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Debt Rattle May 26 2026

May 262026
 
 May 26, 2026  Posted by at 9:58 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,  36 Responses »


Andy Warhol Reigning Queens 1985


• President Trump Updates on Current Status of Negotiations With Iran (CTH)
• Trump Tells Arab States Joining Abraham Accords Should Be ‘Mandatory’ (ZH)
• Hamas’s Sponsors in Qatar and Iran Won’t Sign the Abraham Accords (Salgado)
• Report Details Painfully Slow Communication Within Iran’s Leadership (ZH)
• Tulsi Gabbard and Others Go Above and Beyond for a Gold Star Widow (Anderson)
• This is a ‘Jackie Robinson moment’ (Turleey)
• For the Honored Dead (James Howard Kunstler)
• Five NATO Countries Block Plan For Mandatory Ukraine Funding – Telegraph (RT)
• The US Admin Lost A Patriot and Truth-teller In Tulsi Gabbard (Scott Ritter)
• White House Rips Pompeo For Prematurely Criticizing Iran Deal (JTN)
• Cruz Warns of Senate ‘Revolt’ Over $1.8 Billion Weaponization Fund (JTN)
• It Was Never About The Climate (Silvio Canto Jr)
• Musk: SpaceX-xAI Is Actively Seeking More AI Compute Customers (DCD)

 


 

https://twitter.com/Crypto_Jargon/status/2058693231404355867?s=20 https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/2058898081328898210?s=20 https://twitter.com/MehekCooke/status/2058909292388847966?s=20

 


 


“This will be the most important Deal that any of these Great, but always in Conflict Countries, will ever sign. “

• President Trump Updates on Current Status of Negotiations With Iran (CTH)

Both President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have provided updates on the current status of negotiations with the Iranian regime. President Trump delivered an update from his Truth Social Account:


PRESIDENT TRUMP – “Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely! It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before — And nobody wants that!

During my discussions on Saturday with President Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of The United Arab Emirates, Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, and Minister Ali al-Thawadi, of Qatar, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, of Pakistan, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of Türkiye, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, of Egypt, King Abdullah II, of Jordan, and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, of Bahrain, I stated that, after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords.

Those Countries discussed are Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates (already a Member!), Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain (already a Member!). It may be possible that one or two have a reason for not doing so, and that will be accepted, but most should be ready, willing, and able to make this Settlement with Iran a far more Historic Event than it would, otherwise, be. The Abraham Accords have proven to be, for the Countries involved (The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and Kazakhstan), a Financial, Economic, and Social BOOM, even during this time of Conflict and War, with the current Members never even suggesting leaving, or taking so much as even a pause.

The reason for this is that the Abraham Accords have been great for them, and will be even better for everybody, and bring true Power, Strength, and Peace to the Middle East for the first time in 5,000 years. It will be a Document respected like no other that has ever been signed, anywhere in the World. Its level of Importance and Prestige will be unparalleled! It should start with the immediate signing by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and everybody else should follow suit. If they don’t, they should not be part of this Deal in that it shows bad intention.”

“In speaking to numerous of the Great Leaders mentioned above, they would be honored, as soon as our Document is signed, to have the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of the Abraham Accords. Wow, now that would be something special! This will be the most important Deal that any of these Great, but always in Conflict Countries, will ever sign. Nothing in the past, or in the future, will surpass it.

Therefore, I am mandatorily requesting that all Countries immediately sign the Abraham Accords, and that, if Iran signs its Agreement with me, as President of the United States of America, it would be an Honor to have them also be part of this unparalleled World Coalition. The Middle East would be United, Powerful, and Economically Strong, like perhaps no other area, anywhere in the World!

By copy of this TRUTH, I am asking my Representatives to begin, and successfully complete, the process of signing these Countries into the already Historic Abraham Accords. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke of the current status during his trip to India, shortly before his visit to the Taj Mahal. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed reporters in New Delhi before departing for Agra, discussing Iran nuclear negotiations, Hezbollah tensions, India-U.S. relations, Pakistan concerns, and President Donald Trump’s stance on diplomacy. Rubio stressed that Washington will “give diplomacy every chance to succeed” while warning against a nuclear Iran and reaffirming strong ties with India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Read more …

But Abraham includes Israel?!

