Pentagon Archives - The Automatic Earth

Best-seller author and scientist Gregg Braden: "Climate change is a fact… It's also a fact that humans are not causing it."

"Is there more CO₂ in the atmosphere now than there was 10 years, 20, 50, 100 years ago? The answer is absolutely yes. Is it a bad thing?
The answer is… pic.twitter.com/nRVCcmqaRK

— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) August 23, 2025

Espionage is a few grades up from classified files in a closet.

• John Bolton Under Investigation for Violations of the Espionage Act (CTH)

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton is a well-documented neocon, who operates inside the business model of selling U.S. foreign policy influence for personal gain. His activity mirrors that of former Senator John McCain in many regards. John Bolton sold his access, contacts and ability to influence policy to the highest bidder. In DC parlance they call that a “consultant.” When the consulting is contracted for a specific national interest, the title shifts to “lobbyist.” That was his job, and all of Washington DC knows it. Washington DC operates on this business model; the entire system will be soft to criticize Bolton and many will likely defend him. The FBI raid on his residence and office has led to a considerable amount of speculation.

However, as some background details start to come out, it appears CIA Director John Ratcliffe provided FBI Director Kash Patel with specifics on the international travels and efforts of Bolton. That CIA referral has led to an FBI investigation under the auspices of potential violations of the espionage act, where Bolton would have leveraged current or prior classified intelligence information as part of his influence business. Almost identically to former Senator John McCain, John Bolton was well known to intersect with the nation of Qatar as part of his operation. Qatar has deep pockets and a long-identified influence operation throughout the middle east, sometimes playing both sides. Qatar is also the playground for the CIA. While it is yet unknown which nation and which activity Bolton was likely engaged in, the highest probability centers around the deepest pockets, which would also put Bolton on the CIA radar. With President Trump in the White House, there is a big market for the services of people like John Bolton who operate a specific militaristic mindset against the Trump administration.

NEW YORK TIMES – “The information that provided the basis for the warrant to search John Bolton’s home on Friday was based on intelligence collected overseas by the C.I.A., according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation. John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, provided Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, with limited access to the intelligence. It involved the mishandling of classified material by Mr. Bolton, the people said. The search of the home and office of Mr. Bolton, who was national security adviser during President Trump’s first term, was a major escalation of a long-running inquiry into whether he collected or leaked sensitive national security information, law enforcement officials said. The nature of the intelligence collected overseas is not known. The F.B.I. obtained the search warrant after presenting evidence to a federal judge. Mr. Bolton’s office declined to comment. The C.I.A. and F.B.I. regularly cooperate on counterterrorism investigations. It is unusual for the C.I.A. to so prominently provide information for a high-profile investigation of a former U.S. official.”

Also from The New York Times: “[…] The investigation into Mr. Bolton seeks to determine whether he illegally shared or possessed classified information, according to people familiar with the case who requested anonymity to describe details of a continuing investigation. The key criminal statute involved in those potential crimes is part of the Espionage Act. Another potential criminal statute in the investigation is one that bars the unauthorized removal of classified documents or material. The information that provided the basis for the warrant to search Mr. Bolton’s home was based on intelligence collected overseas by the C.I.A., according to people briefed on the matter. John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, provided limited access to the intelligence to Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director. The intelligence involved the possible mishandling of classified material by Mr. Bolton, the people said.”

• Did John Bolton have access to classified information about national security policy, yes.
• Would John Bolton leverage that knowledge for personal material gain, again yes.
• Did Bolton operate in the same industry as almost all DC influence agents, yup.
• Does this investigation of Bolton create an increased sense of anxiety amid all those who operate on the same system, oh heck yes.
• What does the investigation of Bolton mean to the larger network of corrupt influence peddling in DC, we don’t know yet.

“…a Putin-Zelensky summit may still happen. Not because it will resolve the war, but because it serves the broader game of diplomacy. The real audience is not Zelensky at all. It is Trump…”

• Why Would Putin Want To Meet With Zelensky? (Ryumshin)

There were no surprises in the latest round of Ukraine diplomacy. After his much-publicised meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, US President Donald Trump followed up with talks in Washington with Vladimir Zelensky and his European backers. The result was predictable: the peace process derailed once again. The conditions set out by Russia in Anchorage are already forgotten. Instead, the West is now obsessing over the prospect of a direct Putin-Zelensky encounter. The Americans have already mapped out not one but two meetings: a bilateral summit between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, and a trilateral session that would include Trump. According to reports, Hungary has been floated as the preferred venue. Western media even claim that Putin himself requested a meeting with Zelensky, supposedly in Moscow. The Trump administration insists that Russia has agreed to everything.

A game for Trump’s benefit
Yet the Kremlin remains silent, issuing only vague references to “raising the level of delegations.” This studied ambiguity recalls the build-up to the Putin-Trump summit and suggests that the idea cannot be dismissed outright. The truth is simple: such a meeting is not required by “objective realities” or common sense. It is dictated instead by the dynamics of a process that has turned into a performance designed to hold Trump’s attention.n Putin’s meeting with Trump on 15 August was not about reaching a breakthrough. It was a political gesture to demonstrate Russia’s openness and to shift responsibility onto Ukraine and the European Union. The West is now trying to turn the same tactic against Moscow: framing Russia as the obstacle to peace and forcing Putin into a face-to-face encounter with Zelensky.

Kiev and Western European capitals are pushing Russia to accept “security guarantees” for Ukraine, something Moscow has been proposing since 2022. But the way these guarantees are now being drafted makes them deliberately unacceptable for Russia. EU leaks suggest demands that amount to little more than NATO membership in disguise: permanent Western troops on Ukrainian soil, binding guarantees from the alliance, and no recognition of territorial realities. The Kremlin cannot simply reject such proposals outright. Doing so would allow Trump to walk away from the process and pin the blame on Moscow. For that reason, Russia may ultimately have to go through the motions of agreeing to a summit. What would such a meeting achieve? Little of substance. Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on every meaningful issue. Moscow hopes its military superiority will translate into concessions, but Kiev shows no willingness to compromise.

Ukraine refuses to recognise territorial changes, rejects the idea of troop reductions or exchanges, and continues to demand reparations. Even the tentative agreement to keep NATO membership off the table has been undermined by Zelensky’s insistence on NATO-style guarantees. The only factors that might soften Ukraine’s stance – the collapse of its front lines, a breakdown of EU support, or the United States walking away from the conflict – are nowhere in sight. As long as Zelensky stays unyielding, any summit would have the same outcome as the earlier Medinsky-Umerov talks: limited progress on humanitarian issues, no peace deal. Yet the point of such a meeting is not to make peace with Zelensky. It is to keep Trump engaged and maintain strategic uncertainty. For that reason alone, Moscow has good reason to appear open to the idea of a summit.

If the Kremlin does agree, the key will be to control the format. Ideally, the talks should be trilateral, with Trump at the table. This would prevent Kiev from spinning the outcome as a diplomatic victory and would ensure that Washington remains responsible for the process. The choice of venue is also critical. Hungary, with its friendlier stance toward Moscow, would be an acceptable host. Predictably, Ukraine and the Western Europeans will resist such a move. But Zelensky’s preferences are ultimately secondary. If Trump can be persuaded to attend, the Ukrainian president will have little choice but to follow. In this sense, the goal is not to negotiate with Zelensky but to shape the atmosphere around him. A carefully staged summit could place pressure on the Ukrainian leader, making him appear weak and pushing him toward concessions he might otherwise resist. His visit to Washington earlier this year already showed how vulnerable he is to Trump’s personal style and political leverage.

None of this should be confused with a real peace process. Russia does not expect to sign a final settlement with Zelensky, nor is Ukraine prepared to compromise. But appearances matter. By showing openness, Moscow avoids being cast as the spoiler while placing the burden of intransigence on Kiev. That is why, paradoxically, a Putin-Zelensky summit may still happen. Not because it will resolve the war, but because it serves the broader game of diplomacy. The real audience is not Zelensky at all. It is Trump.

“Moscow should be ‘coaxed’ into peace talks with Ukraine, whereas Kiev can be ‘pressured’ due to its dependence on Western aid…”

• Trump Wants To ‘Coax’ Russia But ‘Pressure’ Ukraine Into Talks – Politico (RT)

US President Donald Trump believes Moscow should be ‘coaxed’ into peace talks with Ukraine, whereas Kiev can be ‘pressured’ due to its dependence on Western aid, Politico reported on Friday, citing sources. The sources claimed that Trump sees Russia as holding “the upper hand” in the conflict. The report follows speculation over a potential summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky. The idea emerged after Trump met Putin in Alaska – their first face-to-face encounter since 2019 – then held talks with Zelensky and EU leaders. Trump later said he had “begun the arrangements” for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, which he believes could accelerate peace efforts. He described his talks with Putin as “very productive,” but said Zelensky “has to show some flexibility” ahead of any summit.

“[Trump] has long believed that Russia has the upper hand in the war itself and needs to be coaxed into peace talks,” one former US official told Politico. “Ukraine, on the other hand, relies heavily on the US for weapons and intelligence. So there are more pressure points to get them to accept a deal.” Putin has not ruled out meeting Zelensky but insists it must follow real progress in negotiations. Moscow has also questioned Zelensky’s legitimacy, pointing to the fact that his presidential term has expired. Zelensky claimed this week he was ready to meet, but only in a “neutral” part of Europe and with the participation of his EU backers.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NBC on Friday that Moscow had agreed to “show flexibility” on several issues that Trump raised during the Alaska summit. However, he said Zelensky “said no to everything” that Trump later proposed to him, including neutrality for Ukraine and territorial concessions. “Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky when the agenda would be ready for a summit,” Lavrov reiterated. “But as things stand, there is no meeting planned.” Sources told Politico that while some officials worry the Russia-Ukraine talks are stuck in a “grind,” the US president remains optimistic. Trump said on Friday that he will announce a “very important decision” on Ukraine within two weeks, the nature of which will depend on how the positions of Moscow and Kiev shape up.

“For the first time President Trump indicates he’s willing to take a full retreat position from the effort…”

• “Or Do We Do Nothing, and Say It’s Your Fight” (CTH)

A very interesting response from President Trump against the U.S. President stepping back and awaiting Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to organize their teams and schedule a bilateral discussion. President Trump has said he expects the diplomatic teams of Zelenskyy and Putin to coordinate a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy in the next two weeks. As noted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, sometimes it just takes putting the principals into the same room to break the logjam. However, both regimes have entrenched ideologues who are positioning for maximum leverage. President Trump is asked what he will do if Zelenskyy and Putin cannot or do not organize a meeting.

For the first time President Trump indicates he’s willing to take a full retreat position from the effort, “or do we do nothing, and say it’s your fight.” Doing nothing seems to indicate the U.S. withdraws all support and lets them fight to the point of defeat or surrender. Doing nothing is actually doing something quite remarkable. In the background of all of this, DNI Tulsi Gabbard has issued a directive telling all of the intelligence agencies all information regarding the Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations is not to be shared with U.S.-allied intelligence partners. […] “The memo, dated July 20 and signed by Gabbard, directed agencies to not share information with the so-called Five Eyes, the post-World War II intelligence alliance comprising the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, multiple U.S. intelligence officials told CBS News.”

Still…reports of many drone attacks inside Russia this morning.

• Pentagon Has Restricted Ukraine From Striking Russian Territory – WSJ (RT)

The Pentagon has blocked Ukraine from striking deep inside Russia with American-supplied missiles, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing US officials. According to the paper, the Department of Defense has been preventing Kiev from firing long-range ATACMS missiles since late spring. On at least one occasion, Washington reportedly turned down a Ukrainian request to hit a target on Russia’s internationally recognized territory. The WSJ linked the policy shift to President Donald Trump’s effort to “entice” Moscow during peace talks. Last week, Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since 2019 in Alaska, and several days later held talks with the leaders of Ukraine, NATO, the EU, and several European states in Washington.

Although Trump urged Moscow and Kiev to reach a peace deal as soon as possible, he said on Thursday that Ukraine has “no chance of winning” without striking Russia. Trump has also criticized the previous administration for providing unconditional military aid to Ukraine and in February accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of “gambling with World War III.” Russia has warned that by supplying Ukraine with weapons, Western countries are de facto directly participating in the conflict. Moscow has listed an end to foreign military aid as one of its conditions for a lasting ceasefire.

“The agreement commits both countries to defend each other’s sovereignty with all available means.”

• Ukraine Issues Military Warning To Belarus (RT)

Ukraine has told Minsk to stay away from its borders during upcoming joint military exercises with Russia to be held in Belarus. The warning came ahead of the ‘Zapad-2025’ military drill, scheduled for September 12–16. Belarus allowed Russian forces to use its territory when the conflict with Ukraine escalated in February 2022. Since then, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly said that Minsk has no intention of attacking Kiev and will only resort to military action if his country is attacked In a statement on Friday, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry accused Belarus of aiding Moscow and issued a caution.

“We warn Minsk against reckless provocations and urge it to remain prudent, refrain from approaching the borders, and avoid provoking Ukraine’s Defense Forces,” Kiev’s Foreign Ministry has said. This year’s military exercises, which include counter-sabotage operations, drone warfare, electronic interference scenarios, and assaults, will also feature the Russian Oreshnik intermediate-range hypersonic missile, according to Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin. First battle-tested in November 2024 in a strike on Ukraine’s Yuzhmash facility in Dnepr, Russian officials have compared its conventional destructive power to that of a low-yield nuclear strike.

“This is an important element for our strategic deterrence – as the head of state demands, we must be prepared for anything,” Khrenin told the state news agency Belta. He warned that NATO is using Zapad-2025 as a pretext for its own drills, citing Poland’s deployment of 30,000 troops near Belarus as the main concern. Belarus, a close ally of Russia, signed a bilateral security treaty with Moscow in December 2024. The agreement commits both countries to defend each other’s sovereignty with all available means. In 2023, Russia deployed tactical nuclear weapons and short-range ballistic missiles on Belarusian territory, citing tensions with the West. Lukashenko has also called for the accelerated delivery of Oreshnik systems, which could be stationed in Belarus before the end of 2025.

“..the future borders between a re-weaponized Europe and a Russia that will inevitably inflict on it a massive strategic defeat.”

• : Even After Trump Humiliation, Europe Insists That Peace Is War (Escobar)

It took just one pic to imprint on posterity the utter humiliation of the EUrotrash political elites in Year 2025: the Coalition of the Twats, in the Oval Office, lining up like a bunch of frightened schoolkids, severely reprimanded by His Master’s Voice – the Headmaster cum Circus Ringmaster. That was also neatly described as Trump breaks Europe over his knee. Of course, President Putin had already predicted it, over six months before the fact: “I assure you, Trump, with his character and persistence, will restore order quite quickly. And all of them, you’ll see, soon all of them will stand at the master’s feet and gently wag their tails.” The White House humiliation sealed the deal, and reconfirmed an obsession: for the EUrotrash “leadership”, at all levels when it comes to relations with Russia, Peace is War.

Brandishing their warped logic, they cannot possibly understand that if Ukraine is instrumentalized – actually since before Maidan in 2014 – to harass and destabilize Russia in its western borders, Russia will forcefully counter-attack. That’s at the heart of the Russian concept of “underlying causes” of the Ukraine tragedy, which must be thoroughly addressed if there is any real shot at Trumpian or not Trumpian “peace”. In the Big Picture, that translates as the Empire of Chaos and Russia sitting down to set up a new “indivisibility of security” arrangement – just like Moscow proposed in December 2021: then, it was met by a non-response response. EUrotrash Inc.’s new delirium is to attribute to itself the design of the future borders between a re-weaponized Europe and a Russia that will inevitably inflict on it a massive strategic defeat.

It’s a very long shot to imagine that Trump is capable, by himself, of imposing a new strategic reality on the warmongering yet penniless Coalition of the Twats. Whatever happens to rump Ukraine, Trump, based on his own twist and turn vociferations, actually wants Europe to “contain” Russia from now on, using an arsenal of ridiculous expensive American weapons. So what changes is the character of this particular chapter of the Forever Wars: it will be fought by the Coalition of the Twats, and not by Americans. In the short term, that also unveils the only strategy available for the EUrotrash/Kiev combo: outlast Trump until the 2026 mid-terms, destroy the remainder of his presidency, and be secure with the return of the mega-Russophobe gang in 2028.

Which Dead Hand will prevail?
An old school Deep State hand, who had privileged access to all Cold War era honchos, sums up the pitfalls ahead for Russia: “Russia is taking too long to neutralize Ukraine, allowing time for NATO to reignite diversions. While the snail offensive in Ukraine does save lives, NATO seeks to weaken Russia’s strategic position in the Balkans and elsewhere that can cost far more lives in the future. If the Slavs in the Balkans are crushed that can strategically weaken Russia’s overall position, and that is far more costly than a major lightning offensive a la Stalin in Russian Ukraine. Russia must finish this war now and turn to its southern problems in the Balkans and the intrigues in Baku.”

Trump of course is oblivious to these Big Picture niceties. At best he admits, to Fox News, that “Ukraine will not regain Crimea” and “Ukraine will not join NATO.” But he does not seem to mind that “France, Germany and the UK want to deploy troops in Ukraine” as part of the new kabuki: “security guarantees”. That is an inter-galactic red line for Moscow. In parallel, it’s wishful thinking to believe that Putin is now finally ready to negotiate “peace”. This is not about peace; it’s always about coming up with incontrovertible facts on the battle field, because Moscow knows this war will only be won in the battle field.

Russian forces have reached the final Ukraine defensive line in Donbass: Slavyansk-Kramatorsk. And is fast encircling key strongholds near Pokrovsk and Konstantinovka. Talk about a strategic/psychological turning point. From there, the – steppe – sky is the limit. Compound it with the combined hacking of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – which revealed that Kiev’s losses, in terms of dead and missing, amount to a staggering 1.7 million. All of the above means that we are fast approaching the fateful moment when the victor dictates the full terms of the enemy’s capitulation. No need to march to Bankova in Kiev and plant the Russian flag.

“..the changes in tariffs will reduce total deficits by $4.0 trillion altogether.”

• The CBO Just Dropped a $4 Trillion Truth Bomb (Margolis)

Ever since Trump’s first term, the political and media establishment told us that his trade policies were reckless, destructive, and doomed to wreck the U.S. economy. Every so-called expert on cable TV preached that they would crush American consumers, tank the stock market, and send our economy into a spiral. We’re still waiting for that to happen. Here we are in Aug. 2025, and the Congressional Budget Office just dropped a bombshell that completely shatters the left’s narrative against Trump’s tariff strategy.

“As of August 19, we estimate that the effective tariff rate for goods imported into the United States has increased by about 18 percentage points when measured against 2024 trade flows. We project that increases in tariffs implemented during the period from January 6, 2025, to August 19 will decrease primary deficits (which exclude net outlays for interest) by $3.3 trillion if the higher tariffs persist for the 2025-2035 period. By reducing the need for federal borrowing, those tariff collections will also reduce federal outlays for interest by an additional $0.7 trillion. As a result, the changes in tariffs will reduce total deficits by $4.0 trillion altogether.” That’s no rounding error. The numbers are simply eye-popping, and they tell the story that the media doesn’t want you to know.

Let’s put that in perspective. Back in June, the CBO had already stunned critics by predicting Trump’s tariffs would shrink the deficit by $3 trillion. That was based only on trade actions taken through May 13. Trump, naturally, celebrated the news on Truth Social. “I am pleased to announce that the Radical Left Representatives working at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) have now admitted how incredible my Tariff strategy has been, saying that, ‘Trump’s Tariffs reduce the deficit by $4 Trillion Dollars,’” he wrote. “When I began my Tariff policy suggestions, they refused to acknowledge the potential SUCCESS that would be derived. Deficits are DOWN, Taxes are DOWN, Energy is DOWN, Prices generally are DOWN, the only things that are UP are, Take Home Pay, the Stock Market, and our Country, which is the ‘HOTTEST’ anywhere in the World. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Of course, the CBO is cautious to note its projections assume these trade policies remain in place indefinitely. It also didn’t factor in several adjustments announced just this past week: new EU tariff arrangements on August 21, a 25% tariff hike on imports from India starting Aug. 27, and the suspension of duty-free shipments under $800 coming Aug. 29. In other words, the real revenue picture could easily turn out even stronger than the current forecast. Here’s the bigger point no one in the mainstream press will admit: tariffs, when wielded strategically, can be a double win. They level the playing field for American producers, whom foreign governments have undercut for decades by gaming the system, and they generate revenue that actually reduces the insane borrowing spree Washington politicians tried to normalize.

“If that recap sounds bad for Canada, trust me – it’s way worse. Really bad, horrible – terrible even. So far beyond bad, the light from where horrible starts could not reach the Canadian terrible place for a year. Not good.”

• Canada Announces End to All Retaliatory Tariffs – Trump Gives Nothing (CTH)

The Canadian govt led by Prime Minister Mark Carney has completely capitulated to the power and influence of President Trump. While explaining how the United States has fundamentally changed the entire landscape of global trade, the leader of the Snow Mexicans announces he is dropping all countervailing and retaliatory tariffs against the USA and getting nothing in return. Total and complete surrender by Canada; there is ZERO upside for Canada – NADA, Zippo, Zilch. Prime Minister Mark Carney made the announcement, then faced the ire of the assembled media who were furious about the details within the statement. The Canadian people had been promised an “elbows up” fight to the end. Instead, today they got down on their knees and begged Trump to retain the USMCA.

Complete and utter capitulation by Canada. No digital services taxes. No countervailing duty tariffs. No reciprocity tariffs on Steel and Aluminum. No retaliatory tariffs (reciprocal/baseline). Meanwhile, the USA keeps 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum against Canada, and Canada only gets 25% tariffs against U.S. steel/aluminum. In addition, Canada has pledged to continue gaslighting their citizens, while wasting time, effort and resources on a hope to retain the USMCA, while refusing to admit to themselves that President Trump intends to dissolve it. If that recap sounds bad for Canada, trust me – it’s way worse. Really bad, horrible – terrible even. So far beyond bad, the light from where horrible starts could not reach the Canadian terrible place for a year. Not good.

“Plainly, her ultimate goal was not ‘market hygiene’ . . . but political hygiene, ending with the derailment of President Trump’s political career and the destruction of his real estate business.”

• The One That Got Away: Letitia James and the Perils of Trophy Fishing (Turley)

New York Attorney General Letitia James is going to need a bigger fish or a smaller trophy wall. For months, James has paraded her victory over President Donald Trump in her civil judgment of half a trillion dollars. It did not matter that many of us denounced the judgment as grotesque and raw lawfare. Now, however, the appellate court has replaced that mounted Marlin with a mere minnow. It threw out the financial penalty as unconstitutional and unwarranted. Even that downsized catch may have to be pulled down, since Trump can appeal the decision to leave the injunctive relief — including limits on doing business in New York — in place. The problem is that this over-stuffed guppy has cost the people of New York tens of millions of dollars in staff, security and other costs.

It was all just the cost of doing business with James, who ran on the pledge to bag Trump on something — anything! — if elected. For James, it was worth it. For her base, the case was never about the merits or the law. James offered lawfare against political opponents, and New York Democrats elected her with a gleeful malice. They were thrilled as James suggested that she was going to seize Trump buildings after the judgment and sought a massive bond. Notably, even the judges who sided with James on her ability to bring this case were critical of her ethics or judgment in running on bagging an individual on unnamed crimes or civil actions. They simply chose not to do anything about it. It was Judge David Friedman, who, on the appeal, offered an unblinking account of how James abused the legal system.

“Plainly, her ultimate goal was not ‘market hygiene’ . . . but political hygiene, ending with the derailment of President Trump’s political career and the destruction of his real estate business. The voters have obviously rendered a verdict on his political career. This bench today unanimously derails the effort to destroy his business.” The five appeals court judges fractured on the rationale for their opinions. Two of the judges — Dianne T. Renwick and Peter H. Moulton — correctly found that “the court’s disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.” The rest of the judges found other reasons to negate the damages while preserving the fraud judgment.

In the end, James could not get a single vote on appeal to support Judge Arthur Engoron’s ridiculous fine. Engoron, like James, will continue to enjoy the status of a folk hero in New York. But he will go down in history as a judge who yielded to the demands of the mob rather than the law. Yet nothing will change. With the exception of Judge Friedman, the mild rebukes of the appellate court of James show how Trump remains persona non grata, a disfavored figure who is entitled to no consideration, let alone sympathy, in New York. The most courage that Judge Moulton could summon was to say, “One can reasonably question whether a candidate running for the top law enforcement position in statewide government should make such pointed statements.” I suppose one could also reasonably question whether a judge faced with blatant, open targeting of a political opponent should do more than a judicial shrug.

“..the president ensures laws are enforced, but he doesn’t personally enforce them..”

• The Media Flips Out Over Trump Claim—But Once Again, He Was Right (Margolis)

FBI agents raided the Maryland home of President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser John Bolton on Friday, as part of a “high-profile national security probe” involving classified documents. Ironically, the same people who cheered Joe Biden for weaponizing the Justice Department against Trump are claiming that the raid on Bolton’s home was politically motivated. Trump, for his part, denied having advance knowledge of the raid, stressing that while he has the authority to direct such actions, he prefers to stay out of them. “I don’t want — I tell [Attorney General Pam Bondi], and I tell the group, I don’t want to know,” he said. “You have to do what you have to do. I don’t want to know about it. It’s not necessary. I could know about it. I could be the one starting it. I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer — but I feel that it’s better this way.”

And the media, being the media, absolutely flipped out about that last statement where Trump claimed he’s the chief law enforcement officer. “President Donald Trump has bizarrely claimed he is the chief law enforcement officer of America while insisting he knew nothing about the FBI raid on John Bolton’s home,” opined The Daily Beast. “The comment was contentious not only because the Justice Department has traditionally operated at arm’s length from the White House, but because its own guidelines state that the U.S. Attorney General is the nation’s chief law enforcement officer.” And, of course, CNN also jumped in. On Friday’s edition of “The Situation Room,” CNN’s Crime and Justice Correspondent Katelyn Polantz was also triggered by Trump’s claim.

“What Trump said that really jumped out at me is that he said that he hasn’t been briefed by the Justice Department yet, he expects that later in the day, but he said, ‘I could know about it. I could be the one starting it. I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer.’ But then he said he’s telling the attorney general, Pam Bondi, ‘you have to do what you have to do.’ And right now, he doesn’t know anything. I looked, the Justice Department on its own website says the attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government, not the president.” According to Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.”

In other words, the president ensures laws are enforced, but he doesn’t personally enforce them. That responsibility falls to subordinates like agency heads and the Department of Justice. That’s why, under the Constitution, it’s entirely fair to describe the president as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. It may not be a formal job title, but it is a functional reality. The bottom line is simple: Trump is right, and the media has once again made fools of themselves by putting attacks on Trump ahead of the facts. They twist themselves into knots over semantics just to attack Trump, even when the Constitution clearly spells out his authority.

“In other words, a full lube job.”

• Trump’s Smithsonian Review Is Long Overdue (Mike Gonzalez)

The White House last week informed Lonnie Bunch, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, that it’s putting the museums under review—in other words, adult supervision. The news came in a letter that amounted to a major front in the Trump administration’s war to retake the culture. As I wrote in an X post quoted by The New York Times, “Given the Smithsonian’s behavior in the past few years—how it cataloged everything woke, how it gave the communist leader Angela Davis plenty of space, but not Justice Clarence Thomas, how it portrayed America in a poor light—this White House review is not a minute too soon.” The letter announcing the “comprehensive review” came from three top individuals engaged in this cultural Reconquista: Lindsey Halligan, the president’s special assistant; Vince Haley, director of the Domestic Policy Council; and Russ Vought, head of the Office of Management and Budget.

The Times called it a “more direct shot across the bow” than an audit announced in June, which the Smithsonian Board asked Bunch to conduct. This time, it will be the administration itself that will take action. Of course, the forces that have spent the past two or three decades capturing the cultural institutions wasted no time in screeching at the very notion that the administration would conduct a thorough review of the institution’s museums. “Only historians and trained museum professionals are qualified to conduct such a review, which is intended to ensure historical accuracy,” Sarah Weicksel, the executive director of the American Historical Association, fumed to the Times. “To suggest otherwise is an affront to the professional integrity of curators, historians, educators, and everyone involved in the creation of solid, evidence-based content.”

What a laughable assertion. There probably isn’t a single conservative among these “curators, historians, educators, and everyone involved.” Somebody should inform Weicksel that the administration is liberating the culture from the curators, directors, historians, and everyone else involved in the arts management profession at this point. In 2016, when Donald Trump first ran for office and the country was actually less polarized, Verdant Labs conducted a study based on campaign contribution data from the Federal Election Commission. It is contained in an interactive graph which breaks down the political affiliation of these professionals:

Museum Directors: 89 Democrats for every 11 Republicans
Museum Curators: 94 Democrats for every 6 Republicans
Art Conservators: 100% Democrats
Art Historians: 96 Democrats for every four Republicans
Art Administrators: 96 Democrats for every four Republicans
Art Advisors: 91 Democrats for every nine Republicans
Archaeologists: 94 Democrats for every six Republicans
Historians: 88 Democrats for every 12 Republicans

This is what complete ideological capture by the Left looks like. Harvard did not get a professoriat that is nearly 80% “liberal” or “very liberal,” and less than 3% “conservative” or “very conservative” among its Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences faculty out of nothing. Obviously, the Left burrows in and hires only among its own kind. As Elizabeth Merritt wrote in a blog for the American Alliance of Museums days after Trump was elected in 2016, “We don’t necessarily create a very friendly work environment for people who don’t share a liberal, Democratic world view.” This is how ideological capture is achieved.

The numbers are not this lopsided because only progressives are smart or interested in the visual arts, literature, music, philosophy, theater, or any of the other components that roughly go under the heading of “culture” (though, yes, this is what the Left thinks). Hillsdale College, the nation’s top conservative institution of higher education, cares deeply about these arts. Recently, it considered whether to open a Museum Studies program, but decided against it out of concern that its students may not get positions at museums because leftist administrators would not hire conservatives. As to why ideological conformity is sought, the woke curators, directors, and conservators seek to use museums to disseminate their gender and race theories. As curator and former Director Olga Viso wrote in The New York Times in 2018, “Now is the time to be open to radical change. The next wave of decolonizing America’s art museums must succeed.”

The three Trump officials told Bunch that the administration wants to “assess tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals.” The review will focus on:
• Public-facing Content: A review of exhibition text, wall didactics, websites, educational materials, and digital and social media content.
• Curatorial Process: A series of interviews with curators and senior staff to better understand the selection process.
• Exhibition Planning: A review of current and future exhibitions, with particular attention to those planned for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
• Collection Use: Evaluation of how existing materials and collections are being used or could be used to highlight American achievement and progress.
• Narrative Standards: The development of consistent curatorial guidelines.

Accordingly, the administration wants the Smithsonian to cough up the following materials: exhibition plans and draft concepts on the 250th Anniversary Programming; catalog and programs on current exhibition content; full index of scheduled traveling exhibitions; curatorial materials; indexes of all permanent collections; teacher guidance for educational materials; copies of grants, and more. In other words, a full lube job. I still don’t believe that what is needed can be accomplished with Bunch at the helm—and there is the matter of the Smithsonian’s as yet unbuilt Latino Museum, which the administration wants to defund, but weak Republican appropriators in the House of Representatives just voted to continue to fund—but this review does indeed come not a minute too soon.

“While the Clinton probes were throttled, the FBI raced to open a full investigation into Trump’s campaign on the flimsiest of tips — a conversation in a London wine bar —..”

• Multi-Front Effort to Protect Clintons While Framing Trump (Bruner)

Newly unearthed documents show deep state government actors once again circling the wagons to protect Bill and Hillary Clinton — and suppressing evidence that implicated them. Last week, it was the FBI; this week, it is the IRS. In 2019, the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigations division quietly launched a probe into the Clinton Foundation’s tax practices, working closely with whistleblowers John Moynihan and Larry Doyle, financial experts who had compiled thousands of pages of evidence. According to internal agency memos reported by Just the News, IRS agents reviewed the evidence and at least one agent concluded it meant that the “entire [Clinton Foundation] enterprise is a fraud.” Agents then moved to treat the whistleblowers as cooperating witnesses and even set up secure computer servers to hold the material they had collected.

Then, without warning, the lights went out. “Can’t talk about the CF,” agents told the whistleblowers. By the summer of 2019, their inquiry was dead. Moynihan and Doyle are now battling the agency in Tax Court over the apparent shutdown of the investigation. The IRS’s abrupt reversal follows an earlier, more infamous pattern. In 2016, FBI field offices in New York, Washington, and Little Rock all opened probes into the Bill and Hillary Clinton Foundation, partly on the strength of Peter Schweizer’s 2015 bestselling book, Clinton Cash, which exposed numerous examples of the Clintons using the foundation while she was Secretary of State under President Barack Obama as a pay-to-play scheme for business and foreign government interests seeking political influence.

The book told the story of Uranium One, a US mining company that was sold to Russia’s state-owned nuclear agency after investors pledged more than $100 million to the Clinton foundation. That story was confirmed in a front-page story by the New York Times when the book was published and based on its material. The FBI field office investigations were proceeding until they were ordered by higher-ups to stop. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates ordered prosecutors to “shut it down.” Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe required his personal approval for every investigative step — effectively choking the cases.

The fallout from Clinton Cash was real. Clinton’s campaign staffers scrounged for advance copies of the book, while Hillary’s own pollsters flagged the Uranium One deal as her campaign’s biggest vulnerability in the early primary states. By January 2016, the FBI was looking into the book’s allegations — until the brakes were pulled. Appearing on an OANN program this week, Schweizer told host Matt Gaetz that the government’s double standard is unmistakable. “At the same time that they were killing an organic investigation into Clinton corruption… they were also creating a completely fictional investigation tying [Donald] Trump to Russia,” he said. Five FBI field offices had been involved before being shut down, including a satellite office in Africa. Schweizer called the saga proof of a new kind of corruption — “offshored, globalized corruption,” complete with political dynasties selling access and foreign oligarchs buying influence.

The contrast between the scuttled investigation of the Clinton foundation and the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation into the Trump campaign’s purported ties to Russia is glaring. While the Clinton probes were throttled, the FBI raced to open a full investigation into Trump’s campaign on the flimsiest of tips — a conversation in a London wine bar — green-lighting that investigation within three days. Clinton’s Russia vulnerabilities were turned into Trump’s burden, projected onto his campaign in a haze of innuendo. Put together, the picture is damning: the IRS dropped the ball in 2019, and the FBI and DOJ throttled their own field offices in 2016. The whistleblowers are still pressing their case, six years later. But the old memos are now re-surfacing, and the “deep state” will perhaps face a reckoning from what might be the largest political scandal of modern times.

”These are dangerous people because they believe their views and opinions supersede the US constitution that they all swear an oath to uphold..”

• Deep State Entrenched In US Intel Community – Gabbard (RT)

The US intelligence community has been infiltrated by deep state actors, busy with “inserting their own partisan political opinions and views” into intel products and effectively working against the American people, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has said. The DNI chief, who has repeatedly pledged to root out rogue actors from the US intel community, made the remarks on Thursday while speaking to FOX Business, stating that the deep state has created entire “pockets” within America’s intelligence agencies.“There were a lot of pockets where the Deep State actors were very entrenched and were politicizing their centers or their positions, either against the American people… [or] creating intelligence products and inserting their own partisan political opinions and views,” she told the network.

”These are dangerous people because they believe their views and opinions supersede the US constitution that they all swear an oath to uphold, to support and defend, and… those who are elected by the American people, specifically the president of the United States,” Gabbard added. The intelligence community has grown extremely politicized over the years and steered away from its intended goals and original mandate, Gabbard added. “It’s very simple. The mandate the intelligence community has is to find the truth and to tell the truth,” she stressed, adding that only sufficient transparency could ensure “actual accountability” for the intel community and produce a “real change.”

Earlier this week, Gabbard stripped security clearances from 37 current and former intelligence officials, accusing them of manipulating and politicizing intelligence. The move has become “the first step to aggressively get after our core national security mission, root out those deep state actors,” according to Gabbard. The list includes multiple prominent intel figures, including former NSA deputy director Richard Ledgett, former assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research Brett Holmgren, and former principal deputy director of DNI Stephanie O’Sullivan.

“Please come here first, because you know what, we’re going to help you..”

• Trump Says ‘Dangerous’ Chicago Next After Addressing Crime In DC (JTN)

President Donald Trump says Chicago is next on his list of cities to focus on cleaning up crime. In December, after Trump was elected to a second non-consecutive term, Danielle Carter-Walters used public comments at a Chicago City Council meeting to call for the Trump administration to come to Chicago and make an example out of city officials. “Please come here first, because you know what, we’re going to help you,” Carter-Watlers said. On Friday, Trump said he’s cleaning up Washington D.C. and plans to address crime in Chicago next. “Chicago’s a mess,” Trump said from the Oval Office.

“You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent. And we’ll straighten that one out. Probably next. That will be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough. And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to come now wearing red hats.” The president said he hasn’t talked with city officials like Mayor Brandon Johnson. “I haven’t spoken, he’s grossly incompetent. I haven’t spoken to them,” Trump said. “You know, when we’re ready, we’ll go in and we’ll straighten out Chicago just like we did D.C.. Chicago’s very dangerous. Great place I built. Great stuff there. I have a, I have the most beautiful building in Chicago, I think. But I hate to see what’s happened to Chicago.”

Johnson’s administration didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Asked about other possible federal enforcement earlier in the day Friday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the Trump administration is plotting against political opponents. “I’m not daring them to do anything, I’m just saying they don’t have a right,” Pritzker said Friday at an unrelated event. “Federal law and state law, separate endeavors and they don’t have a right to do the things that they are threatening to do.” While city wide murder is down 50% over the past four years, burglary, felony theft, misdemeanor theft and motor vehicle theft are all up a total of 40%.

Uganda next?

• Judge Releases Alleged Gang Member Kilmar Abrego Garcia From Jail (Margolis)

It’s hard to imagine that we live in a country where an illegal immigrant, accused of human trafficking, linked by law enforcement to MS-13, and once deported to El Salvador’s infamous maximum-security gang prison, could get to be free on U.S. soil, thanks to the kindness of a federal judge. Sadly, that’s apparently where we are. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant who should never have been here in the first place, is now heading back to Maryland to be with his wife and children as he awaits trial for human trafficking. “Today, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free,” Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Sean Hecker, said in a statement. “He is presently en route to his family in Maryland, after being unlawfully arrested and deported, and then imprisoned, all because of the government’s vindictive attack on a man who had the courage to fight back against the administration’s continuing assault on the rule of law. He is grateful that his access to American courts has provided meaningful due process.”

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, an Obama appointee, granted him release last month, though that release was delayed 30 days. According to Crenshaw, federal prosecutors and ICE had not sufficiently proven that he’s dangerous enough to be detained. If that doesn’t make your head spin, nothing will. Abrego’s immigration history is as messy as it gets. He entered illegally, won withholding of removal under an asylum loophole, and remained in Maryland with his wife and kids while ICE allowed him to do yearly check-ins.

In 2019, police in Maryland identified him in official documents as affiliated with MS-13, one of the most violent street gangs in the world. Judges later said that the evidence wasn’t conclusive, which is how the Left likes it; it demands airtight proof of gang membership before acting, as though credible law enforcement identification somehow means nothing. The Trump administration, recognizing the danger, labeled him an MS-13 member. Democrats and sympathetic judges later treated that “label” as though it were the real crime.

In 2022, during a Tennessee traffic stop, police caught Abrego Garcia driving a vehicle with nine passengers. At the time, he escaped charges. But earlier this year, federal prosecutors indicted him on smuggling-related counts. He pleaded not guilty and now calls it “vindictive.” Of course he does. In today’s climate, criminals are the victims and Americans are the afterthought. When the U.S. deported him, El Salvador sent Abrego to CECOT, a prison for cartel operatives and terrorists, where inmates rarely last long. He complained his life was at risk because rival gang members were intentionally mixed in. What’s ignored is that Abrego never should have been here in the first place. Yet the narrative paints him as a blameless victim of “lawless” Trump-era deportation policy.

If a suspected MS-13 member accused of trafficking who has already been deported once isn’t dangerous, then who is? DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin nailed it when she blasted the system last month: “The facts remain, this MS-13 gang member, human trafficker and illegal alien will never walk America’s streets again.” The catch, of course, is that ICE could still swoop in and detain him. Options are under discussion: whether to deport him back to El Salvador, Mexico, or even South Sudan. But the fact remains: right this very moment, Abrego Garcia is out.

Intel does poorly. Trump doesn’t want to lose any more chips. Makes sense. Not “socialism”.

• President Trump Announces US Govt Takes 10% Stake in INTEL (CTH)

After concerns were raised by congress that Intel’s current CEO Lip-Bu Tan was a venture capitalist investing in Chinese companies, a concern shared by President Trump, apparently things have changed considerably. Mr. Lip-Bu Tan came to the White House to address concerns about protecting U.S. national security interests. President Trump announces the U.S. government now has a 10% stake in the tech firm.

President Trump (Truth Social) – “It is my Great Honor to report that the United States of America now fully owns and controls 10% of INTEL, a Great American Company that has an even more incredible future. I negotiated this Deal with Lip-Bu Tan, the Highly Respected Chief Executive Officer of the Company. The United States paid nothing for these Shares, and the Shares are now valued at approximately $11 Billion Dollars. This is a great Deal for America and, also, a great Deal for INTEL. Building leading edge Semiconductors and Chips, which is what INTEL does, is fundamental to the future of our Nation. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

Intel has been struggling for the past several years, and President Trump has been focused on getting Semiconductor and Chip manufacturing established in the USA, a big national security issue. The Trump administration has been negotiating a 10% stake in Intel by converting grants the company was awarded under former President Joe Biden. Obviously, I’m not a big fan of government collaboration with private corporations, but this approach aligns with a very specific national security issue. This sounds like something Commerce Secretary Lutnick and President Trump would structure as a win/win. Intel Public Statement Here: “The government’s investment in Intel will be a passive ownership, with no Board representation or other governance or information rights. The government also agrees to vote with the Company’s Board of Directors on matters requiring shareholder approval, with limited exceptions.”

Sun
https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1959080653200163020
https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1959087009412391292

Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman tells Bill Maher a simple method to fall back asleep after waking up at night: "I can't promise, but I'm willing to wager… that within five minutes or so, you'll be back to sleep."pic.twitter.com/gF7p6qzaoE

— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) August 23, 2025

Sea dog
https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1959251780774342700

Waterdog

Beloved Friends

1. A toddler reassures his friend that there's no need to fear the sprinkler..

'It's safe, buddy… let me show you… see.'pic.twitter.com/4cqW5qbrau

— Wolf of X (@tradingMaxiSL) August 22, 2025

IVM

After a year of intensive research, Dr. William Makis presents the most critical graph of his career: the ivermectin dosing schedule for cancer.

According to Dr. Makis, for most cancers – including breast, colon, lung, pancreatic, renal, gastric, and leukemias – a starting dose… pic.twitter.com/X4FiacpGB6

— Camus (@newstart_2024) August 22, 2025

3 little birds
https://twitter.com/KarluskaP/status/1959035597525262347

Chickadee

This only happens to you once pic.twitter.com/6vUSUe7ZSV

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 23, 2025

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Debt Rattle April 22 2025

Apr 222025

April 22, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:56 am Finance Tagged with: Canada, China, deportations, gray trade, Hegseth, Pentagon, Supreme Court, Trump, Victory Day, wind energy, Xi 46 Responses »

Edward Hopper The Lee Shore 1941

• Trump Wants Direct Talks With Xi – Politico (RT)

• China Is In Economic Dire Straits And They’re No Longer Able To Hide It (ZH)

• China’s Gray Trade Strategy Blunts Impact of US Tariffs (Gorrie)

• The Shanghai Spirit – China Will Take No Bullying (Pepe Escobar)

• Trump Wants Piece Of Russia Claimed By Kiev – WSJ (RT)

• Trump Slams Supreme Court Over Blocking Deportations (JTN)

• Do You Prefer White Liberal States To Hispanic States? (Paul Craig Roberts)

• Trump Wants A Deal. Putin Wants Victory. Ukraine Will Get What It Deserves (RT)

• Putin Reacts To EU Threats On Victory Day (RT)

• Is a Coup Against Pete Hegseth Brewing at the Pentagon? (Margolis)

• Hegseth Slams Media Over Latest Smear Campaign: ‘Full of Hoaxsters’ (Margolis)

• US Senator Ron Johnson Says New 9/11 Investigation Could Happen (RT)

• Canada’s Conservatives See A Reversal of Fortune (JTN)

• Trump Administration Halts New York Offshore Wind Project (Wade)

• The UK Is Doubling Down On Wind Energy (ZH)

Rickards
https://twitter.com/JimFergusonUK/status/1914201957213814828

112
https://twitter.com/defense_civil25/status/1914296461870702669

O’Leary

O’LEARY: “These tariffs are not going to be forever … Let this administration get this thing done and let's move on. Because the last 20 administrations never dealt with it. This one is … You may have Trump Derangement Syndrome. I don't care. Because that's not what matters.”… pic.twitter.com/5LBth5YfgU

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) April 21, 2025

Thiel

Peter Thiel: In the 2000s, people thought Elon was really crazy.

“When Elon was building both Tesla and SpaceX in the 2000s, people thought he was just really, really crazy, even a lot of those of us who'd worked with him at PayPal.

There was this PayPal book that David Sacks… pic.twitter.com/YdfggrzkEh

— ELON CLIPS (@ElonClipsX) April 21, 2025

Tucker

Tucker Carlson tells Alex Jones that a false flag attack disguised as a fight against “racism” will be used to permanently shut down free speech on social media.

He says people will be manipulated into giving up their rights under the pretense of safety.

He says certain… pic.twitter.com/Cp0vMVnyEO

— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) April 21, 2025

Trump shuts down all potential communication lines between him and Xi. Except for those he wants. Direct line. Call me.

• Trump Wants Direct Talks With Xi – Politico (RT)

US President Donald Trump has stifled almost every channel of diplomatic outreach with China, aiming to deal directly with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, as the trade war between the two superpowers escalates, Politico has reported citing anonymous sources. The increasing tit-for-tat duties between the US and China is part of a broader US tariff campaign against more than 90 countries, said to be aimed at addressing unfair trade imbalances. While Trump has paused the hikes for most countries for 90 days, Beijing was excluded and faces a 145% tariff. China has retaliated with 125% tariffs on US goods and restricted certain key exports. The US president is adamant about direct negotiations with Xi, and has stifled other diplomatic avenues, Politico wrote on Saturday, citing anonymous former US State Department officials and an industry official.

Trump has not authorized White House delegates to engage with Beijing, the outlet cited its sources as saying. In addition, the Senate has not confirmed a US ambassador to China, Trump has not nominated an official to lead a diplomatic effort, and Washington has thus far not reached out to the Chinese embassy, Politico reported. “The backchannels don’t work because President Trump doesn’t want them to,” Ryan Hass, former director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia at the National Security Council during the Obama administration, told the outlet. “Trump wants to deal directly with President Xi in the same way he has with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he said. Washington is waiting for Beijing to reach out and call first, CNN wrote earlier this month, citing anonymous officials.

“China wants to make a deal. They just don’t know how quite to go about it,” Trump has said. “They’re proud people.” Additionally, Washington intends to use negotiations over potential tariff exemptions to pressure US trading partners to curb their ties with China and ramp up pressure on Beijing, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, citing unnamed sources. In a statement on Monday, the Chinese Commerce Ministry stressed that it would retaliate against any country that takes such a deal “at the expense of China’s interests.”

Memories of all the roads to nowhere and the giant empty apartment buidings a few years ago.

• China Is In Economic Dire Straits And They’re No Longer Able To Hide It (ZH)

Official economic data from any government is always treated with suspicion by anyone with common sense. The US, for example, witnessed some of the most egregious statistical tinkering imaginable under the Biden Administration, not to mention outright lies and propaganda from the establishment media on the health of the economy. To this day no one has been fired (or tarred and feathered) for hiding the reality of the stagflation crisis. Any government or corporate economist that called the threat “transitory” should be stripped of their financial prestige and banished to a cash register at Arby’s. And let’s not forget Biden’s misrepresentation of the labor market, portraying millions of new jobs for illegal migrants and visa holders as if they were jobs benefiting American citizens. In the US and across the western world, lying about the economy is generally seen by politicians as a temporary solution to secure reelection.

However, in China, lying about the economy is treated as a national security imperative. If there’s anything in the world that gives communists a feeling of existential dread, it’s the fear that their ideological enemies will discover proof that communism doesn’t work. The Trump Administration’s tariffs on China are not the initiator of the nation’s troubles, they are more a bookend to a process of decline that has been ongoing for years. Overall tariffs on Chinese goods currently sit at 124%, but some goods will be taxed as high as 245%. Trump has given a 1 month exemption on electronic parts and devices, perhaps to offer manufacturers like Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft time to arrange sourcing from alternative vendors. The problem for Chinese manufacturers is not just the tariffs but the uncertainty of timing and sudden changes to policy. They say no one is willing to make a big move on production or shipments until the trade landscape becomes more predictable. This means most Chinese factories are frozen in stasis.

Trump’s tariff actions are widely criticized by the media as erratic or poorly planned, but what they don’t understand is that uncertainty is the real leverage, not the tariffs. What seems like a spur of the moment decision or a sudden capitulation on Trump’s part can be highly effective at throwing foreign governments and corporations off balance. Globalism requires a perpetual status quo, change of any kind is like holy water to a vampire. Chinese shipments are on standby and orders are frozen. Nothing is moving. At bottom, China will not be able to survive tariffs on the current scale for long (a single year of 124% tariffs would crush China’s economy beyond repair). The US is 15% of China’s export market, which may not sound substantial but their next largest trading partner (outside of Hong Kong) is Vietnam at 4% of exports.

In terms of domestic buying, China is 11% of the global consumer market which is not too shabby, but compared to the US with its 30%-35% global consumer market share there is no chance that the Chinese will be able to fill the void domestically and stay afloat. But the situation is far worse than most people know… China has been suffering from a deflationary crisis since 2023. An uptick in exports during the pandemic was offset by the CCP’s draconian lockdowns. This was, essentially, fiscal suicide on the part of the government and China has been struggling ever since. Their property market has imploded, partially due to overbuilding through government subsidized infrastructure programs that flooded the market with poorly constructed homes and buildings that were then left to rot. Corporate defaults have run rampant and left investors with nothing.

There was some optimism that the government’s measures to end the crisis had been working to reinvigorate the market, but on Mar 31st, government-linked developer Vanke reported a record 49.5 billion yuan (S$9.1 billion) annual loss for 2024. It’s the company’s first full-year loss since its initial public offering in 1991, reigniting concerns about the sector and showing just how deep the problem runs. When these projects do finally see some progress it is often due to dangerously poor construction standards and subpar workmanship; what many now refer to as “Tofu Dreg” buildings. The deflationary spiral has been eating away at employment and has also resulted in numerous factories refusing to pay their workers on time (or at all). Unpaid wages are leading to frequent protests and a disturbing trend of factory fires. The government is limited in how it can respond to the problem. Stimulus is an option, but China’s overall non-financial debt is well over 300% of GDP already.

China’s attempts to hide the decay from the outside world are becoming less and less effective. With Chinese citizens able to access the internet beyond the “Great Firewall”, more and more videos are being leaked by people within the country who are tired of the misinformation. Again, the CCP views negative economic data as a national security threat and any citizen caught leaking this info could be subject to harsh punishment. Chinese citizens have taken substantial risks to get the truth out there. It cannot be stressed enough that the global economy is largely a farce, but China is closest to the edge of the cliff in terms of consequences and crisis. The interdependency of globalism has left many nations without the ability to weather a trade dispute and China’s survival is almost entirely based on steady exports to the west and the US in particular. Don’t let high paid TikTok and YouTube influencers fool you with videos of Chinese skyscrapers caked with LED lights or lavish parties with dancing robots. This is not the true China. Underneath the facade is a nation on the brink of disaster.

China tries to export to US via Vietnam because of tariffs. Easy to shut down.

• China’s Gray Trade Strategy Blunts Impact of US Tariffs (Gorrie)

Is a new boom in deceptive trading practices taking shape in many parts of the world? As the U.S.–China trade war intensifies, it certainly looks that way. With U.S. tariffs reaching 145 percent on Chinese imports—at least at the time of this writing—Beijing’s new strategy seems to include the use of so-called gray trade to bypass American trade barriers. Gray trade involves rerouting goods through low-tariff countries, such as Vietnam, Mexico, or Malaysia, to conceal their Chinese origin and thereby reduce U.S. import duties. This sneaky tactic has surged as a response to President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies, making China’s goods less competitive in the U.S. market due to their added cost.

Gray Trade Loophole Strategy The simple idea behind gray trade is to exploit loopholes in U.S. Rules of Origin, the trading guidance for determining a product’s country of origin for tariff purposes. Chinese goods, for example, will remain unassembled or may be about 90 percent manufactured before being shipped to an intermediary country. There, they undergo final production, assembly, processing, repackaging, or relabeling to qualify as originating from that country, rather than from China. For example, Chinese electronic parts may be sent to Vietnam, assembled into a product, and then labeled, “Made in Vietnam.” This enables China to benefit from the 10 percent tariff on Vietnamese imports under Trump’s 2025 reciprocal tariff regime, instead of the 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods. It’s a perfectly sensible response by Beijing, and there’s no doubt that Chinese firms are rerouting goods through Vietnam, Mexico, and Turkey to exploit lower tariffs on goods sourced from those countries. A related tactic occurring in Mexico involves dividing goods into packages that are below the $800 tariff-free threshold for non-Chinese origins, a tactic called the “Tijuana two-step.”

China Has to Resort to Gray Trade But gray trade isn’t new or even unfamiliar to the second Trump administration. During Trump’s first term, Chinese solar manufacturers bypassed 30 percent tariffs by partnering with their neighbors in Southeast Asia. In 2025, tracing the movement and provenance of vast numbers of products is complex at best and nearly impossible at worst, making it a challenge to disrupt gray trade. It’s no mystery why Beijing is engaging in gray trade. With its exports to the United States accounting for 10 percent of its trade and supporting between 10 million and 20 million jobs, some experts say the world’s largest manufacturer faces an estimated 80 percent decline in its exports over the next two years, if the gray trade were to cease.

As domestic economic conditions decline due to the anticipated extensive trade tensions, China’s 2025 GDP projections have fallen from 5 percent to as low as 4 percent, potentially resulting in a 20 percent drop in GDP growth in just one year. With joblessness among its young people (ages 16 to 24) already approaching 17 percent, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) faces a growing resentment among its people. The Party would like to avoid an uprising by its younger generation. The gray trade has provided a much-needed cushion against the blow of the Trump administration’s high tariffs. For instance, according to official data, China’s exports surged by 12.4 percent in March, with exports to ASEAN increasing by 11.6 percent and exports to Vietnam climbing by nearly 19 percent.

Impact on Low-Tariff Countries But it’s not just China that gains from gray trade. Its low-tariff country partners also gain economically from gray trade but face risks, too. Gray trading partners, such as Vietnam, Malaysia, and Mexico, profit from trade and processing fees, with some estimates on the social media platform X reaching as high as 10 percent. It’s worth noting that between 2017 and 2022, Vietnam replaced almost half of China’s lost market share in U.S. imports. However, gray trading partner countries risk the consequences of U.S. pushback, resulting in a delicate balancing act for these countries caught between gray trade with China and managing important trading relationships with the United States.

