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Debt Rattle February 5 2025

Feb 052025
 
 February 5, 2025  Posted by at 11:06 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  123 Responses »


Pablo Picasso Girl with a Mandolin (Fanny Tellier) 1910

 

• US Will ‘Take Over’ Gaza – Trump (RT)
• Zelensky Says He’s Ready For Talks With Putin (RT)
• The Dynamic Duo Have the Dems on the Run (Green)
• Elon Musk Is ‘Special Government Employee,’ White House Confirms (ET)
• Audit USAID…Then Shut It Down! (Ron Paul)
• “Rank Insubordination”: Rubio Says USAID Full Of Rogue Employees (ZH)
• RFK Jr. Moves Closer To Becoming US Health Chief (RT)
• DOJ Seeks Information on FBI Employees Who Investigated Jan. 6 (ET)
• Dept. of Ed on the Chopping Block as Trump Readies Executive Order (Moran)
• House Panel Asks PBS, NPR Chiefs to Testify on Alleged ‘Biased Content’ (ET)
• NY AG Letitia James Defies Trump’s EO On “Gender Affirming Care” (AmG)
• 20,000 Government Workers Take Trump Buyout Offer As Mass Layoffs Loom (ZH)
• Trump Attack On The Deep State Spectacular And Almost Certainly Legal (Widburg)
• Biden Spent Billions Promoting Illegal Immigration – Musk (RT)
• Merkel To Blame For The Rise Of The AfD: Former Austrian Chancellor Kurz (RMX)
• UK Hoping To Buy Its Way Out Of Trump Tariffs (RT)
• El Salvador Abandons Bitcoin Legal Tender Experiment (RT)
• Trump’s Withdrawal From the Paris Agreement Won’t Hurt the Climate (RCW)

 

 

 

 

Benz Glenn

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY

Leavitt

Raskin

 

 

 

 

McCain

McCabe

80%

Vivek

 

 

“Ukraine is not losing, but the front is moving in the wrong direction”
Mark Rutte

 

 

 

 

Force 2 million people from their homeland and turn it into a playground for the rich. As Tacitus said: “they make a desert and call it peace”. Not Trump’s finest idea. “Jordan and Egypt should take them”. “But they don’t want to..” “Oh well, we’ll give them money”. “It’s not about money, it’s about homeland”.

• US Will ‘Take Over’ Gaza – Trump (RT)

US President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will assume control over the Gaza Strip, vowing to rebuild the war-torn enclave and create economic opportunities for its future residents. When asked whether US troops would be deployed to Gaza, Trump vowed to “do what is necessary.” Trump made the remarks on Tuesday following his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. The US president reiterated his view that Palestinians should be permanently resettled elsewhere, adding that the US would “take over” Gaza and lead efforts to clear the destruction left by 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas.“The US will take over the Gaza Strip. And we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” Trump said, promising to “level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings.”

Asked to clarify what exactly he meant by a “takeover,” the US leader said he envisions a “long-term ownership position” that would supposedly bring “great stability” to the entire Middle East. “Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing it, and creating thousands of jobs,” Trump claimed. Trump also said he is not ruling out deploying US troops to support his Gaza development plan. “We’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that. We’re going to take over that place,” he said. Approximately 92% of homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or severely damaged, and around 1.9 million people – more than 90% of Gaza’s population – have been displaced since the war broke out in October 2023, according to the UN. Trump, a former real estate mogul, has repeatedly referred to Gaza as a “demolition site” in recent weeks.

When asked who would populate Gaza once the US “takes over” and redevelops it, and whether the Palestinian people would be able to return, Trump responded: “I envision… the world’s people living there. I think the potential in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable. And I think the entire world, representatives from all over the world, will be there and they’ll live there… Palestinians also,” he said. “I don’t want to be a wise guy. But the Riviera of the Middle East – this could be so magnificent.”

Bibi

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Trump appears to do better at home than abroad. Gaza is a mess, and so is Kiev. Putin will not talk to Zelensky: “..when the current head of the regime – that’s the only way to call [Zelensky] today – signed this decree, he was a somewhat legitimate president. But now he can’t cancel it because he is illegitimate. That’s the trick, the catch, the trap..”

Trump also wants Ukraine to pay the US in rare earths. But those are all in the Lugansk and Donetsk areas, i.e. parts of Russia.

• Zelensky Says He’s Ready For Talks With Putin (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has expressed his willingness to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin if it is the only way to bring the Ukraine conflict to an end. He made the remarks during an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, with excerpts published on Tuesday. Asked if he is prepared to meet with the Russian president, Zelensky indicated that he is.“If that is the only setup in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, definitely we will go for this setup, for this meeting,” he said. “What is my attitude to him [Putin]? I will not be kind to him and I… consider him an enemy. And to be honest, I believe he considers me an enemy as well,” he said.

The remarks appear to reflect a shift in Zelensky’s stance. He has refused to negotiate with Putin in the past and even signed a decree banning any negotiations with Moscow, and Putin specifically. Last month, Zelensky said the ban applies to all Ukrainian officials except himself, while the original 2022 decree only stated that negotiations are “impossible” without specifying any individuals or entities prohibited from engaging in them. Last week, Putin reiterated Moscow’s position that Zelensky lacks the legitimacy to sign agreements, given that his presidential term expired in May 2024 and no constitutional mechanism exists to extend it. However, the Russian president said he is willing to send negotiators to talk to Zelensky if he is open to discussions.

“It’s possible to negotiate with anyone. However, due to his illegitimacy, [Zelensky] has no right to sign anything. If he wishes to participate in talks, I will deploy people who will conduct such negotiations,” Putin stated.The Ukrainian decree banning negotiations with Russia remains an obstacle to meaningful talks between Kiev and Moscow, Putin said. He pledged to deploy a team of legal experts to assess the authority of any Ukrainian negotiating team and determine whether they have the proper legal standing to sign an agreement. “If we start negotiations now, they will be illegitimate… Because when the current head of the regime – that’s the only way to call [Zelensky] today – signed this decree, he was a somewhat legitimate president. But now he can’t cancel it because he is illegitimate. That’s the trick, the catch, the trap,” Putin explained.

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“This is the one shot the American people have to defeat BUREAUcracy, rule of the bureaucrats, and restore DEMOcracy, rule of the people. We’re never going to get another chance like this.”

• The Dynamic Duo Have the Dems on the Run (Green)

“Get ’em skeered and keep the skeer on ’em,” was Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s timeless advice about combat. President Donald Trump is a Yankee and Elon Musk is an awkward super-genius immigrant but I swear those two have been reading up on their Confederate history. No, I’m not suggesting they’re going to “put y’all back in chains.” What do you think I am, a Democrat? [shudder] When your enemy is scared, don’t give him a moment to recover his wits. When he’s on the ground, don’t let him up. When he flees, pursue him. Because sometimes a simple win isn’t enough. Trump and Musk have the Democrats scared, and every indication is they mean to keep them scared. And Another Thing: I used to refer to Democrats as opponents. But after years of being treated like their enemy, it’s time to return the favor.

The panic set in over the weekend when Musk and his DOGE boys — more on them momentarily — showed up at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) like they owned the place. Correction: they showed up like we, the taxpayers, own the place. Which we do, by the way. It’s just been a long time since our civil servants had a good reminder of the “servant” half of their positions. By Monday, they were desperately flailing.

“Congress must take action to restore the rule of law,” he whined. You just want to grab Schumer by the lapels and give him a good shake while reminding him, “You ARE in Congress, you ninny. Take it up with your coworkers, assuming they’ll listen to your pathetic excuse for a United States senator.” Musk responded to Schumer, “This is the one shot the American people have to defeat BUREAUcracy, rule of the bureaucrats, and restore DEMOcracy, rule of the people. We’re never going to get another chance like this.” And I’ve just got to know which 22-year-old know-nothing intern posted this face-palmer on behalf of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee yesterday.

It’s like the Dems are so all-in on their illegal alien invasion that they no longer know the difference between a naturalized citizen and a foreigner. There are a great many examples of waste with which I’ve already amused you these last few days but I think Stephen Miller summed up best what’s wrong with USAID.

THIS is what they’re panicked about losing. Not because anybody gives a damn about condoms for Gaza or establishing DEI in Serbian elementary schools, but because of the skim they’ll miss out on. Think of Democrats as mobsters who get their beaks wet on every transaction. Intelligencer’s Ed Kilgore collected his wits enough to very calmly shriek about “Trump and his underlings” doing things “that rely on exotic and dangerous theories of imperial presidential powers that Richard Nixon could have only dreamed of possessing.” Refusing to release grants (that were never explicitly authorized by Congress) to Deep State cronies is imperial, you see. Anyway, Kilgore’s genius #Resist plan goes thusly: There is a steadily increasing possibility that the Trump offensive could go so far and so fast that congressional Democrats are tempted essentially to go on strike when it comes to actions where they do actually have some leverage.

These include an upcoming effort to keep the federal government operating when the stopgap spending authority enacted in December runs out on March 14. So they’re going to stop us from shutting down wasteful government by shutting down even more wasteful government? Oh, please don’t throw me in that briar patch! More seriously, Kilgore writes that “the emerging idea may be for congressional Democrats to insist that before they provide a single vote that Republicans need, Elon Musk and Russell Vought (the OMB director nominee widely thought to be behind the funding freeze) must be put on a leash.”There are the chains again. It always comes down to those for Dems, doesn’t it?

Wait until the news sinks in that Trump is serious about radically downsizing the Department of Education. That’s another one of the Left’s Holiest of Holies that exists for the sacred purposes of funneling money to favored Democrat constituencies while indoctrinating children. It isn’t all fun and games, sadly. The Left doxxed at least one of the young computer geniuses Musk brought with him to OPM to untangle the spilled spaghetti mess of slush-fund spending at USAID and other agencies. There were two assassination attempts on Trump last year, so there’s no doubt in my mind the Left won’t happily trigger some other nut into taking a shot or two at one of Musk’s whiz kids. “In a mature society,” Robert Heinlein’s (literally) timeless character Lazarus Long observed, “’civil servant’ is semantically equal to ‘civil master.'” Well, I’m not feeling all that mature right now. How about you?

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“Special government employees are appointed for no more than 130 days.”

• Elon Musk Is ‘Special Government Employee,’ White House Confirms (ET)

The White House on Monday confirmed that Space X and Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk is considered a “special government employee” under the Trump administration amid questions about his work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Speaking to reporters at the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Musk’s federal status and added, “I can also confirm that he has abided by all applicable federal laws.” Leavitt was also asked about Musk’s security clearance. She said she didn’t know but would check on it. The designation allows Musk, the world’s richest person, to work for the federal government and potentially avoid disclosure rules regarding possible conflicts of interest and finances that generally apply to other government staff.

Special government employees are appointed for no more than 130 days. President Donald Trump said that Musk “can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval, and we’ll give him the approval where appropriate; where not appropriate, we won’t.” “He reports in … but he does have a good natural instinct,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. The Republican president also downplayed complaints about Musk’s alleged conflict of interests, saying, “Where we think there’s a conflict or there’s a problem, we won’t let him go near it, but he has some very good ideas.” One of the most significant steps was DOGE gaining access to the U.S. Treasury payment system, which is responsible for 1 billion payments per year totaling $5 trillion. It includes sensitive information involving bank accounts and Social Security payments.

It’s unclear what Musk wants to do with the payment system. He has said that he could trim $1 trillion from the federal deficit “just by addressing waste, fraud and abuse.” Democratic lawmakers have decried what they characterize as an unelected billionaire amassing too much power over the federal government. “That’s the biggest data hack ever in the world,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) told reporters in Madison, Wisconsin. “I am outraged about it,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Capitol Hill, adding that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent must revoke Musk’s access to the payment system. “We must halt this unlawful and dangerous power grab.” In a post on the Musk-owned social media platform X, Schumer said that DOGE isn’t “a real government agency” and lacks authority to make spending decisions or to shut down programs.

In response, Musk wrote on X on Tuesday morning that Schumer’s reaction is “hysterical” and that DOGE “is doing work that really matters.” He framed DOGE’s mission in existential terms. “This is the one shot the American people have to defeat BUREAUcracy, rule of the bureaucrats, and restore DEMOcracy, rule of the people,” Musk wrote. “We’re never going to get another chance like this.” Meanwhile, a group representing retirees and union workers sued Bessent and the U.S. Treasury Department on Monday in a bid to get them to stop sharing personal and financial information with DOGE.

“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is massive and unprecedented,” the groups wrote in their complaint, filed in the District of Columbia federal court. Aside from the Treasury Department, Musk and Trump have set their sights on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with both saying that the organization has been led by radicals and needs to be dissolved. On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that he is now the acting director of USAID. He said the agency lacked accountability and that its staff did not follow orders.

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“..the “news” from Ukraine is being written by US government-backed media outlets and then picked up by US and other western media.”

• Audit USAID…Then Shut It Down! (Ron Paul)

As of this writing, when you attempt to access the US Agency for International Development (USAID) website or social media pages you are informed that, “This site can’t be reached.” The media reports that the new Trump Administration has not only frozen USAID activities but may be planning on bringing it back under control of the US State Department. Other reports, including statements by Elon Musk, suggest If true, the closing of USAID may be one of the most significant changes President Trump has made among many dramatic actions in his first couple of weeks in office. Many Americans may still have the idea that USAID is a government agency delivering relief at disaster sites overseas. They may still remember the bags of rice or grain with the USAID logo on them. But that is not USAID.

USAID is a key component of the US government’s “regime change” operations worldwide. USAID spends billions of dollars every year propping up “NGOs” overseas that function as shadow governments, eating away at elected governments that the US interventionists want to overthrow. Behind most US foreign policy disasters overseas you will see the fingerprints of USAID. From Ukraine to Georgia and far beyond, USAID is meddling in the internal affairs of foreign countries – something that would infuriate Americans if it was happening to us. When President Trump ordered a 90 day pause in USAID activities, we quickly learned just how pernicious the agency really is. The US media reported that Ukrainian press outlets were scrambling to keep their doors open when the US dollars stopped flowing. It is reported that 90 percent of the media outlets are funded by the US government!

This means that there is virtually no independent media in Ukraine, only fake news outlets willing to toe the US Administration’s propaganda line. Does anyone think these wholly US-funded “news” outlets would ever publish a story that the US government did not want published? This is plainly immoral, but it is also dangerous. Most US mainstream media stories about Ukraine have their origins in the “reporting” of the local media. From battlefield news to casualties to the state of the Ukrainian military, the “news” from Ukraine is being written by US government-backed media outlets and then picked up by US and other western media. It is a closed propaganda loop that not only propagandizes the US citizen but also feeds false information into US government outlets – such as Congress – that rely on mainstream US media reporting for their news on Ukraine.

No wonder so many in Washington continue to support this hopeless war! But USAID is not just in the business of disinformation. Elon Musk recently re-posted a New York Post article on X reporting that USAID funneled $53 million to EcoHealth Alliance to support gain-of-function research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan lab! Did USAID help fund COVID? Americans have a right to know. In natural catastrophes overseas Americans have shown themselves to be extremely generous. Private volunteer assistance organizations can more effectively assist victims of disasters worldwide. USAID needs a full and transparent audit. Americans deserve to know exactly what is being done in their name overseas. Then the agency needs to be shuttered completely, and its employees sent home. That would go a long way toward making America great again.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1886575073911333323

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“..their basic attitude is, ‘We don’t work for anyone, we work for ourselves, no agency of government can tell us what to do.”

• “Rank Insubordination”: Rubio Says USAID Full Of Rogue Employees (ZH)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for what he called “rank insubordination,” and is full of rogue employees who do whatever the hell they want. “Well, that was always the goal was to reform it, but now we have rank insubordination,” Rubio told Fox News, in comments just one day after President Trump announced that Rubio would serve as the acting head of USAID – which itself came after Elon Musk’s DOGE team descended upon the agency and revealed that “USAID is a ball of worms. There is no apple. And when there is no apple you just need to get rid of the whole thing. That’s why it’s got to go. It’s beyond repair.” According to Rubio, “Now we have basically an active effort — their basic attitude is, ‘We don’t work for anyone, we work for ourselves, no agency of government can tell us what to do.”

“So the president made me the acting administrator,” he added. “I’ve delegated that power to someone who is there full-time, and we’re going to go through the same process at USAID as we’re going through now at the State Department.” According to Rubio, USAID has lost its focus and abandoned the “national interest” – telling Fox: “They have basically evolved into an agency that believes that they’re not even a U.S. government agency, that they are out — they’re a global charity, that they take the taxpayer money, and they spend it as a global charity irrespective of whether it is in the national interest or not in the national interest.”

“One of the most common complaints you will get if you go to embassies around the world from State Department officials and ambassadors and the like is USAID is not only not cooperative — they undermine the work that we’re doing in that country, they are supporting programs that upset the host government for whom we’re trying to work with on a broader scale, and so forth,” Rubio added. On Monday, deep state crusaders Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) staged a dramatic protest outside the USAID headquarters, with Omar suggesting that Trump’s move to fold the agency into the State Department was “what the beginning of dictatorship looks like!” – and Raskin suggesting that Elon Musk had “illegally seized power over the financial payment systems of the United States Department of Treasury,” adding “Elon Musk, you didn’t create USAID,” and that Musk “doesn’t have the power to destroy it.”

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Tulsi, too, is one final round of votes away from being confirmed.

• RFK Jr. Moves Closer To Becoming US Health Chief (RT)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has moved closer to becoming the US secretary of health and human services after the Senate Finance Committee voted 14-13 to approve his nomination, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed. Kennedy, 71, an environmental lawyer and well-known vaccine skeptic, faced rigorous questioning during his confirmation hearings. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician and chairman of the Senate Health Committee, had initially expressed reservations about Kennedy’s stance on vaccines. However, Cassidy ultimately voted in favor after receiving assurances from Kennedy and the administration of their “commitment to protecting the public health benefit of vaccination.”

Democrats, led by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, strongly opposed the nomination, citing concerns over Kennedy’s views. Wyden warned that Kennedy’s leadership could erode public trust in vaccines and public health initiatives. “Mr. Kennedy has given us no reason to believe he will be anything other than a rubber stamp for plans to cut Medicaid and rip health care away from the American people,” Wyden stated. The full Senate, where Republicans currently hold a majority, is expected to vote on Kennedy’s nomination in the coming days or next week. A simple majority is required for confirmation.

US President Donald Trump nominated Kennedy shortly after winning reelection in November last year. If confirmed, Kennedy will oversee a vast budget and key agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other sub-agencies.Shortly before the committee’s vote, Trump endorsed his nominee in a post on Truth Social. “Twenty years ago, autism in children was 1 in 10,000. NOW IT’S 1 in 34. WOW! Something’s really wrong. We need BOBBY!!! Thank You! DJT,” the president wrote. Kennedy is the son of former US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He was a vocal critic of the Covid-19 response measures recommended by the World Health Organization, including the strict lockdowns and rapid rollout of vaccines.

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Zerohedge: “Update (1615ET): DOGE is at it again – kicking down the doors of FBI headquarters to obtain the names of roughly 5,000 agents who worked on Jan. 6 cases. This comes after the agency withheld specifics on those involved, such as their names. Officials working for Elon Musk’s DOGE were spotted by CNN entering FBI headquarters on Tuesday to collect the information.

• DOJ Seeks Information on FBI Employees Who Investigated Jan. 6 (ET)

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has asked for the names of thousands of FBI employees who worked on investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove in a Jan. 31 missive to Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll directed the FBI to provide the names of all bureau personnel who investigated Jan. 6 and an unrelated terrorism case, Senate Democrats said in a Feb. 3 letter. Driscoll told FBI workers in a separate message to the FBI workforce that the request encompasses thousands of employees across the country, including himself, “who have supported these investigative efforts.” Bove warned that “additional personnel actions” could follow, Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said. [..] An FBI spokesperson confirmed that Bove has requested information about FBI personnel.

“The FBI is currently working to respond to a request for information from the Acting Deputy Attorney General about current and former FBI personnel assigned to certain investigations or prosecutions, including the events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” the spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. “The FBI will work within the law and policy to respond to official requests for information from the Department of Justice. To be clear, the FBI does not view anyone’s identification on one of these lists as an indicator of misconduct,” the bureau added. Ed Martin, interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, previously launched an investigation into why federal prosecutors brought a felony obstruction charge against hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants. Trump, after taking office, pardoned many people who had been charged over Jan. 6.

The new request for information comes after acting Department of Justice leadership terminated officials, including prosecutors involved in prosecuting Trump before he was elected, and six FBI executive assistant directors. “I do not believe the current leadership of the Justice Department can trust these FBI employees to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully,” Bove stated in his letter to Driscoll, Senate Democrats said. Durbin and the other senators told Acting Attorney General James McHenry and Driscoll that the terminations, and reassignments that have also taken place, “deprive DOJ and the FBI of experienced, senior leadership and decades of experience fighting violent crime, espionage, and terrorism.” They asked for details about the actions.

Leaders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association told members of Congress on Feb. 3 that the Department of Justice’s actions are threatening the jobs of thousands of FBI agents and “risk disrupting the bureau’s essential work.” “Any review of Special Agents should follow established disciplinary procedures that provide the necessary due process and transparency to our nation’s law enforcement officers,” the group said. McHenry and Driscoll are serving in acting positions as the Senate considers the nominations of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel to become, respectively, the attorney general and FBI director. Patel said during his confirmation hearing that he would not act against FBI employees solely due to their work on probes into Trump. “All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution,” he said. “I will not politicize that office,“ Bondi said during her confirmation hearing. ”I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation.”

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“Congress isn’t going to get rid of the Education Department. There simply aren’t the votes, as many Republicans have shown in the past that shuttering the Education Department is a bridge too far.”

• Dept. of Ed on the Chopping Block as Trump Readies Executive Order (Moran)

Donald Trump has ordered a plan to shutter the U.S. Department of Education and transfer its programs to the states, giving Congress a roadmap on how to accomplish that. This is a long-term project with no certainty of success. While the Education Department has many enemies, it also has many friends in both parties. With an FY 2025 budget of $82.5 billion, there’s plenty of cash to spread around. That $82.5 billion is in addition to the $276 billion spent to help K-12 students “catch up” after the pandemic. The government called that program “The Education Stabilization Fund.” The truth is, it didn’t stabilize anything. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is often called “The Nation’s Report Card” because it’s administered to so many students.

The results from the 2024 NAEP test reveal the total failure of our Education Department. “The percentage of eighth graders who have ‘below basic’ reading skills according to NAEP was the largest it has been in the exam’s three-decade history — 33 percent,” reports the New York Times. “The percentage of fourth graders at “below basic” was the largest in 20 years, at 40 percent.” The teachers won’t take responsibility for that disaster. The Education Department isn’t either, despite creating programs they claimed would help kids “catch up.”

ABC News: “Closing down the department would be an extraordinary move that would help Trump inch closer to fulfilling the promise that he made for months on the campaign trail: dismantling it and sending education policy back to the states. But any executive action is likely to ask for a plan to shut down the department, but not an immediate directive to shut down the department, sources told ABC News. It’s also unclear how the next education secretary would handle plans to close the department and reallocate its functions. Trump’s education secretary choice Linda McMahon has not yet had a Senate confirmation hearing. A bill in the Senate to shutter the department would likely fail without a two-thirds majority vote.”

Without a semi-orderly transfer of responsibilities from federal to state agencies, chaos will ensue. That’s why the Trump administration will begin the process by moving carefully. The planned executive order would “shut down all functions of the agency that aren’t written explicitly into statute or move certain functions to other departments,” according to the Wall Street Journal.” “Fully abolishing the department would require an act of Congress, and lawmakers have for years shown little interest in doing so. Trump unsuccessfully tried to merge the education and labor departments in his first term. Last week, Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) introduced a bill to abolish the Education Department by the end of 2026. “Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,” Massie said. “States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students.”

I liken attempts to get rid of the Education Department to trying to get rid of Obamacare. Both of those huge entities have embedded themselves into every nook and cranny of American life. It’s not just a question of declaring them dead or repealed. Both Obamacare and federal education programs are a part of the DNA of many communities, and the chaos that would ensue by getting rid of either of those programs would cause enormous pain to some of the most vulnerable citizens. Congress isn’t going to get rid of the Education Department. There simply aren’t the votes, as many Republicans have shown in the past that shuttering the Education Department is a bridge too far. But if Trump and Elon Musk are able to shrink the Department of Education, curtailing many of its programs, the administration should consider it a victory.

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“Greene pointed to NPR’s refusal to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story because “we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions..”

• House Panel Asks PBS, NPR Chiefs to Testify on Alleged ‘Biased Content’ (ET)

The heads of the taxpayer-funded Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) are being asked to testify at a congressional hearing on allegations of “blatantly ideological and partisan” coverage. In a Feb. 3 letter to PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), chairwoman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s (HOAC) Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), cited as an example of such coverage PBS reporting that characterized a recent gesture by Elon Musk as a “Nazi salute.” Musk vigorously denied the allegation and Greene pointed to the Anti-Defamation League’s statement that said Musk “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute.”

Greene told Kerger that “this sort of bias betrays the principles of objective reporting and undermines public trust. As an organization that receives federal funds through its member stations, PBS should provide reporting that serves the entire public, not just a narrow slice of like-minded individuals and ideological interest groups.” In response, a PBS spokesman released a statement to The Epoch Times saying the outlet is “grateful to have bipartisan support in Congress, and our country. We’ve earned this support from decades of noncommercial and nonpartisan work in local communities: providing all Americans with content they trust.” The statement continued, saying PBS is committed to offering “a broad range of stories and programs that help citizens understand our past and shape our future; and helping children and families open up worlds of possibilities through educational programming.”

In a similar Feb. 3 letter to NPR President and Chief Executive Officer Katherine Maher, Greene pointed to NPR’s refusal to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story because “we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions” as evidence of unacceptable bias in federally funded news coverage. An NPR spokesman released the following statement to The Epoch Times concerning the hearing: “Since its inception, NPR has collaborated with local nonprofit public media organizations to fill critical needs for news and information in America’s communities. We constantly strive to hold ourselves to the highest standards of journalism. … We welcome the opportunity to discuss the critical role of public media in delivering impartial, fact-based news and reporting to the American public.”

Greene offered the two media executives two alternative dates in March for the hearing. A subcommittee spokesman told The Epoch Times the date has not been set. In addition to the Musk and Hunter Biden laptop incidents, Greene said the forthcoming hearing was prompted in great part by the publication in 2024 of an exposé by former NPR senior editor Uri Berliner. Berliner criticized the organization for “only serving a liberal leaning audience and for failing to properly report major news stories—including Hunter Biden’s laptop, COVID-19 origins, and the Russian collusion hoax,” Greene said in a separate statement announcing the hearing.

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“..pausing so-called “gender-affirming care” for gender-confused minors violates state law.”

• NY AG Letitia James Defies Trump’s EO On “Gender Affirming Care” (AmG)

In open defiance of President Trump’s January 28 executive order to “protect children from chemical and surgical mutilation,” New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday warned hospitals that pausing so-called “gender-affirming care” for gender-confused minors violates state law.

Trump specified in his executive order that the term “child” or “children” referred to individuals under 19 years of age, and the phrase “chemical and surgical mutilation” meant “the use of puberty blockers, including GnRH agonists and other interventions, to delay the onset or progression of normally timed puberty in an individual who does not identify as his or her sex; the use of sex hormones, such as androgen blockers, estrogen, progesterone, or testosterone, to align an individual’s physical appearance with an identity that differs from his or her sex; and surgical procedures that attempt to transform an individual’s physical appearance to align with an identity that differs from his or her sex or that attempt to alter or remove an individual’s sexual organs to minimize or destroy their natural biological functions.”

The EO notes that the above procedures are often referred to as “gender affirming care.”“Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding,” the EO states. “Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.” The EO continues: “Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called “transition” of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”

James stated in a letter to health care providers and organizations that receive federal funds that denying such “care” to children in New York violates state laws that protect against discrimination based on sex and gender identity. “Regardless of the availability of federal funding, we write to further remind you of your obligations to comply with New York State laws,” the letter states. “Electing to refuse services to a class of individuals based on their protected status, such as withholding the availability of services from transgender individuals based on their gender identity or their diagnosis of gender dysphoria, while offering such services to cisgender individuals, is discrimination under New York law.”

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1%. Not the same as Twitter yet..

• 20,000 Government Workers Take Trump Buyout Offer As Mass Layoffs Loom (ZH)

Approximately 20,000 federal workers, or around 1% of the federal workforce, have accepted the Trump administration’s “buyout” offer before Thursday’s deadline, Axios reports, citing a senior administration official. The offer allows federal employees to stop working immediately and continue to be paid through Sept. 30. And with the door open for another 48 hours, the White House expects more to take the offer. “We expect more to come. If you see what’s happening at USAID, it’s just one piece of the puzzle,” said the official, referring to the federal agency which oversees foreign aid programs full of rogue employees that were funding all sorts of woke, anti-American projects around the world.

The buyout offer has faced heavy opposition from unions and other organizations, which argue that the offer is illegal, there’s no guarantee people will actually get paid (lol), and it’s something that Congress would need to authorize. The Trump admin rejects those assertions, and says it’s following through on its promise to restructure the federal government. Last week, the administration sent out a memo offering to pay all federal workers an 8-month severance through Sept. 30.The official further stated that the administration is still trying to implement a hiring freeze, which has proven more difficult than expected as some agencies continue to hire new workers. According to the report, the normal attrition rate within the federal workforce is around 6% per year, suggesting that some of those who have taken the buyout offer were planning to leave government service anyway.

According to the Washington Post, the assistant commissioner of a division of the General Services Administration told staff early this week that mass layoffs across the federal government are “likely” after the ‘buyout’ offer expires Thursday. “Please know that I empathize with the tough decisions you each are having to make,” wrote Erv Koehler, assistant commissioner of general supplies and services at GSA, in an email obtained by the Post. “Please focus on making the best decision for you and your particular situation.” According to Koehler’s email, GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service “is being asked” to cut its program by 50%, which reflects the agency’s goal to half the size of its staff.

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“President Trump has appointed DOGE and Elon Musk to act as his agents when it comes to reasserting executive control over government agencies. Agents acting within the scope of their assigned agency have the same authority as the principal.”

• Trump Attack On The Deep State Spectacular And Almost Certainly Legal (Widburg)

In the last few days, Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”) has effectively put an end to USAID, gelded the General Services Administration (GSA) tech division, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Treasury, and fired corrupt people in the FBI—and that’s just the short list. With the war on USAID, GSA, OPM, and the Treasury alone, DOGE is saving taxpayers at a rate of one billion per day. All of this has driven the Democrats into a frenzy as they insist that an elected president managing the government is a coup. Unfortunately for them (but not for us), they don’t have a legal leg to stand on.

President Kennedy founded USAID via Executive Order 10973 in November 1961: “Administration of Foreign Assistance and Related Functions.” It was meant to be a permanent clearing house that would work with the State Department to distribute money intended to help advance technology and financial competence in low-income countries. It reflected the fact that, in 1961, the U.S. was still the last country standing after WWII. The vision was to benefit America by fortifying poor countries against Soviet depredation. USAID has strayed far from that mandate. [..]Elon Musk revealed that the Treasury Department was cutting checks to terrorist organizations and known fraudsters. And, of course, Trump fired all the FBI agents involved in the war against those of Trump’s supporters who showed up at the Capitol on January 6. The Acting FBI Director fought back, which leads to the point of this article: It’s almost certain that none of these people has a legal leg to stand on, whether it comes to the way Trump has stopped the money flow or the firings.

First, Trump’s refusal to fund corrupt agencies: Since 1801, under the aegis of Thomas Jefferson, presidents have had a power known as impoundment. This means the president gets to decide how to spend—or not spend—money that Congress has allocated. In other words, the generation that ratified the Constitution believed that this was an appropriate exercise of executive power. However, in 1974, in yet another piece of Watergate fallout, Congress enacted the “Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974,” which says that the president must submit to Congress his plans not to spend money. Given the history of impoundment (the ratifying generation approved of it), it’s highly unlikely that this act is constitutional. The fact that no president has yet challenged it doesn’t change this reality.

Additionally, because Trump has a majority in Congress, if he were to submit his impoundment plan, the greater likelihood is that it would give him a pass. (RINOs would have a hard time explaining to voters why they want America to pay for “trans” comic books in Peru.) Second, Trump’s ability to fire employees: [..] In 1789, the First Congress debated whether the Constitution gives the president the unilateral power to remove Executive Branch officers. Ultimately, Congress simply said that when the president fires someone (a tacit acknowledgment that he has that unilateral power), a lower-level employee must take custody of records until a new officer is appointed. That debate has led the Supreme Court to hold several times that Congress has no direct role in firing officials. [..]

There was a fight over this power when Andrew Johnson attempted to fire an Executive Branch officer whom Lincoln had appointed, violating the Tenure of Office Act, and leading to Johnson’s impeachment. However, the Senate did not convict Johnson, and by 1887, Congress repealed any requirement that the Senate approve firings. When the 19th century ended, the president’s unilateral power to fire officers was unquestioned. This makes sense because if the Founders had wanted to extend the “advice and consent” power to firings, they could have done so. This standard continued through the 1920s. Things changed in the 1930s when an activist Supreme Court created a new standard, which has affected (or infected) the government to this day: It held that if Congress designates an agency as “independent,” Congress, not the president, has the power over dismissal, with the president as its agent.

This was the go-ahead to create a fourth branch of government that is neither legislative, executive, nor judicial, although, as we’ve repeatedly seen, these “independent” agencies all claim those powers. The big issue of our day is whether these “independent” agencies are constitutional—I say they’re not because they are not one of the three branches of government established under the Constitution. Thankfully, the Supreme Court has, of late, been pulling back from the 1930s template. Here’s another legal concept: “The greater includes the lesser.” In this case, it means that if the president has the power to fire officials, he has the power to fire lesser employees working under those officials.

And one last legal concept: President Trump has appointed DOGE and Elon Musk to act as his agents when it comes to reasserting executive control over government agencies. Agents acting within the scope of their assigned agency have the same authority as the principal. I’m confident that President Trump is acting entirely within the authority the Founding Fathers and ratifiers of our Constitution intended him to have. However, we know that these issues will end up before the Court and, perhaps, before Congress. I’m hopeful that, as President Trump and DOGE expose an escalating amount of government fraud, abuse, and waste, despite the escalating Democrat pushback, Congress and the Courts will understand that they will not have the American people at their backs if they strike down his legitimate use of constitutional power.

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“..billions of dollars were shifted from helping Americans in need to facilitating illegal immigration. Super messed up!”

• Biden Spent Billions Promoting Illegal Immigration – Musk (RT)

Elon Musk has accused the administration of former US President Joe Biden of redirecting billions of dollars in taxpayer funds away from assisting Americans in need and instead using them to support undocumented migrants. The entrepreneur is a close ally of current US President Donald Trump and leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an organization responsible for reducing wasteful government spending. Musk has been vocal about the economic impact of illegal immigration, often criticizing government spending on social services for people in the country illegally. He has claimed that federal policies have incentivized unlawful border crossings while placing a significant financial burden on US citizens.

“Under the Biden administration, billions of dollars were shifted from helping Americans in need to facilitating illegal immigration. Super messed up!” Musk stated in a post on X on Tuesday. He previously estimated that illegal immigration cost US taxpayers over $150 billion in 2023 alone, citing data from the Federation for American Immigration Reform. This figure includes expenditures on healthcare, education, and law enforcement. The Biden administration had defended its approach to immigration, asserting that it was balancing border enforcement with humanitarian obligations. The previous administration claimed having expanded legal pathways for migrants while deporting those who failed to meet asylum requirements.

However, critics such as Musk and many Republican leaders maintain that Biden’s policies have weakened border security, incentivized illegal crossings, and strained government resources. Musk has shown a growing interest in political and social issues, particularly immigration. In 2023, he personally visited Eagle Pass, Texas, to witness the conditions at the US-Mexico border and spoke with officials about the challenges posed by the migrant surge. Since then, he has advocated for stronger border controls and policy reforms to curb illegal immigration.

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Staying in power for 16 years is far too long. You kill off the next generation of leadership.

• Merkel To Blame For The Rise Of The AfD: Former Austrian Chancellor Kurz (RMX)

Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has openly blamed his former German counterpart Angela Merkel for the rise of right-wing populism in Germany, arguing that her 2015 open-border migration policy directly fueled the Alternative for Germany (AfD). Kurz stated that without Merkel’s migration stance, the AfD would never have gained the support it currently enjoys. Speaking to Bild, Kurz defended the asylum policies advocated by CDU leader Friedrich Merz, particularly his call to reject all illegal migrants at Germany’s borders. “I don’t just think that is correct, but it is absolutely necessary,” Kurz said. “If you look at how large parts of Europe — including Germany and Austria — have changed due to uncontrolled migration, it is obvious that this development is not good.”

Kurz, who was Austria’s foreign minister during the 2015 migrant crisis, emphasized that migration policies require not just words but concrete actions. He expressed hope that a policy shift in Germany would serve as a model for the rest of Europe. “In 2015, I saw firsthand how the Welkomkultur — or ‘welcome culture’ — triggered a negative domino effect, encouraging more migrants to come to Europe,” he explained. “When we shut down the Balkan route, other countries followed, and we saw a reversal of the migration wave. The same is possible today. If Germany takes the lead, other European nations will follow.”

Earlier this week, the CDU sought in the German parliament to implement a stricter immigration and asylum policy, legislation that could only pass with support from the Alternative for Germany (AfD). The move led to violent protests from left-wing activists at the CDU party headquarters in Berlin, but Kurz dismissed controversy surrounding the AfD’s support, arguing that leaders should focus on implementing the right policy irrespective of political alliances. “A politician should do what is right and not constantly worry about who supports or opposes it,” Kurz stated. “That is what leadership means.”

The Austrian politician criticized conservative politicians who shy away from necessary policies out of fear of aligning with right-wing populists on certain issues. “In Germany, there is a fear that a policy could be supported by the AfD,” he said. “But you cannot intentionally do something wrong just to avoid being on the same voting side as the AfD.” He pushed back against criticism that his own coalition with the right-wing FPÖ from 2017-2019 helped legitimize populist movements, emphasizing that he had won two elections against the FPÖ as leader of the Christian-democratic Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), proving that the center-right can defeat right-wing populists by pursuing strong policies. “The right-wing parties are always strongest when conservative parties fail to implement their policies consistently,” Kurz warned.

After the left-wing parties took control of Austria, the FPÖ rallied to win last September’s elections as the largest party, and its leader Herbert Kickl is now in talks with the ÖVP to form a coalition. He is expected to become the FPÖ’s first-ever chancellor.Kurz argued that Merkel’s migration policies since 2015 were the main factor behind the AfD’s rise, saying: “Without the wrong migration policy since 2015, there would not be such a strong AfD in Germany. The failed migration policy is the guarantee that the AfD will continue to grow.” Kurz concluded with a stark warning to Germany’s political leadership, urging them to address citizens’ legitimate concerns about migration before they drive more voters to right-wing populist parties. “If you really want right-wing parties to grow without limits, then you should continue ignoring the legitimate concerns of a large part of the population,” Kurz said. “Otherwise, you will only push more people into the arms of these parties.”

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“..more liquefied natural gas (LNG) as well as F-35 fighter jets..”

• UK Hoping To Buy Its Way Out Of Trump Tariffs (RT)

The UK government is considering purchasing more liquefied natural gas (LNG) as well as F-35 fighter jets from the US in the hope of averting punitive tariffs on British goods, Politico has reported. Tariffs were a prominent tool in US President Donald Trump’s repertoire during his first term in office, with the Republican using the same tactics after returning to the White House last month. In an article on Tuesday, Politico quoted an anonymous former UK Energy Department figure as predicting that London and Washington could seal a deal that grants the US an even bigger share of the British market. According to the media outlet, American LNG currently accounts for 26% of the UK’s energy imports.

Former UK Energy Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng told Politico that with dwindling North Sea offshore gas production, London would inevitably have to turn to foreign suppliers. “The US is the natural place to go,” the official said, adding that the “only other options are Qatar or Russia – and we’re not going to get it from there.” Citing an unnamed “defense industry figure,” the report claimed that the UK could also place more orders for US-made F-35 warplanes. The media outlet noted that the prospect of further purchases had been uncertain given London’s participation in the multinational Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) aimed at building a new fighter-jet. However, with Trump back in office, “everything [is] on the table,” another anonymous senior UK government figure told Politico.

Speaking to the BBC earlier this week, Trump claimed that while the “UK is out of line,” trade issues “can be worked out.” Last Saturday, Trump slapped 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, and 10% tariffs on goods from China, suggesting that the European Union could soon face similar measures. On Tuesday, however, Trump placed the decisions on hold for a month after Canada and Mexico agreed to beef up security along their respective borders with the US. Trump argued that the agreements with both neighbors would help “stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants into our country.”

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It’s not over. The IMF, in exchange for a $1.4 billion loan, insisted bitcoin acceptance should not be mandatory everywhere. We have questions.

• El Salvador Abandons Bitcoin Legal Tender Experiment (RT)

El Salvador’s Congress has approved a reform revoking Bitcoin’s status as legal tender, in a reversal of the country’s landmark 2021 decision, according to media reports. The amendments to its Bitcoin law come after a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund, which requires that the acceptance of the cryptocurrency be made voluntary in the country. In 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt cryptocurrency as legal tender, officially recognizing Bitcoin alongside the US dollar, which had been the nation’s primary currency for two decades. The legislative changes passed on January 30 removed Bitcoin’s mandatory acceptance in El Salvador, making its use entirely voluntary. The reform was approved with 55 votes in favor and two against.

The amendments reportedly come after nearly two years of pressure from the IMF, which urged the country to mitigate Bitcoin-related financial risks in exchange for a $1.4 billion loan, which was agreed to in December, to stabilize the country’s struggling economy. The IMF specifically pushed for Bitcoin acceptance to be voluntary in the private sector, according to Reuters. The move marks a significant policy reversal for El Salvador, as President Nayib Bukele championed Bitcoin’s legal tender status as a way to boost financial inclusion, particularly for the unbanked population.

However, recent surveys show that 92% of Salvadorans have refrained from using Bitcoin since its official adoption, highlighting public skepticism toward the digital currency, despite government efforts. Although Bitcoin has lost its legal tender status, the government has recently indicated that it will continue buying the cryptocurrency to add to its reserves. Last year, Bukele slammed the US dollar, claiming it is backed by nothing, and that the US economy is based on the “farce” of printing unlimited amounts of money. He went on to predict that Western civilization will collapse when this bubble “inevitably bursts.”

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“Talk is cheap. What matters is success. On that metric, the Trump administration is set to actually achieve what Paris Agreement signatories only write on paper.”

• Trump’s Withdrawal From the Paris Agreement Won’t Hurt the Climate (RCW)

President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement. Cue the leftwing meltdown. Though everyone knew the withdrawal was coming, the left and the “international community” are still decrying America’s alleged abdication of leadership on climate. But toothless agreements window dressed with international summits and photo ops are not the same as leadership. The truth is America has led the world in reducing emissions for years not because of the Paris Agreement, but because innovation and the free market facilitate the deployment of cheaper and cleaner energy. Let’s review the record. In recent decades, America has achieved unprecedented — and unexpected — energy production thanks to fracking and horizontal drilling. Since the early 2000s when these twin technologies began to be deployed much more expansively, U.S. natural gas production has more than doubled.

By 2016, hydraulically fractured gas wells accessed through horizontal drilling accounted for nearly 70% of all oil and natural gas wells. While the left may clutch its pearls at the increased production of a fossil fuel like natural gas, this clean energy source has been a main driver of U.S. emissions reductions. Over the past 15 years when America has massively increased natural gas output, the U.S. reduced carbon emissions more than any other country. We can see this year by year. For example, from 2022 to 2023, America offset dirtier coal energy generation with natural gas. As coal declined by 121.9 terawatt hours of electric generation over that time, natural gas increased by 118.9 terawatt hours. At the same time, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions declined 1.9%. Notably, 80% of the U.S. carbon emissions reductions were driven by the electric power sector — precisely where natural gas has an outsized impact.

Notice what didn’t cause those emissions reductions? The Paris Agreement. The American energy sector — powered by innovation and good-old-fashioned free market economics — has been driving down carbon emissions cheaply and effectively before the Paris Agreement was a twinkle in climate activists’ eyes. And it will continue to reduce carbon emissions long after President Trump’s decision to withdraw. The Paris Agreement is far from the panacea some activists claim it is. It isn’t even a particularly effective tool to rally nations toward greater climate success. In the middle of the allegedly climate-conscious Biden administration, none of the world’s biggest emitters — America included — had reduced their emissions in accordance with the Paris goals. Apparently, the $1 trillion regulatory and subsidy regime erected by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act had little bang for the buck.

What Agreement supporters forget is that no number of high-profile international accords can make command-control tactics work — or instill other nations with the ambition to fulfill their empty promises. The Paris Agreement is the definition of bureaucratic failure, conflating meetings, busyness, and lofty goals as success. Its only achievement is to make climate ideologues and green jetsetters feel good about themselves as they fly to international conferences. It’s no wonder President Trump withdrew. Talk is cheap. What matters is success. On that metric, the Trump administration is set to actually achieve what Paris Agreement signatories only write on paper.

Trump entered office promising to deregulate the fossil fuel industry, increase permitting for natural gas extraction, approve the construction of energy facilities like natural gas export terminals, and re-establish American energy dominance. By leaning into America’s carbon advantage and exporting clean American energy abroad, he will boost the U.S. economy, supplant dirty energy from nations like Russia and Venezuela with a clean American alternative, and lower emissions both at home and abroad, all without the jaw-dropping price tag of the failed Biden-era green agenda. We should combine these steps with efforts to actually hold the biggest polluters accountable (which are being discussed by President Trump’s cabinet). This approach would be the antithesis of the Paris Accords’ America-last strategy.

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Netflix
https://twitter.com/i/status/1886570424105927139

 

 

Salesman

 

 

Babysit

 

 

Bond
https://twitter.com/i/status/1886672286507270440

 

 

88 pounds

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle January 19 2025

Jan 192025
 
 January 19, 2025  Posted by at 10:35 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  64 Responses »


Salvador Dali The Feeling of Becoming 1931

 

• Hamas Names Israeli Hostages To Be Released First (RT)
• Netanyahu: Trump “Emphasized” That The Gaza Ceasefire Is “Temporary” (ZH)
• Trump’s 100 Executive Orders On Day One Promises Chaos, Huge Changes (Moran)
• Trump’s First Day Executive Orders To Touch A Wide Range Of Subjects (JTN)
• Top Priorities for Trump’s Presidency (ET)
• Most Americans Share Trump’s Views – Poll (RT)
• TikTok Goes Dark In The US (RT)
• Marco Rubio Says No Clear Reason Why US Bankrolled Ukraine (SCF)
• US Treasury To Take ‘Extraordinary Measures’ After Trump Inauguration (RT)
• Trump Plans Huge Chicago Illegal Immigrant Raid – WSJ (RT)
• Russia Warns Against UK-Ukraine Claims to Azov Sea (Sp.)
• Frozen Future? Europe’s Energy Crisis Worsens Amid Gas War (Sp.)
• New Juicy Details About How Biden Was Forced To Drop Out (Margolis)
• The Man Who Probably Will Not Be Allowed To Lead Romania (Karganovic)
• US Suspends EcoHealth Alliance, Peter Daszak (ZH)

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1880632659401212320

Noem

250

Maher

Speaker

Strzok
https://twitter.com/i/status/1880476390354755690

 

 

 

 

The ceasefire, which was due to start this morning at 6.30 GMT, was delayed because Hamas did not release the names of 3 female hostages to be freed. They blamed technical difficulties. A few hours later, Hamas released the names and the ceasefire officially started. Anyone’s guess how long it will last.

• Hamas Names Israeli Hostages To Be Released First (RT)

Hamas has released the names of the three Israeli captives to be freed on the first day of the implementation of the ceasefire deal in Gaza, a Hamas spokesperson said in a post on Telegram. The move potentially clears the way for the truce to begin after an hours-long delay. Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to cancel the ceasefire with Hamas if the Palestinian militant group did not provide a list of the Israeli hostages to be released in the first phase of the truce.

Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said, “As part of the prisoner exchange deal we decided to release today: Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Shtanbar Khair, 31.” The three civilian women were taken hostage on October 7, 2023 during the Hamas onslaught in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 were kidnapped to Gaza. Israeli airstrikes on Gaza continued on Sunday even after the planned start time for the ceasefire had passed. Netanyahu said the truce “will not begin” until Hamas provides a list of hostages to be released as part of the agreement.

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Bibi lost the support of Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir today, as well as two others. His majority is now razor thin.

• Netanyahu: Trump “Emphasized” That The Gaza Ceasefire Is “Temporary” (ZH)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued some surprisingly bold assertions in a national televised address given just 12-hours before the much anticipated Gaza ceasefire is set to go into effect Sunday morning. Both Biden and Trump have hailed and celebrated the deal, but it’s the Republican president-elect who is by and large receiving the most credit for seeing it to the finish line. Some Israeli media outlets have represented the whole thing as a ‘defeat’ for Netanyahu, who appeared to want to keep the war going until Hamas is completely eradicated. Among Netanyahu’s most provocative words on Saturday was his claim that he has the support of President-elect Trump in the scenario Israel feels it must abandon the ceasefire and keep fighting. He says he has Trump’s full backing to resume the war, and has claimed further that Trump too agreed that the truce is just “temporary”. Watch below:

“Netanyahu also asserted that he negotiated the best deal possible, even as Israel’s far-right Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he and most of his party would resign from the government in opposition to it,” Times of Israel notes of the remarks. And there’s some some last-minute details which threaten implementation of the ceasefire… The prime minister had warned earlier that a ceasefire wouldn’t go forward unless Israel received the names of hostages to be released, as had been agreed. His statement came almost three hours after Israel had expected to receive the names from mediator Qatar. There was no immediate response from Qatar or Hamas. But without doubt Netanyahu is feeling the pressure, both within but even more from external allies, especially Washington – which writes the checks for the Israeli war machine.

