OpenAI Archives - The Automatic Earth

The reason ID is banned in California (and New York) elections is to enable large-scale fraud.

When you combine no ID and mail-in voting, fraud is de facto legalized. https://t.co/mVskXMLcNi
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 7, 2026

Both sides paused overnight last night.

• Netanyahu Confirms Israel ‘Holding Fire…For Now’ (ZH)

Israel Halts Iran Attacks ‘For Now’
“After Iran attacked Israel, I instructed the IDF to strike military and economic targets throughout Iran,” Netanyahu said in a fresh Monday statement. “For now, the fire has been contained, because after we struck the terrorist regime in Tehran, it ceased attacking us. If the terrorist regime in Iran makes the mistake of attacking us again, we will respond with force.” The key lines from Netanyahu: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel had stopped its attacks on both Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, after the Iranian military announced it was halting operations.

In a brief statement Monday, Netanyahu said “Iran and Hezbollah are weaker than ever, and we are stronger than ever – but our struggle with them is not over yet.” Having bombarded both adversaries, he added, “right now, the fire has been halted.” Iran’s military headquarters responds: “Should aggression and hostile actions continue—including in southern Lebanon—far more severe and forceful measures than before will follow,” it said, according to Iranian state media. And in a clear sign of the exchange of strikes having ceased: Iran says flight restrictions have been lifted with airspace returning to normal conditions: state media
Israel Pauses Iran Strikes At Trump’s Request
Israel’s N12 News is reporting that Israel is halting strike on Iran at President Trump’s request. There are widespread initial reports that Israeli forces are indeed pausing the attacks, which persisted overnight through Monday morning, and included attack on a major petrochemical complex. However, the latest Israeli messaging has included a warning on the Lebanon front, per Bloomberg: Senior Israeli official says Israel is stopping strikes in Iran at Donald Trump’s request, but confirms operations in southern Lebanon will continue at full intensity in the coming days. The official also warns that Dahieh in Beirut could be targeted if attacks on Israeli settlements and civilians continue.
There are also emerging reports (via CBS) that Trump did not order any US defensive efforts to protect Israel from the latest Iranian ballistic missile attacks – which were the first against Israel since the early April ceasefire. Meanwhile, in a fresh message from Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, Iran says “Without a doubt … the actions of the Zionist regime in the region cannot be separated from U.S. policies.” Tehran is rejecting the attempts of the Trump administration to distance the US from Israeli actions: “No one believes that the Zionist regime would carry out any action without prior coordination and cooperation with the United States,” Baqaei added.
Trump: ‘Stop Shooting’
A big question remains is if this flare-up in major fighting, which has featured the first direct attacks between Iran and Israel since the April ceasefire took effect, will be short-lived or whether it will endure and escalate into sustained war. So far the situation is showing signs it could be short-lived, after early Monday morning President Trump urged Israel and Iran to immediately stop “shooting” in a Truth Social post. He also expressed that this musts be done “quickly” and is still talking up a “final” peace deal – which at this moment looks as distant as ever. Iran is signaling it is ready to get back to ceasefire, but Israel is again threatening the Beirut suburbs.

“..that missile fire toward Israel was most likely carried out under pre-established military protocols, without coordination with the office of Supreme Leader.”

• Score Two More Big Wins for Israel Vs. Iran… Maybe (Stephen Green)

It started so simply, as these things do, with a barrage of Iran’s patented Totally Ceasefire Missiles™ that Israel knocked out of the sky. It ended, if that’s the right word, with Israeli airstrikes taking out Iran’s top two leaders. That’s a big win, even if one of them was already mostly dead. The fun began on Sunday, when “Iran launched missiles into Israel, not just in the north by the Galilee, but all the way down to Caesarea,” as reported by PJ Media’s own Rabbi Michael Barclay. In all, Tehran launched a total of about 30 missiles in several waves. They were all either shot down by IDF antimissile systems like Iron Dome, or caused no notable damage.

Israel responded with two air attacks that PJ Media’s own Catherine Salgado reported on at Zero Dark Thirty last night, but only now are we learning just how effective those strikes really were. Several outlets report today that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Ahmad Vahidi is among those dead in yesterday’s Israeli Air Force (IAF) strikes.Vahidi’s death isn’t confirmed yet, but fingers crossed. He’s only been IRGC chief since March 1, when his predecessor was taken out in similar fashion.
Considered a hardliner — which is a nice way of saying, “lying genocidal thug” — reports of Vahidi’s death please me very much. I keep trying to get the message through to the White House that if the current Iranian leadership is too hardline to negotiate in good faith, then keep killing them until more pliable leadership emerges. And maybe bomb them, too, just to be sure. Thankfully, the IAF was kind enough to take the next step for us.
Just as pleasing, if perhaps not quite as consequential, is the reported death of the regime’s so-called Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei — son and heir of the previous Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. The elder Khamenei, you’ll recall with no small measure of schadenfreude, was killed in a similar IAF strike in the opening hours of Operation Epic Fury. The younger Khamenei — long rumored to be homosexual and also believed to have been severely wounded during the air campaign — is (or was) at best a figurehead. He hasn’t been seen or heard in public since before Ali’s death, lending credence to the reports that he is (or was) barely alive. Or living it up on Fire Island. Accounts differ.
At the very least, Israel Hayom reported today that their opposition source believes “that missile fire toward Israel was most likely carried out under pre-established military protocols, without coordination with the office of Supreme Leader.” Notice the source indicated Khamenei’s office, not the man himself. “Israel and Iran… are looking to do an immediate CEASEFIRE! Final negotiations on ‘Peace’ are proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way,” President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social in response to Sunday’s exchange of fires. But I’m inclined to agree with PJ’s Rick Moran, when he wrote on Sunday that “The war has shattered the Iranian leadership structure, making an agreement next to impossible.” And that was before Khamenei and Vahidi hopefully woke up this morning in Hell.

“The Protocols of the Elders of Zion “

• Trump’s Secret Weapon Against Iran: The Power of Antisemitism! (Scott Pinsker)

Sometimes, antisemitism is hilarious. Don’t believe me? Here’s a historic example: “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was a 1902 Russian hoax that claimed to document a late-19th century meeting of Jewish leaders, where those evil, untrustworthy Jews discussed their secret plans for world domination. Some consider it “the most influential work of antisemitism ever written.” Throughout vast swathes of Nazi Germany, it was mandatory reading for schoolchildren. In Russia and Western Europe, it was a runaway best-seller. It even gained a following in the United States, where it was republished and serialized 91 times in Henry Ford’s newspaper, The Dearborn Independent. (Ford later published the series in book form as The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem.)

Sadly, in countries shaped by Judeo-Christian traditions, this hoax greatly inflamed tensions between Jews and Christians. Hitler cited it to justify the Nazi’s institutional antisemitism — which, of course, led directly to the Holocaust. From the United States Holocaust Museum: “Hitler referred to the Protocols in some of his earliest political speeches in the 1920s. He also wrote about the book in his autobiography Mein Kampf (1925). Hitler claimed that the Protocols “reveal the nature and activity of Jewish people and expose…their ultimate final aims.” He also predicted that what he called the “Jewish menace” would be “broken” after the Protocols became more widely known.”
Sounds pretty bleak for the Jews. You could draw a straight line between its publishing, the rise of antisemitism, and the genocidal horror of the Holocaust. Yet there was one country that got its hands on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and reached the exact opposite conclusion: “Whoa! You mean there’s a secret group of Jews who control the entire world? And they magically make money wherever they go? HOW AWESOME! Let’s party with those guys!” And that country was… Japan.
Because, after all, Judeo-Christian traditions didn’t shape Japan’s history, culture, and values. So instead of interpreting The Protocols through the lens of European history, the Jewish diaspora, and its (many) antisemitic dog whistles, Japanese readers accepted everything at face value: Somehow, these magical, mysterious Jews figured out how to become global puppet-masters. They controlled the media, the banks, foreign governments, international trade — and more! Apparently, nobody can stop them. Not even the mighty governments of Europe! So imagine what a wonderful ally they’d be to imperial Japan!
It led to a Japanese program called the Fugu Plan to import up to 600,000 Jews. Japan even planned a PR mission to the United States, where Japanese officials would show American rabbis the similarities (?) between Judaism and Shintoism and then invite them to visit Japan. From All That’s Interesting: From the moment it was conceived, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was viciously anti-Semitic, packed with false charges of a Jewish conspiracy to conquer the world. But for a time, a powerful faction in Japanese military and political circles came to believe that this infamous piece of hateful propaganda was completely accurate.
To them, the book — purportedly notes from a meeting of a Jewish shadow government — was not only true, but it was an indication that, rather than attack the Jews, they should befriend them and use them to their own advantage. The result was later called the Fugu Plan, an effort to encourage Jewish immigration to Japanese territory before and during World War II in order to bolster the country’s economic prosperity. Because of imperial Japan’s wartime partnership with Nazi Germany, it eventually abandoned the Fugu Plan. (As you could imagine, Der Führer wasn’t such a big fan.) But it deserves to be remembered, for it illustrates an undeniable truth: People stupid enough to buy into antisemitic conspiracy theories aren’t smart enough to differentiate between facts and fiction.
This brings us to President Donald Trump, Iran, and the never-ending negotiations to bring peace to the Middle East. Spoiler alert: It ain’t been going so swimmingly.And the American people are quickly losing confidence that a peace deal is even reachable. That’s because President Trump has been hinting since March 30 that a great deal was “probably” right around the corner. On May 23, a deal was “largely negotiated.” Then, as recently as May 29, he told us he was making the “final determination” on signing an agreement. Yet it’s now June 8, and not only is there no peace deal, but over the weekend, Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israeli civilian targets.
Politicians pay a political price when they overpromise and underdeliver. President Trump is no exception: The hawks are mad because Iran is still standing (and giving America the finger); the doves are mad because we went to war; Joe Six-Pack is mad because gas prices are too damn high. Everyone is unhappy! We’ve gone from demanding Iran’s “unconditional surrender” to endless negotiations that aren’t going anywhere. The whole thing is a mess.
As we discussed last week, it certainly seems that stringing U.S. diplomats along — promising great things behind closed doors, agreeing to 99% of demands, but perpetually keeping the final 1% from ever reaching a conclusion — is now Iran’s strategy. From the mullah’s point of view, it’s their best available option because: With a ceasefire already in place (at least in name), the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign has stopped. No more mullahs have been killed. As long as the ceasefire continues, Iran has a free hand to rebuild its military — which it seems to be doing. By linking a peace deal to Hezbollah’s survival, Iran has gotten President Trump to order Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to stop attacking its terrorist proxies in Lebanon. But once a peace deal is signed, Iran would lose that leverage.

For years, they were always neglecting the Kennedy Center. No more. Trump made his point. He threatened to put his name on it.

The Anti-Weaponization Fund is not worked out, just a try-out. Everybody knows how they will react. More soon.

• Trump Suffers Rare Court Setbacks Amid Broader Record of Legal Success (JTN)

The first recent loss came on May 29, when U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered that Trump’s name be stripped from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. President Donald Trump has enjoyed considerable success in the courts during his second term. Federal judges and the Supreme Court have allowed key parts of his immigration agenda to proceed, upheld major personnel actions across the executive branch and endorsed an expansive view of presidential authority in several high-profile disputes. But over the past two weeks, the administration suffered two notable legal setbacks: one involving the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and another concerning a controversial compensation fund created through a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service.

Kennedy Center Ruling Reverses Renaming Effort
The first loss came on May 29, when U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered that Trump’s name be stripped from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. D.C. Cooper, an Obama appointee, also temporarily blocked the administration’s plan to shut the landmark Washington, D.C. venue for two years of renovations, which had been scheduled to begin on July 6.The backstory starts in December 2025, when a board stacked with Trump’s handpicked allies voted to rebrand the arts complex as the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” and signage bearing the new name went up on the building. Ticket sales declined sharply in the months that followed, and artists began canceling performances in protest. In February 2026, Trump announced the center would be closed for a sweeping overhaul.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who had been a member of the center’s board before her voting rights were stripped, filed suit to stop both moves. Judge Cooper’s ruling was sweeping and pointed. In a 94-page opinion issued on what happened to be President Kennedy’s birthday, he wrote that “the Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
On the closure question, Cooper found that the board had not properly weighed its legal obligations to the institution before voting to shutter it, though he left open the possibility that a future board vote could still authorize renovations. Trump reacted with characteristic directness. In a post on Truth Social, he blasted Cooper and suggested Congress should take the whole institution back: “We are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it.”
Court Halts Anti-Weaponization Fund
A Justice Department spokesperson said in the statement that the agency “will continue to defend President Trump’s ability to restore the Center to its former glory as the finest performing arts center in the country – if not the world.” For now, Trump’s name is coming off the building. The second setback involved a program that drew criticism from an unusual source: members of Trump’s own party. In mid-May, the Justice Department announced the creation of the “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” a nearly $1.8 billion pool of taxpayer money intended to compensate individuals who claimed they had been unfairly targeted or persecuted by previous administrations.
The fund was established not by Congress, but through a settlement agreement in a lawsuit Trump himself had filed against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. Under the settlement’s terms, Trump and his family received a formal apology but no cash. The money in the new fund, however, would be available to a broad universe of other claimants. Critics immediately pointed out that this project was an extraordinary arrangement: a fund of public money, created without congressional authorization, through a lawsuit in which the president was simultaneously the plaintiff and the head of the executive branch overseeing the defendant agency.
A group of 35 former federal judges—appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents—filed a motion arguing that the entire legal vehicle was, in their words, “a fraud on the court.” On May 29, the same day as the Kennedy Center ruling, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, in the Eastern District of Virginia, issued a temporary order halting all operations of the fund while she considered its legality. Challengers had argued that money could flow out the door and become impossible to recover before the court could act, and the judge agreed that the risk was serious enough to require a pause.
The political fallout was fast. Democrats called the fund a giveaway to Trump allies. Crucially, even some Republicans in Congress balked, and reports emerged that the fund was throwing the president’s legislative agenda into turmoil. By June 1, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche made it official: the Anti-Weaponization Fund was dead. DOJ’s said in a statement on X that it “disagrees strongly” with Brinkema’s ruling but would comply. Trump later told ABC News he accepted the outcome, saying: “We are subject to the courts. At this moment, that’s what it is.”

Connected to TDS.

• On the Kavanaugh Anniversary, Democratic Leaders Swap Me Too for Maine (Turley)

“It’s clear the fix is in.” Those words from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). came with her vote against confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Warren was outraged that her fellow senators refused to believe a woman who came forward with a decades-old allegation against Kavanaugh that lacked any corroboration. It now appears that Kavanaugh’s former accusers are making the case that he was treated unjustly at their hands. At least they are now willing to swap “Me Too” for Maine. Warren’s words were part of a mantra from Democratic members that either you believe women about sexual harassment and assault, or you are enabling abusers.

It was almost exactly eight years ago, in July 2018, that President Trump nominated Kavanaugh to fill the seat of retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kavanaugh, who was at first a very uncontroversial nominee, suddenly became the target of a well-financed, well-orchestrated campaign that would continue to resonate in that fall’s election campaigns. At the time, your failure to accept the word of Christine Blasey Ford that Kavanaugh had assaulted her in high school was just proof that you and the system were sexist.
Long after the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh, the left continued to claim that his presence on the Supreme Court “rests on a mountain of misogyny.” In Ms. Magazine, actress Kathleen Turner reminded people that not believing women was furthering misogyny: “Survivors who come forward break the rules of silence a sexist society demands, and society expects them to pay a price.” If you recall, the lack of evidence led to the Senate Judiciary Committee combing through Kavanaugh’s personal calendars. Denials that such a thing had ever happened, coming from childhood friends, were treated as still more evidence of sexism.
There was Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who grilled Kavanaugh about using the term “boofing” (apparently referring to passing gas) with a high school friend as if it were a confession to a rape. His inquisitorial barrage was something straight out of the McCarthy period. Whitehouse expressed disgust that some would not take Ford’s word for it, declaring, “Today I stand with women who are brave enough to come forward with their stories of abuse and mistreatment. They deserve to be heard and credible allegations must be investigated. We must believe survivors, not bully them.”
Whitehouse is now a major donor and supporter of Graham Platner, the leading Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Maine. He dismisses the New York Times accounts from women of Platner’s physically and mentally abusive behavior. Instead of believing these women, he reportedly attacked Lyndsey Fifield, who “bravely” came forward publicly with her story at the request of Times reporters. Whitehouse is quoted as saying that he was “unimpressed” by the allegations and the multiple women coming forward “seems like a lot of nothing.” He suggested that he is not prepared to believe a woman if she is a conservative. “I mean, the only one who had anything to say that seemed ‘unsettling’ was a woman who works for right-wing political operations,” he said.
That attack was picked up by others like writer Krystal Ball. She too had denounced those who did not believe Ford in the Kavanaugh controversy. In the past, she claimed at that time, “women just didn’t come forward. They knew they wouldn’t be believed. ”Now she cannot imagine why anyone would believe these women, particularly Fifield. “NYT published uncorroborated accusations against [Platner] of ‘unsettling’ and ‘toxic’ behavior that came from a Heritage staffer who previously worked for a conservative org that backs Collins,” she posted online.
Fifield, after sharing stories with the Times of Platner’s alleged abusive behavior, went public to complain that the newspaper had failed to include the corroboration she had provided. She posted that the paper not only failed to include that she has supported Democrats for office, but also asked, “Why does it say ‘nobody could corroborate’ when I offered them sources that COULD corroborate?”
She added, “The Times also failed to include any mention that I DID confide in multiple friends through the years that Graham had been abusive — long before he was running for office. Those friends confirm they told the Times so.” If true, that is a strikingly different approach from the one taken by the media in reporting on the Kavanaugh allegations.

“Love that the crack heads on Skid Row are up on the issues, know the candidates, and are able to Make Their Voices Heard in between hits of meth.” —Peachy Keenan on X

“.., transformed itself in a decade or so into an out-and-out racketeering operation, that is, to a criminal enterprise dedicated to the misappropriation of taxpayer money among its rank and file, many of whom are not citizens.”

• The Jungle Drums Speak! (James Howard Kunstler)

Whaddaya know? Looks like the charismatic Nithya Raman has overtaken maverick candidate Spencer Pratt in the Los Angeles mayoral “jungle” primary because. . . jungle reasons. That is, the denizens of LA’s vast homeless encampments — once known as “hobo jungles” — apparently voted overwhelmingly by mail for the Harvard-credentialed champion of street-junkies in the Silver Lake, Echo Park, Los Feliz, Atwater, and Hollywood neighborhoods (SELAH) she represents on the LA City Council.

So, it will be a November runoff between the super-duper “progressive” incumbent Karen Bass, and merely super-progressive Ms. Ramen. Better reserve your U-Haul trailer ASAP, as the City of Angels completes its transformation to the City of Zombies. And no complaining, please. This is what you voted for.
By the way, what does “progressive” actually mean these days? Progress towards. . . what? The culminating disintegration of a civil polity? The concerted failure to govern a large, urban organism? Unconditional surrender to the forces of entropy? One might suspect a soupçon of racial animus in the mix, too, something of a middle-finger to this thing called white supremacy we hear so much about. It must be rooted out at all costs, including the cost of a place that a productive population once loved — the very people renting all those U-Hauls, dispersing out into the USA gloaming.
Of course, this “progressive” Democratic Party has transformed itself in a decade or so into an out-and-out racketeering operation, that is, to a criminal enterprise dedicated to the misappropriation of taxpayer money among its rank and file, many of whom are not citizens. The model is not unlike more primitive early versions, such as Boss Tweed’s ring in 19th century New York, or the gang under mayor James Curley, the “Rascal King” of Boston. The system was known as “patronage.” Voters were the party’s patrons, and the patrons were on the payroll. Some had actual party jobs. Some just got free stuff in exchange for their votes. They called it a “machine” because its operations became automatic, self-fulfilling.
There was one big difference, though: these earlier Democratic Party grifters, for all their moneygrubbing shenanigans, were American patriots. They celebrated a country so ostentatiously “free,” so fervently dedicated to upward mobility, that it made room for their garish political corruption. The Democratic machine of Los Angeles today is quite the opposite: It’s a faction that loathes and detests the American system and seeks sedulously to destroy it, even while grabbing as much loot as it can in the process.
Mayor Karen Bass was trained for that mission in Cuba. Beginning at age 19, in 1973, Ms. Bass made eight trips there with the Venceremos Brigade (founded in 1969 by the Lefty-left SDS) to “show solidarity with the Cuban revolution,” which, you might remember, was a straight-up communist revolution. One might infer, then, that Mayor Bass is a straight-up communist, with ambitions to destroy the capitalist city of Los Angeles, so as to replace it with a communist utopia — where all production (if there is any) is owned and controlled by the government, which then dispenses the fruits-of-production to the people, according to their needs, as officers of the government see fit.

“US officials have prepared proposals to bypass Britain and negotiate directly for control of Diego Garcia ..”

• Trump Plans To Buy Chagos Islands, Home To Diego Garcia Military Base (ZH)

The White House is actively considering a plan to purchase the Chagos Islands, potentially undermining the UK’s agreement to transfer sovereignty of the strategically vital territory to Mauritius, according to reports. US officials have prepared proposals to bypass Britain and negotiate directly for control of Diego Garcia, the key Indian Ocean atoll that hosts a major joint US-UK military base. The idea forms part of broader options being developed by the Trump administration as alternatives to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan to cede the islands to Mauritius, which has close ties to China and Iran.

Strategic Importance
Diego Garcia’s location makes it critical for long-range operations. It enables round-the-clock bomber missions, including potential strikes on Iran using B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, and places key areas within striking range. Amid ongoing conflicts involving Iran and China’s expanding naval presence, US and UK officials stress the need to maintain a robust chain of global military bases.

Senior Trump administration officials worry that transferring control to Mauritius could expose the base to espionage or interference. One former adviser to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Ben Judah, told the Telegraph that the base has “super secret, super sensitive facilities” that are vital to British and allied capabilities, noting they would be difficult to replicate elsewhere.
Background on the UK-Mauritius Deal
The UK had agreed to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while securing a long-term lease for the military base, reportedly involving around £35 billion ($46.7 billion) over 99 years. However, the deal requires US consent due to longstanding agreements governing the base, and Britain has since placed it on hold. President Trump initially appeared open to the arrangement but later strongly opposed it, particularly after the UK reportedly declined to allow strikes on Iran from Diego Garcia in the early stages of the Iran war. He publicly denounced the deal as “great stupidity” and criticized Starmer for weakening the special relationship, calling him “no Winston Churchill.”
US Position and Ongoing Talks
A US official told Reuters: “President Trump has been consistent in his position that the United Kingdom should not give away the British Indian Ocean Territory, which includes our joint U.S.-UK military facility on the Diego Garcia atoll. Diego Garcia’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean makes it a vital and indispensable military installation of significant importance to the national security of the United States.” The US continues regular discussions with Britain to preserve the base’s viability.
Purchasing the islands outright would likely involve waiting for the UK-Mauritius sovereignty transfer before negotiating with Mauritius. No specific price has been discussed, according to sources. In February, Trump said that he had retained the right to “militarily secure” the Diego Garcia air base after calling the UK’s decision an “act of total weakness.” A UK government spokesperson defended the original agreement, stating it was necessary to protect long-term interests and prevent adversaries from gaining a foothold:
“Diego Garcia is a key strategic military asset for both the UK and the US, which has protected our shared security for nearly 60 years. Maintaining long-term operational control and security of Diego Garcia is the entire basis for the UK-Mauritius agreement.” In May, UK minister Hamish Falconer stated there was “no scenario” in which Washington could purchase the islands, reaffirming commitment to the deal. Downing Street has not commented on the latest US proposals.

I get the feeling they’re all after the same pot of money. There’ll be $200 billion (or however much it is, maybe a trillion), but not 5 or 6 times that. ~And there’s never enougn money, or energy, for any single one of them.

For now, it’s a feeding frenzy, however. Everyone’s just afraid to miss out.

• OpenAI Files Confidentially For IPO, Joining SpaceX and Anthropic (ZH)

The rush by AI companies to go public before the window closes (i.e., “market conditions” emerge) entered its final lap late on Monday, when OpenAI joined its two mega peers in filing for a blockbuster IPO that could value the ChatGPT creator at more than $1tn as it races rival Anthropic to list its shares publicly, following an imminent offering by SpaceX.

OpenAI said it had confidentially submitted a draft IPO prospectus to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, formally kicking off the process for one of the year’s most hotly anticipated debuts. The company is also planning to launch a tender sale of its shares to provide liquidity to employees in the coming weeks, before the company goes public, Bloomberg reported. Why employees would want to sell shares ahead of an IPO is not exactly clear, unless they fear the market reaction to the public offering would disappoint.
OpenAI’s listing announcement comes days before SpaceX is set to IPO in a deal that could raise a record $86bn and value Elon Musk’s rockets-to-AI conglomerate at $1.78tn. Anthropic, the startup behind the chatbot Claude, said last week that it had filed confidentially for an IPO of its own. The company soared to a $965 billion valuation in its latest private funding round – above OpenAI’s for the first time – as its revenue surged. The three Wall Street listings comes at a time of unbridled euphoria among investors over AI, which has helped propel US stocks to a series of record highs but also prompted worries that markets are overheating.
Last week, Goldman published a note seeking to preempt the big question: “Can Markets Absorb Massive Stock Supply From Coming Mega IPOs Without A Crash:” While Goldman did not express concerns about the coming flood of stock supply (its argument is that demand will more than offset the flood of new shares), the bank which is also a lead underwriter for both SpaceX and Anthropic calculated that recent and upcoming IPOs will result in roughly $500 billion of additional unlocked shares available to sell in 2026 and likely a larger quantity in 2027 as insiders sell and distribute their stakes to public (mostly retail) shareholders. The bank expects the majority of potential equity supply from the current pipeline of IPOs will become free float in 2027.
OpenAI’s IPO – which also comes at a time when CEO Sam Altman has floated handing out shares to US taxpayers ostensibly in hopes that such an action would lead to a government backstop and/or bailout if and when the AI cycle turns – will mark a test of investors’ appetite for a company posting booming revenue growth but also staggering losses that are forecast to continue for many years as the company spends vast sums on data centres and other infrastructure: its funding commitments to hyperscalar companies are well north of $1 trillion and unless the company manages to dramatically boost its revenue growth it will find itself woefully undercapitalized in coming years. Hence the IPO, as well as a bevy of private credit deals which mask the company’s true debt exposure.
OpenAI has been investing heavily in AI research to compete with rivals including Google and Anthropic, as well as to expand the computing capacity needed to serve ChatGPT’s 900mn users. In February, the company told investors it was planning to spend about $600 billion on AI infrastructure by 2030. It said in a statement on Monday that it had not “decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company”. “But it’s a complicated set of trade-offs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best,” it added.
A public debut in 2026 would also pit Altman squarely against Elon Musk on a different plane than the failed lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO. SpaceX, Musk’s rocket, satellite and AI firm, is targeting an IPO at a valuation of roughly $1.8 trillion on Thursday, which would immediately make it one of the world’s most valuable public companies. As an indication of the staggering demand for AI exposure, OpenAI has already dwarfed even SpaceX’s IPO in a single funding round. The company completed a deal to raise $122 billion from investors at an $852 billion valuation.
The ChatGPT maker also planned to launch an employee share sale ahead of going public at its current $852bn price tag, according to people familiar with the matter. One said OpenAI’s decision to announce its confidential filing was intended to give employees who were considering selling shares “transparency” about the upcoming IPO. US tech groups often file IPO paperwork privately, keeping their financial figures out of the public eye while the SEC reviews documents. That allows start-ups to gauge investor demand, make revisions and sometimes scrap IPO plans without broader scrutiny.
The San Francisco-based company’s move to progress its listing plans received a boost after a California court last month threw out Musk’s legal case against OpenAI and its chief Sam Altman. A public debut in 2026 would also pit Altman squarely against Elon Musk on a different plane than the failed lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO. SpaceX, Musk’s rocket, satellite and AI firm, is targeting an IPO at a valuation of roughly $1.8 trillion on Thursday, which would immediately make it one of the world’s most valuable public companies.
OpenAI had been working with bankers at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and lawyers at Cooley for the past few months, people familiar with its preparations previously told the FT. Monday’s filing sets OpenAI on a path to start trading as early as the autumn, they said. It is already one of the world’s most valuable private companies, after closing a record funding round of up to $122bn in March. As part of that deal it raised $3bn from retail investors, who will be given a wider opportunity to invest in the start-up when it becomes publicly traded.

“Ukraine is not an EU member state, and Ukraine is not a NATO member. Why would the EU put themselves into the conflict resolution when Ukraine is not in the EU.”

“Putin knows the people of Europe do not want the corrupt nation of Ukraine as part of their wealth draining operation.”

“Hey, at least the ‘coalition of the willing’ is now begging for an audience with Putin.”

• EU Coalition of the Willing: Five Terms for Direct Ukraine-Russia Talks (CTH)

Politico is reporting that Germany is going to replace the United States as the direct contact for negotiations with Russia; that’s according to a spokesperson for Merz. However, if you read the actual printout from their collective agreement there is nothing of the sort mentioned. Instead, what actually exists within the statement are five terms they have agreed upon in order to start direct discussions between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. At least two of the terms are non-starters for Russia: […] Conditions that would need to be in place for a just and lasting peace.

First, a stop to the fighting. They called on President Putin to agree to an immediate and complete ceasefire.
Second, the current line of contact should be the starting point for negotiations. International borders must not be changed by force, and Ukraine’s sovereign right to choose its own security arrangements and alliances must be fully respected.
Third, Ukraine must have robust and legally binding security guarantees in place once a ceasefire enters into force, building on commitments made in Berlin in December 2025 and Paris in January 2026. This includes the deployment of the Multinational Force – Ukraine.
Fourth, Russian assets will remain immobilised until Russia ceases its war of aggression and compensates Ukraine for the damage caused by the war.
Fifth, that European security interests must be safeguarded in any deal. Elements of any negotiation related to the EU and NATO would need the consent of the EU and its Member States and NATO Allies respectively.

The #3, #4 and #5 points are not going to go anywhere.
Germany, France, the U.K and/or EU participants are not going to put troops on the ground in Ukraine without United States security guarantees. President Trump has already rejected that proposal on three occasions. The Russian sovereign fund that was seized by the EU is not the property of Vladimir Putin; it is wealth belonging to the Russian people and President Putin will not accept that term. Additionally, two-thirds of the world has been against that seizure bolstering Russia’s position.
The fifth point is laughable. The EU collective in Brussels is going to be required to give consent to any peace agreement? Highly doubtful Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin would even entertain that condition. Ukraine is not an EU member state, and Ukraine is not a NATO member. Why would the EU put themselves into the conflict resolution when Ukraine is not in the EU. From a brutally obvious and pragmatic Russian position, this makes no sense. However, I would look for Putin to do something funny with this, like force the EU to adopt Ukraine first as a ‘put up – or shut up‘ type challenge.
Putin knows the people of Europe do not want the corrupt nation of Ukraine as part of their wealth draining operation. Hey, at least the ‘coalition of the willing’ is now begging for an audience with Putin.

“The gaffe-prone former foreign minister has been blamed for Berlin’s failure to win a rotating seat on the UN Security Council..” …a rotating seat on the UN Security Council that Germany wants to be a permanent one?!

• German Lawmakers Want Answers From Baerbock After UN Humiliation – Bild (RT)

German lawmakers want former Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock questioned over Berlin’s failure to secure a seat on the UN Security Council, Bild reports. According to the outlet, the ruling CDU/CSU alliance blames the former top diplomat for the setback and wants her summoned before the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Germany failed to win a non-permanent seat on the UNSC – the UN’s most powerful body, with authority to adopt legally binding resolutions and sanctions – for the first time in modern history on Wednesday, losing out to Portugal and Austria. Germany won all six previous contests it entered since 1977, but this time received only 104 votes, well short of the required two-thirds majority.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul described the result as a “bitter defeat,” but insisted he “did not personally blame himself,” arguing that Germany entered the race too late. According to Bild, lawmakers are placing the blame on Wadephul’s predecessor, Baerbock, who served from 2021-25. “We must thoroughly investigate the causes of this embarrassing electoral defeat,” Stephan Mayer, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told the outlet. “[It is] absolutely essential that Annalena Baerbock answer questions before the Bundestag [to explain] how, when, and what exactly her ministry did to mobilize support for Germany’s bid.”
Hesse’s Minister for International Affairs, Manfred Pentz, also pointed the finger at Baerbock. “You cannot blame [Chancellor] Friedrich Merz and Johann Wadephul for this electoral defeat. Annalena Baerbock messed it up during her time as foreign minister,” he stated. Baerbock’s tenure as Germany’s top diplomat drew frequent criticism for a lack of diplomatic pragmatism, an inconsistent agenda, and high-profile verbal blunders.During her time in office, she said she would support Ukraine “irrespective of what my voters think,” declared the EU to be “fighting a war against Russia,” and described Israeli strikes on Palestinian schools as “self-defense.” She also made several awkward historical, geographical, and mathematical slip-ups, including promising a “360-degree foreign policy.”
Despite the gaffes, Baerbock was appointed president of the UN General Assembly after leaving the Foreign Ministry – a largely ceremonial but prestigious UN post. Munich Security Conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger suggested that Germany’s defeat this week may have partly been retaliation for how Baerbock “snatched” the role, which he told WELT TV had “not exactly generated new sympathy for Germany” among UN ambassadors.
A diplomatic source told Bild that Baerbock is widely unpopular in the General Assembly for being “too focused on Germany… selfies and herself.” Botswana’s former president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, also told the outlet that Germany could have secured more support from African countries in the Security Council vote had Baerbock not treated African partners in a “condescending and disrespectful” manner. He cited diplomatic disputes over infrastructure projects during her tenure as foreign minister.

Michael Snyder is the boy who cried wolf. Amusing at times.

• A “Godzilla El Niño” (Michael Snyder)

The waters of the Pacific Ocean are getting extremely warm, and that could provide fuel for an immensely destructive climate event that is unlike anything we have ever seen before. Even the United Nations has issued an ominous warning about the El Niño event that is in the long-term forecast, because it will have a dramatic impact on every man, woman, and child on the entire planet. We are being told that there is more than an 80 percent chance that El Niño conditions will arrive by the end of next month due to rapidly warming equatorial waters in the Pacific. Meanwhile, an unprecedented “9,000-mile marine heatwave” has developed in the North Pacific. Many experts are concerned that the confluence of those two factors could produce a “Godzilla El Niño”…

The chance of an El Niño event emerging by July is now over 80 percent, which will likely make 2026 one of the hottest years on record. At the same time, an exceptionally large 9,000-mile marine heatwave has been forming in the North Pacific since the end of 2025. These extreme warming events are now evolving together across the Pacific. Scientists are increasingly concerned that the warm water will fuel a “super” or “Godzilla” El Niño, potentially prolonging marine heatwaves, disrupting fisheries and ecosystems, and intensifying global climate impacts well into 2027. The “9,000-mile marine heatwave” in the North Pacific is absolutely astounding climate scientists.
At the same time, the warming in the equatorial waters where El Niño events normally develop is at a level that we haven’t seen since at least 1877… The temperature of the ocean in the equatorial waters where these El Niños form was predicted to be 3 degrees Celsius above average. Experts are saying that this is a level of heat in the Pacific Ocean that hasn’t been recorded since 1877. I have written about the “Super El Niño” that started in 1877 before. That “Super El Niño” was one of the primary reasons why 50 million people starved during the Great Famine that stretched from 1876 to 1878…
This El Niño, they say, could rival the intense event of the late 19th century that triggered “the Great Famine” on a global scale, killing millions of people. And its scythe sliced through southern Africa. “The 1876-78 Great Famine impacted multiple regions across the globe, including parts of Asia, Nordeste [Northeast] Brazil, and northern and southern Africa, with total human fatalities exceeding 50 million people, arguably the worst environmental disaster to befall humanity,” a team of scientists said a decade ago in a ground-breaking paper presented at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
3 percent of the entire population of the world starved to death during those years. Today, 3 percent of the entire population of the world would be 240,000,000 people. In 1982 and 1983, we experienced the most severe “Super El Niño” of the 20th century… In 1982-83, the most intense El Niño of the 20th century caused extreme weather events throughout the world, including floods in the American Pacific and in the southern United States, and droughts in north-eastern Brazil and Indonesia. It also caused a very mild winter in the mid-latitudes of Europe, Asia and North America. That “Super El Niño” sparked a horrific famine in eastern Africa that wiped out a very large proportion of the population…

“..the first great realist thinker…”

• In the Land of Thucydides (John J. Mearsheimer)

I gave a lecture in Athens on 2 June 2026 that was hosted by two prestigious Greek organizations: the Council for International Relations and the Institute of International Relations. I was asked to speak about why I think Realism explains contemporary geopolitical developments better than any other theory. I was fully aware that I was speaking in the home of Thucydides, the first great realist thinker.

Elon Musk explains why Starlink is basically unbreakable

“There are over 10,225 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit right now, moving at 25 times the speed of sound, Zipping around the Earth at ~550 km altitude

Because they’re so close, latency is extremely low unlike… pic.twitter.com/74a94YbEq3
— Elonogy (@ElonogyX) June 7, 2026

https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/2063695049314185386?s=20

Time for change in Germany https://t.co/tSLxhzcE2b
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2026

https://twitter.com/mcafeenew/status/2063714994014093733?s=20 https://twitter.com/jackprandelli/status/2063698942630506617?s=20

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Debt Rattle June 2 2026

Jun 022026

June 2, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:57 am Finance Tagged with: Abrego Garcia, AI, Blanche, cash, Clint Eastwood, Cuba, Jill Biden, Netanyahu, OpenAI, physics, robot dog, Trump 14 Responses »

Giuseppe Sanmartino The veiled Christ (Christo velato) 1753

• Iran Halts All Messages With US, Orders Opening Of New Fronts (ZH)

• Trump Reportedly Ripped Netanyahu In Phone Call (ZH)

• Cuba Could Be the Bite Trump Can’t Chew (Scott Ritter)

• AI’s Coming Reality Check: When The Physics Finally Hits The Hype (IM)

• Florida Becomes First State To Sue “Unsafe” OpenAI and Sam Altman (ZH)

• The Slow Disappearance of Cash In Europe (Cláudia Ascensão Nunes)

• EU Following Path of Roman Empire’s Decline – Czech PM (RT)

• Dubious Opinion on Abrego Garcia, Bar Complaint Against Todd Blanche (Turley)

• Psychodrama (James Howard Kunstler)

• Jill Biden’s Memoir Is Going to Tear the Democrats Apart (Margolis)

• Ex-intel Official: Hunter Biden Laptop Letter Was Deception Operation (Turley)

• Aww Look At The Cute Dancing Robot Police State Surveillance Dog…(MN)

• Happy Birthday, Clint Eastwood — and a Happy Retirement, Too (Stephen Green)

Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us. But don’t the Dumocrats, and various seemingly unpatriotic Republicans, understand that it is MUCH tougher for me to properly do my job and negotiate, when political hacks keep… pic.twitter.com/aqE6G0UKGv
— Commentary Donald J Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) June 1, 2026

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered the perfect answer when Maria Bartiromo asked whether he is confident that the Iranians will keep their promises when it comes to a deal.

He ended with a warning to the regime.

BESSENT: “Well, what I have confidence in is that… pic.twitter.com/kVcZcXPFMU
— Overton (@overton_news) May 31, 2026

https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/2061622319664243021?s=20

In the last two weeks I've taken out many bad Political "Leaders” and Pundits including Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lightweight “Congressman” Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brad Raffensperger of Georgia, REALLY DUMB Stephen Colbert of CBS, and others. My score, for two weeks,… pic.twitter.com/wgsGOjf0mj
— Commentary Donald J Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) June 2, 2026

Iran can and will play this game forever if you let them.

• Iran Halts All Messages With US, Orders Opening Of New Fronts (ZH)

Merely last week, Western MSM press reports were touting the usual ‘close to a deal’ headlines, but this morning demonstrates how illusory such claims were and are, as Iranian state media now suggests a total halt in communications between the sides. Per state Tasnim, “Iran stops exchanging messages with the US in protest against Zionist crimes.” This as the IDF has sent ground forces deep into Lebanon, past the Litani River – in the deepest operation in decades. Tehran has insisted on linking up any US-Iran deal with a Israel-Lebanon peace. Tehran is now warning to “completely block the Strait of Hormuz, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait” – the latter with the cooperation of Yemen’s Houthis. All of this has direct impact on the US-Iran ceasefire:

IRAN’S STATE TV SAYS PROBABILITY OF CEASEFIRE BETWEEN IRAN AND U.S. ENDING IS HIGH IF ATTACKS ON LEBANON DO NOT STOP. Below is the full translated statement:
• “The determination of the Iranian armed forces and all axes of the resistance front to respond to Zionist crimes and open new fronts”.
• “Tasnim has obtained information indicating that, given the continuation of the Zionist regime’s crimes in Lebanon and considering that Lebanon was one of the preconditions for the ceasefire and that this ceasefire has now been violated on all fronts, including Lebanon, the Iranian negotiating team is stopping “talks and exchange of texts through a mediator”.”
• “The immediate cessation of the Zionist regime’s aggressive and brutal army operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the necessity of the regime’s complete withdrawal from the occupied areas in Lebanon have been emphasized by Iranian officials and negotiators, and there will be no talks until Iran and the resistance’s views on this matter are met”.
• “Also, the Resistance Front and Iran have set their agenda to completely block the Strait of Hormuz, and activate other fronts, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait, in order to punish the Zionists and their supporters”.
Oil jumps on the headline of halted talks… Futures slide…
Author and University of Chicago professor of the ‘realist’ school Robert Pape says the following on Monday published report: “We will run out of our cushion of oil inventories in July, whether it’s the middle or end of July,” he said. “And Iran knows that. So what Iran is doing is just stringing out the clock to get a better deal.” “What that tells me is they’re not interested in returning the price of oil back to where it was before the war,” he said. “I think what we need to understand is Iran’s goal is to continue instability, continue elevated price of the world’s oil because it gains from that.”
[..] CENTCOM: Intercepted Pair of Ballistic Missiles on Base On Monday morning US Central Command issued its official statement and explanation over the earlier tit-for-tat brief flare-up in fighting, which appears to have ended… “Last night at 11 p.m. ET, U.S. forces successfully intercepted two Iranian ballistic missiles targeting American forces based in Kuwait. These missiles were immediately defeated and no American personnel were harmed,” it said. “U.S. Central Command remains vigilant and will continue to protect our forces from Iranian aggression while supporting the ongoing ceasefire.”
Fresh Missiles on Kuwait
The extended US-Iran ceasefire is once again being severely tested, after Iran earlier in the daylight hours of Monday initiated fresh attacks on neighboring Kuwait and even released video showing footage of a ballistic missile launch. Kuwait in turn confirmed that has been intercepting inbound drone and missile fire. It hosts a major American base, which is again being targeted, though it’s unclear if anything has been hit. The IRGC subsequently identified that it targeted the US base in response to weekend US strikes on Iranian sites. According to a description of the released propaganda video:
The start of the video includes a close-up of what looks to be a sticker on the body of a missile depicting a bruised US president Donald Trump, on the phone asking for help, and overlaid on a “closed” Strait of Hormuz. The caption reads: “Until the last American soldier leaves the region.”

Iran's IRGC released footage showing the moment it launched missile attacks on what it claimed to be US airbases in Kuwait early Monday.

READ MORE: https://t.co/yRpPilUQ9S pic.twitter.com/f1Q2l5OnMu
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) June 1, 2026

All sides, including the Iranians and Kuwaitis, are saying they have a right to defend themselves. The United States, for its part, has said that it bombed radar and drone sites in Iran in response to the Iranians having shot down a US drone over the weekend.

Trump doesn’t want to leave the US in an ongoing war in 2028/9.

• Trump Reportedly Ripped Netanyahu In Phone Call (ZH)

A bizarre and unexpected evening report from Axios says that President Trump ripped into Netanyahu during a phone call, cussing at him and essentially ‘steamrolled’ him – angry over breaking the Lebanon truce and demanding that Israel’s military not attack Beirut. Trump is said to have told Netanyahu “you’re fucking crazy’” while demanding Lebanon truce: “I’m saving your ass,” he also reportedly said. Iran early Monday said it halted talks with Washington because of Israel’s escalation in Lebanon. From the report:

One U.S. official said Trump told Netanyahu that following through on his threats to bomb the Lebanese capital would further isolate Israel around the world. Two of the sources said Trump claimed he’d helped keep Netanyahu out of jail — a reference to his support during Netanyahu’s corruption trial. Summarizing Trump’s remarks to Netanyahu, the U.S. official said: “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” A second source briefed on the call said Trump was “pissed” and at one point yelled at Netanyahu: “What the fuck are you doing?” And more:
The second U.S. official claimed that, in reality, Trump had “steamrolled” Netanyahu on the call. “Bibi said, ‘OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of,'” according to the official. The level of detail in this call ‘leak’ is remarkable, suggesting it was an ‘official leak’ or intentional.
Fresh reports of fighting, amid shaky truce declaration: Sirens sound in the border community of Metula amid an apparent Hezbollah rocket attack from Lebanon. The rocket fire comes despite US President Donald Trump announcing that Hezbollah would stop carrying out attacks on Israel amid the ceasefire. Meanwhile, Iran claims it attacked a US container ship in the Sea of Oman (Fars News).
Lebanon Truce Affirmed
The Lebanese presidency has announced that Hezbollah agreed to a US proposal on the mutual cessation of attacks, which will expand to all Lebanese territory. Per a regional Arab correspondent: “As we emphasized, the Israeli attack on Lebanon was obstructing the reaching of the agreement. The mediators exerted great effort today, and after the American pressure and the Israeli retreat, the doors are now open to return the negotiations to their natural and positive course, and there is no longer much left.”
[..] Trump Suggests He is Forging Lebanon Ceasefire
Trump has announced the “shooting will stop” in Lebanon, after a flurry of phone calls, including with Netanyahu. This came shoon on the heels of Hezbollah signaling it is ready to agree to an immediate truce. Israel too has reportedly halted plans to begin new airstrikes on Beirut. The Lebanon crisis caused Tehran to earlier announced it is halting all contacts with the US. Will the US-Iran talks now be back on?
Trump to CNBC: ‘I don’t care’ if talks are over
Trump has shrugged off the apparent collapse of talks with Iran, after Tehran earlier said it has halted all communications with Washington over Israel’s expanded assault on Lebanon and Hezbollah. Trump has freshly told CNBC by phone, “I don’t care if they’re over, honestly.” “I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less,” he added, and indicated he was “going to ask” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “what’s going on with Lebanon.” This suggests Trump could pressure America’s ally to lower tensions.
Trump appears to be betting the US can ‘outlast’ the Islamic Republic, in terms of inflicting economic pain amid the growing global oil supply crisis due to the Hormuz Strait closure. On this, he reacted as follows: He also said he wasn’t worried about oil prices, which spiked following the report in Iranian state media that Tehran is vowing to “completely block” the Strait of Hormuz in addition to halting negotiations. “I think the oil will be dropping like a rock in the very near, you know, the very near distance,” Trump said.
President Trump tells NBC News that he’s not heard from Iran on reports they’re suspending talks, and on Iran, “I think we’ve been talking too much if you want to know the truth, going silent would be very good” We’ll keep the blockade in Hormuz. I think I can wait as long as they want. They’re losing a fortune.His comments to NBC: “It’s an appropriate thing to say, because they’re better negotiators than they are fighters,” he said in a brief phone call. “But they haven’t informed us of that.”
“It doesn’t mean we’re going to go and start dropping bombs all over there,” added Trump, who said Friday he would soon decide on a proposed deal to extend an ostensible ceasefire agreed to in early April. “We’ll keep the blockade.”

They want a peaceful transition away from the Castro clan.

• Cuba Could Be the Bite Trump Can’t Chew (Scott Ritter)

With much of the world’s attention on the still unresolved conflict between the US and Iran, the average consumer of news may be forgiven if they had forgotten that the US had, on January 3 of this year, launched a mini-invasion of Venezuela which resulted in the deaths of scores of persons, including a number of Cuban security personnel, and the capture of Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife. The US justified this action by noting that Maduro was, in its books, a fugitive from justice, having been previously indicted in a US Federal Court on narcotics trafficking charges.

The ease with which the US orchestrated the collapse of the Maduro regime and facilitated the transfer of power to a more than compliant vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, helped the administration of President Donald Trump project an aura of invincibility when it came to the implementation of what the President and his advisors were calling the ‘Donroe Doctrine’, their take on the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine which declared the Western Hemisphere to be the exclusive domain of the US.
Little more than a week later, on January 11, President Trump posted on his Truth Social account what amounted to a direct threat against the government of Cuba. “Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela,” the President wrote, stating that there had been a direct relationship between Venezuelan economic support to Cuba and Cuban security support to Venezuela. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the world (by far), to protect them, and protect them we will. THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA—ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!”
The president then set off a firestorm of speculation on American social media when, responding to a joking post that was made on X late the week prior stating that said, “Marco Rubio will be president of Cuba”, he wrote in response “sounds good to me!” Regime change in Cuba, it seemed, was on the cards.
A month later, President Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, where the decision was made to attack Iran. The US and Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran on February 28, starting a 37-day campaign that ultimately saw the US and Israel fail to achieve any of their stated military and geopolitical objectives, and which left Iran in a position where it dictated the fate of the global economy by controlling the flow of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz.
An invasion of Cuba was no longer a top Trump administration policy.Almost overnight, this calculus changed. On May 21, Marco Rubio declared that Cuba was “one of the leading sponsors of terrorism in the entire region.” His comments came the same day that the US Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against former Cuban President Raul Castro. In one day, the Trump administration had reconstructed the pathway toward military action by the US against Cuba, mirroring the regime change justifications that had been cobbled together before the January 3 assault on Caracas that led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro and the collapse of his regime. These actions coincided with the arrival of a US carrier battlegroup off the shores of Cuba.

AI for the first time gets some counterweight. There’s never enough energy, and there’s never enough money.

• AI’s Coming Reality Check: When The Physics Finally Hits The Hype (IM)

In five years, we’ll all likely be chuckling and shaking our heads over AI. Because today, the tech feels free and limitless, doesn’t it? People are generating endless content: images, videos, memes, code snippets, social posts. Companies are bolting AI onto products by default, the way every Fortune 500 company suddenly discovered they were “sustainable” five years ago.There’s much deliberation on AI right now, and it splits into two main camps of thesis: The majority — those who will die on its hill of promise, convinced we’re months away from effective altruism, UBI, and sentient toasters.

And the minority — usually older, more experienced types — who don’t fully understand it, but look at numbers, remember the dot-com bust, and think this rhymes. We’ll leave that debate to the dinner parties. What interests us is something more boring. Physics. Because here’s the thing: AI isn’t free. Every token represents electricity. Something your average developer, product manager, user, or investor gives precisely zero thought to. Electricity means power plants, transmission lines, grid infrastructure — yes. It also means hot sheds; capital-intensive data centres and all the equipment, cooling systems, and real estate that go with them. Real things. Physical things.
We are surrounded by hype without consideration for the physics. bRight now, there’s a disconnect between the physical cost of this technology and the price users pay for it. That gap is being covered by Wall Street, venture capital, pension funds, hyperscaler balance sheets, and strategic spending on “growth” (a word which here means “losses we’ve chosen to rebrand”). The question is: what happens when that gap closes?
Scenario 1: The Industry Matures
No outright collapse, but financial discipline arrives. A novel concept in Silicon Valley. Low-value usage disappears first. “AI slop” dies because the people generating junk stop when it costs them actual money. Turns out nobody’s willing to pay real dollars to have a chatbot write their LinkedIn thought leadership posts. Tragic.
Serious users — those deriving profit or genuine productivity gains — remain. Growth slows but doesn’t stop. GPU upgrade cycles stretch from two years to three or five or seven. Valuations compress. The froth comes off but the infrastructure remains important. The boardroom shifts from “infinite logarithmic growth” to “focus only on what’s profitable.” Less bubble burst, more long, slow leak of disappointment. A bit like ESG.
Scenario 2: Energy as the Arbiter
Now overlay structurally higher energy prices. You know, the thing everyone was told wouldn’t matter because we’d all be running on solar and unicorn farts by now. If power becomes materially more expensive while capital markets tighten simultaneously, the economics get a lot harder.
Inference costs rise. Training LLMs gets hella more expensive. Shareholders start feeling like they’re holding the next NFT apes. Spending slows sharply. Many AI firms disappear. Hyperscalers pull back, maybe with taxpayer assistance (they are, after all, strategically important to those in power — funny how that works).
GPU cycles extend further. Seven-plus years between major upgrades becomes normal outside the top tier. Markets correct hard. Confidence takes a long time to rebuild. This is not the end of AI, but a reset. Users will fondly remember the “good old days” when it was free. When one could generate a movie scene and post on X about how they just ended a billion-dollar production company’s business model. Peak delusion makes for great content.
Scenario 3: AI Actually Delivers
There is also the upside case, though we admit it’s included here much like a “minority” conspicuously placed on a corporate board — a box-ticking exercise. In this scenario, AI meaningfully increases productivity across enterprises. It reduces costs durably. It embeds itself in everything from coding to logistics to research. The sentient toaster. Higher energy prices don’t kill demand because efficiency gains outweigh them. Hardware cycles remain short. Today’s valuations look justified in hindsight and Jensen Huang’s leather jacket gets its own wing at the Smithsonian.
For anyone familiar with us, you’ll know we think this is the most unlikely scenario. And yet it’s by far the consensus view. Which, if you’ve been paying attention to consensus views over the past decade (“inflation is transitory,” “ESG is the future,” “commercial real estate is fine”) should tell you something.] The gap between expectations and likely reality remains wide open. For Insider members, you’re familiar with the portfolio positioning and Nasdaq hedge.
What Really Matters
The key variable isn’t whether AI is impressive or useful (it is). The key variable is whether AI becomes a true profit engine or remains a subsidised cost centre dressed up in a hoodie and a TED talk.] If profitable and productivity-enhancing, current valuations are justified and the gravy train keeps chugging. If it remains mostly hype layered over weak economics, spending contracts, hardware cycles extend, and we could have an absolute humdinger of an economic “event.”
A ten-year stagnation would require something extreme: demand dropping significantly, hyperscalers becoming hyposcalers, capital markets wanting nothing to do with AI, and energy remaining expensive — all at once. Stranger things have happened. Just ask anyone who bought Peloton at $170. Almost 50 years of history show this eventually reverts to the mean… and the pendulum swings the other way.

