then see the verdict overturned). To presume, as White House strategists must do(?) that being able to call Trump a “convicted felon” on TV will necessarily dent his electoral prospects rather than boosting them may be to totally misread the current situation, as in 2016. This matters for markets more than some reading the very Beige Book realize. Not only could this trial potentially increase the likelihood of Trump winning in 2024, which would already shift the US, the world, and world markets, but it might boost his odds of taking the Senate and the House too, ensuring that he could shift them all if he wants to. It might also convince him that he needs to (as the Wall Street Journal says Elon Musk might take an advisory role at the White House were Trump to win: what might that mean for US policy: Orange Cybertrucks? CyberTrump? Trumpcoin? Camp Trump on Mars?)

More broadly, it’s a further dent in the reputation of US law just as (contrived?) media controversy rages over a Supreme Court judge for flying a flag, again politicizing the highest echelons of the US justice system. Following previous controversial court cases involving Trump there, it doesn’t do New York many favors as an investment destination unless one’s business is in the anti-Trump camp. Yet that points to a polarization in the US mirroring past ones in emerging markets. Indeed, Dershowitz and Turley fear precisely the political rule BY law, not OF law if precedent is set: could future presidents find partisan judges and juries to rustle up court cases to take out potential opposition legally, as happens elsewhere? That still seems unlikely given the checks and balances in the US system, but for some this is all a worrying step in that direction. US businesses and markets players, even those anti-Trump, should be aware that those kinds of legal environments are partly why so much foreign capital ends up in the US in the first place.

Moreover, when The Economist is worrying about the collapse of global liberal institutions, and the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice have mired themselves in controversy, splitting the West internally and vs. the Global South in a new Cold War –as Mexico joins South Africa’s case vs. Israel at the ICJ, The Australian says “The ICC issuing warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and his defence minister is grandstanding by this toothless, bloated court”– the last thing the West needs is for its rule of law to be brought into ill-repute. ‘Let’s kill all the lawyers’ is how you destabilise things in Shakespeare’s eyes: but so is letting all the lawyers kill us.

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Too early for any set roles. But big takeaway: “Musk and Trump speak on the phone several times per month..” As Mike Benz said in the video posted yesterday: “if it’s true, it would be the most natural pairing since peanut butter & jelly.”

Musk Denies Report Of Trump Admin Advisory Role (ZH)

Musk denied today’s report that he’s been in discussions about a possible advisory role in a future Trump administration. “There have not been any discussions of a role for me in a potential Trump Presidency,” Musk posted on X in response to user Herbert Ong, who posted a CNBC segment discussing the report. * * * In a notable shift from past acrimony, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has engaged in discussions with Elon Musk about a possible advisory role for the Tesla mogul should Trump retake the White House, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move could see Musk influencing policies on border security and the economy. Musk, known for his outspoken views and innovative leadership at Tesla and SpaceX, has increasingly voiced his concerns over national issues, aligning more with conservative viewpoints in recent months. Alongside billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, Musk has also taken a proactive stance against what they perceive as electoral vulnerabilities, briefing Trump on a data-centric project aimed at curbing voter fraud—a topic of significant controversy and debate.

“The discussion around the advisory role and voting project took place at a March gathering at Montsorrel, Peltz’s sprawling oceanfront estate in Palm Beach, Fla., with a group of wealthy and powerful friends, some of the people familiar with the discussions said. The New York Times earlier reported the meeting had occurred, but details of the discussions haven’t been previously disclosed. As guests nibbled on a Sunday morning breakfast of eggs, bacon and fresh fruit served by Peltz’s household staff, Peltz, Trump and Musk held forth on the November elections, criticizing Biden’s stewardship of the country, the people said.” -WSJ. The discussions, still in preliminary stages and without definitive roles, would mark a notable pivot in Trump’s strategy – embracing influential tech and business leaders to bolster his campaign promises of economic revitalization and stringent border controls. The meeting with Peltz suggests a concerted effort to integrate Musk’s technological prowess and worldview into the fabric of Trump’s policy initiatives.

