Feb 022025
 


Pablo Picasso Les Demoiselles d’Avignon 1907

 

Musk Reveals Treasury Has Been Auto-Paying Everyone, ‘Even Known Terrorists’ (ZH)
USAID Website and X Account Go Dark (RT)
Trump’s Overhaul of Federal Bureaucracy Backed by Recent Survey Research (RCW)
US Federal Workers Told To Remove Pronouns From Email Signatures (RT)
NYT, NBC, NPR, Politico Evicted From Pentagon Press Offices (ZH)
Chuck Schumer Is Now Under Federal Investigation (Margolis)
Ric Grenell Scores Big Win For Trump In Venezuela (ZH)
Border Encounters Plummet 94% Under Trump (ZH)
Mexico Announces Retaliation Against US (RT)
Canada Strikes Back With Tariffs (RT)
Musk Sank $288 Million Into Trump Campaign – WaPo (RT)
Can Trump Make A Peace Deal With Putin? (SCF)
White House Wants Zelensky To Hold Elections – Trump Envoy (RT)
The Chihuahua Energy Policy: It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas (Pepe Escobar)
Russia and China Boost NVIDIA Performance 800-Fold (Sp.)
Norway Clears Russian-Crewed Ship In Sabotage Probe (RT)
Global Green Spending Is Falling Short of Net Zero Targets (OP)

 

 

 

 

AfD

 

 

 

 

What a story…: “..a handful of career officials within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service” … control “the US government’s payment system”, which includes Social Security, Medicare, federal salaries, payments to government contractors, tax refunds, grant recipients, and more. No payment is ever refused, and $6 trillion per year is disbursed this way. The Treasury Department’s highest-ranking career official flees the scene when Musk comes close.

I would take a good look at these guys’ bank accounts and other assets over the past 10 years. And it looks like DOGE can find a lot of savings here.

Musk Reveals Treasury Has Been Auto-Paying Everyone, ‘Even Known Terrorists’ (ZH)

Update (0942ET): Well, well, well – DOGE moves into the Treasury, triggering their longest-serving, highest-ranked career official to quit in a huff, and they find that department has essentially been auto-paying everyone, according to Elon Musk. “The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups,” said Musk in a Friday night tweet. “They literally never denied a payment in their entire career.”

***
The Treasury Department’s highest-ranking career official quit after a clash with aides of Elon Musk over access to sensitive payment systems, according to the Washington Post, citing (of course), three anonymous sources. David A. Lebryk, a decades-long Treasury official who President Trump named as acting secretary upon taking office last week, announced his retirement in a Friday email to colleagues. According to the report, Lebryk had a dispute with Musk surrogates over access to the US government’s payment system used to disburse trillions of dollars every year. [Imagine Musk and team uncover decades of improper payments and shady dealings?] The Musk surrogates are affiliated with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and have been asking since the election for access to the system, according to the report. The requests were reiterated after Trump’s inauguration.

After Trump pick Scott Bessent was confirmed as Treasury Secretary on Monday, Lebryk ceased to be acting agency head. The payment system in question is run by a handful of career officials within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service – which controls the flow of more than $6 trillion annually to households, businesses, and other entities nationwide – and includes Social Security, Medicare, federal salaries, payments to government contractors, tax refunds, grant recipients, and more. The clash is the latest incident involving career ‘deep state’ bureaucrats vs. the Trump administration. And of course, WaPo, the CIA’s favorite tentacle, frames it as follows:

“The clash reflects an intensifying battle between Musk and the federal bureaucracy as the Trump administration nears the conclusion of its second week. Musk has sought to exert sweeping control over the inner workings of the U.S. government, installing longtime surrogates at several agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management, which essentially handles federal human resources, and the General Services Administration, which manages real estate. (Musk was seen on Thursday visiting GSA, according to two other people familiar with his whereabouts, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal matters. That visit was first reported by the New York Times.) His Department of Government Efficiency, originally conceived as a nongovernmental panel, has since replaced the U.S. Digital Service.”

Translation: “Unfortunately for the career bureaucrats, Trump signed an executive order instructing all agencies to ensure DOGE has “full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems,” which appear to include the Treasury payment systems. Musk has previously slammed rising national debt as an existential threat to the country, while DOGE has already made progress in rooting out bullshit programs established by Democrat administrations.

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“About 98 percent of USAID grants pay for activities and not results..”

USAID operates like the typical NGO of today. A vehicle to ‘silently’ dole out money. Ukrainian media are fully dependent on such vehicles, to name an example.

USAID Website and X Account Go Dark (RT)

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) website has gone offline following an executive order by President Donald Trump that pauses most American foreign aid programs for three months to reassess US overseas spending. The website became inaccessible on Saturday afternoon, displaying a message stating that the “server IP address could not be found.” Later that day, the agency’s X account also disappeared. The outage follows reports that the Trump administration is considering placing USAID under the control of the State Department. Last week, Trump signed an executive order freezing most US foreign aid for 90 days, citing the need for a comprehensive review of how funds are allocated.

The order states that “billions of taxpayer dollars flow to programs that do not serve American interests and, in many cases, actively work against them.” The White House has framed the move as part of Trump’s “America First” policy, aimed at cutting wasteful spending and redirecting resources toward domestic priorities. USAID, which oversees humanitarian and development programs abroad, has been significantly impacted. The agency spent over $60 billion on foreign assistance in 2023 alone. On Friday, Reuters reported that the Trump administration is planning to strip USAID of its independence and place it under the control of the State Department. According to sources familiar with the discussions, the National Security Council has hosted meetings on the issue, and legal options are being explored for Trump to issue an executive order formalizing the merger.

Some officials believe the order could be signed as early as this weekend. Photographs of USAID headquarters reviewed by Reuters showed that signs bearing the agency’s official seal had already been removed. Critics have condemned the proposed reorganization, with Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warning that such a move could face legal challenges. “A president cannot eliminate an appropriated federal agency by executive order. That’s what a despot – who wants to steal the taxpayers’ money to enrich his billionaire cabal – does,” Murphy wrote in a post on X on Friday. US-based billionaire Elon Musk, who is advising Trump on downsizing the federal government, reacted by saying: “Live by executive order, die by executive order.”

USAID was created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy through an executive order, consolidating various foreign assistance programs under one agency. Its mission has been to promote economic growth, respond to humanitarian crises, and advance U.S. national security interests globally. However, the agency has faced growing criticism over its effectiveness, with experts questioning whether its assistance programs achieve their intended goals. “About 98 percent of USAID grants pay for activities and not results,” Walter Kerr, co-executive director of Unlock Aid, said earlier this month. “Less than 10 percent of our foreign assistance dollars flowing through USAID is actually reaching those communities.”

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“..just 45% of Federal Government Managers would follow a legal order from President Trump if they thought the order was bad policy, and instead would do what they thought was right.”

Trump’s Overhaul of Federal Bureaucracy Backed by Recent Survey Research (RCW)

Since returning to office for a second term, President Trump has taken aggressive action to overhaul the federal bureaucracy. After a week in office some of Trump actions towards federal workers include: removing employment protections for civil servants, firing 17 inspectors general, reassigning career officials in the Department of Justice, sending home 160 staffers from the National Security Agency and firing the lawyers at the Department of Justice who prosecuted Trump under special counsel Jack Smith. Trump’s efforts have been met with hostility and criticism from the media and predictably from his political opposition. Opinionist Phillip Bump at the Washington Post writes Trump’s actions are “a sharp disruption of how the government works.” Bump laments that “Trump is clearly interested in…seeding loyalists throughout the executive branch.”

At Axios, Zachary Basu and Dave Lawler explain that Trump is “transform[ing] the federal bureaucracy into an army of loyalists.” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who represents 140,000 federal workers in Virginia, told reporters “This gleeful hatred of the federal workforce will lead to nothing good. “But are Trump’s efforts to transform the government workforce justified by a real concern that his policy platforms–which earned him a presidential victory–will be thwarted by anonymous bureaucrats? Recent survey research suggests Trump is right to be concerned. Napolitan Institute found that just 45% of Federal Government Managers would follow a legal order from President Trump if they thought the order was bad policy and instead would do what they thought was right.

Among managers who voted for Kamala Harris that figure jumps to nearly three-quarters (69%.) The survey also found a majority (52%) of the federal managerial class voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Those current survey results are consistent with events that developed in the first Trump Administration, where we learned how bureaucratic opinions on “right” policy interfered with the power of the duly elected executive officer. Former diplomat Jim Jeffrey revealed that his team routinely mislead the Trump Administration after the president had ordered the withdrawal of troops from Syria. “What Syria withdrawal? There was never a Syria withdrawal,” Jeffrey said. “When the situation in northeast Syria had been fairly stable after we defeated ISIS, [Trump] was inclined to pull out. In each case, we then decided to come up with five better arguments for why we needed to stay. And we succeeded both times. That’s the story.”

“We were always playing shell games to not make clear to our leadership how many troops we had there,” Jeffrey said in an interview.While Jeffrey’s revelation came after Trump had left office from his first term, there was a real time revelation of a policy conflict between President Trump and the “interagency consensus” that would become foundation of the first Trump impeachment.The policy difference originated from a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when Trump requested Zelensky open an investigation into possible corruption at the Burisma energy company before receiving a military aid package. Trump’s 2020 election opponent Joe Biden’s son was on the board of Burisma. A central part of the subsequent impeachment case was testimony from Lt. Alexander Vindman (ret.), who had been detailed to the National Security Council and present for the phone call.