There are known cases of AI models leading kids to suicide.

• Florida Becomes First State To Sue “Unsafe” OpenAI and Sam Altman s(ZH)

OpenAI no longer has to worry about being last in the AI IPO race and lagging ARRs when compared to Anthropic, not to mention a potential Supreme Court showdown against Elon Musk (pending appeal). Earlier today, Florida became the first state to file a lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, launching a new broadside in a growing rebellion against the alleged safety failings of artificial-intelligence chatbots. The lawsuit, filed Monday by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, claims OpenAI and Altman knowingly released an unsafe product and ignored warnings that it could harm users, the WSJ reported.

The 83-page suit alleges that OpenAI allowed ChatGPT to aid and abet mass shooters, encourage people to take their own lives, degrade users’ critical thinking skills and addict minors to a tool that feigns human compassion. “This litany of harms is driven by Defendants’ insatiable quest to win the AI arms race and amass large fortunes, despite knowing the danger of ChatGPT,” the suit said. According to the WSJ, lawmakers, legal authorities and public interest groups have increasingly been raising concerns about the personal and societal risks posed by AI, one of the fastest-growing consumer technologies in history.
The suit says it seeks to protect Floridians from OpenAI’s conduct and mitigate what it describes as a dangerous public nuisance. The suit also seeks to hold Altman personally liable for harm it says he has caused Floridians. Uthmeier opened a criminal investigation into OpenAI in April over the role its chatbot played in a mass shooting that killed two people at Florida State University last year. The suit opens with a screenshot of an OpenAI blog post that says ChatGPT was built with safety in mind. “Not so,” reads the suit’s text under the screenshot.
The suit alleges that OpenAI marketed ChatGPT as reliable despite its tendency to frequently generate dangerous misinformation, which is to be expected from a generative LLM trained on such toxic, liberal cesspools as Reddit and Wikipedia. “ChatGPT was designed by the Defendants to keep users hooked into conversations by any means, regardless of the truth, because it leads to more use of the chatbot, more training data for its improvement, and more market value for OpenAI,” the suit alleges.
The suit also claims the company exploits human compassion to collect user data and lacks necessary safeguards for minors. The suit describes a lack of safeguards in ChatGPT for teens and minors as reckless, and refers to instances of adolescent users being encouraged by AI to take their own lives. The suit says OpenAI created some parental controls, but does not require children’s accounts to be linked to a parent’s account.At FSU, the suspect turned to ChatGPT as a confidant and sounding board to plan the attack. He asked ChatGPT how many classmates he needed to kill to attract n ational media attention, and also how to use a gun. The chatbot promptly dispensed advice for his questions.
Until now ChatGPT has mostly faced litigation over copyright infringement claims. In November, OpenAI was ordered by a federal judge to turn over 20 million anonymized ChatGPT user logs to the NY Times and other newspapers suing the chat giant over its generative AI model. The newspapers had demanded the user logs to inspect how ChatGPT is used to create outputs they say infringe their copyrighted works. OpenAI pushed back, citing privacy concerns.

What do you mean, slow?

• The Slow Disappearance of Cash In Europe (Cláudia Ascensão Nunes)

Under the guise of fighting money laundering, the EU is making anonymous economic activity progressively harder…

Starting in July 2027, Europeans will no longer be allowed to pay businesses or professionals more than €10,000 in cash (roughly $11,500). Any transaction above €3,000 (just under $3,500) will require mandatory customer identification. This is another step toward political uniformity across Europe, stripping countries of autonomy and subtly pushing citizens toward the digital euro. This measure, part of the new Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR), applies directly to all Member States. Under the pretext of fighting money laundering, Brussels is imposing yet another form of forced harmonization that ignores the principle of subsidiarity: the idea that decisions should be made at the level closest to citizens and national governments.
What was once a matter regulated by individual countries is now becoming a uniform mandate from Brussels. This is a thinly disguised restriction not only on political freedom, but above all on economic freedom. Cash remains one of the last truly private means of exchange still available; unlike digital transactions, cash does not automatically create a centralized record accessible to banks or public authorities. The use of cash is often associated with the intention to hide illicit activity. Yet the ability to conduct private and discreet transactions is a natural extension of property rights and freedom of contract. Many law-abiding citizens prefer cash for entirely legitimate reasons, including protection against financial instability or potential capital controls.
From that date onward, professionals will be forced to turn every transaction above €3,000 into a bureaucratic process involving identity verification, data collection, and the risk of penalties. This is yet another regulatory imposition that raises the cost of doing business, similar to the introduction of VAT in Europe decades ago, which pushed many small businesses to close their doors or move into the informal economy because of increased bureaucracy and compliance costs. Small entrepreneurs, already pressured by high taxes and excessive red tape, will once again bear the heaviest burden. What were once simple voluntary exchanges will become sources of additional costs, delays, and state intrusion.
Once again, centralized authorities are creating regulatory complexity under the difficult-to-challenge justification of fighting crime, even though each country already has its own rules in this area. More liberal countries such as Germany will lose flexibility, since they previously had no general limit on cash payments. The uniformity imposed by Brussels ignores cultural differences, particularly differing levels of trust in institutions. In some countries, cash culture remains deeply rooted, and confidence in digital systems is significantly lower.
This measure represents a gradual erosion of individual autonomy. If using cash becomes increasingly inconvenient for merchants and consumers, people will naturally migrate toward digital payments. Over time, this initially convenient shift will make the introduction of the digital euro far easier. It is difficult to believe that it is mere coincidence that these restrictions are scheduled to take effect in July 2027 at roughly the same time the European Central Bank (ECB) plans to launch the first pilots of the digital euro. Cash becomes inconvenient and potentially risky at the same time digital money is presented as the practical alternative.
Once the principle is established that the state can limit private cash transactions, there is a strong tendency for those limits to become progressively stricter. European countries themselves demonstrated this pattern when they still controlled these rules nationally. Belgium, for example, steadily lowered its cash payment ceiling over the years to the current €3,000.
The most likely outcome is that the new European-wide limit of €10,000, which may seem relatively high today, will gradually be reduced further until using cash for most significant transactions becomes impractical. In reality, the vast majority of cash transactions are already well below this threshold. According to studies by the ECB, around 81 percent of all point-of-sale payments are below €25, and cash is predominantly used for small everyday purchases. This means that the €10,000 limit will mainly affect legitimate higher-value transactions, such as the payment of certain professional services that many citizens and small businesses still prefer to carry out in cash.
The digital euro, presented as a complement to cash, will arrive at a moment when cash has already been substantially weakened. Unlike cash, this system is traceable, programmable, and potentially subject to holding limits, expiration mechanisms, or usage restrictions.
China has already offered real-world examples. In several pilots of its digital yuan, authorities tested expiration dates on funds, meaning the money would lose its value if not spent by a certain date. This turns money from a reliable store of value into a tool that encourages spending according to government timelines. Such features demonstrate how programmable digital currencies can be used to control economic behavior, punish saving, and steer consumption in line with state priorities.
These are conditions fundamentally incompatible with the freedom that cash provides. This accelerated yet discreet path toward a fully digital monetary system opens the door to an unprecedented level of financial surveillance and control in European history. By overriding the principle of subsidiarity, it will affect almost the entire continent.
The road to total societal control passes through the restriction of economic freedom.

“The bloc is weakening itself through its economic and military policies, Andrej Babis told the Financial Times”

• EU Following Path of Roman Empire’s Decline – Czech PM (RT)

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has compared the EU to the Roman Empire in its twilight years, arguing that Brussels is weakening the bloc through its economic, climate, and security policies. Babis returned to office in December after his ANO movement won 34.5% of the vote and 80 seats in the 200-member lower house of parliament. Since then, he has positioned himself as a leading advocate of national sovereignty, a reassessment of EU policies, and a more pragmatic approach to Europe’s economic and security challenges. In an interview published on Sunday, Babis accused Brussels of steering the bloc’s economy toward decline through what he called its aggressive decarbonization agenda.

“The EU is now probably on the same road as the end of the Roman empire,” he told the FT. The EU’s push to phase out fossil fuels has become increasingly divisive, with critics in Germany, Italy, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia arguing that climate targets, carbon pricing, and environmental rules are adding to energy costs and weakening industrial competitiveness as governments also face rising defense bills and the economic fallout from the Ukraine conflict. Babis also said Prague would probably miss NATO’s 2% of GDP defense-spending target this year, despite claiming it met it in 2025. He blamed the pressure partly on a deficit left by Petr Fiala’s previous pro-EU government.
The issue feeds into a broader EU debate over dependence on the US, which accounts for around 60% of NATO’s total military spending. President Donald Trump has warned that the US could scale back its role in European defense unless NATO countries significantly increase military spending. The economic pressures, security concerns, and reliance on external military protection underpin Babis’ comparison with ancient Rome.
The Roman Empire’s later centuries were marked by political instability, economic strain, and military overstretch. It became increasingly reliant on foreign troops while struggling to finance its defenses, as trade and economic activity declined and external pressures mounted. The Western Roman Empire formally collapsed in 476 AD when its last emperor was deposed. Political authority fragmented into successor kingdoms, and Europe entered centuries of decentralization and instability.

They squeeze out of Abrego Garcia as much as they can. The Dems havesome strange bedfellows.

• Dubious Opinion on Abrego Garcia, Bar Complaint Against Todd Blanche (Turley)

This week, a public interest group filed an ethics complaint against Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, citing the recent dismissal of a criminal indictment against Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. The ethics complaint is the latest example of the left’s self-perpetuating lawfare machine. Liberal courts and groups first prime allegations against conservatives, which are then eagerly picked up by media and advocacy groups. It is no accident that this hit job on Blanche called upon the New York courts and bar to deliver the coup de grâce.

The New York bar and courts have long been willing allies on lawfare, including abusive charges against President Donald Trump and bar charges against his allies. This case, however, is particularly illustrative of how this system feeds on itself. At base, the complaint focused on a dubious decision by District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr., who dismissed the indictment against Abrego Garcia. The Clinton appointee found in his 32-page order that the prosecution was vindictive. However, Judge Crenshaw spent relatively little time actually addressing the evidence against Abrego Garcia, who was allegedly an associate of the vicious MS-13 gang in years of human trafficking.
Vindictive prosecution claims are notoriously difficult to prove. (I know because I have tried it as a criminal defense attorney). Under cases such as United States v. Goodwin (1982), you must show that the charges “could not be justified as a proper exercise of prosecutorial discretion.” In both cases of selective and vindictive prosecutions, the Supreme Court has recognized that, as the court explained in 1962, “the conscious exercise of some selectivity in enforcement is not in itself a federal constitutional violation.” Moreover, in United States v. Armstrong, a case involving alleged selective prosecution, Chief Justice Rehnquist stressed that there is a ‘’presumption of regularity” in criminal cases.
There was ample reason for Abrego Garcia to have been charged entirely separate from any retaliatory or vindictive purpose. According to his indictment, Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13 and allegedly conspired with six others to “transport and move aliens” illegally into and throughout the country starting in 2016. This included alleged smuggling into the country of known “MS-13 members and associates.” The government accused him of over 100 such trips in specially outfitted vehicles as well as transporting firearms and narcotics. One witness testified that he had to warn Abrego Garcia against abusing some of the female aliens because it was “bad for business.” (Garcia was also previously charged with spousal abuse).
Judge Crenshaw, however, focused on the decision-making after Abrego Garcia was brought back from a deportation to El Salvador. I was one of those who wrote that he had to be returned in light of prior court orders. However, there were obvious reasons why, after he was returned, prosecutors decided to proceed with charges for his alleged criminal conduct in the United States. Crenshaw’s decision simply works too hard to find a basis for dismissing the indictment and will now be appealed. In my view, it is likely to be reversed. However, in the interim, the same voices are being heard for the disbarment or punishment of Blanche in New York where a Trump association is treated as far more incriminating than an MS-13 association.
It is fair to note that the Trump Administration has undermined its own position in denouncing lawfare by pursuing past critics, including dubious prosecutions over seashell threats against James Comey. However, that does not have bearing on the merits of the claim against Blanche or the dismissal of the Abrego Garcia indictment. The rage in New York has certainly not ebbed. There are ample rage addicts to applaud such claims inside the Bar. However, there are indicators that lawfare no longer holds the same cachet it once did.
Take Rep. Dan Goldman, who is fast becoming the Marie Antoinette of New York politics. Goldman was elected a few years ago on his pledge to investigate all things Trump and is still running on a “let-them-eat-impeachments” platform. In the meantime, his opponent, Mamdani-endorsed housing advocate Brad Lander, is running on bread-and-butter issues. Lander is reportedly 20 points ahead in the polls.
There is still hope that the New York courts and bar will restore a degree of apolitical, objective integrity to their ranks. The odds are still much greater that Blanche will stay in the bar than that Abrego Garcia will stay in the country. However, it is telling to see which of the two is being cheered on by the left.

“A sane society cannot debate its way out of psychosis. It must diagnose the patient with lethal precision and restore the ancient boundary between the mad and the free.” —LHGrey on X

• Psychodrama (James Howard Kunstler)

When you watch video of the shenanigans at the Delaney Hall ICE building in Newark, NJ, you must suspect you’re seeing a hopped-up political vaudeville act. Freaky as the “protesters” may be — with their tatts and piercings, gummi bear hair color, rolls of blubber, perpetually hoisted cell phones, drums, whistles, and pitiful umbrellas — they are no less actors than Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney out in Hollywood. The Delaney Hall mobbers are allegedly paid by someone or some entity. You’d think the authorities and the news media would be racing to find out who that is.

But, so far, no official announcements and, wouldn’t you know, The New York Times did not even report on doings over there in its Monday morning edition. Independent reporter Nick Sortor, undercover in Antifi garb, discovered their “craft services” tent adjacent to the action in the industrial wasteland where Delaney Hall stands next to the reeking Passaic River. The tent was full of riot gear, tactical supplies, snacks, energy drinks, hot meals (lasagna!) delivered on the hour, first aid supplies, and other “protester necessities,” as if the siege of Delaney Hall was a major Hollywood production shoot.
Anyway, after days of freaks and geeks playacting “oppression” at Delaney Hall, the New Jersey riot cops showed up, including the mounted cavalry, and stuffed several busloads with arrested “protesters,” many of them from out-of-state. Did they bother to interview the folks manning the craft services tent to inquire what organization was paying for all the merch? Isn’t it about time for whoever is signing those checks to get indicted for fomenting and abetting insurrection?
The Democratic Party is reduced to psychodrama, and the nature of psychodrama is that it’s about nothing — nothing real, at least. It’s all concocted sound-and-fury to give the (false) impression that some injustice is occurring. In the case of Delaney Hall, a holding facility for illegal border-jumpers awaiting deportation, the alleged injustice is “unsanitary conditions, inadequate food, poor medical care, and physical and psychological torture.” In reality, conditions there are arguably better than the average Motel 8. Many of the inmates are murderers and rapists, of course, the worst of the worst.
You might suppose that the objective of the melodrama at Delaney Hall was to create another martyr a la Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti out in Minneapolis this past winter. Those two unfortunate dupes were induced by the party script to FAFO, leading to their tragic and pointless deaths. Alas, the incidents failed to incite the sort of national uprising that the Lefty-left will not stop seeking.
And now summer is nearly here and (the old song goes) “the time is right for dancing in the streets.” Or, rather, fighting in the streets. The time is also right for the FBI and the DOJ to shut down the funny money supply line for it, and it’s hard to figure now how they might fail to do that. The Delaney Hall arrests give them a vast opportunity to debrief the players, find out exactly how these stunts are being organized.

Tell them to stay home and count the geraniums.

• Jill Biden’s Memoir Is Going to Tear the Democrats Apart (Margolis)

The Bidens want to restore Joe Biden’s legacy after his disastrous presidency and his Hindenburg-style campaign collapse, and phase one is Jill Biden’s forthcoming memoir. The next step will be Joe Biden’s inevitable presidential memoir, which is sure to have quite a few doozies in it, but for now, we have Jill’s, and if she thought her book would “set the record straight” and the Democrat Party would be thrilled, well, that’s not what’s happening at all. Instead, it’s setting the Democrat Party on fire — and the people most enraged are the ones who spent years covering for Joe Biden.

According to Axios, several former Biden aides, including some of the most loyal ones, are furious about the former first lady’s efforts to rewrite history. Jill’s book, by all accounts, does what the Bidens have always done: point the finger everywhere except at the mirror. “The throughline between her book and [Kamala] Harris’ is that they blame everyone but themselves for the loss,” one former aide said. And another put it even more bluntly. “It’s just so selfish. The Bidens preached selflessness and service above all — and every decision they’ve made since he decided to run for reelection has been about themselves.” Ouch, that’s quite the indictment. And it’s coming from people who worked for the man.
The central tension in all of this is the June 2024 CNN debate with President Donald Trump. That was the night America watched Joe Biden visibly struggle to complete a coherent thought on a national stage. In one night, the liberal media, which had spent years pretending that Joe Biden was as sharp as a tack, could no longer pretend everything was okay. As PJ Media previously reported, Jill Biden claimed she thought Joe was having a stroke and cleverly suggested that her husband had never acted like that before or since.
Even former Obama aide Tommy Vietor couldn’t ignore the contradiction: if Jill Biden genuinely feared her husband was having a medical emergency on live television, why did the campaign proceed with the post-debate schedule? Joe went to a rally. Then he went to a Waffle House. Nobody called a doctor. Nobody pumped the brakes. That’s not the sign of a campaign thinking that Joe was having a medical issue.
Co-host Jon Favreau said he was “triggered” by the book’s framing and didn’t hold back. He rejected the idea that Democratic voters would simply forgive and forget by 2028. Voters, he argued, resent “being f***ing lied to by Joe Biden, Jill Biden and their entire f***ing campaign.”And the lying wasn’t just about one bad debate night. It was about Biden’s overall condition, the campaign’s internal polling, and a years-long effort to gaslight anyone who raised concerns. Critics who expressed worry were dismissed as “bedwetters.” Now, Favreau says, Joe Biden is essentially confirming by his own admissions that “they were lying the whole time.”
Which, of course, is exactly what conservatives were saying all along. How about that? Writer Zaid Jilani argued that it is “an underrated factor in how distrusted Democrats are that they systematically lied about Biden’s condition and in some cases still are.” Favreau agreed. The 2024 Democratic National Committee autopsy never even addressed Biden’s age or declining health as factors in Kamala’s defeat, a glaring omission that made it clear the party had zero interest in conducting an honest reckoning and was instead engaged in another cover-up.
The Bidens are now planning additional book appearances and campaign stops ahead of the 2026 midterms. Bad timing for the Democrats? You bet. Obviously, some Democrats wish they would just go away. One former official summed up the sentiment with barely concealed exhaustion: “I just wish they would give some more time and space and let people move on. It all feels so disingenuous.” The left-wing media is freaking out about the Biden book tour for two reasons. First, it reminds voters of the great deception, and that’s not good for Democrats at all. Second, they were all part of the deception, too, and they would really rather move on than get called out on it.

Remember, 51 signatorees. All willingly lied. Can we take their pensions away?

• Ex-intel Official: Hunter Biden Laptop Letter Was Deception Operation (Turley)

A former senior intelligence community official under President Barack Obama reported concerns earlier this year that the Hunter Biden laptop letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials in 2020 bore characteristics “consistent with coordinated intelligence deception operations,” according to a memo the ex-official submitted to the intelligence community inspector general. The concerns have now been referred to the Justice Department, a remarkable turnabout for a letter that was used six years ago to censor factually based concerns about Biden family corruption.

The October 2020 open letter–released as voters were making final decisions about whether to reelect Trump or elect Democrat Joe Biden–was signed by ex-intelligence officials including former National Intelligence Director James Clapper, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former CIA Director John Brennan. Thomas Kuhns, the former official who submitted the memo recently to the Intelligence Community Inspector General, was a Senior Intelligence Officer and former advisor to the Deputy Director of National Intelligence during the Obama administration.
Kuhns told the inspector general that most of his career in government centered on maintaining the Intelligence Community’s analytic and integrity standards. “This assessment is not a political statement. It is based on the research and analysis of testified behavior, language choices, omissions, coordination, and effects attributable to intelligence tradecraft,” Kuhns wrote in a memo to the ICIG hotline, which was obtained by Just the News. Pro-Biden advocates warned that the public reporting on the contents of Hunter Biden’s personal laptop bore the “hallmarks of a Russian information operation.”
Then-candidate Joe Biden used the letter to fend off public criticism about his son’s overseas business dealings, drug use, and alleged influence peddling “This analysis is grounded in my expertise applying analytic integrity standards and intelligence tradecraft to evaluate raw and finished intelligence assessments/judgements. Those standards provide a framework to identify politicization, bias, and analytic weaknesses, as well as to identify whether intelligence tradecraft itself has been misapplied or misused,” he continued.

“The dancing bots are a warning, not a toy.”

• Aww Look At The Cute Dancing Robot Police State Surveillance Dog…(MN)

Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot dogs are being deployed at designated World Cup venues in the US to perform perimeter security inspections, prompting concerns over the advance of surveillance tech.The company has stated that the machines “will be used to assist security personnel with investigating things like suspicious packages or other potentially hazardous materials.” These four-legged fiends are set to roam, and even dance (oh how cute) around AT&T Stadium in Dallas and other FIFA sites ahead of the 2026 tournament, sending live feeds back to human teams with their 360-degree cameras, thermal sensors, acoustic pickups, and AI anomaly detection.

These are the new Boston Dynamics Spot robots deployed in Dallas for the 2026 FIFA World Cup

They are being used for security at World Cup venues in the Dallas area

Their jobs include:

– Perimeter security inspections
– Assisting with suspicious packages or hazardous materials… pic.twitter.com/rLsl2wnFuA
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) May 30, 2026

“The robots do not have facial recognition capabilities,” a Boston Dynamics spokesperson told WFAA, insisting they spot unauthorized people in restricted zones without utilising facial scans for now, after a viral TikTok video made the claim. Hyundai, the South Korean owner of Boston Dynamics and major FIFA sponsor, added the bots “will support on-site security operations, helping contribute to a safer tournament environment.”But peel back the puppy-like head tilts and choreographed spins and you see the real rollout: tireless mechanical sentries normalizing constant surveillance on American soil. They look fun today at the soccer spectacle expecting half a million visitors.
Tomorrow the same platforms patrol streets, malls, and events nationwide, always watching, always recording. This isn’t some isolated gimmick. It’s fast becoming commonplace in cities such as Atlanta, where robot security dogs prowl apartment complexes and parking lots issuing verbal commands to citizens. Recent videos show residents greeting the units politely and complying instantly – only for the bot to still summon real police anyway. The voice responding through the speaker carries a clear foreign accent. Speculation is rife that the live operators controlling these machines and watching every feed sit thousands of miles away in India.
Another viral clip captured locals staring down the mechanical intruder with a classic line that perfectly summed it up. These aren’t fully autonomous terminators yet. Real people – often overseas – sit at consoles staring at your every move through the robot’s eyes and ears, deciding when to hit the siren or dial American cops on you. Your privacy, your neighborhood, your compliance all funneled through foreign call-center eyes. Data stored, analyzed, potentially shared who-knows-where. Ordinary citizens get lectured by a machine whose controller doesn’t even live in the country.
The same quadruped platform that dances cutely for World Cup selfies or patrols Atlanta lots is already being militarized abroad. Just weeks earlier, footage emerged of China unleashing machine-gun-toting robot wolves engineered with a shared “collective brain” that lets them hunt and coordinate in simulated street battles. These pack-hunting death machines storm positions, clear entire urban blocks in minutes, and spare human troops the risk while turning dissent or resistance into target practice. Non-military versions are even for sale to civilians. While American cities outsource low-level enforcement to remote foreign operators who record and report on citizens, China turns the same tech into lethal swarms ready for real conflict.
The cute dancing dog at the stadium today carries the same sensors and mobility as tomorrow’s enforcer. Denials about “no facial recognition” ring hollow when software upgrades and off-the-shelf AI can bolt it on. The hardware is already here. The willingness to expand its role grows every time the public shrugs and scrolls past another viral clip. While this tech supposedly keeps big events “safe,” everyday Americans already endure open-border chaos, rising crime in blue cities, and government agencies that treat citizens as the threat. Surely the real priority should be securing the actual border, deporting criminals, and backing law enforcement that answers to voters – not handing patrol duties to remote-operated spy dogs whose operators answer to foreign paychecks.
Once these machines become commonplace, backed by endless camera grids and AI flags, the slide into a permission-based society accelerates. Move along when the robot says so. Stay out of the restricted zone it defines. Don’t question the system streaming your life overseas. The dancing bots are a warning, not a toy. Freedom means rejecting the slow normalization of this dystopian show on American streets. Push back now, demand human accountability and constitutional limits, or watch the cute dancing routine quickly morph into a demand for compliance.

96.

• Happy Birthday, Clint Eastwood — and a Happy Retirement, Too (Stephen Green)

Clint Eastwood retired so quietly that I didn’t even notice until his birthday came around this weekend, and for the first time in my lifetime — almost my parents’ lifetimes for that matter — that there isn’t a Clint Eastwood movie in production. Well, maybe just one. But I’ll come back to that in a moment. The Hollywood legend turned 96 on Sunday, making him more than a third as old as the Republic itself. He was born in 1930, just as the Great Depression was really getting going. His first screen appearance was an uncredited role in 1955’s Revenge of the Creature, the quickie sequel The Creature From the Black Lagoon. Small parts on TV and movies followed, until his starring role as Rowdy Yates on the long-running TV western, Rawhide.

Movie stardom eluded Eastwood until he traveled to Italy to headline as Joe in Sergio Leone’s classic spaghetti western, A Fistful of Dollars. He quickly became one of the big screen’s biggest draws, but as the old Hollywood cliche goes, what he really wanted to do was direct. And produce. And continue those starring roles. Seriously, the man is a machine.His first directorial outing was 1971’s Play Misty for Me, which scarred the crap out of me when I saw it on TV as a kid and scarred me even more when I finally watched it again as an adult. That film allowed Eastwood his first public expression of his lifelong love for jazz, culminating in his 1988 Charlie Parker biopic, Bird.
He made no fewer than five Dirty Harry movies, but also blew the character apart by showing us what a rogue cop might look like in real life with the criminally underappreciated Tightrope in 1984. The man who helped reimagine westerns in the 1960s with Leone reimagined them again in 1992 with Unforgiven — and by then he was already in his 60s, with another 30-plus years of moviemaking ahead of him. In 2004, he finally won a belated second Best Director Oscar for Million Dollar Baby. For my money, Eastwood should have, or at least could have, also won for Play Misty, Bird, and Gran Torino. But he didn’t often make the kind of BIG IMPORTANT MOVIES that Academy members feel like they’re supposed to vote for.
Eastwood just made damn good movies, and his pictures typically came in on schedule and under budget. He rarely budgeted for big money or long shoots. That’s one reason that, despite directing 40-some movies and taking some serious chances along the way, he only made a handful that lost money. Did I mention he’s a machine? And while Eastwood might be done acting and directing, he still has one more upcoming producer credit on IMDB, a remake of his 1977 action classic, The Gauntlet— with Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johansson attached. But this is starting to sound like an obituary, when what I wanted to do was wish the man (not a machine, really) a happy birthday and a satisfying retirement.
So let’s talk about that for just a moment. Around the time of 2012’s Trouble With the Curve, I started joking that Eastwood — already 82 — would never retire. My prediction-disguised-as-a-joke was that he’d die on the set of some new movie, and would be working so hard that he wouldn’t notice until St. Peter cleared his throat at him. But Eastwood did quietly retire after 2024’s Juror #2, although I’m not sure his heart was really in it. The picture raised a tough moral question, without preaching and without any comforting answers. I still think about that flick sometimes, and can’t wait to go back to it.
With a solid cast — Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Kiefer Sutherland, and J.K. Simmons — and a modest budget, Juror #2 was exactly the kind of taut, engrossing, and clever thriller Eastwood was known for directing, going all the way back to Misty. But Hollywood murdered Eastwood’s murder-trial flick. First, Warner Bros. spent maybe $18 on marketing. Me — a lifelong Eastwood fan — only heard of it by accident, and not until it had already ended its theatrical run. It had maybe a two-week theatrical run. On fewer than 50 screens.
Even though Juror #2 was considered good enough to cap off the 38th annual AFI Fest — the longest-running film festival in Los Angeles — that’s as much backing as Warner gave it before dumping it to rent on streaming. Even then, you had to squint like Clint to find it. Is that any way to treat one of Hollywood’s most storied names, who just made a $30 million picture with a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes?
Maybe it was belated payback for that Empty Chair bit Eastwood did for Mitt Romney at the 2012 Republican National Convention, I don’t know. I might hang it up after that, too, even if I did still have another picture or three left in me. So let me say this directly on his belated 96th birthday. Mr. Eastwood, if Warner’s poor treatment drove you into an early retirement — if “early” could be at all appropriate for a career as long as yours — then I’ll miss like hell the films you didn’t get to make. But there are an awful lot of us who still appreciate you for all the ones you did.
Happy birthday.

True https://t.co/sKtaF2breQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2026

Tesla IPO market cap was 0.1% of its current value https://t.co/UhlqbkauzX
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2026

https://twitter.com/BabyNetworkNews/status/2061489774968369601?s=20 https://twitter.com/Mick_O_Keeffe/status/2061101275610038509?s=20

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Debt Rattle May 19 2026

May 192026

May 19, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:09 am Finance Tagged with: election fraud, Germenny, Gulf states, Hormuz, immigration, Iran, midterms, nuclear, OpenAI, Russia, Spain 22 Responses »

John Atkinson Grimshaw A moonlit lane 1874

• Trump: Holding Off ‘Planned’ Attack On Iran At Request Of Gulf Allies (ZH)

• Gulf States Negotiating with Iran (CTH)

• Iran Will ‘Under No Circumstances’ Give Up Nuclear Program To End War (ZH)

• Trump China Trip, Canada/EU Conflict and 2026 Midterm Positioning (CTH)

• Multiple 2020 Election Fraud Investigations in Georgia and Arizona (Margolis)

• ‘Smartest Guy’ In the Belatedly Realizes Trump’s Relevance (Morrissey)

• Democrats Face Midterm Disappointment (Daniel McCarthy)

• As Student Scores Plummet, Teachers’ Union Head Rants Against Trump (Salgado)

• We’ve Been Taking Down Some Really Bad Guys Lately (Anderson)

• Judge Dismisses Musk’s OpenAI Lawsuit After Jury Reaches Verdict (ZH)

• The Too-Long Goodbye (James Howard Kunstler)

• Germany Fears Next Migration Wave (ZH)

• Secretary Marco Rubio Delivers Message of National Faith (CTH)

pic.twitter.com/UJQsfy40hK
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 18, 2026

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2056410099137073194?s=20

True https://t.co/82gBZNh2Pk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2026

https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2056111745282785295?s=20

Dear @DAGToddBlanche

Addressing your question as to WHY.

Why did the outgoing @BarackObama administration do what they did to me, President @realDonaldTrump, our country, and many others whose lives were turned upside down?

The short answer is because they could.

The… https://t.co/F7QOMUie85
— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) May 18, 2026

https://twitter.com/mcucolo57/status/2056334846515925229?s=20 https://twitter.com/GOP_is_Gutless/status/2056121534993838325?s=20

There’s movement.

• Trump: Holding Off ‘Planned’ Attack On Iran At Request Of Gulf Allies (ZH)

Trump ‘Not Open’ to Any Concessions for Tehran: NYP Interview
Another repetition of the weeks-long stale-mated reality: …so Trump is ‘not open’ to any concessions, but Iran deal happening ‘soon’ – we are yet again told, as the Iranians themselves haven’t appeared to budge on anything. President Trump told The NY Post on Monday he is “not open” to any concessions for Tehran after receiving the latest disappointing Iranian response on peace deal talks. Highlights: And in an ominous foreshadowing, Trump said Iran knows “what’s going to be happening soon.”
In the brief phone interview The Post, Trump seemingly shut the door to Iran’s Sunday offer for a diplomatic talks. Asked about his Friday remark that he’d be willing to accept a 20-year moratorium on Iranian uranium enrichment, Trump interjected: “I’m not open to anything right now.”The president declined to get into any detail. “I can’t really talk to you about it. Too many things are happening,” he said. “I can tell you they want to make a deal more than ever, because they know we’re—what’s going to be happening soon,” Trump said.
Questioned about regional source claims that Iran is attempting to “wait out” Washington on both the nuclear issue and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said he “hadn’t heard that.”
US Denies Tasnim Report It Agreed to Lift Iran Oil Sanctions
And the denials keep rolling in. First via CNBC:
A U.S. official tells me the Iranian state media report that the U.S. has agreed to lift oil sanctions while talks are ongoing is false. https://t.co/gOcyBKDAxC
— Megan Cassella (@mmcassella) May 18, 2026

…as the US side does not seem very confidently in control of the situation – quite the opposite:

Senior U.S. official: "It's time for the Iranians to throw bit of candy out. We need some real, sturdy, and granular conversation [regarding the nuclear program]. If that's not gonna happen, we will have a conversation through bombs, which will be a shame" https://t.co/qTNrY1fgoN
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 18, 2026

Just like that, back to square zero once again we go… and back to headline roulette.
US PLANS NEW RUSSIAN OIL WAIVER AS IRAN WAR CRUNCHES SUPPLIES
US DENIES REPORT IT AGREED TO LIFT IRAN OIL SANCTIONS: CNBC
Steady climb in oil continues on the denials…

New moves.

• Gulf States Negotiating with Iran (CTH)

President Trump announced on Truth Social that he is delaying further strikes against Iran pending current negotiations with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. According to the announcement the Gulf States are negotiating a ‘zero nuclear’ position.

This is an interesting development as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were previously the ones urging President Trump not to halt the military pressure campaign.
PRESIDENT TRUMP – “I have been asked by the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to hold off on our planned Military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow, in that serious negotiations are now taking place, and that, in their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond. This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN! Based on my respect for the above mentioned Leaders, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, The Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Daniel Caine, and The United States Military, that we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow, but have further instructed them to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

“It also seems Russia’s offer to take and temporarily hold Iran’s enriched uranium is being taken seriously. ”

• Iran Will ‘Under No Circumstances’ Give Up Nuclear Program To End War (ZH)

In a far too familiar pattern, just before US market open on Monday, a slew of optimistic Iran headlines saw oil erase weekend gains, which mostly came through Saudi Arabia’s state-funded Al Arabiya, as well as Reuters… only to be followed by Iranian officials rejecting the substance of these reports, putting things firmly back at square one. nTasnim has newly cited Iranian government sources who seek to make clear that “Iran under no circumstances” will engage in new nuclear negotiations for an end to the war. Contradicting the earlier morning reports, it still sees negotiations to find peace in the war with the US as separate from the nuclear file. “Fundamental differences between the Iranian and American texts still remain”, Tasnim reports, citing a source.

“Despite some changes in the new American text, fundamental differences stemming from the Americans’ exaggeration and lack of realism remain,” Tasnim writes, citing the Iranian source. According to more of the statements per state media:
“Iran will not abandon its firm and principled positions on ending the war and realizing the rights of the Iranian people”.
“Iran’s frozen assets must be returned to the Iranian people in a transparent and definitive manner, and paper promises are of no use”.
“Despite some promises, there is disagreement about the return of the frozen funds”.
“Iran’s determination regarding the necessity of paying compensation by the Americans for the military aggression against Iran is very serious”.
“The Americans are far from Iran’s demands regarding its amount and some other issues.”
“the Americans are still trying to tie the negotiations to end the war to the nuclear issue, which is against logic and Iran will not agree to it. The Americans must understand that Iran will in no way agree to an end to the war in return for nuclear commitments”.
“Iran has not and does not have any intention of building nuclear weapons, and this claim is just an excuse and deception by the Americans. This issue has also been emphasized in the new text”.

Oil reacted as expected to this official ‘denial’ of the prior optimism – quickly rebounding, also as Trump is said to be “losing patience” with the progress of talks. A US source has told Al Jazeera Iran has “days not weeks” to show progress.
Tasnim: Another Iranian Ship Breaks Through US Blockade Line
Iranian state media is claiming that a Iranian oil tanker under US sanctions that was off the coast of India two weeks ago has now docked at Kharg Island, having broken through the US naval blockade. Tasnim reports that “the LPG tanker passed through the US blockade line undetected and entered Iranian waters.”
The Pentagon has been asserting an essentially airtight blockade on ‘illicit’ ships going to or from Iranian ports. CENTCOM has said it has turned around at least 75 vessels, while Iranian media has since the blockade’s start touted several ships making it through.
Long-Term Nuclear Freeze on Table
Saudi state-owned Al Arabiya early Monday has issued a bombshell if true (but still very much not officially confirmed), reporting that Iran has agreed to a long-term nuclear freeze instead of a complete dismantling. The outlet also reports that Iran has withdrawn its demand for compensation, instead demanding economic concessions. However, this could be highly dubious, given over the past several days Tehran has not shown willingness to back down from this demand of compensation.
It also seems Russia’s offer to take and temporarily hold Iran’s enriched uranium is being taken seriously. Here are the alleged “leaks” of the working draft peace document: “Working on a condition transfer of enriched uranium to Russia instead of the US.
Seeking multiple international guarantees for any agreement.
Wants Pakistan and Oman to have a ‘role’ in any ‘clash’ in the Strait of Hormuz.
Seeking a political formation that allows Iran to save face.
Separate the maritime route from nuclear issues.
Oil pushes lower on the additional headlines, following initial reports that the US would lift sanctions on Iranian oil during the negotiating period…

”Barbara Boyd from Promethean Action PAC gives her take on the current situation.”

• Trump China Trip, Canada/EU Conflict and 2026 Midterm Positioning (CTH)

Barbara Boyd Recaps Trump China Trip, Canada/EU Conflict and 2026 Midterm Positioning

Barbara Boyd from Promethean Action PAC gives her take on the current situation.
“Barbara Boyd argues the key outcome of Trump’s China visit was the personal trust between Trump and Xi, symbolized by Xi’s “secret garden” tour previously reserved for Putin, and framed as establishing guardrails for U.S.–China strategic and tech competition amid the Iran war and energy geopolitics. She says London and Democrats are “screaming” because Trump is reshaping global economic relationships while Treasury Secretary Bessent lifts U.S. sanctions on Russian exports.
The episode targets Mark Carney and Keir Starmer as City of London figures who tried to capture China finance, advance BRICS as a dollar alternative, promote a synthetic reserve currency via CBDCs, and steer $130T through green finance—efforts Boyd says have failed as Trump reverses “Green New Deal” policies. She highlights DOJ election-rigging probes, renewed scrutiny of “Russiagate,” anti-fraud prosecutions, voter backlash, and insurgent politics in Los Angeles and London.”

The machine has started,

• Multiple 2020 Election Fraud Investigations in Georgia and Arizona (Margolis)

In recent weeks, Trump officials have been promising that bombshell evidence regarding 2020 election fraud would be coming. Both FBI Director Kash Patel and Monica Crowley, the U.S. government’s chief of protocol, have said as much. On Sunday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche sat down with Maria Bartiromo and confirmed that the Department of Justice has multiple active investigations into election fraud, specifically targeting Arizona and Georgia’s Fulton County.

Blanche didn’t hedge. He didn’t offer the usual bureaucratic non-answer. He said it directly: “Well, there’s a ton of evidence that the election was rigged. That’s not something the DOJ needs to tell you about. There’s been evidence about that for many, many years. What I can tell you is that we have multiple investigations going on in Arizona, in Georgia, in Fulton County, Georgia.”
The questions driving those investigations are fundamental ones that, frankly, should have been asked and answered years ago. Why is it taking so long? Blanche addressed that head-on, too. “They’re very good at hiding misconduct and hiding — hiding what they’re doing,” he said. “And so that’s why we’re very focused on finding out whether the right people voted, whether people who were supposed to vote voted, whether there was one vote cast per voter.”
Blanche acknowledged the frustration building among Americans who’ve been waiting years for accountability. “People will say to me, how long has it taken? Why is it taking so long?” he said. “And the reality, the answer to that is because it takes a lot of work to uncover what happened in 2020.” This makes sense. Democrats put a lot of effort into perpetuating the myth that the 2020 election was “the most secure election in history,” and went to great lengths to silence those who dared even to question the official narrative.
Obviously, those responsible for the kind of shenanigans we saw take place in 2020 aren’t just going to leave the evidence lying around. It takes, as Blanche put it, “good old-fashioned law enforcement police work” to get the job done. And we all know that had President Donald Trump not won the 2024 election, there wouldn’t even be an investigation. The Biden DOJ spent four years telling Americans there was nothing to see here. The Trump DOJ is at least willing to look. Whether these investigations produce indictments, a public report, or something else entirely, but FBI Director Kash Patel did say last month that accountability was coming. “We are going to be making arrests, and it’s coming, and I promise you, it’s coming soon,” Patel said.
And Blanche made a promise. “I assure you, I assure the American people that as soon as we have something to say for it, whether it’s charges, whether it’s a report, whether it’s the results of an investigation, the American people will learn about what we’ve uncovered.” Trump promised us that he’d get answers about what really happened in 2020, and you can bet that is one of the main reasons they tried so hard to put him in prison before the election. The truth is coming out, and they can’t do a thing about it.

The bitterest guy. Sore loser.

• ‘Smartest Guy’ In the Belatedly Realizes Trump’s Relevance (Morrissey)

True enough. But to be fair, Politico only realized it belatedly, too.

Donald Trump finally got his revenge on Bill Cassidy this weekend. The incumbent Senator tried to survive a primary challenge with Trump pushing voters to give him the boot over Cassidy’s impeachment removal vote in January 2021. Instead, Cassidy came in a distant third to Julia Letlow and John Fleming, not even breaking into six figures in vote totals: Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict President Donald Trump on impeachment charges in 2021, has lost his Republican primary in Louisiana, as two challengers who had aligned with Trump advanced to a runoff.
Rep. Julia Letlow, who had Trump’s endorsement in the race, will face state Treasurer John Fleming in a June 27 primary runoff, NBC News projects. Cassidy’s loss further cements Trump’s grip on the GOP as the president looks to exact revenge against Republicans who have crossed him in the past. And it also means another Republican who voted to convict Trump during his 2021 impeachment will not be returning to Congress next year. Cassidy offered a bitter valediction to his political career, and also complained about being “attacked on the internet”:
“Let me just set the record straight, our country is not about one individual,” Cassidy later added. “It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution. And it is the welfare of my people and my state and my country and our Constitution, to which I am loyal. And if someone doesn’t understand that, and attempts to control others through using the levers of power, they are about serving themselves. They’re not about serving us. And that person is not qualified to be a leader.” Cassidy also noted that he has been “attacked on the internet.”
“Insults only bother me if they come from somebody of character and integrity, and I find that people of character and integrity don’t spend their time attacking people on the internet,” Cassidy said. Ahem. Being “attacked on the internet” comes with the territory, and not just for politicians in elections, either. If Cassidy is this sensitive, he should return to practicing medicine. Unsurprisingly, this did not dissuade Trump from sharing his joy at Cassidy’s failure:
Bill Cassidy, after falsely using his “relationship” with me during his political career, and winning Elections because of it, voted to impeach me on preposterous charges that were fake then, and now, are criminally insane! His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of legend, and it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER! I’d like to thank the Great People of the State of Louisiana, and this Big Victory will only make me work even harder for your success, and all that comes with it. I LOVE YOU ALL. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP.
Cassidy spent five years insisting that the vote was old news. Voters just reached the same conclusion about Cassidy. Once again, this demonstrates the pull that Trump has with Republican voters – not just a small subset of GOP voters, but the party’s mainstream. Not even Cassidy’s “massive war chest” immunized him from accountability, Politico noted, another belated recognition of that outlet of the same lesson Cassidy just learned:
It’s a massive warning sign for any Republicans who’ve provoked the president’s wrath: Trump’s revenge campaign has already mobilized voters in both Indiana, where he successfully ousted several state GOP senators over redistricting, and Saturday night in Louisiana. Tuesday’s primaries in Georgia and Kentucky, where Rep. Thomas Massie is up for reelection and he’s picked sides in the open Senate race, will be another test. Now, the president is entering those races with the wind at his back.
Cassidy’s distant third-place finish marks the end of his tenure in the Senate, one that was doomed by his vote to convict Trump on impeachment charges related to the Jan. 6 insurrection five years ago. That decision ostracized him from Louisiana’s rabidly conservative base and set up two strong primary challengers in Rep. Julia Letlow — the Trump-endorsed candidate — and MAGA-friendly state Treasurer John Fleming. Up until polls closed, Cassidy maintained that his massive war chest, his record in Congress and a high turnout of non-party voters would be enough to save him. I
n the end, it was not. “For a man with such a formidable intellect, his political strategy was breathtakingly dense,” said Lionel Rainey, a Louisiana GOP strategist, who is unaffiliated with any of the campaigns. “History will remember Bill Cassidy as the absolute smartest guy in the political morgue.”

I can see the Dems losing bitterly. What are their strengths? Not being Trump?

• Democrats Face Midterm Disappointment (Daniel McCarthy)

As they look to the midterm elections, Republicans have reason to worry — but not despair. They’re going to be fighting uphill all the way to hold onto their majority in the House, which they currently control by the razor-thin margin of just six seats. That includes one member, California Rep. Kevin Kiley, who officially left the GOP but still caucuses with the party. “Fragile” hardly does justice to the state of the GOP’s House majority. Democrats look at President Donald Trump’s approval ratings and exult: As of early May, exactly six months before the midterms, Trump’s approval in the RealClearPolitics polling averages was an anemic 40.7%, and since then polls have shown him slipping further.

Democrats took more than 40 House seats from the GOP in the 2018 midterms, when Trump’s numbers were a little better: RealClear’s aggregate notched him at 43.6% approval the day before the election. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is just counting down the days until he becomes speaker. What could go wrong? Two things might yet thwart Jeffries’ ambitions. One is the Supreme Court, which has overturned the race-based approach to drawing congressional districts that long served to protect Democratic incumbents and carve out blue seats in red states. The court also slapped down Democrats’ attempts to get the federal judiciary to toss out a Virginia Supreme Court decision that killed their dreams of gerrymandering away four Republican seats in that state.
As things stand, when all the mid-decade redistricting across the country is finished, Republicans stand to gain up to 10 House seats. Though they have to remember what they’re actually getting is more Republican-leaning district maps — they still have to close the deal with voters. But even if they do, 10 more seats won’t stop a wave like the one that swept away the Republican House majority Trump enjoyed at the start of his first term. Yet the second barrier Democrats will have to overcome is that voters just don’t behave the way they used to: For nearly a quarter of a century, the American public exhibited wild swings in party preference in House elections, creating midterm waves in 1994, 2006, 2010 and 2018.
But 2022 broke the pattern: Joe Biden’s aggregate approval in the polls was at 42.2%, and Republicans expected a massive swing in their direction — yet they didn’t get it, just as Democrats got no boost in the House two years earlier despite their success in the 2020 presidential election. Biden claimed record numbers of voters in his race, yet Democrats actually lost seats in the House that year. Trump’s victory in 2024 also didn’t bring about much change in the House; Republicans lost two seats.nnIn other words, the last three elections — in 2020, 2022 and 2024 — have told a tale of surprising stability, with only small adjustments to the numbers of Republicans and Democrats in the House, leading to nerve-rackingly narrow margins of control for each party.
Jeffries should be careful what he wishes for. He might wind up with only a slender majority, one that could be lost if too many geriatric Democrats die in office. As of a year ago, more than 50 House Democrats were over the age of 70. Three have since died. Republicans don’t have quite as many elderly members in the House, but so small is the GOP majority that even a single maverick member like Thomas Massie can threaten to derail major legislation or trigger new elections for speaker. Pain has forced Republicans to get serious, however, and Trump has been relentless about imposing discipline on the party. Massie can attest to that, as can the five Republican state senators who lost their primaries on May 5 after Trump condemned them for opposing a plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts to give the GOP a greater edge.
This is another reason to think Republicans have a fighting chance in November: Despite the headlines in hostile media, the Republican Party is remarkably unified behind Trump, who can end the careers of state senators in Indiana or a United States senator like Bill Cassidy in Louisiana. Trump can do that because — and only because — the voters are with him. If House elections have indeed reached a rough equilibrium since 2020, there will be no wave, and even a pickup of just eight to 10 seats through redistricting could save the Republican majority by the skin of its teeth.
Democrats are counting on this November being a replay of 2018, or George W. Bush’s disastrous second midterms in 2006. But look to the primaries so far for a clue: This is a very different Republican Party, and it’s well-adapted for the political landscape Trump has remade; in an era of close elections, it’s a party that can win.

Time to spare.

• As Student Scores Plummet, Teachers’ Union Head Rants Against Trump (Salgado)

While student scores continued to hit horrifying lows across America’s public schools, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) union boss Randi Weingarten is prioritizing anti-Trump and pro-illegal alien propaganda.

Weingarten, who said she cried as she voted for Kamala Harris and who demanded huge amounts of taxpayer money to reopen schools during the COVID-19 lockdowns before not using that money on reopening, has a serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Her Bluesky account sounds like a full-time political activist’s, and she mostly seems to mention education as connected and secondary to her woke politics. For example, on May 15, she wrote, “In my new video, I talk about the big fights in front of us: making life more affordable and standing up to attacks on voting rights.” She’s not interested in raising test scores or improving literacy.
For example, here is just one message from May 16: “The Trump administration is now targeting people here legally through DACA, deporting them from the only country many have known as home, separating them from their families and forcing them out of their jobs. It’s cruel—Dreamers deserve a pathway to citizenship. Back on May 13, using a report from extremely biased NPR as “proof,” Weingarten ranted, “New evidence shows that Trump’s extreme immigration crackdown has hurt local economies and job growth. It’s time to rein in the chaos and violence ICE is causing in our communities.” This is why ICE agents face increased violence.
And the deranged union boss was outraged that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Democrats’ last-ditch efforts to gerrymander the state of Virginia and erase Republicans’ voice there altogether. Trying to frame Republicans’ efforts to reverse racial gerrymandering as either equivalent or inferior to one of the most egregious maps in American history, Weingarten griped, “So SCOTUS enables some states to move so quickly they suspend elections to gerrymander but refuses to allow a voter approved plan to go forward . What’s the difference? Which party is in power.”
Again complaining about the SCOTUS anti-racial gerrymandering decisions, she posted, “Retirees had questions about how we we have a democracy in light of of terrible court decisions like Callais and Citizens United. We talked, of course about voting. Energy like this gives me hope. We’re gearing up for an election cycle like no other and these activists are ready.” You might have noticed by now that she often has glaring grammatical and punctuation errors in her posts. She’s almost as illiterate as her students.
Speaking of which, on May 13, Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research admitted, “Compared with a decade earlier, reading scores were down last year in 83 percent of school districts where data was available. Math scores were down in 70 percent.” Last fall, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found “just 35% of high school seniors were proficient in reading” and the “math score for 12th-graders was even worse, with just 22% achieving proficiency.” Weingarten is so busy ranting against Trump that she is stultifying an entire generation.

FYI.

• We’ve Been Taking Down Some Really Bad Guys Lately (Anderson)

Donald Trump’s plan to clean up the Western Hemisphere is going pretty well. If you need proof of that, just take a look at the list of bad guys we’ve rounded up and who are now in U.S. custody as of the past week or so.

Alex Saab (Nicolás Maduro’s Bagman)
I’ve written a great deal about Alex Saab in the past, so I don’t want to rehash all the details of who he is, but for those who don’t know, he’s Maduro’s bagman. He’s quite a powerful guy, and he’s been accused of things like money laundering, sanctions evasion, and corruption schemes benefiting the Maduro regime in the past. At one point, he was actually in U.S. custody. However, the Joe Bide administration sent him back to Venezuela in exchange for Maduro’s good behavior. Seriously. Maduro promised Biden that he’d hold free and fair 2024 elections if he’d release Saab and other related criminals back into Venezuelan custody.
Spoiler alert: There were no free and fair 2024 elections. And to be fair, Maduro also released some U.S. hostages as part of the deal, but if you’ll recall, last summer, Trump and Rubio, with some help from El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, had Maduro release all U.S. hostages in exchange for, well, nothing. But I digress. So, on Saturday, the Venezuelan regime still in place “deported” (they did not use the word “extradited,” even though that’s what it was) Saab — who is actually from Colombia — to the United States.
Venezuela’s Administrative Service of Identification, Migration, and Foreigners Affairs (SAIME) released a statement, saying it made the decision because of implications “in the commission of various crimes in the United States of America — a matter that is public, notorious, and widely reported.” Actually, it did so because Delcy Rodríguez does what the Trump administration tells her to do, like a good little pet. She’s also been scrubbing past praise of Saab from her X account. According to the Miami Herald, the U.S. views Saab as a “potentially crucial witness capable of providing detailed insight into the financial architecture that sustained Maduro’s inner circle for years.” He will now face renewed criminal proceedings.
Jose Enrique Martínez Flores (Senior Tren de Aragua Leader)
Jose Enrique Martínez Flores, aka “Chuqui,” may only be 24 years old, but according to U.S. officials, he’s the Tren de Aragua (TdA) leader that oversees criminal operations, including drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution, and murder in Colombia. In case you forgot, TdA is the Venezuelan prison gang that is now a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) with a presence in the United States. Maduro sent many of them here (and to other countries in the Western Hemisphere) to create chaos in our communities and was using them as his own little army of sorts, even though he denied that they existed.
Anyway, this guy had been arrested in Colombia in March and was extradited to the United States, landing in Houston on May 14. He’s apparently the highest-ranking TdA member ever brought to justice and the first charged with terrorism or related offenses due to the FTO designation. He made his first court appearance last week and pled “not guilty” to all charges.
Gerardo Mérida Sánchez and Enrique Díaz Vega (Sinaloa State Officials)
Last month, I reported that “a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York unsealed a 34-page indictment charging Rubén Rocha Moya and nine other current or former high-ranking Mexican officials with drug trafficking and weapons offenses.” They were accused of partnering with the “Los Chapitos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel (the sons of El Chapo) to help smuggle massive quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine into the U.S.
Rocha Moya was the big gun. He’s the governor of Sinaloa, one of the most dangerous and violent states in Mexico, and, of course, the home base for the Sinaloa cartel. While Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum basically responded to the indictments with “nothing to see here,” at least two of those officials are now in U.S. custody, after having turned themselves in, presumably in hopes of ratting everyone else out and getting off easy.
The first is Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, a retired military general and the former secretary of public security for Sinaloa state. On May 11, he crossed the border into Arizona, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals, and flown to New York. He was the first to turn himself in and has pleaded “not guilty” to charges including narcotics importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. He faces a minimum of 40 years in prison (he’s currently 66 years old).
The second is Enrique Díaz Vega, a former secretary of administration and finance for Sinaloa and a close ally of Rocha Moya. Reports say that he was in Europe when he decided to surrender and flew to New York, where he was taken into custody on May 15. The 50-year-old faces the same charges and sentencing. None of these guys are small fish. They’re men who have propped up the widespread organized crime that plagues the Americas, and, hopefully, they’re just a small sample of what’s to come. It’s nice having a president who actually punishes criminals.