• Trump Tells Arab States Joining Abraham Accords Should Be ‘Mandatory’ (ZH)

President Trump is still trying to play the role of the globe’s ultimate deal-maker via Truth Social, using a mix of mandatory diplomacy and ultimate economic carrots, issuing a lengthy missive on Iran talks and the Abraham Accords on Monday morning. He introduced the post by stating that negotiations with Tehran are “proceeding nicely” before dropping a provocative diplomatic bombshell: a demand that a big list of major Middle Eastern nations immediately sign onto the Abraham Accords as a prerequisite for any broader peace framework.


The most unexpected aspect to the post laid out that if Tehran plays ball with Washington, Trump is dangling the prospect of the Islamic Republic itself joining the regional coalition, which it must be remembered hinges on ‘normalization’ with Israel.

“I stated that, after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote Monday, referencing a Saturday phone call with Arab leaders. Trump detailed further:

“Those Countries discussed are Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates (already a Member!), Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain (already a Member!). It may be possible that one or two have a reason for not doing so, and that will be accepted, but most should be ready, willing, and able to make this Settlement with Iran a far more Historic Event than it would, otherwise, be. The Abraham Accords have proven to be, for the Countries involved (The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and Kazakhstan), a Financial, Economic, and Social BOOM, even during this time of Conflict and War, with the current Members never even suggesting leaving, or taking so much as even a pause.”

The above was coupled with the following ultimatum: “It should start with the immediate signing by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and everybody else should follow suit. If they don’t, they should not be part of this Deal in that it shows bad intention.” And then he dropped the significant twist related to Tehran, in claiming that several of the regional leaders he spoke with “would be honored, as soon as our Document is signed, to have the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of the Abraham Accords. Wow, now that would be something special!”

Inviting Iran to join the Abraham Accords as a part of a broader final deal framework has resulted in a lot of head-scratching, given that just weeks ago Trump repeatedly threatened to bomb the country ‘back to the stone age’ and effectively end ‘civilization’ there. US rhetoric has been filled with scorn for Iran, and yet it is now being asked to join a grand US-backed alliance. Trump is his very long message issued a final directive in the following:

“Therefore, I am mandatorily requesting that all Countries immediately sign the Abraham Accords, and that, if Iran signs its Agreement with me, as President of the United States of America, it would be an Honor to have them also be part of this unparalleled World Coalition. The Middle East would be United, Powerful, and Economically Strong, like perhaps no other area, anywhere in the World! By copy of this TRUTH, I am asking my Representatives to begin, and successfully complete, the process of signing these Countries into the already Historic Abraham Accords.”

Meanwhile, look who’s fully on board and has returned to singing Trump’s praises (after expressing concern over a ‘bad’ Iran deal in the works)…

Whether Trump can single-handedly force countries as far apart in their foreign policies as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey… or especially Iran, into a binding alignment with Tel Aviv remains a massive question mark (to put it mildly), or rather would be incredible and highly unrealistic. But with the threat of “shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before” serving as the baseline, the White House has put regional powers officially on notice – in Trump’s logic at least.

Read more …

That’s why Trump wants to make it mandatory

• Hamas’s Sponsors in Qatar and Iran Won’t Sign the Abraham Accords (Salgado)

President Donald Trump has a dream of the entire Middle East signing onto the Abraham Accords to make peace with Israel. However, two of the countries he specifically mentioned as candidates for signing the accords have made wiping Israel off the map a prime focus for both themselves and their terrorist proxies. Or perhaps this is his last peace offer before he resumes war on Iran’s regime.


Trump wants peace in the Middle East, and so do we all, as have Christians and Jews for the last two or three centuries. The problem is that we are fighting 1400 years of Islam with its sacred texts and laws mandating the killing of non-Muslims and especially Jews. This is not merely a regional dispute or quibbling over specific land patches, but an existential spiritual war. For more in-depth analysis, you can watch Dinesh D’Souza’s “The Dragon’s Prophecy.” So as laudable as Trump’s goal is, it is also improbable. Hopefully he understands that enough to use the Abraham Accords as a litmus test to find his true allies.

Trump called on the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iran to sign the Abraham Accords. All three are sharia dictatorships that enforce strict Muslim law and persecute Christians within their own countries. They also all have a history of hostility to Israel. Even Saudi Arabia has become more anti-Israel in the last year, and the Qatari regime is the most devoted sponsor of Hamas, while the Iranian regime backs Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist groups that attack not only Israel, but other countries across the region and even around the entire world.