Economic and Geopolitical Implications Economically, gray trade preserves China’s U.S. market access for the moment, but it raises costs as intermediaries take their cut, with logistics costs also increasing. For U.S. consumers, it may delay steep price hikes, but won’t eliminate them. Geopolitically, Beijing’s retaliatory 125 percent tariffs on U.S. goods, plus adding barriers to U.S. beef and LNG imports, raise tensions even higher. CCP leader Xi Jinping’s recent visits to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia could have secured their gray trade hubs going forward.

But the impact of gray trade is perhaps deeper and wider than many may expect. On the one hand, it’s a reasonable response on China’s part to U.S. tariffs. But on the other hand, there are greater risks. The United States could expand tariffs or use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to close loopholes. That, too, may be a rational response by the United States, or it could make things worse. “The global trade system for the past ninety years is collapsing, leaving it difficult for people to forecast the economic impact and tell where the bottom for a market is,” Vincent Chan, a China strategist at Aletheia Capital Ltd., told Bloomberg. As new phases of U.S. trade policy and responses unfold, the biggest risk may be uncontrolled escalation in both tariff retaliation and other forms of retaliation. In short, the impact of the gray trade may be deeper and wider than many expect, and it could even lead to a global trade war, with its own far-reaching implications.

Pepe is in China and in love.

• The Shanghai Spirit – China Will Take No Bullying (Pepe Escobar)

There could not be a more strategic place to spend these past Trump Tariff Tizzy (TTT) heady days than in Shanghai – China’s trade, commercial and cultural capital. From the top of the Jin Mao tower in the world class Lujiazui financial district in Pudong, an elegantly discreet art deco companion to the World Financial Center super-skyscraper – the trademark symbol of China’s economic power – it’s as if the spokes of a wheel radiated to the Bund and beyond tracking a ceaseless drive to counteract the absurd idiocy of the “Emperor of Tariffs”, relentless mocked across myriad Chinese social media platforms. I have had the privilege to transit from the Bund Financial Center, which hosts among others the Fosun Foundation – a bamboo-inspired architectural masterpiece – to the China Academy at the immaculate campus of Fudan University, where I shared a seminar with star professor Zhang Weiwei and a round table with top PhD students from several disciplines. Professor Zhang Weiwei is the foremost conceptualizer of China as a civilization-state.

The key theme of our seminar was the Russia-China strategic partnership, but inevitably the focus switched back and forth to the rationale behind the Emperor of Tariffs. The questions from the students were as sharp as they come. That was compounded with an in-depth interview for China Academy hosted by their CEO, the formidable Pan Xiaoli. A visit to the HQ of Guancha – the top independent new/analysis site in China, whose several channels in several different platforms reach an astonishing 200 million people – could not have been more timely. Guo Jiezhen, a research fellow from the China Institute, who was part of our round table at Fudan University, came up with one of the more astute analyses of what he describes as Trump’s “deranged money-making technique”.

While meeting with Guancha’s new editor-in-chief He Shenquan and discussing with hyper-competent international relations specialist Kelly Liu and Yang Hanyi – the China Institute’s communication officer – we watched together an exceptional podcast featuring PLA Colonel Wang Lihua, Gao Zhikai – Deputy Director of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) – and the always essential Li Bo, President of the Shanghai Chunqiu Development Strategy Institute. And that’s when Mao Zedong’s legendary 1960s formulation of the US as a “paper tiger” – quoted in everything from Latin American guerrilla slogans to Godard movies – resurfaced with full force. Wang Lihua picked up on what President Xi had told Putin at their landmark meeting at the Kremlin two years ago: we are right in the middle of changes not seen in 100 years. Wang: “This change cannot be changed all at once, and the trade war between China and the United States will not be resolved once and for all. This kind of friction and struggle, in the words of Chairman Mao, is ‘making trouble, failing, making trouble again, failing again, until destruction.’”

Wang wrapped up with what may encapsulate the general feeling in China, identified in every nook and cranny across Shanghai: “It is difficult for the United States to repair itself from within. Now the United States has to confront China and the whole world, and its strength is obviously not enough, so failure is inevitable. We are not afraid of a protracted war, because time is on our side.” China “not afraid of war”, however it may manifest itself, from hybrid to hot, is the consensus feeling in Shanghai, borrowing from the Maoist concept of “united front”, and espoused from academics and business leaders to residents of “model quarters” of the Maoist era still impeccably preserved – and with an eye for innovation (example: row after row of a.c. outlets to feed the array of electric bikes parked in the internal patios).

Hard bargain.

• Trump Wants Piece Of Russia Claimed By Kiev – WSJ (RT)

The US intends to assert control over the Russian territory surrounding Europe’s largest nuclear power plant as part of a mediated agreement between Kiev and Moscow, according to the Wall Street Journal. The proposal is part of a reported package of options that the US expects Ukraine to respond to by the end of this week. Last Thursday, senior members of US President Donald Trump’s administration met with Ukrainian and European officials in Paris. One of their ideas aimed at facilitating a peace agreement between Kiev and Moscow involves designating the land around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP) as neutral territory under US control, the newspaper reported Sunday, citing anonymous sources. The former Ukrainian region hosting the facility voted to join Russia in 2022, though Kiev has dismissed the referendum as a sham.

In March, Trump claimed that Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky had proposed that the US take ownership of his country’s nuclear power plants. Zelensky, however, refuted this assertion, stating that he and Trump only discussed potential US investments in the Zaporozhye NPP. Additionally, Washington has suggested recognizing Russian sovereignty over Crimea, not opposing Russian control over four other former Ukrainian regions, including Zaporozhye, and rejecting Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership, according to the WSJ. However, the list of proposals does not include any cap on the strength of the Ukrainian army or ban on troop deployments by European NATO members in Ukraine, the newspaper noted. If the US, its European allies, and Ukraine achieve a “convergence” this week, the package will be presented to Moscow, the WSJ reported.

Moscow has firmly rejected any proposed NATO presence in Ukraine and has asserted that the Istanbul agreement — a truce proposal negotiated in 2022 that includes limitations on the Ukrainian military — should serve as the foundation for a future peace accord. This plan was rejected by Kiev following intervention from then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Russia has accused the EU and the UK of attempting to undermine Trump’s mediation efforts in order to prolong the conflict in Ukraine. The US president has cautioned that his administration would “just take a pass” if the diplomatic effort becomes too challenging.

“We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years..”

“What a ridiculous situation we are in..”

• Trump Slams Supreme Court Over Blocking Deportations (JTN)

President Donald Trump on Monday slammed the United States’ court system, including the Supreme Court, over their response to his efforts to deport illegal migrants, stating it is “not possible” to try every person who is in the U.S. illegally. The Supreme Court over the weekend temporarily blocked Trump’s latest round of deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. Trump’s deportations have come under scrutiny after he removed hundreds of illegal migrants he accused of being gang members without due process. The president defended his actions in a post on Truth Social, claiming it would take “200 years” to try every illegal migrant, and slammed the Supreme Court for allegedly not wanting him to “send violent criminals and terrorists back to Venezuela.”

“I’m doing what I was elected to do, remove criminals from our Country, but the Courts don’t seem to want me to do that,” Trump wrote in the post. “My team is fantastic, doing an incredible job, however, they are being stymied at every turn by even the U.S. Supreme Court, which I have such great respect for, but which seemingly doesn’t want me to send violent criminals and terrorists back to Venezuela, or any other Country.” The president praised Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s dissent, stating the justice was right for wanting to “dissolve the pause on deportations.” “If we don’t get these criminals out of our country, we are not going to have a country any longer,” Trump insisted. “We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years. We would need hundreds of thousands of trials for the hundreds of thousands of Illegals we are sending out of the country. Such a thing is not possible to do.

“What a ridiculous situation we are in,” he concluded.

“Millions of immigrant-invaders can enter America illegally, but they cannot be deported until they have had their day in court..”

“The deportation hearings, which will be shopped to Democrat district and appeal courts, will take years and will not be resolved until Trump’s term is over.”

• Do You Prefer White Liberal States To Hispanic States? (Paul Craig Roberts)

Like Trump’s on-off-on tariffs, the US Supreme Court’s rulings are off-on-maybe-we will see. Last week the Court overruled Boasberg and said that Trump had the authority to deport illegal aliens. But by the time last Saturday arrived, the Court had changed its mind and “paused” the deportation of illegal entrants. The Court now has decided that those who had entered the US illegally, thus committing a crime, had the right to challenge their deportation in US courts.Here is the Supreme Court’s ruling: “The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court.” Note the Court’s use of the word “putative.” The Court is saying that it is uncertain that the illegals are illegals. Once you have walked in, you are an American, right? That seems to be the Democrats’ position. What will the Court’s position be?

Amazing, isn’t it. Millions of immigrant-invaders can enter America illegally, but they cannot be deported until they have had their day in court. To be clear, what the US Supreme Court has ruled is that there will be no further deportations. The 16 or 30 million, or whatever the figure, illegal entrants are here to stay. The deportation hearings, which will be shopped to Democrat district and appeal courts, will take years and will not be resolved until Trump’s term is over. For decades American conservatives have thought that the most important reason to have a Republican president is Supreme Court Appointments, but now we see it matters not to have a Republican majority on the Supreme Court. The Court, whether Republican or Democrat, has no comprehension of American survival. The courts are preoccupied with grabbing power from the executive.

Just as the US took Texas, Colorado, California and the SouthWest from Mexico, the hispanics are taking it back with the aid of the Democrat Party and the US Supreme Court. And, of course, with the acquiesce of Republicans who are incapable of fighting. The question is: how much do we really care? Would you prefer to have white liberal Colorado, California, Arizona or Hispanic Colorado, California, and Arizona. I would prefer the Hispanics. They are more decent people than white liberals, and, unlike white liberals, they do not hate America. Perhaps the ignorant insouciance of the American courts will have the unintended result of replacing anti-American blue states with Hispanic states. It would be a huge improvement in the quality of America.

Sergei Poletaev.

• Trump Wants A Deal. Putin Wants Victory. Ukraine Will Get What It Deserves (RT)

The Easter ceasefire has come and gone, with Russia and Ukraine trading accusations over thousands of violations as fighting resumes across the front lines – yet another reminder of how difficult it is to bring this war to an end. Amid the renewed hostilities, Donald Trump’s long-promised peace plan is colliding with geopolitical realities. Despite backchannel talks with the Kremlin and growing pressure from both allies and opponents, Trump has yet to produce a deal that doesn’t resemble capitulation – or undermine his own political standing. With a new offensive looming and patience wearing thin, the real question now is whether peace is still on the table – and if so, on whose terms.

The Relentless Push for Peace The fundamental difference between President Donald Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, is that Trump is genuinely trying to negotiate a meaningful peace with Russia. He has no interest in prolonging what he sees as a losing war inherited from Biden, and he’s determined to end it. But he also knows he can’t accept just any deal – he needs a version of peace that won’t look like a defeat. After all, his critics are ready to frame any compromise as his own personal Afghanistan.That’s the framework Trump is working within. What motivates Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t really a top concern for him. So, he sends a trusted confidant – Steve Witkoff – to explore the possibility of striking a deal with the Kremlin. In his meeting with Putin, Witkoff likely hears the same hardline message the Russian leader shares in public – and, reportedly, in private calls with Trump: lasting peace can only be achieved on Moscow’s terms.

At a minimum, that means reviving the Istanbul agreements with additional territorial concessions. At most, it involves Russia’s sweeping 2021 demands to redraw Eastern Europe’s security architecture and, in effect, reverse the legacy of the Cold War. It also seems Putin thinks he can secure at least his minimum objectives through brute force. Whether he’s bluffing or not, he’s clearly using the threat of escalation to pressure Trump. The message is implicit: Worried that Ukraine’s collapse will be blamed on you? There’s one way to prevent that – make a deal with me. In return, Trump could preserve face, gain economic wins like Nord Stream 2, and claim peace during his term. Meanwhile, Putin gets what he really wants: a thaw in US-Russia relations, an end to sanctions, and, crucially, legitimization of Russia’s actions in Ukraine. And if future conflicts arise, he’ll be in a stronger position. Not to mention, it would strike a blow against the globalists – an enemy both men seem to share.

That’s the pitch Putin’s been making, and by all indications, it’s what he and Witkoff discussed in their five-hour meeting. Witkoff, for his part, appears to be on board – he said as much during a Fox News appearance on April 15. But the final call rests with Trump, not Witkoff. And Trump faces a difficult challenge: even if he wants to make a deal, how can he ensure it sticks? It’s not just Ukraine and Europe trying to sabotage the talks – that was to be expected – but opposition is also coming from inside Trump’s own camp. Take Keith Kellogg, for example. He might tell Trump that Ukraine will never accept any such agreement. He could argue that Europe is fully aligned with Kiev and that if Trump really wants peace, he’ll need to get Putin to accept a European military presence in Ukraine. You want peace? Here’s the map – go make it happen.

Then there’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who may quietly but firmly advance the globalist view: any peace must be on Western terms, not Russian ones. He might even bring a fresh round of sanctions and another military aid package for Ukraine to the table. It’s a situation reminiscent of 2016. Back then, Trump had seemingly cordial relations with Putin but ended up expanding anti-Russia measures due to domestic constraints. Today, his political position at home is stronger – but so are the stakes.

EU knows no shame.

• Putin Reacts To EU Threats On Victory Day (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has commended the courage of European leaders who choose to come to Moscow for events commemorating the 80th anniversary of victory in World War II, despite pressure on them from EU officials.Last week, the bloc’s top diplomat and former Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, warned the leaders of EU member and candidate states against flying to Russia to take part, recommending instead that they visit Kiev to show solidarity with Ukraine. Other EU officials have reportedly threatened to derail membership bids for candidate countries whose leaders defy Brussels on the matter. Journalists asked Putin to comment on the reports after the All-Russian Municipal Service Award ceremony in Moscow on Monday.

“Those who are going to come to Russia have much more courage than those who are hiding behind someone’s back and trying to threaten others,” he replied.“In this case, [threatening] those who are going to celebrate the historical merits of people who gave their lives in the fight against Nazism,” Putin said. According to Kallas, participation in this year’s events in Moscow “will be not taken lightly.” Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the only EU member state leader who has promised to attend, blasted the statement as outright “disrespectful.” “Is Ms. Kallas’s warning a form of blackmail or a signal that I will be punished?” he wrote on X last week. “The year is 2025, not 1939,” he added.

The president of EU candidate Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, similarly indicated that he would not change his plans in the face of pressure from Brussels. “I have not changed my decision… Eight months ago, I announced my visit to Moscow, publicly,” he said last week, according to Serbian media.Moscow has extended multiple invitations to this year’s landmark celebrations, including to the heads of China, India, and Brazil, as well as a number of other international leaders. Victory Day is one of the most important national holidays in Russia. The event is celebrated annually on May 9 to mark the 1945 triumph of the USSR over Nazi Germany and its allies, and to honor the estimated 26.6 million deaths the Soviet Union suffered in World War II. Around 18 million were civilian deaths.

Recently Hegseth, JD Vance, Tulsi Gabbard and Susie Wiles voted against bombing Iran. Three Pentagon staff departed. This is the result. Usual suspects: NPR, NYT, Politico et al.

• Is a Coup Against Pete Hegseth Brewing at the Pentagon? (Margolis)

Something tells me that the liberal media is trying to force Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth from the Pentagon. According to a report from Politico, the Pentagon has become a “chaotic” mess because of Hegseth’s alleged influence, and it’s becoming a problem for the administration. “It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership,” the article claims. “President Donald Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. Given that, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer.” It’s a claim so ludicrous that you almost have to appreciate the creative writing involved. What’s the evidence? A few anonymous complaints and a spin cycle that would make a laundromat envious.

John Ullyot, the writer of the article, claims that he’s a Hegseth supporter, yet the Pentagon recently asked him to resign. So I’m sure he doesn’t have an axe to grind. But let’s take a look at what he’s claiming anyway. According to Ullyot, the Pentagon “is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership.” Curiously, to prove his point, he cites the “Signalgate” kerfuffle as evidence of the chaos, not the successful mission against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Despite his repeated claims of supporting Hegseth, his narrative sounds like it was lifted straight from the Democrat playbook. I suspect he leans on his supposed backing of Hegseth not out of conviction, but as a shield to lend credibility to what amounts to a repackaged left-wing hit job on the Pentagon.

“Yet even strong backers of the secretary like me must admit: The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon — and it’s becoming a real problem for the administration,” Ullyot writes. Let’s not pretend that this isn’t orchestrated. The timing is telling. Hegseth has been critical of the Biden administration’s dismal defense policies, exposing its failure to prioritize American security interests. And now, as if by magic, Politico drops a hit piece linking him to alleged dysfunction at the Pentagon by a “friend.” Give me a break. He sounds like the next Omarosa. We saw this play out during Trump’s first term, and it looks like it’s happening all over again — figures who claim to support the president suddenly breaking ranks “for the greater good.” But scratch the surface, and it’s clear that they’re serving as mouthpieces for the deep state, trying to create the very dysfunction and chaos they claim already exists.

It’s a classic tactic: create the chaos, then point to it as proof they were right all along. Ullyot claims that “There are very likely more shoes to drop in short order, with even bigger bombshell stories coming this week, key Pentagon reporters have been telling sources privately.” Ahhh, sources. If anything, this article proves one thing: the left and their media enablers are running scared. So let’s call the situation what it is. Politico isn’t reporting the news; it’s trying to shape it. Hegseth stands for values that terrify the liberal elite: strength, accountability, and an America-first mindset. And that’s why the left is working so hard to undermine him, even if it means stretching the truth to the breaking point to create chaos.

Hegseth survived phase 1. That emboldened him, also because it shows Trump’s trust and loyalty.

• Hegseth Slams Media Over Latest Smear Campaign: ‘Full of Hoaxsters’ (Margolis)

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth didn’t hold back when asked about the latest media-driven controversy involving internal Signal messages and supposed leaks from the Pentagon. Speaking during the White House Easter Egg Roll, Hegseth delivered a scathing rebuke of the press, accusing it of orchestrating a smear campaign using anonymous sources and recycled narratives. “What a big surprise,” Hegseth said, when asked about the so-called “Signal chat controversy.” “A few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax. They got Pulitzers for a bunch of lies — Pulitzers for a bunch of lies, and on hoaxes, time and time again.” Hegseth wasn’t finished. As reporters tried to pepper him with more questions, he tore into what he sees as the media’s standard operating procedure: relying on unverifiable leaks and turning them into politically motivated attacks.

“This is what the media does,” he said. “They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations.” “But it’s not gonna work with me,” he added defiantly. “Because we’re changing the Defense Department. We’re putting the Pentagon back in the hands of war fighters, and anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees on old news doesn’t matter.” Former Pentagon official John Ullyot, who was recently asked to resign, just penned a thinly veiled hit piece in Politico claiming that the Pentagon has descended into “chaos” and predicting that Hegseth’s ouster is imminent. The article leans heavily on anonymous sources and paints a conveniently damning picture that plays right into the hands of the deep state.

It’s a familiar playbook: pose as a concerned insider while amplifying the very narrative the left wants to push. The timing is no accident. These attacks are surfacing just as Hegseth is aggressively working to clean house, purge entrenched bureaucrats, and return the Pentagon to the control of actual warfighters. This isn’t genuine concern; it’s a coordinated attempt to take down an outsider who refuses to play by their rules. As the secretary stood alongside his father and his children, he reminded reporters what motivates him. “This is what we’re doing it for. These kids right here. This is why we’re fighting the fake news media. This is why we’re fighting slash-and-burn Democrats. This is why we’re fighting hoaxsters.” When one reporter tried to interject with another question, Hegseth cut through the noise.

“This group right here,” he said, pointing toward the assembled press, “full of hoaxsters that peddle anonymous sources from leakers with axes to grind. And then you put it all together as if it’s some news story.” Despite the media’s coordinated efforts to generate controversy, Hegseth made it clear he isn’t backing down.“I’m really proud of what we’re doing for the president — fighting hard across the board,” he said before heading off to enjoy the Easter event with his family. “I’ve spoken to the president, and we are gonna continue fighting on the same page all the way.” In typical fashion, the media tried to create a scandal. But in Pete Hegseth, they’ve found someone unafraid to punch back.

https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1914484235597176850

24 years ago.

• US Senator Ron Johnson Says New 9/11 Investigation Could Happen (RT)

Republican Senator Ron Johnson has suggested that new congressional hearings into the September 11 attacks may be forthcoming, citing unanswered questions surrounding the official narrative and the handling of evidence. On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger airliners, crashing two into the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan. A third plane struck the Pentagon, while the fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), World Trade Center Building 7 collapsed due to fires ignited by debris from one of the nearby towers. During an interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson published Monday, Senator Johnson questioned several aspects of the 9/11 investigation, including the collapse of Building 7.

“I don’t know that you can find structural engineers – other than the ones that have the corrupt investigation inside NIST – that would say that that thing didn’t come down in any other way than a controlled demolition,” he said. Johnson, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, also criticized the removal and destruction of physical evidence from the site, calling it “totally contrary to any other firefighting investigation procedures.” “Where’s all the documentation from the NIST investigation? There are a host of questions that I want and I will be asking, quite honestly, now that my eyes have been opened,” he added. When asked whether the public might see hearings on the issue, Johnson replied, “I think so.”

He further suggested that President Donald Trump, “being a New Yorker himself,” might have an interest in reopening the case: “What actually happened in 9/11? What do we know? What is being covered up? My guess is there’s an awful lot being covered up in terms of what the American government knows about 9/11.” Johnson also said he recently spoke with former Congressman Curt Weldon and plans to “work with him to expose what he’s willing to expose.” Earlier this month, Weldon urged Trump to appoint “people of impeccable integrity” to lead a commission to “study the facts” surrounding 9/11.

In an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson, Weldon dismissed the label of conspiracy theorist, suggesting that the CIA and the government have long engaged in disinformation. “You know, what gets me is reporters who call people conspiracy theorists. Well, that’s all the agency does! They’re the ones who create the conspiracies,” he said. “They have whole courses for their agents on how to make people look like they’re conspiracy theorists.” The 9/11 Commission Report, released in 2004, remains the most comprehensive federal review of the attacks. However, critics have pointed to omissions and the continued classification of key government documents. Johnson also referenced a bipartisan effort with Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in 2023 to obtain unredacted FBI files. “We wanted to get those answers, those documents for the families. Again, we didn’t get squat from the FBI,” he said.

January: Conservatives polled 92.5%. April, 3 months later, they poll 38%. ¿Perqué? A very fertile breeding ground for TDS.

• Canada’s Conservatives See A Reversal of Fortune (JTN)

Before Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down in favor of Mark Carney, Canada’s Conservative Party was expected to streamroll the national elections and overturn more than a decade of far-left liberal leadership. But under Pierre Poilievre, the Conservatives have seen their electoral prospects fall off a cliff as he has struggled to meet the moment and galvanize his supporters on a promise of tangible change. Betting markets currently hand Carney a 76.6% chance of winning the election, to Poilievre’s 23.3%. The figure represents a stunning reversal from mid-January, when Poilievre was assigned a 92.5% chance of winning. The Canadian Broadcast Corporation’s current polling shows Carney’s Liberal Party with 43.2% support, while Poilievre and the Conservatives trail with 38.0%.

Canada is a multi-party parliamentary democracy that often sees other blocs gain seats in its legislature, though no other party is expected to seriously compete for the premiership. Under CBC estimates, the Liberals have an 83% shot at an outright majority and a 13% shot at winning a plurality, while the Conservatives reportedly have a 2% chance of taking the most seats. “I have never seen a transformation of our voter landscape in Canada of that nature,” pollster Frank Graves told Politico. Adding to Poilievre’s own shortcomings is the ongoing tariff row between Canada and the United States, which has allowed the Liberals to own the nationalist angle while Carney’s status as a fresh face has let him shed much of Trudeau’s baggage. The Conservatives were the favorites to win as recently as mid-March. So why the massive flip? In short, Poilievre, Trump and immigration.

Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump criticized the trade relationship between Ottawa and Washington, suggesting that the Canadians enjoyed unfair advantages due to dubious practices to undercut American markets. “The dominant issue is, how do we negotiate future trade relationships with the United States and all those sorts of issues around tariffs,” Politico’s Graves said. “And [Carney] has a very large advantage on that.” While Trudeau was still in office, he traveled to Mar-a-Lago on a high-profile visit to address prospective tariffs. Trump later mocked Trudeau as the “governor of Canada,” leaning into his tounge-in-cheek rhetoric of making the country the 51st American state. Trudeau himself was widely lampooned in the Canadian media for seemingly surrendering his dignity to the American president.

After Trudeau resigned, however, Trump went further and announced reciprocal tariffs, which have seen Carney garner support for opposing them and triggered a nationalist Canadian response on the left to Trump himself. Trump’s nominal ideological link to the Conservatives as a fellow politician on the right, moreover, appears to have hurt the party’s image, despite Poilievre’s own criticisms of Trump and the tariffs. “It produced this really dramatic rise in national attachment, which is the main factor that propelled the Liberals to their elevated position,” Graves said of Trump’s goading.

Like many Western countries, Canada is struggling with an identity crisis amid mass immigration, notably from South Asian countries such as India and Bangladesh. Trudeau was comparable to President Joe Biden in allowing large numbers of migrants into the country. The sheer volume of migrants contributed substantially to an ongoing housing shortage in Canada and, like in America, overwhelmed public services. Immigration ranked among the leading contributors to Trudeau’s decline in popularity.

Though the issue may have stoked considerable frustration in the electorate, the Conservatives struggled to harness voter discontent about immigration and were hesitant to lean into deportations in the way that Trump did while campaigning for the White House. Poilievre has called for “moderate, reasonable levels of immigration” though he has made no commitment to specific immigration levels. In recent weeks, however, he has softened somewhat on the issue and issued statements more welcoming to immigrants, though that has come with some backlash. “Bring your culture, bring your traditions, bring your family, but do not bring foreign conflicts onto our streets,” Poilievre said this month. The clip went viral, attracting millions of views and thousands of comments, nearly all of which condemned the soft stance on immigration.

Though the Canadian Conservative Party occupies the right side of the Canadian aisle, as one would expect, they are far from the ideological siblings of the MAGA-dominated Republicans in the United States. Rather, under its current leadership, the Conservatives more closely resemble the GOP of Mitt Romney and so-called “RINOS.” Graves gave Poilievre credit for running a “disciplined campaign” but asserted he had not been able to pivot on his messaging in response to Trump, especially in light of a subset of his supporters liking the American president.

“They’ve tried a lot of things,” he said. “They’ve tried labeling Carney as another Trudeau. That’s not penetrating. They’ve tried going after him on an ethics issue. But in our testing on this stuff, they haven’t figured out a message that’s really resonating.” Poilievre used the approach of likening Carney to Trudeau as recently as Sunday, saying then that the only adjustments he made to the former prime minister’s platform were to “increase inflationary spending even higher.” “Canada can’t afford a 4th Liberal term of the same Liberals pushing higher taxes, higher spending, and higher inflation,” he posted. The election is set for next Monday. Canadian law prohibits publication on Election Day of previously unreleased polls as well as the release of “exit polls” before all polling stations are closed.

“This halt is to remain in effect until further review is completed to address these serious deficiencies.”

• Trump Administration Halts New York Offshore Wind Project (Wade)

The Donald Trump administration has halted a massive New York offshore wind project as it conducts a financial and regulatory review of plans to erect towering turbines along the nation’s coastlines. The Interior Department issued an order earlier this week calling for the immediate halt of construction on the Empire Wind Project “until further review,” citing new information suggesting that the Joe Biden administration “rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis.” “Approval for the project was rushed through by the prior administration without sufficient analysis or consultation among the relevant agencies as relates to the potential effects from the project,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote in a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Management, which oversees federal offshore lease permits. “This halt is to remain in effect until further review is completed to address these serious deficiencies.”

The project’s developer, Norway-based Equinor, said Thursday that it was complying with the Trump administration’s order to halt the project but is considering a potential legal challenge. “Upon receipt of the order, immediate steps were taken by Empire and its contractors to initiate suspension of relevant marine activities, ensuring the safety of workers and the environment,” the company said in a statement. “Empire is engaging with relevant authorities to clarify this matter and is considering its legal remedies, including appealing the order.” Gov. Kathy Hochul blasted the decision, saying Empire Wind 1 already employs hundreds of New Yorkers, including 1,000 “good-paying union jobs” as part of a growing sector that she claimed has “already spurred significant economic development and private investment.”

“This fully federally permitted project has already put shovels in the ground before the President’s executive orders—it’s exactly the type of bipartisan energy solution we should be working on,” she said in a statement. “As Governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand. I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York’s economic future.” New York’s Empire Wind is one of several offshore wind projects under development off the Atlantic coastline that could be impacted by the Bureau of Ocean Management’s review of federal leases. President Donald Trump had campaigned on a promise to end the offshore wind industry, arguing it is too expensive and hurts birds and marine animals. He previously issued an order suspending new leasing for wind projects in federal waters. Massachusetts is working with Rhode Island on three projects totaling 2,678 megawatts of offshore wind, which, when completed, will be capable of providing enough electricity to power more than 1.4 million homes.

In August, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $389 million to Massachusetts and several New England states for improvements to the power grid aimed at significantly increasing the region’s capacity for offshore wind. The Power Up New England plan—a collaboration between Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont and several utilities—calls for expanding and upgrading the shared interconnection points for undersea cables that bring power from offshore wind turbines to the regional grid. But the push to develop wind comes amid increasing turbulence in the nation’s nascent green industry. Even before the Trump administration’s scrutiny of the projects, developers were scaling back—or in some cases backing out of projects—citing supply chain disruptions, higher construction costs and a lack of tax credits from the states and federal government. Some states, like New Jersey, have struggled to go it alone on offshore wind and have ended up scrapping some projects.

Must be a different science.

• The UK Is Doubling Down On Wind Energy (ZH)

The U.K. is already a world leader in wind energy, having rapidly expanded both its onshore and offshore wind capacity over the last decade. Now, under the new Labour government, the U.K. hopes to expand its wind power sector even further through the massive expansion of the Rampion offshore wind farm. This is expected to help the government progress towards achieving its net-zero carbon ambitions. In 2023, 46.4 percent of the UK’s electricity was generated using renewable energy sources, of which wind energy contributed 61 percent. Around 39.7 percent of the U.K.’s wind energy is generated onshore and the remaining 60.3 offshore. The U.K. constructed its first commercial onshore wind farm in 1991, generating 1 GW of wind capacity. In 2024, the U.K.’s wind energy capacity increased to 30GW, double that of 2017. The U.K. has 11,906 turbines, with 9,141 onshore and 2,765 offshore, consisting of 10 floating and 2,755 fixed turbines.

Approximately 32,000 people are employed in the U.K.’s offshore wind industry, a figure that is expected to increase to over 120,000 by 2030. The government also hopes to achieve 60 GW of wind capacity by the end of the decade, which could add as much as $58.5 billion to the economy. By the beginning of 2025, the U.K. had grown its offshore wind energy capacity to become the largest in Europe and second only to China, at 14 GW. In early April, the government approved plans to develop Rampion 2, an offshore wind farm with enough energy to power around 1 million U.K. homes. The expansion of the Rampion offshore wind farm, off England’s south coast, would include the addition of 90 turbines to add 1.2 GW of capacity. The project is expected to create 4,000 jobs during the construction phase, which is scheduled to commence in 2026. The government decision on the expansion was expected to be delivered in February but it has been delayed while more information is collected from the project’s developer.

The wind farm is being developed by RWE as the majority shareholder (50.1 percent), a Macquarie-led consortium (25 percent), and Enbridge (24.9 percent). The electricity produced at Rampion will be transported to land via subsea cables. An underground cable will then deliver the power inland to a new substation at Oakendene near Cowfold before connecting it to the national grid at Bolney in Sussex. The wind farm is expected to be operational by the late 2020s. Danielle Lane, the director of offshore wind development U.K. and Ireland at RWE, stated, “We are delighted to receive the development consent order for the proposed Rampion 2 offshore wind farm. This is a key milestone in the development of the project, as Rampion 2 can play an important role in helping secure the U.K.’s energy supplies from our abundant wind resource and play a key role in supporting the U.K. government’s clean power ambitions.”

Since coming into power last July, the Labour government has gone full throttle on the deployment of green energy, with plans to double the U.K.’s onshore wind, triple its solar power, and quadruple its offshore wind power capacity by 2030. It has also announced plans to reduce the contribution of natural gas to the country’s electricity generation to just 5 percent by the end of the decade. Thanks to the development of a more friendly investment environment, in an event in October some of the world’s largest green energy companies pledged to invest almost $31.39 billion across the U.K., demonstrating that greater public investment in the sector is attracting higher levels of private financing.

U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said, “The U.K. has a boundless supply of wind that cannot be turned on and off at the whims of dictators and petrostates. It’s time to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster, roll out clean power, protect our energy security and bring down bills for good.” He added, “This project puts us within reach of our clean power offshore wind target,” Miliband said. “Through our plan for change, we’re getting on with delivering the clean energy and jobs Britain needs.” Last year was a record year for wind energy production, with onshore and offshore projects producing 83 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity across Great Britain, an increase from almost 79 TWh in 2023. In around 10 days in December alone, over 50 percent of Britain’s electricity production came from wind.

However, there are also less windy periods, where energy production is lower. This suggests the need for greater investment in battery storage technology to make the renewable energy source more reliable and help reduce the U.K.’s reliance on fossil fuels during low-production times.The U.K. is already a major onshore and offshore producer of wind energy, having developed several projects over the last three decades. The approval of the new Rampion 2 project is expected to put the country on track to achieve its end-of-decade climate goals, by decarbonising its transmission network. This is one of many clean energy projects the Labour government has announced over the last eight months, with the ambitious green transition agenda expected to attract high levels of private funding in the sector.

Bhattacharya
https://twitter.com/plantparadise7/status/1914251645430489245

Makary

New Commissioner of the FDA Marty Makary gives shocking statistics

– Massive rise in chronic diseases
– 1 in 6 women now affected with autoimmune diseases
– 50% of kids are sick
– Pre diabetes affects about 20% of teens
– 70% of kids are not qualifying for the military

“We've… pic.twitter.com/agPkQUxfca

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) April 21, 2025

RFK
https://twitter.com/AVPac_US/status/1914432756815421626

pic.twitter.com/HAp9R7tLTo

— Died Suddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) April 20, 2025

Another fallen soldier. pic.twitter.com/bV6IVIAReS

— Dr. Dennis Walker (@drdenwalker) April 20, 2025

Sagan

Who can reply to Carl Sagan's this question? pic.twitter.com/NbXmXhB8Rv

— Prof. Carl Sagan (@ProfCarlSagan) April 20, 2025

Hello everyone, please spare a few minutes and let's reminisce about our place in the cosmos.

– Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan pic.twitter.com/id1nDLrHs7

— Saganism (@Saganismm) April 20, 2025

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.pic.twitter.com/hcgD539nHP

— Prof. Carl Sagan (@ProfCarlSagan) April 21, 2025

Who says that animals have no feelings? pic.twitter.com/3ooF7BsC5O

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) April 21, 2025

Goats

Mountain Goats knows something humans don't know pic.twitter.com/EPdLxtj9hI

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) April 20, 2025

Cat

Dads

1. pic.twitter.com/CVoxirBg5G

— Wolf of X (@tradingMaxiSL) April 20, 2025

The greatest news interview of all time. Nothing can prepare you for what happens 20 seconds into this clip. pic.twitter.com/SqjZqYf3XB

— Barry Malone (@malonebarry) April 21, 2025

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

Debt Rattle March 25 2025

Mar 252025

March 25, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:59 am Finance Tagged with: Alina Habba, Boasberg, Bonndi, DOGE, IRS, Pentagon, Rubio, Tesla, Trump, Witkoff, Yemen 65 Responses »

Caravaggio Conversion on the way to Damascus 1600-01

• “A New World Order With European Values” (Turley)

• ‘Nazis’ In Ukraine ‘Nurtured’ By Europeans – Lavrov (RT)

• Kiev Wants Trump Envoy Witkoff Sacked (RT)

• Ukraine Doesn’t Want Peace – Moscow (RT)

• US and Russia Engaging In ‘Creative’ Talks – Moscow (RT)

• Rubio Accuses ‘Other Countries’ Of Blocking Peace In Ukraine (RT)

• DOGE Reveals Mind Shocking Fraud Propping Up Economy – Ed Dowd (USAW)

• The Pentagon’s War on Wasted Dollars (RCD)

• Mike Davis Cooks Judge Screwing Around With Trump’s Deportation Flights (Vespa)

• Anti-Trump Judge Makes Another Outrageous Ruling (Margolis)

• New Dirt on Judge Boasberg Raises More Questions (Margolis)

• The Last Resort (James Howard Kunstler)

• Pentagon Chief Hegseth Comments On ‘Yemen War Plans’ Leak (RT)

• Trump Team Unwittingly Sends Yemen Strike Plans to Editor of The Atlantic (Sp.)

• Trump Names Alina Habba To Be Interim US Attorney For New Jersey (NYP)

• The ‘Real’ Epstein Files Are Coming. Here’s What to Know. (Margolis)

• “Tread Carefully”: Pam Bondi Issues Warning Over Musk “Takedown” (ZH)

• Elon Musk Disguises IRS Building As Tesla Dealership (BBee)

Carpe
https://twitter.com/CarpeDonktum/status/1904173446759625176

RFK

If @RobertKennedyJr actually does this, it will drive a stake in the heart of legacy media. Big Pharma ads artificially prop their businesses up. Without these ads, they’ll be on a more level playing field with independent media and they’ll have to fire most of their highest paid… https://t.co/qEJ7mBxGmx

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) March 24, 2025

2.924

Since Trump took office, a staggering $2.924 trillion in investment has flowed into the United States:

– UAE $1.4 trillion
– Saudi Arabia $600 billion
– Hyundai $20 billion
– Apple $500 billion
– Nvidia over $100 billion
– SoftBank, Oracle, OpenAI $100 billion
– TSMC $100… pic.twitter.com/ErxSVM4aSy

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 24, 2025

Taxes
https://twitter.com/TONYxTWO/status/1904206868269945336

Gingrich

US Taxpayer Dollars That The Dems Stole For 60 Years Is Now Exposed And Stopped. Trump Blows Up The Deep State. @newtgingrich Great Interview. pic.twitter.com/bnETHYHzTa

— Dr Trumpenstein (@DoctorCanDo) March 24, 2025

Zeldin
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1904209863128814043

“The problem is that this vision for a new Holy Roman Empire lacks a Charlamagne. More importantly, it lacks public support.”

• “A New World Order With European Values” (Turley)

“A New World Order With European Values.” Emblazoned across banners and signs, those words met the participants at this week’s meeting of the World Forum in Berlin. Each year, leaders, executives, journalists and academics gather to address the greatest threats facing humanity. This year, there was little doubt about what they view as the current threat: the resurgence of populism and free speech. In fairness to the Forum, “a New World Order” likely sounds more ominous for some civil libertarians than intended. While the European Union is a transnational government stretching across 27 nations, the organizers were referring to a shift of values away from the United States to Europe. As one of the few speakers at the forum who was calling for greater protections for free speech, I found it an unnerving message.

Even putting aside the implications of the New World Order, the idea of building a world on today’s European values is alarming for free speech. Free speech is in a free fall in Europe, with ever-expanding speech regulations and criminal prosecutions — including for having “toxic ideologies.” The World Forum has a powerful sense of fraternity, even an intimacy, among leaders who see each other as a global elite — a cadre of enlightened minds protecting citizens from their own poor choices and habits. There has long been a push for transnational governing systems, and European figures see an opportunity created by the conflict with President Trump. The European Union is the model for such a Pax Europaea or “European peace.” The problem is that this vision for a new Holy Roman Empire lacks a Charlamagne. More importantly, it lacks public support.

The very notion of a “New World Order” is chilling to many who oppose the rise of a globalist class with the rise of transnational governance in the European Union and beyond. This year, there is a sense of panic among Europe’s elite over the victory of Trump and the Republicans in the U.S., as well as nationalist and populist European movements. For globalists, the late Tip O’Neill’s rule that “all politics is local” is anathema. The European Union is intended to transcend national identities and priorities in favor of an inspired transnational government managed by an expert elite. The message was clear. The new world order would be based on European, not American, values. To rally the faithful to the cause, the organizers called upon two of the patron saints of the global elite: Bill and Hillary Clinton. President Clinton was even given an award as “leader of the century.”

“..the West’s approach to public messaging that “portrays itself as infallible and suffers from an exceptionalism complex.”

• ‘Nazis’ In Ukraine ‘Nurtured’ By Europeans – Lavrov (RT)

European NATO members are willfully ignoring the “Nazi” character of the Ukrainian government, which they have empowered as an anti-Russian instrument, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has asserted.On Monday, the senior diplomat expressed concern over the “demons of neo-Nazism, Russophobia, and other hateful ideologies” spreading across multiple EU nations. Member states are deliberately overlooking Kiev’s misconduct, even as it persecutes ethnic Russians and violates human rights, he stressed. “Ukraine – ‘that’s different.’ Those Nazis have been nurtured for the latest attempt to unite all of Europe under racist, Nazi banners for a war against the Russian Federation,” Lavrov stated.

The minister was speaking in his capacity as a trustee of the Gorchakov Fund, a Russian NGO aimed at enhancing public diplomacy. He emphasized the organization’s mission of presenting an authentic view of Russia and contrasted it sharply with the West’s approach to public messaging that “portrays itself as infallible and suffers from an exceptionalism complex.” The EU is pursuing a multibillion-dollar rearmament plan, justified by what Brussels labels a growing Russian threat. European officials have warned that a direct NATO confrontation with Moscow may break out within the next few years. Russia, however, denies any hostile intentions toward the US-led military bloc.

Tensions between European NATO members and Washington resurfaced after President Donald Trump assumed office in January. The new US administration has sought a swift resolution to the Ukraine conflict and intends to shift security responsibilities onto Europe once a truce is achieved. Moscow’s goal of ‘denazification’ remains central to its stance on the Ukraine conflict. Russian officials have denounced the Ukrainian government as a “neo-Nazi regime” due to its discriminatory domestic policies, alleged war crimes against Russian citizens, and veneration of historical nationalist figures who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.

“..this person needs to be removed from this delegation, he should not be a representative of the [US] president. Since he’s either completely unprofessional or simply repeats Putin’s narratives..”

• Kiev Wants Trump Envoy Witkoff Sacked (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who has played a central role in opening negotiations on resolving the Ukraine conflict, is “spreading Russian propaganda” and should be sacked, according to a senior Ukrainian lawmaker. The head of the Kiev’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Aleksandr Merezhko, made the remark in response to Witkoff’s interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, during which the envoy spoke about the status of former Ukrainian territories that have joined Russia, describing the issue as “an elephant in the room” that “no one wants to talk about.” “They’re Russian-speaking. There have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule,” Witkoff said.

“The Russians are de facto in control of these territories. The question is: Will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories? Can [Vladimir] Zelensky survive politically if he acknowledges this? This is the central issue in the conflict,” he added. Merezhko strongly condemned the “disgraceful, shocking statements,” accusing Witkoff of acting as an envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin rather than of Trump. “We are talking about a representative of the president who should have professional expertise in this matter and know some basic things. obvious things. And he doesn’t know this. He spreads Russian propaganda,” the lawmaker insisted in a televised interview.

Merezhko said that [he] wasn’t sure if “ignorance, naivety, or unprofessionalism” was behind Witkoff’s statements and called for the US official to be booted from his role. “We clearly can’t dictate to American friends who should represent them. But this person needs to be removed from this delegation, he should not be a representative of the [US] president. Since he’s either completely unprofessional or simply repeats Putin’s narratives,” Merezhko added.

Moscow and Kiev have taken bipolar positions on the former-Ukrainian Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions and the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, all of which officially joined Russia in autumn 2022 following a series of referendums. Kiev also formally claims Russia’s Crimea, which seceded from Ukraine in the aftermath of a violent Western-backed coup in Kiev and joined Russia in 2014, as its own. Moscow has repeatedly signaled that its sovereignty over the territories is not negotiable, while Kiev has repeatedly pledged to seize back control of all the territories it claims as its own. The Ukrainian leadership has seemingly softened its rhetoric as of late, now insisting it will never recognize “occupation” of the territories and Russian sovereignty over them in any form.

The US should simply leave.

• Ukraine Doesn’t Want Peace – Moscow (RT)

Ukraine continues to attack Russian civilian infrastructure, proving that Kiev does not actually want peace, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. Last week, following a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, Moscow and Kiev agreed to a partial ceasefire and pledged to suspend strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure for 30 days. However, the Russian Defense Ministry has since reported multiple Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy facilities such as oil and gas pipelines. The latest attack reportedly took place at 2 a.m. on Monday on the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station in Russia’s Krasnodar Region. The station is operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which works with US energy giants such as Mobil and Chevron.

Russian air defense systems intercepted a Ukrainian attack UAV some 7km from the facility, with fragments falling in the area of a railway station, according to the Defense Ministry. In an update on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Ukraine had also launched drone strikes on the Glebovskoye gas condensate field in Crimea on March 23 and on a gas distribution center in Belgorod Region on March 22. Commenting on the recent attacks, Zakharova claimed it is typical of Kiev’s behavior, particularly ahead of international events such as this week’s Russia-US talks in Saudi Arabia.

”Every time it’s the same story. Before any contacts, including during visits to Moscow by foreign delegations, the Kiev regime commits terrorist acts, attacks on civilian infrastructure, on civilian objects, extremist acts, and so on… They don’t need peace. They have stated this repeatedly,” Zakharova told reporters. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stressed that despite Kiev’s repeated violations, Moscow continues to uphold the energy strike truce and that President Putin has not issued any new commands to the country’s armed forces. However, Zakharova warned over the weekend that Russia reserves its right to respond to Ukraine’s attacks, including “symmetrically,” if Kiev continues its “destructive course.”

The talks will intensify.

• US and Russia Engaging In ‘Creative’ Talks – Moscow (RT)

The US-Russian talks held in Saudi Arabia are a “creative” endeavor, though they may not yield a diplomatic breakthrough on Monday, a Russian lawmaker who is part of Moscow’s delegation told journalists. Grigory Karasin, chairman of the International Relations Committee in Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, provided the media an update during a break in the talks in Riyadh. The discussions, which he described as “technical,” focus on maritime security in the Black Sea and the possibility of reviving the Black Sea Initiative, which was originally mediated by the UN and Türkiye. Russia withdrew from the deal in July 2023, citing the West’s failure to provide sanctions relief for its grain exports, as the conditions of the arrangement required.

“Not every negotiation yields a high-profile document or agreement,” Karasin remarked before returning to the closed-door meetings. “What matters is maintaining communication and understanding each other’s positions. In this regard, we are succeeding.” Alongside Karasin, Russia’s delegation includes Sergey Beseda, an adviser to the director of the Federal Security Service. Their American counterparts, as identified by Reuters, are Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official. When asked about possible outcomes, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked earlier in the day that they “primarily concern the safety of maritime traffic. However, if you recall [the original version] of the deal, there were significant obligations made to our side that were never fulfilled. This remains part of the agenda.”

US President Donald Trump has suggested revisiting the grain deal as part of his efforts to mediate a broader truce between Russia and Ukraine, Peskov added. Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to Trump’s proposal to suspend attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, while Ukraine committed to reciprocate. However, Kiev has violated the partial ceasefire multiple times, including on Monday morning, according to Russia. Moscow has warned that it reserves the right to withdraw from the arrangement should Ukraine fail to meet its commitments. A Ukrainian delegation is also present at the same luxury hotel in Riyadh where the US-Russian talks are taking place, but they have no direct contact with the Russian team. The Ukrainians had their own talks with the US delegation the previous day.

There are 27 of them in the EU.

• Rubio Accuses ‘Other Countries’ Of Blocking Peace In Ukraine (RT)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that unnamed foreign governments are obstructing efforts to end the Ukraine conflict, crediting President Donald Trump with leading negotiations to mediate peace between Moscow and Kiev. Senior Russian and US officials held marathon 12-hour talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Monday, focused on resolving the Ukraine conflict and ensuring maritime security in the Black Sea. However, the two sides have yet to release details or announce the outcome of the discussions. Speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House before the talks concluded, Rubio stressed that the conflict “needs to be brought to an end” through negotiations, not military means, and praised Trump as “the only one leader in the world that’s capable of bringing two sides to a table.”

According to Rubio, Trump’s diplomatic initiative has faced resistance from other governments, although he did not name any specific countries. “You’ve done it despite impediments from other countries and others who maybe have different opinions about how this should go,” Rubio said, addressing Trump directly. “Ultimately, I think that the only chance we have for peace is through the President’s leadership.” Following a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart last week, Moscow and Kiev agreed to a partial ceasefire and pledged to suspend strikes on energy infrastructure for 30 days.

However, the Russian Defense Ministry has since reported multiple Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stressed that despite Kiev’s violations, Moscow will continue to uphold the energy strike truce. In an interview on Sunday, Peskov also remarked that instead of seeking peace and addressing the root causes of the conflict, EU member states are now discussing the deployment of NATO contingents to Ukrainian territory. “This rampant militarist policy of Europe – there is no other way to describe it – is hard to comprehend,” he said.

Tensions between Washington and European NATO members resurfaced after Trump assumed office in January. The new administration has pushed for a swift resolution to the Ukraine conflict and plans to shift security responsibilities to Europe once a truce is in place. Following an emergency summit in London earlier this month, the UK and France signaled that they are open to sending Western “peacekeepers” to Ukraine once a ceasefire is reached. Moscow has rejected the proposal, stating that it makes no difference under what pretext NATO troops enter the country. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that this could lead to a direct war between the military bloc and Moscow.

DOGE vs the NGOs.

“Martin Armstrong says all the gold movement coming to the US is because of a coming war..”

• DOGE Reveals Mind Shocking Fraud Propping Up Economy – Ed Dowd (USAW)

Former Wall Street money manager and financial analyst Ed Dowd of PhinanceTechnologies.com is back with an update of a report on “Danger of Deep Worldwide Recession in 2025.” It was not just heavy government spending on illegal immigration, but “mind shocking” fraud that has been revealed with DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). Investigators have uncovered $115 billion so far with many hundreds of billions more to be exposed. Dowd says, “Both sides of the aisle are probably going to have problems. The DOGE revelations are mind shocking. The clear way in which the government was spending money through NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and people taking kickbacks and profits along the way is going to come out. There may have been theft along the way. What business does Stacy Abrams have getting $2 billion for an NGO? This doesn’t make any sense.

It’s going to be shocking, even shocking to me. I knew there was rot in the system, but the mind blowing way the NGOs were used to facilitate the illegal immigration just blows my mind. The 10 million plus illegals that came in over the last four years, you just don’t wake up one day in Central America and say I am going to the Darien Gap, and go to the Mexican border and then meander my way into the interior of the US without a tremendous amount of aid along the way. NGOs facilitated that and probably took their cut. What was the all-in economic cost of the goodies they got once they got here? Plus, the NGOs spent and what the government spent themselves to facilitate this, it’s not hard to imagine $50,000 to $100,000 all-in cost per illegal. . . . This is the all-in cost up and down the entire economic food chain. . . . It was anywhere between $500 billion to $1.5 trillion depending on the illegals. It was an illegal project funded purposely, and it was very logistical. It was not something that just happened overnight.”

The result, says Dowd, was the US economy was propped up when it should have already tanked. Now, all this spending on this illegal invasion is going away. Dowd says, “When we wrote our report, we were surprised on how fast DOGE would get to work. . . . This is why our thesis is playing out a little quicker than we thought. . . . The housing market was on fragile ground the last year or so. It was held up by illegal immigrants supporting rent prices. So, as that unwinds, we think there will be a mini 2008–2009 housing issue. Housing prices are going to come down, and that is a big driver of consumption in the economy. That needs to happen because home affordability is off the charts.”

Dowd also see a recession coming as the government downsizes, illegal alien funding gets cut and illegals continue to self-deport. Dowd says, “Consumer confidence has taken a nosedive recently, and you can see why. There are 10 million to 15 million illegal immigrants worried about their gravy train coming to an end. So, they may be holding back on their spending. There are millions of government employees worried about their jobs. Then, you have the NGO networks that employ about 6 million people. So, you have about 20 million to 25 million people that are in the workforce . . . worried about where their money is going to come from, and that can cause consumer spending to slow down.”

There is good news with the spending cuts, according to Dowd, and that will come in the form of lower interest rates in the bond market. Dowd still likes gold as a core asset and does not see Trump tariffs as inflationary. Dowd says the problems with tariffs are “overblown” and are a negotiation tool to get fair trade for America around the world. Dowd sees “deflation” and possibly a short but “deep recession” coming before inflation. A possible black swan event is an intensified war in Ukraine and no peace deal along with the EU getting deeply involved in a war with Russia. This could be a plus for the US if it stays out of the conflict. Dowd says, “There seems to be war drums beating in Europe, and capital will flee to the US. Martin Armstrong says all the gold movement coming to the US is because of a coming war, and of all the theories on this, that makes the most sense to me. I am not predicting war, but that is a geopolitical risk out there. That is one of those ‘black swan’ events. Another ‘black swan’ event is a Bank of Japan currency crisis and, also, something going on with Iran and the Middle East. . . . Black swan events add to the risk, and those are hard to predict.”

“America cannot afford inefficiency..”

• The Pentagon’s War on Wasted Dollars (RCD)

So far, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has swept through government agencies like the United States Agency for International Development, brushing off cobwebs and uncovering skeletons as it goes. Now, DOGE is set to enter a much bigger agency whose shortfalls demand reform: the Department of Defense. Long criticized for its budget woes, the DOD has recently faced accusations of overspending, underspending, and even simple misspending—criticisms which are all well founded. In fact, the DOD consistently mismanages its budget, a fact that’s led it to fail all of its last seven audits.To address these issues, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently announced that he would work with DOGE to conduct a DOD-wide budget review.

Already, this initiative has revealed $80 million in wasteful spending, including $1.9 million in “DEI transformation and training” and $3.5 million in “Defense HR Support for DEI.” While the Pentagon is notoriously resistant to change, additional pressure from DOGE and the administration could finally force the reforms needed to modernize the American military, refocus on warfighting capabilities, and rid the Pentagon of absurd budget line items. But DOGE’s mission isn’t just to slash budgets: it’s also to restore efficiency. Specifically, DOGE’s role is to ensure the federal government makes the most effective use possible of American taxpayer dollars.

Fundamentally, the DOD exists to ensure America’s warfighting capability—a task DOGE has no intention of obstructing. And even as the DOD’s mission grows more and more urgent, Pentagon dollars continue to be misused, a flaw that cries for immediate correction. Hegseth recently announced he’d be implementing a DOD budget “cut” of 8%, or about $50 billion. Rather than simply imposing strict cuts, this plan seeks to “refocus … and reinvest … existing funds” to build a more lethal fighting force, restore “warrior ethos,” and reestablish global deterrence. This shift is essential at a time when our arsenal is severely depleted and outdated and we lack the ships and planes to deter China from launching an attack in the Indo-Pacific.

To fix this, Hegseth should prioritize reinvesting funding cuts into procurement and, specifically, into the construction of new ships, planes, and munitions. Hegseth should also divert dollars from personnel—a category that accounts for almost a quarter of the DOD’s budget. Already, he and Musk have announced plans to reduce the civilian workforce by between 5% to 8%, a cut that will save the DOD between $9 and $14.5 billion. So far, he’s implemented this plan via a hiring freeze and the firing of probational employees and recent hires.