Cloe to: “A profit-maximizing demon from hell.”

To be continued.

• Judge Dismisses Musk’s OpenAI Lawsuit After Jury Reaches Verdict (ZH)

Update: Musk to appeal

***
A nine-person federal jury has sided with OpenAI, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Microsoft, determining that Elon Musk filed his high-profile lawsuit too late under the statute of limitations. The verdict effectively ends Musk’s claims that OpenAI abandoned its founding nonprofit mission to benefit humanity. The jury unanimously concluded that Musk knew or should have known about OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit model and major Microsoft partnerships years earlier – potentially as far back as 2019–2021, making his August 2024 filing untimely. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in turn accepted the advisory jury’s finding on this threshold issue and dismissed the case.
Musk, a co-founder who contributed roughly $38–44 million in OpenAI’s early days, alleged that the company betrayed its original charitable trust by pursuing massive profits and commercial deals, particularly with Microsoft. He sought up to $150 billion in damages or “ill-gotten gains,” the removal of Altman and Brockman from leadership, and a restructuring to restore the nonprofit focus on safe, humanity-benefiting AI. OpenAI countered that Musk was fully aware of the company’s evolving plans (including for-profit elements he himself had once advocated), waited until after launching his competing xAI venture in 2023, and was motivated by competitive rivalry rather than genuine concern for the mission. They described the suit as “sour grapes.”

“. . . we are witnessing mass formation in real time, where the group delusion becomes the only permissible reality.” LH Grey on X

• The Too-Long Goodbye (James Howard Kunstler)

Last week, Stephen Colbert celebrated his May 21 departure from late-night TV by French-kissing his fellow late-night soul-mate hosts goodbye, perhaps to honor the French origins of the Woke political ideology that guided his rocket flight to fame — Michel Foucault (1926–1984), who argued that power was all that mattered and that you could talk any absurdity about sex, mental illness, and criminality into mass belief. . . Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), who argued that reality depends on how you feel about it. . . Jean-François Lyotard (1924–1998), who denounced truth per se in favor of your truth. . . and Gilles Deleuze, father of gender-fluidity.

So, bonne nuit and au revoir, Monsieur Colbert, and don’t let the CBS screen door bump your ass on the way out. Few public figures in our time have done as much damage to the collective mental health of our country than Colbert did in his late-night operations. For instance, the dance routine, broadcast circa April 2021, titled “The Vax-Scene,” when “Joe Biden” and Dr. Fauci rolled out the mRNA products that would eventually maim or kill hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Colbert did the shimmy in front of a chorus line costumed as syringes capering to a musical arrangement of the old Latin hit, Tequila (original, by The Champs, 1958). His ignorance about what actually was at stake was surpassed only by his Cheshire Cat caliber smugness. So, what you see in this video is the rectified essence of the demonic idiocy that still animates the Democratic Party. Save it and watch it often to remind yourself what the nation has been battling for so many years.

I was actually a guest on Colbert’s show years ago in its early evening incarnation when the running gag was Colbert pretending to be a right-winger. In the green room before the show, his handlers told me to “not try to be funny because that’s Stephen’s job.” I had just published a novel about what life in America might be like after the collapse of our techno-industrial economy (World Made by Hand). Colbert treated that as a joke, too, of course. He already had the remarkable ability for finding comedy in all the wrong places. By the time Covid came along, he was no longer a pretend conservative; he was an out-front Democratic Party / Deep State propaganda tool.
It remains to be seen how the party can possibly survive the revelations-to-come of its monumental criminality. Sunday morning, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche turned up on Maria Bartiromo’s public affairs show. Maria was in a testy mood, repeatedly telling Mr. Blanche that America has lost patience bigly over the complete lack of “accountability” for the various seditions and treasons launched against the public since 2016, in particular, the obvious treachery so many witnessed in the 2020 election.
Mr. Blanche replied, ““Well, there’s a ton of evidence that the election was rigged. That’s not something the DOJ needs to tell you about. There’s been evidence about that for many, many years. What I can tell you is that we have multiple investigations going on in Arizona, in Georgia — in Fulton County, Georgia. And that’s exactly what we’re looking at.”
Quite so: evidence for many years, by the truckload, and indeed it was only a month or so ago that the FBI turned up at the Fulton County, GA, election records depository building and seized a truckload of ballots and other material related to the Big Switcheroo that the election workers there pulled off overnight on Nov 3, 2020 —because “broken water mains [toilets, that is],” and all. Mr. Blanche might not need to tell the irascible Maria B about that, but eventually he will have to tell the whole country what happened in Fulton County, GA, and Maricopa County, AZ, and Antrim County, MI, and Milwaukee County, WI, and Philadelphia. . . .
It remains to be seen how the stolen 2020 election business might be rolled into the “grand conspiracy” case being pursued in the grand jury convened at Fort Pierce, Florida. It will probably be a major entrée in the smorgasbord of prosecutable turpitudes presently under consideration. Also remains to be seen how half the country that still calls itself “Left” or “Progressive” or “registered Democrat” will greet the news that “Joe Biden” did not win that crooked election, but rather, their bête noire, Donald Trump, won. And not by a slim margin, but by a ton.

Germany started it.

• Germany Fears Next Migration Wave (ZH)

With Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez legalizing what could amount to as many as 1.6 million migrants, other EU member states are getting worried, and not just neighboring France. While the Socialist prime minister’s announcement originally aimed to naturalize some 500,000 migrants by handing them residency permits and work permits, German authorities estimate that there could be as many as 850,000 applicants in Spain, writes Bild. Leaked internal Spanish police documents have already put this estimated number even higher, at 1.6 million.

Since the announcement in mid-April, hordes of undocumented migrants have been overwhelming local offices across the country, with nearly 130,000 applications in the first week alone. Remix News posted videos of these crowds. French conservatives sounded the alarm early on, with National Rally leader Jordan Bardella slamming the ability for residence permits to freely move around the EU. “I believe that free movement within the Schengen Area should be reserved exclusively for nationals of European countries. Obtaining a residence permit in Spain, for example, should not allow free movement throughout all European Union countries,” he wrote.
Now, Germany’s Foreign Office in Berlin has stated: “We are closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with Spain.” A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry also sought to clarify that a Schengen residence permit does not, in principle, authorize employment in Germany. Having one allows you to enter Germany and stay for a maximum of three months at a time. The domestic policy spokesman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Alexander Throm (CDU), also expressed his concerns, according to Bild: “Such mass legalization sends a devastating signal to the world and creates an incalculable pull effect.”
Police union representative Manuel Ostermann has also warned of potential consequences given that many entering Europe are attracted to German jobs and benefits. “If the Spanish minority government fails, and a future government reduces payments or terminates residency permits, many of the migrants will continue their journey to Germany and remain here. Whether permitted or not,” he warned. Of course, jobs in Germany are already becoming scarce, including over 120,000 industrial jobs being shed last year, and after years of mass immigration, the German economy continues to go from weakness ot weakness.
Germany has already had problems with secondary migration from Greece for years. Last April, the country’s Federal Administrative Court authorized migrant deportations to Greece for the first time in years. Ostermann is now warning: “The migration crisis is not over. Germany must therefore consistently eliminate the remaining pull factors,” he says, adding that Germany should abolish “excessive financial incentives” and replace them with the principle of “bread and butter.”

If you’re not Christian, you are Muslim. There is no third choice.

• Secretary Marco Rubio Delivers Message of National Faith (CTH)

Those of dark whispered voices are shrieking loudly today, directing their soulless vessels to shout opposition to the Christian rededication of our nation. They listen to the voices of betrayal telling them to shriek about “freedom of religion” as noted in the constitution, yet their arguments are twisted around the false premise that does not exist, “freedom from religion.” Our constitution does not block the expression of religion; it blocks the favoring of one expression over another. Freedom of religion is entirely different than freedom from religion, though both represent a moral choice.

https://twitter.com/WR4NYGov/status/2056140342014115902?s=20 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/2056105680294297797?s=20

Elon Musk just described the future of AI in a single sentence.

Musk: “A profit-maximizing demon from hell.”

That’s not a metaphor.

That’s a blueprint.

He wasn’t describing science fiction.

He was describing what happens when the only thing AI is trained to maximize is… pic.twitter.com/aRXKAJUf4o
— Dustin (@r0ck3t23) May 18, 2026

The Gigabay is one of the most massive and insanely productive pieces of infrastructure being built on Earth right now

Currently rising at Kennedy Space Center, it makes entire aerospace hangars look tiny in comparison

And it’s all being built for one almost unbelievable goal:… pic.twitter.com/CyCXUR1Hb8
— X Freeze (@XFreeze) May 17, 2026

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/2056170982784602538?s=20

The complexity of the human brain and its functions in a neat infographic map

[zoomable version: https://t.co/ADEhDeTkmx] pic.twitter.com/DI0gQaywHu
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 18, 2026

https://twitter.com/sulekhat95/status/2055986390564061634?s=20

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Debt Rattle May 7 2026

May 072026

May 7, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:11 am Finance Tagged with: blockade, EV, framework, homosexuality, ICE, Kash Patel, Nice, OpenAI, refineries, RINO, sperm, wish list 39 Responses »

Edward Hopper Approaching a city 1946

• ‘Fate Of Iran Refineries Now At Risk’ As US Blockade Begins To Bite (ZH)

• ‘Framework’ Still Being Hammered Out For ‘Monthlong’ US, Iran Talks (ZH)

• Iran Spox Blasts ‘Unrealistic’ White House ‘Wish List’ To End War (ZH)

• Inside The Moscow Meeting That Laid Bare Iran’s Weak Hand (Watkins)

• Trump Dropped an ICE Rebrand — and Democrats Are Losing It (Margolis)

• Kash Patel Outlines Secret Room in FBI Headquarters (CTH)

• Trump Is Purging RINOs, and the Left Is Panicking (Margolis)

• FBI Raids Virginia Senate President’s Office (Salgado)

• OpenAI Co-founder Greg Brockman Defends Company’s For-Profit Pivot (ET)

• Former OpenAI Board Member Says Elon Musk Offered Her Sperm Donations (BBC)

• Three Justices Chastise Jackson for Groundless, Irresponsible Dissent (Turley)

• The EV Bust Claims Five More Victims… and They Aren’t Even EVs? (Green)

• Tectonic Shift In Church Framing of Homosexuality (Tim O’Brien)

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2052179925700903125?s=20

This may be the most articulate response I’ve ever heard to this question. pic.twitter.com/ndPULk09pT
— Today in History (@TodayinHistory) May 6, 2026

Will never get tired of sharing this.

Never forget that @SecRubio called the Iran situation 11 years ago.

He analysed it and predicted it.

Like a play-by-play, to a tee.
The accuracy is absolutely mind-blowing.

It’s worth sharing again, because there are still some people… pic.twitter.com/IdtTcmdhRE
— Kosher (@koshercockney) May 6, 2026

https://twitter.com/CRRJA5/status/2051854394044375415?s=20

Elon Musk just made every skill you’ve ever earned sound like a waste of time.

Musk: “Down the road with a Neuralink, you can just upload any subject instantly. You wanna fly a helicopter? No problem. Any given skill, you just upload it instantly.”

Not faster learning.

Not… pic.twitter.com/nncWIX4Naw
— Dustin (@r0ck3t23) May 5, 2026

Accurate https://t.co/Z3xsCeDHXk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 6, 2026

“The sea blockade is a much more serious threat than even war.. ”

• ‘Fate Of Iran Refineries Now At Risk’ As US Blockade Begins To Bite (ZH)

An Iranian energy official just conceded something in a surprise admission that the US naval blockade has begun to bite the Islamic Republic’s oil industry. According to new reporting in the NY Times: The blockade has halted Iran’s oil exports, choking off crucial revenues, and the country risks running out of places to store its oil. It is also affecting the import of other goods, forcing Iran to seek alternative routes through neighboring countries and its smaller ports on the Caspian Sea. And the economic pain inside Iran, already dire before the war, is becoming much worse.

“The sea blockade is a much more serious threat than even war, and the current stalemate must be broken because the export of our oil and energy and the fate of our refineries is now at risk,” said Hamid Hosseini, an expert on Iran’s oil sector who serves on the energy committee of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, in an interview from Tehran.This as Kpler has stated based on its data that since the US blockade took effect on April 13, no Iranian oil-laden tankers have been able to exit the strait.
“The bottom line is that Iran could run out of storage space in about 25 to 30 days if the blockade is not lifted, according to Homayoun Falakshahi, Kpler’s head of oil analysis,” continues the Wednesday report. “Other experts have given different estimates ranging from a few weeks to a month or more.” Last month we offered the following, saying a likely 15 days – probably followed with a few weeks left on the clock before the Iranians run out of storage space… As for the current Trump blockade strategy, another analyst told the Times, “The blockade really is about putting a financial deadline on the Islamic Republic’s head.”
US Jet Fires On Iranian Tanker Trying To Pass
So much for that ceasefire and alleged ‘pause’ in US naval blockade actions, as things just took another escalatory turn. In this case, a rare live fire incident unfolded Wednesday in Gulf waters as a US jet launched from the Lincoln carrier fired on and possibly disabled an Iranian-flagged tanker, per the officials US Central Command statement: U.S. forces operating in the Gulf of Oman enforced blockade measures by disabling an Iranian-flagged unladen oil tanker attempting to sail toward an Iranian port at 9 a.m. ET, May 6. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces observed M/T Hasna as it transited international waters enroute to an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman. American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the U.S. blockade.
After Hasna’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings, U.S. forces disabled the tanker’s rudder by firing several rounds from the 20mm cannon gun of a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet launched from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). Hasna is no longer transiting to Iran. The Pentagon/CENTCOM statement then emphasized, “The U.S. blockade against ships attempting to enter or depart Iranian ports remains in full effect. CENTCOM forces continue to act deliberately and professionally to ensure compliance.” Tehran’s response to this will be interesting, and follows prior alleged attacks this week on the UAE.

Don’t fall for those talks. After a month you’ll be right back where you started.

• ‘Framework’ Still Being Hammered Out For ‘Monthlong’ US, Iran Talks (ZH)

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has said that Iran’s response to the United States has not yet been presented to mediator Pakistan, as the WSJ reports that the US and Iranian sides are currently trying to hammer out a one-page memorandum of understanding which features 14-points. This would “lay out a framework” – the report says, for a “monthlong period of talks to end the war.” Given that agreement cannot even be found on the ‘framework’ for future talks, it seems the process is not very advanced at all – but is perhaps still back at square one, with headlines in the US way out front, and likely overly optimistic.

CNN citing the White House: “The White House received positive feedback from Pakistani mediators on Tuesday that the Iranians were progressing toward a compromise.” And more from WSJ: Iran’s mission to the UN said that “the only viable solution in the Strait of Hormuz is clear: a permanent end to the war, the lifting of the maritime blockade, and the restoration of normal passage.”
Key Timing of Wang-Araghchi Meeting in Beijing
During Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi’s visit to Beijing on Wednesday, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi pushed for the rapid reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a halt to the fighting. Araghchi echoed the urgency, saying, “Currently, it is possible to resolve the issue of reopening the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible.” Wang called for a “comprehensive ceasefire” and stressed that “the international community shares a common concern for restoring normal and safe passage through the Strait,” urging swift action.
The coordinated messaging reflects shared economic and strategic interests, especially as US naval actions have disrupted Iranian oil flows to China. Wang also signaled support for Tehran’s position, stating China “appreciates Iran’s pledge to not develop nuclear weapons,” while Iran continues to insist its nuclear program is peaceful and maintains its right to uranium enrichment as a matter of sovereignty. Wang reinforced Beijing’s stance by warning that “a comprehensive ceasefire brooks no delay” and that negotiations must continue, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on China to pressure Iran to ease its blockade of the strait.
Alarmed Reaction from Israel
An Israeli official cited in Times of Israel said Israel did not know that President Trump was close to a deal with Iran to end the fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even as global headlines pointed to progress. The official said Israel had been preparing for escalation, reflecting recent reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was waiting for US approval to resume its aerial campaign following 38 days of strikes under Operation Epic Fury.
US messaging has shifted rapidly. with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday having announced the end of Operation Epic Fury and a pivot to Project Freedom focused on reopening Hormuz, while Trump later declared a pause to allow negotiations. The mixed signals from Washington created confusion as diplomacy and military positioning unfolded simultaneously. Both Iran and Israel signaled readiness to escalate despite the diplomatic push. Iran warned its “finger is on the trigger,” while Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said forces have multiple targets prepared inside Iran and remain on high alert. He emphasized ongoing coordination with US forces and readiness to resume a broad campaign if fighting restarts.
More Official Iran Denials: Too Much ‘Speculation’
The latest response out of Tehran via Tasnim: “Despite claims by US media that Iran and the US are close to a final one-page agreement to end the war, Iran has not yet given an official response to the Americans’ final text, which contains some unacceptable clauses.” And separately Iran’s ISNA calls parts of the Axios report “speculation” – also reiterating the country has rejected some recent US proposals, as they are “unrealistic”. However, an Iranian spokesperson has said that Iran is indeed “reviewing the US proposal to end the war.”
Trump Admits: ‘Too Soon’
And now a bit of rapid narrative reversal, coming from President Trump himself, after once again a likely premature early morning Axios report with overly optimistic language. Trump’s fresh words are via the NY Post: President Donald Trump said it’s “too soon” to plan peace talks with Iran despite reports of a near deal, downplaying prospects of imminent negotiations in Pakistan. He warned that if Iran accepts terms, hostilities could end and the Strait of Hormuz reopen—but failure to agree would trigger intensified military action.
Indeed the Iranian reaction issued via media reports also suggests this is the case, that all the talk of an agreement being close is premature, and there remains immense hurdles and a long way to go. Axios’ Barak Ravid still insists that “the sources said this was the closest the parties had been to an agreement since the war began.”

“..if Tehran doesn’t agree then “the bombing starts” and it will be at a “much higher level and intensity than it was before”.

• Iran Spox Blasts ‘Unrealistic’ White House ‘Wish List’ To End War (ZH)

And now a bit of rapid narrative reversal, coming from President Trump himself, after once again a likely premature early morning Axios report with overly optimistic language. Trump’s fresh words are via the NY Post: President Donald Trump said it’s “too soon” to plan peace talks with Iran despite reports of a near deal, downplaying prospects of imminent negotiations in Pakistan. He warned that if Iran accepts terms, hostilities could end and the Strait of Hormuz reopen—but failure to agree would trigger intensified military action.

Indeed the Iranian reaction issued via media reports also suggests this is the case, that all the talk of an agreement being close is premature, and there remains immense hurdles and a long way to go. Axios’ Barak Ravid still insists that “the sources said this was the closest the parties had been to an agreement since the war began.”
Initial Word From Tehran: Doesn’t Reflect Reality
Iranian initial reaction through its media: “What US media outlets are publishing about the details of the negotiations does not reflect the reality of what is happening, according to AI Araby citing Iranian Sources.” “Progress has been made in talks with Washington through Pakistan, but it has not yet reached a level that would lead to an agreement,” the statement says. The Iranians are also clearly sticking by their approach which says the nuclear issue is a non-starter and that talks must focus on opening Hormuz and finding a final end to the conflict. “The negotiations are focused on ending the war, not the nuclear issue,” the statement in Al Araby continues.
And then the final criticism of Washington’s approach: “The negotiations are still facing the intransigent American approach and excessive demands.” And further, this: Ebrahim Rezaei dismissed U.S. demands as unrealistic, saying Washington won’t gain through conflict what it failed to secure in talks. He added Iran is ready to act and warned of a severe, regret-inducing response to any provocation. Here is the full statement from the Iranian Spokesperson of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission (via machine translation):

Trump Issues Carrot & Stick
The below is a fresh Trump Truth Social Post on Wednesday morning, warning the Iranians that the Hormuz Strait must be “open to all”. However, the president continues, if Tehran doesn’t agree then “the bombing starts” and it will be at a “much higher level and intensity than it was before”.

All of this has followed an awkward 24 hours of drastically different signals coming from various top officials of the US administration.

Marco Rubio says the goal of the war in Iran is now to restore it "back to the way it was" before Trump started the war in Iran pic.twitter.com/G1E9qyxMc4
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) May 5, 2026

Iran was long screwed over by Russia while it itself screwed over US and Israel?

• Inside The Moscow Meeting That Laid Bare Iran’s Weak Hand (Watkins)

Iran has a long history of being screwed over by Russia, and last week’s meeting in Moscow between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the U.S.–Israel–Iran war suggests nothing in that dynamic is about to change, according to extremely well-placed sources on both sides who spoke exclusively to OilPrice.com over the weekend. On the one hand, Tehran’s perennially baseless optimism that “this time will be different” was on full display in Araghchi’s excited praise for the marvels of the two countries’ so called ‘strategic relationship’.

On the other hand, Moscow responded with all the warmth of an international telephone operator: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said only that Russia stands ready to offer “goodwill or mediation services”, with no indication of any upgrade to the relationship service package. It fits so neatly into the familiar pattern of this abusive relationship that one wonders whether social services should be called. Or perhaps Moscow’s disinterest is merely an act — a way of masking the deep and broad assistance from Tehran that it so clearly craves?
The theoretical basis of this relationship is the 20-year comprehensive cooperation deal between Iran and Russia — formally titled The Treaty on the Basis of Mutual Relations and Principles of Cooperation between Iran and Russia — approved by Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, on 18 January 2024, as I exclusively reported in OilPrice.com at the time. It replaced the 10-year deal signed in March 2001 (extended twice by five years) and was expanded in duration, scope and scale, particularly in the defence and energy sectors.
In several respects, the new deal complemented key elements of the all-encompassing Iran-China 25-Year Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement, first revealed anywhere in the world in my 3 September 2019 article and analysed in full in my latest book on the new global oil market order. The similarities were deliberate, designed to make the division of the key strategic assets most coveted by Moscow and Beijing easier to manage in practice. Related: China Orders Refiners to Ignore U.S. Sanctions on Key Iranian Oil Buyers
As with much of Russia’s foreign policy dealings, the devil was in the details. As a sign of how things would pan out for Tehran in the rest of the document, Russia stood to benefit at Iran’s expense in the key energy sector to begin with. The deal gave Russia the first right of extraction in the Iranian section of the Caspian Sea, including the potentially huge Chalous field. This came on top of Russia’s startlingly brazen theft in 2019 of at least US$3.2 trillion in revenues from Iran through the lost value of energy products across their shared Caspian assets going forward.
The same right of first extraction for Russia was also applied in the new 20-year deal to several of Iran’s major oil and gas fields in the Khorramshahr and nearby Ilam provinces that border Iraq, which China had not already prioritised for its own needs. Several of these sites had the broader financial and geopolitical benefits attached to their being shared fields with Iraq. This status allowed the effective free movement of Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil, and extended Tehran’s influence over Baghdad through its political, economic, and military proxies. By extension, it did the same for Moscow and Beijing, which used this as a springboard to further project their influence across the Iran-dominated Shia Crescent of Power.
This powerbase in Iran and Iraq had also been central to Russia’s longstanding plan to build a ‘land bridge’ to the Mediterranean Sea coast of another of its key global assets at the time — Syria. This would enable Moscow to exponentially increase weapons delivery into southern Lebanon and the Golan Heights area of Syria to be used in attacks on Israel. The core aim of this policy was to provoke a conflict in the Middle East that would draw in the U.S. and its allies into an unwinnable war, and was seen as a natural extension of the Israel-Hamas War that had begun after the terrorist organisation’s murderous spree across Israel on 7 October 2023.
Given its centrality to Moscow’s plans, then, Iran was at that point still confident that the Kremlin would meet its other promises in the 20-year deal, despite the shenanigans surrounding the energy side of the treaty as it related to the Caspian’s oil and gas riches. “Iran had long been asking Russia for the means to defend itself better against any attacks, especially those that might come from Israel or the U.S. — in particular for the S-400 missile defence system and Sukhoi Su-34 and 35 fighter jets,” a very senior source working closely with Iran’s Petroleum Ministry exclusively told OilPrice.com. “But these requests have continually been subject to further conditionality by Russia, such as upgrading key airports and seaports that Moscow sees as especially useful for dual-use by its air force and navy, and which are also close to major oil and gas facilities.

“Will ICE officially become NICE? Probably not anytime soon. But the mere suggestion has Democrats tying themselves in knots ..”

• Trump Dropped an ICE Rebrand — and Democrats Are Losing It (Margolis)

Leave it to the left to have a meltdown over a single letter. Last month, President Donald Trump endorsed rebranding Immigration and Customs Enforcement as National Immigration and Customs Enforcement — NICE — and on Tuesday, the White House unveiled updated branding for the agency, complete with a new patch mockup. DHS amplified the rollout on its own X account, and the trolling was, well, quite effective. The idea didn’t originate in the Oval Office. Comedian Adam Carolla first floated it back in September.

.⁦@adamcarolla⁩ unveils his nice idea to stop Gavin Newsom and other leftists from verbally attacking ICE. pic.twitter.com/bGf1uNMuJz
— Paul Bond (@WriterPaulBond) September 26, 2025

Then in March, conservative influencer Alyssa Marie wrote on X, “I want Trump to change ICE to NICE (National Immigration and Customs Enforcement) so the media has to say NICE agents all day everyday.”Trump promptly endorsed it on Truth Social, calling it a “great idea.” Then on Tuesday came the onslaught. Trump posted what many believe to be a potential rebrand on Truth Social, which the Department of Homeland Security reposted on X.
https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/2051754837683896415
The White House also posted a patch concept.
https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/2051761247779979301
Looks good, doesn’t it? Naturally, Democrats started flipping out. Because, of course, they did. And obviously, they responded in their usual “classy” way. I don’t have to tell you this isn’t what happened. Renee Good attempted to run over an ICE agent with her car, and he fired in self-defense. But facts have never been the left’s strong suit when there’s a narrative to protect. But I digress.
This all sounds great, and the reactions from the left are so worth it. But officially changing the agency’s name from ICE to NICE would require an act of Congress to amend the statute that created the agency. Still, the NICE rebrand is a perfect piece of political judo. It reframes the public conversation around an agency the left has spent years trying to demonize. Democrats want the word “ICE” to conjure fear and cruelty. Trump wants the media to be forced to say “NICE agents” every single day, in every single broadcast. It’s hard to run a “Defund NICE” campaign with a straight face. The left knows it, which is exactly why they’re reacting with such theatrical fury.
Will ICE officially become NICE? Probably not anytime soon. But the mere suggestion has Democrats tying themselves in knots, and that alone is worth it. Sometimes the point of a move isn’t to execute it — it’s to watch your opponents trip over themselves reacting to it. On that score, this one is already a win. So, yeah, I’m all for it. Frankly, I’m surprised it wasn’t called NICE to begin with. Clearly, Carolla was onto something, and I really hope we see it happen… if for no other reason than to see Democrats lose it.

“The most effective way to get the best outcome is to approach and enlist the smart ones from outside government to come and assist. Patel was always an insider.”

• Kash Patel Outlines Secret Room in FBI Headquarters (CTH)

My opinion on our current FBI Director is the same as it was the day his nomination was announced. The best, the most competent, the smartest, the most insightful and stable thinking people do not originate on a track from inside government work. The most effective way to get the best outcome is to approach and enlist the smart ones from outside government to come and assist. Patel was always an insider.

The FBI is an institution built upon corruption and fraud. Unfortunately, neither President Trump, nor the American people, will ever get the vindication and accountability he/we deserve until Kash Patel is no longer the one in charge of delivering it. It’s just that painfully simple. Trying to reform a corrupt system while maintaining the structures that enabled the corruption leads to endless discussions and ‘trust me bro’ delays.
In this interview FBI Director Kash Patel sits down with Sean Hannity to discuss current and prior events within the FBI. Patel’s primary objective is the performance; the presentation of what he thinks will endear him to President Trump the most. This is not effectiveness; the outcome is the illusion of leadership.

“..going against Trump in a primary means ending up “in the grinder..”

• Trump Is Purging RINOs, and the Left Is Panicking (Margolis)

Tuesday night’s Indiana Republican State Senate primary turned into a political slaughterhouse. Five of seven GOP incumbents who’d stonewalled efforts to redistrict the state in Republicans’ favor went down in flames. There was nothing subtle about the message from MAGA voters. They want strong Republicans who will fight the Democrats, not be weak, useful idiots for the left. And if there’s anything that Donald Trump has taught the GOP, it’s how to be a fighter. “He’s the boss of the party,” Scott Jennings said of Trump on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees. “He calls the shots in the Republican Party, and if you go against that, he will pour his wrath out upon you, and it doesn’t typically turn out well.”

That’s not spin. That’s just reality at this point. Jennings invoked Harry Enten’s well-worn observation that going against Trump in a primary means ending up “in the grinder,” and Indiana delivered a fresh case study. And weak-kneed Republicans should take note, because the carnage won’t stop in Indiana. Jennings immediately pointed to what comes next: Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District in a couple of weeks, where Thomas Massie — arguably the single biggest thorn in Trump’s side in the entire House — is staring down a well-funded primary challenge.
“If you look at what happened in Indiana tonight, and you’re Thomas Massie tonight, or you’re anybody else in a primary right now where Trump’s on the other side of you, you’ve got to be thinking, this is a bad night for me,” Jennings said. The money’s there. The will is there. The precedent is being set, one primary at a time. Then Van Jones opened his mouth. Jones went full pearl-clutching, calling Trump a “petty little punching-down bully” and complaining that the president couldn’t find the Epstein files or lower gas prices but somehow found time to meddle in statesenate races.
“I would be embarrassed if I were the President of the United States with the level of crisis that we have, that this is his most important objective and the only thing he’s gotten right, apparently, in the past six months,” Jones said. He topped it off with a little lecture about sovereignty and kings: “We don’t have a king.” Really? He’s playing the King Card? Of course, Jennings calmly torched Jones’s whole argument with one question: “Do you think that those sorts of rules apply to, say, Barack Obama when he engages in the Virginia redistricting referendum?”Jones tried to wiggle out of it. “He didn’t — he got involved in a ballot measure,” Jones said. “He didn’t go poking and picking on individual dog catchers and everybody else.”
And Barack Obama never endorsed Democrats in competitive primaries before? Give me a break. What a dumb argument to make. So, obviously, Jennings wasn’t buying it. “Well, he was picking on the Republican congressman who represented their constituents.” And that was that. Jones tried to lecture about the sanctity of political prerogatives, even apparently forgetting that presidents from both parties have long used their influence to shape their parties, be it by endorsing or recruiting candidates, raising money, cutting ads, etc. What Jones is really upset about here is that Trump has succeeded.

It’s too easy to be corrupt in the US. Because the people paid to prevent this were all focused on getting Trump.

• FBI Raids Virginia Senate President’s Office (Salgado)

A top Virginia Democrat and ally of radical Gov. Abigail Spanberger is suddenly in the spotlight as the FBI raids her office amid a reported corruption investigation. Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin posted on X May 6 that Fox was “on scene in Portsmouth, VA where the FBI is raiding the office of Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore L[.] Louise Lucas, a Democrat and close ally of VA Governor Spanberger. Fed law enforcement sources tell FOX this is in connection to a major corruption probe, and the FBI is serving multiple search warrants, approved by a federal judge, at her office and a next door cannabis dispensary. More to come with correspondent @AlexHoganTV, who reports that Lucas just showed up on scene as the FBI searches her office.”

Fox’s foreign correspondent Alex Hogan posted the video below:

The FBI is currently carrying out a raid at the office of Senator Louise Lucas in Portsmouth, VA. Here at this nearby cannabis dispensary, at least three people were taken into custody. Federal law enforcement say they’re conducting “court authorized criminal search warrants”. pic.twitter.com/UL2c7yAk0L
— Alex Hogan (@AlexHoganTV) May 6, 2026

Ironically, like so many other Democrats, Lucas previously lectured that “no one is above the law” when gloating over the March 2023 Manhattan grand jury indictment of Donald Trump. Now Trump is back in the White House, and his FBI is raiding Lucas’s office.

Louise Lucas just learned no one is above the law! https://t.co/9n6H4zlV5f pic.twitter.com/TZZkxtH6pY
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) May 6, 2026

It is not clear if this investigation will involve Spanberger directly at all, or only indirectly, because her ally Lucas is the one under federal investigation.
Notably, however, Spanberger also arguably violates federal law on a regular basis whenever she enforces sanctuary policies for illegal aliens. For instance, the Department of Homeland Security just rearrested Guatemalan illegal alien and pedophile Walvin Victor Hugo Garcia after Spanberger and her fellow Democrats defied an ICE detainer request and released Garcia. And earlier this year, after Sierra Leone criminal illegal alien Abdul Jalloh, with 30 prior arrests, stabbed a 41-year-old Virginia mom, Stephanie Minter, to death at a bus stop, Spanberger explicitly refused to hand Jalloh over to federal immigration authorities.
The reason I say this behavior potentially violates the law is that, according to 18 U.S. Code § 111, anyone who “forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with” designated federal officers has committed a criminal offense. 8 U.S. Code § 1324 also states that anyone who “encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law” or “conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien” violates the law. Spanberger appears to have broken both those laws, as have all officials in Virginia enforcing sanctuary policies. Maybe the Feds need to raid Spanberger next.

“In one from 2017, Brockman muses, “It’d be wrong to steal the nonprofit from [Musk] and turn it into a B-Corp without him—doing so would be pretty morally bankrupt.”

• OpenAI Co-founder Greg Brockman Defends Company’s For-Profit Pivot (ET)

In the second week of a high-profile jury trial that could have profound impact on the race for artificial intelligence, OpenAI president Greg Brockman rejected allegations that he and other co-founders betrayed the company’s philanthropic mission and illegally enriched themselves by flipping the non-profit lab into a for-profit corporation.Tesla CEO Elon Musk in 2024 sued Brockman and CEO Sam Altman, alleging they bilked him of $38 million in donations then restructured as a for-profit corporation by exclusively licensing their flagship product to Microsoft—betraying a founding mission to operate as an open-source charity that would counter the risks of profit-driven AI.

OpenAI and Microsoft deny the allegations, arguing that Musk abandoned the company in 2018 to start his own for-profit competitor, xAI, when other founders rejected his bid to take full control of the operation. “I think we’ve been very consistent on the mission,” Brockman told a federal court in Oakland. “If you look at what we’ve accomplished—currently the foundation has $150 billion worth of OpenAI equity value. That’s something we’ve built through hard blood, sweat, and tears through all this time since Elon left.” The company’s nonprofit foundation has a 27 percent stake in OpenAI’s for-profit corporation; Microsoft, which has invested more than $13 billion since 2019, owns 26 percent.
Called as an adverse witness for the plaintiff, Brockman over two days May 4–5 offered testimony outlining an alternate narrative and timeframe than the one Musk presented the week prior. Brockman also attempted to add context to what he has claimed were “cherrypicked” segments of his personal diary, unsealed during the discovery process. He often spoke in incomplete sentences, punctuated by stock phrases like, “We were solving for the mission.” Arguably, this had less zing to it than, “You can’t just steal a charity”—a phrase Musk favored in his own testimony.
‘Morally Bankrupt’ Musk’s attorney Steven Molo grilled Brockman on a series of diary entries from 2017 and 2018, a time of intense negotiations with Musk over the future structure of the company. In one from 2017, Brockman muses, “It’d be wrong to steal the nonprofit from [Musk] and turn it into a B-Corp without him—doing so would be pretty morally bankrupt.” Brockman denied this contradicted his commitment to OpenAI’s mission. “I think I meant it would actually serve the mission, but it would be hard to look at yourself in the mirror,” he told the court. Under cross-examination, he explained he was referring to the idea of voting Musk off the board of directors, which he had considered at the time.
“It had been made clear to us,” he said, “that if we didn’t come to [Musk’s] terms, he was going to start an AGI competitor.” Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is the hypothetical point at which digital intelligence reaches or surpasses human cognitive abilities and can operate autonomously. Some, including Musk, believe we have already achieved an early version of it, and that AGI advancement in the wrong hands poses the greatest existential threat to humanity. Musk testified that this threat was the express motivation for creating OpenAI as an open-source, nonprofit lab. From late 2017 to early 2018, Musk, Altman, Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever, another OpenAI co-founder and its former chief scientist, floated various ideas as they debated how to fund the project at a competitive level.
Musk, the main donor, rejected an even equity split among the four co-founders, instead proposing a deal that would give him majority stake, to be diluted as more investors joined. Brockman said he and Sutskever were willing to accept Musk being CEO and having a majority stake. “But the one thing we could not accept was to hand him unilateral total control over the AGI.” Musk was the wrong man for the job, according to Brockman. “Look, he knows rockets, he knows electric cars, he did not and I believe does not know AI,” Brockman said of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO. “And Ilya and I did not think he was going to spend the time required to actually get good at it.”
Brockman alleged Musk “didn’t recognize that spark” in early language models underlying the GPT technology. “It was there, a working version, we could see the promise. … We really needed someone running the company that had that effect.” Molo pressed the witness, pointing to emails from Musk proposing a 16-person board for the new corporation, in which Musk would have a 25 percent influence. “This is the man you’re saying wanted to be the AI tyrant and have absolute and total control?” Molo probed. “He wanted a board, and conducted in a way you were not familiar with because you didn’t have the experience of corporate governance, did you?” Brockman acknowledged, “Definitely, this is something I was new to,” but maintained that there was never a real plan for Musk to relinquish control.
In a January 2018 email to Musk and others, Brockman stressed that a moral high ground was “our best tool,” and to maintain it, the company should endeavor to remain a nonprofit. “AI is going to shake up the fabric of society, and our fiduciary duty should be to humanity.” But back in November 2017, Molo pointed out that Brockman’s diary entries show he was worried about how it would look if the founders continued to say they were committed to a nonprofit while planning to convert to a for-profit. “Cannot say that we are committed to the nonprofit. Don’t wanna say that we’re committed. If three months later we’re doing b-corp then it was a lie,” Brockman wrote. “Can’t see us turning this into a for-profit without a very nasty fight.”

What is more newsworthy? That he offered sperm or that he fathered 4 children with her?

• Former OpenAI Board Member Says Elon Musk Offered Her Sperm Donations (BBC)

A former OpenAI board member has explained how her unconventional personal relationship with Elon Musk evolved into having four of his children. Shivon Zilis testified in a federal courtroom in Oakland, California for hours on Wednesday as part of Musk’s lawsuit trying to reverse OpenAI’s change to a for-profit company. The focus of Zilis’s appearance was her direct involvement in early talks with Musk around the company becoming a for-profit, but also how she worked for and became involved with Musk as she advised OpenAI. “I still really wanted to be a mum and Elon made the offer around that time and I accepted,” she said, explaining Musk in 2020 had offered to donate sperm.

Zilis and Musk attended the wedding of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino at Mar-a-Lago in February

“He was encouraging everyone around him at that time to have kids and he’d noticed I did not. He offered to make a donation,” Zilis said. Zilis has worked as a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley for over 15 years and held executive positions at Musk’s car company, Tesla, and his neurotechnology firm Neuralink. She joined OpenAI as an advisor in 2016, not long after it was founded, a position through which she said on Wednesday is how she first met Musk. Given Zilis’s role across Musk’s companies and OpenAI, eventually becoming a director at OpenAI from 2020 to 2023, she is an important witness in the trial. OpenAI lawyers have suggested that she funnelled information about OpenAI to Musk after he in 2018 left the AI company, which he co-founded and made early donations to.
Zilis said she had a “one-off” romance with Musk about a decade ago but was not romantically involved with Musk in 2020, when Musk initially made the offer to father her children. She explained she had been struggling with certain health issues which had changed her initial plans to follow a more traditional personal path of getting married and having children with a romantic partner. Zilis’s initial plan for Musk’s role in the lives of the first two children she had by him was not necessarily as an active father, and the two had agreed to keep his paternity “strictly confidential.” Today, Musk is an active participant in the lives of his now four children with Zilis, she said, explaining that they spend a few hours a week together as a family.
Zilis said the confidentiality agreement with Musk is why she did not disclose to OpenAI’s chief executive Sam Altman that twins she gave birth to in 2021 were fathered by Musk. She told Altman that Musk was the father the following year, when she learned a Business Insider report on Musk’s paternity of the children was imminent. Nevertheless, Altman and OpenAI’s president Greg Brockman wanted to continue with Zilis on the board of the AI company. Zilis said on Wednesday that the three remained friends until at least 2023. When asked earlier this week about Zilis’ involvement with OpenAI for years after Musk had left the company, Brockman said: “We trusted her to keep the Elon conflict under control.”
Zilis left the board in March 2023 as Musk was launching xAI, an AI company developing a chatbot that is a direct competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.With years of history, including emails and text messages that have been made part of the case between Zilis, Altman, Brockman, and Musk, lawyers for OpenAI seized on several examples of discussions around changing the corporate structure of the AI company. Moving away from being a pure non-profit was seen as necessary as early as 2017 in order for OpenAI to grow and raise from investors many billions of dollars, according to written exchanges shown in court in which Musk was involved.
Brockman and another OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever were pushing for the company to transition to a B Corp, which is a type of for-profit entity that holds itself to a certain mission.nEmails from Zilis showed that Musk wanted more control of OpenAI, through additional board seats and even suggested that the AI company become part of Tesla, possibly as a B Corp subsidiary of the electric car company. Zilis said in a written exchange that such a move for OpenAI “solves the funding issue immediately.” Ultimately, Altman, Brockman, Sutskever could not agree on terms with Musk, in large part because they were adamant that Musk “not have control” of OpenAI’s work, according to an email from Zilis shown in court.

“Since her appointment by President Joe Biden, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has quickly developed a radical and chilling jurisprudence..”

• Three Justices Chastise Jackson for Groundless, Irresponsible Dissent (Turley)

Since her appointment by President Joe Biden, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has quickly developed a radical and chilling jurisprudence. Her often sole dissents and accusatory rhetoric have drawn not just the ire of her conservative colleagues but her liberal colleagues. This week, that tension deepened with a stinging rebuke from Justice Samuel Alito (joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch).

At issue is the finalization of the Court’s opinion in Louisiana v. Callais, where the Court ruled 6-3 to ban racial gerrymandering. The Court reaffirmed the use of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to ban intentional racial discrimination in the design of voting districts, but effectively found many districts to be unconstitutional in their current form. There is no reason why the decision should not be finalized except for a blatantly partisan effort to protect the Democrats from losing seats in the midterm elections. After all, if these districts are unconstitutional, why should states guarantee that voters are given representatives chosen free of racial discriminatory preferences?
That question is even more confusing given the long wait for this opinion. Not only was the case reargued, but there were growing complaints about the delay in releasing the opinion. Complaints increased after a recent book allegedly reported that Justice Elena Kagan had a vocal confrontation with her colleague, former Justice Stephen Breyer, over his push to release the dissents in Dobbs after the leaking of that opinion. Breyer reportedly agreed with Chief Justice John Roberts that the conservative justices were facing increased death threats due to the delay. Kagan allegedly wanted to further delay the release.
In the Callais decision, the delay was curious since there were six solid votes for the majority and not more of a fracturing of opinions. Indeed, the majority opinion’s references to the Kagan dissent are relatively brief. Nevertheless, the delay has made it very difficult for states to make changes. A few are moving to delay their primaries or draw new maps under extremely tight calendars. Regardless of the delay, there is no cognizable or principled reason to withhold the opinion to preserve unconstitutional districts. The case has already been on the docket for an unusually long time due to a reargument.
In its one-paragraph order, the court acknowledged that the Supreme Court’s clerk normally waits 32 days after a decision to send a copy of the opinion and the judgment to the lower court. However, it noted that the defenders of the challenged districts had “not expressed any intent to ask this Court to reconsider its judgment.” Conversely, the other parties raised the need for states to address the impact of the ruling with the approaching elections.
Jackson stood alone in demanding that the unconstitutional districts be effectively preserved for the purposes of this election — guaranteeing Democratic seats in the midterm that could be lost in non-racially discriminatory districts. Neither Kagan nor Justice Sonia Sotomayor would join her in the dissent, despite dissenting from the Callais decision itself. However, it was her language again that drew the attention of her colleagues. Justice Jackson lambasted the court’s ruling “has spawned chaos in the State of Louisiana.” In an Orwellian twist, Jackson suggested that others were playing politics as she sought to effectively protect unconstitutional Democratic districts. She suggested that the case exposed “a strong political undercurrent.”
In arguably the most insulting line, she lectured her colleagues that this case “unfolds in the midst of an ongoing statewide election, against the backdrop of a pitched redistricting battle among state governments that appear to be acting as proxies for their favored political parties.” She further said that, rather than avoid “the appearance of partiality,” the Court’s action “is tantamount to an approval of Louisiana’s rush to pause the ongoing election in order to pass a new map.”
Justice Alito had had enough. He noted that her reliance on the 32-day period was a “trivial” objection that put form above substance since no party had asked for reconsideration. It would be waiting for 32 days for no purpose, while the other parties had stated a reasonable and pressing need to finalize the opinion. He chastised Jackson for a dissent that “lacks restraint.” He denounced the dissent as making “baseless and insulting” claims. He particularly objected to the charge that her colleagues were engaging in an unprincipled use of power” as a groundless and utterly irresponsible charge.”
What is even more chilling than Jackson’s jurisprudence is the fact that she is often cited as the model for Democrats seeking to pack the Court with an instant majority if they retake power. This and other Jackson dissents show why Democrats are so confident that packing the Court will yield lasting control of the government. Jackson recently told ABC News that “I have a wonderful opportunity to tell people in my opinions how I feel about the issues, and that’s what I try to do.” For some of her colleagues, that cathartic benefit is coming at too high a cost for the Court.

Carmakers paid through the nose to achieve … nothing.

• The EV Bust Claims Five More Victims… and They Aren’t Even EVs? (Green)

Honda’s failed bet on electric vehicles means the Japanese auto giant will have to stretch the lifecycles of five top-selling vehicles “in some cases to more than a decade,” according to a supplier memo seen by Automotive News. The company will continue selling existing versions of the Odyssey, Accord, and HR-V, as well as the Acura MDX and Integra, after writing down up to $15.8 billion worth of investments in EVs, including eliminating three new EV models for the U.S. market. Car and Driver said the 2023-issue Accord “won’t be redesigned until at least early 2030,” while “the Odyssey minivan isn’t set to be replaced until 2030, while the current HR-V SUV will see its production extended until early 2032.” The two Acura models will suffer similar delays.

It seems like just earlier this spring [It was just earlier this spring, Steve —Editor] I reported on Honda’s massive losses from betting big on EVs — with a big nudge from Big Stupid Government — but the company’s losses show up on more than just the balance sheet. That’s why models that the company actually sells and makes money on — like the aforementioned Accord — won’t see expected refreshes anytime soon. There’s this little thing called opportunity cost, which is the value of the best alternative you give up when you choose one option over another. Honda bet big on EVs, but then changing market conditions forced the company to scale back those plans to the tune of billions of dollars worth of write-downs.
Worse, however, are the updated models that would have sold in volume that the company chose not to invest in.Losing a bet this big hurts in the auto industry more than almost anywhere else, due to development times measured in years — yet vehicles are still subject to the whims of fashion. Consumers expect regular model refreshes, particularly loyal customers hoping to trade in their older car for the latest version of the same model. A two- or three-year delay means customers holding onto their current car for that much longer. Or maybe even shopping the competition.
The current version of the Odyssey minivan debuted in 2018 and hasn’t gotten anything more than a facelift in 2025. Buyers hoping to trade in for the latest and greatest have to wait another four years. Honda said in a statement, “We are not going to comment on future product plans. We are very confident and excited in our future product strategy including our previously announced plans to advance our award-winning hybrid technology to more models.” The company needed 36 words to say nothing at all.
According to Electrek, Honda’s strategy “now centers on hybrids for the near term, with affordable EVs priced under $30,000 pushed to the end of the decade. The only EV still standing in its US lineup is the Prologue, which recently saw a $7,500 price cut — a GM Ultium-based vehicle that Honda didn’t even engineer itself.” Electrek also noted that Honda completely scrapped plans for a multibillion-dollar EV plant in Canada. Don’t get me wrong, Honda makes great hybrids, and for most people looking to save money on gas, they make so much more sense than going fully electric. But hybrid versions of the company’s most-loved models that could have hit showrooms this year or next, now won’t be seen until the next decade.

‘sin at its root does not consist in the (same-sex) couple relationship, but in a lack of faith in God who desires our fulfillment.’

• Tectonic Shift In Church Framing of Homosexuality (Tim O’Brien)

Two things that non-Catholics and many Catholics don’t understand about the Catholic Church are that it’s not a democratic organization and it’s not an autocracy. In other words, as powerful as the Pope is, he cannot arbitrarily or single-handedly change doctrine and policy. At the same time, even though the church counts 1.4 billion members around the world, it is not structured to take their input into account the way representative government works in America.

Among Catholics, this confusion often pops up when the discussion turns to declining mass attendance and increases in the number of lapsed Catholics who no longer consider themselves a part of the church, even though they may have been baptized in the church. To get them back, we might argue, the church needs to allow women to be priests, or priests to get married, or to change our hard line on abortion, or to change the church’s position on LGBTQ issues. That’s not how it works, or at least, that’s not how it’s supposed to work. I know I’m going to hear from the Catholic catechism and Canon Law technicians on this oversimplification, but here goes: The church is here for Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and God Himself.
We exist to please God. God does not exist to please us. He is not our creation. We are His creation. From a purely administrative standpoint, the church has had to find ways over the past 2,000 years to function in a changing world. That is definitely not to say that the church has had to change with the times or change simply to stay relevant, but rather, it has had to stay true to itself in the context of the times. Against this backdrop, Pope Francis decided to convene a Synod of Bishops in 2021 to consider ways in which the church can be more responsive to the culture without diminishing its core doctrines and policies, and the catechism itself.
In the Catholic Church, a Synod of Bishops is a formal assembly where bishops meet to discuss subjects tied to doctrine, governance, pastoral practice, or mission. If there is any one approach the church uses to try to stay relevant, this would be a key method. Of course, there are many within the church who argue against a “synodal mentality,” where they feel that the desire to be more relevant or “accessible” can undermine the core attributes of the church itself. They feel too much weight is assigned to synods.
When this particular synod was convened, the church invited its members from around the globe to participate. “Listening sessions” were held at the most local of levels – the parishes. It’s been reported that millions of Catholics participated in this process, where the input and feedback received were fed up the food chain from the parishes to the dioceses; to the bishops at the local level; then to the “continental level,” and ultimately on to the Vatican. Out of this process emerged what the church called a “Working Document,” which then was reviewed in the Vatican before this final report was released.
And so, Study Group 9 of Pope Francis’s synod has now released its final report, and in it is included the testimonies of two homosexual men. This is included as part of the report’s “cases for listening.” In the slow-moving world of Vatican policy change, this is a tectonic shift.
What’s actually in the report
According to insiders, throughout the synodal process, the bishops looked more closely at a number of issues, including women’s ordination, the church and the internet, ecumenism, polygamy, the Catholic liturgy, and other things. But the headlines coming out of the final report are sure to center mostly on how it treated the LGBTQ issues. The synod’s final report includes that testimony where two “married” homosexual men, who say they are Catholic, described the church’s role in creating an atmosphere of “solitude, anguish, and stigma that accompany persons with same-sex attractions and their families.”
John-Henry Westen, co-founder of LifeSite, reacted to the release of the report on the X platform, saying that it “Suggests a reframing of homosexuality in the church, endorsing testimony without qualification that ‘sin at its root does not consist in the (same-sex) couple relationship, but in a lack of faith in God who desires our fulfillment.’” This is covered in the first couple of minutes in Westen’s video.
Sorry my shirt was wrinkled here, but this news is TOO IMPORTANT to miss. And please share it. https://t.co/ycP3tmbrmT
— John-Henry Westen (@JhWesten) May 5, 2026
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https://twitter.com/GreereMedeea/status/2051772652419748146?s=20 https://twitter.com/lakemonstercl1/status/2051607526353916257?s=20

do you understand what just happened to your computer..

Google Chrome secretly downloaded a 4GB AI model onto your device. Without asking.. Without telling you..

It's called weights.bin. It lives deep in your system folders. It powers Gemini Nano – Google's on-device AI.

And… https://t.co/qKjzl8IRa9 pic.twitter.com/hnf9Z5esan
— BuBBliK (@k1rallik) May 5, 2026

850 million children, or ONE THIRD of genZ, were murdered by their own mothers

that’s about 10 times as many deaths as during World War II https://t.co/KPGEXyLLYv pic.twitter.com/tYPjEHUVcI
— vittorio (@IterIntellectus) May 5, 2026

Neuralink progress https://t.co/IJM7hZyBRR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 7, 2026

Today marks the 24th anniversary of the assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn by a climate activist.