Yes, Qatar pours vast amounts of money into the United States, including our universities, but that is not because they’re our friends or Israel’s. It’s because the regime wants to transform our country into an anti-Israel, pro-Islamist sharia cesspool like its own. It explains why so many U.S. universities have a violent antisemitism problem. It explains why so many politicians both on the right and the left now fixate on hating Israel. I truly wish that America would move its base from Qatar, Hamas’s haven, to the Republic of Somaliland. Why should we endanger our men?

The Iranian regime does not even pretend to be anything but America’s worst enemy. After half a century of terrorism, the Iranian regime has repeatedly violated ceasefires, rejected every peace offer from Trump, and most recently put out a €50 million, or approximately $58 million, price on Trump’s head, just after an Iran-tied assassin made an attempt on Ivanka Trump.

Again, perhaps this offer is Trump’s way of testing which Arab nations actually want peace with Israel and the U.S. and which are merely lying whenever necessary to hide their true goals. If so, I think he will discover quickly that Qatar and Iran, and possibly also Saudi Arabia, are more interested in destroying Israel than in stopping the missile fire.

Read more …

It’s by design. Trump will have to break through it. Or the 21st century will arrive first before any deal.

• Report Details Painfully Slow Communication Within Iran’s Leadership (ZH)

According to a Sunday CBS News report citing US officials, Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still in hiding in a secret location with extremely limited communication to the outside world. Driven underground by a pervasive fear within Tehran’s remaining leadership structure following relentless US and Israeli military strikes, the Supreme Leader is effectively isolated. This information is nothing ‘new’ – but even as talks with the US are now little by little reportedly proceeding – and as a ceasefire has been extended by weeks – the Ayatollah is clearly not taking any chances.


The CIA and Mossad have openly acknowledged that are actively looking for his hideout. But the report seeks to provide an explanation as to why Tehran’s response to any specific updated draft peace deal often takes several days. CBS detailed how the isolation is to keep Western intelligence from mapping his coordinates, which involves only being reached via a slow, archaic network of physical couriers designed to conceal his location.The report further alleges that these heightened security measures have significantly disrupted communication lines within Iran’s government, complicating active negotiations with the Trump administration and at times dragging responses to US peace proposals to a grinding halt.

But this is also to a large degree by design, to allow the different military units autonomy of command in the instance for more ‘decapitation strikes’ targeting governing centers in Tehran.The end result, says CBS, is that “When the U.S. sends proposed details, the difficulty in reaching the supreme leader means there can be a long delay before the U.S. receives a response, two of the officials said.” Yet, it wasn’t long ago that White House officials and mainstream pundits were insisting that the Ayatollah is not actually in charge of the country. But now assumptions have shifted back, apparently. The report claims further: At this point, most Iranian leaders don’t see daylight, spending weeks inside highly fortified bunkers and avoiding speaking to each other unless absolutely necessary, the sources said.

“Watching them try to figure out how to talk to each other is almost like watching a sitcom. They are completely exasperated,” one official said. The most cautious measures are being taken by the supreme leader. By design, even officials at the highest levels of the Iranian government don’t know where he is and have no way to contact him directly.

One official followed with: “This is why you see people saying things like, ‘The supreme leader has agreed to the framework,’ or ‘We’re waiting to hear back on the final deal points.’ Every piece of information he receives is dated and there’s a lot of latency to his responses,” one official said. It has become obvious that the negotiations process has become painfully slow and confused, and so this narrative by anonymous US officials seems an effort to lay blame squarely on the Iranians, instead of Washington’s own often shifting goals and conditions.

Read more …

“Here’s your feel-good story of the day.”

• Tulsi Gabbard and Others Go Above and Beyond for a Gold Star Widow (Anderson)

Here’s your feel-good story of the day. On the night before Memorial Day, Sharrell Shaw posted a special request on social media. “This is probably a long shot, but if anybody happens to be in D.C. this weekend and plans on visiting Arlington, I would love to see a fresh photo of my husband’s grave in Section 60,” she said. “There’s just something about knowing people still stop by, still say his name, still remember.” The Gold Star widow’s husband was Staff Sergeant Alan W. Shaw. He was killed in action in Iraq on February 9, 2007. Alan was only 31, and while he’s from Little Rock, Ark., he’s buried Arlington in Section 60, Grave 8451 at Arlington.


