Vincent van Gogh Portrait of Doctor Félix Rey, Arles. Rey disliked his portrait and gave it away 1889
Trump ad
https://twitter.com/i/status/1818422195464405089
Kamala staff
https://twitter.com/i/status/1818453555478433883
Vivek Kamala
Vivek on Kamala's Heritage:
"Many Indian-Americans in the US are indeed somewhat offended by the way Kamala has suddenly cast aside the Indian-American side of identity… She wore that when it was convenient. She's wearing a different identity now." pic.twitter.com/Si7Pzk7zRJ
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 31, 2024
ABC
ABC's Rachel Scott opened her interview with President Trump by accusing him of being a racist for criticizing black politicians & journalists. Trump responded masterfully, pointing out that he showed up for the interview while Kamala Harris did not. pic.twitter.com/ZIrl5UCfAQ
— @amuse (@amuse) July 31, 2024
McConnell
BREAKING – UNCONSTITUTIONAL! 82-year-old Senator @LeaderMcConnell blasts 81-year-old Joe Biden over Supreme Court proposals, says, "This is a man who was chairman of the Judiciary Committee for a long time. He absolutely knows what he recommended is unconstitutional." WATCH pic.twitter.com/q5zzTWzzBJ
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) July 30, 2024
Boom
OOPS, how did this get leaked out? pic.twitter.com/v9hBemfG9l
— Mark Lewis (@Maga4liberty) July 30, 2024
Maldonado
WATCH: The former Lieutenant Governor of California Abel Maldonado just conducted a vicious takedown of Kamala Harris for destroying California
"Crime is everywhere in California. My wife was robbed two years ago… Proposition 47 was written by…Kamala Harris, our Attorney… pic.twitter.com/zHbtcuwJgE
— George (@BehizyTweets) July 31, 2024
O’Leary
NEW: Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary questions Kamala’s lack of achievements, compares her to Justin Trudeau:
"They just thought he was the ‘it' guy. Look at the country now, it's wiped out."
Sharp observation. O’Leary methodically lays out Kamala’s empty record and why it’s going… pic.twitter.com/5QBHUZ2epO
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) July 31, 2024
Rogan Biden
https://twitter.com/i/status/1818383962659750383
“..Soros funding her campaign? Well, all his entities are non-profit, so there’s no shame in taking money from Soros..”
• Kamala Harris: The Soros candidate? (Suchkov)
The old joke that a ‘color revolution’ is impossible in the United States because there is no American embassy there no longer seems quite as funny. Especially from anyone who has followed American affairs closely in recent weeks. We’ve had the sudden withdrawal of the incumbent president from the electoral race, hastily organized support for a replacement – who only a few weeks ago was considered an unlikely heir – and the murky story of an assassination attempt on the opposition candidate. Furthermore, as the icing on the cake, the name Soros, a constant presence in all ‘color revolutions,’ has been gaining column inches again. George Soros has long been a household name. But he is now 93 years old and, unlike Biden, he has arranged for the transition of his family business in good time, handing over the major assets to his 38-year-old son Alexander.
The younger man has certainly not been idle. But if his activities abroad are not particularly noteworthy (he continues his father’s work of ‘spreading democracy’ of the Soros kind), Alexander’s vigorous activity inside America has become the object of increased attention against the background of the current election campaign. To show how deeply immersed he is, it suffices to say that the Soros’s, together with the Clintons, were the first to support the replacement of Biden with Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s candidate. Soros Jr. is a frequent presence at the White House – between January 2021 and May 2023 the visitors’ log recorded 20 of his visits. The twenty-first appearance took place on the 31 May. He arrived at the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris in the company of seven major donors to the Democratic Party and a young model named Savannah Huitema. They stayed at Harris’ home from 4pm until midnight.
The details of the conversation have not been revealed. All we know is that they discussed the presidential election. But eight hours in the company of the second most powerful person in the country in the middle of the working week is a lot of time, even for a valued donor. But old friends always have something to talk about. The Soros’s have long been close friends with Harris – George supported Kamala when she was a prosecutor in California. Over the years, from Latin America and the former Soviet Union to the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the Hungarian billionaire has meddled in domestic politics and sponsored changes of government. The US is no exception. But the Americans use a different system, which means that change is better instigated at the county and state level. That’s why Soros’ organisations have invested in local politicians and legislators who are overwhelmingly ‘progressive,’ i.e. on the left of the ideological spectrum.