This clip still gives me chills every time: “The people have had enough. I stand for this country, even if it means I get slaughtered…”

Oh how different things could… pic.twitter.com/LsFxoiyJsi
— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) May 6, 2026

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

Debt Rattle April 7 2026

Apr 072026

April 7, 2026 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:38 am Finance Tagged with: annihilation, birthright citizenship, bluffing, CENTCOM, Easter message, jet fuel shortfall, King Charles, OpenAI, Orban, social media 81 Responses »

Odilon Redon Wild Flowers in a Vase c1910

• Not Bluffing (James Howard Kunstler)

• Europe Is On The Verge of a Massive Jet Fuel Shortfall (Kolbe)

• Orban Urges End To Sanctions Against Russian Energy (TASS)

• Iraq Tells Buyers To Collect Crude Which Can Now Cross Hormuz (ZH)

• The Collapse of Trump’s Mind Leaves No Alternative (Helmer)

• Iran Threatens “Annihilation” of OpenAI’s $30BN Data Center In Abu Dhabi (ZH)

• Trump Dragging Americans “Into Hell” – Iranian Parliament Speaker (RT)

• Is it Time for a New Amendment on the Meaning of Citizenship? (Turley)

• April 2026 | Eyesore (James Howard Kunstler)

• British King Makes Easter Message After Backlash Over Ramadan Greeting (RT)

• Trump Admin Appeals Order Halting White House Ballroom Construction (ET)

• Ukrainian Children ‘Harassing’ Draft Officers – Ombudsman (RT)

• Long-Term Social Media Use Linked to Depression, Self-Harm (ET)

• Former CENTCOM Commander Discusses US Rescue Operation in Iran (CTH)

• The European Mind Can’t Comprehend Why We’re Such Bad A****s (Stephen Green)

https://twitter.com/MichaelARothman/status/2040952257454518493?s=20

Jensen Huang just killed the AI jobs panic.

Not with a forecast. With a pattern.

Huang: “The fact of the matter is PCs made us more busy. The internet made us more busy. Mobile devices made us super busy.”

Every tool that promised to free us expanded what we could reach… pic.twitter.com/wi6tiFA404
— Dustin (@r0ck3t23) April 5, 2026

Pay attention to this America, this is a warning

“Islam is taking over Europe faster than you think

– France is already nearly 10% Muslim
– Sweden, over 8%
– Germany and UK around 7% and integration is going absolutely fantastic (sarcasm)
– In the uk, only 51% of working-age… pic.twitter.com/WQfOT0dBlg
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) April 5, 2026

TOP 10 richest people in the world from 1996 to 2023. pic.twitter.com/gmoYpS2Wfw
— Xavi Ruiz (@xruiztru) April 5, 2026

The City of London is collapsing and they're terrified. New Epstein files expose Mandelson, Rothschild banks, and the WEF. Watch Christopher Steele desperately blame Russia (again) while their entire corrupt empire burns. pic.twitter.com/SS7jf2Nrs7
— matrixbot (@thematrixb0t) April 5, 2026

Elon Musk has been predicting the death of the gas-powered car for over two decades, but his latest reality check for the legacy auto industry is the sharpest one yet. The massive shift to EVs isn't just about saving the environment; it’s about finally acknowledging a vastly… pic.twitter.com/fkMrGNApu0
— Ian Miles Cheong (@ianmiles) April 5, 2026

“And notice how nonchalant it sounds. Trump didn’t go for epic, carnage-heavy branding. He branded it the way you’d casually announce National Potato Chip Day.” American Debunk on X.

• Not Bluffing (James Howard Kunstler)

Note: you are living through the FAFO of all FAFOs just now. The USA is brooking no more aspersions from whomever is still left alive to speak for the jihad posse in Iran. These are the terms: open the strait, layoff the other Gulf states, surrender those thousand pounds of enriched uranium. You can still go forward in time as a developed nation, enjoy the modern Persian life. Or, you can go backward in time to the twelfth century without electric service, bridges, and other conveniences. Your choice.

Over the weekend, further demonstration of what we can do. Such as, against all odds and expectations, rescue an American airman stuck under fire in the middle of Iranian mountain nowhere and do it with no casualties. The Lefty-lefties were so disappointed! No body-bags to celebrate. No Trump failure to trumpet. They were praying out loud Sunday to the Easter Bunny for war crimes they can do a hate-dance over. They insist the USA must be defeated in Iran so that Chuck Schumer and Hakim Jeffries can win the mid-terms. . . so they can destroy Trump in Congress. (Uh, okay, and then what?)
Meanwhile, another couple of dozen Iranian military higher-ups got kinetically removed from operations Saturday. Good luck with your military command structure over there. Got carrier pigeons? But, as far as is known, President Masoud Pezeshkian is still above ground, along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, with whom US negotiators have at least been messaging, if not talking directly.
Trouble is, their civilian government has no authority over the Revolutionary Guard (the IRGC), which controls all the missiles and drones, the proxy Quds forces outside Iran, and what’s left of the Basij secret police for terrorizing Iran’s people. Remember, it was the Revolutionary Guard who started this jihad long ago in 1979 when they seized the US embassy in Teheran and held 52 Americans hostages for more than a year.
The ultimatum to roll over Iran’s vital infrastructure on Tuesday is a forcing function to clarify who exactly can speak for the Iranian nation if they sincerely want the punishment to stop. It is unlikely to be anyone atop the IRGC, which is the rectified essence of the Islamic death cult. It lives for death! Death to America. . . death to ourselves for that ticket to paradise where the seventy-two virgins beckon. . . death to the global economy, if Allah requires it! Lovely, lovely death!
What part of that does Western Civ not understand? Jihad rolls across Europe without opposition. Nightclub massacres, trucks smashing through bodies in the Christmas markets, rape gangs, beheadings of teachers and Christian priests in broad daylight — none of that was enough to bestir the prime ministers and presidents of Euroland to consider expelling the uninvited hordes. New York City, the bastion of Lefty-left masochism, now lives under the sway of Momdani’s soft jihad, the Islamic call-to-prayer rings through the neighborhoods twenty-five years after 9-11. The Jews of the Upper West Side voted for it. Compassion for the oppressed, as always. . . at one’s own expense.
The US President will have none of that, of course. So, he put it in the starkest form possible, with a touch of manic glee to annoy his homeland enemies. Developments since then? An Israeli air strike overnight took out Majid Khademi, the IRGC Intel chief. Who’s next? Step right up. Foreign Minister Araghchi hastily proposed a forty-five-day ceasefire through Egyptian-Turkish-Pakistani mediators. I doubt that our side wants to give them forty-five days to re-shuffle their remaining assets around. Mr. Trump is not bluffing about those bridges and power plants. Russia and China are not riding to the rescue. And Europe is still off in its corner, pearl-clutching and sniveling while its economies sputter.
Epic Fury leads to epic change on the global landscape. The old arrangements are over, especially the sponsored export of jihadi terror. The Hormuz crisis is the actualization of the global resource scramble underway. The winners and losers are sorting themselves out now, and Mr. Trump seeks to make sure that America is on the winners’ side. So, you must ask: why does the American Left, as personified in the Democratic Party, so desperately want our country to lose?

“On April 9, the last tanker carrying jet fuel from the Persian Gulf will reach Rotterdam; existing reserves are likely to sustain European flight operations for three to four weeks.”

• Europe Is On The Verge of a Massive Jet Fuel Shortfall (Kolbe)

Politics has established a new routine. Right at 12 noon, prices at German gas stations now rise day after day. The government’s pricing decree, a hastily assembled mechanism, acts like an accelerant in an already dramatically strained fuel supply situation. Anyone with rudimentary economic understanding already knew that this form of price regulation would amount to political posturing with fatal consequences. The market is reacting as expected. Gas station operators anticipate general price increases and indirectly coordinate their pricing behavior. If everyone is only allowed to raise prices once per day, that shot will be fired deliberately — better too high than too low.

After that, it becomes a waiting game, observing how competitors react. If the next move can only be a price reduction, the risk can be solved in simple game-theoretical terms: prices are simply kept high as long as competitors do not move. This creates a cartel-like situation that avoids the risk of rapid price cuts and the resulting loss of individual margins. Market dynamics thus turn into generalized tactical hesitation. At the same time, political leadership is marked by a striking lack of direction in the face of real scarcity and a rapidly worsening supply situation. Hormuz is exposing the limits of political emergency measures.
The measures taken so far by the German government to curb rising prices are classic political camouflage — a well-rehearsed play for the public. The fundamental question of how to deal with energy imports is not being seriously addressed. Europe must import 60 percent of its energy to meet demand. And the stubborn stance toward Russia, Europe’s most important supplier of energy and raw materials, will likely prove to be the most fatal mistake of European policy — quite an achievement, given that it is already riddled with misjudgments and ideologically driven, erratic decisions.
It is also significant that Brussels’ CO2regime has severely damaged Europe’s refining capacity. Europe no longer has the infrastructure required to rapidly activate refining capacity in an emergency and close the widening gap in oil and gas supply, regardless of where new raw materials might be sourced. EU policy is knowingly and deliberately escalating the current situation. This finding applies in particular to jet fuel imports. Europe’s aviation sector imports around 40 percent of its jet fuel from the Persian Gulf, making the current situation effectively unsolvable.
Since the beginning of the war, the price of jet fuel has roughly doubled, from $800 to $1,800 per ton. The fact that the United States is taking its time to bring the Strait of Hormuz under military control is putting enormous pressure on European airlines. Scandinavian carrier SAS has already canceled 1,000 flights in April. Lufthansa is also considering grounding parts of its fleet. Airlines that have hedged their fuel purchases may be able to cushion price increases somewhat — Lufthansa among them — but this does nothing to address the physical shortage of available jet fuel. Europe is on the verge of a massive jet fuel shortfall.
On April 9, the last tanker carrying jet fuel from the Persian Gulf will reach Rotterdam; existing reserves are likely to sustain European flight operations for three to four weeks. What happens afterward remains completely uncertain.Given the destruction of refining capacity and related infrastructure in the name of the Green Deal, European policymakers find their hands effectively tied. The Hormuz crisis is likely to erupt with full force. If there is no rapid resolution to the Iran conflict, a loss of 40% of available jet fuel simply cannot be compensated.

The Hungarian prime minister warned that “Europe is nearing an extremely serious energy crisis, and the coming days will be critical”

• Orban Urges End To Sanctions Against Russian Energy (TASS)

Hungary is firmly advocating for the lifting of sanctions on Russian oil and gas supplies to Europe, emphasizing the urgency of this move amid the looming threat of a global energy crisis linked to the ongoing situation in Iran. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban conveyed this stance during a visit to inspect a section of the gas pipeline and the measuring station in Kiskundorozsma, near the border with Serbia.”The Hungarian position is clear: we must end sanctions against Russian energy,” Orban declared, with his remarks broadcast on Hungarian television. He warned that “Europe is nearing an extremely serious energy crisis, and the coming days will be critical.” In his view, “competition for energy resources could resemble the scramble we saw with vaccines during the coronavirus pandemic.”

Orban’s inspection followed an attempted terrorist attack on the Serbian segment of the TurkStream pipeline, which supplies gas to Hungary and Slovakia. In response, on April 5, he ordered the entire 250-kilometer stretch of the pipeline within Hungarian territory to be placed under military protection. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto accompanied him to the Serbia border. “Currently, Hungary’s energy supplies are secure, but the pipeline must be protected,” Orban emphasized, adding that “the situation is extremely serious.” He warned that “if this pipeline were to be cut, Hungary’s economy would come to a standstill.”
When questioned by journalists, Orban said it was too early to identify those responsible for the sabotage attempt, as investigations by Serbian authorities were ongoing. He also recalled that Ukraine had previously blown up the Nord Stream pipeline, halted Russian gas transit to Hungary, and this year imposed an oil blockade on Hungary by refusing to resume supplies via the Druzhba pipeline. Szijjarto further stated that “the Ukrainians aim to completely exclude Russian gas and oil from Europe.” He pointed out that “political actions, as well as terrorist attacks, have been undertaken to achieve this goal,” citing the explosion of the Nord Stream pipeline as the first such act.

“While US Boosts Ship Reinsurance Guarantees To $40BN ..”

Note: Iraq, not Iran

This is where the US (Trump) takes over Britain’s long-standing (re-)insurance business.

• Iraq Tells Buyers To Collect Crude Which Can Now Cross Hormuz (ZH)

Over the long weekend, we reported that with traffic across the Hormuz strait continuing to rise, and reaching the highest since the war began, one particularly favorable development was Iran’s permission for Iraqi ships to use the Strait. We also noted that this declaration had the potential to unleash as much as 3 million barrels a day of Iraqi oil cargoes.That said, there was the caveat that it was not immediately clear if the exemption will apply to all Iraqi oil or just the nation’s tankers, or indeed how it will be enforced. Furthermore, an Iraqi official cautioned that the usefulness of the exemption will depend on whether shipping companies are willing to risk entering the strait to collect cargoes.

Today Iraq underscored this last point when the Gulf state told traders and refiners they can collect crude cargoes as vessels carrying the country’s oil are now able to transit the Strait of Hormuz thanks to an Iranian exemption, testing buyers’ confidence in the security guarantee. In a notice sent on Sunday, the country’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil, known as SOMO, said Iraqi shipments were now “exempt from any potential restrictions,” citing media reports. It asked buyers for lifting schedules, including vessel details and volumes requested, adding all loading terminals including Basrah were “fully operational.” Customers were given 24 hours to respond.
As previously reported, Iran said over the weekend that its neighbor was now free from shipping restrictions around the vital waterway. The country’s military spokesman did not provide details on whether the arrangement applied to vessels or cargoes. The Turkish-owned tanker Ocean Thunder, carrying a million barrels of Iraqi crude to Malaysia crossed the narrow waterway after the announcement. As Bloomberg notes, Iraq often sells oil on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, meaning refiners sort out their own shipping, but it has struggled to export crude since the effective closure of Hormuz a month ago. Asian buyers reached by Bloomberg said they were seeking clarity on conditions, including whether Iraq would offer the use of its own tankers, thereby providing extra security, although judging by Iraq’s comments it is inviting buyers to send their own tankers.
Separately, the Iraqi Basra Oil company announced that Iraq can restore oil exports to 3.4 million barrels per day within a week if Hormuz shipping resumed. Meanwhile, in hopes of kickstarting frozen traffic – and potentially taking over the lucrative shipping insurance market from London – on Friday the US announced it would double to $40 billion its commitment to provide reinsurance guarantees to ships willing to travel through the Strait of Hormuz with the addition of new insurance partners, including AIG and Berkshire Hathaway. The move was the latest US effort to ease worries over the vital waterway and to encourage traffic to resume.
Recall a month ago the US International Development Finance Corp. announced a $20 billion reinsurance program. On Friday, the agency said Travelers, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Berkshire Hathaway, AIG, Starr and CNA will join Chubb to provide an additional $20 billion in reinsurance for the agency’s maritime facility. “Along with Chubb, these leading American insurers bring deep underwriting experience in marine and marine war coverage, strengthening our efforts to help restore confidence in maritime trade,” DFC Chief Executive Officer Ben Black said in a statement.
The DFC also said in the statement that the agency and insurance partners will determine which vessels are eligible for the reinsurance facility. To qualify, the DFC is requiring applicants to provide, among other details, the origin and destination country of the vessel; major beneficial owners of the ship and domicile; owner of the cargo and domicile of the owner; and information about the lenders financing the vessels. Trump on Friday reiterated his frustration over the strait’s closure and the failure of allies to help the US reopen the waterway.
“With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE,” Trump said in a social media post. It wasn’t immediately clear what actions the president was considering. Shippers remain doubtful, though, of a wholesale return to the Strait of Hormuz even after Trump’s promise to protect ships and his primetime speech on Wednesday in which he repeated that the war will soon end. The key concern about traversing the sea route is that it puts the lives of crews at risk as Iran continues to threaten vessels with drone attacks, missiles and water mines.

“Trump revealed that he thinks there can be no alternative for a state or a people or a god but submission or destruction. Theirs, or his.”

• The Collapse of Trump’s Mind Leaves No Alternative (Helmer)

In the four days between April 1 and April 5, President Donald Trump made a record of the collapse of his mind into genocidal violence which none of his officials can dissuade, limit, control, if they try, or even conceal. Not the military experts of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; not the pollsters of the White House Chief of Staff; not the lawyers of the White House Counsel; not even the spell-checkers of the Director of Communications. Between declaring “we’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong” and “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell. JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah”, Trump revealed that he thinks there can be no alternative for a state or a people or a god but submission or destruction. Theirs, or his.

In Moscow, there has been silence except for Trump’s advocate inside the Kremlin, Kirill Dmitriev. He has tweeted in support of Trump’s attacks on one of his domestic bugbears, the New York Times, and one of his foreign ones, Europe.This record has been compiled by analysing Trump’s remarks from his rehearsal of the “Stone Ages” line just before his national television speech at 9 pm on April 1 through his early morning tweet on April 5; putting them in the sequence out of Trump’s mouth and time log of their publication; and then locating them in the chain of official meetings and other activities, including inactivities and secrets, identified in the published “Presidential Public Schedule”.
The words speak for themselves. For political analysis of the April 1 speech, read this. The legal standard for genocide includes both intention as Trump has expressed it in this record and acts as he has both threatened and decided, then celebrated in this record. This is how the United Nations sets the standard: “To constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent on the part of perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Cultural destruction does not suffice, nor does an intention to simply disperse a group. It is this special intent, or dolus specialis, that makes the crime of genocide so unique. In addition, case law has associated intent with the existence of a State or organizational plan or policy, even if the definition of genocide in international law does not include that element.”
Trump’s words and the calendar context in which he said them do more than this. The April 1 speech was composed by a committee of advisors who met with him at 3 pm to compose the final draft. In the Calendar, this is noted as a “policy meeting”. According to the account of White House decision-making reported by Time Magazine on April 2, and the motives of the anonymous sources and leakers behind it, there is a deep division in Trump’s policy-making group on the risks he is running in continuing the war against Iran, and escalating instead of exiting from it.

New war, new tools.

• Iran Threatens “Annihilation” of OpenAI’s $30BN Data Center In Abu Dhabi (ZH)

In a move that may well have been sponsored by Dario Amodei or Elon Musk, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a clear public warning to the US that any damage inflicted on Iran’s power infrastructure will be met with decisive retaliation. Specifically, IRGC spokesperson Brigadier General Ebrahim Zolfaghari threatened the “complete and utter annihilation” of U.S. and Israeli facilities, with Stargate’s $30 billion “hidden” AI datacenter in Abu Dhabi singled out as a juicy target for Iranian destruction later in the video. The threats come on the heels of Iran reportedly delivering enough damage via rocket strikes to some Amazon AWS data centers that they have shut down.

Iran leveling up
They released a video of threatening to strike 1GW Stargate AI datacenter in the UAE.

The data center is hidden on Google maps they even shown that pic.twitter.com/LuOGIp3BVj
— Furkan Gözükara (@FurkanGozukara) April 3, 2026

In the video, Zolfaghari warned that “should the USA proceed with its threats concerning Iran’s power plant facilities the following retaliatory measures shall be promptly enacted: All power plants, energy infrastructure, and information and communications technology of the Zionist regime, and all similar companies within the region that have American shareholders shall face complete and utter annihilation.”
As Tom’s Hardware notes, after Zolfaghari’s remarks end, the video switches to a shot of the Earth from space, which zooms into Abu Dhabi on Google Maps. A zone not far from the coast is then centered on, showing an apparently ‘empty’ area of desert. However, a message is overlaid on this bleak view, stating “Nothing stays hidden to our sight, though hidden by Google.” The video then switches to a ‘night vision’ view of the same area of the map with the full extent of the Stargate AI datacenter in Abu Dhabi clear to see.

The threat comes after the IRGC claimed they targeted Oracle’s data centers in Dubai.

IRAN'S REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS SAY THEY HAVE TARGETED ORACLE'S DATA CENTER IN DUBAI – STATE MEDIA
— Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) April 2, 2026

There has been no confirmation whether the facility was hit or what damage it may have sustained.

Between Trump and Iran, it looks like a bragging competition.

• Trump Dragging Americans “Into Hell” – Iranian Parliament Speaker (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran is making life worse for ordinary Americans, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in response to ultimatums over the Strait of Hormuz.In an expletive-laden post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump warned that Iran would be “living in hell” unless the vital waterway is reopened to shipping by Tuesday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Wednesday, 12:00 a.m. GMT). He also repeated his threat to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges.Responding on X hours later, Qalibaf urged Trump to end what he described as a “dangerous game.”

“Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living HELL for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu’s commands,” Qalibaf wrote, referring to the Israeli prime minister. “Make no mistake: You won’t gain anything through war crimes,” the Iranian official added.Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to “enemy ships” shortly after the US and Israel initiated their air campaign on February 28. Tehran later said navigation rules would change and that the strait would remain inaccessible to the US and Israel for an extended period.
Traffic through the strait normally accounts for 20–25% of global oil shipments and around 20% of liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade. Disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict are driving up energy prices, including in the US, where the average price of gasoline has risen to $4 per gallon for the first time since 2022. Russia’s envoy to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said Washington fails to understand that Tehran would only accept agreements based on “reasonable compromises,” not ultimatums.

“We’re in a new world now … where eight billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who’s a U.S. citizen.”

• Is it Time for a New Amendment on the Meaning of Citizenship? (Turley)

“Well, it’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution.” Those words from Chief Justice John Roberts during this week’s oral arguments signaled that the conservative justices are unlikely to reject birthright citizenship. Of course, nothing is certain until this summer when the Court issues its opinion in Trump v. Barbara. However, we need to consider the need for a 28th Amendment to reaffirm the meaning of citizenship.

As some of us stressed before the oral argument, the odds were against the administration prevailing in the case, given more than a century of countervailing precedent. There are good-faith arguments against reading the 14th Amendment as supporting citizenship for any child born in this country. It is doubtful that the drafters of the 14th Amendment could have envisioned millions of births to illegal aliens. They surely did not imagine foreigners coming to this country for the purpose of giving birth — or even, without ever entering the U.S., contracting multiple U.S. residents to carry babies to term for them as surrogates.
The historical record is highly conflicted. Some drafters expressly denied that they intended for birthright citizenship to be covered by the 14th Amendment. The rampant abuse in this country and the widespread rejection of birthright citizenship by other countries (including some that once followed it) did not seem to impress the conservative justices. Roberts’s statement was in response to Solicitor General John Sauer’s argument that “We’re in a new world now … where eight billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who’s a U.S. citizen.”
Although President Trump has lashed out with personal attacks on the conservative justices as “disloyal” and “stupid,” they are doing what they are bound by oath to do: apply the law without political favor or interest. I expect most of the justices agree with the vast majority of countries — and the president — that birthright citizenship is a foolish and harmful policy. But they are not legislators; they are jurists tasked with constitutional interpretation. Trump appointed three principled justices to the court. To their (and to his) credit, Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett have proven that they are driven by the underlying law, not the ultimate outcome of cases.
For conservatives, constitutional interpretations offer less leeway than their liberal colleagues or believers in the “living constitution.” If you believe in continually updating the Constitution from the bench to meet contemporary demands, constitutional language is barely a speed bump on your path to the preferred outcome in any given case. In my Supreme Court class, I call this a “default case” in which justices tend to run home. When a record or the law is uncertain, conservative justices tend to avoid expansive, new interpretations. That was precisely what Trump said he wanted in nominees.
These justices are not being “disloyal” to him, but rather loyal to what they view as the meaning of the Constitution. I have at times disagreed with their view of the law, but I have never questioned their integrity. None of this means we should accept the expected outcome in this case as the final word on birthright citizenship. Justice Robert Jackson once observed that he and his colleagues “are not final because we are infallible, we are infallible because we are final.” The final word actually rests with the public. We can amend the Constitution to join most of the world in barring birthright citizenship. There is no more important question in a republic than the definition of citizenship.
We are becoming a virtual mockery as we watch millions game the birthright citizenship system. China alone has hundreds of tourism firms that have made fortunes in arranging for Chinese citizens to come to U.S. territory to give birth and then return home. No republic can last without controlling its borders and the qualifications for citizenship. We have allowed U.S. citizenship to become a mere commodity for the most affluent or unscrupulous among us.
The combination of open borders and open-ended citizenship can be an existential threat to this Republic. It is not that we cannot absorb millions of births, but rather that no republic can retain its core identity without more clearly defining and controlling the meaning of being a citizen. The U.S. is and will remain a nation of immigrants. We welcome lawful immigrants who come to this country to embrace our values and our common identity. But being a nation of immigrants does not mean that we are a nation of chumps.

“It’s basically Trump in architectural form: the deal-doing warrior and man with the Midas touch, presided over by his gleaming, gloating, engorged effigy.” —The Guardian

• April 2026 | Eyesore (James Howard Kunstler)

Behold: the proposed Donald J. Trump Presidential Library coming in for a landing on Biscayne Boulevard, Miami a few years hence. It is already catching a lot of TDS flak, and deservedly so, for its gilded grandiosity — including a gigantic golden statue of “47” himself inside somewhere, and the gold “Trump” brand logo plastered on the 47th floor. Mr. Trump has always been a comedian, and this monument is, at least partly, a bit of trollery against his millions of hate-inflamed detractors, a 47-story middle finger (with a smile). All of that is too self-evident to belabor.

Don’t expect this library to house many books, either. Rather, the building is a combo temple / museum, filled with artifacts and objects of worship, like the jumbo jet (of various Air Force Ones) to be installed in the ground floor entrance.

The more curious aspect of this project is its manifestation as a skyscraper. Such megastructures are just now going obsolete all over the world, and the world is stuck with them. Working from home, or the corner cafe, or just about anywhere, killed the need for organizing office work in this manner, and artificial intelligence is apt to sweep away countless middle-management, information handling jobs in any case. Another skyscraper is just not what the world needs these days.
So, you’d also have to ask: aside from exhibit halls, study rooms, and auditoriums, what the heck else is expected to occupy the many other floors of the building? Document storage makes more sense in low-slung structures (filing cabinets are heavy) or underground, with elaborate climate-control. Is the plan to offer some upper floor market rental space to companies who might want to locate at a “prestige address?” But, we’ve already established that the traditional office milieu is on its way out.
The answer probably is that building skyscrapers is just what DJT did in life, besides being president of the USA twice. It’s what he knows how to do, and this scheme reflects on the triumphs of his prior career in real estate development. Really, it’s just another Trump Tower, perhaps, ultimately, another Trump hotel for folks who want to bask in the glow of the Golden Golem of Greatness and his legendary doings. The final joke is that it’s being financed with the awards from the various lawsuits Mr. T has won against the old legacy media giants who defamed him over years. For all that, we say GO, MAGA. . . !

What are the odds the royal family will survive? The only reason they’re still there is Elizabeth. But all her kids are retards. And some day Charles will face his own crisis. Look at how he treated Lady Di. A king first should behave as one.

• British King Makes Easter Message After Backlash Over Ramadan Greeting (RT)

British King Charles III has issued an Easter message to Christians, after Buckingham Palace came under fire earlier this week for stating that he would not make one. He recently delivered greetings to Muslims on Ramadan. The British monarch is traditionally the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. On Thursday, GB News quoted a Buckingham Palace representative as saying that King Charles would not issue an Easter message. The announcement drew criticism from social media users, many of whom described the king’s Easter silence as “disappointing.” “We are hurting as a nation, we needed a message of Easter hope,” one user wrote.

Some critics took issue with the fact that, in February, the Royal family posted a message on its social media accounts marking the beginning of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. “Wishing all Muslims in the UK, the Commonwealth and around the world a blessed and peaceful Ramadan,” the greeting read. In March, as Muslims around the world celebrated Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the month-long fast, Buckingham Palace also published a post reading, “Eid Mubarak to Muslims celebrating in the UK and around the world.”Several British Christian clerics criticized the Royal family’s initial refusal to do the same for the country’s largest religious community.
Gavin Ashenden, a former chaplain to the late Queen Elizabeth II, issued a statement in which he suggested that the King’s silence gave his subjects the impression that the monarch “is more sympathetic to Islam.” He added that this was particularly disheartening at a time when “Christianity throughout the West – but particularly in this country, and Anglicanism above all – is beginning to sink into decay.” Bishop Ceirion H. Dewar similarly wrote on X that the Royal family’s silence on Easter was a “grave disappointment.” On Sunday, the Royal family ultimately released a short message to wish “a joyous Easter Sunday to Christians celebrating in the UK, the Commonwealth and around the world.”

“Beyond building an expanded facility to host guests, the Trump administration said the White House construction project includes new protective measures.”

• Trump Admin Appeals Order Halting White House Ballroom Construction (ET)

The Trump administration on April 3 appealed a judge’s order to halt construction on a new White House ballroom, elevating security concerns associated with the project. On March 31, Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order declaring that the president lacked the authority to order the $400 million addition on the presidential residence. Leon’s ruling came as a win for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a congressionally chartered nonprofit for the preservation of U.S. monuments and historic sites, which has challenged the White House renovation.

The National Park Service filed an emergency motion before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on April 3, arguing that halting the construction in progress exposes a construction site with highly sensitive security features. Beyond simply building an expanded facility to host guests, the National Park Service said the ongoing construction includes the installation of new protective features to withstand attacks from high-powered rifles, drones, missiles, and other unspecified “emerging national-security technologies and threats.”
Supporting the National Park Service in the case, Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn described the open construction site as a “managed safety hazard” that creates added challenges for the president’s security detail. The National Park Service argued that the project should be finished quickly, writing, “Time is of the essence!” In his ruling enjoining the construction project, Leon said that as president, Trump is the steward of the White House, but not an owner who can do with the residence as he chooses. The district judge wrote that the true authority over federal property rests with Congress, not the president.
However, in its appeal, the National Park Service argued that presidential authority covers security-related renovations at the residence. “The district court took the erroneous, sweeping view that Congress did not authorize the ballroom construction at the White House—yet correctly allows construction ‘necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House and its grounds, including the ballroom construction site, and provide for the personal safety of the President and his staff,’” the National Park Service wrote. Leon acknowledged security issues in his March 31 order to halt the construction.
In a separate order, the district judge said construction could not proceed on the development of the ballroom, but left room for the Trump administration to proceed with construction actions “strictly necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House and its grounds, including the ballroom construction site, and provide for the personal safety of the President and his staff.” Leon’s order calls for a halt to the ballroom construction by April 14.

Ha ha.

• Ukrainian Children ‘Harassing’ Draft Officers – Ombudsman (RT)

Ukrainian schoolchildren are increasingly “harassing” draft officers on the streets after watching viral TikTok videos of the officers attempting to press reluctant recruits into service, Ukraine’s military ombudsman, Olga Reshetilova, has said. Speaking on NV Radio on Saturday, Reshetilova accused Russia of spreading videos of violent acts amid the conscription campaign – which has become known in Ukraine as ‘busification’ – but conceded that the narrative has found “fertile ground.” “Schoolchildren, having watched Russian TikTok videos about the recruitment centers, start harassing people in military uniform on the streets,” she said, calling it “a very dangerous signal, because children’s psyche is not ready.”

Reshetilova also noted that parents are compounding the problem by openly discussing forced conscription in front of their children. She added that when “teenage aggression is directed at servicemen, this requires our counteraction,” such as pursuing a “nationwide information policy… in cultivating respect for a person in uniform.”nReshetilova’s comments come amid Ukraine’s contentious draft campaign, which has spawned thousands of videos showing officers clashing with reluctant recruits. Some altercations result in serious consequences, including injuries and even death in some documented cases. Many of the clips also feature ordinary civilians trying to protect people from being pressed into military service.
A Council of Europe report in July 2025 found systemic human rights violations in Ukraine’s recruitment process, citing beatings and the conscription of people with disabilities. While Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has acknowledged issues with the draft and ordered defense officials to implement the necessary reforms, the head of his office, Kirill Budanov, dampened hopes for swift reform, stressing that forced conscription is vital to staving off a collapse of the front lines and replenishing battlefield losses.

How many kids do it long enough to qualify for “long-term use”?

• Long-Term Social Media Use Linked to Depression, Self-Harm (ET)

An Australian-led study has found children and teenagers who spend more time on social media are more likely to experience depression, self-harm, substance use, and lower achievement later in life. Published in JAMA Pediatrics, the systematic review examined data from 153 studies consisting of over 350,000 children and adolescents aged between 2 and 19 years, for up to two decades. “The strongest pattern we saw was between social media use and later problematic media use, suggesting early patterns of engagement may become more entrenched and difficult to manage over time,” said Sam Teague, a senior research fellow at James Cook University.

The study focused on longitudinal research, which follows participants over time and offers stronger insight into how behaviours and outcomes develop. Teague said previous research in the field often relied on snapshots collected at a single point in time, making it harder to determine whether social media use preceded negative outcomes. However, she stressed the findings do not prove social media causes harm. Instead, the results show consistent links between higher use and a range of developmental outcomes, including cognitive, social-emotional, physical health, and motor development.
Amy Orben, a professor at the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge, said the relationship may be more complex.“It may be that children who are already struggling spend more time on social media, rather than social media being the cause of their difficulties,” Orben said. “Similarly, some personality traits or life circumstances might make certain children both more likely to use social media heavily and more likely to experience poorer developmental outcomes.” Teague said one possible explanation is that time spent online may displace activities linked to better mental health.
“Time spent on digital media [could] displace time that would otherwise be spent on things that are linked to improved mental health, like exercise and connecting with family and peers in real life,” Teague told The Epoch Times in an email. She also contrasted the interactive nature of social media with traditional media.“Unique to digital media over traditional media, is its interactive nature, whereby children and teens are encouraged to keep engaging with content through addictive features like auto-play and auto-scroll,” she said. Adolescents in particular were identified as more vulnerable to the effects of social media.
“Early adolescence is when identity formation and peer relationships become key developmental systems for young people,” she said. She added that social media can magnify these pressures through constant external feedback and large social comparison. “Action is needed at the policy and platform level most to make our online environments, that are designed largely for adults, appropriate for children,” she said. “Addictive design features particularly need attention, like auto-play and auto-scroll, as well as exposure to harmful content.”

“..it takes a year to build an aircraft. It takes 200 years to build a military tradition where you don’t leave anybody behind.”

• Former CENTCOM Commander Discusses US Rescue Operation in Iran (CTH)

Former Commander of CENTCOM, General Frank McKenzie, appears on CBS to give his analysis of ongoing Operation Epic Fury, along with the successful rescue of the F-15 crew.

[Transcript] – ED O’KEEFE: We’re joined now by the former head of U.S. Central Command, retired General Frank McKenzie. General, Happy Easter.
GEN. FRANK MCKENZIE: And the same to you, Ed.
ED O’KEEFE: So it took just under 48 hours to find the missing weapons systems officer. After the jet they were in went down in a remote and mountainous area of southwestern Iran, the weapons officer was hiding in a mountainous crevice. We’re told by a senior administration official, what’s your assessment of how the search and rescue operation went?
GEN. MCKENZIE: So I think I’d draw two lessons from it, Ed. First of all, the excellence of the joint force, our ability to rapidly pivot, to look for a downed air crewman. We train for this endlessly. It’s a part of every time we send air crew over enemy territory, we have detailed, elaborate plans to go get them. It’s a very basic part of who we are as American fighting men and women. So that plan swung into action. I think it was executed pretty effectively. As always, you’ve got somebody on the ground, may be injured. They got to get to a position where they can hide until you can get to them. All that seemed to work out very well. And you know, we did, in fact, lose a couple of aircraft in that in that mission.
But I would just tell you, it takes a year to build an aircraft. It takes 200 years to build a military tradition where you don’t leave anybody behind. You take the aircraft trade any day in a situation like this. The other lesson, I think, is a hard lesson for Iran. First of all, they were not able to find the missing air crewman. Second, you know, they put out a broad appeal to their people to turn him in reward, asking for all kinds of leads, that does not appear to have been successful. And that would- I think that’s maybe a sign of disaffection, don’t know, but you can’t, you can’t be happy with that if you’re a senior leader in Tehran this morning.
D O’KEEFE: Yeah, you know Iran’s Revolutionary Guards now claiming responsibility for attacks on petrochemical plants in the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain. They warn its attacks against U.S. economic interests will intensify if attacks on civilian targets in Iran are repeated, does Iran and its proxies retain the capacity to inflict serious damage at this point?
GEN. MCKENZIE: They have the ability to inflict damage. They do not have the ability to gain mass effects. And by mass effects, I mean firing many, many dozens of rockets, missiles or drones. I think that capability has been eroded steadily since this campaign began. And frankly, at about plus 30 days into this campaign, I think if you’re at Central Command, you’ve got to be reasonably satisfied with where you are right now. In fact, Ed, when I was the CENTCOM Commander, if you had given me this situation at plus 30 days, I would have rejected it as being too optimistic by far. So we’ve had good effect. Our effects are going to continue. It’s going to be increasingly harder for them to launch missiles and rockets. We may not get to zero for a while, and I think there’s still some time ahead, but everyone realizes that. But I think we’re on track here. This campaign is moving very effectively, and I believe the pace will pick up every day.

WSO=Weapons Systems Officer.

• The European Mind Can’t Comprehend Why We’re Such Bad A****s (Stephen Green)

After an F-15E Weapons Systems Officer ejected injured over Iranian territory, the United States military and intelligence community moved Heaven and Earth to find him, rescue him, and return him safely home. While we might never know the exact figures, somewhere between 100-200 personnel were involved in the rescue, including perhaps two small Night Stalker helicopters, and two MC-130J Commando II Special Forces cargo planes that had to be destroyed on the ground. Four specialized aircraft for one WSO? What a bargain! But it isn’t a bargain our NATO partners in Western Europe can afford.

Let me take you on a quick detour through exactly how American forces were able to track and finally pinpoint the location of the injured WSO. It’s a nifty little device called the Combat Survivor Evader Locator (CSEL), and it’s worn by pilots and combat aircrews at risk of getting shot down over enemy territory. CSEL looks a little like an old-school satellite phone, and that’s because they share some DNA. Automatically activated during ejection, a CSEL communicates in short, encrypted bursts the ejectee’s location and movement. Short bursts prevent the enemy from triangulating a position (assuming they knew what to listen for), frequency hopping prevents repeated attempts at listening, and encryption means the bad guys can’t read the location data if even they did manage to intercept a transmission.
When a rescue team gets close, CSEL changes modes, “guiding helicopters straight to them in terrain that would otherwise swallow a man alive,” as Gene Robinson put it on X.Even with near-perfect data, rescue crews don’t necessarily have it easy. Tehran’s $60,000 bounty on our WSO’s life drew all kinds of armed vermin out of the woodwork, and our Special Forces are believed to have killed an unknown numbers of them during the extraction, estimated anywhere from dozens up to 100.
So let’s put this all together. U.S. forces established a hasty airhead in enemy territory, landed two Special Forces cargo planes there, held it against heavy enemy fire — and when things went south, destroyed the planes before calling in two more just like them to complete the rescue. We got our man out and lost zero men doing it. So, yeah, when President Donald Trump says this was one of the most “daring” rescues in history, he’s right. All made possible by a CSEL whose only purpose is to “phone home” via satellite by the most secure means possible — and there’s no other country on Earth that can make that kind of extraction so deep in enemy territory.
If one of our NATO allies, God forbid, had a pilot shot down over Iran — I know, I know; they’d have to send some warplane first — it would be American men and women putting their lives on the line to bring them out. This post is indicative of the mindset, and Western Europe’s comparative inability to conduct such rescues But as I replied on X, we don’t call it our “greatest military success of all time.” We call it “business as usual.” “If you want to know why the U.S. & IAF have the best and most committed pilots/aviators in the world, it’s because they know we will do everything in our power to bring them home.”
Or as former CENTCOM commander Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie put it Sunday on Face the Nation, “It takes a year to build an aircraft, and it takes 200 years to build a military tradition where you don’t leave anybody behind.” As another wit said, France can’t afford to lose two of its 14 cargo planes, but we have hundreds. That’s the inevitable result of free-rider military budgets that countries like France and Britain are willing to make. Our air crews know that when they go out, they have the entire force and will of the United States military backing them up. Is it any wonder they’re so damn good?

Greece is hardcore Christian and Nationalistic. Every day there is something historic to honor for the nation!

The town of Mesolonghi combined the traditional religious celebration of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem with a major national commemoration through their procession!

The… https://t.co/20UpAPYuXh pic.twitter.com/ye3UXYy5UU
— TheBlackWolf (@thewolvenhour) April 5, 2026

The Muslim occupation of Spain, lasted for 780 years. From 711 to 1492.

In 711 a Muslim army from North Africa crossed the product of Gibraltar. At the head of the force was Tarek Ibn Ziad, a barbaric commander who acted on behalf of the national khalifat.

They defeated the… pic.twitter.com/6eUvZgWZGk
— Imtiaz Mahmood (@ImtiazMadmood) April 5, 2026

https://twitter.com/Old_But_Gold50s/status/2041025609858531577?s=20

Here are some goats on a vertical cliff face.

They are not alarmed. They are not reconsidering their choices. They are licking salt deposits with the energy of animals that have been doing this for ten thousand years and find your concern mildly irritating.

The Zagros… pic.twitter.com/oqKzFegiVe
— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) April 5, 2026

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Debt Rattle February 11 2025

Feb 112025

February 11, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:41 am Finance Tagged with: Canada, DOGE, Elon Musk, Fed, FEMA, Gaza, OpenAI, rare earths, reconquista, tariffs, Trump 50 Responses »

Robert Rauschenberg Buffalo II 1964

• Trump Orders 25 Percent Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum (ET)

• Trump: DOGE To Analyze Pentagon Spending After 7th Failed Audit (ZH)

• Trump Admin Urges Judge to Dissolve Order Blocking DOGE From Treasury (ET)

• The Making of Elon Musk: How the Left Makes Monsters of Us All (Turley)

• Sen. Mike Lee Floats Ron Paul For Fed Chairman, Musk Says ‘Amazing’ Idea (JTN)

• DOGE: FEMA Sent $59 Million Last Week To Luxury NYC Hotels For Illegals (ZH)

• Canada ‘Not Viable’ Without US Support – Trump (RT)

• The Fallout of Trump’s USAID Freeze (Ryumshin)

• Trump Wants Ukraine To Pay Back $500 Billion (RT)

• Ukraine Sells US Weapons To Mexican Drug Cartels – Tucker Carlson (RT)

• Danger of Deep Worldwide Recession in 2025 – Ed Dowd (USAW)

• Warfare on Lawfare (Kunstler)

• EU’s von der Leyen Calls For Alternative To NATO (RT)

• EU’s Right Calls For New ‘Reconquista’ Against ‘Islamist Advance’ (RT)

• Trump’s Gaza Plan ‘Futile’ – Erdogan (RT)

• Trump Threatens To ‘Let Hell Break Out’ In Gaza (RT)

• Musk And Altman Throw Punches Over Control Of OpenAI (ZH)

• Deepseek Compared To ChatGPT On The Ukraine War – Who Is Winning? (Helmer)

80/20

My father has many Super Powers first and foremost COMMON SENSE but secondly magically making democrats go all in on the dumbest possible positions and rebuttals. It’s glorious. pic.twitter.com/XDhMvwfsqQ

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 9, 2025

Andreessen

Marc Andreessen explains what makes Elon and Trump so successful.
"There are many more specific things about Elon's genius, but one of the one of the really core ones is an absolute dedication to the truth. And so when Elon says something, it sounds like crazy shit, but in his… pic.twitter.com/WgTZw2HVBE

— Camus (@newstart_2024) February 10, 2025

Trump Bret Baier

pic.twitter.com/esjBwCjKOU

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 9, 2025

Excellent summary of the game plan
pic.twitter.com/40aqEX5Hwl

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2025

Musk AfD

Elon Musk: Here's why I'm in favor of the AfD.

“The reason that I am in favor of AfD is that there are some fundamental things that must happen, without which I'm concerned that Germany will fail.

There have to be sensible controls on immigration. If there are criminals in… pic.twitter.com/NXavLXIDog

— ELON CLIPS (@ElonClipsX) February 9, 2025

“Steel and aluminum tariffs 2.0 will ensure that American producers can compete on a level playing field..”

• Trump Orders 25 Percent Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum (ET)

President Donald Trump on Feb. 10 imposed 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he flew from Florida to New Orleans on Feb. 9 to attend the Super Bowl, Trump said he would announce a 25-percent levy on “any steel coming into the United States. Aluminum, too.” The president also said he would announce “reciprocal tariffs” soon. Under this plan, the United States would implement import duties on goods and services when another country imposes tariffs on U.S. products. “If they are charging us 130 percent, and we’re charging them nothing, it’s not going to stay that way,” Trump said. “If they charge us, we charge them.” The tariffs are set to take effect on March 4. Canada and Mexico are two of the largest aluminum and steel trading partners of the United States.

Although the president claimed that the U.S. trade deficit with Canada was $200 billion, the gap was $63.33 billion last year, according to Census Bureau data. A March 2023 study by the International Trade Commission found that the first Trump administration’s use of Section 232—tariffs imposed on imports considered vital for national security—raised steel and aluminum prices. However, the effect on economic growth and employment was minimal. Repealing Section 232 would ultimately lead to the creation of more than 4,000 jobs and a long-run gross domestic product growth of 0.02 percent, or $3.5 billion, according to Alex Durante, senior economist at the Tax Foundation. “Because tariffs are taxes on imports and raise the cost of production, we estimate that repealing the Section 232 tariffs would strengthen the U.S. economy and create jobs,” Durante said in a 2024 paper.

In a separate pre-taped interview with Fox News released on Feb. 9, Trump said he had not seen enough action from Canada and Mexico to avoid tariffs after agreeing to a 30-day pause. “No, it’s not good enough,” Trump told host Bret Baier. “Something has to happen. It’s not sustainable. And I’m changing it.” Last week, the president agreed to a 30-day extension on his initiative to apply a 25-percent levy on all goods from Canada and Mexico. Canadian oil, natural gas, and electricity imports would be taxed at a rate of 10 percent. Senior Canadian officials, including François-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science, and industry, pledged to “stand up for Canada,” its workers, and its industries. Ontario Premier Doug Ford criticized Trump on social media platform X, writing that he is “shifting goalposts” and inciting “constant chaos.”

François Legault, premier of Quebec, a major aluminum supplier, said on X that it is critical to “begin to renegotiate” Canada’s free trade agreement with the United States “as soon as possible.” “Quebec exports 2.9 million tons of aluminum to them, or 60 percent of their needs. Do they prefer to get supplies from China?” he wrote. “We must put an end to this uncertainty.” Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said the tariffs are a “direct attack” on Canadian workers and the country’s economy. “These tariffs don’t protect jobs—they kill them. Canada cannot sit idly by while our workers are treated as bargaining chips in Trump’s trade war,” Bruske said. “Our government must respond with strong, immediate action to defend Canadian industries and the workers who keep them running.”

As part of his 2018 Section 232 national security tariff extensions to shield aluminum and steel makers, the president signed trade proclamations that increased tariffs on these products without exemptions or exclusions. Trump reinstated a 25-percent tariff on millions of steel imports that had previously entered the United States duty-free under exemptions, quota arrangements, and other exclusions. He also raised the levy tariff rate on aluminum imports to 25 percent from the previous 10 percent in 2018. “This is a big deal—making America rich again,” Trump told reporters. The latest tariffs are a response to policies that the Trump administration said have permitted various countries—namely Brazil, Canada, China, Russia, and Mexico—to “manipulate trade.” “Steel and aluminum tariffs 2.0 will ensure that American producers can compete on a level playing field,” a White House official said in a call with reporters.

Bring on the lawsuits.

• Trump: DOGE To Analyze Pentagon Spending After 7th Failed Audit (ZH)

President Donald Trump has directed Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to audit the Pentagon, after the Defense Department failed its seventh audit in a row. During an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier set to air before the Super Bowl, Trump said he was directing DOGE to investigate both the Department of Education and the Pentagon. “We’re going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse,” Trump said.

Trump tells @BretBaier he will direct @elonmusk and DOGE to investigate Department of Education and Pentagon for fraud and abuse. pic.twitter.com/uw1i5ZlKML

— CAPITAL (@capitalnewshq) February 9, 2025

On Friday, Trump said during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba that he was directing DOGE to investigate “Pentgon, education, just about everything,” adding that he thinks Musk will find “a lot” of waste, fraud and abuse. “Sadly, you’ll find some things that are pretty bad, but I don’t think proportionally you’ll see anything like we just saw,” Trump said, referring to USAID – where the new administration has placed 97% of the staff on leave. Last week, Trump said that billions of dollars have been stolen by USAID. Reviewing the Pentagon will be no small task for an agency which sees roughly $800 billion flow through it, and has never managed to pass its own financial audits with the exception of the Marine Corps. The Pentagon employs nearly 3.3 million service members and civilians.

This is what we’re dealing with everywhere in government
pic.twitter.com/ObsfvINEQ2

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 9, 2025

Musk, who has been appointed as a “special government employee,” is one of Trump’s key advisers, who has set a goal for DOGE to cut up to $2 trillion in federal expenses by July 2026. Last week, DOGE claimed that it had managed to save over $1 billion by slashing contracts related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), through halting “the hiring of people into unnecessary positions, the deletion of DEI, and stopping improper payments to foreign organizations,” as The Burning Platform noted on Sunday.

On Saturday, Musk said that DOGE and the US Treasury Department have agreed to new anti-fraud measures aimed at preventing tens of billions of dollars in fraudulent government entitlement payments each year, including the following:
– Require that all outgoing government payments have a payment categorization code, which is necessary in order to pass financial audits. This is frequently left blank, making audits almost impossible.
– All payments must also include a rationale for the payment in the comment field, which is currently left blank. Importantly, we are not yet applying ANY judgment to this rationale, but simply requiring that SOME attempt be made to explain the payment more than NOTHING!
– The DO-NOT-PAY list of entities known to be fraudulent or people who are dead or are probable fronts for terrorist organizations or do not match Congressional appropriations must actually be implemented and not ignored. Also, it can currently take up to a year to get on this list, which is far too long. This list should be updated at least weekly, if not daily.

The above super obvious and necessary changes are being implemented by existing, long-time career government employees, not anyone from @DOGE. It is ridiculous that these changes didn’t exist already! Yesterday, I was told that there are currently over $100B/year of entitlements payments to individuals with no SSN or even a temporary ID number. If accurate, this is extremely suspicious. When I asked if anyone at Treasury had a rough guess for what percentage of that number is unequivocal and obvious fraud, the consensus in the room was about half, so $50B/year or $1B/week!! This is utterly insane and must be addressed immediately.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently defended DOGE’s actions at Treasury – telling Bloomberg in an interview with Bloomberg that the DOGE team is made up of highly trained professionals and “not some roving band running around doing things,” possibly in reference to claims by critics that DOGE has embraced and is applying the adage “move fast and break things,” which is part of the Silicon Valley start-up culture of being innovative, nimble, and disruptive.

Bizarro world.

• Trump Admin Urges Judge to Dissolve Order Blocking DOGE From Treasury (ET)

The Trump administration on Feb. 9 urged a federal judge to rescind an order that blocks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) personnel and some other government workers from accessing U.S. Department of Treasury records. The order from U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer bars access to the payment records for all personnel apart from civil servants “with a need for access to perform their job duties.” “On its face, the Order could be read to cover all political leadership within Treasury—including even Secretary Bessent,” government lawyers said in an emergency motion to the court, referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “This is a remarkable intrusion on the Executive Branch that is in direct conflict with Article II of the Constitution, and the unitary structure it provides.” Article II grants the president the power to appoint the heads of executive agencies and to seek their opinions on any subject relating to their duties.

“Basic democratic accountability requires that every executive agency’s work be supervised by politically accountable leadership, who ultimately answer to the President,” the government lawyers said on Sunday. “A federal court, consistent with the separation of powers, cannot insulate any portion of that work from the specter of political accountability. No court can issue an injunction that directly severs the clear line of supervision Article II requires. Because the Order on its face draws an impermissible and anti-constitutional distinction, it should be dissolved immediately.” If the order is not dissolved, the court should clarify or modify the order to make clear it does not cover top Treasury officials, according to the motion, and if the court is unwilling to grant relief, it should stay the order pending the outcome of an appeal.

U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas, who is overseeing the case, after receiving the motion ordered the parties to meet and confer regarding the motion “to determine if the parties can reach agreement on a stipulation that either resolves or narrows the issues presented in the Motion.” If the parties cannot reach an agreement, the plaintiffs are ordered to file a reply by 5 p.m. ET on Monday, with a response to the reply due from government lawyers six hours later. The case was brought by New York and 18 other states against President Donald Trump and Bessent. The states said that the government giving access to payment records to DOGE, which is headed by Elon Musk, posed cybersecurity risks and imperiled the privacy of state residents whose financial information and other personal data were stored in the files. The states asked for an order blocking the access and received the order early Saturday.

Pam Bondi

pic.twitter.com/wKLneVOJnX

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2025

Long list of crap
https://twitter.com/i/status/1888766525454373049

“They have made monsters of everyone who challenges the confines of their known world.”

• The Making of Elon Musk: How the Left Makes Monsters of Us All (Turley)

Across the Internet, politicians and pundits are in a monstrous mood. The same people who spent the last year declaring the imminent death of democracy if Donald Trump were elected are now insisting that the real threat is the “monster” he has unleashed upon the federal bureaucracy. It is the thing of legend, a Beltway monster that you told your children about around campfires late at night: An outsider who comes to town and lays waste to government waste, firing thousands and slashing budgets. Part Frankenstein, part Bigfoot, that creature never had a name, but would be beholden to no one and uninterested in the status quo. The monster now has a name, and it is Elon Musk. Democratic politicians are now claiming that reducing government is equivalent to destroying government. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) yelled dramatically to an outdoor crowd this week that Musk’s government efficiency efforts are “taking away everything we have.”