Sharrell, who goes by @SharrellAnne2 on X, didn’t have high expectations, so I imagine she was mighty surprised on Monday when dozens of patriotic Americans visited her husband’s grave to pay their respects and take a photo for her, including members of the Donald Trump administration.

One of the first was outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. A veteran herself, Gabbard posted a response to Sharrell, which included a picture of her placing a challenge coin on Alana’s headstone. “It was an honor to visit your husband’s grave today on your behalf, and to pay my respects,” she said. “It was wonderful to see the beautiful flowers representing many others who did the same. Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, and to the loved ones they left behind. Thank you for your service and sacrifice.”

https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/2058975663160226185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2058975663160226185%7Ctwgr%5E6d6b9c68cca1dcbff51b7208babf7e42178f4954%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fsarah-anderson%2F2026%2F05%2F25%2Ftulsi-gabbard-goes-above-and-beyond-for-a-gold-star-widow-n4953238

Later, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his wife and children also stopped by to pay their respects.

Journalist Nick Sortor stopped by and laid fresh roses on Alan’s grave. He also got the challenge coin and plans to mail it to Sharrell and her children.

And soon, numerous others were stopping by Alan’s grave to pay their respects for someone who gave his life for our freedom, including this beautiful five-year-old girl. Her parents are definitely raising her right: By Monday evening, Sharrell’s X feed was filled with posts like these:

And Alan’s grave was filled with flags, flowers, and love from so many people who’d never met him before. Sharrell responded with the following message: ”Last night, I made a simple request on X. I asked if anybody visiting Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day would stop by Alan’s grave and leave a photo for our family. What happened next honestly caught me off guard. By this afternoon, dozens of Americans from all walks of life had made the walk to Section 60 to visit SSG Alan W. Shaw. Veterans. Families. Complete strangers. People who had never met Alan, but chose to honor him anyway.

For one day on social media, people put aside the constant noise and negativity and came together for something bigger than themselves. My notifications filled with photos, kind messages, prayers, and stories from people honoring not just Alan, but so many of our fallen heroes. I don’t think people fully understand what moments like this mean to Gold Star families. The fear is never just losing them. It’s losing them slowly over time as the world moves on and fewer people remember their name. But today showed me that Alan will never be forgotten.

After years of watching social media reward some of the worst parts of humanity, today gave me a reminder that the good is still out there too. Thank you to every single person who stopped by to visit Alan today, said his name, shared his story, or took a moment to honor the fallen. This right here is the America Alan knew and loved enough to fight and die for. And today, y’all showed us all that it’s still here and it’s still worth fighting for. “

Sharrell also shared a photo of her family, including her husband and three children, as well as some memories and thoughts on what Memorial Day means to her family.

All I can say is thank God for people like Alan and Sharrell Shaw who are willing to give so much for our country. And thank God for the patriots who went to Alan’s grave today to pay their respects — people from all walks of life, as Sharrell said, coming together to say thank you. This is what makes the United States great.

Read more …

Or is it the opposite?

• This is a ‘Jackie Robinson Moment’ (Turleey)

“It’s a Jackie Robinson moment.” That declaration by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries struck a curious chord because Jeffries was calling for Black athletes to boycott SEC conference teams to protest not the existence but the elimination of racial discrimination. Jeffries was upset that the court had ended racial gerrymandering designed to guarantee the election of non-white (and largely Democratic) House members. It was as if Jackie Robinson were to join a protest calling for the return of race-based discrimination in baseball.

Robinson played his first year in the Negro League with the Kansas City Monarchs before becoming the first African-American player in the Major Leagues when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. He ushered in a new era in baseball, in which race had no role in competitive sports. There would be no racial division of leagues, no race quotas and no segregation — just an equal playing field. Almost 50 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court found that racial quotas in university admissions violated the 14th Amendment. The court later declared all racial preferences to be unconstitutional. Yet, for decades, a form of political affirmative action has persisted under the Voting Rights Act, where federal courts required racial gerrymandering to guarantee the election of minority members to Congress.

That ended with the Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which found that was also unlawful racial discrimination.The Callais decision brought something long missing from our constitutional jurisprudence: consistency. In 2007, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that “the way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Yet for decades, certain forms of racial discrimination were tolerated in the name of diversity or equity. The Callais decision put an end to this pretense and declared all such racial gerrymandering is illegal and discriminatory.