One of the first to call attention to this practice was the ubiquitous Elon Musk. Discussing Soros’ election funding policy, Musk remarked: “The lowest value for money is a presidential race, then the next lowest value for money is a Senate race, then a Congress. But once you get to sort of city and state district attorneys, the value [is] extremely good.” He pointed to the Hungarian’s tactical insight: “Soros realized that you don’t actually need to change the laws. You just need to change how they’re enforced.” Early in her career, Harris was one of those who Soros thought could apply the law in the right way. It’s not known exactly which of her legal initiatives Soros funded, nor when he began to do so. What is known, however, is that Kamala attended Soros’ flagship conference, Vision 2020, and Soros Sr does not invite unverified people to speak publicly at such an event. In 2020, however, even Soros’ patronage did not help Harris win the Democratic Party’s nomination.
She was left off the presidential shortlist in part because most of her law enforcement initiatives turned out to be highly controversial. In particular, many voters were alarmed by her support for bias training for police officers, initiatives to cut police funding and the Safe Neighborhoods & Schools Act, which would have reduced sentences for a number of previously serious crimes (forgery, counterfeiting) and thefts under $950. The latter caused particular irritation among small shopkeepers, who realized that the thieves they had to deal with would no longer be afraid of the consequences. Many black people were also unhappy. Despite her Jamaican roots, Harris has defended the conviction of African-Americans when there was evidence of their innocence and proof of police misconduct. Perhaps for this reason, one of the most prominent liberal human rights groups, Black Lives Matter, is wary of Harris and has not yet endorsed her nomination.
Kamala’s political biography is full of examples of inconsistent behavior. For example, as district attorney of San Francisco, she opposed the death penalty, but after becoming California’s attorney general, Harris fought to end the moratorium on capital punishment. As a result, Kamala has developed a reputation as someone who possesses two important skills for a modern politician: behind the scenes, she is flexible enough to do what her sponsors want, and in public, she is persuasive enough to justify that decision, even if it means flip-flopping. Indeed, what was a liability for the Democrats in 2020 is being presented as an asset four years later. Now, Harris is a seasoned prosecutor, Trump is a criminal, and the campaign is a public trial. This is the model now being promoted by Democratic political technologists. And the shift from Vice President Kamala to Prosecutor Kamala is a clever move to gloss over Harris’s failures as Biden’s deputy and focus voters’ attention on her merits as a guardian of the law.
“She has prosecuted six ‘sexual predators’. He [Trump] is one. She shut down for-profit colleges that were defrauding Americans. He supported them. He is a puppet of the big banks. As attorney general, she fought America’s biggest banks and forced them to pay homeowners $18 billion,” a campaign video claims. As they say, it’s all about the narrative. Harris’ love affair with the former mayor of San Francisco that launched her career? That’s a young girl thing! Soros funding her campaign? Well, all his entities are non-profit, so there’s no shame in taking money from Soros, unlike another billionaire Peter Thiel, who backs Trump and J.D. Vance!
In July, Alexander Soros announced his engagement to Huma Abedin, 47, a long-time aide to Hillary Clinton, whom she calls her “second daughter”. A practising Muslim with extensive government experience and influential friends in Washington, Abedin has become the ‘bridge’ in the relationship between the Clintons and the Soros’s. “Soros is doing things that erode the fabric of civilization,” warns Elon Musk. Whether Harris is part of this sinister plan or this is just another conspiracy theory by right-wing conservatives, Americans will have to find out, perhaps very soon.
“Honeymoons are notoriously short. It’s what the word means..”
• Harris Campaign Honeymoon Will Last to Chicago Convention But No Further (Sp.)
The current wave of support and mainstream media coverage will carry Vice President Kamala Harris through to the Democratic Party national convention in Chicago next month but it is unlikely to last beyond that, US analysts told Sputnik. President Joe Biden chose Harris as his successor right after announcing that he was withdrawing from the Democratic party nomination for a second four-year term in the White House. Since then, mainstream Democratic leaders, including former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have rallied to Harris’ support. Nevertheless, Harris’ current wave of popularity, which has given her a small thought from the overwhelming boost in national opinion polls, will not last beyond the convention in Chicago, financial columnist and former merchant banker Martin Hutchinson said. “This honeymoon can carry her to the convention – not beyond,” Hutchinson said. “Her honeymoon will last till after the Democratic convention.”