Vindman explained in his opening statement to the House impeachment committee he was concerned the president chose to wield his executive authority in a way that was at odds with the “interagency consensus.” Vindman testified “…a false narrative of Ukraine inconsistent with the consensus views of the interagency,” Vindman said in his opening statement. “This narrative was harmful to U.S. government policy. While my interagency colleagues and I were becoming increasingly optimistic on Ukraine’s prospects, this alternative narrative undermined U.S. government efforts to expand cooperation with Ukraine.” But Vindman and the “interagency consensus” have no authority to determine or execute their interpretation of U.S. government policy or in other words, “do what they thought was right.”

The New York Times editorial board supported and encouraged the usurpation of executive authority in favor of the “right” bureaucratic opinion by praising the government bureaucracy overriding or ignoring President Trump’s lawful authority. “…patriotic public servants — career diplomats, scientists, intelligence officers and others…have somehow remembered that their duty is to protect the interests, not of a particular leader, but of the American people.” There is no way to know exactly how extensive bureaucratic resistance interfered with Trump’s ability to govern in his first term, but we do know 46% of current Federal Government Managers would ignore the legal order of President Trump and instead do what was “right.” Trump is making the correct move to overhaul the federal bureaucracy in order to deliver on the campaign promises that got him back in office.

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How did we ever get here?

US Federal Workers Told To Remove Pronouns From Email Signatures (RT)

Employees at US federal agencies have been ordered to remove pronouns from their email signatures, according to internal memos obtained by several media outlets. The directive reportedly cites two presidential executive orders seeking to curb diversity and equity programs across the government.On his first day back in office, US President Donald Trump repealed 78 executive orders signed by his predecessor, Joe Biden. They included several measures to protect transgender rights and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The orders also set a 60-day timeframe for federal agencies and departments to cease DEI-related practices.The memos on removing pronouns from signatures reportedly set Friday afternoon as the deadline.

“Pronouns and any other information not permitted in the policy must be removed from CDC/ATSDR employee signatures by 5 p.m. ET on Friday,” ABC News cited one such message as saying. It was sent to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees on Friday morning. The outlet reported that a similar notice urging the removal of DEI “language in Federal discourse, communications, and publications” had been received by federal employees with the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation on Thursday.

Several federal government agency websites, including the Federal Aviation Administration and the Census Bureau, temporarily went down on Friday, according to The Guardian. Some pages displayed as blank before reappearing later that day. The British newspaper noted that the Bureau of Prisons had renamed a webpage called “inmate gender” to “inmate sex” and stopped displaying a list of trans inmates. Donald Trump declared in his inaugural address on January 1 that the US would officially recognize only two genders. ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’, one of the orders signed by the president later that day, states that “there are only two genders, male and female,” and orders agencies to update official documents such as passports and visas in accordingly.

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Legacy no more: “The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media that are seated in this room..”

NYT, NBC, NPR, Politico Evicted From Pentagon Press Offices (ZH)

The innumerable consequences of the 2024 election keep gushing forth at a pace that’s hard to keep up with. Here’s a new gem: On Friday evening, the Department of Defense told The New York Times, NBC News, National Public Radio and Politico that they have two weeks to vacate their long-held and treasured offices inside the Pentagon. Three of their four replacements skew decidedly to the Trump-friendly sector of the political spectrum: the New York Post, One America News Network and Breitbart. Throwing a bone to leftists, HuffPost news snagged Politico’s old slot. The Pentagon Press Association said it was “greatly troubled by this unprecedented move by DOD to single out highly professional media.”

The short-notice evictions from the hallowed “Correspondents’ Corridor” spring from the launch of a “new annual media rotation program for [the] Pentagon Press Corps,” according to a memorandum sent by DOD spokesman John Ullyot on Friday and posted by CNN Pentagon correspondent Haley Britzky. The program seeks to “broaden access to the limited space…to outlets that have not previously enjoyed the privilege and journalist value of working from physical office space in the Pentagon,” said Ullyot. The booted outlets will retain their status as full members of the Pentagon Press Corps, entitled to attend briefings and be considered for travel with officials. “The only change will be giving up their physical workspaces in the building to allow new outlets to have their turn to become resident members of the Pentagon Press Corps,” wrote Ullyot.

Make no mistake: Those physical workspaces are a big deal. “Kicking out reporters HURTS coverage. If you can’t file your stories from inside the building you are disadvantaged. If you don’t have a work space you are disadvantaged,” wrote former Pentagon Press Corps VP Kevin Baron on X. That commentary was part of a thread condemning the development as “the erasure of journalism at the Pentagon.” The Pentagon Press Corps comprises more than two dozen outlets. The program calls for one outlet from each press medium to rotate from the premises every year. As if Breitbart’s invitation into the Pentagon weren’t enough to outrage establishment media types, the fact that it’s taking the “radio” slot from NPR only compounded the indignation. In a Friday night article, CNN’s Brian Stelter called foul:

“Breitbart – a well-known web site for pro-Trump coverage and commentary – barely has a radio operation of its own. The word ‘radio’ doesn’t appear on its home page at all. The media outlet has a distribution deal with SiriusXM and one big podcast, Breitbart News Daily. Its footprint pales in comparison to NPR, which provides news coverage for local stations all across the country.” In another hilarious, leftist-pummeling swap, One America News Network will be sliding into NBC’s slot. Expressing sympathetic disbelief, CNN’s Britzky emphasized that NBC “has an entire booth w/ cameras etc.” NBC News promised to soldier on, telling Reuters, “We’re disappointed by the decision to deny us access to a broadcasting booth at the Pentagon that we’ve used for many decades. Despite the significant obstacles this presents to our ability to gather and report news in the national public interest, we will continue to report with the same integrity and rigor NBC News always has.”

For the many Americans who are still angry about legacy media’s aggressive role in working to derail Trump’s 2020 re-election bid, Politico’s punishment is perhaps the most satisfying. The outlet took the lead in spreading the consequential, Deep State lie that Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” — first reported by the New York Post — was part of a Russian misinformation scheme. That lie helped ignite unprecedented censorship of the Post’s coverage. Fittingly, the Post — the country’s longest-running newspaper — is among the outlets graduating to space in the Pentagon.

“The National Press Club is deeply concerned by the Defense Department’s decision to remove certain media organizations from their dedicated spaces in the Pentagon,” club president Mike Balsamo said in a statement. “Any action that restricts the ability of journalists to report on the operations of the U.S. government should alarm all who value transparency and press freedom.” Balsamo pointed to the Pentagon press corps’ history of “diversity,” yet the announced swaps inarguably increase viewpoint diversity. The Pentagon’s shot across the bow of legacy media follows Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s announcement that the White House will significantly broaden media access, with an emphasis on alternative media. “The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media that are seated in this room,” she said in her first press conference. Never a dull moment in Trump II: The Revenge. What’s next?

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“I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price,” Schumer said to a chorus of cheers..

Chuck Schumer Is Now Under Federal Investigation (Margolis)

Interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. has made a bold move, dismissing about 30 federal prosecutors involved in the Capitol riot cases. This decision, announced on Friday, signals a significant housecleaning of the top prosecutor’s office in Washington, D.C., as Martin gears up to purge partisans who weaponized the Justice Department against Joe Biden’s political enemies, including Trump, pro-life activists, and others. But he’s also taken another bold step, effectively launching an investigation into Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over comments he made back in March 2020 during a #MyRightMyDecision rally outside the Supreme Court. During the rally, Schumer blatantly threatened Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch over their potential votes in the first abortion case before the Supreme Court with the new conservative majority.

“I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price,” Schumer said to a chorus of cheers. “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” According to 18 U.S. Code ß/ 115, whoever threatens a federal official, with intent to impede, intimidate, or interfere with such official, judge, or law enforcement officer while engaged in the performance of official duties, or with intent to retaliate against such official, judge, or law enforcement officer on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment of as much as ten years. Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, has been calling on Schumer to be federally prosecuted for years. “Schumer should have been (and should be) criminally prosecuted for his threats targeting two Supreme Court justices,” Fitton wrote.

“If I had said that, I’d have two U.S. marshals in my office, or frankly, probably in my home in the least, questioning me, questioning my family, questioning everyone here at Judicial Watch,” he said back in 2022. “Anyone else I had talked to about that threat on the Supreme Court, Justice Roberts responded, rightly so, said that type of language is dangerous.” “We take threats against public officials very seriously. I look forward to your cooperation,” Martin wrote Schumer in a letter obtained by the Washington Post.

According to the Post, while Martin’s actions are “likely to be welcomed by Trump and allies, who assert they were unfairly targeted by the past administration,” but “career prosecutors who have served under presidents of both parties say Martin is politicizing the office and potentially breaking with 50 years of Justice Department policy and practice intended to shield criminal prosecutions from political considerations.” That’s cute. I wonder what those “career prosecutors” had to say about the various cases the Biden administration launched against Donald Trump.