In response, the NAACP called for both players and fans to boycott SEC teams. MS NOW host Chris Hayes asked whether Jeffries would support the effort. Jeffries declared that black athletes should turn down potential career-making offers from SEC powerhouse teams to preserve political affirmative action. He said that existing students should “abandon SEC schools,” even though such moves might effectively end their careers. “There should be no athletic or sports participation. … You know, this is a Muhammad Ali moment. This is a Bill Russell moment. It’s a Jackie Robinson moment.”

Jeffries acknowledged that such moves will “require a level of courage and character and conviction,” but he added that it would be worth it. Politicians often ask others to make sacrifices that would benefit them, but this was truly the Super Bowl of self-serving political pitches. Some of these young athletes would give up their hopes for an NFL career, just to fight for racial gerrymandering so that Black voters can be either cracked or packed into districts. It is a system that has yielded Democratic districts for decades. But are these athletes’ careers really worth sacrificing to Jeffries’s all-consuming desire to be the next Speaker of the House?

Self-serving demands are nothing new for politicians. They often ask for sacrifices from others to further their own ambitions. This week, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called on Californians to boycott Chevron after the company launched a campaign reminding them that they are paying the highest gas prices in the nation. For years, Democrats have added gas taxes to both pay for bloated budgets and to encourage the expansion of public transportation. Environmental policies have devastated the state’s oil and gas industry and increased its reliance on foreign oil.

Newsom’s response was to call for Californians to potentially pay more at other stations, in order to punish Chevron for telling the truth about his policies. “Californians,” he tweeted, “if you’re hitting the road this holiday weekend, be sure to AVOID Chevron.” In fairness to Newsom, though, asking residents to potentially pay a little more at the pump to punish Chevron for embarrassing him is trivial in comparison to the ask of athletes to derail or discontinue their football careers.

What is particularly dishonest is how the Callais decision has been portrayed by many pundits, professors, and politicians. What neither the NAACP nor Jeffries will mention is that the Supreme Court preserved the original intent of the VRA to ban intentional racial discrimination in the design of electoral districts. Far from being “gutted,” the law will still be used to bar efforts to deny minority voters their equal voting rights. It will also now bar racial discrimination in any form in the design of these districts.

To invoke Jackie Robinson to support racial discrimination in politics is to denigrate his legacy. Ironically, Robinson was a Republican who spoke out against what he saw as the rise in racial politics in the 1960s in the Republican Party. He warned that there is “a new breed which is seeking to sell to Americans a doctrine which is as old as mankind — the doctrine of racial division.”

He added what could be the perfect retort to Jeffries today in the use of his name to support racial gerrymandering: “It would make everything I worked for meaningless if baseball is integrated but political parties were segregated.”

So, maybe Jeffries is right. This is “a Jackie Robinson moment” after all.

Read more …

“I told my staff today that we need an ICD code for Trump Derangement Syndrome, because it is a real thing … It should be studied.” Robert F. Kennedy, Jr

• For the Honored Dead (James Howard Kunstler)

As of this holiday morning, America is informed that the negotiations between the US and Iran may take several more days to resolve. You better believe that Iran is going to make a deal. One way or another, they will give up their stash of sixty-percent enriched uranium. Nobody believes they would not attempt to make bombs with it, especially Mr. Trump. So, Iran will not be going back to whatever is considered normal life until they agree to give it up, and then make it happen. Iran is like a demon-possessed teenager with a firearm getting its head banged into the sidewalk. What part of give-it-up don’t you understand?


The news media apparently forgot what it broadcast a couple of weeks ago: Iran’s oil storage capacity was nearing the red-line. If the wells have to be shut-in, such is the geology that it would wreck the oil fields themselves. Perhaps this is happening now. Nobody is reporting on it. But the news media doesn’t really report on anything. It opines. It spins. It constructs story-lines for advantage, it gaslights, it perverts the consensus about reality out of existence, it just plain lies.

If Iran is jerking the US around again, this will be the last time. They will prove to be negotiation-incapable, as the Russian phrase goes. They will punch their own express ticket back to the 12th century, lights out, bridges down across the rugged terrain, back to donkey carts, magic lamps, and vizeers instead of mullahs.