Hutchinson pointed out that while Harris has national experience as vice president, her real policies and priorities had yet to be exposed to public scrutiny and success in the race would also depend on whom she chose as her vice-presidential running mate. “Thing to watch is whether she picks a sensible vice president. [Pennsylvania Governor Josh] Shapiro, [Kansas Governor Laura] Kelly, or [North Carolina Governor Roy] Cooper are her best choices, but the Financial Times wants her to pick [Secretary of Transportation Pete] Buttigieg, which would reinforce everyone’s negative view of her,” Hutchinson said. While Harris’ skill as a direct debater might make her a formidable opponent for Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump, her appeal would likely diminish during the prime campaigning season of September and October, Hutchinson said. “I think Trump’s chances remain good though not overwhelming, as air in Harris will slowly deflate in September/October,” Hutchinson added.
California State University Emeritus Professor of Political Affairs Beau Grosscup agreed that Harris was currently benefiting from a wave of adulation that would not last. “Honeymoons are notoriously short. It’s what the word means,” Grosscup said. Nevertheless, Harris brought significant strengths to the Democratic ticket that the aging and obviously infirm Biden had clearly lacked, Grosscup said. “Her prospects against Trump are good. She has solved the age/dementia issue – pointing now to Trump. She should re-rally women/independents on the Dobbs decision [regarding abortion] as Biden left that issue to her,” Grosscup said. The US political landscape unpredictability notwithstanding, Harris’s past record made the flubs and embarrassments inevitable throughout her presidential campaign, Political analyst Charles Ortel said. “Harris is a remarkably undistinguished ‘public servant’ whose track record and policy inclinations are both rash and juvenile,” Ortel said.
Harris’s many allies in the established media would do their best to promote her through the Democratic convention, Ortel added. US constitutional historian and political commentator Dan Lazare recommended election watchers not be misled by the relatively restrained and polite tone of the Harris and Trump campaigns so far. “With something like a hundred days to the election, the process is just getting underway,” Lazare said. “The Harris campaign is indeed in the honeymoon stage, and how much longer it lasts – a few days, a few weeks – is impossible to say. But we can be sure that it will end by some point, and that’s when the real mud wrestling will begin.” Both candidates had yet to reveal their strategies and opening moves but none of the general adulatory coverage of Harris so far had dared to point out the very real drawbacks she suffered from in her professional record, he said.
“Kamala has got a lot of baggage – her law-and-order prosecutor years that are a guaranteed turn-off for liberals, her political shallowness, her demeanor, and that god-awful laugh,” Lazare said. Lazare noted that a major issue for Harris and for most Americans is the US economy. “This a real problem for Harris since if she runs on Bidenomics, she will incur the wrath of all who have been hurt by inflation, that is the entire working-class population, while if she runs away from Bidenomics, she’ll come off as a disloyal opportunist. She’s damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t,” Lazare added.
Next time they won’t miss.
• New Secret Service Director Announces Changes in Wake of Trump Shooting (ET)
The Secret Service is making changes in the wake of the failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, the agency’s new acting director announced on July 30. Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. said he had traveled to the site of the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the former president was shot, allegedly by a man who fired from the roof of a nearby building.Mr. Rowe said what he saw while lying in a prone position on the roof of that building made him feel “ashamed.” “As a career law enforcement officer, and a 25-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured,” he told two U.S. Senate committees on Capitol Hill. “To prevent similar lapses from occurring in the future, I directed our personnel to ensure every event site security plan is thoroughly vetted by multiple experienced supervisors before it is implemented.”
Mr. Rowe said he believed that agents had plenty of time to plan for the rally and called what happened a “failure on multiple levels.” In addition to former President Trump, whose ear was clipped by one of the bullets fired at him, three others were also struck. Former fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed while trying to protect his wife and daughter, and the other two shooting victims were hospitalized but have since been discharged.
Mr. Rowe assumed the acting director position after Kimberly Cheatle, the presidential appointee who was serving as director, stepped down on July 23 amid calls for her to resign. Ms. Cheatle, in remarks before Congress before she resigned, said the assassination attempt represented the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure in decades.” Echoing that acknowledgment on July 30, Mr. Rowe said he had launched an internal investigation and would hold Secret Service employees accountable if they were found to have violated agency protocols. “They will be held to our table of penalties, which will include up to termination,” he said. As of yet, however, no Secret Service employees have been relieved of duty, which Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) questioned.