Many have sought to villainize the Pentagon’s budget purge. Yet those in national security should recognize the need to cut defense budget waste, especially given recent developments on the international stage. There, China continues to rapidly modernize its military to challenge U.S. dominance, while Russia persists in its aggression in Eastern Europe. North Korea still pursues its ever-growing nuclear ambitions (and strengthens its support for Russia), while Iran maintains its destabilizing influence in the Middle East.

These various actors all share one common feature: a vicious antipathy toward the United States. The burden falls on the Pentagon and the DOD to protect the American people. DOGE represents a historic opportunity for the DOD to further this mission by rethinking how it organizes, supports, and employs its people. The goal isn’t to cut corners—it’s to reinvest in the capacity and capability of America’s warfighting force. In a world of rising global threats, America cannot afford inefficiency. The Pentagon must embrace DOGE’s mission to break free from outdated bureaucracy and inefficient spending. Only then will the DOD be able to enhance American warfighting capability and ensure our security and prosperity.

“He publicly exposed an ongoing U.S. military, intelligence, and law-enforcement operation with an American ally dealing with the most vicious terrorists (Tren de Aragua) and international gang member (MS13) in the Western Hemisphere. That public exposure put American and allied lives in grave danger.”

• Mike Davis Cooks Judge Screwing Around With Trump’s Deportation Flights (Vespa)

Well, Attorney General Pam Bondi isn’t going to discuss further the details regarding the deportation flights of Tren de Aragua members, a Venezuelan gang that the Trump administration has designated a foreign terror group. Judge James Boasberg, however, wanted to know the classified details regarding this operation. No, sir. This will not happen, as the Justice Department informed the courts that they’re invoking the State Secrets Act. Move on, little man.

It still doesn’t negate the days of judicial overreach and insanity from Boasberg, who thought he was the executive, or at least in charge of deportation policy. He is not,andd never will be. He dabbled in the Russian collusion hoax, ran legal interference for those caught fabricating evidence to secure illegal FISA warrants. This man is a disgrace to the bench. Before Ms. Bondi invokes the state secrets provision, Boasberg insisted that those marked for deportation should be afforded court dates. Mike Davis, a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, took a hatchet to little Boasberg, arguing that it’s time to impeach for his serial incidents of judicial overreach: Here is the fatal flaw with DC Obama Judge Jeb Boasberg’s order:

“Even if these designated foreign terrorists are entitled to individual court review before their deportation, which is disputed, the DC court is not the proper court. Judge Boasberg did not, and does not, have the power to do what he is purporting to do. For this reason alone, everything he is doing is lawless. But it is much worse; it is also dangerous. Judge Boasberg ran to his courtroom to hold a Saturday hearing, even though he was not even serving as the emergency judge that weekend. (How did he get this case?) He publicly exposed an ongoing U.S. military, intelligence, and law-enforcement operation with an American ally dealing with the most vicious terrorists (Tren de Aragua) and international gang member (MS13) in the Western Hemisphere. That public exposure put American and allied lives in grave danger.

Stunningly, Judge Boasberg even ordered the President to turn around planes full of terrorists over the Gulf of America, without knowing the fuel levels, the security footprint back in America, or other crucial operational details. We saw the enormous security footprint in El Salvador. Why would we have had that same footprint in America, as who could have ever imagined an activist DC judge could or would order the President to return planes full of terrorists? And not completing the mission would have humiliated and politically damaged El Salvador’s president, who had hundreds of military, law-enforcement, and other officials awaiting–and who took a significant political and personal risk by agreeing to take these terrorists. Judge Boasberg’s Saturday hearing and order crossed the red line. But Judge Boasberg is doubling down by demanding details about the military operation, to which he is not entitled.

Judge Boasberg says he has a security clearance, but he definitely does not have the need to know. And allowing judges to meddle in military operations like this is dangerous and unacceptable. Foreign leaders are less likely to work with the President, if they fear an activist American judge may disclose their secrets. This harms the President’s ability to conduct foreign policy and his constitutional duty to keep us safe. The President has a constitutional duty, as the chief executive officer and commander-in-chief, to conduct international affairs, repeal foreign invasion, and protect American lives. The President has a constitutional duty to ignore any clearly unlawful court order that imminently endangers American lives, like Judge Boasberg’s orders. Judge Boasberg is refusing to back down. So the House must move forward with impeachment proceedings for his lawless and dangerous sabotage of the President’s core Article II powers.

“He dragged us into court on a Saturday without any notice. And then he’s continuing these hearings. He’s trying to ask us about national security information, which he is absolutely not entitled to.”

• Anti-Trump Judge Makes Another Outrageous Ruling (Margolis)

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is at it again. In a mind-boggling 37-page decision, he has blocked the Trump administration from swiftly deporting members of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang. The judge’s ruling reads like a progressive wish list, demanding “individualized hearings” before any deportations can proceed. Because apparently, we need to roll out the red carpet and due process for criminal aliens who shouldn’t be here in the first place. Even more outrageous, the government must now prove these individuals are actually gang members — as if their presence alone isn’t a violation enough of our immigration laws. Boasberg previously ordered a deportation flight for these illegal alien gang members to turn around back to the United States; however, since he made the ruling while the plane was over international waters, he had no jurisdiction, and the deportations continued as planned.

Boasberg’s memorandum opinion, which accompanied the order, maintains that these individuals must have “the opportunity to challenge their designation as alien enemies.” In other words, we’re giving suspected gang members a chance to argue that they’re actually upstanding citizens who deserve to stay in our country. Now he has the audacity to say that the court “need not resolve the thorny question of whether the judiciary has the authority to assess this claim in the first place.” This is an obvious reaction to the Trump administration’s position that district court judges don’t have the authority to micromanage the president of the United States or the executive branch. Boasberg’s opinion continues:

“That is because Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on another equally fundamental theory: before they may be deported, they are entitled to individualized hearings to determine whether the Act applies to them at all. As the Government itself concedes, the awesome power granted by the Act may be brought to bear only on those who are, in fact, “alien enemies.” And the Supreme Court and this Circuit have long maintained that federal courts are equipped to adjudicate that question when individuals threatened with detention and removal challenge their designation as such. Because the named Plaintiffs dispute that they are members of Tren de Aragua, they may not be deported until a court has been able to decide the merits of their challenge. Nor may any members of the provisionally certified class be removed until they have been given the opportunity to challenge their designations as well. The Motion to Vacate will thus be denied.”

This isn’t just judicial overreach; it’s judicial insanity. “This is an out-of-control judge, a federal judge trying to control our entire foreign policy, and he cannot do it,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. “He dragged us into court on a Saturday without any notice. And then he’s continuing these hearings. He’s trying to ask us about national security information, which he is absolutely not entitled to.” The plaintiffs now have until Wednesday to request converting the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction. If granted, this would further cement this dangerous precedent and extend protection for these gang members from deportation. Because obviously, what America needs right now is more legal shields for criminal aliens. This ruling sets a dangerous precedent that undermines our immigration enforcement capabilities and makes a mockery of our national sovereignty.

They’re organized.

• New Dirt on Judge Boasberg Raises More Questions (Margolis)

The district court judge who recently blocked President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport illegal alien gang members attended a suspiciously partisan legal conference just months before his ruling, according to a judicial ethics report. Judge James Boasberg, who serves on the D.C. District Court, participated in what appears to be nothing more than a Democrat strategy session masquerading as a legal conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. The conference’s agenda items, “Judges in a Democracy” and “State of Democracy,” sound eerily similar to the Democrats’ tiresome 2024 campaign rhetoric about “saving democracy” — which, of course, has become the justification for their using the courts to obstruct Trump’s agenda.

“Called a ‘Privately Funded Seminar Disclosure Report,” the document discloses that Boasberg was in attendance but offers no details of whether Boasberg was paid for his attendance or travel, or what the remuneration was,’ reports Just the News. The outlet was “alerted to the conference and to Boasberg’s attendance by a retired Democrat-appointed judge, who was concerned the July 2024 conference’s focus on judges’ role in a democracy was too close to a political party’s theme for comfort.”

“Overseen by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the ethical rules governing federal judges require that a private entity who “issues an invitation to a federal judge to attend an educational program as a speaker, panelist, or attendee and offers to pay for or reimburse that judge, in excess of $480, must disclose financial and programmatic information.” The rules do not require a specific accounting for each judge, or even how much was paid to judges at all. […] It is possible that his “payment” was merely reimbursement for expenses, but Boasberg did not respond to a request for comment from Just the News.”

The entire arrangement reeks of the same swamp politics that President Trump has been fighting since day one. Is it any surprise that after rubbing elbows with fellow liberals at this partisan powwow, Judge Boasberg decided to obstruct Trump’s efforts to remove dangerous gang members from our streets? This is exactly why Americans have lost faith in our judicial system — unelected judges attending partisan conferences, then making decisions based on partisan biases, not constitutionality. The conference was part of the Rodel Institute’s Judicial Fellowship, and each attending judge, including Boasberg, was a first-year fellow, according to the institute’s website. Notably, Rodel receives funding from the same foundations that frequently bankroll anti-Trump organizations, programs, and publications. Additionally, the institute’s faculty advisors — twenty in total — are overwhelmingly outspoken Trump critics or those who have opposed his policies.

The Rodel Institute’s Board of Directors is stacked with Trump critics, including Ian Solomon. Co-founders Bill and Don Budinger have deep ties to Democratic organizations and candidates, with Don opposing Arizona’s immigration enforcement efforts and backing Democratic Senate candidates. Former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock was under consideration for Kamala Harris’s Cabinet, while former Arizona legislator Heather Carter abandoned the GOP and endorsed Democrats like Katie Hobbs. Jamie Woodson co-chaired a report lamenting “political disinformation” in 2016, and former Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna has openly attacked Trump, calling him a “demagogue” and dismissing his legal arguments as “flimsy.” Maybe next time, Judge Boasberg can hold his strategy sessions somewhere less obvious than a millionaire’s playground. But then again, the left has never been particularly good at hiding its contempt for Trump or the rule of law.

“What is the alternative to presidential oversight and management of the agencies listed in this branch of government? They run themselves? That claim means nothing in practice.” —Jeffrey Tucker

• The Last Resort (James Howard Kunstler)

Law is humanity’s instrument for creating order out of the terror and chaos of nature, where anything goes. The result of law theoretically, is a civil society, where only the good, true, and right things can go. These days, lawyers are hard at work to replace civilized order with the terror and chaos of nature — which is to say, the seeking of raw power: this is what I can do to you! That primal despotism is the motivating engine of the Democratic Party in its terminal phase, a feral, power-seeking monster. It was why, in case you hadn’t noticed, the essential drive of Woke politics was the sadistic pleasure it took in exacting its endless punishments — cancellation, personal ruin, censorship — not correcting alleged injustices against marginalized minorities.

And that tells you, by the way, exactly why the J-6 defendants were treated so harshly by the likes of Judge James Boasberg, Tanya Chutkan, and their colleagues of the DC federal district. The enabling device for that monstrous power seeking of the Democratic Party was the colossal racketeering operation they implanted in every corner of the federal government, an insidious process that accelerated during the Obama years, eluded discipline during Trump One — with the many distracting ruses such as RussiaGate — and surged into final overdrive during the perfidious term of “Joe Biden,” America’s first false-front president. The racketeering operation was perfectly illustrated in the DOGE’s recent deconstruction of USAID.

That agency worked as a gigantic money laundering matrix to pay Democratic Party activists for the sole purpose of maintaining and expanding the party’s power — its ability to push American citizens around, control our lives, tell us how to live, how to think, and, ultimately, in the Covid-19 scam, telling us to take our shots, get lost, and die. Pitifully, a lot of those vaxx victims were the Democratic Party’s own rank and file, which shows you how psychotically suicidal the Democratic Party became. By and large, it was conservatives who avoided the vaxxes because they were able psychologically to entertain the evidence that Covid was a nefarious set-up and that, month-by-month, the vaxxes were proving to be both ineffective and harmful. Democrats, in their Woke fugue state, could not do that. Even today, they insist that their vaxx injuries are “long Covid” and would be worse if not for the additional boosters they took. Poor dumb bunnies.

Mr. Trump was played masterfully in the initial 2020 Covid roll-out by the likes of Dr. Fauci, Deborah Birx, and the faithless Veep Mike Pence who directed the Coronavirus Task Force (and whoever was behind it). The president could not bring himself to oppose or cast doubt on their diktats and to this day he must remain embarrassed about how that all worked out. But he also probably learned to not be fooled again. And so, after the fishy 2020 election, and during the disastrous “Biden” years, Mr. Trump had time to lay careful and comprehensive plans for ending the massive racketeering and for restructuring the federal apparatus into a leaner, more efficient, and more lawful enterprise for managing the civil society known as the USA. Which brings us to the present.

Mr. Trump’s lawfully appointed agent, Elon Musk, and his legally chartered investigative advisory unit, called DOGE, has begun making recommendations for severe cuts in agencies and employees, which have been executed by the lawfully confirmed heads of agencies, and the chief executive himself. Thus, the rapid, systematic disassembly of the Democratic Party’s grift machine and the end of its immense revenue stream. No more USAID and its thousands of NGO money laundromats. No more Department of Education and its Grant-O-Matic depredations in the universities. No more work-from-home (but not really) nonsense. No more DEI reverse racism in hiring. No more flooding the swing state voting precincts with illegal aliens. No more stupid proxy war in Ukraine. No more gender pretending chaos. You see how it goes now.

CNN yesterday didn’t talk about anything else.

• Pentagon Chief Hegseth Comments On ‘Yemen War Plans’ Leak (RT)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has addressed a recent leak of high-level discussions about US airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, calling the journalist involved “deceitful” and downplaying the significance of the disclosure. The incident came to light after The Atlantic reported on Monday that its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, had been accidentally added to a Signal group chat that included top Trump administration officials such as Vice President J.D. Vance, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Hegseth. The group had been actively discussing potential US military operations against the Houthis for days prior to President Donald Trump ordering strikes on Yemen on March 15. Goldberg claimed that one of Hegseth’s final messages before the attack “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.”

When asked about the leak on Monday, Hegseth dismissed Goldberg as “a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes.” “Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth said when pressed on the content of the messages. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told Reuters that the message thread “appears to be authentic” and confirmed that an internal review had been launched into “how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.” “The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials,” Hughes added, without clarifying whether national security protocols had been breached or if any disciplinary action would follow.

Trump ordered a “powerful military action” against the Yemen-based Houthi militants last Saturday, accusing them of conducting an “unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones.” The group, officially known as the Ansar Allah movement, has controlled large portions of Yemen – including the capital, Sanaa – since the mid-2010s. In what The Atlantic described as a “fascinating policy discussion,” senior US officials reportedly acknowledged the difficulty of building public support for a new military campaign.

“There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary,” the account labeled ‘JD Vance’ said, arguing that “the strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.” In response, Hegseth agreed, stating: “I think messaging is going to be tough no matter what – nobody knows who the Houthis are – which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded.” Trump has claimed that the Houthi attacks “emanate from, and are created by, Iran,” warning that from now on, Washington would view every shot fired by the Yemeni group as if it were fired by Tehran. “Iran will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform last Monday.

“..the president dubbing it a “second-” or “third-rate,” “failing magazine” and calling “sleazebag reporter” Goldberg out by name..”

• Trump Team Unwittingly Sends Yemen Strike Plans to Editor of The Atlantic (Sp.)

The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was included in a confidential Signal messaging chain detailing US planning. Here’s what was revealed. In a message to Pete Hegseth, Vice President Vance said it was at the DoD chief’s discretion whether or not to proceed. “I just hate bailing Europe out again,” Vance said. Hegseth responded by saying he “fully” shared Vance’s sentiments about the “free-loading” Europeans, but added that the US was the only one capable of engaging the Houthis “on our side of the ledger.” A user named S M (presumably WH deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller) chimed in, saying that “as [he] heard it, the president was clear: green light.” In return, the US would look to “extract” “some further economic gain” from the Europeans, S M indicated. A follow-up message by Hegseth titled “TEAM UPDATE” provided operational details on the attacks, targeting details, which weapons the US would be using, and attack sequencing.

By Goldberg’s account, he was added to the confidential chat by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and didn’t believe it was real at first, fearing it might be an attempt “to somehow entrap” him or a script “by a particularly adept AI text generator.” The White House has confirmed that Goldberg had been made privy to classified discussions and information by mistake. “We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” NSC spokesman Brian Hughes said. The Atlantic and its editor-in-chief have been a longtime source of Trump’s ire, with the president dubbing it a “second-” or “third-rate,” “failing magazine” and calling “sleazebag reporter” Goldberg out by name multiple times over what Trump said was false reporting on his private conversations.

Re-organizing the legal teams. Time for the heavies.

• Trump Names Alina Habba To Be Interim US Attorney For New Jersey (NYP)

President Trump on Monday appointed his former personal attorney Alina Habba to serve as interim US attorney in New Jersey — with Habba vowing to clean up “corruption” in her home state. Habba, 40, became a public figure while repping Trump in a defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll between the president’s terms of office, and has held the senior role as presidential counselor since January. “There is corruption, there is injustice, and there is a heavy amount of crime right in [Senator] Cory Booker’s backyard and right under Governor [Phil] Murphy. And that will stop,” Habba told reporters on the White House driveway.

“I look forward to working with [Attorney General] Pam Bondi and with the Department of Justice and making sure that we further the president’s agenda of putting America first, cleaning up the mess and going after the people that we should be going after, not the people that are falsely accused.” Habba declined to say if she viewed the appointment as a stepping stone toward elected office in the Garden State — despite aiming her initial remarks directly at the Garden State’s two most prominent Democrats. “I think Cory Booker and Governor Murphy have failed the state of New Jersey,” Habba said. “If you look at what happened in crime, what’s going on in Newark, what’s going on in Camden, this has been a neglected state. It is one of the most populated states for its size, and it needs to stop. We’re going to do a bang-up job. I cannot wait. It’s a great honor.”

Trump announced Habba’s selection after selecting current interim US attorney John Giordano to serve as ambassador to Namibia. “It is with great pleasure that I am announcing Alina Habba, Esq., who is currently serving as Counselor to the President, and has represented me for a long time, will be our interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, her Home State, effective immediately!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Alina will lead with the same diligence and conviction that has defined her career, and she will fight tirelessly to secure a Legal System that is both ‘Fair and Just’ for the wonderful people of New Jersey.”

“I recognize that when you’re dealing with children, it takes much more time. You’ve got to ensure that what you’re sending out publicly is not revealing any personal information.”

• The ‘Real’ Epstein Files Are Coming. Here’s What to Know. (Margolis)

The Trump administration is proving once again that promises made are promises kept. After successfully releasing over 80,000 pages of files connected to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on March 18, the focus has now shifted to perhaps what should be an even more explosive collection of documents—the Jeffrey Epstein files. As you know, there was a huge document dump of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case last month that was, to say the least, underwhelming. Part of the problem, it turns out, was that rogue officials out of the Southern District of New York office had withheld documents from the Department of Justice. So, where’s the good stuff? Well, according to a report from Vanity Fair, it should be coming soon.

It’s the FBI’s flagship field office, with more than a thousand agents and another thousand or so civilian employees. And right now, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter say that one priority at the bureau’s New York field office is taking precedence over all others: the review and redaction of sensitive information in the Jeffrey Epstein case files, to prepare for possible publication.“It’s literally all hands on deck,” one source familiar with the matter tells me, adding that dozens and dozens of agents are working around the clock on the case, instead of on their regular duties. “I even saw an agent walking in with a pillow,” the source added. Attorney General Pam Bondi, appearing on Maria Bartiromo’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” spoke about this massive undertaking. Bartiromo pressed Bondi about the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Acknowledging the complexity of handling such sensitive material, Bartiromo noted,

“I recognize that when you’re dealing with children, it takes much more time. You’ve got to ensure that what you’re sending out publicly is not revealing any personal information.” She then asked Bondi whether more details would be forthcoming. Bondi confirmed that updates were on the horizon, stating, “You’re absolutely right, Maria. You know, tens of thousands of pages of documents and hundreds and hundreds of victims, um, of Jeffrey Epstein.” Bartiromo reacted with a stunned “Wow.” Bondi assured viewers that federal authorities were making progress. “The FBI, they have been working round the clock at my directive, at [FBI Director] Kash Patel’s directive,” she said, adding that FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is also involved. “Dan Bongino’s there, who is a great asset for all of us at the FBI as well.”

Bondi reiterated the need to safeguard victims while ensuring transparency. “We have to protect their identity, their personal information, to make sure they’re safe,” she said. “But other than that, we are releasing all of these documents as soon as we can get them redacted to protect the victims of… of, of all of these horrific crimes he has committed.” Bartiromo responded, “Understood.” Rest assured, transparency is coming, everyone.

“She is an elected public official, so she needs to tread very carefully because nothing will happen to Elon Musk..”

• “Tread Carefully”: Pam Bondi Issues Warning Over Musk “Takedown” (ZH)

We certainly did not have a member of Congress conspiring with radical far-left NGOs to sabotage the most made-in-America car company and critical to retirement and pension funds for millions of Americans on our 2025 bingo card. But here we are, and far-left Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) joined a “Tesla Takedown” teleconference last week, laughing and rooting for Tesla and Elon Musk’s demise. Other revolutionaries on the call described how they wanted to “kill the Tesla brand” and “drive down the stock price” to push Tesla “into a death spiral.” Now Attorney General Pam Bondi is getting involved, warning Crockett to “tread very carefully” following her support for the Tesla Takedown. “She is an elected public official, so she needs to tread very carefully because nothing will happen to Elon Musk, and we’re going to fight to protect all of the Tesla owners throughout this country,” Bondi said on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

'TREAD VERY CAREFULLY': @AGPamBondi warned @RepJasmine (D-TX) after the Democrat threatened @elonmusk during a nationwide call with the Tesla Takedown movement, suggesting Musk should be "taken down." https://t.co/Qp9jxtgium pic.twitter.com/SycJ9bmWfu

— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 24, 2025

Bondi’s warning to the unhinged Democrat comes days after her appearance on the Tesla Takedown teleconference:

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO:

Tonight, Radical Democrat Congresswoman @JasmineForUS Jasmine Crockett spoke on a CALL TO ACTION call organized by the @Tesla Takedown organizers who have been vandalizing and attacking @elonmusk’s Tesla Showrooms and charging stations across the country and all… pic.twitter.com/eqbPsseIhJ

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 20, 2025

Crockett’s alliance with Tesla Takedown is alarming, considering the Soros-funded non-profit Indivisible is preparing a multi-city assault on Tesla service locations nationwide by the end of the month. There have been far-left terrorist attacks on Tesla service centers, showrooms, Supercharging networks, and vehicles that paint the Democratic Party as in disarray and resorting to communist revolutionary tactics. Polling data for the party has collapsed, while the latest ploy by the party to improve optics was entirely disproven to be “inorganic” by GPS data. The American people are finally getting to see the real Democratic Party—filled with hate and violence as its revolutionaries attack Tesla, all because the owner, Elon Musk, is uncovering massive fraud and waste by the Deep State. Remember when Democrats wanted to defund everything after George Floyd? Yet suddenly, now they don’t.

🙂

• Elon Musk Disguises IRS Building As Tesla Dealership (BBee)

Proponents of eliminating the federal income tax rejoiced today as Elon Musk cleverly disguised the Internal Revenue Service headquarters as a Tesla dealership so Democrats would burn it down. The billionaire inventor and entrepreneur hatched the genius plan to cover the main IRS building with Tesla emblems and signage, which goaded angry Democrats to launch a large-scale firebomb attack against the building. “This’ll show Musk who’s boss! Burn it to the ground!” one enraged leftist reportedly shouted before throwing a Molotov cocktail through a window of the IRS building. “This looks different from any other Tesla dealership I’ve ever seen. It’s almost like a really old government building. Oh well. It’s all got to go. Everything he owns must be destroyed.”

When reached for comment, Musk was quietly pleased that his plan had worked. “It was quite a simple idea, really,” he said. “If Democrats are trying to burn down anything belonging to me, why not redirect that anger in a useful way to burn down something that should be demolished? For the cost of a few Tesla signs, we’ve now freed the American people from the terrible burden of excessive taxation. Ironically, once the rubble of the IRS building is cleared, we will, in fact, build an enormous new Tesla dealership in its place.” At publishing time, reports had circulated that the U.S. Capitol would be next to be disguised as a Tesla dealership in a plot to round up and imprison Democrats for attempting a violent insurrection.

100% of MS patients autopsied had parasites in their spinal fluid pic.twitter.com/psh7JR91IO

— “Sudden And Unexpected” (@toobaffled) March 24, 2025

Swan
https://twitter.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/1903880749935206439

Rooster

The rooster saves the hen from a hawk.. pic.twitter.com/E1JXcaU9FU

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) March 24, 2025

Elephants

This is how Elephants should be, just so beautiful to see, happy and free!! pic.twitter.com/5iT8YeMNAl

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) March 24, 2025

Bounce

Practicing for accuracy
pic.twitter.com/aGiD5Ikyoq

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) March 24, 2025

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Debt Rattle February 26 2025

Feb 262025

February 26, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 8:02 am Finance Tagged with: AfD, disarmament, DOGE, militarist, Pentagon, rare earths, Starlink, Trump, Zelensky 53 Responses »

Rembrandt van Rijn The deposition 1632-33

• Trump Is Well Placed To Secure A Deal With Russia To End The War (Proud)

• Zelensky To Visit White House Friday To Sign Minerals Deal (ZH)

• Trump Wants Russia Rare Earths Deal (RT)

• Majority Supports DOGE Measures to Reduce the Size of Government (Turley)

• Calls for UK DOGE as Billions ‘Wasted’ on ‘Woke’ Projects Abroad (ET)

• Florida GOP Gov DeSantis Announces State DOGE Task Force (JTN)

• A Change in US Foreign Policy from Lies to Truth, from War to Peace (PCR)

• ‘Militarist’ EU Has No Place At Ukraine Peace Negotiating Table – Moscow (RT)

• Kremlin Contradicts Trump On ‘NATO Troops In Ukraine’ (RT)

• EU Divided On Frozen Russian Assets – Politico (RT)

• AfD Success Divides Germany Into East and West (Sp.)

• Germany Elections Will Change Little, And Nothing For The Better (Amar)

• Russia-US Dialogue Must Pave Way For Disarmament – Top Hungarian Diplomat (TASS)

• Trump’s Incomprehension – “Thank You, Dear Donald” (Helmer)

• Musk’s Starlink Set To Upgrade America’s National Airspace System (ZH)

• Pentagon To Be ‘Shaken Up’ – White House (RT)

Play to win decisively
pic.twitter.com/BViMbfRglZ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 24, 2025

Working

Great President @realDonaldTrump
pic.twitter.com/k0PMS8eoRC

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 24, 2025

Mearsheimer

Ukraine Would Be Intact Today

John Mearsheimer: Crimea would be part of Ukraine If the West had not Pushed Hard to Bring Ukraine into NATO

Did the West Provoke Russia in Ukraine? pic.twitter.com/1P1PCV0CuF

— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) February 24, 2025

Leavitt
https://twitter.com/i/status/1894222506954813807

Alina
https://twitter.com/i/status/1894280006043308449

Ron Paul

Absurd that a 5 min email generates this level of concern!

Something is deeply wrong.

pic.twitter.com/P5oZ49BcBF

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 24, 2025

Unique point of view. Ian Proud was a member of HM Diplomatic Service from 1999 to 2023. From July 2014 to February 2019 he was posted to the British Embassy in Moscow (as Charge d’Affaires).

• Trump Is Well Placed To Secure A Deal With Russia To End The War (Proud)

The speed with which America has moved to reestablish diplomatic contact with Russia has left European leaders breathless and flatfooted. Zelensky has also been damaged by a needless public fight with President Trump that he could not win, after accusing him of living in a Russian disinformation bubble. Donald Trump has arrived in the White House, for the second time, following a collapse in U.S.-Russia relations under a preceding Democratic Party President. What seems different today is that the politics of Washington have made it easier for him to engage with President Putin. In 2017, Russia undoubtedly hoped for a potential reset of relations with the United States after a general collapse in engagement under President Obama. In Obama’s final foreign policy fling on 29 December 2016, he expelled 35 Russian diplomats, in response to the so-called Russiagate allegations.

In my view, Obama hoped these expulsions would make it harder for President Trump to engage with President Putin, if Russia retaliated with reciprocal diplomatic expulsions. But, Putin deliberately paused on retaliating, waiting to see what Trump might offer. The real obstacle to engagement in 2017, which doesn’t seem to exist today, was the bipartisan resistance in Washington to President Trump improving relations with Russia in any way. Just one day after Obama expelled the Russian diplomats, the rabidly anti-Russian late Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) were in Kyiv. There, they pressed for even tougher sanctions against Russia, and more support for Ukraine. Even before President Trump had been sworn in, moves were being made by representatives of his own political party, to hem him in.

The vehicle to achieve this was the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which imposed sweeping new sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea. This sanctions act was so punitive, allowing the U.S. to sanction European countries that did business with Russia, that several EU leaders were furious and lobbied hard for it to be watered down. On 31 July 2017, within days of Congress approving the CAATSA act, President Putin finally chose to retaliate, evicting seven hundred fifty five staff from U.S. diplomatic missions. Two days later, when President Trump signed the CAATSA Act into Law, he noted that the bill was ‘seriously flawed.. because it encroaches on the executive branch’s authority to negotiate. This bill makes it harder for the United States to strike good deals for the American people, and will drive China, Russia, and North Korea much closer together.’

Whether or not you agree with sanctions against Russia, it would take a confident person today, to say that Russia, China and North Korea weren’t closer now than they were eight years ago. Back in 2017 the CAATSA Act was a hammer blow to President Trump’s efforts to reengage. President Putin’s retaliation gutted America’s diplomatic network in Russia. I was Charge d’Affaires at the British Embassy at the time and took the short walk most days to the U.S. Embassy to help the Deputy Chief of Mission as he grappled with the dreadful choice of which of his diplomats to send back to America. I could have taken a car, but I wanted to walk in and out each day, under the watchful gaze of the Russian state apparatus, as a small sign of solidarity.

The main U.S. Embassy site in Moscow sits behind the White House, which the Russian army famously fired at by Russian army tanks during the 1993 parliamentary rebellion. In 2017, a cavernous new, glass and steel Consular Services building had recently erected which even today sits largely empty, as the U.S. shut down practically all visa processing in Russia. I recommended a plan – successful as it turns out – to prevent closure of the Anglo-American school of Moscow, under the cover of the mass expulsions. The school had first opened in 1949, as a place for the children of American, British and Canadian diplomats to get an education. That school finally closed it doors in May 2023, having supported diplomatic children – including my two – for seventy-four years without interruption. Both are small signs of just far low U.S.-Russia day to day diplomatic ties have fallen.

The talks that took place between in Saudi Arabia on 18 February between Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov focused in significant part on a process gradually to return diplomatic relations to a more normal footing. In my experience, Russia places considerable value on day-to-day diplomatic collaboration across social, cultural, scientific and other fields. Even NASA had a liaison in Moscow while I was there. It is no great secret that the intelligence services of both sides work relentlessly to spy on the other. But this softer diplomatic engagement is a huge help in moderating some of the ‘bad stuff’. President Trump would like the war to end, but Russia holds the upper hand on the battlefield and can play for time in suing for peace. Russia would undoubtedly like a more normalised diplomatic relationship with the United States of America.

Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov has said he is not interested in a quick ceasefire that allows Ukraine to rearm and come back later for another war. Any negotiation depends on knowing what both sides want and what you can offer without diminishing your own goals. There is little appetite on the Hill to pump further billions into the Ukraine war effort. With over 20,000 sanctions imposed on Russia already and with its economy still robust, there is no benefit in pushing more sanctions. Taking small steps to redress the awful day-to-day diplomatic relations between both countries seems a good place to start as both sides look to broker a lasting peace. And with President Trump not held back by dissenters in his own party, he appears strongly placed to agree a deal with President Putin.

He’s going to be nervous.

• Zelensky To Visit White House Friday To Sign Minerals Deal (ZH)

Update(1720ET): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit the White House on Friday amid reports he is finalizing a mineral rights access deal with the Trump administration. President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday that he heard Zelensky was visiting on Friday, “and certainly it’s OK with me if he’d like to” – as cited in The Hill and other outlets. “Without the United States and its money and its military equipment, this war would have been over in a very short period of time,” Trump said in the remarks. Apparently Zelensky finally acquiesced after the negotiating teams reached agreement on a final draft that does not include a US demand that it would have rights to $500 billion in future revenue. Details remain largely unknown at this early stage.

An American official involved the talks told Axios that “General Kellogg’s meetings with Zelensky in Kyiv last Wednesday and Thursday were extremely important. Patient, persistent diplomacy can yield results.” “I hear Zelensky’s coming on Friday, it’s ok with me… It could be a trillion dollar deal, it could be whatever… Biden was throwing around money like it’s cotton candy. From the Oval Office presser: Reporter: What does Ukraine get in this mineral deal?Trump: “Military equipment… Without the United States and it’s money… this war would have been over in a very short period of time.”And… “I’d like to buy minerals on Russian land too.”

* * *

Update(1348ET): Ukraine has tentatively agreed to Trump’s mineral rights access deal, Financial Times is reporting in breaking headline. The devil will of course be in the details, given as recently as Sunday Zelensky was openly resistant to the terms offered so far. “Kyiv has agreed terms with Washington on a minerals deal that Ukrainian officials hope will improve relations with the Trump administration and pave the way for a long-term US security commitment,” FT reports early Tuesday afternoon. “Ukrainian officials say Kyiv is now ready to sign the agreement on jointly developing its mineral resources, including oil and gas, after the US dropped demands for a right to $500bn in potential revenue from exploiting the resources,” the report continues.

But again nothing appears to be ultimately finalized, and there will yet be plenty of haggling over what exactly this will look like. Snippets of draft agreements have been leaked, but little in the way of the more controversial details.”The minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture,” Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and justice minister who has led the negotiations, told the same publication.

As we detailed below, Europe is actually offering its own rival version, which could be part of yet more efforts to stall and sabotage a Washington deal. President Putin himself is also touting discussions over “major” cooperation with US companies, including on access to Russia’s rare earth minerals. The US has said ‘no’ to NATO membership for Ukraine, even as some European leaders continue to push this dubious future scenario. Zelensky has even talked stepping down if this could guaranteed future NATO membership, but also as Ukraine’s parliament has extended his mandate, with no new elections on the horizon.

Ukraine mineral resources worth $14.8 trillion. 70% in Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Most of it is coal and iron, not rare earths. Europe’s largest titanium and lithium reserves, but those are also not rare-earth elements. Ukraine’s rare-earth metal deposits include beryllium, manganese, gallium, uranium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite, and nickel. Question always is: is it pofitable to develop the resources? Question 2: why did Ukraine develop so little of it? Say, over the past 25 years?!

• Trump Wants Russia Rare Earths Deal (RT)

US President Donald Trump has signaled openness to the idea of jointly developing Russia’s mineral deposits, a proposal put forward by President Vladimir Putin earlier this week following a meeting with top officials and rare-earth metal industry experts. Moscow is prepared to collaborate with Washington on developing rare-earth mineral deposits, including those in Russia’s Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, Putin said on Monday. When asked on Tuesday whether he and Putin had discussed the possibility of such a deal, Trump acknowledged his interest. “I’d like to buy minerals on Russian land, too, if we can… They have very good rare earths, also, and oil and gas. Look, it’s a great thing,” Trump told journalists at the White House. “It’s great for Russia, too, because we could do deals there. They have very valuable land that isn’t utilized. So something like that could take place, yeah.”

Putin noted that Moscow would prioritize its own development of rare-earth minerals due to their strategic importance across multiple economic sectors. However, he added that Russia was open to cooperation with international partners, including Americans, should they express interest. Trump’s administration has shown increasing interest in rare earth and other metals as part of the US president’s push to secure returns on American “investments” in the Ukraine conflict. Trump has been demanding the equivalent of up to $500 billion in natural resources as compensation for aid already provided to Kiev. After multiple delays, Kiev has reportedly agreed to the deal, with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky expected to visit Washington on Friday to sign the agreement.

“I hear that he’s coming on Friday. Certainly, it’s okay with me if he’d like to sign it together with me, and I understand that’s a big deal, very big deal… the American taxpayer now is going to get their money back plus,” Trump said. The rare earths deal Trump is pursuing with Ukraine “doesn’t concern” Moscow, Putin said in an interview with Rossiya 1 TV journalist Pavel Zarubin, noting that the actual value of Ukraine’s mineral deposits remains uncertain. Before the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the country held Europe’s largest titanium and lithium reserves. While these metals are not classified as rare-earth elements, they are crucial for the defense sector, as well as for battery and capacitor production. Ukraine’s rare-earth metal deposits also include beryllium, manganese, gallium, uranium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite, and nickel.

In 2023, Forbes Ukraine estimated that the country’s mineral resources were worth approximately $14.8 trillion, amounting to 111 billion metric tons, with coal and iron ore making up the majority. However, the publication noted that over 70% of these resources are located in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, which declared independence from Ukraine in 2014 following the Western-backed Maidan coup in Kiev. These territories came under Russian control after referendums in 2022, when the regions voted to join Russia.

Aluminum

JUST IN: Vladimir Putin says Russia is ready to supply the United States with 2 MILLION tons of aluminum, which will help stabilize prices.

The U.S. is the largest importer of aluminum. This will help drive down the costs of so many things.pic.twitter.com/JsINQ1OpnI

— George (@BehizyTweets) February 24, 2025

Of course they do. Who doesn’t want to save money?

• Majority Supports DOGE Measures to Reduce the Size of Government (Turley)

As the courts hash out the legalities of the orders supporting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the public appears to support the effort despite the almost universal condemnations in the media. Despite the prediction from James Carville that the Trump Administration will collapse within 30 days, a recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll shows that most citizens support the cutting of government spending and size. While the courts must rule on the legal basis for these executive orders, the polling shows continued support for both Trump and his agenda after the election.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) also has declared that “remorse” was growing among voters who were souring against the Trump Administration. Yet, the Harvard poll shows Trump with a 50% approval rating, (43% expressing disapproval). That is consistent with the RealClearPolitics polling average, giving Trump a 49.3% approval rating.What was interesting amid the ongoing judicial and legislative fight is that 83% of voters preferred cutting government spending to raising taxes. Some 77% also supported a broad review of government spending. A massive 70% believe government spending is rife with waste and fraud and 69% support cutting spending by $1 trillion.Sixty percent of voters said that DOGE is carrying out the need of the government to make significant cuts.

Once again, our courts are designed to resist popular demands when they contravene legal or constitutional authorities. However, courts are also sensitive to what is called the “countermajoritarian difficulty.” As Alexander Bickel discussed in his 1962 book, The Least Dangerous Branch, the courts straddle this line between protecting constitutional values and not becoming a type of super-legislature. The political question doctrine and other judicial rules are designed to remove federal judges from making policy or political judgments. Voters are allowed to bring about significant, even radical, changes in government policies and programs. They are allowed to elect “change agents” to use existing powers to achieve those goals.

They have neither a Trump nor a Musk.

• Calls for UK DOGE as Billions ‘Wasted’ on ‘Woke’ Projects Abroad (ET)

Calls have grown for the British government to introduce the equivalent of the United States’ Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), after the extent of so-called “woke waste” spending on projects abroad which fall under the umbrella of diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) was revealed. Successive Conservative and Labour governments have signed off on projects such as £9,550,000 awarded in December 2024 to Cowater International to support “Accountability and Inclusion” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The bulk of the funding under scrutiny has come through the foreign aid budget administered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO), although spending at home for academic and arts projects that appear to push the DEI agenda have also come under fire.

More than half a million pounds (£575,000) was granted to the Ark Group to deliver advice to the Jordanian Armed Forces’ “Gender Mainstreaming Strategy,” also by the FCDO but under the previous Conservative government in March 2024. Projects around the world aiming to address the “climate crisis” are also major recipients of vast sums of UK money, with more than £101 million given to “Climate and Ocean Adaptation and Sustainable Transition” in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Mozambique, with this contract awarded to DAI Global in November 2024.The UK has also allocated a further £12 million for a “Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance“ in Mauritius, with the contract still out for tender until December this year, the database shows.

While many drivers in the UK have been hit by congestion, ULEZ, and parking charges, almost half a million pounds (£499,649.60) was awarded by the FCDO in 2023 for 15 electric vehicles to be “donated to Albanian prisons” by the British Embassy in Tirana. Since winning the general election last July, Labour has repeatedly claimed there is a “£22 billion black hole” in the public spending purse, which Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said necessitates sweeping cuts, such as the loss of winter fuel allowance for the majority of pensioners. A group operating under the handle The Procurement Files since December 2024 has trawled the publicly available government accounts database to expose some of the more contentious spending, working with journalist Charlotte Gill, who runs a blog and uses the handle @wokewaste.

Also under scrutiny has been the hundreds of millions awarded to diplomatic spending, such as the refurbishment of embassies and high commissioners’ offices. A spokesperson for The Procurement Files told The Epoch Times: “The UK spends over £100 billion a year on interest. Our aim is to help to find ways to reduce wasteful spend and to save the UK taxpayer money. “For us, it is a question of priorities. Why would the UK taxpayer fund a project for ‘Green Urban Growth in Somalia’ or a ‘Maldives Shark Diving Code of Conduct’ when people here are struggling to pay sky-high energy bills? “Politicans from the Conservatives and Reform, including Nigel Farage, have been in touch and follow our work.” They added, “We will follow the blueprint laid out by Elon Musk and the U.S. DOGE team, and are cheering them on from the sidelines!”

Reform MP Richard Tice told The Epoch Times: “I believe I speak for the majority of logical, common-sense Britons when I say we need an equivalent of DOGE in the UK. “As has been proven in America, the only people who oppose such an agency are the incompetent or corrupt bureaucrats. “Let’s expose the levels of government waste, sleaze, and neglect of taxpayers’ money. “Full transparency is what the people want—let’s give it to them.” Sam Bidwell, director of The Next Generation, part of the Adam Smith Institute, said on social media platform X: “The benefits of a British DOGE would be in long-term growth rather than short-term savings. “We have several hundred regulators, quangos, and [Arms Length Bodies], which churn out reams of absurd anti-growth regulation. “Defunding and reforming these bodies would be an enormous net positive.”

Some Conservatives have backed the calls for a UK DOGE, including Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay, who pledged in a speech on Tuesday to set up a Scottish Agency of Value and Efficiency in the event of him becoming first minister. Findlay said such a department would be tasked with “cutting waste, identifying savings, and delivering better value for taxpayers.” But there has been no talk from the British government of slashing such projects as the £22,490,382 awarded by the FCDO to PwC for “Green Growth” in Nepal shortly after Labour took office in July 2024. Under the previous government, £220 million was granted to Palladium for “UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions” in developing countries, with an option to more than double this amount. The same company was separately awarded £15.5 million to deliver a “climate smart jobs programme” in Uganda.

The FCDO is not the only department to come under scrutiny, with the Home Office also coming in for criticism on social media for awarding Alcis Holdings £133,000 to monitor the “Afghanistan Taliban’s Narcotics Ban.” Generous spending for high-level diplomacy is a recurring theme of the contracts under scrutiny, with £179,931 granted to “replace air-conditioning condensers” at the British High Commission in Barbados, and a £14.4 million contract for a whole-building refurbishment of the High Commission in Kenya. Smaller amounts of funding have also come under fire over the usefulness of the project, with an academic study of “Shrimp Health in Bangladesh” awarded £50,000 in May 2023 through the Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs.

Arts Council funding which promotes DEI themes has also been criticised by commentators and social media users, such as the £185,627 awarded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (ACHR) for a trans-identified academic to research “Trans Performance Now: Glitching Transgenderism” at Northumbria University. Gill has highlighted a number of AHRC-sponsored studies in her work, writing that “the taxpayer is funding their own demise” by unwittingly stumping up for projects such as “The Europe that Gay Porn Built,” awarded £841,627 over four years at Birmingham City University. ACHR funding for academic projects abroad has included £318,510 for a study that claims that water has experienced trauma, and aims to “address current water and mental health issues affecting Indiginous communities” in Peru and the United States.

Since taking control of the White House for the second time, President Donald Trump has begun a wide-ranging and rapid programme to cut what he regards as unnecessary and sometimes corrupt government expenditure, appointing SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as head of DOGE, named after the internet meme. DOGE’s first radical move was to announce the slashing of USAID’s workforce from 14,000 to 294 after an audit revealed it was funding projects such as $1.5 million to “advance DEI in Serbia’s workplaces,” as well as $2 million for sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala, and $32,000 for a “transgender comic book” in Peru. USAID was set up in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to administer humanitarian aid on behalf of the U.S. government, but much of its work is now contracted out to external agencies. Musk claims to have already saved the U.S government more than $3.4 billion by halting DEI contracts, using his platform X to highlight what he has labelled widespread “fraud” as well as “waste.”

The Trump team has suggested as much as a trillion dollars could be saved by DOGE, although there is pushback from the Democrats and many NGOs and others who work within the foreign aid field. The billionaire entrepreneur said earlier this month on X: “The corrupt politicians ‘protesting’ outside the USAID building are the ones getting money from USAID. That’s why they’re there – they want your stolen tax dollars!” The United States is the world’s largest provider of money for foreign aid, by a considerable margin. The UK is the world’s fourth largest spender, giving approximately £15.4 billion in 2023, compared to around £71.9 billion from the United States.

DeSantis could get somewhere.

• Florida GOP Gov DeSantis Announces State DOGE Task Force (JTN)

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis says the state will establish a Department of Governmental Efficiency task force, similar to the Trump administration’s, to eliminate wasteful government spending at the local level. “Florida has set the standard for fiscally conservative governance, and our new Florida DOGE task force will do even more to serve the people of Florida,” DeSantis said in a statement on Monday. Some of the goals for Florida version will include a deep dive into government funding goint the state universities. Another goal will be looking into the continued existence of 70 boards and commissions in 2025. “The Florida State DOGE Task Force will implement a multi-pronged approach to eliminating bureaucratic bloat and modernizing our state government to best serve the people of Florida,” the governor’s office said.

Paul Craig Roberts. “Europe has been totally misgoverned since the end of WW II. Indeed, European misgovernment caused WW II.”

• A Change in US Foreign Policy from Lies to Truth, from War to Peace (PCR)

Yesterday Trump began the task of his first term–the normalization of relations with Russia–which was blocked by the corrupt FBI’s “Russiagate” hoax, an act of treason for which executions should take place and, indeed, the utterly corrupt agency abolished. The United States, to the chagrin of USAID-supported CNN, voted with Russia against a UN General Assembly revolution condemning Russia’s “invasion” of Ukraine.CNN true to its reputation as the worst liar on earth found it “shocking” that the US aligned with Russia against the “free world” and aligned with “the aggressor in the war on the three-year anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.” It seems that CNN is going to continue lying for the military/security complex even after CNN’s funding courtesy of the US taxpayers has been halted.

Everyone knows that Russia did not invade Ukraine and limited its intervention to the two Russian break-away republics in Donbas. Everyone knows that Russia tried for eight years to keep Donbas in Ukraine with the Minsk Agreement. Everyone knows that the West used the Minsk Agreement to deceive the Kremlin while the US trained and equipped a large Ukrainian army to invade Donbas and subdue the break-away republics. Everyone knows that the US, NATO, and EU flatly refused Russia’s request for a mutual security agreement. Everyone knows that the US forced Putin’s hand to intervene in Donbas. Yet the CNN excrement continues to lie through its teeth. CNN is nothing but a lie factory. Shouldn’t the lie factory be sanctioned or abolished for fomenting war by lying and intentionally spreading misinformation, a charge that the lie factory leveled at every truth-teller?

How can anyone be sufficiently stupid and corrupt as to rely on CNN? The US-orchestrated conflict with Russia cannot be ended on the basis of total lies about the cause of the conflict. Acknowledgement of the truth is required, and the truth is on Russia’s side. President Trump realizes that. He knows that he cannot end the conflict by imposing lies on Putin. It is extraordinary that the dumbshit Europeans want war with Russia. It would mean the total destruction of all of Europe. European industry is dying because the fools have cut themselves off of Russian energy. European economies are dying because the fools have cut themselves off from a large and natural market. Europe has been totally misgoverned since the end of WW II. Indeed, European misgovernment caused WW II. In the postwar period, Charles de Gaulle was the only European leader. All the others were US puppets who sold out their peoples.

The rise of AfD in Germany and Marine Le Pen’s party in France are efforts to reestablish the sovereignty of Germany and France. But the German and French people have been so brainwashed and indoctrinated that they associate sovereignty with nationalism an nationalism with Nazism. Consequently, nationalist parties that actually represent the people cannot get into office. Trump is right that Europe is finished. Europeans have lost self-belief. European politicians are long accustomed to being on the payroll of USAID, National Endowment for Democracy, and the US military/security complex. Europe is exhausted, murdered by its own left-wing. Russia and China are on the rise. Trump intends to restore America, about which the American Establishment, CNN and the media whores are up in arms.

Hopefully President Trump will understand that he needs peace and cooperation with China just as much as he needs peace and cooperation with Russia. If the Trump administration tries to wedge the US between Russia and China, conflict will be perpetrated. Was USAID Using Our Taxpayer Dollars to Pay for CNN’s Propaganda Rants Against America? It seems so.

“..they “embarked on a path of militarism” and “lost the right” to take part in efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict..”

• ‘Militarist’ EU Has No Place At Ukraine Peace Negotiating Table – Moscow (RT)

The aggressive position of Ukraine’s EU backers makes them unfit to take part in the peace process, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. Their desire to push divisive narratives will only harm their own relations with the international community, it added. The actions of the active Ukraine supporters among the EU nations show that they “embarked on a path of militarism” and “lost the right” to take part in efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, according to the Foreign Ministry. It was commenting on two competing resolutions on Ukraine that were submitted to the UN General Assembly on Monday to mark the third year of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. One of them was initiated by Kiev and its EU backers and condemned Russia. Moscow blasted the document for “recycling baseless accusations and ultimatums against Russia, selective citation of the UN Charter” and ignoring the root causes of the conflict.

According to the ministry, the resolution was aimed at increasing international support for the ‘Zelensky peace formula’ – Kiev’s plan for resolving the conflict based on a set of demands and preconditions that Russia has called unacceptable. The document received record low support in the UN General Assembly, the Foreign Ministry said, adding that more than half of the UN members did not back it. The resolution was endorsed by 93 nations and opposed by 18, with 65 abstentions. The remaining members of the 193-strong body did not vote. The competing resolution put forward by the US, which initially only expressed sorrow for the loss of life in the conflict and called for a sustainable peace was “turned into yet another anti-Russian pamphlet” through “obnoxious” amendments introduced by Kiev’s EU backers, the ministry stated.

“The meaning of the initiative was distorted to a point when even its US authors could not endorse their own document,” the Russian statement said. The EU nations’ delegates tried to delay the vote on a similar US-sponsored resolution at the UN Security Council, it added. These actions run counter to the will of the international community, Moscow said, warning that Kiev’s EU backers could end up isolated due to their belligerent stance. The EU and some of its member states stepped up their aggressive rhetoric this month after Moscow and Washington announced plans to restore ties and work on resolving the Ukraine conflict. On Monday, the bloc adopted its 16th package of Ukraine-related restrictions, marking the anniversary of the launch of the Russian military operation against Kiev in February 2022.

Shortly after assuming office in January, US President Donald Trump pivoted Washington’s stance on Ukraine. Trump recently claimed that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is responsible for escalating the conflict and declared that Zelensky’s participation in meetings between Washington and Russia is unnecessary. Top EU diplomat and former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas accused the US of adopting a “Russian narrative” under the new administration and stated that Brussels should “support Ukraine right now more than ever.”

“..the “presence of armed forces from NATO countries, even under the EU flag or as part of national contingents” as “completely unacceptable” to Moscow.”

• Kremlin Contradicts Trump On ‘NATO Troops In Ukraine’ (RT)

The Kremlin has contradicted a claim by US President Donald Trump that Russia would “accept” the placement of troops from NATO countries in Ukraine under a possible peace deal. When pressed by journalists on Monday about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opinion on the possibility of Western troops deploying to Ukraine, Trump said “He will accept that. I have asked him that question.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday however that Moscow’s position has not changed since Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s description the week before of the “presence of armed forces from NATO countries, even under the EU flag or as part of national contingents” as “completely unacceptable” to Moscow.

Trump insisted he had “specifically asked [Putin] that question” regarding the deployment. “He has no problem with it,” he said while talking to the press following his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington. Trump and Putin spoke by phone for more than an hour earlier in February. According to both sides, the conversation involved a wide range of topics, including the ongoing Ukraine conflict. However, neither side mentioned any understandings reached at that time that could be linked to the deployment of Western troops to Ukraine.

Russia would only accept a foreign troop deployment to Ukraine as part of a UN mandate, Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow’s envoy to the international body, told RIA Novosti earlier this month. “‘Peacekeepers’ cannot operate without a mandate from the UN Security Council,” he said at that time, adding that any other military contingents on the ground would be treated as regular combatants. Moscow has warned that it would treat any troops entering Ukraine without Russia’s consent amid its ongoing conflict with Kiev as legitimate targets. Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, meaning it can veto any resolution to send foreign troops to Ukraine.

Several senior European leaders, most notably French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, have been floating the idea of sending military personnel to Ukraine. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the two nations were considering deploying up to 30,000 “peacekeepers” to the nation, depending on whether Moscow and Kiev could reach a peace deal. The plan was also dependent on whether the US would agree to contribute to the effort in a limited military capacity, the report said. The Trump administration has repeatedly stated that European NATO members should bear the brunt of security guarantees for Kiev. Earlier in February, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ruled out deploying American troops to Ukraine as part of any agreements on security guarantees.

Thieves having open discussions.

• EU Divided On Frozen Russian Assets – Politico (RT)

The EU is reportedly divided over the fate of approximately €200 billion ($209 billion) in Russian sovereign assets, Politico reported on Tuesday. The funds, primarily held by Euroclear in Brussels, have been frozen since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. According to the outlet, since Brussels was left out of discussions between the US and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia earlier this month, some EU member states have started calling for the immediate transfer of Moscow’s frozen funds to Kiev. Others, however, have argued that the assets should be retained as a bargaining tool in future negotiations with Moscow. Those who support the seizure of Russia’s assets include the Baltic and Nordic states, as well as Poland, the Czech Republic, and the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, according to Politico.

They have argued that the frozen funds should be used to help Ukraine rebuild and sustain its war effort, especially if Washington decides to halt its support for Kiev. “I don’t take the argument that it’s legally problematic… we need [the] political will to do it,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told Politico in an interview. Previously, Kallas had also suggested that Russia’s money should be used for the reconstruction of Ukraine before being handed back over to Moscow, noting that she doubts there will be “anything left over.” However, other EU nations, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, believe that these funds should be kept as a bargaining chip. Some officials have also raised concerns that an outright confiscation of Russian funds could set a dangerous precedent and spook international investors.

”If you were to unfreeze [the assets] and give [them] to Ukraine, you don’t have it anymore and you can’t use it as a bargaining chip,” one anonymous EU diplomat told Politico. Western allies froze about $300 billion in assets belonging to the Russian central bank shortly after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict three years ago. The bulk of the funds, around $213 billion, is being held in the Brussels-based clearinghouse Euroclear. Russia has repeatedly condemned the freezing of its assets and has warned that seizing them would amount to “theft.” The Kremlin says that any attempt to transfer the funds to Ukraine would lead to severe economic and legal consequences for the EU, including reciprocal actions that could tap the income from frozen Western assets held in Russia.