Why does America’s lefty-left beat its drum for an Iranian victory when 1) it’s not happening, and 2) it’s hardly in the interest of Western Civ for anything like that to happen? You can conclude that they hate and despise Western Civ, especially anything that resembles America’s traditional sense-of-self: a republic based on civic and economic liberty. Liberty means individuals making their own decisions within an armature of laws written in good faith, to mean what they say.

The Lefty-left is mainly about acquiring power through bad faith in order to push everyone around, tell them what they’re allowed to want out of life, and severely punish anyone who objects to that treatment. What’s often overlooked is the role that sadism plays in the psychology of the Lefty-left. They seem to love it when illegal aliens rape and strangle 19-year-old American girls. (You don’t hear them deplore it, do you? Their house-organ, The New York Times, won’t even report it.) More than anything they want to subject you to the most savage humiliations.

We are at a dangerous pass this Memorial Day. Mr. Trump and his people are methodically rearranging the works to expel these grifting demons. Their resistance to being expelled will manifest in ever more dirty fighting as spring blossoms into a summer of violent “activism.” They will try as hard as possible to wreck the country’s 250th birthday celebrations. It might look like civil war. They will not stop trying kill Donald Trump and possibly other figures around him. Even if they manage that, it will not stop what it is coming for them.

This time around nobody believes their sob stories, their whining about “oppression,” their bullshit about “equity” and “justice.” This time, they will not be allowed to get away with sheer lawlessness. They will not be able to pass off fake martyrs such as George Floyd. The elections this time — if they can happen — will be clean and fair. That can be the only way they will be allowed to happen.

This will be the most emphatic counter-revolution in modern history, a complete rejection of childish unreality — the cavalcade of absurdities you have been told to swallow for a mad decade: that you can change your sex “assigned at birth.” (Assigned by whom? By some cosmic committee of gender komisars?) That merit has no merit (don’t be good at anything). That men and maleness represent some inferior way of being human? That people from outside American society, from faraway lands, deserve to live here under a special gift economy of vast subsidies, at your expense, to set up antagonistic counter-cultures? That words don’t mean what they mean?

Expect the pace to quicken now, even with Tulsi Gabbard gone. Her operational deputy DNI, Aaron Lukas, is a proven, capable warrior. Most of the critical information has already been recovered from the Deep State’s vaults, hidden rooms, burn bags, and SCIFs. The adjudication of crimes against our country will be spooling out the next hundred days as a vivid and orderly counterpoint to whatever nose-ringed chaos the Democrats send out into the streets. The republic will celebrate its 250th birthday by carrying-on as it was designed to do, while the demons skulk to back into the shadows until the next great turning.

Read more …

“The UK, France, Spain, Italy, and Canada “aren’t very enthusiastic about the idea,” a source within the bloc has told the paper”

• Five NATO Countries Block Plan For Mandatory Ukraine Funding – Telegraph (RT)

The UK, France, Spain, Italy, and Canda have rejected a proposal for NATO member states to spend 0.25% of their GDP on military assistance to Ukraine, The Telegraph has reported. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was hoping that mandatory funding for Kiev would be approved at the bloc’s summit in Ankara, Türkiye on July 7-8, The Telegraph said in an article on Sunday. A NATO insider told the paper that Britain, France, Spain, Italy, and Canada “aren’t very enthusiastic about the idea.” Out of the 32 member-states, the proposal was only supported by seven nations, all of which already spend 0.25% or more of their GDP on assisting Ukraine, The Telegraph said.


According to data from the Kiel Institute, the Netherlands, Poland, and the Nordic and Baltic countries currently spend 0.25% of their GDP or more on arming Kiev. Last week, Rutte conceded that the plan did not have the unanimous backing within NATO required for it to be accepted. “I don’t think this one will be proposed” in the Turkish capital, he told journalists. Mandatory funding had been intended to serve as a show of continued commitment to Ukraine by the bloc’s European members after American assistance to the government of Vladimir Zelensky ebbed significantly under US President Donald Trump, it added. A British foreign office spokesperson told the paper that “the UK continues to engage with NATO allies on all proposals to ensure the alliance can best support Ukraine.”

Moscow has repeatedly decried Western aid to Kiev, saying that it will not prevent it from achieving its goals in the Ukraine conflict and only prolongs the fighting, increasing the risk of a direct clash between Russia and NATO. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that NATO has been using Ukraine “with the blatant goal of creating problems for the existence of our country and setting up a springboard for threats to our security right on our borders.” The idea of “decolonizing” Russia has not yet been given up by the bloc, he warned.