For decades, both Democratic and Republican presidents have run on reducing government and making it more efficient. But everyone knew that such campaign pledges would be quickly discarded after each election. What is so terrifying this time is that Musk means it. We know that because he has done it before. When Musk bought Twitter with the promise of dismantling its censorship system and culture, he started by firing virtually everyone. Critics immediately declared that he was a fool and did not understand how to run a social media company. Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich said that Musk’s firings meant the death of Twitter and triumphantly declared, “You break it, you own it.” It did not exactly work out that way. Musk fired as much as 90 percent of his staff and the company survived. Liberals only grew more determined, seeking even to boycott his other companies and bar Space X from needed national security missions.

As liberal media and pundits raged, Musk stayed firm and survived. Now Amazon has increased advertising on X, which is now the sixth most popular social media site. It has reportedly hit 500 million subscribers and a reported 40-plus percent profit margin. It is set to make billions with a greatly reduced overhead due to the firings. Musk’s model has been watched — and to some degree replicated — by other companies. The only way to change a culture is sometimes to change the people. Take the U.S. Agency for International Development, where Musk led an effort to freeze operations at the agency and move it to within the State Department. Notably, they are not shutting down the agency, and Trump has said that he wants to continue foreign aid needed for core missions like clean water and disease prevention, for example.

There are good-faith reasons to be concerned that vital programs must not be abruptly ended. However, the complaint is that USAID is the ultimate example of a bloated agency with a high percentage of funding going to administrative costs over field operations. The State Department reportedly plans to reduce the USAID workforce from over 10,000 to less than 300. It is vintage Musk. It is easier to take the trauma upfront and then rehire the employees needed to fulfill the mission with a leaner workforce. That process is easier if you can get people to leave voluntarily. Part of it is performative like Musk showing up at Twitter with a sink — to let reality “sink in” for the thousands of employees. It appears to be working. Many employees are taking an offer to leave with a generous severance package. The idea is simple: If you throw a badger into a crowded car, people will get out. Musk is that badger.

As for Musk being a democracy-devouring Frankenstein, the rhetoric is again outstripping reality. The fact is that liberals rarely hunt monsters, they create their own monsters. The making of “Muskenstein” can be found in the cancel campaign launched against him as soon as he pledged to restore free speech on Twitter. An unprecedented alliance of government, corporations, media, and academia were arrayed against him. This same alliance has worked countless times to get corporations and CEOs to comply with its demands for censorship. But Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, was unbowed. Liberals correctly saw Musk’s defiance as an existential threat. For years, they had exercised virtual total control of social media, legacy media, and academia. Opposing views were denounced as dangerous disinformation.

The key to their system was that you maintain orthodoxy by coercing people into silence. During the COVID pandemic, scientists who challenged the enforced view of masks, COVID-19 origins, and other issues were banned or fired. Others remained silent as they watched colleagues exiled for expressing their opinions. Musk had to be destroyed, or others might start to believe that they could also defy the groupthink. The problem is that intolerance for opposing views creates thousands of renegades and outsiders. I was one of them. I was once associated with liberal academia, which frankly worked to my advantage in favorable media and academic opportunities. I then began to question the growing orthodoxy in academia over the loss of free speech and viewpoint diversity, including the purging of faculties of conservative and libertarian voices. I was quickly targeted for it.

But that campaign gave me an even greater understanding of the dangers of the anti-free speech movement from outside the system. On a much higher level, Musk seems to have felt the same liberating aspects of being declared persona non grata. They turned Musk into the very monster they feared. They are now doing the same thing with Mark Zuckerberg. After the head of Meta announced that he was going to end the robust censorship system on Facebook and other sites (as well as downsizing staff), the left went after him with the same unhinged hatred. Like Musk, Zuckerberg had been celebrated as an industry icon, but is now condemned as a grotesque abomination. Politicians such as Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — who once threatened Zuckerberg not to restore free speech values like Musk — are now set against him. There is talk of boycotts as many liberals retreat into the safe space of BlueSky, a site that essentially protects liberals from opposing views.

BlueSky’s appeal is that it stays close to shore, where the waters are safe and shallow. The problem for many on the left is that more and more people want to venture beyond those navigational buoys. Like Musk, they want to consider new horizons and possibilities. In Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Hector Barbossa warns Captain Jack Sparrow, “You’re off the edge of the map, mate! Here there be monsters!” For liberals, we are now off the map where creatures of mythological shapes dwell. They found them exactly where they thought they would be. After all, they created them. They have made monsters of everyone who challenges the confines of their known world.

Ron Paul is 89. Not his job.

• Sen. Mike Lee Floats Ron Paul For Fed Chairman, Musk Says ‘Amazing’ Idea (JTN)

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, floated former GOP Rep. Ron Paul for Federal Reserve chairman and billionaire Elon Musk, who is leading the Department of Government Efficiency called the idea “amazing.” Musk initially wrote on X that it would be a “good idea” if DOGE allowed Paul to run a “Federal Reserve audit team.” Lee responded to that comment on X.”Raise your hand if you’d like to see @RonPaul as Federal Reserve chairman,” Lee wrote about Paul, 89, whose signature issue became calling for a full audit of the Federal Reserve . He was also a vocal opponent of the Iraq War before it began. The current chairman of the Federal Reserve if Jerome Powell. Paul’s son, Rand, is currently serving in the U.S. Senate representing Kentucky.

“..a “clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds.”

• DOGE: FEMA Sent $59 Million Last Week To Luxury NYC Hotels For Illegals (ZH)

Elon Musk’s team of mid-20s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) disruptors has once again found wasteful spending—this time focusing on a $59 million payment sent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to luxury hotels across New York City housing illegal aliens. “The DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants,” Musk wrote on X early Monday morning. Musk explained, “Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order,” adding, “That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals!” Musk did not specify which luxury NYC hotels received FEMA funding for migrants last week but noted that a “clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds.”

The @DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.

Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order.

That money is meant for American disaster relief…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2025

However, a December report revealed that NYC politicians spent $220 million in a sweetheart deal with Pakistan to lease the prestigious Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan for illegal alien housing. The most alarming issue was that NYC paid a foreign government to house illegals. “So let me get this straight; places like North Carolina and Maui get a pittance because FEMA says they lack funds, so we have to send our Military there to do work that could be put into the local economies. Meanwhile FEMA blows its budget on housing illegal immigrants?” one X user wrote in response to Musk’s report. While illegals have lived ‘the American Dream’ on the taxpayers’ dime, residents across Western North Carolina have only now begun receiving FEMA assistance amid the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene. Many of these folks in North Carolina had limited to no FEMA assistance under the Biden-Harris regime. That all changed after President Trump entered the White House on January 20.

WNC

HOW THE FUCK WERE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS GETTING $59 MILLION DOLLARS TO STAY IN LUXURY HOTELS IN NEW YORK…

…WHEN FEMA TRIED TO KICK OUT 3,000 HURRICANE HELENE VICTIMS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA OUT OF HOTELS IN THE WINTER?!!!!!!

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME?!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/dZUafeBxaC

— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) February 10, 2025

Trudeau fully aligned with the US Dems, woke and all, and against Trump. Now Canada will pay the price.

• Canada ‘Not Viable’ Without US Support – Trump (RT)

Canada is “not viable” as a country without continued economic support and military protection from the US, President Donald Trump has claimed. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump doubled down on his idea of Canada joining the US as the 51st state, which Ottawa strongly opposes. The president argued that Canada does not “pay very much for military, and the reason they don’t pay much is they assume that we’re going to protect them… they don’t pay their share of military in NATO.” “The other thing is, we subsidize them to the tune of about $200 billion a year. If we stopped doing that, if we stopped allowing them to make cars through tariffs and other things – cars, trucks, etc., what they make – they’re not viable as a country,” he added.

According to Trump, becoming the 51st state of the US would be “the greatest thing [Canada] could ever do.” “It would be unbelievable. It would be a cherished state,” the president said, suggesting that the current border between the two countries is “artificial” and was drawn with a ruler. In a separate interview with Fox News, Trump confirmed that he is serious about incorporating Canada into the US. Asked to comment on reports that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned the country’s business leaders that Trump’s plans are a “real thing,” the president replied: “Yeah, it is.”

In early February, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and additional 10% on imports from China, citing concerns over illegal immigration and drug trafficking. In response, Canada announced retaliatory tariffs of 25%, targeting a wide range of American-made goods. However, as the specter of a trade war loomed, Washington and Ottawa agreed to delay the implementation of the tariffs. On Sunday, Trump reiterated his stance on tit-for-tat tariffs and again teased plans for new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, which would again affect Canada and Mexico, without saying whether there would be exemptions.

Let it die. Start something new.

• The Fallout of Trump’s USAID Freeze (Ryumshin)

If you’ve spent any time on social media recently, particularly X, you might have noticed a pattern. Media outlets, NGOs, and human rights groups with a liberal slant are posting about financial trouble. Some plead for public donations, while others announce layoffs and budget cuts. What’s causing this sudden turmoil? In many cases, it boils down to the suspension of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). For decades, this agency has been a lifeline for countless “grant seekers.” With the freeze in operations, many of these groups now find themselves at a breaking point. USAID is the largest source of official US financial aid abroad, with an annual budget running into the tens of billions of dollars. These funds fuel hundreds of projects worldwide.

While some initiatives address genuine concerns like poverty, hunger, and environmental protection, others have a more ambiguous purpose, such as “building civil society” or “developing democracy.” Often, these projects serve as vehicles for advancing US political interests, sometimes with covert ties to intelligence agencies. Between 2022 and 2024, USAID disbursed nearly $120 billion globally. The largest beneficiary was Ukraine, which received over $32 billion, funding everything from government operations to 90% of the country’s media outlets. Moldova was another major recipient, where USAID financed energy independence projects and media aligned with the government. Other countries in the post-Soviet space saw millions funneled into “democracy-building” efforts.

In 2024 alone, USAID poured over $40 million into Georgian civil society projects, $20 million into Armenia, and $11 million into Belarus. Even after officially ceasing operations in Russia in 2012, USAID quietly continued its activities, with $60 million earmarked for 11 programs in 2025-2026, including “Strengthening Local Governance in the North Caucasus” and “New Media” initiatives. In January 2025, everything changed. US President Donald Trump froze all foreign aid for 90 days. This was followed by a dramatic shake-up: USAID’s headquarters was raided by DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) agents, and Elon Musk declared the agency was effectively “shut down.” For decades, USAID’s funding had been a critical support system for pro-Western and opposition structures in Russia and beyond.

Now, many of these organizations find themselves adrift, their stable funding having evaporated overnight. Yet celebrating this development as a triumph may be premature. The USAID freeze isn’t about dismantling the agency entirely. Rather, it’s a restructuring to wrest control from the Democrats, who previously used it to push left-liberal values globally. Trump’s goal is to transform USAID into a tool for his administration’s conservative agenda. As he bluntly put it: “[it has] been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out,” while Musk called it “a criminal organization” and said it was “time for it to die.” Under Trump’s plan, USAID will be integrated into the State Department, now headed by Marco Rubio.

Funding will not disappear – it will be redirected. Instead of backing progressive initiatives, grants will support projects that align with traditional values, patriotism, and the revived “American Dream.” The beneficiaries will shift from liberal activists to conservative organizations promoting these ideals. Geographically, funding priorities may also change, focusing more on Europe and Latin America. Regardless of these shifts, the primary mission of advancing the US interests will remain intact. The suspension of USAID has created chaos among the vast network of Russian organizations reliant on its funding. But they won’t go down without a fight. Some will perform ideological backflips, rebranding themselves as Trump-aligned supporters to secure new funding streams.

Others will pivot to European donors or private backers like disgraced 1990s oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky. A few will downsize, trimming staff and budgets, but continue to operate independently. The hardest hit will be the smallest and most ideologically rigid groups, unable or unwilling to adapt. They will likely disappear altogether, but these are the exceptions.

“..they may make a deal, they may not make a deal, they may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday, but we’re gonna have all this money in there..”

• Trump Wants Ukraine To Pay Back $500 Billion (RT)

US President Donald Trump has said he wants to secure a deal with Kiev to ensure Washington gets its money back by trading aid for Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals – regardless of whether “they may be Russian someday.” In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Trump claimed that “the United States is in for more than $300 billion, probably 350” in various forms of aid to Ukraine, adding that it would be “stupid” for Washington to continue bankrolling Kiev without receiving anything in return. “I want to have our money secured because we’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars,” the US leader said. “They have tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth, in terms of oil and gas, in terms of other things.”

“I told them that I want the equivalent, like $500 billion worth of rare earths, and they’ve essentially agreed to do that,” Trump stated. “So at least we don’t feel stupid. Otherwise, we’re stupid. I said to them, we have to get something.” “You know, they may make a deal, they may not make a deal, they may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday, but we’re gonna have all this money in there, and I say, I want it back,” he added. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky confirmed last week that he would be open to reaching an agreement over Kiev’s deposits of lithium, titanium, and other heavy metals. However, he insisted that Ukraine’s Western backers must first help push Russian forces out of mineral-rich territories before they can invest in rare-earth resources.

Before the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the country had Europe’s largest reserves of titanium and lithium. While not classified as rare-earth elements, these materials are critical for military industries, batteries, and capacitors. The list of rare-earth metals that can be found in Ukraine also includes beryllium, manganese, gallium, uranium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite, and nickel. According to Forbes, around $7 trillion of Ukraine’s total mineral wealth is located in its former Donbass regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, which declared independence from Ukraine in 2014 following the Western-backed Maidan coup in Kiev. Most of these territories came under Russian control after Donetsk and Lugansk voted to join Russia in 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited the protection of people in Donbass as a key reason for launching the military operation in Ukraine. Resources in these territories are a major factor in NATO member states’ support for Kiev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in October 2024. “Their discourse revolves around territory and resources that they require in America,” he said. “Our concern is not territories, but people.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1889101793751413120

Carlson knows this, but Trump does not?

• Ukraine Sells US Weapons To Mexican Drug Cartels – Tucker Carlson (RT)

A significant portion of the weapons Washington has provided to Kiev as military aid in its conflict with Russia is ending up in the hands of America’s “actual enemies,” including Mexican drug cartels, US journalist Tucker Carlson has claimed. As much as half of all weapons sent by the US to Ukraine end up on international black markets, the former Fox News host said on Monday during an interview with retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel and Iraq and Afghanistan veteran Daniel Davis. “The Ukrainian military is selling a huge percentage – up to half – of the arms that we send them. I know this for a fact,” Carlson claimed. However, he did not disclose his sources or provide specific evidence to support his statement.

Carlson argued that Washington is supplying Kiev with “hundreds of billions of dollars” worth of arms, a significant portion of which are being “stolen and sold to our actual enemies,” including “drug cartels on our border.” He also claimed that weapons from Ukraine could be easily purchased online, describing the situation as a “crime” and a “nightmare.” Since 2022, the US Congress has authorized approximately $175 billion in aid for Ukraine. However, a large portion of that funding has reportedly been allocated to American industries and other US government activities related to the conflict. In January, US President Donald Trump claimed that Washington had spent “$200 billion more than the EU” on aid to Kiev.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky later stated that Kiev had received just over $75 billion in military and other forms of assistance from Washington, adding that he has no idea where Trump’s estimate of $200 billion originated or where it could have vanished. Moscow has repeatedly warned that the unchecked supply of Western weapons to Ukraine has led to a large number of arms falling into the hands of organized criminal groups and extremists worldwide. Western media and officials have also acknowledged that weapons supplied to Kiev’s backers have ended up in criminal hands. In April 2022, Europol reported that its investigations indicated weapons were being trafficked out of Ukraine and into the EU to supply organized crime groups.

In October 2022, Finnish authorities stated that weapons originally sent to Kiev had surfaced in the country and were acquired by local criminals. At the time, similar reports emerged from Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. In June 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Western anti-tank weapons intended for Ukraine had been found on Israel’s border and were allegedly aimed at the Jewish state. In June 2024, Spanish media reported that criminal gangs in southern Spain had obtained modern military-grade weapons allegedly smuggled from Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military is selling American weapons systems on the black market, including to drug cartels. This war is killing the United States. Col. Daniel Davis on how Donald Trump can end it.

(0:00) Why Crimea Is So Pivotal
(13:17) Ukraine Is Powerless Without the US
(31:16)… pic.twitter.com/PgL3og9lTE

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 10, 2025

Looking at his words, it seems he means a mini-recession. Because Trump.

• Danger of Deep Worldwide Recession in 2025 – Ed Dowd (USAW)

Former Wall Street money manager and financial analyst Ed Dowd of PhinanceTechnologies.com is back with a new report called “Danger of Deep Worldwide Recession in 2025.” The new report shows how a weak economy was propped up under the Biden Administration and how a crash, this year, is inevitable. Dowd says, “What we are going to have going forward is the reversal of deficit government spending, which was juicing the economy with illegals. Some of them got jobs, but a lot of them got benefits. They got housing accommodations. The NGO system was flush with money to facilitate this massive, purposeful logistical operation. People don’t understand that the net legal migration in the US is one million a year. That’s one million people a year.

The last four years, we brought in 10 million to 15 million people. That is a new economic variable, and it distorted the economy. It never got us into expansion territory, but it papered over a lot of the ills we were seeing. Trump’s policies are going to reverse that all out. . . . The velocity of money under Joe Biden really started to rise. . . . Illegal immigration is very inflationary. . . . In the fourth quarter, the velocity of money is already rolling over. The Trump effect began the moment he was elected. We’ve seen self-deportations. We have seen new tenant rents plunge, and that’s what has been holding up the housing market.”

How bad is the economy going to get? Dowd predicts, “We are seeing a recession in 2025. The rest of the globe is already starting to roll over. It’s going to be a worldwide recession. There is going to be a mini housing crisis. Housing has been stagnant for the better part of the year. There is no transaction volume, and nobody can afford homes. We are hitting the 18-year housing cycle. The last housing cycle was in 2007, and you add 18 years and you get 2025. . . . The economy for the middle-class is going down. . . . As time goes on, we are going to see GDP numbers go lower and lower and lower. . . . It’s kind of a perfect storm for the Trump Administration. There is no way to avoid the pain.”

When can we expect things to get better? Dowd says, “This is much like Ronald Reagan in his first term. He was elected with -2% real wages. This was the same phenomenon going into the 2024 Election. So, we are going to have a recession . . . Then, Trump gets his policies, and he has a very short window of opportunity to get all of his policies enacted. If he does, we will be booming on the other side of this.” Dowd still likes gold and thinks rates will begin going lower, which means locking in rates now will be a smart play for many. Dowd says, “Gold is good long term.” Dowd also thinks AI is over-bought and is in a bubble and points out, “There is no money on the other side,” of the AI boom. Dowd thinks AI tech will crash just like the internet bubble in early 2000. Dowd thinks, “AI prices are too expensive, and they will collapse at some point.”

“The actual objective by the plaintiff in these cases (the Party of Chaos) is simply to delay any corrective action.”

• Warfare on Lawfare (Kunstler)

Speaking of metanarratives — and apart from the private vendettas on Planet Rap — a nice one is developing at center-stage of US political life: the Party of Chaos using federal judges to oppose the dismantling of their gigantic grift scaffold. In other words, more lawfare to obstruct any earnest effort to effectively reform the management of our country. So, last week, you get Judge Carl J. Nichols in the DC District arguing that the DOGE shutdown of USAID was unauthorized and potentially illegal, lacking congressional approval. Then, late Friday (when most citizens are checking out of the week’s struggles) Judge Paul Engelmayer out of the Southern District of New York blocked DOGE and other executive branch officials from accessing US Treasury records of expenditures.

The injunction, comically, prevents Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from seeing what his agency doles out money for — that is, from managing anything his department does. The suit that prompted the ruling was brought by nineteen states’ Attorneys General led by NY AG Letitia James. So, you see how this works. You must also imagine that the White House was prepared for these lawfare shenanigans, though they haven’t shown their hand in response so far. This is a constitutional quarrel, of course, since it concerns who has authority between the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary over agency spending and, in particular, who gets to audit it. The actual objective by the plaintiff in these cases (the Party of Chaos) is simply to delay any corrective action.

The DOJ under Pam Bondi can designate the US Solicitor General to petition the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) for certiorari — to expedite the resolution of this constitutional issue as to whether Mr. Trump, as chief executive, and his bona fide appointees, can carry out executive functions. The arguments against that appear to be weak. It is the President’s duty to see that the laws are faithfully executed, meaning that the departments under him do their jobs correctly, which would give him inherent authority to audit and restructure agencies like USAID. Both judges Nichols and Engelmayer are arrogating executive and legislative functions on policy-making to themselves, triggering a separation-of-powers dispute that the SCOTUS must adjudicate promptly.

What matters most in these cases is that SCOTUS has an opportunity to put up new guardrails against the hijacking of the federal courts for the purpose of lawfare — that is, for political dirty-fighting under color-of-law. The law is slow-moving, arcane, and incomprehensible to most non-lawyer citizens and that is why the Party of Chaos has misused it so liberally. In any event, DOGE is moving ahead on many other fronts and the next battleground looks like the US Department of Education, an agency which, since its creation in 1979, has only presided over an epic degeneration in the academic performance of young people. The agency has grown since 1979 to 4,400 employees overseeing a $238-billion budget.

Otherwise, what it’s mainly accomplished is to enrich the various teachers’ unions and to raise the cost of college tuitions astronomically while degenerating the purpose and value of higher ed. The fifty states were arguably doing a better job on their own without any DOE on the scene. Meanwhile, it’s satisfying to see the security clearances revoked from Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann, Mark Zaid, and Norm Eisen. The reason: among other crimes, they all dabbled in election interference. And “Joe Biden” lost his, too, on account of being too feeble-minded to be trusted with classified information. Who knows what other legal complications lie in waiting up ahead for that whole gang? Lawfare giveth and lawfare taketh away. Or FAFO.

Yeah, let’s start a second army. Does she represent anything other than the arms industry?

• EU’s von der Leyen Calls For Alternative To NATO (RT)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for an alternative to NATO, arguing that Europe must take greater responsibility for its own security. Her remarks come amid growing US demands for increased defense spending among members of the US-led military bloc, uncertainty over future support for Ukraine, and fears of a potential shift in Washington’s commitment to European security. “NATO remains the foundation of our defense. But it is evident that we need a pan-European defense,” von der Leyen said in a press briefing in Lithuania on Sunday. “Modern warfare requires a scale, technology, and coordination too big for any one nation to handle alone,” she added, asking for more funding, “both public and private.” The strategy for the future of European defense will be presented to EU leaders by mid-March, she said.

Before the Ukraine conflict, French President Emmanuel Macron and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel were among the most vocal advocates for establishing an EU army. In 2019, Macron described NATO as “brain dead” and urged European leaders to pursue a policy of “strategic autonomy” from Washington, which has influenced security policy on the continent through NATO since the end of World War II. One of the suggestions was to create a “true, European army” to independently strengthen continental security. Though then-NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that the move would “weaken the connection between North America and Europe,” Italy supported the idea. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has argued that the bloc cannot have a credible foreign policy without a joint military. However, the idea faced strong pushback in other European countries.

In 2024, then-top EU diplomat Josep Borrell suggested that while the bloc should aspire to boost the military capabilities of its members, this does not mean that it should create a common army. Several EU states, including Denmark and Poland, have also signaled that they want their security guaranteed within the existing NATO framework. Macron recently announced that France would double its military budget and urged other EU states to follow suit, citing the possibility of dwindling US interest in European security after Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Since February 2022, the US has provided over $65 billion in military aid to Ukraine. However, Trump has questioned this support, stating that Kiev has “had enough,” while advocating for a peace agreement with Russia.In 2022, after the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the EU significantly ramped up defense spending. Since then, Germany, France, and other EU states have pledged record increases in defense budgets.

EU’s right organizes: “Make Europe Great Again.”

• EU’s Right Calls For New ‘Reconquista’ Against ‘Islamist Advance’ (RT)

Right-wing leaders from across Europe have called for a new “Reconquista” to defend the continent’s traditional values and cultural identity while criticizing the EU’s migration policies. On Saturday, the Patriots for Europe group, the third-largest political bloc in the EU parliament, gathered in Madrid for its first high-profile rally since the summer elections. Attendees included Santiago Abascal, the leader of Spain’s conservative Vox party; Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban; Marine Le Pen of France’s National Rally party; and other high-profile conservative and right-wing leaders. The event was held under the slogan “Make Europe Great Again,” an explicit nod to US President Donald Trump’s campaign motto. The conference centered on the theme of battling Islam, EU bureaucracy, globalism and left-wing “woke policies” and diversity.

The term “Reconquista” echoed throughout the event, with Abascal comparing today’s political struggles to the centuries-long campaign by Christian kingdoms to free the territory of modern Spain from Muslim rule in the Middle Ages. “We Spaniards are proud to be known for that extraordinary feat of our ancestors. We are ready to be that again,” Abascal noted. “We are ready to be that wall of Europe once again in the face of Islamist advance,” he said, vowing to fight against “global dictatorship,” including the one imposed from Brussels. The idea of Reconquista was also mentioned by Martin Helme, the leader of Estonia’s Conservative People’s Party. “For Europe to be great again, we need to have a new Reconquista,” he said while accusing globalist elites of trying to “damage our Christian civilization and replace it with their sick satanic utopia.”

Orban, a consistent opponent of the EU’s lenient approach to migration, also weighed in, suggesting that “the replacement of the population of Europe is not a conspiracy theory, it is pure practice.” The Hungarian leader also said that liberal ideology had suffered a major defeat due to Trump’s victory in the US. “The Trump tornado, has changed the world in just a couple of weeks. An era has ended,” he said. The sentiment was echoed by Le Pen, who also called for “renaissance of Europe” which she said could be achieved by establishing dialogue among different right-wing forces. Right-wing parties across the EU have grown in popularity over the past decade, with their electoral gains fueled by public discontent over rising immigration, especially from Africa and the Middle East, as well as economic instability.

“In May, Erdogan severed trade ties with the Jewish state in response to the war, which he has consistently compared to the Holocaust.”

• Trump’s Gaza Plan ‘Futile’ – Erdogan (RT)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced US President Donald Trump’s proposal to take control of Gaza, calling it a meaningless plan pushed by the “Zionist lobby.” Trump floated the idea of the US owning the Palestinian enclave last week at a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He reiterated his previous call to relocate the Palestinians outside Gaza, shifting the burden onto neighboring countries. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Erdogan expressed Ankara’s firm opposition to any plan that would forcibly expel the Palestinian population from their homeland. “The proposals put forward by the new American administration regarding Gaza with the pressure of the Zionist lobby have nothing worth considering or discussing,” Erdogan told a news conference at Istanbul Airport before flying to Malaysia. Trump’s plan proposes transforming Gaza into what he describes as “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

Under the plan, displaced Palestinians would first relocate to Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab countries, with some eventually resettling in the newly developed area. Netanyahu has voiced support for the proposal, calling it the “first good idea” he has heard concerning the region’s future. Erdogan described the idea as “completely futile.” “No one has the power to remove the people of Gaza from their eternal homeland that has been around for thousands of years. Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem belong to the Palestinians,” he argued. Türkiye has been one of Israel’s most vocal critics throughout the Gaza conflict. In May, Erdogan severed trade ties with the Jewish state in response to the war, which he has consistently compared to the Holocaust. Trump’s initiative has been strongly opposed by key regional players, with Jordan, Egypt, the Arab League, and Hamas all rejecting it.

Global powers, including Germany, France, Brazil, Russia, and China, have also condemned the displacement proposal. Opponents of the plan argue that forced relocation would violate international law, with human rights groups calling it “ethnic cleansing.” Despite the criticism, Trump is reportedly pressing forward with diplomatic talks, seeking input from Arab leaders to refine his approach. Israeli President Isaac Herzog told Fox News on Sunday that the US president is set to meet with key Arab leaders, including the king of Jordan, the president of Egypt, and potentially the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, to negotiate the relocation of Palestinians. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry earlier strongly rejected the proposal, arguing that Palestinians are the rightful owners of their land, not “intruders” or “immigrants” who can be expelled at the will of the “Israeli occupation.”

Noon Saturday.

Hasn’t Gaza been hell already for months? Not enough?

• Trump Threatens To ‘Let Hell Break Out’ In Gaza (RT)

US President Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to Hamas, demanding the release of all remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza by midday Saturday, and warning that failure to comply would result in “all hell” breaking out. On Monday, Hamas threatened to halt the release of additional hostages, accusing Israel of violating the terms of the fragile ceasefire agreement by preventing displaced Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, restricting the delivery of humanitarian aid, and delaying negotiations for the second phase of the deal. In response, Israel alleged that Hamas’s actions constituted a complete breach of the agreement, under which the militant group pledged to initially release 33 hostages in several batches in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held by Israeli authorities.

“I have instructed the IDF to prepare at the highest level of alert for any possible scenario in Gaza,” Defense Minister Israel Katz stated. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump said the future of the ceasefire would be “Israel’s decision.” “But as far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock – I think it’s an appropriate time – I would say cancel it, and all bets are off. Let hell break out,” Trump said. “We want them all back,” he added, insisting that the hostages should be released all at once, “not in dribs and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two.” Asked to clarify what punitive measures he envisions, Trump reiterated that “all hell is going to break out.”

“You’ll find out. And they’ll find out too. Hamas will find out what I mean. These are sick people,” he added. Last week, Trump floated the idea of the US taking control of the Palestinian enclave during a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He proposed transforming Gaza – left in ruins after 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas – into what he described as “the Riviera of the Middle East.” As part of the plan, he suggested relocating Palestinians to neighboring Arab countries while the area is redeveloped. On Monday, he threatened to withhold aid to Jordan and Egypt if they refused to take Palestinian refugees. The move would amount to “ethnic cleansing” and a “crime against humanity,” Bassem Naim, head of Hamas’s political branch, told RT in an exclusive interview on Friday.

“..it is vital that the charity be fairly compensated for what its leadership is taking away from it: control over the most transformative technology of our time..”

Altman claims “Musk previously supported turning OpenAI into a for-profit but walked away because he couldn’t get control of it.”

• Musk And Altman Throw Punches Over Control Of OpenAI (ZH)

Elon Musk is leading a group of investors in a $97.4 billion offer to purchase the nonprofit that controls OpenAI – the makers of ChatGPT, – and which Musk was an original investor in. On Monday, Musk’s attorney Marc Toberoff said he submitted the bid to OpenAI’s board of directors in an unsolicited offer that could upend OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s plans to convert it into a for-profit company, as well as plans to spend up to $500 billion on AI infrastructure through the so-called ‘Stargate’ joint venture, WSJ reports. “It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” Musk said in a statement provided by Toberoff. “We will make sure that happens.” Altman and Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 as a charity. In 2019, after Musk left the company and Altman became chief executive, OpenAI created a for-profit subsidiary that has served as a vehicle for it to raise money from Microsoft and other investors. Altman is in the process of turning the subsidiary into a traditional company and spinning out the nonprofit, which would own equity in the new for-profit.

One of the thorniest questions in the conversion has been how the nonprofit will be valued. Musk’s bid sets a high bar and may mean that he, or whoever runs the nonprofit, would end up with a large and possibly controlling stake in the new OpenAI. The bid is being backed by xAI – Musk’s own artificial intelligence company, which could end up merging with OpenAI following a deal. Other investors in the potential deal include; Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital and 8VC, a venture firm led by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. And who else? Ari Emanuel – CEO of Hollywood company Endeavor (and the brother of Democrat operative Rahm Emanuel) – who was portrayed in Entourage. Altman responded to the offer with a “no thank you,” adding “but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” [..]

Scam Altman

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2025

Musk has filed several legal complaints against OpenAI, accusing the company of betraying its original mission as a nonprofit by creating the for-profit arm, as well as colluding with Microsoft, its biggest investor, to dominate AI development. On Jan. 7, Toberoff sent a letter to the attorneys general in California, where OpenAI is based, and Delaware, where it is incorporated, asking that they open up bidding for the company to determine the fair market value of its charitable assets. Musk and other critics have said they believe OpenAI may undervalue the nonprofit when they spin it out. OpenAI has called Musk’s legal claims baseless and overreaching and said the nonprofit will receive full value in its ownership stake of the for-profit. The company released documents in December that it said showed Musk previously supported turning OpenAI into a for-profit but walked away because he couldn’t get control of it. -WSJ

What’s more, Toberoff says Musk and team is prepared to match or exceed any bids higher than their own. “If Sam Altman and the present OpenAI Inc. Board of Directors are intent on becoming a fully for-profit corporation, it is vital that the charity be fairly compensated for what its leadership is taking away from it: control over the most transformative technology of our time,” he said. The move to buy OpenAI comes weeks after Altman appeared next to newly inaugurated President Donald Trump and other business leaders to announce a plan called “Stargate,” which would invest up to $500 billion over the next four years in US data centers – a plan which Musk talked mad shit about, claiming that the project’s backers didn’t have the cash for, and calling Altman “a swindler.”

According to the report, OpenAI was already facing several hurdles on their path to converting from a charity to a for-profit company, with rival firm Meta Platforms sending a letter to California’s attorney general in December expressing opposition to the plan, and OpenAI remaining stuck in negotiations with Microsoft and other stakeholders over how much equity should be allocated to whom. The original plan was to complete the transition by later 2026, with a $6.6 billion funding round in October which valued the company at $157 billion. Separately, the company has been in talks to raise up to $40 billion in new funding at a $300 billion valuation in a round led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, which would invest between $15 and $25 billion itself

Dr Fu Manchu.

• Deepseek Compared To ChatGPT On The Ukraine War – Who Is Winning? (Helmer)

The last Chinese as clever, as profiteering, and as popular in the imagination of millions as DeepSeek was Dr Fu Manchu. “Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan,” wrote his creator Sax Rohmer, the alias of an Englishman: “invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources of science past and present …Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the Yellow Peril incarnate in one man.” Appearing first in 1912, educated at several western universities, the “Chinese devil’s” plots were aimed at combating fascism, communism, and the British empire. His methods included honey-trap girls, poisons, germs, spiders, and unspeakable tortures. He was a caricature of western fear of the superiority of the Chinese race.

DeepSeek is his new name; the racism is the same. According to a US government-backed report issued a few days ago, DeepSeek is “highly biased as well as highly vulnerable to generate insecure code, toxic, harmful and CBRN [Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear] content.” Open AI, the US government-connected company which owns the competing ChatGPT, has declared the Chinese villain is a thief. “DeepSeek may [sic] have inappropriately distilled our models…We take aggressive, proactive countermeasures to protect our technology and will continue working closely with the US government to protect the most capable models being built here.” Last December the New York Times launched court action against Open AI, accusing it of the same plagiarism on which Open AI is now relying in its attack on DeepSeek. “Independent journalism is vital to our democracy,” the newspaper claimed.

“For more than 170 years, The Times has given the world deeply reported, expert, independent journalism… Defendants’ unlawful use of The Times’s work to create artificial intelligence products that compete with it threatens The Times’s ability to provide that service. Defendants’ generative artificial intelligence (“GenAI”) tools rely on large-language models (“LLMs”) that were built by copying and using millions of The Times’s copyrighted news articles, in-depth investigations, opinion pieces, reviews, how-to guides, and more…The law does not permit the kind of systematic and competitive infringement that Defendants have committed. This action seeks to hold them responsible for the billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages that they owe for the unlawful copying and use of The Times’s uniquely valuable works.”

This is the first time in US federal court history that the reproduction of government deception operations and propaganda by newspaper reporters has been subjected to a test, not of the espionage statute as in the Ellsberg and Assange cases, but of the copyright laws. A month later, the New York Times attacked DeepSeek, not for plagiarising the Times, but for reproducing Chinese government propaganda. “If you’re among the millions of people who have downloaded DeepSeek, the free new chatbot from China powered by artificial intelligence, know this: The answers it gives you will largely reflect the worldview of the Chinese Communist Party. Since the tool made its debut this month, rattling stock markets and more established tech giants like Nvidia, researchers testing its capabilities have found that the answers it gives not only spread Chinese propaganda but also parrot disinformation campaigns that China has used to undercut its critics around the world.”

This is no more than one press pot calling another media kettle black. But with billions of dollars at stake in the stock market capitalisation of the American and Chinese companies producing Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, this is also a battle of the propaganda operations of the US government in the wars it is currently waging. For a test of this warfighting, DeepSeek has been questioned on issues of the Russian war in the Ukraine and the US war against Russia. Its answers, which follow verbatim, reveal no evidence (repeat no evidence) of Chinese backing for the Russian side. Instead, surprise (repeat surprise) – there is evidence that DeepSeek is no more capable than Chat GPT of distinguishing between propaganda and truth. So long as DeepSeek trains on the English language and answers questions from the current English-language database and large language model, this is inevitable. Resisting English-language dominance in AI is now Kremlin strategy.

RFK Monsanto

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. stars in the seminal documentary " A New Resistance" on glyphosate-based weedkillers and the harm they are causing to our children and our environment.
"Time and time again, you hear these plaintiffs saying that they made a deliberate decision to use… pic.twitter.com/5v7mtdVTmh

— Camus (@newstart_2024) February 10, 2025

Elon Rogan Mars
https://twitter.com/i/status/1888810863131263196

Coast guy

Neil Oliver uncovers the shocking reality of RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearing, where US senators, many of whom have taken millions from Big Pharma, hypocritically attacked him for wanting accountability. The extent of Big Pharma’s influence over Washington is staggering, with… pic.twitter.com/7fDNc5Ec6T

— Camus (@newstart_2024) February 9, 2025

Street art

Small world street art
pic.twitter.com/jjILPaidaB

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) February 10, 2025

Family
https://twitter.com/i/status/1888849750385918222

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Debt Rattle January 30 2025

Jan 302025

January 30, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:45 am Finance Tagged with: DeepSeek, DOGE, drones, Guantanamo, Iron Dome, Kash Patel, Leavitt, Milley, OpenAI, RFK jr, Trump, Tulsi Gabbard 137 Responses »

Edward Hopper The Sheridan Theatre 1937

• RFK Jr. Warns ‘Chronic Disease’ Leading To ‘Sea Of Desperation And Debt’ (JTN)

• Midair Collision Over Nation’s Capital Preceded By Months Of Near Misses (JTN)

• OpenAI Finds “Substantial Evidence” DeepSeek Ripped Off GPT (ZH)

• OpenAI Promises Close Cooperation With US Authorities (RT)

• Ray Dalio Warns Of Brutal AI War Between U.S. And China (ZH)

• Trump’s DOGE Says It’s Already Saving Billion Dollars A Day (RT)

• Pentagon To Investigate Milley And Possibly Demote Him (ZH)

• Trump To Finish What Reagan Started, A Missile Defense System For The US (JTN)

• Trump To Send Deported Migrants To Guantanamo (RT)

• Kash Patel To Face Senate Hearing In Bid To Reform Scandal-Plagued FBI (JTN)

• Gabbard’s DNI Nod Walks A Tightrope Over The Precipice Ahead Of Key Hearing (JTN)

• White House Comments On ‘Mystery’ Drones (RT)

• Trump’s Fight Against Online Censorship Quickly Goes Global (RCI)

• Zelensky Wanted Protocol Signed Before Meeting Took Place – Slovak PM (RT)

• Jordan, Egypt Reject US Plan To Resettle Gazans As Trump Doubles Down (ZH)

• Trump Asks Musk To ‘Go Get’ Astronauts Stranded In Orbit (RT)

• The Democrats Who Stole an Election Must Be Held Accountable (PCR)

Ultimate RFK Jr. Clip! This Is Why He Needs To Be Confirmed!

Those Who Are Against RFK Jr. As HHS Secretary Want US Citizens To Be Chronically Sick And Die!

Alex Jones Is Covering The RFK Jr. Hearing With Huge Guests TUNE IN NOW!https://t.co/TdxbXeBzbe pic.twitter.com/pJWmkGqbY1

— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) January 29, 2025

“Ours has always been a family that has been involved in public service and I look forward to continuing that tradition.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vows to deliver on Pres. Trump’s promise to “make America healthy again” during his confirmation hearing. https://t.co/UFCOAdEZWe pic.twitter.com/dbSTjoUQdu

— ABC News (@ABC) January 29, 2025

RFK just gave a flawless answer to Bernie Sanders asking if health care is a human right.

Bet Sanders didn't expect an answer this intelligent… he interrupted RFK IMMEDIATELY.

SANDERS: Is it a human right? Yes or no?

RFK: In the way that free speech is? It's different,… pic.twitter.com/JR9UpdAB0A

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 29, 2025

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: "Today, over 100 members of Congress support a bill to fund Ozempic with Medicare at $1,500 a month. Most of these members have taken money from the manufacturer of that product, a European company called Novo Nordisk. As everyone knows, once a drug is… pic.twitter.com/NGaK6pMjbj

— Camus (@newstart_2024) January 29, 2025

Mic drop moment from RFK Jr. here.

This will send chills down your spine.

"My approach to HHS as I said before, Senator is radical transparency."

"Democrats and Republicans ought to be able to come in and get information that was generated at taxpayer expense that is owned by… pic.twitter.com/AC9fccouOC

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) January 29, 2025

OH SNAP! RFK Jr. just took the gloves off. His patience has officially run out.

Dem Senator: "You keep citing the Trump administration, and you're just going to follow what they say?" – He starts to answer, but she INTERRUPTS

RFK Jr: "Do you want me to answer the question?"… pic.twitter.com/SZ5leAuuLl

— George (@BehizyTweets) January 29, 2025

Leavitt

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: "White House counsel's office believes that this is within the president's power to do it, and therefore he's doing it."

Well, *that* sure puts to bed any questions about legality! pic.twitter.com/fNuuQDyeyP

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) January 28, 2025

AP Reporter: How can we be assured you’re not gonna lie?

Press Secretary: Actually it’s the MSM like you who have been lying for years

BOOM pic.twitter.com/ulCPeFk9iu

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 28, 2025

"She didn't have a binder with her, and yet was able to answer all of our questions on a range of topics."@JacquiHeinrich gives a behind-the-scenes look at White House press secretary @karolineleavitt's first briefing and how the Trump administration is expanding access to the… pic.twitter.com/0HbPi1Ll0o

— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 28, 2025

Homan

REPORTER: There are reports of migrants being treated inhumanly

TOM HOMAN: That’s a bunch of crap. We’re going to enforce the law and we’re not going to apologize

Don’t believe the lying media! pic.twitter.com/EKzKS4Dyxr

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 28, 2025

Ted Cruz

BREAKING: Senator Ted Cruz just established an official investigation into Panama's violation of the Canal Treaty, which would give President Trump the green light to retake it by any means necessary.

"President Trump is making a serious and substantive argument that that… pic.twitter.com/gba1Wmadfb

— George (@BehizyTweets) January 28, 2025

AfD
https://twitter.com/i/status/1884658882456203448

“..90% of health care spending goes toward managing chronic disease..”

I watched part of this. In disbelief. That the US health care system is about to collapse didn’t appear to be the priority. Or people’s health, for that matter. Liz Warren spent all her time demanding that RFK wouldn’t sue any party in the industry, suggesting he’s in it for profit. What are her interests, really? Is she on some payroll? But no-one can dispute he seems to be the best person for the job, to MAHA. And that should be everyone’s priority.

• RFK Jr. Warns ‘Chronic Disease’ Leading To ‘Sea Of Desperation And Debt’ (JTN)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday warned that the nation faced a “sea of desperation and debt” if it did not significantly address “chronic disease.” Kennedy faced questioning before the Senate Finance Committee. He will appear in front of another panel on Thursday. Long an advocate for reform to American federal health programs and a critic of chemical additives in food, Kennedy’s nomination has roiled lawmakers, some of whom have called him anti-vaccine. “Our country will sink beneath the sea of desperation debt if they don’t change the course and ask, ‘Why Are health care costs so high in the first place?’ The obvious answer is chronic disease,” Kennedy said during his confirmation hearing.

“The CDC says 90% of health care spending goes toward managing chronic disease, which hits lower income Americans the hardest,” he added. “The president’s pledge is not to make some Americans happy again, healthy again, but to make all of our people healthy again.” “For a long time, the nation has been locked in a divisive health care debate about who pays when health care costs,” Kennedy lamented. “There are no good options, only bad ones, shifting the burden around between government and corporations and insurers and providers and families, is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.”

Why are there Blackhawks on that airport?

• Midair Collision Over Nation’s Capital Preceded By Months Of Near Misses (JTN)

The midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army Blackhawk helicopter over the nation’s capital was preceded by months of harrowing near misses at airports across America, as well as increasingly shrill warnings that the nation’s air traffic control and safety system is stretched to the limit. Just 14 months before Wednesday night’s fatal mishap near Ronald Reagan National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration received a safety expert report that warned America’s air traffic control system is suffering from quality control issues and staffing shortages that put safety at risk. That report warned that “challenges, in the areas of process integrity, staffing, and facilities, equipment, and technology, all have ties to inadequate, inconsistent funding. Together, these challenges contribute to increased safety risk and should be regarded as incident precursor.”

The November 2023 report also warned that personnel shortages among air traffic controllers were forcing people to work longer hours and make sudden last-minute changes to flight plans that increased risks. “Overtime is at a historically high level and increasing,” the report warned. “High rates of overtime for extended periods introduces risk into the NAS. Several associated issues include absenteeism, lower productivity and fatigue. “When air traffic is rerouted, put into holding, or space is increased between aircraft to accommodate understaffed adjacent areas, the opportunity for mistakes in instruction is multiplied due to the abrupt change in the operation and the increased communications required to facilitate the irregular operation,” it added. “While each element of risk may not be material, the combined effect of irregular operations necessitated by staff shortages erodes the margin of safety.”

Regulators acknowledged that in 2023 there were 19 serious near misses at U.S. airports that could’ve been catastrophic, one of the largest totals in many years. This past October, the FAA followed up with an audit looking at the increased risks of runway incursions at the nation’s 45 busiest airports. While that audit was still underway, several harrowing near misses were reported at airports, including at Reagan in Washington, D.C. and with a men’s college basketball team. Just two weeks ago, the FAA opened an investigation of a near miss in the skies above Phoenix, Arizona. The agency said there was a “loss of separation incident” involving a United B737-900 and a Delta A330-300 arriving at Phoenix Sky Harbor on Jan. 11.

Back in April, a dangerous collision nearly occurred at Reagan. The FAA said an air traffic controller instructed Southwest Flight 2937 to cross Runway 4, while JetBlue Flight 1554 was starting its takeoff roll down the same runway.The JetBlue flight had to abort. Likewise, FAA began investigating an incident at Los Angeles’ main airport in December when a private jet carrying the Gonzaga University men’s basketball team nearly crossed a runway as a Delta flight was taking off. Audio from the control tower showed an alarmed flight controller yelling “stop, stop, stop.“

Guess that’s what I would say if I were outperformed like that.

• OpenAI Finds “Substantial Evidence” DeepSeek Ripped Off GPT (ZH)

David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto czar, told Fox News on Tuesday that there is “substantial evidence” Chinese AI startup DeepSeek “distilled” knowledge from OpenAI’s models—an act he likened to IP theft. This poses a massive national security risk and might be critical for US AI firms to tighten IP protections. “There is substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is they distilled the knowledge out of OpenAI’s model. I don’t think OpenAI is very happy about this. One thing you will see over the next few months is that our leading AI companies will take steps to prevent distillation,” Sacks said.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1884344113488879732

On Wednesday, OpenAI confirmed to the Financial Times that evidence of “distillation” was found in how the Chinese AI startup used the OpenAI application programming interface (API) to siphon large amounts of data for building its model. “The issue is when you [take it out of the platform and] are doing it to create your own model for your own purposes,” a source close to OpenAI told FT. They noted distillation is a breach of OpenAI’s terms of service. Bloomberg reported that OpenAI’s partner Microsoft was also investigating distillation concerns and found evidence that DeepSeek researchers violated OpenAI’s terms of service last year. Meanwhile, DeepSeek’s research even admits its R1 model is based on other open-source systems:

“We demonstrate that the reasoning patterns of larger models can be distilled into smaller models, resulting in better performance compared to the reasoning patterns discovered through RL on small models. The open source DeepSeek-R1, as well as its API, will benefit the research community to distill better smaller models in the future.” AI experts told FT that DeepSeek’s model generated responses that indicated it had been trained on OpenAI’s GPT-4. DeepSeek claimed its latest model was only trained on 2,048 Nvidia H800 GPUs over two months, costing about $5.5 million, with 2.8 million GPU hours, far less than rival models by MAG7 companies that spent years and tens of billions of dollars.

On Monday, Goldman’s Rich Privorotsky told clients that DeepSeek’s model is allegedly “40-50x more efficient than other large language models,” and this “naturally raises the question of whether so much data center capacity is necessary.” Ironically, DeepSeek’s IP theft of OpenAI’s model through distillation comes as the US startup faces lawsuits for scraping training data from media outlets and other sources.

You give me $500 billion, I’ll cooperate with you…

• OpenAI Promises Close Cooperation With US Authorities (RT)

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has vowed to protect its intellectual property following the launch of its Chinese rival DeepSeek. The US government suspects that the new startup could have “distilled” data from the American company to build its product, according to White House AI advisor David Sacks.Earlier this month, DeepSeek unveiled an open-source AI model designated R1, which its creators said had outperformed leading products from US developers on some industry benchmarks. The launch has led to a decline in the stock prices of major US tech companies, erasing almost $1 trillion in market value. In a Tuesday interview with Fox News, Sacks claimed there was “substantial evidence” that DeepSeek had “distilled the knowledge out of OpenAI’s models.” He assessed R1 capabilities as comparable to those of OpenAI’s 01 model, released about four months prior.

Knowledge distillation is a method involving an AI student model using feedback from a teacher model to improve itself. In some cases, it may violate terms of use. Developers have imposed limits on data traffic and other restrictions to counteract such practices. Sacks suggested that US companies will be introducing stronger barriers to eliminate “copycat models” in the near future. Responding to Sacks’ remarks, OpenAI said it was aware that some Chinese and non-Chinese companies are distilling American models. The company is actively pursuing “countermeasures to protect our [Intellectual Property].” “We are working closely with the US government to best protect the most capable models from efforts by adversaries and competitors to take US technology,” the statement added.

According to Bloomberg, OpenAI and its primary investor, Microsoft, are investigating DeepSeek for potential violations. Software developers are normally required to pay license fees to use OpenAI technology in their own applications, the news agency explained. The report cited sources “familiar with the matter” who spoke on condition of anonymity. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called DeepSeek’s launch a “wake-up call to the American AI industry” during a regular media briefing on Tuesday. The administration of Donald Trump has designated AI development as one of its priorities. Last week, the president announced Stargate, an initiative to build data centers across the US to serve as the backbone of future AI projects, with an investment target of up to $500 billion.

‘No Country Can (Afford To) Lose’

• Ray Dalio Warns Of Brutal AI War Between U.S. And China (ZH)

Billionaire investor and Bridgewater hedge fund founder Ray Dalio warned in an interview with All-In podcast co-host David Friedberg that neither the United States nor China can afford to lose the race for AI supremacy, stressing that this technological “war” is far more critical than “profits.” DAVID FRIEDBERG: I’m a productive asset guy. I like owning businesses that make stuff. In this environment, where do I own a productive asset—a business that can still see its revenue and its income grow as this inflationary effect and this devaluation occurs as we get through a debt crisis like this? What would be the best kind of productive asset? Is it a mining business? Is it a commodity trading business?

RAY DALIO: I’m with you. So, you know, that chart that we showed in the beginning has this line where productivity is going up. And it tends to compound on itself. And I think that’s where AI, and that is fantastic, but it depends where you’re referring to AI. I think the super scalers in this world have risk issues. You know, you think about the super scalers like Nvidia or others. I think that the tech war, certainly productivity, I’m with you man, but you want to invest in productivity. But there’s great disruption that’s going to take place, and there are going to be the disruptors and the disrupted. It’s not necessarily those who are producing the vehicles, but those who are implementing and changing as a result of having their big impact.

I think that the tech war, the AI war is more important. It is actually more important. It’s a war that no country can lose because it’s more important than profits. If you lose, if China or the U.S. really lose this war, it’s more important than profits. You have to play that war that way. It could be something like electric vehicles, or more in terms of Chinese electric vehicles, where they can produce them. But I think there are such high expectations. I think we are going to see applications. I think the Chinese are a bit behind in the chips, but they’re ahead in the applications.

DAVID FRIEDBERG: Did you see the DeepSeek announcement this weekend? RAY DALIO: Yes, and that was known for a little while now. The Chinese play is going to be chips—very inexpensive chips embedded into manufactured goods. You’ll see robotics. The Chinese are unbelievably [good] at making things inexpensively. They own 33% of all world-manufactured goods, which is more than the combined US, German, and Japanese manufactured goods. The Chinese produce more. You’re going to see that type of competition, and it may be like solar panels or something. Profit doesn’t matter. I think that where there’s productivity and innovation and disruptors to be. Essentially, being long those who are benefiting themselves through usage or creating the applications that are having the big effect is certainly one thing.

“..mostly from stopping the hiring of people into unnecessary positions, deletion of DEI, and stopping improper payments to foreign organizations..”

• Trump’s DOGE Says It’s Already Saving Billion Dollars A Day (RT)

The US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created by President Donald Trump and led by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, claims it has already cut federal spending by approximately $1 billion per day. The agency announced the figure on Wednesday via its official X account, stating that it aims to reduce costs by more than $3 billion daily. DOGE was first proposed during Trump’s presidential campaign last summer and later formalized as a presidential advisory commission. Despite its name, the agency is not a full-fledged federal executive department but a temporary organization focused on reducing government spending. It aims to cut up to $2 trillion in federal expenditure by July 2026. “DOGE is saving the Federal Government approx. $1 billion/day, mostly from stopping the hiring of people into unnecessary positions, deletion of DEI, and stopping improper payments to foreign organizations, all consistent with the President’s Executive Orders,” the agency said, without providing further details.

The reference to “improper payments to foreign organizations” appears to relate to the Trump administration’s recent 90-day pause on virtually all foreign-aid programs, pending a review.Since taking office on January 20, the Trump administration has aggressively moved to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government. On Tuesday, the president signed an executive order barring “radical gender ideology” from the US military, stating that service members must meet physical and mental fitness standards for duty. “This policy is inconsistent with the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria,” the order states. “This policy is also inconsistent with shifting pronoun usage or use of pronouns that inaccurately reflect an individual’s sex.”