“Isn’t the fact that a former president was shot, that a good American is dead, that other Americans were critically wounded—isn’t that enough mission failure for you to say that the person who decided that that building should not be in the security perimeter probably ought to be stepped down?” Mr. Hawley asked during one particularly heated exchange. Mr. Rowe replied that he would prefer to allow the investigation to play out before taking that kind of action. “I will not rush to judgment,” the acting director said, vowing to hold employees accountable “with integrity.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) agreed with Mr. Hawley that accountability would likely require more than just an investigation. “I think we need individual accountability here and people need to be held responsible—in fact, lose their jobs, if necessary—to send a message,” Mr. Graham said.
Sen. John Kennedy
https://twitter.com/i/status/1818807082906481109
They couldn’t find any internet presence. Now an account with 700 comments. Get serious.
• FBI: Trump Shooter May Have Posted Far-Right Comments on Social Media (ZH)
A top FBI official made a point of testifying that President Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks may have espoused far-right extremist viewpoints on an unnamed social media account five years ago, but forgot to mention that Crooks may have shared pro-Biden viewpoints on Gab more recently. Both accounts have not yet been fully verified as belonging to Crooks. FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate told senators on Capitol Hill Tuesday that a social media account believed to be Crooks’ appears to have shared antisemitic, anti-immigrant, and “extreme in nature” posts in 2019 and 2020. Crooks would have been 14 to 15-years-old in that time frame. “There were over 700 comments posted from this account,” Abbate testified before a joint Senate Judiciary Committee and Homeland Security Committee hearing entitled “Examination of the Security Failures Leading to the Assassination Attempt on Former President Trump.”
“Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes to espouse political violence and are described as extreme in nature,” Abbate added. The deputy director said while the FBI was still verifying that the account belonged to Crooks, the Bureau felt it was important to detail the social account’s nature because of the “general absence of other information” establishing Crooks’ “motive and mindset.” GAB CEO Andrew Torba, however, shared plenty of information on X last week about a GAB account the FBI appeared to believe was Crook’s, saying the content of the posts “UNEQUIVOCALLY” reflected a “pro-Biden and in particular pro-Biden immigration policy.” The Gab founder said on July 24, he received an Emergency Disclosure Request (EDR) from the FBI for the Gab account “EpicMicrowave,” and said based on the request, the FBI appeared to believe the account was associated with Crooks.
Torba said “as a courtesy to enforcement,” he would not post the contents of the entire request on social media, but did post the first page on X. Torba said he was unable to confirm that the account in question, which posted a total of nine times on the site, actually belonged to Crooks. The account appeared to only be active for a short period of time in January and February of 2021. “As far as we are aware, the account did not use the site to send any direct messages,” Torba wrote on X. The majority of EpicMicrowave’s posts supported Joe Biden’s policies, particularly, his COVID lockdowns, border policies and executive orders. “To the best of Gab’s knowledge, as of 2021, Crooks was a pro-lockdown, pro-immigration, left-wing Joe Biden supporter,” Torba said.
Killing a guest on your territory. Unacceptable.
• Iran Accuses US Of Complicity In Hamas Chief’s Assassination (RT)
The US bears partial responsibility for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. The Palestinian movement’s chief was assassinated in a missile strike on his residence Tehran earlier in the day. The ministry accused Israel of carrying out the strike, calling it part of the Jewish State’s hunt for Palestinian leaders, and a “terrorist act” targeting Iran’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Haniyeh was in Iran for the inauguration of the country’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. The ministry statement said Tehran reserves the right to “respond appropriately to this aggressive action.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes the responsibility of the US government as a supporter and accomplice” of Israel, including in “committing this heinous act of terrorism,” the statement read. According to Tehran, Israel seeks to destabilize the Middle East, and Wednesday’s attack poses a “serious threat” to regional and international peace and stability. Washington has denied any role in the incident. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Singapore-based news network CNA that the US was “not aware of or involved in” the assassination. Israel has not commented on the strike, but national media have claimed, citing unnamed Iranian officials, that the missile that struck Haniyeh’s residence may have been fired from within Iran’s borders. Israel has previously vowed to eliminate the leaders of Hamas.