As for Netanyahu’s talk of the deal being ‘temporary’ it’s unclear whether the Trump team agrees with this assessment. There hasn’t been any initial reaction from Trump as he prepares for the inauguration Monday. But Trump without doubt wants a ceasefire to stick, and is likely to be celebrating its implementation during some of Monday’s inaugural remarks. He has vowed to wind down various conflict hot spots, especially Ukraine, and bring peace. He has also warned that there will be “hell to pay” if Hamas doesn’t uphold its end of the truce deal. This suggests Netanyahu could be telling the truth, or at least an interpretation of it. An initial small group of hostages are expected to be returned to Israel by Sunday evening, with hopeful families awaiting and on edge.

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“It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose,” said FDR. It’s a shame that this president will have to do both.”

• Trump’s 100 Executive Orders On Day One Promises Chaos, Huge Changes (Moran)

Trump aides are calling it “Shock and Awe.” There will be 100 executive orders (EO) and other executive actions starting Monday, Jan. 20. Indeed, most executive actions aren’t going to “shock” a lot of people. Trump has talked about all of them in the campaign and during his years in exile since his defeat in 2020. The scope of some of the EOs is broader than some on the left have been predicting, and narrower than some on the right were hoping for. The audacious nature of the 100 EOs masks the probability that almost all of them will be challenged in federal court. Even if the challenges are eventually unsuccessful, some of the executive orders will be picked apart or canceled altogether. The EOs that have garnered the most interest and that have been the target of a hysterical scare campaign on the left are the orders relating to illegal aliens.

In fact, the first actions taken by Customs and Border Protection (CPB) will be to pick up illegal aliens who have committed felonies. “That’s the low-hanging fruit,” said Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford. “People that recently crossed, people that were legally present and committed other crimes, people that the court has ordered them removed — that’s well over a million people. Start working through that process.” In the meantime, Trump is going to reinstitute the most effective guard against illegal immigration in history: Title 42. The measure was adopted during the pandemic as a public health rule, but Trump is planning to stretch the definition to cover the current border crisis. This will set offer howls of outrage among open borders advocates and will be challenged in court. Trump has several other actions planned to secure the border.

New York Sun: “Trump could also move to allow use of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which would authorize some state and local law enforcement to aid Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, Axios has reported. On another front, Trump has vowed to issue an executive order to strip away birthright citizenship, which ensures children born to parents who do not have legal status in America are American citizens. That will likely set up a clash over the 14th Amendment that could wind up at the Supreme Court.” Trump has also promised to strip some federal funds from going to sanctuary states and cities. He tried the same thing during his first term, and was slapped down by appeals courts because, according to Eugene Volokh, the policy “ran afoul of constitutional limits on federal power and on executive power over the budget.”

Trump is hoping that the 54 judges he appointed to the appeals courts will take a different view of the constitutionality of denying funds to sanctuary cities. Other EOs that Trump is expected to sign include actions on energy and trade. “We will begin charging those that make money off us with Trade, and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fair share,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He also announced that on Jan. 20, he would develop an “External Revenue Service.” This new agency will “collect tariffs, duties, and all revenue” from overseas. On foreign policy, China should prepare itself. In addition to slapping China with tariffs, Trump has vowed to rescind its designated status of “permanent normal trade relations,” also known as “most favored nation.” The status was granted more than two decades ago as China prepared to enter the World Trade Organization.

Such a move is popular among congressional Republicans, who think granting China “normal” status and allowing the nation into the WTO was detrimental to the American economy. But the move would likely require congressional action. On Ukraine, although Trump has said he could stop the war in “24 hours,” it will take considerably longer, given the animosity between the two countries. But Ukraine’s President Zelensky finally appears ready to deal. How far he will go for a ceasefire will determine how long the negotiations take. Not all of Trump’s day-one actions will require an EO. Many of the actions will be to rescind Biden administration EOs. Trump is trying to do as much as he can as president, because he knows that once he’s forced to work through Congress, a quagmire will ensue.

This appears to be the fate of all presidents, present and future. Congress has abandoned its constitutional responsibility to govern. “It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose,” said FDR. It’s a shame that this president will have to do both.

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He won’t get much sleep.

• Trump’s First Day Executive Orders To Touch A Wide Range Of Subjects (JTN)

President-elect Donald Trump is set to formally take office on Monday after which he is expected to sign an exploding ball of executive orders that will set the tone for his administration on key issues, namely border security and energy. On the campaign, Trump facetiously quipped that he would not act as a dictator or impose authoritarian rule “except for day one.” “We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. Other than that I’m not gonna be a dictator,” he told an amused Sean Hannity during a town hall event last year. Since then, reports have emerged that Trump could sign as many as 100 executive orders on his first day in office. Trump himself made a litany of “day one” promises while on the campaign trail that included moves on nearly every key issue.

Such promises included the convening of a task force to plan America’s 250th birthday, the start of mass deportations, the imposition of tariffs on Mexico, an end to birthright citizenship, the termination of migrant flights, deregulations, orders permitting the expansion of energy production, restrictions on DEI and other programs, and the rooting out of career bureaucrats who work against his agenda. Immigration and border security During a recent meeting with Republican senators, Trump adviser Stephen Miller highlighted planned actions on immigration to begin early in the administration as part of what the Associated Press called “executive punch unseen in modern times.” Among the most highly-anticipated order will be the return of the “Remain-in-Mexico” policy requiring that would-be asylees stay outside the U.S. ahead of their court dates.

Others are likely to address the completion of the southern border wall, Trump’s signature campaign promise from 2016, while others are expected to target groups of illegal aliens that recently entered the United States and those who have already been approved for deportation.Some of the immigration orders may stall, however, with the Senate evidently hesitant to speedily confirm some of his key nominees for posts relevant to those policies. Still, some of his border actions will need only the weight of the president’s signature. One of his key immigration promises was to implement an executive order directing federal agents to interpret the law in a way that would not grant the children of illegal immigrants American citizenship. Trump made that promise in May of 2023, at which time it generated considerable legal speculation about the likely challenges to such a dramatic reinterpretation of the law.

Trump promised to begin mass deportations on day one, but some sources have suggested the deportation numbers will be low at first and gradually build while the administration gets its apparatus in place. “You’re not going to see historic numbers in month one. You start to see a steady increase, and then it’ll keep building and building,” one source familiar with the administration’s plans told Politico. nIndependent of immigration, Trump reportedly plans to target energy production, in part by rolling back Biden-era executive orders and environmental regulations. Specifically, Trump has taken aim at the Biden administration’s natural gas export restrictions and electric vehicle mandates, vowing to end them on day one and to expand fracking in Pennsylvania.

The natural gas export ban was part of the Biden administration’s climate change initiatives and was ostensibly temporary, though it faced legal challenges and the Department of Justice in December asked the courts to halt proceedings, given the incoming Trump administration was likely to end the ban anyway. The electric vehicle mandate, meanwhile, was a regular fixture of Trump’s campaign, especially amid United Auto Workers’ lengthy strike. Trump made the argument that the Green New Deal and the Biden administration’s effort to transfer auto-manufacturing to electric vehicles would bankrupt the industry and result in additional offshoring of their jobs. “I will cancel her insane electric vehicle mandate. It’ll be ended on day one,” he promised.

Jan. 6 pardons? In December, Trump promised to pardon Jan. 6 participants on his first day, saying they were “living in Hell” as the Justice Department pursued charges over their involvement in the incident. More than 1,500 people have faced charges related to Jan. 6 but the scope of Trump’s planned pardons remains unclear, especially whether they will include those convicted of violent offenses. Trump’s actual day one schedule was changed last minute due to inclement weather, with the Inauguration itself being moved inside the Capitol Rotunda, a move not seen since President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985. After the swearing-in ceremony, Trump plans to travel to the Capital One arena, which will be open for the crowd to watch the ceremony on a large screen. After that appearance, he is expected to make his way to the White House to begin signing his many planned executive orders.

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He has to undo 4 years of “Biden”.

• Top Priorities for Trump’s Presidency (ET)

Readers of The Epoch Times have identified border security, fiscal responsibility, and national defense as the top priorities for President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. A poll of 26,740 readers, conducted between Jan. 10–13, points to these issues as key areas of focus, reflecting widespread concern over unchecked immigration, economic instability, and global security threats.

Meanwhile, write-in responses by readers of The Epoch Times highlighted strong support for government reform, coupled with opposition to progressive policies such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Border security and deportations topped the list, with 90 percent of respondents considering it “extremely important.” This aligns with Trump’s campaign pledge to launch what he has described as the largest deportation operation in American history, set to begin immediately after his inauguration on Jan. 20. “On my first day back in the Oval Office, I will sign a historic slate of executive orders to close our border to illegal aliens and stop the invasion of our country,” Trump said during a Turning Point USA conference in Phoenix in December 2024. Besides vowing to deport millions of illegal immigrants, Trump also plans to end birthright citizenship, in which anyone born in the United States is currently given automatic citizenship, including to parents of illegal immigrants.

Fiscal Discipline and Economic Stability. Government spending and debt reduction ranked as the second-highest priority, with 82 percent of respondents highlighting the need for fiscal discipline. Concerns over the ballooning national debt—now at $36.22 trillion—is a key concern. The president-elect has said he intends to address these issues through measures such as cutting wasteful spending and reforming federal agencies. To spearhead these efforts, Trump has proposed the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy tapped to lead the initiative. DOGE aims to slash $2 trillion from the federal budget.

“Your money is being wasted,” Musk said at a Trump rally in New York in October 2024, underscoring Trump’s commitment to tackle government inefficiency and cut wasteful spending. The federal government spent $6.75 trillion in fiscal year 2024—which was $1.83 trillion more than it collected in revenue—pushing the national debt up to $36.22 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. So far in fiscal year 2025, which runs until the end of September, the government has already spent $1.79 trillion.

The issue of debt sustainability, long a concern of fiscal conservatives, has clearly been on Trump’s radar. In a statement announcing the nomination of Scott Bessent to serve as his Treasury secretary, Trump said his administration would “reinvigorate the private sector, and help curb the unsustainable path of federal debt.” The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has warned about the unsustainable trajectory of federal debt, projecting it to climb to a hefty 181 percent of GDP by 2053. If left unchecked, this rising debt is expected to slow economic growth, increase interest payments to foreign creditors, and limit lawmakers’ flexibility to address future fiscal and economic challenges, according to the CBO.

Strengthening National Defense and Securing Elections. Military strength and national security emerged as the third most important priority, with 77 percent of respondents citing it as “extremely important.” Concerns over global threats from adversaries such as China and Russia have amplified calls for bolstering America’s defense capabilities. Trump’s proposed “peace through strength” agenda emphasizes modernizing the military, increasing operational readiness, and reinforcing U.S. deterrence on the world stage. On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to reform the U.S. military, criticizing “woke” policies that he says undermine the nation’s warfighting capacity.

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More than his approval rating.

• Most Americans Share Trump’s Views – Poll (RT)

Most Americans support Donald Trump’s policies, despite the president-elect’s approval rating hovering around 50 percent, according to a New York Times and Ipsos poll published on Saturday. The poll, which surveyed 2,128 adults between January 2 and 10, indicated strong backing for several of Trump’s key policy priorities, such as reducing illegal immigration and implementing protectionist measures against Chinese imports. More than two-thirds of respondents opposed offering so-called “gender-affirming care” to children, another major agenda item for Trump. Approximately 71% of Americans believe that no minors should be prescribed puberty-blocking drugs or hormones. Last month, Trump vowed to end “transgender lunacy,” promising to prohibit sex change surgeries for minors and keep trans athletes out of women’s sports.

Nearly four in five respondents agreed that athletes who were assigned male at birth but transitioned should not be allowed to compete against women in sports. A vast majority of respondents – 87% – supported deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records, one of Trump’s central talking points during his reelection campaign. More than half of respondents either strongly or somewhat supported the deportation of all illegal immigrants in the US, according to the poll results. Nearly two-thirds of respondents – including 54% of Hispanics and 44% of Democrats – favored deporting undocumented migrants who entered the US during President Joe Biden’s last four years in office. The Biden administration reversed several immigration restrictions set by Trump during his first presidency, contributing to a spike in illegal immigration.

Support for Trump’s promises to impose heavier tariffs on Chinese and Mexican imports was nearly evenly split, but slightly leaning toward opposition. Approximately 46% supported raising tariffs on goods imported from China and Mexico, while 50% opposed such measures. Trump’s favorability rating remains just below 50%, according to data posted by poll aggregator website FiveThirtyEight on Friday. More than half of Americans view the entire US political system as broken, according to the NYT/Ipsos poll. Some 57% of Democrats and 63% of Republicans believe that the American political system has been broken for decades.

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TikTok itself pulled the plug. From yesterday: “The platform’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration and has thanked Trump for his readiness to work on averting the ban. Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, has signaled that TikTok could remain operational if a “viable deal” is reached. “We will put measures in place to keep TikTok from going dark,” Waltz said, adding that the legislation allows a 90-day extension for ByteDance to finalize divestiture.”

• TikTok Goes Dark In The US (RT)

Some 170 million US users of the viral social media app TikTok faced a blackout of the service on Saturday, days after the Supreme Court passed a decision that could lead to a national ban of the platform. On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that TikTok needs to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by Sunday or face a ban. Late Saturday, users in the US received an update for TikTok, blocking the application’s use and explaining the outage. “We regret that a US law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable,” the messages said. “We’re working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible.” TikTok warned about the possible suspension of its services in a statement on its newsroom page on Saturday.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” TikTok said in the statement. The Supreme Court’s decision stems from allegations that ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok poses a risk to US national security. According to the court, the app’s ownership could potentially allow the Chinese government access to American users’ data. TikTok has dismissed allegations that its Chinese ownership poses a threat, maintaining that it has “never shared” American users’ data with Beijing. President-elect Donald Trump has signaled that he will probably give the app a temporary reprieve from the ban to allow it to sell to a non-Chinese company. Trump will “most likely” give the app a “90-day extension,” he told NBC news in a phone interview on Saturday.

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Rubio is all about China.

• Marco Rubio Says No Clear Reason Why US Bankrolled Ukraine (SCF)

It doesn’t bode well that the next U.S. Secretary of State begins his top-flight position in government by telling blatant lies and fatuities. Marco Rubio (53) is a sure bet to be confirmed as America’s most senior international envoy representing the new administration of President Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated in the White House on Monday. This week, Florida Senator Rubio appeared before the Senate in confirmation hearings for his post. Rubio has been a senator since 2011 and has served on foreign relations and intelligence committees. Despite bitter personal clashes with Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign, Rubio was picked for the top diplomat post in the incoming administration. The confirmation is a done deal given his deep connections in Congress among Republicans and Democrats.

The ambitious son of Cuban immigrants is known for his hawkish views. He previously called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “thug” and described Russia as a “gangster state with nuclear weapons.” Any future trips to Moscow will be awkward to say the least, especially when the “tough guy” Floridian meets a real diplomat like Russia’s Sergei Lavrov. Strangely, though, this week, Rubio projected himself as the voice of reason and diplomacy. It was quite a U-turn. He told the Senate committee that the top priority of the Trump administration will be to bring the war in Ukraine to an end. That view aligns with Trump’s oft-expressed desire for a settlement to the three-year conflict. There’s a lot to parse in Rubio’s weasel words. He informed senators: ”It should be the official policy of the United States that we want to see it [the war] end… This is not going to be an easy endeavor… My hope is that it could begin with some ceasefire.”

Rubio was one of the biggest cheerleaders for the Ukrainian regime, believing that it would inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. Now, he has suddenly been overcome with seeming prudence and concern for peace by declaring that Ukraine cannot possibly win against Russia. Rubio went on: “In order to achieve objectives like the one that needs to occur in Ukraine, it is important for everyone to be realistic. There will have to be concessions made by the Russian Federation, but also by the Ukrainians, and the United States lends itself there. It’s also important that there be some balance on both sides.” So, you see what’s happening here. Rubio is uncharacteristically sounding like a peace envoy – after years of spouting belligerence towards Russia – and sneakily setting up the United States to be a kind of broker between two warring parties.

Note how he advocates concessions by both sides – Ukraine and Russia – without mentioning that the U.S. is a principal party to the conflict (albeit by using proxy Ukraine). He appeals to people to be “realistic” because Ukraine can’t win and it is “running out of Ukrainians.” This is after Rubio and countless other hawkish politicians in Washington pushed this war to the destruction of Ukraine, with over one million casualties from far superior Russian firepower. Rubio and his imperialist warmongering ilk have pushed this proxy war at the risk of inciting a nuclear conflagration with Russia. But it was the bit when Rubio tried to sound like the innocent diplomat deploring violence that peaked contempt for this pathetic Yes Man.

After acknowledging that the United States has supplied Ukraine with $175 billion in total aid, including at least $65 billion in military, since the eruption of conflict in February 2022, Rubio complained that it was “never clearly delineated what the end goal of the conflict was.” He added: “What exactly were we funding? What exactly were we putting money towards? On many occasions, it sounded like ‘however much it takes for however long it takes’. That is not a realistic or prudent position.” Marco Rubio is a liar. He knows full well from his deep involvement in U.S. imperialist machinations that the plan was to sponsor a NeoNazi regime in Kiev since the CIA-backed in 2014 to wage war on Russia for its calculated strategic defeat and conquest. Washington bankrolled Ukrainian fascists to do its dirty work. That’s exactly what it was funding. Now Rubio is pretending that it was all some kind of misadventure that needs to be brought to a settlement.

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Tuesday. Is that under Yellen or Bessent?

• US Treasury To Take ‘Extraordinary Measures’ After Trump Inauguration (RT)

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said her department will take “extraordinary measures” to prevent the US from hitting the national debt limit on Tuesday, one day after President-elect Donald Trump takes office. In a letter to Congress on Friday, Yellen explained that the US will hit its roughly $36 trillion debt limit between January 14 and January 23, potentially leading to a default. To avoid this possibility, Yellen said the Treasury Department will use a number of accounting tricks, including pausing payments into civil service retirement accounts until Congress and the president agree to raise the debt ceiling again. Yellen did not say for how long her measures will forestall a default. sThe US debt ceiling was raised three times during President Joe Biden’s term in the White House.

Last month, Trump pressed House Republicans to include another raise in a stopgap spending bill, but the proposal was ultimately defeated by dozens of fiscal conservatives in the GOP. Trump has repeatedly said that the debt ceiling should be abolished altogether to avoid such near-yearly showdowns, arguing that the limit – which is intended to restrict government borrowing – is pointless when it is repeatedly raised. ”It doesn’t mean anything, except psychologically,” he told NBC News last month. “The Democrats have said they want to get rid of it. If they want to get rid of it, I would lead the charge.” Scott Bessent, Trump’s pick to replace Yellen, has said he would work with Congress to repeal the debt ceiling if instructed by Trump.

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“The raid will begin on Tuesday morning and last all week..”

• Trump Plans Huge Chicago Illegal Immigrant Raid – WSJ (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump will kick off his deportation drive with a large-scale raid in Chicago one day after his inauguration, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Hundreds of immigration officers are expected to take part in the raid. The raid will begin on Tuesday morning and last all week, with between 100 and 200 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers deployed to the city, the newspaper reported, citing four anonymous sources. Officers will target illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds, although anyone present during arrests who entered the country illegally will also be detained, the sources said. Trump promised on the campaign trail that if elected, he would lead “the largest deportation operation in American history.”

In an interview with MSNBC last month, he said he would start by deporting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes inside the US, before moving on to “people outside of criminals.” There are thought to be anywhere between 11 million an 35 million illegal immigrants living in the US. The president-elect has appointed former ICE Director Tom Homan as his ‘border czar’, and tasked him with carrying out the deportations. “We’re going to start right here in Chicago, Illinois,” Homan said at a Republican dinner in the city last month. “And if the Chicago mayor doesn’t want to help, he can step aside. But if he impedes us, if he knowingly harbors or conceals an illegal alien, I will prosecute him.” Chicago was chosen as the location of the first raid because of its high numbers of illegal immigrants and Trump’s animosity with the city’s Democratic mayor, Brandon Johnson, the Wall Street Journal’s sources said.

Chicago is a so-called ‘sanctuary city’, meaning the city authorities do not ask about immigration status, and are forbidden from cooperating with federal immigration agencies such as ICE. Johnson has vowed to keep these policies in place, and on Wednesday, the Chicago City Council sided with him, voting 39-11 against a measure that would have allowed city police officers to work with ICE on immigration cases. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Police Department said that while its officers would not take part in the upcoming raid, they “will not intervene or interfere with any other government agencies performing their duties.” More raids are expected to follow, the newspaper reported, adding that large immigrant centers such as New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and Miami are considered top targets for the Trump administration.

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“..the Azov Sea became Russia’s internal sea. Any claims to its waters are gross interference in the internal affairs of our country..”

• Russia Warns Against UK-Ukraine Claims to Azov Sea (Sp.)

Russia will firmly suppress any attempts to lay claims to the Sea of Azov after it became its internal sea, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday. “Neither Ukraine nor the UK has any room for cooperation in the Azov Sea. After the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions joined Russia in September 2022, the Azov Sea became Russia’s internal sea. Any claims to its waters are gross interference in the internal affairs of our country and will be severely suppressed,” Zakharova said.

Moscow considers this agreement to be nothing more than a PR stunt, she added. “Behind this, we see London’s long-standing desire to gain a foothold in these waters, especially in the Azov-Black Sea basin. Kiev, despite all its geopolitical claims, has been assigned only a supporting role in this,” Zakharova said. On Thursday, Ukraine and the United Kingdom signed a “One Hundred Year Partnership Agreement,” pledging to enhance maritime cooperation in the Baltic, Black and Azov seas.

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“..disrupted supplies to Austria, Italy and Central Europe, raising energy prices and prompting regional efforts to minimize the impact.”

• Frozen Future? Europe’s Energy Crisis Worsens Amid Gas War (Sp.)

Ukraine’s halt to the transit of Russian gas, combined with sanctions imposed by the US on Russian oil and gas companies, pose a significant risk of plunging Europe into a new energy crisis. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban raised these concerns during his visit to Belgrade, where he held talks focused on energy challenges with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. “Recent developments in Europe’s energy supply are alarming,” Orban said in a video message aired on Hungarian television. “Ukraine has blocked a pipeline that supplied gas to Hungary, and the US administration has introduced sanctions that have driven up energy prices across Europe. The continent is hurtling toward another energy crisis,” Orban said.

The outgoing US government imposed sanctions on Russia’s oil and gas sector on January 10, targeting companies like Gazprom, Neft and Novatek, 183 tanker vessels and top executives. Serbia’s NIS, partly owned by Gazprom, was also affected, with the US demanding the cancellation of Russian investments by February 25. Combined with Ukraine’s block on Russian gas transit on January 1, the actions have disrupted supplies to Austria, Italy and Central Europe, raising energy prices and prompting regional efforts to minimize the impact.

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“..he did not argue, and he did not shout. “I need a week,” was all he said.”

• New Juicy Details About How Biden Was Forced To Drop Out (Margolis)

“If you run and you lose to Trump, and we lose the Senate, and we don’t get back the House, that 50 years of amazing, beautiful work goes out the window,” Schumer told him. “But worse — you go down in American history as one of the darkest figures.” Schumer added, “If I were you, I wouldn’t run, and I’m urging you not to run.” Democrats spent years dismissing concerns over Mr. Biden’s age and mental fitness for the presidency, and ultimately spearheaded the effort to pressure him into stepping aside. Amusingly, the story makes clear that Schumer’s concern wasn’t over Biden’s ability to do the job.

For months, Mr. Schumer had been concerned that Mr. Biden was going to lose to Mr. Trump and cost Democrats Congress. It wasn’t that he thought Mr. Biden was not capable of the job. During their weekly conversations, the president often rambled, but he had always rambled. Once in a while, Mr. Biden would forget why he had called, but Mr. Schumer thought little of it. He was convinced that Mr. Biden could handle the job. According to the story, Republican attacks about Biden being old and senile were just too much to overcome—even though the mainstream media was rabidly pushing the Democratic Party line.

“Long before the president’s disastrous debate performance, Mr. Schumer had privately concluded that the barrier of Mr. Biden’s age was too much for him to overcome,” the report says. The debate wound up being “a gift” in the eyes of Chuck Schumer, because it became “a forcing mechanism to start an overdue discussion about the president’s political viability.” As concerns mounted over President Biden’s ability to continue his campaign, Biden continued to refuse to step aside, sending a defiant letter on July 8 declaring his intention to stay in the race, angering congressional Democrats. At a tense July 11 meeting, frustrated senators demanded proof of Biden’s fitness, with some warning their silence would soon end.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island told Mr. Biden’s aides that the silence from the majority of Democratic senators should not be interpreted as a sign of support. It was out of respect and affection to allow Mr. Biden time to gracefully exit the race, but it would not last forever, he said, because if they continued to vouch for his fitness, they would be “lying.”. As support from the caucus was crumbling, Schumer ultimately was the one who went to Biden’s beach house to “deliver his own blunt message.” Mr. Schumer said if he had even a 50 percent chance of winning, he would probably keep going. “Fifty-fifty, to do this, to stay here; it’s worth it,” he said. “But, Mr. President, you’re not getting the information as to what the chances are.”

When he asked whether Mr. Biden had talked to his pollsters about his chances of winning the race, the president shook his head. “Well, I have talked to them,” Mr. Schumer said. “My guess is you have about a 5 percent chance. None of your pollsters disagree with me.” Only twice did Mr. Biden interrupt to ask a question, and both times it was: “Do you really think Kamala can win?” Mr. Schumer said that he didn’t know, but that she had a far better chance than Mr. Biden did. (Mr. Biden has since made it clear that he disagrees. In an interview with USA Today, the president said of whether he could have defeated Mr. Trump: “It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes.”) […] At the time, Mr. Biden revealed little of his own thinking, but he did not argue, and he did not shout. “I need a week,” was all he said.

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“..what passes for “Western democracy.”

• The Man Who Probably Will Not Be Allowed To Lead Romania (Karganovic)

Calin Georgescu rightfully has a huge grievance against what passes for “Western democracy.” He is the clear first-round winner in the Presidential elections held in Romania late last year. Yet his projected even more resounding victory in the second round, scheduled for early December 2024, was scrapped (as the BBC indelicately put it) following a Romanian Supreme Court ruling that the electoral process was marred by alleged hybrid warfare interference conducted by Russia on Georgescu’s behalf.

How do you “scrap” elections in a vibrant democracy such as Romania, which also happens to be a member in good standing of NATO and the European Union, which are bastions of liberal freedoms and the rule of law? Well, you do it by making up a bogus dossier on the political candidate that you dislike and by ordering the local judiciary to act on it as if it were genuine evidence. The dossier purporting to document the alleged interference was so patently phony that at its first sitting to consider the matter the Romanian Supreme Court dismissed it out of hand. This show of integrity did not sit well at all with the paladins of the rules-based order. So they ordered the judges to reassemble forthwith in their chambers and to get it right this time. On 6 December the distinguished Romanian jurists did just that and obediently reversed their ruling issued just four days previously.

Citing Article 146 (f) of the Romanian Constitution concerning the legality and correctness of the presidential elections, the Court ordered that the “entire electoral process will be integrally redone.” So the result of the first round was duly “scrapped” and along with it the second round as well. The second round, which was in progress as the judges hurriedly improvised their new ruling, was stopped in its tracks. As even the Atlantic Council, no friend of elections which go the wrong way, was compelled to admit “the rollout of the decision was somewhat fumbled, as it became public while polling stations were already open for the [Romanian] diaspora in the second-round presidential election, and by the time the process was stopped, around 53,000 citizens abroad had already voted.” Scrapped just in time, because the Romanian diaspora was known to be a hotbed of Georgescu supporters.

The Presidential election was set by the judges for an unspecified date in the future. Some rumours suggest that it might be in May of this year, or whenever it is that the stage can be prepared to ensure the right outcome. In the meantime, Klaus Iohannis, who should have relinquished his post in December to his successor, is now as legally “expired” as his Ukrainian colleague Zelensky. But that does not seem to bother any of the vociferous champions of the democratic process. Iohannis after all is their man. The Romanian public, however, do not seem to take kindly to electoral interference by the compliant judges and their string-pullers, who are widely suspected of being located abroad but not in Russia. Thousands have been marching in the streets of Bucharest and other major cities to oppose the cancellation of the elections.

How much good it will do them in a country that has embraced the principles of Western democracy remains to be seen. The protagonist of this political earthquake who was not permitted to democratically establish his credentials as the new President of Romania, Calin Georgescu, ever since his first-round triumph has been subjected to the full measure of calumny that is reserved for those whom the globalist system perceives as a non-team-player and a threat. The hope was evidently that he would be successfully discredited and simply fade away, allowing the charade of “democratic elections” with a prearranged outcome to be repeated whenever it is judged safe to do so.

Expectedly, the Georgescu affair with its scandalous implications has been largely ignored by the collective West media, except for a few derogatory observations here and there at the banned candidate’s expense. The Georgescu story might have died a quiet death but for the professionalism of American podcaster Shawn Ryan, who decided to perform a public service by travelling to Romania to find out first-hand what the electoral commotion was all about. The result was a remarkable interview with the man who by all reasonable estimates should be sitting today in the Presidential office in Bucharest. It is worth viewing carefully and in its entirety for the insights it affords into the sombre times in which we happen to live.

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Suspend them, but not Fauci? How does that work?

• US Suspends EcoHealth Alliance, Peter Daszak (ZH)

EcoHealth Alliance, the nonprofit that Dr. Anthony Fauci used to offshore risky gain-of-function research 6 months before the Obama administration banned it, has finally been cut off by the US Government – along with its former president, Peter Daszak, for a period of five years following scrutiny over its work in Wuhan, China ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision by the Department of Health and Human Services was based on findings by the House Oversight Committee, which announced on Friday that EcoHealth and Daszak had been disbarred. “Justice for the American people was served today,” said Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) in a statement.

“Bad actor EcoHealth Alliance and its corrupt former President, Dr. Peter Daszak, were formally debarred by HHS for using taxpayer funds to facilitate dangerous gain-of-function research in China. Today’s decision is not only a victory for the U.S. taxpayer, but also for American national security and the safety of citizens worldwide.” EcoHealth funding had been suspended in May by HHS, which recommended a permanent ban on funding the nonprofit. “Given that a lab-related incident involving gain-of-function research is the most likely origin of COVID-19, EcoHealth and its former President should never again receive a single cent from the U.S. taxpayer,” Comer continued. As journalist Paul Thacker noted in June, the NIH lied about EcoHealth’s gain-of-function research, feeding lies to reporters, while lying to Congress.

Meanwhile, former NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci ‘prompted’ the fabrication of a paper by a cadre of scientists aimed at disproving the Covid-19 lab-leak theory. According to US Right to Know, emails obtained in 2020 revealed that a statement in The Lancet authored by 27 prominent public health scientists condemning “conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin” was organized by employees of EcoHealth Alliance, a non-profit group that has received millions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer funding to genetically manipulate coronaviruses with scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The emails obtained via public records requests show that EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak drafted the Lancet statement, and that he intended it to “not be identifiable as coming from any one organization or person” but rather to be seen as “simply a letter from leading scientists”.

To review; The US was doing risky gain-of-function research on US soil until 2014, when the Obama administration banned it. Four months before the ban, Dr. Fauci offshored it to Wuhan, China through New York nonprofit, EcoHealth Alliance. After Sars-CoV-2 broke out down the street from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Fauci engaged in a massive campaign to deny the possibility of a lab-leak from the lab he funded, and instead pin the blame on a yet-to-be discovered zoonotic intermediary species.

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Clock
https://twitter.com/i/status/1880287757505032366

 

 

Clean

 

 

Tree

 

 

Real love
https://twitter.com/i/status/1880380928050213339

 

 

Shaolin
https://twitter.com/i/status/1880282013938380849

 

 

Remora
https://twitter.com/i/status/1880158153200865331

 

 

Frens

 

 

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Debt Rattle January 18 2025

Jan 182025
 
 January 18, 2025  Posted by at 10:25 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  39 Responses »


Alfred Eisenstaedt The kiss (V-J Day in Times Square) 1945

 

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• Some State Governors Order Flags Up For Trump Inauguration (JTN)
• Trump Holds ‘Very Good’ Call With Xi (RT)
• Trump Teases TikTok Decision (RT)
• Greenland Responds To Trump’s Acquisition Proposal (RT)
• Greenlandic Lawmaker Reveals Five Possible Options in Status Referendum (Sp.)
• Trump Must Not Flunk His Litmus Test (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Can the US Justice System Be Reformed to Serve Justice? (Paul Craig Roberts)
• EU Faces Up To €1 Trillion Loss For Cutting Russian Gas (RT)
• EU’s Kallas Rules Out Lifting Russia Sanctions (RT)
• Biden Commutes Sentences for Nearly 2,500 Non-Violent Drug Offenders (ET)
• Biden Considered Pardoning Trump – NBC (RT)
• Joe Biden: An Assessment (Jim Kunstler)
• Pakistan’s Imran Khan Sentenced To 14 Years In Prison (ZH)

 

 

President Donald Trump will become the first president since Ronald Reagan in 1985 to be sworn in indoors, breaking from the traditional outdoor inaugural ceremony. Reagan’s second inauguration was moved to the Capitol Rotunda due to brutal weather conditions, with temperatures dropping to 7°F and a windchill of -25°F.

Similarly, President Trump announced on Friday that his inauguration would take place indoors at the Capitol Rotunda, citing forecasts of severe winter weather. Temperatures in Washington, D.C., are expected to hover in the upper 20s on Monday, accompanied by ferocious winds that could make outdoor conditions unsafe for attendees. The indoor ceremony will include Trump’s inaugural address, along with prayers and speeches, offering a more controlled and comfortable setting amid the harsh weather.

 

 

Pam

Kristi

Self deportation

Mike Davis
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879971078707216691

Tucker Sean Davis

Watters LA

Sachs Biden

 

 

 

 

The big “inflection point” in the Gaza talks came last week, Jan 10, when Trump, on Truth Social, without any comment, posted a video of Jeffrey Sachs labeling Netanyahu a “deep, dark son of a bitch”. That’s how Trump let Bibi know.

• ‘Obstacles’ To Ceasefire With Israel Removed – Hamas (RT)

Hamas and Israel have been able to remove the roadblocks to the comprehensive ceasefire deal reached earlier this week, the Palestinian group has said. In a statement on Friday, Hamas said that “the obstacles that arose due to the occupation’s failure to abide by the terms of the ceasefire agreement were resolved at dawn today.” It did not elaborate on the nature of the hurdles, but noted that “the movement sought a national exchange deal from all factions and members of our people.” The group added that it became possible thanks to “generous efforts of the mediators.” While it did not name the countries, Qatar and Egypt have been particularly deeply involved in facilitating the peace process. The group also noted it would soon publish the lists of Palestinian prisoners to be freed as part of the first phase of the exchange deal.

On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire in a bid to end their 15-month conflict in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of over 1,100 Israelis and 46,000 Palestinians.The deal, which was mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US, is split into three phases. During the first phase, which is to last 42 days, Hamas expected to release 33 hostages, including children, female soldiers, wounded and sick, in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinians. The latter stages, which have not yet been worked out in detail, will presumably see the release of the remaining hostages and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, according to US President Joe Biden. Following the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of backtracking on parts of the agreement and trying to “extort last-minute concessions.” Hamas has stressed it remains committed for the deal while accusing West Jerusalem of launching an attack on “a place where one of the female prisoners of the first stage of the ceasefire deal was located.”

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Trump selected a real estate man, like himself, for this task. Because in his view they are the best negotiators.

• Steve Witkoff: The Real Estate Investor Who Sealed The Gaza Ceasefire (MEE)

On Saturday, Gaza ceasefire talks were down to the wire, and President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy wanted to hash out the deal once and for all with Benjamin Netanyahu, but the Israeli leader’s office said he could not be roused during Shabbat. Steve Witkoff allegedly gave a “salty” reply, making it clear he didn’t care if it was the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest. In the words of one report from Haaretz, Witkoff said Trump expected Israel to agree to the ceasefire, and “things that Netanyahu had termed life-and-death issues…suddenly vanished”. So, who is Witkoff, Trump’s new man in the Middle East?

Witkoff is a Republican and a billionaire Jewish-American real estate developer. His soft, slightly nasally voice masks his reputation as a hard-charging negotiator who developed the nerve for leveraged loans as a teenager betting at the racetrack. When he was starting off in the cut-throat world of New York City real estate in the 1990s, he wore a handgun strapped to his ankle, according to a Wall Street Journal expose from the time. Witkoff has been praised for pushing the ceasefire across the finish line. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani credited him in a speech announcing the deal on Wednesday, albeit one usurped by Trump’s earlier proclamation that an “EPIC” ceasefire had been reached. It is important to note that Witkoff was mentioned before the sitting Biden administration’s envoy, Brett McGurk.

The New Yorker turned south Floridian has no official training as a diplomat and his appointment epitomises Trump’s disdain for traditional bureaucrats and policy wonks, who are steeped in area expertise and boast graduate degrees in international relations but lack private sector experience. “We have people that know everything about the Middle East, but they can’t speak properly…he is a great negotiator,” Trump said at a press conference in January, praising his friend. There, Trump reiterated his now infamous pledge that “all hell will break out” in the Middle East if the hostages held in Gaza were not freed by the time he takes office on 20 January. “You know what that means, do I have to define it for you,” he barked at a journalist, who pressed for details.

[..] Witkoff doesn’t speak much in public, but when he does, he is measured and deliberate. Appearing on Fox News in January, he said Trump’s “strong stance, his certitude in asserting that ‘all hell would break loose’ is moving people”, when asked about the ceasefire talks. He added: “They (the hostages) are living in terrible conditions, and it’s time for everybody to come back.” His remark that “There will be plenty of Palestinians who will be released as a result of this and they will go home to their families,” did not elicit a response from Fox News host Sean Hannity. With Trump saying he will use the hostage deal to expand the 2020 Abraham Accord agreements, Witkoff is likely set to delve deeper into the world of Gulf politics and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

He has also said he wants to solve tensions with Iran over a nuclear weapon “diplomatically…if people are willing to adhere to their agreements”, but, ever the negotiator, he did not show too much of his hand: “We are not going to have a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.”

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Bit of a shame.

• Trump Inauguration Forced Indoors (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he will give his inauguration speech inside the Capitol, citing the extremely cold weather that could be dangerous to his supporters and security personnel alike. US presidents traditionally take their oath of office outside the Capitol, with a crowd of onlookers stretching down the National Mall. “January 20th cannot come fast enough!” Trump said on Friday in a post on his Truth Social platform. “It is my obligation to protect the People of our Country but, before we even begin, we have to think of the Inauguration itself.” Trump cited the “Arctic blast” sweeping the US and the weather forecast for Monday in Washington calling for “severe record lows” with wind chill, to argue that this would create dangerous conditions for “hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours,” as well as police and their service dogs and horses.

With that in mind, the president-elect said, the inauguration address, prayers and other speeches will be delivered inside the Capitol Rotunda, just as President Ronald Reagan did in 1985, also because of the cold. “This will be a very beautiful experience for all, and especially for the large TV audience!” Trump said in the social media post. “In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly!” he added. The ceremony will be broadcast live from the nearby Capital One Arena, the basketball and hockey venue about six streets away. The venue has already been reserved for Trump’s Victory Rally on Sunday afternoon, and he said he intends to join the crowd there on Monday, after he takes the oath of office. “Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and we will, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” the president-elected said.

For much of US history, presidents who won the election in early November would have to wait until March 4 of the following year to be sworn in. The 20th Amendment, enacted in 1933, moved the inauguration date to January 20. The ceremony is traditionally attended by members of Congress, justices of the US Supreme Court, and former presidents and their spouses, along with foreign ambassadors and any special guests invited by the new US leader. A number of Americans who receive special tickets through their members of Congress are allowed to enter the designated area of the Capitol grounds to observe the inauguration, while the general public can congregate at the National Mall, where the ceremony is usually broadcast on large screens. President Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration was carried out with tens of thousands of National Guard troops around the Capitol and no members of the public allowed, as the incoming administration claimed there was a risk of an “insurrection” due to a riot by Trump supporters at the same location two weeks prior.

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“..nuclear irregularities..”

• Authorities Preparing For “Worst Case Scenarios” Ahead of Trump Inauguration (MN)

Authorities in Washington DC are scanning for “nuclear irregularities” while the Secret Service preps for “worst case scenarios” as security preparations kick into high gear ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. Trump will be sworn in for his second term in office on Monday, January 20th. A report by CBS News reveals how Department of Energy helicopters are flying in grid patterns around the city from only 150 feet in the air in order to “scan for radiological or nuclear irregularities.” Officials are attempting to map a “blueprint” of normal radiation readings over Washington in order to detect anything unusual like potential dirty bombs. Any slight variation in readings sets off an alarm which is then investigated by the pilots. The U.S. Secret Service, which has faced criticism for its previous lax security measures around Trump, is also roleplaying “worst case scenarios” that could interrupt the inauguration process.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1880078644644855900

According to Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Thomas, security measures for Trump’s inauguration will eclipse anything previously seen. This includes the presence of 25,000 law enforcement officers and military personnel, including 7,800 National Guard soldiers. 30 miles of ‘anti-scale’ fencing around the site of the inauguration will also provide a “ring of steel” to protect the event and its 250,000 attendees. More than 25 Coast Guard vessels are also in position to patrol the area. During last month’s concern over mystery drones seen flying around the United States, one theory was that the drones were being flown by the U.S. Military to scan for missing nuclear material. Trump continues to face a heightened threat after facing three assassination attempts over the last 6 months, with some of his supporters urging him to not even attend the inauguration in person.

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How many half-staffs will be left by Monday?

• Some State Governors Order Flags Up For Trump Inauguration (JTN)

Governors in multiple states plan to raise U.S. flags at state facilities for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. President Joe Biden ordered flags flown at half-mast nationwide after former President Jimmy Carter’s death on Dec. 29. The traditional 30-day mourning period will overlap with Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump said he wants flags flying high for his return to the White House. In addition to some governors, House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered that flags at the U.S. Capitol fly at full-staff for Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Most of the governors raising flags are Republicans, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a prominent Democrat, has joined in with an order for his state to raise flags for the inauguration, according to a Fox News report.

Biden was asked if he would raise the flags for his rival’s inauguration, but his press secretary said last week that Biden had no plans to do so. Idaho Gov. Brad Little ordered U.S. and Idaho flags at half-mast after Carter’s death, but said flags should go back to the top of the pole from sunrise to sunset on Jan. 20 for Trump’s inauguration. North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong also directed the U.S. and North Dakota flags to be flown at full staff on Jan. 20 at the North Dakota Capitol and all state buildings in celebration of the inauguration. Armstrong said the state should honor both men. “The inauguration of a U.S. president is a time to celebrate, and the Stars and Stripes should fly high as a symbol of freedom and democracy on such a momentous day for our nation,” Armstrong said.

“We will continue to honor the life and legacy of President Carter, as we should, by returning flags to half-staff on Jan. 21 as a mark of respect and reverence.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was on the receiving end of Trump’s mockery for more than a year during his presidential run, said his state also can honor both presidents. In a memo, DeSantis called it a “unique occasion, where we simultaneously celebrate the service of an incoming president and commend the service of a former president.”

Alabama will also raise flags for the inauguration. Gov. Kay Ivey ordered flags returned to full staff “on the grounds of the Alabama State Capitol Complex in Montgomery and at state buildings throughout Alabama” on Jan. 20. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have issued similar flag proclamations for Trump’s big day. Trump previously criticized Biden’s flag decision and the Democrats who support it. “The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in a recent post. “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.”

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“President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!”

• Trump Holds ‘Very Good’ Call With Xi (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping by phone. According to Trump, the two leaders discussed trade, fentanyl, and the impending sale or shutdown of TikTok. “I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday, adding that “the call was a very good one for both China and the USA.” “It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects,” Trump continued. “President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!” Chinese state media confirmed that the call had taken place, but provided no further details.

Trump and Xi have not spoken since the end of Trump’s first term in 2021. Relations between Washington and Beijing were strained during the president-elect’s first stint in the White House, with the US sanctioning Chinese tech giant Huawei and sparking a trade war by setting tariffs on Chinese imports. Trump has also accused China of failing to crack down on the export of fentanyl – a deadly synthetic opioid – to the US, and has vowed to levy an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese imports until Beijing “follows through” on punishing fentanyl dealers and manufacturers. The call took place two days before TikTok is set to go dark for millions of American users. Legislation signed by President Joe Biden last year requires ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest from its US operations by January 19, 2025, or be blocked from US internet infrastructure and app stores.

The US Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling on TikTok’s appeal against the law, while Trump – who credits the app with helping him win the youth vote in November – is reportedly mulling an executive order to delay the enforcement of the ban. Despite Trump’s multiple grievances with Beijing, the incoming president has repeatedly boasted of his “special relationship” with Xi. Trump invited Xi to his inauguration, and while the Chinese president will not attend Monday’s ceremony, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that Vice President Han Zheng will travel to Washington to watch Trump be sworn in. “We stand ready to work with the new US government to enhance dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly pursue a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relations and find the right way for the two countries to get along with each other,” a ministry spokesperson said.

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It doesn’t appear as urgent as some suggest.

“My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!”

• Trump Teases TikTok Decision (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has said that he will make a decision on whether to enforce a ban on TikTok in the country “in the not too distant future,” after the Supreme Court upheld a law blocking the app, should its Chinese parent company not sell to an American firm by Sunday. In a decision announced on Friday, the court’s nine justices all agreed that Congress did not violate the US Constitution’s protection of free speech when it ordered the sale of the app last year. “There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement and source of community. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary,” the court said, referring to a presumed threat from China.

While enforcement of the ban will fall on the last full day of President Joe Biden’s term in office, a White House official told multiple US media outlets on Friday that the decision would be left to Trump, who will be inaugurated on Monday. “The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday. “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” Trump – who credits the app with helping him win the youth vote in November – is mulling an executive order to delay the ban coming into effect, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

During his first term, Trump attempted to ban TikTok, citing national security risks due to its Chinese ownership. However, during his recent presidential campaign he changed his mind, stating: “For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump. The other side is closing it up, but I’m now a big star on TikTok.” TikTok has repeatedly denied allegations that it shares user data with the Chinese government. Commenting on existing TikTok bans for government employees in the US, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has accused the US of “abusing state power to suppress foreign companies.” Trump reportedly met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last month. Shou will attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, as will Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

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“But we want to… be clear. We don’t want to be Americans. We don’t want to be a part of the US..”

Says who? Go ask them. After Trump makes his offer.

• Greenland Responds To Trump’s Acquisition Proposal (RT)

Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede has rejected Donald Trump’s proposal to buy the Arctic island, asserting that Greenlanders do not want to be Americans. However, the Danish autonomous territory will always remain “a strong partner” of the US, he added. In an interview with FOX News on Thursday, Egede addressed Trump’s renewed interest in “acquiring” Greenland from Denmark, citing national security concerns. “We are close neighbors, we have been cooperating in the last 80 years, and I think in the future we have a lot to offer to cooperate with,” Egede said, insisting that Greenland would always be a part of NATO and “a strong partner of the US.” “But we want to… be clear. We don’t want to be Americans. We don’t want to be a part of the US,” the prime minister emphasized.

He said islanders “do not want to be Danes” either. “We want to be Greenlanders,” he added. Trump had initially suggested buying Greenland from Denmark in 2019 during his first presidential term, but the ambitious plan fell short at the time due to strong opposition from the authorities both in Copenhagen and in the autonomous territory. Earlier this month, speaking at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, the president-elect refused to rule out using economic measures or military action to achieve this goal.Officials in Denmark have also rejected the possibility of selling the island. “Greenland is not for sale and will not be in the future either,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said earlier this month.

The Arctic island, which has a population of around 57,000, hosts the US Pituffik Space Base, which plays a significant role in NATO defenses due to its strategic location. Greenland became an autonomous territory of Denmark in 1979 after 70.1% of voters supported the Home Rule Act. The island – which has its own government while Denmark retains control over foreign affairs and defense – has been gradually seeking more sovereignty. A 2019 poll suggested that nearly 68% of Greenlanders supported independence from Denmark within the next two decades.

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Denmark has not been treating Greenland well. A referendum will reflect that. Plus, Trump will present a very good offer.

• Greenlandic Lawmaker Reveals Five Possible Options in Status Referendum (Sp.)

Greenland has captivated the world’s attention amid Donald Trump’s remarks about acquiring the island, and statements by authorities in Nuuk and Copenhagen that Greenland is “not for sale.” Sputnik reached out to a top pro-sovereignty MP in Prime Minister Mute Egede’s coalition to learn more about what Greenland wants, and how it plans to get it. Denmark “de facto annexed Greenland in 1951” and lied to Brussels about the existence of the island’s Inuit peoples, and it will be up to Greenlanders to choose their future in a referendum with up to five possible options, Kuno Fencker, a pro-independence Siumut Party lawmaker in Prime Minister Egede’s ruling coalition government, told Sputnik. The options are: keeping the status quo, new commonwealth status with Denmark, or a free association arrangement with Copenhagen, Washington, or both, Fencker, a member of the Greenland parliament’s Foreign and Security Policy Committee, explained.

Greenland is “absolutely are aware that we can’t be fully independent,” Fencker said. “We are looking positively in regards to how can we become a sovereign state that can cooperate with other states,” he noted, emphasizing that in today’s world, even Denmark itself isn’t independent from the political, economic and defense institutions it’s engaged in. The current relationship with Denmark doesn’t suit Greenlanders, Fencker stressed, pointing out that Trump’s recent threats to use tariffs to pressure Copenhagen into submission on the question of Greenland “is actually not that much different [from] from what Denmark is doing to us.” Specifically, “every time we want independence or statehood, they will fearmonger us in regard to taking away the block [grant] right for Greenland and our right to education and healthcare in Denmark.”