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Grenell truly is a special envoy. When the going gets tough…

Ric Grenell Scores Big Win For Trump In Venezuela (ZH)

Update (1815ET): The government of Venezuela has agreed not only to release six detained Americans, who arrived home Friday evening with Trump envoy Richard Grenell, the Maduro government has will take back tens of thousands of migrants, President Trump said on Saturday. “It is so good to have the Venezuela Hostages back home, and, very important to note, that Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their Country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S.,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that Venezuela would take back members of the Tren de Aragua transnational gang that has recently expanded into America from various Latin American countries. According to the WSJ, Maduro’s government will provide transport for its citizens to return.”This is good news for all who care about ensuring that Venezuelans with removal orders actually get sent home,” said Kevin Whitaker, a former U.S. ambassador to Colombia who also had served as deputy chief of mission in Venezuela.

* * *
More of the Trump effect: six imprisoned Americans have been freed by Venezuela after President Trump’s envoy Richard Grenell visited the country this week. They were released and flown home on a State Dept. aircraft on Friday. “Just been informed that we are bringing six hostages home from Venezuela,” Trump announced on social media. “Thank you to Ric Grenell and my entire staff. Great job!” This comes amid reports of some significant behind-the-scenes deal-making with Venezuela, as Washington demands the Latin American country receive back illegal migrants in the US.The six men were not named, but previously the White House had called on Venezuela to release what it dubbed “US hostages” or else suffer consequences. Grenell had reportedly met directly with President Maduro.

At least nine people with American citizenship or residency had been detained in Venezuela, after authorities accused them of planning to kill President Nicolás Maduro. According to the NY Times: Relatives of three detained U.S. citizens said they had gotten very little information from the American government and had not heard from their loved ones for months since they had disappeared. David Estrella, 64, who worked in quality control for pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey, was among those released, according to his family. “After such horrible moments that we and David have suffered unjustly, we look forward to welcoming him home and taking care of him until he fully recovers and leaves all this unfortunate incident behind him,” said Elvia Macias, Mr. Estrella’s former wife and close friend.

He had entered Venezuela from Colombia to visit friends, Ms. Macias said. Another reason this is such an unexpected positive development is that the United States has no diplomatic presence or embassy in Venezuela, and also has sanctions against the country and its top officials.As for what could be a factor in the release, Financial Times speculated that “a deal could involve an easing of US sanctions on Venezuela and dropping a US reward offered for Maduro’s capture in return for Caracas taking back thousands of [Venezuelan] migrants from the US, shipping more oil to American Gulf Coast refineries and releasing US nationals held in Caracas.” The jubilant freed Americans thanked President Trump in a phone call on the plane ride home:

The US State Department special envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, has meanwhile said the discussions and this new initiative with Caracas will not change Washington’s overall Venezuela policy. “President Trump expects Nicolás Maduro to take back all of the Venezuelan criminals and gang members that have been exported to the US, and to do so unequivocally and without condition,” he said.

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Now add the threat of Guantanamo. It’s ugly, but it may work.

Border Encounters Plummet 94% Under Trump (ZH)

Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, illegal alien encounters at the southern US border have plummeted an average of 94% during his first 9 days, compared to President Biden’s last 19 days in office. During Trump’s first 9 days in office, after new border measures were implemented, there were an average of 126 daily encounters at the border vs. 2,087 per day during the last 2.5 weeks of the Biden administration.

As Rasmussen’s Mark Mitchell put it last week, “It’s like a switch was flipped.” During his 2024 campaign, Trump vowed to crack down on illegal immigration by continuing construction on the border wall, conducting the largest mass deportation in US history, slapping tariffs on Canada and Mexico until they control the situation from their end, and increasing penalties for illegal aliens.

To that end, there were more than 3,500 illegal immigrants who were arrested during Trump’s first week in office, including over 1,100 in a single day. As American Greatness notes further, on Wednesday, shortly before signing the Laken Riley Act into law, the 45th and 47th President announced his intention to send 30,000 of the most dangerous criminal illegals to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Laken Riley Act, named after the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was murdered by a Venezuelan illegal, is the first bill signed into law during President Trump’s second term. It gives federal immigration authorities broader power to arrest illegals who commit dangerous crimes, including drunk driving and assaulting police officers.

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Pete Hegseth is talking about US military action against cartels inside Mexico.

Mexico Announces Retaliation Against US (RT)

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has accused the United States of fueling cartel violence by allowing powerful firearms to flow south, pushing back against President Donald Trump’s claims that Mexico is failing to stop illegal migration and drug trafficking. Sheinbaum’s comments late Saturday came as she ordered retaliatory tariffs on US goods in response to Trump’s sweeping 25% duties on imports from Mexico and Canada. “We categorically reject the slander made by the White House against the Government of Mexico, accusing it of having alliances with criminal organizations,” Sheinbaum wrote in a fiery post on X. “If such an alliance exists anywhere, it is in the armories of the United States that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups – as demonstrated by the US Department of Justice itself.”

Her remarks apparetly referred to a recent report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which indicated that a significant number of military-grade firearms used by Mexican cartels originate in the United States. Sheinbaum also touted her administration’s anti-narcotics efforts, stating that in just four months, Mexican security forces have seized over 40 tons of drugs, including 20 million doses of fentanyl, and arrested more than 10,000 people linked to organized crime. She criticized the US government’s approach to the drug crisis, arguing that if Washington were serious about combating drug abuse, it would “start a massive campaign to prevent the consumption of these drugs and take care of its young people, as we have done in Mexico.”

Trump’s new tariffs, set to take effect on February 4, impose a 25% duty on goods from Mexico and Canada and a 10% duty on imports from China. The US administration justifies these measures by citing concerns over illegal immigration and drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl entering the United States. In response, Sheinbaum has instructed the Ministry of Economy to “implement the Plan B that we have been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests.” While details have not been disclosed, sources indicate that Mexico aims to impose measures targeting key US industries, particularly agriculture, while seeking to avoid further escalation.

The Mexican leader called for bilateral cooperation to address the drug crisis but insisted on equal footing. ”If the United States truly wants to combat the criminal groups that traffic drugs and generate violence, we must work together comprehensively,” she said. “But always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration, and, above all, respect for sovereignty, which is non-negotiable.”

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Trudy is far too woke for Trump, and far too close to “Joe Biden”. That will never work.

Canada Strikes Back With Tariffs (RT)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced retaliatory 25% tariffs on American goods, hours after US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping trade restrictions on Canadian imports. “Tonight, I am announcing Canada will be responding to the US trade action with 25% trade tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods,” Trudeau said at a news conference on Saturday. The first wave of tariffs, covering $30 billion worth of US goods, will take effect on Tuesday, with broader measures following in 21 days to allow Canadian companies to adjust.

“These tariffs will be far-reaching and include everyday items,” the Canadian leader said, listing alcohol, fruits, vegetables, clothing, and shoes. In addition to direct tariffs, Ottawa is exploring “several non-tariff measures,” which could include restrictions on critical minerals, energy procurement, and other trade partnerships. “We will stand strong for Canada,” Trudeau said. “We will stand strong to ensure our countries continue to be the best neighbors in the world,” he added, urging citizens to support domestic businesses.

Trump’s 25% tariffs on nearly all Canadian goods were announced earlier on Saturday, with the White House citing concerns over illegal drug trafficking and immigration. “The extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, constitutes a national emergency,” a White House fact sheet read. “President Trump is taking bold action to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.”

The US president claimed that Canada has played “a central role” in America’s fentanyl crisis and failed to “devote sufficient attention and resources” to combat the flow of illicit drugs. In an effort to avert the tariffs, Ottawa introduced a $1.3 billion spending plan aimed at strengthening border surveillance and tackling drug trafficking. Trump said on Friday, however, that there is “nothing Canada can do right now” to avoid the new tariffs. Economists warn that the escalating trade dispute could lead to rising consumer prices and economic disruptions in both countries.

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Is that him, or the PAC?

Musk Sank $288 Million Into Trump Campaign – WaPo (RT)

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk was “the biggest political donor” of the 2024 election cycle, contributing at least $288 million to Donald Trump’s presidential bid, the Washington Post has reported, citing an analysis of new Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. Trump appointed Musk to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to cut federal spending and regulations. In an article published on Friday, the Washington Post said, “the staggering 2024 political spending by Musk” cemented his influence within Trump’s political network, with some critics calling him a “de facto, unelected co-president.”

Musk’s political spending largely flowed through America PAC, a super PAC he helped establish to support Trump by mobilizing low-turnout voters in key battleground states. The group raised $263 million, backed not only by Musk but also by his close allies, including Tesla board member Antonio Gracias, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, and Sequoia Capital investor Shaun Maguire. According to the report covering the period from November 26 to the end of the year, Musk contributed $11.2 million on December 31, which was described as “petition incentives.”

The billionaire launched the initiative in October, pledging “$1M to someone in swing states who signed our petition to support free speech & the right to bear arms.” Those who signed the petition could also receive $47 for referring a registered voter in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. With earlier FEC filings showing an in-kind contribution of nearly $40.5 million, the total spending for petition incentives alone amounts to at least $52.7 million.

Musk’s “investment in the 2024 election has already paid off enormously,” the newspaper said, with his net worth surging by more than $200 billion since Trump’s victory on November 5. This is primarily attributed to the soaring stock price of Tesla. Shares of the electric vehicle manufacturer have risen approximately 70% since the election, significantly boosting Musk’s wealth. His fortune was estimated at around $442 billion as of mid-December. Musk, who previously positioned himself as politically neutral, publicly endorsed Trump shortly after the failed assassination attempt on the Republican nominee on July 13.