The development comes as the conflict between Israel and the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group approaches nine months. Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has repeatedly pledged to destroy Hamas in response to its deadly October 7 raid that claimed the lives of some 1,100 people. More than 200 were taken hostage and held in Gaza. Israel responded to the attack by launching a major military campaign in Gaza that involved heavy bombardments following by a ground operation. Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since the start of the fighting, according to local authorities.
Voting for Trump won’t change that.
• Israel’s Existence In Danger – Trump (RT)
Donald Trump has urged American Jews to vote for him in the November election, warning that if they fail to do so, Israel could be destroyed by its enemies. The former US president and Republican nominee for the 2024 election was speaking at a fundraiser on Sunday in a New Jersey municipality with a sizable Jewish population. He claimed that the Democrats hate Israel and “largely hate” the Jewish people. “We have to win this election. We need the Jewish people to vote for Trump. If you don’t have Jewish people voting for Republicans… you’re not going to have Israel for very long,” stated Trump. The presidential hopeful also pledged to help Israel win its war against Hamas if elected. Trump reiterated his claim that the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza, would not have happened had he still been in office.
According to surveys by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based think tank, a majority of US Jews have consistently voted for the Democratic Party. However, state-funded Voice of America noted in May that an increasing number have backed the Republicans in recent elections. The Pittsburg Jewish Chronicle cited a survey of New York voters in February showing that 53% of Jewish voters intended to vote for Donald Trump in November. The relationship between the Biden administration and the Israeli government has soured in recent months amid the Jewish state’s offensive in Gaza. US President Joe Biden has warned the Israeli leadership against an all-out assault in the densely populated city of Rafah and said it would be a ‘red line.’ “If they [Israel] go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons,” he stated.
In late April, the Biden administration paused a shipment of munitions that officials expected Israel to use in Rafah. In April, Trump took a dig at Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. “Biden has totally lost control of the Israel situation… Any Jewish person who votes for a Democrat or votes for Biden should have their head examined,” he said. The Jewish State launched its offensive in the Gazan city in early May amid widespread international condemnation. Israel has been the largest recipient of US economic and military aid since its founding in 1948, having received about $310 billion (adjusted for inflation) in total economic and military assistance, according to American foreign policy think tank the Council on Foreign Relations. In April, Biden signed into law a $95 billion foreign funding bill that included military aid to Israel.
We fear.
• Full-Scale Mideast War Only Way to Shaky Peace – Medvedev (Sp.)
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev suggested that a full-scale war in the Middle East is the only way to a shaky peace in the region. “The knot in the Middle East is tightening. I regret the loss of innocent lives. They are just hostages of a disgusting state – the United States. Meanwhile, it is clear to everyone that a full-scale war is the only way to a shaky peace in the region,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram. On Wednesday, Palestinian movement Hamas reported the death of its political leader Ismail Haniyeh as a result of an Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran, where he had arrived to participate in the inauguration of Iran’s new president.
The movement blamed Haniyeh’s death on Israel and the United States and said the attack would not be left without a response. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said he had nothing to comment on the death of the Hamas political chief and Israel’s involvement. Israeli army officials said they do not respond to media reports about Haniyeh’s murder. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli authorities had instructed ministers not to speak out about Haniyeh’s death. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov called Haniyeh’s death an absolutely unacceptable political assassination that threatens further escalation in the region.
“There is no doubt that Ismail Haniyeh’s killing will have an extremely negative impact on the indirect contacts between Hamas and Israel, which offered a framework for achieving a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on mutually acceptable terms,” the Foreign Ministry Information and Press Department’s Deputy Director Andrey Nastasyin “Russia reiterates its insistent calls on all the parties involved to exercise restraint and avoid any steps that could dramatically worsen the security situation in the region, leading to a large-scale military confrontation,” he added.
Why? It didn’t work?
• NATO Working On New Russia Strategy – Washington (RT)
NATO is developing a new strategy to deal with Russia, US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien announced on Tuesday during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. O’Brien told the meeting that the US “wants Ukraine to win” and is providing all the materials necessary. He also claimed the “platform” of support for Kiev has strengthened, because the EU has already begun membership negotiations with Ukraine, which O’Brien said will encourage reform within the country. He recalled that the G7 members have agreed to give Kiev the earnings from Russia’s frozen sovereign assets, delivering an anticipated $50 billion this year to spend on defense. The third aspect, O’Brien claimed, is that NATO has said that it would welcome Ukraine into its ranks once Kiev takes the necessary steps towards membership.