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Hawaii is far away, but it’s still US. And she can’t stay in Washington.

• The US Admin Lost A Patriot and Truth-teller In Tulsi Gabbard (Scott Ritter)

Once the darling of the Democratic Party, Tulsi Gabbard had a hard-earned reputation as a no-nonsense proponent of fact-based truth, which she assiduously incorporated into her eloquent defense of Constitutional due process and moral integrity when it came to the national security of the United States.


With a resume that boasts years of honorable military service, including a tour of duty in war-torn Iraq, Gabbard was a staunch advocate of looking out for the welfare of the men and women in the US military – whom she regularly referred to as her “brothers and sisters in arms.” She, as much as anyone, understood the age-old mantra, “if you lie, they die” when it came to the relationship between intelligence and troops in the field. She held herself to a high standard and applied that same standard to those she worked with.

Her appointment as the Director of National Intelligence was seen by many as a bright shining light of hope when it came to injecting fact-based truths into a Trump administration known to be loose with the facts. Her resignation this past week, ostensibly for personal reasons, is a great disappointment to those Americans who were looking to her for clarity and truth in a world that has degenerated into lie-fueled chaos.

Tulsi Gabbard was always somewhat politically inclined. In 2002 she followed in her father’s footsteps, running for and winning a seat in the Hawaii State Legislature, becoming the youngest woman ever to hold a seat there. Gabbard joined the Hawaiian Army National Guard shortly after winning office, and deployed to Iraq shortly thereafter, where she earned the Combat Action Badge in the performance of her duties. Gabbard’s tenure as a state legislature was cut short by her military service (she was not allowed to vote on issues while on active service), but in 2011, following a second tour of duty in the Middle East, Gabbard ran for and won a seat on the Honolulu City Council. Shortly thereafter, the Congressional seat for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District became vacant, and Gabbard threw her hat in the ring, winning handily. She was quickly seen as a rising star in Democratic national politics and was invited to speak at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

As a US congresswoman, Gabbard served on several prominent committees related to national security, including Homeland Security, Armed Services, and Foreign Affairs. Her political profile was rising, and in 2013 she was appointed as the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Gabbard resigned from this position in 2016, during a contentious presidential primary campaign where she accused the DNC Chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, of favoring the candidacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton over that of Bernie Sanders. Gabbard went on to endorse Sanders in the primary (he lost). While many viewed her resignation as the political kiss of death, Gabbard’s reputation for integrity and courage was burnished, paving the way for her to enter the 2020 US presidential race.

The 2020 presidential campaign saw Gabbard’s willingness to challenge the conventional narrative regarding US national security priorities, especially when it came to America’s involvement in the seemingly endless wars in the Middle East, transforming her into a target for the mainstream American media, which had a record of supporting establishment candidates and promoting establishment narratives. Her visit to Syria in 2017 as a member of Congress became fodder for her political opponents and their mainstream media allies who sought to paint Gabbard – who had served in combat – as being sympathetic to Islamic terrorists and Middle Eastern dictators.

Gabbard’s pragmatic approach to US-Russian relations likewise opened her up to being labeled as an agent of Russian disinformation and as someone under the control of Russian President Vladimir Putin (Hillary Clinton led the charge in this regard, infamously calling Gabbard a “Russian asset”). She was never able to gain traction amongst a Democratic constituency that had long been under the sway of the Democratic Party’s elite, and she ended her presidential bid in March 2020.

Gabbard became active on social media, starting her own podcast and frequently interacting with popular conservative media personalities such as Tucker Carlson. During this time, her resentment toward the Democratic Party came to a head, and in 2022 she announced she was going independent. As an independent, she began gravitating toward the policies and positions espoused by Donald Trump, between presidencies at the time, and came out in support of several pro-Trump candidates during the 2022 midterm elections. Gabbard’s star was rising among the ranks of pro-Trump Republicans and following a speaking appearance at the 2024 CPAC conference, Gabbard’s name was often mentioned as a possible Vice President selection for Donald Trump, who had thrown his hat into the ring for the 2024 Presidential race.

While Gabbard wasn’t asked to be Trump’s Vice President (that honor went to J.D. Vance), she and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. were brought into the campaign and played a huge role in bringing out a very substantive independent voting constituency for Trump, helping push him comfortably ahead of the Democratic Party nominee, Kamala Harris. In October 2024 Gabbard joined the Republican Party and, following Trump’s victory in November, was nominated by the president-elect for the position of Director of National Intelligence, America’s senior-most intelligence official.