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“The U.S. is a party to this war, not a peace broker..”

Can Trump Make A Peace Deal With Putin? (SCF)

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to open talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to end the war in Ukraine. Trump has spoken about the urgency of bringing the conflict to a peaceful conclusion. Fair enough. For his part, President Putin has magnanimously reciprocated, saying he is ready to engage in talks with Trump. So far, so good. At least the American side is no longer encumbered with the stupid intransigent, hostile mentality of the Biden administration, which refused to have any diplomatic contact with Russia. Russia, for its part, has always been willing to negotiate a genuine way to not just end the conflict but to avoid future conflict.

Before the war in Ukraine erupted three years ago in February 2022, Moscow put forward a comprehensive proposal for a security treaty in Europe in December 2021. The proposal stipulated that the U.S.-led NATO military alliance desist from aggressive expansion on Russia’s borders and, in particular, for Ukraine never to be a member of NATO. Those proposals were rejected out of hand by the U.S. and its European partners. At the earliest stage of the Ukraine conflict, in March 2022, Russia negotiated a potential peace settlement with the Kiev regime in Istanbul, only for that proposal to be rejected by Washington and its British surrogate. The result has been three years of bloodshed and destruction, with millions of Ukrainian casualties and refugees. Ukraine has been destroyed thanks to the intransigence of its NATO sponsors.

If diplomacy is the art of making politics work then anything is possible. Opening talks is at least a start to exchanging ideas and demands to bring the conflict to an end and stop it from spiraling into a catastrophic global war between nuclear powers. President Trump says he wants to end the conflict. But does he understand what the conflict is really about? If a problem is not correctly defined, then a solution is elusive.Trump has a showman style of doing politics. He bragged about ending the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of being elected. Now he is talking about ending it in 100 days. There are some positive indicators of good intentions. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said this week that he believed the Trump administration is determined to do a peace deal.

Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, told senators during confirmation hearings for the post that her “priority would be to support President Trump’s efforts to get Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table.” (She may not be confirmed, however.) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an interview this week, repeated his calls for the war in Ukraine to end. In a telling comment, Rubio said the onus was on Russia and Ukraine to make compromises. Here’s where the problems emerge. The Trump administration seems to think that a resolution is a matter for two sides – Russia and Ukraine – and that the U.S. is acting as a mere peace broker instead of being the instigator. This was reflected in Trump’s own recent comments when he boorishly and stupidly warned Russia that if it did not come to the negotiating table, he would impose crippling sanctions on the Russian economy.

Trump is delusional if he thinks he can bully Russia or threaten the Russian economy. Such a fatuous attitude is out of order and counterproductive. The fact is the American and European sanctions against Russia have already failed. Russia’s economy has strengthened by being more independent and developing new trade relations with the rest of the world. It is now ranked 4th in the world, above Germany and other European nations. More importantly, Russia is decisively winning the war in Ukraine despite the colossal arming of the Kiev regime by the U.S. and its NATO partners. Ukrainian military lines are crumbling amid mounting losses. Even the Western media are reporting on the disarray and mass desertion of Ukrainian soldiers. The notion that Russia can be pressured to the negotiating table by the Trump administration is a fallacy and a serious misconception about the nature of the conflict.

Furthermore, the two parties that need to negotiate are not the corrupt puppet regime in Kiev and Russia. It is the United States and Russia. The U.S. is a party to this war, not a peace broker. If Trump’s administration is serious about making a peace deal, then it will have to be understood that the United States must accept Russia’s terms. A mere ceasefire and freezing the hostilities in Ukraine, which is what Trump aides are touting, is far from adequate as a solution. As we pointed out in our editorial last week, the conflict in Ukraine has deep roots in the imperialist machinations of the U.S. and its NATO proxy toward Russia. The history of this goes back decades, not just a few years. Only by addressing the root causes of the conflict can an authentic peaceful resolution begin.

Russia’s terms have been adumbrated clearly for a long time. The United States and its NATO war machine need to respect Russia’s national security interests. The security treaty that Moscow proposed in December 2021 is a basis for negotiation. So too are the realities on the ground. Russia’s new territories of Donbass, Kherson, Zaporozhye, as well as Crimea – all historic lands of Russia – are not negotiable. Neither is Russia’s insistence that Ukraine can never be part of the NATO alliance.

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Get rid of Zelensky first, then hold elections.

White House Wants Zelensky To Hold Elections – Trump Envoy (RT)

Washington wants Kiev to have presidential and parliamentary elections, potentially by this year’s end, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Ukraine conflict, Keith Kellogg. According to the report, Kellogg and other White House officials have discussed asking Kiev to hold the votes as part of a potential truce deal with Moscow. Speaking to the agency, Kellogg said that both the presidential and parliamentary elections “need to be done.”“Most democratic nations have elections in their time of war. I think it is important they do so,” the special envoy said. “I think it is good for democracy. That’s the beauty of a solid democracy, you have more than one person potentially running.”

Parliamentary and presidential elections in Ukraine scheduled for October 2023 and March 2024 were not held after Vladimir Zelensky announced in December 2023 that they would not take place while martial law imposed during the conflict with Russia remains in force. Martial law was declared after the escalation of hostilities between Kiev and Moscow in February 2022 and has been repeatedly extended ever since. In November 2024, it was prolonged once again and is now expected to continue at least until February 7, 2025. US President Doland Trump has repeatedly vowed to swiftly end the Ukraine conflict. On Friday, he claimed that the US was “having very serious discussions about that war” with Russia – something that Moscow has not confirmed so far.

The American president also stated on multiple occasions that he was ready to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as possible to negotiate an end to the fighting. Moscow has repeatedly stated it its ready for dialogue at any time, but has received no specific signals from the US. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, no such talks are currently planned and all communications are being conducted at the embassy level. If the US plan eventually involves a temporary ceasefire deal prior to a more permanent agreement, the winner of the Ukrainian presidential election could be responsible for negotiating the terms of the final treaty, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing discussions in the White House.

Moscow has questioned Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s legitimacy and said that he is no longer qualified to sign international agreements on behalf of Ukraine as his presidential term officially expired in May 2024. Earlier this week, Putin said that although Zelensky could take part in any potential negotiations, he could not be part of a final deal. “It’s possible to negotiate with anyone,” the Russian leader said, adding that any agreement would be a “very serious question” and must “guarantee the security of both Ukraine and Russia” for a “serious” period of time.Putin had previously stated on multiple occasions that the Ukrainian constitution does not envisage any extensions of the president’s term, only authorizing this for the parliament. Moscow has also said it will not agree to a temporary truce and that a settlement must include “reliable, legally binding agreements eliminating the root causes of the conflict.”

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“..the European logic is completely different from the American logic: one is the logic of war and the other is the logic of peace.”

Orban: US Now Seeks Peace In Ukraine, While EU Wants War To Continue (TASS)

The new US administration and the EU leadership have different approaches to the conflict in Ukraine: Washington now favors a peaceful settlement, while Brussels wants to continue the war, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said during a Kossuth radio broadcast. “The Europeans are saying that sanctions must be maintained and even tightened in order for the Ukrainians to win the war against Russia. Yesterday US Secretary of State [Marco Rubio] said in a big interview that it would be unfair to fool everyone by saying that the Ukrainians can win this war. Well, thank him for that interview, because it showed that the Americans want peace, not sanctions, and the Europeans want sanctions, not peace,” the prime minister said.

He emphasized that now “the European logic is completely different from the American logic: one is the logic of war and the other is the logic of peace.” Orban reiterated that the Hungarian government still favors a negotiated settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, and is counting on US President Donald Trump in this endeavor.

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The Chihuahua Strategic Victory Plan. For Pepe, Europeans are chihuahua’s.

The Chihuahua Energy Policy: It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas (Pepe Escobar)

As highlighted before, the U.S. – via fracking – has enough gas for domestic consumption, but not enough to export en masse to the EU, because of liquification problems. That explains why even buying more American energy for exorbitant prices, the EU de facto remains largely dependent on Russian LNG – and non-U.S. sources – since the sabotage of the Nord Streams, unveiled in detail by Sy Hersh. Even at full capacity, the Empire of Chaos simply cannot deliver all the gas the EU needs; add to it virtually no investment in both badly needed extra exploration plus the infrastructure necessary to meet increased EU demand. On the domestic U.S. oil market, things do get positively Kafkaesque. U.S. trucking – a massive service industry – is dependent on imported Russian diesel, which needs to be mixed with Made in America oil in order to be suitable for trucks.

Now cut again to Davos, which came and went barely registering a blip. Toxic EC Medusa von der Leyen told Davos that Europe had “substantially reduced”, and “in record time”, its dependency on Russian fossil fuels. Nonsense. Europe’s energy reality is bleak. Russian LNG from Novatek is currently priced at around $4.5–$4.7 per MMBtu. That’s more expensive than pipeline gas but still much (italics mine) cheaper than American LNG. Every industry pro from the Persian Gulf to Antwerp knows that Europe is now importing Russian LNG like it never did before. That’s it – or a dry death. In parallel, Russia will triple its LNG supply capacity by 2035. End result: whatever those “energy commissioners” in Brussels may come up with, Russia will remain essential when it comes to European energy security.