Making sure Kiev can “win the war” is “the fastest way to peace” O’Brien suggested, adding that Ukraine has already been seen “making some progress on the battlefield.” “We have, at the same time, strengthened our platform, in particular NATO,” the US official said, adding that the Washington-led bloc is “going to be developing a new strategy toward Russia over the next months” that will aim to “hold our allies together” in future dealings with Moscow. O’Brien also noted that “all the NATO allies agreeing that [China] is the decisive enabler of Russia’s war” would be a “significant step towards improving the platform that we have.”
Russia has repeatedly criticized the West for its ongoing military support for Kiev, arguing that “flooding” Ukraine with weapons only serves to prolong the conflict and leads to more bloodshed without affecting the inevitable outcome of the conflict. Additionally, Moscow has on multiple occasions cited NATO’s continued expansion towards its borders and attempts to bring Ukraine into its ranks as one of the primary reasons for launching its military operation against Kiev in 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed that Ukraine must become a neutral country and drop its plans to join the US-led military bloc in order for any potential peace negotiations to succeed.
Maduro’s a boxer.
• Musk Accepts Venezuelan President’s Offer To Fight (RT)
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has responded to Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro’s challenge to a fight over fraud accusations from Musk, saying he was ready to accept it. The South American nation’s leader, who just won his third term in presidential elections, accused Musk on Monday of trying to disrupt peace and stability in the country, calling the businessman his “new archenemy.” Maduro was responding to Musk’s claims of “major election fraud” by challenging the billionaire to a fight, during an address he made on national television. On Wednesday, when entrepreneur Mario Nawfal asked in a post on X (formerly Twitter): “Who had a Maduro vs Elon Fight on their 2024 Bingo Card?” Musk replied simply writing “I accept.”
In a second reply, the X owner claimed that Maduro “will chicken out.” Nawfal further released a new post, stating that “Elon’s accepted Maduro’s challenge to fight… WHO WOULD WIN?” Musk responded once again, writing: “If I win, he resigns as dictator of Venezuela. If he wins, I give him a free ride to Mars.” The SpaceX chief executive has a history of provoking public figures into fighting. The tech billionaire has long claimed he could win in a fight against the founder of Facebook, fellow tycoon Mark Zuckerberg.
The spat between Musk and Venezuelan leader followed the businessman’s posts on the results of the South American country’s presidential elections. The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela on Sunday declared Maduro the winner of the election, announcing that with 80% of ballots counted, he had secured more than 51% of the vote, compared to 44% for his main rival, Edmundo Gonzales. Maduro will be serving a third consecutive six-year term, having first taken office in 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chavez. In his victory speech, he mocked the opposition, which, he said, “cries fraud” at every election. The Venezuelan president said his reelection would bring peace and stability.
Roger Waters
https://twitter.com/i/status/1818287624626536640
“Russian Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Andrey Nastasyin [..] urged foreign countries to stop using “baseless accusations” to attempt to influence the political situation in Venezuela.”
• Maduro Asks Supreme Tribunal to Probe Alleged Election Meddling (Sp.)
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro filed a constitutional protection claim on Wednesday with the country’s Supreme Justice Tribunal to investigate an alleged election interference he described as an attempted coup. The presidential election of July 28 saw Maduro win a third term in office. The announcement of the results sparked protests in the capital of Caracas and beyond, with clashes reported between the police and opposition supporters. The Venezuelan government has accused several countries of election meddling. “For the sake of peace in Venezuela, I … filed a claim for constitutional protection … to have the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Justice Tribunal investigate this attack on the electoral process, this attempt at a coup made using the electoral process,” Maduro told reporters.
The president added that he decided to appeal to the court after having faced “psychological warfare in social and mass media.” “Let them interrogate all registered presidential candidates and 38 parties, and find out in detail the nature of those attacks on polling stations, arson and damage to the branches of the electoral council, and cyber attacks,” Maduro said. “I am ready to be summoned and questioned as a presidential candidate and the winner of Sunday’s presidential vote. I throw myself before justice and will obey it.” Russian Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Andrey Nastasyin said on Wednesday that Maduro’s victory had been confirmed and urged foreign countries to stop using “baseless accusations” to attempt to influence the political situation in Venezuela.