Greenland “has always been an important geopolitical factor, and it’s always been important” to the US with its Pituffik Space Base in the island’s northwest, Fencker said. “With the melting ice of Greenland, we absolutely are aware” that the US will seek to shore up its military and intelligence capabilities. An independent Greenland will therefore “require payment for any military presence in Greenland,” the lawmaker said. Ultimately, Greenland’s “value” in relations with partners “is not something you can put money on, but we are absolutely open for business and open for negotiations on how we as a sovereign state can cooperate with the other states on equal terms,” Fencker emphasized. “We are rising up here in Greenland again and we want our right to external self-determination…We want to become a sovereign state, which is non-negotiable, which you can also say [means] we are not for sale.” the lawmaker summed up.

President-elect Trump’s talk of acquiring Greenland from Denmark has reignited pro-independence passions on the island ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for April. Polling in 2016 and 2019 found that up to two thirds of Greenlanders support independence, although a 2017 survey found that the majority is not ready to sacrifice living standards for the sake of independence. The question of whether Copenhagen gets more back from Greenland than it pays in the form of subsidies has been hotly debated. Despite being ruled by Denmark from the early 18th century, Greenland’s living standards and quality of life measures remain significantly lower than those of Denmark, with the island suffering higher unemployment, higher poverty levels, and average lifespan that’s nearly 8 years shorter.

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Trump will make sure it gets done on a case by case basis.

• Trump Must Not Flunk His Litmus Test (Paul Craig Roberts)

Trump’s litmus test awaits him on the Oval Office desk. The litmus test is the pardon for every one of the wrongly indicted and wrongly prosecuted January 6 Trump supporters–which means all of them–who attended the rally and were persecuted for doing so. If Trump fails to immediately issue a full and unconditional pardon to all, he will lose the support of MAGA Americans. If Trump waits, the Establishment will erode the prospects of pardons. “Don’t embarrass Justice Department prosecutors and create an unwelcome environment for the new Attorney General.” “Let bygones be bygones.” “Let sleeping dogs lie.” Crises will appear. More urgent topics will pile on top of the pardons.

To help Trump stand by his supporters, Gary Heavin is working with American Patriot Relief, a 501(c)4 foundation and has marshaled private jet airplanes to return to their homes the pardoned from prisons located at great distances from their homes. Volunteers will be waiting outside 75 prisons in 35 states to deliver the J6 patriots to their homes. In cases where imprisonment caused the loss of their homes, housing will be provided until they are back on their feet. Some have suffered so severely at the hands of the most evil regime in American history that permanent care might be needed. The project will work with other January 6 support groups such as J6 Pardon Project, American Gulag Chronicles, Stophate, J6 A Road Home, Stand In The Gap, Patriot Mail Project, Condemned USA. Gary Heavin describes the support efforts that are in place in yesterday’s appearance on Ron Paul’s program.

All of us can be part of this historic event of overturning government injustice by donating here: http://givesendgo.com/FREEDOMSAMBASSADOR. This is not a political fundraiser. All funds go to the aid of the persecuted J6 Americans. In my view, full pardon for all is just one-third of what needs to be done. Another one-third is restitution for all expenses, lost income, and stress from being wrongly prosecuted and locked away from family, friends, and career in prison. In some cases the vile Democrats imprisoned the wrongly convicted great distances from their communities, thus depriving them of support from visits from family and friends. Some were kept in solidary confinement. Others were tortured. There is some concern that prison officials will have “misplaced” some of the wrongly convicted in order to hold on to them longer while they look for where they relocated them with confusing transfers. The vileness of Democrats has no limit.

The remaining one-third is actually the most important one-third. The DOJ, FBI, and White House officials responsible for the indictments, prosecutions, and imprisonments must be indicted, prosecuted and sentenced. By weaponizing law for propaganda and political purposes and by using false indictments for the purpose of suppressing the powerful evidence of massive vote fraud in the 2020 presidential election, high law enforcement officials committed felonies. They must be held accountable for their crimes. Otherwise, legal precedents are created that are fateful for democracy, the rule of law, and accountable government. Once precedents are established that high officials have immunity for using law not to enforce justice but to create injustice, the rule of law and accountable government cease to exist. How can Trump permit the government officials who intentionally framed innocent people for political and propaganda purposes to walk away unpunished?

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“Faced with the risks of a trial at the hands of Democrats and the cost of attorneys, most of the falsely accused self-incriminated.”

• Can the US Justice System Be Reformed to Serve Justice? (Paul Craig Roberts)

The Biden regime is the most corrupt regime in American history, and Biden knows it. That is why he talks of large numbers of “preemptive pardons.” A preemptive pardon is an invention of the Biden regime. No such thing exists in US law. Its purpose is to preempt indictment for a crime. That Biden is considering preemptive pardons means that Biden knows his officials committed crimes, and he wants to protect them from being held accountable for their crimes. Remember the vile and corrupt way the majority of the J6 convictions were obtained. Of course, it was with politicized Democrat jurors, politicized Democrat prosecutors, and politicized Democrat judges in Democrat jurisdictions who understood that they were serving their party’s political propaganda and not justice.

But I am speaking of the methods. The privacy of American citizens was violated in order to ascertain who attended the rally. Once a victim was chosen, a rigged indictment was brought. Prosecutors made it clear to the victim and attorney that contesting the charges in court with a trial would result in an add-on charge that carries a long prison sentence, whereas if they agreed to self-incrimination with a plea deal, prison time would be waived or greatly reduced. All the Democrats wanted was a bunch of “convictions” to support the propaganda of insurrection. Faced with the risks of a trial at the hands of Democrats and the cost of attorneys, most of the falsely accused self-incriminated. This abuse of law and defendants has become the main avenue of conviction in America today.

Only about 3% of the convicted are convicted by a jury of their peers. 97% are convicted by self-incrimination to avoid the risks and expense of a court trial. Consequently, the evidence against the defendant is never tested in court. The police and prosecutors can make up whatever charge they wish as they know the defendant will not have his day in court. In most cases the defendant will admit to a different crime than the one he is indicted under, neither one of which will actually have been committed. Plea bargains save the prosecutor’s and judge’s time, maximize the prosecutor’s conviction rate which he uses for reelection or to move into higher office, and reduces prison time and cost for the defendant. As I demonstrated in my book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions, the American “justice system” is corrupt and desperately requires reform.

The reform of this corrupt system would be far more important to the American people than Washington helping Israel achieve Greater Israel or the enhancement of the military/security complex’s power and profits with wars wherever Washington can invent an excuse. The American government is far removed from the interests of the American people. Perhaps Trump will take a first step with an immediate full pardon of all J6 American patriots. Making America Great Again does not mean expansion of the empire into Canada, Greenland, and Panama. It means the restoration of justice in the legal system and the restoration of respect for the truth. Without truth and justice, neither of which exists in today’s America, America cannot be made great again.

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Suicide in all its glory.

• EU Faces Up To €1 Trillion Loss For Cutting Russian Gas (RT)

The loss of Russian gas could cost the EU over €1 trillion ($1 trillion), according to Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). Speaking at the Future Minerals Forum in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, Dmitriev said the EU’s economic growth had slowed significantly since halting Russian gas imports, while Russia’s economy continues to demonstrate resilience. Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the EU prioritized reducing its reliance on Russian energy. Some members voluntarily stopped importing Russian gas, while others, such as Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Italy, continued gas imports from the country. However, these flows ceased earlier this month after Kiev refused to renew its gas transit deal with Moscow.

“Europe is suffering from not receiving Russian gas, with expected losses of more than €1 trillion,” Dmitriev stated. He previously attributed these losses to the high cost of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which the EU has imported in greater quantities to replace Russian supplies. Dmitriev added that neither losing the EU as a gas buyer, nor sanctions aimed at destabilizing the Russian economy, have had a significant effect on it, while the EU has borne the brunt of the economic fallout. “The Russian economy is in good shape, with growth expected at 4% by the end of 2024, while Europe showed 1% or less.

If one looks at the overall attempts to limit the Russian economy, 4% growth does not look so bad,” he said. The RDIF chief projected a potential slowdown in Russia’s growth to 2-2.5% next year but stressed that the outcome would depend on the central bank’s monetary policies, which he described as “critical for the continued growth of the Russian economy.” Despite extensive international sanctions placed on Russia in connection with the Ukraine conflict over the past three years, the country’s economy has adapted effectively, according to many observers.

The IMF recently raised its 2024 growth forecast for Russia to 3.6%. In contrast, the body downgraded its growth outlook for the euro area to 0.8%. The EU, meanwhile, has been facing sluggish economic growth and energy challenges. The loss of Russian gas has forced member states to turn to more expensive alternative energy sources, and the shift has driven up costs for businesses and households, strained manufacturing sectors, and fueled inflation. The European Commission recently reduced its 2025 growth projection for the Eurozone to 1.3%. Germany, the bloc’s largest economy, recorded its second consecutive year of contraction in 2024, a first in over two decades, the federal statistics office Destatis revealed earlier this week.

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I kid you not: Euroclear, where most Russian assets are held hostage, is located in Belgium. Now EU geniuses have found an 80-year old WWII decree that the Belgian king can evoke to block transfers of any assets out of the country.

• EU’s Kallas Rules Out Lifting Russia Sanctions (RT)

There is no reason for the EU to drop its sanction “leverage” against Russia, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said as Hungary’s potential veto looms over their extension. Brussels has imposed 15 rounds of restrictive measures against Moscow since the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022. Extending the sanctions past January 31, however, requires a unanimous vote by all EU member states. “We definitely need the sanctions in place. This is our leverage, and it would be very strange to give it away,” Kallas told reporters on Friday. “Things haven’t changed. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin hasn’t changed his goals and nothing has changed on the ground. So there is no basis for lifting the sanctions,” she added.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has refused to commit to extending the sanctions until he can discuss them with US President-elect Donald Trump, who is scheduled to be sworn in on Monday. In his weekly interview with Hungary’s Kossuth Radio on Friday, Orban argued that the EU needs to adapt to the fact that “a new era is beginning” with Trump coming back to the White House. “It is time to throw the sanctions out of the window and establish a system of sanctions-free relations with Russia,” he said. “That is a long way off, but we have to work on it.”

At the moment, however, “the signs coming from Brussels are not encouraging,” Orban added. Trump initially vowed to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict as soon as he takes office, but recent comments from his team have indicated a longer time frame. “Whatever the negotiations then we will be in a much weaker position” if the sanctions are lifted, Kallas argued. “I also don’t think that it’s in the interest of the US to give up the sanctions now.” The outgoing administration of President Joe Biden has tried to “Trump-proof” the sanctions by moving some of the targeted persons and entities from a blacklist declared by the executive branch to one enacted by Congress, with the goal of making them much harder to lift.

Kallas was the prime minister of Estonia before she was tapped to head the EU’s foreign policy division last fall. Along with the other two Baltic states and Poland, she took a hard line on Russia and in support of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Orban has called for peace talks, refused to provide any weapons or ammunition to Kiev, or allow military supplies through Hungarian territory. EU leaders are concerned that if Hungary succeeds in letting the sanctions expire, Russia could recover almost €200 billion ($205 billion) in frozen central bank assets held by the Belgium-based Euroclear. The bloc is reportedly considering having the Belgian king invoke a 1944 decree to block any transfer of assets from the country, putting Belgium in legal jeopardy rather than the EU.

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In a country where some people serve multiple years for smoking a joint, maybe not that crazy.

• Biden Commutes Sentences for Nearly 2,500 Non-Violent Drug Offenders (ET)

President Joe Biden said on Jan. 17 that he is commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 individuals, marking the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The latest pardons are being granted to people who were convicted of non-violent drug offenses and who are serving “disproportionately long” sentences compared to those they would receive today under current law, policy, and practice, Biden said in a statement published by the White House.Biden pointed to two pieces of legislation: the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the disparity in sentences for crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses from a weight ratio of 100 to 1 to 18 to 1, and the First Step Act of 2018, aimed at reducing the size of the federal prison population while promoting rehabilitation.

The previous weight ratio of 100 to 1 meant that 5 grams of crack cocaine, for example, was treated as equivalent to 500 grams of powder cocaine for sentencing purposes. “Today’s clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes,” Biden said. “As Congress recognized through the Fair Sentencing Act and the First Step Act, it is time that we equalize these sentencing disparities,” Biden said. With this latest action, Biden has now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in U.S. history. “This action is an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families and communities after spending far too much time behind bars,” Biden said.

“I am proud of my record on clemency and will continue to review additional commutations and pardons.” In December 2024, Biden said he was pardoning 39 people and commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 others who had been convicted of nonviolent crimes such as drug offenses. The president said at the time that these commutation recipients were placed in home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and “have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance.”

In a separate statement, the White House said many of those impacted by December’s pardons and commutation were parents, veterans, health care professionals, teachers, advocates, and engaged members of their communities who had “used their experiences in the criminal justice system to inspire and encourage others.” Also in December, Biden announced he was commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on death row, reclassifying their penalty to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Biden has advocated for an end to the death penalty at the federal level in the United States except for limited cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder. When he first took office, he imposed a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department reviewed policies and procedures surrounding the practice.

He commuted 37 sentences, leaving three federal inmates facing execution: 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; Dylann Roof, who shot and killed nine people at a church in South Carolina in 2015; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018. Earlier in December, Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who had been criminally convicted and was facing sentencing in two separate cases involving tax evasion and illegal possession of a firearm. Biden is set to leave office on Jan. 20. His successor, President-elect Donald Trump, has vowed to expand executions for federal inmates in order to “protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters” and restore law and order.

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“According to NBC, he will leave office with “a nation divided, a party in tatters,” and Americans questioning his commitment to the rule of law..”

• Biden Considered Pardoning Trump – NBC (RT)

Outgoing US President Joe Biden reportedly thought about pardoning his successor, Donald Trump, before leaving office, NBC News has reported, citing a White House source. Trump faced a flurry of federal felony charges levied by Biden’s Department of Justice in the run-up to the 2024 election, which he described as political persecution intended to prevent him from returning to office. Biden “privately mused” about the idea of pardoning Trump after his victory in the 2024 election as “a magnanimous move,” NBC reported on Friday, citing a person “directly familiar” with his comments who wished to remain anonymous. However, a White House official said that “to our knowledge, this was not raised.” The federal cases against Trump had already become untenable after the US Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity in July.

Trump went on to win the popular vote and the Electoral College in November, sweeping all swing states to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden officially won the 2020 election with the most-ever votes in US history. Trump contested the vote, claiming rampant irregularities under the cover of the Covid-19 pandemic measures. Biden initially pledged to be a one-term president and pass the job on to Harris, but ultimately decided to run for reelection. Democrats pressured him to bow out of the campaign in July after Trump survived an attempt on his life. Biden eventually endorsed Harris to replace him. According to NBC, he will leave office with “a nation divided, a party in tatters,” and Americans questioning his commitment to the rule of law. On Friday, Biden commuted the sentences of 2,500 drug offenders, arguing they were serving “disproportionately long sentences” under current laws.

“I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in US history,” he said in a statement. Biden’s most controversial pardon was granted to his son, Hunter, convicted last year of breaking federal gun and tax laws. The pardon covered offenses which Hunter “has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024,” a period that extends far beyond the time the gun and tax offenses took place and encompasses Hunter’s time on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma. Citing a trove of emails and messages found on Hunter’s laptop in 2020, Republicans accused Hunter of selling access to his father, who was US vice president at the time.

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“Go back to Delaware and sit in the dim light of your room with the curtains drawn so you won’t have to hear about the gruesome discoveries to come of what you left behind.”

• Joe Biden: An Assessment (Jim Kunstler)

The four years of “Joe Biden’s” term-in-office that followed have induced the most severe disordering of the collective American mind in our history, lost in a fog of perfidious mendacity unmatched in scope by the Civil War, or any other national crisis. “Joe Biden’s” government went to war against the people of this land, at the same time it sold-out our vital national interests to the CCP, the WEF, the WHO, and other parties seeking our nation’s destruction. For years, we have been forced to swallow absurdities such as unsafe and ineffective vaccines, drag queens in the grade schools, borders wide-open to saboteurs (declared to be “secure”), and a stupid war against Russia that has destroyed the sad-sack nation of Ukraine.

“Joe Biden” has been a disaster and an embarrassment, easily the most damaging character to ever creep onto the US political scene. His one talent was for fakery. Even with sclerosis eating through his brain, he was able to go through the motions of faking it, reading his script off the teleprompter — though he was no longer up to casual questions in a news conference setting. The slime trail of crimes he leaves behind would be easy to follow by law enforcement officials actually interested in crime. He’s likely to pardon himself at the last moment, and pardon a long roster of federal officials who have committed crimes with and behind him. One way or another, they are going to be found out, even if many manage to evade prosecution. But at least we are going to learn a lot more about who was pulling “Joe’s” strings, and exactly what they did, and how — including the trick of making the news media hostage to their crimes.

So, adios, “Joe Biden,” you miserable, treasonous bastard. History will record you as the one president so far who was consciously a villain outright, in true self-knowledge of his own wickedness. You left your country a wreck in every dimension: in national security, national bankruptcy, national pride, and national confidence. Go back to Delaware and sit in the dim light of your room with the curtains drawn so you won’t have to hear about the gruesome discoveries to come of what you left behind. And when the day arrives for your funeral, be advised that it will not be much better than your campaign stop in Darby, PA, in June 2020, when you maundered pointlessly to a nearly empty room. . . before going out for ice cream with your secret service detail.

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I’ve said before that Khan’s case is quite a lot like Trump’s. Just more. There are 170 legal cases against Khan, vs ‘only’ 94 against Trump. Now people want Trump to help him, but it’s not clear what he could do. He can get him free, but Khan’s enemies won’t let him stay in the country and pursue politics again. And that is what he swears he will do: “I will neither make any deal nor seek any relief.”

• Pakistan’s Imran Khan Sentenced To 14 Years In Prison (ZH)

The unfortunate saga of Pakistani state persecution against former Prime Minister Imran Khan continues, as a Pakistani court on Friday sentenced Khan and this wife to 14 and seven years in prison after finding them guilty of corruption. He had already been held in jail for a couple years, despite many months of huge protests in various places by supporters demanding his release, after he and his wife were accused of accepting a gift of land from a real estate tycoon in exchange for laundered money, amid many additional pending graft investigations. Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party reject the allegations, and the former prime minister had pled non-guilty in the case. “Whilst we wait for a detailed decision, it’s important to note that the Al Qadir Trust case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi lacks any solid foundation and is bound to collapse,” PTI’s foreign media wing asserted in a statement.

PTI plans to challenge the verdict in higher courts, with Khan pledging after this conviction: “I will neither make any deal nor seek any relief.” Khan has meanwhile insisted that his arrest in 2023 was simply politically motivated, designed by his rivals and enemies to keep the popular politician from power. According to a review of the last couple years of turmoil which has gripped Pakistan over Khan’s fate: “While imprisoned, Khan has been facing dozens of cases ranging from charges of graft and misuse of power to inciting violence against the state after being removed from office in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022. He has either been acquitted or his sentences suspended in most cases, except for this one and another on charges of inciting supporters to rampage through military facilities to protest against his arrest on May 9, 2023. His supporters have led several violent protest rallies since the May 9 incidents.”


During Trump’s first term in office, via AFP

He’s gotten some international support and backing amid the saga, with a United Nations panel of exports having announced last year that his detention “had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office”. Importantly, Khan’s supporters are expressing hope that Trump will use his influence to free him. According to the NY Times on Friday: Supporters of Imran Khan, the imprisoned former prime minister, are now pinning their hopes on getting him freed — however fanciful — on the wild card among the three: the incoming administration of Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump has said nothing publicly to indicate that he plans to intervene in Mr. Khan’s case. Once he is sworn in as president on Monday, Pakistan is unlikely to rank high among Mr. Trump’s foreign policy priorities.

But a series of posts on social media by one of Mr. Trump’s close allies has inspired almost messianic certainty among Mr. Khan’s followers that the once and future American president will help secure his freedom. PTI had made a better than expected showing in February 2024 parliamentary elections and had decried that this was all a conspiracy to prevent his return to office by the military-run deep state. There are ultimately a whopping 170 legal cases against Khan. Current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who emerged victorious in the last elections while Khan had languished in jail, was seen more as the “military’s man” in Islamabad, while Khan’s legacy has sought to be erased by those same elite powers.

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Lynch
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879984839753101588

 

 

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Debt Rattle January 17 2025

Jan 172025
 
 January 17, 2025  Posted by at 10:57 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  94 Responses »


Jean-François Millet The Gleaners 1857

 

• Netanyahu’s Office Confirms Gaza Deal Signed by Israel, Hamas, US, Qatar (Sp.)
• Trump Played Key Role In Gaza Ceasefire Deal – Times of Israel (RT)
• Hamas Denies Netanyahu’s Claims On Violating Hostage Deal (RT)
• UK To Sign ‘100 Year Partnership’ With Ukraine (RT)
• UK and France Secretly Discussing Troops For Ukraine – Telegraph (RT)
• UK Promises To ‘Explore Options’ For Military Bases In Ukraine (RT)
• Denmark’s Repeated Threats Over Greenland’s Independence Bid (Sp.)
• Moscow Slams West For ‘Fantastic Hypocrisy’ (RT)
• In Farewell Address, Biden Brags (ZH)
• Pam Bondi’s Confirmation Hearing for Attorney General (ET)
• Trump Team Planning Roadmap To Ease Russia Sanctions – Bloomberg
• Far Left UK Government Proposes BANNING “Controversial” Conversations (MN)
• Sen. Ramaswamy? Vivek Emerges As Dark Horse Successor To Vance (JTN)
• Pete Hegseth Confirmation Vote Expected After Inauguration (JTN)
• Trump Names Three Legendary Actors As ‘Special Envoys’ To Hollywood (RT)
• The British Attack On The Skripals Didn’t Kill Them (Helmer)

 

 

 

 

Popok

Granddaughters
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879738402633101535

Yilongma
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879592734580953158

Leavitt

Sachs

Joe 2016

Bessent
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879934087064088636

1871

 

 

 

 

Let’s see you break it.

• Netanyahu’s Office Confirms Gaza Deal Signed by Israel, Hamas, US, Qatar (Sp.)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has confirmed that Israel, Palestinian movement Hamas, the United States and Qatar have signed a deal on a ceasefire and the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported on Friday, citing the office. The prime minister gave instructions to convene the security cabinet and then hold a government meeting to approve the deal, the report added.On Thursday, media reported, citing an Israeli official, that the Israeli security cabinet will meet to vote on the ceasefire deal on Friday, while the Israeli government is expected to vote on the agreement on Saturday.

Israel and Hamas, with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the United States, agreed on January 15 to a 42-day ceasefire and declared their intention to finally end the hostilities that have claimed the lives of 46,000 Palestinians and about 1,500 Israelis over 15 months, spreading to Lebanon and Yemen and provoking an exchange of missile strikes between Israel and Iran. The first stage provides for a partial exchange of prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli troops to the Gaza borders and humanitarian aid. The second and third stages are yet to be agreed upon. Under the deal, the guarantors of the agreement — Qatar, Egypt and the United States — will establish a coordination center in Cairo.

Alon Piskas

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“..Trump’s envoy pick managed to achieve more “in a single sit-down” than President Joe Biden’s administration had in a year.”

• Trump Played Key Role In Gaza Ceasefire Deal – Times of Israel (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump’s team has played a deciding role in mediating a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Gaza-based militant group Hamas, the Times of Israel reported on Wednesday, citing two Arab officials. Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has reportedly managed to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to the truce’s terms in just one meeting. On Wednesday, Trump announced that West Jerusalem and Hamas had reached an agreement securing the release of the remaining hostages. According to multiple media reports, the deal struck in Qatar involves a 42-day truce and an exchange of prisoners, including all Israelis taken captive in the October 7, 2023 Hamas incursion. Witkoff has been in Qatar’s capital, Doha, for the past week and has taken an active part in the hostage release talks, according to the Times of Israel.

Last Saturday, he also flew to Israel for a meeting with Netanyahu. It was during that meeting that he reportedly swayed the Israeli prime minister to accept the key provisions of the deal, two Arab sources told the news outlet. Two days after the meeting, both sides told the mediators they have accepted the draft deal in principle, the sources added. Neither Witkoff, nor the Israeli prime minister’s office responded to the Times of Israel’s request for comment. The paper also stated that Trump’s envoy pick managed to achieve more “in a single sit-down” than President Joe Biden’s administration had in a year. After the deal’s announcement, both Trump and Biden claimed credit for it. The president-elect called it an “epic ceasefire agreement that could only have happened” because of his election victory in November.

Biden called it a result of “dogged and painstaking American diplomacy” as well as pressure exerted on Hamas and the weakening of Iran. The outgoing president nonetheless credited the role played by his successor, saying that “for the past few days, we have been speaking as one team.” Trump’s team responded on X by claiming that Biden could not have gotten the deal done without the intervention of Trump and Witkoff. The US State Department also recognized Trump’s role in the development. “The involvement of President-elect Trump’s team has been absolutely critical in getting this deal over the line,” its spokesman, Matthew Miller, told journalists.

On Thursday, Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of “reneging” on key points of the deal, claiming the Palestinian group had created “a last-minute crisis that is preventing an agreement.” The militants denied the accusations, saying they were “committed” to the deal. West Jerusalem intensified its airstrikes across Gaza shortly after the announcement of the truce deal. At least 32 people were killed in “heavy Israeli bombardment” on Wednesday evening, according to Reuters. On Thursday, the IDF accused Hamas of firing a rocket into the Jewish state, adding that the incident had caused no casualties.

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Two more days before it’s active.

• Hamas Denies Netanyahu’s Claims On Violating Hostage Deal (RT)

Palestinian armed group Hamas has rejected claims by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it is creating a last-minute “crisis” in finalizing the deal to release the hostages held in Gaza. On Wednesday, US President-elect Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had struck an agreement securing the release of the remaining hostages. According to multiple media outlets, the agreement approved in Qatar involves a 42-day truce and an exchange of prisoners, including all Israelis taken captive in the October 7, 2023 Hamas incursion into the country. “Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators,” Izzat al-Risheq, a senior member of the group’s political bureau, said in a post on Telegram on Thursday.

The statement came shortly after Netanyahu’s office accused the Palestinian group of “reneging on the understandings” reached as part of the hostage deal and “creating a last-minute crisis that is preventing an agreement.” “The Israeli cabinet will not convene [to approve the deal] until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement,” it stressed. Israel intensified its airstrikes across Gaza shortly after the ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced, Reuters reported, citing the civil emergency service and residents in the enclave. The attacks came as people in Gaza took to the streets to celebrate the truce, which is expected to start on Sunday. At least 32 people were killed in “heavy Israeli bombardment,” especially of Gaza City, late on Wednesday, the agency said.

The strikes continued early on Thursday, with homes being destroyed in Rafah in southern Gaza, Nuseirat in central Gaza, and in northern Gaza, it added. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) blamed Hamas for firing a rocket into Israel on Thursday, with the incident causing no casualties. Israel began its military operation in Gaza 15 months ago in response to the cross-border raid by Hamas, in which around 1,200 people died and 250 others were taken prisoner. At least 94 of them still remain in captivity. Nearly 47,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 104,000 wounded in Israeli attacks in the enclave, according to the latest data from Gaza’s health ministry.

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The Brits still have a sense of humor.

• UK To Sign ‘100 Year Partnership’ With Ukraine (RT)

The UK and Ukraine will sign a 100-year partnership agreement during British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first trip to Kiev since taking office, London has said. The British government announced the planned deal on Thursday, shortly before Starmer arrived in the Ukrainian capital on a surprise visit. The agreement that the prime minister and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky are expected to sign will formalize “the unbreakable bonds” between the two countries, further expanding bilateral ties in defense and other areas, the government statement read. The treaty would “deter ongoing Russian aggression” against Ukraine and commit London and Kiev to increase defense cooperation, including on maritime security in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov, it stated.

Moscow has control of the whole Sea of Azov coastline after the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions officially became part of Russia following referendums in the fall of 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials have since then described it as Russia’s “inland sea.” As part of the deal, a UK-built Grain Verification Scheme will be launched in order to track down on what London called “stolen grain,” referring to the crops produced in Russia’s new territories. “We are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level,” Starmer claimed before his trip. The UK has been one of Ukraine’s prime backers since the escalation between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. It has committed 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Kiev and trained 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil.

However, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that officials close to Zelensky have privately expressed disappointment in Starmer for months over what they described as his cautious approach to Ukraine. According to the agency, the Ukrainian leadership has also questioned why it took the British prime minister, who assumed office more than six months ago, so long to visit Kiev. Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova previously said that Britain’s continued support for Ukraine is a sign that the UK government “clearly does not seek to resolve the conflict [between Moscow and Kiev]. They are doing everything possible to make it drag on, thus prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”

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There are still some warmongers left.

• UK and France Secretly Discussing Troops For Ukraine – Telegraph (RT)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have discussed sending soldiers into Ukraine as a peacekeeping force, the Telegraph has claimed citing anonymous sources. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky first mentioned the idea last week, and said he would discuss it with Starmer when he visits Kiev. According to the British outlet, however, Starmer is not fully on board yet. “There are challenges over what we could support, what would we want to support, and the broader question about the threat that those troops may be under and whether that is escalatory,” the Telegraph quoted a Whitehall source as saying on Wednesday evening. Spokespeople for 10 Downing Street and the Elysee Palace did not deny that Starmer and Macron discussed the peacekeeper possibility last week at the Chequers estate in the UK, but gave no details about the conversation.

Starmer was in Kiev on Thursday, promising a “100-year partnership” pact with Ukraine. One of the rumored plans US President-elect Donald Trump might propose after taking office next Monday involves Western troops deployed as peacekeepers along the demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine, supposedly running along the current line of conflict. No US forces would be involved, only “European” soldiers not acting under NATO command, according to media reports that have been impossible to verify. Macron reportedly brought up the idea of “European” peacekeepers with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk last month, but Warsaw said it was “not planning any such actions.” Earlier this week, Zelensky wrote on social media that he had discussed with “key allies” the “practical steps” for the implementation of the peacekeeper idea.

“We are getting slightly ahead of ourselves. We are not there yet,” one British official told the Telegraph. Putting boots on the ground in Ukraine has been endorsed by former PM Boris Johnson, former Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt, and two ex-defense ministers, Grant Shapps and Gavin Williamson. The UK has given 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Kiev since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated in February 2022, and reportedly trained 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. The British government’s continued support for Kiev means London “clearly does not seek to resolve the conflict,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said recently, accusing the UK of “doing everything possible to make it drag on, thus prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”

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Russia will love this part…

• UK Promises To ‘Explore Options’ For Military Bases In Ukraine (RT)

London has revealed details of a long-term partnership agreement with Kiev, which includes broad plans for military infrastructure development and defense cooperation over the next century. The document suggests the potential establishment of military bases in Ukraine, with an emphasis on aligning these initiatives with NATO standards for maximum effectiveness.The 15-page declaration, signed on January 16, 2025, lays out a framework for cooperation between the United Kingdom and Ukraine across various sectors, with a primary focus on military collaboration. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky formalized the deal during a ceremony in Kiev on Thursday. “The Participants will explore options for deploying and maintaining defence infrastructure in Ukraine, including military bases, logistics depots, reserve military equipment storage facilities and war reserve stockpiles,” the document states.

The agreement also emphasizes maritime cooperation, particularly in the Black Sea region. The UK has pledged to enhance Ukraine’s interoperability with NATO in the maritime sphere through joint naval operations, port visits, and the development of Ukrainian naval bases. “We will work together to ensure NATO learns the lessons from Ukraine’s experience in the Black Sea to inform its development of future maritime capabilities. We will promote the development of naval bases on the territory of Ukraine,” the document reads. Another section highlights plans to “deepen cooperation on long-range strike capabilities,” integrated air and missile defense, and the stockpiling of complex weapons to bolster “deterrence.” Additionally, London has committed to providing Ukraine with annual military assistance of no less than £3 billion until at least 2031, and “for as long as needed to support Ukraine.”

While the agreement lacks detailed, binding commitments beyond promises to expand, intensify, and facilitate collaboration across multiple sectors, Zelensky hinted at potential “secret” components within the pact. The UK has been one of Ukraine’s prime backers since the escalation of conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. It has committed 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Ukraine and reportedly trained 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. Russia has sharply criticized London’s continued support of Kiev as a sign that the UK government “clearly does not seek to resolve the conflict.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova previously said “they are doing everything possible to make it drag on, thus prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”

Meanwhile, reports suggest that US President-elect Donald Trump, set to take office next Monday, may propose deploying Western troops as peacekeepers along a demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine. The rumored plan reportedly excludes US forces, relying instead on “European” soldiers acting outside NATO’s command structure. London remains cautious about the idea of sending British troops to Ukraine as part of any peacekeeping force, even though Starmer is said to have discussed the matter with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to The Telegraph.

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“Almost No One in Greenland Wants to Join the US.” I don’t believe that for a second. They’re tired of Demark.

• Denmark’s Repeated Threats Over Greenland’s Independence Bid (Sp.)

For years, Denmark has been threatening Greenland every time the issue of independence is raised, the leader of the island’s largest opposition party, Naleraq, and former Greenlandic Foreign Minister Pele Broberg told RIA Novosti. “Every time we talk about independence, they [the Danes] threaten us. They say, ‘If you do this, you will never come to Denmark again; you will have no education, etc.’ We always hear threats when we talk about independence,” Broberg said. For example. He added that when his party ran for parliament seats in 2018 and he mentioned the plan to gain independence, the Danish prime minister addressed national media, saying that it was unrealistic. “Even to this day, Danish politicians say, ‘No, no, we will never do anything like that [give Greenland independence].'”

They don’t even seem to respect the self-government law as far as independence is concerned. But we have a problem in that there are political parties that are publicly in favor of independence without any plans but don’t really want it,” the official noted. In addition, Naleraq has a very clear plan to leave the Kingdom of Denmark, which is that if the party wins the 2025 parliamentary elections, it will submit an application for an independence referendum on the same day, Broberg added. “It may take two days, it may take two months, it may take two years. The plans we have developed are based on how we left the EU in the 80s. We voted in 1982, and we left in 1985. Brexit also took three years, and that is why we keep saying that the discussion is about a three-year period. The most important thing for us is to start the process itself,” the ex-minister said.

Washington has no chance to bribe the Greenlandic government to annex the island, the former minister added. “No,” Broberg said in response to a corresponding question. US President-elect Donald Trump, who is due to assume office on January 20, has called it an “absolute necessity” for the United States to own Greenland. Greenland’s Prime Minister, Mute Egede, responded by saying that the island was not for sale. Greenland was a colony of Denmark until 1953. It remains part of the kingdom, but in 2009 it received autonomy with the ability to self-govern and make independent choices in domestic policy.

Almost No One in Greenland Wants to Join the US. Only 0.0001% of people in Greenland want to become part of the United States, while 75% support the idea of independence from Denmark, Pele Broberg pointed out. US President-elect Donald Trump, who is due to assume office on January 20, has called it an “absolute necessity” for the United States to own Greenland. Greenland’s Prime Minister, Mute Egede, responded by saying that the island was not for sale. On January 7, Donald Trump Jr., the son of the president-elect, visited Greenland. Following the visit, Trump confirmed in a post on Truth Social that his son and members of his team visited the nation, adding that “the reception was great.” The president-elect posted a video in which people wearing baseball caps that read “Make America Great Again” responded in the affirmative when asked if they wanted Trump to buy Greenland.

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Still diverting attention away from Nordstream?

• Moscow Slams West For ‘Fantastic Hypocrisy’ (RT)

The West is spinning incidents in the Baltic Sea as purported evidence of a Russian threat, while putting a smoke screen on real attacks that undermine European energy security, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. The EU and NATO have alleged that Moscow was behind multiple cases of power and communication cables being damaged in recent months. Western officials have argued that they justify bolstering NATO regional presence and imposing sanctions against the so-called ‘shadow fleet’ – ships allegedly involved in Russian oil exports in defiance of unilateral restrictions issued by Western nations. Western claims that Moscow is waging a sabotage campaign in the Baltic Sea fit a wider pattern of baseless accusations against Russia, Zakharova said. She told a regular media briefing: “Accusations directed against our nation are being habitually voiced before the circumstances of what had happened are established. We have seen this many times.”

She accused the West of “fantastic hypocrisy,” pointing to what she described as the “non-investigation” of the September 2022 attack on the Nord Stream pipelines. The energy links built under the Baltic Sea were intended to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Germany, before being blown up in what Moscow calls a “terrorist attack.” The US benefited the most from the incident and was likely behind it directly or through a proxy, Russian officials have claimed. In early 2022, US President Joe Biden declared that “there will be no Nord Stream,” if Russia used military force against Ukraine.

Zakharova criticized Brussels for swiftly demanding action against Russia over the cable incidents after showing no such reaction to the Nord Stream sabotage. “It seems that since Biden said that he would destroy this project, the EU believes that what happened was all proper,” she said. She also condemned the EU for reacting meekly to Kiev’s drone attack on a Russian compressor station last week. The facility pumps natural gas under the Black Sea to Türkiye and multiple consumers in Southern Europe. Attacks like that are seemingly being “condoned by the part of the EU, which has been acting against the interests of their own people for many years,” she stated. Such people would rather stoke fear in Europe over the “myth” of supposedly dangerous Russian ships than address genuine security threats, she added.

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Please go away.

• In Farewell Address, Biden Brags (ZH)

Five days before leaving office, President Joe Biden delivered a live primetime farewell address to the nation, highlighting his accomplishments and warning of emerging threats, including oligarchs and a “tech-industrial complex.” His speech, delivered from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening, not only marked the end of his presidency but also the conclusion of his five-decade political career. “After 50 years of public service, I give you my word, I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands, a nation where the strengths of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure,” Biden said before ending his speech. “Now, it’s your turn to stand guard.” As Emel Akan reports for The Epoch Times, Biden’s political career, which spanned decades and included serving as a senator from Delaware and as vice president under President Barack Obama, will come to an end on Jan. 20 when he hands the reins to Republican President-elect Donald Trump.

“In the past four years, our democracy has held strong, and every day, I’ve kept my commitment to be president for all Americans through one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history,” Biden said. Ahead of Biden’s farewell speech, the White House released a fact sheet outlining his administration’s record, highlighting a long list of actions, starting with the efforts to combat the pandemic. “Millions of Americans now have the dignity of work. Millions of entrepreneurs and companies creating new businesses and industries, hiring American workers, using American products,” Biden said. “Together, we’ve launched a new era of American possibilities.” Biden is leaving office with his approval rating at the lowest point of his term, according to a recent CNN poll. Only 36 percent of U.S. adults say they approve of how Biden handled the presidency, with particularly low marks on issues like immigration, foreign affairs, and the economy.

Biden stated that although a positive impact of his policies and spending priorities may not be felt right away, he believes they will produce lasting benefits in the years ahead. “You know, it will take time to feel the full impact of all we’ve done together but the seeds are planted. And they‘ll grow and they’ll bloom for decades to come,” he said. In his nearly 17-minute speech, Biden did not mention his successor by name but wished success to the incoming administration. “I’m so proud of how much we’ve accomplished together for the American people. And I wish the incoming administration success because I want America to succeed,” Biden said. Presidential farewell addresses are a longstanding tradition in American politics, offering presidents a final chance to reflect on their time in office, list their accomplishments, and provide parting advice to the nation.

As Ronald Reagan famously remarked in his 1989 farewell address, “There is a great tradition of warnings in Presidential farewells.” This tradition is a key feature of farewell addresses, where outgoing leaders look to the future and warn of potential dangers facing the nation. Biden’s farewell address followed the same pattern. “I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern,” Biden said. “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.” Biden referred to Dwight Eisenhower’s iconic 1961 farewell address where he warned the nation about the dangers of the “military-industrial complex.” “The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist,” Eisenhower said during his speech.

“Six decades later, I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country,” Biden said. “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Errors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking.”Biden recently expressed disapproval of Meta’s decision to do away with its current social media fact-checking program, calling it “really shameful.” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg justified the decision last week in a video statement by saying that fact-checking has become “too politically biased,” resulting in censorship and a loss of trust. He also warned of dangers of AI, saying that it’s crucial for people to govern this new technology. “As the land of liberty, America, not China, must lead the world in the development of AI,” Biden said.

Biden also hinted in his speech at charges his Department of Justice made against Trump. “We need to amend the Constitution to make clear that no president, no president, is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office,” Biden said. This marked the president’s fifth and final address from the Oval Office since taking office. The president last spoke from behind the Resolute Desk on July 24, when he addressed the nation to explain his decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. Farewell addresses are a key opportunity for presidents to shape the narrative of their time in office, according to Tom McArdle, former White House speechwriter for President George W. Bush. “Presidents use farewell addresses primarily to try to write history before the historians do, and they rarely succeed,” he told The Epoch Times.

Their efforts often fail because the true measure of a presidency is shaped more by actions than words, McArdle said. It’s inevitably Biden’s performance that will define his legacy, he said. The president’s farewell speech comes on the heels of a breakthrough in the Middle East, as Israel and Hamas reached a deal for a hostage and prisoner swap, along with a six-week ceasefire, set to take effect on Jan. 19.Before he began his farewell speech, Biden took credit for his work in brokering the deal in the Middle East. “After eight months of non-stop negotiation by my administration, a cease-fire and hostage deal has been reached by Israel and Hamas,” Biden said. “This plan was developed and negotiated by my team, and it will be largely implemented by the incoming administration.”

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She was impressive.

• Pam Bondi’s Confirmation Hearing for Attorney General (ET)

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi fielded questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 15 as part of her confirmation process to serve as the next attorney general of the United States. During the hearing, both sides of the aisle focused on concerns about the weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which Bondi pledged not to engage in. Democrats tended to focus on Bondi’s ties with President-elect Donald Trump and her willingness to maintain the DOJ’s independence from the White House. She also encountered questions about illegal immigration, national security, and FISA warrants. While the Senate is expected to confirm Bondi, Sam Dorman, via The Epoch Times, lays out some of the main topics addressed during the hearing:

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi fielded questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 15 as part of her confirmation process to serve as the next attorney general of the United States. During the hearing, both sides of the aisle focused on concerns about the weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which Bondi pledged not to engage in. Democrats tended to focus on Bondi’s ties with President-elect Donald Trump and her willingness to maintain the DOJ’s independence from the White House. She also encountered questions about illegal immigration, national security, and FISA warrants. While the Senate is expected to confirm Bondi, here are some of the main topics addressed during the hearing:

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They don’t work anyway.

• Trump Team Planning Roadmap To Ease Russia Sanctions – Bloomberg

Advisers to US President-elect Donald Trump are developing a sanctions strategy to push Russia-Ukraine peace talks which could involve easing restrictions on Moscow, Bloomberg claimed on Thursday. Last week, incumbent US President Joe Biden unveiled a “sweeping” new round of sanctions on Moscow, targeting two major Russian petroleum producers, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz, associated entities, as well as 183 vessels involved in transporting Russian crude oil. These new measures have already caused world oil prices to surge; Brent futures have gained almost $5 per barrel since they were announced. Citing people familiar with Trump’s plans, Bloomberg has claimed that the future president’s team is currently considering two main approaches to future US sanctions.

In the first scenario, if Washington sees that the Ukraine conflict could soon be resolved, limited sanctions relief may be granted to Russian oil companies as a gesture of good faith. The other option, however, is to take a more aggressive stance by intensifying restrictions in a bid to put more pressure on Moscow and increase US leverage in negotiations. According to the outlet, the easing of sanctions against Moscow could include raising the ceiling on Russian oil prices above the current limit of $60 per barrel. Meanwhile, tougher restrictions could involve strengthening secondary sanctions or measures against ships that allegedly transport oil from Russia. Bloomberg’s sources noted that these plans are still in their early stages and depend on how Trump himself chooses to proceed.

Moscow has vehemently condemned Biden’s last round of sanctions, calling them “illegal,” with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warning that they could destabilize global energy markets. Responding to Washington’s move, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also suggested that the outgoing president’s legacy would be defined by the “mess” he leaves behind. Meanwhile, Trump has said that a meeting between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently being set up. with Moscow also expressing an openness to negotiations with the future US leader.

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Careful what you say anywhere.

• Far Left UK Government Proposes BANNING “Controversial” Conversations (MN)

The leftist Labour government in Britain has proposed radical reforms to the rights of workers that could include classing ‘sensitive’ topics of conversation in the workplace such as religion, women’s rights, or transgenderism as ‘harassment’. The proposed legislation would force employers to prevent workers from being subjected to such subjects by third parties, such as customers. If they are found to have failed to do so, they could face lawsuits under the legislation. Watchdog The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned that if it comes into the force next year, the proposed law could significantly impact freedom of expression and even be applied to “overheard conversations” such as those between two or more people in a pub.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1879129951988838575

The EHRC has noted that applying the harassment law in cases involving a “philosophical belief” could lead to problems owing to the fact that many employers do not understand such topics are protected by equality law. “The legal definition of what amounts to philosophical belief is complex and not well understood by employers. It is arguable that these difficulties may lead to disproportionate restriction of the right to freedom of expression,” the watchdog warned. A spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association said in comments to The Times “Any legalisation must be carefully drafted to make sure it does not have unintended consequences, such as pub workers expected to decide whether private conversations between customers constitute a violation of law.”

Sir Tim Martin, founder and chairman of the pub chain Wetherspoons urged that the proposal “sounds like Big Brother thought control which would be a bureaucratic nightmare to enforce.”Martin added, “All beliefs which challenge the status quo are contentious. Newton’s law of gravity and Einstein’s theory of relativity were contentious at one point. Or Alexander Fleming creating the biggest-ever advance in medicine from mould.” “Humanity has progressed through these challenges and their subsequent debate,” he further emphasised, adding that “The cancellation of ideas is, in effect, a new religious commandment by those who think they’re not religious.” Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK remarked “Every pub is a parliament. It is where we discuss the world. If that is restricted they might as well all close.”

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“Trump himself had privately urged him to accept the post. Should he do so, he may not be able to work with Musk at DOGE.”

• Sen. Ramaswamy? Vivek Emerges As Dark Horse Successor To Vance (JTN)

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy disappeared from social media in recent weeks, amid reports that he could fill Vice President-elect JD Vance’s Senate seat. The reports come as something of a reversal as he previously removed himself from consideration for the post after Trump put him in charge of a planned new department. Originally named the co-chair of President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Ramaswamy was set to prioritize sweeping cuts to government spending alongside co-chair Elon Musk. The pair spoke boldly about finding $2 trillion in waste to help the country balance the budget and drastically reduce the size of the federal government. But Ramaswamy fell off the grid in the wake of a contentious and public debate between incoming Trump administration figures over the H-1B visa program.

Ramaswamy’s defense of the program and comments about the way Americans raised their children drew intense backlash from the MAGA wing of the Republican Party and led to pronouncements that he had killed his political future. But mounting reports suggest that he may find a viable escape route through the upper chamber and that Trump himself had privately urged him to accept the post. Should he do so, he may not be able to work with Musk at DOGE. Politico reported this week that Ramaswamy had met with Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, to discuss the prospect of him replacing Vance. The Ohio-based Republican is one of the state’s most high-profile politicians not currently in office and has attracted speculation over a possible gubernatorial run as well.

Ramaswamy gained traction in the Republican primary, however, primarily as an advocate for reforming American foreign policy in favor of a more reserved approach. During that contest, he regularly traded barbs with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and railed against the party’s neoconservative wing. He also developed a reputation as conservative firebrand on an array of domestic issues. DeWine, for his part, is widely regarded as a moderate and establishment Republican, making Ramaswamy an unexpected choice to succeed Vance. But the prospect of a Ramaswamy gubernatorial campaign evidently has the governor mulling a Senate appointment, to clear the way for Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, to take over DeWine’s post. “DeWine isn’t incentivized to pick Ramaswamy for Senate, but Vivek is also the one roadblock to Husted,” one source told Politico.

Trump has not discussed the matter publicly but has reportedly encouraged Ramaswamy behind closed doors to accept the position, largely due to a consensus among Musk, the president-elect, and Ramaswamy himself that DOGE will need a stalwart advocate in the Senate. Ramaswamy would also fill a void left by Vance as a stalwart voice against hawkish interventionism amid the largely neoconservative upper chamber GOP. While an appointment from the governor would not put Ramaswamy before the state’s electorate for two years, his arrival in the Senate may not be well-received by some members of the chamber or Trump’s base. The tech mogul’s campaign saw him spar repeatedly with the establishment GOP, going so far as to use his opening remarks in a primary debate to call on then-RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to step down.

Should he emulate Vance on foreign policy, moreover, he is likely to become a thorn in the side of hawkish leadership like his predecessor. His comments on the H-1B debate, moreover, are likely to make him less than palatable to some immigration hawks and MAGA stalwarts. Ramaswamy weighed in weeks ago in support of the visa program, contending that employers needed to look abroad for qualified manpower due to an American culture that he said valued “mediocrity over excellence.”

“Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer),” Ramaswamy said. “A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.” Ramaswamy’s initial X post was widely shared online and attracted tens of thousands of comments, largely negative, and accusing him of solely looking to defend the importation of cheap labor. Trump himself spoke in defense of the H-1B visa, calling it a “great program,” but his own remarks have not quelled the anger of his base over Ramaswamy’s comments.

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He did well.