According to the report, “the role hasn’t been fully hammered out and might not happen.” During a March interview, former CNN host (and failed X contributor) Don Lemon asked Musk about the meeting with Trump – to which Musk replied: “I was at a breakfast at a friend’s place and Donald Trump came by—that’s it,” adding “I went to a friend of mine’s house and he said, ‘Donald Trump’s coming by for breakfast, just so you know.’ I said, ‘Okay, fine.'” “Let’s just say he did most of the talking,” Musk said of Trump – adding that the former president did not ask him for donations, nor help with mounting legal bills. Musk doesn’t simply want to write a check to a super PAC – he wants to use his clout within elite business and technology circles to steer the US in a better direction.

Musk’s potential involvement in Trump’s orbit marks a stark contrast from their previous public exchanges, which included a series of sharp criticisms and disagreements over policies like the Paris climate accord. However, their relationship has evolved, with Musk not only reevaluating his political allegiance—publicly shifting his support to the Republican party in 2022—but also seeking to exert his influence through more direct and personal engagements with Trump. Now, according to the report, Musk and Trump speak on the phone several times per month. The potential collaboration also extends to Musk’s broader ambitions in the political arena, where he has expressed dissatisfaction with the current administration’s direction, particularly criticizing the so-called “woke mind virus” that he argues undermines societal cohesion and economic progress. Musk says he’s a centrist, who wants secure borders, safe & clean cities, and to stop ‘sterilization below age of consent,’ among other things.

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He wants it denied so he can appeal it?!

Judge Denies Hunter Biden’s ‘Frivolous’ Bid to Halt Delaware Gun Case (ET)

A federal judge on Wednesday denied Hunter Biden’s bid to halt the prosecution of his Delaware gun case, deeming it unconvincing and “frivolous.” U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika issued the ruling on Wednesday, rejecting Mr. Biden’s request to enjoin the investigation led by Special Counsel David Weiss. Mr. Biden contended that Mr. Weiss’s appointment violated the Appropriations Clause, arguing that he is not an “independent counsel” and was not approved by Congress. “The Court should enjoin the Special Counsel from continuing to fund his investigation and prosecution of Mr. Biden without an appropriation from Congress or promptly deny the motion so it can be appealed,” Mr. Biden’s motion, filed on May 14, stated. The judge found no merit in Mr. Biden’s claims, stating that the use of permanent appropriations to fund special counsels has been well-established and previously upheld.

“Mr. Weiss was lawfully appointed,” under relevant statutes, “to serve as special counsel to conduct investigations and prosecutions relating to this criminal matter,” Judge Noreika wrote in her decision, “and he is an ‘independent counsel’ appointed pursuant to ‘other law’ within the mining of the permanent appropriation.” Judge Noreika ruled that Mr. Biden’s motion was not presented as a “serious request” but rather as a necessary procedural step before he could appeal. Mr. Biden contended that Mr. Weiss lacked authority from Congress because he “is not an independent counsel and that is by design.” In their response motion, the prosecution highlighted that Mr. Biden’s attempts to claim Appropriations Clause violations had been struck down in two district and two circuit courts, using the same arguments. Additionally, they contended that Mr. Biden “now offers no new facts or law” to support his motion for an injunction.

Mr. Biden acknowledged that his motion relied on previously rejected arguments. He asked the judge to either enjoin Mr. Weiss “or promptly deny the motion so it can be appealed.” His motion filed on May 14 stated that if the district court found against him regarding his argument of Appropriations Clause violations, “as it did previously,” then he would “have the basis” to take it to the Third Circuit “to address this issue when considering Mr. Biden’s forthcoming petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc.” In calling his request unserious, the judge highlighted the motion’s length, at four and a half pages, and noted that half of it was dedicated to “explaining why the Third Circuit would have jurisdiction over an appeal should this Court deny the requested injunction.” “The Court has no reason to believe that Defendant’s inevitable appeal of this denial of his motion for an injunction is any more meritorious than his prior efforts,” Judge Noreika wrote.

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“Zelensky recently sacked several government and military officials that the US was “working closely” with, without much of an explanation..”