Moving backwards?!

• AfD Success Divides Germany Into East and West (Sp.)

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has secured second place in the country’s snap election, exposing deep national polarization, German political analyst Dr. Gregor Spitzen told Sputnik. “Voting for the AfD is a form of political protest. A loud ‘no’ to the systemic political parties that have opened the door to terrorists in Germany and led the country into recession and deindustrialization,” Spitzen said. The divide is also geographical, with Eastern Germany (the former GDR) showing strong support for the Euroskeptic party. Spitzen attributed this to East Germans’ strong sense of national identity and critical thinking —qualities he believes are nearly lost in the West.

“Over the next four years, the East-West divide in Germany will only grow. This is illustrated by the AfD’s phenomenal result in Saxony, where it won 46 percent – more than all the other parties combined,” Spitzen predicted. Furthermore, he did not rule out the possibility of an AfD victory in the next parliamentary election, especially if US President Donald Trump and his ally, billionaire Elon Musk, continue to support the party. AfD may be even closer to victory than expected, given that a last-minute Democracy Institute poll ranked AfD Co-Chair Alice Weidel as the top choice for chancellor among likely German voters.

Same old same old with slightly different numbers. Vested interests. They already started flying in refugees again. It will really take AfD to turn Germany around.

• Germany Elections Will Change Little, And Nothing For The Better (Amar)

The winner of the election is, of course, the conservative CDU (CSU in Bavaria) under ex-BlackRock globalist, hard-right Atlanticist, and fanatically pro-Zionist Friedrich Merz. He is now the chancellor-elect. Yet, in reality, the CDU result of not even 29% is nothing to write home about. It’s enough to win, but definitely too little to boast about. Long gone are the days of heavyweight Helmut Kohl who regularly scored in the 34-38% range. Indeed, the only time when Kohl netted a result similar to Merz’s current one was in 1998, i.e., when he was in obvious decline. The two parties that can really congratulate themselves are Die Linke (The Left) and the Alternative For Germany (AfD) under Alice Weidel. The Left, strongly rebounding from a period of demoralization, captured almost 8% of the vote and the AfD, doubling its 2021 result, nearly 21%.

That is as predicted by polls; so, Elon Musk’s clumsy last-minute intervention definitely did not help; it may even have hurt the party in the end. Yet for the AfD, this still marks a historic breakthrough (and I write this without political sympathy): It is simply a fact that the AfD is now the second-strongest party in Germany. The only, fundamentally dubious reason that it will – most likely – not participate in government is that all other parties, including the CDU, insist on treating it as a pariah. Citizens may vote for it – and in ever larger numbers – but the traditional parties claim the privilege of excluding it by a “firewall” (a concept unknown to the constitution, of course) from the ordinary process of coalition-making that really allocates power in Berlin.

Whatever you think about their reasons for doing so, it is a hard fact that the mainstream parties are thereby treating the AfD as a second-class party and therefore its voters as second-class voters. In that regard, a recent poll finding is relevant: As Germany’s thoroughly mainstream conservative paper of record Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is reporting, the AfD can no longer be understood as a mere “party of protest.” Instead, its voters mean it when they support it. Their decision is genuine and authentic, whether you like it or not. And the AfD now also has the highest share of voters who are either workers or unemployed. Finally, the AfD is still especially strong, indeed dominant in the former East Germany. Put all of the above together and it is obvious that discriminating against the AfD promotes social and regional polarization. Indeed, not treating Weidel’s party as a normal member of the Berlin club undermines German unity.

As things are, Germany will probably see the establishment of yet another “great coalition” between the CDU and SPD. Even while the latter has been diminished as literally never before, together the two still have enough parliamentary seats to govern. The AfD, in any case, is reiterating that it is ready for a coalition with the CDU, which would have a solid, indeed bigger majority and a shared view of the world. For, even if the mainstream conservatives of the CDU are loath to admit it, very little separates them ideologically from the AfD. Indeed, as one smart observer has plausibly argued, in terms of ideology, the true share of the “far-right” vote in this election was 60% – including the CDU, the AfD, and the Greens as well. Yet since the real conflict between the CDU and the AfD is not over “values” but electoral turf and ultimately survival as the go-to for Germany’s future right/far-right vote, their coalition is not likely to happen, not yet.

That will leave the AfD, for now, as the most powerful opposition party and free to profit from the predictable dysfunction and self-blockade that the CDU and SPD will, once again, inflict on Germany. By 2029 – or earlier in case of another government collapse – Weidel’s party will find itself in an excellent position to break into government, perhaps even dominate it. In that sense, the AfD has every reason to be optimistic now: one way or the other, the election results and their consequences will play into its hands. But as to the rest of Germany, they won’t be so lucky. For three reasons: First, reduce bureaucracy as you will, raise or lower taxes to your heart’s content, keep talking about initiative and hard work and all that – none of it will overcome Germany’s abysmal economic decline.

Except you also address two key issues: namely how to reform or better abolish the so-called “debt brake” that paralyzes economic policy and how to rebuild a pragmatic, normal relationship with Russia, including inexpensive energy for German industry and access to cooperation and markets for German business. Regarding the debt brake, a CDU-SPD coalition would have enough parliamentarians to govern but not to change the constitution. Yet that is what is needed to make a difference there. Hence, not only will the two coalition partners block and sabotage each other; they will also be unable to find enough support from the opposition. And if a compromise should be cobbled together, rely on it: it will be worthless since ineffective.

Regarding Russia: Merz and his CDU have already signaled that they intend to be even more belligerent than the “traffic light” coalition. As far as they can imagine loosening the self-strangulating debt brake, for instance, then mostly to pump more money into the military. And make no mistake: With regard to foreign policy, Merz’s declaration of seeking “independence” from the US may sound intriguing. But he remains a rigid, intellectually provincial Atlanticist, mentally stuck in the 1990s, if not the (early) ‘80s.

Merz’s idea of going it alone is motivated by nothing better than fear and necessity, as Washington under Donald Trump is getting ready to cut its European clients loose. Worse, where the imagination of, at least, a Gaullist would be required to rebuild European security with instead of against Russia, Merz seems to have no greater vision than, in effect, quixotically trying to make Germany (perhaps together with France as junior partner and nuke provider) replace America inside a shrunken, de facto EU-European-centered NATO remaining frozen in self-crippling Russophobia and daft Cold War reenacting, Kaja Kallas-style. Think of it as a new mutation of Atlanticism that doesn’t even feature an Atlantic anymore.

That would be good.

• Russia-US Dialogue Must Pave Way For Disarmament – Top Hungarian Diplomat (TASS)

The renewal of dialogue between Russia and the US must pave the way for disarmament, which has stalled amid increased tensions between the two countries in recent years, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said on his way to the UN’s Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. “Of course, Hungary and all peace-loving nations have an interest in seeing resumed US-Russian dialogue lead to the revival of the disarmament process. This will require mutual trust once again, and I will urge the rebuilding of that trust at the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva today,” Hungary’s top diplomat wrote in a post on Facebook (banned in Russia, owned by Meta designated as extremist in Russia).

He also drew attention to the fact that over the last three years, as the Ukrainian conflict has dragged on, talk about nuclear weapons being used has increased, which is very dangerous in and of itself. Furthermore, this conflict led to the production of a copious amount of weaponry, and “no one knows what will happen to it in the future,” the Hungarian foreign minister said. “By whom, where, and against whom will it be used in the future?” he inquired. In particular, Russia and the US will discuss the possibility of renewing the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) which expires in 2026. Experts say that a new treaty, one which would replace the old agreement, could be drafted.

New START limits the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles Russia and the United States may own. In February 2023, Moscow announced that it was suspending its participation in the treaty but was not withdrawing from it. The Russian side wanted to understand how New START would account not only for the United States’ arsenals but also for the stockpiles of other NATO nuclear powers, namely the United Kingdom and France. In turn, the US has repeatedly stated that it would like to include China in the negotiations on nuclear disarmament. Beijing, however, does not see the need for this, as it has a much smaller nuclear stockpile than the other two powers. Following his return to office, Donald Trump has confirmed Washington’s willingness to communicate with Moscow and Beijing on these issues.

John Helmer is no fan of Trump’s. Fair enough, but he should ask himself how much/how little Trump values Macron. Who visits because he wants a place at the peace talks table. Which he will not get.

• Trump’s Incomprehension – “Thank You, Dear Donald” (Helmer)

Compos mentis was missing in the Oval Office on Monday morning. French President Emmanuel Macron recognized it, and was so pleased, he repeatedly said: “Thank you, dear Donald”. The answers to press questions given by President Donald Trump, sitting beside Macron, revealed that Trump doesn’t understand what end-of-war terms President Vladimir Putin has announced, nor the substance of the conversations, back channel and front in Riyadh, which have been going on between the Russians and Trump’s representatives. In the 28-minute morning presser, Trump spoke in repeated slogans except for a handful of new briefing points he was given by his staff: the President stressed he has no points of difference with the French, the other Europeans, or NATO on how to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war.

“There was great unity in that room”, Trump claimed of the first round of meetings with the Macron delegation, which included a videolink to other G7 leaders. “Take back some of the land”, Trump then claimed after being asked what end-of-war terms in the Ukraine he has discussed with Macron. “We’ll see if we get some land back”, Trump repeated. Asked if he planned to go to Moscow on May 9, Trump revealed he does not know the significance of the May 9 celebration in Russia. “If this all gets settled out, sure I would go, and he could come here, too. I don’t know Ninth of May, no – I, err, that’s pretty soon. At the appropriate time I would go to Moscow…Within weeks. I think we could end it within weeks if we’re smart. If we’re not smart, it’ll keep going…” Trump revealed, however, that he has given up his effort to hold a summit meeting with Putin without preparatory agreement of terms for an end of the Ukraine war.

In the Oval Office, and in a simultaneous social media post, Trump repeated his interest in getting “payback” for US war spending in the Ukraine by negotiating a “rare earths” agreement. “I emphasized”, the media post said, “the importance of the vital ‘Critical Minerals and Rare-Earths Deal’ between the United States and Ukraine, which we hope will be signed very soon! This deal, which is an ‘Economic Partnership’, will ensure the American people recoup the Tens of Billions of Dollars and Military Equipment sent to Ukraine, while also helping Ukraine’s economy grow as this Brutal and Savage War comes to an end. At the same time, I am in serious discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia concerning the ending of the War, and also major Economic Development transactions which will take place between the United States and Russia. Talks are proceeding very well!”

In repeating to Macron his preoccupation with “rare earths”, Trump revealed in the Oval Office that he has no idea of the geography of the minerals he is negotiating to take over, so that “we get our money back over a period of time. But it is also beneficial to their economy, to them as a country.” Trump does not comprehend that the minerals — “rare earths and other things”, he called them — are mostly located, no longer in Ukraine but in the four new provinces of Russia and on the seabed off Russian Crimea. Trump also revealed he has no idea of how his proposed US investment in the minerals would be protected and by whom.

Reporters pressed to see if the minerals agreement is subterfuge for a US security pledge to the Kiev regime, substituting for NATO membership. Asked explicitly if the minerals deal will engage a US security guarantee for the Ukraine, Trump answered: “Well, uhh, it’ll be — Europe is going to make sure nothing happens. I don’t think it’s going to be much of a problem. I think once we settle, ahhh, there’s going to be no more war in Ukraine. You’re not go – uhhh, it’s not going to be a very big problem. That’s going to be the least of it.”

“Where was the Biden-Harris administration’s urgent push to upgrade the national airspace system? We know why this wasn’t a priority—because DEI took center stage over the nation.”

• Musk’s Starlink Set To Upgrade America’s National Airspace System (ZH)

Bloomberg reported that Elon Musk’s SpaceX subsidiary, Starlink, is preparing to deploy terminals nationwide to upgrade the Federal Aviation Administration’s national airspace system. Musk responded to the report on X, indicating that the current ground-based internet, managed by Verizon, “is not working and so is putting air travelers at serious risk.”

The Verizon system is not working and so is putting air travelers at serious risk

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 25, 2025

Here’s more from the report: Musk approved a shipment of 4,000 Starlink terminals to the FAA last week for the initiative, said one of the people. One terminal has already been installed at the FAA’s air-traffic control technology lab in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for testing, the person said. The person familiar with the matter said the program will be called TDM X. The goal is to have the entire program fully functional within 12 to 18 months. An FAA spokesperson confirmed Bloomberg’s report, stating that the agency is testing one terminal in Atlantic City and two in Alaska. The military has used Starlink terminals at remote bases for the past few years.

Calls to upgrade the nation’s air traffic control system come weeks after Elon Musk, a special government employee in charge of DOGE, said his team will support the urgent need to make “rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system.” Trump has urged Congress to modernize the nation’s aging air traffic control system following last month’s midair collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and a regional jet near Ronald Reagan National Airport, which killed 67. Where was the Biden-Harris administration’s urgent push to upgrade the national airspace system? We know why this wasn’t a priority—because DEI took center stage over the nation.

Under the Biden-Harris regime, Starlink was banished from the rural federal program to connect America, primarily because of the Biden admin’s dislike of Musk. Now, Starlink has rolled out across Ukraine for cellular service, while T-Mobile in the US has the same service. Recall legacy telecoms AT&T and Verizon have used lawfare to slow down Starlink’s constellation building in low-Earth orbit. Last week, Goldman turned bullish on part suppliers for Starlink satellites… Starlink will continue to soar as the roadblocks the Biden admin put up have vanished. We suspect a Starlink IPO will occur during Trump’s second term.

The hardest part?!

• Pentagon To Be ‘Shaken Up’ – White House (RT)

The Pentagon is set for a major overhaul, with President Donald Trump ordering a leadership shake-up following years of financial mismanagement, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. The Department of Defense has never passed an independent financial audit since Congress mandated the process in 2018. Its most recent audit, in November 2024, found that only 7 of 30 sub-agencies could fully account for their expenditures. Pentagon officials admitted they are unlikely to achieve a clean audit before 2028. “They failed seven audits in a row; the trust in our United States military, amongst the warfighters, is low,” Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing. “The president is shaking up the Pentagon and the Department of Defense, of course, with Secretary [Pete] Hegseth leading, and he has the right to do such a thing.”

The White House’s latest announcement follows last week’s dismissal of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Charles Q. Brown Jr., along with several other high-ranking Pentagon officials, including Admiral Lisa Franchetti – the first woman to command the US Navy. The administration has framed these firings as part of a broader effort to improve accountability and efficiency within the military. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has echoed the call for change, rejecting past policies that he claims prioritized diversity initiatives over military effectiveness. “In this department, we will treat everyone equally,” Hegseth said earlier this month. “We will judge you as an individual by your merit.” The administration’s push for reforms includes an extensive financial audit of the Pentagon, led by the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk.

Trump has tasked DOGE with reviewing federal expenditures, aiming to cut up to $2 trillion in government spending by mid-2026. With its $886 billion budget, the Pentagon is one of the key targets for cost reductions. “I’ve instructed him to go check out education, to check out the Pentagon, which is the military, and sadly, you’ll find some things that are pretty bad,” Trump said earlier this month. “We need to get rid of waste and make sure taxpayer money is spent correctly.” The White House has not yet detailed specific changes to military budgeting but has indicated additional personnel changes and restructuring efforts are on the horizon. The administration argues that these reforms are essential to restoring public confidence in the military and ensuring defense funds are spent effectively.

Uganda
https://twitter.com/i/status/1894267393280499749

Cow horse
https://twitter.com/i/status/1894161044571869576

Tiger
https://twitter.com/i/status/1894074860596293689

RIP

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Debt Rattle February 9 2025

Feb 092025

February 9, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:45 am Finance Tagged with: Chemonics, DOGE, Hunter Biden, Pentagon, Putin, recycling, RFK jr, Trudeau, Trump, USAID 70 Responses »

René Magritte Personal values 1952

• Trump Reveals He’s Spoken With Putin By Phone (Miranda Devine)

• DOGE To Audit Pentagon (RT)

• Judge Puts Brakes On Trump’s USAID Purge (RT)

• Judge Blocks DOGE’s Access to Sensitive Treasury Records (ET)

• Trump Alone Can Fix It (RCP)

• USAID Funded Massive ‘News’ Platform, ‘Censorship Industrial Complex’ (ZH)

• Now We Know Who was Running the Country for Joe Biden (Margolis)

• Trump Revokes Biden’s Security Clearances, Intel Briefings: “Poor Memory” (ZH)

• USAID or SorosAid? How US Tax Dollars Fund Chaos Worldwide (Sp.)

• How USAID and Its $50 Billion Budget Became a Target for Reform (ET)

• The Rise and Rise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (ET)

• Trudeau Warns Trump’s Threat To Annex Canada Is ‘Real Thing’ (RT)

• Apple Ordered to Provide UK Gov’t Access to ALL User Data on the Cloud (HUSA)

• Russian News Finds Readers Despite Sanctions, USAID-Funded Competition – FT (RT)

• In Valdai, Confronting The “American Problem” In West Asia (Pepe Escobar)

• NATO Troops Unable To Move Quickly Across EU (RT)

• “Recycling” Makes Plastic Pollution Worse (McGlinchey)

https://twitter.com/i/status/1887952783858393241
DOGE

pic.twitter.com/Ji38M2MK7D

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2025

Astroturf

pic.twitter.com/5UFbeuoYNn

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2025

Antonio Gracias: DOGE Happened Just in Time to Stop America from Turning into a Kleptocracy

"When (@DOGE) started, I thought we had a democracy, but it turned into a bureaucracy."

"What I'm afraid of now, is we have a bureaucracy that is about to turn into a kleptocracy."… pic.twitter.com/FfALmMt04p

— The All-In Podcast (@theallinpod) February 8, 2025

Sen. John Kennedy

Sen. John Kennedy: Democrats Critical of DOGE Are Not Talking About What Elon Musk Is ‘Finding’

"A lot of my Democratic colleagues and members of the tofu crowd are very upset and screaming like Musk stole their dog. But they are not talking about what Mr. Musk is finding. Just… pic.twitter.com/GKAChNo4wI

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) February 7, 2025

Maher
https://twitter.com/i/status/1888080063800705027

Bannon

Steve Bannon: "Bobby's term as HHS will just be the top of the first inning. They will put you in prison. They will break you. They will bankrupt you. They will smear you. Look, they control the most powerful nation in the history of the Earth. They're not prepared just to toss… pic.twitter.com/6Uoarpyl6w

— Camus (@newstart_2024) February 8, 2025

SPower

More USAID Corruption EXPOSED

– Samantha Power was sworn in as Administrator of USAID on May 3, 2021
– Her financial disclosure filed in Jan 2021 showed her assets were estimated at $6.7 million to $16.5 million
– Today, in 2024, her net worth is estimated at up to $30 million… pic.twitter.com/zj5SOVHmEL

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) February 8, 2025

McClain

Lisa McClain on Morning Joe: "Listen, I think what President Trump is doing by appointing Elon Musk is absolutely brilliant. We have a spending problem. It is going to take some unconventional thought process, some unconventional wisdom, to get us out of the mess we're in right… pic.twitter.com/lTNsD2bTDm

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 7, 2025

“Every day people are dying. Young handsome soldiers are being killed. Young men, like my sons. On both sides. All over the battlefield.”

• Trump Reveals He’s Spoken With Putin By Phone (Miranda Devine)

President Trump has spoken to Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the phone to try to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war, he told The Post in an exclusive interview aboard Air Force One Friday. “I’d better not say,” said Trump when asked how many times the two leaders have spoken. But he believes Putin “does care” about the killing on the battlefield. In an exclusive interview with The Post aboard Air Force One Friday, President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone as he is trying to negotiate with him to end the Ukraine war. “He wants to see people stop dying,” said Trump. “All those dead people. Young, young, beautiful people. They’re like your kids, two million of them – and for no reason.”

The three-year-old war “never would have happened” if he had been president in 2022, Trump asserted. “I always had a good relationship with Putin,” he said, unlike his predecessor. “Biden was an embarrassment to our nation. A complete embarrassment.” Trump said he has a concrete plan to end the war. “I hope it’s fast. Every day people are dying. This war is so bad in Ukraine. I want to end this damn thing.” Addressing National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who joined him in his study aboard Air Force One Friday night, the president said: “Let’s get these meetings going. They want to meet. Every day people are dying. Young handsome soldiers are being killed. Young men, like my sons. On both sides. All over the battlefield.”

Vice President Vance will meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference next week. Trump has said he wants to strike a $500 million deal with Zelensky to access rare-earth minerals and gas in Ukraine in exchange for security guarantees in any potential peace settlement. On Iran, Trump told The Post: “I would like a deal done with Iran on non-nuclear. I would prefer that to bombing the hell out of it. . . . They don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die.” “If we made the deal, Israel wouldn’t bomb them.” But he would not reveal details of any potential negotiations with Iran: “In a way, I don’t like telling you what I’m going to tell them. You know, it’s not nice.” “I could tell what I have to tell them, and I hope they decide that they’re not going to do what they’re currently thinking of doing. And I think they’ll really be happy.” “I’d tell them I’d make a deal.” As for what he would offer Iran in return, he said, “I can’t say that because it’s too nasty. I won’t bomb them.”

Fire and brimstone. We’re getting serious. It should result in an audit, which is long overdue. But that won’t come easy.

• DOGE To Audit Pentagon (RT)

Elon Musk, as head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has been tasked with revising federal spending, and has set his sights on the Pentagon and the Department of Education, US President Donald Trump has confirmed. The newly authorized audits come in line with a broad push to slash public expenses. Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X (formerly Twitter), has been appointed as a “special government employee” to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Trump’s administration, and is currently among the president’s key advisers. Despite its name, the agency is not a permanent federal executive department, but a temporary body dedicated to reducing government spending. Its primary goal is to cut up to $2 trillion in federal expenditures by July 2026.

Speaking at the press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, Trump said that Musk will go through “just about everything” while reviewing the budgets of the departments. “I’ve instructed him to go check out education to check out the Pentagon, which is the military, and sadly you’ll find some things that are pretty bad, but I don’t think proportionately, you’re going to see anything like we just saw,” Trump said, highlighting that the DOGE would find “a lot,” taking into account how “bad” it was “with what we just went.” Earlier this week, Trump stated that billions of dollars have been stolen by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), highlighting that the lion’s share of the funds were used to pay for positive media coverage of Democrats.

Trump’s administration is currently focused on shutting down the agency, which operates as Washington’s primary means for funding political issues abroad. On the first day of his presidency, Trump ordered a 90-day freeze on almost all foreign aid. The president has also pushed against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs within the federal government since assuming office on January 20. After being sworn in, Trump signed a series of orders rolling back protections for transgender individuals and terminating DEI initiatives. Last week, DOGE claimed that it had managed to save over $1 billion thanks to the elimination of contracts related to DEI. Prior to that, the agency had stated that it had slashed federal spending by approximately $1 billion per day as of January 29, due to an effective halt to “the hiring of people into unnecessary positions, the deletion of DEI, and stopping improper payments to foreign organizations.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1888008418914382254

BREAKING: Pete Hegseth just told Pentagon personnel that a massive audit is coming.

"We are going to focus heavily to ensure that at a bare minimum, by the end of four years, the Pentagon passes a clean audit."

"I believe we are accountable for every dollar we spend and every… pic.twitter.com/TlDECg2jQn

— George (@BehizyTweets) February 7, 2025

Two federal judges separately(?!) getting involved. The first one says USAID cannot mass-fire employees…

• Judge Puts Brakes On Trump’s USAID Purge (RT)

A federal judge has temporarily barred the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington’s primary vehicle for funding political projects abroad, from putting thousands of employees on paid leave. The order was in response to a lawsuit filed by two labor unions representing federal workers. A “limited,” temporary restraining order issued by Judge Carl Nichols in the US District Court in Washington, DC, on Friday, banned the US government from placing around 2,200 USAID workers on administrative leave or evacuating them from their host countries before the end of the day on February 14. The ruling also reinstates some 500 employees who had already been furloughed.

“All USAID employees currently on administrative leave shall be reinstated until that date, and shall be given complete access to email, payment, and security notification systems until that date, and no additional employees shall be placed on administrative leave before that date,” the order reads. A request for a longer-term pause will be considered at a hearing on Wednesday, according to the ruling. Earlier on Friday, Democracy Forward and Public Citizen Litigation Group filed suit on behalf of two labor unions representing federal workers. The two unions are the 800,000-member American Federation of Government Employees and the American Foreign Service Association, which represents thousands of foreign service officers working for USAID.

US President Donald Trump suspended all US foreign aid, pending a three-month review, in one of his first executive orders after taking office on January 20. The decision is part of a broader plan to significantly reduce government spending. Subsequently, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suspended a number of projects assigned to USAID. Earlier this week, Trump claimed that the agency had funneled billions of taxpayer money into media companies to foster positive media coverage of Democrats. Meanwhile, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, leading the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is evaluating federal agencies’ spending, has branded USAID a “criminal organization” and claimed it funded bioweapon research.

…the second one says DOGE can’t access “personal financial data of millions of Americans”. Both cases run until Feb 14.

That DOGE would increase “Cybersecurity Risk” sounds fake. They’re too good for that. And as soon as something leaks, their project is over. But yeah, you can make the claim, no matter how empty…

• Judge Blocks DOGE’s Access to Sensitive Treasury Records (ET)

A federal judge has temporarily barred the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), run by Elon Musk, from accessing the personal financial data of millions of Americans kept at the Treasury Department. The late-night order, issued Saturday by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan, blocks most Trump administration officials—including Musk and members of his cost-cutting initiative—from accessing sensitive Treasury records for at least a week while the case proceeds in the New York court. The injunction specifically prohibits President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from granting access to records containing personally identifiable or confidential financial information to political appointees, special government employees, or any other employees from outside of the department. The White House has designated Musk a special government employee.

Under the order, only those working at the Bureau of Fiscal Services and have passed background checks may access those records in order to do their job. The judge further ordered any person among those whom he restricted to “immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems, if any.” A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Feb. 14. The decision was made after 19 state attorneys general sued the Trump and Bessent after DOGE was given access to the Treasury records. DOGE is an advisory body tasked to identify ways to reduce government spending.

The attorneys general argued that Musk and DOGE, which is not an official government department, should not have access to such highly sensitive financial data. They claimed that the move violates federal law and presents a massive cybersecurity and privacy risk. “Defendants’ new expanded access policy poses huge cybersecurity risks” that put “vast amounts of funding for the States and their residents in peril and endangers the [personally identifiable information] of States’ residents whose information is stored on the payment systems,” reads the complaint, which was filed late Feb. 7 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Engelmayer agreed with the state’s argument that they “will face irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief.”

“That is both because of the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking,” Engelmayer wrote. There was no immediate comment from the White House or Musk. The decision is the latest in a series of judicial interventions blocking the Trump administration’s rapidly unfolding actions to overhaul the federal bureaucracy. Just hours before Engelmayer’s order, another federal judge in Washington halted a Musk-led initiative to dismantle USAID, the agency responsible for administering foreign aid programs. In recent weeks, judges have also intervened to block Trump’s early executive actions ending automatic citizenship for children born on U.S. soil, pausing federal grants and loans, offering buyout to federal workers, and sending male inmates who identify as transgender women back to men’s prisons.

Eventually published as “Welcome to the Executive Presidency”. This was the working title.

• Trump Alone Can Fix It (RCP)

“I would support you to be spokesperson for the Pentagon,” Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal acidly told Pete Hegseth during his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The insult was a poke in Pete’s eye for his career at Fox News. Blumenthal, who once fibbed that he had served in Vietnam as a Marine (he never left the States), thought Hegseth lacked the record of “leadership” to head an organization as large and complex as the Department of Defense. Evidently, it never crossed Blumenthal’s mind that this appointment was a first step toward making the department less large and complex. On paper, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had such “leadership” experience, as did Jim Mattis, Bob Gates, Leon Panetta, Donald Rumsfeld, and most other department secretaries over the last 25 years.

Pete, on the other hand, led a platoon in Iraq before smiling his way through Saturday morning news shows. Once, during a bit on “Fox and Friends,” Hegseth tossed an ax that sailed over its target and struck a man standing nearby. Pete grimaced, the man was unhurt, and the show went on. Despite Blumenthal’s putdown, Hegseth’s nomination passed out of committee and cleared a floor vote on his way to becoming the youngest secretary of defense since Donald Rumsfeld was first confirmed 50 years ago. Hegseth wasn’t the traditional nominee, and that’s the point. Blumenthal and others like him looked at Hegseth through distorted, outdated glasses. They fail to understand that Donald Trump is remaking the executive branch of the federal government, and it starts with choosing communicators.

Any effective network of strategic communication must be organized as a hierarchy – if there is no one “at the top” who determines the messaging, there will be as many messages as there are nodes in the network. The executive’s ability to achieve his goals is fundamentally dependent on high-fidelity, rapid information transferal, where the message is relayed broadly, quickly, and without significant distortion. That’s what effective communication is – and it explains why Trump’s first term was less effective than it could have been. When Trump took office eight years ago, the left resisted him through the mainstream media, Hollywood, and corporate America, but the spearhead of “The Resistance” was his own government. The bureaucrats of the vast “administrative state” did not see Trump as a legitimate occupant of his office. Thus, they didn’t merely distort the communication that came from the top.

They tried to subordinate his agenda by refusing to transfer the information. More than that, they actively disseminated information that ran counter to the president’s stated aims. Accomplished people like Jim Mattis and Rex Tillerson were seasoned executives with deep managerial experience, but their priorities were misplaced: Rather than advance the president’s initiatives, they focused on protecting themselves and their legacies.In his 1938 classic “The Functions of the Executive,” author Chester Barnard explains that an executive’s first task is to create a “definite system of communication.” Barnard wasn’t talking about the technical means of communication – whether that be telephone, memo, or computer – but the communicators themselves. These new modes of transferring information sometimes obscure the human interaction that remains the most effective form of information transfer.

“Communication,” Barnard writes, “will be accomplished only through the agency of persons,” meaning the appointment of the right people. Controlling an enterprise, he tells us, hinges on the executive’s choice of who will repeat and amplify the executive’s message. During the Biden interregnum, it seems that Trump absorbed these insights, almost as if by osmosis. Consider the inauguration. There were Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg front and center. Yes, they are among the world’s wealthiest men, but they also happen to be the owners of national and global media organizations. Trump spent the entire first day of his second term on camera, narrating his executive actions. “Here, David, that’s for you,” Trump said, passing his trademark, Trump-embossed marker to an aide, then holding up an executive order before the cameras like a newborn baby.

Never before had a president so merrily occupied the stage of the Oval Office, hosting audiences of millions online and on television, as he signed documents, bantered with reporters and staff, and generally went about his business. Trump knew his daylong, unscripted availability would contrast sharply with his predecessor’s behavior. Joe Biden’s increasing withdrawal from the public and his inability to deliver spontaneous remarks hid his declining mental health, and the fact that he really wasn’t in charge.

They didn’t just influence the news, they made it too (4,291 media outlets).

• USAID Funded Massive ‘News’ Platform, ‘Censorship Industrial Complex’ (ZH)

In addition to propping up far-left corporate media outlets like Politico and the BBC with taxpayer funds, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has funneled half a billion dollars to a secretive non-governmental organization operating a global news propaganda matrix. WikiLeaks published the bombshell report in the overnight hours that shows the massive taxpayer-funded state propaganda network – operating as a shady NGO – called “Internews Network”: “USAID has pushed nearly half a billion dollars ($472.6m) through a secretive US government financed NGO, “Internews Network” (IN), which has “worked with” 4,291 media outlets, producing in one year 4,799 hours of broadcasts reaching up to 778 million people and “training” over 9000 journalists (2023 figures). IN has also supported social media censorship initiatives.

The operation claims “offices” in over 30 countries, including main offices in US, London, Paris and regional HQs in Kiev, Bangkok and Nairobi. It is headed up by Jeanne Bourgault, who pays herself $451k a year. Bourgault worked out of the US embassy in Moscow during the early 1990s, where she was in charge of a $250m budget, and in other revolts or conflicts at critical times, before formally rotating out of six years at USAID to IN. Bourgault’s IN bio and those of its other key people and board members have been recently scrubbed from its website but remain accessible at http://archive.org. Records show the board being co-chaired by Democrat securocrat Richard J. Kessler and Simone Otus Coxe, wife of NVIDIA billionaire Trench Coxe, both major Democratic donors. In 2023, supported by Hillary Clinton, Bourgault launched a $10m IN fund at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). The IN page showing a picture of Bourgault at the CGI has also been deleted.

IN has at least six captive subsidiaries under unrelated names including one based out of the Cayman Islands. Since 2008, when electronic records begin, more than 95% of IN’s budget has been supplied by the US government.

USAID has pushed nearly half a billion dollars ($472.6m) through a secretive US government financed NGO, "Internews Network" (IN), which has “worked with” 4,291 media outlets, producing in one year 4,799 hours of broadcasts reaching up to 778 million people and "training” over…

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 8, 2025

“We had a former cocaine addict sitting in on the most sensitive meetings of the most consequential and most important government in world history. Does that sit right with you?”

• Now We Know Who was Running the Country for Joe Biden (Margolis)

Have you noticed how leftists are losing their minds over Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to expose rampant waste and corruption? As Musk uncovers shocking levels of mismanagement and even actions aiding America’s enemies, critics have launched coordinated attacks on him, implying that he’s the one who is actually running the White House. “No one voted for Elon Musk!” they say. Time Magazine’s latest issue has joined the fray, featuring Musk seated confidently at the Resolute Desk—a symbolic jab suggesting he’s really the one in charge. The outrage is ironic, considering the same voices now wailing about Musk’s alleged control were silent while Joe Biden spent four years clearly not running the White House. Why does this matter? Well, we now have fresh allegations from Lindy Li, a former Democratic National Committee (DNC) insider, about who was running the White House for Joe Biden.

And it’s quite terrifying. Once a proud fundraiser for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Li has turned into an insider spilling the Democratic Party’s most closely held secrets—and, boy, does she have stories. Her revelations pull back the curtain on what has been described as a chaotic and delusional 2024 campaign for the Democrats, which spectacularly collapsed under the weight of its own hubris. Li has revealed intriguing insider details about how Joe Biden was ultimately ousted, and what Pelosi and Obama really think of Kamala. Back in December, she revealed new dirt on Joe Biden’s mental decline. “The president has not been cognitively fit to assume the duties of the Oval Office for a number of years now,” she told Fox News. “And it breaks my heart because I know President Biden and I love the man, but he is in no shape or form able to carry out the duties that the Commander in Chief requires, and it’s just devastating.”

But it’s her revelations about what happened in the White House in the aftermath of Biden’s devastating performance in his June debate on CNN with Trump that are truly jaw-dropping. According to Li, Joe Biden, already staggering from public scrutiny, effectively lost control of the White House after that fateful debate. The event reportedly prompted an audacious power shuffle at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue—one spearheaded by none other than Hunter Biden. Li alleges that, following Biden’s disastrous debate drubbing, Hunter essentially took over White House operations. Speaking with podcaster Shawn Ryan, she painted a picture of dysfunction at the highest levels of government: “After the [CNN] debate, Hunter basically commandeered the White House. He sat in on all of the White House top-level meetings. We had a former cocaine addict sitting in on the most sensitive meetings of the most consequential and most important government in world history. Does that sit right with you?”

Ryan’s immediate reaction—“No”—reflected what many are surely thinking. “Without security clearance mind you,” Li added. The idea that Hunter Biden, with no security clearance, was allegedly dictating the flow of information to his father is a much bigger deal than Elon Musk going after government waste, don’t you think? “That’s who was basically running the show. So Hunter basically battened down the hatches after the debate to make sure his father would only receive intel he pre-approved.” The media’s and the Democrats’ hypocrisy is glaring. They attack Elon Musk for exposing waste, accusing him of having too much power without having been elected, while their lack of scrutiny during the Biden presidency allowed for an unelected crack addict to run the country.

“The Hur Report revealed that Biden suffers from ‘poor memory’ and, even in his ‘prime,’ could not be trusted with sensitive information.”

• Trump Revokes Biden’s Security Clearances, Intel Briefings: “Poor Memory” (ZH)

President Trump revoked former President Biden’s security clearance and terminated his daily intelligence briefings, stating that, given his “poor memory,” there was no reason for Biden to continue receiving classified government information. “There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information. Therefore, we are immediately revoking Joe Biden’s Security Clearances, and stopping his daily Intelligence Briefings,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late Friday evening. Trump said the decision was based on the precedent of Biden’s 2021 decision to end his access to the secret information. He also pointed to the special counsel report last year: “The Hur Report revealed that Biden suffers from ‘poor memory’ and, even in his ‘prime,’ could not be trusted with sensitive information.”

Biden in 2021…

JUST IN: President Trump revokes Joe Biden's security clearances, tells Biden, "YOU'RE FIRED!"

Biden revoked Trump's intelligence briefings in 2021, something that was historically provided to former presidents.

During an interview with CBS in 2021, Biden said that Trump… pic.twitter.com/iEzeFj3DYb

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 7, 2025

Trump concluded the post with: “I will always protect our National Security — JOE, YOU’RE FIRED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Steven Cheung, the president’s communications director, shared Trump’s Truth Social post on X and said: “Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more!” Trump’s team made a smart move given the investigations into various Biden family members—including Hunter Biden, who has been at the center of a probe into influence peddling schemes. Federal investigators have also recently become concerned about the Biden family’s close ties to China. Speaking with The Hill last month, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY.) said the pardons “validated” the investigations into Biden family members. Perhaps the actual reason the Trump team revoked Biden’s security clearance is over the family’s close ties with the Chinese.

“USAID and Soros allegedly spent $27 million on anti-Trump prosecutions, claims journalist Mike Benz.”

• USAID or SorosAid? How US Tax Dollars Fund Chaos Worldwide (Sp.)

Soros’ vast NGO network has spent over $20 billion since 2000 on radical liberal causes across the world. Tens of millions or even billions of US taxpayer dollars were funneled through USAID, observers suspect. The Soros-linked East-West Management Institute received over $260 million from USAID to influence foreign affairs in Georgia, Uganda, Albania, and Serbia. Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center, backed by Soros, began receiving USAID grants in 2014 – the same year the US-backed Euromaidan coup ousted elected President Viktor Yanukovych with neo-Nazi support. Over $1 million has been funneled by USAID to the center.

In August 2024, a coup against Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina was allegedly fomented by USAID, IRI, and Soros-linked groups. Her successor, Muhammad Yunus, is a known Clinton and Soros ally. According to The Grayzone, US taxpayer money funded rappers, transgender activists, and LGBT* initiatives to create a “power shift.” Soros and USAID have long sought to unseat Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, who has actively opposed the globalist billionaire since 2017. During the 2022 elections, the Soros-linked NGO Action for Democracy funneled $7.6 million to his opposition.

Soros-linked groups, backed by USAID, led resistance efforts against Donald Trump during his presidency, influenced the 2020 election through Black Lives Matter protests, and worked to flip battleground states in 2020–2021. Soros funded the Electoral Justice Project, Black Lives Matter’s voter mobilization effort, and gave $22 million to Tides Advocacy, which supported the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s pre-election nationwide protests aimed against Trump in 2020. USAID and Soros allegedly spent $27 million on anti-Trump prosecutions, claims journalist Mike Benz. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was also accused of being “bought” by Soros.

“..an agency gone rogue, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on inane programs, refusing to answer basic questions from congressional committees, and actively undermining the foreign policy goals of the United States.”

• How USAID and Its $50 Billion Budget Became a Target for Reform (ET)

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was a little-noticed federal agency until it suddenly became the object of a fierce political battle over the limits of presidential power and the accountability of government bureaucracies. When the Trump administration closed the agency’s offices on Feb. 3 and later placed most employees on administrative leave, USAID took center stage in a drama unfolding at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. On one side is the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to make all parts of the executive branch comply with the president’s agenda. On the other side are congressional Democrats, who are warning that the action is a dangerous abuse of executive power and are vowing to fight it. Meanwhile, many observers fear that USAID’s true purpose—to advance U.S. interests through the use of soft power—may be overlooked.

On Feb. 3, President Donald Trump appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as acting director of USAID. The next day, the president indicated that the agency may be shuttered and its functions permanently transferred to the State Department. Here is why critics want to abolish or reform the agency, supporters want to save it, and what may happen next. USAID was established by an executive order of President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to advance U.S. foreign policy by offering developing nations technical assistance, help with education and health care, and disaster relief. The idea was that turning poor countries into stable world citizens would benefit U.S. citizens, too. A stable, prosperous nation makes a good ally, the theory went. Champions of USAID continue to see it as both an essential tool for foreign policy and a tangible expression of the goodness and generosity of the U.S. people.

Most observers agree that the agency does some good. Relatively small by Washington’s standards, USAID employs about 10,000 people and controls an annual budget of about $50 billion. In 2023, USAID poured $10.5 billion into humanitarian aid and $10.5 billion into health programs in countries around the world, according to the Congressional Research Service. One program that is often touted as a shining success story is the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a USAID program that has provided more than $110 billion for controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS in more than 50 countries. “Most estimates are that somewhere in the vicinity of 27 million people are alive today because President Bush initiated and Congress supported that program,” Scott Pegg, acting director of the Global and International Studies program and chair of political science at Indiana University–Indianapolis, told The Epoch Times.

President Donald Trump said in remarks to reporters on Feb. 4 that “some of the money is well spent.” Yet the agency’s halo dims on closer inspection. Critics tell the story of an agency gone rogue, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on inane programs, refusing to answer basic questions from congressional committees, and actively undermining the foreign policy goals of the United States. The White House on Feb. 3. produced a list of projects funded by USAID that it characterized as examples of waste and abuse. The projects include $1.5 million to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities,” another $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia, and $2.5 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam.

Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) listed further examples on social media platform X on Feb. 3, including $56 million to boost tourism in Egypt and Tunisia and $27 million for “reintegration gift bags” for deported Central Americans. Hunt said the agency was behaving “like a child with YOUR credit card.” Some USAID grant recipients include terrorist-controlled organizations, according to a study by the Middle East Forum released on Feb. 1. The study found that $122 million has gone to groups aligned with designated terrorist organizations, including millions of dollars for organizations directly controlled by the Hamas terrorist group. A July 2024 report from the U.S. Office of Inspector General noted deficiencies and vulnerabilities in USAID’s vetting process, which is supposed to prevent the diversion of U.S. funds to terrorist organizations.

In one case of apparent abuse, USAID partnered with Chemonics, an international consulting firm, to spend $9.5 billion to improve health supply chains. Chemonics allegedly overbilled the agency by up to $270 million and failed to meet its objectives, and the project led to 31 indictments for the illegal resale of USAID-funded materials, according to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who has called for an independent analysis of USAID grant recipients. Ernst said USAID also provided nearly $1 million in funding to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, which the CIA has said was the most likely source of the virus that causes COVID-19. USAID has resisted congressional oversight for decades, some lawmakers say, resulting in a culture of defiance. “The agency has engaged in a demonstrated pattern of obstructionism,” Ernst wrote in a letter to Rubio on Feb. 4.

False claims were made that certain documents were classified to delay review by congressional staffers and to mislead Congress on the indirect cost of programs, Ernst wrote, adding that in some cases, this amounted to more than 25 percent of the grant total. The agency refused to provide data on administrative costs, Ernst said. The agency later said that providing the data to Congress would violate federal law and that it had no obligation to respond because Ernst did not present a formal request from a “committee of jurisdiction.” “Washington insiders are more upset at DOGE for trying to stop wasteful spending than USAID for misusing tax dollars,” Ernst told The Epoch Times. “The agency has stonewalled me and used every trick in the book to hide what they are doing from the American people. It has lied, misled, and deceived taxpayers, but I will not be deterred in fighting for and uncovering the truth.” Rubio leveled his own criticism at the agency on Feb. 3, after being appointed its interim caretaker.

“They have basically evolved into an agency that believes that they’re not even a U.S. government agency, that … they’re a global charity,” Rubio said in an interview on Fox News. Worse, the agency frequently works at cross purposes with the interests of the United States, the secretary of state said. “One of the most common complaints you will get … from State Department officials and ambassadors and the like, is: ‘USAID is not only not cooperative, they undermine the work that we’re doing in that country,’” sometimes advancing programs that the host government finds objectionable, Rubio said. Speaking about USAID at the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador on Feb. 4, he said: “It’s been 20 or 30 years where people have tried to reform it, and it refuses to reform. When we were in Congress, we couldn’t even get answers to basic questions about programs. That will not continue.”

Chemonics – revealing

This research from @IanCarrollShow on USAID funding is INSANE:

Ian says roughly 93% of USAID funding is estimated to be fraud

– Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and their friends appear to be the top money laundering recipients
– The majority of sub awards being given out by USAID… pic.twitter.com/4OqEQ101lt

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) February 7, 2025

“..the best symbolic indication that the old partisan and ideological divides in the country that date back three-quarters of a century find themselves fully scrambled into a wholly new alliance.”

• The Rise and Rise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (ET)

There is much to learn about the way the world works today by watching the confirmation vote on Trump’s pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services. In so many ways, this is a remarkable development with a dramatic story arc, one that speaks presciently to events over the past five years and where they stand in public consciousness. In November 2021, a major book blasted onto the scene that hardly anyone had expected. It was “The Real Anthony Fauci” by Kennedy. The author had already emerged as the world’s leading critic of the policy response to COVID-19, which included locking down societies across the globe to prepare the population for a vaccine that was already on record as failing to protect against both infection and transmission.

This book was not just a criticism of the way that the “nation’s leading infectious disease doctor” had been the dominant voice for shutdowns, closures, distancing, and masking. It dug through the deep history of the U.S. bioweapons program to highlight the role of dangerous research with a military angle. Fauci was not merely the guy telling you how to stay well; he had become a powerful figure in the bioweapons industry, which had a deep relationship with pharmaceutical companies. The book was beyond mind-blowing, and its many hundreds of footnotes provide an incredible documentary source for readers to check. I dug through them to discover features of the pandemic response I never knew existed. The depth of research here was simply astounding.

As the book became a bestseller, Amazon itself faced pressure to censor it. It acquiesced for a time simply because the powers that be were so awesome and aggressive. Still, the book made inroads in any case. At that time, the political constellation in the country was shifting wildly, and no one knew where it would wind up. The Biden administration had doubled down on coercive pandemic policies and added vaccine and mask mandates while issuing wild warnings of mass death for noncompliance. Resistance on the right and left were growing, but no one knew for sure where all of this would end up. As Trump clinched the Republican nomination, there was a brief moment when it seemed that the Democrats would be open to replacing Biden on the ticket.

A lifelong Democrat and the inheritor of the mantles of both his father and uncle, Kennedy seemed like an obvious choice to take the nomination in an open primary. He started an ad campaign that revived his uncle’s early efforts. But there would be no primary, thus forcing him into an independent bid for the presidency. Third-party attempts in the United States always run into the same problem: The whole system is geared toward two parties, and voting logic usually ends up reinforcing that as well. As that reality gradually dawned on Kennedy, there was a growing sense within the large movement that backed him that he needed another option. As events unfolded, Trump was subjected to a close assassination attempt on July 13, 2024. That was the moment when the two camps came together.

After several days of talking, there was a sudden realization on both sides that they were fighting the same corporatist enemies from two different fronts, one focused on immigration and trade and the other focused on food and pharma power. There was general agreement that many things in America needed to change. The sudden emergence of the unity effort of Trump and Kennedy together disoriented both sides, simply because the coalition brought together factions that had long seemed opposed. Kennedy was a long-time environmental lawyer, and Trump was generally an anti-environmentalist. They would agree to disagree on oil and energy but concentrate on the economic and physical health of America, which came to be embodied in the MAGA/MAHA coalition.

The shock in both camps was high, but the urgency of the moment—and the deep desire for change in Washington—impressed upon the grassroots the need to shake off their squeamishness and get to work together. How much did Kennedy’s involvement help the Trump campaign? Enormously. Was it decisive in the sweeping victory? Very likely. As a thank you for joining forces or perhaps a quid pro quo that was nonetheless highly merited, Kennedy gained nomination to the position of secretary of health and human services, which oversees many other agencies in the realm of food, health, pharmaceuticals, and much more.

The real challenge then began after Trump’s victory because of a peculiar feature of the American system: Cabinet picks have to be confirmed by the Senate. In normal years, and with most appointees of the past never really presenting that much of a challenge to the status quo, a president’s picks sail through with bipartisan support. Trump’s picks would be different, particularly the Kennedy choice since his stance on pharma and pandemic planning was well known. A choice for him would represent a repudiation of the past five years of policy, a prospect nearly all of Washington dreaded.

In the course of events, an incredible irony emerged. In committee—and likely too in the larger Senate—the vote fell along party lines, but not in the way one would expect. This lifelong Democrat and scion of the great Democrat family was opposed by every Democrat and supported (so far) by every Republican. Not only that, but the Republican-friendly press opposed him tooth and nail. The Wall Street Journal, National Review, and the New York Post all published bitter editorials that called the nominee a crank and conspiracy theorist.

Largely because of a huge push from the grassroots—and because of support from Trump—the Republicans voted for him in any case, while the Democrats simply could not and did not, despite the manner in which Kennedy, in many ways, represented causes long important to many people generally considered to be on the left. Thus does the expected confirmation of Kennedy—his rise and rise for fully five years—embody the best symbolic indication that the old partisan and ideological divides in the country that date back three-quarters of a century find themselves fully scrambled into a wholly new alliance. If you attend any events that bring together MAGA and MAHA, you know exactly what I mean. They are exciting scenes of people who have never been in the same room together, gradually discovering points of agreement and feeling very optimistic about the future.

Trudy is nervous.

• Trudeau Warns Trump’s Threat To Annex Canada Is ‘Real Thing’ (RT)

Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been caught on a hot mike telling businessmen that US President Donald Trump is not joking when he talks about absorbing Canada, the Toronto Star newspaper has reported. Trump reiterated his desire to make Canada “our 51st state” when he spoke to journalists in the Oval Office earlier this week. “I would love to see that. Some people say that would be a long shot. If people wanted to play the game right, it would be 100% certain that they would become a state,” he claimed. The US president and the Canadian PM discussed the hiccups in their relations during two phone calls on Monday. On Thursday, Trudeau revealed some of the details of those conversations to businessmen and union leaders ahead of a closed-door meeting as part of the Canada-US Economic Summit in Toronto.

The prime minister thought he was speaking confidentially, but it turned out that his microphone had not been turned off promptly and he was overheard by journalists. “I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state,” Trudeau said as cited by the Toronto Star. The US wants to “benefit” from Canada’s natural resources and “Trump has it in mind that one of the easiest ways of doing that is absorbing our country, and it is a real thing,” he warned. When Trump first raised the possibility of making Canada part of the US in December, Trudeau insisted that there was “not a snowball’s chance in hell” of it happening.

Last week, the US president argued that Canada would struggle to remain viable if it stopped getting “hundreds of billions of dollars” in subsidies from Washington. The solution would be joining the US, which would result in “much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada – and no tariffs!” In early February, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% on imports from China – citing concerns over illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Ottawa vowed to retaliate by slapping equivalent duties on US goods. However, Trump decided to postpone the introduction of tariffs on the two neighboring countries for 30 days in return for promises by both governments to strengthen border security.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1887994885967380517

“The Post noted that the access sought by the UK “has no known precedent in major democracies.”

• Apple Ordered to Provide UK Gov’t Access to ALL User Data on the Cloud (HUSA)

The Washington Post reported Friday that the United Kingdom’s deep state has demanded that Apple create a back door for them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud—what would be an unprecedented erosion of online privacy and civil liberties. Citing anonymous sources, the Post reported that the British government’s undisclosed order was issued last month. It reportedly requires Apple to give officials blanket capability to view fully encrypted material. Typically, Apple has assisted authorities on a case-by-case basis—such as helping the FBI access a terrorist’s phone, for example. The Post noted that the access sought by the UK “has no known precedent in major democracies.” According to the Post, the UK’s order was made pursuant to the sweeping U.K. Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, which authorizes law enforcement to compel assistance from companies to access user data.

“The law, known by critics as the Snoopers’ Charter, makes it a criminal offense to reveal that the government has even made such a demand,” the Post reported. “Apple can appeal the U.K. capability notice to a secret technical panel, which would consider arguments about the expense of the requirement, and to a judge who would weigh whether the request was in proportion to the government’s needs. But the law does not permit Apple to delay complying during an appeal.” An Apple spokesman reportedly declined to comment. The Post reported that Apple is likely to stop offering encrypted storage in the UK. “Yet that concession would not fulfill the U.K. demand for backdoor access to the service in other countries, including the United States,” the newspaper added.

Western countries, including the U.S., have been pushing for total access to online user data for years. In March 2021, for example, former FBI Director Chris Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee that encryption was stifling his agents from investigating domestic extremism. According to Wray and other law enforcers, tech companies should be able to build “backdoors” into their encryption that preserves privacy, while allowing for access when necessary. That, they say, strikes the proper balance between data security and national security.

However, numerous tech experts, civil libertarians, and others say that it’s impossible to build a backdoor that can’t be exploited by hackers. They also say that by banning encryption, the United States would be following in the footsteps of authoritarian countries such as China, which blocked the encrypted messaging app Signal. “It is important to understand that any kind of back door (or front door) access for the ‘good guys’ can also be exploited by the ’bad guys,’” the pro-industry Information Technology & Innovation Foundation stated in a July 2020 report. “For example, key escrow systems would introduce new attack vectors that could allow attackers to gain access to encrypted information, such as by compromising the system that maintains copies of the keys.”

“..this is not an agency for aid, assistance and development..” [..]“This is a machine for interference in internal affairs, a mechanism for changing regimes, political systems, and state structures..”

• Russian News Finds Readers Despite Sanctions, USAID-Funded Competition – FT (RT)

RIA Novosti and Russia Today have been spreading their message despite competition from media outlets funded by USAID and Western sanctions pressure, the Financial Times has said. In an article published on Thursday, the British daily outlined the hit various media outlets would face from President Donald Trump’s crackdown on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington’s primary means for funding political causes abroad. A number of USAID projects were focused on “countering” major Russia media outlets such as RIA Novosti and Russia Today, whose news coverage was “spreading on social media despite Western sanctions,” the newspaper said.

According to FT, the agency spent around $100 million on funding programs in Russia in 2023. Programs in Moldova received $309 million while around $1.7 billion was spent on Ukraine. The US president froze most US foreign aid for a 90-day review shortly after his inauguration. USAID has subsequently seen a number of its projects suspended, and Trump has said he wants the agency shut down. Without funding from the agency, many NGO media outlets around the world are struggling to stay afloat, FT wrote. According to French NGO Reporters Without Borders (RFS), 9 out of 10 media outlets in Ukraine relied on donations and USAID as their primary donor, with many already announcing that they’ll have to shut down.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that Trump’s crackdown on the agency vindicated Moscow’s 2012 ban on its activity in the country. “We said that this is not an agency for aid, assistance and development,” the spokeswoman stressed in a press briefing on Thursday. “This is a machine for interference in internal affairs, a mechanism for changing regimes, political systems, and state structures,” she said, adding that the agency had acted outside the realm of Russian and international law.

“..it’s the embarrassingly passe “there are no Palestinians” trope on steroids.”