• Pete Hegseth Confirmation Vote Expected After Inauguration (JTN)

Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker on Thursday said the final vote to confirm Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth will likely take place in the days following President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. The senate committee held its hearing on Hegseth on Tuesday, where he clashed with Democrats, and denied allegations of sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and financial mismanagement. But Republicans appeared to rally around the conservative, including Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who endorsed the nominee following the hearing. Wicker did not specify what day the vote would take place, but said it could be as late as next Thursday if Senate Democrats do not allow the chamber to speed up the confirmation process.

“I expect our Democratic friends will delay it to the extent to which they are free to do under the rules. Wednesday, Thursday perhaps,” Wicker told reporters, per Politico. “This is not something that needs to drag out. He’s got the votes.” Senate Democrats have not stated whether they intend to delay the vote, which would leave the Pentagon without a confirmed leader, but the committee’s ranking member Jack Reed said the chamber needs more information before voting. “We’ve made it clear we feel that there’s more information that should be provided, and not just for our benefit, but for our Republican colleagues too,” he said.

If the confirmation is delayed, it is not clear who would fill in for Hegseth after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin leaves office. But the move is not unprecedented, as President Joe Biden had to wait two days after his inauguration for the Senate to confirm Austin in 2021. The potential delay also comes after Republicans insisted that Trump’s national security team should be confirmed as quickly as possible, citing recent national security concerns, including a terror attack in New Orleans.

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The industry’s imploding through woke and DEI. Maybe not a bad idea to try and save it.

• Trump Names Three Legendary Actors As ‘Special Envoys’ To Hollywood (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has named movie icons Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone as his “special ambassadors” to Hollywood, a position apparently invented by the incoming president on Thursday. ”It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday. “They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” he continued, adding that the three men will serve as his “eyes and ears” inside the film industry.

It is unclear what the position, which has never existed before, will entail. However, all three actors are outspoken supporters of Trump, making them rarities in a Democrat-dominated industry. Voight was a vocal supporter of Trump during the latter’s first term in office, and received a National Medal of Arts from then-President Trump in 2019. Gibson came out in support of Trump before November’s election, describing his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, as someone with “the IQ of a fence post.” Stallone spoke at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate after the election, praising the Republican as “a really mythical character” and “the second George Washington.”

Hollywood has been mired in a downturn since the Covid-19 pandemic, with competition from foreign countries and streaming services chipping away at profits and forcing multiple studios – including Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount, and NBCUniversal – to announce layoffs over the last year. The number of US productions during the second quarter of 2024 was down 40% on the same period in 2022, and fell another 5% in the third quarter of last year, according to figures from ProdPro and Film LA. The US box office take fell to $8.7 billion last year, a 3.3% drop in 2023 and a 23.5% drop from 2019, according to Variety.

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“Weapon, crime scene, victim, killer, motive – all have been faked.”

• The British Attack On The Skripals Didn’t Kill Them (Helmer)

The war to destroy Russia has been an evil in which the British, Americans, Germans and French have combined for more than a century now. In the present stage on the Ukrainian battlefield, every weapon and force fielded by the Anglo-Americans and their allies has been defeated; the Ukraine itself, territorially and politically, has been destroyed. No serious Russian believes this war will be over when the incoming US president claims the personal credit for negotiating end-of-war terms short of the US side’s capitulation. About men like him and negotiations like his, it was the Irishman Edmund Burke who in his 1770 essay “Thoughts on the Present Discontents” issued this warning: “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”*

In the present war against Russia, the bad men have combined across the Atlantic and the Pacific. Against them on the information war front, there are very few good men – not one in the mainstream media, almost none in the alternative media. The power of state repression is only half the reason. The other half is the competition for money. In competing for internet media subscribers, even those tempted to be good will be motivated not to associate, to compete against each other instead, and thereby “fall, one by one in the contemptible struggle.” In propaganda war, the bad men must convince their paymasters more than their audience that they are winning. Reaching this point today has required a series of confidence-building, warmaking preparations – the putsch in Kiev of February 2014; the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in July 2014; and the Novichok attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, England, in March 2018.

The official narrative of Novichok, the Russian chemical warfare weapon allegedly used against the Skripals, has just reached its climax in London. A state-sponsored report will be published in a few weeks’ time. It will conclude that President Vladimir Putin had the means, opportunity and motive to kill the Skripals, and is guilty of attempted murder on English soil. But the forensic evidence which has slipped into the public record from the British intelligence and security services, the chemical warfighters at Porton Down, and the Whitehall staffs advising the prime minister proves the narrative and the indictment are false. Weapon, crime scene, victim, killer, motive – all have been faked. By the Anglo-American and Canadian law standards of reasonable doubt and balance of probabilities, the prosecution of the case against Russia should have collapsed. Except, of course, that in the present state of war, this hasn’t happened.

The new book, Long Live Novichok! The British poison which fooled the worldis the lone voice to explain for the time being at least; it is also the only platform to defend Sergei and Yulia Skripal as political prisoners of the British for the past seven years. Because they didn’t die after they had been sprayed with a British poison, they have been kept in hospital under forced sedation and tracheostomy; then held under guard, in isolation, incommunicado. Their telephone calls to family in Russia, made in a hurry and in secret, stopped five years ago. For the first time the book documents the British presentation in public of the poison weapon itself, revealing the clue of the colour of Novichok. This is the evidence that the murder weapon wasn’t Russian, it wasn’t Novichok at all. In today’s podcast from Canada, Chris Cook and I discuss the reasons for the failure of Novichok to kill anyone, and its success at brainwashing everyone, or almost everyone.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Jeremy Kuzmarov, John Helmer January 15, 2025 by Chris Cook

Jeremy Kuzmarov and counting down to The Donald’s return; John Helmer and spitting out the red, white, and blue Skripal pills in the second half.

Read on Substack

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MAHA

 

 

Freeman


Nap time
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879642213476389367

Stray

Pastor

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle January 16 2025

Jan 162025
 
 January 16, 2025  Posted by at 11:22 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  75 Responses »


Marcel Duchamp The king and queen surrounded by swift nudes 1912

 

• Trump Announces Israel-Hamas Ceasefire (RT)
• Trump Envoy Swayed Netanyahu More In One Meeting Than Biden Did All Year (ZH)
• “Turns Out, Presidents Matter”: Marc Andreessen (ZH)
• Marco Rubio Urges End to Ukraine Conflict (Sp.)
• Prepare For War – NATO Chief (RT)
• What Trump Should Do (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Trump Team’s Ukraine Predictions ‘Campaign Bluster’ – Reuters (RT)
• Ban On Talks With Moscow Remains – Kiev (RT)
• Moscow and Kiev Hold ‘Limited Talks’ – Bloomberg (RT)
• German Military Retreats From X (RT)
• Berlin Proves It Will Support Kiev To Its Own Detriment (Romanenko)
• Biden SEC Sues Musk Over Twitter Purchase In 11th Hour “Sham” (ZH)
• Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg To Attend Trump Inauguration (JTN)
• Trump Mulls Executive Order To ‘Save Tiktok’ – WaPo (RT)
• Why Europe Fears Free Speech (Munchau)

 

 


A Final Toast – by Mr. Fish

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1879639928880943151

RFK

Cuomo

Bondi

Sheehy

Newsom

Palisades

Tucker

Sen. Kennedy
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879567371108581639

Gov. Taxes

 

 

Bibi doesn’t listen to Biden. He hears Trump loud and clear, though.

• Trump Announces Israel-Hamas Ceasefire (RT)

Israel and Hamas have struck a deal that sees all hostages released, US President-elect Donald Trump has announced “We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East,” Trump posted on his TruthSocial platform on Wednesday. “They will be released shortly.” According to multiple media outlets, the agreement approved in Qatar involves a 42-day ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners, including all Israelis taken captive in the October 7, 2023 Hamas incursion from Gaza. “This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” Trump added in another post.

His national security team will “continue to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven,” the president-elect added. “This is only the beginning of great things to come for America, and indeed, the World!” Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly joined the talks in Doha and played a key role in persuading the Israeli delegation to accept the deal. “This deal was achieved because of the help of many and demonstrates that a policy of peace through strength wins,” Witkoff told Israel’s Channel 12 on Wednesday. “Thank you to the Israeli negotiating teams, thank you to the Qataris, thank you to Egypt, thank you to the Biden administration, and most of all to Donald Trump, whose policy of peace through strength is the one that won.”

A “breakthrough” in the talks was said to have been reached early on Monday. Qatari ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has met with senior Hamas officials to persuade the Palestinian group to accept the agreement. Egyptian and Turkish intelligence chiefs also took part in the negotiations, along with the heads of Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet.

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Bide demands praise for a whole year in which he failed. Trump simply says: I don’t want my 2d term to start with an ugly war.

• Trump Envoy Swayed Netanyahu More In One Meeting Than Biden Did All Year (ZH)

Even Israeli media is very clearly attributing achievement of the Gaza ceasefire deal to President-elect Donald Trump and his team. President Biden too at one point in an afternoon press conference hailing the deal acknowledged that he spoke as ‘one team’ with Trump on the Gaza deal. According to The Times of Israel: “A “tense” weekend meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and incoming Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff led to a breakthrough in the hostage negotiations, with the top aide to US President-elect Donald Trump doing more to sway the premier in a single sit-down than outgoing President Joe Biden did all year, two Arab officials told The Times of Israel on Tuesday. Witkoff has been in Doha for the past week to take part in the hostage negotiations, as mediators try to secure a deal before Trump’s January 20 inauguration. On Saturday, Witkoff flew to Israel for a meeting with Netanyahu at the premier’s Jerusalem office.

During the meeting, Witkoff urged Netanyahu to accept key compromises necessary for an agreement, the two Arab officials on Monday told The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity. Neither Witkoff nor Netanyahu’s office responded to requests for comment”. As expected, Biden disagrees with this assessment… Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to make a public statement. Interestingly, Trump was the first leader to hail the deal, attributing it largely to his election victory in November and anticipation of his entering the Oval Office next Monday. But Biden chalked it up to his own diplomacy: “This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity,” he said in the statement.

The US president further said Wednesday’s agreement “not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a ceasefire in Lebanon and weakening of Iran — but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy,” he says. “My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done.” Many political analysts, including Glenn Greenwald, would beg to differ. An initial Hamas statement is meanwhile celebrating this as a ‘win’ over the Israeli military machine, which has been unable to root out the Islamist insurgency in the strip. Words from Hamas leadership praised “the legendary steadfastness of the great Palestinian people and the valiant resistance in the Gaza Strip.” Hamas is for the first time coming out publicly in the streets of Gaza, as a deal finally looks legit at this point…

Still there are reports of intensified Israeli bombing in parts of Gaza, merely hours before the deal is expected to go into effect, which will see the release of hostages and an exchange for many dozens of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Meanwhile, Nassim Taleb makes a great point, stating on X that …with Kamala there is a near-certainty of more wars coupled with a lot of bullshit about “peace” initiatives. With Trump (rather, Trump-Vance) there is a possibility of peace coupled with loud saber rattling. Indeed, if the truce holds, it will likely go down in the history books as a victory for Trump’s early diplomacy. Progressives too have been wondering what took the Biden White House so long, given also that virtually the same deal was on the table previously this summer, and it collapsed. Israeli lawmakers and ministers are expected to vote on approving the deal on Thursday morning, but a lot can happen between now and then.

Read more …

Andreessen: “He’s world-class at real estate and communications.” “He’s probably the first person in the world to be world-class in both things.” “He very deeply understands business.” “When Trump puts up one of these giant hotels, these are large-scale systems projects. There are many dimensions. A lot of things can go wrong. There’s technology change. You’ve got to manage these hands-on because they can always go sideways.” “He’s world-class at thinking things through systematically.” “There’s this video of him talking about the water situation in California on Joe Rogan six months ago. It’s one of those classic Trump things, where at the time, everybody’s like, why is he going on and on about the water situation in California?”

“And then, of course, LA is burning down in the last three days. And if you listen to what he talked about with the water situation in California. He is exactly 100% correct.” “In the first term, when he diagnosed the German energy situation at the United Nations. He said you will become dependent on Russian energy, and that will be a disaster for you, and it has been. It was an extremely precise, accurate, and prescient five-minute analysis of this system’s problem.” “In my energy conversation with him, he’s extremely sophisticated. The energy people that I know know that he’s sophisticated. So, he wraps his head around these things very quickly and easily.”

• “Turns Out, Presidents Matter”: Marc Andreessen (ZH)

Marc Andreessen, the billionaire investor and co-founder of the influential Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, joined the host of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter Robinson (former Reagan speechwriter), to discuss his pivotal role in shaping Silicon Valley and politics. For decades, Andreessen has supported Democrats, including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton. However, a troubling 2024 spring meeting with Biden administration officials spooked the Silicon Valley entrepreneur. He said Biden officials explained their plan to control AI through government regulatory capture—a strategy reminiscent of Communist policies in China. Andreessen told Robinson that President-elect Donald Trump’s knowledge about problem-solving in business and energy is “extremely sophisticated” and “world-class on real estate and communications.”

“My analysis would be he is world-class in real estate and on communications … and he’s world-class on both which is like probably the first person in the world to be world-class on both of those things, right? The real estate industry is not historically known for its great communicators,” Andreessen continued. Robinson and Andreessen also discussed Silicon Valley’s technological and political evolution, Andreessen’s shifting political alliances from Clinton, Obama, and Biden to MAGA, and his vision for harnessing cutting-edge technology to advance societal progress. They also addressed energy challenges, border security, and national defense. In particular, Robinson and Andreessen spoke about China’s manufacturing dominance. Andreessen explained:

“And I’ll just tell you where I’m worried right now, where the problem is compounding. So you mentioned the, sort of, iPhone assembly, and that’s a big deal. But basically, there’s three industries that sort of follow phones that are kicking in right now. So, one is drones. And it’s sort of in a bizarre turn of events, the Chinese basically own the global drone market for all, basically, the consumer drones, all the cheap drones. Which by the way, numerically then are the drones that all the militarys also use in overwhelming numbers. And something over 90% of all drones used by the US military are made in China. No, no, it gets worse, it gets worse, it gets worse, it gets worse before it gets. So the drone thing is not just a company, it’s an entire ecosystem. It’s all of the componentry.

“We have a drone company that’s been trying to compete with the Chinese company. Number one, the Biden FAA has been trying to kill us this entire time, trying to do all kinds of things to make sure that American drone companies can’t succeed as part of their war on tech. It’s literally just another in the long list of ways that they’ve been just trying to absolutely kill us. But two is, China has figured this out. And so, the US has been sanctioning AI chips going to China, China is now sanctioning, they sanction our drone company for the battery, [LAUGH] cuz the battery is made in China, right? And so they have like significant leverage, not just for the drones, but for the entire supply chain. By the way, the drone supply chain is very analogous to the car supply chain. A self driving electric car is very similar to a drone, or for that matter, to an iPhone. It’s an electrical mechanical device, but it’s a lot of the same kind of battery technology, chip technology, sensor technology.

So they now have their version of what the Germans used to have, which is sort of, the thousands of mid market companies that make all the parts that go into a car. But the German ecosystem is still making them for old internal combustion cars, the Chinese ecosystem is making them for electric cars and self driving cars. And of course, that means the new Chinese cars that are coming out are really good and they have a giant advantage on cost. And they are starting to bring to market cars that are equivalent in quality to western cars at a third or a fourth of price. So that’s coming. And then the big one that follows phones, drones, and cars, logically, is robots.

Robinson asked Andreessen: And the Chinese are ahead of us there? Andreessen responded: 100%, now, we have the leading, this is important, we have the leading software,like we have the leading R&D. Like, we have the smartest, I’m convinced we have like the smartest robotics AI people. We have the best people, specifically for the design of the systems, but we don’t have anything resembling the manufacturing capability at all. Andreessen noted that these technologies are upstream from all the military applications because they are intertwined in the same supply chains. He said the US must confront this and reverse the fragmented approach, where the Biden administration would “hate the domestic American technology industry and is trying to kill it” one day and then, on other days, “thinks we’re gonna somehow develop some sort of competitive response to China on cars or on weapons in the future.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1879396919107313836

The takeaway from the interview is clear: Trump 2.0 must craft a coherent, competitive response to advancing technology under an ‘America First’ agenda. This is in contrast to the radicals in the Biden-Harris regime, who focused on de-growth policies (under the guise of climate change) that have allowed China to advance ahead of the US. “What’s the whole of government strategy on China? Zero, right? It turns out the president matters,” Andreessen concluded. One must ask: whose team was the Biden-Harris administration on? It doesn’t appear they prioritized an ‘America First’ agenda. This will change under Trump.

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Rubio presents the hawkish case.

• Marco Rubio Urges End to Ukraine Conflict (Sp.)

The United States’ official position on the Ukraine conflict must be that it should be brought to an end, Republican Senator Marco Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state nominee, said on Wednesday. “I think it should be the official position of the United States that this war should be brought to an end,” Rubio said during a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, when asked to elaborate on his decision late last year to vote against aid to Ukraine. The 53-year-old admitted that “this is not going to be an easy endeavor” and called for “everyone to be realistic.” He suggested that conflict settlement could start with “some ceasefire” and require concessions by both Russia and Ukraine.

Rubio pointed to a change in the dynamic of the Ukraine conflict, saying it has become a “war of attrition” and “stalemate.” He believes there is “no way Russia takes all of Ukraine.” “It’s also unrealistic to believe that somehow a nation the size of Ukraine — no matter how incompetent and no matter how much damage the Russian Federation has suffered as a result of this invasion — there is no way Ukraine is also going to push these people all the way back to where they were on the eve of the invasion,” Rubio added.

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NATO wants war. Nobody else does.

• Prepare For War – NATO Chief (RT)

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has called on members of the US-led military bloc to adopt a “wartime mindset” and significantly increase defense spending, citing supposed threats from Russia and other nations. Rutte noted on Wednesday that NATO members have increased defense investments and conducted more frequent military exercises. However, he argued that these efforts are “not sufficient to deal with the dangers coming our way in the next four to five years.” The bloc’s “future security is at stake,” Rutte claimed in his opening remarks at a meeting of the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defense in Brussels. He accused Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran of attempting to “weaken our democracies and chip away at our freedom.”

“To prevent war, we need to prepare for it. It is time to shift to a wartime mindset,” Rutte asserted, urging NATO states to allocate more resources toward defense and develop “more and better defense capabilities.” He also stressed the importance of providing increased support to Ukraine to “change the trajectory of the war,” and called for enhanced cooperation with global partners. Moscow has repeatedly denied assertions that it represents a threat to any NATO member states and has instead accused the US-led bloc of waging a proxy war against Russia and encroaching on its territory. Last month, President Vladimir Putin said that practically all NATO states are currently at war with Russia.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also noted on Tuesday that history appears to be repeating itself, suggesting that there were “obvious parallels” between Moscow’s current confrontation with NATO and the attempts of Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler to take over Russia after subjugating dozens of European countries. On Tuesday, Rutte announced that NATO would bolster its presence in the Baltic Sea – a strategic area for Russian naval operations and energy exports – by launching a new mission under the pretext of protecting undersea infrastructure. The NATO chief revealed that this presence will involve frigates, maritime patrol aircraft, and a “small fleet of naval drones” that are expected to provide “enhanced surveillance and deterrence.”

The announcement follows an incident involving a Cook Islands-registered oil tanker, the Eagle S, which allegedly damaged the Estlink 2 power cable connecting Finland and Estonia last month. The EU has warned that it could impose sanctions on Moscow over what EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has described as the “deliberate destruction of Europe’s critical infrastructure” using a “shadow fleet” of tankers, which supposedly includes the Eagle S. While the tanker has been detained by Finnish authorities, no conclusive evidence has been presented regarding its involvement in the alleged sabotage.

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If Trump can deal with the real challenges [..], he will go down as the greatest American president in history.

• What Trump Should Do (Paul Craig Roberts)

American security agencies have long used the cloak of national security to avoid accountability for their crimes, such as the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, and the numerous assassinations of foreign leaders and screw-ups. Beginning with the Clinton regime, presidents and non-security appointees also began escaping accountability. The situation worsened in the George W. Bush/Dick Cheney regime, and it exploded in the Biden regime with the Attorney General, FBI, and Democrat state attorneys general and prosecutors using law as a weapon against Trump, his attorneys, and his supporters. Many people were ruined financially.

Many were falsely imprisoned, and Trump himself had his reelection in 2020 stolen by the most brazen and obvious vote theft in American history. The evidence is clear that Biden himself is guilty of selling vice presidential and presidential influence with his son, Hunter, being the marketer and sharing the revenues. Yet the US Department of Justice prevented any investigation and indictments The whore American media covered up the story. The practice of elevating high office holders to the privileged status of a king or an aristocracy above both the law and the US Constitution must not continue in the Trump regime. If it does, high officials will have gained squatters’ rights in being above the law, and the US Constitution will be reduced to a dead document.

At this point, the only way a collapse of the rule of law in the US can be avoided is for the Trump regime to relentless prosecute the Department of Justice, FBI, and White House officials who selectively applied law in the form of lawfare against political opponents. If those responsible avoid accountability, a legal precedent will have been established, and the differential rights and status based on race and gender that are already in place will be joined by special legal privileges for high government officials. It would mean the end of any possibility of accountable government. This should be the highest priority of the Trump regime. It is even more important than closing the border.

On the war front Trump should simply walk away from conflict with Iran and Russia. Wars distract from domestic matters and will prevent focus on making America great again. Wars will bring more propaganda about “terrorists” and more infringements of US civil liberty, which is not a path to making America great again. There is no reason whatsoever for American blood, taxpayers’ money, and more issuance of US debt in order to enrich the coffers of the military/security complex and to expand the frontier of Greater Israel. Trump should come to the realization that Israel is of no value to America. Israel is a deadweight burden around our necks, and the unconditional American support for Israel’s wars and genocide of the Palestinians has cost America’s reputation hugely. If America ever had a moral luster, it no longer does.

Iran and Russia do not threaten the US. The Middle East is full of problems for Iran, whose government doesn’t need problems with the US. Ukraine is Russia’s problem, not ours. Washington is responsible for the conflict. Trump should apologize and remove us from the conflict. The minute Trump stops sending money and weapons to Ukraine and Israel, peace will descend on the world. Trump should return to his original position that NATO is of no value to America. If NATO did not exist, Russia and Europe would be engaged in mutually beneficial economic ventures. These ventures would create financing and business opportunities also for Americans. All would prosper. It is Washington’s pursuit of hegemony–the control over others–that is suppressing economic activity worldwide and eroding the living standard of all Americans except the top one percent.

MAGA America has no interest in the agendas of special interest lobby group policies that benefit only a tiny percentage of people who are already so rich that they can’t possibly spend their huge amount of income and wealth. The problems of the world originate in Washington and they are institutionalized in the Israel Lobby, the military/security complex, Big Pharma and its control over high cost and ineffective American medicine that sacrifices Americans’ health and the integrity of doctors to Big Pharma’s profits. These are the real threats to America that if America is again to be great, these threats, not Russia and Iran, must be destroyed and eliminated. If the Trump regime can reestablish the respect for a rule of law by indicting and prosecuting DOJ, FBI, and other officials for their criminal behavior, and if Trump can disengage the US/Israeli war machine, he will have saved the world from nuclear war and re-established the United States as the principal nation to whom the world looks for leadership.

My concern is that Trump will love the war role. As Winston Churchill believed, there is nothing more exciting than being a war leader, especially if you imagine prospects of winning. Trump is extremely susceptible to getting into war based on advice that Putin has no red lines because Putin is too fearful of conflict. With Iran’s isolation from the destruction of Syria and a reformist government that wants to be free of religious restrictions and to make money in the West, Trump is being advised it is time to bring Iran down.

When the Ruling Elite have you blocked elsewhere, their agenda becomes your only choice. Has Trump fought so hard only for the sake of being used by the well-institutionalized American Establishment? The third thing Trump should immediately do is to shut down the US biowarfare labs Washington is operating all over the world. These labs are trying to create deadly pathogens that are highly contagious. The labs are even attempting to target the pathogens at specific ethnicities, collecting, for example, Russian DNA in the hopes of finding some material unique to Russians to which to attach the pathogen. These American labs are all illegal. Washington tries to avoid responsibility by locating its biowarfare labs in other countries. Trump should put an immediate halt to the activity and prosecute those responsible, including the US Congress if Congress authorized this illegal activity.

Those who profit from this evil activity claim that we have to do it because our enemies do it, but they never provide any documentation for their claim. Regardless, as the Covid experience proves, when a pathogen is released it goes everywhere. To use one as a weapon results in the same self-destruction as nuclear war. So much of science is committed to weapons. Science needs to be turned back to improving health and the human condition. If Trump can deal with the real challenges that we face instead of being led off to fake challenges serving special interests, he will go down as the greatest American president in history.

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If the shooting stops within 24 hours, there’s no bluster. Negotiations will come after.

• Trump Team’s Ukraine Predictions ‘Campaign Bluster’ – Reuters (RT)

Donald Trump’s election promises to end the Ukraine conflict “in 24 hours” were driven by “a combination of campaign bluster and a lack of appreciation of the intractability” of the situation, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources close to the US president-elect. Trump repeatedly touted his ability to end hostilities between Russia and Ukraine while on the campaign trail, accusing President Joe Biden of mishandling the crisis. Privately, members of the Trump team expect the timeline for resolving the conflict to be measured in months, the news agency said. Reuters spoke with two individuals on condition of anonymity, who described themselves as Trump associates who have discussed the issue with him.

The view aligns with public remarks by members of the future administration. Keith Kellogg, whom Trump has tapped to serve as a special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, told Fox News last week that he aims to mediate a resolution within 100 days after Inauguration Day on January 20. Trump expressed frustration that he has to wait to be sworn in before implementing his plans, speaking at a recent press conference at his residence in Florida. Asked whether he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the first three to six months of his presidency, the politician said such a meeting would hopefully be arranged “long before six months”. At the same event, Trump expressed empathy with Russian concerns over NATO’s expansion in Europe, which Moscow has cited as one of the key causes of the Ukraine conflict. He criticized the Biden administration for falling to effectively negotiate with Putin on the issue.

According to Reuters, Trump advisers generally support proposals that would take Ukraine’s bid to join NATO off the table for the foreseeable future, and push for a ceasefire along the current battle lines. They also advocate deploying European troops to monitor a potential demilitarized zone, the report said. The Kremlin has welcomed Trump’s recognition of Russian national concerns. However, Moscow expects a sustainable solution addressing the wider European security architecture. Moscow will not accept an agreement that would merely freeze the conflict and give Kiev time to rebuild its army for future hostilities, as happened with the Minsk Agreements of 2014-2015, officials have said.

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The talks won’t involve Ukraine.

• Ban On Talks With Moscow Remains – Kiev (RT)

Kiev is maintaining its moratorium on direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga confirmed in an interview with European Pravda published on Wednesday. Two years ago, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree banning his government from any talks with Moscow. When asked if Russia should be involved in potential peace negotiations, Sibiga stated that at the moment, such a “modality” has not been considered. “Let us wait for official contacts with the US, where we will discuss further steps,” the diplomat added. Sibiga took up the post as Kiev’s chief diplomat in September, following the resignation of his predecessor Dmitry Kuleba, who stepped down amid a large-scale purge of Ukraine’s senior officials and took up a position at a Harvard-based research center.

In the interview, Sibiga claimed that US President-elect Donald Trump’s “peace through strength” approach aligns with Zelensky’s so-called “peace formula,” which is predicated on Russia withdrawing its troops from all territory claimed by Ukraine, paying reparations, and subjecting itself to a war crimes tribunal. Moscow has dismissed the plan, calling it “detached from reality.” Russia has repeatedly said it is open to talks on Ukraine, provided they take into account the territorial “reality on the ground,” an approach recently echoed by French president, Emmanual Macron. The Ukrainian leader, however, has recently shifted his rhetoric from emphasizing “victory” to demanding a “just peace,” underpinned by security guarantees from the West, including NATO membership, while leaving the status of the new Russian regions undetermined.

Last week, Zelensky expressed a desire to secure a peace agreement with Russia within the year, emphasizing the need for strong security guarantees from its Western supporters. Trump had repeatedly claimed while on the campaign trail that he could end the conflict within 24 hours. However, the president-elect recently said it might take up to six months after taking office to facilitate a deal between Moscow and Kiev. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow is ready to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine within a broader Eurasian framework in order to address larger geopolitical issues. The Russian president reiterated last month that Moscow is ready for negotiations with Kiev without any preconditions other than those agreed upon in Istanbul in 2022, which involved Ukraine agreeing to a neutral status and restrictions on the deployment of foreign weaponry in the country.

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Oh wait…

• Moscow and Kiev Hold ‘Limited Talks’ – Bloomberg (RT)

Russia and Ukraine are holding “limited talks” in Qatar, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources on the Russian side. The negotiations are focused on preventing threats to nuclear facilities amid the ongoing conflict between the two neighbors, the media outlet claimed. Bloomberg’s Ukrainian sources maintained that the only talks held between the two nations are linked to prisoner exchanges. Earlier on Wednesday, Moscow and Kiev confirmed the latest POW swap, which involved 25 servicemen from each side. According to Bloomberg, the Kremlin did not respond to a request for comment. In August 2024, the Washington Post claimed that Moscow and Kiev were holding talks on a potential moratorium on striking energy infrastructure in the summer of that year, allegedly also mediated by Qatar. The negotiations were reportedly thwarted by the Ukrainian incursion into the Russian Kursk border region in early August, the US media outlet stated.

Moscow then refuted the report, saying that “no one has derailed anything.” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov brushed the information off as mere “rumors.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at that time that no “security regimes” for critical infrastructure had been discussed by the two sides. According to Zakharova, Moscow and Kiev have not engaged in any talks since spring 2022 when peace talks collapse, which Russia blamed on Western interference. In November 2024, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari, told journalists that his nation’s mediation efforts in the Ukraine conflict go beyond the humanitarian efforts aimed at helping children affected by the hostilities to reunite with their families.

According to al-Ansari, Qatar has always pursued a policy aimed at “reaching peace.” The spokesman also stated that time that Doha was supporting all the efforts aimed at achieving a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Kiev has refused direct talks with Moscow ever since Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky banned direct talks in autumn 2022. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga confirmed in an interview with European Pravda published on Wednesday that the moratorium is still in place. He also said that Kiev would wait for further contacts with the US before making any moves. Moscow has repeatedly stated that it is ready for peace talks at any moment without any preconditions other than those agreed upon in Istanbul in 2022. The draft treaty involved Kiev agreeing to a neutral status and accepting restrictions on foreign weaponry deployment on Ukrainian territory.

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Who cares?

• German Military Retreats From X (RT)

The German Defense Ministry and the Army (the Bundeswehr) have announced they will stop posting on X claiming that Elon Musk’s platform makes it “difficult to have a factual exchange.” Musk has lambasted the current German government for promoting the “woke mind virus” and leading the country to ruin, going so far as to endorse the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and interview its leader Alice Weidel live on his platform earlier this week. “We will leave our X-channel dormant until further notice and will not post anything actively for the time being,” the Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday. “We have decided to take this step because a factual exchange is becoming increasingly difficult here.”

According to a statement posted on the ministry’s website, it will continue to communicate with the public via press releases, a WhatsApp group, YouTube, Instagram, and “other social media.” The Bundeswehr reserves the right to post on X “in the case of disinformation campaigns,” it said. The move comes after over 60 German universities and research institutes announced their departure from X, alleging “increasing radicalization” on the site. Two labor unions and the top federal court have also departed the platform in a huff. Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, citing the previous management’s out-of-control censorship, and has since rebranded the platform as X. Subsequent revelations have shown that Twitter’s previous executive team worked closely with the government to suppress opposition narratives.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will continue to use X “for the time being,” his spokesman told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday. “It’s a difficult balance to strike,” the official representative said, describing X as “not without controversy.” The “controversy” in question appears to be Musk’s endorsement of AfD and an interview with Weidel. He did the same last year to back Donald Trump’s presidential bid in the US, which saw him triumph in November. The German establishment has long tarred AfD with accusations of “extremism,” but its popularity has surged in recent months due to its positions on immigration and the economy. Scholz’s “traffic light” coalition collapsed in November and Germans will have to vote for a new parliament in late February. Since Musk’s $44 billion purchase, proponents of “fact-checking” and censoring “disinformation” have tried to set up alternatives such as Threads and Bluesky, but failed to make an appreciable dent in X’s user base.

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“..each new pledge to Ukraine serves as a stark reminder of Berlin’s neglect of its own citizens..”

• Berlin Proves It Will Support Kiev To Its Own Detriment (Romanenko)

As Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius proudly announced the delivery of RCH 155 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine – even before the Bundeswehr receives them – Berlin’s priorities have once again come under scrutiny. The decision to ship this state-of-the-art artillery system to Ukraine highlights a glaring paradox: Germany’s commitment to modernizing its own armed forces seems secondary to its zeal in arming Kiev for a war increasingly serving as a proxy for Western interests against Russia. “We are standing by Ukraine in this existential fight. The RCH 155 represents not only our technical capabilities but also our steadfast support,” Pistorius declared. Yet, for many Germans, each such statement lands like a hammer blow to national confidence in their government.

Comments online have laid bare the growing resentment, with users describing each new arms shipment as “another 0.5% boost for the AfD.” This remark reflects a troubling but undeniable trend in German politics: the ruling coalition’s unwavering support for Ukraine is alienating voters at home. The RCH 155 is an advanced artillery system mounted on a Boxer wheeled vehicle, boasting a range exceeding 40 kilometers and cutting-edge mobility. It was intended to play a key role in modernizing Germany’s military – a long-overdue initiative for the Bundeswehr, which has been plagued by underfunding and outdated equipment. Instead, these cutting-edge weapons will first see action in Ukraine, leaving Germany’s armed forces waiting. Critics argue that this decision exemplifies the government’s misguided priorities. “The Bundeswehr is not only defending Germany but also the NATO alliance,” said one military analyst.

“If we are not equipped to fulfil that role, it weakens the very foundation of our defense strategy.” The irony is inescapable: while Pistorius makes sweeping promises to Kiev, German soldiers continue to train on aging and inadequate equipment. This frustration is not confined to military circles. Across the political spectrum, Germans are increasingly questioning their country’s role as a financial and military backer of Ukraine. The Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), a far-right populist party, has capitalized on this discontent, surging in the polls to become a significant political force. Recent state elections have seen the AfD achieve double-digit gains, fueled by voter dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of domestic issues. Energy prices remain high, inflation eats into wages, and public infrastructure continues to crumble.

Many Germans feel that resources and attention should be directed inward, not outward. For them, each new pledge to Ukraine serves as a stark reminder of Berlin’s neglect of its own citizens. The government’s unwavering support for Ukraine – a proxy for Western interests against Russia – is also being called into question. Pistorius’ rhetoric about an “existential fight” may resonate with international allies, but for many Germans, it rings hollow. They see a government that appears more concerned with maintaining its standing in Washington and Brussels than with addressing the needs of its own people. Comments on Die Welt reports about the transfer often highlight this disconnect. One user wrote, “We’ve become the arms supplier for the world while our own army remains underfunded and ill-equipped. How long will this madness continue?” Another opined, “Every tank, every howitzer we send is another nail in the coffin of this coalition’s credibility.”

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I read he had a 10-day grace period and filed the docs after 11 days. So one day late. Enough for Gensler to sue.

• Biden SEC Sues Musk Over Twitter Purchase In 11th Hour “Sham” (ZH)

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Elon Musk in connection to his $44 billion purchase of Twitter (now X) in October 2022. In a Tuesday press release, the agency claims that by delaying the filing of a beneficial ownership report by 11 days, Musk saved $150 million, or 0.34% on several subsequent tranches of stock he bought before filing the disclosure on April 4, 2022. According to the agency, Twitter shares surged by 27% after Musk filed the ownership report – by which time he already owned 9% of the company’s shares. “Investors who sold Twitter common stock during this period did so at artificially low prices and thus suffered substantial economic harm,” reads the complaint. The agency wants Musk to disgorge any profits he incurred due to the late filing, along with pay a civil fine.

In response, Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, told the Epoch Times that Musk did nothing wrong – calling the SEC’s lawsuit a “sham.” “Today’s action is an admission by the SEC that they cannot bring an actual case,” he said, adding that Musk “has done nothing wrong and everyone sees this sham for what it is.” As the Epoch Times notes further, Spiro accused the SEC of running a “multi-year campaign of harassment” against Musk and insisted the agency was blowing the alleged late disclosure filing out of proportion, adding that this type of infraction carries a nominal penalty.

The lawsuit is the latest chapter in Musk’s contentious relationship with the SEC. In 2018, the agency sued him for posting on social media that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share, a claim that was later revealed to be exaggerated. The SEC contended that Musk’s “misleading” post caused Tesla’s stock price to jump by over 6 percent and led to “significant market disruption.” That case was settled with Musk agreeing to pay a $20 million fine and step down as Tesla’s chairman for three years. The settlement did not require Musk to admit to any wrongdoing.

Musk’s “funding secured” post also sparked another lawsuit by a group of Tesla investors, who claimed that it was materially misleading and led them to suffer as much as $12 billion in financial losses. During a three-week trial in the case, Musk’s attorneys argued that he believed his statements about taking Tesla private were truthful, citing discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) as evidence of potential funding. Musk testified that PIF representatives showed strong interest in the deal, which led him to claim that the funding was secured.

“I had no ill motive,” Musk said in court. “My intent was to do the right thing for all shareholders.” The jury sided with Musk in the case. Jurors delivered a unanimous verdict in February 2023, finding that Musk and Tesla were not liable for misleading investors with the posts. The investors appealed the decision, arguing that the judge gave erroneous instructions to the jurors. The appellate court upheld the jury’s decision, clearing Musk of securities fraud.The SEC’s current chair, Gary Gensler, plans to step down from his post on Jan. 20, the day President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated for a second term. Meanwhile, SEC Chief Accountant Paul Munter will retire from the agency effective Jan. 25 – making it unclear if the agency will even proceed with its filing against Musk.

JD Vance Gensler

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“All three CEOs are expected to be seated with Trump and his administration officials on the platform.”

• Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg To Attend Trump Inauguration (JTN)

Tech giants Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg will all attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next week, and will be featured in a prominent spot together on the stage, according to NBC News. The three CEOs have all donated at least $1 million to Trump’s campaign or the Trump-Vance inaugural committee, and Musk is considered a close Trump ally. Musk, who runs and owns multiple companies including the social media platform X, will be co-leading the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) during the second Trump administration, and has donated more than $250 million to getting Trump reelected.

Bezos, who owns the Washington Post and is the owner and founder of Amazon, instructed his paper not to endorse a presidential candidate in the 2024 elections. Amazon has also donated $1 million to the inaugural fund. Zuckerberg, who runs and founded the social media platform Facebook and its parent company Meta, recently reshuffled his company’s moderation policies in a move that some believe was done to appease the incoming Trump administration. He will also co-host a black tie reception on Monday night with Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson, per the Associated Press. Trump will officially be sworn into office on Capitol Hill on January 20. All three CEOs are expected to be seated with Trump and his administration officials on the platform.

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Trump wants TikTok as a negotiating tool with China.

“For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump. The other side is closing it up, but I’m now a big star on TikTok.”

• Trump Mulls Executive Order To ‘Save Tiktok’ – WaPo (RT)

President-elect Donald Trump is considering issuing an executive order to delay the enforcement of a US law that mandates the sale or shutdown of TikTok, potentially granting the popular social media platform a temporary reprieve, according to The Washington Post. The current legislation, which was passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden last year, requires ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest from its US operations by January 19, 2025. Failure to comply would result in TikTok being removed from US app stores and losing access to essential infrastructure, effectively ceasing its operations in the country.

Trump has reportedly been “mulling ways to save the day,” including potentially issuing an executive order that would extend the compliance deadline by 60 to 90 days, allowing for further negotiations, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the matter. TikTok has already devised a plan to “go dark” for 170 million US users on Sunday. According to anonymous insiders cited by Reuters, the app would greet American users with a pop-up message explaining the ban and providing an option to download their data. This move would exceed the law’s requirements, which permit existing users to continue using the app without new downloads. The Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling on TikTok’s appeal against the law. During recent oral arguments, the justices appeared to prioritize national security concerns over potential free speech implications.

During his first term, Trump attempted to ban TikTok, citing national security risks due to its Chinese ownership. However, during the recent campaign, he changed his mind, stating: “For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump. The other side is closing it up, but I’m now a big star on TikTok.” In December, Trump reportedly met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, further signaling a shift in his stance toward the platform. Trump’s legal team has also requested the Supreme Court to halt the ban’s implementation, seeking additional time to pursue a political solution.

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“I am struggling to spot the difference between the extremists of the Right, and those who are trying to fight them.”

• Why Europe Fears Free Speech (Munchau)

We all know the old joke: when a European referendum delivers the “wrong” outcome, the country votes again until they get it “right”. The EU thought this would be the case after Brexit. But so far, no one’s laughing. If anything, things have got worse. Take Romania, which recently cancelled its presidential election when Calin Georgescu, leader of a nationalist Right coalition, won the first round. Thierry Breton, former French European Commissioner, revealed the EU’s mindset during a damning recent TV interview. “We did it in Romania and we will obviously do it in Germany if necessary,” he said. In other words, if you can’t beat the far-Right, ban them.

I disagree with almost everything Breton has ever said, but I am grateful to him for stating his case with such revealing clarity. During his time as industry commissioner in Brussels, from 2019 until last summer, when Emmanuel Macron replaced him with a more compliant figure, he was the driving force behind a series of laws designed to keep Europe in the digital dark ages. The most extreme of which is the Digital Services Act (DSA) which compels “very large online platforms”, such as X and Meta, to check facts and filter out fake news. But, thanks to Breton, the truth is out there. Europe’s ultimate aim isn’t to save public discourse, it is to suffocate far-Right parties by depriving them of the oxygen of information. The DSA isn’t even the last word in the EU’s anti-digital jihad. One of Ursula von der Leyen’s big ideas last year during the European election was the so-called “democracy shield” — effectively launching even more legislation to prevent outside interference in EU affairs.

This notion conjures up images of laser beams and light-sabre fights. And in some respects it’s not far from the truth: a frightened bloc needs a shield to protect itself from the encroaching enemy. Mark Zuckerberg is certainly on the attack. Last week he announced that he is abandoning fact-checking on his platforms — effectively defying the DSA. And he is betting on Donald Trump to protect him from the legal consequences. Given that J.D. Vance, the Vice President-elect, has already threatened to end US support for Nato if Europe tries to censor Elon Musk’s X, surely the same will apply to Facebook. And the EU is far too dependent on the US to be able to mount an effective campaign against any of America’s social media platforms once Trump is president. The DSA, hastily drawn up during the pandemic, not only misjudges the nature of the social media, it misjudges political power. It exposes Europe’s essential weakness before America.

This isn’t just a geopolitical battle, though. It is also a European one. The attempted clampdown reveals that there is something the bloc fears more than free speech: populism. MEPs found it hard enough to stomach Nigel Farage’s brutal outbursts when he was a member of the European Parliament. Now they have Musk breathing down their neck, endorsing candidates from the AfD, a party that sits on the far-Right in the European Parliament’s benches and which supports German withdrawal from the EU. The German media had a collective breakdown when Musk tweeted an endorsement for the AfD, interviewed Alice Weidel, the party’s co-leader, on X, and then endorsed her in an article for Die Welt. The op-ed editor of the German daily resigned in protest. And an article in another newspaper hysterically described Musk’s intervention as unconstitutional. That journalists would advocate censorship seems shocking, until one understands the role of journalism in continental European society. It operates firmly inside a narrow centrist political consensus, which spans all the parties from the centre-left to the centre-right. Naturally, the AfD does not get much airtime in the German media.

But while marginalised by traditional media, the AfD thrives on TikTok, where it has large following. So what irks the German media, and politicians from other parties, is that the censorship cartel is no longer functioning as well as it once did. In the US and in the UK, the once mighty legacy media have already lost their power. Hillary Clinton expressed the frustration perhaps most clearly when she said that social media companies must fact check, or else “we lose total control”. But Europe still lives in a twilight zone where the traditional media still basks in the dwindling sunset of power, trying to ignore social media rising on the other horizon. Like all the modern political battles in Europe, this is about protecting vested interests.

The Romanian case demonstrates how these restrictions on freedom of speech are the first salvos in a greater war of repression. The presidential elections there were cancelled on the grounds that a Russian-infested TikTok had misinformed voters. I am sure that the Russians were active. But it is shocking to think that an election was cancelled because someone lied on TikTok. Let’s be clear, there was no suggestion of any vote rigging. Georgescu won the first round of the election fair and square. But as with the laughable misperception in Brussels after the Brexit vote, the presumption behind the EU’s support for the nullification of the result, was that voters were too stupid to make up their own mind. The rerun is to take place on 4 May, followed by a run-off between the most successful candidate two weeks later. Georgescu is still the most likely candidate to win according to opinion polls, but the Romanian political establishment is still determined to find ways to disbar him, the most promising of which is the hope that he may have received undeclared funds.

There are similar patterns elsewhere. Marine Le Pen faces potential disqualification from the 2027 presidential elections following accusations of irregularities regarding her assistants in the European Parliament. More recently, Brussels was spooked by the victory in Austria of the Freedom Party, which managed to obtain 28.8% of the vote in the September general election. It surpassed a threshold at which point it became politically impossible for the other parties to form coalitions. Herbert Kickl, the FPÖ’s leader, is now likely to become Austria’s next chancellor. Meanwhile, in Germany, a group of 113 MPs has ganged up to ban the AfD. Their story is that the far-Right wants to destroy democracy. While the party is not yet polling high enough to frustrate yet another centrist coalition in Berlin after next month’s elections, Germany may only be a few percentage points away from an Austrian-style impasse.

Surely, though, the sensible approach to the rise of the AfD, the FPÖ and other parties of the Right is not to censor them, but to address the underlying problem that has made them so strong: persistent economic uncertainty, loss of purchasing power, and dysfunctional policies on migration. Failing that, why not co-opt parties of the far-Right as junior coalition partners as they did in Sweden and Finland? If Weidel were suddenly thrust into the job of economics minister, we would see whether she could defend her record in government. But the centrist parties in Germany and France do neither. They have erected political firewalls against the far-Right. And they are doubling down with the same old policies.

It’s an approach that will inevitably backfire. A banned Le Pen would be far more dangerous for the centrist establishment, and possibly even more extreme when she eventually gets to power. Likewise the AfD would surely be radicalised after a ban. Until then, the EU’s blunt weapons of choice — the legal bans, political firewalls, and censorship — will inflict more self-harm than good. In the pecking order of democratic rights, freedom of speech has a relatively low priority in Europe. Like the creatures in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, I am struggling to spot the difference between the extremists of the Right, and those who are trying to fight them.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Garland
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879521669326545175

 

 

Rescue

 

 

Encantadora
https://twitter.com/i/status/1879266144122753059

 

 

Shark attack

 

 

Snow cats

 

 

Penguin

 

 

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Debt Rattle December 13 3024

Dec 132024
 
 December 13, 2024  Posted by at 10:40 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  60 Responses »


Pablo Picasso Women running on the beach 1922

 

• Marc Andreessen Gives Insider Peek At DOGE Decisions (ZH)
• ProPublica Pats Itself On Back After Hegseth Hitpiece Humiliation (ZH)
• Trump Says He Will Not ‘Abandon’ Ukraine (RT)
• West Will ‘Betray’ Ukraine – Fico (RT)
• Strikes Deep Into Russia ‘Big Mistake’ – Trump (RT)
• Trump Wants EU To Send Troops To Ukraine – WSJ (RT)
• Six Major NATO States Sign Document On Ukraine’s Accession Plans (RT)
• The Centrists Cannot Hold (Patrick Lawrence)
• Trump Invites Xi To His Inauguration – CBS (RT)
• Trump Says RFK Jr. Will Study Link Between Childhood Vaccines and Autism (ET)
• Meta Donates $1Mln to Trump’s Fund as Part of Effort to Mend Ties (Sp.)
• Biden Pardons 39, Commutes Nearly 1,500 Sentences (JTN)
• Argentina’s First Budget Surplus in 123 Years (Martin Armstrong)
• The Kremlin’s Oprichniki Versus The General Staff’s Prigozhniki (Helmer)
• Netanyahu’s Trial: Corruption, War Crimes, And An Israel In Crisis (Cradle)
• Vultures Feed On The Carcass Of Syria (Pepe Escobar)
• The US and Israel Destroyed Syria and Called it Peace (Jeffrey Sachs)

 

 

Lavrov

No, it’s time to leave the wartime mindset behind.

Kash


https://twitter.com/i/status/1867191997871841365

Rogan

AI

Van Jones

Inauguration

 

 

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1867357433493872874

 

 

 

 

Marc Andreessen fuels the optimism about the process that will lead to Trump II. Formidable people galore.

“He will happily talk to distinguished visitors about who the Vice President should be, and then he’ll ask the caddy.”

• Marc Andreessen Gives Insider Peek At DOGE Decisions (ZH)

Billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen gave a wide-ranging interview to Free Press’s Bari Weiss, confirming his involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and sharing behind-the-scenes insights on working with President-elect Donald Trump. Andreessen discussed his role in assisting Trump with assembling the next administration and provided a glimpse into what it’s like to spend time with the incoming commander-in-chief. During the two-hour conversation, Andreessen also revisited his experience with Biden administration officials, claiming the government expressed the orwellian desire to take “complete control” over AI development in the United States.

“I’m an unpaid volunteer,” Andreessen said when asked by Weiss about his reported involvement. A recent report from The Washington Post revealed that Andreessen, along with fellow Silicon Valley titans Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, is contributing to the ambitious program. Andreessen outlined DOGE’s two chief objectives: slashing spending and reducing regulations. “There’s basically two big parts to it,” Andreessen explained. “One is they’re going to do a top-to-bottom review of government spending, and they’re going to cut as much cost as they possibly can. They have a whole theory and strategy on that.” “In conjunction with that and related to it, they’re going to do the same thing for regulations,” the billionaire continued. “They’re going to do a top-to-bottom review of the regulatory—what they call the regulatory state or the administrative state.”