JUST IN: Elon Musk accepts Venezuelan Dictator Nicolás Maduro's challenge to a fight.
Just when you thought 2024 couldn't get any crazier.
Maduro: "Elon Musk. Whoever messes with me, dries up. Whoever messes with Venezuela dries up, Elon Musk.
You want to fight? Let's have… pic.twitter.com/rqvCphOsuJ
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 31, 2024
“The new law doesn’t lift the existing ban on crypto payments inside the country.”
• Russia Legalizes Bitcoin And Crypto For International Trade (BCM)
In a significant legislative move, Russian lawmakers have passed a bill permitting businesses to use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in international trade, according to a report by Reuters. This development is part of Russia’s strategy to circumvent Western sanctions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine. The new law, expected to take effect in September, aims to address delays in international payments, particularly with key trading partners like China, India, and the UAE. Central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, a proponent of the law, announced that the first cryptocurrency transactions will occur before the year’s end. The central bank will establish an “experimental” infrastructure for these payments, with further details pending. “The risks of secondary sanctions have grown,” Nabiullina stated. “They make payments for imports difficult, and that concerns a wide range of goods.”
The legislation also includes regulations on cryptocurrency mining and the circulation of other digital assets but maintains the ban on cryptocurrency payments within Russia. The central bank highlighted that payment delays have caused an 8% drop in Russian imports in the second quarter of 2024. Despite efforts to shift to trading partners’ currencies and develop an alternative BRICS payment system, many transactions still rely on dollars and euros via the SWIFT system, risking secondary sanctions. Nabiullina emphasized that these sanctions have complicated import payments, extending supply chains and increasing costs. This decision by Russian lawmakers aims to mitigate the economic challenges posed by sanctions and ensure smoother international trade operations. Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the Duma lower house of parliament, reportedly told lawmakers, “We are taking a historic decision in the financial sphere” by passing this legislation.
“..in the name of maintaining economic and military security for the US, we have made ourselves vulnerable..”
• US Policy Threatening Dollar – Senator (RT)
The White House has created the first real threat to the dollar and its status as the global reserve currency, US Republican Senator Mike Lee has said, in an interview with journalist and political commenter Tucker Carlson. In a two-hour interview published by the former Fox News anchor on his YouTube channel on Tuesday, Lee said that US policies of unilateral sanctions are delegitimizing the so-called rules-based international order that Washington claims to protect. According to the senator, the US authorities have succeeded in uniting Russia, China and Iran, which are significant global economic players, and have to deal with a powerful incentive to get rid of dollars, primarily in energy transactions.
“And, in the meantime, we have really presented the first major threat that you and I have seen in our lifetimes to the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency,” Lee said, stressing that “twenty years ago all oil transactions, no matter where you are in the world,” were conducted in dollars. “It’s starting to not be the case anymore,” he said, warning that this was “very chilling,” because strength of the greenback and its widespread use was what the entire US benefited from to a very significant extent.
The global trend toward countries using their respective national currencies in trade instead of the US dollar gained significant momentum after Russia, one of the world’s top oil producers and exporters, was cut off from the Western financial system and had its foreign reserves frozen in 2022. “So, in the name of protecting the rules based on international order, we’ve weakened it, in the name of maintaining economic and military security for the US, we have made ourselves vulnerable,” Lee concluded. The freezing of Russian sovereign assets in February 2022 was an unprecedented move. A number of experts in the West, including US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, have cautioned against attempting to confiscate these funds, highlighting that this could undermine the dollar, the euro, and the entire global financial system.
Sen. Mike Lee
Everyone in Washington knew Joe Biden was senile. At times he couldn’t operate a cell phone. Sen. Mike Lee was there.
(0:00) Obama Kicking Biden Out
(8:13) Biden’s Impairment
(20:33) Biden’s Scripted Phone Calls
(23:17) The Federal Government Is Too Powerful
(36:02) The… pic.twitter.com/MxObwUhfOy— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 30, 2024
“..As other countries cease using the US dollar as their reserves, the large supply of dollars in the world–I recently read that the US national debt is now $35 trillion–is likely to be a supply that exceeds demand..”