• In Valdai, Confronting The “American Problem” In West Asia (Pepe Escobar)

The 14th Middle East Conference of the Valdai Club in Moscow was hit by a geopolitical bunker buster bomb right in the middle of the proceedings: the announcement, by US President Donald Trump himself, of some sort of future Trump Gaza Riviera Resort and Casino in Palestine. Even before international outrage started to overspill, from the BRICS front to ASEAN to the Arab world (which sees it as Nakba 2.0), reaching even Trump-friendly Saudi Arabia and major US allies in Europe, perplexity set in at Valdai among most scholars and academics. Two glaring exceptions were professor at the University of Tehran Mohammad Marandi and former British diplomat Alastair Crooke – always delicately nuanced analysts of West Asia.

Both have long argued that as the US empire is being forced to retreat, it will become much more ruthless and take greater risks. Marandi qualifies Trump as “a gift” to American global decline. Crooke, for his part, wonders whether Israel’s far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu really trapped Trump in a quagmire – when it may be the other way around. Trump now seems to have Netanyahu – which he basically despises – exactly where he wants him: owing favors. Trump made a lot of bombastic promises, which Netanyahu can sell as a major success to the Tel Aviv warmongers who compose his government. So his coalition will hold – for now. Yet, in return, Israel will still have to follow the next steps of the despised ceasefire project.

And that would lead, in theory, to the end of the war. Netanyahu wants an Infinite War, with unlimited Eretz Israel expansion and annexation. That is not a done deal – by far. As it stands, at face value, in one fell swoop, Trump normalized genocide, ethnic cleansing, and the reduction of the Gaza tragedy to a tawdry real estate deal in a “phenomenal location.” The accumulated effect of “the US will take over the Gaza strip,” “we will own it,” and “… level the site” not only opens the US to a shockingly illegal foreign annexation, but it’s the embarrassingly passe “there are no Palestinians” trope on steroids.

But this is far from “sheer lunacy,” as defined by US think tanks everywhere. It’s a natural extension of trying to buy Greenland, trying to annex Canada (in both cases, an increase to the US resource base), grabbing the Panama Canal, and rechristening the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. It’s about changing the subject and the predominant narrative instead of addressing the real threat to the Empire: the Russia–China strategic partnership. In this case, the new Gaza Riviera built on a pyramid of skulls is not only endorsed but already envisioned by the genocidals in Tel Aviv in tandem with Trump’s billionaire donors, a key part of Israel’s lobby in the US.

Trump’s vision, according to New York insiders, came from his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who less than a year ago was already talking about the real estate gold represented by the Gaza seashore. Kushner is even more dangerous now that he’s acting behind the curtains in Trump’s second term: he’s the main influencer on POTUS when it comes to a possible, future US-sanctioned occupation of Gaza. For the moment, we have a Deporting-Building-Selling reality show ethos applied to the most insoluble problem in West Asia. Marandi calls it the “US–Israel problem.” Taha Ozhan at the Ankara Institute qualifies it as “the Israeli-centered order” as well as “the American problem.”

That’s just one little problem. Try this:

Name me one European country where people are fine with German troops on their land.

• NATO Troops Unable To Move Quickly Across EU (RT)

The EU would be unable to move a major military force within the bloc’s territory in case of need, a recent report by its financial watchdog stated this week. Bureaucratic hurdles and chaotic logistical planning would prevent a swift deployment, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) concluded in the document. Brussels has already spent all of its budget allocated for improving military logistics between 2021 and 2027 without achieving the stated goal of “moving military staff, equipment, and supplies swiftly and seamlessly,” the ECA said in a statement accompanying the report. Funding worth €1.7 billion ($1.76 billion) was spent in just two years and no money was “left in the pot by the end of 2023,” the report said, adding that organizing military movements within the bloc could still face “significant delays.”

Member states still need to file a notification of cross-border movement 45 days in advance in order to get authorization, according to the paper. One nation’s tanks can also be outright banned from crossing into the territory of a neighboring EU member simply because they are heavier than allowed by the neighbor’s road traffic regulations, the report said. Military logistics directions can also include infrastructure like bridges that are not suitable for heavy equipment, requiring armor to take a major detour, it added. The ECA blamed the chaotic planning and management structure for the setbacks. “Governance arrangements for military mobility in the EU are complex and fragmented, without a single point of contact, which makes it difficult to know who does what,” it said.

With the allocated military mobility budget spent, there will be “a significant gap of over four years” before any more funds will be available, it warned. “Projects were funded mainly in the east of the EU, but the bloc hardly funded any projects at all on the southern route towards Ukraine” the watchdog said. The ECA – an independent auditing body with a college consisting of individual members assigned by each EU member state – has been critical of Brussels’ defense policy initiatives over the past several years.

In 2024, it warned that the European Defense Industry Program could fail to reach its goals despite a €1.5 billion budget due to a poor balance between policy objectives, funding, and the timeline for implementation. The program could result in resources “spread across a wide array of projects that may not have a measurable impact at EU level,” it said. In 2023, it stated that the EU was lacking a long-time strategy on defense spending, while also warning later the same year that financial assistance to Kiev could add tens of billions of euros to the bloc’s debt due to Ukraine potentially being unable to repay its loans.

The function of plastics recycling is to make people feel less guilty, so they will use more plastics.

• “Recycling” Makes Plastic Pollution Worse (McGlinchey)

If you’re like many people, you’ve always thought a numbered-triangle symbol on the bottom of a plastic container tells you it’s recyclable — giving you peace of mind that when you toss it into a blue bin, it will be turned into something else. That’s not true. Those symbols are Resin Identification Codes (RICs). Numbered 1 through 7, they only identify the kind of plastic an item is made of. Far from giving a sweeping assurance that RIC-stamped items are recyclable, the symbol frequently indicates a particular item absolutely cannot be recycled. Reluctant to burden citizens with figuring out which plastics are recyclable — a chore that could dampen participation and cause confusion as recyclability of various plastics changes over time — many municipal recycling programs simply encourage people to toss all their RIC-stamped plastics in the bin and let the recyclers sort it out.

Which ones do recyclers actually want? The most-recycled plastic in America is stamped with a “1,” identifying the item as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). You’ll find it on beverage bottles, cooking oil containers, and many other liquid-containing bottles. A “2” tells you it’s high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Another generally recycling-suitable plastic, it’s used for milk jugs and laundry detergent jugs, and spray-cleaner bottles. It’s all downhill from there. Chances are your bin has plenty of #5 — polypropylene (PP) — which is frequently used for single-serve coffee-maker pods; yogurt, butter, prescription pill and soft tofu containers; and the lids on paperboard raisin cartons. Unfortunately, while there’s been a modest recent uptick in recyclers’ interest, polypropylene generally isn’t being recycled in the United States.

As for the rest of the RIC spectrum, feel free to make pointed inquiries with your city government, but chances are extremely slim that any #3, #4, #6 or #7 items you throw in your curbside blue bin will be made into anything else. That heap includes lots of packaging, such as non-cardboard egg cartons, fast-food clamshells, styrofoam cups and to-go containers, flexible 6-pack rings and bread bags. Feeling a little demoralized? Brace yourself: This blue-bin buzzkill is just getting started.

Let’s circle back to recyclers’ favorite: #1 PET. Even for this most-favored plastic, much of what’s placed in blue bins isn’t recycled. It’s a question of configuration: Recyclers love clear PET bottles, but most of them don’t want PET when it’s in the form of clamshell containers, cups and tubs. In these formats, PET reacts differently to the heat of recycling. For example, if they’re combined with bottles, those PET tubs used to package your blueberries and strawberries create ash that contaminates the whole batch. “This is a perfect example of why we don’t go by plastic numbers,” explains Millenium Recycling. “A #1 clamshell container is NOT the same as a #1 bottle and they cannot be recycled the same way.”

Size matters too. No matter the type of plastic, if it’s smaller than three inches, most recycling processors don’t want it cluttering up their works. Given that, the Washington Post recently advised simply throwing away any plastic that doesn’t fit in the palm of your hand. Thinness is another liability — which means your plastic forks, spoons and straws are also a no-go. Then there’s color discrimination — any kind of black plastic is pretty much guaranteed not to be recycled, because infrared scanners in automated sorting machines aren’t able to “see” most black plastic. And while clear #1 PET bottles are at the top of the recyclability list, colored PET bottles are less favored.

Cooked
https://twitter.com/i/status/1887888796261216690

Helmet

NEW: The Prime Minister of Japan gave President Trump a super special gift called the "Eternal Helmet," a golden samurai helmet created by a company in the Prime Minister's hometown

"The Japanese government’s order came with two specific requests: (1) The helmet had to be… pic.twitter.com/lH11t9D9X8

— George (@BehizyTweets) February 8, 2025

Mums baby

A 107-year-old Chinese grandmother pulls out a sweet from her pocket and gives it to her 84-year-old daughter,

You’re always mums baby no matter how old
pic.twitter.com/0Zx3VHeOEE

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) February 8, 2025

Tigerboar
https://twitter.com/i/status/1888172830749003908

Cat

It approached the dog with polite and calmed it down. pic.twitter.com/6MY6grUPcI

— The Figen (@TheFigen_) February 7, 2025

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Debt Rattle November 17 2024

Nov 172024

November 17, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:41 am Finance Tagged with: audit, justice, Matt Gaetz, novichok, Pentagon, revenge, revolution, RFK jr, sunk cost, Trump, Tulsi Gabbard 75 Responses »

Jerry Bywaters Oil Field Girls 1940

• The Revolution of 2024 (Jeffrey A. Tucker)

• Trump Will Bring Justice, Not Revenge (Jim Rickards)

• Tulsi Gabbard, The New US Intel Chief (SCF)

• RFK Jr. Is Poised To Save The Health And Lives Of Millions Of Americans (Hill)

• What Could Trump 2.0 Mean for US Healthcare? (Sp.)

• Why Voters Trusted The GOP More On Democracy (Turley)

• Rachel Maddow Claims Trump is Trying To “Destroy The US Government” (MN)

• Pentagon Spends $187 Mln on Audit, Fails Seventh Year in a Row (Sp.)

• Trump Team To Write Off ‘Project Ukraine’ as Sunk Cost (Sp.)

• Zelensky Wants To Intensify Military Draft (RT)

• Ex-FM Warns Of Potential ‘Internal Collapse’ In Ukraine (RT)

• Moscow Continues To Warn The West About The Risk Of Nuclear Escalation (SCF)

• War Games Show UK’s Flagship Aircraft Carriers ‘Get Sunk’ Every Time (Sp.)

• The Novichok Attack Was A British Operation, Not A Russian One (Helmer)

• Climate-Change Debate ‘Heats Up’ With Collum, Keen, Fleckenstein (ZH)

Bannon

Bannon: We’re gonna march or die. This revolution isn’t turning back or caving. We won’t give up on Gaetz, Gabbard, Hegseth, or RFK. If President-elect Trump wants them, he’ll get them. We’ll move heaven and earth to make it happen. The WarRoom Posse is reporting for duty. pic.twitter.com/0L2tmsxC7H

— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) November 15, 2024

Rogan
https://twitter.com/i/status/1857512537752785156
https://twitter.com/i/status/1857708065191338428

Leavitt

President Trump just announced that Karoline Leavitt will be the White House Press Secretary. She's a total firebrand.

The fake news is going to lose their minds when she takes over that podium. pic.twitter.com/kWUZUpIJo7

— George (@BehizyTweets) November 15, 2024

Mollie
https://twitter.com/i/status/1857599848062628084

FBI J6
https://twitter.com/i/status/1857494322624737729

Alina
https://twitter.com/i/status/1857500858746835041

Jail

The left hate Trump's honesty. pic.twitter.com/wMxhe7OM9D

— Defiant World (@DefiantWorld) November 16, 2024

Trover

“If they release this report or leak this report out there, Ethics might as well just close up shop beause they would be violating their own protocols.

Let‘s remember, this was created by Nancy Pelosi, and has been a witch hunt machine for members of both parties.” pic.twitter.com/dOVT6n5mQy

— Joel Valdez (@realJoelValdez) November 15, 2024

“We are barely ten days into the realization of what just transpired and the entire lay of the land seems different, like a tectonic shift in politics, culture, mood, and possibilities..”

• The Revolution of 2024 (Jeffrey A. Tucker)

People are out and about, smiling at each other. It’s been true since the morning after the election, the results of which defied every prediction. Who doesn’t like to see the smug elites who have ruled the world for five awful years taken down a peg? More than that, there are hints of a return to sanity. Mainstream advertisers are suddenly returning to X, putting their economic interest above their tribalist loyalties. The editor of pro-lockdowns Scientific American, which had long blessed totalitarian measures as true science, has resigned. The attempt to pillage InfoWars and give it to The Onion has been reversed by a federal judge. That might be a fluke or might not be: maybe the lawfare is dialing back too. The cabinet of the incoming administration is being filled by voices that were fully censored for years. Employees are reportedly packing their bags at the FDA and other agencies.

Mainstream news commentators are sputtering around with less bravado than they have shown in years. CNN is firing major personalities. Trump is talking about abolishing the income tax and granting $10K in tax credits per homeschooled child, not to mention blowing up college accreditation systems, among other sweeping changes. The American Bastille day is coming, not only freeing the political prisoners of January 6 but also many of the unjustly persecuted including Ross Ulbricht, Roger Ver, and Ian Freeman, among so many others. That will be a day of rejoicing. Oh, and peace seems to have broken out in some contentious areas of the world, for now. What is happening? This is not the usual transfer of the resident of the White House. This is starting to look like an actual transfer of power, not just from Biden to Trump but from the permanent government – ensconced in many sectors – that has been long in hiding to an entirely new form of government responsive to actual voters.

As it turns out, there was no late surge for Kamala Harris. All the polls were wrong, and the rest was media blather. What was correct were the betting odds on Polymarket, and only days later, the FBI raided the 26-year-old founder’s home and confiscated his phone and laptop. There are still many millions of missing voters, people who supposedly showed up for Biden in 2020 but stayed home this time. Meanwhile, there has been a historic shift in all races, ethnicities, and regions, with even the possibility of flipping California from blue to red in the future. After decades of academic slicing and dicing of the population according to ever more eccentric identity buckets involving race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual interest, along with countless thousands of studies documenting deep complexity over intersectionality, the driving force of the election was simple: class, and the few intellectuals and some wealthy entrepreneurs who understand that.

The division was not really left vs right. It was workers vs laptoppers, wage earners vs six-figure stay-at-homers, bottom half vs top 5 percent, people with actual skills vs weaponized resume wielders, and those with affection for old-world values vs those whose educations have beaten it out of them for purposes of career advancement. The silent majority has never been so suddenly loud. It just so happened that the heavily privileged had come to inhabit easily identifiable sectors of American society and, in the end, had no choice but hitch the whole of the overclass wagon to the fortunes of a candidate like themselves (Kamala) but who was unable to pull off a compelling masquerade. Not even a parade of well-paid celebrity endorsements could save her from total rebuke at the polls. Sylvester Stallone called Trump a second George Washington but another reference point might be Andrew Jackson.

The overwhelming victory for Trump is on a scale not seen since 1828 when, four years after the presidency was stolen from Jackson, Old Hickory came back in a wild landslide and cleaned up Washington. Trump arrives in Washington with a mandate for the same, with 81% of the public demanding that the government shrink in size and power. It has all happened so quickly. We are barely ten days into the realization of what just transpired and the entire lay of the land seems different, like a tectonic shift in politics, culture, mood, and possibilities. We are even seeing blunt and open talk about the horrendous Covid response that so utterly demoralized the country and the world, after years of silence on the topic. We have promised hearings coming, and court cases galore now on fast track. The sudden coming together of three great sectors of anti-establishment fury – MAGA, MAHA, and DOGE – in the last two months of the election of 2024 is one for the ages.

It provides the beginnings of an answer to the great question on our minds for decades: how precisely does an authentic revolution take root in an industrialized Western democracy? Are elections capable of delivering real results? For now, the answer seems to be yes. That should thrill any responsible observer of social, cultural, economic, and political affairs. It means that the early architects of the American system were not wrong. The intolerable costs of political upheaval of ages past can be mitigated by planting power firmly in the hands of the people through the plebiscite. This was their view and their gamble. All the evidence of our time points to the wisdom of the idea. In the darkest days of the last year of the first Trump presidency, the bureaucracy was riding high, in full revenge mode against an elected government it hated and sought to overthrow. The agencies were passing strange edicts that felt like laws but no one knew for sure. You are essential, you are not. You must stay home, unless you have an emergency. Your elective surgery needs to wait. The kids cannot go to school. That European vacation cannot happen.

You can eat at a restaurant but only if you are six feet away from other patrons and you must put this China-made cloth on your mouth if you get up to go to the restroom. The flurry of edicts was mind-boggling. It felt like martial law, because it was some form of exactly that. The best research points to the astonishing reality that this was never really a public-health response but a scheme by security and intelligence sectors to enact some kind of global color revolution, which is why the policies were so similar the world over. It was indeed an awesome display of power, one that invaded all our communities, homes, and families. No one knows this better than Team Trump, even if there has been near silence on the topic for all these years. They have had time to put the pieces together and figure out what happened and why. And they carefully, and in seclusion worthy of a Cistercian monastery, plotted their return, leaving nothing to chance.

“The departments and agencies that have been weaponized will be completely overhauled.”

• Trump Will Bring Justice, Not Revenge (Jim Rickards)

The persecution and prosecution of President Donald Trump is finally winding down. Jack Smith, a primary player in the lawfare campaign against Trump, has filed to dismiss the case involving classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Rep. Jim Jordan has instructed Special Counsel Smith to preserve all records related to the cases. The Deep State tried everything to make Trump lose. In total, 91 frivolous felony charges were thrown at the former president. All so they could brand him a felon, tie up resources and prevent him from campaigning. Then there was the January 6th “insurrection”, multiple Russian collusion hoaxes and countless media lies. The Deep State even prosecuted his advisers, such as 75-year-old famed economist Peter Navarro, who was the first former White House official ever imprisoned on a contempt-of-court charge. This dignified gentleman was frog-marched into prison as part of a political persecution campaign.

The entire affair was a disgrace to the nation. On Election Day, Americans rejected this vile lawfare. And soon, it will be time for justice. With GOP control over both sides of the Congress and a near-landslide win, Trump has a mandate from the American people to pursue it aggressively. President Trump has not been shy about his intentions, stating, “The departments and agencies that have been weaponized will be completely overhauled.” On day one, he promised to reissue his executive order allowing the President to remove “rogue bureaucrats” from their positions. Trump promised to “wield that power very aggressively” against the Deep State. Our once and future President even promised to establish a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission”, opening the books on issues including the JFK assassination, illicit spying, and government corruption. I can’t wait to see what it uncovers. Trump’s recent speech was packed full of details on how he plans to drain the swamp. He starts strong and keeps going:

“This is how I will shatter the Deep State and restore government that is controlled by the people and for the people… Make every Inspector General’s office independent and physically separated from the departments they oversee so they do not become the protectors of the Deep State… Launch a major crackdown on government leakers who collude with the fake news to deliberately create false narratives and to subvert our government and our democracy… Clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus… Push a constitutional amendment to oppose term limits on members of Congress. “Shatter the Deep State”. No ambiguity there.

Some will call what is coming revenge. But this will not be revenge. It will be justice. The distinction is important. I would fully support justice here if the shoe was on the other foot, and the GOP were the offending party. This type of behavior simply cannot stand. It undermines and corrupts the entire system. Re-establishing a just and fair government is critical. It will be difficult, but I believe Trump will succeed this time. He has learned from the mistakes of his first term. Trump has the right people around today. He has already rejected the idea of inviting Nikki Haley or Mike Pompeo to join the new administration.

This is an excellent sign of things to come. Given the mandate, the appointment of Attorney General will be particularly important. I have my eye on Mike Davis. He is the exact type of person this position calls for. Tough as nails, fair, and dedicated to cleaning up the system. I’ve met the man, and he’s just the type of person required for this job. The stage is set for a historic draining of the swamp. Of course, there is still the potential for last-minute desperation moves by the Democrats, including their plan to disqualify Trump using the “insurrection clause”. But given my prediction that Congress will be controlled by Republicans, I think we’ll be in the clear in that department.

“..in The Atlantic, an establishment mouthpiece, Gabbard was denounced as a “threat to the security of the United States.” That’s a staggering charge to levy on the person who is going to be head of national security..”

• Tulsi Gabbard, The New US Intel Chief (SCF)

The nomination of Tulsi Gabbard as the United States intelligence supremo has sent shockwaves through the American and NATO establishments. The Western news media – always a dutiful echo chamber for deep-state policymakers – is reverberating with horror at her nomination by President-elect Donald Trump. That reaction is a good sign that something significant has happened. The potential appointment of Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) could be the most consequential decision yet by Trump in forming his cabinet. If one move could signal the foreign policy direction under the 47th president, Gabbard’s nomination is the most salient and potentially the most constructive on the key issue of world peace. Time magazine headlined with the U.S. intelligence community’s response to Gabbard’s selection. “We are reeling,” it was reported. Reuters reported that the Western “spy world is vexed.” Meanwhile, in The Atlantic, an establishment mouthpiece, Gabbard was denounced as a “threat to the security of the United States.”

That’s a staggering charge to levy on the person who is going to be head of national security. It is almost hilarious to see the apoplectic reaction in the U.S. establishment and its servile mainstream media. CNN’s news anchor Jim Sciutto was distraught in sharing his concerns with colleague Richard Quest, remarking that Gabbard’s views “contradict” almost everything about U.S. foreign policies. If we may paraphrase that exchange, the sentiments were: Oh my God, how terrible! Whatever shall we say now about all the lies we have been spinning for years and getting fat salaries for? After all, as far as the U.S. corporate media are concerned, especially those channels and newspapers associated with the Democrats, the establishment, and the deep state intelligence apparatus, Tulsi Gabbard has been smeared as a “Russian asset.” It is indeed profoundly challenging – one might even say, earth-shattering – to the deep state if Gabbard becomes Director of National Intelligence.

As with Trump’s other cabinet picks, the nominations will have to be approved by Senate panels. So there is a while to go before her post is confirmed. A lot can change or be derailed. Trump’s cabinet picks this week have been keenly watched by observers trying to discern the future foreign policies of the next presidency, which begins in January after his inauguration. Trump’s early call-ups this week of hawkish figures Pete Hegseth for defense and Marco Rubio for secretary of state caused dismay among some critics of U.S. foreign policy who wanted a fundamental break from warmongering and hostility toward Russia, China, and Iran, among others. Then came Trump’s selection of Tulsi Gabbard. The former Congresswoman has gained wide popular American and international respect for her outspoken and independent criticism of U.S. militarism in the Middle East and Ukraine.

However, the U.S. political establishment and media have slandered her as a “traitor” and a “Russian asset” for her views criticizing Washington’s regime change wars in Syria and the Middle East. In 2017, Gabbard traveled to Syria and met with President Bashar al-Assad. She spoke out against Washington’s covert policy of sponsoring terrorist militia for regime change in Damascus. For telling the truth, she was vilified as an “apologist” for Assad. More recently, the “apologist” slur was thrown at her again after Gabbard opposed the U.S. and NATO’s arming of the Kiev regime and the proxy war against Russia. She said that the conflict in Ukraine could have been avoided if Russia’s security concerns about NATO’s threatening expansion had been taken into consideration. How refreshing to hear that sanity and objectivity.

In a twisted way, the CNN clapping seals are correct. Her views on the conflict in Ukraine do indeed contradict the U.S. establishment and media’s propaganda about “Russian aggression.” Her views unequivocally debunk the wall-to-wall “news” propaganda as false and serve as a warning to the public that NATO’s lies are dragging the world into a nuclear war. The role of Tulsi Gabbard in the second Trump administration – if she makes it through Senate vetting – cannot be overstated. In her DNI capacity, she is the intel supremo who oversees the CIA and NSA. Through her daily briefings to the president, Gabbard will play a crucial role in President Trump’s foreign policymaking. Given Trump’s freewheeling style, it can be fairly assumed that Gabbard’s input into policymaking will have much greater influence than the secretaries of defense or state. She will call the shots, and Trump will designate Hegseth, Rubio, and others to follow suit on the policies.

Wasserman

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz says that Tulsi Gabbard is a "Russian asset."

You simply should not be allowed to defame somebody like this on cable TV without consequences. pic.twitter.com/fduHdchEnr

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 15, 2024

“..the secretary of State, Defense, Treasury or Interior is a very important position. But measurable progress can often be incremental. But imagine being the “Secretary of Saving Human Lives.”

• RFK Jr. Is Poised To Save The Health And Lives Of Millions Of Americans (Hill)

What is the value of someone who has the potential to literally save millions of lives and improve the health of tens of millions of children and adults? We may be on the verge of revolutionizing America’s failing health care system for the better, and two men will be responsible: President-elect Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Trump has long been a fan of Kennedy’s intellect, independence from special interests, passion, empathy and connection with the American people. Trump also no doubt realizes that Kennedy’s value to his incoming administration is immeasurable, as RFK Jr. can wear multiple hats of expertise. Trump has picked him to run the Department of Health and Human Services. And it is from under that HHS hat that Kennedy will transform our “sick-care” industry and literally save millions of lives in the process.

Anyone paying attention to the utter catastrophe that has become America’s “health care” industry knows that this is not political hyperbole or an exaggeration. It is an outright obscenity that we are losing so many Americans to entirely preventable causes. Three days before the election, I wrote about “The 2 decisions that crushed Harris’s momentum.” One was Harris’s selection of Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. The other, and more important of the two, was Kennedy suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump. “One of the main reasons is the ‘mom vote,’” I wrote. “Kennedy’s endorsement will potentially bring millions of previously ambivalent female voters to the table for Trump. Why? Because they are moms who are worried about the health and wellbeing of their children and have long believed that Kennedy was one of the few people in public life who would protect those children. This is a much bigger deal than the media realizes or will acknowledge. It is a real game changer. Toward that end, these moms want Trump to win so he will bring Kennedy into his cabinet.”

After the column ran, I heard from many mothers confirming that exact point. Said one: “Yep, as one of those ‘mom votes’ who was dying to vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I will now vote for the unity party.” After Kennedy got out of the race and Trump welcomed him with open arms, the two created what future historians may record as the most important health care movement in the history of our nation. It is a grassroots phenomenon spreading like wildfire as more and more parents and adults wake up to the chemicals and poisons being introduced into their bodies against their will. On Nov. 6, Kennedy posted: “President Trump has asked me to do three things: 1. Clean up the corruption in our government health agencies. 2. Return those agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science. 3. Make America Healthy Again by ending the chronic disease epidemic.”

In the speech announcing the suspension of his campaign and his unequivocal endorsement of Trump, Kennedy ticked off some truly horrifying statistics. “We spend more on health care than any country on Earth,” he said. “Nobody has a chronic disease burden like we have … Two-thirds of American adults and children suffer from chronic health issues. Fifty years ago, that number was less than 1 percent. So, we’ve gone from 1 percent to 66 percent. In America, 74 percent of Americans are now overweight or obese, and 50 percent of our children… Half of Americans have pre-diabetes or type two diabetes…And this is a crisis that 77 percent of our kids are too disabled to serve in the United States military. What is happening to our country and why isn’t this in the headlines every single day?…

“Cancer rates are skyrocketing in the young and the old. Young adult cancers are up 79 percent … So, what’s causing this suffering? I’ll name two culprits. First and the worst is ultra-processed food. About 70 percent of American children’s diet is ultra-processed. That means industrial manufactured in a factory … The second culprit is toxic chemicals in our food and our medicine, in our environment … The assault on our children’s cells and hormones is unrelenting.” Unfortunately, what is also “unrelenting” is the opposition to Kennedy from Big Pharma, Big Agriculture and special interests that realize hundreds of billions in profits at the direct expense of the health of every man, woman and child in America. In opposing that massive force, Kennedy is in the fight for our lives.

To be sure, being the secretary of State, Defense, Treasury or Interior is a very important position. But measurable progress can often be incremental. But imagine being the “Secretary of Saving Human Lives.” If Kennedy is even halfway successful in his quest to save the American people — and especially our children — from the life-robbing threats of ultra-processed foods and toxic chemicals, he can potentially save or improve tens of millions of lives over the next four years. That “cure” that will transcend every demographic and income level. Under the direction of Trump, Kennedy may turn ignorance to acceptance, acceptance to hope, hope to belief and belief to results. Again, what is the value of someone who literally has the potential to save millions of lives and improve the health of tens of millions of children and adults? I suspect we are about to find out.

RFK

RFK Jr. proceeds to drop bombshell about the giant bonus your pediatrician is vying for if she can just convince you to give your kid all the vaccines. Did your pediatrician read the studies? Does she know the risks? She means to, but she’s busy! Oh your kid developed a list of… pic.twitter.com/NyTdwjEvFS

— Ivory Hecker (@IvoryHecker) November 15, 2024

Dr. Oz

Dr. Oz reacts to RFK, Jr’s Health and Human Services nomination

" The current health care system in this country is unsustainable. And the experts who brought us these problems are the ones who are complaining about the proposed appointment of R.F.K. Jr. And it's frustrating… pic.twitter.com/XzAu6PrrXw

— Camus (@newstart_2024) November 15, 2024

“If we can come up with a plan that’s going to cost our people, our population, less money, and provide better health care than Obamacare, then I would absolutely do it.”

• What Could Trump 2.0 Mean for US Healthcare? (Sp.)

US President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be his Department of Health and Human Services Secretary tasked with fixing America’s raging health crisis. Donald Trump has promised to “bring down costs” and increase the quality of US healthcare. What changes can be expected?
• During his first term, Trump tried but failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare. Trump called Obamacare “lousy health care” and floated replacing it, saying, “If we can come up with a plan that’s going to cost our people, our population, less money, and provide better health care than Obamacare, then I would absolutely do it.”
• Trump has vowed to protect Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people aged 65 or older and younger people with disabilities.
• Cuts to Medicaid, the largest government health-insurance program that covers low-income Americans, may be expected under Trump.
• During his first term, Trump proposed cutting the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and eliminating the Medicaid expansion that was passed as part of the ACA.
• A work requirement might be added for some able-bodied adult beneficiaries, with federal spending on the program capped.
• Trump has promised to veto a federal abortion ban “under any circumstances”, saying, “It is up to the states to decide.”
• Trump didn’t rule out banning certain vaccines, promising to “make a decision” after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – now tapped to be his HHS chief – hinted at the possibility of ending vaccine mandates. With an estimated 108,000 people dying from drug overdoses in the US last year, Trump blamed it on the migrant crisis. Although he criminalized all fentanyl-related substances in 2018, overdose deaths continued to soar.

“..there is work to be done as a nation committed to the rule of law. We cannot win at any cost when that cost is the very thing that defines us.”

• Why Voters Trusted The GOP More On Democracy (Turley)

“People violate laws any time they want.” Those words, shrugging off an alleged unlawful move last week, did not come from some Chicago gangbanger or Washington car thief. Those words of wisdom came from Democrat Commissioner Diane Marseglia in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They came in response to the fact that the Democratic majority on the election commission had decided to ignore a binding state Supreme Court ruling in an attempt to engineer the election of Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.). Rather than prompting a degree of introspection, the loss of both houses of Congress and the White House has had a curious effect on many Democrats, dropping any pretense of protecting democracy over partisanship.

Despite polls showing that the public trusted former president Donald Trump more than Vice President Harris in combatting threats to democracy, Democrats made “saving democracy” the thrust of this election. The polls reflected a certain common sense of the public when harangued with predictions from President Biden, Harris and a host of politicians and pundits that this would likely be our last election. Few believed that after over two centuries as the most stable and successful democracy in history, all three branches would collapse in unison and embrace dictatorship. Even fewer believed the predictions of the rounding up of homosexuals, journalists and political critics for camps in what some described as an American Third Reich. American voters are not chumps and what they saw were strikingly anti-democratic positions from those claiming to be the defenders of democracy, including:

• Seeking to strip Trump from ballots under an unfounded theory rejected unanimously by the Supreme Court.
• Fighting to block opponents of Biden from ballots in the primary and general elections.
• Suing to keep Robert F. Kennedy on ballots after his withdrawal in swing states, in order to confuse voters and reduce the vote for Trump.
• Calling for blocking dozens of incumbent GOP officials and legislators from ballots as “insurrectionists.”
• “Protecting democracy” through the most extensive censorship in history and the blacklisting of opponents.
• Engaging in open and raw lawfare in the prosecutions of Trump in places like New York.

Each of these efforts ultimately failed to stop Trump and was opposed by a majority of voters even before the election. So now, Democrats are dropping the pretense of raw partisanship. That was evident in Bucks County, when a motion arose to reject a challenge to count provisional ballots, including undated or invalidly dated mail ballots. It should have been easy. To its credit, the majority-Democratic Pennsylvania Supreme Court had already refused a Democratic push to change the rules shortly before the election and to ignore the plain language of the election laws. In ordering the rejection of ballots without dates, Justice Kevin Doughtery (joined by Chief Justice Debra Todd) wrote a concurrence declaring “‘This Court will neither impose nor countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election.’ We said those carefully chosen words only weeks ago. Yet they apparently were not heard in the Commonwealth Court, the very court where the bulk of election litigation unfolds.”

It is apparently still not being heard. In the Bucks County hearing, Marseglia spoke as she and Democratic Board chairman Robert Harvie, Jr., dismissed the earlier rulings in order to accept ballots without required signatures or mandatory dates. She declared that she would not second the motion to enforce the rulings “mostly because I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country and people violate laws any time they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention to it.” That was a lot of words to say that she does not really seem to care if this is lawful. For his part, Casey has shown the same abandon as he clings to his Senate seat at any cost.

That cost, in this case, was an alliance with Marc Elias, the controversial Democratic lawyer at the center of the infamous Steele Dossier scandal. Elias has been sanctioned in court and criticized for his work to flip elections. He is known for baselessly blaming voting machine errors for electing Republicans and pushing gerrymandering plans rejected by the courts as anti-democratic. Casey is unlikely to change the result without counting defective or challenged ballots. Fortunately, law and precedent “does matter in this country.” There are still officials who can transcend their political preferences to maintain the rule of law. After the last presidential election, many Trump appointees ruled against the former president, and many Democratic judges rejected the effort to strip Trump from ballots.

That does not mean that Democrats who value the weaponization of law will not continue to embrace lawfare warriors like New York Attorney General Letitia James (D). Others will use the rage of these times as a license to ignore legal and ethical obligations altogether. They are arguably the saddest manifestation of our political discord. They are people who have not just lost faith in our system but in themselves. They have become untethered from any defining principle for their own conduct. This election has left them adrift in a sea of moral and legal relativism, with only their rage as a following wind. They cling to that rage as reason vanishes like a distant shore. For the rest of us, there is work to be done as a nation committed to the rule of law. We cannot win at any cost when that cost is the very thing that defines us.

She’s lost it all. But she can’t stop herself.

• Rachel Maddow Claims Trump is Trying To “Destroy The US Government” (MN)

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow took a break from claiming she’s about to be thrown into a concentration camp to charge that president Trump is attempting to “destroy” the government. Maddow said, “I think the idea of the authoritarian promise is that everything shrivels in government other than the will of the leader, right?” She further claimed “You don’t necessarily put a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in charge if you’re hoping for great things from HHS.” “Matt Gaetz, he has explicitly proposed abolishing the Justice Department, not specifically abolishing the FBI and the ATF but talking about abolishing the Justice Department,” she added. Maddow continued to blather, “Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence is, I mean, the idea that Tulsi Gabbard, in a normal circumstance, could get a security clearance to be like a Walmart-style greeter at any U.S. intelligence agency, let alone get past the security barriers, is insane.”

Bannon Responds To Rachel Maddow: "All You've Done Is Try To Destroy This Country" pic.twitter.com/5jFNgzSUu7

— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) November 14, 2024

“So, you do that because you want the worst for these agencies, because you want the worst for the U.S. government because you think that the U.S. government is worthless,” she asserted. Why would Trump do all this? Well it’s all a big conspiracy to become a dictator… or something. “That’s part of consolidating power, to make the U.S. government nothing other than the leader and people who will do what he says,” Maddow claimed. She continued, “Steve Bannon used to say, it’s a sort of Leninist project, right? Destroy the state. This is the cabinet that you nominate to, not to run the U.S. government, to do anything, but to destroy the U.S. government.” “So that the U.S. government can be fundamentally reimagined as something much more like a unitary authoritarian or autocratic, for lack of a better term, system,” Maddow concluded, ending her paranoid rant. Or maybe, just maybe, people voted for reform and gave Trump a mandate to implement that, meaning putting people outside of the Washington establishment furniture into key positions.

Yeah, probably more likely that, right. As we highlighted earlier, all the right people are big mad at Trump’s appointments. Add to that list the disgraced former CIA Director John Brennan, who parroted absurd claims that Gabbard is some kind of Russian asset. “Clearly, Tulsi Gabbard has taken actions and made statements over the past several years that raise serious questions about her common sense, judgment, and political sympathies,” Brennan proclaimed. “Cozying up to Putin as well as to Bashar al-Assad shows she doesn’t have the type of perspective needed for someone who is going to head up these 18 intelligence agencies,” he further declared, labelling Gabbard “an unserious pick for a serious position.”

AOCIA nods along with Joy Reid’s McCarthyite, pro-war, pro-regime change case for opposing Tulsi Gabbard, then calls Tulsi “pro-war” without explaining why

This is the poseur who boxed the Squad into supporting $100+ billion in military aid to Ukraine pic.twitter.com/iXvZXTj5Os

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) November 15, 2024

This coming from a guy who pushed the Russia hoax for years, and claimed the Hunter Biden laptop was a Russian psy op. He says everything is a Russian plot. His credibility is shot. Meanwhile, AOC ranted about Gabbard, ridiculously claiming she is “pro-war.” Anyone who has listened to Gabbard talk for more than five minutes knows this is the complete opposite of her actual position.

“It has never passed, and is the only Cabinet-level department of the federal government never to do so.”

• Pentagon Spends $187 Mln on Audit, Fails Seventh Year in a Row (Sp.)

This year’s financial review, carried out by the DoD’s Office of the Inspector General and an independent accounting firm, employed 1,700 auditors and cost $187 million – slightly more than the entire defense budget of the West African nation of Mauritania. The US spent a record $824 billion on defense in 2024, $27 billion more than a year earlier. The US Department of Defense has failed its seventh consecutive audit, with more than half of its departments unable to provide auditors with sufficient data to accurately evaluate the status of hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of assets under the Pentagon’s domain.

DoD comptroller and Chief Financial Officer Michael McCord – appointed by President Obama in 2014, and under whom the Pentagon failed every one of its independent audits since they began in 2017, assured in a statement that the Pentagon had “turned a corner in its understanding of the depth and breadth of its challenges” and promises to do better in the future. “Momentum is on our side, and throughout the Department there is strong commitment – and belief in our ability -to achieve an unmodified audit opinion,” McCord said. The Pentagon expects to receive a passing grade by 2028, as required in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (the annual must-pass Congressional legislation approving the defense budget).

The audit’s failing grade was based on financial inspections of 28 subordinated bodies, with 15 receiving disclaimers (which means auditors were unable to obtain sufficient evidence to form an opinion on the financial statements being audited), nine unmodified audit opinions (that is, a reasonable level of assurance that financial statements represented a true and fair reflection of audit results), one a qualified opinion (issued when auditors identify material misstatements in financial statements), and three opinions which remain pending. Agencies that passed included the DoD’s Defense Commissary Agency (responsible for food supplies to servicemen and their families), the Defense Financial and Accounting Service (which oversees payments to servicemembers, employees, vendors and contractors), and the Defense Health Agency (supplying an ensuring the readiness of military medical commands).

The Defense Information Systems Agency, which provides IT and communications support to the services, the Military Retirement Fund, the National Reconnaissance Office (responsible for the operation of space and ground-based intelligence collection systems worldwide), the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works agency and the Defense Contract Audit Agency (responsible for contract audits and related financial advisory services) also passed. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, mentioned in a series of damning intelligence briefings by Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops on US illicit military biological activities in Ukraine and across the globe, also got a passing grade. McCord defended the results at a press conference on Friday.

“This was not a surprise and I know that on the surface it doesn’t sound like we are making progress,” he said. “I do not say we failed, as I said, we have about half clean opinions. We have half that our not clean opinions. So if someone had a report card that is half good and half not good, I don’t know that you call the student or the report card a failure,” he said. Passing an audit by the 2028 deadline is “achievable,” he said. Also this week, the DoD Inspector General’s Office calculated that Congress has now appropriated nearly $183 billion in assistance to Ukraine since February 2022, including $131.36 billion for security-related assistance and activities, and $43.84 billion for ‘governance and development’. The Department of Defense carried out its first independent audit in 2017, and has been legally mandated to do so since 2018. It has never passed, and is the only Cabinet-level department of the federal government never to do so.

“They don’t feel “invested” in propping up Zelensky’s corrupt regime in the same way that the current Biden administration does..”

• Trump Team To Write Off ‘Project Ukraine’ as Sunk Cost (Sp.)

Donald Trump repeated his pledge to end the Ukraine conflagration as he addressed a gala organized by the America First Policy Institute at his Mar-a-Lago resort on November 15, saying that “the conflict has got to stop.” There is a general consensus within President-elect Donald Trump’s team that the failed “Project Ukraine” needs to be shut down, British political analyst Alexander Mercouris speculated on his YouTube channel. “Overall, despite different opinions and nuances among them, they have reached a general consensus that ‘Project Ukraine’ has absorbed a huge amount of energy and resources on the part of the United States, but it has not delivered what it promised. Ukraine has not been successful on the battlefield, there has been no economic collapse in Russia, and President Putin is still very firmly in control of things in Moscow,” the expert said.

In his opinion, these people, who come from the business world in many cases, have taken a simple “cost-benefit view”, and have agreed that “the time has come to close the whole thing down.” They don’t feel “invested” in propping up Zelensky’s corrupt regime in the same way that the current Biden administration does, according to the analyst. “They are resisting falling for the sunk costs fallacy, the one that says that you have already invested so much in terms of funding, weapons and resources that you can’t stop now,” Mercouris noted. Trump repeatedly said on the campaign trail that he could end the fighting “in 24 hours” if reelected; he slammed US aid to Kiev, and vowed not to put US troops on the ground in Ukraine.

“..numerous Ukrainian officials – as well as their backers in the West – have proposed that Kiev lower the draft age even further..”

• Zelensky Wants To Intensify Military Draft (RT)

The tightening of mobilization rules earlier this year has failed to solve Ukraine’s manpower shortage on the battlefield, Vladimir Zelensky has admitted, adding that the relevant legislation should be adjusted. In an interview with Ukrainskoye Radio on Saturday, Zelensky said that Ukraine “has not mobilized” enough troops under two new laws were passed this spring after significant back-and-forth in parliament. The first lowered the draft age from 27 to 25, while the second cracked down on draft dodgers, forcing all citizens eligible for conscription to report to military authorities for “data clarification.”

At the same time, Zelensky rejected speculation that Ukraine had drafted half a million men while pointing to problems with the available replenishments for frontline units. “The brigades in the East are exhausted, rotation is needed. The guys are getting tired and leaving. They must be replaced with fresh units,” Zelensky said. He also admitted that the frontline situation is “really difficult” and that Russia has indeed managed to accomplish “slow progress.” Before this year’s tightening of the rules, Kiev had announced a general mobilization, barring most men between 18 and 60 from leaving the country. Recruitment has been marred by widespread bribery and draft-dodging, with some Ukrainians trying to flee the country at all costs, even at a serious risk to their lives.

Meanwhile, social media is filled with videos of military patrols trying to catch eligible men in the streets, shopping malls, and gyms, often resulting in clashes. Despite the intensification of the draft, Ukrainian soldiers have consistently complained of the lack of reinforcements and inadequate training for new recruits, leading to long rotations and exhaustion. In light of this, numerous Ukrainian officials – as well as their backers in the West – have proposed that Kiev lower the draft age even further. Some Ukrainian politicians have also argued that all the country’s citizens should dedicate themselves to fighting Russia either directly on the front lines or indirectly by helping the army in the rear.

“..Trump “cannot afford for Ukraine to become his Afghanistan.”

• Ex-FM Warns Of Potential ‘Internal Collapse’ In Ukraine (RT)

Ukraine could face civil unrest and even a full-blown “collapse” if US President-elect Donald Trump reverses the outgoing administration’s policy of unconditional support for Kiev, former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has warned. The election of Trump on November 5 prompted fears in Kiev that Washington would end financial and military aid and would strong-arm the country into an unfavorable settlement with Russia. “If the money were to dry up, a new dynamic would come into play, and not all of it on the battlefield. True, bereft of funding, Ukraine could lose ground completely,” Kuleba wrote in an op-ed published in The Economist on Wednesday. He argued that Ukraine could plunge into a civil conflict if the US forces it to sign a bad peace deal.

“If the Trump administration then imposed unpalatable peace terms on Ukraine, and if Mr. Zelensky agreed (an unlikely scenario), part of Ukrainian society would resist. Domestic unrest would risk the country’s internal collapse,” Kuleba wrote. This would give Russian President Vladimir Putin “the victory he has long desired, painting Ukraine as a failed state,” Kuleba suggested, warning that Trump “cannot afford for Ukraine to become his Afghanistan.” Throughout his election campaign, Trump claimed that he would quickly mediate a peace agreement between Kiev and Moscow, without specifying the terms. During a televised debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, he refused to directly answer a question on whether he wants Ukraine to win. “I want the war to stop,” he said at the time.

In June, Reuters reported that two of Trump’s advisers had drawn up a plan to reach a ceasefire based on the current front lines. The Trump campaign distanced itself from any concrete proposals, however. Kiev has long insisted that a peace deal can only be based on Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s ‘peace formula’, which includes the restoration of the country’s 1991 borders. Russia has rejected these terms wholesale, insisting that Ukraine should drop its aspirations to join NATO in favor of becoming a neutral country and renounce its claims on Crimea and other regions which voted in referendums to join Russia. Speaking to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz over the phone on Friday, Putin reiterated that the conflict “was a direct result of NATO’s long-standing aggressive policy” of ignoring Russia’s security concerns.

“..authorization of the use of long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russia would place Moscow and NATO facing the near inevitability of a nuclear confrontation..”

• Moscow Continues To Warn The West About The Risk Of Nuclear Escalation (SCF)

Tensions over the issue of “deep” strikes continue to escalate. Kiev continues to demand permission to strike targets in the Russian Federation’s demilitarized zone, while Moscow continues to make it clear that it will interpret such maneuvers as a declaration of war by NATO. In a recent statement, Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, emphasized how Ukrainians and their partners are “playing with fire” with such threats, promising an “immediate and devastating” response in the event of a long-range strike.

The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the long-range weapons systems supplied by the West to Ukraine cannot be operated without the presence of NATO specialists, who would provide the necessary training and logistical support to the Ukrainians. This is because such weapons are not compatible with the Ukrainian military infrastructure, which depends on continuous intelligence support and strategic guidance provided by the Atlantic alliance. Moscow’s position is clear: authorizing the use of these missiles for strikes outside the official conflict zone, in addition to representing an expansion of Western involvement, would constitute direct NATO intervention in the conflict. Russia would regard any use of these weapons in such circumstances as a direct aggression against its sovereignty by the Western countries themselves, which would require an “immediate and devastating” retaliation.

The discussion about the deployment of Storm Shadow missiles and other advanced weapons systems in “deep” Russian territory is a clear demonstration of the dangerous game the West is playing, ignoring all the limits imposed by Russia. NATO’s role in the war in Ukraine has been a sensitive issue since the beginning of the conflict. Although Western powers insist on their position of supporting Ukraine as a legitimate right to defend it against what they call a Russian “invasion”, many analysts and officials point out that the interventions of the powers of the Atlantic alliance, both in terms of weapons and intelligence, have led to an unnecessary prolongation of the conflict, dragging Ukraine into a proxy war that puts the world on the brink of a nuclear confrontation.

By offering more powerful and sophisticated weapons, the West is not only strengthening Kiev’s military capabilities – which seem to have little strategic relevance at the moment – but also risks turning the local conflict into a war of global proportions. Moscow’s concern is legitimate, considering that the absence of limits on Western involvement in Ukraine could lead to a situation of unrestricted aggression against the Russian people, including even demilitarized cities far from the zone disputed by Kiev.

Indeed, the eventual authorization of the use of long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russia would place Moscow and NATO facing the near inevitability of a nuclear confrontation. As spokeswoman Zakharova has made clear, Russia is on high alert for the use of advanced missiles against its territory. Moscow has repeatedly stated that if such attacks occur, Russia’s response will be strong and decisive. This would not only imply a military escalation, but also a redefinition of relations between Russia and the West, with the possibility of unpredictable consequences for international stability.

The recent changes in Russia’s nuclear doctrine, allowing a nuclear response to deep strikes by non-nuclear powers supported by nuclear states (just like in the Ukraine-NATO case), were a clear attempt by Moscow to de-escalate the current situation through rhetoric and indirect deterrence. At first, the measure seemed sufficient to calm public pressure from some NATO figures for the authorization of the strikes. However, it is difficult to predict what the Democratic “administration” plans to do in its final days in power, and it is possible that Biden and his team will go into “suicide mode” and put the entire global security architecture at risk, despite Russian warnings.

“..large assets like the aircraft carriers are under heightened scrutiny to decide whether they are still a vital staple for modern warfare.”

• War Games Show UK’s Flagship Aircraft Carriers ‘Get Sunk’ Every Time (Sp.)

In a reflection of the UK’s host of internal political and economic problems, its Armed Forces have likewise been grappling with financial and operational woes. In most war games carried out by the UK military, its costly flagship aircraft carriers “get sunk”, The Times cited a source as saying. HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, commissioned into the Royal Navy in 2017 and 2019, respectively, together cost £6.2 billion. (approx. $7.8 billion) to build but are reportedly vulnerable to missiles. A “whole load of scenarios” was run during war games to test the Royal Navy’s “ability to survive” against an “overwhelming force”, a British military source was quoted as saying, adding: “We stretch everything to the limit. At some point you will get to a scenario where it [the carrier] is sunk.”

The report cited Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, as speculating that the great stride made in missile technology development was the ability to “locate and track” aircraft carriers. This comes amid an ongoing Strategic Defence Review commissioned by Britain’s Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and overseen by the Defence Secretary John Healey. The review is due in the first half of 2025. Both ministers and military chiefs have been pressured to implement cost-cutting measures due to financial constraints. Hence, large assets like the aircraft carriers are under heightened scrutiny to decide whether they are still a vital staple for modern warfare.

“There will be casualties,” a source hinted, indicating that the prospect of scrapping at least one of the carriers was raised. Former Minister for Defence Procurement Lord Lee of Trafford told the outlet that the military was struggling to afford the requisite numbers of F-35 aircraft for the carriers, along with escort ships and support vessels. Decades of defense cuts by successive British governments have left the country’s military understaffed and underequipped, resulting in delays in production and upgrades. The HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales have both been plagued by technical malfunctions, with humiliating breakdowns affecting Britain’s ability to participate in large-scale joint NATO drills. Furthermore, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is facing a £16.9 billion ($22.17 billion) deficit, the National Audit Office (NAO) revealed in 2023.

“Hughes has also banned Yulia and Sergei Skripal from testifying at the Inquiry.”

• The Novichok Attack Was A British Operation, Not A Russian One (Helmer)

Yulia Skripal communicated from her bedside at Salisbury District Hospital on March 8, 2018, four days after she and her father Sergei Skripal collapsed from a poison attack, that the attacker used a spray; and that the attack took place when she and her father were eating at a restaurant just minutes before their collapse on a bench outside. The implication of the Skripal evidence, revealed for the first time on Thursday, is that the attack on the Skripals was not perpetrated by Russian military agents who were photographed elsewhere in Salisbury town at the time; that the attacker or attackers were British agents; and that if their weapon was a nerve agent called Novichok, it came, not from Moscow, but from the UK Ministry of Defence chemical warfare laboratory at Porton Down. Porton Down’s subsequent evidence of Novichok contamination in blood samples, clothing, car, and home of the Skripals may therefore be interpreted as British in source, not Russian.

This evidence was revealed by a police witness testifying at the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry in London on November 14. The police officer, retired Detective Inspector Keith Asman was in 2018, and he remains today the chief of forensics for the Counter Terrorism Policing (CTPSE) group which combines the Metropolitan and regional police forces with the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and the Security Service (MI5). According to Asman’s new disclosure, Yulia Skripal had woken from a coma and confirmed to the doctor at her bedside that she remembered the circumstances of the attack on March 4. What she remembered, she signalled, was not (repeat not) the official British Government narrative that Russian agents had tried to kill them by poisoning the front door-handle of the family home. The new evidence was immediately dismissed by the Sturgess Inquiry lawyer assisting Anthony Hughes (titled Lord Hughes of Ombersley), the judge directing the Inquiry. “We see there,” the lawyer put to Asman as a leading question, “the suggestion, which we now know not to be right, of course”. — page 72.

Hughes then interrupted to tell the witness to disregard what Skripal had communicated. “If the record that you were given there is right, someone suggested to her ‘Had you been sprayed’. She didn’t come up with it herself.” — page 73. Hughes continued to direct the forensics chief to disregard the hearsay of Skripal. “Anyway the suggestion that she had been sprayed in the restaurant didn’t fit with your investigations? A. [Asman] No, sir. LORD HUGHES: Thank you.” So far in in the Inquiry which began public sessions on October 14, this is the first direct sign of suppression of evidence by Hughes. Hearsay, he indicates, should be disregarded if it comes from the target of attack, Yulia Skripal. However, hearsay from British Government officials, policemen, and chemical warfare agents at Porton Down must be accepted instead. Hughes has also banned Yulia and Sergei Skripal from testifying at the Inquiry. The lawyer appointed and paid by the Government to represent the Skripals in the inquiry hearings said nothing to acknowledge the new disclosure nor to challenge Hughes’s efforts to suppress it.

“Climate change could be roaring but the naked eye can’t see it.”

• Climate-Change Debate ‘Heats Up’ With Collum, Keen, Fleckenstein (ZH)

Steve Keen, while primarily an economist, is well-versed in the research and a firm believer in the danger climate change poses. Dave Collum, chemistry professor at Cornell, believes much of the science to be bogus. Legendary short-seller Bill Fleckenstein was kind enough to shepard them along. We hope you enjoy and that you give both Keen and Collum a fair shake: For those short on time, here were the highlights:

Poking holes in the ‘narrative’. Things heated up when Collum unleashed a flurry of charts documenting trends that run counter to what we hear from most climate alarmists: Today, we actually see fewer hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, and forest fires than decades past. Collum: “There’s no obvious change in the frequency of global hurricanes back to 1980… Back to 1990, it actually has a distinct downward trend… Here’s one that goes back to 1960. These are violent tornadoes. Again, downward trend.” “Climate change could be roaring but the naked eye can’t see it.”

“Potentially Suicidal”. Natural disasters aside, Keen brought his own charts showing the recent and rapid ascent of global temperature. If accurate, the rise in temperature in the last 150 years when viewed on an axis of millions of years is staggering. Keen: “That’s the real danger of climate change. We’ve built [civilization] in a stable period of the climate. We’re destroying that stability and thinking we can still have the social system we’ve designed… I just don’t think that’s true.”