“The connective tissue there, that they don’t talk about in public, is actually quite important. A lot of the reaction of the Doge from institutional Washington is like, well, that’s impossible, you can’t do that; there are all these laws, statutes, and regulations,” he added. Andreessen, along with his A16z co-founder Ben Horowitz, endorsed Trump during the final stretch of the 2024 election. Since Trump’s victory, Andreessen revealed to Weiss that he has spent a great day of time at Mar-a-Lago and the Palm Beach area, assisting the 47th leader of the free world with assembling his administration. While Andreessen said he has spent “maybe half [his] time” at Mar-a-Lago since the election, he is quick to clarify his position: “I’m not claiming to be in the middle of all the decision-making, but I’ve been trying to help in as many ways as I can,” the tech titan told Weiss.

Andreessen explained that his contributions focus on areas where his expertise aligns with Trump’s agenda, including tech policy, business, and economic development. “When I talk about these things, it’s around, as I said, tech policy, business, economics, and then, you know, the health of the country, the success of the country,” he noted. Andreessen shared his observations of Trump’s warm personal approach, highlighting qualities that he believes are often overlooked by his Democrat critics. “Everybody says this who meets with him, but he’s an incredible host,” Andreessen remarked. “For however people think, whatever, he’s an incredible host. He runs his own private worlds.” What stood out most to Andreessen was Trump’s ability to connect with people from all walks of life.

“He treats everybody the same and talks to everybody,” Andreessen said. “He will happily talk to distinguished visitors about who the Vice President should be, and then he’ll ask the caddy.” Reflecting on his involvement in the transition process, Andreessen noted the exceptional caliber of candidates he encountered. “The caliber of a lot of the people that I’ve met has been very high,” he said, adding that recent appointments, particularly at the next level down in staff positions, have included “very impressive people.” Addressing concerns about whether qualified individuals might hesitate to join a Trump administration due to the controversies surrounding his previous term, Andreessen said he has observed the opposite trend: “I think the flow of qualified people from outside the system now is actually much stronger.”

Yet another mainstream media narrative busted. Addressing also reiterated that his support for Trump stemmed from a series of “horrifying” meeting in which Biden officials expressed plans to control AI. “They said, look, AI is a technology basically that the government is going to completely control,” Andreessen revealed. The officials explicitly discouraged the idea of entrepreneurial ventures in AI, stating, “Don’t start, don’t do AI startups… it’s not something that we’re going to allow to happen.”

Read more …

The last gasp of the anti-Pete move?

• ProPublica Pats Itself On Back After Hegseth Hitpiece Humiliation (ZH)

Leftist attack dog ProPublica seemed unfazed by the widespread ridicule it faced on social media after its botched attempt at a smear campaign against Pete Hegseth backfired. The publication had plotted to accuse Hegseth of falsely claiming he was accepted into West Point. In response, Hegseth got ahead of the publication and shared his acceptance letter confirming that he had been accepted into the military academy—though he declined the offer. In a now-viral tweet, Hegseth wrote, “We understand that ProPublica (the Left Wing hack group) is planning to publish a knowingly false report that I was not accepted to West Point in 1999.” Hegseth also shared his letter of acceptance signed by Army Lieutenant General and then-West Point Superintendent Daniel Christman.

As criticism mounted against ProPublica, its editor, Jesse Eisinger, attempted to defend the outlet but inadvertently made the situation worse. He claimed West Point had falsely informed the publication that Hegseth was never admitted to the military academy. “We asked West Pt public affairs, which told us twice on the record that he hadn’t even applied there,” Eisinger wrote on X. “We reached out. Hegseth’s spox gave us his acceptance letter. We didn’t publish a story. That’s journalism.” Despite Eisinger’s attempt to save face, Hegseth’s defenders said the real story ProPublica should have published was that West Point had incorrectly discredited Hegseth. Initially, ProPublica quoted West Point as stating, “According to the admissions office – Hegseth had not applied for admission to the U.S. Military Academy.”

After being pressed for clarification, West Point admitted: “A review of our records indicates that Mr. Peter Hegseth was offered admission to West Point in 1999 but did not attend West Point.” West Point confirmed Hegseth had been offered admission for the class of 2023, issuing a statement to correct the record. “An incorrect statement involving Mr. Hegseth’s admission to the United States Military Academy was released by an employee on December 10, 2024,” the academy said. “Upon further review of an achieved [sic] database, employees realized this statement was in error.”

The academy added it was taking “this situation very seriously” and issued an apology “for this administrative error.” ProPublica’s failed attempt to smear Hegseth appeared to be part of a broader campaign aimed at thwarting his nomination as the next secretary of the Department of Defense. Trump announced his decision to nominate Hegseth following his landslide victory in the 2024 presidential election. Despite relentless media attacks on Hegseth’s personal life, the president-elect has stood by his side. “He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this month, later adding: “Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!”

Geraldo

Read more …

“I disagree with the whole thing because it should have never happened..”

• Trump Says He Will Not ‘Abandon’ Ukraine (RT)

The US will not cut all aid to Ukraine as part of brokering peace with Russia, President-elect Donald Trump has claimed. Time magazine published an extensive interview with Trump on Thursday, after naming the former-and-upcoming US president its 2024 Person of the Year. Among the many topics they touched on was Ukraine, with the outlet repeatedly asking whether Trump would “abandon” Kiev by cutting off Washington’s aid. “I want to reach an agreement, and the only way you’re going to reach an agreement is not to abandon. You understand what that means, right?” Trump replied. The unnamed interviewer apparently did not understand, and repeated the question. “Well, I just said it. You can’t reach an agreement if you abandon, in my opinion,” the president-elect said. Trump also explained why he was reluctant to get into any details of his peace proposal.

“The reason that I don’t like to tell you this is that, as a negotiator, when I sit down and talk to some very brilliant young people… when I start I think I have a very good plan to help, but when I start exposing that plan, it becomes almost a worthless plan,” he told Time. The US Congress has approved over $180 billion in military, humanitarian, and economic aid to Ukraine. Washington also provides targeting and intelligence information to Kiev, while insisting that none of this makes it a party to the conflict with Russia. Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against such escalation, to no avail. “I disagree with the whole thing because it should have never happened,” Trump said about the conflict. He has maintained for years that the Russia-Ukraine conflict would not have escalated had Joe Biden not replaced him in the White House in 2021 and allowed things to get out of hand.

“It’s crazy what’s taking place. It’s crazy,” Trump said about the fighting, lamenting the large number of casualties on both sides. “We’re just escalating this war and making it worse.” Last week, the Pentagon announced another $1 billion in military aid to Kiev, while the US Treasury sent $20 billion in loans, intended to be written off and secured by frozen Russian government assets. Moscow has called the move blatant theft and announced there would be consequences.

Read more …

“..Ukraine “has allowed itself to be dragged into this adventure that cannot end well for the country.”

• West Will ‘Betray’ Ukraine – Fico (RT)

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has claimed that the West will betray Ukraine by agreeing to a redrawing of the country’s borders. Attempts to weaken Russia through economic sanctions have also failed, he added. While Slovakia is a member of both the European Union and NATO, its government has consistently dissented from the blocks’ policies on the Ukraine conflict since Fico assumed office, after which he froze Bratislava’s military aid to Kiev. In May, Fico was shot multiple times at close range by a man who later told police that he was motivated by the prime minister’s refusal to send arms to Ukraine. In an interview on Tuesday with Brazil’s Folha de S. Paulo daily, Fico said that the West had hoped to weaken Russia by means of the Ukraine conflict but had failed. “The Russians are gaining more and more territory [and] the sanctions are not working,” he argued.

According to the official, Ukraine “has allowed itself to be dragged into this adventure that cannot end well for the country.” Fico claimed that Kiev “will lose territory,” possibly up to a third of its land, and “will not be invited to NATO.” The Slovakian head of government added “I believe that the Ukrainians will be betrayed.” The official also predicted that some sort of security guarantees would be offered to Kiev, “such as the presence of foreign troops” in Ukraine. The official also predicted that some sort of security guarantees would be offered to Kiev, “such as the presence of foreign troops” in Ukraine. Addressing Kiev’s NATO aspirations, Fico insisted that on his watch, Bratislava would oppose its accession to the US-led military bloc. The prime minister noted, however, that he has nothing against Ukraine joining the EU.

Fico insisted that there can be no military solution to the Ukraine conflict, with Kiev and Moscow needing to negotiate at last. He also noted that it is unrealistic to expect Moscow to give up Crimea or the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics at this point. The official went on to express cautious optimism regarding US President-elect Donald Trump’s “constructive approach” toward ending the bloodshed. Fico told Brazilian reporters that he wants to “bring relations with Russia back to normal,” emphasizing the need to restore dialogue with Moscow. “And I assure you, once the war is over… it will be ‘business as usual.’ Everyone will go there [Russia], everyone will want to buy and sell,” the Slovakian prime minister concluded. Fico claimed that he supported the ‘Friends of Peace’ initiative led by China and Brazil, and pledged to “offer all our modest capabilities to be able to support this plan in various forms.”

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“..such attacks are “just escalating this war and making it worse.”

• Strikes Deep Into Russia ‘Big Mistake’ – Trump (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has criticized Ukraine’s strikes deep into Russia using Western-supplied weapons, saying that they only escalate the conflict between Kiev and Moscow. Trump made the statement on Thursday in an interview with Time magazine, which named him the 2024 Person of the Year. “I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that?” he asked rhetorically. According to the president-elect, such attacks are “just escalating this war and making it worse.” “That should not have been allowed to be done… And I think that is a very big mistake, very big mistake,” he said of strikes deep into Russia’s internationally recognized territory.

Trump returned to the issue later in the interview, saying that “the most dangerous thing right now” is the fact that “[Ukrainian leader Vladimir] Zelensky has decided, with the approval of, I assume, the President [Joe Biden], to start shooting missiles into Russia.” “I think that is a major escalation. I think it is a foolish decision,” he stressed. The US president-elect’s comments came a day after the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukrainian forces had fired six US-supplied ATACMS missiles at a military airfield near the southern city of Taganrog. Two of them were shot down and the rest were diverted using electronic warfare during the attack, the ministry said. The fallen debris resulted in some injuries and minor damage to two buildings and several vehicles, it added.

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia’s response to the strike on Taganrog “will follow at the time and in the way that will be deemed appropriate. But it will definitely follow.” In late November, Russia used its new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile system for the first time, striking the Yuzhmash military plant in the Ukrainian city of Dnepr. According to Moscow, the deployment of the state-of-the-art weapon was a response to Washington and its allies allowing Ukraine to target internationally recognized Russian territory with the long-range weapons they supply to Kiev. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned at the time that if Ukraine’s attacks deep inside Russia continue, Moscow reserves the right “to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow the use of their weapons against our facilities.”

Read more …

No can do.

• Trump Wants EU To Send Troops To Ukraine – WSJ (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has proposed that EU members send peacekeepers to Ukraine to monitor a potential ceasefire with Russia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Trump ran for the White House on the promise of negotiating a swift end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but has been reluctant to reveal any specific proposals since winning the election. Speaking with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last Saturday, Trump argued that “Europe” should play the main role in monitoring a ceasefire and that no US troops would be involved, the Journal reported, citing “officials briefed on the meeting.” The Journal’s sources claimed that the proposal “started as quiet discussions between British and French officials about the possibility,” before including Trump, Zelensky and other governments.

According to one source, Trump also pushed the EU to demand that China pressure Russia to end the conflict, suggesting the use of tariffs as leverage. Discussions are still at such an early stage, according to the Journal, that the questions of which countries would be involved, with how many troops, and any US role in supporting the mission, remain unresolved. The hypothetical peacekeeping or monitoring mission in Ukraine would not be under NATO command but would involve troops from member countries of the US-led bloc, according to the unnamed officials, who admitted this was something they were not sure Russia would accept. It was likewise unclear whether Washington’s European allies would be able to spare the soldiers or have the political support at home for such a mission.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has invited the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Poland to meet with Zelensky in Brussels to discuss security guarantees for Kiev, two officials told the Journal. According to unnamed aides, however, Trump is not “wedded” to any particular plan for ending the conflict and “hasn’t thought deeply about the issue” as he prepares the handover of power on January 20. Russia has repeatedly said that Ukraine’s association with NATO would be a threat to its national security. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has described Ukraine’s membership in the bloc as “categorically unacceptable” to Moscow, citing it as one of the major causes of the current conflict.

Read more …

The EU is a warmonger cabal.

• Six Major NATO States Sign Document On Ukraine’s Accession Plans (RT)

Six European members of NATO have released a joint statement backing Ukraine’s plan to join the US-led bloc, and promising to support the peace terms offered by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to Russia. Moscow has previously rejected Zelensky’s insistence on restoring Ukraine’s 1991 borders as unacceptable. The foreign ministers of the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Poland signed a declaration after meeting with the Ukrainian leader in Berlin on Thursday. “The goals of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine and durable security for Europe are inseparable. Ukraine must prevail,” the statement said. The countries pledged to support an end to the conflict in accordance “with full respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” “We reaffirm our commitment to President Zelensky’s Peace Formula, as a credible path towards a just and lasting peace,” the statement read.

Kiev’s backers vowed to “support Ukraine on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership,” as well as “its path towards accession to the European Union.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga thanked the six nations and the EU for “candid discussion and readiness to take concrete steps.” He called for additional sanctions, targeting Russia’s metals sector, shipping, and banks. “We are closely monitoring the increase in trade with the countries that have not imposed sanctions on Russia,” Sibiga said. The meeting in Berlin took place amid uncertainty over whether US President-elect Donald Trump will continue the previous administration’s unconditional military and financial aid to Kiev. Trump, who takes office on January 20, has described Zelensky as “the greatest salesman on Earth” and promised to do his best to quickly end the conflict through diplomacy.

Although he has not yet produced a concrete plan, during the presidential campaign he appeared open to pressuring Kiev to start negotiations with Moscow. Trump has also blasted outgoing President Joe Biden for allowing Ukraine to use American-made missiles for strikes deep into internationally recognized Russian territory. “I think that is a very big mistake,” he told Time magazine in an interview published on Thursday. Russia has rejected Zelensky’s ‘peace formula’ outright, insisting that a peace agreement could only be reached on its terms. Moscow has stressed that Ukraine must renounce claims on Crimea and four other regions, which voted to join Russia in 2014 and 2022. The Kremlin has also said Ukraine should drop its plan to join the US-led military bloc in favor of becoming a permanently neutral country. President Vladimir Putin has cited NATO’s expansion eastward and military cooperation with Ukraine as one of the root causes of the current conflict.

Read more …

“..it is difficult to overstate the arrogance of a president who operates with so profound an indifference to his electorate.”

• The Centrists Cannot Hold (Patrick Lawrence)

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world…”

A lot of us are familiar with these lines from Yeats’s thoroughly anthologized and often-quoted The Second Coming. How can they not come to mind as the French government of Emmanuel Macron, the centrist par excellence, falls in a heap of high-handed hubris? Everyone in Paris is blaming everyone since the Macron government’s energized opposition in the National Assembly forced Premier Michel Barnier from office with a vote of no confidence last week. The truth is that Barnier is a casualty of his own political camp — an arrogant “center” that is not, in fact, the center of anything. It is composed of neoliberal ideologues who hold themselves as high as falcons above voters, refuse to hear them and wage war to remain in power even when they are voted out of it.

What is unfolding now in France is unfolding one or another way across those Western powers that form the walls of the neoliberal fortress. You see variants in Germany, Britain and, understood properly, in the United States. The center is not holding but the center insists on holding. Neoliberalism, after decades during which it has prevailed without effective challenge, is now critically threatened on all sides. And its defenders are fighting a ferocious battle to preserve its ideological primacy. In effect, the Emmanuel Macrons and Michel Barniers of the Atlantic world are destroying what remains of democracy in the name of defending it. It is important to understand this in the clearest possible terms, given what is at stake. It cannot lead anywhere other than some form of authoritarianism unless the Macrons, the Barniers and their kind are turned back or otherwise subdued.

Isn’t this already evident? It can lead, to look at the question another way, to what could easily turn into political anarchy, and this will not be so “mere” as Yeats imagined a century and a few years ago. Macron, a former merchant banker, “president of the rich” as the French call him, is a laboratory specimen for his imperious insistence on the neoliberal orthodoxies. He decided to risk snap elections last summer after his Renaissance Party was trounced in European Parliament polls. Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National won 30 seats, with 31% of the vote. La France Insoumise, France Unbowed, Macron’s leftist challenger, took nine more seats. Renaissance went home with 13 seats, 14.6% of the vote. Macron, ever out-of-touch, calculated that snap legislative elections would restore the balance of power in his favor.

In the National Assembly elections last June and July, Macron was outdone once again. The Nouveau Fronte Populaire, a leftist alliance formed just weeks before the polls, won 188 seats, Le Pen’s National Rally 142 and Macron’s centrist alliance 161. In sum, no party had the 289 seats required to achieve a legislative majority in the 577–seat Assembly. The leftist front was the surprise winner, and National Rally had the most votes of any single party. Both then demanded, altogether rightfully, the president name a new premier from their ranks. So did Macron’s anti-democratic defense of French democracy begin — or continue more pointedly, better put. He refused for two months to name anyone to Matignon, the prime minister’s residence and office.

And his eventual choice of Barnier, a conservative dedicated to neoliberal austerity and the European Union’s technocracy, was an in-your-face rejection of last summer’s election results. It is interesting to consider what Macron charged Barnier with accomplishing. In the Assembly he faced hostility to Macron’s centrist regime over both shoulders — either from the left (the Nouveau Fronte Populaire) or from the populist right (Le Pen’s Rassemblement). Barnier’s job was to navigate this stony political terrain while sustaining Macron’s neoliberal economics. I would have called this a mission impossible, a fool’s errand, given the two opposition blocs held 330 seats between them. But it is difficult to overstate the arrogance of a president who operates with so profound an indifference to his electorate.

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Good move.

• Trump Invites Xi To His Inauguration – CBS (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration on January 20, CBS News reported on Wednesday. The offer was made in early November, shortly after Trump’s election victory, multiple sources told the media outlet. It remains unclear whether Xi has accepted. In a recent NBC News interview, Trump said he “got along very well” with Xi and that they had communicated the previous week. Trump’s team has suggested hosting other leaders at the Capitol on January 20, in addition to Xi. While ambassadors and diplomats are typically invited, State Department records since 1874 indicate that no foreign leader has ever attended a transfer-of-power ceremony. The apparent olive branch to China comes despite Trump’s incoming administration featuring several hawks on Beijing, including Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state.

The president-elect has vowed to hit the country with an “additional 10% tariff, above any additional tariffs” unless it takes action against the trafficking of fentanyl, a major contributor to the opioid crisis. During his campaign he threatened tariffs in excess of 60% on US imports from China.On Tuesday President Xi Jinping warned that neither side will emerge victorious in the event of a trade war. Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to the US, read a letter from Xi at a US-China Business Council gala in Washington on Wednesday, emphasizing the importance of dialogue over confrontation, and calling for mutually beneficial cooperation rather than zero-sum games. Xie urged against decoupling supply chains, while US Ambassador to Beijing Nicholas Burns cautioned that Beijing sometimes tries to “sugar coat” the competitive nature of the bilateral relationship.

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Of course he will. Good on him.

• Trump Says RFK Jr. Will Study Link Between Childhood Vaccines and Autism (ET)

President-elect Donald Trump said on Dec. 8 that he will give Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the freedom to investigate the potential link between vaccines and autism if the latter gains Senate confirmation to become secretary of health and human services (HHS). Kennedy has said for years that autism is likely tied to childhood vaccines. He was nominated to serve as HHS secretary by Trump last month and has promised sweeping changes to agencies under the HHS department, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The NIH supports and funds research into autism, as well as potential new vaccines. Kennedy told The Epoch Times in September that he would revamp the NIH to focus on the causes of autism, autoimmune diseases, and neurodevelopment diseases instead of developing drugs and serving as an incubator for pharmaceutical products.

In a Dec. 8 interview on “Meet The Press,” Trump noted that autism cases have increased in recent decades. When asked if Kennedy would explore the issue, Trump said he is “open to anything.” “When you look at some of the problems, when you look at what’s going on with disease and sickness in our country, something’s wrong,” Trump said. “I think somebody has to find out. If you go back 25 years ago, you had very little autism. Now you have it.” CDC information shows that about one in 36 American children today has an autism diagnosis, compared to one in 150 in the year 2000. Fighting chronic disease, improving children’s health, and addressing corporate influence on government agencies were vital parts of Kennedy’s campaign platform when he ran for president as a Democrat and then as an independent.

Kennedy suspended his presidential campaign and backed Trump in August. He told The Epoch Times that it was a “heart-wrenching decision” and a necessary step toward achieving his mission of saving Americans from the chronic disease epidemic. Under the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, Kennedy intends to curtail what he calls the chronic disease epidemic by addressing the so-called corporate capture of federal health agencies and removing toxic chemicals from the nation’s food supply, among other objectives.

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That’s $1 million for Zuck vs $260 million for Elon Musk.

• Meta Donates $1Mln to Trump’s Fund as Part of Effort to Mend Ties (Sp.)

Meta* has confirmed a $1 million donation to US President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, signaling a significant shift in CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s approach to the incoming administration, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The donation is a notable departure from Zuckerberg’s previous stance, especially considering his contentious relationship with Trump during the election campaign. Trump had previously threatened to retaliate against tech giants he perceived as undermining his campaign. The paper also reported that as Republicans prepared to take control of both the White House and Congress, tech CEOs were recalibrating their strategies in anticipation of new regulations that could impact their businesses. However, Zuckerberg’s outreach to Trump was not an isolated incident.

The report also noted that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who has been critical of Trump in the past, had recently congratulated him on his victory and expressed optimism about the new administration. The report said Zuckerberg’s efforts to forge a stronger connection with Trump included a private dinner at Mar-a-Lago. During the two-day event, Meta’s senior policy executives engaged with key figures in Trump’s administration, including his nominee for secretary of state, Senator Marco Rubio. The tech industry has often found itself at odds with Republican leadership, particularly under Trump’s administration, which frequently criticized social media platforms for perceived bias against conservative viewpoints. In the wake of the 2020 election and the January 6 unrest, the tech entrepreneur banned Donald Trump and some of his supporters on Facebook. In October 2020, both Facebook and Twitter censored the much-talked-about story of Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell.”

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What a mess.

• Biden Pardons 39, Commutes Nearly 1,500 Sentences (JTN)

Just days after pardoning his son Hunter in a widely unpopular move, President Joe Biden on Thursday issued the most sweeping one-day clemency in modern U.S. history by pardoning 39 Americans and commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 others. The actions were announced in an early morning statement from the White House that signaled more acts of clemency could be coming before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20. “As the President has said, the United States is a nation of second chances,” the statement said. “The President recognizes how the clemency power can advance equal justice under law and remedy harms caused by practices of the past.” Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities for at least one year.

The pardons went to 39 nonviolent offenders, including some convicted of drug crimes. “These actions represent the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history,” the White House said. The sweeping grant came just 11 days after Biden erased the felony tax and gun convictions of his son Hunter with an unpopular pardon opposed by a majority of Americans, including some prominent Democrats. It also comes as some around the president urge he issue preemptive pardons for members of his party, his administration, or federal bureaucrats who might face prosecution in the next Trump administration. According to the White House statement, those receiving clemency Thursday included:

A decorated military veteran who now assists fellow church members who are in poor health;
A nurse who has led emergency response for several natural disasters and helped spearhead vaccination efforts during the pandemic;
An addiction counselor who “volunteers his time to help young people find their purpose, make better choices, and refrain from destructive behaviors and gang involvement.”

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“Imagine inflation cooling in February at 276% — the situation was dire..”

• Argentina’s First Budget Surplus in 123 Years (Martin Armstrong)

Argentina has posted its first budget surplus in 123 years after President Javir Milei took office and demanded an abrupt halt to government spending. Governments worldwide should carefully take note. Milei proudly announced: “The deficit was the root of all our evils — without it, there’s no debt, no emission, no inflation. Today, we have a sustained fiscal surplus, free of default, for the first time in 123 years. This historic achievement came from the greatest adjustment in history and reducing monetary emission to zero. A year ago, a degenerate printed 13% of GDP to win an election, fueling inflation. Today, monetary emission is a thing of the past.” Economic emissions should become a coined phrase as it is far more harmful than anything government is currently trying to conquer.

Argentina was forced to stop printing money back in 2022 after inflation surpassed 60% in July of that year, and their currency became utterly worthless. The central bank raised rates to nearly 70% to no avail as government continued borrowing. The problem with socialism is that they eventually run out of other people’s money. The government was spending over $6 million daily on social programs, but the poverty rate continued to rise, and around 57% of the working population could not find jobs. There were mass strikes since their money could not fund basic goods. Even if they could find employment, what incentive would the people have when the currency is worthless? Since they had no way to pay off their debt, the government simply continued to print more and devalued its own currency in the process. Javir Milei was called a right-wing extremist for denouncing socialism and promising to curtail government spending and social programs.

He understood that socialism COULD NOT WORK. It took President Javier Milei of Argentina a mere two months to push his nation into a surplus. The Economy Ministry declared that the government posted a $589 million surplus back in April, the first surplus in a decade. Milei referred to the government as “a criminal organization,” and recognized that the public sector needed to shrink as 341,477 people were on the government payroll when he took office. Referred to as the “gnocchi” after the Italian pasta dish that is commonly served on the 29th of the month, the same day as payday, are the individuals in Argentina on the government payroll who do absolutely nothing. They were installed by politicians in exchange for favors. Critics claim he is firing at random, but the Milei Administration has assured the public that selecting those who will be laid off will be an “extremely surgical task, done so as not to make mistakes.”

Milei has already eliminated useless agencies such as the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labor, and Ministry of Social Development. In his words, Argentina is currently a poor country and cannot afford these departments that do absolutely nothing to improve the nation’s economic conditions. He has cut the Cabinet in half and no one has noticed a difference. Milei removed price controls and devalued the currency by 54%. Transport and fuel subsidies were eliminated. It was noted that these measures would at first hurt PPP before the economy could begin to heal. Imagine inflation cooling in February at 276% — the situation was dire. The International Monetary Fund awarded Argentina a $44 billion credit program. The nation is beginning to stabilize very slowly, and it took decades of deteriorating economic conditions for someone to come in and clean house.

He has called his measures a form of “shock therapy” for Argentina’s economy. Milei agreed to devalue the nation’s peso from around 350 to 800 pesos per USD. He has eliminated quotas on imports and exports and removed the licensing that was difficult to obtain. There is a temporary rise in taxes for non-agricultural trade that brings it on par with industry standards. Transportation and energy subsidies have been eliminated. Milei is the same man who stood before the crowd at Davos and criticized their glorification of socialism. “The main leaders of the Western world have abandoned the model of freedom for different versions of what we call collectivism,” Milei said to a hostile crowd at Davos. “We’re here to tell you that collectivist experiments are never the solution to the problems that afflict the citizens of the world—rather they are the root cause.”

Those in charge want us to believe that capitalism equates to greed while collectivism is seen as a form of social justice but, of course, requires the money of others. Free enterprise is under constant attack, and Milei is one of the only world leaders fighting for its existence. “Social justice is not just. It doesn’t contribute to the general well-being,” Milei said to Davos, citing that socialism is “intrinsically unfair” and forces the state to attack the people for taxes. “Can any of us say that they voluntarily pay taxes?” he asked the crowd. He was once called the Donald Trump of Argentina. We can hope that Donald Trump will take swift action to reduce government spending. DOGE appointee Elon Musk congratulated Argentina’s president when news of the budget surplus broke. Unfortunately, America is too far in the hole to recover by slashing programs or cutting government. It would be a massive step forward but our deficit has been permitted to run wild for too long to be tamed.

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“..the situation can be redeemed in the Ukraine. This means the complete and comprehensive defeat of the enemy there.”

• The Kremlin’s Oprichniki Versus The General Staff’s Prigozhniki (Helmer)

The defeat of the Russian army in war discredits, not the soldiers who fought and died, but the commander-in-chief and the generals who were in command. Defeat on the battlefield also destroys Russian military honour as a political force in the country, just as its opposite, victory on the battlefield, threatens the civilian commander-in-chief with his replacement by a soldier hero. To protect himself from his triumphant, and also from his disgruntled officers, the commander-in-chief may make his generals scapegoats for the defeat. Joseph Stalin had begun shooting scapegoat officers before the German invasion of June 21, 1941, and then accelerated his purge in the weeks which followed. In 1946, in the aftermath of the Red Army’s victory over Germany, Stalin neutralized Marshal Georgiy Zhukov (for the second time), stripping him of his command powers and sending him into internal exile, all for purely political reasons. Stalin had allowed Zhukov to lead the victory parade in Red Square but only after Stalin had tried himself and failed to stay in the saddle of the white horse.

Stalin’s jealousy of Zhukov’s domestic popularity was compounded by his (not unreasonable) fear of a military putsch and of the Caligula Cure. For most Russians – and this has been a consistent finding of public opinion polling by the independent Levada Centre of Moscow – the President’s popularity, public trust, and approval of his performance run about 10 points ahead of the Russian trust in the Army. However, the two support each other on the upswing in the polls when there are victories to celebrate; and then on the downswing when there are defeats, rising casualties, and war fatigue across the countryside. Between 2022 and now, for example, Russian approval of Putin has risen to the 80% level; for the Army approval has also risen to about 70%. It is the conclusion of the Kremlin and of the General Staff, therefore, that they should either hang together or if not, they will hang each other.

Having opposed but obeyed Putin’s orders forbidding them to fire on Israeli aircraft attacking Syria, or on Turkish ground operations in and around Idlib, Moscow sources believe the General Staff have now told Putin much more than the refrain, he’s heard many times before, “We told you so”. This time the General Staff assessment of the invasion of Syria, refusal of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) to fight, and the replacement of the Assad regime in Damascus is that grave damage has been done to the protective alliances which Russia has been promoting in Africa, the Americas, China, and North Korea.

“We just have to accept that Iran and Russia have been comprehensively defeated in their non-fight, “a well-informed Moscow source says. “It is the worst defeat of Russia by the Turks in history. If Putin goes on now to make significant concessions in an Istanbul II negotiation with [President Donald] Trump, that will be the cherry on top of the Turkish halva. We are thinking this; no one is saying it. In the end, a defeat in Ukraine is all we care about. If Putin fails to deliver that, then he has a much bigger problem than the one he has just retreated from. Yes, this is a huge dishonour for us, but nothing is served by talking of it. Still, the situation can be redeemed in the Ukraine. This means the complete and comprehensive defeat of the enemy there.”

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“..domestic and international pressure had escalated so much that Netanyahu ran out of excuses by the time he attended yesterday’s hearing..”

• Netanyahu’s Trial: Corruption, War Crimes, And An Israel In Crisis (Cradle)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s entrance into a Tel Aviv courtroom yesterday was anything but understated. Facing trial as the first sitting prime minister prosecuted for corruption, Netanyahu seized the moment to brand his ordeal a “witch-hunt.” Outside the courthouse, tensions simmered as some 100 protesters gathered, blaming him for the deaths of Israeli war prisoners in Gaza, while an equal number of staunch supporters faced them across a police barrier. The embattled premier, set to testify over three days before facing cross-examination, continues to vigorously deny attempts to evade trial since his 2019 indictment on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Accused of accepting gifts from wealthy businessmen and granting favors to media moguls in exchange for positive coverage, Netanyahu had ignored his lawyer’s advice to step away from politics at the time.

Declaring on the eve of his hearing that he had “waited eight years for this moment to say the truth as [he] remember[s] it,” Netanyahu launched a preemptive attack on the judiciary, police, and media in a televised press conference on Monday. His critics, however, swiftly countered. Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned Netanyahu’s self-serving focus amid mounting war casualties, calling his press conference “a shameful collection of lies.” Lapid accused Netanyahu of deploying “every trick possible” in his delay tactic to avoid facing justice, saying the prime minister had prioritized personal survival over the country’s security and stability. He even blamed him for the 7 October Palestinian resistance’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, “the [subsequent] war, and the fact that the kidnapped people have not yet returned.”

For nearly five years, Netanyahu maneuvered to postpone this judicial reckoning, citing COVID-19 disruptions, procedural delays, and political gridlock during repeated elections as reasons to delay the hearings. After securing a hardline coalition in December 2022, he intensified efforts to undermine and politicize the judiciary system, proposing “reforms” that sparked mass protests throughout 2023. Those protests dwindled only after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, when Netanyahu’s response – an unprecedented and brutal military campaign – rightfully drew accusations of genocide and war crimes from the International Criminal Court (ICC). By the time he entered the underground, secured courtroom, the prime minister was under mounting pressure at home and abroad. Together with his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, he faces the allegations of war crimes – the first of their kind within the western alliance of states – along with the repercussions of a collapsing economy and the mass “displacement” of settlers in the north due to Hezbollah’s early involvement in the regional conflict.

But domestic and international pressure had escalated so much that Netanyahu ran out of excuses by the time he attended yesterday’s hearing to spin his side of the story in Tel Aviv. The Israeli prime minister walked into the courtroom with an ICC arrest warrant hanging over his head for war crimes in Gaza, and a broad international consensus that Israel is guilty of apartheid and genocide that has left nearly 45,000 Palestinians killed, the majority of them women and children. Yet, of more concern to Israelis has been the fleeing of nearly half a million Israeli Jews from the occupation state, the potentially permanent displacement of a quarter of a million from the Gaza and Lebanese border since October 2023, tens of billions of dollars in economic losses, and the shuttering of up to 60,000 businesses in 15 months of war.

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“..this is the NATO/Israel combo demilitarizing the former Syria – with not as much as a peep from anybody in the Arab world and the lands of Islam..”

• Vultures Feed On The Carcass Of Syria (Pepe Escobar)

The standard modus operandi of the Hegemon is always Divide and Rule. Cornered by the inexorable rise of the multi-nodal (italics mine) reality, they saw an opening for an imperial reboot, betting everything on establishing the “Greater Middle East” outlined still during the Cheney era. The iron axis of Straussian neocons, Zio-cons and Old Testament psychos in Tel Aviv is no-holds-barred obsessed on destroying the Axis of Resistance, using their transnational network of bloody killers to extend chaos and sectarian civil war all across West Asia. Throughout this ideal scenario they dream of mortally hitting the head of the snake: Iran. Sultan Erdogan, playing the role of useful patsy, has proclaimed:”A “bright period” for Syria has begun.” Indeed. A bright period for Black Flag head-choppers and Tel Aviv bombers and land grabbers – feeding on the carcass of Syria.

The Old Testament psycho-pathological killers, via over 350 strikes, have totally destroyed all the military infrastructure of the former Syrian Arab Army (SAA); weapons factories, munitions, bases, fighter jets, including the Mezze air base in Damascus, Russian anti-ship systems, ships themselves (in Lattakia, close to the Russian naval base) and air defense positions. In a nutshell: this is the NATO/Israel combo demilitarizing the former Syria – with not as much as a peep from anybody in the Arab world and the lands of Islam, starting with the Black Flag killers that have taken Damascus. Couple that with trademark land invasion/grabbing, and Tel Aviv officially declaring a definitive annexation of the Golan – which legally belongs to Syria and whose restitution has been demanded by the UN after the 1967 war.

In parallel, Turkish aviation bombed the former Russian-Syrian base in Qamishli, in the extreme northeast. The pretext: prevent that weapons would be grabbed by U.S.-backed Kurds and assorted Arab tribes. For the Russians this may not have been a big deal – as there was enough time to evacuate precious assets from the East of the Euphrates. Russia has given asylum to formidable, and crucially uncorruptible, Suheil al-Hassan – a serious candidate to top military tactician and strategist in the world today. Russians bet on him as early as in 2015 – and provided for his personal security. Nobody in Syria enjoyed Russian bodyguards – not even Assad. He was the only commander who won de facto battles during the 10 days of the Fall of Syria.

Amidst a torrent of doom and gloom, what’s taking place, fast as lightning, is NATO/Israel feeding on the carcass and dividing a dead nation with a gaggle of useful idiots and puppets – from fake woke Salafi-jihadis to Americanized Kurds. Obviously a collective IQ lower than any room temperature prevent this mob from realizing they are fighting for the same Suzerain. Tel Aviv goons have advanced their blitzkrieg across the Damascus countryside and may be as close as 15 km to the south of the capital; a classic lebensraum gambit, part of their colonial project, coupled with obtaining maximum leverage on the Lebanese flank. This is absolutely crucial, and extremely worrying for the Axis of Resistance: now all of southern Lebanon is exposed to a massive attack by the Israeli occupation – as the fertile plains between Chtoura in the Beqaa valley and Aanjar not only hold precious natural resources but provide a direct drive to Beirut.

In parallel, Black Flags have taken over Damascus. There are massacres all across the spectrum – including religious leaders and scientists but mostly former Army officials, former members of Syrian counter-espionage, even civilians accused of being former military. His Eminence, Sheikh Tawfiq al-Bouti, son of the famous sheikh Muhammad Said Ramadan al-Bouti, a former imam of the venerable Umayyad mosque, was assassinated in his Damascus madrassa. Scorpions are predictably turning on each other; rival terror gangs to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) demand that Jolani’s goons liberate their members imprisoned in Greater Idlibistan, and now threaten to attack HTS. In Manbij, Turk-backed terrorists openly kill Americano-Kurds in hospitals. Syria’s north and northeast are mired in total anarchy.

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“..Before the U.S.-Israel campaign to overthrow Assad began in earnest in 2011, Syria was a functioning, growing middle-income country..”

• The US and Israel Destroyed Syria and Called it Peace (Jeffrey Sachs)

In the famous lines of Tacitus, Roman historian, “To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace.” In our age, it is Israel and the U.S. that make a desert and call it peace. The story is simple. In stark violation of international law, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers claim the right to rule over seven million Palestinian Arabs. When Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands leads to militant resistance, Israel labels the resistance “terrorism” and calls on the U.S. to overthrow the Middle East governments that back the “terrorists.” The U.S., under the sway of the Israel Lobby, goes to war on Israel’s behalf. The fall of Syria this week is the culmination of the Israel-U.S. campaign against Syria that goes back to 1996 with Netanyahu’s arrival to office as Prime Minister.

The Israel-U.S. war on Syria escalated in 2011 and 2012, when Barack Obama covertly tasked the CIA with the overthrow of the Syrian Government in Operation Timber Sycamore. That effort finally came to “fruition” this week, after more than 300,000 deaths in the Syrian war since 2011. Syria’s fall came swiftly because of more than a decade of crushing economic sanctions, the burdens of war, the U.S. seizure of Syria’s oil, Russia’s priorities regarding the conflict in Ukraine, and most immediately, Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah, which was the key military backstop to the Syrian Government. No doubt Assad often misplayed his own hand and faced severe internal discontent, but his regime was targeted for collapse for decades by the U.S. and Israel. Since 2011, the Israel-U.S. perpetual war on Syria, including bombing, jihadists, economic sanctions, U.S. seizure of Syria’s oil fields, and more, has sunk the Syrian people into misery.

Before the U.S.-Israel campaign to overthrow Assad began in earnest in 2011, Syria was a functioning, growing middle-income country. In January 2009, the IMF Executive Board had this to say: Executive Directors welcomed Syria’s strong macroeconomic performance in recent years, as manifested in the rapid non-oil GDP growth, comfortable level of foreign reserves, and low and declining government debt. This performance reflected both robust regional demand and the authorities’ reform efforts to shift toward a more market- based economy. Since 2011, the Israel-U.S. perpetual war on Syria, including bombing, jihadists, economic sanctions, U.S. seizure of Syria’s oil fields, and more, has sunk the Syrian people into misery.

In the immediate two days following the collapse of the government, Israel conducted about 480 strikes across Syria, and completely destroyed the Syrian fleet in Latakia. Pursuing his expansionist agenda, Prime Minister Netanyahu illegally claimed control over the demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights and declared that the Golan Heights will be a part of the State of Israel “for eternity.” Netanyahu’s ambition to transform the region through war, which dates back almost three decades, is playing out in front of our eyes. In a press conference on December 9th, the Israeli prime minister boasted of an “absolute victory,” justifying the on-going genocide in Gaza and escalating violence throughout the region:

“I ask you, just think, if we had acceded to those who told us time and again: ‘”The war must be stopped”– we would not have entered Rafah, we would not have seized the Philadelphia Corridor, we would not have eliminated Sinwar, we would not have surprised our enemies in Lebanon and the entire world in a daring operation-stratagem, we would not have eliminated Nasrallah, we would not have destroyed Hezbollah’s underground network, and we would not have exposed Iran’s weakness. The operations that we have carried out since the beginning of the war are dismantling the axis brick by brick.”

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Buffalo herd

 

 

Graze

 

 

Baby hippo
https://twitter.com/i/status/1867194441934479796

 

 

Cat?

 

 

Orca
https://twitter.com/i/status/1866933591050985706

 

 

Not good
https://twitter.com/i/status/1867001407112466699

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle December 2 2024

Dec 022024
 
 December 2, 2024  Posted by at 9:35 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  57 Responses »


Rembrandt van Rijn Man with a falcon on his wrist (possibly St. Bavo) 1661

 

• Joe Biden Pardons His Son Hunter (RT)
• Trump Slams ‘Shocking’ Pardon of Hunter Biden (RT)
• US Reps Urge Biden For Full Pardon Of Julian Assange (Antiwar)
• Who is Kash Patel, Trump’s Pick to Head the FBI? (Sp.)
• Kash Patel’s Prescription For Ailing FBI: Accountability, House Cleaning (JTN)
• Ukraine’s Military Dead ‘Have Already Won’ – Zelensky (RT)
• Ukrainian Military Desertions Skyrocket – FT (RT)
• Norway To Open New Arctic Warfare Base (RT)
• ‘Netanyahu Needs War’, Can’t Be Trusted to Stick to Lebanon Ceasefire (Sp.)
• The Return of Status-based Law (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Trudeau Bends The Knee To Trump At Mar-a-Lago (MN)
• Sebastian Gorka: British Intelligence Asset? (Grayzone)
• Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Prepares For Censorship Battle (ZH)
• Why Does The West Believe It Occupies The High Moral Ground? (Diesen)
• The Failure of COP29: Does the “Green Agenda” Have A Future? (Machado)

 

 

 

 

Gingrich

Lawler

Kash J6
https://twitter.com/i/status/1863208821637722339

Pipe bomber

Galloway

Gideon Levy

 

 

 

 

“Hunter Biden’s lawyer has moved to dismiss his indictment based on his pardon…”

Without a indictment, there’s no need for a pardon.

The pardon covers all crimes, including possible murder.

• Joe Biden Pardons His Son Hunter (RT)

Outgoing US President Joe Biden has gone back on his word and pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who was convicted earlier this year of breaking federal gun and tax laws. In June, the younger Biden was convicted of three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018. According to the prosecutors, he lied on his gun-purchase paperwork that he was not addicted to or using illegal drugs. In a separate case, Hunter pleaded guilty to three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses in September. The sentencing for both convictions was supposed to happen this month. In a statement issued on Sunday evening, the president said the “full and unconditional pardon” covers offenses which his son “has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted.”

The president argued that his son was prosecuted “selectively and unfairly” because of his familial ties. He claimed that “people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form.” “It is clear that Hunter was treated differently,” he said. The president went on to state that the charges against his son were brought “only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.” He accused Republicans of sabotaging “a carefully negotiated plea deal” that would have been a “reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.” “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong,” the president said. “In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”

The decision is a reversal of Biden’s previous position, as he and his team repeatedly said in the past that he would accept the jury verdict and would not pardon his son. Asked by ABC News in June if he would accept the outcome of the trial and if he would rule out pardoning his son, the president replied “yes” to both questions. In his statement on Sunday, Biden confirmed that his opinion on the matter has changed. “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” he claimed. Hunter Biden released his own statement shortly after the pardon was announced. “I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” he said.

“I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.” Hunter Biden has been the subject of much scrutiny during his father’s term in office, as Republicans have claimed that he acted as the president’s ‘bagman’ in allegedly corrupt dealings with countries such as Ukraine and China. The president has denied the corruption allegations and publicly backed his son, describing him as “the smartest guy I know.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1863407436306014431

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“Does the pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?”

“This pardon is Joe Biden’s admission that Hunter is a criminal..”

• Trump Slams ‘Shocking’ Pardon of Hunter Biden (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have blasted outgoing President Joe Biden for pardoning his son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted of illegally purchasing a gun and tax evasion. The sentencing in both cases was scheduled for this month. Despite saying publicly that he would not interfere in his son’s cases, the president went back on his word and announced the pardon on Sunday evening. He labelled the convictions “a miscarriage of justice,” arguing that Hunter Biden has been “singled out” because of his ties to the president. According to the statement from the White House, the pardon applies to all offenses that were or may have been committed between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2024.

This period covers accusations by Republicans that Hunter Biden acted as “a bagman” on behalf of his father during allegedly illicit business dealings in China and Ukraine. The president and his son have denied these allegations. The Republicans, who have long accused the Biden administration of politically motivated prosecutions, condemned the pardon. “The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system,” Trump’s spokesman, Steven Cheung, said in a statement. “That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people,” he added.

Trump compared the treatment of the president’s son to the prosecution of his own supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, hoping to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. “Does the pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of justice!” he wrote on Truth Social. Many top Republicans in Congress were appalled, with Senator Chuck Grassley saying that he was “shocked” by Biden’s decision. “This pardon is Joe Biden’s admission that Hunter is a criminal,” Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X. Congressman Andy Biggs wrote that “Joe Biden will go down as one of the most corrupt presidents in American history.”

“This is an outrageous abuse of the rule of law – all to protect the Biden family business of selling access and influence,” Senator Josh Hawley wrote on X. The Republican-controlled House Committee on Oversight and Accountability released a statement, saying “Joe Biden’s unprecedented abuse of power has been a stain on the honor of the US presidency.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1863407192063283560

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Letter sent a day or two before the Hunter pardon.

• US Reps Urge Biden For Full Pardon Of Julian Assange (Antiwar)

House Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and James McGovern (D-MA) have sent a letter to President Biden urging him to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to send a message that Biden will “not target or investigate journalists and media outlets simply for doing their jobs.” “We write, first, to express our appreciation for your administration’s decision last spring to facilitate a resolution of the criminal case against publisher Julian Assange and to withdraw the related extradition request that had been pending in the United Kingdom,” Massie and McGovern wrote in the letter dated November 1, which was first made public earlier this past week. Assange was freed in a plea deal earlier this year after spending more than five years in London’s Belmarsh Prison while battling a US extradition request.

He was indicted by the Trump administration in 2019 for exposing US war crimes by publishing classified documents leaked to WikiLeaks by former Army Private Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning in 2010. Under the indictment, Assange could have faced up to 175 years in prison in the US for publishing the documents, a standard journalistic practice. While the plea deal set him free, it required him to plead guilty to violating the Espionage Act. “The terms of Mr. Assange’s plea agreement have now set a precedent that greatly deepens our concern,” Massie and McGovern said. “A review of prosecutions under the Espionage Act makes clear that Mr. Assange’s case is the first time the Act has been deployed against a publisher.”

The lawmakers pointed to comments from Jodie Ginsberg, the CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, who said, “While we welcome the end of his detention, the US’s pursuit of Assange has set a harmful legal precedent by opening the way for journalists to be tried under the Espionage Act if they receive classified material from whistleblowers.” Massie and McGovern concluded the letter by saying, “We therefore urge you to consider issuing a pardon for Mr. Assange. A pardon would remove the precedent set by the plea and send a clear message that the US government under your leadership will not target or investigate journalists and media outlets simply for doing their jobs.” According to Fox News, Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, is heading to Washington in January to push for a pardon before Biden leaves office.

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“..accused “the deep state” of being “the most dangerous threat to our democracy.” He applied the term to political leaders, Big Tech tycoons, media, and “members of the unelected bureaucracy.”

• Who is Kash Patel, Trump’s Pick to Head the FBI? (Sp.)

Donald Trump has repeatedly derided the FBI as a “badly broken” agency over the years, saying it had “lost the confidence of America.” Current FBI chief Christopher A. Wray was also the target of Trump’s criticism. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Kash Patel for the position of director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). As the current chief of the FBI, Christopher A. Wray, still has three years of his 10-year term left, he will either have to resign or Trump will have to fire him for the nomination to happen. Kashyap Patel, a former public defender and federal prosecutor, was a national security aide during Trump’s first term. Patel “played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution,” Trump wrote on Saturday in a social media post.

Since 2016, Democratic Party officials have accused Donald Trump of illegally colluding with the Russian government as part of the discredited “Russiagate” narrative. The Trump-Russia probe turned out as a complete fiasco with no evidence being found to back the allegations. He is an ardent advocate of “housecleaning” in the Justice Department and FBI. The Bureau’s headquarters in Washington, DC, should be dismantled and turned into a “museum of the deep state,” he said in a podcast interview in September. Patel denounced the FBI for its 2022 search warrant of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, which resulted in charges being brought against the former president for retaining classified documents. Kash Patel has accused “the deep state” of being “the most dangerous threat to our democracy.” He applied the term to political leaders, Big Tech tycoons, media, and “members of the unelected bureaucracy.”

Appearing on the “War Room” podcast hosted by Steve Bannon last year, Patel vowed to “go out and find the conspirators not just in government, but in the media” who “helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections” in 2020. Kash Patel’s appointment would be subject to Senate confirmation. The announced pick has already sparked mixed reactions from lawmakers. Patel “needs to prove to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he has the right qualifications and […] will put our nation’s public safety over a political agenda focused on retribution,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons wrote on X. “He’s been on side against some of the worst abuses of the FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] system. Kash Patel can help clean up all the things that we’ve seen that are wrong,” ex-Congressman Matt Gaetz said in a video message on X, adding that “Kash has guts!”