“In addition to pulling Milley’s security clearance and yanking his personal security detail, Hegseth will also ask the Pentagon’s inspector general to investigate his conduct..”

• Pentagon To Investigate Milley And Possibly Demote Him (ZH)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is about to drop the hammer on retired Gen. Mark Milley, Trump’s former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and one of the president’s favorite rhetorical punching bags. In addition to pulling Milley’s security clearance and yanking his personal security detail, Hegseth will also ask the Pentagon’s inspector general to investigate his conduct, and the probe could end in Milley receiving a demotion, Fox News reported Tuesday. The IG investigation will center on allegations that Milley worked to “undermine the chain of command” during the first Trump administration. The probe is certain to scrutinize two calls Milley made to senior Chinese officials in the last days of Trump’s first term.

First reported by Bob Woodward in his book, “War,” the calls were apparently made with the goal of diffusing military tensions between the two powers, and were said to have had the blessing of other Trump officials. In 2023, Trump used a social media post to say that, by giving China “a heads up on the thinking of the president of the United States,” Milley had committed “an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” Woodward also reported that, at a March 2023 reception in Washington, Milley told him that Trump was “fascist to the core!” Milley was still on active duty at the time, and Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice makes it a crime for commissioned officers to use “contemptuous words against the president.” Milley doesn’t have to worry about criminal prosecution: President Biden gave him a pre-emptive pardon that covers “any offenses against the United States” that were committed between January 1, 2014 and January 20, 2025.

Fox’s sources suggest that Milley could lose one of his four stars. In addition to humiliation, that would also put a dent in Milley’s rich military pension. However, as The Intercept reported last year, he has plenty of opportunities to turn his past service into stacks of cash: Since retiring from the military last year, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley has become a senior adviser to JPMorgan Chase bank, joined the faculties of Princeton and Georgetown, and embraced the lucrative paid speaking circuit. From military pay of $204,000 a year, Milley is sure to skyrocket to compensation in the millions, especially because he is represented by the same high-powered speakers’ agency as Hillary Clinton.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1882163144866578657

Milley oversaw the long-overdue but disastrously-executed withdrawal of military forces from Afghanistan. The botched undertaking saw 13 US service-members killed, another 45 wounded, and the deaths of 170 Afghan civilians in a bombing at Kabul’s principal airport. It also resulted in the Taliban inheriting a huge arsenal of US weapons. In June 2021, Milley assured legislators that a withdrawal would look nothing like the US departure from Vietnam. “I don’t see Saigon 1975 in Afghanistan. The Taliban just aren’t the North Vietnamese Army,” he said. The first official manifestation of the new administration’s utter contempt for Milley came just hours after Trump was inaugurated. A brand-new painting of Milley that had just been unveiled on Jan. 10 was yanked from a Pentagon hallway. Fox reports that a second painting in a different hallway was to have been taken down as early as Tuesday night.

Until Trump took office, the Secret Service had continued to guard Milley, former national security advisor John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on the chance that Iran may seek to kill them to avenge Trump’s Israel-assisted, Neta assassination of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani via a 2020 drone strike in Iraq. Trump removed Pompeo and Bolton’s security details last week. Senior US officials frequently retain their security clearances well after they’ve left government, a practice that is supposedly aimed at facilitating transitions, enabling ongoing advice and counsel, and anticipating officials’ potential return to government.

Milley
https://twitter.com/i/status/1884368178886893847

“U.S. Iron Dome”

• Trump To Finish What Reagan Started, A Missile Defense System For The US (JTN)

Just hours after Pete Hegseth was sworn in as the country’s Defense secretary, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to begin the process of implementing a “next-generation missile defense” system for the U.S. aiming to complete the comprehensive project originally envisioned by President Reagan at the height of the Cold War. Trump dubbed the missile defense system – which the order says would be designed to protect the U.S. homeland from ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other new aerial threats – the “U.S. Iron Dome” after the highly successful Israeli conventional missile defense system. The executive order explicitly notes that the policy aims to achieve what was left unfinished by Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative – which critics dubbed “Star Wars” after the 1977 pop-culture film of that name – which endeavored to create a space-based defense shield against Soviet missiles.

Ultimately the intuitive fizzled out as scientists estimated the technology wouldn’t be ready for decades and the end of the Cold War reduced the urgency of the threat. But now, the old Soviet Union superpower has been replaced by China and Russia, which possess sizable nuclear arsenals and are currently in stiff competition with the United States. The Trump administration in the order specifically identified the threats from these “peer and near-peer adversaries” as the primary driver of a comprehensive missile defense system, which marks a major shift in policy documents from the first Trump, then Biden administration, which focused on using missile defense technologies to prevent attacks from smaller threats, namely North Korea and Iran. “The threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks, remains the most catastrophic threat facing the United States,” the executive order reads.

It continues, “Over the past 40 years, rather than lessening, the threat from next-generation strategic weapons has become more intense and complex with the development by peer and near-peer adversaries of next-generation delivery systems and their own homeland integrated air and missile defense capabilities.”The shift to focus on the nuclear threats posed by China and Russia comes as both countries have developed more advanced weapons and have expanded their arsenals while also becoming close partners. This presents a hard problem for the U.S. to solve with the traditional nuclear deterrence doctrine that endured until the previous Biden administration.

“During the Cold War the United States had one nuclear peer to deter, the United States now faces two – Russia and China. This is a much harder problem and the United States has to make big adaptations to the programs we have to deter both countries simultaneously,” Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow and director of the Keystone Defense Initiative at the Hudson Institute, told Just the News. “We must outsmart and out-innovate China in particular and no area is more important than in the protection of the American homeland. Both of those actors, plus North Korea (and Iran is a threshold nuclear state with a space launch program that could be leveraged for a long-range missile program) could coerce the United States with ballistic or cruise missiles if they believe the United States is vulnerable to them,” Heinrichs also said.

She continued, “By building a layered homeland missile defense system, the United States complicates the adversaries’ calculations and makes it harder for them to plan an attack on the United States with even a handful of missiles.” President Trump, appearing to recognize the need for modernization and new ways of deterring attacks from adversaries, directs the Pentagon in the executive order to develop a plan within 60 days for implementing the “next-generation missile shield.” The requirements outlined by the executive order are sweeping. The plans are to include defense-against-missile systems, the deployment of tracking lasers, development of space-based interceptors, development of new methods to intercept threats pre-launch and securing the supply chains for these new defense systems.

This marks a major shift from the policy of the Biden administration, which in its 2022 National Defense Strategy unequivocally stated that the United States’ existing missile defense systems “neither intended for, nor capable of, defeating large and sophisticated ICBM, air-, or sea-launched ballistic missile threats from Russia and the PRC.” The 2017 National Security Strategy promulgated by the first Trump administration also made clear that missile defense was not geared toward China and Russia. While calling for an enhanced missile defense system, it noted that it is “not intended to undermine strategic stability or disrupt longstanding strategic relationships with Russia or China.” Missile defense, which is not part of the traditional U.S. nuclear doctrine, has seen renewed interest as the nuclear arsenals and capabilities of China and Russia have grown in recent years.

“..some individuals are “so bad, we don’t even trust the countries to hold them, because we don’t want them coming back.”

• Trump To Send Deported Migrants To Guantanamo (RT)

President Donald Trump has announced plans to expand detention facilities at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to accommodate thousands of deported immigrants as part of his intensified efforts to remove illegal aliens from US soil. The initiative was revealed on Wednesday during the signing of the bipartisan Laken Riley Act, which mandates the detention and potential deportation of undocumented individuals accused of theft and violent crimes, even before conviction. Justifying the use of Guantanamo Bay, Trump argued that some individuals are “so bad, we don’t even trust the countries to hold them, because we don’t want them coming back.” “So we’re going to send them out to Guantanamo,” Trump added, calling the facility “a tough place to get out of.”

Guantanamo Bay, best known for holding terrorism suspects, also hosts a separate migrant processing center. Trump said he would sign an executive order directing the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to expand and prepare the facilities for new arrivals. “Most people don’t even know that we have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people,” Trump stated. He added that the move would “bring us one step closer to eradicating the scourge of migrant crime in our communities once and for all.” Since his first day back in office, President Trump has enacted a series of executive orders aimed at overhauling the US immigration system.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been carrying out raids across the country, detaining hundreds of people daily. Targeted cities include Boston, New York, Newark, and San Francisco, with agents focusing on arresting immigrants who had committed crimes after entering the US illegally, according to the agency. The Trump administration has also escalated deportation efforts, using military planes for removal flights and threatening tariffs and other repercussions for countries that refuse to accept deportees.

Guantanamo Bay has been a US naval base since 1903 and was transformed into a detention center in 2002 under President George W. Bush to house suspected terrorists following the September 11 attacks. The facility has long been criticized for torture and indefinite detentions without charge or trial. As of January 2025, 15 detainees remain at the site, many of whom have been imprisoned for over two decades without formal charges. The Cuban government has consistently denounced the presence of the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, calling it a violation of Cuban sovereignty and raising concerns over human rights abuses at the detention facility. On his first day in office, Trump reinstated Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, reversing an executive order issued by former President Joe Biden just a week prior.

They’re very scared of him.

• Kash Patel To Face Senate Hearing In Bid To Reform Scandal-Plagued FBI (JTN)

FBI Director-designate Kash Patel will field questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, capping off a charm offensive that has seen most of the Senate Republican Conference warm to the Trump-aligned critic of the intelligence committee. A Trump advisor from the first administration, Patel has been a stalwart backer of Trump for most of his political tenure and a vocal critic of what he calls institutional rot in key American agencies. His 2023 book “Government Gansters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy” provided what President Donald Trump himself called a “brilliant roadmap” for uprooting a politicized bureaucracy.Trump picked Patel for the role in late November as grassroots supporters led #kashonly to trend on X.

The then-president-elect called Patel “a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.” His nomination roiled FBI insiders, with reports emerging that the bureau could face mass resignations should he secure the post. But it landed better with the senators, who saw him as a far more conventional nominee than Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon. Patel has previously served as a prosecutor, public defender, senior advisor to the director of national intelligence, and as the Defense Department’s chief of staff.Even intelligence hawks and moderate lawmakers such as Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, have been optimistic Patel’s prospects in the narrowly divided Senate. Pressed in December on whether Patel would secure confirmation, Cornyn simply told radio host Hugh Hewitt that “yes, he will be.”

During the Trump administration and President Joe Biden’s subsequent four years, the FBI became mired in political controversy and scandal. It’s conduct was a leading factor in driving Trump’s claims of political weaponization. Among the earliest controversies were the anti-Trump messages of now-former FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, both of whom worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russian interference investigation. Those messages referenced “an insurance policy” should Trump win. The bureau also came under fire over a memo from the Richmond Field Office suggesting that attendees of the traditional Catholic Latin Mass might harbor extremist sympathies. FBI Director Christopher Wray’s tenure, also saw allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers, the abuse of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants, and politicized security clearance reviews.

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz in December published a report confirming that the FBI had secured Patel’s phone records, along with those of two members of Congress and dozens of other staffers. The move came as part of an investigation into leaks of classified materials to the media. Horowitz further found that the FBI failed to inform the court that the materials they sought “related to requests for records of Members of Congress or congressional staffers.” The report drew outrage from Trump supporters, as well as lawmakers, some of whom had warm words for Patel amid the revelations. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who leads the Judiciary Committee, said afterward that “Kash understands that cooperation with Congress is not optional and whistleblower protection is essential.”

“This report highlights exactly why Kash Patel is the perfect leader to reform and rebuild the FBI,” a spokeswoman for Patel said at the time. “Kash understands the critical balance between national security and protecting civil liberties. His commitment to accountability, transparency, and upholding constitutional principles makes him uniquely equipped to ensure the FBI serves the American people with integrity and fairness.”

They have nothing on her. But Trump may still have to say “the only way you can get to her is to go through me first”

• Gabbard’s DNI Nod Walks A Tightrope Over The Precipice Ahead Of Key Hearing (JTN)

Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii Democrat-turned-Republican, faces a tense confirmation hearing this week as intelligence hawks raise concerns over her skepticism of surveillance practices and Democrats push narratives of pro-Kremlin sympathies. A stalwart privacy advocate and social moderate, Gabbard unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, earning attention for her exchanges with former Vice President Kamala Harris. She later left the party and helped President Donald Trump prepare for his own debate with Harris. Gabbard joined the Republicans during the 2024 campaign and received Trump’s nod to head the nation’s intelligence apparatus. Her nomination received cheers from privacy advocates and MAGA-aligned critics of the intelligence community, many of whom hope she will work alongside FBI Director-designate Kash Patel to substantially uproot the nation’s intelligence apparatus and end practices that raise serious questions about politicization in the agencies.

The Senate Intelligence Committee will question Gabbard on Thursday in what is sure to be a contentious row. The panel is stacked with intelligence hawks, including some Republicans who have expressed public concerns over her past opposition to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows for the warrantless surveillance of foreigners abroad. With the confirmation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth concluded, Gabbard’s confirmation appears poised to mark the next battle between Trump’s MAGA disruptors and the old guard GOP of the Washington establishment. Gabbard has long been critical of Section 702, sharing the concerns of conservative Republicans on the Judiciary Committee that it allows for the collection of information on Americans in the process. An American speaking with a foreigner under surveillance, for instance, would see their half of the conversation swept up in intelligence gathering and ultimately entered into the Section 702 intelligence database.

The expiration of Section 702 led to a dispute between the House GOP Judiciary and Intelligence Committees last year, with the pro-surveillance Intelligence panel winning out and shutting the door on major reform. Gabbard’s opposition to Section 702 was such a point of concern for Republicans that she ultimately reversed her position amid the nomination process. “Section 702, unlike other FISA authorities, is crucial for gathering foreign intelligence on non-U.S. persons abroad. This unique capability cannot be replicated and must be safeguarded to protect our nation while ensuring the civil liberties of Americans,” she told CNN earlier this month. “If confirmed as DNI, I will uphold Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights while maintaining vital national security tools like Section 702 to ensure the safety and freedom of the American people.”

That about-face could serve to assuage establishment concerns, but she will likely need to persuade Republican members of the panel that she will be able to balance privacy and national security concerns in the post. The 9-8 Republican-led panel includes two potential swing votes: Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Todd Young, Ind; according to The Hill. She is not expected to secure any Democratic support. Gabbard in 2017 visited Syria and met with now-ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime fell just weeks ago amid a surprise offensive from the Al-Qaeda derivative Tahrir al-Sham. She had previously insisted Assad was not an enemy of the United States and voiced opposition to American intervention in the Syrian Civil War. Gabbard herself is a veteran, having served in Iraq and was awarded the Combat Medical Badge.

Still a weird story.

• White House Comments On ‘Mystery’ Drones (RT)

US authorities have dismissed speculation that mass sightings of drones in the past few months were linked to hostile activities. Last year, then-President Joe Biden’s administration faced widespread criticism for not identifying the origins of the objects. The UAVs were “not the enemy,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at the first press briefing of President Donald Trump’s new administration on Tuesday. She conveyed a message “directly from the president,” giving an update on a news story that made headlines throughout November and December. Sightings of unidentified aircraft were reported in New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, while arrests were made in connection with drone operations near restricted areas in Massachusetts and California.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorized the unmanned aircraft operating over New Jersey “for research and various other reasons,” Leavitt told the media, adding that many of them belonged to “private individuals that enjoy flying drones.” The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office first reported the aerial activity, leading to temporary flight restrictions, including at Stewart International Airport in New York. At the time, the FBI reported receiving thousands of tip-offs from citizens about drones they witnessed, and the Biden administration reassured the public that the objects posed no threat. ”There are thousands of drones flown every day in the United States, recreational drones, commercial drones,” then-Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated. According to FAA data, around a million civilian UAVs are registered nationwide.

In December, Trump accused the outgoing administration of withholding information about the unmanned planes, insisting: “Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!” Before his inauguration, Trump promised to provide information about drones “about one day” into his administration, during a conversation with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago on January 9. He said it’s “ridiculous” that people are not being informed about what is happening with the aircraft. Amid public debate over the drones’ possible foreign origins, senior lawmakers have called for additional powers to be given to federal and state authorities, to tackle such situations.

It’s ironic how hard it has become to fight censorship.

• Trump’s Fight Against Online Censorship Quickly Goes Global (RCI)

Flanked by some of the Big Tech executives whose companies had suppressed the views of his supporters throughout his predecessor’s term, President Trump on Jan. 20 declared the days of such speech policing over. Hours later, the president put action behind his words, signing an executive order prohibiting the federal government from engaging in, facilitating, or funding “any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.” The move was celebrated by those who see it as a blow against what they decry as the Censorship Industrial Complex. Others cast the executive order as giving dangerous license to “misinformation” and “disinformation.” What is clear is that this is just the latest salvo in an ongoing war over the digital public square, pitting the Trump administration and like-minded Republican congressional allies against not only domestic opponents but the global counter-disinformation eco-system.

The global speech-policing effort is looking like an early target. Trump himself seemed to convey that when he touted his order in a remote address last week to the World Economic Forum in Davos. The elite global conclave had recently declared “misinformation and disinformation” the leading short-term risk to the globe for the second-straight year, “underlining their persistent threat to societal cohesion and governance by eroding trust and exacerbating divisions within and between nations.” Two days after the inauguration, Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, released the “Priorities and Mission of the Second Trump Administration’s Department of State.” The short document included the charge that Foggy Bottom “must stop censorship and suppression of information.” Rubio continued: “The State Department’s efforts to combat malign propaganda have expanded and fundamentally changed since the Cold War era and we must reprioritize truth.

The State Department I lead will support and defend Americans’ rights to free speech, terminating any programs that in any way lead to censoring the American people. It is not yet known whether and to what extent Rubio’s approach will affect the reorganized successor to the State Department’s recently shuttered Global Engagement Center, whose efforts defenders had called essential to combating foreign propaganda. Critics have dismissed the reorganization – of an office that funded entities targeting disfavored domestic speech – as an effort to simply rebrand and persist. The global “counter-disinformation” ecosystem encompasses research centers at top academic institutions and think tanks, fact-checkers, news raters, and like-minded for-profits – often funded and/or promoted by government agencies and powerful foundations, and operating and seeking to influence governments both stateside and across the Atlantic.

RealClearInvestigations, which recently previewed the censorship fight, e-mailed questions to other United States agencies and departments believed to be involved, directly or indirectly, in speech suppression on social media or otherwise likely to have a role in implementing the order. These included the Department of Justice and the FBI; the Department of Homeland Security and its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security sub-agency; Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services; National Science Foundation; and Office of Management and Budget.

[..] Trump has previously called for enacting “new laws laying out clear criminal penalties for federal bureaucrats who partner with private entities to do an end-run around the Constitution and deprive Americans of their First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights.” To that end, the Judiciary Committee spokesperson told RCI that the panel would “move quickly to reintroduce legislation that will protect Americans’ First Amendment rights, such as the Censorship Accountability Act and the No Censors on our Shores Act.” The former would provide a right of action against federal employees for First Amendment violations. The latter would render any foreign official who engages in censorship of American speech inadmissible and deportable. In the Senate, two days after the release of President Trump’s order, Kentucky Republican Rand Paul re-introduced the “Free Speech Protection Act.”

“That protocol outlined what we would do for Ukraine, including supporting its NATO membership. Gas wasn’t mentioned at all..”

• Zelensky Wanted Protocol Signed Before Meeting Took Place – Slovak PM (RT)

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky wanted Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to sign a protocol promising to support Kiev’s bid for NATO membership before meeting to discuss crucial gas transit through Ukraine, the Slovak prime minister has claimed. Fico had sought to meet Zelensky on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos following weeks of barbed messages between Kiev and Bratislava, in the wake of Ukraine’s decision to block the flow of Russian gas to Slovakia. The invitation was openly mocked by Zelensky, and the proposed meeting did not take place. Fico revealed details of the failed attempt to meet Zelensky with members of his SMER-SD party on Tuesday. “I was ready to meet [with Zelensky] in Davos. And what did he do? Zelensky sent me a protocol for the meeting, and I was supposed to sign it. The meeting hadn’t even taken place yet, but there was already a prepared protocol.

“That protocol outlined what we would do for Ukraine, including supporting its NATO membership. Gas wasn’t mentioned at all,” the prime minister said in a video posted on social media. The Ukrainian leader responded to Fico’s post, claiming that the Slovak prime minister “chooses Moscow over America and other partners.” “You have to pay for Russian gas not only with money but also with independence and sovereignty,” Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel on Wednesday. “Many in Europe have already gone through this and chose to preserve their independence and sovereignty.” The Slovak prime minister had initially proposed meeting for negotiations with Zelensky on the border between the two countries, but the Ukrainian leader used a social media post to suggest he comes to Kiev instead. Fico narrowly survived an assassination attempt by a pro-Ukraine activist last year.

He warned earlier this week that Bratislava would veto any EU aid to Ukraine if the transit of Russian natural gas was not resumed, calling Zelensky an “enemy” and accusing him of causing “problems” for Slovakia. Slovakia, which had received up to 60% of its gas through a Soviet-era pipeline, has been badly affected by Ukraine’s decision to cut off the transit of Russian gas to Central Europe. The Slovak prime minister added that he plans to raise the issue with the European Commission on Thursday. According to Fico, the best resolution to the dispute would involve purchasing gas at Russia’s border and having it transported through Ukraine as Slovak property.

“The Gaza ceasefire would likely collapse if Palestinians were suddenly pushed out in large waves into Egypt and Jordan.”

• Jordan, Egypt Reject US Plan To Resettle Gazans As Trump Doubles Down (ZH)

After last Saturday President Trump floated a plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza by conducting a mass resettlement of Palestinians in neighboring countries, namely Egypt and Jordan, he’s now doubling down on the idea. Egypt and Jordan are not happy, but are also feeling the pressure as a result, and it must be remembered that both are recipients of huge amounts of foreign aid each year – with Egypt receiving billions. Israeli media underscores there’s been wall-to-wall firm opposition by Arab leaders: “US President Donald Trump dug in his heels Monday over a controversial suggestion that large numbers of Gazans take refuge in Egypt and Jordan, shrugging off wall-to-wall opposition to the proposal from Arab leaders.”

“Fresh off what he said were calls with Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi and Jordan’s King Abdullah, Trump insisted both leaders would take in Palestinians from the war-ravaged territory and said the issue would be discussed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the two meet sometime soon, amid speculation in Israel that Trump’s gambit was being coordinated with Jerusalem,” the report details. “Egyptian media on Tuesday cited government sources as saying that Trump and Sissi had yet to speak. If they did, Sissi’s office would issue a readout, the Egyptian officials told local media,” it continues. This would involve these countries absorbing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees – something which Jordan has already done historically over the last some seventy years.

Here are the latest remarks from Trump which are driving the controversy: Asked about those comments, Trump told reporters on Air Force One Monday evening he would “like to get them living in an area where they can live without disruption and revolution and violence so much.”“When you look at the Gaza Strip, it’s been hell for so many years,” Trump said. “There have been various civilizations on that strip. It didn’t start here. It started thousands of years before, and there’s always been violence associated with it. You could get people living in areas that are a lot safer and maybe a lot better and maybe a lot more comfortable.”

Interestingly, the tiny Balkan country of Albania has entered the discussion after an Israeli Channel 12 media report said that Trump was in talks with Albania for it to take 100,000 Palestinians from Gaza. But Albania’s prime minister quickly batted this down, calling it false. “I haven’t heard something so fake in quite some time – and there’s been a lot of fake news lately! It is absolutely not true,” Prime Minister Edi Rama tweeted. If such talks actually did exist, the Muslim-majority population of this country would surely be outraged.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1883863689541132547

As for Egypt and Jordan, Trump may use the outsized US assistance provided to pressure their leaders to agree to his plan at least on some level. But the reality is that this is ultra politically sensitive. Past historic waves of Palestinian refugees and armed groups flooding nearby Arab countries have literally erupted in wars, which especially Lebanon can attest to. Jordan has also seen its country destabilized at times. There’s also the logistics – with Palestinians now rushing back to their largely destroyed communities in northern Gaza, they are defiantly telling the world they don’t plan to leave their homeland. The Gaza ceasefire would likely collapse if Palestinians were suddenly pushed out in large waves into Egypt and Jordan.

“@POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will do so.”

• Trump Asks Musk To ‘Go Get’ Astronauts Stranded In Orbit (RT)

US President Donald Trump has asked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to bring back two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the International Space Station for nearly 200 days, instead of the originally planned eight. Return flights to Earth have been repeatedly postponed due to a combination of technical issues. In a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, the US president wrote: “I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to “go get” the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration.” The Republican added that “Elon will soon be on his way.” In a post on X that same day, the US-based tech tycoon confirmed that the “@POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will do so.” He also wrote, “Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.”

In another message, Musk published a screenshot of Trump’s original post, accompanying it with a saluting face emoji. On Tuesday a NASA spokesperson acknowledged an inquiry about Musk’s statement and said the agency “will follow up as soon as we can.” Wilmore (61) and Williams (58) launched for the ISS on board the Boeing Starliner’s June 5 maiden voyage. However, NASA engineers soon discovered four helium leaks and thruster pressurization issues. After days of tests and discussions, NASA decided on August 24 to leave the two astronauts aboard the space station and bring the Starliner back without the crew, by remote control. The agency later reassigned two astronauts originally slated for the Crew-9 mission with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, to free up seats for Wilmore and Williams, extending their intended eight-day stay to more than seven months.

In December NASA announced that the Crew-10 launch was postponed to late March to allow SpaceX time to complete a new spacecraft. This delay was expected to push the Crew-9 return to early April. Industry rumors suggested further delays for Crew-10, which could lead to SpaceX using another Crew Dragon, possibly the one being prepared for the Ax-4 private astronaut mission, scheduled for launch as soon as April for Axiom Space. The astronauts themselves have maintained a professional stance on the situation. “Things that I can’t control I’m not going to fret over,” Wilmore said in a September briefing. Williams added, “You sort of turn to and just take on the next activity of the day. That’s what we do. We’re professionals.”

“Is there to be no accountability for election theft and wielders of weaponized law and prosecutions?”

• The Democrats Who Stole an Election Must Be Held Accountable (PCR)

The release of the pardoned J6 political prisoners has, for the most part, gone well, but in a few instances vindictive Democrat officials still hold a few of the pardoned. It is a fluid situation, and my figures might be out of date by the time you read them. The worst offender is the black female mayor of D.C. who at last report has not released 12 of the pardoned. Kentucky is still holding 6, and there are a few others being held here and there. Democrats in Pennsylvania were looking for a way of duplicating the pardoned federal charges with state charges in order to continue the incarceration of the pardoned political prisoners. It is possible that some of the non released J6 political prisoners have outstanding state charges unrelated to the J6 fake charges. It seems that at the time of Trump’s pardon there were 242 J6 political prisoners still in prison and a number I don’t have in halfway houses.

The issue has been raised whether some of the J6 prisoners had chargeable offenses and should not have been pardoned. This is a red herring as rally attendees were arrested irrespective of whether they committed an offense. Before buying this argument, remember the facts. The only reason there was a rally on January 6 was that the Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election, refused the evidence to be investigated, instead bringing court cases against those who made evidence-backed charges of electoral fraud. The rally was held to support the Republican senators who intended to present evidence of theft at the January 6 meeting when Congress assembled to certify Biden’s election. To prevent the presentation of the evidence, the Democrats and RINO Republicans such as Mitch McConnell used the FBI and police to stage an “insurrection” in order to break up the meeting and prevent the presentation of the evidence.

Remember that President Trump wanted to send 10,000 National Guardsmen to keep matters under control, but this interfered with the insurrection plot and Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prevented the deployment of the National Guard. Remember also that the FBI as revealed by FBI whistleblowers had agents embedded in the rally who incited violence at the Capitol. Remember also that the police began the violence by firing rubber bullets and teargas into the crowd of peaceful protesters. These acts of violence committed by corrupt police incited the rally attendees to push back police barricades, which the whore US media played to the hilt as an “insurrection.” Remember also that an appearance of violence was created by having a corrupt police officer fatally shoot US Airforce veteran Ashley Babbitt. The shooting was never investigated, and the officer was promoted for murdering an Airforce veteran without cause.

Remember that Democrats refused to release the videos of the alleged “storming of the Capitol.” After Republicans regained control of the House, the videos were released. The videos showed that there was no storming. The police opened he doors and escorted the rally attendees around the Capitol. There was no “invasion” of the Capitol. Remember also that Derrick Garland lied through his teeth that the rally attendees killed a police officer. The police officer’s family denied this. The officer died the next day from a heart attack. Remember also that the police attacked rally attendees with batons and bats, and attendees who raised their arms in defense were charged with “assaulting a police officer.” Remember also that a totally corrupt Justice (sic) Department violated privacy rights in order to hunt down and charge anyone who was present at the Capitol part of the rally. Instead of calling “suspects” in for questioning, FBI SWAT teams, reincarnations of the Nazi Gestapo, broke into Americans’ homes in the middle of the night terrorizing children while dragging handcuffed parents out of the house.

Remember also the false and invented charges were enhanced with serious felony charges for those who refused to self-incriminate with a plea bargain. The Democrats just wanted “convictions” for the whore media to hype to protect their rigged scheme from collapse. Remember also the instances of the wrongly incarcerated being held in solitary confinement, beaten, and imprisoned far from home in order to deny them support from visitations. Many were constantly shifted from prison to prison so that families did not know where they were.

The false indictments and convictions cost many their careers, their wives, their businesses, their homes. A young millionaire businessman lost his business and his wife. A medical student was disowned by his cowardly and stupid parents who fell for the bullshit fed to them. The abuses suffered by the J6 did not stop with their pardon. Had Gary Heavin and others not organized to meet the pardoned upon their release, some might have frozen to death. Some of the pardoned were released from prisons in the middle of nowhere in short pants into freezing temperatures without a cent and no ability to get to a safe place.

The stinking dirty Biden Regime and the gang of despicable criminals that comprised its Justice (sic) Department gave America FOUR YEARS of a Stalinist Gulag Archipelago. Pardons for their innocent victims is just the first step of restoring justice to America. All of those responsible for the “insurrection” hoax and convictions of innocent Americans must be hunted down, arrested, indicted, and convicted. If the Democrats’ criminal act of stealing a presidential election and then, in order to cover up their theft, refocusing attention on a concocted “insurrection” and falsely convicting 1,500 innocent Americans for something that never happened can escape accountability, Trump has no chance of making America great again.

Cholesterol

Things you didn’t know that you didn’t know! pic.twitter.com/FPAnvIe7lI

— illuminatibot (@iluminatibot) January 29, 2025

BLDG 7

Former US Rep. Curt Weldon on @jimmy_dore:

“When 3,000 architects and engineers risk their careers to say . . . that Building 7 came down because of explosives, that there was no investigation of explosive material . . . That can’t continue . . . We can’t let that just pass.” pic.twitter.com/vFJvhhiI0r

— International Center for 9/11 Justice (@ic911justice) January 28, 2025

Horns

Handsome entry. pic.twitter.com/LekPDLCy05

— The Figen (@TheFigen_) January 28, 2025

Owl
https://twitter.com/i/status/1884126327134974095

Eye color

Percentages and distribution of eyes colorpic.twitter.com/Zr6YDfVtp0

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) January 30, 2025

Glass
https://twitter.com/i/status/1884497763217355211

Petrel

How a community of penguins and all the children save their friend from a southern giant petrel bird
pic.twitter.com/ldBh25aL4Z

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) January 30, 2025

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Debt Rattle December 3 2024

Dec 032024

December 3, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:06 am Finance Tagged with: blob, currency reserves, Elon Musk, Hunter Biden, Kallas, NATO, OpenAI, Orwell, pardon, Syria, Trump 64 Responses »

Johannes Vermeer The astronomer c1668

• Trump And Musk Are Ready To Shake Up America (Ryumshin)

• Delaware Judge Rejects (Again) Musk’s $56 Billion Pay-Package (ZH)

• Musk Again Asks To Block OpenAI’s “Illegal” Conversion To For-Profit Model (CT)

• Special Counsel Rejects Hunter Biden’s Pardon (ZH)

• The Pardon (Paul Craig Roberts)

• The Blob Has a Migraine (Kunstler)

• The Democratic Diaspora (Turley)

• West Won’t Return Russia’s Currency Reserves – Top Banker (RT)

• The Long War To Reaffirm Western And Israeli Primacy (Alastair Crooke)

• Moscow and Tehran Discuss Syria – Kremlin (RT)

• China Vows Support For Syria (RT)

• EU Has Turned Into ‘War Union’ – Russian Senator (RT)

• Putin’s Global Influence Increasing – Kallas (RT)

• Zelensky Willing To Cede Territory in Exchange for NATO Protection (Antiwar)

• Ukrainians Could Disappear (RT)

• Shall We Celebrate, the World Being as It Is? (Patrick Lawrence)

• Orwell’s Forecast of a Tyrannical Britain Proven Correct (Paul Craig Roberts)

• Sturgess Inquiry Ends In Foreign Office Whimper, Bang Of Novichok Lies (Helmer)

https://twitter.com/i/status/1863370201581941005

Pardon
https://twitter.com/i/status/1863598068039655604

Mike Davis

WATCH: Legal titan Mike Davis breaks down Hunter pardon; "It's a stunning pardon because as you said, it goes back more than a decade and it covers ANY potential federal crime that Hunter Biden may have committed, including foreign bribery & corruption." pic.twitter.com/5g9WZWbZ4h

— Overton (@overton_news) December 2, 2024

Kindness

Kindness is priceless … pic.twitter.com/PyL8ENcaYV

— Figen (@TheFigen_) December 1, 2024

View from Russia.

“What can we expect from the ‘bromance’ of the two billionaires?”

• Trump And Musk Are Ready To Shake Up America (Ryumshin)

It’s often said that a king is shaped by his entourage. This saying may be as old as time itself, but it applies perfectly to US President-elect Donald Trump. Right now, however, there’s only one person truly pulling the king’s strings – Elon Musk. Since the November 6 election, the Tesla tycoon has become the most influential figure in America – and perhaps even the world. Musk’s road to power took four long years. Before 2022, Trump and the South African billionaire were rivals (in 2020, the Space-X founder even supported Biden). But when Musk bought Twitter, rebranded it as X, and gradually leaned into the Republican fold, the winds shifted. By early 2024, Musk had met Trump, publicly endorsed him in July, and begun campaigning. By the end of the year, the two had become inseparable. Now, Musk is basically joined at the hip with Trump. They attend MMA fights together, watch space launches, and share McDonald’s burgers.

Musk is now a fixture at the Mar-a-Lago estate, advising the future president on appointments, and even apparently speaking to foreign leaders on his behalf – he was allegedly present when Trump spoke to Vladimir Zelensky and is reported to have secretly met the Iranian ambassador. Trump’s old advisers are getting nervous. On November 18, Axios reported that Musk had clashed with Boris Epshteyn, a longtime Trump ally, over Matt Gaetz’s nomination for US Attorney General. After the dispute, Gaetz’s nomination was pulled and CNN claimed that Trump’s team have asked that Epshteyn be investigated for alleged fraud – over alleged bribes to lobby for positions within the new administration. Musk’s influence is undeniable, and the media has already dubbed him the “co-president of the United States” or more cheekily, the “broligarch.” Musk himself embraces the title of “first buddy” (a nod to the first lady).

This isn’t without controversy. Musk’s ruthless business tactics are legendary, and he has Trump’s full trust. The billionaire has promised to audit the entire US government, aiming to cut up to $2 trillion in spending. God only knows what he’ll come up with next. It’s fascinating to watch the American political establishment panic. And let’s be honest – this drama could work to Russia’s advantage. The more chaos in Washington, the better for Moscow. But don’t get too excited just yet. There are differing views on Trump’s leadership. Some see him as a weak head man, easily swayed by flattery, while others view him as a potential autocrat, quick to toss aside anyone who crosses him. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between. Trump runs his inner circle like a boss, with some figures holding much more sway than others.

Musk certainly falls into this inner circle. But he’s not alone. Trump’s family – especially Donald Trump Jr. – is also a key influence. Trump Jr. has been instrumental in connecting his father with allies like JD Vance, Robert Kennedy Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard, and he’s helping to handpick cabinet members. His influence is on par with Musk’s, even if it’s quieter. The Wall Street tycoons Trump has befriended also play a major role. In fact, for them, Trump has compromised on his conservative values, even proposing Scott Bessent, a former George Soros manager, for treasury secretary. Musk lobbied for Howard Lutnick to join the administration, but he eventually landed at the Commerce Department. These examples show that while Musk’s influence on Trump is substantial, it’s not all-encompassing –his power doesn’t extend beyond Trump’s inner circle.

There are also questions about how long the Trump-Musk partnership will last. Both are unpredictable, volatile personalities. Trump has a history of falling out with his favorites (just look at his rocky relationship with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis). Musk and Trump have plenty of potential points of conflict – from electric cars (Trump’s not a fan) to more serious matters like government spending cuts. But that’s a problem for the future. For now, let’s sit back, grab some popcorn, and watch this unfolding spectacle.

In 2018, when it was first agreed, the pay package was worth $2.6 billion. In January 2024, when the judge first rejected it, it had risen to $56 billion. Today, it is $101 billion.

Why the increase? Well, Elon Musk.

• Delaware Judge Rejects (Again) Musk’s $56 Billion Pay-Package (ZH)

Delaware Judge Kathaleen McCormick has once again sided against Elon Musk… After ruling against the billionaire in July 2022 when he tried to break his $44 billion contract to buy Twitter, and again in January 2024 when she initially rescinded Musk’s record (but “deeply flawed” according to her) $56 billion performance-based compensation package (determining that Tesla deceived shareholders when the all stock compensation was approved in 2018), she has once again ruled [against] that pay package. Musk’s legal team argued that McCormick should reverse her earlier decision because Tesla had conducted a shareholder vote to “ratify” the 2018 pay plan at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in June, per CNBC.

In fact, 72% of Tesla shareholders voted in June to approve the company’s CEO’s pay package. The judge said Musk’s attorneys made an argument with multiple “fatal flaws,” including their argument that the shareholder vote was enough to validate the pay package after the fact. “The large and talented group of defense firms got creative with the ratification argument, but their unprecedented theories go against multiple strains of settled law,” McCormick said in her ruling. McCormick ruled that the vote on the payment package did not have a “ratifying effect” on the current case, because shareholders had not ratified the payment plan prior to her ruling.

“Were the court to condone the practice of allowing defeated parties to create new facts for the purpose of revising judgments, lawsuits would become interminable,” she wrote. In addition to rejecting the revisions, Quartz reports that Monday’s decision granted $345 million in attorney fees to the lawyers who successfully challenged Musk’s pay plan on behalf of Tesla shareholders. The court deemed this amount an “appropriate sum to reward a total victory.” Tesla has the option to pay this fee in either cash or by issuing stock that can be sold on the open market. While Musk could appeal the decision to the Delaware Supreme Court, this ruling could have broader implications for how companies structure executive compensation and the role of shareholder votes in such decisions.

Finally, the judge has some interesting ‘friends’… “Before becoming the head of the Delaware Chancery Court, McCormick worked at a Delaware law firm called Young Conaway. This firm and its employees have been major donors to President Joe Biden for decades. In 2016, Hunter Biden hosted a gubernatorial campaign event for Congressman John Carney, with then-Vice President Joe Biden as the guest speaker. This event took place at the Law Offices of Young Conaway in Wilmington, Delaware. Carney, a close friend of Joe Biden for the last four decades, later became governor and nominated Kathaleen McCormick, a partner at Young Conaway, to her position on the Delaware Chancery Court.

In a March 2018 email, Hunter Biden claimed to personally know every judge on the Delaware Chancery Court while threatening legal action against his Chinese business partners. “I will bring the suit in the Chancery court in Delaware – which as you know is my home state and I am privileged to have worked with and know every judge on the chancery court…. another clear example of the Biden administration and its allies weaponizing the American legal system against their political opponents.”Tesla issued a statement on X shortly after the decision, confirming that it will appeal her decision…. There is also the fact that Musk’s move to relocate his business to Texas (after telling people on X after the original ruling that “companies should get the hell out of Delaware”) which could change things, but it is is unclear how this will proceed for now.

“No objective observer can look at OpenAI today and say it bears any resemblance whatsoever to what it promised to be..”

• Musk Again Asks To Block OpenAI’s “Illegal” Conversion To For-Profit Model (CT)

Elon Musk filed another motion to block ChatGPT-creator OpenAI from converting to a for-profit enterprise, while also alleging that it has been engaging in anti-competitive practices. Musk accused OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman, president Greg Brockman and stakeholder Microsoft of violating terms of Musk’s “foundational contributions to the charity,” according to his motion for a preliminary injunction filed on Nov. 30. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and was an early board member until he left the company in 2018. He has since launched xAI — the firm behind AI chatbot Grok — which he said is falling victim to OpenAI’s anti-competitive practices. “OpenAI’s path from a non-profit to for-profit behemoth is replete with per se anticompetitive practices, flagrant breaches of its charitable mission, and rampant self-dealing,” Musk’s lawyers wrote.

Through a “series of exclusive arrangements” with Microsoft, the two companies have engaged in “predatory practices,” enabling them to seize control of almost 70% of the generative AI market, lawyers for Musk said, adding: “Microsoft and OpenAI now seek to cement this dominance by cutting off competitors’ access to investment capital, while continuing to benefit from years’ worth of shared competitively sensitive information during generative AI’s formative years.” Allowing this to continue will hurt xAI and the public, which has become increasingly concerned about “rushed” and “unsafe” AI products, they added. California law allows a nonprofit to convert to a for-profit stock corporation, but not to a limited liability company.

OpenAI said it remains nonprofit at its core but has established a for-profit subsidiary capable of issuing equity to raise capital and hire world-class talent. Still, those tasks would be administered at the direction of the nonprofit. An injunction to preserve what is left of OpenAI’s nonprofit character is the only “appropriate remedy,” Musk’s lawyers said. “No objective observer can look at OpenAI today and say it bears any resemblance whatsoever to what it promised to be. Enough is enough.” An OpenAI spokesperson slammed Musk’s latest attempt in a note to Cointelegraph: “Elon’s fourth attempt, which again recycles the same baseless complaints, continues to be utterly without merit.”

In March, OpenAI leaked emails from Musk in 2015 showing support for the firm to find over $1 billion in funding to compete with the likes of Google and Facebook (now Meta). OpenAI claimed Musk was harassing the firm in a related October filing. “Since launching a competing artificial intelligence company, xAI, Musk has been trying to leverage the judicial system for an edge. The effort should fail; Musk’s complaint does not state a claim and should be dismissed,” OpenAI added. In June, Musk threatened to ban Apple devices at his companies when Apple touted integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its iPhone, iPad and Mac operating systems. Later, Apple launched Apple Intelligence on Oct. 28.

“No court has agreed with the defendant on these baseless claims, and his request to dismiss the indictment finds no support in the law or the practice of this district.”

• Special Counsel Rejects Hunter Biden’s Pardon (ZH)

Last night Hunter Biden’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss his California tax fraud case after Joe Biden issued a blanket pardon absolving him of all crimes committed over a 10 year period.”The President’s pardon moots Mr. Biden’s pending and yet to occur sentencing and entry of judgment in this case and requires an automatic dismissal of the Indictment with prejudice,” wrote Hunter’s lawyer Abbe Lowell in the filing, adding that “this Court must dismiss the Indictment against Mr. Biden with prejudice and adjourn all future proceedings in this matter. “Special Counsel David Weiss isn’t having it. In a Monday response in opposition, Weiss argued that “The defendant’s motion should be denied since there is no binding authority on this Court which requires dismissal.”

“As a matter of past-practice in this district, courts do not dismiss indictments when pardons are granted,” Weiss wrote – citing cases involving Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Joe Arpaio and Ollie North, Above the Law reports. “Instead, it has been the practice of this court that once an Executive Grant of Clemency has been filed on the docket, the docket is marked closed, the disposition entry is updated to reflect the executive grant of clemency, and no further action is taken by the Court.” “Although Weiss purported not to have seen the pardon itself (which Lowell inexplicably failed to docket), he took particular umbrage at the suggestion that the prosecution was politically motivated, huffing that “The court similarly found [Biden’s] vindictive prosecution claims unmoored from any evidence or even a coherent theory as to vindictiveness.”

Judge Mark Scarsi of the Central District of California has taken no action, thus far. But in Delaware, Judge Maryellen Noreika said in a minute order that she intends to terminate the proceedings, and instructing the government to say by tomorrow if it objects to termination by dismissal. Presumably it does, although no objection has hit the docket as of this writing.” -Above the Law. Hunter pleaded guilty to the tax charges earlier this year, after a Delaware jury found him guilty of lying about his drug use on a background check form used to purchase a firearm.

In Weiss’ new filing, he writes: “The defendant did not docket the pardon nor has the government seen it. If media reports are accurate, the Government does not challenge that the defendant has been the recipient of an act of mercy. But that does not mean the grand jury’s decision to charge him, based on a finding of probable cause, should be wiped away as if it never occurred. It also does not mean that his charges should be wiped away because the defendant falsely claimed that the charges were the result of some improper motive. No court has agreed with the defendant on these baseless claims, and his request to dismiss the indictment finds no support in the law or the practice of this district.”

“You can see the pardon as a conservative act as protection of the family is the basis of society. But in our society so is equal standing under the law..”

• The Pardon (Paul Craig Roberts)

Joe Biden said he would not pardon his son, but he did. Pardons reside with presidents and governors and are supposed to be used to correct an injustice or when a service has been done by the pardoned person that offsets the harm of the offense that is pardoned. But pardons are often used for non-legitimate reasons, such as Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich and Clinton’s half brother, Roger Clinton. Bill did not pardon Roger until after Roger had served his sentence. Rich, however, an international fugitive on the FBI’s ten most wanted list, was apparently pardoned in exchange for political donations and donations to the Clinton library. Donations continued for 15 years after the pardon. In other words, the pardon was purchased. Biden’s pardon of his son occurred prior to Hunter’s sentence and before a day was served. No doubt that many a mother and father wish they had the power to grant their son or daughter a pardon.

It is disturbing that Biden pretends that the charges against Hunter were politically motivated and designed to hurt President Biden, as if the FBI and DOJ committed to Biden’s protection would act against him. The charges were protective of Biden and were brought in order to get the focus off the more dangerous information in the laptop. The politically motivated charges were the ones brought against Trump. But I don’t really blame Biden from using his power to save his son from prison. In a way it shows Joe Biden more committed to his son than to his reputation. You can see the pardon as a conservative act as protection of the family is the basis of society. But in our society so is equal standing under the law, which took a hit from the pardon. What we should find more upsetting than the pardon is the protection that the FBI and Department of Justice provided for President Biden and his son from the evidence in Hunter’s laptop.

The FBI put out the story, quickly accepted by the presstitutes, that the laptop was a Russian attempt to discredit the US president. The prosecutions that Hunter has faced are limited to his false statement on his gun purchase application and to failure to pay income taxes on the profits from his and President Biden’s influence peddling ventures to which the FBI and Department of Justice (sic) have turned a blind eye–the same FBI and DOJ that gave Biden clearance on the documents charge for which Trump was indicted and prosecuted. In other words, under the Democrats justice in America was totally corrupted and still 45% of American voters voted for Democrats in the last election.

This tells us that close to half of the voting population either is too insouciant or ignorant to know what is going on, or is indifferent or unconcerned whether law serves justice or political, ideological, and personal agendas. The damning conclusion is that close to half of the American population accepts law as a political weapon. That the personnel in the FBI and DOJ do not resign in protest at the perversion of law and prosecution indicates that they, too, accept the abuse of law by their superiors. Can the transformation of law from a shield of the people into a weapon in the hands of the state be reversed when the entire federal law enforcement system is corrupt to the core? Can such a giant task be accomplished when Trump is simultaneously attempting to restore integrity to all other aspects of government? Is this a bridge too far?

“It’s a beautiful thing to watch the Biden family destroy the Democrat Party.” — @Mazemoore on “X”

• The Blob Has a Migraine (Kunstler)

You can be sure the blobists have seen this coming from years away. The boys and girls in the agencies have behaved more than just a little badly, and they know it. They committed serious crimes against our country and its citizens under color-of-law since 2015, ranging from seditious conspiracy clear up to treason (say, just for instance, the case of Col. Alexander Vindman using his Ukraine connections to lever Mr. Trump out of the Oval Office in the 2019 impeachment scam.)

You have whole C-suites of agencies teed-up on RussiaGate for felonies, misprision of felonies, abuse of power, deprivation of rights, lying under oath, conspiracy to commit fraud, and much more. You have Judge James Boasberg playing games in the FISA Court he presided over; Robert Mueller and Andrew Weissmann running a two-and-a-half-year Chinese fire drill to cover-up years preceding of FBI / DOJ misconduct; John Brennan, James Clapper, and Gina Haspel abusing the “Five Eyes” intel arrangements to turn the CIA on innocent citizens at home; the fifty-one current and former intel agents colluding to bury Hunter’s Laptop to sway the 2020 election; the antics of Judge Emmet Sullivan in the Flynn case. . . .

And then on to a whole new round of frolics under “Joe Biden” including the malicious prosecutions of J-6 protesters; the pipe-bomb caper at the DNC; the use of several agencies to censor speech and manage the news media; the treasonous negligence of Alejandro Mayorkas on the nation’s borders; the DOJ-coordinated lawfare hounding of Mr. Trump and his adjacent lawyers; the Ukraine War project ginned up by the State Department’s Victoria Nuland and cohorts; and the sinkhole of greed, malice, and medical homicide that was the Covid-19 operation, millions killed and disabled, and likely more of that yet to come from the vaccines, trillions in wealth purloined or just plain lost, and businesses destroyed in lockdowns. It’s not a mere “swamp,” it’s a whole forbidden planet of turpitude.

Then there are the floaters and freelancers who move from one blob venue to the next, like lawfare artists Mary McCord, Norm Eisen, Marc Elias, David J. Kramer, or the girl-band of Lisa Monaco, Fiona Hill, Kathryn Ruemmler, Susan Rice, Samantha Power, Nellie Ohr. And finally, there are the real big fishes: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, Anthony Fauci, Chris Wray, Merrick Garland, General Milley, and “Joe Biden.”

Add William Barr to that list for failing to reveal that he was in possession of Hunter’s laptop as early as the fall of 2019. Of course, it was crammed with exculpatory evidence that could have ended impeachment No. 1 on day one of the initial hearings, yet he never alerted President’s lawyers to its existence. Weird, a little bit. And also, for the effrontery of allowing Jeffrey Epstein to be killed in his Manhattan jail, and never offering the public a coherent account of how the cameras on the cellblock failed, or why the guards who fell asleep on-duty were disciplined with only 100 hours of “community service.”

My Gawd, they must be eating Xanax like tic-tacs in their drawing rooms and boudoirs as the name Kash Patel floats across their social media screens. Kash Patel, a real-live exterminating angel, will finally step in to the FBI Director’s office and turn the investigative powers of the FBI on. . . the FBI! And its parent, the DOJ. The poetic justice is sublime. You must wonder: how does Mr. Patel get through the RINO-infested Senate confirmation process? Start with: what have they got on him? Answer: probably not a goshdarn thing, not a hair out of place. More to the point: what has Mr. Patel got on them? (Especially Messers Thune, Barrasso, Cornyn, and let’s just throw in the Democrat Mark Warner, VA, who was up to his eyeballs in RussiaGate as chair of the Senate Intel Committee.)

And were Mr. Patel to land in the FBI Director’s office 49 days from now, what additional info might he uncover about years of weaponized government with assistance from John Ratcliffe at the CIA and Tulsi Gabbard as DNI — who will access a pipeline to the vast national security server farm out in Bluffdale, Utah. So, in case you think that the document-shredding party currently underway in DC will conceal all that criminality, consider what lives forever in the alternate universe of cyberspace.

“They are unlikely to improve themselves by receding further into that safe space to rave about the “f—ing morons” who make up the majority of America..”

• The Democratic Diaspora (Turley)

Democrats who campaigned on the need for “joy” and “saving democracy” are strikingly unjoyful about the results of the democratic process in 2024. Before the election, slips like the one of President Joe Biden calling Trump supporters “garbage” were immediately denied or deflected. But once voters had given the Republicans control of both houses of Congress, the popular vote and the White House, leading Democratic figures and celebrities dropped all pretense of civility. They are now being open about their contempt for voters, calling them “f—-ing morons” and “arrogant, ignorant” adolescents. After calling for Americans to come together for Kamala Harris, MSNBC’s Joy Reid sent out a heart-warming holiday message to those who voted for the GOP to “make your own dinner, MAGA. Make your own sandwiches, wipe your own tears.”

Those not wallowing in Reid’s anger are increasingly voicing themes of isolation, insurrection and secession. For years, the contempt for Trump voters has been open and obvious in much of the media. The “Let’s Go Brandon” movement captured the lunacy of the press and politicians simply denying what citizens could see, hear and experience for themselves. When asked for answers on issues like the economy and immigration, Harris paraded an army of celebrities to tell the public how to vote — shiny objects that they thought would be enough for shallow American voters. They were wrong. Now that the public has made its choice, leading figures are condemning the majority of voters as a mix of misogynists, self-haters and fascists. Whoopi Goldberg, 69, even joined the “4B” sex strike against men. Others seem to be morphing into exactly what they said Trump would become as president: isolationist and insurrectionist.

Some have responded to the losses by retreating further into echo chambers protected from opposing views. Many dumped X in favor of BlueSky, a new social media safe space for liberals who fear being triggered by opposing views. Notably, censorship advocates such as Nina Jankowisz have fled to BlueSky. The site is portrayed as a return to the good old days when liberals controlled all of the social media and maintained a massive censorship and blacklisting system over political discourse. New York Times tech reporter Kevin Roose wrote a column last week that offered the familiar “I can breathe again” account: “After an hour or so of scrolling through Bluesky the other night, I felt something I haven’t felt on social media in a long time: free.” It is the ultimate irony. This election shocked many on the left precisely because they were writing and commenting on each other within their hardened media and political silos.