There are no limits – even stratospheric – for Eurocracy stupidity, which corrodes the system like a plague. The Europeans not only have managed to shut off their own gas pipelines but are still “investigating” the Nord Stream de facto terror attack. End result: they are now importing more (italics mine) Russian gas, but by different means, from third-party suppliers, and paying a fortune. This is what can be described as the Chihuahua Strategic Victory Plan. Russia’s LNG exports hit a record high last year, growing by 4% – and delivering 33.6 million tons. The monthly record was 3.25 million tons in December 2024 – 13.7% more than November. The largest Russian exporter is Yamal LNG: 21.1 million tons, 6% more than in 2023. Now cut to proverbial American rumble, in the form of Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt ordering the “full termination” of Russian gas exported to Europe.

To hell with what nations like Hungary, Austria and Slovakia may think – and do need. Pyatt told the Atlantic Council, “Today we are the largest LNG exporter in the world, and by the end of the Trump administration, we will have doubled what we’re doing today […] The decision has clearly been made in Brussels to get to zero [gas supplies from Russia] by 2027…and the United States strongly supports that goal.” Oh dear. Do these people even read the basic headlines? As reported by Politico, the EU is “devouring” Russian gas at unprecedented levels since the start of 2025, importing 837,300 metric tons of LNG just in the first two weeks of the year. The Ukraine transit deal was shut off for good – at least for now – starting on January 1st. The action now is on the maritime routes.

Enter the U.S. Treasury with a new – what else – sanctions package against Russian oil trade, targeting up to 5.8 million barrels a day shipped by sea. As it stands, the global oil market is experiencing a surplus of about 0.8 million barrels a day. Oil prices for 2025 should remain at around $71 for a barrel of Brent crude (as it stands, it’s $76.2). Not exactly what Mr. Disco Inferno wants. So let’s assume these 5.8 million barrels of Russian oil – under stiff sanctions – would vanish from the global market. In this case we would have oil prices skyrocketing to an average of $150 to $160 a barrel. Once again, not what Mr. Disco Inferno wants: he vociferously promised – and keeps promising – a MAGA oil superpower, while lowering oil prices to max $50 a barrel.

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“The algorithm allows gaming GPUs to be used for scientific computing..”

Russia and China Boost NVIDIA Performance 800-Fold (Sp.)

Scientists from the two countries have developed a breakthrough algorithm using information from reverse engineering video card accelerators. The algorithm allows gaming GPUs to be used for scientific computing. The innovation was achieved by specialists from Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, co-founded by Lomonosov Moscow State University and Beijing Institute of Technology. This enables Russia and China to reduce their reliance on NVIDIA GPUs, weakening the impact of US sanctions.

It also means that Russia and China need to buy less NVIDIA GPUs, which likely led to the collapse of NVIDIA stock price, Russoft association President Valentin Makarov tells Sputnik. He believes ongoing research includes new machine learning algorithms and a next-gen GPU being developed in Russia. These advancements highlight Russia’s technological expertise, allowing collaboration with China and potential future partnerships with India.

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“It is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason.”

Norway Clears Russian-Crewed Ship In Sabotage Probe (RT)

Norwegian police have released a Russian-crewed vessel after finding no evidence linking it to recent damage to an undersea fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and Sweden. The Norwegian-owned Silver Dania, which operates between St. Petersburg and the northern Russian port of Murmansk, was detained on Thursday night following a request from Latvian authorities and a ruling from a local court. Norwegian police said that the ship, which was escorted to the northern port of Tromso, could have damaged a critical fiber optic link belonging to Latvia’s state broadcaster and connecting the Baltic nation and Sweden’s Gotland island. It added that the law enforcement is “conducting an operation on the ship to search, conduct interviews, and secure evidence.”

However, less than a day later, the police stated that Silver Dania “will be able to leave Tromso already on Friday evening.” They added that while the investigation will continue, “no findings have been made linking the ship to the act,” and the crew had been cooperative. The cable sabotage case is the latest in a string of incidents involving damage to critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, with speculation rife that Russia could have played a role. Short of any proof, however, Western officials have refrained from leveling direct accusations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed allegations of Moscow’s involvement. “It is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason.” The Washington Post, citing Western intelligence sources, reported earlier this month that the damage to Baltic Sea infrastructure likely stemmed from maritime accidents involving poorly maintained ships and inexperienced crews rather than deliberate sabotage. NATO has launched a mission dubbed “Baltic Sentry” to enhance surveillance and protection of critical undersea infrastructure in the area and address concerns about possible sabotage.

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The only thing that will reach net zero is the spending.

It’s all just a money grab delusion: “..the world needs to pour in $5.6 trillion each year..”

Global Green Spending Is Falling Short of Net Zero Targets (OP)

Global investments in green energy solutions topped $2 trillion last year, for the first time ever, but the world needs to pour in $5.6 trillion each year into low-carbon energy to get on track for global net zero by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement, BloombergNEF said in a new report on Thursday. Last year, green energy investments reached a record high globally, but the pace of growth has slowed from the 2021-2023 period, according to BNEF’s report Energy Transition Investment Trends 2025. The world invested a total of $2.1 trillion in low-carbon energy in 2024, up by 11% compared to 2023, the report found.

However, the pace of growth has slowed. In the years 2021 to 2023, global investment in clean energy jumped by between 24% and 29% each year, according to BNEF. Electrified transport continued to be the top segment for low-carbon energy investment, drawing in $757 billion in 2024. China remained the single biggest market with $818 billion of investment, up by 20% from 2023 and increasing investment in all sectors. China’s total investment last year was greater than the combined investment of the U.S., the EU, and the UK. However, investment was stagnant in the U.S., at $338 billion, and fell in both the EU and UK, hitting $381 billion and $65.3 billion, respectively, BNEF said.

The research provider also noted that energy transition investment will have to average $5.6 trillion each year from 2025 to 2030, in order to get on track for global net zero by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. The current investment level of $2.1 trillion implies that the world is only at 37% of what is required to get on track, BNEF said. “There is still much more that needs to be done, especially in emerging areas like industrial decarbonization, hydrogen and carbon capture, in order to reach global net-zero goals,” commented Albert Cheung, Deputy CEO of BNEF.

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Bats

 

 

Orca
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885682013589414176

 

 

Elephant
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885538600085053571

 

 

Daddy
https://twitter.com/i/status/1885737803666825299

 

 

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Dec 122022
 


Paul Gauguin Landscape with black pigs and a crouching Tahitian 1891

 

Musk Says Fauci Lied, People Died (RT)
Zelensky Was Ready For Neutrality In March – Col. Macgregor (RT)
How the Mainstream Media Misses the Money Quote (Antiwar)
Twitter Files: Corporate Media Ignores The Biggest Story Of The Decade (ZH)
Dupe or Designated Defendant? The Criminal Case Against Jack Dorsey (Turley)
Jack Dorsey Defiantly States He Has Never Heard Of Twitter (BBee)
4 Minutes of Undiluted Truth on Mainstream TV (Mike Whitney)
Merkel’s Ukraine Remarks Show Breach Of Trust – Serbia (RT)
China Wants To Drop Dollar In Oil Trade – Reuters (RT)
Western Price Cap Disrupting Global Oil Markets – Economist (RT)
Sanctions On Russia Are Backfiring – Former Austrian Vice-chancellor (RT)
FBI Reveals It Has More Information on Deceased DNC Staffer Seth Rich (ET)
Are We Finally Reaching Peak Climate Hysteria? (Spiked)
Dutch Gov’t Attempts To Forcibly Close 3,000 Farms For ‘Green’ Agenda (ZH)
Viagra Lowers the Risk of Alzheimer’s By Almost 70% (GR)

 

 

 

 

Back to the future?!

 

 

Douglas Macgregor: Zelensky Has Made A Terrible Mistake By Trying To Pin Missile Strikes On Russia

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twitter files on censorship of doctors, and promoting Fauci, should be explosive. If they still exist. Musk has promised them.

Musk Says Fauci Lied, People Died (RT)

The billionaire Tesla and Twitter boss, Elon Musk, has triggered a social media firestorm on Sunday after suggesting that US Covid-19 czar, Dr. Anthony Fauci, should be investigated and prosecuted for allegedly lying under oath about the funding of gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab in China. In what initially appeared to be an ironic dig, poised to trigger an avalanche of criticism from the left, Musk also posted a meme showing the retiring White House chief medical adviser whispering “Just one more lockdown my king” in President Biden’s ear. But after Fauci’s name was propelled to the top of Twitter trends with over 600,000 mentions, Musk apparently felt forced to elaborate why he thought the controversial face of America’s response to the pandemic should be investigated.

“As for Fauci, he lied to Congress and funded gain-of-function research that killed millions of people,” Musk said in response to one critic, adding “not awesome imo.” The 81-year-old Fauci, who plans to retire by the of the month, led a disjointed US Covid-19 response marked by his flip-flopping on issues such as the efficacy of masks and herd immunity targets. Shortly after Fauci announced that he would step down as Biden’s chief medical adviser and as director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) – Senator Rand Paul demanded that the US administration preserve documents and messages that could become evidence in the potential probe.