Keen’s sources provided below: Judd, E. J., J. E. Tierney, D. J. Lunt, I. P. Montañez, B. T. Huber, S. L. Wing and P. J. Valdes (2024). “A 485-million-year history of Earth’s surface temperature.” Science 385(6715): eadk3705. https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.adk3705. Scotese, C. R., H. Song, B. J. W. Mills and D. G. Van Der Meer (2021). “Phanerozoic paleotemperatures: The earth’s changing climate during the last 540 million years.” Earth-Science Reviews 215: 103503. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103503

pic.twitter.com/THHgc46uTU

— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) November 15, 2024

Green New Deal? Assuming humanity put all its resources and minds together to avert the Earth’s heating… can it be done? Fleckenstein asked our distinguished guests whether they would support a “Green New Deal” (massive public spending effort to combat climate change): Collum: “My dad taught me this: Never ask the government to spend your money. They’ll do a terrible job.” “If we were serious about climate change… They should never put guys like John Kerry in charge as Climate Czar.” “Steve’s enthusiastic about intervening as scientists. But here’s the question I have is who is going to make these tough calls? Who has the right to sign off the informed consent to say we are going to cover the world with a blanket of particles to block the sun?” Keen argued that — while governments are inefficient — we do not have a choice. Keen: “I’ll go on record on saying that if we continue down the trends we’re doing right now… we’re going to destroy civilization before 2050.”

SpaceX

SpaceX President & COO Gwynne Shotwell on the company having $22B in government contracts:

"We earned that. We bid it, we were the lowest price, best bidder, we won and we execute. It's not a bad thing to serve the U.S. government with great capability and products."

(via Baron… pic.twitter.com/TYeKigZhXD

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) November 15, 2024

Baron

Ron Baron: “I don't feel like I'm a Democrat anymore. I think that the Democratic Party has been taken over by unions — Musk was invited initially to the EV Summit and then disinvited because the UAW said I don't want Elon Musk in the White House.” pic.twitter.com/BxDli3ddez

— ALEX (@ajtourville) November 15, 2024

Ron Baron: “I don't understand how Elon Musk is able to do all this. Amazing what he does. I don't see how anyone can compete with him the way he works — He's also very well read and he remembers everything. He must have a photographic memory.” pic.twitter.com/Rt0cg0e7T2

— ALEX (@ajtourville) November 15, 2024

Rob Baron Says Elon Musk Will Bring the Efficiency of Tesla & SpaceX to the U.S. Government

“The government wanted to send people back and forth to the International Space Station…So they gave two contracts — one to Boeing for $4.3B and a year later to SpaceX for $2.1B. SpaceX… pic.twitter.com/TuRd2z25Jk

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) November 15, 2024

Camelemon
https://twitter.com/i/status/1857448564957327748

Phare du Four
https://twitter.com/i/status/1857826443180315012

Coconut oil

How coconut oil is produced traditionally
pic.twitter.com/v137STTrox

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) November 16, 2024

Wolf

Imagine how terrifying the first guy in history looked walking up with one of these huge Wolves as a pet pic.twitter.com/y5OkUDcw0N

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) November 15, 2024

Doggy
https://twitter.com/i/status/1857433301658608128

Black hole
https://twitter.com/i/status/1857668215725285772

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Debt Rattle September 30 2024

Sep 302024

September 30, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 8:23 am Finance Tagged with: anti-semitism, constitution, famine, free speech, hegemony, last election, mentally impaired, Nasrallah, Pentagon, simp 61 Responses »

Vincent van Gogh Roofs of Paris 1886

• Musk Warns “If Trump Is Not Elected, This Will Be The Last Election” (ZH)

• Free Speech Makes US ‘Hard To Govern’ – John Kerry (RT)

• MTG Predicts Election Delay Or More Assassination Attempts Against Trump (JTN)

• Michigan Lawmaker Admits Dire Internal Polling For Kamala Harris (ZH)

• Trump Labels Harris ‘Mentally Impaired’ (RT)

• When Odious Foreign Policy Elites Rally Around Harris (Carden)

• Lebowitz Calls for Biden-Harris to “Dissolve the Supreme Court” (Turley)

• Biden Broke His Word To Congress – WSJ (RT)

• Pentagon Chief ‘Blew Up’ as Israel Notified US of Strike on Nasrallah (Sp.)

• Jewish Anti-Semitism Towards Arabs (Helmer)

• Famine In Europe: The Real Goal Of Anti-Russian Policies (SCF)

• Watching the China River Flow (Pepe Escobar)

• Beyond Hegemony (Jeffrey Sachs)

• Obama Was A ‘Simp’ For The Deep State – Brother (RT)

• Putin Proved Me Correct (Paul Craig Roberts)

https://twitter.com/i/status/1840125327399629120

NEW: JD Vance barred from entering Primanti Bros in North Versailles, PA as supporters waited for him inside, decided to pay for everyone's tabs anyway & signed with "No Taxes on Tips"

When Vance arrived, he was reportedly told he wasn't allowed to leave his car because the… pic.twitter.com/GCuAqDYCs1

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 28, 2024

RFK

The Democratic Party is all about the centralization of control. It's about surveillance. It's about top down policies that are dictated by oligarchy. It's the opposite of democracy. pic.twitter.com/VMMvv6mvaW

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) September 28, 2024

RFK Jr: “We’re about to consider someone for President of the United States who cannot give an interview.”

“We have a Vice President who does not seem to have anything in her head, except what the Deep State tells her to say and to put there.” pic.twitter.com/Xa4C630BW0

— End Tribalism in Politics (@EndTribalism) September 28, 2024

Football

President Donald Trump and Tim Walz both showed up to college football games today

One got booed, and the other received cheers that could break your eardrums

The difference couldn't be clearer. pic.twitter.com/yfxE2yJzne

— George (@BehizyTweets) September 29, 2024

Jimmy Dore

Jimmy Dore: "And that's why they have to do censorship. And that's why they just banned Twitter or X in Brazil and Telegram and to rub rumble. And that's what the same thing they did to Julian Assange. They weren't, they didn't put Julian Assange in prison because he was… pic.twitter.com/1CfHKCAH2C

— Camus (@newstart_2024) September 29, 2024

Lauria
https://twitter.com/i/status/1840221939480051885

Ritter
https://twitter.com/i/status/1840235654908686363

Ballmer

FORMER MICROSOFT CEO BALLMER: I GET MY NEWS FROM X@Steven_Ballmer : "What I get on X is what news sources think is their most important stuff. I follow people who are important in world events. I wanna know straight from the source."pic.twitter.com/GvE8udYsmP

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 26, 2024

BORDER CZAR
https://twitter.com/i/status/1840055614967345259

The numbers add up.

• Musk Warns “If Trump Is Not Elected, This Will Be The Last Election” (ZH)

Elon Musk has argued that the influx of illegal immigrants into the United States, “something that the Democrats are expediting as fast as humanly possible,” will effectively establish a ‘one-party state and Democracy is over.’ Responding to a thread on X in which Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) pointed out that the DOJ is suing Alabama for trying to remove noncitizens from its voting lists, and blocked the SAVE Act – Musk noted that “Everywhere in America will be like the nightmare that is downtown San Francisco”:

“Very few Americans realize that, if Trump is NOT elected, this will be the last election. Far from being a threat to democracy, he is the only way to save it! Let me explain: if even 1 in 20 illegals become citizens per year, something that the Democrats are expediting as fast as humanly possible, that would be about 2 million new legal voters in 4 years. The voting margin in the swing states is often less than 20 thousand votes. That means if the “Democratic” Party succeeds, there will be no more swing states!! Moreover, the Biden/Harris administration has been flying “asylum seekers”, who are fast-tracked to citizenship, directly into swing states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Arizona. It is a surefire way to win every election.

America then becomes a one-party state and Democracy is over. The only “elections” will be the Democratic Party primaries. This already happened in California many years ago, following the 1986 amnesty. The only thing holding California back from extreme socialism and suffocating government policies is that people can leave California and still remain in America. Once the whole country is controlled by one party, there will be no escape. Everywhere in America will be like the nightmare that is downtown San Francisco.”

But that’s the whole idea.

• Free Speech Makes US ‘Hard To Govern’ – John Kerry (RT)

The freedom for individuals to choose their sources of information makes it difficult to reach consensus and, consequently, to govern effectively, former presidential climate envoy John Kerry stated. At a World Economic Forum (WEF) panel on Green Energy last week, the former Secretary of State under President Barack Obama criticized the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech and the press, among other things. Kerry pointed out that social media poses challenges for building consensus in democracies. “It’s really hard to govern today,” he remarked. “The referees we used to have to determine what is fact and what isn’t have kind of been eviscerated,” he noted, adding that individuals now decide where to get their news.

John Kerry calls for a Ministry of Truth:

"The 1st Amendment stands as a major roadblock for us right now" pic.twitter.com/1mtpjjxeM7

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 29, 2024

“If people go to only one source… and they’re putting out disinformation, our First Amendment stands as a major block to simply hammering it out of existence,” he asserted. As long as Democrats can “win ground” and “win the right to govern,” they would be “free to implement change,” the former Democratic senator stated. “I think democracies are very challenged right now and have not proven they can move fast enough or big enough to address the challenges we face. To me, that is part of what this race, this election, is all about,” he added.

At another WEF event earlier this year, Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker lamented the loss of corporate media’s monopoly on information. “We owned the news. We were the gatekeepers, and we very much owned the facts as well,” she said, noting that customers now have access to a broader array of sources. Amid increasingly divisive election rhetoric, research suggests that Americans trust the media even less than they are willing to publicly admit. While 24 percent of Americans claim to trust the media to tell the truth, only 7 percent believe it privately, according to a study completed in June by the think tank Populace, in cooperation with Gradient and YouGov.

“The momentum shift has happened and Trump is leading and his support is rapidly accelerating..”

• MTG Predicts Election Delay Or More Assassination Attempts Against Trump (JTN)

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Saturday predicted that more assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump could occur as the election gets closer. “We have entered the most dangerous phase of the election,” Greene said on the social media platform, X. “The momentum shift has happened and Trump is leading and his support is rapidly accelerating. I’m hearing it everywhere, even where I was not before. Democrats will do anything to stop him.” She said that there have already been two assassination attempts on Trump’s life.

“They’ve already been trying to put him in prison and literally assassinate him,” Greene wrote. “What comes next? More assassination attempts? Will they delay the election? Be prepared.” Trump has had two assassination attempts on his life. One was at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the other in Florida while he was golfing. As the election gets closer, both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris have been traveling around the U.S. doing rallies. (JTN)

Money Talks, But Polls Walk

• Michigan Lawmaker Admits Dire Internal Polling For Kamala Harris (ZH)

In a Sunday bombshell, Axios reports that Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) has privately warned donors that Vice President Kamala Harris is “underwater” in Michigan – a critical battleground state for Democrats – according to a video clip obtained by the outlet. Slotkin’s revelation comes at a time when the Dems are fighting tooth and nail to hold onto the Senate, and Michigan could be a deciding factor. During a virtual fundraiser last Wednesday with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Slotkin didn’t mince words. “I’m not feeling my best right now about where we are on Kamala Harris in a place like Michigan,” she admitted, further stating that their internal polling shows Harris sinking in the Wolverine State. The news comes as a blow Democrats as they eye a tough Senate race where Slotkin herself is vying for a seat against GOP contender, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI).

Michigan is a critical state for Democrats. If Trump sweeps the Sun Belt, taking Michigan – or any state in the so-called “Blue Wall” that includes Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, it could pave his way back to the White House. Recent polling averages from FiveThirtyEight have Harris ahead by just 2.4 points, while a New York Times/Siena College poll puts her lead at a razor-thin 1 point. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans smell blood in the water. Slotkin’s Senate race has seen millions of dollars pour in, with GOP operatives sensing a prime opportunity to flip the seat. Republican internal polling suggests the race may be neck-and-neck, despite some public polls showing Slotkin with a narrow lead.

While Slotkin’s public polling paints a more optimistic picture, with RealClearPolitics giving her a 48% to 43% edge, Republicans are raising alarms. GOP strategists believe the Michigan Senate race is tightening, especially as Slotkin’s campaign fights off the GOP war chest. With Slotkin admitting Harris is struggling in Michigan, it’s clear Democrats have a lot to worry about in 2024. The Senate map isn’t doing Democrats any favors either. While ruby-red Ohio and Montana have been getting attention, a surprise Republican win in Michigan could virtually guarantee a GOP majority come next November.

“..Saturday, Harris vowed to step up deportations and deny asylum to migrants who cross the border outside legal entry points.”

• Trump Labels Harris ‘Mentally Impaired’ (RT)

Former US President Donald Trump has labeled Vice President Kamala Harris “mentally impaired” for immigration policies that apparently allowed more than 400,000 convicted criminals to walk freely into the US. According to data released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this week, 425,431 convicted criminals and 222,141 people with pending criminal charges entered the US illegally and are living free inside the country while awaiting court hearings or deportation proceedings. These include 62,231 convicted of assault, 56,533 with drug convictions, and 13,099 convicted of homicide. An additional 15,811 have sexual assault convictions. At a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Saturday, Trump declared that Harris should be “impeached and removed from office” for allowing this many criminals into the country.

Harris let in “some of the worst murderers you’ve ever seen,” he claimed, “and that’s not even mentioning the rapists, the gang members, the drug dealers, the child predators, and the traffickers in women.” “[President] Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country,” he said. It is unclear whether all of the criminals mentioned by ICE entered the US while Biden and Harris were in office. However, one of Biden’s first acts as president was to reinstate the Obama-era policy of ‘catch and release’, under which illegal migrants entering the US are detained, and then immediately released with orders to show up at immigration hearings years in the future. Under Trump, migrants arrested by law enforcement agents were taken straight to detention centers from 2019 onwards.

There were around 10.2 million illegal immigrants living in the US in 2020. Under Biden, who tasked Harris in 2021 with overseeing border security, at least 10.6 million more have entered the country, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) figures. The 425,431 convicted criminals counted by ICE are drawn from a list of over 7 million migrants who are awaiting removal proceedings but are not in custody. As such, the true number of criminal aliens living in the US could be vastly higher. Voters concerned about immigration overwhelmingly trust Trump to tackle the issue. In a bid to close this gap, Harris has distanced herself from past comments on immigration – for example, comparing ICE to the Ku Klux Klan and chanting “down with deportation” at a protest. During a visit to the US-Mexico border on Saturday, Harris vowed to step up deportations and deny asylum to migrants who cross the border outside legal entry points.

“..columnist Joan Walsh, who found Liz Cheney’s endorsement of Harris “strangely moving..”

• When Odious Foreign Policy Elites Rally Around Harris (Carden)

Efforts to bolster the candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris by the D.C. foreign policy establishment kicked into overdrive over the course of the past week with the near simultaneous release of two open letters signed by hundreds of former U.S. national security officials. It is an accelerated version of previous campaigns in 2016 and 2020, where ex-officials and military officers on both sides of the aisle vocalizing major opposition to Trump offer to give national security cred to the Democratic candidate — in this case Harris. For their part, the candidate virtually ignores that many of these endorsements are in many cases coming from odious individuals, including architects of wars and interventions that Democrats have openly criticized as stains on recent American history.

The first was a letter signed by over 100 former Republican national security officials stating that while they, alumni of every Republican administration from Reagan to Trump, “expect to disagree with Kamala Harris on many domestic and foreign policy issues” they also “firmly oppose the election of Donald Trump.” According to the former GOP officials, Trump’s “susceptibility to flattery and manipulation by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, unusual affinity for other authoritarian leaders, contempt for the norms of decent, ethical and lawful behavior, and chaotic national security decision-making” render him a danger to U.S. national security interests. Critics of course point out that many of these people are the same Washington creatures who got our country into endless foreign wars and profited from them for 20 years straight — and until this day support cruel, authoritarian dictators when convenient to U.S. policy. They are not wrong.

As a group, the signatories of the first letter are a very mixed bag. The missive does feature a few sensible, responsible pillars of the Washington establishment, including those of former defense secretary (and U.S. senator) Chuck Hagel, and former FBI and CIA director William Webster. Yet for the most part, the letter carried with it the odor of the consensus minded War Party, if not 9/11-era neoconservatism. In the past this would have been a problem for traditionally liberal and progressive outlets, but Mother Jones and the New Republic were quick to applaud the letter as a “win” for the Harris campaign. Not surprisingly, only The Nation has called out their fellow liberals and progressives for making common cause with the likes of Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, both of whom have also endorsed Harris in recent days (except for columnist Joan Walsh, who found Liz Cheney’s endorsement of Harris “strangely moving,” writing, “Liz, I told you we could find common ground. Let’s have a cup of coffee. Or even a beer?”

This columnist at Al Jazeera, however, offers no stated desire for beers with the Cheneys, particularly father Dick. “What makes Cheney’s endorsement, and the Democratic Party’s embrace of it, particularly galling is the way in which they gloss over these past sins in order to paint him as a guardian of American values,” charged Howard University Law school professor Ziyad Motola.

No Supreme Court and no Constitution. Pretty soon after that, you’ll have no country.

• Lebowitz Calls for Biden-Harris to “Dissolve the Supreme Court” (Turley)

Author and cultural critic Fran Lebowitz added voice to the unhinged calls on the left for trashing the Supreme Court. As I discussed recently in the Wall Street Journal (and in my book), there is a growing counter-constitutional movement in the United States led by law professors, pundits, and celebrities. Lebowitz amplified those calls in a radical demand to simply get rid of the Court. Lebowitz called for President Joe Biden to “dissolve the Supreme Court” despite the fact that it would violate the Constitution and remove one of the most critical protections against executive and legislative abuse. Lebowitz insisted that the Supreme Court is a “disgrace” because, in a reference to Donald Trump, it is “completely his.” To the wild applause of the New York audience, she added: “It’s so disgraceful, this court, that it shouldn’t even be allowed to be called the Supreme Court. It’s an insult to Motown. Basically, it’s a harem. It’s Trump’s harem.”

Her views aligned with others on the left who have attacked the Constitution, the Court, and even rights like free speech as now threats to our democracy. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer previously declared in front of the Supreme Court, “I want to tell you, [Neil] Gorsuch, I want to tell you, [Brett] Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) announced that she wants the impeachment of all six of the conservative justices. She was immediately joined by other Democratic members. Previously, Ocasio-Cortez admitted that she does not understand why we even have a Supreme Court. She asked “How much does the current structure benefit us? And I don’t think it does.” Other members, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have called for packing the Court with additional members to immediately secure a liberal majority to rule as she desires.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., RI), has assured voters that Vice President Kamala Harris will support the packing of the Court with a liberal majority. Despite supporting censorship to combat “disinformation,” many on the left now eagerly spread disinformation about the Court and its rulings. Lebowitz repeated false claims about the Court’s ruling on presidential immunity, stating that the decision makes the president a “king” who “can do whatever you want.” In reality, the Court followed the same approach that it has taken in prior conflicts between the branches. As it has in the past, the Court adopted a three-tiered approach to presidential powers based on the source of a presidential action. Chief Justice John Roberts cited Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer, in which the court ruled against President Harry Truman’s takeover of steel mills.

In his famous concurrence to Youngstown, Justice Robert Jackson broke down the balance of executive and legislative authority between three types of actions. In the first, a president acts with express or implied authority from Congress. In the second, he acts where Congress is silent (“the zone of twilight” area). In the third, the president acts in defiance of Congress. In this decision, the court adopted a similar sliding scale. It held that presidents enjoy absolute immunity for actions that fall within their “exclusive sphere of constitutional authority” while they enjoy presumptive immunity for other official acts. They do not enjoy immunity for unofficial or private actions. None of this matters. Facts do not matter. Many on the left are calling for the trashing of the Constitution based on wildly inaccurate claims.

Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley law school, is author of “No Democracy Lasts Forever: How the Constitution Threatens the United States,” published last month. In a 2021 Los Angeles Times op-ed, he described conservative justices as “partisan hacks.” In the New York Times, book critic Jennifer Szalai scoffs at what she calls “Constitution worship.” She writes: “Americans have long assumed that the Constitution could save us; a growing chorus now wonders whether we need to be saved from it.” She frets that by limiting the power of the majority, the Constitution “can end up fostering the widespread cynicism that helps authoritarianism grow.” In a 2022 New York Times op-ed, “The Constitution Is Broken and Should Not Be Reclaimed,” law professors Ryan D. Doerfler of Harvard and Samuel Moyn of Yale called for liberals to “reclaim America from constitutionalism.”

Lebowitz is also wrong about the voting record of the justices. In reality, the Court continues to rule largely by unanimous, or nearly unanimous decisions. After April, unanimity stood at 46 percent of cases. Of the 22 6-3 decisions, only half broke along ideological lines. That is the same as the 11 such cases last term. The average for unanimous decisions has been roughly 43 percent. The rate is back up to 48 percent for the last term. When you add the nearly unanimous opinions, it is the vast majority of cases. Moreover, Sotomayor agreed with Roberts in 71% of cases Kavanaugh and Barrett agreed with Sotomayor roughly 70% of the time. In critical decisions, conservative justices like Gorsuch and Barrett have joined their liberal colleagues and the Court has repeatedly voted against positions supported by Donald Trump.

“One of the conditions stipulated was that the Biden administration articulate a strategy regarding US support for Ukraine within 45 days of the budget’s enactment, and quarterly moving forward..”

• Biden Broke His Word To Congress – WSJ (RT)

US President Joe Biden has not been honest with the American public about his administration’s plan for Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board wrote in an article on Friday. Despite Biden styling himself a supporter of Ukraine’s freedom in his speech to the UN General Assembly this week, he refuses to level with Congress and the American public about his strategy to achieve victory, the editorial stated. In April, lawmakers passed a nearly $61 billion supplemental budget for Ukraine, after months of wrangling between Democrats and Republicans. One of the conditions stipulated was that the Biden administration articulate a strategy regarding US support for Ukraine within 45 days of the budget’s enactment, and quarterly moving forward. “Biden knew this commitment was necessary to get aid through Congress, and he signed the bill,” WSJ observed.

Despite this, the strategy was submitted “months after the congressionally-mandated deadline,” the newspaper said, citing a press release from GOP lawmakers. “Also, and this is typical of the Biden stonewall: The document is entirely classified,” WSJ wrote, adding that congressmen want the strategy made available to the American public. ”Don’t count on the Administration following this order before Nov. 5, if it ever does,” the board said. “A public release might mean that Vice President Kamala Harris would have to explain her own thinking on the war before the election. As long as she doesn’t, and the Administration covers it up, Ms. Harris co-owns Mr. Biden’s record of muddled half measures.”

The Biden administration announced a further $8 billion in military aid for Kiev on Thursday, reserving the remainder of a large Congressionally-approved allocation set to expire by the end of September. This came right after Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky visited the US to pitch what he termed his “victory plan” to his biggest sponsor. According to several Western media sources, Kiev’s wishes are now increasingly clashing with those of its backers in the West. Its allies have also so far denied its ever-more urgent demands to allow the use of Western-supplied arms to strike deep into Russian territory.

“..there are many US troops stationed in the Middle East, and they had a very short time to prepare for possible hostile military response..”

• Pentagon Chief ‘Blew Up’ as Israel Notified US of Strike on Nasrallah (Sp.)

Israel gave a “few minutes notice” to the United States about its intention to strike the secretary general of Lebanese movement Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, enraging Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, US media reported.
Defense Secretary Austin “blew up” when Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant informed him about the strikes on Nasrallah, as there are many US troops stationed in the Middle East, and they had a very short time to prepare for possible hostile military response to the assassination, the publication explained. Since last week, the Israeli Air Force has been carrying out massive strikes on Hezbollah targets in various parts of Lebanon. Several precision airstrikes were also recorded in Beirut, killing senior Hezbollah commanders, including Nasrallah.

To date, the Israeli army has reported strikes on several thousand Hezbollah targets. Observers note that Israel has not attacked Hezbollah with such intensity since the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Hezbollah has responded with rocket fire primarily at northern Israel, but the range of rocket attacks has increased significantly in recent days. The situation on the Israeli-Lebanese border has escalated since the start of Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip in October 2023. Tensions are growing amid statements by the Israeli military about preparations for a ground operation in Lebanon.

“The Semites, the Semitic peoples, and speakers of the Semitic languages started as a figment of the German imagination in the late 18th century and early 19th century..”

• Jewish Anti-Semitism Towards Arabs (Helmer)

In the history of imperial conquest and rule of the Arabs – that’s Turkish, Italian, British, French, American, Israeli – decapitation of leaders has always been preferable to genocide of peoples because it’s much cheaper. Slavery, as the Portuguese empire first developed it, was the cost accountant’s solution to making genocide pay for itself – pay lucrative profits in fact. How profitable the bribery and killing methods of American decapitation of the secular Arab nationalists have been since 1943 is the story told in The Jackals’ Wedding. The combination of decapitation and genocide now being pursued by the Israelis lacks the usual cost-accounting restrictions. This is because the imperial ideologies have turned into God-dictated duty, Crusader zealotry revived, but this time Judaeo rather than Christian, rabbinical rather than papal. It is also because the US government is paying the bill. Faith in the transubstantiation of the Jewish state would wither away much quicker than the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem without US cash, capital, and underwriter guarantees.

That kingdom lasted 192 years; Israel is 76 years old; Zionism, 127 years. In self-defence, popular resistance and national liberation of the Arabs, religious conviction can only be as effective as there is military capacity for the fight. The will to fight without the weapons is doomed; just as the war-fighting capacities of the Arabs are doomed if they are inadequate – sabotaged and betrayed off the battlefield; out-gunned if used in combat; held back without a fight. For reminder of how long the present long war will be, let’s repeat this from the beginning last October. The Semites, the Semitic peoples, and speakers of the Semitic languages started as a figment of the German imagination in the late 18th century and early 19th century. It quickly became a German racial epithet, used in contrast to Aryan. By the time Adolf Hitler came along, this was the pseudo-scientific doctrine in which the Germans lumped both the Jews and the Arabs into a single category – the inferiors of the Aryans.

That is one of the reasons Hitler refused to listen to the advice of his general staff on aiding the Arab nationalist forces in Iraq, Syria and Palestine in the Wehrmacht’s war plans against the British and the Soviet Union. The pseudo-science of Semitism and Aryanism, and the idea of anti-Semitism which the Germans, together with the British and Americans, adopted in the run-up to World War II was spelled out at Harvard University by an anthropologist called Carleton Coon; he cribbed directly from German academics, turning out papers on the Berbers of Morocco and advancing his racial superiority-inferiority ideas between 1925 and 1939. When the war began, Coon joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) where he demonstrated his keenness for pistol shooting, hare-brained sabotage missions, and homicidal mania. Among his wartime schemes he proposed to remove the Arabs of the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) as unfit to rule; replace them with the restoration of the French empire; and kill those French officials whom Coon judged to get his way.

He was one of the planners of the assassination of Admiral Francois Darlan, the French military commander, in Algiers on December 24, 1942; Coon’s pistol was the murder weapon.** American murderers of the Arabs like Coon then — like Israeli murderers of Arabs now — have succeeded in establishing their doctrine of exceptionalism and racial superiority in state policy as the successor to the doctrines of Aryanism and Nazism which were interrupted by Hitler’s suicide in 1945, then the Nuremberg trials concluding in 1946. The crime of racial and cultural genocide became international law in 1948. It was then modified by the new Israeli state doctrine of anti-Semitism: this decriminalised the genocide of the Palestinian people; and outlawed instead media criticism, political opposition, even science for threatening the legitimacy of Israel’s Basic Law of Arab exclusion, and Israeli military operations to enforce it.

“Thousands of Bulgarian farmers are going bankrupt, and the crisis is only expected to get worse in the near future.”

• Famine In Europe: The Real Goal Of Anti-Russian Policies (SCF)

The controversy over Ukrainian agricultural products continues. Ukrainian food products have simply invaded the European market and are driving thousands of farmers out of business. Despite the protests and political pressure, no EU decision-maker seems interested in changing this tragic scenario. However, the crisis seems to have even deeper dimensions and could be a real time bomb for the entire European society. The Bulgarian government recently asked the European Commission to pass a resolution banning the import of Ukrainian chicken eggs. According to the Bulgarian authorities, the large amount of cheap Ukrainian eggs on the European market is hurting Bulgarian producers, who rely on egg sales as a vital part of their business. Thousands of Bulgarian farmers are going bankrupt, and the crisis is only expected to get worse in the near future.

The problem is not limited to eggs or Bulgaria. Selling grain, meat, dairy products and everything that is produced in the countryside seems to be no longer an attractive business in Europe. Since 2022, protests for change have been taking place in all parts of the European continent. From Poland to France, no European farmer is happy to see his products being replaced on the market by massive quantities of cheap Ukrainian agricultural items. This is due to the irrational decision of European decision-makers to ban all import tariffs on Ukrainian food products. The measure is allegedly intended to boost the Ukrainian economy during the crisis caused by the conflict with Russia – which ironically is sponsored by the West itself. In the current European market, it is cheaper to import Ukrainian food than to resell the native products, which is obviously causing thousands of farmers to abandon their businesses.

As well known, most of Europe does not have a very strong agricultural sector, with local farmers relying on government aid to stay active in the market. Without this aid and with the invasion of Ukrainian products, it is simply no longer profitable to be part of European agribusiness, which is why thousands of people are likely to stop working in the rural areas and join the growing class of the European “precariat”. At first, some analysts may see this scenario as a mere market shift, replacing European production with Ukrainian production. However, this analysis is limited. Despite having some of the most fertile soils in the world, Ukraine is currently a target of Western financial predators, who demand the handover of arable land as a means of payment for NATO’s billion-dollar aid packages. Organizations such as Blackrock and other funds will soon own almost all that is left of Ukraine’s “black soil.”

And then Ukrainian agricultural production will depend on the willingness of the “financial sharks” to feed the Europeans. It is true that the lack of food self-sufficiency in European countries is not a new problem. Imports are already a vital mechanism for all of Western Europe. But parallel to the dependence on imports, there is also the irrational policy of sanctions and coercive measures against several emerging food-producing countries. The Russian Federation, for example, is prohibited from selling anything to Europeans, but the problem is even greater. The EU has been considering for years imposing severe sanctions on Brazil, for example, alleging “environmental irregularities”. It will get to the point where the EU’s “humanitarian and environmental” requirements will prevent Europeans from buying anything from any country.

If we ask who is interested in this whole scenario, the answer will once again seem clear. There is only one country encouraging Europe to impose more and more sanctions, buy more and more Ukrainian grain and send more and more weapons to Kiev under payment terms regulated by Blackrock. Of course, this is the same country that boycotted Russian-European energy cooperation and committed the terrorist attack on Nord Stream. And certainly this is also the only state interested in maintaining the geopolitical status quo and preventing the creation of a multipolar world, where Europeans would have freedom of alignment and could pragmatically choose their partners.

“..like a river undisturbed while traversing a rocky wilderness, China silently flows away on its path to peaceful primacy.”

• Watching the China River Flow (Pepe Escobar)

Leading website Guancha has published the transcript of a first-class lecture at Renmin University on China-U.S. relations by Martin Jacques, author of When China Rules the World. Jacques is one of the very few Westerner scholars with on the ground experience who actually understands the Chinese psyche and way of life in contrast to the West. A particularly intriguing section of the lecture concerns research by Danny Quah, the dean of the widely respected Lee Kuan Yew Institute in Singapore. This is the money quote: “Between 1980 and 2020, Europe’s share of global GDP fell from 26% to 15%. In other words, it fell by 11 percentage points, a very large drop. Although the decline in the United States was smaller, it fell from 21% in the 1980s to less than 16% in 2020. From another perspective, Asia and East Asia are constantly rising. The share in 1980 was 11.5%, and it has risen to 25% in 2020. Among this 25%, China has made the largest contribution, accounting for 18% of the world.”

What this graphically illustrates is the acute swing in the world’s center of economic gravity – no matter the rhetorical tsunamis emanating from the Hegemon. In 1980 the economic center was Atlanticist. Quah though believes that the economic center will reach the Sino-Indian border only by 2050. When we take China compounded with the 10 members of ASEAN, without even considering South Asia, it’s fair to argue that the economic center will already be in the East by 2030, and will be Sino-Indian before 2040. Jacques is correct that by then “the ‘Asian Age’ will replace the ‘Western Age’, and since 1750, the world has always been in the Western Age.” On a personal note, after living and working in Asia for most of the past three decades, I qualify our century as “The Eurasian Century”.

And that, in a nutshell, is the reason why the Hegemon/Atlanticist elites are in Deep Panic mode. The free lunch – of exploiting the wealth of the Global South – is coming to an end. China has already designed the masterplan of its development strategy all the way to 2035 and in many aspects all the way to 2049. The current juncture though is extremely tricky. The People’s Bank of China is taking the necessary master tweaks of the economy very seriously. Earlier this week the PBoC announced cuts to the outstanding mortgage rate and the reserve requirement ratio: that’s the amount of cash commercial banks need to hold as reserves. The PBoC also cut the benchmark policy rate and boosted capital markets. Then the Politburo, chaired by President Xi Jinping himself, intervened in full force, vowing to protect China’s private enterprises; finally stabilise the always wobbly property sector; and adopt the necessary fiscal expenditures.

That’s the domestic front. On the external front, China is on a roll. The top priority is the slowly but surely internationalization of the yuan. And that’s where the crucial role of Hong Kong comes in – as detailed in a report by Renmin University. China is already de-dollarizing at nearly breakneck speed. The U.S. dollar’s share of bilateral trade has already fallen from 80% to less than 50%. China is now trading with the world mostly in yuan – and the petroyuan is not even in full force. Since the start of the SMO by Russia in Ukraine in February 2022, the yuan is the de facto Asian reserve currency for Russia. In parallel, Beijing is accelerating currency swaps all across the spectrum and designating more clearing banks around the world.

From Beijing to Hong Kong, Chinese politico-economic elites are quite comfortable with the fact that for the first time in History, the rise of a great power is not being conditioned by imperialism, war, slavery, looting and all of the above, but under what has been codified since the Little Helmsman Deng Xiaoping’s late 1970s reforms as “peaceful development.” That is mirrored in several concepts such as win-win; mutual prosperity; equality; “community of shared future for mankind”; and as a master geoeconomic project, the interlocking connectivity corridors across the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). While China invests in infrastructure development around the world, the Hegemon imposes sanctions, engages in bombing, supports variations of the Forever Wars, finances and weaponizes color revolutions.

Hegemon “strategy” barely qualifying as utter mediocrity ranges from the U.S. government funding a $1.6 billion campaign to smear China to Republicans divided on whether regime change in Beijing is their ultimate goal and the Democrat ambassador in Beijing convinced that Washington’s China policy is not too hawkish. Then there’s puny functionary and Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell – the man who invented the “pivot to Asia” during the first Obama administration – ordering the Europeans to go hawkish on China and defining Beijing in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as “the most significant challenge in our history”. Very few IQs above room temperature across Asia pay attention to such clowns. In contrast, what is now emerging in informed discussions from South to Southeast Asia is that BRICS progress will not be steady enough if the emphasis remains on consensual decisions.

A daring proposition is emerging that Russia and China – the actual BRICS leaders – should announce at the summit in Kazan next month that they are backing a yuan/ruble/gold alliance: as in if the world needs to choose between NATOstan hegemony or a BRICS alternative, better start with sound (real) money. Beyond the feasibility of such proposal, there’s a serious critique of Utopia; the Global Majority must be pushed to face the harsh reality it faces – nuclear destruction or an imperfect evolving new order – and make a stand, fast. Meanwhile, like a river undisturbed while traversing a rocky wilderness, China silently flows away on its path to peaceful primacy.

“The late, great evolutionary biologist Edward O. Wilson, often described our predicament as follows: “We have stumbled into the twenty-first century with stone-age emotions, medieval institutions, and near godlike technologies.”

“We have arrived, after centuries of Western dominance, to a world beyond hegemony.”

• Beyond Hegemony (Jeffrey Sachs)

We are at a new phase of human history because of the confluence of three interrelated trends. First, and most pivotal, the Western-led world system, in which countries of the North Atlantic region dominate the world militarily, economically, and financially, has ended. Second, the global ecological crisis marked by human-induced climate change, the destruction of biodiversity, and the massive pollution of the environment, will lead to fundamental changes of the world economy and governance. Third, the rapid advance of technologies across several domains—artificial intelligence, computing, biotechnology, geoengineering—will profoundly disrupt the world economy and politics. These interconnecting developments—geopolitical, environmental, and technological—are stoking huge uncertainties, societal dislocations, political crises, and open wars.

To address these pivotal developments, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for a Summit of the Future (SOTF) (September 22-23rd, 2024 at the UN headquarters in New York) to reform our international institutions so that they are fit for purpose in our fast-changing world. Since global peace depends more than ever on the efficacy of the UN and international law, the SOTF should be a watershed in global governance, even if it does no more than point the way to further negotiation and deliberation in the years immediately ahead. Our existing institutions, both national and international, are certainly not up to the task of governance in our fast-changing world. The late, great evolutionary biologist Edward O. Wilson, often described our predicament as follows: “We have stumbled into the twenty-first century with stone-age emotions, medieval institutions, and near godlike technologies.”

By this he meant that we face our challenges today with the basic cognitive and emotional human nature that was formed by human evolution tens of thousands of years ago, with political institutions forged centuries ago (the U.S. Constitution was drafted in 1787), and with the lightning speed of technological advance (think of ChatGPT as just the latest wonder). Perhaps the most basic fact of deep societal change is uncertainty, and the most basic reaction to uncertainty is fear. In fact, the technological advances—if used correctly—could solve innumerable problems in economic development, social justice (e.g., improved access to healthcare and education through digital connectivity), and environmental sustainability (e.g., a rapid transition to zero-carbon energy sources). Yet the mood today is anything but optimistic, especially in the West. Open wars rage between the United States and Russia in Ukraine, and between U.S.-backed Israel and Palestine.

The possibility of war between the United States and China is widely, openly, and even casually discussed in Washington, though such a war could mean the end of civilization itself. At the root of these conflicts is fear, built on our stone-age emotions. The biggest fear of all is that of many American and European political leaders that the West is losing its hegemony after centuries, and that somehow the loss of hegemony will have catastrophic consequences. Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made this Western fear explicit in an April 2024 column for the UK’s Daily Mail, when he stated that if the West loses the war in Ukraine, “it will be the end of Western hegemony.”

Herein lies the essence of the Ukraine war, and many other global conflicts as well. The United States and its allies want to expand NATO to Ukraine. Russia has firmly said no. Both Washington and London were ready to fight a war with Russia over NATO enlargement to protect Western hegemony (specifically, the right to dictate security arrangements to Russia), while Russia was ready to fight a war in order to keep NATO away. In fact, Russia is prevailing on the battlefield over Ukraine’s army and NATO’s armaments. This is not surprising. What is perhaps surprising is how the West completely underestimated Russia’s capabilities.

In broad terms, with the changing global order, including the rise of China and the rest of East Asia, the military and technological strength of Russia, the rapid development of India, and the growing unity of Africa, the Western-dominated world has been brought to an end, not by a tumultuous collapse of the West, but by the growing economic, technological, and therefore military, power of the rest of the world. In principle, the West has no reason to fear the rise of the rest, as the United States and Europe still maintain an overwhelming deterrence, including nuclear deterrence, against any military threat from the outside. The West is bemoaning its loss of relative status—the ability to dictate to others—not any real military insecurity.

Nothing is going to restore Western hegemony in the coming years—no military victory, technological advance, or economic leverage. The rise of advanced military, technological, economic, and financial capacities to Asia and beyond, is unstoppable (and of course should not be stopped, since it signifies a world that is fairer and more prosperous than the preceding Western-dominated world). Yet, the end of Western hegemony does not mean a new Chinese, Indian, or Asian hegemony. There are simply too many power centers—the United States, the EU, China, Russia, India, the African Union, etc.—and too much capacity and diversity to enable any other hegemon to replace the Western-led world order. We have arrived, after centuries of Western dominance, to a world beyond hegemony.

“to be the president of the USA, he had to have the backing of certain people like the Clintons” and “the [George] Soros people…the ones who are really controlling everything out there.”

• Obama Was A ‘Simp’ For The Deep State – Brother (RT)

Barack Obama courted the ‘deep state’ during his rise to power, and once in office was powerless to disobey their orders, the former US president’s half-brother has told Going Underground host Afshin Rattansi. In an interview set to air on Monday, Malik Obama told Rattansi that before he entered the corridors of power, Barack Obama “was a really humble, really nice person.” However, “to be the president of the USA, he had to have the backing of certain people like the Clintons” and “the [George] Soros people…the ones who are really controlling everything out there.” Keeping their backing, along with the support of the deep state, was crucial to Barack Obama, and Malik suggested that his half-brother wouldn’t have dared oppose the 2014 coup in Ukraine or the 2011 regime-change operation against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.

“He would have lost his support,” Malik said. “He would not be what he is today, because those people are the ones that propped him up and he had to play to them.” “That’s why I like President Trump,” he continued, “because he does things his own way. He reached out to North Korea and met the leader there. [Obama] could have done that for Muammar Gaddafi. I think he’s just… he’s a simp.” The term ‘deep state’ refers to the unelected and often unknown government bureaucrats who steer government policy, particularly the leaders of intelligence agencies and the military. Malik Obama has the same father as the ex-president, and visited the White House several times during his brother’s first term in office. However, he later claimed that Barack was “cold and ruthless,” and blasted him for abandoning his Kenyan family.

He has since made a series of bizarre claims about the former president, apparently announcing last year that Barack Obama is “definitely gay,” and alleging in 2017 that he was born in Kenya. Malik Obama is a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, who before running for office in 2016 challenged Barack Obama to produce his birth certificate over doubts he was born in the US. Trump later abandoned the dispute and admitted that Obama was born in the US. During the full interview with Rattansi, Malik Obama discussed the current state of his relationship with his brother, and Barack’s alleged role in forcing President Joe Biden to end his reelection campaign.

” If there is peace with Russia, the military/security complex loses its enemy, which means its power and its budget. Now watch dumbshit Americans vote Democrat and bring Armageddon upon the world.”

• Putin Proved Me Correct (Paul Craig Roberts)

For years I have warned that Putin’s refusal to quickly win the conflict with Ukraine would result in increasing Western intervention until the conflict spins out of control. That has now happened. NATO’s Secretary General and the British Prime Minister have given a green light to NATO firing missiles into Russia from Ukraine. The green light is subject to Washington’s veto. Zelensky, the Ukrainian dictator whose term as president has expired, was reportedly recently in Washington lobbying the Biden regime to give its approval. Be sure you understand what Zelensky is lobbying the Biden regime to do. If the Biden regime gives the go-ahead, Europe, the US, and Ukraine will be destroyed. Here is Putin’s statement. It is a back-to-the-wall statement, as I predicted it would be: “Aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, with the participation or support of a nuclear state, is to be considered as a joint attack on the Russian Federation.”

So, as I correctly predicted would be the case, a never-ending conflict that drew in the West to increasingly provocative participation has spun out of control. So far everything Washington said would not be done has been done. The final red line is NATO sending missiles into Russia. If this no-no also becomes a yes-yes “because Putin never responds,” war is upon us. It has played out precisely as I said. Yet, I was either ignored by “experts” who are nothing but mouthpieces for the military-security complex, or denounced by fools as “blood-thirsty.” The fact remains: one more wrong decision from the White House and we are history.

Remember, it was Trump who wanted to normalize relations with Russia. The crazed CIA director called the President of the United States a “traitor.” Trump’s own Justice (sic) Department and FBI and the American presstitute media along with Hillary Clinton and the Democrat Party fabricated a Russiagate case against Trump, brought two false impeachments against him, cooked up stripper gate, documents gate, and an “insurrection.” One thousand Americans who exercised their First Amendment rights were sentenced by a totally corrupt DOJ to prison. Once Trump announced a second campaign for the presidency, the false accusations were turned into false indictments. All of this was done to prevent peace with Russia. If there is peace with Russia, the military/security complex loses its enemy, which means its power and its budget. Now watch dumbshit Americans vote Democrat and bring Armageddon upon the world.

Assange Nasrallah
https://twitter.com/i/status/1840179353738719388

Here’s late Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, laying out his party’s vision for one democratic Palestinian state where Muslims, Jews, and Christians live in peace. “Any other solution would simply not be viable.” pic.twitter.com/XUIPRqKbwJ

— red. (@redstreamnet) September 28, 2024

Cancer

Investigative Journalist Discusses Frightening Link Between Sugar and Cancer
Investigative journalist Philip Day suggests that sugar is the primary fuel for cancer. This is because cancer is a fermentation system driven by sugar. He explains they gave Otto Warburg the Nobel Prize… pic.twitter.com/GySMKqidew

— Camus (@newstart_2024) September 29, 2024

Geese
https://twitter.com/i/status/1840294827033772126

Gardiner

The Gardiner Brothers dance the "Turkish March."
pic.twitter.com/N1wPBXR7Cn

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) September 29, 2024

Reminder that a 23-year-old created this masterpiece using only a hammer and chisel.

pic.twitter.com/KC4VpAhqgr

— James Lucas (@JamesLucasIT) September 28, 2024

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

Debt Rattle September 26 2024

Sep 262024

September 26, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 8:28 am Finance Tagged with: Assange, Crimea, crypto, Erdogan, nuclear doctrine, Pentagon, Storm Shadow missiles, Trump, Zelensky 67 Responses »

Georgia O’Keeffe Autumn leaves, Lake George 1924

• Pentagon Trying to Take Control of Ukraine Policy From Blinken – McGovern (Sp.)

• This Week the Most Momentous Decision of Our Time Will Be Made (PCR)

• Putin Orders Changes To Russia’s Nuclear Doctrine (RT)

• Ukraine’s Backers Want Talks With Putin – Bloomberg (RT)

• US Republicans Accuse Zelensky Of Campaigning For Harris (RT)

• US House Speaker Demands Zelensky Fire Ukrainian Ambassador (RT)

• Trump Could Snub Zelensky – AP (RT)

• Ukraine Wants Europe’s Longest Bridge ‘Dismantled’ (RT)

• Zelensky Plans To Drag NATO Directly Into War With Russia – Rasmussen (Sp.)

• US War Profiteers Bring World to Brink of Armageddon (Miles)

• Cheap Ukrainian Grain Ruining German Farmers – Bild (RT)

• Netanyahu Must Be Stopped ‘Just Like Hitler’ – Erdogan (RT)

• Trump Vows To ‘Take Other Countries’ Jobs’ In Economic Speech (BBC)

• Another Man Is Charged for Threatening to Kill President Trump (PJM)

• Beware of the Government’s Push for a Digital Currency (Whitehead)

• Will The US Presidential Election Define The Future of Crypto? (BBC)

• Assange to Testify at Council of Europe (Lauria)

Tucker Poso Alex
https://twitter.com/i/status/1838978741172650414

US President

The people that told you this man was "Sharp as a tack" are now telling you Kamala is "On Fire" pic.twitter.com/9bkiOf4iXt

— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) September 25, 2024

Leadership

If Kamala Harris gets into office, it will mean the media created her out of thin air and our nation will never be the same. pic.twitter.com/d98Oit1B2O

— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) September 25, 2024

Kamala claim

Kamala Harris told America on debate night that Goldman Sachs and the Wharton School of Business said her economic plan is better than Trump’s.

Both Goldman and Wharton have now come out and said that she was lying. pic.twitter.com/jhThANvvkr

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 24, 2024

Education

BREAKING: Donald Trump just announced he is going to close down the Department of Education, returning the power to the states, this is huge! pic.twitter.com/biNNa9DIs5

— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) September 24, 2024

RFK sick

We're going to find out why America has the sickest children on the face of the Earth. pic.twitter.com/sqtNb8bS6I

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) September 24, 2024

Alex
https://twitter.com/i/status/1838655412478054834

FBI
https://twitter.com/i/status/1838976194433405052

“My interest had to do with indications that the military overruled Blinken and told…. [President Joe] Biden ‘No!’ about giving authorization to fire Storm Shadow missiles deeper into Russia..”

• Pentagon Trying to Take Control of Ukraine Policy From Blinken – McGovern (Sp.)

The US military could be attempting to seize control of policy on Ukraine from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other hawkish State Department officials including by blocking sending long range strike missiles to Kiev, former senior CIA analyst Ray McGovern told Sputnik. Ukraine has been lobbying the Biden administration for permission to employ long-range US missiles to carry out strikes deep into Russian territory. On September 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia would not tolerate any such action and would regard it as a last red line to be crossed. “My interest had to do with indications that the military overruled Blinken and told…. [President Joe] Biden ‘No!’ about giving authorization to fire Storm Shadow missiles deeper into Russia,” McGovern said.

McGovern said the Pentagon had about eight hours to digest Putin’s warning on September 12 before the Defense Department confirmed there was still no change in the restrictions on weapons to Ukraine. McGovern said this happened just a few hours before it fell to Biden to break the word to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Expectations had been high that Biden and Starmer would announce new rules on weapons use in the Ukraine conflict. However, no such announcement emanated after the talks at the White House. The White House said Ukraine’s request to use US-supplied long-range weapons deep in Russian territory will be discussed during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with Biden later this week.

“..it appears that the US is prepared to enter the war on Israel’s side. Putin has indicated that Iran is under Russia’s protection..”

• This Week the Most Momentous Decision of Our Time Will Be Made (PCR)

With the US government–State Department, Treasury, Homeland Security, and Justice (sic)–in the hands of Zionist Jews, only the Pentagon speaks for Americans. So far the Pentagon has refused to approve the firing of missiles into Russia. Zelensky whose “democratic” credentials are shattered by him continuing in office without reelection after his term has expired, is coming to Washington this week to plead with the White House for missile strikes into Russia. Will the Pentagon be present at the meeting? If so, has the officer ranks been so purged and depleted by wokeism that it cannot take a firm stand? Putin has stated that missiles fired into Russia means the US and Europe are at war with Russia. Are Americans aware that this momentous decision is being made this week, and if not, then the following week?

The British Prime Minister has already agreed. The sole holdout is the Pentagon. Likely, the impending Florida hurricane will divert the news from this momentous decision. We could simultaneously be presented with the outbreak of war in the Middle East. Israel, having eliminated many of the leaders of Hezbollah, is intensifying its strikes on Lebanon, which is more or less under Iran’s protection. According to reports, the US 101st Airborne Division has been deployed to Israel. If the reports are correct, it appears that the US is prepared to enter the war on Israel’s side. Putin has indicated that Iran is under Russia’s protection. We are very close to nuclear Armageddon. And insouciance rules while Zionists take us to war and destruction.

Putin’s direct reaction to Storm Shadow missiles potentially being fired deeper into Russia.

• Putin Orders Changes To Russia’s Nuclear Doctrine (RT)

Russia should update its nuclear doctrine to clearly define circumstances that could prompt Moscow to launch a nuclear strike, President Vladimir Putin told a meeting of the national security council on Wednesday. He also suggested an expanded list of threats that would include “reliable information” of a major airstrike being launched against Russia. The list of criteria that would justify Russia’s use of its nuclear deterrent should be expanded in the updated version of the doctrine, Putin told the meeting. “Aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state… supported by a nuclear power should be treated as their joint attack,” the president said. Moscow would also “consider” resorting to a nuclear response if it gets “reliable information” about a “massive” missile or air strike launched by another state against Russia, or its closest ally, Belarus, according to Putin.

The weapons used in an enemy’s potential strike could include anything from ballistic or cruise missiles to strategic aircraft and drones, he stated. “We reserve a right to use nuclear weapons in case of aggression against Russia and Belarus,” the Russian president said, adding that the principle had already been coordinated with Minsk. Nuclear weapons can be used if an enemy poses a “critical threat to either state’s sovereignty through the use of conventional weapons,” he explained. Putin did not elaborate on when changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine will take effect. Senior Russian officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov have been discussing potential changes to the doctrine in recent months. In late August, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the document was “being reviewed.”

The Russian leader has long demonstrated a rather reserved position on the issue of nuclear weapons. Back in June, he expressed hope that “it will never come” to a nuclear exchange between Moscow and the West. Moscow “has no reasons to even think about” using nuclear weapons, he said at the time, speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Later that month, the president also stated that Russia did not need to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike, since “the enemy is guaranteed to be destroyed in a retaliatory strike.” He did not, however, rule out changes to the doctrine at the time.

They want to talk territory. But Russia can’t give back Crimea or Donbass. They went through a full legal process to become part of Russia.

• Ukraine’s Backers Want Talks With Putin – Bloomberg (RT)

At least one Western nation backing Ukraine is calling for diplomatic engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing multiple sources. According to the outlet, some officials are skeptical of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’ to end the conflict. The possible talks with Moscow could happen before the G20 leaders’ meeting in Brazil in mid-November, and would be conducted either by Zelensky or other parties, the report said. Zelensky is currently visiting the US, where he is pitching his purported roadmap to resolve the conflict, long-dismissed by Moscow as unrealistic, now re-branded as a ‘victory plan.’ He plans to reveal its contents to US President Joe Biden later this week, as Washington’s support is key for its success, according to the Ukrainian leader.

However, Bloomberg cited sources as saying that the proposal includes no real surprises and won’t be a game-changer in the conflict. One official described it as a “wish list” rather than an action plan. Kiev has ruled out negotiations with Russia and has rejected any possibility of compromise. Ukrainian officials have suggested that by escalating the conflict, they could force Moscow into agreeing peace on Kiev’s terms. Andrey Yermak, Zelensky’s powerful chief of staff, reiterated a call to Western backers on Monday not to be concerned about possible blowback from the strategy. Among other things, the Ukrainian government wants permission to use donated Western weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia. Putin has warned that Moscow will view any such step as a direct act of war by NATO and will respond accordingly.

Ukraine also wants NATO-type security guarantees and a shorter accession path into the US-led military bloc, as well as long-term financial support that future administrations in Washington would not be able to revoke, according to reports. Moscow considers the Ukraine conflict to be a US-led proxy war against Russia, which the West is willing to wage “to the last Ukrainian.” Russian officials have said Ukrainian accession to NATO would pose an existential threat to their country, and must be prevented by all means necessary.

“There is concern that these resources were used for purposes unrelated to US national security or bilateral diplomacy but rather to support a politically significant visit ahead of a major US election..”

• US Republicans Accuse Zelensky Of Campaigning For Harris (RT)

Republican officials have accused Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky of interfering in US electoral politics and “campaigning” for presidential candidate Kamala Harris, after he visited an arms factory in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania. Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro gave Zelensky a tour of the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant over the weekend, where both signed 155mm artillery shells that will presumably be shipped to Ukrainian troops. Republican officials have taken issue with the photo op, as well as Zelensky’s recent interview with the New Yorker magazine, in which he criticized former President Donald Trump and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, the party’s nominees in the November presidential election. “Zelensky is openly campaigning for Democrats in battleground Pennsylvania today some 50 days out from our Presidential election. Unreal,” Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt wrote on X.

Pennsylvania Representative John Joyce told a local radio station on Tuesday that the visit was “a political stunt,” judging by its “suspect” timing. A group of nine House representatives led by Lance Gooden of Texas have called for an investigation into Zelenksy’s visit. The Ukrainian leader was flown into Pennsylvania in a US Air Force C-17 military aircraft and was provided with Secret Service protection, both of which were paid for with US taxpayer money, the GOP lawmakers said in a letter to Pentagon Inspector General Robert Storch on Tuesday. “There is concern that these resources were used for purposes unrelated to US national security or bilateral diplomacy but rather to support a politically significant visit ahead of a major US election,” said the letter, which was shared with the Washington Examiner.

Gooden questioned Zelensky’s judgment in alienating Republican voters in an interview with Fox News. “Why is he [Zelensky] not on his knees thanking Americans, Republicans and Democrats, for the sacrifices they’ve made for his nation? And how dare he come into our nation and opine on any election, much less the presidential race?” the lawmaker asked on ‘The Ingraham Angle’ program. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, has been seen as attempting to rally the large Polish-American voter base in Pennsylvania by touting the support for Ukraine under the current administration as a way to protect Poland. Zelensky has said he headed to the US to attend the UN General Assembly in New York and to meet President Joe Biden, in order to present him with a ‘victory plan’ to defeat Russia.