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“..the people at the very top are usually the most immoral, unethical people in the entire agency.”

• Kash Patel’s Prescription For Ailing FBI: Accountability, House Cleaning (JTN)

President-elect Donald Trump’s new pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, subscribes to a similar prescription for the nation’s premier law enforcement agency, which has lost significant trust from the American people over a decade of scandal and failure. From his time as chief investigative counsel at the House Intelligence Committee, where he unraveled the FBI’s bogus Russia collusion narrative, to his best-selling book “Government Gangsters” where he chronicled the weaponization of law enforcement against Trump and conservatives, Patel has laid out clear plans on how to re-focus the bureau on its core missions of law enforcement and intelligence gathering and away from politics. That job, he insists, begins by cleaning house throughout the FBI’s several layers of leadership that became infected with ideologies like Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and created a culture where parents and traditional Catholics were viewed as extremist threats and support for Trump and the Second Amendment were deemed reasons to review an employee’s security clearance.

In his book “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy,” Patel argues that a thorough “house cleaning” of FBI leadership is the key to resetting the agency and unleashing the skills of its rank-and-file agents. “I regularly used to tell people that the fastest way to move up in the government is to just screw up, and the bigger the screwup, the bigger the promotion,” he wrote. “Every person implicated in your mistakes has an interest in covering up what they did, so they will promote you. That means the people at the very top are usually the most immoral, unethical people in the entire agency.” But he also has made clear that his disdain for the bureau’s current leadership is matched by a similar respect for the capabilities and patriotism of rank-and-file agents, recently shouting them out recently for uncovering an Afghan national’s plot to commit a terror attack on Election Day.

“That’s to the credit of the everyday men and women of the FBI, DOD and DOJ, not the leadership that has corrupted those institutions,” he said in October. Over the last two years in interviews with Just the News, Patel has laid out several ideas for fixing the FBI, including:
• Canceling plans for an expensive new FBI headquarters and turning the current headquarters into a “museum for the Deep State.”
• Moving leaders out of Washington and into the field closer to the people they serve
• Shrinking components of the FBI that have little public benefit; and
• Holding accountable those officials responsible for the politicization of prior investigations, including termination and prosecutions.

“The folks in power at the FBI and the IC (intelligence community) making these leadership decisions are terrified that their corruption. not the Bidens, and certainly not Donald Trump, but their corruption in government in senior positions will be exposed and subject to law enforcement,” he told Just the News earlier this year. Patel’s book and his ideas for ending politicized law enforcement were a major factor in Trump’s decision to name him his the next FBI director. Currently, the job is held by Christopher Wray, whom Trump appointed in 2017, and it includes a 10-year-old term. But it is widely expected Trump will either fire Wray or he will resign. “Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and America First fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,” the president-elect said in a statement on TruthSocial announcing Patel as the next FBI director. “He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution.”

Conservatives hailed Patel’s pick. “Kash was INSTRUMENTAL in President Trump’s first term and will be EVEN GREATER in his second!” Rep. Ronnie Jackson, R-Texas, a former White House physician, wrote on X. “Time to clean this place up, and Kash is the man to do it!!! MAGA!” Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who presided over the now-discredited Russia collusion probe and later was fired, expressed doom for his former agency and said Patel’s selection was “a plan to disrupt, to dismantle, to distract the FBI.” Many legacy media suggested Patel got the nomination because he was a “loyalist” to Trump. But the 44-year-old son of Indian immigrants has an extensive government resume, including working on both sides of the judicial system as a federal public defender and a national security prosecutor before he joined the House Intelligence Committee.

In the first Trump administration, Patel served as a counterterrorism official on the National Security Council where he helped oversee the drone strike against an Iranian general accused of decades of terrorism and then as chief of staff to the Acting Secretary of the Pentagon.

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How cynical does it get?

“[Our] most important weapon is our people,” Zelensky said..”

• Ukraine’s Military Dead ‘Have Already Won’ – Zelensky (RT)

Ukrainians who have died in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev “have already won,” Vladimir Zelensky claimed in an interview with Sky News released this week. Those sacrifices enabled Kiev to secure aid from its Western backers and eventually prevent Moscow from achieving its goals, according to the Ukrainian leader. When asked by Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay if he believed that those Ukrainians who had died throughout the conflict had given their lives for nothing, Zelensky said “it was wrong” to think so. “They are already winners,” he added. “Our people did not give their lives for nothing,” the Ukrainian leader said, adding that they “performed not only their personal but also constitutional duty to defend their country.”

He then went on to claim that “had Ukrainians not … sacrificed their lives and their comfort” back in February 2022, when Russia launched its military campaign against Ukraine, the country would have quickly yielded to Russia. “No one would have helped us then,” he said, apparently referring to Kiev’s Western backers. The Ukrainian leader also admitted that if Kiev loses the support of the US and its allies, it “will lose everything.” “[Our] most important weapon is our people,” Zelensky said. The Ukrainian leader also slammed those world leaders who are willing to talk to Moscow. He claimed they were only doing it for international fame as they “want to get on the front pages in the media.” Zelensky compared talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin to “opening Pandora’s box,” which could undermine the Western unity behind Kiev’s cause.

According to Zelensky, some world leaders are “afraid” of Putin. “When they are afraid, they start to communicate with their societies and divide their societies,” he said. The Ukrainian leader referred to Russia’s president as “an animal without any human values that we share.” He also claimed that Ukraine should be “at the same level” with Russia in terms of power or even “stronger” for peace talks to start in earnest. Zelensky then also demanded that Kiev’s backers adopt a “one voice policy” spearheaded by Ukraine when it comes to the conflict.

Zelensky also said that Kiev could agree to “end the hot phase of the war” without trying to take back former territories that officially joined Russia following a series of referendums in the fall of 2022. He still maintained that this would only be possible if the territories still under Kiev’s control are “invited” to join NATO and the US-led bloc recognizes Kiev’s territorial claims. Moscow has repeatedly stated throughout the conflict that it is ready for peace talks and would like to resolve all differences diplomatically. It has also consistently warned that it would never agree to Ukraine joining NATO and named the US-led bloc’s expansion eastward as among the root causes of the conflict.

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“..these draftees include the blind, the deaf, and the mentally handicapped..”

• Ukrainian Military Desertions Skyrocket – FT (RT)

More than twice as many Ukrainian soldiers have been charged with desertion this year than in 2022 and 2023 combined, the Financial Times has reported. The spike in desertions has hampered Kiev’s ability to replenish its thinned-out ranks. Ukrainian prosecutors opened 60,000 cases against deserters between January and October of this year, the British newspaper reported on Saturday, noting that those convicted face prison terms of up to 12 years. For some of these men, desertion is seen as the only way of getting off the front lines to rest. Ukrainian lawmakers dropped a provision from a bill earlier this year that would have allowed the country’s longest-serving conscripts to be demobilized in the coming months, and service members told the Financial Times that the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) lacks the manpower to give troops shorter four-week rotations off the front lines for rest and retraining.

”They’re just killing them, instead of letting them rehabilitate and rest,” one officer told the newspaper. Those killed are replaced by ill-trained and unfit draftees. In an earlier article, Ukrainian commanders told the Financial Times that on some busy sectors of the front, 50 to 70% of these new conscripts are killed or wounded within days of starting their first rotation. Those who survive often go AWOL as soon as they can, the newspaper reported. Some choose to desert while at training camps in NATO countries. An anonymous Polish security source told the Financial Times that around 12 Ukrainian men abscond from training centers in Poland every month. Earlier this week, a Ukrainian MP told the Associated Press that as many as 200,000 soldiers may have deserted since the conflict with Russia escalated in 2022.

There are around 350,000 active-duty soldiers in the UAF, although heavy losses – more than half a million since February 2022, according to the Russian Defense Ministry – have seen the country’s longest-serving soldiers replaced first by almost a dozen NATO-trained divisions, and then, after these divisions were chewed up during last year’s disastrous counteroffensive, by unwilling conscripts. Press-ganged off the streets and dragged out of nightclubs to serve, these draftees include the blind, the deaf, and the mentally handicapped, according to recent media reports and testimony from Ukrainian lawmakers.

”Men who are the right age for the military draft are scared to walk freely in the street,” one draft-dodger told The Telegraph earlier this week. A recruiter concurred, telling the newspaper that approaching a potential conscript is often “like dealing with a cornered rat.” The UAF is seeking to recruit around 160,000 new soldiers in the coming months. To reach this target, the US has begun pushing the Ukrainian government to lower the minimum draft age to 18, down from 25, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.

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On Russia’s doorstep.

• Norway To Open New Arctic Warfare Base (RT)

Norway plans to establish a new NATO Arctic and amphibious warfare center where US, British, and Dutch marines will be trained amid heightened tensions with Russia, the Defense Ministry in Oslo announced on Friday. The new hub will be created in the municipality of Sorreisa north of Lofoten in Norway’s Arctic, some several hundred kilometers, as the crow flies, from Russia’s strategic port of Murmansk, which is a key military and naval base. The NATO member’s facility will house several hundred soldiers and is expected to become fully operational in 2026. “We must train together to be able to defend Norway, the Nordic countries and NATO in crisis and war,” Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram said, adding that his country is now “in a more serious security policy situation.”

“We want an increased allied presence in Norway. More training and practice is good for Norwegian security. We need allies to be familiar with the Norwegian climate and weather conditions. We also need to practice together in case the need arises. So this is a desirable development,” he stated. The new center will have close links with several nearby military facilities, which the minister claimed will be extremely useful for NATO. The announcement comes after the Norwegian government presented a plan this spring for a historic increase in defense spending, with the aim of spending $54 billion on the military from 2024 to 2036.

As part of the package, Oslo also wants to acquire its first long-range air defense system and expand the army from one to three brigades, while boosting the size of the Home Guard to 45,000 troops. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signaled this September that Moscow will check NATO’s expansionist ambitions in the region. “We see how NATO is stepping up exercises related to possible crises in the Arctic. Our country is fully prepared to defend its interests in military, political and military-technical terms,” he said at the time.

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“..then again, there are people in the Biden regime who dislike Netanyahu personally and may want to see him weakened..”

• ‘Netanyahu Needs War’, Can’t Be Trusted to Stick to Lebanon Ceasefire (Sp.)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced this week that he’s ordered the military to prepare for the resumption of an “intensive war” in Lebanon if Hezbollah violated the freshly-reached ceasefire deal. Sputnik asked one of the Middle East’s most prolific international affairs observers what this could mean for the region. “Netanyahu needs war, and he only accepted a ceasefire under a great deal of pressure. So no one has faith in the Israelis. The Israelis have always violated commitments,” political analyst and Tehran University Professor Seyed Mohammad Marandi told Sputnik, commenting on the Israeli PM’s threats to resume the Lebanon conflict. “After all, [Israel] is carrying out a holocaust in Gaza, a regime that carries out the holocaust and continues to do so in front of the eyes of the world after 14 months is not a regime that can be trusted for anything,” Marandi said.

Linking the Lebanon ceasefire to the crisis in neighboring Syria, where jihadist militants attacked the strategic city of Aleppo this week, Marandi characterized Netanyahu’s threats, combined with the terrorist advance, as attempts to pressure the Iranian-led Axis of Resistance anti-US, anti-Israel alliance, but assured that in the end the terrorists will be pushed back in the north and Israel kept at bay in the south. It’s highly likely that the regional forces looking to destabilize Syria “would like to see a breakdown of the ceasefire so that [their] al-Qaeda*-affiliated terrorists in the north could have a better chance of making progress,” Marandi suggested.

“It is a complicated situation and we’ll have to see how things play out. The United States is in a transition period. The Biden regime is escalating in Ukraine obviously, there are definitely elements within the Biden regime that would like to see escalation on the Lebanese border. But then again, there are people in the Biden regime who dislike Netanyahu personally and may want to see him weakened. And Trump himself also wants to see the fighting stopped before he comes to power. So we’ll have to see how things play out,” the veteran observer summed up.

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“We are ruled by the interest groups that purchase the government. Until the money is taken out of politics, American democracy will remain a sham, and the Constitution will die the death of a thousand cuts.”

• The Return of Status-based Law (Paul Craig Roberts)

In this episode of On Target, Larry Sparano and I discuss the assault on the Constitution by the Speaker of the House, Majority Leader of the Senate, and president-elect Donald Trump. The assault weapon is the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which has already passed the Republican House. Senator Schumer is attempting to avoid a stand alone vote on the Act by attaching it to the defense appropriations bill. That way the senators can say they voted for the defense bill and not against the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The Antisemitism Awareness Act is the Israel Lobby’s response to the university protests against Israel’s slaughter of the Palestinians. The bill conflates Israel with Jews, defines Jews as “protected persons,” and removes accreditation and federal financial support from universities that fail to prevent student protests against Israel and Jews in general.

In effect it prohibits criticism of Jews. Criticism is undefined. In practice it will include anything to which Jews object. The Act is a violation of the 14th Amendment which requires equal protection of the law. The Antisemitism Awareness Act creates status-based privileges for a specific group that are denied to others. The Act also violates the 1st Amendment’s protection of free speech. So, why did the Republican Speaker of the House have the House of Representatives vote against the US Constitution? Why is the Democrat Senate Majority Leader trying to have the Act passed by attaching it to a defense bill? Why did Trump say that universities that permit protests of Israel’s murderous behavior should lose their accreditation and federal aid? Why is preventing criticism of Jews more important than the US Constitution?

The supporters of the Act have not said why only Jews among the many diverse peoples of the world are to be given the special privilege of immunity from criticism. It will be OK to criticize, Americans, Europeans, Asians, Arabs, Africans, Hispanics, but not Jews. In addition to the obvious unconstitutional content of the Act, there is an unacknowledged problem. What about Jews who criticize Israel? There are many of them. There are Israelis who protest the murderous policies of Netanyahu. Also, many US university presidents are Jews. How can they be punished by an Act that prohibits criticism of Jews? Punishment itself is an act of criticism. What happens when it is Jewish students and faculty who protest against Israel?

The House of Representatives’ vote against the US Constitution demonstrates the power of campaign donations. A member of Congress has to give the Israel Lobby what it wants or the money goes to one’s opponent. The same is true in the case of many other interest groups. Go against the military/security complex, Big Pharma, the financial lobby, and so forth, and the campaign money goes to your opponent. The realities of political campaign finance is the reason the people’s elected representatives cannot represent the people. They have to represent the interest groups that provide the funds that get them elected. American democracy is a sham. We are ruled by the interest groups that purchase the government. Until the money is taken out of politics, American democracy will remain a sham, and the Constitution will die the death of a thousand cuts.

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Trump owns Trudy.

• Trudeau Bends The Knee To Trump At Mar-a-Lago (MN)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Was pictured meeting with president-elect Trump and his team at Mar-a-Lago over Thanksgiving, as it emerged that he has made an agreement to crack down on drug trafficking. The meeting came following Trump’s announcement of a 25% tariff on all products coming from Mexico and Canada until they agree to secure their borders. In a Truth Social post earlier this week, Trump wrote “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders.” “This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” Trump added.

He continued, “Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!” Fast forward four days and Trudeau was seen sitting with Trump, Elon Musk, and the rest of his team. In a further post after the meeting, Trump explained, “I just had a very productive meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, where we discussed many important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address, like the Fentanyl and Drug Crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of Illegal Immigration, Fair Trade Deals that do not jeopardize American Workers, and the massive Trade Deficit the U.S. has with Canada.”

“I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our Citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic, caused mainly by the Drug Cartels, and Fentanyl pouring in from China. Too much death and hardship!” Trump continued. “Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of U.S. Families,” Trump further added, noting “We also spoke about many other important topics like Energy, Trade, and the Arctic. All are vital issues that I will be addressing on my first days back in Office, and before.”

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Certainly looks that way.

• Sebastian Gorka: British Intelligence Asset? (Grayzone)

Sebastian Gorka’s involvement with British intelligence cost him a security clearance in Hungary. His longtime mentor is a UK spook currently engaged in covert operations against Russia. Is the Ukraine hawk and Trump counter-terror appointee operating on London time. After years in the wilderness of right-wing radio, where he flamboyantly proclaimed his loyalty to president-elect Donald Trump for years, Sebastian Gorka has finally found his way back into Trump’s inner circle, earning an appointment as incoming White House counter-terror advisor. Gorka served as Trump’s deputy assistant advisor on national security issues for eight months in 2017, storming out of his job with a petulant resignation letter that blamed “forces” within the administration that did not support Trump’s “MAGA promise.”

During his brief tenure in the White House, Gorka, a London-born immigrant, was credited with masterminding the President’s so-called “Muslim ban,” which refused admission to the US for citizens of countries identified as national security threats. While Democrats have hammered Gorka as “a far-right extremist” and MAGA sycophant, he has stood out as a voice of Biden foreign policy continuity within Trumpworld, pledging further aggression against Russia and even greater military aid to Kiev. During a November 23 interview, for example, Gorka promised that “the aid that we have given to Ukraine thus far will look like peanuts” if “the murderous KGB colonel” Vladimir Putin does not obey Trump’s dictates. Gorka’s full origin story explains why his views on the Ukraine proxy war track more closely with those of the anti-Trump turncoat John Bolton than incoming Vice President J.D. Vance, who has vowed to negotiate an end to the conflict.

As this investigation will demonstrate, the mindset of the Transatlantic policy operative was molded primarily through his intimate involvement in British intelligence circles—not his role within the America First movement. The son of an anti-communist Hungarian exile, Gorka joined a British Army intelligence unit while still in university. When he entered the world of national security studies, he learned at the knee of a notoriously conniving British military intelligence officer named Chris Donnelly, who has dedicated his career to instigating conflict with Russia, and was exposed by The Grayzone as an architect of the notorious Kerch Bridge bombing. Donnelly personally endorsed Gorka’s PhD thesis, granting him the imprimatur of a top intelligence officer in the British Ministry of Defence. The relationship fueled Gorka’s career within the burgeoning Atlanticist military infrastructure, yet ultimately cost him security clearance in his family’s native Hungary, where the country’s National Security Office suspected him of being a UK spy.

Soon after Gorka resigned from the first Trump administration, leaked documents exposed Donnelly as the founder of a secret, UK state-funded influence operation called the Integrity Initiative, which was aimed at drumming up war with Russia through a covert international propaganda network. A 2017 funding proposal submitted by the Integrity Initiative to the British Ministry of Defence promised to deliver a “tougher stance on Russia” by arranging for “more information published in the media on the threat of Russian active measures.” When Donnelly visited Washington in 2018 to expand his secret initiative, the first item on his agenda was breakfast with Gorka. To this day, Gorka refuses to discuss the meeting, or any aspect of his relationship with Donnelly, erupting with rage at reporters who have dared to inquire about the long friendship.

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“..Section 230 only confers benefits on Big Tech companies when they operate, in the words of the statute, “in good faith.” “The censorship cartel must be dismantled..”

• Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Prepares For Censorship Battle (ZH)

Until the internet came along, pumping government propaganda into American homes was like shooting fish in a barrel. As a constellation of alternative media websites such as ZeroHedge emerged, however, the ability to shape narratives and steer the national dialogue quickly eroded. In order to regain control – particularly in the Trump-era, the government has been colluding with Big Tech, partisan ‘fact checkers,’ and an aptly named ‘advertising cartel’ to censor, de-monetize, and otherwise silence divergent opinions – particularly those which shed light on things like government malfeasance, bullshit wars, and cronyism. Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is getting ready to level the playing field.

Carr, a veteran Republican regulator who has echoed President-elect Trump’s promises to punish political bias within the national media complex, has argued that the agency should also regulate Big Tech – including Apple, Meta, Google and Microsoft. And in a Sunday interview with Fox News, Carr outlined the road ahead… “Combatting tech censorship is going to be one of the top priorities for me,” said Carr, adding “We need to restore Americans’ right to free speech… you mentioned Facebook and other companies. They’ve been part of a censorship cartel that has worked with advertisers, they’ve worked with government officials, to censor the free speech rights of everyday Americans. That’s gotta end.” “America is a country of founders, people who have pushed frontiers. When you silence speech, you silence ideas. Instead, we need to unleash prosperity, again.”

In a November letter, Carr accused several Big Tech companies of having “participated in a censorship cartel that included not only technology and social media companies but advertising, marketing, and so-called “fact-checking” organizations as well as the Biden-Harris Administration itself.” “The relevant conduct extended from removing or blocking social media posts to suppress their information and viewpoints, including through efforts to delist them, lower their rankings, or harm their profitability.” Carr then suggested that their protection from liability under Section 230 may be on the line. “As you know, Big Tech’s prized liability shield, Section 230, is codified in the Communications Act, which the FCC administers. As relevant here, Section 230 only confers benefits on Big Tech companies when they operate, in the words of the statute, “in good faith.” “The censorship cartel must be dismantled,” Carr said in a November post on X.

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“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.”

• Why Does The West Believe It Occupies The High Moral Ground? (Diesen)

For almost three years, NATO countries have boycotted diplomatic contact with Russia, even as hundreds of thousands of men die on the Ukraine conflict’s battlefield. The decision to reject diplomacy is morally repugnant. Diplomacy could have reduced violence, prevented escalation, and even opened a path to peace. Instead, political and media elites skillfully presented this rejection as a sign of moral righteousness, labeling dialogue as treason and war as virtuous. To exhaust Russia in a long war, the goal was to ensure that the Russians and Ukrainians kill each other for as long as possible. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin outlined the US objective in the Ukraine War as weakening its strategic adversary: “We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.”

In late March 2022, Vladimir Zelensky revealed in an interview with The Economist: “There are those in the West who don’t mind a long war because it would mean exhausting Russia, even if this means the demise of Ukraine and comes at the cost of Ukrainian lives.” The aim has been to exhaust Russia in a protracted conflict, ensuring that Russians and Ukrainians continue killing each other for as long as possible. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin outlined the objective: “We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.”

Israeli and Turkish mediators confirmed that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a peace deal in Istanbul, where Russia would withdraw and Ukraine would restore its neutrality. Yet the West rejected this. The goal wasn’t peace — it was to bleed Russia through its proxy army in Ukraine. Both Germany and France have admitted that the Minsk Peace Agreement was never meant to be implemented, but used as a vehicle to build up Ukraine’s military. The Turkish Foreign Minister and former Israeli Prime Minister have both acknowledged that NATO states actively wanted the war to continue. Former NATO figures, such as retired General Harald Kujat, have said the war was deliberately provoked by NATO, with the US and UK blocking peace efforts to weaken Russia politically, economically, and militarily.

US lawmakers, such as Lindsey Graham, have been openly supportive of fighting Russia “to the last Ukrainian.” They argue that assisting Ukraine without risking American lives is a smart investment in weakening Russia. Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell called it an investment in America’s national security, and Mitt Romney called financing the war “the best defense spending ever.” These statements underscore the growing sentiment in the West that the war is a proxy battle where Ukraine is expendable, serving merely as a tool to diminish Russia. NATO’s leadership, including Jens Stoltenberg, has stated that a “victory” for Ukraine would result in a battle-hardened Ukrainian army on the West’s side, with a weakened Russia.

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No.

• The Failure of COP29: Does the “Green Agenda” Have A Future? (Machado)

Following the conclusion of the multilateral climate conference COP29, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, the atmosphere is one of defeat. Nearly an entire week of speeches and endless meetings did not suffice to reach a reasonable consensus on a series of practical measures that had been anticipated. Specifically, the debate on funding climate policies sank. The so-called “developing countries” had expected an annual grant policy exceeding $1 trillion for energy transition and climate change mitigation policies, but only $300 billion per year will be allocated—optimistically. Moreover, this sum will not necessarily be in the form of grants but may include loans and other financing mechanisms that bring interest and debt. India denounced the final result of COP29, supported by Bolivia, Cuba, and Nigeria, as a farce and an insult from developed countries to developing nations.

This financing debate will now be deferred to COP30, scheduled to take place in Brazil in 2025. However, the chances of COP30 succeeding where COP29 failed seem very slim. While climate alarmism and eco-globalism are now part of Brazil’s official ideology, in the rest of the world, these postmodern beliefs are losing momentum. Take, for example, the reasons why expanding funding for the “Green Agenda” has been impossible in “developed countries.” Observing European governments’ behavior since the beginning of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, one can see increasing difficulty in advancing energy transition and net-zero carbon policies. Germany, for instance, was once one of the main drivers of climate alarmism worldwide, even closing its nuclear power plants “for the environment” (despite nuclear plants being far less polluting than most other energy sources).

Yet today, facing an energy crisis caused by the NordStream’s destruction, Germany is reopening its coal-fired power plants. Sweden, long a leader in international climate activism, has reversed many of its previous environmental measures. The Ministry of the Environment has been dismantled, and the government now prioritizes ensuring cheap fuel. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, the previous administration of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suspended the ban on diesel car sales and decided to stop promoting the replacement of gas heaters. Similar examples can be found in several other countries. Clearly, sanctions and the NordStream’s destruction have made Europe’s energy situation difficult enough to raise living costs, convincing European governments to roll back at least some environmental measures and dampen their enthusiasm for promoting global climate alarmism.

This retreat by European nations will be compounded by the fact that, starting in 2025, the United States will likely be governed by Donald Trump, who holds a critical stance toward climate alarmism and promises to intensify fracking for hydrocarbon extraction in the country. This is corroborated by the nominations of Chris Wright as Secretary of Energy and Lee Zeldin to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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Plimer

 

 

1 million

 

 

Frens
https://twitter.com/i/status/1862869429555769795

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle November 25 2024

Nov 252024
 
 November 25, 2024  Posted by at 9:30 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , ,  49 Responses »


Caravaggio Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence 1600

 

• Majority of Americans Support Trump’s Mass Deportation Plans (RT)
• Can Armageddon Be Avoided? (Paul Craig Roberts)
• New Trump Admin Focus on Ukraine Conflict Resolution – Security Advisor (Sp.)
• Dialogue Is Only Way Out Of Ukraine Conflict – Merkel (RT)
• Stop Supporting War – Medvedev To Europe (RT)
• US and European Officials Discussed Giving Ukraine Nuclear Weapons (Antiwar)
• France Wants To ‘Finish Off’ Ukraine – Zakharova (RT)
• Most Ukrainian Soldiers Ready To Give Up Territory – The Economist (RT)
• Ukraine Can Make America Rich – Lindsey Graham (RT)
• Lindsey Graham Threatens Allies With Sanctions For Netanyahu Arrest (Sp.)
• Netanyahu ‘Wanted’: A Landmark Legal Moment In The Palestinian Struggle (Mehdi)
• Crypto Won the 2024 Election (ET)
• US Suffered ‘Worst Telecom Hack’ In History – Senator (RT)
• US Unlikely to Let American Investor Buy Nord Stream 2 (Sp.)
• Film Director Kusturica Thanks RT For Opening His Eyes On America (RT)
• Bombshell Fauci Documentary Nails The Whole COVID Charade (ZH)

 

 

 

 

Trump

Tucker

Rogan
https://twitter.com/i/status/1860499743039979980

Rogan moon landing

Shanahan
https://twitter.com/i/status/1860562968150159568

Tucker Maddow

Bakery
https://twitter.com/i/status/1860497525167264173

McCaul
https://twitter.com/i/status/1860443088629694611

 

 

 

 

“..82% of respondents want Trump to use immigration and border patrol agencies to carry out the deportations, while 40% support the use of the US military.”

• Majority of Americans Support Trump’s Mass Deportation Plans (RT)

Some 57% of Americans approve of President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed deportation of every single illegal immigrant in the US, a CBS News poll has found. Democrat mayors and governors have vowed to resist the incoming president’s plans. Published on Sunday, the poll found broad satisfaction with Trump’s defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris in this month’s presidential election, with 55% of respondents saying that they felt ‘happy’ or ‘satisfied’ with the result, and 44% feeling ‘angry’ or ‘dissatisfied’. The poll also found that 57% of respondents approve of one of Trump’s most controversial proposals: the deportation of all immigrants in the US illegally. 43% disapprove of the policy. Trump has promised since last year that, if elected, he would lead “the largest deportation operation in American history.”

With anywhere from 11 million to 35 million illegal immigrants living in the US, Trump’s proposed border czar, Tom Homan, has said that those who commit crimes in the country or otherwise threaten national security will be prioritized for deportation. The incoming president said before the election that he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to “remove all known or suspected gang members, drug dealers, or cartel members from the United States.” This law gives the president authority to bypass immigration courts, although critics argue that it only applies when the US is at war with a foreign government and cannot be used to deal with transnational gangs and their members. Last week, Trump shared an article on his Truth Social platform suggesting that he would declare a national emergency and “use military assets to reverse the [President Joe] Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.”

According to the CBS poll, 82% of respondents want Trump to use immigration and border patrol agencies to carry out the deportations, while 40% support the use of the US military. Harris repeatedly criticized Trump’s deportation plans on the campaign trail, arguing that it would “tear families apart.” Speaking to CBS last month, Homan dismissed this concern, declaring that “families can be deported together.” Several Democrat mayors and governors have pledged to resist any deportation operation, with Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey stating that she would “absolutely not” allow state police to assist federal immigration agents, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy telling reporters that his administration would take any “action we deem to be necessary” to stymie Trump’s plans. ”If you’re not going to help us, get the hell out of the way because we’re going to do it,” Homan told Fox News earlier this month.

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Is the West, Lost in its Own Lies, Trapped in the Pending Disaster Washington Has Brewed?

• Can Armageddon Be Avoided? (Paul Craig Roberts)

The situation in the world is more threatening than ever before. Putin has had to make it clear that a continuation of missile attacks on Russia will result in retribution. The new missile Putin has revealed can destroy all US and NATO military forces in the West and Middle East without the use of nuclear warheads. If the US then goes nuclear, Russian nuclear forces will destroy the entirety of the West. Indeed, Steve Starr shows that the entire world will be the victim of American psychopaths. In the face of such a warning, only totally irresponsible psychopaths would persist. The sway of psychopaths over the US and Europe means we have to be concerned that Washington will “test the waters” by expending the permissible area and distance for the ATACMs to be fired into Russia. I have been convinced that it would come to this crisis from day one of Putin’s limited military operation.

Russia needed to immediately knock Ukraine out before the West could get involved. Now the West’s prestige is on the line. Putin tolerated provocations in order to avoid widening the conflict, but his patience with the West backfired as it resulted in the belief that Putin’s warnings are meaningless as “he never does anything.” Putin has backed up as far as he can. His back is against the wall. Putin cannot accept missiles being fired into Russia by the US and NATO. At this point only psychopaths would “test the waters” which means playing with nuclear armageddon. But psychopaths are in charge. The Ukraine conflict was prepared and unleashed by US neoconservatives in the belief that it would destabilize Russia and perhaps lead to the breakup of the Russian Federation. Putin should not have let it go as far as he did before he acted. Putin was too slow to realize that Washington intends Russia’s destruction.

That a few Zionist neoconservatives can push the world to the brink in their pursuit of US hegemony indicates the failure of Western governance. The situation in the Middle East is equally dangerous. It is being driven by clearing out obstacles to Greater Israel and Washington’s desire to control oil flows and waterways. A bad outcome seems inevitable, because the Western world is lost in the lies of its official narrative. There is no reality recognition. If you read Johnson’s Russian List, a daily collection of foreign affairs and military articles by “experts,” what you mainly see is stupidity and self-delusion. Most of the authors are supported in one way or the other by military/security grants, so there is no questioning. To tell the truth in the Western world today you must be independent. Without readers’ support of truth-telling websites, there will be no truth.

Propaganda has implanted the mistaken belief that Russia, China, and Iran are enemies that must be opposed and defeated. Yet Russia, China, and Iran have taken no hostile actions against the West. All three have accepted illegally imposed sanctions and other hostile actions without responding in kind. The Pentagon and the US military/security complex see in their image of the enemies that propaganda has created for the West a danger that must be countered by a nuclear buildup. One trillion dollars are to be spent “modernizing” nuclear weapons whose only possible use is world destruction. No thought and no attention is given to defusing the situation. Remember, in 2016 the CIA, FBI, and Deep State turned violently on President Trump when he said he intended to defuse the situation by normalizing relations with Russia. The Establishment’s response was “Russiagate,” impeachments, indictments.

Without enemies, the profits and power of the military/security complex diminish. Now the Establishment is trying to saddle President Trump with a war with Russia as he enters office. This is the work of psychopaths. When Americans accepted the stolen 2020 election, they accepted the reign of psychopaths who define peace as Washington’s hegemony. Any government in the way of Washington’s hegemony is defined as an enemy. They are enemies not because they threaten the US. They are enemies because they insist on their independence from Washington’s hegemony. Americans have been deceived that Russia, China, and Iran are enemies out to get them. Belief in this lie makes the Western world blind to the fact that its leaders are evil psychopaths leading the world to Armageddon.

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“All of our allies and partners need to be carrying this burden going forward..”

• New Trump Admin Focus on Ukraine Conflict Resolution – Security Advisor (Sp.)

Donald Trump’s incoming administration plans to prioritize efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine starting in January 2025, said Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick for national security advisor. “The president-elect has been very concerned about the escalation and where it’s all going,” Waltz said in an interview with Fox News, when asked about Trump’s reaction to the crisis escalation. “And so what we need to be discussing is who’s at that table, whether it’s an agreement, an armistice, how to get both sides to the table, and then what’s the framework of a deal. That’s what we’ll be working with this administration until January and then beyond,” he highlighted.

According to Waltz, European countries are expected to play a “key role” in the negotiation process. “All of our allies and partners need to be carrying this burden going forward,” the congressman emphasized. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously noted that Biden’s outgoing administration is doing everything it can to escalate the Ukraine conflict and keep it going.

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“..at a certain moment, and the responsible people today have to determine that moment, we will need conversations.”

• Dialogue Is Only Way Out Of Ukraine Conflict – Merkel (RT)

Western nations will eventually have to engage in dialogue with Russia to put an end to the Ukraine conflict, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said. She added that Kiev’s backers should ensure that Ukraine remains independent following the cessation of hostilities. Merkel served as chancellor from 2005 to 2021, and was one of the guarantors of the 2014-15 Minsk agreements, which aimed to reintegrate Donbass into Ukraine, while granting the region greater autonomy. In 2022, she admitted that the accords had in fact been an “attempt to give Ukraine time” to build up its military. In an interview with the UK’s Sunday Times published on Saturday, Merkel said she was generally supportive of the Ukraine policies of the current German government, as well as those of the EU. Since the escalation of the conflict in February 2022, Berlin has emerged as the top provider of military aid to Kiev in Europe, second only to the US globally.

The former chancellor, however, noted that “at a certain moment, and the responsible people today have to determine that moment, we will need conversations.” On Thursday, Die Zeit published excerpts from Merkel’s new book titled ‘Freedom: Memories 1954-2021’. In it, she recounts the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, where Ukraine and Georgia’s applications for Membership Action Plans were put up for discussion. The then-chancellor opposed the idea at the time, arguing that the move would be seen as a provocation by Russia, with the potential applicants not being provided with any meaningful security guarantees. While a number of officials, including Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, have since criticized Merkel for her stance, she stands firmly by her view to this day, as evidenced by her memoirs.

Moscow has repeatedly indicated a willingness to negotiate a settlement with Kiev. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently reiterated that any peace talks should be based on the agreements reached in Istanbul in 2022, which envisaged a neutral, non-aligned status for Ukraine, as well as certain restrictions on deploying foreign weaponry. However, the Kremlin has also stated that any further negotiations must take into account the “reality on the ground.” This implies that Ukraine is expected to make territorial concessions, rather than retaking the regions that have voluntarily joined Russia, including the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions, as well as Crimea.

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“The damage would be unacceptable, it is impossible to intercept them with modern means, and we are talking about a matter of minutes..”

• Stop Supporting War – Medvedev To Europe (RT)

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has issued a stark warning to European nations that continue to support Kiev. In a Telegram post on Sunday, Medvedev referenced the recent deployment of Russia’s Oreshnik hypersonic missile system against a Ukrainian military facility. “Europe is wondering what damage the system could cause if the warheads are nuclear, whether it is possible to shoot down these missiles, and how quickly they would reach the capitals of the Old World. The answer: The damage would be unacceptable, it is impossible to intercept them with modern means, and we are talking about a matter of minutes,” Medvedev wrote. “Bomb shelters will not help, so the only hope is that kind Russia will warn in advance about the launches. Therefore, it is better to stop supporting the war,” he added.

Earlier this week, Medvedev shared a video showing an Oreshnik missile strike on a Ukrainian defense industrial facility in Dnepropetrovsk (known as Dnipro in Ukraine). The footage, originally published by Ukrainian media, shows several warheads impacting the military site at night. Medvedev accompanied the video with a post on X, saying, “So, that’s what you wanted? Well, you’ve damn well got it!” In a public address on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the use of Oreshnik missiles against a Ukrainian military-industrial facility. He described the strike as a direct response to Ukrainian attacks on internationally-recognized Russian territory earlier in the week, which involved US-made ATACMS and HIMARS systems, as well as British-made Storm Shadow missiles. Putin accused the US and NATO of intentionally escalating the conflict and stated that Russia would fulfill all of its military objectives, regardless of the weapons used by Kiev.

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“Several officials even suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union.”

• US and European Officials Discussed Giving Ukraine Nuclear Weapons (Antiwar)

According to the New York Times, US and European officials have discussed a range of options they believe will deter Russia from taking more Ukrainian territory, including providing Kiev with nuclear weapons. The outlet reports that Western officials believe the Kremlin will not significantly escalate the war before Donald Trump is sworn in as President in January. Following the election of Trump earlier this month, the US and its NATO allies began taking steps to rush weapons to Ukraine and give Kiev the ability to strike targets inside Russian territory with long-range weapons. American officials who were briefed on the intelligence community’s assessments told the Times that weapons will not alter the challenging situation that Kiev is currently facing.

“US spy agencies have assessed that speeding up the provisions of weapons, ammunition and matériel for Ukraine will do little to change the course of the war in the short term,” the Times reports. Desperate to bolster Ukraine’s standing in the war before the transition of power on January 20, the Biden administration is looking at a range of serious escalations. “US and European officials are discussing deterrence as a possible security guarantee for Ukraine, such as stockpiling a conventional arsenal sufficient to strike a punishing blow if Russia violates a cease-fire.” The article continues, “Several officials even suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union.” According to some officials who spoke with the Times, the administration believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t significantly escalate the war until Trump returns to the Oval Office.

“But the escalation risk of allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with US-supplied weaponry has diminished with the election of Mr. Trump,” adding,” Biden administration officials believe, calculating that Putin of Russia knows he has to wait only two months for the new administration.” That assessment is based on the belief that Trump and his incoming Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, will take a more favorable stance on Russia. However, Trump proved to be a Russia-hawk during his first administration by ramping up sanctions on Moscow, providing lethal arms to Ukraine, and expelling a large number of Russian diplomats from the US.

In September, Putin said he preferred Vice President Kamala Harris to win the White House. “Trump has imposed as many sanctions on Russia as any president has ever imposed before, and if Harris is doing well, perhaps she will refrain from such actions,” he explained. Much of the American political class has cast Trump and Gabbard as agents of Russia. However, extensive investigations into Trump’s ties to the Kremlin have come up empty. Additionally, the Times reported last week that there was no evidence Gabbard was in any way an asset of Putin.

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“This is not support for Ukraine, but rather it is a way to finish it off..”

• France Wants To ‘Finish Off’ Ukraine – Zakharova (RT)

France’s greenlight for Kiev strikes on internationally-recognized Russian territory will only hurt Ukraine and further escalate the conflict, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned on Saturday. Her remarks followed a statement by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. In an interview with the BBC, Barrot said that Paris does “not set and express red lines” on its support for Kiev, and that long-range strikes on Russian soil may be carried out by Ukraine “in the logics of self-defense.” “This is not support for Ukraine, but rather it is a way to finish it off,” Zakharova told TASS, referring to Barrot’s statements. The French minister did not confirm whether missiles from his country had already been used by Kiev for long-range strikes on Russia. When asked by the BBC whether his “no red lines” comment meant Paris could send French troops to fight alongside Ukrainians, he said he “does not discard any option.”

Barrot’s comments came mere days after Ukraine struck Russia’s Kursk and Bryansk regions with US-made ATACMS and British Storm Shadows. The attacks followed a reported decision by outgoing US President Joe Biden’s administration to greenlight Kiev’s use of long-range US-supplied weaponry to hit areas Washington recognizes as Russia. The Kremlin slammed the reported decision as a deliberate escalation of the conflict and as making the US and NATO direct participants. Earlier this week, Vladimir Putin said that the “regional” Ukraine conflict has now “assumed elements of a global nature,” and warned that further attacks with Western weapons would result in retaliatory strikes on targets of Moscow’s choosing.

In response, the Russian military on Thursday test-fired a new cutting-edge hypersonic ballistic missile, targeting a military industrial facility in the Ukrainian city of Dnepropetrovsk (called Dnipro in Ukraine). The nuclear-capable missile, called the Oreshnik, cannot be intercepted by existing Western missile defense systems, and is capable of reaching targets across Europe within minutes, Sergey Karakayev, commander of Russia’s strategic missile forces, told TASS earlier this week. The new weapon will be mass produced and incorporated into Russia’s arsenal in the coming months.

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“Long out of willing recruits..”

• Most Ukrainian Soldiers Ready To Give Up Territory – The Economist (RT)

Ukrainian troops are growing more open to the prospect of territorial concessions and a ceasefire amid flagging morale and mounting pressure from Russian forces, The Economist reported on Sunday, citing sources from Ukraine. Russian forces are advancing in Donbass at a rate unseen since the earliest days of the conflict, the magazine noted. Earlier in November, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the liberation of more than a dozen settlements in Russia’s Donetsk Region and Ukraine’s Kharkov Region. The problems faced by the Ukrainian army are exacerbated by its worsening manpower issues, The Economist wrote. “Long out of willing recruits,” the conscription push has met barely two-thirds of its target, the magazine said, citing one Ukrainian official as worried that the situation could become “irretrievable” by springtime. Recruits that are pressed into service are more often than not over the age of 45, unhealthy and unmotivated, The Economist said, citing a Ukrainian officer.

The worsening battlefield situation coupled with these issues, and exacerbated by a lack of rotation, is reportedly taking a toll on morale. Fewer and fewer soldiers are willing to “fight to the end” and are less against the idea of giving up territories, one officer told The Economist. “It’s not even 50-50 any more, but 30-70.” In late October, Ukrainian lawmaker Aleksey Goncharenko claimed that Kiev is seeking to conscript an additional 160,000 people in the following three months, amid mounting losses and desertions. Soon afterwards, Ukrainian media reported that more than 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have deserted or left their positions without leave since the escalation of the conflict in 2022. In spring this year, faced with heavy casualties on the battlefield, Ukraine lowered the mobilization age from 27 to 25 and increased the penalties for draft dodgers.

In addition, the tightened conscription rules require men to report to the authorities for “data validation,” which often results in them being immediately pressed into service and sent to the front lines. Videos circulating on social media show recruitment officers trying to catch Ukrainian men in public, often leading to violent confrontations. In October, a Ukrainian MP warned of a legal crackdown on social media against people seeking to aid men in avoiding conscription officers. While Moscow has said it is open to peace negotiations, it has stressed that they must account for the “reality on the ground.” As Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out the possibility of giving up the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions, as well as Crimea, a peace deal would have to include territorial concessions by Ukraine. All five regions joined Russia after voting in a series of referendums.

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“Donald Trump is going to do a deal to get our money back, to enrich ourselves with rare earth minerals. A good deal for Ukraine and us.”

• Ukraine Can Make America Rich – Lindsey Graham (RT)

Ukraine could be extremely useful to the US because it is brimming with valuable natural resources and is willing to negotiate an agreement with Washington on extraction, Senator Lindsey Graham has said. The Republican senator from South Carolina told Fox News that the Ukraine conflict is ultimately “about money.” An extract of the interview was published on the senator’s YouTube channel on Wednesday. “You know that the richest country in all of Europe for rare earth minerals is Ukraine?” he said, estimating the worth at 2 to 7 trillion dollars. Graham added that Ukraine is ready to “do a deal with us,” but not Russia. “So it’s in our interest to make sure that Russia doesn’t take over the place,” he said, describing Ukraine as the “breadbasket of the world.” “We can make money and have an economic relationship with Ukraine. It would be very beneficial to us, with peace,” Graham went on to say.

“Donald Trump is going to do a deal to get our money back, to enrich ourselves with rare earth minerals. A good deal for Ukraine and us.” The president-elect, he added, will also help settle the conflict by concluding an “honorable deal” that would avoid “humiliating” Russian President Vladimir Putin and setting the stage for another conflict. “Donald Trump knows how to end wars. All Joe Biden knows how to do is start wars,” he said. Graham is known for his hawkish stance on aiding Ukraine and containing Moscow. In February, he was added to Russia’s list of ‘terrorists and extremists’, after the senator advocated for designating Russia as a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’. In 2023, Moscow expressed outrage over Graham’s remarks during a meeting with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, when he said: “The Russians are dying. The best money we’ve ever spent.”

In mid-October, Zelensky presented his ‘victory plan,’ which stated that Kiev is ready to sign with its Western backers “a special agreement on the joint protection of the available critical resources” in Ukraine. Earlier this month, Mikhail Podoliak, a top adviser to Zelensky, also stressed that Ukraine has “deposits of rare minerals, such as lithium and titanium, which we can exploit together [with the US].” Trump has vowed to quickly end the Ukraine conflict. Media reports have suggested that he may try to force Ukraine to drop its NATO ambitions and negotiate a freeze of the conflict. Moscow has ruled out a freeze along the current front line, insisting that all the objectives of its military operation must be achieved.

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“Moscow’s position: a settlement is only possible on the basis of the formula approved by the UN Security Council with the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.”

• Lindsey Graham Threatens Allies With Sanctions For Netanyahu Arrest (Sp.)

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has threatened US allies with sanctions if they try to help the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “To any ally — Canada, Britain, Germany, France — if you try to help the ICC, we’re gonna sanction you,” the senator said on Fox News. When asked about the nature of such sanctions, Graham doubled down on his threat, saying the US should “crush” the economies of countries that support the ICC’s efforts. On Thursday, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The court also dismissed Israel’s objections to its jurisdiction over such cases. Israel has consistently challenged the ICC’s authority to hear cases related to Palestine as a whole. US President Joe Biden called the ICC’s decision “outrageous.”

Since October 1, Israel has been conducting a ground operation against the forces of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon and continues aerial bombardment of the neighboring country, where more than 2,500 people have already been killed, including leaders of the Shiite movement, and more than a million people have become refugees. Despite losses, including in the command staff, Hezbollah is waging ground battles and does not stop firing rockets at Israeli territory. On October 7, 2023, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. After that, Hamas militants penetrated the border areas, opened fire on the military and civilians, and took more than 200 hostages. According to the authorities, about 1,200 people were killed on the Israeli side.

In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords, which included strikes on civilian targets, and announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip: supplies of water, electricity, fuel, food, and medicine were stopped. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 43,500 Palestinians have died since the beginning of the conflict, and over 102,000 have been injured. The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the parties to cease hostilities. According to Moscow’s position, a settlement is only possible on the basis of the formula approved by the UN Security Council with the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.

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“We support international courts, and we apply their warrants..”

“..the crime of exterminating the Palestinian people cannot go unpunished..”

• Netanyahu ‘Wanted’: A Landmark Legal Moment In The Palestinian Struggle (Mehdi)

“The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision is one of the largest legal developments in the history of Israel. The 124 member states of the court will be legally obligated to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they enter its territory … and it may have broader repercussions that limit the ability of third parties to cooperate with the Israeli army.” This is how Eliav Lieblich, a professor of international law at Tel Aviv University, summarized the potential consequences of the ICC issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The decision marks a historic step toward international justice for the Palestinian cause after decades of impunity for Israeli leadership, especially given the immense pressure from Tel Aviv and its US ally on the ICC’s prosecutor and judges.

The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant hold them accountable for acts of torture, violence, murder, rape, and the destruction of property by occupation forces under their command. The court found “reasonable grounds to believe that the defendants intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population of Gaza of things necessary for their survival, such as food, water, medicines, and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity, from at least 8 October 2023 until May 20, 2024.” It also noted that “by restricting or preventing the arrival of medical supplies and medicines to Gaza – including anesthesia materials and machines – the two defendants are responsible for inflicting great suffering through inhumane acts against people in need of treatment.” Can the arrest warrants be enforced?

The ICC lacks its own enforcement arm, relying on member states to act. Once arrest warrants are issued, they become binding for the 124 countries that are party to the Rome Statute. If Netanyahu or Gallant visit any of these countries, local authorities are obligated to detain them and send them to The Hague. History has shown that such warrants significantly limit travel options for indicted leaders, who risk arrest in participating countries. But what happens if some countries refuse to comply? International law expert Dr Mohamed Habhab informs The Cradle that the ICC’s decisions are binding on its General Assembly members, with three possible responses if a country refuses to implement the warrants:

First, if the UN Security Council refers a case to the ICC, the Security Council can take further action against countries that do not comply with the court’s decision. This means that the UNSC has the authority to impose measures or sanctions on non-compliant countries to ensure enforcement of the arrest warrants. Second, when the prosecutor initiates a case, the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute can take measures against countries that refuse to comply. This means that the Assembly, which consists of representatives from all member countries, can put pressure on non-compliant states by taking appropriate actions, which may include diplomatic measures or sanctions. Third, if member states themselves refer a case to the ICC, as happened in the case of the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, actions can be pursued either through the Assembly of States Parties or through the UNSC.