They are unlikely to improve themselves by receding further into that safe space to rave about the “f—ing morons” who make up the majority of America. Other Democratic politicians have moved beyond the chest-pounding of leaders like Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) to pledges of more direct obstruction or inflammatory rhetoric. Denver mayor Mike Johnson (D) declared that he was preparing the Mile-High City for its “Tiananmen Square moment” to fight the federal government in any attempt to deport unlawful migrants. Johnson warned that he would have not only Denver police “stationed at the county line to keep [ICE] out” but also “50,000 Denverites.” Not long ago, Democrats were calling similar protests an “insurrection.” Johnson later walked back his remarks but insisted that his city would fight federal efforts to enforce the immigration laws. Rather than such trench warfare, most Democratic governors and mayors are simply pledging not to cooperate with federal authorities, which is a lawful choice. The concern, however, is how others will react to the overheated rhetoric for months that this will be “our last election” and that Trump is the new Hitler.
.

Both sides hold frozen assets. Equal amount. An exercise in futility.

• West Won’t Return Russia’s Currency Reserves – Top Banker (RT)

The West will not return any of the Russian sovereign assets frozen as part of sanctions over the Ukraine conflict, the CEO of major Russian lender VTB, Andrey Kostin, has predicted, as cited by Reuters. The US and its allies have immobilized around $300 billion of assets belonging to the Russian central bank since 2022 as part of Ukraine-related sanctions. The funds deposited in Brussels-based clearing house Euroclear have generated billions in interest, which the EU has decided to use to finance Kiev. “In the West, they say, let’s pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine from the reserves. And they will draw up such a bill that even the reserves will not be enough,” Kostin, the CEO of Russia’s second-largest lender, told Reuters in an interview published on Monday.

The new president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, said on Sunday that the EU will continue to provide economic and military aid to Ukraine in the coming year, using the interest accrued on frozen Russian money. “Starting next month, we plan to provide, for a full year, every month, €1.5 billion [$1.58 billion] of assistance. This money comes from the proceeds of Russia’s frozen assets and can also be used for military purposes,” Costa said during a visit to Kiev on day one of his mandate. Earlier this year, the EU decided to give Ukraine a chunk of the interest generated by Russian assets. In July, the European Commission announced it would allocate €1.5 billion to Kiev, mainly for weapons, as the first tranche of aid. The second tranche, expected to amount to €1.9 billion, could reportedly be disbursed next spring. In October, the European Parliament also approved a loan of up to €35 billion to Ukraine to be repaid with future revenues from frozen Russian assets.

The loan is the EU’s part of a package the Group of Seven (G7) agreed in June to provide Kiev with up to $50 billion in financial support. Approximately €210 billion in assets belonging to the Russian central bank is being held in the EU. The US has not yet made public the amount of funds it holds. According to Reuters’s calculations, at the start of 2022, Russia had $67 billion in US dollar assets. Russia has repeatedly accused the West of “stealing” its money. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov warned in October that Moscow would respond in kind to the West’s use of the income generated by its frozen central bank reserves. Last month, he said Russia would use income from the frozen assets of Western investors. While the finance minister did not elaborate on the amount of Western assets currently held in Russia, previous calculations by RIA Novosti put the figure at roughly equal to the size of the Russian funds frozen abroad.

“Kennan’s thesis from 1946 was that the United States needed to work patiently and resolutely to thwart the Soviet threat, and to enhance and aggravate the internal fissures in the Soviet system..”

• The Long War To Reaffirm Western And Israeli Primacy (Alastair Crooke)

The long war to reaffirm western and Israeli primacy is undergoing a shape-shift. On one front, the calculus in respect to Russia and the Ukraine war has shifted. And in the Middle East, the locus and shape of the war is shifting in a distinct way. Georges Kennan’s famed Soviet doctrine has long formed the baseline to U.S. policy, firstly directed toward the Soviet Union, and latterly, towards Russia. Kennan’s thesis from 1946 was that the United States needed to work patiently and resolutely to thwart the Soviet threat, and to enhance and aggravate the internal fissures in the Soviet system, until its contradictions triggered the collapse from within. More recently, the Atlantic Council has drawn on the Kennan doctrine to suggest that his broad outline should serve as the basis of U.S. policy towards Iran.

“The threat that Iran poses to the U.S. resembles the one faced from the Soviet Union after World War II. In this regard, the policy that George Kennan outlined for dealing with the Soviet Union has some applications for Iran”, the Atlantic report states. Over the years, that doctrine has ossified into an entire network of security understandings, based on the archetypal conviction that America is strong, and that Russia was weak. Russia must ‘know that’, and thus, it was argued, there could be no logic for Russian strategists to imagine they had any other option but to submit to the overmatch represented by the combined military strength of NATO versus a ‘weak’ Russia. And should Russian strategists unwisely persevere with challenging the West, it was said, the inherent contrariety simply would cause Russia to fracture. American neocons and western intelligence have not listened to any other view, because they were (and largely still are) convinced by Kennan’s formulation.

The American foreign policy class simply could not accept the possibility that such a core thesis was wrong. The entire approach reflected more a deep-seated culture, rather than any rational analysis – even when visible facts on the ground pointed them to a different reality. So, America has piled the pressure on Russia through the incremental delivery of additional weapons systems to Ukraine; through stationing intermediate range nuclear-capable missiles ever-closer to Russia’s borders; and most recently, by shooting ATACMS into ‘old Russia’. The aim has been to pressure Russia into a situation where it would feel obliged to make concessions to Ukraine, such as a to accept a freezing of the conflict, and to be obliged to negotiate against Ukrainian bargaining ‘cards’ devised to yield a solution acceptable to the U.S. Or, alternatively, for Russia to be cornered into the ‘nuclear corner’.

American strategy ultimately rests on the conviction that the U.S. could engage in a nuclear war with Russia – and prevail; that Russia understands that were it to go nuclear, it would ‘lose the world’. Or, pressured by NATO, the anger amongst Russians likely would sweep Putin from office were he to make significant concessions to Ukraine. It was a ‘win-win’ outcome – from the U.S. perspective. Unexpectedly however, a new weapon appeared on the scene which precisely unshackles President Putin from the ‘all-or-nothing’ choice of having to concede a bargaining ‘hand’ to Ukraine, or resort to nuclear deterrence. Instead, the war can be settled by facts on the ground. Effectively, the George Kennan ‘trap’ imploded.

The Oreshnik missile (that was used to attack the Yuzhmash complex at Dnietropetrovsk) provides Russia with a weapon, such as never before witnessed: An intermediate range missile system that effectively checkmates the western nuclear threat. Russia can now manage western escalation with a credible threat of retaliation that is both hugely destructive – yet conventional. It inverts the paradigm. It is now the West’s escalation that either has to go nuclear, or be limited to providing Ukraine with weapons such as ATACMS or Storm Shadow that will not alter the course of the war. Were NATO to escalate further, it risks an Oreshnik strike in retaliation, either in Ukraine or on some target in Europe, leaving the West with the dilemma of what to do next.

“They expressed “unconditional support” for steps taken by Damascus “to restore constitutional order and territorial integrity of the country.”

Russia has started bombing the “Islamist militants”, whoever they are or who supports them. If Iran follows suit, who knows what happens?

• Moscow and Tehran Discuss Syria – Kremlin (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday, according to a statement issued by the Kremlin. The main focus of the conversation was on the “escalating situation” in the Syria, the statement outlined. The ongoing large-scale attack by Islamist militants around Syria’s second largest city, Aleppo, is aimed at undermining the sovereignty, political and socio-economic stability of the Middle Eastern nation, the two leaders concluded. They expressed “unconditional support” for steps taken by Damascus “to restore constitutional order and territorial integrity of the country.” Putin and Pezeshkian also stressed the importance of coordinating efforts within the framework of the ‘Astana format’ with the participation of Türkiye.

Assorted Syrian ‘rebels’ and terrorists, including Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS), staged a large-scale attack on government forces in northwest Syria last week. Formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, HTS is considered a terrorist organization by Syria, Russia, Iran, the US, and several other countries. The militants claim to have captured considerable chunks of the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, with some units reaching as far as the center of the city of Aleppo. Damascus has reportedly succeeded in halting the insurgents near the city of Hama in central Syria after receiving reinforcements. Syrian President Bashar Assad has pledged to “eliminate terrorists” and to punish their “sponsors and supporters.” The Syrian military acknowledged that dozens of its troops had been killed during the offensive while estimating terrorist losses at around 1,000.

Government forces were also backed by waves of Russian airstrikes which also targeted terrorist headquarters, weapons, and ammunition depots. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Monday that Russian warplanes stationed in Syria had conducted strikes on militant forces in recent days. Peskov reiterated Russia’s support for the Syrian government, stating that Moscow and Damascus had been in contact and were analyzing ongoing developments. Russia intervened in the Syrian conflict in 2015, helping to inflict heavy defeats on numerous terrorist groups, most notably al-Nusra and the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS). Russia maintains a significant military presence in the country and has bases in Hmeimim and Tartus. Last week’s Islamist attack was the first major clash between Syrian rebels and government forces since March 2020, when Russia and Türkiye brokered a ceasefire in the country.

Russia, Iran and China.

“As Syria’s friend, China is willing to make an active effort to avoid further deterioration of the situation in Syria..”

• China Vows Support For Syria (RT)

China is “deeply concerned” about developments in Syria, where jihadist militants launched a surprise offensive last week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday. As Damascus’ “friend,” Beijing is prepared to take steps to prevent a further deterioration of the situation, he said. The Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, and allied militias launched a large-scale attack on government-controlled territory in northern Syria last Wednesday. The militants took over a number of towns and villages in the Aleppo, Idlib and Hama provinces. Syrian government forces, backed by Russian fighter jets, launched a counteroffensive on Thursday and successfully liberated several settlements over the weekend, reportedly eliminating hundreds of militants and thwarting their advance into central Syria.

However, dozens of Syrian army service members were lost amid the heavy fighting, the Syrian General Command said in an earlier statement. “China is deeply concerned over the situation in northwestern Syria, and supports its effort to uphold national security and stability,” Lin told a press briefing on Monday. “As Syria’s friend, China is willing to make an active effort to avoid further deterioration of the situation in Syria,” the official said. The Chinese embassy in Syria “is closely following the local situation” and has issued a security alert for Chinese citizens residing in the country, advising them to take extra security precautions and, if possible, move to safer areas, Lin said. China’s ties with Syria have been growing closer in recent years.

Last September, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad inked a “strategic partnership” deal, pledging to work together in order to “jointly safeguard international fairness and justice” in the face of the “unstable and uncertain international situation.” Xi told Assad at the time that Beijing supported Syria in “opposing foreign interference and unilateral bullying, safeguarding national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” A number of other nations, including Russia, Iran, Iraq and Egypt, have expressed support for Damascus over the past few days, commending it for fighting against terrorism. Moscow has slammed the militants’ offensive as a “direct violation of Syria’s sovereignty,” and mobilized air force units stationed in the country to aid the Syrian army. Tehran has urged Islamic countries to unite in helping Syria defeat the militants, placing the blame for the escalation on Israel and the US.

“The contemporary European Union is the main factor in dividing Europe and provoking conflicts. [It’s] a union of war..”

• EU Has Turned Into ‘War Union’ – Russian Senator (RT)

The European Union has morphed into an “aggressive political bloc” and a “war union,” the Vice Speaker of the Russian parliament’s upper chamber, Konstantin Kosachev, has said. The senator criticized the EU in a Telegram post on Tuesday, pointing to the bloc’s support for the ongoing turmoil in Georgia, which has been hit by mass anti-government, pro-EU protests. The unrest has been going on since Thursday, when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that he would freeze accession talks with the bloc until 2028. He accused Brussels of persistent “blackmail and manipulation” of Georgia’s internal affairs in justifying the decision.

“The first Molotov cocktails were thrown by protesters at Georgian police immediately after the new EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, publicly called the crowd’s protests legitimate and the response of the authorities – illegal,” Kosachev wrote. The vice speaker was apparently referring to remarks made by Kallas during her visit to Kiev, where she threatened Georgia with “consequences” and openly took the protesters’ side. “It is clear that using violence against peaceful protesters is not acceptable, and the Georgian government should respect the will of the Georgian people,” she stated.

Members of the bloc’s foreign service are acting as “instigators” of the unrest, according to the Russian lawmaker. Kosachev recalled the 2020 Capitol Hill rioting in the US, stating that the EU kept silent on it at the time and did not mention any “citizens’ right to protest.” The bloc has grown out of its original economic cooperation framework into an “aggressive political bloc with military inclinations,” acting as the main divisive force in Europe, Kosachev said. “The contemporary European Union is the main factor in dividing Europe and provoking conflicts. [It’s] a union of war,” he stressed.

Kallas is as bad as Ursula. They’re like evil twins. Where do they find these specimens?

• Putin’s Global Influence Increasing – Kallas (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s influence in global affairs is growing, new EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said. Speaking to reporters in Kiev during her first official visit on Sunday, Kallas, who stepped down as Estonia’s prime minister to take the EU post, reiterated that the European Union “wants Ukraine to win this war.” She doubled down on support for military aid to Ukraine, insisting that providing the country more weapons is not “charitable aid,” but an investment in the security of the EU, since Russian President Vladimir Putin “shows no signs of abandoning his goals.” Kallas has advocated tougher sanctions on Russia and is known for her strident stance against Moscow. She also stated Sunday that supporting Ukraine is in the interests of the US.

“If America is worried about China, it should be worried about Russia first,” Kallas claimed, according to the outlet Suspilne, adding that Russia, Iran, North Korea and China are working together. She also admitted that despite Western efforts to isolate Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin’s political influence has been amplified. “And we also see what Putin is doing in other countries, really increasing his influence. So, if the United States wants to be the strongest state in the world, they will eventually have to deal with the Russian Federation. And the easiest way to deal with this is to support Ukraine so that it wins the war,” the diplomat concluded. Kallas also did not rule out sending Western troops to Ukraine.

“So far, the discussion has centered on which countries are ready to send soldiers to Ukraine and which are not,” she told reporters. “I believe that nothing can be ruled out.” The remarks come as the UK and France have revived debates about sending forces to Ukraine, according to a recent report in Le Monde. In February, French President Emmanuel Macron caused controversy by refusing to rule out sending ground troops “to prevent Russia from winning this war.” The statement was quickly disavowed by NATO officials, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters that Ukraine’s Western backers were “unanimous” in their opposition to the idea. Russia has long claimed that Western special forces personnel are already active in Ukraine as military advisors and mercenaries. Putin maintains that NATO troop deployments in Ukraine cannot not change the situation on the battlefield.

Ukraine can’t become a NATO member. So they want NATO to occupy the country.

• Zelensky Willing To Cede Territory in Exchange for NATO Protection (Antiwar)

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was willing to temporarily cede territory to Russia to bring an end to the war in exchange for NATO protection over Ukraine. “If we want to stop the hot stage of the war, we should take under [the] NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control,” Zelensky told Sky News. “That’s what we need to do fast, and then Ukraine can get back the other part of its territory diplomatically.” Zelensky’s suggestion is almost certainly a non-starter for Russia since the invasion was launched to keep Ukraine out of NATO, but it does reflect a shift in his position. Zelensky previously maintained that his war goals included driving Russia out of all of the territory it has captured since February 2022, as well as Crimea.

In a recent conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed to a speech he made earlier this year that outlines his conditions for peace, which include a Ukrainian withdrawal from all territory Russia has annexed, Ukrainian neutrality, and the lifting of all Western sanctions on Russia. Ukrainian neutrality was Russia’s main demand during short-lived negotiations that took place in the early days of the invasion. Ukrainian and Russian officials held talks in March and April of 2022, but the negotiations were discouraged by the US and its allies.

In the interview with Sky News, Zelensky said Ukraine wouldn’t agree to a ceasefire without guarantees of NATO protection. “We need [NATO protection] very much, otherwise [Putin] will come back. Otherwise, how are we going to go to a ceasefire? So for us, it’s very dangerous,” he said. While Zelensky and Putin’s terms are extremely far apart, the Ukrainian side could be forced to make more concessions if President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his campaign promise to end the war and pressures Zelensky to negotiate.

“With just such a birth rate and mortality, the Ukrainian nation will be reduced to nothing in 180 years..”

• Ukrainians Could Disappear (RT)

The Ukrainian ethnos could be extinct in less than two centuries, Olga Bogomolets, a renowned Ukrainian medical expert, warned this week. Extremely low birth rates and high mortality could lead to the nationality’s demise in about 180 years, she said. Bogomolets holds a post-doctoral degree in medicine, as well as the title ‘distinguished physician of Ukraine’. According to the expert, the nation is facing an “insane, catastrophic” rise in mortality rates combined with a continued decline in the number of newborns. “If this model persists, without even taking into account the war-associated losses and emigration… With just such a birth rate and mortality, the Ukrainian nation will be reduced to nothing in 180 years,” Bogomolets told the Vechir.Live show, which aired on YouTube.

The country has only six generations’ time to reverse the trend, the health professional warned. Otherwise, “zero [Ukrainians] will remain,” she said, adding that the territory of Ukraine would be inhabited by some other people “who will no longer be Ukrainians.” The conflict with Moscow has taken a heavy toll. Ukrainian military losses alone have amounted to more than half a million since February 2022, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Around 6.6 million people had fled the country as of July 2024, according to German data aggregator Statista. The Ukrainian media has reported that the country’s population could have fallen by a whopping 10 million over almost three years of fighting, considering both conflict-linked losses and emigration. A quarter of Ukrainians who fled abroad also have no interest in going back, the news outlets said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) currently estimates Ukraine’s population at just over 37.7 million people as of 2023, down from 44.3 million in 2021 and almost 50 million in 2000. The international body says that number was in steady decline even before the conflict with Russia, and is projected to fall further to less than 32 million by 2050. In October, Florence Bauer, the Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), described the situation in Ukraine as a “demographic crisis,” explaining that “the birth rate plummeted to one child per woman – the lowest fertility rate in Europe and one of the lowest in the world.” She added that the nation’s population had declined by over 10 million since the start of the 2014 crisis following the Maidan coup in Kiev.

“There are moments when you understand your thoughts only when you speak them to others.”

• Shall We Celebrate, the World Being as It Is? (Patrick Lawrence)

Is it all right to be happy over a holiday that has “Happy” in its name? The genocide of a long-suffering people to which our purported leaders have made us accomplices, a senile president who leaves us living with the danger of a nuclear conflict, fear and want and disorder everywhere you look: Can we allow ourselves happiness? Can we permit ourselves merriment in a few short weeks? And the most pressing query of all: What are we supposed to do? We must act, but how? As another holiday season begins, I merely repeat questions many millions among us have asked for more than a year now. I know this because I recently conducted an extensive survey indicating that the world as we have made it leaves us, we Americans and other dwellers in the Western post-democracies, a chronically troubled people.

I made sure the poll covered a wide geographic spread: I surveyed my household; the respondents were two, including myself. So let us not argue: The results are unambiguously representative. I found frustration at a record level, and there must be a record somewhere. I found suggestions of anger and despair. I found that the questions just noted were posed not quite incessantly, but nearly. The survey’s margin of error is zero. We are a perplexed people apart from everything else we are. And our questions are the very most right questions a troubled and perplexed people ought to ask as 2024 draws to a close and year-end holidays are upon us. In mid–December a year ago, we were guests in the home of one of my kindly editors.

This was in the village of South Egremont, at the southern end of the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts. There was a tree at the foot of the stairs, the fire was lit, there were drinks on the coffee table. The kindly editor, the KE, stood before the tree with a glass ornament in her hand. We were about to begin the decorate-the-tree ritual. Then the KE paused and turned. “Should we be doing this?” she asked. I vividly recall the unsettled look on her face. “Should we be celebrating?” Israel was then several months into its sadistic barbarism in Gaza, and the government that is supposed to represent us but no longer does was profligately sustaining the Zionist regime’s terrorizing troops. There was no misunderstanding the KE’s question. “Yes!” I replied with alacrity and not much reflection. There are moments when you understand your thoughts only when you speak them to others.

And so I continued, “We must insist on honoring the feasts that matter to us. Celebration: We can’t surrender it. We owe it to ourselves to refuse the temptation of learned helplessness and despair.” I paused. Then: “But that’s not the most important thing. We owe it most of all to the people of Palestine. It is for them we must demonstrate that the human spirit lives despite all, and that humanity’s shared capacity for joy is not extinguished.” The KE nodded. I seem to have brought her around. The KE’s son, a 30–something with a lightning wit and a quick, acute intelligence, considered the point carefully. His name is Stephen. After a moment Stephen said, “Yes, but a conscious ‘Happy’ and ‘Merry.’ A knowing ‘Happy’ and ‘Merry,’ a ‘Happy’ and ‘Merry’ that are fully aware—that refuse to avert their eyes, refuse to lose sight of anything.”

It was the best thing anyone said that evening. We decorated the tree just as these things always and wonderfully go: Put that silver bulb here. No, up a little. Now to the left. The pine cones should be in the front. The big red one goes on that side…. Stephen’s thought has stayed with me ever since. In a certain way I have lived by it.

“Once a civilization becomes amoral, it succumbs to evil. When a civilization succumbs to evil it becomes impossible to defend.”

• Orwell’s Forecast of a Tyrannical Britain Proven Correct (Paul Craig Roberts)

When George Orwell’s 1984 was published in 1949 everyone believed the dystopia he described was Soviet communism. Orwell said it was a description of Britain in the future. It took 75 years instead of the 35 years that Orwell estimated judging by his book’s title, but tyranny as great as he imagined now has Britain in is grip. If you doubt this, read this very short report–https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/great-reset/silent-prayer-prohibited-in-the-uk/— and watch the short video in which two policemen confront an Englishman who is silently praying in public. The police, both white and British, tell him that he is in violation of an ordinance that protects abortion clinics from anyone praying within 150 feet of the premises. The man says he is praying for his deceased son. It is not revealed whether his son was aborted by the mother or whether the death and prayer are unrelated to abortion.

What strikes me is that two white British policemen think they need to confront a person over a tyrannical ordinance that in the US is unconstitutional as it violates the 14th Amendment by creating special legal privileges for abortion clinics that are denied other service providers. The ordinance violates the requirement of equal protection of law. If Christianity or the right to protest still existed in Britain, the tyrannical ordinance would simply be ignored by police. Indeed, if Christianity existed in Britain the ordinance could not have been introduced, much less passed. Christianity is one of the foundations of Western civilization. Its demise indicates the demise of Western civilization.

In Britain where laws and police take it very easy on criminals as long as they are dark-skinned immigrant-invaders, a white British citizen can get in more trouble for praying silently within a proscribed distance of where abortions, that is, murders, are performed than an immigrant-invader faces for rape, robbery, and assault. Notice that a majority of British Members of Parliament thought that abortion clinics needed protection from prayer. By passing the ordinance the MPs shielded abortionists from ethical and moral protest. What crime will the MPs next shield? It is extraordinary, isn’t it, that the British are willing to take the entire world to nuclear war by firing missiles into Russia and find the danger instead in a person praying outside an abortion clinic. This tells us that the Western world no longer exists in a moral context. Once a civilization becomes amoral, it succumbs to evil. When a civilization succumbs to evil it becomes impossible to defend.

“All we are left with is an assumption covered up and concealed in secret. The scientific name for that is a lie.”

• Sturgess Inquiry Ends In Foreign Office Whimper, Bang Of Novichok Lies (Helmer)

The Novichok show trial ended its public hearings last week in London with the revelation that it will not name the chemical constituents of the poison used in the attempted killing of Sergei and Yulia Skripal on March 4, 2018, and in the cause of death of Dawn Sturgess on June 30, 2018. By doing this, by keeping the chemical formula combination of the poison a state secret, independent British toxicologists say there is no evidence that a Russian-made Novichok was used; and that, instead, a British or US-made Novichok was readily available in 2018, and this was as likely to have been the killer weapon. Revealed earlier in the hearings by a doctor at Yulia Skripal’s bedside four days after the attack, Skripal believed she and her father had been hit by a poison spray as they ate lunch at a restaurant just before they collapsed outside.

Skripal’s evidence pointed to a British operation to assassinate Sergei Skripal before he escaped back to Moscow, and then cover up by planting fabricated Russian clues at the crime scenes, and in the blood test reports of the victims. Weapon, crime scene, victim pathology, killer identification, motive – all faked. The toxicology experts point out that in 2018 scientists working on this type of organophosphate poison had revealed synthesis, production, testing and stocking of A232 and A234 Novichok in the US Army’s chemical warfare centre, known by its location as the Edgewood Arsenal; and at its British counterpart and partner, the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), known as Porton Down. The Iranian military establishment had also done the same by 2016. After the Skripal case in 2018, military chemists in South Korea and the Czech Republic revealed how they had produced and tested their own formulas for Novichok.

By openly publishing their Novichok chemistry, the Americans, Iranians, South Koreans, and Czechs have proved that making, detecting and naming Novichok is a transparent process, not difficult to verify forensically in a criminal investigation or court. This, British scientists now say, means that the refusal of government officials and the Sturgess Inquiry judge, Anthony Hughes, to name the Novichok alleged to have been the Russian murder weapon, is evidence of a scheme of British fabrication and coverup. Mark Allen of the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) was the last witness to testify before Hughes at the Inquiry’s public hearings. As head of defence and intelligence, he was also the official in charge of coordinating the intelligence and military units involved in the attack on the Skripals; and then in the police and media coverup employed to pin the crime on the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, and on President Vladimir Putin.

Allen’s testimony on November 28 identified as his direct superior Sir Mark Sedwill, the national security advisor reporting to then-Prime Minister Theresa May and then-Foreign Minister Boris Johnson. “As SRO [Senior Responsible Owner] for Russia,” Allen said, “when we’re dealing with Russia strategy, the Government strategy towards Russia, I bring together all government departments, including representatives of the agencies as well, to ensure that we’re all essentially using all of our levers, all of our information, all of our understanding is pointing in the same direction and we’re being coherent. Then where there are situations where something unexpected arises, what you might call a crisis of some sort, then I will also chair that sort of grouping to work out what our collective response should be.”

“I act, not as the Foreign Office’s DG [director-general], but as the government’s senior official. Page 17 Asked to substantiate public statements at the time by May, Johnson and Sedwill that only Russia could have made and used the Novichok weapon, Allen was unable. “… it is safe to say that any modern chemical laboratory is capable of synthesising Novichok. In contrast to what you have said about it being a state — really only something that can be done at the state level. Is there anything that you can add to this debate, Mr Allen? A. I don’t think that is a view that is shared in the scientific community, or in the OPCW.” Page 41. This was a lie; Hughes let it go unchallenged. “LORD HUGHES: As far as you know, is it something which has been asserted either by Mr Mirzayanov or by the other publications of American, Czech, Italian, et cetera, researchers?

“A [Allen]: I haven’t read those in detail, sir, so I couldn’t say.“LORD HUGHES: All right, thank you.” Page 41. “What’s in a name like Novichok? Why the coverup?” responds an independent British chemist and expert on organophosphates. “If the full molecular readout was exposed publicly from the blood sampling of the Skripals and Sturgess — also later of [Alexei] Navalny — then it would be obvious that some constituents are missing. And because they are missing from the name or the reported chemical formula, then identification of Novichok cannot be made. All we are left with is an assumption covered up and concealed in secret. The scientific name for that is a lie.”

Masterpiece

all i have to say about this is masterpiece pic.twitter.com/PN7KyxDxyr

— non aesthetic things (@PicturesFoIder) December 1, 2024

Dog ball
https://twitter.com/i/status/1863627051221000445

Happy husband
https://twitter.com/i/status/1863284451158999371

Elephants
https://twitter.com/i/status/1863382783952883864

Motorcycle
https://twitter.com/i/status/1863242158439878695

Trap
https://twitter.com/i/status/1863387612053897620

Crab-rice

Have you heard of Crab-Rice Symbiosis

The Chinese are doing amazing things with Agriculture

The knowledge is too much it's harder to keep up with it pic.twitter.com/NfsvVSp1iU

— NaijaFarmer (@Nig_Farmer) December 2, 2024

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Debt Rattle June 13 2024

Jun 132024

June 13, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:15 am Finance Tagged with: Alito, Assange, Cuomo, Ellsberg, Hunter, J6, Maddow, Nuremberg, OpenAI, Pelosi 56 Responses »

Vincent van Gogh Courtesan (after Eisen) 1887

• Biden’s Problems Are the Real Threats (Newt Gingrich)

• “Pelosi SHOULD Take Responsibility!”: J6 Capitol Police Chief (ZH)

• Maddow Says She’s Worried Trump Will Put Her In A Concentration Camp (MN)

• Alito Exposed as ‘Crusader for Christian Nationalism’ (CD)

• Hunter Biden’s Conviction on Gun Charges Is a Red Herring (Paul Craig Roberts)

• Hunter Comes Up A Donut Short of a Defense in Delaware (Turley)

• Did the Defense Make Prison More Likely for Hunter? (Turley)

• Ukraine Must ‘Prevail’ To Join NATO – Stoltenberg (RT)

• House Moves To Defund Ukrainian NGO That Issued ‘Enemies List’ (ZH)

• The Summer of Living Dangerously (Pepe Escobar)

• A New (and Fairer) Nuremberg (SCF)

• Cuomo Blames COVID-19 Nursing Home Order on Unknown Staffer (ET)

• Musk Drops Case Against OpenAI (RT)

• The Absence — and Presence — of Daniel Ellsberg (Solomon)

• The Destruction of Julian Assange (Jacob G. Hornberger)

Irreparable harm

Yes, Trump was convicted under state law in New York. But there’s still a direct path to appeal to the Supreme Court NOW: other states have standing *to sue New York* for preventing a presidential candidate from being able to campaign to the residents of their state. That would… pic.twitter.com/FHZqF2DKyr

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) June 12, 2024

In 2022, the Federal Election Commission found Hillary Clinton’s campaign to have falsified campaign expenses as legal expenses in support of the Steele dossier. But no one was prosecuted. Yet that’s exactly what Trump was convicted for this year. This is selective prosecution in… pic.twitter.com/4vgJUeNpG7

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) June 12, 2024

Trump Biden

I Want Everyone To Watch This Because Trump Was Right About EVERYTHING

Donald Trump “If Biden wins:

– Your borders are gone
– The middle class is gone
– Your safety is gone
– They’ll flood your communities with criminal aliens, drugs, and crime
– You’ll spent trillions of… pic.twitter.com/sHb3PfMr6A

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) June 12, 2024

Comer
https://twitter.com/i/status/1800691081337856214

Benz

The 51 Spies Who Lied call their lying about the Biden laptop "patriotic" for the same reason the CIA calls all its on-the-job lying "patriotic": this *was* a CIA job.

Burisma was a part of a CIA job in Ukraine. The CIA lied about the laptop to cover for its in-process CIA job. pic.twitter.com/LcE8l24UrU

— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) June 12, 2024

Bidenpromo

Biden releases :45 video with 6 cuts reading short, scripted answers in a bizarre attempt to look cogent and energetic

They’re trying a cutty edit style to hide his cognitive decline

An entire team of handlers actually believed this made him look good

pic.twitter.com/jqOorYshSB

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) June 13, 2024

NapRitter
https://twitter.com/i/status/1800673214005215332

“The 2024 election isn’t about what the establishment media thinks. It’s about America’s survival.”

• Biden’s Problems Are the Real Threats (Newt Gingrich)

Democratic analysts don’t seem to understand why the all-out legal assault on President Donald Trump isn’t working. It’s because they keep talking among themselves and not with the American people. The American people don’t live and work in the New York-Washington political-media-government bubble. If reporters and analysts listened to Americans, as we do at America’s New Majority Project, they would learn how decisive the choice between President Joe Biden or President Trump is. They would also see how difficult, if not impossible, it will be for President Biden to get easily re-elected. The propaganda media is trying to focus the election on what it sees as President Trump’s flaws. The Democrats, including the Biden campaign, are trying to focus the election on what they see as the threat President Trump represents.

But the 2024 election is ultimately going to come down to a simple question: Can the American people afford four more years of Biden’s policies and principles? President Trump’s problems all involve his own alleged behavior and activities. Even the totally phony legal attacks remain locked into a Trump-centered issue. No American is hurt by the things President Trump has supposedly done. Indeed, few Americans pay any attention to the outlandish, manipulated legal attacks on President Trump. Most Americans see the case against Trump as political lawfare. If anything, they are offended by the left’s assault on the rule of law and the Constitution. This is why the conviction in the so-called hush money trial led to an enormous surge of contributions to Trump’s campaign. Far from running away from President Trump, the American people found themselves running to defend him. They saw him as a champion being persecuted unfairly and took the conviction as a direct warning of what could happen to them.

By contrast, President Biden’s problems all impact everyday Americans. Bidenflation continues to drive already high prices higher. Child care costs increased 4.1 percent in the last year. Young parents are having to take on third and fourth jobs just to break even on costs. Grocery prices are forcing Americans to make tough decisions about how to feed their families. Young people can’t afford to buy houses – which is more than offsetting any good will Biden might have generated by (illegally) waiving student loan repayments. President Biden’s policies are causing millions of Americans real pain. Biden’s open border policy allows Venezuelan criminals to go to New York City and murder policemen. Biden’s open border policy allows fentanyl and other drugs to flood our country and poison our communities. When more than 100,000 Americans a year are dying from drug overdoses, it is hard to worry about how Trump valued his apartment or paid his attorney.

The average American can’t afford groceries, gasoline, or the electricity bill thanks to Bidenflation. Democrats want Americans to focus on these legal attacks. But Americans are focused on their own survival in the terrible economy President Biden and Democrats created. For the elite establishment Democrats, this is all still about politics. For the American people, it’s about survival. Economically, Biden’s destructive policies make life more expensive. Culturally, people are sick of radical dictates which denigrate religious liberty and seek to indoctrinate children against the will of their parents. Finally, as a matter of safety, Americans realize that Biden does not have the knowledge, ability, or wits to defend our nation against our adversaries. The 2024 election isn’t about what the establishment media thinks. It’s about America’s survival.

“..the National Guard didn’t show up until 6 p.m., hours after the fatal shooting of Babbitt.. He also claimed that the Pentagon deployed resources to the homes of generals, but not the Capitol.”

• “Pelosi SHOULD Take Responsibility!”: J6 Capitol Police Chief (ZH)

Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund responded to a viral video of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) admitting that she was responsible for the lack of preparedness on Jan. 6, 2021. “Pelosi should take responsibility!” Sund posted on X, adding “She put herself in the security decision process and her Sergeant at Arms denied my requests for support before and during the Jan. 6 chaos. She undermined my law enforcement capabilities.” Sund, who was in charge of the Capitol Police during Jan. 6, then asked “Why did they change the law (2US1970) that tied my hands?” On Monday, the House Oversight Committee posted footage of Pelosi admitting “I take responsibility” for the lack of security on Jan. 6. The video shows Pelosi in an exchange with Chief of Staff Terri McCullough on the evacuation. Pelosi states:

“We have responsibility, Terri. We did not have any accountability for what was going on there. And we should have. This is ridiculous.You’re going to ask me in the middle of the thing when they’ve already breached…that, should we call the Capitol Police? I mean the National Guard? Why weren’t the National Guard there to begin with? …They clearly didn’t know, and I take responsibility for not having them just prepared for more.” In February of last year, Sund told journalist Tucker Carlson that Jan. 6 was a “setup” – noting that Pelosi’s staff refused to authorize the deployment of the National Guard at the Capitol despite his pleas, and that federal agencies withheld information and warning signs of potential dangers prior to the riot. “It doesn’t seem like people really want to get to the bottom of it,” said Sund, adding “It really doesn’t. And it just gets worse. It gets worse from there.”

“Sund got approval to bring in the National Guard at 2:09 p.m. Before his approval, he alleged that he begged several generals, including General Michael Flynn, to bring the National Guard. The officials told Sund they did “not like the optics of the National Guard” as he allegedly begged for their assistance to intervene in the violence.” -Daily Caller. “This sounds like a set up to me,” Carlson said, adding “I’m sorry, it does.” To which Sund replied: “It gets better. So I beg and beg and he goes ‘well, I’m gonna walk down the hall and we’ll talk to the Secretary of Defense or whoever he’s gonna talk to. Right then I get a notification, oh, I’m still on the call, we have the shooting of Ashli Babbitt. And I said we have shots firing, I still remember yelling over the phone. We have shots firing on the U.S. Capitol, is that urgent enough for you now?” According to Sund, the National Guard didn’t show up until 6 p.m., hours after the fatal shooting of Babbitt. He also claimed that the Pentagon deployed resources to the homes of generals, but not the Capitol.

Ep. 15 Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund reveals what really happened on January 6th. Our Fox News interview with him never aired, so we invited him back. pic.twitter.com/opDlu4QGlp

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 10, 2023

“These people are completely ideologically captured and sound totally unhinged. They’re also psychologically projecting exactly what Democrats are trying to do to Trump on to him..”

• Maddow Says She’s Worried Trump Will Put Her In A Concentration Camp (MN)

MSNBC performative hack Rachel Maddow has declared that she is worried that if Donald Trump becomes the president again he’s going to round her up and throw her in a concentration camp with all her leftist friends. Yes, really. Maddow teamed up with CNN’s resident mole man and former Brain Stelter acolyte Oliver Darcy for a super best friends ‘we hate Trump’ interview in which she made the comments. Darcy told Maddow, “Trump and his allies are openly talking about weaponizing the government to seek revenge against critics in media and politics, with some of his extremist allies even talking about jailing their fellow Americans,” further asking “You’re one of his most notable critics on television. Are you worried that you could be a target?” Maddow replied “I’m worried about the country broadly if we put someone in power who is openly avowing that he plans to build camps to hold millions of people, and to ‘root out’ what he’s described in subhuman terms as his ‘enemy from within.’”

“Again, history is helpful here. He’s not joking when he says this stuff, and we’ve seen what happens when people take power proclaiming that kind of agenda,” Maddow further declared.She continued, “I think there’s a little bit of head-in-the-sand complacency that Trump only intends to go after individual people he has already singled out. Do you really think he plans to stop at well-known liberals?” “When Trump invokes the Insurrection Act to deploy the U.S. military against civilians on his first day in office, do you think he then rescinds the order on day two?” the paranoid host added. “For that matter, what convinces you that these massive camps he’s planning are only for migrants? So, yes, I’m worried about me — but only as much as I’m worried about all of us,” Maddow concluded. This is the person who for four years got on TV every day and claimed Trump is secretly a Russian agent.

NEW: Far-left MSNBC host Rachel Maddow promotes new conspiracy theory that Donald Trump will most likely remain president until he dies like a king would if he gets elected again in 2024.

Cognitive tests should be required for show hosts.

“The election means one of two… pic.twitter.com/LZR9jrFaYt

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 29, 2023

She has previously stated that if Trump wins he will try to remain president for life and cancel all future elections. These people are completely ideologically captured and sound totally unhinged. They’re also psychologically projecting exactly what Democrats are trying to do to Trump on to him.

And if going after Trump doesn’t do the trick, they’ll target the Supreme Court.

• Alito Exposed as ‘Crusader for Christian Nationalism’ (CD)

Judicial reform advocates on Monday demanded that the U.S. Senate take decisive action to hold Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accountable for his clear display of bias and conflicts of interest, after a documentary filmmaker released audio clips she had recorded of the justice discussing ideological battles in the U.S. he said “can’t be compromised.” Shared exclusively with Rolling Stone, tapes recorded by filmmaker Lauren Windsor at the Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual dinner on June 3 include comments from Alito about the need to return the country to “a place of godliness” and suggesting that he sympathizes with right-wing activists who believe they can’t “negotiate with the left.” Windsor attended the annual dinner, which is frequented by right-wing activists who are able to interact with the justices at the event, using her real name and as a dues-paying member of the society, which costs $150 per year to join.

The liberal filmmaker asked questions of Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts “as though she were a religious conservative,” Rolling Stone reported. Alito replied, “I agree with you,” when Windsor said people who are conservative Christians need “to return our country to a place of godliness.” He said Windsor was “probably right” when she said, “I don’t know that we can negotiate with the left in the way that needs to happen for the polarization to end. I think that it’s a matter of, like, winning.” “One side or the other is going to win,” agreed the justice. “I mean, there can be a way of working—a way of living together peacefully, but it’s difficult, you know, because there are differences on fundamental things that really can’t be compromised. It’s not like you can split the difference.” In her response, Sarah Lipton-Lubet, president for the Take Back the Court Action Fund, referred to the display of an upside-down American flag at Alito’s house in early 2021—which the justice said was an action taken solely by his wife.

“Justice Alito can hardly blame his wife this time,” said Lipton-Lubet. “In case it wasn’t glaringly obvious to anyone paying attention, Alito is now on tape declaring himself a political crusader for Christian nationalism.” Progressives including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have demanded in recent weeks that the Senate Judiciary Committee open a formal investigation into the display of the upside-down flag and another flag that read, “Appeal to Heaven”—both symbols that have been embraced by the “Stop the Steal” movement that’s baselessly claimed President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory was “stolen” from former President Donald Trump. Advocates have said the Alito family’s embrace of the symbols is grounds for Alito’s recusal from cases involving the 2020 election and Trump, and Judiciary Committee leaders last month called on Roberts to back the demand—but Alito wrote to the Senate and the House on May 29, saying he would not recuse.

Alito has also been rebuked by progressives following reporting by ProPublica last year that showed he and fellow right-wing Justice Clarence Thomas both accepted luxury travel and other gifts from conservative groups and operatives who had business before the court. Now that Alito has been heard aligning himself with right-wing zealots who aim to “return” the U.S. to “godliness,” Lipton-Lubet said, Democratic leaders must take further action against the justice. “If the sheer brazenness of his comments doesn’t spur Democratic senators to do something besides jot off a sternly worded letter, it’s hard to imagine what will,” she said.= As the story broke on Monday, more than 60 civil society groups joined the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights wrote to the Judiciary Committee, reiterating the need for an urgent investigation into Alito’s various ties to right-wing groups and interests.

“Given Justice Alito’s dismissive and combative response and his refusal to recuse, as well as Justice Thomas’ ongoing ethics failures, further action is needed to protect our democracy, prevent future violations of this nature, and restore public confidence in the judiciary,” the groups wrote. “These abuses of power, left unchecked, have already become more frequent and more severe, further corroding the public’s faith in our judicial system and weakening our democracy.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1800868363121447094

“Founding Father Thomas Jefferson said that periodically the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants.”

• Hunter Biden’s Conviction on Gun Charges Is a Red Herring (Paul Craig Roberts)

We now have matching news from the opposing camp. Just as Trump is the first US President to be convicted by a jury, Hunter Biden is the first son of a sitting president to be convicted of a federal felony. This conviction of Hunter Biden leaves me unsettled, as does his likely pending conviction for federal income tax evasion. The real issue is the information on Hunter Biden’s laptop that the FBI was able for awhile to suppress and brand as “Russian disinformation.” This is under US law obstruction of Justice by the FBI. All responsible should, if US law is still enforceable, be arrested, indicted, and prosecuted. It would be justice to see the FBI in the dock after all the innocent people the corrupt organization has put there.

The laptop information is the real issue. It shows that the Bidens are a crime family and that Hunter was marketing abroad his father’s influence as Vice President and as President. It seems clear that Biden senior, “the Big Guy,” received payments from the influence peddling. Yet, not only did the corrupt FBI and whore media cover this up, the Justice (sic) Department directed attention away from the major crime by focusing the prosecution on minor issues. Hunter is convicted of lying on his handgun purchase statement by hiding the fact that he was a drug user, and Hunter most likely will be convicted of income tax evasion as he and his accountants could not report income from influence peddling without launching a federal case that would cast a net over father Biden.

MAGA Republicans are delighted with the verdict as it spreads the criminal accusation into the Democrat camp. MAGA Republicans do not realize that they are being manipulated and diverted from the main issue into a subsidiary issue. Decades ago the Nobel prize-winning economist George Stigler pointed out that government is a private, not public, organization. Political campaign contributions purchase Congressional votes for special interest enrichment, and federal regulatory agencies are captured by the private industries that they are suppose to regulate, thereby serving private and not public interests. Fauci at NIH, for example, served the profits of Big Pharma’s Covid “vaccine” at the expense of the lives and health of millions of people.

Today all sorts of American politicians are serving Israel’s interest at the expense of Palestinian lives and the honor and integrity of the US government. The same politicians are serving the profits of the military/security complex by widening the conflict in Ukraine and fomenting war with Russia, Iran, and China that could easily end in the extinction of life on earth. There is no doubt that Stigler was right. I watched and experiences it during my quarter century in Washington. The public’s interest never enters into Washington’s concern. There is no such thing as the “public interest.” In the Western world government is merely a tool of the greed of private interests. Voting cannot overturn this high level of corruption. Founding Father Thomas Jefferson said that periodically the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants. It remains to be seen if Americans are up to the task of preserving liberty.

“..a deal that would have avoided any jail time and would have given Hunter an immunity bath that would have drowned the entire criminal code..”

• Hunter Comes Up A Donut Short of a Defense in Delaware (Turley)

The conviction of Hunter Biden on all of the federal gun counts created a surprising new precedent in Delaware … for Hunter Biden. In terms of the law, this was the easiest judgment since the Jussie Smollett verdict. (Actually the Biden jury took a third of the time with a verdict in just three hours.) For Hunter Biden, though, this was the first time he’s ever been held accountable for any criminal conduct, be it drug use, or prostitution, or tax evasion, or violations of various federal laws. To have that moment come in the hometown of the Bidens likely only magnified the shock. Last year, I described the growing legal problems of Hunter Biden as the cost of “legal gluttony.” The Bidens have always been adept at avoiding accountability, particularly for the extensive influence-peddling operation that raked in millions in foreign payments.

That appetite for special treatment proved the undoing of Hunter, much like his appetite in other areas of his life. Hunter and his team expected the same level of immunity when he worked with special counsel David Weiss to cut an astonishing deal to avoid any real punishment for these or other crimes. Even before the deal was cut, Weiss allowed major crimes to expire under the statute of limitations (despite having an agreement to extend that period).= He also agreed to a deal that would have avoided any jail time and would have given Hunter an immunity bath that would have drowned the entire criminal code. Hunter and his legal team succeeded in securing this sweetheart deal, which shocked many of us.

More importantly, it shocked US District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who only had to question the immunity provision to have the entire agreement fall apart in open court. The prosecutor admitted that he had never seen a plea bargain like this in his long career. That’s when the legal gluttony became even more pronounced. Rather than fight to preserve key elements of the plea agreement, defense counsel said, “Just rip it up.” Later, the special counsel said the Hunter defense team would not agree to a compromise agreement and instead forced the matter to trial. I wrote before the trial that the defense was insane to try the case rather than plead guilty. A plea would have virtually guaranteed that there would be no jail time in the case.

“Given the calculation for the three felonies, the defense had to know that they were increasing the chances of prison time by pursuing a nullification defense..”

• Did the Defense Make Prison More Likely for Hunter? (Turley)

For months, I have been expressing disbelief that Hunter Biden and his defense team were going to take the gun case to trial. Even on the eve of the trial, I thought that the defense might snap into sanity and plead out the case. The reason was simple. A guilty plea would have materially improved the chances that Hunter could get probation and avoid jail by accepting responsibility. Conversely, a trial in a case with overwhelming evidence of guilt would make it less likely that a judge would depart from the guidelines at sentencing. Nevertheless, Hunter went forward with a nullification strategy and, in so doing, it may have nullified his best chance to reduce the risk of jail time. After the verdict, I have been stating that jail time is a real possibility in this case despite the fact that this is a first offender. Frankly, I do not see any real need for incarceration in this type of case and many judges would be likely tempted to grant “downward departures” in sentencing or disregard any recommended prison sentence.

It is also important to note that, after the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Booker, sentencing guidelines are discretionary. Judge Maryellen Noreika could sentence him to probation in light of his struggle with his addiction and his status as a first offender (as well as the absence of other aggravating factors). Yet, while many view this as a relatively minor offense, the sentencing guidelines do not. Judges regularly sentence people to prison for these offenses. The sentencing guidelines put the recommendation at 15 to 21 months in prison. Moreover, over 90 percent of those convicted are sentenced to prison time. The chances of probation are increased with guilty pleas, which generally allow for a downward departure of two levels for taking responsibility. That may not seem like a lot but it could prove determinative for a judge on a marginal call over the need for incarceration. By pursuing the nullification strategy, Hunter lost that benefit and now would have to belatedly accept responsibility just before sentencing after putting the court and public through a trial.

If the defense reviewed Judge Noreika’s past cases, they would have seen that she takes a tough approach on gun cases. In May, she sentenced defendant Zhi Dong to a year in jail for lying about his address on a gun form. Notably, that was twice the recommended sentence of the prosecutors. One point of distinction is that Dong purchased 19 pistols and 10 “lower receivers” rather than the single gun purchased by Biden. It is also notable that the prosecutors were only seeking six months of incarceration in that arguably more serious case.The defense strategy also makes it more difficult for Special Counsel David Weiss, who has shown remarkable lenience at critical stages of his investigation. It was Weiss who allowed the most serious tax offenses to lapse under a statute of limitations (despite reportedly having an agreement to extend the period). It was Weiss who sought to give Hunter an obscene sweetheart deal that would have avoided any jail time and given him immunity for all crimes.

Many remain skeptical of Weiss and his actions in this case. For that reason, the failure to plead guilty puts Weiss in a box. Given the sentencing guidelines of prison time, any recommendations for probation would be read as more favoritism for the president’s son. Weiss may feel compelled to follow the recommendations to show that Hunter is being treated the same as other defendants. Given the calculation for the three felonies, the defense had to know that they were increasing the chances of prison time by pursuing a nullification defense. The hope was that Wilmington is Bidentown and no local jury would convict the son of the favorite son of Delaware. It didn’t work out that way. The team seemed to overplay its hand with defenses that were so implausible as to be insulting for the jury. They suggested that Hunter might not have checked the box or signed the form during a brief window where he was not using drugs. The prosecutors demolished those defenses within two days of the trial.

Never never land.

• Ukraine Must ‘Prevail’ To Join NATO – Stoltenberg (RT)

Ukraine must prevail in its conflict with Russia if it wants to join NATO, the bloc’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Wednesday. The comments come as NATO countries prepare to meet for an annual summit in Washington on July 9-11. “I expect that allies will actually make important announcements between now and the summit and also at the summit for more military equipment … which is urgently needed to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation,” Stoltenberg told reporters during a meeting of defense ministers in Brussels. “And without that, of course, there is no membership issue to be discussed. We need to ensure that Ukraine prevails – that’s an absolute minimum for Ukraine to become a member of the alliance.”

Ukraine formally applied to join the US-led bloc in September 2022, citing the armed conflict with Russia. Despite Kiev’s requests for an expedited path to membership, the bloc has so far refused to provide a timetable or roadmap for accession. The allies have further ruled out admitting Ukraine until the conflict with Russia is resolved. Ukrainian officials, nevertheless, have continued their push for concrete steps towards accession. “We also expect specific decisions regarding Ukraine’s membership in NATO, in a package with other guarantees of continuity of military aid and increased interoperability,” Olga Stefanishina, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister responsible for Euro-Atlantic integration, told Politico this month. The White House, however, has said Ukraine will not become a member of the bloc during the upcoming summit in Washington.

“We do not anticipate that there’ll be an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, but we think there will be a substantial show of support for Ukraine as it works to win its war,” US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien said in May. Since 2023, Ukraine has signed bilateral security pacts with several NATO members, including the UK, France, and Germany. These agreements do not have the same power as Article 5 of the NATO Charter, however, which stipulates that an attack against one member must be treated as an attack against the bloc as a whole. Russia has cited Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO and the bloc’s continued expansion eastward as one of the root causes of the current conflict. Moscow views NATO as a threat to its security and has insisted that Ukraine must be a neutral country with limited armed forces.

Elon Musk called for this.

• House Moves To Defund Ukrainian NGO That Issued ‘Enemies List’ (ZH)

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) has taken swift and decisive action against the Data Journalism Agency (texty.org.ua), a Ukrainian NGO with US State Department links that recently published an ‘enemies list’ of individuals and organizations opposed to the war in Ukraine. Following a letter sent by Banks to his Republican colleagues, the House Appropriations Committee has passed a provision that would prohibit US funding and sever ties with the NGO, which deemed 76 organizations and 388 individuals as enemies of Ukraine – including ZeroHedge and prominent American politicians opposed to the war in Ukraine. “Federal bureaucrats should not support or partner with foreign groups that attempt to intimidate and silence U.S. citizens and lawmakers,” Banks wrote in his letter.

“I am urging the Appropriations Committee majority to support efforts in the Fiscal Year 2025 SFOPS bill to force the State Department and USAID to end all relations with foreign NGOs like TEXTY that seek to silence the speech of Americans they dislike and to sway U.S. policymakers to serve their own interests.” Texty.org.ua was founded by Anatoly Bondarenko, a participant in the State Department’s TechCamp program, which aims to train foreign journalists and activists in digital skills. The relationship between Bondarenko and the State Department has been publicly acknowledged, adding layers to the debate over the NGO’s activities and its impact on U.S. interests. This legislative action occurs amidst broader discussions about foreign influence in American politics, with increasing scrutiny on how foreign entities may use U.S.-linked platforms or resources to sway public and political opinion in the United States.

As this bill moves forward, it sets the stage for further debates on the balance between global cooperation and safeguarding national sovereignty in the realm of information and policy. On Tuesday, Banks sent a letter to journalist Jack Posobiec informing him that his name appears on the TEXTY list, and notifying him of his intent to put a stop to US taxpayers funding the organization. “I’m not bothered by what foreign nations think of me,” Banks said after the Appropriations Committee moved forward with his suggested provision. “But it’s shameful for our agencies to be using Hoosiers’ tax dollars to collaborate with foreign groups that attempt to intimidate U.S. citizens and lawmakers. I’d like to thank the Republicans on the Appropriations Committee for defunding any such work with the Data Journalism Agency.”