“The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference.”

• US House Speaker Demands Zelensky Fire Ukrainian Ambassador (RT)

The speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has called for Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to fire Kiev’s ambassador to Washington, Oksana Markarova, accusing her of interference in American elections. “I demand that you immediately fire Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova,” Johnson wrote in a letter to Zelensky on Wednesday. The senior Republican noted that Markarova had organized an event on Sunday in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Zelensky visited a site that manufactures artillery shells used by Ukraine in the conflict with Russia. “The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because – on purpose – no Republicans were invited,” Johnson wrote. “The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference.”

The Louisiana Republican said that his party has lost trust in Markarova’s ability to serve in the US and that she “should be removed from her post immediately.” While both Republicans and Democrats support Ukraine against Russia, Johnson wrote, “our relationship is unnecessarily tested and needlessly tarnished” when Zelensky and others in Kiev speak ill of Republican candidates in the media. “These incidents cannot be repeated,” Johnson wrote, urging Zelensky to “take immediate action.” The speaker’s letter comes after several Republican lawmakers called for a congressional investigation into Zelensky’s visit, accusing the Democrats of using military assets – namely the plane used to fly the Ukrainian leader to Pennsylvania – to inappropriately support Harris in her presidential campaign.

In an interview with New Yorker magazine published on Sunday, Zelensky claimed Trump “doesn’t really know how to stop the war,” while he described Vance as “too radical” and his outline of a ceasefire proposal as “an awful idea.” Earlier this month, Vance sketched out a proposal under which the current frontline becomes a “heavily fortified” demilitarized zone, Ukraine gives up the idea of joining NATO, and Kiev gets reconstruction money from the EU. Zelensky has insisted that peace is only possible if Ukraine recovers all the territories it has claimed, including Crimea and four regions that have voted to join Russia. Moscow has said their status is non-negotiable while dismissing Zelensky’s proposal as ludicrous and divorced from reality.

“Some of its Western backers have dismissed Kiev’s ‘victory plan’ as a “wish list”..

• Trump Could Snub Zelensky – AP (RT)

No meeting has reportedly been scheduled between Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and former US President Donald Trump, according to AP. US House Speaker Mike Johnson has also said he is uncertain about meeting Zelensky. Zelensky is visiting the US to attend the UN General Assembly in New York and pitch his so-called ‘victory plan’ to key figures in the country’s political establishment. His purported roadmap for defeating Moscow will first be presented to President Joe Biden, but Zelensky also intends to talk with the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates as well as senior officials. However, no meeting between Zelensky and Trump has been scheduled as of Tuesday, the Associated Press has reported, citing an official in the Republican nominee’s campaign, who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity.

Johnson, who has also been invited to meet with Zelensky, indicated that he won’t be available to speak with the Ukrainian leader in remarks he gave to the press on Wednesday. “I don’t think we actually are going to be in town on Thursday. We have our schedule changed on the floor, so it’s very fluid,” the Republican legislator said, according to a clip shared by Voice of America correspondent Kateryna Lisunova. “I’m not sure yet.” Zelensky is facing a backlash from Republican politicians over his criticism of both Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. He has also been reproached for his visit to the hotly contested state of Pennsylvania at the invitation of its Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, who took the Ukrainian leader to a weapons factory.

Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt has accused Zelensky of “openly campaigning for Democrats,” while nine Republican members of Congress have requested that the Pentagon inspector general determine if the trip to Pennsylvania constituted a violation of US law. There is growing skepticism about Ukraine’s strategy in the ongoing conflict with Russia, according to media reports. Some of its Western backers have dismissed Kiev’s ‘victory plan’ as a “wish list” and are calling for renewed diplomatic engagement with Moscow, sources have told Bloomberg. Trump has claimed on the campaign trail that he would put an end to the conflict in 24 hours, if elected. Zelensky, however, has stated that the former president “doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how.” He has also said that Vance was “too radical”; the VP candidate has dismissed the Ukraine conflict as largely irrelevant to American interests.

“..the Ukrainian authorities had cut power and water supplies to the peninsula in retaliation for the referendum to join Russia. “Russia had to find a solution to save Crimea from hunger, degradation of agriculture and social infrastructure, to provide for the basic needs of the population. The construction of the Crimean Bridge was the solution..”

• Ukraine Wants Europe’s Longest Bridge ‘Dismantled’ (RT)

Kiev has demanded the demolition of the Crimean Bridge, which it claims Russia has built “illegally” over the Kerch Strait, during hearings at the international court in The Hague this week. The Kremlin declined to comment on the hearings on Tuesday, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying that Moscow’s position was well-known and “absolutely predominant.” Moscow has argued that the Ukrainian case is groundless and that the court has no jurisdiction. On Monday, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) started proceedings over a complaint brought by the Ukrainian government in 2016, accusing Russia of violating international sea laws on freedom of navigation. Ukraine claims sovereignty over Crimea and argues that the Sea of Azov, which is separated from the Black Sea by the Kerch Strait, is an international body of water, to which the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea applies.

Anton Korinevich, representing Ukraine, declared in his opening statement that the bridge built by Russia to connect Crimea with Krasnodar Region had been designed to deny large vessels access to the Sea of Azov. “This bridge is illegal and must be dismantled,” he argued. Since the breakout of hostilities with Russia in February 2022, Ukraine has launched multiple military attacks on the infrastructure, including two major bombings masterminded by its special services. Civilians were killed in both incidents. Ukrainian officials have justified attempts to blow up the Crimean Bridge by claiming it has military value for Moscow, and have claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be personally humiliated were the structure to be destroyed by Ukrainian attacks.

Gennady Kuzmin, the Russian representative, told the PCA that Crimea is part of Russia, contrary to Ukrainian claims. He replied to Korinevich’s complaints by reminding the court that the Ukrainian authorities had cut power and water supplies to the peninsula in retaliation for the referendum to join Russia. “Russia had to find a solution to save Crimea from hunger, degradation of agriculture and social infrastructure, to provide for the basic needs of the population. The construction of the Crimean Bridge was the solution,” he stated. In 2020, the PCA sided with Russian objections about its jurisdiction in the case, forcing Kiev to rework its complaint. The current round of deliberations will last until October 5 and will be held mostly behind closed doors. Reviews of such cases normally take months or years.

“It’s a non-nonstarter. It’s not real negotiations. It’s not a proposal for real peace. It just stretches the conflict on..”

• Zelensky Plans To Drag NATO Directly Into War With Russia – Rasmussen (Sp.)

Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the US on September 22 to present his “victory plan” to US President Joe Biden and make his case in separate meetings with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron. “[Volodymyr Zelensky] wants to get people to support his ‘victory plan’, which really is not a victory plan,” Earl Rasmussen, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel and international consultant, tells Sputnik, commenting on Zelensky’s trip to the US. The Ukrainian politician is pushing ahead with the idea of striking deep inside Russia with NATO long-range missiles, something that Western leaders have so far had cold feet about. “Let’s face it, when he goes deep into Russia, those weapons systems basically need intelligence from the United States – NATO and specifically the US,” Rasmussen says.

“The intelligence information provided, the targeting, the programing, all is not done by Ukrainians. So basically the West becomes a full participant in the conflict then, which would basically then open up the avenue for escalation.” In fact, Zelensky’s plan is nothing but a US neocon grand design, according to the military veteran: it’s about NATO’s expansion, weakening Russia and containing China as well. Rasmussen notes that neocons have been rolling out their Ukraine strategy for quite a while, seeking to install a military base in Crimea, maintaining secret bio-labs in Ukraine, and undermining any peace effort Russia has pursued over the past decade.

What’s more, the proposal is absolutely unrealistic, being a one-sided attempt to coerce Russia into surrendering under Ukraine and the West’s conditions, the pundit continues. “They’re basically trying to dictate to Russia the terms of whatever agreement there is. And that’s unrealistic. It’s a non-nonstarter. It’s not real negotiations. It’s not a proposal for real peace. It just stretches the conflict on,” he concludes.

“What could they be doing with that billion dollars to house people who are living in tents and cardboard boxes on the streets of our cities? What could they do with that billion dollars to improve health care in this country? What could they do with a billion dollars to help out kids in our schools so they get a better education?”

• US War Profiteers Bring World to Brink of Armageddon (Miles)

The military-industrial complex now threatens not only public investment but human civilization itself, according to author and professor Dr. Ken Hammond. “In the councils of government we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.” Such were the words of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a moderate Republican who previously served in the US Army as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II. Like Major General Smedley Butler, who served in the armed forces one generation before him, Eisenhower saw the nexus of private profit and military might firsthand. His successive political experience led him to coin his now-famous term for the phenomenon, which in earlier drafts of his farewell address he called the military-industrial-Congressional complex.

The scourge of war profiteering was already well understood in Eisenhower’s day, with journalists having castigated the merchants of death who armed all sides in World War I and the War of the Pacific, but economic developments since the 1940s have accelerated the trend with military contractors and private mercenaries siphoning off billions of dollars in taxpayer funds. The military-industrial complex now threatens not only public investment but human civilization itself, according to author and professor Dr. Ken Hammond. The expert in East Asian and Global History joined Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Tuesday to discuss how the influence of weapons manufacturers has brought the world to the brink of war with Russia, China. “It’s a money laundering scheme in a number of ways,” said Hammond, responding to news that the Biden administration is preparing to ship $567 million in lethal aid to authorities in Taiwan.

“Stuff that’s laying around in military warehouses – obsolete equipment – they’re going to ship that off to Taiwan as part of the ongoing efforts to poke China in the eye, provoke situations there, create a lot of public consciousness of tension and conflict and fear about the situation between the United States and China.” “They’re basically giving away these weapons to Taiwan, and then they’re going to turn around and buy new ones to replace those,” he explained. “So that, too, is a giveaway to the defense industry, the so-called defense industry – the war industry, really. It’s part of an ongoing relationship between the military-industrial complex and their control of the American government. So there’s really no surprise here.”

The United States has committed to recognizing the territory of Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China in at least three formal declarations, including the 1972 Shanghai Communiqué negotiated under former President Richard Nixon and two subsequent agreements in 1979 and 1982. The issue represented an important part of the diplomatic efforts necessary to normalize relations with Beijing, opening the country up to global capital and manufacturing. But the US has increasingly sought to provoke China on the sensitive issue in recent years, shipping arms to Taiwanese authorities and dispatching ships to the Taiwan Strait. Beijing has called for the United States to respect Chinese sovereignty and refrain from interfering in the internal matter. China considers Taiwan an unalienable part of its sovereign territory and opposes any official contacts between the island and sovereign countries.

Beijing has repeatedly said that the One China principle is a political foundation of China-US relations and that violations by Washington of its own obligations have been jeopardizing cooperation between the two countries, threatening peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Moscow has backed China on the issue, reaffirming its commitment to the One-China principle and recognizing Taiwan as an inalienable part of China in a number of official statements. “Between these different [arms] shipments… this adds up to about a billion dollars,” said Hammond of recent US guarantees to Taiwanese authorities. “What could they be doing with that billion dollars to house people who are living in tents and cardboard boxes on the streets of our cities? What could they do with that billion dollars to improve health care in this country? What could they do with a billion dollars to help out kids in our schools so they get a better education?”

“..producers of agricultural equipment are suffering as well, as grain growers cannot afford to bring their farming machinery up to date..”

• Cheap Ukrainian Grain Ruining German Farmers – Bild (RT)

Uncontrolled supplies of cheap grain from Ukraine are ruining German farmers, Bild has reported, citing industry sources. Prices for wheat in Germany, the EU’s biggest economy, are continuing to decline, the tabloid noted, adding that a ton of the commodity is currently hovering around €200 ($224). Wheat prices saw an unprecedented surge from €287 ($321) to €435 ($486) shortly after the Ukrainian conflict escalated in February 2022. Due to drastically limited loading options in the Black Sea, significantly more wheat, which should actually be exported further afield, is currently coming to Germany on trucks and freighters, according to Bauer Dismer, a grain farmer from Lower Saxony who was quoted by Bild. “But our mills and feed mills take advantage instead. Apparently at dumping prices of less than €160 ($179) per ton,” he told the newspaper.

The official agreement governing the freight route for Ukrainian agricultural exports lapsed in July 2023, when Moscow declined to renew the original Türkiye- and UN-mediated Black Sea Grain Initiative. Russia said the US and EU had not kept their part of the deal, blocking exports of Russian food and fertilizer. Shortly after the escalation of Ukrainian conflict, the EU suspended all tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural produce to enable grain from the country to be shipped onward to global markets. Earlier this year, the tariff-free trade model was extended for another year. “We are selling off our wheat that is produced under the highest German standards, while wheat from Ukraine is being pumped into the country,” Frank Wullekopf told the newspaper, adding that Ukrainian producers are not obliged to provide proof of pesticides or fertilizer quantities.

“Not to mention the dangers posed by war-related contamination of the wheat,” the farmer added. Meanwhile, prices for baked products in Germany are rising despite the notable decline in grain prices, according to Friedemann Berg, managing director of the German Bakers’ Confederation, as cited by the news outlet. Other costs covering personnel, energy, and bureaucracy have also increased, he said, adding that bakers in the EU have been obliged since January to certify that the production of the raw materials they use did not lead to the destruction of forests. Farmers are not the only industry players impacted by a massive influx of cheap agricultural products from the embattled country, Bild noted, noting that producers of agricultural equipment are suffering as well, as grain growers cannot afford to bring their farming machinery up to date.

“We are against antisemitism in the same way that we are against the targeting of Muslims simply because of their beliefs..”

• Netanyahu Must Be Stopped ‘Just Like Hitler’ – Erdogan (RT)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged the international community to take action against Benjamin Netanyahu’s “murder network,” once again likening the Israeli prime minister to Adolf Hitler. In his address to the 79th UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Erdogan condemned the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, describing the Palestinian enclave as a “concentration camp.” “Just as Hitler was stopped by the alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by the alliance of humanity,” Erdogan said. He accused Netanyahu of trying to “drag the entire region into war for the sake of his political fortunes.”

Erdogan criticized the UN for its failure to “prevent the genocide in Gaza” and called for reforms to make the organization more representative and effective. He stated that the Security Council was too focused on the interests of its five permanent members and was failing to protect international peace and security. Erdogan accused countries that unconditionally support Israel, including the United States, of being complicit in the violence against Palestinians. He emphasized the need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, as well as a hostage-prisoner exchange and uninterrupted humanitarian aid.

Erdogan reiterated his support for a lawsuit filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hold Israel accountable for its alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza. He also emphasized that the people of Türkiye do not harbor any hostility towards the people of Israel. “We are against antisemitism in the same way that we are against the targeting of Muslims simply because of their beliefs,” he said. “Our problem is with the massacre policies of the Israeli government. Our problem is with oppression and tyranny, just as it was five centuries ago.”

Erdogan

Turkish President Tayep Erdogan boldly condemns Israel’s radical Zionist regime at the UN:

"Just as Hitler was stopped by an alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by an alliance of humanity. The UN General Assembly's authority to… pic.twitter.com/1dJ0eR04I6

— Patrick Henningsen (@21WIRE) September 25, 2024

Trump is serious about bringing jobs back home.

“..appoint a “manufacturing ambassador” to convince international companies to move to the United States..”

• Trump Vows To ‘Take Other Countries’ Jobs’ In Economic Speech (BBC)

Donald Trump pledged the US would “take other countries’ jobs” if he returned to the White House, as he laid out his plans to slash taxes and lower energy costs and regulations for manufacturers that made goods on US soil. At a campaign rally in Savannah, Georgia, Trump promised a “manufacturing renaissance”, reiterating his pledge to punish American companies that manufactured outside the US, and slap large tariffs on foreign-made goods to protect US industries. Trump and Vice-President Kamala Harris have stepped up efforts to outline their competing visions for the economy in the final stretch of the campaign, highlighting what voters say is a top concern in the 2024 election. Harris is expected to unveil a new set of economic proposals in a major speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday.

Speaking to a crowd in Savannah, Trump moved beyond his usual protectionist policies to raise the prospect of more trade battles. Trump said he would offer special federal zones with “ultra low taxes and regulations” to companies that relocate to the US, cut through regulation and appoint a “manufacturing ambassador” to convince international companies to move to the United States. “Under my plan, American workers will no longer be worried about losing your jobs to foreign nations. Instead, foreign nations will be worried about losing their jobs to America,” he said. Trump has also previously proposed a 60% tariff or higher on Chinese goods and a blanket 20% tariff on imports from other countries, an aggressive policy that could increase prices for Americans, according to some economists.

During his presidency, Trump imposed tariffs on some goods imported from China. The Biden administration has left some of these policies in place and announced new restrictions in some areas such as electric vehicles. The former president has sought to blame Democrats for the surge in inflation following the Covid pandemic, which has since cooled, as well as the high cost of groceries. The food Consumer Price Index rose by 25% from 2019 to 2023, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

A bit too crazy.

• Another Man Is Charged for Threatening to Kill President Trump (PJM)

A man was charged yesterday for threatening to assassinate former President Donald Trump, just a week after a second attempted assassin tried to shoot the Republican nominee for president in Florida. Warren Jones Crazybull of Idaho allegedly made at least nine threatening phone calls to Trump’s Palm Beach residence at Mar-A-Lago with a promise to kill him “personally.” Federal authorities arrested Crazybull on August 1, only weeks after Trump was shot in Butler, Pa., and before 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh attempted to carry out his failed attempt on Sept. 15, at Trump International Golf Club In West Palm Beach. Investigations are still ongoing into the two assassination attempts by federal agencies and Congress, with the Secret Service and the FBI earning heavy criticism for their failures to protect the former President. The 64-year-old Idaho resident is accused of making multiple threatening calls to the former President’s Florida home on July 31.

“Find Trump … I am coming down to Bedminster tomorrow. I am going to take him down personally and kill him,” said Crazybull in one call, in reference to Trump’s club in New Jersey. Mar-a-Lago security personnel informed the Secret Service that eight follow-up calls with similar threats against Trump came from the same phone number after the first call, according to court filings. Crazybull allegedly made similar “concerning” threats on Facebook using one of several fake aliases. “I start driving to the home of this multi person rapist PIG TRUMP to take him down single combat,” said Crazybull in a July 31 post, while another read, “I’m coming for you Trump.” His Facebook page has apparently been taken down or is no longer public. The alleged assassin plotter also referenced Jeffrey Epstein, JFK, and the “machinations of a shadow government” on his Facebook account.

The Secret Service was able to confirm his identity through phone records and by comparing the voice on the threatening calls recorded by Mar-a-Lago security staff to a video that he posted on his Facebook account. Federal authorities were then able to use location data from Crazybull’s T-Mobile device to determine his location and take him into custody in Montana, according to the court filing. According to court records, a Secret Service agent who interrogated Crazybull described him as having “racing” thought patterns and seemed “confused” and “paranoid.” Crazybull, who is presumably of Native American descent, told authorities that he had threatened to kill Trump because of “broken treaties that resulted in the loss of his land.”

According to the affidavit, he told federal law enforcement that “he would not attempt to kill former President Trump” but was determined not to allow him to return to the Oval Office. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung blamed the latest threat on the rhetoric of Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. “Kamala Harris and liberal Democrats are the ones who are deranged,” Cheung said in a Sept. 23 press statement. “There have been two heinous assassination attempts on President Trump, and their violent rhetoric are [sic] directly to blame,” he continued and called on the Harris-Walz campaign to “apologize for their hateful rhetoric” and to “tone down their attacks.”

Trump: Not on my watch.

• Beware of the Government’s Push for a Digital Currency (Whitehead)

The government wants your money. It will beg, steal or borrow if necessary, but it wants your money any way it can get it. The government’s schemes to swindle, cheat, scam, and generally defraud taxpayers of their hard-earned dollars have run the gamut from wasteful pork barrel legislation, cronyism and graft to asset forfeiture, costly stimulus packages, and a national security complex that continues to undermine our freedoms while failing to making us any safer. Americans have also been made to pay through the nose for the government’s endless wars, subsidization of foreign nations, military empire, welfare state, roads to nowhere, bloated workforce, secret agencies, fusion centers, private prisons, biometric databases, invasive technologies, arsenal of weapons, and every other budgetary line item that is contributing to the fast-growing wealth of the corporate elite at the expense of those who are barely making ends meet—that is, we the taxpayers.

This is what comes of those $1.2 trillion spending bills: someone’s got to foot the bill. Because the government’s voracious appetite for money, power and control has grown out of control, its agents have devised other means of funding its excesses and adding to its largesse through taxes disguised as fines, taxes disguised as fees, and taxes disguised as tolls, tickets and penalties. No matter how much money the government pulls in, it’s never enough (case in point: the endless stopgap funding deals and constant ratcheting up of the debt ceiling), so the government has to keep introducing new plans to empower its agents to seize Americans’ bank accounts. Make way for the digital dollar. Whether it’s the central bank digital currency favored by President Biden, or the cryptocurrency being hawked by former President Trump, the end result will still be a form of digital money that makes it easier to track, control and punish the citizenry.

For instance, weeks before the Biden Administration made headlines with its support for a government-issued digital currency, the FBI and the Justice Department quietly moved ahead with plans for a cryptocurrency enforcement team (translation: digital money cops), a virtual asset exploitation unit tasked with investigating crypto crimes and seizing virtual assets, and a crypto czar to oversee it all. No surprises here, of course. This is how the government operates: by giving us tools to make our lives “easier” while, in the process, making it easier for the government to crack down. Indeed, this shift to a digital currency is a global trend. More than 100 other countries are considering introducing their own digital currencies.

China has already adopted a government-issued digital currency, which not only allows it to surveil and seize people’s financial transactions, but can also work in tandem with its social credit score system to punish individuals for moral lapses and social transgressions (and reward them for adhering to government-sanctioned behavior). As China expert Akram Keram wrote for The Washington Post, “With digital yuan, the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] will have direct control over and access to the financial lives of individuals, without the need to strong-arm intermediary financial entities. In a digital-yuan-consumed society, the government easily could suspend the digital wallets of dissidents and human rights activists.” Where China goes, the United States eventually follows. Inevitably, a digital currency will become part of our economy and a central part of the government’s surveillance efforts.

Get rid of Gary Gensler already.

• Will The US Presidential Election Define The Future of Crypto? (BBC)

The cryptocurrency industry is “rife with fraud and hucksters and grifters”, one of the United States’ top financial regulators has told the BBC. The chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, says the “investing public around the globe has lost too much money” because of crypto companies not following the laws his agency tries to enforce. It comes as the industry is spending millions of dollars on political donations, trying to influence the outcome of November’s US elections in the hope of more favourable future laws. In addition to the presidential battle between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, all 435 districts in the House of Representatives are up for re-election, as well as 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate.

The future of cryptocurrency, one of the world’s most hotly-debated technologies, is an issue where there appears to be a clear dividing line between Donald Trump and the outgoing Biden administration. Trump has been courting the votes of crypto enthusiasts by promising to make America “the crypto capital of the planet”, and creating a “strategic national bitcoin stockpile” similar to the US government’s gold reserves. Last week he launched a new crypto business called World Liberty Financial, and although he provided few details, he said “I think crypto is one of those things we have to do”. It’s a huge turnaround from three years ago, when he dismissed Bitcoin as something that “seems like a scam” and a threat to the US dollar. Trump’s new-found enthusiasm is a stark contrast to the Biden administration, of which Harris is the vice president.

The White House has led a sweeping crackdown on crypto firms in recent years. In March, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and boss of FTX was jailed for 25 years for fraud, after he stole billions of dollars from customers around the world, many of whom are still trying to recover their money. Then in April, the founder of the world’s biggest crypto exchange, Binance’s Changpeng Zhao, got four months in prison, and the company paid a $4.3bn (£3.2bn) fine. He admitted to allowing criminals, child abusers and terrorists to launder money on his platform, in a case brought by the US Justice Department. The SEC also has a case against Binance going through the courts. It is one of a record-high 46 enforcement actions the financial regulator took last year against firms trying to profit from what is still an emerging technology.

Can’t you do it by video link? Just to calm our nerves?

• Assange to Testify at Council of Europe (Lauria)

WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, who was released from prison in June, will address the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France on Oct. 1 after he was granted Status as a Political Prisoner by a rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), WikiLeaks said today. It will be the first time Assange will speak in public since his hearing in U.S. federal court on the North Mariana islands in June, at which he was granted his release after a plea deal. Assange will give evidence before the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which will meet from 8.30am to 10am at the Palace of Europe, WikiLeaks said. It follows the PACE inquiry report into Assange’s case, written by Rapporteur Thórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir.

“The report focuses on the implications of his detention and its broader effects on human rights, in particular freedom of journalism,” WikiLeaks said in a press release published on X. “The report confirms that Assange qualifies as a political prisoner and calls on the UK [to] conduct an independent review into whether he was exposed to inhuman or degrading treatment.” Ævarsdóttir called Assange’s case a “high profile example of transnational repression.” Her report “discusses how governments employ both legal and extralegal measures to suppress dissent across borders, which poses significant threats to press freedom and human rights,” said WikiLeaks.

Assange is “still in recovery following his release from prison,” it said. He will travel to France because of “the exceptional nature of the invitation and to embrace the support received from PACE and its delegates over the past years”. While he was in prison PACE advocated “repeatedly” for his release, WikiLeaks said. The hearing at which he will speak will also consider the findings that Assange’s imprisonment was “politically motivated,” it said. The PACE committee said earlier this month in a statement that:

“… the failure of the competent US authorities to prosecute the alleged perpetrators of war crimes and human rights violations committed by US state agents, combined with the harsh treatment of Mr Assange and Ms [Chelsea] Manning, ‘creates a perception that the United States government’s purpose in prosecuting Mr Assange was to hide the wrongdoing of state agents rather than to protect national security.’ … Assange’s harsh treatment, particularly his unprecedented conviction under the Espionage Act, also ‘creates a dangerous chilling effect and a climate of self-censorship affecting all journalists, publishers and others’, according to the committee, severely undermining the protection of journalists and whistleblowers around the world. It urged the US, a Council of Europe observer state, to “urgently reform” the 1917 Espionage Act to exclude its application to publishers, journalists and whistleblowers who disclose classified information with the intent to raise public awareness about serious crimes.”

Diet

Mikhaila Peterson Fuller:
"When I was two, I started to limp, and at seven I was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in 37 joints. At age eight, I was put on injectable immunosuppressants. At 12, I was diagnosed with severe depression and put on antidepressants. At 14, I… pic.twitter.com/K7YqCd6MKO

— Camus (@newstart_2024) September 24, 2024

Pagolin
https://twitter.com/i/status/1838832347971469592

Anteater

Male anteater carrying his wife and child on his back.. pic.twitter.com/7lxlY2DRVv

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) September 24, 2024

Shark

Rescuing a shark is a quite dangerous job.pic.twitter.com/OumTg8EVNh

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 25, 2024

Caracal

Sound of a caracal cat
pic.twitter.com/4SsejTjjoe

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) September 25, 2024

Magdalena
https://twitter.com/i/status/1838626959267631585

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Debt Rattle September 22 2024

Sep 222024

September 22, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:05 am Finance Tagged with: American Coup, Boris Johnson, DEI, Kamala, Pentagon, Sputnik, Tiktok, Trojan Horse, Trump 62 Responses »

René Magritte Golconda 1953

• An American Coup? (Neuburger)

• 72 Minutes (Scott Ritter)

• ‘It’s Over For Russia’ – Boris Johnson (RT)

• Has The EU Suddenly Realized How Much It Has Screwed Itself Over? (Marsden)

• EU Leadership Urges Europe To Be Ready To Fight Russia In 6-8 Years (ZH)

• The DEI Trojan Horse Has Undermined US Military (Sp.)

• TikTok Wipes Out Sputnik Accounts (Sp.)

• No One Is Safe: The Global Threat of Israel’s Weaponized Pagers (Sweidan)

• When Vladimir Putin Was Pootie-Poot (Adam Dick)

• All of Europe Does Business With Russia – Hungary (RT)

• Indian State Oil Refiners Seeking Long-term Deals With Russia – Media (RT)

• Harris ‘Too Busy’ To Talk To Media – Adviser (RT)

• Secret Service Allowed ‘Multiple Failures’ Before Trump Shooting – Report (RT)

• America’s Healthcare Dead Last in Rich Nation Rankings (Sp.)

• Words You Can’t Ignore (Max Jones)

Tucker Carmela excellent
https://twitter.com/i/status/1837206654711980070

RFK sued Trump
https://twitter.com/i/status/1837304665748176966
https://twitter.com/i/status/1837241352553386231

Ireland

Today, Ireland woke up to the news that the government has dropped plans to implement hate speech laws.

This is the 2nd time we have defeated the bill in 5 years.

Thank you to Elon Musk, Michael Shellenberger, Tucker Carlson, JD Vance and everyone else for your help. pic.twitter.com/HwmyxsK8mC

— MichaeloKeeffe (@Mick_O_Keeffe) September 21, 2024

Thiel

In his interview with Joe Rogan, Peter Thiel discussed why nuclear power development has stagnated in the U.S. despite its potential. Thiel argued that the main reason for halting nuclear power development stems from political and regulatory barriers, rather than technical… pic.twitter.com/B02779i7qi

— Camus (@newstart_2024) September 21, 2024

Dimon
https://twitter.com/i/status/1837245042056105994

Mars
https://twitter.com/i/status/1837626546074325240

India
https://twitter.com/i/status/1837643524600148279

Maher

Things get a little uncomfortable when Bill Maher calls out Kamala Harris on never winning a primary, a delegate, or ever actually fixing the border.

Awkward applause follows. pic.twitter.com/m77q4gFW04

— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) September 21, 2024

Easily the prime article/video this weekend. Because it puts everything on its head.

Larry Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell “and critic of America’s wars”, states that the Pentagon has taken over US foreign policy. And that is as stark as it sounds. Wilkerson says that Biden, Harris, Blinken and Jake Sullivan have all been sidelined because the Pentagon doesn’t want to go to war, not in Ukraine and not in Gaza. “No dice”. And they can’t do a thing without the Pentagon.

Judge Nap: “COL. Lawrence Wilkerson : Can Ukraine Make It to Nov 5th?”

We have some transcript below, but do watch the whole interview.

• An American Coup? (Neuburger)

In a 30-minute interview with Judge Napolitano on September 18, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell and critic of America’s wars, described a recent event in which Pentagon chief Gen. Lloyd Austin told President Biden that, in Wilkerson’s words, “the Pentagon has taken over, essentially, diplomacy as well as any action, militarily speaking, with regard to both theaters of war,” meaning Ukraine and Israel. Wilkerson added, “And so they’re now in charge.” Austin, according to this telling, listened “to the people in the bowels of the Pentagon who know the truth” and forced the President to back down. Biden was furious, we’re told, but “took that advice.” Except, as Wilkerson tells it, it wasn’t advice, but instruction. “No dice,” as Wilkerson characterized the message, sounds pretty final. This is good news and bad news. The good, U.S. policy is now: To Netanyahu, if you invade Lebanon or attack Iran, you’re on your own. To Zelenskyy, no to long range missiles reaching deep into Russia.

So we and the world are safer, at least for a while. The bad: Is this a coup? Has the military stood up to the President, forced him to change policy? If the answers are yes, we’re on our way once more to revising the Constitution-as-practiced. Both political parties have already confirmed that the Fourth Amendment can be ignored. That’s now the “new normal.” So what’s this encroachment of the Pentagon into foreign policy, if not another “new normal”? Has MacArthur finally won?

Whatever the truth, you won’t see this reported in what people call the “news,” but I doubt Wilkerson’s sources are wrong. At any rate, we’ll know soon enough by the way Zelenskyy and Netanyahu act. Welcome to the future of U.S. foreign policy.

Wilkerson: I think what we’re seeing here is another attempt, because a 100-plane strike didn’t do it, by Netanyahu to provoke Hezbollah to some sort of action that he can then declare is warlike to the extent that he can do what he wants to do with them — even though I’m told with great confidence in the sources that the latest two visits by the Central Command Unified Commander were to tell him [Netanyahu] that we would not be with him in the event of his going to war with Hezbollah that he provoked. Nor will we be with him going to war with Iran that he provoked. And we made it quite clear that we would know if he provoked it.

Napolitano: You’re speaking of General Kurilla [CENTCOM commander since April 2022].

Wilkerson: Yes. Yes.

Napolitano: So Scott Ritter agrees with you, Doug Macgregor says he can’t imagine Austin and Blinkin letting General Kuralla do that. It’s very very interesting. … Is this speculation on your part or is it based on sources?

Wilkerson: It’s based on some pretty reliable sources. And here’s the bigger picture and I hope the others told you this too. Biden’s fury — and you could see it — he was seething when he met with the British Prime Minister.

Napolitano: Yes, yes, we have that clip. He was out of control with anger.

Wilkerson: And what he [had] just been told, apparently, was by the Pentagon, “No dice, Mr President. No dice on Ukraine and no dice on Gaza. We’re in charge now.”

Napolitano: No dice. You’re talking about no dice on the long range missiles reaching deep into Russia, even though Tony Blinkin had intimated all week in Kyiv with his British counterpart that this was happening. And Sir Keir Stormer, the British Prime Minister, had every reason to believe as he’s flying across the Atlantic that Joe Biden’s answer would be yes.

Wilkerson: He was embarrassed. He was embarrassed by the fact — he was pulling out his maps with target data and Biden told him, “Don’t even pull them out. We’re not going to talk about that.” I’ve been told, again by fairly reliable sources, that Blinkin and Sullivan — Blinkin primarily, but Sullivan too — have been sidetracked, and what’s happened is the Pentagon has taken over, essentially, diplomacy as well as any action, militarily speaking, with regard to both theaters of war. And so they’re now in charge. I have to change my evaluation of Secretary Austin if that’s the case, because it means he listened finally to the people in the bowels of the Pentagon who know the truth, and he’s reacting to that, and he’s told the President Biden that, and to Biden’s credit, even though he was furious, he finally took that advice.

Napolitano: Colonel, you once ran the State Department [as Secretary Colin Powell’s chief of staff under George Bush]. How does the Defense Department engage in diplomacy?

Wilkerson: They engage in diplomacy every day. Every day. There are four-stars in the various syncdoms, the regions that they control, the AORs [Areas of Responsibility] [who] are the true U.S. diplomats. And some of them are very good at it. I saw some of them. I worked with some of them who are very good at it, better than any Secretary of State. But it shouldn’t be that way. That’s a parenthetical remark. We shouldn’t have the military leading diplomacy. But we often do. And the Japanese prime minister once told me why to my face. He said, “Larry, when your East Asia and Pacific Assistant Secretary comes out here, he’s not got anything but his briefcase. When the man from Honolulu comes out here, from Camp Smith in Hawaii, he’s towing air wings, submarines, battle groups, Marine amphibious groups, Army divisions. I listened to him. This is the Prime Minister of Japan.

Napolitano: Who told General Kurilla to tell Prime Minister Netanyahu, “If you invade Lebanon, you’re on your own?”

Wilkerson: It was, I think, Austin. But that’s the chain of command. Austin conveyed that message to him [Kurilla]. But I think it was Austin that convinced Biden to give him that command so he could transmit it to Kurilla.

“..everything you thought you lived your life for would be dead. And if you survived? To quote Nikita Khrushchev, “The survivors would envy the dead.”

• 72 Minutes (Scott Ritter)

Most Americans approached last weekend thinking about how they would spend the much-anticipated end of the work week with their friends and family. Few realize how close they came to actualizing the scenario so horrifyingly spelled out in Annie Jacobsen’s alarming must-read book, Nuclear War: A Scenario. 72 minutes. That is all it takes to end the world as we know it. That is less time than most movies playing at the local cinema. Most people could not drive to the local home improvement store to buy the materials needed to do the little repairs around the home that usually wait for the weekend. Walk the dogs? Play with the kids? Forget about it. 72 minutes. And everything you thought you lived your life for would be dead. And if you survived? To quote Nikita Khrushchev, “The survivors would envy the dead.”

MUST WATCH AND SHARE ‼️ ‼️ ‼️

72 MINUTES BEFORE THE COMPLETE EXTINCTION OF THE PLANET

Scott Ritter Interview for Gegenpol

Germany must take the initiative and propose a new arms control program to Europe.

Germany must remove Zelensky from power to prevent a nuclear war.… pic.twitter.com/KEafjxEAab

— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) September 21, 2024

Ukraine, together with many of its NATO allies, has been asking for permission from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France to be able to employ precision-guided long-range weapons systems provided by these countries against targets deep inside Russia. On Sept. 6, at a meeting of the Ramstein Contact Group, a forum where U.S.-NATO military support to Ukraine is coordinated, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky personally appealed to the group for more weapons support from its Western allies and called on allies to allow Ukraine to use the weapons they provided to strike deeper inside Russia. “We need to have this long-range capability,” Zelensky said, addressing the attendees, who included U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, “not only on the divided territory of Ukraine but also on Russian territory so that Russia is motivated to seek peace. We need to make Russian cities, and even Russian soldiers think about what they need: peace or Putin.”

Secretary Austin, in comments made afterwards, said he didn’t think the use of long-range missiles to strike inside Russia would help end the war, adding that he expected the conflict would be resolved through negotiations. Moreover, Austin noted, Ukraine had its own weapons capable of attacking targets well beyond the range of the British Storm Shadow cruise missile. Despite Austin’s pushback, President Joe Biden appeared to be on track to give Zelensky the green light he was looking for regarding the use of British-provided Storm Shadow cruise missiles and U.S.-provided long-range ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles for strikes on Russian soil. On Sept. 11, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, accompanied by British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, visited Ukraine, where they held meetings with Zelensky and his newly appointed foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha.

Blinken and Lammy, however, failed to make the announcement the Ukrainians were waiting with bated breath to hear. Instead, Blinken and Lammy reiterated the full support of their respective nations to Ukraine’s victory, adding that they would adapt their support to meet Ukrainian needs. “The bottom line is this: We want Ukraine to win,” Blinken said after his meeting with Zelensky. The stage was now set for Keir Starmer, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, to fly to Washington, D.C., last Friday, where he would meet with Biden and jointly agree to give Ukraine permission to use Storm Shadow and ATACMS against targets inside Russia. Russia has long made it clear that it would view any nation which authorized the use of its weapons to strike Russia as a direct party to the conflict. In comments to the media in Russia last Thursday — one day before the Biden-Starmer meeting at the White House — Russian President Vladimir Putin made it clear that any lifting of the restrictions on Ukrainian use of U.S.- and U.K.-provided long-range weapons would change “the very essence of the conflict.” He said:

“This will mean that NATO countries, the United States, European countries are fighting Russia. And if this is the case, then…we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us.” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, speaking after Putin’s announcement, noted that the Russian president’s words were “extremely clear” and that they had reached their intended audience — U.S. President Biden. Biden didn’t seem happy about the message. In responding to a question from reporters prior to his meeting with Prime Minister Starmer at the White House about what he thought about Putin’s warning, Biden snapped angrily, “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.” The evidence suggests otherwise.

Update from another planet.

• ‘It’s Over For Russia’ – Boris Johnson (RT)

Russia must understand that “it’s over,” and that Ukraine will not concede any territory for peace, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has argued. For this goal to be achieved, however, Kiev will need long-range weapons, NATO membership, and half a trillion dollars, Johnson added. In an op-ed published in The Spectator on Saturday, Johnson argued that Ukrainian forces still have the “ability to win,” if only the West would cave to every single one of Kiev’s demands. These include, he wrote, permission to strike deep inside Russian territory with Storm Shadow and ATACMS missiles, and immediate invitation to NATO with Article 5 security guarantees, and “half a trillion dollars… or even a trillion.” Disregarding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent warning that enabling long-range strikes would place NATO in a state of war with Russia as “bluster and saber-rattling,” Johnson argued that these steps are necessary to “send the crucial message to the Kremlin.”

“The message is: that’s it. It’s over. You don’t have an empire any more. You don’t have a ‘near abroad’ or a ‘sphere of influence’. You don’t have the right to tell the Ukrainians what to do, any more than we British have the right to tell our former colonies what to do,” he asserted. “It is time for Putin to understand that Russia can have a happy and glorious future, but that like Rome and like Britain, the Russians have decisively joined the ranks of the post-imperial powers, and a good thing, too,” he continued. The West, Johnson argued, “must abandon any idea that the Ukrainians will do a deal” or “trade land for peace.” “We in the West would be mad to try to impose that outcome,” he added. Ironically, Russia and Ukraine reportedly agreed to a peace deal during talks in Istanbul in 2022. The agreement would have involved Ukraine declaring military neutrality, limiting its armed forces, and vowing not to discriminate against ethnic Russians. In return, Moscow would have joined other leading powers in offering Ukraine security guarantees.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky withdrew from the talks at the last moment. According to Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia, former US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, and several Ukrainian media reports, Johnson was instrumental in convincing Zelensky to abandon negotiations. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the deputy leader of Türkiye’s ruling party, Numan Kurtulmus, have also claimed that several Western states conspired to scupper the deal. Five months after the Istanbul talks, Russia assumed control of four former regions of Ukraine. According to the most recent figures from the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian military has lost nearly half a million men since February 2022, and the Pentagon concluded last year that Ukraine stands little chance of regaining its former territories.

“..unscrewing everything they screwed up over the past two and a half years through self-inflicted idiocy in the interests of impressing their girlfriend Vladimir Zelensky (aka president of Ukraine).”

• Has The EU Suddenly Realized How Much It Has Screwed Itself Over? (Marsden)

The EU is having a full-blown existential crisis. Someone has really screwed up its economy, and the culprit is conspicuously absent from a new report outlining the carnage. Are there no mirrors in Brussels? Former European Central Bank president and Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, has published a new “economic competitiveness” report after a year of work at the request of unelected ‘Queen’ Ursula von der Leyen’s ‘Royal’ European Commission. And it’s a real page-turner, one of the great mysteries of our times. One is left to breathlessly leaf through the 400-page document looking for a culprit responsible for the massive amount of economic carnage detailed by Draghi. “For the first time since the Cold War we must genuinely fear for our self-preservation,” he told reporters in Brussels. How about starting off by not actively self-sabotaging?

Draghi said that the bloc desperately needs to keep up with China and the US, but has been failing. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the EU readily jumped in to ride shotgun alongside Uncle Sam along regime change highway, but now finds itself kicking dirt on the roadside and wanting to make its own way. “Now conditions have changed,” Draghi said. “World trade is slowing. China is actually slowing very much, but it’s become much less open to us, and actually it’s competing with us in global markets on all accounts. We’ve lost our main supplier of cheap energy, Russia. And now we have to start for our defense again for the first time since the Second World War.” Apparently, the jokers ruling Europe from the big top tent in Brussels are shocked to discover that they’ve been victimized. Who could possibly have done such a thing?

Gotta love the use of the passive there. “Lost” their cheap energy from Russia. Like it just fell out of their pocket like a set of house keys on the way back from the store. Listening to Draghi, you’d also think that the EU hasn’t actually adopted “de-coupling” from China as a strategy, egged on by Washington, which wanted Europe all to itself, before EU officials rebranded it a “de-risking” when they realized how stupid a move it would be to fully alienate China as the bloc’s top trading partner and customer. And now, oh gee, the EU has to start thinking about its own defense again, Draghi said, rather than just using it to shake free some natural resources from all the places with fortuitously-located terrorist problems. The Ukraine conflict has been an equally convenient excuse to make more weapons at taxpayer expense for the EU’s own defense after emptying out the old junk from its closets.

Good thing, too, because making more weapons is about the only real easy answer for improving the economy right now, judging by the dire state of things outlined in this new report. Still, the EU can’t even do the military-industrial racket right. Draghi has pointed out that EU members are basically idiots for buying most of their weapons abroad, with nearly two-thirds coming from the US. Big mystery as to why Washington wants to keep the party going in Ukraine when it’s making bank by drumming up the need to ramp up weapons purchases for EU members under the guise that their former top economic lifeline and energy supplier (Russia) was suddenly a big threat to them. The bonus: making Europe more dependent on the US for pricier gas, too.

The whole report is just loaded with gems, like this one: “If Europe cannot become more productive, we will be forced to choose. We will not be able to become, at once, a leader in new technologies, a beacon of climate responsibility and an independent player on the world stage. We will not be able to finance our social model. We will have to scale back some, if not all, of our ambitions. This is an existential challenge…” Draghi’s going on about all these grand ambitions like leading new tech and being a climate and social icon, while European elites have been yelling at the plebs to turn down the heating and air conditioning to stick it to Putin and cheering mild winters like we’re living in the dark ages. Draghi also said that the EU needs another €800 billion ($890 billion), which is about 4.5% of the entire bloc’s GDP, just to be able to stay globally competitive. And that competitiveness can only be achieved by thoroughly unscrewing everything they screwed up over the past two and a half years through self-inflicted idiocy in the interests of impressing their girlfriend Vladimir Zelensky (aka president of Ukraine).

They made some Baltic Lunatic the EU’s new defense commissioner.

• EU Leadership Urges Europe To Be Ready To Fight Russia In 6-8 Years (ZH)

NATO’s tiny Baltic states have continued to be among the most hawkish within the alliance when it comes to ‘confronting Russia’ and making war plans. One Lithuanian official is making headlines for saying that eventual NATO war with Russia is inevitable, and that Europe must begin preparing now. Andrius Kubilius, a former Lithuanian prime minister and the EU’s new defense commissioner, has told Reuters that Europe must prepare to go to war with Russia withing the next six to eight years. “Defense ministers and NATO generals agree that Vladimir Putin could be ready for confrontation with NATO and the EU in 6-8 years,” Kubilius said in his capacity as the European Union’s first-ever Defense Commissioner. “If we take these assessments seriously, then that is the time for us to properly prepare, and it is a short one. This means we have to take quick decisions, and ambitious decisions,” he added.

Kubilius’ appointment is seen as an indicator that the EU is getting more serious about war-spending as a bloc, though EU leadership has no decision-making capacity when it comes to NATO. Apparently he’s unconcerned with the dangers of nuclear-armed confrontation. Russia has said it would deploy nuclear weapons if its territory and population faces existential threat of annihilation. Kubilius described further in his statement, “The European Union won’t have defense plans or military leadership, like NATO does — but the European Union has instruments to get larger financing, which NATO doesn’t.” He has called for a total investment of a gargantuan sum: 500 billion euros in the coming years in order to ramp-up the readiness of European militaries.

European Parliament has recently passed a largely symbolic resolution approving the Zelensky government’s use of long-range weapons to attack inside Russia. The head of Russia’s State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, has responded by saying “What the European Parliament is calling for leads to a world war using nuclear weapons.” Thinks looking bleak: A newly-created EU leadership position and the very first directive issued relates to future war with Russia… Clearly peace is on the minds of few. The only way to avoid escalation leading to nuclear-armed showdown in the heart of Europe is the negotiating table, but both Moscow and Kiev have of late issued statements denying that they are even close to sitting down together to seek settlement or ceasefire.

Better not get into a fight. Unwinnable.

• The DEI Trojan Horse Has Undermined US Military (Sp.)

The US military is facing what has been characterized as its worst recruitment, morale, and public trust crisis in modern history. Here’s what the Biden administration’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has to do with it. An analysis of a trove of internal documents by The Daily Caller has revealed that the US Air Force has been excluding white male applicants from its popular Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program in favor of minorities. Highlighting the Biden administration’s obsession with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), the prejudice reflects a broader push by Washington’s liberal establishment to turn Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote about not judging people “by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” on its head. Team Biden went to work on DEI and “equity” (not to be confused with “equality”) guidelines for the military immediately after stepping into office, firing off three key executive orders in January 2021, including:

EO 13985: “Advancing Racial Equality and Support for Undeserving Communities Through the Federal Government” (including the military). EO 13988: “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender-Identity or Sexual Orientation.” EO 14004: “Enabling All Qualified Americans to Serve Their Country in Uniform” – aimed at easing transgender individuals’ ability to serve. Together with the June 2021 EO 14035 on “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce,” the trio of directives kicked off a fundamental transformation of the military, sparking a series of bizarre scandals and leading to an unprecedented drop in readiness and morale:

In 2021, the Air Force and Navy faced widespread derision after rolling out maternity flight suits, with Tucker Carlson calling the move a “mockery of the US military,” and highlighting the absurdity of having “pregnant women…fight[ing] our wars.” In June 2023, facing an outcry from conservative lawmakers, the military banned drag shows on base, deeming them “inconsistent with regulations regarding the use of resources,” with DoD spokespeople scrambling to assure that “the Department does not fund drag shows or drag activities.” In October 2023, the advocacy group which won a historic Supreme Court case against race-conscious admissions to US universities brought cases against West Point and the US Naval Academy on grounds of DEI-based bias. The Supreme Court binned the West Point case in February 2024, with the Naval Academy’s affirmative action trial kicking off this past week.

The staggering costs of Pentagon DEI initiatives has also garnered considerable attention and criticism, with spending jumping from $68 million in 2022, to $86.5 million in 2023, and $114.7 million in 2024. The funds provide for things like mandatory diversity training and the hiring of onsite “diversity officers” to ensure compliance with DEI regulations. The Biden Pentagon has been hailed as the most diverse in history, with racial and sexual minorities receiving a host of top jobs, from a proud lesbian tapped to serve as Air Force under secretary, to a transgender assistant secretary of defense, to Lloyd Austin – the Pentagon’s first black chief. But these DEI “milestones” have not exactly helped the military achieve its goals over the past four tumultuous years, with the humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Navy’s impotence against the Houthis from January 2024 on showing that more diversity does not mean more won battles.

In fact, the DEI seems to have made things worse, with the military facing an unprecedented “crisis of recruitment, trust, and spending,” as a Newsweek piece recently put it, forcing some observers and lawmakers on Capitol Hill to consider returning the draft, or offering immigrants citizenship in exchange for service amid recruitment numbers dropping between 20-40%, public trust in the military plummeting from 73% in 2019 to 60% today, and morale and readiness described as being among the lowest since World War II. DEI, combined with other Biden policies aimed at the military, including mandatory COVID shots, have been blamed for the crisis.

Only one opinion allowed.

• TikTok Wipes Out Sputnik Accounts (Sp.)

The US Department of the Treasury issued a statement on September 4 announcing sanctions against Sputnik’s parent media group Rossiya Segodnya, RIA Novosti, RT, Sputnik, and Ruptly. The sanctions also targeted Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya, and a number of other senior executives. On the morning of September 21, the video-sharing platform TikTok removed the Sputnik International account of the Sputnik news network, just days after the US announced new sanctions targeting Russian media. TikTok has not yet commented on the development.

TikTok, which is part of the Chinese company ByteDance, has been under intense pressure from US authorities in recent months. In April, US President Joe Biden signed into law a bill passed by Congress that would ban TikTok in the United States if it refuses to divest from its Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance. TikTok and ByteDance have since challenged the measure in court. Earlier this month, the US State Department tightened the operating conditions of Rossiya Segodnya and its subsidiaries, designating them as “foreign missions.”

“Israel’s actions signal a new level of risk to global trade, where civilian products may be tampered with for political or military advantage. What was once a matter of state-to-state conflict is now a threat to individual households.”

• No One Is Safe: The Global Threat of Israel’s Weaponized Pagers (Sweidan)

Israel’s coordinated attacks on Lebanon, marked by the near-simultaneous explosion of thousands of pager and walkie-talkie devices over two days, resulted in the deaths of at least 37 people, including children, and left thousands severely wounded. This brutal terrorist attack should serve as a dire warning to the world: a stark reminder that the occupation state’s criminal actions know no limits, indiscriminately targeting those who challenge its interests, or those of its western allies. In the wake of this aggression, who can guarantee that Israeli exports to other countries won’t be weaponized in future conflicts? The “pager attack” serves as yet more evidence that Israel poses a global threat, ushering in a dangerous, dystopian new era in which civilians are no longer safe, even in their own homes. When analyzing the pager detonations from a legal standpoint, it becomes clear that Israel’s killing spree in Lebanon this week lies somewhere between a war crime and an act of terrorism.

The legal classification depends on the current state of affairs between Lebanon and Israel. If Lebanon is considered to be at war with Israel, the targeting of civilians — non-combatants — through the bombing of pagers blatantly violates international laws of warfare, including the Geneva Conventions. Article 51 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (1949) strictly prohibits indiscriminate attacks on civilians, and Article 85 lists attacks on civilians as grave breaches that amount to war crimes. In this case, we must identify who qualifies as a “combatant” under international humanitarian law. A combatant is defined as someone under military command, wearing a distinguishable uniform and openly carrying weapons. Without these markers, those targeted in the pager attack are considered civilians under international law. Additionally, the attack violates the principles of distinction and proportionality, fundamental tenets of international humanitarian law.

The principle of distinction mandates that combatants must be differentiated from civilians — a rule clearly ignored in Israel’s attacks, evidenced by the deaths of children. The principle of proportionality prohibits attacks where the harm to civilians is excessive compared to the military advantage gained. In this instance, the minimal military impact pales in comparison to the devastating toll on civilians, including the psychological and moral damage inflicted. Therefore, Israel’s adoption of a strategy of indiscriminate violence during its recent aggression against Lebanon is a war crime. The Guardian notes that half a century after the Second World War, a global treaty — to which Israel is a signatory — came into force, which “prohibited in all circumstances to use booby-traps or other devices in the form of apparently harmless portable objects that are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material.”

However, if we consider that Lebanon is not in a formal state of war with Israel, the aggression falls under a different legal classification: terrorism. According to the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings (1997), Israel’s actions can be categorized as a “terrorist bombing.” The use of civilian devices, like pagers, in non-military zones with the intent to spread fear aligns with the convention’s definition of terrorism, which criminalizes the unlawful use of explosives to target civilians or infrastructure with the intent to intimidate populations or coerce governments.

The UN General Assembly Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism (1994) defines terrorism as any act aimed at causing death or serious bodily harm to civilians for the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or international organization to act. Accordingly, the pager bombings were intended to intimidate the Lebanese and the resistance or force them to make concessions, which is consistent with the definition of terrorism under customary international law. Yesterday, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter condemned the “massive terrorist attack” in Lebanon and Syria, while Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, wrote in a statement that the attack “violates international human rights law, and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law.”

Israel’s pager bombing has also sparked global concerns about the security of international supply chains. If Israel has indeed begun weaponizing civilian devices through third parties in other countries, this raises the terrifying prospect that supply chains once thought to be safe could be compromised at any time. In an interview with India Today TV, a technologist expressed concern that Israel’s actions could lead to similar risks in other countries, creating the possibility of booby-trapped electronics infiltrating homes worldwide. The implications are profound: Israel’s actions signal a new level of risk to global trade, where civilian products may be tampered with for political or military advantage. What was once a matter of state-to-state conflict is now a threat to individual households.

In 1990, the CIA were sure Putin was -literally- their man.

• When Vladimir Putin Was Pootie-Poot (Adam Dick)

United Sates President Joe Biden has spent most of his presidency refusing to talk with Russia President Vladimir Putin. This is despite — or maybe because of — the fact that such discourse could have led to an agreement ending the US government’s proxy war against Russia. Instead of talking out a resolution to the fighting, Biden has kept pumping dollars, weapons, and intelligence to the Ukraine government, resulting in a rising death toll and expanding war. Also advanced has been the risk of drawing the US and Russia directly into a war against each other that could go nuclear. Still, Biden will not pick up the phone or fly on a plane to talk things over with the president of Russia. “I have no good reason to talk to Putin right now,” said Biden on July 11, 2024 in response to a reporter’s question at one of Biden’s rare press conferences.