This means that the referring member states, along with the Assembly, can collectively push for compliance and ensure that the arrest warrants are implemented. Habhab believes that although it is unlikely that Netanyahu will be seen behind bars anytime soon, the court’s decision is a “moral victory” for the Palestinian cause, and can be used to build global public opinion against the occupation state. Moreover, legally, it could pave the way for more states to compile joint cases over other crimes committed by Israeli forces. In addition to the initial referral by Palestine, the ICC has received further referrals from South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros, Djibouti, Chile, and Mexico, indicating a growing international effort to hold Israel accountable for its egregious and widespread criminality in Gaza. While Netanyahu and Gallant may avoid arrest in Israel-allied countries, the ICC warrants create a major diplomatic problem for Tel Aviv.

Austria’s foreign minister called the arrest warrants “incomprehensible and ludicrous,” but nonetheless reiterated his country’s commitment to international law. Similarly, Italy’s defense minister said Italy would fulfill the ICC’s demand if Netanyahu or Gallant arrived, despite calling the ruling “wrong.” The country’s foreign minister also stated, “We support the ICC … the court must play a legal role and not a political role.” Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris responded “Yes, absolutely,” when asked if Ireland would arrest Netanyahu. “We support international courts, and we apply their warrants,” he said. The Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and Minister of Labor also supported this position, stressing that Spain always stands on the side of justice and international law, and that the crime of exterminating the Palestinian people cannot go unpunished.

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“[Washington] received a clear message that being anti-crypto is a good way to end your career..”

• Crypto Won the 2024 Election (ET)

Although President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Party swept the 2024 general election, the cryptocurrency industry feels it is the real winner. Powered by donations from some of the biggest figures in cryptocurrency and venture capital, three political action committees poured more than $100 million into efforts to influence the 2024 election. “This election was a huge win for crypto,” co-founder and CEO of Coinbase Global Inc. Brian Armstrong wrote on Nov. 7 in an article on X. Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2012, donated about $55 million to the super PAC Fairshake, according to Federal Election Commission records. Armstrong personally donated $1 million. As Armstrong wrote, the industry had much to celebrate in early November. It saw its preferred candidates take the White House and win key seats in both houses of Congress.

He declared that the 119th Congress will be the “most pro-crypto Congress ever.” In his message, Coinbase’s leader wrote something that is usually implied but rarely said in the world of political spending, too. “[Washington] received a clear message that being anti-crypto is a good way to end your career,” Armstrong said. Twenty years ago, few people had heard of cryptocurrency—a term used to refer to decentralized digital currencies as opposed to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) that are controlled and backed by a government or central bank. One week after the Nov. 5 election, a Bitcoin was trading for more than $89,000. Gold, by comparison, traded for about $2,600 an ounce on the same day.

Between 2007 and 2009, a person or group known as Satoshi Nakamoto conceived of and launched Bitcoin. It was a new type of digital money secured via encryption technology. Unlike traditional currency, Bitcoin can transfer value online without a bank or a payment processor. It is not backed by any government, central bank fiat currency, or physical asset. Bitcoin began as an obscure novelty worth less than 10 cents per token. However, its price has exploded in the last decade, creating significant public interest in the digital asset. According to the crypto website Coinranking, as of Nov. 13, Bitcoin’s market capitalization was about $1.83 trillion. Nevertheless, public opinion polling shows that a majority of Americans are not confident in cryptocurrency as an investment. A Pew Research Center study published in October found that just 5 percent of the people it surveyed in February said they were “very” or “extremely” confident in the reliability and safety of cryptocurrency.

The same report found that 17 percent of Americans have ever invested in, traded, or used a cryptocurrency. As an investment, about 38 percent of respondents said cryptocurrency has done “worse than expected.” Rick Claypool, the research director in the president’s office of Public Citizen, told The Epoch Times that cryptocurrency, generally, is an extremely volatile investment vehicle without any intrinsic value—one that is now very risky for the average investor. Public Citizen, founded in 1971, is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. In May, it published a report describing the cryptocurrency industry’s investment in politics as part of a “strategy of combating enforcement crackdowns and designing a regulatory system that meets the industry’s specifications.”

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“..Beijing-linked hacking group ‘Salt Typhoon’..”

• US Suffered ‘Worst Telecom Hack’ In History – Senator (RT)

National security advisers and other senior officials from the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden held a meeting with top executives from major telecommunications companies on Friday to discuss what is being described as “by far” the worst breach in the country’s history. Earlier this month, the US authorities accused alleged Beijing-linked hacking group ‘Salt Typhoon’ of intercepting surveillance data gathered and stored by the telecoms for American law enforcement agencies. The perpetrators allegedly intercepted text messages and audio from an unknown number of calls during a large-scale operation that lasted for months. Senator Mark Warner, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the breach the “worst telecom hack in our nation’s history – by far,” following a hearing this week. “The barn door is still wide open, or mostly open.”

On Friday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Deputy National Security Adviser Anne Neuberger hosted a meeting with the telecommunications industry at the White House, though it is unclear who exactly was present. “The meeting was an opportunity to hear from telecommunications sector executives about how the US government can partner with and support the private sector in hardening against sophisticated nation-state attacks,” the White House said in a statement. The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a joint statement on November 13, blaming the intrusion on China and admitting that the stolen information had been gathered and stored as part of “legal” surveillance on American suspects.

“Specifically, we have identified that PRC-affiliated actors have compromised networks at multiple telecommunications companies to enable the theft of customer call record data, the compromise of private communications of a limited number of individuals primarily involved in government or political activity, and the copying of certain information that was subject to US law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders,” they wrote. The scope of the breach is still under investigation. Reports indicate that fewer than 150 victims have been notified by the FBI so far, most of whom are located in the Washington DC area. However, since those affected likely called or texted numerous people, the number of records accessed by hackers could be significantly higher.

An unnamed adviser to the campaign of President-elect Donald Trump is also said to be among those whose conversations were intercepted, according to a report last month by the Washington Post. It remains unclear whether the adviser’s information was also “subject to US law enforcement requests.” In 2016, the FBI used the fabricated Steele Dossier to obtain court permission to spy on Trump’s campaign and undermine his presidency. Beijing has repeatedly denied hacking allegations and claims by Washington that it is attempting to meddle in the US electoral process. The Chinese Embassy in Washington previously stated that it was unaware of the activities of ‘Salt Typhoon’ and accused the US of fabricating evidence of Beijing’s involvement in cyberattacks to “smear China.”

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I still don’t get who they think they would pay for it.

• US Unlikely to Let American Investor Buy Nord Stream 2 (Sp.)

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipeline network was rocked by explosions in September 2022, just months after President Joe Biden threatened to “bring an end” to the energy project in the event of an escalation in Ukraine. Now, a US investor reportedly wants to buy Nord Stream 2. Sputnik asked a renowned economist what this means. If the Ukraine crisis were to end, there would “likely…be huge pressure to get the pipelines repaired” from a Europe starved of energy. “Any new owner would become immensely rich,” the economist stressed.government, widely suspected of playing an instrumental role in the energy infrastructure’s sabotage, would be unlikely to allow it, veteran British economist Dr. Rodney Shakespeare told Sputnik. “America destroyed the pipelines because secret American policy is to keep Germany and Europe dependent on (expensive) American gas supplies. So the businessman is unlikely to get permission,” Shakespeare, a visiting scholar at Indonesia’s Trisakti University and co-founder of the Global Justice Movement, explained.

If the Ukrainian crisis were to end, there would “likely…be huge pressure to get the pipelines repaired” from a Europe starved of energy. “Any new owner would become immensely rich,” the economist stressed. But even then, Shakespeare warned that given the hostility of US policy toward the project, there’s no guarantee that the repaired pipelines wouldn’t “be blown up again.” “My guess is that the businessman will not get permission and that the risk of deliberate destruction in future is such that the pipes will not get repaired,” Shakespeare said. Lynch reportedly applied for a license with the US Treasury that would allow him to negotiate initiating repair work on the damaged $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline with entities under US sanctions, and has reportedly lobbied officials to allow him to invest in the damaged pipeline network to secure “American and European control over European energy supply for the rest of the fossil-fuel era.”

Nord Stream 2 AG is owned by a subsidiary of Russia’s Gazprom, with a consortium of five European energy companies financing to the project. A Swiss court has repeatedly extended the moratorium on Nord Stream 2 AG’s bankruptcy, most recently until January 2025. It’s unclear whether Russia would ever allow foreign investors, particularly from unfriendly countries, to gain a stake in the project. Nord Stream 2 was completed in September 2021, but never commissioned amid heavy US pressure on its European NATO allies to wean themselves off reliance on cheap and dependable Russian energy in favor of more costly US liquefied natural gas exports to Europe. In September 2022, three of four strings of the combined Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipeline networks were damaged in a series of explosions, causing the largest-ever man-made release of methane and deprived Europe of the capacity to import up to 110 billion cubic meters of Russian gas per year.

In December 2022, a source told US media that repairing the damaged energy infrastructure could cost $500 million or more to repair, and that consultants were engaged in research into how long the damaged pipes could withstand exposure to saltwater. In February 2023, veteran US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh alleged, citing insider information, that US Navy divers carried out the sabotage attack targeting Nord Stream. US officials dismissed these allegations, and maintain that Russia may have blown up its own pipeline. “I don’t want to get our country in trouble, so I won’t answer…But I can tell you who it wasn’t – Russia. It wasn’t Russia,” President-elect Donald Trump told US media in April 2023. “How about when they blamed Russia. You know they said ‘Russia blew up their own pipeline.’ You got a kick out of that one too,” Trump said.

After the release of Hersh’s bombshell story, US and German media have coordinated the release of a series of articles alleging that amateur Ukrainian saboteurs, not the US Navy, was responsible for the attack on Nord Stream. In an interview with Tucker Carlson in February, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was “clear to the whole world” that the US was responsible for the Nord Stream sabotage. Germany’s silence on the matter shows that its leaders are “guided by the interests of the collective West rather than its [own] national interests,” Putin added.

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“I saw an America that is not just Brad Pitt and George Clooney, but an America that has around 40,000-50,000 people without [a] home, and that’s only California..”

• Film Director Kusturica Thanks RT For Opening His Eyes On America (RT)

Renowned Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica has lauded RT for covering topics sidelined by other media, and particularly for showing him aspects of life in the US that are glossed over by Hollywood and official narratives. The director was speaking at an RT international film festival featuring dozens of documentaries on the Ukraine conflict. The event dubbed ‘RT.Doc: The Age of Our Heroes’ kicked off on Friday in the Serbian village of Drvengrad in the west of the country. The village was originally built by Kusturica as a film set two decades ago and has since become a venue for film and music festivals, as well as a tourist attraction. Speaking at the festival, Kusturica described documentaries as the very essence of television.

“[The] actual idea of television can be found exclusively in documentary programs,” he said, adding that various TV formats like news or other information programs tend to lean towards one side or another when covering certain events. Documentaries, on the other hand, demonstrate “the truth about the meaning of television” and are “every television’s… strongest program.” He explained that the festival provides a chance to see such works. The filmmaker also specifically praised documentaries produced by RT, saying that they showed him things he had not even thought about, particularly when it comes to the US. “Thanks to Russia Today, I saw an America that is not just Brad Pitt and George Clooney, but an America that has around 40,000-50,000 people without [a] home, and that’s only California,” Kusturica said.

“I got to know the side of America that didn’t exist in my thoughts, yet alone in those films that I loved from the 70s.” RT covers topics from various parts of the globe, including Europe, the US and Africa, opening “a new view for us in the whole world,” according to the director. He then expressed his hope that Drvengrad would be able to host “another good film festival” in this “most important” genre and thanked the event organizers for choosing the venue. The festival, which runs through Sunday, features more than 60 documentaries, including those filmed by Russian war correspondents, as well as Italian, French, and US crews. Kusturica made one of them himself. His documentary focuses on Kiev’s persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which it accuses of having ties to Russia.

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“Tony believed that the best way to prepare for the next pandemic, was to create it..”

• Bombshell Fauci Documentary Nails The Whole COVID Charade (ZH)

A new must-watch documentary by two-time Peabody Award-winning and four-time Emmy nominated director Jenner Furst, a self-described progressive who has broken with the Democratic party, ties it all together. In early 2020, Furst was contacted to direct a puff piece on former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Dr. Anthony Fauci. The project was scrapped, however three years later, Furst began investigating what actually happened and created “Thank You, Dr. Fauci” – a project which has received virtually no press coverage, and even Rotten Tomatoes critics won’t touch.

If you’re thinking ‘you had me at Fauci’ and just want to watch it, a free preview of “Thank You, Dr. Fauci” is available, and the film can be rented directly on the film’s website, or by using Vimeo On-Demand or Gathr. People can also use Gathr to Book Private Screenings and Partner on TVOD Sales. If you’re like Elon Musk and you believe that ‘Prosecute / Fauci’ should be your pronouns, this is what you need to watch to understand why we should prosecute Fauci. While it’s difficult enough to find “Thank You, Dr. Fauci” thanks to search engine shadowbans and downrankings, perhaps the most notable form of censorship is the ongoing media blackout of the film according to Furst – whose previous work has been heavily reviewed, critically acclaimed, and streamed across Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and Paramount.

But not this one. “The media blackout of the film just proves that the real Covid story is still highly censored,” Furst told ZeroHedge, adding “Journalists still can’t cover Covid truthfully at major outlets, and the problem is way bigger than them or their editors. The most powerful lobbies on the planet, and the weight of the US government is still sitting on the free press like an 800 pound gorilla.” Given the level of censorship the film has been subject to, Furst firmly believes that a massive free speech platform such X would be ideal to get the word out – if even for a couple of days.

“I feel like Elon could change this conversation overnight, the country is divided only due to the success of propaganda on the left. No democrat can sit thru this movie and see Fauci or the pandemic the same way again. That’s why MSM doesn’t want to acknowledge this,” Furst told ZeroHedge. The documentary features notable figures at the heart of the pandemic response, including Dr. Robert Redfield – the former director of the CDC during the outbreak – who was completely shut out of Anthony Fauci’s inner circle while the NIAID boss and top virologists conspired via secret back channels to shape the narrative around COVID origins. Also featured are former State Department COVID investigator David Asher, and Richard Ebright – a Rutgers molecular biologist who’s spent years pushing back against the Fauci wagon-circling by the scientific community.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frens

 

 

Ducks

 

 

Horse

 

 

Street art

 

 

Donkey

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle November 23 2024

Nov 232024
 
 November 23, 2024  Posted by at 9:53 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  64 Responses »


Titian The rape of Europe 1560-62

 

• In the Weeds of the Swamp (Kunstler)
• Ukrainians Have Stolen Up To Half Of US Aid – Ex-Polish Deputy Minister (RT)
• Trump Eyes Richard Grenell As Special Envoy For Ukraine (RT)
• Ukrainian Military Plans For 2025 ‘Derailed’ – Moscow (RT)
• RFK Jr.’s Plans for Reshaping HHS Draw Strong Reactions (ET)
• Trump Names Billionaire Scott Bessent As Treasury Secretary (ZH)
• Washington Chose to Go to War with Russia (Paul Craig Roberts)
• World ‘Very Close To Point Of No Return’ – Scott Ritter (RT)
• US Investor Eyes Nord Stream 2 Purchase, Citing Strategic Value for US (Sp.)
• White House Refuses to Recognize Responsibility for Escalation in Ukraine (Sp.)
• Musk on His ‘To-Do List’ on Time Cover: We Need to Colonize Other Planets (Sp.)
• NY ‘Hush Money’ Judge Grants Trump Request To File For Dismissal (ZH)
• Israel Preparing to Attack Iranian Nuclear Facilities (Sp.)
• European States Vow To Arrest Netanyahu (RT)
• US Senator Threatens Invasion of Netherlands (RT)
• HBO Delivers Blow Against the Anti-Rowling, Anti-Free Speech Movement (Turley)
• British Operation KISS – “Kill Instantly Skripals” – Has Failed (Helmer)
• G20 Knocks Out G7 Agendas (Pepe Escobar)

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1859755179836371333

App

Cuts

DOGE

Ruhle

Ron Paul
https://twitter.com/Rothmus/status/1859512945127854571

Celente

 

 

 

 

 

 

“RussiaGate is starting to look like ancient history to many, but it is a giant slime trail of sedition and treason involving many people who are still very much alive..”

• In the Weeds of the Swamp (Kunstler)

Okay, you’ve had enough post-election euphoria. Time to wake TF up. Rats from inside the walls of the Deep State are trying to gnaw their way into the Trump cabinet. Ever hear of an outfit called Cipher Brief? Of course not. Cipher Brief is sort of the McKinsey of blob-world (a.k.a. the “national security” network), a combination Human Relations / Public Relations firm, totally spooked-up with former CIA officers. Quite a few of the spooks who signed the infamous letter in October 2020 that said Hunter Biden’s laptop was “Russian disinformation” are contractors there. They all knew the heinous laptop was genuine, though, and they did it anyway to queer the election for “Joe Biden.” Why? Because. . . Trump. One Cipher Brief operative is a character named Dan Hoffman, a retired CIA “clandestine service” officer who ran the agency’s Middle East Bureau, among other things. He’s now a sometime talking head on Fox News.

Hoffman has scuttled his way to the sidelines of the Trump transition team, trying to punk them on personnel. I received my own intel about Dan Hoffman and his current operations. “Hoffman talks the talk,” I’m informed. “He was involved in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. He is 100-percent Deep State. They think he is a brother-in-arms. He is not. Hoffman and the people around him are in direct contact with Tulsi Gabbard [DNI-designate] and John Ratcliffe [CIA Director-designate]. Remember, agency ops officers are trained to be all things to all people, to manipulate them, detect their vulnerabilities, and exploit them. Their game vis-a-vis Donald Trump? To kneecap his attempts to lower tensions world-wide, stop efforts to reduce and reform the intel and defense communities, push a generally Globalist policy agenda, keep the American ‘empire game’ running so they can cash out, and keep non-Beltway Americans from having any say in our foreign policy.

“Hoffman is not a minor figure. He is heading up the cabal trying to co-opt Ratcliffe and Gabbard. Understand that [this group] essentially took over Agency operations during the so-called Global War on Terror [GWOT] after 9/11. Not only did these assholes lead America into the quicksand of the Middle East, they feathered their own nests and those of their buddies with hundreds of millions in ‘contracts’. . . they cooked up the Ukraine War . . . . Nobody associated with Cipher Brief should be anywhere near Ratcliffe or Gabbard, period. They should be blacklisted. They are the people who worked to take down Trump, and now they are trying to cover their tracks and sneak into the new administration.” Dan Hoffman, remember the name.

And thus, the chatter this week about former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Mike Rogers (a.k.a. Admiral Michael S. Rogers) floated as the next Director of the FBI. Oh, really? Not a joke (har har)? Mike Rogers was DNI throughout the first years (2016-17) of the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” op to take down the then-new president Donald Trump using Hillary Clinton’s concocted “Steele Dossier,” known to be utter bullshit by all involved at the highest levels, but used anyway. Mike Rogers was in office when the FBI took down new National Security Advisor Mike Flynn in February, 2017, for talking to the Russian ambassador. (Since when are high US officials not allowed to speak with foreign diplomats?) By the way, Mike Rogers was endorsed for the FBI job this week by former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, one of the chief managers of The RussiaGate op, which included “Crossfire Hurricane,” and the FBIs programmatic lying to the FISA court.

RussiaGate is starting to look like ancient history to many, but it is a giant slime trail of sedition and treason involving many people who are still very much alive, and some who are still in positions of power (Christopher Wray). It is going to be re-litigated in the new administration, but many other crimes just as sinister, carried out under color-of-law by the FBI and its parent, the Department of Justice (DOJ), have followed since then. For instance: the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol instigated by “confidential human resources” (FBI plants), and actual FBI agents — labeled “the insurrection” by blob publicists. It was engineered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, General Mark Milley, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, and others to prevent a public review of election irregularities in the joint session of Congress convened to certify the electoral vote. It succeeded splendidly, and was promptly converted into one of the worst national mind-fucks in US history. Debate over dubious vote-counts was squelched and objections were never allowed to be heard. From that sprung the “Big Lie” that anyone voicing skepticism over the 2020 election is a criminal — and thus, the two preposterous federal cases (plus the Fulton County, GA, case) cooked up against Mr. Trump three years later.

There is also the matter of the pipe bomb op at the DNC and RNC headquarters blocks away from the US Capitol the same hour of the same day, 1/6/21, when, for no good reason, Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris hid-out in the DNC building. (Why would she not have been attending the joint session of Congress in the Capitol at that hour when the signal achievement of her life to-date was to be grandly announced in front of all her colleagues?) I will tell you why: because the pipe bomb was supposed to be Plan-A for disrupting the electoral vote certification — to set off wild alarms about “terrorism” and scatter the lawmakers. It just happened that the riot at the Capitol (Plan-B) successfully stole the show and Nancy Pelosi got what she said she was “waiting for” — the means to permanently knock Donald Trump off the game-board.

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Americans too:

“..war-related corruption is linked not only with Ukraine, but also the supplier nation..”

• Ukrainians Have Stolen Up To Half Of US Aid – Ex-Polish Deputy Minister (RT)

Ukraine did not receive as much foreign aid as claimed by the administration of US President Joe Biden, and whatever help it did get was largely embezzled, a former Polish deputy minister has claimed. Up to a half of the funds that reached Kiev was stolen by Ukrainian officials, Piotr Kulpa has alleged. The political commentator previously held several posts in the Polish government, serving as deputy labor minister in the mid-2000s, and is currently a regular contributor on Ukrainian online shows. Kulpa is a vocal supporter of US President-elect Donald Trump, as evidenced by his remarks to Ukrainian journalist Lana Shevchuk on Thursday. “Everyone understands that war-related corruption is linked not only with Ukraine, but also the supplier nation,” he said. “Who would ever believe that the US burned through $2 trillion in Afghanistan? It’s delusional!”

US aid programs are a mechanism to “write off large sums of money that finance shady systems under the Democratic Party’s control,” he alleged. The incoming Trump administration could review government finances and discover the truth that “Ukraine got very little” compared to the amounts mentioned in public statements, Kulpa claimed. “But they will also find something else: that a huge portion of the funds was stolen in Ukraine. From 30% to 50%, regardless of the nature of the aid,” he added. If Kiev were to recover all the embezzled money for the Ukrainian budget, the country would have enough for a year, Kulpa said. He denounced senior Ukrainian officials, whose regular salaries and bonuses he believes are outrageously high.

“It’s a spit in the face of every Ukrainian,” the former minister asserted. “To every European and American taxpayer. This system is criminal from start to finish.” Trump and his allies have been highly critical of the amount of assistance that the Biden administration has sent to Kiev. The president-elect has argued that EU nations should assume the burden of propping up Ukraine, while the American government should focus on its own priorities. US concerns about graft in Kiev have been reflected in some government documents, such as a report that Pentagon Inspector General Robert Storch’s office released last week. It said corruption “continues to complicate Ukraine’s efforts to achieve its EU and NATO aspirations.”

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“..he has advocated for the creation of “autonomous zones” in the conflict area..”

• Trump Eyes Richard Grenell As Special Envoy For Ukraine (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump is considering Richard Grenell, a veteran of his previous administration, for the position of special envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Reuters reported on Friday, citing sources. Grenell served as Washington’s ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence. Trump’s plans to appoint a high-ranking diplomat tasked with “find[ing] a resolution, to get to a peace settlement” were first reported by Fox News last week, with its source saying the person in the position will have “a lot of credibility.” Four Reuters sources confirmed that Trump is thinking about creating the position of special envoy, with Grenell considered as a potential candidate. However, there is no guarantee that the position will be created, though the president-elect is strongly leaning toward doing so, the article said.

Grenell, a seasoned diplomat and political operative, served as the US ambassador to Germany from 2018 to 2020, and as acting director of national intelligence for several months in 2020. Days after his appointment as envoy to Berlin, Grenell faced criticism for what many EU leaders saw as his crude disregard for diplomatic finesse and nonchalant attempts to influence the domestic political landscape, as he urged European capitals to cut business ties with Iran while openly voicing support for local right-wing parties. As for Grenell’s stance on the Ukraine conflict, he has advocated for the creation of “autonomous zones” in the conflict area and insisted that Ukraine should not be brought into NATO anytime soon, a stance shared by many on the Trump team.

Supporters of Grenell point to his long diplomatic career and deep knowledge of European affairs, according to Reuters. He served as special presidential envoy for Serbia-Kosovo peace negotiations from 2019 to 2021. In September 2020, he brokered an agreement between the country and its breakaway region, which paved the way for economic normalization and helped defuse tensions at the time. Trump has vowed to swiftly put an end to the Ukraine conflict. One of the reported plans includes Kiev suspending its NATO ambitions and agreeing to a freeze along the current front line. Russia has ruled out a freeze of the conflict, insisting that all of the goals of the military operation, including Ukrainian neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification, should be fulfilled.

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“..ground down” Kiev’s best military units..”

• Ukrainian Military Plans For 2025 ‘Derailed’ – Moscow (RT)

Russian forces involved in repelling a Ukrainian incursion in Kursk Region have “ground down” Kiev’s best military units and have effectively “derailed [its] entire campaign of 2025,” Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov has claimed. Kiev sent some of its best-armed and most experienced troops across the northern border in August, claiming that securing control of Russian territory in Kursk would be of great benefit. Ukrainian officials said the move would slow down Russian advancement elsewhere on the front line and give their country an important bargaining chip in eventual peace talks. Belousov has visited a command and control site operated by the ‘North’ group of forces, responsible for Russia’s response to the Ukrainian operation, the Defense Ministry reported on Friday. The ministry released footage in which the minister praised soldiers and officers for thwarting Kiev’s plans for next year after hearing a report by General Aleksandr Lapin, the commander of the ‘North’ battlegroup.

Belousov was also given a tour of an exhibition of NATO weapons captured during the fighting, including communications equipment, drones, small arms, and man-portable heavy arms. He was told that much of the hardware was inferior to its Russian equivalent. The minister personally awarded military decorations to several service members who had shown valor on the battlefield. Moscow has described the Ukrainian incursion as a major turning point in the armed conflict. No peace talks can happen before all of Kiev’s troops are pushed out of Kursk Region, senior Russian officials have said. Ukrainian forces have suffered more than 34,500 casualties and lost hundreds of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and other pieces of heavy weaponry in the operation, the Russian military has claimed.

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“He is dangerous to the health and well being of every American..”

• RFK Jr.’s Plans for Reshaping HHS Draw Strong Reactions (ET)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to “make America healthy again” through his platform as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The possibility of that happening has drawn praise from many Republican lawmakers and vaccine and food safety advocates. Multiple Democratic legislators and public health officials have criticized President-Elect Donald Trump’s nomination, calling Kennedy a “danger” to public health. Fighting chronic disease, improving children’s health, and addressing corporate influence on government agencies were vital parts of Kennedy’s campaign platform when he ran for president as a Democrat and then an independent. Kennedy suspended his presidential campaign and backed Trump in August. He previously told The Epoch Times that it was a “heart-wrenching decision” and a necessary step toward achieving his mission of saving Americans from the chronic disease epidemic.

Under the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, Kennedy aims to curtail what he calls the chronic disease epidemic by addressing the so-called “corporate capture” of federal health agencies and removing toxic chemicals from the nation’s food supply, among other objectives. Trump’s naming Kennedy as his HHS secretary has drawn strong reactions. Donna Shalala, who was HHS secretary under former President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001, said Kennedy is not qualified for the position. “The nomination of RFK Jr. for HHS by President-elect Trump is shocking. … He is dangerous to the health and well being of every American,” Shalala wrote on X. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on X that Kennedy would be the person to “detox the place after the Fauci era,” in reference to former NIH director Dr. Anthony Fauci. Kennedy and Paul have both been outspoken critics of Fauci’s policies related to vaccines and the public health response to COVID-19.

[..] Kennedy has said that he will urge Trump on day one to declare a national emergency for chronic disease. Kennedy said he believes little will change until the influence of giant or private corporations on the FDA, the CDC, and the Department of Agriculture is addressed. At a roundtable organized by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) in September, Kennedy said these agencies “advance the mercantile and commercial interests of the pharmaceutical industry that has transformed them and the food industry into sock puppets for the industry they’re supposed to regulate. Kennedy has vowed to dismiss the officials who lead those agencies and appoint replacements. “FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” he wrote on X on Oct. 25, adding his support for raw milk, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, foods with healing properties, and natural remedies such as sunshine.

In September, Kennedy told The Epoch Times that he would revamp the NIH to focus on the causes of autism, autoimmune diseases, and neurodevelopment diseases instead of developing drugs and serving as an incubator for pharmaceutical products. He has also vowed to lead efforts to address the issue of chemicals in ultra-processed foods. He told Fox News he would “get processed food out of school lunch immediately” and said federal food assistance such as food stamps should not go toward junk food.

RFK

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“..work to create an economy that places growth at the forefront, especially through our coming world energy dominance..”

• Trump Names Billionaire Scott Bessent As Treasury Secretary (ZH)

After Trump appointed Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary and Kevin Warsh was clearly being groomed as Powell’s replacement at the Fed, it was just a matter of time before the most important appointment in the Trump admin was made. That happened late on Friday when president-elect Donald Trump nominated Scott Bessent to lead the Department of the Treasury, ending days of speculation after other names emerged as competitors to the reported favorite. “Scott is widely respected as one of the world’s foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists. Scott’s story is that of the American Dream,” Trump said in a statement on the nomination. Bessent, 62, is a Wall Street veteran who once worked for George Soros, and founder of international macro investment company Key Square Group. He served as a key economic adviser to Trump’s 2024 campaign.

Others contenders for the role included Howard Lutnick, the chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC Partners. He co-chairs the Trump–Vance transition team, which is in charge of selecting administration candidates, vetting personnel, and crafting policy. Lutnick was ultimately chosen on Nov. 19 to lead the Department of Commerce. Kevin Warsh, 54, a former Morgan Stanley banker and former Federal Reserve Board governor, likewise entered the conversation. He became the leading candidate for treasury secretary on the betting website Polymarket after reports emerged that the president-elect was expanding his search to fill the position. In his statement on Bessent’s nomination, Trump said that economic policy under his administration would maintain the U.S. dollar’s reserve currency status, fortify the United States’s position as the world’s strongest economy, and invigorate the private sector.

“As a lifelong champion of Main Street America and American industry, Scott will support my policies that will drive U.S. competitiveness, and stop unfair trade imbalances, work to create an economy that places growth at the forefront, especially through our coming world energy dominance,” Trump said. The president-elect also noted Bessent’s deep family roots in South Carolina, saying that he belongs to a historic French Huguenot Church, which members of his family founded in the 1680s, in the port city of Charleston. Like his predecessors, Bessent will now oversee a vast portfolio to employ the president’s economic agenda. As the Epoch Times notes, the two immediate issues Bessent will grapple with will be averting a default as the national debt ceiling limit will expire on Jan. 1, 2025, and extending the Trump-era Tax Cuts and Jobs Act due to expire at the end of next year.

More importantly, Bessent will also be tasked with the delicate, if not conflicting, job of championing Trump’s trade proposals, including across-the-board tariffs, on one hand, while keeping the debt and deficit in check and preventing bond yields and the dollar from rising too high, too fast, as an even more rapid tightening in financial conditions will surely tip the US economy into recession.

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“We Are Faced with the Extraordinary Event that..”

• Washington Chose to Go to War with Russia (Paul Craig Roberts)

This interview from two days ago explains the dangerous situation into which the Biden Regime has placed life on earth by Washington’s conscious decision to go to war with Russia. The Russian government made it completely clear that a decision to fire missiles into Russia means the West is at war with Russia. Nevertheless, the insane West fired missiles into Russia. Putin responded with a demonstration of a new hypersonic missile that completely destroyed a Ukrainian armaments production facility. The missile travels at speed that the West has no capability to intercept and was designed to carry nuclear warheads. The message to the West is clear: If you persist in your war with Russia, you can expect widespread destruction. What will the insane West do? Will it come to its senses, or is it more important to widen the war in order to lock Trump in and prevent him from reaching a peaceful end to the conflict?

The Russian-hating Jew that Washington installed as its agent in Ukraine is demanding a “strong response” from the West. In other words, Zelensky is demanding Europe and the US put themselves at risk of destruction simply because Russia responded to a missile attack by the West from Ukrainian soil with a missile attack on a Ukrainian military facility. What sense does this make? None. It is unclear that the American people and those of Europe will survive their acceptance of the theft by the Democrats of the 2020 US presidential election. The consequence of the theft of the presidential election was an insane regime in Washington that has consistently step-by-step widened a local conflict into a war of the West with Russia. The British have not helped the situation by electing a prime minister as unhinged as Biden. In the West it seems that only Hungary’s Viktor Orban understands the seriousness of the situation.

I will briefly review the situation as Putin has stated it to the Russian people and to the dumbshits ruling in the West. Putin said the West’s missile attack on Russia drastically changed the nature of the conflict in Ukraine. The conflict has been transformed into a war of the West against Russia. This intentional decision by the West to go to war with Russia was taken despite Russia’s clear warning. Putin reminded everyone that the conflict in Ukraine was provoked by Washington which refused Russia’s peaceful approach of the Minsk Agreement and refused Russia’s request for a mutual security agreement. Putin made the point that Washington and NATO have deliberately escalated the conflict and are making it into global war. Putin pointed out that Washington has deliberately “destroyed the system on international security” and is “pushing the whole world toward a global conflict.”

Putin made the point that although the West has no defense against Russian missiles, Russia prefers diplomacy to war, but if the West persists in war, the West will suffer the consequences Certainly, Ukraine’s retention of Donbas, formerly a part of Russia herself that Soviet leaders attached to the Soviet Union’s Ukrainian province, is not worth a devastating, perhaps final, war. What madness is driving the West’s irresponsible attitude toward life? It appears to be the neoconservatives’ agenda of US and Israeli hegemony, egged on by profit and power for the US military/security complex and the unrealistic belief of Americans in their invincibility. The question before us is: Will the hubris of the West destroy the World?

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“They are ‘Trump proofing’ NATO, Ukraine and the deep state..”

• World ‘Very Close To Point Of No Return’ – Scott Ritter (RT)

Russia’s strike on a Ukrainian defense industrial facility using a new hypersonic ballistic missile system has shown the West that a policy of further escalation will lead to devastating consequences, former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has said. America’s recklessness in dealing with Russia, as well as underestimating Moscow’s readiness to respond, has already brought the world dangerously close to an all-out nuclear war, the former US marine officer claimed on the ‘Judging Freedom’ YouTube show on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the country’s military successfully hit a Ukrainian target with a new intermediate-range ballistic missile called the Oreshnik. The strike was a response to Kiev using US-made ATACMS and HIMARS systems, as well as British-made Storm Shadow missiles in strikes on internationally-recognized Russian territory earlier this week, he added.

The missile launch is a clear signal to the West that Moscow was not bluffing when it said the US and its allies would not get away with aiding Kiev in striking Russia with Western-made weapons, Ritter argued. “The missile that they used is a nuclear-capable system. It had a conventional warhead but could be used for nuclear purposes. Putin basically said that this missile can cover all of Europe and that in the future, he will mirror every action by Ukraine and the West; that any escalation will immediately be responded to,” Ritter told the host of Judging Freedom, Andrew Napolitano. The former UN weapons inspector also called the development a “qualitative advancement” that brought a completely new type of weapon to the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. Everyone who believed that Russia was bluffing “has now been put on notice” that it is not, he added.

A continuation of the current Western policy towards the Ukraine conflict and Russia would be dangerous and irresponsible under such circumstances, Ritter believes. “We are very, very close to reaching the point of no return when it comes to a nuclear war,” he warned. He particularly slammed remarks by US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) spokesman Rear Admiral Thomas Buchanan, who said on Thursday that Washington was ready to launch nuclear strikes but would only do so “on terms that are most acceptable to the US.” Such statements sound as if the US is ready for a “pre-emptive strike” against Russia, Ritter said, adding that taking out Russia’s nuclear capabilities first was “the only way an exchange works that you can walk away from.” Such rhetoric is bound to put Moscow on edge, according to the former UN weapons inspector.

The “lame duck” administration of President Joe Biden might have made a U-turn on allowing Kiev to use Western long-range weapons for strikes on undisputed Russian territory to make life difficult for their successors, opined Ritter, a former RT contributor. “They are ‘Trump proofing’ NATO, Ukraine and the deep state” in order to make the Ukraine conflict problem “so hard” that President-elect Donald Trump will not be able to resolve it as he intends, he said. Trump has vowed to swiftly end the Ukraine conflict upon assuming office. One possibility would be to force Ukraine to drop its NATO ambitions and agree to freeze the conflict, according to reports. Moscow has ruled out the latter, insisting that all the goals of its military operation – including Ukraine’s demilitarization and denazification – must be fulfilled.

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Much of it was financed by Gazprom. They won’t sell.. You gonna seize control?

• US Investor Eyes Nord Stream 2 Purchase, Citing Strategic Value for US (Sp.)

American investor Stephen P. Lynch has expressed an interest in buying the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if it is put up for auction as part of the bankruptcy proceedings in Switzerland, The Wall Street Journal reports. “An American investor with a history of dealmaking in Russia has asked the U.S. government to allow him to bid on the sabotaged Nord Stream Pipeline 2 if it comes up for auction in a Swiss bankruptcy proceeding,” the report said. According to sources cited by the newspaper, Lynch expressed determination to buy the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline and applied to the US Treasury in February for a license to negotiate its construction with entities under US sanctions, noting that many investors might avoid the auction due to the difficult geopolitical situation. Lynch has advocated to US officials and lawmakers that owning the pipeline would give the United States a powerful tool in negotiating peace with Russia to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, while also supporting broader American strategic objectives.

“The bottom line is this: This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for American and European control over European energy supply for the rest of the fossil-fuel era,” the newspaper quotes Lynch as saying. The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Europe, were hit by explosions on September 26, 2022. Germany, Denmark, and Sweden have not ruled out deliberate sabotage. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has opened an investigation into it as an act of international terrorism. Russia has repeatedly requested information on other countries’ investigations into the explosions, but never received it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

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“Every step of escalation comes from Russia. They are the ones who are escalating it..”

• White House Refuses to Recognize Responsibility for Escalation in Ukraine (Sp.)

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday declined to acknowledge that US President Joe Biden’s authorization of long-range strikes on Russia with ATACMS missiles had contributed to escalating the conflict, instead placing the blame on Russia. “Every step of escalation comes from Russia. They are the ones who are escalating it,” she alleged when asked whether Biden’s decision to authorize strikes using long-range ATACMS missiles deep into Russian territory was a factor in escalating the conflict in Ukraine. Jean-Pierre claimed that neither Ukraine nor the United States bears responsibility for the escalation. The launch of a Russian missile will not deter US policy towards Ukraine, the press secretary added. The United States will continue to provide new weapons packages to Ukraine and work to expedite their delivery, she said.

Washington has not seen any signs of Russia preparing to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, the White House spokesperson admitted. Washington is not seeking war with Moscow but will continue to send weapons to Ukraine, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh added. Russia notified the US briefly before launching an intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine, the Pentagon spokesperson acknowledged. Earlier in the day, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia fired a non-nuclear hypersonic version of a ballistic missile, striking a Ukrainian arms manufacturer in the city of Dnepropetrovsk in response to Kiev’s use of US and UK longer-range weapons to strike Russian territory.

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“I am trying to make life multiplanetary to maximize the probable lifespan of consciousness..”

• Musk on His ‘To-Do List’ on Time Cover: We Need to Colonize Other Planets (Sp.)

US entrepreneur Elon Musk, commenting on his “to-do list” on the cover of Time magazine, has said that it is not really his checklist, but that some items are needed to achieve a global goal of human colonization of other planets. Earlier in the week, Time released the cover of its December issue featuring the entrepreneur and his alleged tasks or accomplishments, including two items that have not yet been completed, including reducing US government spending by $2 trillion and flying to Mars. “To be clear, I have not done any media interviews and this is not actually my checklist. I am trying to make life multiplanetary to maximize the probable lifespan of consciousness. Some of the items below are needed for that,” Musk said on X.

Last month, Musk said that if Trump won the US presidential election, the entrepreneur would reduce state budget spending by $2 trillion. The presidential election took place in the United States on November 5. Republican candidate Donald Trump, who served as the US president from 2017-2021, was declared the winner by all leading race callers and networks. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris conceded defeat in an address to supporters. The Electoral College will vote in accordance with the will of the voters on December 17, and the new Congress will approve the results of the vote on January 6. The presidential inauguration will take place on January 20.

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Even Merchan folds. Alvin Bragg: Bye!

• NY ‘Hush Money’ Judge Grants Trump Request To File For Dismissal (ZH)

Liberals will be tearing what’s left of their hair out even more this morning as Judge Juan Merchan just granted President-elect Trump’s request to file a motion to dismiss the charges in the Stormy Daniels’ ‘hush money’ case and removed the sentencing date for the president-elect from the schedule. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) is opposing that request. Instead, Bragg floated that Merchan could freeze the proceedings while Trump is in office, meaning the conviction would remain on the books but sentencing wouldn’t occur until 2029, at the earliest. Merchan ordered Trump to file his formal motion asking for dismissal by Dec. 2 and Bragg to respond by Dec. 9. Merchan also confirmed the stay in sentencing for Trump, which was requested by both Trump and Bragg attorneys.

The sentencing was scheduled for Nov. 26, but on Friday, Merchan said that date “is adjourned.” The judge will then decide how to proceed. In a letter to Merchan on Wednesday, Trump defense attorney and now-nominee for Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche demanded the case against President-elect Donald Trump be tossed. “On November 5, 2024, the Nation’s People issued a mandate that supersedes the political motivations of DANY’s ‘People,’” Blanche wrote. “This case must be immediately dismissed.” Blanche said that “immediate dismissal of this case is mandated by the federal Constitution, the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, and the interests of justice, in order to facilitate the orderly transition of Executive power following President Trump’s overwhelming victory in the 2024 Presidential Election.” Trump’s imminent return to the White House has already pumped the brakes on his other criminal prosecutions.

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Russia guards Iran.

• Israel Preparing to Attack Iranian Nuclear Facilities (Sp.)

The Israeli authorities reached a consensus at all levels of the security system and political echelon on the need to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, Israeli news portal Walla reported, citing a high-ranking source. Israel also allegedly has the technological capability to carry out such an attack, the report said on Thursday. Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, the source noted. Economic sanctions against Tehran serve only as a deterrent and are not intended to eliminate Iran’s nuclear project, the source added.

Last week, the Axios news portal reported that Israel’s attack on Iran that took place in late October destroyed an active top secret nuclear weapons research facility of the Parchin military complex and affected the country’s capability to resume nuclear arms research. The destroyed facility reportedly was a part of Iran’s Amad nuclear weapons program, which Tehran is believed to have halted in 2003. In late October, the Israel Defense Forces said that they struck military targets in Iran in response to the October 1 attacks on the Jewish state. Media reported that the Israeli attack on Iran was limited to military assets and did not target nuclear or oil facilities.

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Britain joined in.

• European States Vow To Arrest Netanyahu (RT)

Several Western states have pledged to execute an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Hague-based court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu along with former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Ibrahim al-Masri. West Jerusalem claims that al-Masri is already dead. The warrants are for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Gaza conflict. The decision has elicited mixed reactions in the West. Several nations emphasized their respect for the independence of the court, while others voiced support for Israel. The Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, and Norway all claimed they would meet their commitments and obligations under the Rome Statute and international law.

However, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto stressed that the ICC was “wrong” to put Netanyahu and Gallant on the same level as Hamas. Austria also said that it would obey the decision, but its foreign minister, Alexander Schallenberg, added that the warrant was “utterly incomprehensible.” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp assured the country’s parliament that the authorities would act on the warrants and avoid non-essential contacts with those named. Geert Wilders, the head of the Netherlands’ Party for Freedom, a member of the ruling coalition, condemned the decision, saying that the Israeli authorities are being confronted with arrest warrants instead of receiving international understanding and support.

Earlier this month, the Dutch capital saw rioting between Israeli soccer fans, who chanted anti-Palestinian slogans, and pro-Palestinian locals. In France, Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said that potentially acting on the warrants was a “complex legal issue” while admitting the importance of acting in line with ICC statutes. At the same time, Lemoine declined to say whether France would arrest Netanyahu or Gallant if they came to the country. Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban denounced the ICC’s decision, telling a state radio station that he would invite the Israeli leader to Hungary.

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ICC.

• US Senator Threatens Invasion of Netherlands (RT)

US Senator Tom Cotton has lashed out at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He invoked a US law which greenlights the use of military force against the Netherlands-based court. The Republican senator threatened the ICC by referring to the American Service-Members’ Protection Act, informally referred to as the ‘Hague Invasion Act’, which permits the US president to use “all means necessary and appropriate” to free Americans or allied individuals detained at the request of the court. The ICC on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the Gaza conflict. Chief prosecutor Karim Khan also announced similar charges against Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif.

Cotton condemned the ICC in a post on X on Thursday, branding it a “kangaroo court” and labeling its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, a “deranged fanatic.” “Woe to him and anyone who tries to enforce these outlaw warrants. Let me give them all a friendly reminder: the American law on the ICC is known as The Hague Invasion Act for a reason. Think about it,” Cotton warned. Passed by Congress in 2002, the ‘Hague Invasion Act’ was designed to shield US personnel from the court’s jurisdiction. It authorizes military action to rescue any American or allied citizen held by the court in The Hague. Civil rights groups argued the law aims to intimidate nations that support the ICC treaty. Washington, Israel’s main ally, has opposed the court’s decision, and a number of US politicians have called for the White House to impose sanctions on the ICC for issuing warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

The EU, however, has taken a different stance. Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, and Norway are among the countries that have said they will comply with the ICC’s request. While Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute, under the treaty that established the court, Netanyahu and Gallant could be detained in any of 124 countries that recognize the its authority. The ICC has accused Netanyahu and Gallant of using starvation as a method of warfare in Gaza, and deliberately depriving the enclave’s civilian population of essential supplies such as food, water, and medicine without any “obvious military necessity.” The charges are part of a broader ICC investigation that includes alleged crimes Hamas committed during its October 7 attacks on Israel.

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JK Rowling should be celebrated. She created an entire world of her own. How many people can say that?

• HBO Delivers Blow Against the Anti-Rowling, Anti-Free Speech Movement (Turley)

This week, HBO delivered the corporate version of the Expelliarmus or disarming curse for the long-standing cancel campaign targeting “Harry Potter” creator J.K. Rowling. We have been discussing this campaign against Rowling, a feminist who has opposed transgender policies that she views as inimical to the rights of women. The cancel campaign against Rowling has been extreme and unhinged from blacklisting her books to even barring the playing of Harry Potter games in pubs. Even authors who support Rowling’s free speech have been targeted. Nevertheless, HBO, which has also been targeted in the past, is now saying enough. Rowling’s work will continue to be featured and developed by the company.

HBO has enraged the anti-Rowling movement by announcing that it will not yield and will continue to work with the author: “J.K. Rowling has a right to express her personal views. We will remain focused on the development of the new series, which will only benefit from her involvement.” It added that “her contribution has been invaluable.” HBO has a new upcoming Potter series set to premiere on HBO’s Max streaming platform in 2026. Both Harry Potter stars, Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter, and Emma Watson, who played Hermine Granger, have joined the criticism of Rowling. However, the criticism itself is not the primary problem, even if they unfairly characterize Rowlings’ actual statements. That is a use of their own free speech rights.

However, the cancel campaigns are far more damaging for free speech, as I discuss in my book, The Indispensable Right. The issue of cancel campaigns came up in my recent debate at Harvard Law School on free speech with Professor Randall Kennedy. Kennedy defended cancel campaigns as the exercise of free speech. There is no question that such campaigns involve the act of free speech as people rallying for or against viewpoints. However, the impact of such campaigns, particularly in higher education, is to limit the diversity of viewpoints and reinforce an orthodoxy on our campuses. It is not to express a view but to seek to silence an opposing view. It is the antithesis of free speech values in higher education.

It also has a damaging effect on an academic community. When students see faculty supporting the canceling of conservative, libertarian, or dissenting speakers, it is hardly an invitation to speak freely yourself in class. The same is true for publishers. We have discussed companies discontinuing publication of Rowling’s work and both editors and writers joining blacklisting campaigns against her and others. We have even seen the embracing of book burning. For the activists behind this massive cancel campaign, HBO’s announcement is nothing short of a corporate Cruciatus (torture) Curse. However, both the arts and free speech are the winners in Rowling’s continuing to produce and expand her legendary body of work.

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Motive: “..they believed Sergei Skripal was planning to return home to Russia, and that the GRU was planning an exfiltration operation..”

• British Operation KISS – “Kill Instantly Skripals” – Has Failed (Helmer)

This is the comic book version of what really happened, as revealed by the clumsiest judge in England – Anthony Hughes (titled Lord Hughes of Ombersley, lead image, right). Even if all the evidence presented to Hughes and already endorsed by him is true – on the record of six and half years of British Government investigations and twenty-one days of hearings with concealed witness faces, censored documents, missing CCTV — there remains no direct evidence that the Russians attacked the Skripals by poisoning their front-door handle when they were inside their home, four hours before their collapse. Instead, Hughes and his lawyers have directed the police and other witnesses to stretch their circumstantial evidence and dictated their inferences of Russian guilt. In New York, the legal textbook difference between direct and circumstantial evidence is this.

To stretch the circumstantial evidence and inferences beyond the criminal standard of reasonable doubt, Hughes has prevented direct evidence from being presented, stopping the Skripals from testifying themselves. Their Home Office lawyer purportedly representing the Skripals in the hearings has said nothing at all; Hughes’s lawyers have manipulated witnesses with leading questions; alternative explanations for the circumstantial evidence have been blocked by Hughes from the hospital doctors and independent experts. The way in which this has been done is comic book jurisprudence. The judges of the former British empire aren’t laughing; this is how they say the means and opportunity of a capital crime must be prosecuted, then judged.