‘Paranoid’ Zelensky Lashing Out At US – FT (RT)

Vladimir Zelensky has instructed Ukrainian officials to publicly criticize US President Joe Biden for not attending the upcoming “peace summit” in Switzerland, the Financial Times has reported, citing documents from Kiev. Neither Biden nor his VP Kamala Harris is scheduled to attend the gathering in Lucerne, where Kiev hopes to win non-Western countries to its “peace formula” for resolving the conflict with Russia. According to FT, the Ukrainian leader specifically instructed MPs and officials in a May 26 memo to “pile public pressure” on Biden, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping, for not attending the summit. “It is unlikely that the world will understand President Biden and President Xi if they do not join in the realization of such undeniably just goals and [in] bringing peace closer,” said the memo, as quoted by the outlet. While China has shown understanding for Russia in the conflict, the US has been one of Ukraine’s most prominent supporters.

According to FT, however, there have been “many points of friction” between the leadership in Kiev and Washington lately, as Russian troops have continued to advance on the battlefield. Zelensky recently sacked several government and military officials that the US was “working closely” with, without much of an explanation. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent visit to Kiev, during which he lectured Zelensky on corruption and played rock music on stage at a club, also reportedly rubbed the Ukrainian leadership the wrong way. One senior Kiev official described the feeling in Zelensky’s office as “paranoia” and said the Ukrainian leader had “deep anxiety” about both the military situation and the peace summit, which is scheduled for mid-June in Lucerne.

Another Ukrainian official told FT that Zelensky has become more “emotional and nervous” over the situation at the front, convinced that the US is eager to start talks with Russia because Washington wants the conflict “to go away before the [US] election.” Polls currently show Biden losing support as he faces a rematch with former US President Donald Trump in November. Zelensky is “very irritated” with Biden, said one member of his government, noting that many Ukrainian officials are worried about Kiev “openly provoking” the White House. “What do you say in America? Do not bite the hand that feeds you,” a fourth Ukrainian government official told FT. Zelensky has infuriated Washington before. His social media rant last July, after NATO did not formally invite Ukraine to join, reportedly almost caused a backlash from the White House. In the end, however, the US and its allies continued to fund Kiev’s war effort.

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“You must choose between Zionism and cynicism, between unity and division, between responsibility and neglect – and between victory and disaster.”

Israel’s Gantz Moves To Dissolve Knesset, Hold New Elections (ZH)

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz is mounting a new challenge against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the coalition government, on Thursday announcing his centrist party is proposing holding a parliamentary vote on dissolving the Knesset. “The head of the National Union Party, Pnina Tamano-Shata, has put forward a bill to dissolve the 25th Knesset. This follows the request of party leader Minister Benny Gantz to move forward in broad agreement to an election before October, a year since the massacre,” the fresh statement from Gantz’s party said. Gantz had already previously verbalized a plan to hold new elections by October, and two weeks ago he demanded in a provocative ultimatum that Netanyahu has until June 8 to present a clear strategic plan for the Gaza war. Below is the outline that Gantz previously articulated while lambasting the lack of a clear plan from Netanyahu:

”Bring our hostages home, topple the Hamas regime, strip the Gaza Strip, and ensure Israeli security control. Alongside maintaining Israeli security control, establish an American-European-Arab-Palestinian administration to civilly manage the Strip and lay the foundation for a future alternative to Hamas and Abbas, return the residents of the north to their homes by September 1, and rehabilitate the Western Negev, promote normalization with Saudi Arabia as part of an overall move that will create an alliance with the free world and the Arab world against Iran and adopt a service plan that will lead to all Israelis serving the state and contributing to the supreme national effort.” Gantz had continued in that prior statement: “The people of Israel are watching you. You must choose between Zionism and cynicism, between unity and division, between responsibility and neglect – and between victory and disaster.”