We know Biden loves his vacation time, but, really, isn’t ending the Ukraine War and preventing its further escalation a good enough reason to start chatting with Putin? How about putting in a little effort to give peace a chance? Long, long ago, during the presidency of George W. Bush, a US president not only regularly talked with Putin, including in in-person meetings, he even had an affectionate nickname for the Russia president. For Bush, Putin was Pootie-Poot. How things have changed. Not every American president before Biden had a cute nickname for counterparts among the long line of Russia leaders, and Soviet leaders during the decades when Russia was subsumed in the Soviet Union.

Yet, they all were willing to talk. This includes Ronald Reagan who called the Soviet Union an “evil empire” and pushed for increased US military spending to counter what he presented as a Soviet threat. Reagan met with and kept in regular contact with Soviet leader Michail Gorbachev, succeeding in putting in place arms control deals between the nations. Other US presidents, while directly and by proxy militarily countering the “red spread” and “Soviet expansion,” kept in communication with Soviet leaders. They wanted to be dedicated cold warriors while minimizing the risk of outright war between the US and Soviet Union. Biden should give Putin a call. And when Biden makes that call, why not give Putin a nice nickname too? Doing this may run counter to Biden’s nature, but it could be the first step down the path to peace. Unfortunately, there is little indication that seeking peace is even a small component of the Biden administration’s agenda.

“The difference between us and the others in general is that we speak honestly and openly about this issue..”

• All of Europe Does Business With Russia – Hungary (RT)

A significant number of companies in the EU continue to discreetly do business with Russia despite the bloc’s sanctions, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said. “Here I would like to disappoint the idealists, as the situation is that everyone in Europe is doing this,” Szijjarto said in Budapest on Friday.“ The difference between us and the others in general is that we speak honestly and openly about this issue. All of Europe does business with the Russians, but some deny this; we don’t need that.” Szijjarto added that Hungary does not agree with the sanctions, but since this is EU policy, Budapest respects them. Hungary typically vetoes specific EU proposals if they seriously harm national interests, he said, adding that developing economic cooperation with Russia is one of those interests.

The EU imposed sanctions on Moscow in 2014, and expanded them after the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022. The main targets are high-value sectors of the Russian economy, including energy, finance, and trade. Hungary has long been at odds with the EU over its approach to the Ukraine conflict and its sanctions policy towards Moscow. This makes it difficult for the EU to agree on new restrictions, Euractiv reported in August, citing diplomatic sources. Many experts in both Russia and the West have warned that unilateral sanctions bring more harm to the countries that impose them than to Russia itself. EU officials have also acknowledged that Moscow has been successful in sidestepping the restrictions. In June, Finance Ministry data showed that Russian budget revenues from oil and gas soared by 73.5% in January-May this year, compared to the first five months of 2023.

“Long-term deals are expected to help avoid price swings and provide India with steady access to Russian oil at a lower price..”

• Indian State Oil Refiners Seeking Long-term Deals With Russia – Media (RT)

India’s state-owned oil refiners are in talks with Russia about clinching long-term supply deals, the news outlet Business Standard reported this week, citing sources at the country’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Agreements could reportedly be sealed as soon as next April when the new fiscal year starts. India, the world’s third-largest consumer of crude oil, depends on imports for up to 85% of its needs. Russia is India’s top oil supplier, and New Delhi has often noted that Moscow has been instrumental in ensuring the nation’s energy security. Nevertheless, while India’s private refiners already have annual deals for Russian oil supplies, the state companies have tended to buy it in the spot markets, reserving long-term contracts for sources from the Middle East. According to the ministry’s sources, however, the high volatility in spot prices has rendered this arrangement no longer attractive for the state refiners.

Long-term deals are expected to help avoid price swings and provide India with steady access to Russian oil at a lower price. India stepped up purchases of Russian crude in 2022 shortly after the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict and the first rounds of Western sanctions on Moscow. New Delhi has taken advantage of the discounts Moscow offered on its oil after the latter effectively lost its traditional buyers in the West. Last month, India even overtook China as the largest buyer of Russian crude. Ramping-up purchases of Russian oil not only helped India bolster its domestic energy security, but made it one of the leading exporters of petrochemicals to Europe. India’s exports of refined oil products to European countries jumped by 2,539 times since 2018, The Print reported earlier this month, citing data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Western states have been pressuring India to stop buying Russian oil, but New Delhi has remained adamant that it would continue to do so. Indian officials have also argued on more than one occasion that the decision to buy Russian oil has helped prevent a global energy crisis. In an interview with RT in July, India’s minister of petroleum and natural gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, stated that without Russian oil on the market, global prices would have hit $250-300 per barrel.

Nobody seems to know what she is busy with.

• Harris ‘Too Busy’ To Talk To Media – Adviser (RT)

US Vice President Kamala Harris hasn’t given many media interviews because “she’s a very busy person,” one of her campaign advisers, Keisha Lance-Bottoms, has told CNN. Even liberal pundits have criticized Harris for dodging the spotlight. In the two months since she announced her presidential campaign, Harris and running mate Tim Walz have given a total of seven sit-down interviews, while former President Donald Trump and running mate J.D. Vance have given 70 interviews and press conferences, according to a tally compiled by Axios this week. When conversations with partisan allies – for instance Trump’s live chat with X owner Elon Musk – are counted, the former president pulls even further ahead of Harris, who has largely stuck to scripted rallies to reach voters. Asked why Harris is not doing more interviews, Lance-Bottoms told CNN on Friday that “we would love to see her sit down every single day with CNN and do interviews, but it’s that she’s a very busy person.”

“She’s the vice president as well as a candidate,” Lance-Bottoms continued, reiterating that Harris is simply “too busy” to match Trump’s media schedule. Harris has come under fire from the New York Times for avoiding unscripted appearances, while CNN commentator Scott Jennings hammered the vice president on Friday for deliberately avoiding “hostile media.” The night before, Harris spoke at length to TV host Oprah Winfrey, although the interview was friendly and featured a host of Harrris’ celebrity supporters, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Chris Rock, and Ben Stiller. Harris’ campaign believes that “limiting interactions with the press is the right strategy – even if it frustrates reporters,” Axios reported, citing sources close to the campaign. According to a recent New York Times/Siena poll, 31% of voters feel that they don’t know enough about Harris, while only 12% are unsure who Trump is or where he stands on key issues.

You can't make this up.

Jake Tapper asked Kamala Senior Adviser and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms why Kamala isn't doing more interviews.

Her response: "She's a very busy person."pic.twitter.com/Cn1bAjw1FZ

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 20, 2024

Too many failures to be failures.

• Secret Service Allowed ‘Multiple Failures’ Before Trump Shooting – Report (RT)

Multiple “operational and communications failures” by the US Secret Service allowed a gunman to open fire on former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in July, an internal review has found. Trump narrowly avoided death while speaking to a crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, when a bullet fired from around 150m away grazed his ear. The gunman, a 21-year-old named Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired from a rooftop that had apparently been left unprotected by the Secret Service, killing one rally goer and injuring two others before he was shot dead by a sniper. In the aftermath of the incident, it emerged that local police had spotted Crooks using a range-finder an hour before he opened fire and passed a photo on to Secret Service agents. The agents noticed the gunman on the roof 20 minutes before the incident, but took no action until the first shots rang out.

In a preliminary report released on Friday, the Secret Service stressed that local police were responsible for securing the roof in question. However, the report stated, the officers covering this building had no contact with the Secret Service. Some information about the shooter relayed by local law enforcement never made it to the Secret Service, the report stated, blaming a lack of radio communication between the various agencies working at the rally site. As a result, information about Crooks’ appearance and movements had to be relayed by chains of phone calls and text messages, it claimed. Shortly before the rally began, Crooks was able to fly a camera-equipped drone over the site without being stopped or questioned. The Secret Service report stated that while the agency deployed a counter-drone team to the site, “there were some technical difficulties” with their equipment.

Regarding the choice of venue, the report stated that a Secret Service team had visited the site beforehand and noted that the line of sight between the rooftop and the stage where Trump spoke could pose a “challenge.” However, “the security measures to alleviate these concerns were not carried out.” The internal investigation is still ongoing, and a final report is expected in the coming weeks. While much of Friday’s summary appeared to pass blame on to local law enforcement, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told reporters that the agency nevertheless needs “a shift in paradigm in how we conduct our protective operations.” Rowe’s predecessor, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned ten days after the shooting. Several other high-ranking agents were placed on leave during the investigation.

Trump survived another attempt on his life earlier this month, when a pro-Ukraine activist aimed a rifle at the former president at one of his golf courses in Florida. Secret Service agents fired several shots at the man and arrested him after he fled the scene. Republican Representative Matt Gaetz claimed earlier this week that some GOP lawmakers believe there is a “mole inside the Secret Service providing information about points of vulnerability” to would-be assassins.

“Recent surveys indicate that healthcare is among the top priorities for voters in the November presidential election..”

• America’s Healthcare Dead Last in Rich Nation Rankings (Sp.)

The percentage of Americans able to access quality healthcare hit a new low of 55% in 2024, according to the West Health-Gallup Healthcare Affordability Index. Affordability of healthcare has become one of the top issues ahead of the 2024 US presidential election. The US healthcare system continues to lag far behind other high-income countries, an analysis by the Commonwealth Fund shows. It has retained its dismal ranking since 2004, when the nonprofit launched its surveys. Ten nations, including Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US, were compared on healthcare system aspects such as access, care process, administrative efficiency, equity, and health outcomes. The US showed the worst overall performance despite spending more per capita on healthcare than any other nation (16% of its GDP in 2022).

It ranked lowest in both accessibility and healthcare outcomes, with 26 million Americans having no insurance, and a quarter of the working age population underinsured. As inflation fuels costs, over 40% of Americans spent at least $1,000 on healthcare out-of-pocket last year, per the survey. At 77.5 years, US life expectancy is over four years below the 10-country average (the same as sanction-riddled Iran). The US has the highest rates of preventable and treatable deaths for all ages. Over 107,000 people died from overdoses in 2023 amid a raging substance abuse crisis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 43,000 gun-related deaths in 2023, according to a report by the National Institute of Health Care Management. Recent surveys indicate that healthcare is among the top priorities for voters in the November presidential election.

“..children are meant to play, to be loved, to be accepted and protected..”

• Words You Can’t Ignore (Max Jones)

A frightened little girl trembles and screams “in terror after mistaking thunder for an Israeli airstrike.” – Times of Gaza. Most of the people — and especially the children — who survive this genocidal slaughter will forever be traumatized. Children are meant to play, to be loved, to be accepted and protected. The children of Gaza will never get to be children. Most will never get to be adults either. Like this little girl, they will be stuck in the past, unable to experience something as simple as rainfall and thunder. When the rain falls and the thunder booms, their scars will take them back to their terror — the only thing that once separated them from the explosions destroying their homes, the blood and gore of their friends and relatives, and the reality that at any moment they might be killed. I urge you to not look away from this poor girl — look openly enough and you will see yourself. The times you were afraid and no one was there. The times you needed someone to assure you that things would be ok, and no one did. The times you needed to be accepted.

Israel killed Naya Ghazi in Beirut today.

She was just a child. pic.twitter.com/gnJFBC5hAo

— sarah (@sahouraxo) September 20, 2024

A four-year old girl, Rahaf Ziad Abu Suweirih, died the other day in Gaza when Israeli bombs shelled her home — but the bombs did not kill her. Her little heart stopped, incapable of handling the horrors imposed upon her by Israel’s genocide. As I said above, children are meant to play, to be loved, to be accepted and protected. The children of Gaza will never get to be children. Rahaf Ziad Abu Suweirih’s body knew this so well — and thus, knew that Rahaf should never have experienced the terror, violence, and abandonment that Israel’s genocide forced her to endure — that her tiny heart spared her. Her loved ones will mourn her death. They will try to make sense of the pain they feel, and how anyone could weaponize such hatred against something so innocent. The scars her death left them will remain tender for the rest of their lives. A story true for all the survivors of Gaza. But death is not merely an inducer of pain. It is also a protectorate; a unifier. It reaches up from the deepest depths of the soul to hug the broken human when no one else can.

It takes all the fragments that the tribulations of life shatter and pieces them back together. It is death that can lift a blanket over the abandoned child, or the terrorized adult, and give them permission to rest when the world cannot. This is especially evident in Gaza, where children cannot be children. They have to be survivors. Fighters. Being a child in Gaza only makes easy prey for the hunters playing blood sport. For a child, who again, is only meant to play, to be loved, accepted and protected, this creates a living hell that they have to believe is traversable, either by themselves or the adults they look to for guidance. Of course, no one can navigate the constant and unpredictable patterns of bombs, death and terror. But for the child, what choice do they have between believing the lie that they can control something, or succumbing to death itself? The reality is that Israel creates an uninhabitable space for Gazans, a “labyrinth of death,” that no one could ever survive without the chance of luck.

[..] But protecting one’s self, and one’s children, from the bombs of genocide means denying reality and believing, in one way or another, that you still possess some control of your own fate. To survive, the victims cannot accept that they are effectively “mice in a trap.” They must create different versions of reality in which they can prevail. In other words, they must become multiple people living different fantasies — all to protect their physical self. While these different realities may protect the survivors from death, they will not cease to exist once the war is over. This will send them scrambling in search of the unity that they were forced to abandon. In fleeting moments, they will find places of refuge that unite their broken spirits. These places will tend to the wounds that their traumas left them with “treatments” of comfort and solace.

Yet in time, these places will obscure the unity they at first grant. Whether the survivor finds shelter in the fuzzy feeling of a white opiate, in a bottle of liquor, in a toxic relationship, or any other pathology that detaches them from the pain of reality, the survivor will end up mistakenly believing that they are only complete with the help of the “treatment” that temporarily soothes their pain. This lie will lead them into a new trap: one much harder to see but just as real as the “mice trap” of Gaza. Without realizing it, they will never stop searching for the person that they were never allowed to be, and they will cling to the places that offer the illusion of fulfillment.

No. 1

BREAKING REPORT: Trump song reaches # 1 on the charts..

MEDIA WOULD HATE IF YOU SHARED THIS.. pic.twitter.com/BFto2eV6vo

— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) September 20, 2024

GROK

"Grok 3.0 will be the most powerful A.I. in the world. It is training with 10x, soon 20x the compute of Grok 2."

一 Elon Musk

pic.twitter.com/yVMTZWSDks

— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) September 21, 2024

Cats

They should do this program in every prison. pic.twitter.com/2TG0LTTR4O

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 21, 2024

Blondie
https://twitter.com/i/status/1837430585117045144

Jenga

Well done.. pic.twitter.com/lzzs3maHXZ

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) September 21, 2024

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Debt Rattle March 12 2024

Mar 122024

March 12, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 8:34 am Finance Tagged with: asymmetric warfare, genocide bond, Houthis, Israel, nanoplastics, obesity, Pentagon, Poland, Zelensky 44 Responses »

Vincent van Gogh Le moulin de la galette 1886

• Elite Units of Ukrainian Armed Forces Discuss Overthrowing Zelensky (Sp.)

• Pentagon’s ‘Ukrainian Fantasy’ Is Falling Apart – Scott Ritter (Sp.)

• Ukraine Already Bankrupt Long Ago – Former Prime Minister (TASS)

• Houthis ‘Schooling’ West in Asymmetric Warfare (Sp.)

• God Is Underwriting Israel’s Genocide Bond (Helmer)

• Chasing ‘Tactical’ Wins, Israel Now Faces ‘Strategic’ Defeat (Sweidan)

• White House Fails to Navigate the Israeli Re-calibration (Alastair Crooke)

• Biden a ‘Rare Kind of Idiot’ – Medvedev (RT)

• Macron is a ‘Coward’ – Medvedev (RT)

• ‘Warmonger’ EU’s Defense Strategy a Wishful Dream (Sp.)

• EU Nuclear Umbrella to Embolden Member States to Use French Nukes (Sp.)

• Poland: the Biggest Army in the EU And the Biggest Risks in the Making (Babich)

• Eventual Financial Death Spiral Now Imminent – John Rubino (USAW)

• Global Hunger Isn’t The Worst Food-Related Threat To Humanity (Bridge)

• Nanoplastics Linked to an Increase in Heart Attacks And Strokes (Sp.)

Kimmel
https://twitter.com/i/status/1767014173391585295

Mace

Rep. Nancy Mace eviscerates ABC’s George Stephanopoulos after he asks, “As a rape victim… how can you endorse Trump?”

“You're asking me a question about my political choices, trying to shame me as a rape victim. And I find it disgusting,” said Mace.pic.twitter.com/rvCXJ4Z6rp

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 10, 2024

Schiff Trump

BREAKING: Adam Schiff states the U.S. Intelligence Community will withhold intelligence briefings from Donald Trump, conceiling information, sources, and methods if he wins re-election this fall. pic.twitter.com/0CUsqAQqXN

— The General (@GeneralMCNews) March 10, 2024

Melania

Reminder: During Trump’s presidency (2017-2021), Melania Trump, unlike her predecessors such as Michelle Obama and Laura Bush, was not featured on the cover of any major US fashion magazine like Vogue, Elle, or Harper’s Bazaar. pic.twitter.com/hLtHK9f7ky

— @amuse (@amuse) March 11, 2024

Rogan X
https://twitter.com/i/status/1767284402143334811

Bannon Rickards

Tucker Cuomo

Ep. 80 The Chris Cuomo Interview pic.twitter.com/bEnFxnpx9U

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 11, 2024

“Let’s demolish this green rat and install Zaluzhny!”

• Elite Units of Ukrainian Armed Forces Discuss Overthrowing Zelensky (Sp.)

Following the recent reshuffle in Ukraine’s military leadership, discontent is brewing among elite units, with discussions of ousting President Volodymyr Zelensky and reinstating Valery Zaluzhny, the former commander-in-chief, a source has revealed to Sputnik. Commanders and soldiers in elite units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are dissatisfied with the reshuffle in the country’s military leadership and are seriously discussing the ousting of Volodymyr Zelensky, a representative of the Russian security services has told Sputnik. He explained that specialists had gained access to a closed Telegram channel called “ParaBelum,” which consists of radically-minded fighters from the elite units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

“Our specialists have gained access to a resource in which members of various elite units, such as the Marines, special forces, intelligence, special forces of the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine], as well as various nationalist battalions, communicate. They are highly qualified specialists who are clearly dissatisfied with the change of command. They are seriously discussing options for overthrowing the current government and the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” the interlocutor said. Based on the materials at the disposal of Sputnik, the soldiers express dissatisfaction with the actions of Zelensky and the new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, who was appointed a month ago to replace Valery Zaluzhny. Thus, the commander of the reconnaissance group of Ukraine’s 80th Separate Air Assault Nrigade, Maxim Shevtsov, with the call sign “Winter,” calls on members of “ParaBelum” to overthrow Zelensky.

“If people don’t come to the defense of Zaluzhny, if the military doesn’t come to the defense of Zaluzhny, then this rat [Zelensky] will torpedo everyone… Let’s demolish this green rat and install Zaluzhny! In fact, it’s Zelensky who needs to be changed, not Zaluzhny. This rat feels that he has a zero rating, and Zaluzhny has a higher rating, and [this is why Zelensky] is trying to torpedo him,” a voice message from Shevtsov says. A recent poll by the Ukrainian Center for Social and Marketing Research SOCIS suggests that if the presidential election were held in Ukraine in 2024, former Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny would secure a significant lead, with 41.4% of the first-round vote, surpassing Volodymyr Zelensky’s 23.7%. In the parliamentary scenario, Zaluzhny’s hypothetical bloc would lead with 46.4% of the vote, according to the same poll.

“This is to buy time for a miracle to happen and the Ukrainians are hoping the miracle will be the arrival of a French battlegroup.”

• Pentagon’s ‘Ukrainian Fantasy’ Is Falling Apart – Scott Ritter (Sp.)

The US Pentagon’s fantasy in Ukraine is falling apart, former UN weapons inspector and commentator Scott Ritter told Sputnik’s Fault Lines on Monday. Speaking on reports in US media that said there are growing tensions between Kiev and Washington because Ukraine reportedly did not listen to tactical advice offered by the Pentagon, Ritter said he believes the assertions are not based in reality but instead are designed to shift the blame away from the United States. “The Pentagon is definitely trying to create political cover for itself because their huge Ukrainian fantasy is falling apart,” Ritter asserted, explaining earlier that Ukraine had little choice but to hold Avdeyevka for as long as possible so that defensive lines could be built behind it, noting however, that Russian airpower prevented even that goal from being achieved.

“It’s easy to play armchair quarterback and just sit back there and pick apart. But the reality is what other choices [did] Ukrainians have but to try and hold onto the last defensible position they [had]?” The Kiev regime is “waking up to the reality that their so-called friends and allies are abandoning them and leaving Ukraine to its own fate” Ritter explained earlier while discussing Macron’s comments that French troops may be deployed in Ukraine, a hypothetical that Ritter says is only being discussed because of the position Ukraine is in. “To understand why Macron would be even talking about this, you have to understand how dire the situation is for Ukraine right now. They are facing military collapse, right now as we speak the last reserves of Ukraine are being thrown into the battle outside the village of Orlovka,” Ritter explained. “This is to buy time for a miracle to happen and the Ukrainians are hoping the miracle will be the arrival of a French battlegroup.”

That possible “miracle” would not change the outlook on the battlefield, Ritter argued, saying that their ability “to deploy a military meaningful force to Ukraine is very slim,” with or without the Baltic State allies Macron is reportedly seeking. Meanwhile, Ritter argues, the election season is forcing the United States to step back from the conflict. “Biden is in a presidential election cycle, we’re coming up on the final sprint to November. … Biden will do whatever is necessary to minimize his political exposure.” “We fired [Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs] Victoria Nuland, the architect of [the Ukraine] policy, and we [took] a step back.” That has left Europe “sitting there, realizing that, frankly speaking, they are nothing without American money. This is a hard pill to swallow and meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Ukrainian army is in absolutely desperate straits.”

“..a highly telling stigma – ‘negative outlook,’ ‘a virtual certainty of default,’ ‘debt susceptible to non-payment..’”

• Ukraine Already Bankrupt Long Ago – Former Prime Minister (TASS)

Ukraine has long been completely insolvent, former Ukrainian Prime Minister (2010-2014) Nikolay Azarov said in commenting on the Standard & Poor’s rating agency’s downgrade of its credit rating on Ukraine’s sovereign debt to “junk” status. “Ukraine is fully insolvent. However, international agencies do not risk assigning it a default rating. Although Ukraine went bankrupt long ago,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. Earlier, S&P downgraded Ukraine from a “CCC” rating to “CC.” “Now the country’s long-term sovereign [debt] rating has received a highly telling stigma – ‘negative outlook,’ ‘a virtual certainty of default,’ ‘debt susceptible to non-payment,’” the former head of the Ukrainian government added.

“..the Houthis “demonstrating in real time just how target-rich developed nations are..”

• Houthis ‘Schooling’ West in Asymmetric Warfare (Sp.)

The Yemeni militia has led a sustained campaign of ship seizures, drone and missile attacks against suspected Israeli-tied commercial vessels and Western warships operating in the Red Sea for nearly four months straight, with commercial freight volume through the strategic maritime chokepoint down as much as 80 percent. Ansar Allah, the Yemeni militia group also known as the Houthis, has “more surprises” in store for the US and Israel, and will continue its campaign of maritime attacks so long as Tel Aviv continues its brutal assault in Gaza and blocks humanitarian aid from getting through, leading Houthi figure Abdul Sattar Al-Nehmi has said. “We have a firm belief in our leadership and its decisions, which motivates us to continue these operations in support of our brothers in Gaza,” al-Nehmi said in an interview with local media. The official did not elaborate on the “surprises” Washington and Tel Aviv should expect, but stressed the maritime campaign will continue until the Houthis manage to “force” global powers to bring Israel to heel.

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi offered a tally of militia missile and drone attacks and ship seizures to date last week, saying 96 missile and drone attacks have been launched and 61 ships targeted so far amid the ongoing campaign. Separately on Monday, Bloomberg Middle East contributor Marc Champion warned that the Houthis have succeeded in “schooling” the West “in asymmetric warfare,” with neither the “extraordinary power of US carrier fleets,” nor attempts to “get tougher” by bombing the militia group succeeding in reining in Ansar Allah’s activities. “The first challenge is that advances in the production of missiles and drones have democratized extremely powerful weapons that until recently were available only to the richest states,” Champion wrote. “The second is a growing asymmetry of vulnerabilities,” with the Houthis “demonstrating in real time just how target-rich developed nations are,” and the US and its allies showing that they have much more to lose than humble Yemenis.

“When the Houthis disrupt the roughly 12% of global shipping that passes through the Bab al-Mandab Strait between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, it impacts consumers in Europe and manufacturers in Asia, but not Yemen. If oil tankers have to shift to longer, more expensive routes than the Suez Canal, nudging up the price of gasoline at US pumps, the Houthis will be much less affected,” the commentator emphasized. And that’s not to mention the “trillions of dollars” worth of information passing through the communications cables which lie at the bottom of the Red Sea, which Western media fear the Houthis might sabotage, or the “communications and the data that sophisticated militaries rely on to operate.” Champion urged Washington to “resist the temptation to escalate its fight with the Houthis,” and to prevent the situation from spinning even further out of control, as any “reliable success” against the militia would require a full-scale invasion or heavy bombardment – neither of which “would be remotely worth the cost.”

“Israel’s public genocide is a private secret among Americans who are paying for it..”

• God Is Underwriting Israel’s Genocide Bond (Helmer)

Last week it happened that God and the United States Treasury managed to underwrite a record issue of Israel Government bonds to continue the war against the Arabs in Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq – and Iran if necessary. The war financing comprised $2 billion of five-year bonds, and $3 billion each of 10 and 30-year bonds. The US Treasury guarantees bond holders that if Israel defaults on repayment of its obligations, the US will pay instead. Notwithstanding this, the Israelis were obliged to offer an extra 1.35%, 1.45%, and 1.75% more in interest over the going rate for US Treasury bonds for the same length of term. The Reuters news agency headline on March 6 celebrated “Israel sells record $8 billion in bonds despite Oct 7 attacks, downgrade”. The propaganda agency based in New York quoted Israel’s Accountant-General as claiming the bond placement “results showed an “unprecedented expression of confidence in Israel’s economy by the world’s largest international investors”.*

In fact, according to well-informed bond trade sources in Europe, with the higher interest rates the market has just demanded from the Israelis, the spread between the Israel bonds and US Treasuries has never been wider, and the worse this spread will become for Israel. This is a vote of no-confidence from the market which the Israelis, the Americans, and their media are trying to keep secret. The longer the war is protracted, the more obvious the costs of Israel Defence Forces’ (IDF) failure will become – and the deeper the negative bond sentiment will grow. By converting secrecy into money, the market is signalling that it has begun to turn against Israel – and profit at Israel’s expense. Also unprecedented is the secrecy in which the “expression of confidence” has been managed by the US, French, and German banks acting as managers of the Israeli bond issue; and of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has had regulatory oversight of the process.

The debt financing has been reported as a “private placement”; this has removed the requirement that the Israelis produce a public prospectus explaining how they think their war – plausibly genocide, according to the International Court of Justice in its ruling of January 26, 2024 – is going, and how long the IDF claim it will last. This does not remove the legal requirement on the two US banks engaged in marketing the bonds to US investors, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, to submit a formal application for SEC approval of what is called a letter of consent. However, asked to confirm the contents of the letter of consent application for the sale of the Israeli bonds, and its official approval, the SEC has refused to give any answer. Goldman Sachs was asked the same questions. The bank also refuses to say.

Last October the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, David Solomon,* issued a personal letter to the bank’s employees claiming the Hamas operation was a “violation of fundamental human values”: Solomon then proposed a $2 million gift of bank funds “to organizations providing critical support and humanitarian relief in Israel”; plus additional bank money, three bank dollars for every one contributed by bank staff making donations under $25, and one for one if the staff contribution was over $25. Asked how much money has been raised for Solomon’s gift to the Israelis, the bank is refusing to reply. In other words, Israel’s public genocide is a private secret among Americans who are paying for it, and among US government officials responsible for regulating the scheme according to US law. According to well-informed bond traders, this deal-making is worth in fees to the dealmakers, led by Goldman Sachs, about $100 million.

“Everyone can see the tactics that are used to defeat the enemy in war, but what no one can see is the strategy from which great victory arises.”

• Chasing ‘Tactical’ Wins, Israel Now Faces ‘Strategic’ Defeat (Sweidan)

In a fight like this, the center of gravity is the civilian population. And if you make them fall into the hands of the enemy, you turn tactical victory into strategic defeat. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued this warning to Israel back in December during his address at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California. Drawing on hard-earned lessons from US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Austin stressed that winning battles on the ground does not guarantee a strategic victory and may even lead to a strategic defeat – if Israel refuses to look at the bigger picture. This is one of the main sources of Washington’s pressure on Tel Aviv, especially in light of the allies’ differing political visions for Gaza in the post-war period and the man-made humanitarian crisis Israel has imposed on the Strip. It’s a philosophy rooted in foresight, echoing Robert Greene’s wisdom from his 33 War Strategies: “Grand strategy is the art of looking beyond the present battle and calculating ahead.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet has outlined two primary objectives for the Gaza war: dismantling Hamas’ military infrastructure and securing the release of prisoners detained since 7 October. Netanyahu later expanded on these objectives, adding a crucial third goal: ensuring Gaza’s inability to threaten the occupation state’s security in the future. Consequently, the success of Israel’s brutal military assault on Gaza hinges on achieving these pivotal objectives. Despite their shared goals, disparities have emerged between the American and Israeli approaches. While both advocate for neutralizing Hamas, the Biden administration advocates for a more politically driven strategy, while Netanyahu seeks an almost entirely military-centric approach.

Hamas, on the other hand, announced three main objectives of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood immediately following the events of 7 October. First, success in conducting a prisoner exchange with the enemy entity. Second, retaliation against Israeli aggression in the occupied West Bank and safeguarding Al-Aqsa Mosque from settler extremists. Third, placing the Palestinian issue back on the global stage. Chinese General Sun Tzu’s timeless wisdom in his Art of War distinguishes between tactical maneuvers and strategic foresight: “Everyone can see the tactics that are used to defeat the enemy in war, but what no one can see is the strategy from which great victory arises.” In warfare, tactical objectives focus on short-term gains – specific engagements or territorial advances. In contrast, strategic goals require long-term vision, aligning military actions with political priorities. In essence, tactics look to answer the “how,” while strategy answers the “why” in military engagement, ultimately with a political endgame.

Any state or party to a conflict can achieve tactical objectives by excelling in battlefield maneuvers, using superior technology, or having better trained and equipped forces. But winning battles – that is, achieving tactical goals – does not necessarily mean winning the war. This discrepancy occurs because the cumulative effect of tactical victories may not align with or contribute adequately to broader strategic objectives. While tactics are essential to winning battles, they must be used as part of a strategy aimed at achieving the ultimate goals of war. History offers several sobering reminders of the perils of prioritizing tactics over strategy. For example, in the Vietnam War, the US achieved numerous tactical victories yet failed strategically. Despite inflicting heavy losses, the broader goal of fostering a non-communist South Vietnam remained elusive. The US’s longest war, in Afghanistan against the Taliban, ended in another humiliating withdrawal, only for the Taliban to return to unprecedented political power across the country.

Esteemed Israeli historian and critic of Zionism, Ilan Pappe, believes that the failures of the genocidal war on Gaza will ultimately lead to the downfall of the Zionist entity, with the war being the most perilous chapter in the “history of a project fighting for its existence.”

Yanis

"How many rivers of Palestinian blood need to flow before you feel cleansed of your guilt over the Holocaust"@YanisVaroufakis pic.twitter.com/BVBCcOwCr1

— Double Down News (@DoubleDownNews) March 11, 2024

“Like Florida, [a] key state, where the votes of the Jews can decide who will move into the White House, so too can the votes of the Muslims in Michigan decide … ”

• White House Fails to Navigate the Israeli Re-calibration (Alastair Crooke)

Alon Pinkas, a former senior Israeli diplomat, well-plugged into Washington, tells us that a frustrated White House finally has “had enough”. The rupture with Netanyahu is complete: The Prime Minister does not comport himself as ‘an U.S. ally’ should; he severely criticises Biden’s Middle East policies, and now the United States has come to understand this fact. Biden cannot afford any further Israel-affects to jeopardise his electoral campaign, and so – as his State of the Union Speech makes clear – he will double-down on misconstrued policy frameworks for both Israel and Ukraine. So what does Biden intend to do about Netanyahu’s act of defiance against the ‘holy grail’ of U.S. policy recommendations? Well, he invited Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s War Cabinet to Washington, and wrapped him around an agenda “reserved for a prime minister, or someone they think will, or should be, premier”. Officials apparently thought that by initiating a visit outside of usual diplomatic protocols, they may “have unleashed a dynamic that could lead to an election in Israel”, Pinkas notes, resulting in a leadership more amenable to U.S. ideas.

It was clearly intended as a first step to ‘soft power’ régime change. And the prime reason for the declaration of war on Netanyahu? Gaza. Biden apparently didn’t appreciate the snub received in the Michigan primary when the Gaza protest vote surpassed 100,000 ‘uncommitted votes’. Polls – especially amongst the young – are flashing red warning signals for November (in no small part because of Gaza). Democratic national leaders are beginning to worry. Leading Israeli commentator, Nahum Barnea, warns that Israel is “loosing America”: “We are accustomed to thinking of America in familial terms … We receive weapons and international backing and the Jews give their votes in the key states and money to the campaigns. This time, the situation is different … Since the votes in [presidential] elections are counted regionally, only a few states … actually decide … Like Florida, [a] key state, where the votes of the Jews can decide who will move into the White House, so too can the votes of the Muslims in Michigan decide …

“[Activists] called on the primary voters to vote “uncommitted” to protest Biden’s support for Israel … Their campaign succeeded beyond expectations: 130,000 Democratic voters supported it. The slap in the face to Biden reverberated across the entire length and breadth of the political establishment. It not only attested to the rise of a new, efficient and toxic political lobby, [but] also to the revulsion that many Americans feel when they see the pictures from Gaza”. “Biden loves Israel and is truly afraid for it”, concludes Barnea “but he has no intention of losing the elections because of it. That is an existential threat”. The problem however, is the converse: It is that U.S. policy is deeply flawed, and wholly incongruent with majority public sentiment in Israel. Many Israelis feel they are fighting an existential struggle, and must not become ‘just fodder’ (as they see it) to a U.S. Democratic electoral strategy. The reality is that Israel is rupturing with Team Biden – not the converse.

Biden’s key plan which rests on a revitalised Palestinian security apparatus is described – even in the Washington Post – as ‘improbable’. The U.S. tried a PA security ‘revitalising’ initiative under U.S. General Zinni in 2002 and Dayton in 2010. It did not work – and for good reason: Palestinian Authority security forces are simply viewed by most Palestinians as the hated stooges enforcing continued Israeli occupation. They work to Israeli security interests, not Palestinian security interests. The other main components to U.S. policy is an even more improbable ‘de-radicalised’ and anaemic ‘two-state solution’, buried within a regional concert of conservative Arab States acting as its security overseer. This policy approach reflects a White House out of kilter with today’s more eschatological Israel, and one failing to move on from perspectives and policies hailing from decades past which, even then, were failures. The White House therefore has resorted to an old trick: To project all of its own policy failings onto a foreign leader for not making the ‘unworkable’ work, and to try to replace that leader with someone more compliant. Pinkas writes:

“Once the United States became convinced that Netanyahu was not being cooperative, not being a considerate ally, behaving like a crude ingrate … focused only on his political survival after the October 7 debacle, the time was ripe to try a new political course”. However, Netanyahu’s policy – for better or worse – reflects what a majority of Israelis think. Netanyahu has his well-known personality defects and is seriously unpopular in Israel, yet that does not mean that a plurality disagrees with his, and his government’s programme. So “enter Gantz”, unleashed by Team Biden as prospective PM-in-waiting into the Washington and London diplomatic pool.

Kash Patel
https://twitter.com/i/status/1766847857460437487

“..Biden’s recent blunder in which he mixed up Ukraine and the Middle East sums up his poor mental state..”

• Biden a ‘Rare Kind of Idiot’ – Medvedev (RT)

US President Joe Biden’s recent blunder in which he mixed up Ukraine and the Middle East sums up his poor mental state, former Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev has claimed. Biden’s gaffe came in an interview with MSNBC on Saturday, as he discussed the Israeli military campaign in Gaza with host Jonathan Capehart. The US leader said West Jerusalem should not repeat the mistakes that Washington made following the September 2001 terrorist attacks. “America made a mistake. We went after Osama bin Laden until we got him, but we shouldn’t have gone into Ukraine,” Biden stated. He then corrected himself, saying he meant “the whole thing in Iraq and Afghanistan,” referring to the US invasions and occupation of the two Middle Eastern nations. Confusing places and people has been a recurring issue for the 81-year-old president. Medvedev, who serves as deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, posted a short clip of the gaffe on Sunday on social media, adding: “A rare kind of idiot.”

Some Russian officials have suggested that Biden’s slip of the tongue was Freudian. “He didn’t mix it up. He can no longer keep to himself what everyone understands – the US has disgraced itself in the bloodiest manner with the whole Ukrainian project,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. Moscow perceives the Ukraine conflict as a US-led proxy war against Russia, in which Ukrainian soldiers serve as ‘cannon fodder’. The Russian military estimated that by the end of February, Kiev’s military losses had reached 444,000. In the nine-minute interview with MSNBC, Biden mentioned Ukraine once, calling out former President Donald Trump for his skeptical attitude towards NATO. The incumbent leader described the organization as “critical to our national defense.” Moscow has cited the expansion of the military bloc in Europe as a key cause of the hostilities with Ukraine.

“Macron preparing to visit Kiev? But he’s a zoological coward!”

• Macron is a ‘Coward’ – Medvedev (RT)

French President Emmanuel Macron has postponed his visit to Ukraine because he is a pathological coward, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has claimed. The Elysee Palace announced on Monday that Macron’s long-awaited visit to Ukraine will take place sometime “in the coming weeks.” The announcement marks the third delay of the French leader’s visit to Ukraine. Macron had initially planned to visit Kiev to sign a bilateral security agreement last month, but the document ended up being signed during Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s trip to Paris. “Macron preparing to visit Kiev? But he’s a zoological coward!” Medvedev posted in French on X (formerly Twitter), recommending that Macron’s office pack “several changes of underwear” and prepare for a “strong stink.”

Medvedev claimed that he originally wrote the message in the morning, but by the time he decided to post it – the French president had already “s**t himself” and pulled out of the planned visit. “Poor France!” he added. Instead of hurrying to Kiev, Macron wants to “take the necessary time” for talks with allies to be able to visit Ukraine “with tangible results,” Politico wrote on Monday, citing an anonymous French diplomat. In recent weeks, the French president has escalated his hawkish rhetoric towards Russia, suggesting in late February that sending Western troops to Ukraine cannot be ruled out. Last Tuesday in Prague, he called on European nations to step up support for Kiev amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict, saying Europe is facing times “where it will be appropriate not to be a coward.”

NATO members are seeking to boost military aid to Kiev amid worries that funding from Ukraine’s biggest war sponsor – the US – will dry up. Earlier this year, the White House said that Washington had used up all the money allocated to Ukraine thus far – more than $113 billion. An additional $60 billion in US funding is still being held up in Congress, although recently it was suggested that the money should be loaned to Kiev, rather than given away. Moscow maintains that Western military aid to Ukraine does little to alter the course of the conflict, while extending the hostilities and causing needless deaths. Commenting on Macron’s words regarding the possibility of deploying Western troops to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that doing so would make a direct clash between NATO and Russia “inevitable.”

“The EU, whose initial vocation as a peacemaker in Europe has completely slipped and transformed into a warmonger..”

• ‘Warmonger’ EU’s Defense Strategy a Wishful Dream (Sp.)

The European Commission’s newly proposed strategy to coordinate its military industries to tackle the “existential threat” posed by Russia is, above all, a pipe dream, Colonel Jacques Hogard, who served 26 years in the French Army as an airborne officer in the Foreign Legion and the special forces, told Sputnik. “The EU, whose initial vocation as a peacemaker in Europe has completely slipped and transformed into a warmonger, is seeking to exist, in the face of the visible disengagement of the United States in Ukraine. It clumsily tries to find a way out of the trap into which the Americans have made it fall. But in reality, ‘defense Europe’ is a dream. Born from a desire to bring the Franco-German couple together, this dream has never had the slightest beginning of concrete realization,” Hogard stated.

The pundit elaborated by pointing to the TIGER III, MAWS, and CIFS programs that were all successively “abandoned by Berlin, either to adopt purely German solutions or to turn to American equipment.” The remaining two programs – SCAF (Future Combat Air System) and MGCS (Main Ground Combat System) – were plagued by “disagreements over the distribution of roles between German and French industries.” “These programs were pushed through under pressure from politicians, without their future being assured,” Jacques Hogard said. Continuing to support Ukraine militarily has left European countries’ existing stocks depleted, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell admitted in his latest blog post. He urged moving “from an emergency mode to a longer-term vision, in a new strategy would allow the EU to be able to “replenish our stocks and develop the defense capabilities,” while continuing to provide “adequate military support to Ukraine.”

“To strengthen our defense in a tense geopolitical context, we urgently need to overcome the fragmentation of our defense industry through more joint procurement and more common projects,” he wrote. The blog post further elaborated on the new European Defense Industrial Strategy recently unveiled by Brussels. The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, touted its plan worth around €1.5 billion (US $1.6 billion) as a way to turbocharge the bloc’s military-industrial sector. The strategy is geared to reduce the EU member states’ dependence on the US for defense needs. Procurement outside the bloc was declared “no longer sustainable.” The plans will need to be approved by the European Parliament and by member countries, who are already squabbling over military and weapons spending on Ukraine aid.

“..Macron effectively offered to share French nuclear weapons. “These statements by Macron are extremely serious..”

• EU Nuclear Umbrella to Embolden Member States to Use French Nukes (Sp.)

The idea of the EU’s nuclear umbrella could lead to other countries using France’s nuclear potential, even though France might not be under any threat, the leader of France’s Patriots party and candidate for the European Parliament elections, Florian Philippot, told RIA Novosti. Earlier in the year, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Paris had a responsibility to defend the European Union. He added that France’s interests had a European dimension, which gave Paris a special responsibility that, in particular, affects French deterrence capabilities. The assertion, Filippot said, means that Macron effectively offered to share French nuclear weapons. “These statements by Macron are extremely serious. This is what should be the first guarantee of national sovereignty, nuclear weapons, which you need in case your vital interests are in danger, this is what nuclear doctrine is all about, the same for all nuclear powers. And what he is saying means that if tomorrow Poland is at war with Russia, it can use nuclear weapons while we are not in danger, we are not at war. And if tomorrow Ukraine becomes part of the EU, we could potentially let Ukraine use it, that’s completely insane,” the politician said.

Such statements indicate that the French president is not guided by the country’s national interest, he added. “Behind this is also pressure from Germany to get our nuclear weapons. They have long been willing to invest financially in our nuclear weapons in exchange for jointly controlling them. This is where the demand that France makes for Germany or the EU to take a place among the permanent members of the UN Security Council comes from. This goes hand in hand,” Philippot said. In February, European Parliament Vice-President Katarina Barley said in an interview with the Tagesspiegel newspaper that the creation of the EU’s own nuclear umbrella to replace the US umbrella could become a topic of discussion at the European level. At the same time, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner spoke in favor of greater cooperation with France and the United Kingdom on nuclear deterrence.

““NATO is acting like a fireman, who sets on fire more and more buildings in order to show the community how much it needs him..”

• Poland: the Biggest Army in the EU And the Biggest Risks in the Making (Babich)

The Polish ministers love surprises. This week, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski stunned the public when he said “several NATO countries already have their troops in Ukraine.” Sikorski represents the pro-EU “liberal” party Civic Platform, which recently replaced the “anti-European” nationalists from the Law and Justice (PiS) party. By voicing the shocking remark, Sikorski was effectively attempting to outdo the media star of the previous cabinet formed by the PiS. That media star was Mariusz Blaszczak, the former minister of defense who promised Poland would have “the strongest army in Europe” in two years In fact, Sikorski’s statement about NATO troops in Ukraine was not much of a secret for Russia. Even Sikorski’s attempt to create intrigue by saying he would not reveal the troops’ countries of origin was a failure. Maria Zakharova, the official representative of Russia’s Foreign Ministry, acknowledged that Russia knew about the presence of Western servicemen and which countries they came from.

She said: “It does not make sense for NATO to deny it’s sending soldiers to Ukraine any more.” However, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius again denied the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine recently, in this way one more time exposing himself or Sikorski as a liar. Sikorski made his revelation about NATO troops at a celebration devoted to the 25th anniversary of Poland joining the NATO alliance alongside Hungary and the Czech Republic in 1999. In his speech, Sikorski also said that sending Western troops to Ukraine was a “creative” move, and that “the West should pursue the policy of asymmetrical escalation” in Ukraine. Through the official’s commentary and by ignoring Russia’s warnings of the inevitable retaliation for the escalation, Sikorski is – again – following in Blaszczak’s footsteps. It was under him that Poland, indeed, became Europe’s fastest growing military power, and the Civic Platform does not show any willingness to stop the project.

According to official data from Blaszczak’s defense ministry, in 2023 alone, Poland bought 1,000 K2 tanks from South Korea and 673 K9 howitzers from the same supplier. From the United States, Poland purchased 366 Abrams tanks and 32 F-35A fighter jets. “If Blaszczak’s plans are fulfilled, by 2030 Poland will have more tanks than the combined forces of the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands and Belgium,” the Wall Street Journal reported in an article headlined, “Poland Hardens Its Defenses Against Russia.” In 2023, Poland spent $ 23 billion on defense purposes, a sum that makes up 4% of the country’s GDP against the NATO-required 2%. But is spending tens of billions of dollars from a poor country’s budget for preparations of war against the historically and ethnically close eastern neighbor a wise policy? Not so, say cooler heads. “NATO is acting like a fireman, who sets on fire more and more buildings in order to show the community how much it needs him,” Mateusz Piskorski, a well known journalist and former leader of Zmiana party, told Sputnik.

In Piskorski’s opinion, NATO and Polish aggressive elite bear at least a part of the responsibility for the fire which is now devouring Ukraine. Ironically, these same elites point to Ukraine as the proof of Russia’s belligerence. These same Polish elites try to talk Poles into spending more money on arms for Ukraine and on increasing the power of the native Polish army. Blaszczak’s plan was to increase the staff of the Polish army from the current 172,000 men to 300,000. The timeframe for the reform is intended to proceed between two and three years, and this is one of the few initiatives of the outgoing PiS party, which the new “liberal” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk promises to continue.

“You will get these massive bank runs that the government will have to step in and bail out. This is one of many things that will happen in the not-so-distant future..”

• Eventual Financial Death Spiral Now Imminent – John Rubino (USAW)

Analyst and financial writer John Rubino warned nearly four months ago of a “U.S. Financial Death Spiral.” This past week, Bank of America caught up to Rubino and issued a warning about a “US dollar death spiral” because the federal government was going deeper in the red by creating “$1 trillion in new debt every 100 days.” Maybe this is why gold and Bitcoin have been hitting new all-time highs day after day. Rubino says, “When a building was worth $200 million and someone sells it for $48 million, that means there is a loss that someone has to take. Those losses are mostly on the books of regional and local banks. So, they are in big trouble financially. . . . You will get these massive bank runs that the government will have to step in and bail out. This is one of many things that will happen in the not-so-distant future. This will impact government finances in a scary way that will send people’s attention to the currency. In other words, if we have another $3 trillion bailout on top of everything else that’s going on . . .what is that going to do to the dollar? . . . .

Currencies are being inflated away with all these bailouts, deficits, wars and all these things that are going on that are bad for the currency. So, people start selling government bonds, which push up interest rates and blows up even more bad real estate and paper . . . until you get a debt spiral, a real live financial death spiral than cannot be fixed. . . . I was talking to a real estate guy the other day, and he said this is not just inevitable, it is imminent. It is happening now. It is happening quickly, and it is going to hit the headlines. . . . In this case, what is inevitable in commercial real estate is also looking imminent.” Rubino goes on to say, “The numbers are not lost on the guys running the big investment banks and the big media outlets. They are sitting around, and they are thinking we have to say something about this because this is obviously a very big financial story. So, we have to report on it. Finally, the numbers have gotten big enough with the deficits and government interest costs . . . that this is a story that cannot be ignored anymore.

“It’s got to be pretty far along before they reach that point because they really don’t want to report on this. To report on this is seen as a betrayal of the establishment, and they are part of the establishment. They are playing on that team. The debt numbers are finally big enough that they can’t be ignored anymore, and that implies that we are getting near the end of the road.” Gold and Bitcoin both hit all-time new highs this past week. What does it mean? Rubino explains, “This means the market is speaking, and it’s concluding these currencies have a problem. Capital is flowing into the alternatives. It’s flowing into the old kind of money that has held up for thousands of years like gold or the possible new kind of money like Bitcoin that has come on relatively recently (when compared to gold). . . . In either case, it is a vote against the dollar. When gold and Bitcoin are both spiking, it is a big vote of no confidence in the dollar.”

In closing, Rubino says, “There is no way to know how this plays out in the next six months, but this should terrify the central banks. By the way, the big central banks are behaving as if they are terrified because they are aggressively buying gold. They have bought about 1,000 tons of gold in each of the last two years. 1,000 tons is a fourth of the gold that comes out of all the gold mines in a given year. So, that is a major purchase, and they take the gold off the market. They don’t turn around and sell it. They put it away as a reserve asset. The gold is effectively disappearing. This makes the market even tighter, and this is also part of the reason why gold is going up.”

Obesity. “It probably comes as no surprise that the same people who demand their food fast and fried, will also expect an easy cure as well..”

• Global Hunger Isn’t The Worst Food-Related Threat To Humanity (Bridge)

World Obesity Day was marked this week and, with over a billion people afflicted worldwide, obesity is now considered more dangerous to global health than hunger. The numbers are staggering. Sometime in the mid-20th century a cameraman captured an unforgettable black-and-white photo depicting thousands of American sunworshippers crowded onto Coney Island, New York City. What is most conspicuous about the iconic photograph, aside from the sheer number of beachgoers, is the lack of excessive cellulite packed into the assorted bathing suits and bikinis. Sadly and not a little tragically, those halcyon days are over. While hunger overwhelmingly afflicts the poverty-stricken nations of the world, obesity represents a unique type of affliction in that it targets both rich and poor alike. Between 1990 and 2022, global obesity rates quadrupled for children and doubled for adults, according to a new study by the Lancet (The World Health Organization classifies obesity as having a body-mass index equal to or greater than 30 kilograms per square meter).

In the WHO’s top-ten ‘hefty’ list, it may come as some surprise that the tiny Polynesian nations of Tonga and American Samoa had the highest prevalence of obesity in 2022 for women, while American Samoa and [nearby] Nauru had the highest rates among men. In those picturesque island paradises, more than 60% of the adult population were clinically obese. Other surprises included Egypt, weighing in at number ten in the female category, while Qatar took tenth place in boys’ obesity levels. Among the wealthy countries, the United States was the heavyweight representative and is tenth in the world for obesity among men. Shockingly, the US adult obesity rate increased from 21.2% in 1990 to 43.8% in 2022 for women, and from 16.9% to 41.6% in 2022 for men, placing the nation of 330 million fast-food consumers 36th in the world for highest obesity rates among women and, for men, tenth in the world.

By contrast, the adult obesity rate in the United Kingdom increased from 13.8% in 1990 to 28.3% in 2022 among females, ranking it 87th highest in the world, while the obesity rate for males surged from 10.7% to 26.9%, placing Britain at 55th. Among children, the study found the US obesity rates increased from 11.6% in 1990 to 19.4% in 2022 for girls, 11.5% to 21.7% for boys. In 2022, the US ranked 22nd in the world for obesity among girls, 26th for boys. Considering the rapid rates of change among Americans, the US will be predictably dominating the charts in just a few years, creating what could be considered a national emergency. None of this should have been unpredictable. After all, what does a society expect that can’t even park the car and walk several steps into the restaurant? And it’s not like consumers are ordering homemade soup and salads at the drive-thru window.

The junk food served at fast food enterprises is loaded with sodium content in order to prolong its shelf life, as well as saturated fatty acids that increase cholesterol levels in the body, clog the blood vessels and restrict normal blood flow, leading to heart disease. And that’s not even mentioning the high-fructose corn syrup found in the cola drinks. The real challenge, however, is how to combat obesity at a time when so many people have become addicted to a sedentary, order-online lifestyle. It probably comes as no surprise that the same people who demand their food fast and fried, will also expect an easy cure as well.

“Researchers are curious as to how 40% of the participants showed no evidence of microplastics in their plaques, given that microplastics are ubiquitous..”

• Nanoplastics Linked to an Increase in Heart Attacks And Strokes (Sp.)

Roughly a week ago it was reported that boiling one’s water could help reduce the amount of microplastics in it by nearly 90%, as long as that water is hard water. At the time, scientists were still studying the extent to which nanoplastics could cause harm to one’s body. A new study says that people with nanoplastics inside their bodies are 4.5 times more likely to suffer from a heart attack, stroke or die of other health related concerns over the next three years than people without them, scientists say. The study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, and explained how micro- and nanoplastics (NMPs) are “emerging” as a potential risk factor when assessing cardiovascular disease. It is the first time that such a connection has been made.

Nanoplastics are tiny bits of plastic that can be as small as one-thousandth of a millimeter in diameter, though the definition applies to any small plastic piece that is less than five millimeters long in length. They are ubiquitous, long-lasting, and often require centuries to break down. But cells responsible for removing waste products can’t readily degrade them, so microplastics accumulate in organisms. These NMPs, about the size of a virus, are the perfect size to adversely affect how human cells function, and are capable of passing through key protective filters in one’s body including the intestinal lining and blood brain barrier. They have also been found in our food, breast milk and even the clouds in our skies. The researchers studied a group of patients who were already scheduled to undergo surgery for a condition known as carotid artery stenosis, which occurs when the carotid arteries—the main blood vessels that carry blood and oxygen to the brain—become narrowed after plaque, or fatty deposits, block normal blood flow. These arteries typically help supply blood to the brain, face and neck.

The researchers looked at plaque that was removed from 256 patients and tracked their health for an average of 34 months following the surgery. They found plastic particles, many of which were NMPs in the plaque of 150 patients—about 60%. At the follow-up, nonfatal heart attack, nonfatal stroke or death from any cause occurred in 20% of those patients and in 7.5% of the patients without detectable plastic particles. Chemical analyses showed that a majority of the particles were composed of either polyethylene, which is commonly used and is often found in food packaging, shopping bags and medical tubing. [..] Researchers are curious as to how 40% of the participants showed no evidence of microplastics in their plaques, given that microplastics are ubiquitous. One of the study’s co-authors says it could be that the participants behave differently or have different biological pathways for processing plastics, however, more research is needed.

Antikythera

The Antikythera Mechanism – 2D
More than 21 centuries ago, a mechanism of fabulous ingenuity was created in Greece, a device capable of indicating exactly how the sky would look for decades to come — the position of the moon and sun, lunar phases and even eclipses. But this… pic.twitter.com/4GlVzCX0XL

— Camus (@newstart_2024) March 11, 2024

Tigers