• The Economic Situation of the West (Paul Craig Roberts)
Once upon a time America had a capitalist economy. Bank deposits were used for loans that expanded productive ability. America produced its own goods and grew its own food. America’s currency was backed by gold and inflation was nonexistent. New technology brought into play by new investment improved the productivity of labor, and living standards rose. Profits were plowed back into improved methods and expanded production. Governments subsidized social infrastructure and education. This lowered the cost of transportation and, thereby, the cost of production and prices, and it provided industry and manufacturing with an educated work force. As an instate resident, my annual tuition at Georgia Tech came to about $450. This highly successful way of running an economy was replaced by an entirely different economy, the one we have today. Who is responsible and how it came about is a story that can be told later but not in this column.
In the current economy bank loans are not made to finance new investment in new plant and equipment. They are made in order to finance the purchase of existing assets. Loans are made to purchase existing companies, load them up with debt, and sell off their assets. Loans are made to finance a buyback of a company’s own stock, thus raising the stock price and resulting in executive and board “performance” bonuses. Loans are made to finance real estate purchases and thereby drive up the values of real estate, thus raising the cost of housing. The new economy is financialized. It lives off of interest on debt and fees, the plunder of public assets via privatization, and exploitation of third world economies via dollar-based bank loans that can only be repaid by the indebted country selling its public assets to its American creditors, usually at rock bottom prices. The new American economy rests on the indebtedness, not the prosperity, of the American population and on the financial coercion of dollar-indebted foreign governments who pay their debts with their country’s assets.
The Federal Reserve destroyed family farms and monopolized food production in agri-business, monopolized the financial system in the hands of the five largest banks, and destroyed the value of the US dollar. This is not a portrait of a successful economy with a future.The Western World, especially the US, has offshored its industrial and manufacturing economy to Asia and Mexico. Offshoring has deprived the American workforce of the incomes associated with the production of the goods that Americans consume. When the goods and services come into the US to be marketed, they come in as imports, thus enlarging the US trade deficit. The reason this exploitative system has been able to continue is that Washington used World War II to make the US dollar the means of international payment, that is, the reserve currency of the central banks of the world. Dollar-denominated debt instruments became the reserves of the world’s central banks.
To be the reserve currency means that the country’s debt is the reserves of all other countries’ central banks. Therefore, an increase in US government debt was not a problem, because it meant an increase in reserves of the world’s central banks. This is why financing the US debt was never a problem. In the 21st century the US government itself has been busy at work destroying this privileged way of financing its ever-growing debt by weaponizing the use of the dollar as reserve currency. The sanctions imposed on Russia and other countries have created a general move away from the use of US Treasury debt as central bank reserves. Washington’s seizure of Russia’s central bank reserves held in dollars told the world that the same could happen to them. Consequently, the use of the US dollar in international payments has fallen from about 90% to a bit less than 50%. With the formation and expansion of BRICS it will fall further.
As other countries cease using the US dollar as their reserves, the large supply of dollars in the world–I recently read that the US national debt is now $35 trillion–is likely to be a supply that exceeds demand. The implication is a fall in the exchange value of the dollar, already confirmed by the rise in gold and silver prices. In the short run, Washington can prevail on the Japanese, UK, and EU central banks to support the dollar by using their currencies to buy dollars. But this rescue operation of the dollar cannot be forever extended. When the time comes that Western central banks are no longer willing to risk the values of their own currencies in support to the US dollar and the gold and silver prices cannot longer be suppressed by the practice of selling naked shorts, America will become a third world country.
This is not a subject that interests many economists. The American economic profession is, in my opinion, a collection of people who, in exchange for grants and consultantships, have embraced the lie that offshoring of “dirty fingernail jobs” will result in higher paid new economy jobs for the work force. After all these years there is still no sign of these promised higher-paying replacement jobs. The same economists have told us that globalism, which makes us dependent on imports, is the wave of the future. The future of an import-dependent economy with a weakening currency is permanent inflation. With robotics and artificial intelligence replacing the human work force while millions of immigrant-invaders enter the country annually, the future is also one of permanent unemployment. The US economy is run by short-run profit maximization. The absence of vision means a bleak future even in the absence of the Great Reset.
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This is Stella. She was playing with her friend Peanut when suddenly her Tornado Mode was activated. 14/10 seek shelter immediately pic.twitter.com/lhqWO0y4Z5
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