The CCTV and other evidence presented at the Hughes hearings shows the Russians knew they had been marked by MI6 from the minute they booked their flights and landed at Gatwick Airport; and they then encouraged the video recording which took place, often mugging in front of the CCTV cameras for that purpose. There is no evidence of their coming close enough to the Skripal house, or to Sergei and Yulia Skripal in person, in order to attack them. Ergo, the evidence of the murder act is missing; the evidence of the murder weapon is missing; the evidence of the murder attempt at the bench is missing. Means, opportunity, motive are all missing from the British prosecution of the Russians for the crime. Yulia Skripal has testified that the poison attack took place when she and her father were sprayed as they were eating lunch inside Zizzi’s Restaurant. They then walked outside, felt ill, sat down on a city bench, and collapsed. Yulia Skripal’s evidence indicates the attackers were British.

The refusal of the British chemical warfare laboratory to name the weapon by its organophosphate name, and reveal its molecular composition and mass conceals the origin of the weapon. In police, forensic or courtroom practice, this is the equivalent of concealing ballistic evidence determining whether a fatal bullet was fired from the gun in the alleged shooter’s hand. The evidence, collected by the police and Porton Down agents, then analysed by Porton Down, then announced publicly by then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson days before he told Prime Minister May’s meeting of Cabinet, is as likely to be of a British-made organophosphate nerve agent subsequently called Novichok as of a Russian-made nerve agent. What motive: why would the British attack the Skripals?

Their reason was that they believed Sergei Skripal was planning to return home to Russia, and that the GRU was planning an exfiltration operation on March 4, 2018. The Russians knew that MI6 would be suspicious, so they prepared decoys. These are the two men, Alexander Petrov (Alexander Mishkin) and Ruslan Boshirov (Anatoly Chepiga), now accused of the Novichok attack. The British planned to kill the Skripals but camouflage the operation, as they have done. Motive was pressing for the British if Sergei Skripal had returned to Russia, revealing himself in Moscow to be one of the first successful triple agents in modern espionage history. The Russian exfiltration failed; the British failed to execute the Skripals on the spot; for a few minutes from her hospital bed on March 8, Yulia Skripal revealed what had happened before she was put into an artificial coma, then silenced with a tracheostomy on March 21, and kept incommunicado ever since.

The British camouflage for their operation – Operation KISS, “Kill Instantly the Skripals” — relied on the door-handle as “ground zero” – the original source of the Novichok – and on Porton Down to replace the inconclusive or negative tests conducted by doctors treating the Skripals at Salisbury District Hospital. A corpse had to be found, dead enough not to be able to testify otherwise as Yulia Skripal had done. That turned out to be Dawn Sturgess, who died at her home on June 30, 2018, of cardiac arrest and brain hypoxia after consuming a combination of sleeping and anti-anxiety medications, cocaine, and fentanyl. The Novichok weapon, fabricated in a perfume atomiser by MI6 and Porton Down, was then placed on Sturgess’s kitchen table for the police to discover eleven days after her drug binge and collapse; and after medics and police had failed to find it through multiple and repeated searches

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“..trade with the US represents only 2.4 percent of Chinese GDP..”

• G20 Knocks Out G7 Agendas (Pepe Escobar)

The G20 summit in Rio earlier this week offered the quite intriguing spectacle of a deeply divided world, geopolitically and geoeconomically, trying to put on a brave ‘holiday in the sun’ face. There was plenty of fluff to amuse attentive audiences. French President Emmanuel Macron surrounded by a beefy security detail strolling on Copacabana beach near midnight; European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen barefoot in the sand, stunned by the lapping waves; the White House lodger, US President Joe Biden – with his expiry date in less than two months – missing the G20 family pic because he was talking to a palm tree. Right before the summit, Biden posed on a soundstage in the rainforest, complete with two giant teleprompters, pledging to save the Amazon just as his handlers in Washington let leak the “authorization” for Ukraine to attack targets inside the Russian Federation with ATACMS; a qualified preamble for a possible WWIII.

With Rio providing the ultimately gorgeous set, at the very least, tempers at the renovated Museum of Modern Art, the G20 venue with the Sugarloaf in the background, were bound to mellow out. This even allowed for a short, tense handshake between Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a true leader of the Global South, and Argentina’s President Javier Milei, a US asset who hates Lula’s guts. The populist Brazilian head of state, whose political capital transcends all barriers, was, of course, an impeccable master of ceremonies, but the real star of the show was Chinese President Xi Jinping – fresh from his previous triumph, when he was for all practical purposes coronated King of Peru during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima – complete with the inauguration of the $1.3 billion port of Chancay, the new South American node of the Pacific Maritime Silk Road. As China is all about global connectivity corridors, Chancay-Shanghai became an instant new motto ringing all across the Global South.

Beijing’s prime role as an engine and cooperation propeller across Asia–Pacific also applies to most of the G20 members. China is the largest trading partner of the 13 APEC economies, and is responsible for 64.2 percent of Asia-Pacific’s economic growth. This prime role extrapolates to China’s BRICS colleagues among the G20, as well as brand-new BRICS partner-nations such as Indonesia and Turkiye. Compare that with the G7/NATOstan contingent of the G20, starting with the United States, whose main global offerings range from Forever Wars and color revolutions to weaponizing of news and culture, trade wars, a tsunami of sanctions, and confiscation/theft of assets. So, predictably, there was some serious underlying tension permeating the G20, especially when it came to the face-off between the G7 and the Russia-China strategic partnership. Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t even bother to attend, sending his uber-competent Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov instead.

As for Beijing, after 7 years of combined Trump-Biden trade and tech war, the Chinese economy continues to grow by 5.2 percent a year. Exports now account for only 16 percent of China’s GDP, so the economic powerhouse is far less vulnerable to foreign trade machinations. And the US share of that 16 percent is now only 15 percent; that is, trade with the US represents only 2.4 percent of Chinese GDP. Even under what can be described as NATOstan’s all-out tech sanctions, Chinese tech firms are growing at warp speed. As a result, all western tech companies are in deep trouble: massive retrenchment, factory downsizes, and shutdowns. Meanwhile, China’s trade surplus with the rest of the world has expanded to a record one trillion US dollars. That’s what horrified Western economists qualify as China on a “collision course” with some of the world’s biggest – yet dwindling – economies.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Carvey
https://twitter.com/i/status/1859790685542482146

 

 

Volvo

 

 

Goat
https://twitter.com/i/status/1859924986032447632

 

 

Fright

 

 

Henson
https://twitter.com/i/status/1859646855803801928

 

 

Quarry

 

 

Street food

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle Clean Sweep 2024

Nov 062024
 
 November 6, 2024  Posted by at 9:37 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  94 Responses »

At 1.43AM:

 

• Will America Survive the Election? (Paul Craig Roberts)
• With JD Vance and Elon Musk, Suddenly Ideas Are Back in this Campaign (Ron Paul)
• 77 Days of Transition (ET)
• WikiLeaks: 5 Questions For Donald Trump If He Wins (ZH)
• Celebrities Being Pressured To Publicly Back Harris – Musk (RT)
• Trump Calls Nancy Pelosi “An Evil, Sick, Crazy B…” (MN)
• Donald Trump ‘More Popular’ Than ‘Least Qualified’ Kamala Harris (Sp.)
• In the Midst of a Roid Rage Election, a Reason to Have Hope (Turley)
• Russian History As Therapy For Western Historians Who Just Want To Be Loved (JH)
• The General Staff’s Map And President Putin’s Map Are Different (Helmer)
• Novichok Was Not Detected – But There Was Cocaine (Helmer)
• Schiff w/ Mitchell: Fed Policy is Backfiring (SchiffGold)
• Ukraine Not Drafting Enough Troops – MP (RT)
• Ukrainian MP Calls For Mobilization Of Women (RT)
• Netanyahu Fires Israeli Defense Minister (RT)

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1853701886282526996

Rogan Elon
https://twitter.com/i/status/1853644366247768287


https://twitter.com/i/status/1853567754093416932s


https://twitter.com/i/status/1853601901948125683

Shanahan
https://twitter.com/i/status/1853835077270020121

 

 

 

 

“November 5 is the last chance of redeeming America..”

• Will America Survive the Election? (Paul Craig Roberts)

On November 3, I wrote about Meredith Furbish, a truth-suppressor for the Atlantic Council. She misrepresented my documentation of rulings by federal judges, state judges, Justice (sic) Department and Homeland Security (sic) officials, and state and local Democrat election officials, which legalized the vote theft mechanisms used illegally in the 2020 presidential election, as Russian-associated disinformation. The ubiquitous evidence that the Democrats were heavily into vote fraud was dismissed as a conspiracy theory. I assumed Meredith is a she, but perhaps “she” is an AI bot in an algorithm that connects information unfriendly with approved official narratives with Russian interference in US elections. It makes more sense that Meredith is an algorithm, because an algorithm, not being sentient. would not be aware of my completely documented case. The Democrats are determined that today’s election not be fair, and I am far from the only one who is aware of this.

Since I wrote, the US Supreme Court has had to intervene to prevent the Biden-Harris regime from preventing the state of Virginia from removing noncitizens, who do not have the right to vote, from the voter rolls. Of course, showing the totally partisan nature of all Democrats, the three female Democrat appointees to the Supreme Court dissented. It is perfectly OK with them that non-citizens have the same right to vote as citizens. This is the trouble with every Democrat appointee, whether to the courts or to the executive branch. They do not know the difference between a US citizen and someone who just illegally walked across the border. Despite court rulings against them, the Biden-Harris regime continues to hamper efforts to keep non-US citizens from illegally voting in the presidential election. The Daily Caller reports that “Several states say that the Biden-Harris administration has not cooperated with their efforts to prevent non-citizens from voting.”

The states have filed lawsuits against the corrupt Biden-Harris regime, the most corrupt regime in American history. “The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Virginia in October and Alabama in September over their efforts to remove non-citizens.The excuse was it was too close to the election. Texas, Ohio and Florida filed their own lawsuits against the Biden-Harris regime this month for allegedly hampering their efforts to restore electoral integrity, while other states told the Daily Caller News Foundation the federal government has not supported attempts to identify non-citizen voters.” Note that for the Democrat totally corrupt Justice (sic) Department “closeness to an election” is more important than having a president elected with votes of illegal aliens. Will any person of integrity ever again consent to serve in a totally discredited US Department of Justice (sic)?

The Biden-Harris Justice (sic) Department and Homeland Security (sic) Department have steadfastly refused to cooperate with efforts to have voter rolls in which only American citizens are present. The Montana Secretary of State has complained of Homeland Security’s blockage of its efforts to ensure that American citizens determine our government, not immigrant-invaders. The Montana Secretary of State said: “Montanans deserve to know that our state’s voter rolls are accurate, and it’s imperative for election officials across the state and nation not to be stonewalled by our federal government to assist in our duties to ensure accurate voter rolls.” The Department of Homeland Security, a criminal agency in the hands of Democrats, has a Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program . It prevents states from identifying illegals on their voter rolls, because it uses a unique immigration identifier unavailable to the states.

The Biden-Harris regime refuses to provide the information necessary for states to remove illegals from their voter rolls. On October 24, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said: “While the administration is blocking access to these records, the Department of Justice is suing or threatening to sue multiple states, including Ohio, who are trying to enforce their citizenship voting requirements.” “The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Virginia in October and Alabama in September over their efforts to remove non-citizens. Texas, Ohio and Florida filed their own lawsuits against the administration this month for allegedly hampering their efforts, while other states told the Daily Caller News Foundation the federal government has not supported attempts to identify noncitizen voters.” Dear Readers, the Biden-Harris regime and the US Department of Justice (sic) are involved in an attempted coup to turn America into a one-party dictatorship. Americans who sit out this election or who vote Democrat are voting for tyranny. They are too stupid to know it, but they are so indoctrinated by the media and education that they have no realization of reality.

They think they are being compassionate toward suffering peoples from abroad. They are thinking that they need the household help that immigrant-invaders provide. They think that Trump sexualizes women, but endless women portray themselves online in porn videos for all the world to see. The United States of America and the entirety of the remains of the Western World are on the verge of total collapse. Only 13% of Americans believe the media. Even the editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal and the owner of the Washington Post have publicly stated that no one any longer believes what the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post report. Those Americans who give the Democrats enough votes to steal the election will have elected Tyranny in America. According to numerous reports, those with sufficient resources are already fleeing America. Astute Americans having watched the stupidity and incompetence of the American people for years have lost all confidence in the country, and they are departing. November 5 is the last chance of redeeming America.

Read more …

“While the last thing I am looking for is another job, I am encouraged by the outpouring of support and happy to help any effort to correct the wrong path we have been going down – a path toward total bankruptcy..”

• With JD Vance and Elon Musk, Suddenly Ideas Are Back in this Campaign (Ron Paul)

This presidential campaign season may be one of those turning points in history for reasons good and bad. Anyone watching the one debate between the Republican and Democratic Party candidates would not have come away with the view that this was a great battle of competing principles and visions for the future. It was a campaign of name-calling and bullets, where one candidate avoided discussing ideas at all costs – and even avoided the media at all costs. Where the other candidate dodged two attempted assassinations while throwing red meat rhetoric to an understandably angry population. It was a campaign where, more than ever, the mainstream media completely abandoned any idea of being a neutral source of information and instead jumped into the ring on the side of one candidate. In the one debate between presidential candidates, the mainstream media went so far as to “fact check” one candidate while giving the other a “pass.”

The “fact check” turned out to be misinformation – something the mainstream media excels in – but they have long figured out that by the time the actual facts are in, people have already absorbed the falsehood. According to the conservative Media Research Center, mainstream media coverage of the Trump campaign was 85 percent negative while its coverage of the Harris campaign was 78 percent positive. If accurate, it explains why the public holds the media in such contempt. What felt missing in the campaign was a discussion of the real issues we are facing. The destruction caused by interventionism in our economy, in our lives, and in the rest of the world. There was no talk about the Federal Reserve and how it hurts the middle class, helps the wealthy, and greases the war machine.

Then, at the tail end, things got interesting. Republican candidate for Vice President, JD Vance, mentioned last week that he had come to the view that the Federal Reserve was not the benevolent force for good that its supporters claim. He didn’t say it in those exact words, but that was his point. Then Trump surrogate campaigner Elon Musk made an announcement that no-doubt terrified the DC swamp: were he to get the government efficiency job Trump suggested, he’d start with a bang, cutting two trillion dollars from the Federal budget!

We even had a little fun with it. After I posted some encouragement on Musk’s Twitter/X, he responded that he would be happy to have me join him looking for places to cut! While the last thing I am looking for is another job, I am encouraged by the outpouring of support and happy to help any effort to correct the wrong path we have been going down – a path toward total bankruptcy. Perhaps the most encouraging development this election cycle is the well-earned decline in the influence of the corrupt mainstream media. When Elon posted a funny meme of the two of us cutting government on his Twitter/X platform, it garnered some 50 million views! Compare that to the steady decline of mainstream media viewership. An alternative way of reporting and analyzing the events of our time is emerging on the ruins of the legacy media and it’s driving them insane. Good.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1853801464277123213

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“..the Constitution, Article Two says, ‘Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors.’ This bill is Congress trying to intrude on the authority of the state legislatures to do that.”

• 77 Days of Transition (ET)

The 2024 presidential election will see the first application of a 2022 amendment to the laws governing the transfer of power between administrations. There are 77 days between the Nov. 5 election and the Jan. 20, 2025, inauguration of the next president, during which time the president-elect will ready his or her administration to take over from President Joe Biden. The handoffs between an outgoing administration and a government-in-waiting have been largely drama-free for decades, and they have been governed by the rules enumerated in the Presidential Transition Act of 1963. The Electoral Count Reform Act will take effect this year, ensuring that five days after the election, the team of the winning candidate (or both candidates if the winner is not yet identified), will begin readying for the White House.

Unless another authority is designated by state law, the act appoints governors as the principal officials responsible for filing certificates of state presidential electors. By providing expedited court review of matters pertaining to electors, it guarantees that Congress can establish a final slate of electors. The vice president’s involvement in the electoral vote count is defined by the new act as purely ceremonial, and he or she is not given any power to affect the count in any way. It also reduces the possibility of challenges by raising the threshold for congressional objections to one-fifth of each house. Previously, a single member of both chambers was needed to enter an objection to an elector or slate of electors. Additionally, the General Services Administration (GSA) is now required to provide money to both candidates in the event that a candidate does not withdraw their candidacy within five days following the election. This change affects the presidential transition process. The GSA will cut off financing to the unsuccessful campaign once the results are finalized.

The initial responsibility of the successful candidate is to acquire knowledge of the current agency missions, policies, and ongoing projects, as well as to commence the process of filling political positions in the executive branch, ranging from Cabinet secretaries to press assistants. The new team is provided guidance by career leaders and appointees from the outgoing administration to assist in the launch of its government. They also provide briefings on significant issues and facilitate inquiries. An orderly transition has long been dependent on the flow of resources. Delays occurred following the 2020 presidential election as President Donald Trump questioned the validity of the election results as they were being reported. Because Trump was contesting the results in court, there was a delay in the start of the transition from Election Day on Nov. 3, 2020, to Nov. 23.

Emily Murphy, then head of the GSA, reviewed the transition law from 1963 and concluded that she lacked the legal authority to determine a winner and commence funding and collaboration with the transition to a Biden administration. Weeks after the election, Murphy sent a Letter of Ascertainment to Biden and commenced the transition process after Trump’s efforts to contest the results had collapsed across key states. According to the GSA’s guidelines on the new rules, the amendment eliminates lengthy delays and states “an affirmative ‘ascertainment’ by GSA is no longer a prerequisite for obtaining transition support services.” However, the new law also effectively mandates federal support and cooperation for both candidates to initiate a transition. It is stated that such support should persist until “significant legal challenges” that could affect electoral outcomes have been “substantially resolved” or until electors from each state convene in December to formally select an Electoral College winner.

Under this mandate, Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris may find themselves forming rival administrations for weeks. The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement amendment to the Presidential Transition Act was passed in December 2022. During a committee hearing on the Electoral Count Act on Aug. 3 that year, Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) said, “We were all there on Jan. 6 … We have a duty [and] responsibility to make sure it never happens again.” Manchin was referring to the events on Jan. 6, 2021, when protesters breached the U.S. Capitol while Congress was counting electoral votes.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said in her testimony: “In four out of the past six presidential elections, the Electoral Count Act’s process for counting electoral votes has been abused with frivolous objections being raised by members of both parties. But it took the violent breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6 to really shine a spotlight on how urgent the need for reform was.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) opposed the bill, stating in a press release: “This bill is a bad bill. … It’s bad policy and it’s bad for democracy. There are serious constitutional questions in the bill. The text of the Constitution, Article Two says, ‘Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors.’ This bill is Congress trying to intrude on the authority of the state legislatures to do that.”

Read more …

“Will “swamp” insiders flatter their way into influential roles and take control of your administration, reducing MAGA to mere rhetoric?”

• WikiLeaks: 5 Questions For Donald Trump If He Wins (ZH)

On Tuesday, as Americans head to the polls in a tight race to determine who will be the next president, WikiLeaks has issued five big questions for a potential future Trump administration. When in 2016 Trump defeated former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, many among Trump’s base and fiercest supporters had high hopes that he would truly “drain the swamp” while completely realigning US foreign policy in opposition to the neocons, including ending the ‘forever wars’ in the Middle East. After all, he was the first GOP nominee in history to trash Republican George Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003. And later as president he called the Iraq war “the single worst decision ever made.” But these high hopes turned to disappointment when Trump willingly brought into his administration some of the very neocons who have long been part of the problem, or arguably who are at the very heart of the swap, or the Washington blob. He put into powerful positions people like John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, William Barr, and Elliott Abrams.

Of course, as Trump himself now fully knows, these officials did much to sabotage any sincere efforts of the administration on things like getting US troops out of Syria, and ultimately turned on him. Trump’s supporters also back in 2016 had high hopes that he would pardon Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, and also declassify all records related to the sham ‘Russiagate’ drive concocted by the Clinton campaign alongside Hillary’s deep state allies. Sadly, none of that happened, as to a large degree ‘the swamp’ quickly became well-ensconced in the Trump White House. Many became the ‘enemy within’ the administration, and after leaving wrote books and went on speaking tours where the main topic became maligning Trump’s leadership and attacking him as a person. With all of this in mind, WikiLeaks has publicly issued the following questions for Trump, anticipating his possible return to the White House…

1. How will you handle the so-called deep state “wolves in MAGA hats” circling your transition team, posing as MAGA to obtain powerful positions in a prospective Trump administration? After all, personnel is policy.

2. In your previous administration, you appointed figures like Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, William Barr (former CIA), Robert O’Brien, Nikki Haley, and Elliott Abrams, who often opposed your “America First” rhetoric, especially on foreign policy and freedom of speech. If elected again, can you assure that these individuals, or others like Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio—both funded by arms companies—will not hold positions in your administration?

3. Many of these individuals have not only opposed your policies but have actively worked against you, even putting their weight behind your prosecution. For instance, Mike Pompeo accused you of keeping classified documents, suggesting that doing so endangered U.S. soldiers. He also directed the CIA to draw up plans to assassinate Julian Assange, suppressed the release of JFK files at the CIA’s request, and claimed, “There is no deep state at the CIA.” What is your stance toward those who merely feign support for MAGA?

4. Many of these former officials have now cashed in and make substantial profits from lobbying for arms companies, banks, and foreign corporations. For example, Pompeo founded American Global Strategies, which advises arms companies, joined the Israeli disinformation and censorship company Cyabra, and took positions with Japanese steel firm Nippon Steel (lobbying to increase foreign steel imports to the U.S.) and arms company DYNE Maritime (seeking AUKUS-related contracts). He even launched his own military-industrial investment bank, Impact Investments, and, like Hunter Biden, joined the board of a Ukrainian company, Kievstar, despite lacking relevant experience. While Pompeo’s case may be extreme, others have similarly lucrative roles. Will you ban appointments for those who have financial incentives to start wars, or increase mass surveillance and censorship?

5. A growing faction within the Republican Party and among independents advocates for a foreign policy less driven by CIA influence and arms industry profits. Figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard have called for increased oversight of the CIA and reduced foreign interventions.

However, personnel is policy. Will “swamp” insiders flatter their way into influential roles and take control of your administration, reducing MAGA to mere rhetoric?

Read more …

And now they look stupid.

• Celebrities Being Pressured To Publicly Back Harris – Musk (RT)

American celebrities are publicly endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the US presidential election race partly because their job security is on the line, tech billionaire Elon Musk claimed on Joe Rogan’s podcast on Monday. Multiple heavyweights in the US entertainment industry, including some who were previously apolitical, have backed the Democratic candidate for president. Hosting Musk on his show, Rogan called the rallying behind Harris “strange,” suggesting that celebrities “think it’s going to get them more movies or something.” Musk claimed that the opposite is true, and that “these celebrities, they get a call from someone powerful in Hollywood. That person says: ‘You know it would be really great if you endorsed Kamla.’”

There is an implicit threat that failure to do so would result in not receiving further opportunities in the industry, Musk said. They don’t make the threat. They don’t need to. But everyone knows what would happen if you don’t [back Harris]. The entrepreneur is a key supporter of former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and intends to take a cabinet-level job in his potential administration. After his interview with Musk, Rogan publicly endorsed Trump, saying that the tech billionaire’s arguments had convinced him.

Hollywood, which has historically leaned left politically, has become highly intolerant to descent, Rogan said. As recently as during President Barack Obama’s term in office, a star of the magnitude of Clint Eastwood could be openly Republican without apparent repercussions, Rogan noted. A few decades ago, Ronald Reagan went from being a Hollywood actor into politics, ultimately being elected to the White House with the Republicans. “Once Trump got into office, he became this focal point, where all logic was thrown out the window,” Rogan suggested. “It’s just ‘Trump is bad, you have to attack Trump.’” Superstar singers Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Jennifer Lopez, as well as actor Harrison Ford, are some of the big names to have endorsed Harris.

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“I don’t use much [profanity], you know, every once in a while, and it’s never a real bad word, it’s never bad … but it is a little better when you use foul language..”

• Trump Calls Nancy Pelosi “An Evil, Sick, Crazy B…” (MN)

During his final rally in Michigan, president Trump gave a succinct description of exactly who his supporters are pitted against. During the two hour speech that started just after midnight, Trump referred to former speaker and Democrat kingpin Nancy Pelosi, noting “She’s a crooked person, she’s a bad person. Evil.” “She’s an evil, sick, crazy b—-” he said, stopping short of saying the word “bitch.” “It starts with a B, but I won’t say it. I wanna say it,” Trump boomed. “I don’t use much [profanity], you know, every once in a while, and it’s never a real bad word, it’s never bad … but it is a little better when you use foul language,” he continued, adding “These are bad people.”

Trump reiterated that his real opponent is not Kamala Harris but an “evil Democrat system”. “We will defeat the corrupt system in Washington. Because I’m not running against Kamala, I’m running against an evil Democrat system. These are evil people,” he asserted. “I wasn’t running against Biden either,” Trump further noted, adding “He was stuck in a basement. I didn’t even run against him. Now running against a very evil system, and we have to defeat that system, and America’s future will be an absolutely incredible one.”

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No-one will remember Kamala. Except her handler Obama.

• Donald Trump ‘More Popular’ Than ‘Least Qualified’ Kamala Harris (Sp.)

Though the presidential race in the US appears to be pretty close, Republican candidage Donald Trump is a “more popular candidate,” says retired US Air Force Lt.Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, who is also a former analyst for the US Department of Defense. “He’s certainly the more energetic candidate. He’s the more dynamic candidate. And he gets a lot of news coverage, both good and bad,” Kwiatkowski remarks. Comparing Trump and his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, Kwiatkowski observes that the former appears more media-savvy. “He’s very out there in the media… You know, he makes news. So people are aware of him,” she explains. “And we have a lot of social media craziness around. And I see it more around the Trump side where they’re either promoting Trump, laughing with Trump, laughing at Trump.”

Meanwhile, Harris is “the least qualified presidential candidate that has ever made it this far in the race,” says Kwiatkowski, who also branded the Democrat as “the least qualified vice president” of the United States. “So having a very qualified guy running against a very unqualified person, that’s unusual,” she muses. The fact that Harris made it this far is “very concerning,” Kwiatkowski warns, arguing that “something has changed” in the United States. Kamala Harris winning the upcoming US presidential election would be a “miraculous” thing, says Kwiatkowski. She also described Trump surviving an attempt on his life by accidentally moving his head in the same fashion. While Trump’s rivals in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, respectively, were both career politicians who enjoyed strong support within the Democratic Party, Harris got zero primary votes from her fellow Democrats and performed “badly” both in her campaign and as vice president of the US, Kwiatkowski notes.

“I don’t know how Biden is to work for, but as vice president, she’s not done anything that she can really crow about,” Kwiatkowski observes. “And she has refused to separate her policies from the current administration, which is what people tend always.” Thus, Kwiatkowski points out, people who will vote against Harris are going to be voting “against the current administration and all of its policies and whatever is blamed on that administration.” “Certainly the economy in the United States, crime, immigration, war – the Ukraine war is not as popular as it once was. It’s very unpopular, in fact,” Kwiatkowski says, adding that the war Israel wages in Gaza and Lebanon “is not popular either” and that Trump supposedly already advised Netanyahu to end it.

Americans have come a long way since the 2020 election, becoming both “angrier” and “wiser” than before, Kwiatkowski says. “My prediction is that we will not have this giant breakdown in society no matter who wins. We will not have this new civil war if Trump wins or if Kamala Harris is named the winner,” she postulates. If Harris wins, Kwiatkowski suggests, the Republicans will be “enraged” and there may be “marches on Washington,” but these actions will be taken “in the context of understanding how the state, how DC, how the federal government will respond to them.”

Read more …

“He could not shut up, so he decided to become an American instead..”

• In the Midst of a Roid Rage Election, a Reason to Have Hope (Turley)

When President Joe Biden took the podium in his hometown of Scranton, Pa., to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris, many expected a return to the “self-professed unifier” Biden from the 2020 election, particularly after his recent comments calling tens of millions of Trump supporters “garbage.” If so, they were disappointed when it turned out to be the “take him behind the Gym” Biden. Speaking through clenched teeth, Biden seethed that he wanted to “smack [Trump] in the ass.” Even with the Harris campaign alarmed over his costly gaffes, Biden clearly could not resist the rage. He is not alone. This entire election seems to be a type of political roid rage. In my book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discuss how rage rhetoric and rage politics have long been part of our history. Politicians will often intentionally trigger rage to rally voters not in support of their policies but in opposition to their opponents.

However, Biden’s seeming inability to keep his rage in check is a common feature of this rage politics. As I wrote in the book, “rage is liberating, even addictive. It allows us to say and do things that we would ordinarily avoid, even denounce in others.” It is also contagious. Across the country, people are yelling at neighbors, tearing down signs, and even assaulting each other. What they are unwilling to admit is that they enjoy the rage. They like it. As someone who has written about rage rhetoric and covered presidential elections for over two decades for different networks, I should be accustomed to these scenes. I am not. From the scenes outside of the Trump trial in Manhattan to the scenes outside of political rallies in Virginia, I find the rage depressing and deflating.

However, in flying to New York this weekend to join the Fox election coverage, I had a moment of real hope. I was driven to the airport by a man who told me that he was just months from his citizenship and how he and his wife were so thankful to soon be U.S. citizens. He came from a Middle Eastern nation where he long admired the United States for its freedoms, particularly the freedom of speech. Indeed, in his home country, he constantly ran into trouble with his government and was warned by his imam that he had to stop acting “like an American” by speaking his mind. He could not shut up, so he decided to become an American instead. He then told me how confused he and his wife are by this election. They love the United States and cannot understand why people are so hateful and angry. “It is like they do not understand what they have here,” he noted.

Listening to him over the course of our ride, I started to feel something that I had not felt in a while: real hope. Sometimes, our truest citizens are found among our newest converts. As I discuss in my book, the problem with our democracy is that most citizens grew up in a nation where basic rights like the freedom of speech are guaranteed. They have never known the absence of such rights. This man and his wife have. They were not born here. They had to escape their country at great peril and cost to become U.S. citizens. They chose us and what we stand for. They follow other great Americans drawn to these shores by something unique about this country. One was Tom Paine. The man who was credited with rallying a nation behind a revolution only landed upon these shores two years before the Declaration of Independence. His rocketing to fame with the publication of Common Sense enraged some, like John Adams, who viewed him as an unkempt, unknown rabble-rouser.

Yet, it was precisely Paine’s immigration that gave his words such clarity and power. He saw this emerging nation as unique for all of humanity, a nation where citizens could live free without the calcified social, economic, and political limits of the Old World. His voice resonated with this nation because it was so genuine and authentic. I heard that same voice on my way to the airport. Sometimes, it takes the newest among us to remind us who we are to not only the rest of the world but also to each other. I do not know what is coming out of that gate on election night. I have been there before. However, half of this country is going to be very, very upset either way this goes. What we need to struggle to remember is that this election does not define us. The rage does not define us. We defined ourselves almost 250 years ago and do so every day that new citizens like my new friend come to these shores. There is hope in who we are . . . even if we forget sometimes.

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Helmer. Great title.

• Russian History As Therapy For Western Historians Who Just Want To Be Loved (JH)

It’s a pity when a 760-page history of the Russian leadership’s thinking during the Cold War period, 1945 to 2022, earns consignment to the waste bin within the first nineteen pages, and in just three sentences. This ratio of toxicity to prolixity – 1 to 40 — is exceptional, although the price asked for it by the publisher, Cambridge University Press — £30, $34.95 — isn’t so exorbitant as to exclude using the book as a doorstopper. This is Sergey Radchenko’s To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power. Just weeks following the book’s launch date, Amazon is already trying to clear its stock by offering a discount of 25% to $26. That’s as competitive as the price of an elite brand of door sausage (aka draft stopper). According to Michael McFaul, once the Obama Administration’s Russia-hater in chief in Moscow and Washington, the “brilliant writing” is the “go-to source for understanding Soviet behaviour during the Cold War. Fiona Hill, McFaul’s Russia-hating successor during the Trump Administration, claims the book is “magisterial [and] help[s] explain why Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine and confront the West”.

If you want to slam your door on those two, and block the winter winds starting again in the Ukraine, place Radchenko’s blockbuster between your bottom door rail and the sill. In that position, it will also do double-duty as warning from that piece of ancient Russian wisdom – it’s bad luck to shake hands over a threshold. As Anglo-American histories of Russian thinking go, Radchenko’s is the new one on the edge of an old, familiar black hole. He begins by announcing that “this book offers a radical new interpretation of the underlying motivations of Soviet foreign policy “. He follows with his three radical novelties:“what the Soviets saw as their ‘legitimate’ interests were often not seen as particularly ‘legitimate’ by anybody else., leading to a kind of ontological insecurity on the Soviet part that was compensated for by hubris and aggression”. “At the end of the Second World War Soviet policy makers surveyed the world… No one expected the Americans to stay in Europe”. “The infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact carved up Eastern Europe and led directly to the outbreak of the Second World War.”

Radchenko’s new facts to substantiate these three claims aren’t new at all so there’s no point in rehashing them – in the maxim familiar in the Baltimore and Washington think tanks, Hak mir nisht keyn tshaynik – that’s Yiddish for don’t keep banging your teapot at me. Radchenko brings this to conclusion at page 30: “The Cold War was inevitable because Stalin made it so…[his] responsibility [is] best summarized by Jeffrey Lewis: ‘there were three causes of the Cold War: Stalin, Stalin, and Stalin.” Lewis is an ex-Pentagon employee and currently a junior academic at a think tank employing American and British retirees from the Pentagon and Ministry of Defense. It keeps its funding sources secret, but at Lewis’s previous think tank the funders included Bill Gates, George Soros, the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations.

Because Stalin is to blame at the beginning of this history, Radchenko comes to his second teapot-banging conclusion at the end of his history, page 603, when — without the benefit of historical archives or interviews with sources — Radchenko says Putin is a repeat of Stalin’s psychopathological craving to be loved by the West, especially by Americans. In his February 2022 speeches launching the Special Military Operation in the Ukraine, Putin “raved”, according to Radchenko; The war, Radchenko adds now, “was mainly Russia’s failure: it proved unwilling or unable to overcome its toxic resentments and imperialist impulses. But there was another factor in play. Stalin’s belligerent foreign policy, whatever his motivations, helped forge the West on an anti-Soviet basis. Throughout the Cold War, the Soviets tried hard to undermine Western unity even as they craved Western recognition. They never managed.”

In this history, Radchenko diagnoses Stalin with a personal case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), who then inflicts his pathology on all the Russians, turning Soviet policy and now Putin’s, into Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). For the outcome, if not the cure, Radchenko goes back to Yiddish: “Perhaps, with the right combination of chutzpah and good luck, Russia could one day recover its illusive greatness and its insatiable, self-destructive ambition to run the world.”

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“..the demilitarized zone (DMZ) stretching westward to a depth calculated as the range of US and NATO-supplied artillery, drones and missiles..”

• The General Staff’s Map And President Putin’s Map Are Different (Helmer)

For more than two months now, President Vladimir Putin’s orders to the General Staff have been to shorten the range of the electric war campaign to the area east of Kiev and the Dnieper River, and west of the advancing line of Russian forces. The General Staff have responded by limiting their strikes to electricity and other energy supplies for military repair and drone production plants, troop marshalling points, and logistic hubs supplying the Ukrainian forces in Kursk and along the front. This is the Putin Pause. The General Staff have understood it to allow strikes against energy infrastructure in Kharkov, Odessa, and the Sumy region. In recent days Boris Rozhin’s Colonel Cassad blog and the daily bulletins from the Ministry of Defense have also identified electric war raids at Kharkov and Odessa. How much of a territorial concession on the military map which Putin has directed Vladimir Medinsky to discuss in secret with the Ukrainians and Americans isn’t known.

What is known is the map of the General Staff’s targets since August 26. That was the date of the last Russian drone and missile attack on electricity production and distribution in the west of the country. Putin’s map, which he announced in his speech to the Foreign Ministry of June 14, lacked coordinates. On the one hand, Putin reiterated the objectives of the Special Military Operation he had announced on February 24, 2022, as “the protection of people in Donbass, the restoration of peace, and the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine. We did that to avert the threat to our state and to restore balance in the sphere of security in Europe.” On the other hand, the president said, “these conditions are simple. The Ukrainian troops must be completely withdrawn from the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Let me note that they must be withdrawn from the entire territory of these regions within their administrative borders at the time of their being part of Ukraine.”

On the General Staff map, the difference between Putin’s second statement of terms and his first statement is the width of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) stretching westward to a depth calculated as the range of US and NATO-supplied artillery, drones and missiles for striking the new Russian regions and the Russian hinterland. Because the range of drones in current use against Russia has been extended to 800 kilometres, and applying this to the direct flight distance westward from Donetsk, the DMZ to assure Russian military security should stretch to a north-south line running through Rivne and Khmelnitsky (lead image). From Donetsk to Kiev, however, is a flight distance of 600 kms; from Donetsk to Odessa, 560 kms; to Kharkov, just 250 kms. This range of drone and missile lethality threatening Russian territory puts the future of Kiev, Odessa, and Kharkov squarely in the General Staff’s sights.

How the General Staff is drawing the DMZ map to achieve demilitarization of the Ukraine in military terms is one thing. How the objective of demilitarization is being mapped in the Kremlin is quite another. According to a well-informed military source, “the General Staff’s priority is defensibility. This is based on terrain, control of highways, bridges and railways, establishment of a land corridor to Transdnistria, and control of the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), known as the Pivdennoukrainsk NPP in the Nikoalev region near Pervomaisk. The DMZ line then runs roughly northeast/southwest along the Kodyma River and highway connecting Balta on the Moldovan border with Pervomaisk. This would give Russian force deployment a defensible position with control over the major highways leading to the bridges across the Dnieper at Dniepropetrovsk and Kremenchuk. There will be no more reliance on the vulnerable bridges at Kherson and Kakhovka to ensure sound Russian logistics. Communication with Transdnistria will be ensured by control of the E58/581 highway which runs between Kherson and Tiraspol.”

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Speaks for itself.

• Novichok Was Not Detected – But There Was Cocaine (Helmer)

The British Government’s narrative that Russian military agents, on orders from President Vladimir Putin, used Novichok in Salisbury in March 2018 continues to collapse. A secret chemical warfare agent revealed last week that two tests for Novichok, using special machines provided by the Porton Down chemical warfare laboratory, failed to confirm an organophosphate poison in either Dawn Sturgess or her boyfriend, Charles Rowley. The agent described himself in his witness statement and in a guarded appearance at the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry last week as a qualified medical doctor and pharmacology expert. “I currently work at Dstl [Defence Science and Technology Laboratory] Porton Down within the Chemical, Biological and Radiological (CBR) Division, and provide medical advice to the Ministry of Defence and other government Departments on CBR related threats… I was Chemical and Biological (CB) Medical Advisor to Dstl and the Operational teams in support of the investigations into the attack on the Skripals (Operation WEDANA) and the investigation into the poisoning of Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley (Operation READ).”

The agent’s name was ordered to be kept secret by the Inquiry chairman and commercial consultant, Anthony Hughes (titled Lord Hughes of Ombersley). This is despite Hughes’s ruling that he would not keep the names secret of “those who were already sufficiently identified publicly in connection with the events of 2018.” FT49 is the cipher used for the Porton Down agent, although sources claim he has advertised his engagement in the Skripal, Sturgess and Rowley cases in several academic publications accessible on the internet. In his witness statement dated September 16, 2024, the Porton Down agent revealed that he had organized with doctors at the Salisbury District Hospital (SDH) to test the blood of Sturgess and Rowley, after their admission to the hospital on June 30, 2018, using special biochemical assay machines provided by Porton Down. One of the machines had been installed at SDH during the hospitalisation of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in March of 2018. A second Porton Down machine was in operation at a Birmingham toxicology laboratory.

Agent FT49 reported these machines had failed to detect evidence of the Novichok organophosphate in blood samples of Sturgess and Rowley. Government officials then ordered Porton Down itself to take over the blood testing to confirm the presence of Novichok. This is the first leak from an official source that Porton Down may have rigged the blood testing in order to fabricate the existence of Novichok and of the Russian attack. According to FT49, after “an unexpected failure to identify the organophosphate compounds by Birmingham’s analytical laboratory I suggested to Dr Jukes [Stephen Jukes, SDH doctor in charge of treating Sergei Skripal] that Dstl [Porton Down] should also receive a blood sample. Late morning of 2nd July 2018 I was made aware via a phone call from the ITU [Intensive Treatment Unit at SDH] that the Birmingham results were back; there was no evidence of a pesticide, despite cholinesterase inhibition, and the two patients [Sturgess and Rowley] did not have the same non-prescribed drugs in their blood other than a trace of cocaine.”

What this reveals is that both Sturgess and Rowley had been taking cocaine before their collapse. FT49 is also revealing – without expressly saying so — that on the day of their hospitalisation, Rowley had taken the heroin substitute methadone on prescription; Sturgess had not.

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“The CPI is a lie. The unemployment rate is a lie. All these government numbers are designed to create a false picture of prosperity that does not exist.”

• Schiff w/ Mitchell: Fed Policy is Backfiring (SchiffGold)

Earlier this week, Peter joined Mark Mitchell on his podcast for a conversation on economics and monetary policy. They dive into the economic challenges facing the United States, focusing on structural issues like inflation, debt, and currency devaluation. Peter draws attention to the overlooked surge in gold prices, contrasting it with Bitcoin’s media spotlight, and discusses unrealistic promises by politicians on both sides regarding tariffs, tax cuts, and economic growth. To start, Peter and Mark point out the Fed’s plan to reduce long-term interest rates has backfired, leading said rates to rise even higher: “I thought that the catalyst for the next move up in long-term rates would be the Fed reducing short-term rates.

Part of the reason for this reduction in short-term rates was to try to bring down longer-term rates, particularly mortgage rates, because people are having a hard time paying these inflated home prices with normal mortgage rates. … But it backfired. As we’re talking this morning, the yield on a 10-year treasury is now at 4.3%, which is 60 basis points higher than it was when the Fed cut rates by 50 basis points.” Even 4.3% isn’t high enough to flush out decades of malinvestment. Just like a fever burns out a virus, the economy needs high interest rates to properly allocate investment: “Artificially low interest rates are part of the problem underlying the economy, and they are having very negative effects on the allocation of resources– malinvestments.

This is doing damage. We’re not saving enough; we’re borrowing and spending too much. Part of the solution to fixing what’s broken in the economy is to let interest rates go up. They actually need to be higher than they are right now. But the problem is, we have so much debt that we can’t afford it.” Recent jobs numbers are not optimistic, even though most government statistics probably understate the problems facing the economy. Peter explains that he looks at the year-over-year increase to the national debt, a metric he finds more reliable than headline statistics: “The CPI is a lie. The unemployment rate is a lie. All these government numbers are designed to create a false picture of prosperity that does not exist. They understate inflation, overstate growth, understate unemployment, understate the deficits. You can’t believe the information that comes out of the government.”

The government ignores bad data, and the media ignores gold’s record-setting year, choosing instead to focus on Bitcoin’s mediocre performance: “They completely ignore it [gold]. Maybe because it’s making a record high almost every day, so there’s nothing new about it. But when gold is doing this, it’s very significant. It’s sending a clear signal that the Fed is making a mistake, that the rate cuts are a mistake, that inflation is going to be a lot higher. … I’ll be watching financial news as gold hits a new high, and not only will they not discuss gold’s significant new high, they’ll go on and on about Bitcoin making a one-month high.” Peter hopes Donald Trump wins the rapidly approaching election, but urges realistic expectations about his policies, especially because of the incentives politicians face on the campaign trail:

“That’s what he’s promising. ‘Just elect me, and everything’s going to be great. Immediately, we’re all going to be so rich; it’s going to be crazy. And I’m going to collect trillions from the Chinese, and, you know, it’s all going to be great.’ But it’s not all going to be great—that’s the problem. And that’s going to be a problem for the administration because they set the bar so high, the expectations are so high. You kind of want to under-promise and over-deliver, but it’s hard to do that when you’re running for office.” How would we really make America great again? Start by slashing wasteful spending, then abolish the income tax: “We can’t go back to the system we had before the income tax unless we dismantle all the programs that we now have because of the income tax, which I’m all for. Get rid of Social Security, get rid of Medicare, get rid of Obamacare, shrink the government back down to its pre-1913 size. And that would really make America great again!”

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Two female MPS want more troops.

• Ukraine Not Drafting Enough Troops – MP (RT)

Kiev’s military is not meeting its draft quotas amid high casualty numbers in the fight against Russia, Ukrainian MP Solomia Bobrovskaya has said in an interview. ”We have been lagging behind since September,” the lawmaker from the opposition Golos party told Great Lviv, a news outlet. “The mobilization rate has been on the decline since August, while in May we were meeting the target set by the general staff.” If current recruitment rates persist, the draft plan through December will not be fulfilled, Bobrovskaya warned. She blamed the senior Ukrainian leadership, including commander-in-chief Aleksandr Syrsky, for the situation. Their decisions have led to heavy losses at the front and the subsequent drop in enrollment, the MP claimed.

In August, Kiev launched an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, diverting some of its best-equipped and most trained units for the operation. The force failed to make it very far.Russian troops are currently pushing the Ukrainians in Kursk Region back, having inflicted some 29,600 casualties in the process, according to Moscow. They are also reportedly making significant progress along other parts of the front. Earlier this year, Kiev overhauled its military service system. Ukrainian officials hoped that the simplification of mandatory conscription and heavier punishments for avoidance would help the army replenish its strength after its failed “counteroffensive” last year.

Ukraine needs to draft 500,000 people, as former military chief Valery Zaluzhny proposed, before being removed from office by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, MP Roman Kostenko argued last week. Meanwhile, lawmaker Mariana Bezuglaya urged this week for a mandatory draft of women to address the manpower shortage. Moscow has described the ongoing conflict as a US-triggered proxy war against Russia, which Washington intends to wage “to the last Ukrainian.” Multiple US officials and politicians have hailed military aid sent to Kiev as a relatively small cost for harming Russia without costing American lives.

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“..expanding conscription to both sexes in the name of equity..”

• Ukrainian MP Calls For Mobilization Of Women (RT)

A Ukrainian lawmaker has called for the conscription of women into the country’s struggling mobilization campaign. MP Mariana Bezuglaya has insisited that it is high time to start targeting women to meet quotas, as Kiev’s military resources dwindle amid ongoing territorial loss on the frontline of the conflict with Russia. Ukraine currently allows for drafting men over the age of 25 and accepts female volunteers. Bezuglaya, however, has repeatedly advocated for expanding conscription to both sexes in the name of equity. “We currently have illegal discrimination against men,” Bezuglaya wrote on her Telegram channel on Monday. “Moreover, if women get mobilized, fewer men will get mobilized – this is one of the reasons for men to support the mobilization of their fellow [female] citizens.”

According to the lawmaker, mobilized women should get assigned to duties in the rear, such as clerks, personnel officers and in the security units, freeing up men to be moved to frontline duties and combat brigades. Others could be sent to military factories to boost the pace of production. “War cannot be an affair of the chosen ones, especially when it is not just about territories or spheres of influence, but about a nation’s existence and the right to life,” Bezuglaya wrote, adding that without the kind of mobilization she advocates, Ukraine is “doomed to lose” the conflict with Russia and its statehood as well. Bezuglaya noted that she has repeatedly submitted this proposal to the defense committee of the Verkhovna Rada, only to have the government and the generals shoot it down. “It’s a paradox,” she wrote.

“The Defense Ministry has failed in the mobilization policy, the generals are literally destroying their soldiers with ill-considered decisions, but this topic is not raised – it is too delicate, you see. Perhaps mobilized women would bring order to this chaos.” Bezuglaya’s comments come after another MP, Roman Kostenko, claimed that Kiev would need to draft another 500,000 men to replenish combat losses and rotate the battle-worn units along the front. Kostenko, himself a veteran, revealed that mobilization has been falling behind over the last two months. A member of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s ‘Servant of the People’ party, Bezuglaya has frequently clashed with the military due to her hardline policies on the conflict against Russia. At one point she was added to Kiev’s Mirotvorets ‘kill list’ and in September, she survived a vote to oust her from the defense committee. Her jurisdiction was previously represented by Andrey Biletsky, founder of the neo-Nazi ‘Azov’ militia.

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“These issues even reached the public in an unacceptable manner, and, worse, became known to our enemies..”

• Netanyahu Fires Israeli Defense Minister (RT)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing “significant gaps” in their position on the war against Hamas and Hezbollah. Foreign Minister Israel Katz has been offered the defense job, while Gideon Saar has been tapped to take his position if he leaves, according to Israeli media. “Serious differences arose between Gallant and me regarding the campaign’s management, with these disagreements accompanied by statements and actions that contradicted both government and cabinet decisions,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday, explaining his move. According to Netanyahu, wartime requires “complete trust” between the head of government and the defense minister and that trust “has eroded” between him and Gallant in recent months.

“I made repeated efforts to bridge these gaps, but they only widened. These issues even reached the public in an unacceptable manner, and, worse, became known to our enemies, who took pleasure and found advantage in it,” the prime minister added. Netanyahu praised Gallant’s replacement as a “bulldozer with quiet strength and responsible determination,” noting that Katz had headed the finance and intelligence ministries before taking on his current role. This is the second time Netanyahu has fired Gallant. The first time was in March 2023, when the defense minister openly criticized the government’s judicial reforms, which he said divided Israeli society and threatened the military. Following widespread street protests, Netanyahu reversed his decision in early April.

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Bureaucracy

 

 

Gotcha
https://twitter.com/i/status/1853736416959668317

 

 

Spin
https://twitter.com/i/status/1853769745461354845

 

 

Polychaetes

 

 

Sheep dog
https://twitter.com/i/status/1853874068937683397

 

 

Tucker Stella

 

 

 

 

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