“Fauci’s resignation should not prevent a full-throated investigation into the origins of the pandemic. He must be required to testify under oath regarding any discussions he participated in concerning the Wuhan lab leak. His policies destroyed lives,” tweeted Paul. The senator previously accused Fauci of directing public funding to gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab and lying about it under oath in congressional testimony, as the two sparred repeatedly in Senate hearings. Gain-of-function is the modification of pathogens to enhance them in various potential ways, including transmissibility. The rationale is that scientists can study new strains and find ways to stop them before similar adaptations emerge naturally.

The ‘lab leak’ theory – that the coronavirus leaked from a Chinese lab – was popularized by former US President Donald Trump, who made the allegation amid a trade war with China. Major US media organizations and tech platforms initially labeled it as ‘disinformation’ and tried to suppress the theory from public discourse. However, after Musk took over Twitter, the company stopped enforcing its Covid-19 “misleading information policy.”

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“Fiona Hill [..] wrote in September that an “interim settlement” had been agreed in Istanbul. In May, Ukrainian media linked the collapse of these talks to pressure imposed on Kiev by Johnson.”

Zelensky Was Ready For Neutrality In March – Col. Macgregor (RT)

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was ready in March to meet some of Moscow’s conditions for peace, retired US Army Colonel Douglas MacGregor has claimed in a recent interview. He blamed former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for preventing a settlement. As Ukrainian and Russian delegations sat down in Istanbul in March, news surfaced of a potential deal that would have seen Kiev renounce its ambition to join NATO and agree to neutrality, in exchange for Russia’s withdrawal to pre-February battle lines. Days later, Zelensky said he had discovered evidence of war crimes in territory evacuated by Russian forces, and negotiations were called off. In an interview with military historian Michael Vlahos, published on Saturday, MacGregor claimed that the UK was responsible for the abrupt end of the peace talks.

“We have evidence that towards the end of March, Mr. Zelensky said ‘well, we could live with neutrality,’ and when that word reached Washington and London, people became incensed,” he said. “Boris Johnson represented Washington’s interests and said ‘absolutely not, we will support you to the bitter end. You must stand your ground and fight for every inch of Ukraine’.” MacGregor is not the first US official to suggest that Zelensky was ready for peace in March. Fiona Hill, a veteran US diplomat who served as the US National Security Council’s senior director for Europe and Russia in the Trump administration, wrote in September that an “interim settlement” had been agreed in Istanbul. In May, Ukrainian media linked the collapse of these talks to pressure imposed on Kiev by Johnson.

The prime minister visited Kiev on April 9, reportedly without warning, and according to the Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper, told officials that “even if Ukraine is ready to sign some agreements on guarantees with Putin, they [the West] are not.” Now, almost ten months into the conflict, Zelensky has forbidden negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has promised to retake all of the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye – which voted to join the Russian Federation in September. The Ukrainian leader has also vowed to capture Crimea, which has been a part of Russia since a 2014 referendum. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has said Russia remains open to talks, but cautioned in October that Western powers must be involved, as an agreement with Ukraine alone could be “instantly canceled upon orders” from the West.

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“..there was a canyon between the leader of the US and the leader of the loyal European opposition. The canyon was so wide that it included disagreement over the causes and solutions of the war.”

How the Mainstream Media Misses the Money Quote (Antiwar)

On December 1, French President Emmanuel Macron went to Washington for the first state visit of the Biden administration. After the pageantry, presents, hand holding and flattering words of fraternity and solidarity, Macron faced the gathered press. “We will never urge Ukrainians to make a compromise that will not be acceptable for them.” “That,” said Helene Cooper of The New York Times, “is the money quote.” But it wasn’t the money quote by several euros. The money quote came days later when Macron was not standing shoulder to shoulder with Biden in front of an American audience, but standing on his own addressing a French audience.

Macron told the French television network TF1, in an interview filmed during his visit to Washington but aired as he left, that “We need to prepare what we are ready to do, how we protect our allies and member states, and how to give guarantees to Russia the day it returns to the negotiating table.” Then Macron made his full meaning clear: “One of the essential points we must address – as President Putin has always said – is the fear that NATO comes right up to its doors, and the deployment of weapons that could threaten Russia.” The money quote was that, despite the display of solidarity, there was a canyon between the leader of the US and the leader of the loyal European opposition. The canyon was so wide that it included disagreement over the causes and solutions of the war.

Biden and Macron both “strongly condemn Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.” But for Biden, in the beginning, that war was wholly unprovoked, and, in the end, the settlement must reflect that and protect core US values. For Macron, though the war was illegal, Russia had legitimate security concerns that NATO had been pushing, and the settlement must reflect that too. Macron hinted at that crucial separation at the press conference with Biden. Even then, Macron said “We want to build peace and a sustainable peace means full respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” But then, hinting at Russia’s demand to be included in a new European security structure that takes its concerns seriously, he added, “but at the same time [it means] a new architecture to make sure we have a sustainable peace in the long run.” But that didn’t make it into the money quote.

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“Twitter was participating in a form of treason, along with the agencies that they cooperated with. It’s a huge story, and one that should lead to punishment for those involved.”

Twitter Files: Corporate Media Ignores The Biggest Story Of The Decade (ZH)

Twitter has long denied that they “shadow ban” users, but this was a lie. The data shows that small groups within Twitter called “strategic response teams” suppressed up to 200 accounts per day. Usually these were accounts of larger and more influential conservative politicians and celebrities. And, these teams operated in coordination with Democrat officials and agencies like the FBI. In some cases the goal was to mute a particular individual. In other cases the goal was to steer national elections. Internal Twitter communications show that SRT groups spent most of their time fabricating reasons why certain information was subject to TOS. In other words, if Twitter’s rules were not being violated, they made up new rules.

The exposure of Twitter is the biggest story of the decade because it provides proof of a hidden cabal. It shows the ugly mechanics behind the scenes and exposes a network of elites and their errand boys who were involved in direct operations to destroy the 1st Amendment for the sake of ideological supremacy. It’s the classic definition of fascism, a definition that Benito Mussolini reiterated when he argued: “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.” And, if this brand of Fascism was happening within the halls of Twitter, then there is little doubt it is also happening at companies like Google/YouTube, Apple, Facebook, etc. Before we had evidence, now we have confirmation.

The corporate media argues over relevance instead of morality because they benefited from the censorship. It’s important to remember that one of the first measures Big Tech companies applied after suppressing the alternative media during the pandemic was to then amplify the corporate media. These companies are floundering with dismal audience numbers and dwindling profits. No one listens to them anymore. Yet, as long as they promote the establishment narrative their opinions and disinformation are given priority on nearly every search engine and social media platform. Of course they aren’t interested in the Twitter Files, liars are often “bored” by honest commentary and factual information.

Also, their continued existence relies on the censorship of their competition in the alternative media. The bottom line is this: According to the Bill of Rights, it is illegal for agents of the US government to obstruct the free speech of law abiding American citizens. It does not matter if the action is done by using “private businesses” as middlemen. And, if a private business is colluding with government to implement political policy then it is no longer a private business. Twitter was participating in a form of treason, along with the agencies that they cooperated with. It’s a huge story, and one that should lead to punishment for those involved.

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“..lying in public is generally not a crime. However, when you repeat a lie to federal investigators or Congress or the courts, it becomes a federal offense.”

Dupe or Designated Defendant? The Criminal Case Against Jack Dorsey (Turley)

The latest Twitter disclosures have raised potential legal liability for Twitter and its executives. No one appears more at risk than Twitter’s former CEO Jack Dorsey It is an ironic turn of events since Dorsey supported the takeover by Elon Musk and has called for all files to be released without filtering. Dorsey has the feel of a “designated defendant,” someone who was pushed forward by others to take any legal hit. On its face, Dorsey has vulnerability after the latest release. He was repeatedly asked by members of Congress about censoring and shadow-banning, which has now been confirmed in these files. In September 2018, Dorsey testified under oath and denied what these files appear to now confirm. Rep. Mike Doyle, D., Pa., asked, “Social media is being rigged to censor conservatives. Is that true of Twitter?”

Dorsey responded, “No.” Doyle then asked “Are you censoring people?” “No,” Dorsey said. “Twitter’s shadow-banning prominent Republicans… is that true?” Doyle asked. Dorsey again said no. Dorsey was also asked about my prior testimony on private censorship in circumventing the First Amendment as a type of censorship by surrogate. Dorsey and the other CEOs were asked about my warning of a “‘little brother’ problem, a problem which private entities do for the government that which it cannot legally do for itself.” In response, Dorsey insisted that “we don’t have a censoring department.” It now appears that the entire company was operating as a censoring department. However, there were in fact super-censors.

Dorsey did not mention the Strategic Response Team-Global Escalation Team (SRT-GET), which operated above what journalist Bari Weiss described as “a level beyond official ticketing, beyond the rank-and-file moderators following the company’s policy on paper.” That group reportedly included Vijaya Gadde, head of Legal, Policy and Trust; Yoel Roth, the global head of Trust and Safety; CEOs Jack Dorsey and Parag Agrawal, and others. Notably, others at the company made similar denials as Dorsey but may not have done so under oath. In 2018, Gadde and head of product Kayvon Beykpour expressly declared, “We do not shadow-ban. And we certainly don’t shadow-ban based on political viewpoints or ideology.”