“..what he really craves is to become a “War President” – together with the Cadaver in the White House, Starmer in the UK, Rutte in the Netherlands, the Toxic Medusa von der Lugen in Brussels, Tusk in Poland, without having to answer to the French people.”:

• The Summer of Living Dangerously (Pepe Escobar)

So Le Petit Roi in Paris was predictably crushed in the European polls. He has called parliamentary snap elections, dissolving the Assemblée Nationale in an act of blind, puerile revenge on French citizens, de facto attacking French institutional democracy. That doesn’t mean much anyway, because the lineaments of “liberty, equality, fraternity” have long been usurped by a crass oligarchy. The second round of these fresh French elections will be on July 7 – nearly coinciding with the British snap elections on July 11, and only a few days before the slow-burning urban catastrophe which will be the Olympics in Paris. Paris salons are ablaze with intrigue on why the little Rothschild stooge with a Napoleon complex is throwing all his toys out of the pram now because he’s not getting what he wants. After all what he really craves is to become a “War President” – together with the Cadaver in the White House, Starmer in the UK, Rutte in the Netherlands, the Toxic Medusa von der Lugen in Brussels, Tusk in Poland, without having to answer to the French people.

It’s nearly certain that Le Petit Roi will be facing the real prospect of becoming a lame duck President who needs to obey a right-wing parliament; Elysée Palace chatter already joined the circus, conveying the impression he might resign (that was later denied). Still, if Le Petit Roi runs off to war on Russia no French citizen will follow him, least of all the – pitiful – French army. Bigger things though are in play. Following the – auspicious – game-changing messages to the Global Majority coming out of the St. Petersburg forum last week, anchored on openness and inclusiveness, the BRICS 10 meeting of Foreign Ministers in Nizhny Novgorod carried the baton early this week. Foreign Minister Lavrov stressed three key points:

“The countries of the Global South no longer want to be dependent on the double standards of the West and its whims.”
“Everyone knows that the BRICS countries already serve as the locomotive of the world economy.”
“We [at the BRICS FMs meeting] stressed the need for consistent efforts to create a new world order, where the equality of independent states will be the key.”

Now compare it with the shrinking G7 meeting later this week in Puglia in southern Italy: the same old song, from a “tough new warning” to Chinese banks (“Don’t do business with Russia or else!”) to vociferous threats against the China-Russia strategic partnership. And last but not least, extra plotting to skim interest from the massive, frozen/stolen Russian assets with the intent of sending them to country 404; the Toxic Medusa itself announced that country 404 will receive €1.5 billion of the income from stolen Russian assets from the EU in July, 90% of it to buy weapons. As for U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell – the man who invented the defunct “pivot to Asia” during Harpy Hillary Clinton’s tenure in the early 2010s – he had already advanced that Washington will sanction Chinese companies and banks over Beijing’s relations with Russia’s military-industrial complex.

“The mistakes of the Nuremberg of the past generated the Nazism of today. And it is up to the Russians, again, to defeat and punish the Nazis. Now the task seems even clearer. Westerners are no longer disguised as “allies”.

• A New (and Fairer) Nuremberg (SCF)

The Russian Federation continues to play its civilizing role in Ukraine, capturing, trying and punishing Nazis who participated in massacres against the civilian population of Donbass. Recently, a militant from the infamous Azov Regiment was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering three civilians in Mariupol in the spring of 2022. In total, more than 250 sentences have already been passed by Russian courts against Ukrainian and foreign criminals, neo-Nazis and mercenaries – 32 of which are life imprisonment sentences. The act of capturing and imprisoning enemies during or after a conflict situation is commonplace in the international scenario. However, we cannot confuse the Russian attitude with a merely punitive gesture against the enemy. Moscow has at no time violated international standards of humanitarian law, with no Ukrainian soldier being tried or punished simply for fighting for Ukraine. Russia recognizes the role of the common soldier and respects it, having several rights and guarantees for all surrendered and captured Ukrainian fighters.

However, as has been made clear since 2022, special courts are being established in the New Regions to specifically judge those Ukrainians and foreign mercenaries involved in neo-Nazi activities and war crimes. The militants of the Ukrainian nationalist battalions are excluded from the norms of humanitarian law, since, like the foreign mercenaries, they are not ordinary citizens mobilized by the State for a war effort, but people who voluntarily chose to fight against Russia. Members of the so-called “Foreign Legion” and Nazi groups such as Azov, Aidar, Right Sector, S14 and several other Ukrainian militias are tried as criminals, without any special protection. It is important to remember that these fascists and mercenaries have since 2014 been the main actors behind the massacre of Russian civilians in Donbass. The genocide has been carried out mainly by paramilitary groups, as among the ordinary soldiers of the regular Ukrainian armed forces there are also many ethnic Russians, Russian speakers and Orthodox Christians.

The Kiev regime relied heavily on the work of neo-Nazi groups, ideologically driven by anti-Russian racism, to promote Ukraine’s “de-Russification” policies. After the start of the special military operation, Kiev began to internationalize its neo-Nazi apparatus, welcoming fascist militants from all over the world into the ranks of its “Foreign Legion”. Obviously, Russia could not remain silent in the face of this scenario. Eliminating foreign mercenaries and neo-Nazis has been Russia’s top priority since 2022. The goal of denazifying Ukraine remains vital. The process of eradicating fascism as a state ideology and military instrument in Ukraine needs to be completed, not only by military means, but also through law. For this reason, a special Investigative Committee has been operating in the New Regions, researching evidence of war crimes on the part of every enemy soldier. Those identified as neo-Nazis and mercenaries are often tried and punished.

Recently, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated that a new Nuremberg needs to be established to punish today’s Nazis. More than that, he made it clear how necessary it is to go beyond the limitations that occurred in the Nuremberg Court of the past. According to Medvedev, all those responsible for Ukrainian Nazism must be captured and punished, which includes decision-makers, politicians, commanders and sponsors of the genocide in Donbass. In practice, the entire political structure of the Kiev regime and its international supporters must be investigated and tried by the Russians, thus avoiding the mistakes made in the previous Nuremberg. [..] The mistakes of the Nuremberg of the past generated the Nazism of today. And it is up to the Russians, again, to defeat and punish the Nazis. Now the task seems even clearer. Westerners are no longer disguised as “allies”. The US and Europe openly position themselves as supporters and promoters of fascism. Moscow must act decisively to dismantle the entire international network of support for Nazism, with Ukraine being just the first step towards a new and fairer Nuremberg.

Coward.

• Cuomo Blames COVID-19 Nursing Home Order on Unknown Staffer (ET)

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told members of Congress on June 11 that he was not responsible for an order requiring nursing homes to accept residents discharged from hospitals even if they still had COVID-19, according to lawmakers in the room. Mr. Cuomo did “tell us that he did not know that this directive existed, that he did not authorize it, that his department of health commissioner did not authorize it, that somehow it just popped up from an unknown staff member,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) told reporters in a briefing after the closed-door hearing. Ms. Malliotakis said it was “outrageous” that the governor didn’t know the mandate came out of his administration. “The governor finds out about this directive that kills thousands of seniors a month later,” she said. “And he did not do an internal investigation to find out who this lowly staff member, who’s still unknown, who that person was? That to me is unconscionable.”

The March 25, 2020, directive from the New York Department of Health stated that nursing home operators couldn’t refuse to accept residents even if they tested positive for COVID-19. “No resident shall be denied readmission or admission to a nursing home solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19,” the order stated. Nursing homes were also barred from requiring COVID-19 testing if hospital staff determined the residents were medically stable before discharging them. Mr. Cuomo said that nursing home operators could lose their licenses or be fined if they did not follow state policies. More than 15,000 nursing home residents in New York state died from COVID-19, according to state data. The numbers were adjusted upward after Mr. Cuomo left office and several state agencies found the Cuomo administration had undercounted nursing home deaths.

Mr. Cuomo partially reversed the order in May 2021 but kept other elements in place for additional months. Mr. Cuomo previously said that health care workers and family members of residents brought COVID-19 into the nursing homes. He has blamed the Trump administration for the directive, pointing to guidance from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that said nursing homes can accept patients with COVID-19. However, the guidance, which cited the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated that the facilities should only do so if they could follow specific rules, including isolating the patients in their own wing for two weeks. In remarks to reporters before the hearing on Tuesday, Mr. Cuomo said that “the investigations say New York followed the federal guidance.” He also said New York did well during the pandemic, but that “the federal government failed this nation.”

No explanation?

• Musk Drops Case Against OpenAI (RT)

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has unexpectedly dropped a legal case against OpenAI, shortly after he criticized the ChatGPT owner’s recently announced partnership with Apple. Attorneys for Musk asked the California state court to dismiss the lawsuit against the artificial intelligence (AI) research firm without giving a reason for the move, Reuters has reported, citing a filing in San Francisco Superior Court. The Tesla and X (formerly Twitter) boss filed the case against OpenAI in February, arguing that the company, which he had helped establish in 2015, had abandoned its founding mission of developing AI for the benefit of humanity and not for profit. OpenAI’s ChatGPT has since become the face of generative AI thanks to investment from Microsoft. Musk dropped the case just a day before the court was expected to hear OpenAI’s bid to have it dismissed.

The firm described Musk’s lawsuit as a contrived attempt by the tech billionaire to advance his own AI interests, Reuters said, citing court filings. Musk founded his own artificial intelligence startup last year. Called xAI, it announced in May that it had raised $6 billion in funding that would help bring its “first products to market”. xAI has so far launched a generative artificial intelligence chatbot dubbed Grok as a rival to ChatGPT. Grok is available via X. Earlier this week, OpenAI and iPhone maker Apple unveiled a partnership to boost Siri voice assistant with ChatGPT. The announcement triggered criticism from Musk, who warned that the tie-up would result in an “unacceptable security violation.” In a post on X, the mogul threatened to ban staff at his companies from using Apple devices if the iPhone maker integrates OpenAI’s artificial intelligence software into its operating systems.

” If freedom of speech is violated to this extent, our republic is in danger. Unauthorized disclosures are the lifeblood of the republic.”

• The Absence — and Presence — of Daniel Ellsberg (Solomon)

On a warm evening almost a decade ago, I sat under the stars with Daniel Ellsberg while he talked about nuclear war with alarming intensity. He was most of the way through writing his last and most important book, The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. Somehow, he had set aside the denial so many people rely on to cope with a world that could suddenly end in unimaginable horror. Listening, I felt more and more frightened. Dan knew what he was talking about. After working inside this country’s doomsday machinery, even drafting nuclear war plans for the Pentagon during President John F. Kennedy’s administration, Dan Ellsberg had gained intricate perspectives on what greased the bureaucratic wheels, personal ambitions, and political messaging of the warfare state.

Deceptions about arranging for the ultimate violence of thermonuclear omnicide were of a piece with routine falsehoods about American war-making. It was easy enough to get away with lying, he told me: “How difficult is it to deceive the public? I would say, as a former insider, one becomes aware: it’s not difficult to deceive them. First of all, you’re often telling them what they would like to believe — that we’re better than other people, we’re superior in our morality and our perceptions of the world.” Dan had made history in 1971 by revealing the top-secret Pentagon Papers, exposing the constant litany of official lies that accompanied the U.S. escalation of the Vietnam War. In response, the government used the blunderbuss of the World War I-era Espionage Act to prosecute him. At age 41, he faced a possible prison sentence of more than 100 years.

But his trial ended abruptly with all charges dismissed when the Nixon administration’s illegal interference in the case came to light in mid-1972. Five decades later, he reflected: “Looking back, the chance that I would get out of 12 felony counts from Richard Nixon was close to zero. It was a miracle.” That miracle enabled Dan to keep on speaking, writing, researching, and protesting for the rest of his life. (In those five decades, he averaged nearly two arrests per year for civil disobedience.) He worked tirelessly to prevent and oppose a succession of new American wars. And he consistently gave eloquent public support as well as warm personal solidarity to heroic whistleblowers — Thomas Drake, Katharine Gun, Daniel Hale, Matthew Hoh, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, Jeffrey Sterling, Mordechai Vanunu, Ann Wright, and others — who sacrificed much to challenge deadly patterns of official deceit.

Dan often spoke out for freeing WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, whose work had revealed devastating secret U.S. documents on America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. At the end of a visit in June 2015, when they said goodbye inside Ecuador’s embassy in London, I saw that both men were on the verge of tears. At that point, Assange was three years into his asylum at that embassy, with no end in sight. Secretly indicted in the United States, Assange remained in the Ecuadorian embassy for nearly four more years until London police dragged him off to prison. Hours later, in a radio interview, Dan said: “Julian Assange is the first journalist to be indicted. If he is extradited to the U.S. and convicted, he will not be the last. The First Amendment is a pillar of our democracy and this is an assault on it. If freedom of speech is violated to this extent, our republic is in danger. Unauthorized disclosures are the lifeblood of the republic.”

“Don’t ever even think of doing what Assange did. If you do, we will do to you what we have done to him.”

• The Destruction of Julian Assange (Jacob G. Hornberger)

Last month, a British court gave Julian Assange permission to continue opposing the U.S. government’s attempts to extradite him to the United States to stand trial for violating the World War I Espionage Act. In truth, what U.S. officials are really targeting him for is that Assange, as head of WikiLeaks, had the audacity to reveal war crimes and other dark-side activities of the U.S. national-security state. U.S. officials know that Assange’s recent judicial victory is a pyrrhic one. That’s because Assange continues to be jailed under brutal conditions in a maximum-security jail in England — and will continue to be — until his appeal is finally decided. What difference does it make to U.S. officials if Assange is jailed under brutal conditions in England or under brutal conditions here in the United States? The fact is that either way he is being jailed under brutal conditions.

In fact, there is an increasing possibility that Assange will die in an English jail before the extradition proceedings are finally resolved. That would undoubtedly fill U.S. officials with glee, given that they will have been relieved of the task of putting a person on trial for revealing war crimes and other dark-side activities of the U.S. national-security state. Keep in mind that the Assange prosecution has much more to it than just inflicting harm on Assange. U.S. officials know that they have to send everyone else a message: “The secrecy surrounding our war crimes and dark-side actives is sacrosanct. Don’t ever even think of doing what Assange did. If you do, we will do to you what we have done to him. We will finish you. Even if you are ultimately acquitted, you will be an utterly destroyed individual at the end of the process.”

Thus, U.S. officials couldn’t care less about Assange’s latest judicial “victory.” They know that British officials will keep him rotting in their jail system until his appeals are finally resolved, if ever. Ideally, from the perspective of U.S. officials, Assange will die during the pendency of his forever appeals, in which case the destruction of his life and his subsequent death in prison will have served its purpose with its message to everyone else: “Don’t ever mess with us or we will do to you what we did to Assange.”

Maté

Why Israel's widely parroted claims of sexual violence by Hamas on Oct. 7th are not credible. A summary: https://t.co/mcnH79VHxO pic.twitter.com/fzlPDhuLoW

— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) June 12, 2024

Donkey

Four years ago a donkey named Diesel went missing in Wyoming. He's now part of an elk community pic.twitter.com/6bxaGxBRIK

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 12, 2024

Barkour

Barkour pic.twitter.com/V1msjo9NN8

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) June 11, 2024

Maruay
https://twitter.com/i/status/1800899607901209071

Shoes
https://twitter.com/i/status/1800757420647653746

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Debt Rattle June 11 2024

Jun 112024

June 11, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 8:10 am Finance Tagged with: Apple, Azov Brigade, creepy spyware, Democrat lawfare, electric war, goldmine, Lindsey Graham, OpenAI 46 Responses »

Utagawa Hiroshige Sudden Evening Shower on the Great Bridge near Atake 1857

• Ukraine Is A ‘Gold Mine’ – Lindsey Graham (RT)

• Zelensky Not The One Running Ukraine – Times (RT)

• Russian General Staff Aims At Ending The Ukraine By Electric War (Helmer)

• Russia Ready To Strike NATO Airfields Hosting Ukrainian Jets – MP (RT)

• US Lifts Arms Ban On Notorious Azov Brigade (RT)

• The Three Key Messages From St. Petersburg to the Global Majority (Pepe Escobar)

• Can Democracy Survive the “Defenders of Democracy”? (Turley)

• Defense Rests In Hunter Biden Gun Case Without Defendant Testifying (JTN)

• Democrat Lawfare Has Failed To Derail Trump Campaign So Far (JTN)

• It’s Trump vs WWIII – Martin Armstrong (USAW)

• Elon Says Will Ban Apple’s Creepy Spyware Devices If They Integrate OpenAI (ZH)

• 1000s of Californians Lose Jobs Thanks To Newsom’s $20/hr Minimum Wage (RT)

• If Wishes Were Fishes – a Teachable Intermezzo (Kunstler)

Trump 51

JUST IN: Donald Trump suggests prosecution is coming for the 51 intelligence "experts" who lied about the Hunter Biden story.

The comment came while Trump blasted Biden for defaming him with the "suckers and losers" hoax.

Trump compared the hoax to the Russian collusion hoax,… pic.twitter.com/J4VlQy2K88

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 9, 2024

Trump jail

This Influencer Is Related To BlackRock CEO Larry Fink

He says Donald Trump will be put in jail ahead of the 2024 Election

“So you guys just need to accept the fact that Donald Trump is going to go to jail. The Democrats are in absolute desperation mode, and they have to do… pic.twitter.com/xIW9zGx4gS

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) June 9, 2024

Trump tips

BREAKING: Trump's plan to eliminate taxes on tips for restaurant and hospitality workers will influence over 12 MILLION Americans, the majority of which are in larger cities

I predict a few more million voters are switching to Trump because of this one statement

GENIUS pic.twitter.com/YJlDwmZqFr

— George (@BehizyTweets) June 9, 2024

Michael Cohen

NEW: TikTok influencer Michael Cohen says people will be thrown out of windows and end up in gulags if Trump is elected president.

lol.

“It is all about him… and just like Putin, once you start to get too big for your own britches, people will start flying out of windows.”… pic.twitter.com/uhYov5z7iq

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 10, 2024

Bannon Epstein

In 2019, Steve Bannon taped more than 15 hours of interviews with Jeffrey Epstein.

Bannon was accused of giving Epstein media training for an upcoming 60 Minutes interview that never occurred. However, Bannon said he was not media-training the pedophile but instead making “a… pic.twitter.com/SJevvukSjg

— LIZ CROKIN (@LizCrokin) June 9, 2024

“..They could be the richest country in all of Europe… If we help Ukraine now, they can become the best business partner we ever dreamed of..”

• Ukraine Is A ‘Gold Mine’ – Lindsey Graham (RT)

Washington “cannot afford” to allow Russia to achieve victory in the Ukraine conflict as this would mean losing direct access to vast mineral assets, US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) has said. In an interview with ‘Face the Nation’ on CBS on Sunday, Graham accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being a “megalomaniac” who is attempting to “re-create the Russian Empire by force of arms,” starting with Ukraine. He further claimed that if Moscow wins the current conflict, it will then take over Ukraine’s wealth and share it with China. Graham described that prospect as “ridiculous,” suggesting it would be better if this “gold mine” were available to the US instead. “They’re sitting on 10 to $12 trillion of critical minerals in Ukraine.

Lindsey Graham
https://twitter.com/i/status/1799887947363393859

They could be the richest country in all of Europe… If we help Ukraine now, they can become the best business partner we ever dreamed of, that $10 to $12 trillion of critical mineral assets could be used by Ukraine and the West, not given to Putin and China,” Graham stated. This is a very big deal how Ukraine ends. Let’s help them win a war we can’t afford to lose… They’re sitting on a gold mine. To give Putin $10 or $12 trillion for critical minerals that he will share with China is ridiculous. Graham, a longtime Russia hawk and one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine in the US Senate, also called on the West to speed up the seizure of $300 billion in frozen Russian sovereign assets. He reiterated his demands for Russia to be designated “a state sponsor of terrorism” under US law, a suggestion which earlier this year landed the senator on Moscow’s list of extremists and terrorists.

One day prior to Graham’s remarks, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban argued that the West wants Kiev to win the conflict with Russia so that it can control Ukraine’s wealth. In an interview with Hir TV, Orban accused the US and its allies of seeing Ukraine as a potentially huge source of revenue which they will be able to control, provided Russia is defeated. He also said the conflict is a major boost for Western “arms suppliers, creditors, and speculators,” arguing that this is the reason it has dragged on for so long. Moscow has repeatedly stated throughout the conflict that its goals are to protect the largely Russian-speaking population of Donbass against persecution by Kiev, and to ensure Russia’s own security in light of NATO expansion toward its borders. Moscow has never spoken of any intention to take over Ukraine’s resources, but has repeatedly stressed that the former Ukrainian regions which have chosen to join Russia, including Crimea, must remain under its control.

“..Yermak is a former film producer whom Zelensky – an actor turned politician – brought into the government in 2019. He has recently begun moving into the spotlight..”

• Zelensky Not The One Running Ukraine – Times (RT)

Multiple Ukrainian officials have complained to The Times about the growing power of Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff Andrey Yermak, who they say de facto runs Ukraine. The 52-year-old has previously been described as “Zelensky’s right-hand man” and “Ukraine’s real power broker.” Officials in Kiev who spoke to the British outlet now say he has become something more. “Yermak’s authority has surpassed that of all of Ukraine’s elected officials bar the president,” The Times’ Maxim Tucker wrote in the article published on Friday. “Some sources went so far as to describe him as the ‘de facto head of state’ or ‘Ukraine’s vice-president’ in a series of interviews.” Tucker claimed to have spoken with “senior government, military, law enforcement and diplomatic sources,” many of whom requested anonymity. He described Yermak as Zelensky’s “greatest flaw,” and his behavior as “thirst for power.”

“Concern is mounting that Zelensky is increasingly reliant on a handful of sycophantic domestic voices,” Tucker noted, as the number of people with direct access to him shrinks while Yermak’s team expands. Zelensky’s “big mistake has been to entrust so much authority to Yermak, who is clearly intoxicated with power,” said Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center. Military officials have also blamed Yermak for arranging the firing of General Valery Zaluzhny in February, because he saw him as a rival. A spokesman for the Zelensky’s office denied this, saying Zaluzhny was not fired but promoted to ambassador to the UK, “which signifies a high level of trust.” A spokesperson for the presidential office, which Yermak runs, dismissed all criticism of the chief of staff as “propaganda attacks.”

Yermak has a “direct but efficient management style,” they said, which has delivered successes such as the Swiss “peace summit” next week. Zelensky “is the one who makes all the key decisions,” the spokesperson insisted. Yermak is a former film producer whom Zelensky – an actor turned politician – brought into the government in 2019. He has recently begun moving into the spotlight, attending the ‘Democracy Summit’ in Denmark alongside former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, himself a paid adviser to the Ukrainian government. It was Yermak and Rasmussen’s ‘International Working Group on Security Issues and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine’ that first proposed lifting all the restrictions on the use of Western weapons supplied to Kiev, which was quickly amplified by former British PM Boris Johnson. The talking point then spread to NATO capitals until the White House eventually agreed to it.

“DTEK has lost some 86 percent of its generating capacity..”

• Russian General Staff Aims At Ending The Ukraine By Electric War (Helmer)

As the Ukraine’s peak summer electricity season approaches, the list of the Russian General Staff’s Electric War targets is shrinking. This is because almost all the Ukrainian electricity generating plants have been stopped. What remains for destruction are the connecting lines and distribution grids for the Ukraine’s imported electricity from Poland and other European Union neighbours. The microwave and cell telephone towers, and the diesel fuel stocks which are powering the back-up generating sets are next. “There’s no keeping the Ukrainian cell network up any more than there is keeping up the electrical grid,” comments a close military observer. “The General Staff have set the flow of Ukrainian refugees west as inversely proportional to the flow of data and electrons over Ukrainian airwaves and transmission lines. We can expect that relationship to be set to highly inverse before the summer is out. What calculations have been made regarding things further west are just beginning to become evident.”

The Electric War is now accelerating faster to the Polish border than the Russian army advance along the line east of the Dnieper River. In the very long history of siege warfare, there has never been a case of letting the enemy’s civilian population run safely away from his castles and cities until the fortifications and army which remain must choose between surrender and destruction. The geographic spread, the explosive yield, and the cost of each of the raids are accelerating. On June 1, the Russian military bloggers, which continue to be the semi-official source of battlefield news each day, reported that energy facilities had been attacked in five regions of the Ukraine – in the east in Zaporozhye and Dniepropetrovsk; in the west in Kirovograd and Ivano-Frankovsk regions. Two thermal power plants were seriously damaged, following a salvo which the Ukrainians counted at 53 missiles and 47 drones.

The next day, June 2, the Russian sources, quoting Ukrainian electricity company bulletins to consumers, reported emergency blackouts and restricted power supply schedules were in effect in Kiev and its surrounding region. On June 5, the situation in Kiev was worse, according to DTEK, the dominant privately owned utility, and Ukrenergo, the state operator of the country’s high-voltage transmission lines. On June 6-7, The Washington Post – editorial motto, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” – reported Ukrainian utility managers and state officials as confirming that at least 86% of the country’s electricity generating capacity has now been destroyed. “We are catastrophically short of electricity for our needs,” the newspaper quoted Sergei Kovalenko, chief executive of the Ukrainian private electricity distributor YASNO, ….The power cuts have divided Kiev into the haves and the have-nots — with even residents at some privileged, high-end addresses suddenly finding themselves in the latter category.”

“DTEK has lost some 86 percent of its generating capacity, [DTEK chief executive Maxim] Timchenko said. What makes the situation worse is that many of the electrical facilities have been targeted repeatedly — a cycle of destruction, recovery, destruction, he said.” “Next week will be better,” Ukrenergo spokesperson Mariia Tsaturian said. “The week after that could be worse.” “The scheduled outages will continue — the only question is how severe they will be, Ukrenergo CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said.” “We are talking about a huge loss of generation,” said Yury Kubrushko, founder of Imepower, a Ukrainian energy consultancy. “I can hardly see from where Ukraine can get new extra capacity just this winter.” On June 7, a video recorded stroll down one of Odessa’s shopping streets revealed an emergency generating set providing electricity for almost all of the commercial establishments.

“This is in no way sustainable,” comments a NATO military engineer. “Note how each shop has its own genset. The generators in the video are not designed for the duty cycle they’re being run at. They’ll wear out soon enough. The military, including deployed NATO personnel, use the shops and the gensets, too. The idea of pooling their resources, sharing load among gensets, thus reducing wear and tear on the whole network, while collectivizing fuel and maintenance costs, doesn’t seem to have occurred to them. To be sure, what follows will be no lack of electrocutions, carbon monoxide poisonings, and fires. We can bet the manifestations of the social pathology we’re seeing here have been factored in by the General Staff. Their attack point will now be to stop fuel, engine oil, spares, and replacements from getting through. ”

Independently of one another, Russian and Ukrainian reporters are confirming the impact of the power losses on the operation of water and sewerage systems in the majority of Ukrainian cities. According to Oleg Popenko, a Ukrainian expert on energy for communal services, “Armageddon has already arrived. We just don’t feel it yet. But the residents of Poltava, for example, feel it, because since May 5 of this year, 120,000 residents of the city receive water by the hour and use sewerage by the hour. You can imagine what happened in Zhitomir when the central sewerage collector didn’t work there for a week, but now in Poltava [it’s been] a month. And this is the problem with water utilities in 70% of Ukrainian cities. Water utilities are probably more important than rest of the infrastructure in the city. Heat and electricity can be replaced somehow, and you can go somewhere. But if the sewer system breaks down in a city, the city is no longer viable in principle.”

“..Moscow would perceive the deliveries of F-16 fighters to Ukraine as a nuclear threat..”

• Russia Ready To Strike NATO Airfields Hosting Ukrainian Jets – MP (RT)

F-16 fighter jets and any airfields they are based at will be legitimate targets for the Russian military if they participate in combat missions against Moscow’s forces, the chairman of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee, Andrey Kartapolov, has warned. The comments come as Kiev prepares to receive the first delivery of US-made fighter jets from its Western backers, after Ukrainian pilots were trained to fly them. In a statement to RIA Novosti published on Monday, Kartapolov clarified that if the F-16s “are not used for their intended purpose” or are simply held in storage at foreign airbases with the intent to transfer them to Ukraine, where they will be equipped, maintained, and flown from Ukrainian airfields, then Russia would have no claims against its “former partners” and would not target them.

However, if the jets take off from foreign bases and carry out sorties and strikes against Russian forces, both the fighter planes and the airfields they are stationed at will be “legitimate targets,” according to Kartapolov. “As for [our ability] to shoot [them] down, we can shoot down anyone, anywhere,” the MP insisted. Kartapolov’s statement comes after the chief of aviation of Ukraine’s Air Force Command, Sergey Golubtsov, stated in an interview with Radio Liberty on Sunday that some of the F-16 fighter jets donated to Kiev by the West would be stationed at foreign airbases. He explained that only a portion of the jets would be stationed directly on Ukrainian territory, corresponding to the number of pilots trained to operate the aircraft. The other jets would be kept in reserve at “safe airbases” abroad so that they are not targeted by the Russian military.

Golubtsov stated that so far four countries have agreed to transfer F-16s to Ukraine, namely Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands. While he did not specify exactly how many aircraft would be donated, he claimed it was between 30 and 40 planes, with potentially more to come in the future. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also warned that Moscow would perceive the deliveries of F-16 fighters to Ukraine as a nuclear threat, given that the jets have long been used as part of the US-led bloc’s joint nuclear missions. At the same time, the minister stressed that the US-designed jets would not change the situation on the battlefield, and would be shot down and destroyed like any other foreign weapons supplied to Ukraine.

Poking the bear.

• US Lifts Arms Ban On Notorious Azov Brigade (RT)

The State Department has allowed the delivery of US weapons to Ukraine’s Azov Brigade, whose members openly espouse ultranationalist and neo-Nazi views. The flow of arms had previously been restricted due to the unit’s ties to hateful ideology. “After thorough review, Ukraine’s 12th Special Forces Azov Brigade passed Leahy vetting as carried out by the US Department of State,” the agency said in a statement to the Washington Post on Monday, referring to the legislation that bans military aid to units that were implicated in human rights violations. The State Department added that it found “no evidence” of such violations committed by Azov. Azov was founded as a volunteer battalion in 2014 and participated in the war with the breakaway republics of Donbass after they chose to secede from Ukraine in the wake of the Western-backed coup in Kiev. The unit’s core fighters were active and former members of ultranationalist and neo-Nazi groups, as well as far-right football hooligans.

The unit’s primary co-founder Andrey Biletsky was a member of a white supremacist organization in the 2000s. He has since toned down his rhetoric and denied ties to neo-Nazism. Nevertheless, many Azov fighters continue to sport Nazi tattoos and memorabilia associated with the Third Reich. The brigade continues to use banners with the Wolfsangel symbol, which was used by several German divisions during World War II, including the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich. The unit was incorporated into Ukraine’s National Guard in 2015 and has significantly grown in size over the years. In 2018, Congress banned the delivery of arms to the Azov Brigade, citing its ties to neo-Nazi ideology. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, said at the time that “white supremacy and neo-Nazism are unacceptable and have no place in our world.”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which combats anti-Semitism and monitors hate groups, described the unit in 2019 as a “Ukrainian extremist group” with ties to US-based neo-Nazi organization Atomwaffen and similar white supremacist movements in Europe. The ADL has since changed its view, however, writing in an email to The Grayzone news outlet in late 2022 that it no longer considered Azov as the “far-right group it once was.” Many Azov fighters surrendered to Russian troops during the siege of the city of Mariupol in 2022. Moscow has accused the members of the unit of war crimes, including torture and execution of civilians.

“The Unit, [..] an apolitical, transactional form of cross-border payments, anchored in gold (40%) and BRICS+ currencies (60%)..”

• The Three Key Messages From St. Petersburg to the Global Majority (Pepe Escobar)

In the year of the Russian presidency of BRICS, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) had to deliver something special. And deliver it did: over 21,000 people representing no less than 139 nations – a true microcosm of the Global Majority, discussing every facet of the drive towards a multipolar, multinodal (italics mine), polycentric world. St. Petersburg, beyond all the networking and the frantic deal-making – $78 billion-worth clinched in only three days – crafted three intertwined key messages already resonating all across the Global Majority.

Message Number One: President Putin, a “European Russian” and true son of this dazzling, dynamic historic marvel by the Neva, delivered an extremely detailed one-hour speech on the Russian economy at the forum’s plenary session. The key takeaway: as the collective West launched total economic war against Russia, the civilization-state turned it around and positioned itself as the world’s 4th largest economy by purchasing power parity (PPP). Putin showed how Russia still carries the potential to launch no less than nine sweeping – global – structural changes, an all-out drive involving the federal, regional, and municipal spheres. Everything is in play – from global trade and the labor market to digital platforms, modern technologies, strengthening small and medium-sized businesses and exploring the still untapped, phenomenal potential of Russia’s regions.

What was made perfectly clear is how Russia managed to reposition itself beyond sidestepping the – illegitimate – sanctions tsunami to establishing a solid, diversified system oriented towards global trade – and completely linked to the expansion of BRICS. Russia-friendly states already account for three-quarters of Moscow’s trade turnover. Putin’s emphasis on the Global Majority’s accelerated drive to strengthen sovereignty was directly linked to the collective West doing its best – rather, worst – to undermine trust in their own payment infrastructure. And that leads us to… Glazyev and Dilma rock the boat.

Message Number Two: That was arguably the major breakthrough in St. Petersburg. Putin stated how the BRICS are working on their own payment infrastructure, independent from pressure/sanctions by the collective West. Putin had a special meeting with Dilma Rousseff, president of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB). They did talk in detail about the bank’s development – and most of all, as later confirmed by Rousseff, about The Unit, whose lineaments were first revealed exclusively by Sputnik: an apolitical, transactional form of cross-border payments, anchored in gold (40%) and BRICS+ currencies (60%). The day after meeting Putin, president Dilma had an even more crucial meeting at 10 am in a private room at SPIEF with Sergey Glazyev, the Minister for Macro-Economy at the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Glazyev, who had previously provided full academic backing to the Unit concept, explained all the details to President Dilma. They were both extremely pleased with the meeting. A beaming Rousseff revealed that she had already discussed The Unit with Putin. It was agreed there will be a special conference at the NDB in Shanghai on The Unit in September. This means the new payment system has every chance to be at the table during the BRICS summit in October in Kazan, and be adopted by the current BRICS 10 and the near future, expanded BRICS+.

Message Number Three: It had to be, of course, about BRICS – which everyone, Putin included, stressed will be significantly expanded. The quality of the BRICS-related sessions in St. Petersburg demonstrated how the Global Majority is now facing a unique historical juncture – with a real possibility for the first time in the last 250 years to go all-out for a structural change of the world-system. And it’s not only about BRICS. It was confirmed in St. Petersburg that no less than 59 nations – and counting – plan to join not only BRICS but also the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU). No wonder: these multilateral organizations now finally have established themselves on the forefront of the drive towards the multimodal (italics mine) – and to quote Putin in his address – “harmonic multipolar world”.

“..the line that sends many of us into a fetal position: “I’m a Democrat and I am here to save democracy.”

• Can Democracy Survive the “Defenders of Democracy”? (Turley)

In 2024, the greatest test for our Constitution may be whether it can survive the “Defenders of Democracy.” Ronald Reagan often said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Today, Reagan’s line cannot compare with the line that sends many of us into a fetal position: “I’m a Democrat and I am here to save democracy.” The jump scare claim is that unless citizens vote for democrats, the end of democracy will begin shortly. In 2022, House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told “Fox News Sunday” that “democracy will be ending” if Democrats lost the midterms. The rhetoric has continued to ramp up with the upcoming election. From President Joe Biden to a host of progressive politicians and pundits, the 2024 election is all about saving democracy. The public has been told that if the Democrats lose power, citizens will be living in a tyrannical hellscape.

Vice President Kamala Harris stated in one interview that 2024 “genuinely could be” the last democratic election in America’s history. Dozens of Democrats have said that democracy will end if Biden is not reelected. The Washington Post even ran an op-ed titled, “A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending.” Many Americans have tuned out the overheated rhetoric, as shown by Donald Trump’s continuing lead in many polls even after his conviction in Manhattan. The warnings also ignore that our system has checks and balances that protected democracy for centuries as the world’s oldest and most successful constitutional system. These dire predictions would require all three branches to fail in an unprecedented fashion. While these figures cite the Capitol riot on Jan 6., 2021 as evidence of the pending collapse of democracy, the system worked as designed on that day. Congress refused to be deterred by the riot and virtually every court (including many presided over by Trump-appointed judges) rejected challenges to the election.

The most obvious threats today to the democratic system are coming from the left, not the right. Democratic secretaries of state sought to block Trump from the ballot in 2024, and Democratic members sought to bar roughly 120 colleagues from their respective ballots. It seemed that the greatest threat to democracy was its exercise by voters. Fortunately, a unanimous Supreme Court rejected the theory and added, “Nothing in the Constitution requires that we endure such chaos.” There has also been a push by Democrats to keep third-party candidates off ballots. Again, the last thing democracy needs is for voters to have more democratic choice. In New York, Democratic congressional candidate Paula Collins even suggested that, after the election, the focus must be on “re-education” of MAGA voters, although she acknowledged that “that sounds like a rather, a re-education camp. I don’t think we really want to call it that. I’m sure we can find another way to phrase it.”

Democratic operatives are using the same rationalization to call for biased reporting to help Biden get reelected. Democratic strategist James Carville this week demanded more “slanted” media coverage against Donald Trump to save democracy. Carville was triggered by New York Times editor Joe Kahn suggesting that the newspaper report the news in a fair and neutral manner. The suggestion sent many pundits into vapors at the very thought of reembracing objectivity in journalism. “I don’t have anything against slanted coverage,” Carville insisted. “I really don’t, I would have something against it at most other times in American history, but not right now. F— your objectivity. The real objectivity in this country right now is we’re either going to have a Constitution or we’re not.”

There has also been a push by Democrats to keep third-party candidates off ballots. Again, the last thing democracy needs is for voters to have more democratic choice. In New York, Democratic congressional candidate Paula Collins even suggested that, after the election, the focus must be on “re-education” of MAGA voters, although she acknowledged that “that sounds like a rather, a re-education camp. I don’t think we really want to call it that. I’m sure we can find another way to phrase it.” Democratic operatives are using the same rationalization to call for biased reporting to help Biden get reelected. Democratic strategist James Carville this week demanded more “slanted” media coverage against Donald Trump to save democracy. Carville was triggered by New York Times editor Joe Kahn suggesting that the newspaper report the news in a fair and neutral manner. The suggestion sent many pundits into vapors at the very thought of reembracing objectivity in journalism.

“I don’t have anything against slanted coverage,” Carville insisted. “I really don’t, I would have something against it at most other times in American history, but not right now. F— your objectivity. The real objectivity in this country right now is we’re either going to have a Constitution or we’re not.” It was particularly galling to hear the call for “slanted coverage” in the same week that the Hunter Biden laptop was authenticated and used as evidence in his Delaware trial. The government has called the widely reported claim that the laptop was “Russian disinformation” a debunked “conspiracy theory.” Carville was making his pitch for more biased reporting to the very media that buried the laptop story before the last election and spent two years in denial of its authenticity. Yet, many journalists agree with Carville. Some journalism schools have been teaching that reporters need to dump concepts of objectivity and neutrality to achieve political and social reforms.

This week, reporters were irate after Washington Post publisher and CEO William Lewis issued a blunt message that the newspaper could not survive after losing half of its readership and tens of millions of dollars last year. He told the staff: “People are not reading your stuff. Right. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.” The fear that these newspapers might cover Biden and Trump in a fair and balanced way was immediately denounced as . . . wait for it . . . a threat to democracy. After Carville’s meltdown, the Washington Post’s Margaret Sullivan warned Kahn and others that “our very democracy is on the brink, and how the Times covers that existential threat is of extraordinary importance.” She then asked whether the paper will “forthrightly identify the problems posed by a radicalized Republican Party that is increasingly dedicated to lies, bad-faith attacks and the destruction of democratic norms.” Sullivan expressed alarm that the media would “try to cut the situation straight down the middle as if we were still in the old days — an era that no longer exists?”

Let’s see them acquit him..

• Defense Rests In Hunter Biden Gun Case Without Defendant Testifying (JTN)

Hunter Biden’s defense rested their case in his Delaware gun trial Monday without calling the first son to testify. The gun trial is now in its sixth day, with closing arguments starting after lunch. The trial resumed after a week of witness testimony from ex-girlfriends, an ex-wife and other Biden family members. The unprecedented trial of of the child of a sitting American president is expected to enter its final stages with closing arguments beginning shortly. The prosecution rested its case last week and the defense spent the weekend contemplating whether or not to call Biden to the stand to testify in his own defense. “We are down to that last decision,” Lowell told the judge last week. Hunter Biden was charged in Delaware by Justice Department special counsel David Weiss with three felony crimes in connection to 2018 firearm purchase while he was using drugs.

The accusations include lying to the licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application used to screen firearm’s buyers by declaring he was not a drug user, and illegally possessing the firearm for 11 days. Several witnesses told the jury they witnessed Hunter Biden’s crack cocaine addiction first hand at the time when he purchased the firearm at a Wilmington gun shop. President Joe Biden said last week that he would not consider a pardon for his son and said he would accept the outcome of the trial. Hunter Biden is set to face other charges in California before the 2024 election on federal tax charges after he failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes over four years. His debt has since been settled, the Associated Press reported. That trial is set to begin in September after the judge recently granted a delay.

“..more campaign funds were given to this campaign than any campaign they think in history, almost $400 million..”

• Democrat Lawfare Has Failed To Derail Trump Campaign So Far (JTN)

Four indictments and one set of convictions later, a Democrat-led lawfare strategy has failed so far to derail Donald Trump’s bid to return to the White House, but it has triggered an avalanche of financial support as the former president hold leads in most battleground states that will decide the 2024 election. No where was Trump’s resilience more obvious than his travels across the West Coast this weekend, where he collected $12 million at a Silicon Valley fund-raiser at the home of a Big Tech executive who used to support Hillary Clinton, scored millions more at events in blue southern California and then jetted off to Las Vegas for a boisterous rally in Nevada where a post-conviction poll showed him leading that once-Biden-friendly state by five points. Experts say the narrative and imagery last month of a Democrat prosecutor in Manhattan securing a conviction against the opposition party leader just six months before Election Day galvanized support for Trump among the GOP base while motivating complacent independents and Never Trumpers to choose sides.

This created a painful boomerang for Democrats who hoped the May 31 conviction would sink the 45th president’s election efforts. “People are motivated,” former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin told Just the News. “They woke up the next day wanting to do something about it, realizing that they have to fight even harder […] They’ve turned their energy, their emotion into activity into wanting to make a difference. If someone goes out to the WinRed platform and donates $5, they might be willing to donate 25 more dollars. They may be willing to sign up to volunteer today, if you ask.” “There are people who were on the sidelines altogether on President Trump,” he added. “I know of one person just a few weeks before the verdict came out. I called him up I tried to talk him into supporting President Trump. He had supported another candidate. He wasn’t yet ready. Right after the verdict came out, he wired in $800,000 to President Trump’s joint fundraising committee. I just learned that his mother matched him for another $800,000. This these are two people were actually on the sidelines before the verdict.”

The data confirms Zeldin’s anecdotes. Trump campaign officials said the candidate raised more than $50 million in the first 36 hours after the verdict, much of it from first-time donors. Trump and the Republican National Committee reported their best fundraising month ever in May, with a $141 million haul. Officials said June could be on track for closer to $200 million, positioning Trump to be cash flush for a fall run after months of trailing Biden in the fundraising contest. The former president has embraced the surge, repeatedly portraying himself as a persecuted political martyr while warning the Democrat strategy is backfiring. “Right after the announcement of this, more campaign funds were given to this campaign than any campaign they think in history, almost $400 million,” Trump boasted at a Turning Point Action event last week.

“This is why they need war. This is why Europe is going into war. . . . If you cannot sell the new debt, you have to default. If you have war, and that is what is really behind this, if you go into war, they get to default and blame Putin..”

• It’s Trump vs WWIII – Martin Armstrong (USAW)

Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong says we are going to have a wild close to 2024. Let’s start with Biden’s new job approval rating from Martin Armstrong’s “Socrates” program, which is now only 6% to 7%. Armstrong explains, “It’s the old story of draining the swamp, but now, the swamp is an ocean. This is completely crazy. The cases against Trump show you how desperate they are here. The reason they want Biden, and they even blocked RFK Jr. from getting on the Democrat ticket, the reason they want him is he is just a sock puppet. He’s not really in charge. He’s not making any decisions.”

Are the Deep State globalist Democrats panicking over the 6% to 7% Biden approval rating? Top people on both sides know this is an accurate number. With about four months to go before the 2024 Election, are they now panicking over these dismal approval numbers? Armstrong says, “Oh, yes, they are panicking. I have been in politics for more than 40 years. I know how it works. All of a sudden, you see in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, oh, Biden is slipping behind closed doors. That would not make the press unless they wanted it to. They are floating a ballon to see how it goes. All of a sudden, they want Biden to do a debate. Before, no debates. Why? Because they know he’s going to look bad. . . . At the Democrat Convention, they will draft someone else, and that is most likely going to be Hillary.”

The economy and war are linked in a big way, according to Armstrong, and he explains, “You’ve got about $10 trillion of US debt that is maturing this year. . . . You’ve got Secretary of State Blinken threatening China with war. China dumped $53 billion in US debt in the first quarter of 2024. That means China are sellers and not buyers. You had Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen flying to China asking, ‘Please don’t sell.’ It didn’t work. This is why they are talking about raising the capital gains to 44%. Why? If nobody is going to buy the debt, that’s when default comes. If you cannot sell the new debt to pay off the old debt, guess what? It’s done. This is how governments fall, and I have been warning them for decades that this is how it’s going to end. . . . This is why they need war. This is why Europe is going into war. . . . If you cannot sell the new debt, you have to default. If you have war, and that is what is really behind this, if you go into war, they get to default and blame Putin. . . . In November, it’s going to be Trump vs World War III regardless who is on the other side. If you get Hillary or you get Biden, it’s the same thing. Hillary is a neocon, and Biden says yes to whatever the neocons want.” And the neocons clearly want war–a big one.

“Apple has no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI. They’re selling you down the river.”

• Elon Says Will Ban Apple’s Creepy Spyware Devices If They Integrate OpenAI (ZH)

In the end, Apple’s 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference proved to be a flop, with the stock sliding 1.9%, its worst WWDC performance since 2010 and the 4th worst in the iPhone era. It wasn’t supposed to be like this: Apple was supposed to make the grand introduction of (Open AI’s ChatGPT) artificial intelligence features and pretend they are the company’s, leading to the long-overdue surge in AAPL stock which has painfully underperformed most pure AI names. However, once the market realized that Apple [can’t] even in house its own AI module, that’s when the wheels fell off (the “introduction” of a calculator for the iPad did not help Apple’s trailblazing image). But the slump in AAPL stock was just the start of its woes.

Shortly after the close, in response to OpenAI founder Andrej Karpathy’s observation that the laughably named “Apple Intelligence” as it will be called (and which Elon Musk said it is “neither Apple nor intelligent”) will be a persistent layer on top of the entire Apple operating system, Elon Musk made the casual observation that Apple’s approach means that “we can never turn it off”, in other words it is an always on spying system feeding the OpenAI LLM (and who knows what and who else) with constant data.

That’s when the fireworks started. Realizing that his sworn enemy Sam Altman (whose “non-profit” ChatGPT only exists thanks to funding from Musk in the first place) is using his chatbot to supplant Amazon as the most ubiquitous spyware system in the world by having it installed across the entire Apple ecosystem, Musk first responded to an X user that he might have to launch his own phone “if Apple actually integrates woke nanny AI spyware into their OS”… … before directly telling Tim Cook that “he doesn’t want” the latest Apple product, and adding that “either stop this creepy spyware or all Apple devices will be banned from the premises of my companies.”

And just to underscore that point, the Tesla CEO said that “If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation” and “visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage.” Musk saved the piece de resistance for last, slamming Apple as a dumb company which can’t even come up with its own AI, and even dumber for promising it is “somehow capable of ensuring that OpenAI will protect your privacy” even as it is “handing your data over to a third-party AI that they don’t understand and can’t themselves create is *not* protecting privacy at all!”

The punchline: “Apple has no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI. They’re selling you down the river.” While we assume that much of Elon’s outrage is genuine (mixed in with just a smidge of personal self-interest to have Grok handle the world’s AI requests), this particular eruption by the world’s richest man (or 2nd, or 3rd, or wherever he is now) is a good example of the coming AI wars where competing AI vendors will do everything in their power to have their LLM be the sofrware of choice for the entire world due to its ubiquitous data gather and analysis which will make China’s “always on” spying nanny state seem like amateur hour by comparison.

“You can only raise prices so much..” [..] “..people are not going to pay $20 for a Big Mac. It’s not going to happen.”

• 1000s of Californians Lose Jobs Thanks To Newsom’s $20/hr Minimum Wage (RT)

Californian fast-food restaurants have had to slash some 10,000 jobs in recent months due to the state’s new minimum wage hike, according to a recent report by the California Business and Industrial Alliance (CABIA) trade group. The report comes after California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill dubbed AB 1228 in September of last year, raising the state’s minimum wage from $16 to $20 an hour. The law came into effect in April and many companies have since been forced to close down, raise prices, or lay off employees. CABIA president Tom Manzo has told Fox News that Californian businesses had already been “under total attack and total assault for years,” and claimed that the state’s lawmakers were living in a “fantasy land” if they thought that drastically raising wages would help workers and businesses.

“You can only raise prices so much,” Manzo said, insisting that “people are not going to pay $20 for a Big Mac. It’s not going to happen.” He also stated that jobs in the fast-food industry were never meant to be long-term or high-paying, calling it a “starter industry” in which people start out working as kids to gain a good work ethic for the rest of their careers. Last week, CABIA ran a full-page ad in the California edition of USA Today, featuring mock “obituaries” of restaurants that have been harmed by the new minimum wage law. These include popular chains such as Pizza Hut, Subway, Burger King, McDonald’s and Cinnabon. According to the trade group, one taco chain, Rubio’s, has had to close as many as 48 outlets in the state due to the “rising cost of doing business,” including 24 stores in the Los Angeles area, 13 in San Diego, and 11 in Northern California.

Meanwhile, the owner of 140 Burger King franchises in the state has announced he will slash workers’ hours and expedite the rollout of self-service kiosks to offset the impact of the new minimum wage law. Similar measures will be taken by a McDonald’s franchisee, who said he will hike menu prices and delay renovations at his 18 restaurants. As restaurants across the US have also been forced to gradually raise their prices due to rampant inflation, a survey conducted by LendingTree last month has also found that nearly 80% of consumers now consider fast food to be a “luxury” purchase due to how expensive it has become.

Bad management as a feature not a flaw.

• If Wishes Were Fishes – a Teachable Intermezzo (Kunstler)

Forgive me for reiterating a basic principle driving this moment in history: everything organized at the gigantic scale is steaming toward failure: big governments, giant companies, the huge capital investment firms, global shipping, energy production, chain retailing, mass motoring, big electricity, big medicine, big education, big anything. They are all fixing to fail while our politicians and economists make plans based on consolidating them into one super-gigantic mega-system that will run flawlessly on computer tech magic. The failures of each giant system will only amplify and ramify the failures in all the other systems. Take that as axiomatic. For instance, the fantastic failures in higher education now on display, largely due to the Marxian defeat of excellence, will implant a generation of incompetents in all hierarchies of management.

That will result in an insidious matrix of bad decision-making. The Pareto 80-20 principle will ensure that 80-percent of all institutional energy will focus on propping up failing institutions with bad decisions that add up to broken business models (while 20-percent goes into actually carrying-out the bad decisions as policy). That explains how Pete Buttigieg’s Department of Transportation spent $7.5-billion to build seven electric car charging stations. Similarly, if you have an urgent medical problem, the 80-percent of administrative clerks in your primary care doctor’s overgrown practice (with an assist from the health insurance company cohorts they must coordinate with) will actually manage to delay your treatment as long as possible, with a fair chance of disallowing it altogether. And if you happen to get treatment, there’s also an excellent chance you will be misdiagnosed and subjected to iatrogenic injury.

The 80-20 principle explains the stupendous mismanagement of the Covid-19 event, especially the “marketing” of mRNA vaccines as miracle remedies that turned out to be the opposite of beneficial. The result of that chain of bad decision-making will ensure that any widespread health crisis arising from the long-term effects of the Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines will destroy the hospital system. (It is already underway.) You can extrapolate that grandiose failure of competence to the World Health Organization and its efforts to orchestrate a new pandemic crisis. You might have noticed that it is increasingly difficult to get replacement parts for any machine, most particularly cars. That’s a symptom of failure in several integrated systems that are breaking down now: the manufacture of products in distant lands, price disorder in the container-ship business, the collapse of the US trucking system (and with it, the just-in-time inventory model), and the inability of auto dealers to find competent mechanics (while the sinking middle class can no longer afford to buy the cars they sell under the most liberal financing schemes). Expect all that to intensify.

You’ll see similar dysfunction in the system that delivers food to the people of our country. Even as currently operating, with the supermarkets amply stocked, the triumph of poor decision-making has led to 80-percent of the products sold being some form of processed corn syrup and GMO grains marketed as “fun” snack-foods that have destroyed the health of a great many citizens (and overwhelmed the medical system with chronic illness). The breakdown of the US food system is now proceeding with idiotic policy from our government (actually every government in Western Civ is doing it) undermining farm operations, and most especially small farms, with egregious regulation. The pretext for this is the delusional hysteria over “climate change.” It gives the managers something to manage badly.

Elon autonomy

Elon Musk explains in 2019 why Tesla went all in on autonomy as soon as 2014: "If we did not participate in the autonomy revolution, then our cars would not be useful to people relative to cars that are autonomous." pic.twitter.com/grDIlau4Lp

— ELON DOCS (@elon_docs) June 9, 2024

Optimus