Huge anti-Netanyahu protests have continued in Tel Aviv and in front of government buildings and even Netanyahu’s residence, and have been led by hostage victims’ families. They are outraged there’s been lack of clarity or prioritization of getting the rest of the hostages home, also as truce negotiations with Hamas have all but collapsed. It is anything but clear if Gantz has the votes to dissolve Knesset, but Netanyahu’s Likud party quickly shot back on Thursday with a terse statement: “The dissolution of the unity government is a reward for [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, a capitulation to international pressure and a fatal blow to efforts to free our hostages.” But Gantz Tamano-Shata party reasoned that “The 7th of October is a disaster that requires us to go back in order to receive the public’s trust, to establish a broad and stable unity government that can lead us safely in the face of the enormous challenges in security, the economy and, above all, in Israeli society. Submitting the bill now will allow us to bring it up in the current session.”

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“..we have agreed with our Chinese partners to increase cooperation to counteract Washington’s irresponsible behavior, which undermines international stability..”

Sergey Lavrov Full Interview (Sp.)

Russian strategic objects, including nuclear ones, may come under threat from American short-range missiles if the US deploys ground-based intermediate and shorter-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. What additional nuclear deterrence measures might Moscow take in this case? Would a reciprocal response from the Russian side be sufficient?
Sergey Lavrov: You are undoubtedly correct that the deployment of American ground-based intermediate and shorter-range missiles (INF) in the mentioned regions would pose a serious security challenge for us. This issue is not only significant for us. In a joint statement following the recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to China, it was noted that such destabilizing actions by the US represent a direct threat to both our country and China. Therefore, we have agreed with our Chinese partners to increase cooperation to counteract Washington’s irresponsible behavior, which undermines international stability. The implementation of US plans to deploy ground-based INF missiles will not go unanswered by us. Specifically, in this scenario, the abandonment of unilateral self-imposed restrictions introduced by Russia after a US withdrawal from the INF Treaty is inevitable. Additional steps in the field of nuclear deterrence are also not ruled out, as forward-deployed American missiles could target our command posts and locations of our nuclear forces. Decisions on these matters are within the competence of the president of the Russian Federation.

Is Russia considering increasing joint military exercises with China in response to US actions in the Asia-Pacific Region?
Sergey Lavrov: The foundation of our military cooperation with China is a high level of mutual trust. Russian-Chinese collaboration aims to strengthen international security and is conducted in accordance with international law. Our joint efforts are not directed against third countries. However, both Russia and our Chinese friends must consider the negative military-political trends in the Asia-Pacific region and take measures to mitigate their effects. We agree on the importance of enhancing defense cooperation not only bilaterally but also within multilateral formats. This understanding was recorded in the joint statement signed following the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to China. Specifically, this involves expanding the scale of joint exercises and combat training, conducting naval and aerial patrols, and developing joint response capabilities.

With the end of Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidential term, does Russia see any forces in Ukraine with whom it is ready to engage in dialogue for peace? Is there any understanding of when the special military operation might be concluded?
Sergey Lavrov: In Kiev, the “party of war” is in power, striving, at least rhetorically, to defeat Russia “on the battlefield.” Under these conditions, a dialogue for peace is hard to imagine. Furthermore, since September 30, 2022, a legal ban on negotiations with Russia’s leadership has been in place in Ukraine. Regarding Volodymyr Zelensky’s legal status after May 20, when his presidential term ended, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke clearly on this matter at a press conference in Minsk on May 24. Let’s hope that sooner or later, political forces will emerge in Ukraine that care about the interests of the people. For now, there is no other option but to continue the special military operation until its goals are achieved.

Is there a possibility to speed up the process of political settlement of the situation around Ukraine?
Sergey Lavrov: Theoretically, yes. For this to happen, the West must stop supplying Ukraine with weapons, and Kiev must cease hostilities. The sooner this occurs, the quicker a political resolution will begin. We have repeatedly stated, including at the highest level, that Russia remains open to negotiations. However, it is crucial to understand that we seek peace, not just a ceasefire. There is no point in granting the opponent a pause, which they will use once again for regrouping and rearming. Negotiations must be based on the principle of indivisible security and the realities on the ground.

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Ryan Cole
https://twitter.com/i/status/1795817867167826293

 

 

Gabriel Shipton

 

 

Elephants and Oranges
https://twitter.com/i/status/1795938706278293725

 

 

Tom and Jerry

 

 

Late for work

 

 

 

 

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