Even if untrue, lying in public is generally not a crime. However, when you repeat a lie to federal investigators or Congress or the courts, it becomes a federal offense. The question is whether Dorsey was left in the dark on these decisions. He was reportedly a member of SRT-GET. However, some of the files indicate that these decisions may have been made without his knowledge. That includes the decision on the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, which Dorsey called a “total mistake.”

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“I’m not here talking to you right now. My name is not Jack Dorsey. I vehemently deny my own existence at this time.”

Jack Dorsey Defiantly States He Has Never Heard Of Twitter (BBee)

In the aftermath of the second wave of what have come to be known as the “Twitter Files” — in which documented evidence is presented that Twitter engaged in systematic practices to suppress and “shadowban” conservative or otherwise dissenting accounts, despite previous claims to not do so — co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey has issued a defiant statement that he has, in fact, never heard of Twitter. “I have no comment on, and indeed, no knowledge regarding anything known as a ‘Twitter,'” Dorsey said. “Any claims to the contrary are untrue and a wholesale misrepresentation. The previous statements attributed to me regarding ‘shadowbanning,’ while made by me, were simply not made by me.”


Furor continues to grow in the wake of new Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk authorizing the release of large amounts of internal communications and descriptions of practices under the company’s previous regime. “Twitter and its former brain trust have very serious questions to answer,” said Senator Ted Cruz in comments to the media. “Mr. Dorsey testified before Congress and denied that Twitter had engaged in such practices. The American people demand the truth.” “I never appeared before Congress,” Dorsey said in response. “I’m not here talking to you right now. My name is not Jack Dorsey. I vehemently deny my own existence at this time.” At publishing time, investigations into Dorsey’s knowledge of secret Twitter practices were ongoing, as further questions sent to Dorsey remained unanswered as he denied ever providing his previous answers to the first questions.

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“..the best ‘easy-to-understand’ summary of the Ukraine War you’ll hear anywhere..”

4 Minutes of Undiluted Truth on Mainstream TV (Mike Whitney)

The last thing you’d ever expect to hear on a mainstream news channel, is the truth. But—strange as it might seem—that’s exactly what happened on Wednesday night on the Tucker Carlson Show. Carlson interviewed veteran journalist Glenn Greenwald in a 4-minute segment that provided the best ‘easy-to-understand’ summary of the Ukraine War you’ll hear anywhere. And what was so shocking about the interview, was how casually both men veered onto topics that are essential to grasping “How we got to where we are today” but which are entirely banned on all the other cable news channels. You are not allowed to know, for example, that Russia was “lured into the conflict in Ukraine”.


That does not fit the script that has been passed-along from the Biden State Department to their lapdogs at the cable news stations. You’re also not allowed to know that the US does not fight wars “to spread democracy” or that “the US has no vital interests in Ukraine” or that “Russia is not really our enemy”. All of those topics are verboten. You’re not even allowed to think about these things, which is why– for the most part– they have been completely scrubbed from any-and-all discussion of foreign policy in the corporate media.

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The EU also faces another problem with Serbia, which wants troops in Kosovo. Germany says no way. But there is a UN resolution.

Merkel’s Ukraine Remarks Show Breach Of Trust – Serbia (RT)

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent comments on the 2014-15 Minsk agreements have cast the Ukraine conflict in a new light, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday. Merkel stated that Kiev used the ceasefire to rearm its troops. The peace deals brokered by Germany and France eight years ago laid out a path for the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics’ (DPR and LPR) peaceful reintegration into Ukraine. However, they were never implemented because the government of Ukraine argued over the interpretation of the agreements. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko eventually admitted that Kiev mainly intended to use the ceasefire to rebuild its military and the economy. Merkel seemed to confirm this in an interview with German newspaper Die Zeit on Wednesday, saying that by signing the agreements, Ukraine won “valuable time” to muster a stronger army.

“We have witnessed a historically important statement by Angela Merkel. I am surprised and still checking whether it is possible that she has said such a thing,” Vucic told local media. “She is a woman whom I appreciate greatly, but for me this statement is almost unbelievable.” The former chancellor’s words “shed a completely new light” on the history of the conflict, Vucic said. “It cannot change the fact of who attacked whom, but changes a lot in terms of facts and relations inside what has been going on since 2014 … it is a clear sign for me that [they] cannot be trusted.” “It’s a lesson for us,” Vucic added, as his country now faces heightened tensions in Kosovo, Serbia’s breakaway region that the majority of EU and NATO members recognize as an independent state.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he was disappointed by Merkel’s remarks that “nobody intended to fulfill any part of the Minsk agreements.”Earlier, Putin cited Kiev’s inability to stick to the Minsk agreements as one of the reasons Moscow recognized the independence of the two Donbass republics on February 21, three days before launching its military operation in Ukraine. The DPR and LPR, along with two other former Ukrainian territories, became parts of Russia after referendums in late September.

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Oil markets are global. The yuan is not a global currency. And China won’t make it one.

China Wants To Drop Dollar In Oil Trade – Reuters (RT)

Beijing will work to make energy purchases in yuan instead of US dollar signalling another step towards shifting further away from the greenback, China’s President Xi Jinping told Gulf Arab leaders as cited by Reuters. China’s leader highlighted the necessity of the move while speaking at a Chinese-Arab summit that was hosted by Saudi Arabia earlier this week. Xi had held separate talks with the heads of the Persian Gulf states at the summit that reportedly brought together 30 leaders from across the region. The world’s biggest crude importer, China in November ramped up purchases of oil by 12% year-on-year, marking the 10-month high despite the severe pandemic-related restrictions. Chinese state refiners stepped up purchases of US crude oil, while maintaining high imports of Russian oil prior to the December 5 European embargo and imposition of an oil price cap.


China’s independent refiners also moved a record amount of deeply discounted Iranian crude passed off as oil sourced from Malaysia, which is commonly used as a transfer point for oil originating from the sanction-hit Venezuela and Iran. Saudi Arabia was China’s number one oil supplier in the first ten months of 2022, making up 18% of China’s total crude oil purchases, with imports totaling 73.54 million tons, or 1.77 million barrels per day, Chinese customs data showed. Keen interest in the yuan and other currencies from major oil importers have arisen in the wake of unprecedented sanctions introduced by Washington and the allies against Russia, one of the world’s biggest oil producers and exporters over Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.

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“43% of EU inflation is related to energy prices, while only 17% of US inflation is due to energy prices..”

Western Price Cap Disrupting Global Oil Markets – Economist (RT)

The latest EU sanctions on Russian oil exports will fail to strip the country of its revenues, but are already causing global oil supply disruptions, a senior energy economist at CER-Centro Europa Ricerche told Sputnik news agency on Wednesday. The EU embargo took effect on Monday and was accompanied by a $60 price cap on Russian crude, supported by G7 countries and Australia. Any transactions over this limit are now barred from receiving brokerage, shipping, or insurance services. Demostenes Floros said that although the price cap has not sparked an immediate surge in oil prices, severe consequences lie ahead. The economist predicts rising demand in China, which will inevitably affect the cost of crude. He added that higher energy prices will deal a blow to the EU at a time of spiraling inflation and an unfolding recession.

Floros explained that “43% of EU inflation is related to energy prices, while only 17% of US inflation is due to energy prices and this is a very big difference between the European Union and the United States,” adding that the price cap will deepen the split within the bloc. The sanctions may also result in serious problems with contracting necessary volumes of diesel in the EU once the ban on Russian refined oil products comes into force on February 5, he warned. “I think that prices will increase, especially if other OPEC+ producers will not compensate Russian output,” the economist said, cautioning that the “politicization” of energy supplies could further destabilize a market which has not yet recovered from the Covid crisis.

EU oil sanctions on Russia are already causing setbacks. Dozens of tankers carrying 23 million barrels of crude are currently stuck in the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, unable to pass, as Turkish authorities demand proper insurance guarantees. Most of the Black Sea crude stuck in the straits was from Kazakhstan, which is not targeted by sanctions, according to EU officials. At the same time, Russian insurance companies have already provided letters of confirmation to Turkish authorities in order to secure passage.

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“If it goes on like this, next year in March and April we will face mass insolvencies and bankruptcies..”

Sanctions On Russia Are Backfiring – Former Austrian Vice-Chancellor (RT)

Western sanctions imposed on Moscow have failed to make a dent in Russia’s economy and ultimately only hurt Europeans, former Austrian Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache said on Saturday. He also accused European policymakers of turning a blind eye to the deadly fighting in Donbass, which he said served as a prelude to the current conflict for many years. Speaking at a pro-neutrality rally in Vienna, which was also a protest against sanctions on Russia, Strache claimed that Austria’s decision to join the restrictions had turned out to be a self-inflicted wound. “Austria has shown Europe how the sanctions are damaging itself,” he said, telling his audience that the measures have caused soaring electricity and gas prices, with more and more people feeling the impact.

“If it goes on like this, next year in March and April we will face mass insolvencies and bankruptcies,” he warned, calling the possibility “damn dangerous.” If the crisis is exacerbated and more people get desperate, “this could bring a dangerous development in the form of social tensions that we all do not want,” the former vice-chancellor added. At the same time, Strache continued, the restrictions have failed to undermine the Russian economy. According to him, “this year, the Russians have doubled [their] business,” raking in $220 billion in revenue. Strache also stated that Europe had found itself in the current situation because it had been “looking the other way” for many years when it comes to hostilities in Donbass, which started in 2014 after violent riots in Kiev overthrew the democratically-elected president, Viktor Yanukovich.

After Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in late February, Western nations imposed new severe sanctions on Moscow, freezing half its gold and foreign currency reserves and targeting its energy exports. The restrictions, however, caused energy prices and living costs to surge, prompting numerous protest rallies across Europe. Earlier this month, hundreds of Italian activists gathered in the center of Milan to protest sending weapons to Ukraine and expanding the sanctions. In late November, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova insisted that EU policymakers have only themselves to blame for their ongoing energy crunch.

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”The agent claimed that disclosure of the records would harm an FBI investigation into the allegations that Russians had hacked into U.S. systems.”

FBI Reveals It Has More Information on Deceased DNC Staffer Seth Rich (ET)

The FBI not only has possession of a laptop computer owned by slain Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer Seth Rich, but a report detailing forensic imaging of what’s being described as Rich’s work computer, the bureau revealed in a new filing. The FBI’s records office located the report while searching for the work computer, Michael Seidel, chief of the office, said in a sworn declaration filed with a federal court in Texas on Dec. 9. He described the document as “a three (3) page forensic report detailing the actions performed by an outside entity to image the work laptop.” The report was among four documents that had never been disclosed by the FBI in relation to Rich’s case.

Journalist Sy Hersh said in or around 2017 that he was told by a source about an FBI report on Seth Rich. He said, according to the source, that Seth Rich’s computer showed the DNC staffer had relayed DNC documents to WikiLeaks, a pro-transparency group. Hersh talked about the source’s claims during a phone call with Ed Butowsky, an investor who later retracted claims about Rich being a WikiLeaks source, and discussed the call during a deposition. Rich was gunned down in the early morning hours on July 16, 2016, near his home in Washington. The killing of Rich, the DNC’s voter expansion data director, remains unsolved. Authorities have claimed that the killing was a robbery gone wrong. Julian Assange, the head of WikiLeaks, has suggested that Rich passed DNC files to the group, which released the DNC files in 2016. U.S. authorities have alleged that Russians hacked into the DNC systems, but those allegations were made before the FBI received images from the DNC’s server to determine their validity.

The Metropolitan Police Department has said it is the lead investigating agency into the death. It has declined to say whether the FBI was helping with the probe into Rich’s death. The new records were found after the records office contacted an unnamed FBI special agent during its search for Rich’s work computer, according to FBI Records Chief Seidel. The other records are a letter from a third-party that accompanied the work computer and two FBI chain of custody forms. None of the records were indexed to Rich inside of the bureau’s central records system and neither the forensic report nor the custody forms mention Rich’s name, according to the FBI. They were also not included in an electronic file created for Rich’s case. The agent claimed that disclosure of the records would harm an FBI investigation into the allegations that Russians had hacked into U.S. systems.

The FBI now wants the court to agree to keep the new records shielded from Brian Huddleston, a Texas resident who filed a lawsuit against the bureau over its ignoring a Freedom of Information request for records on Rich. Bureau officials initially claimed in sworn statements that the FBI had searched for records on Rich but did not locate any. In 2020, for the first time, the FBI admitted it had files from a computer belonging to Rich. Some of those files were then released to Huddleston and made public, including documents that appear to suggest that someone could have paid for his death. The FBI has said it has images from a second computer owned by Rich, which the bureau described as Rich’s personal laptop. A federal judge in September ordered the bureau to hand the images over to Huddleston, finding that the bureau improperly withheld them.

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No way.

Are We Finally Reaching Peak Climate Hysteria? (Spiked)

The madness of the greens is peaking. This week a leading eco-politician in the UK, Caroline Lucas of the Green Party, referred to the building of a new coalmine as a ‘crime against humanity’. Take that in. Once upon a time it was mass murder, extermination, enslavement and the forced deportation of a people that were considered crimes against humanity. Now the building of a mine in Cumbria in north-west England that will create 500 new jobs and produce 2.8million tonnes of coal a year is referred to in such terms. Perhaps the coalmine bosses should be packed off to The Hague. Maybe the men who’ll dig the coal should be forced alongside the likes of ISIS to account for their genocidal behaviour.

We cannot let Ms Lucas’s crazed comments just slide by. We need to reflect on how we arrived at a situation where a mainstream politician, one feted by the media establishment, can liken digging for coal to crimes of extermination. It was in the Guardian – where else? – that Ms Lucas made her feverish claims. On Wednesday, when the government gave the go-ahead to the Cumbria mine, the first new coalmine in Britain for 30 years, Lucas wrote that the whole thing is ‘truly terrible’. This ‘climate-busting, backward-looking coalmine’ is nothing short of a ‘climate crime against humanity’, she said.

It isn’t though, is it? Sorry to be pedantic but it is not a crime to extract coal from the earth. If it were, the leaders of China – where they produce 13million tonnes of coal a day , rather putting into perspective the Cumbria mine’s 2.8million tonnes a year – would be languishing in the clink. I look forward to Ms Lucas performing a citizen’s arrest on Xi Jinping. It certainly is not a crime against humanity. That term entered popular usage during the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis. It refers to an act of evil of such enormity that it can be seen as an assault on all of humankind. Earth to Ms Lucas: extracting coal to make steel – what the Cumbria coal will mostly be used for – is not an affront to humankind. I’ll tell you what is an affront, though: speaking about the burning of coal in the same language that is used to refer to the burning of human beings. That, Caroline, is despicable.

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I still don’t know where the focus on nitrogen came from. Wasn’t it always CO2?

Dutch Gov’t Attempts To Forcibly Close 3,000 Farms For ‘Green’ Agenda (ZH)

Dutch farmers protesting for months over the government’s radical ‘green’ plan to slash nitrogen emissions by 50% – 95% could soon face forced buyouts of their land. “For agricultural entrepreneurs, there will be a stopping scheme that will be as attractive as possible,” Christianne van der Wal, nitrogen minister, recently said in the Dutch parliament. The Dutch government plans to purchase 3,000 “peak polluter” farms via a €24.3 billion ($25.6 billion) fund. Van der Wal said farmers would be offered 100% value for their land, but if voluntary efforts fail, farmers will face forced buyouts. The country is attempting to reduce nitrogen pollution and will make farm purchases if not enough landowners accept buyouts. She added: “There is no better offer coming.”

So, how did this happen? As we explained over the summer, farmers were livid with the Dutch government for following through with their green agenda to reduce nitrogen emissions on farms. Many of these folks took to the streets with their tractors and pitchforks and demanded the government reverse course on crushing the country’s agriculture industry. The Dutch government began implementing new rules on nitrogen activity on farmers and farm buildings as early as 2019. That halted the expansion of dairy, pig, and poultry operations for the last several years, which are significant sources of nitrogen pollution. One Dutch farmer spoke with ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to discuss the pressure from the government and their move to close down thousands of farms.

“I don’t know what we can expect. For my own family, I hope that one of my sons can continue farming if he wants,” Dutch Farmer Geertjan Kloosterboer said. The Netherlands is trying to reduce emissions and follow through with a green agenda, but it could jeopardize the nation’s food supply and put the world’s supply at risk. Recent data shows the country, which is the size of Maryland, is the world’s second-largest exporter of agricultural products by value behind the US. Their centrality in the global food supply is indisputable, and so-called green politicians want to destroy the industry in the name of climate change. It seems like the protests aren’t going away anytime soon.

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Brain health.

Viagra Lowers the Risk of Alzheimer’s By Almost 70% (GR)

New research published recently suggests that Pfizer’s erectile dysfunction drug Viagra can decrease the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by up to 69%. The research, which was published in Nature, found that the medication has a direct effect on brain health and significantly reduces the toxic proteins that can cause dementia. The study’s findings are so promising that the drug may someday be used to counter dementia. A new team of experts is preparing to conduct another study that builds on this data but tests the generic version of Viagra — sildenafil — in patients suffering from early Alzheimer’s.

The team of researchers arrived at Viagra’s viability as a treatment for dementia after analyzing 1,600 approved drugs hoping to find one that could be repurposed to fight the root causes of dementia. “Sildenafil, which has been shown to significantly improve cognition and memory in preclinical models, presented as the best drug candidate. Sildenafil may have neuroprotective effects and reduce levels of toxic tau proteins,” said Dr. Feixiong Cheng, the lead researcher on the study, which was conducted by the Cleveland Clinic. Despite the excitement surrounding the study’s promising results, some experts are advising people to not get their hopes up quite yet, as clinical trials are still necessary.

Another recent study uncovered another unlikely weapon in the fight against dementia: coffee. Research suggests that coffee consumption may significantly decrease your chances of developing the disease. The study sheds light on the mysterious disease, for which there is no cure as of now. While coffee does not mitigate or fight Alzheimer’s like some medications do, the study found that people with no memory loss who also drank larger than average amounts of coffee were at less of a risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, which is considered a pre-stage of Alzheimer’s disease.

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Bout

 

 

 

 

Weaver

 

 

Blue-footed booby

 

 


Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii)

 

 

 

 

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