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‘Should shut his stupid mouth’

“Mike Pompeo has no idea what the f— he’s talking about,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung. wrote on X.

• White House Rips Pompeo For Prematurely Criticizing Iran Deal (JTN)

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ripped the reported contents of a potential Iran agreement that’s still being negotiated by President Donald Trump and his team, warning that the emerging framework resembles the Iran deal from the Obama administration. Some reports said that Iran and the U.S. might agree to a 60-day ceasefire while negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program continue. “The deal being floated with Iran seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook,” Pompeo wrote on X, describing the reported framework as “not remotely America First.”


He said the U.S. should “deny Iran access to money” and “take out enough Iranian capability so it cannot threaten our allies in the region.” Pompeo’s criticism drew a fiery response from White House Communications Director Steven Cheung. “Mike Pompeo has no idea what the f— he’s talking about,” Cheung wrote on X. “He should shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals. He’s not read into anything that’s happening, so how would he know.”

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“Cruz warns of Senate ‘revolt’ if White House, DOJ refuse to revise $1.8 billion weaponization fund “

• Cruz Warns of Senate ‘Revolt’ Over $1.8 Billion Weaponization Fund (JTN)

Cruz described a meeting between the Senate GOP and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as “one of the roughest meetings I’ve seen in my entire time in the Senate”Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is warning the White House that it could face a “full-on revolt in the Senate” unless the Trump administration revises a controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that has triggered growing backlash among Republican lawmakers.


The dispute erupted after Senate Republicans held a tense closed-door meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to discuss the fund, which was created as part of a settlement tied to President Donald Trump dropping lawsuits against the IRS and other federal entities. Speaking afterward on his podcast, Cruz described the meeting as “one of the roughest meetings I’ve seen in my entire time in the Senate,” saying Republican senators were “screaming” at Blanche over concerns the fund could become politically toxic ahead of the midterm elections.

“If the administration doesn’t fix this, they’ve got a full-on revolt in the Senate,” Cruz said.The proposed fund is intended to compensate individuals the administration says were victims of government “weaponization” or politically motivated prosecutions. “The legal basis is quite sound,” Cruz said.Several GOP senators have objected to the lack of congressional oversight and the possibility that people convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot could receive payouts, reports have said.

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The graph is painfully clear. But everybody believes the climate religion.

• It Was Never About The Climate (Silvio Canto Jr)

Here is a question for your long weekend: Why haven’t you ever seen a climate change protest before the Chinese embassy anywhere? Why is it always the US or capitalism messing up the environment? Why don’t they show up at all when China is a bigger threat to clean air than any US city?The answer is obvious, but I’ll say it.


It was never about the climate but rather capitalism or the US. Check this out: In 2024, climate activists in New York City protested alongside anti-Israel protesters at a rally headlined “Climate Justice Means Free Palestine.”nLast year, climate change celebrity icon Greta Thunberg tried to storm Israel by sea on a flotilla protesting the country’s war in Gaza, yelling “Free! Free! Palestine!” when she was refused entry. And, last week, activists from CodePink, a far-left feminist activist group that has received funds from an American expatriate, Neville Roy Singham, living in Shanghai, took a break from their rallies supporting the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Cuba Communist Party to circulate a video on Instagram, attacking a Utah data center project backed by investor Kevin O’Leary.

That’s a busy bunch protesting against the West. Maybe someone should tell them that the clean air in Cuba is due to a collapse of industrial activity. Or we can always remind them of how they treat gays in Palestine or women in general. As the article points out, these marches were always about hating the West and what we stand for. So don’t be fooled by the slogans or some well-meaning people showing up to protest. The root of all of this is hatred of the West and our individual freedoms.

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A billion a month.

• Musk: SpaceX-xAI Is Actively Seeking More AI Compute Customers (DCD)

SpaceX’s xAI subsidiary is looking to score more data center compute lease deals, after it sold all of the capacity of Colossus I to Anthropic. That deal will see Grok’s competitor pay $1.25 billion a month over the next three years for the 300MW facility. The deal can be terminated by either party, with 90 days’ notice. “As the recently expanded partnership with Anthropic demonstrates, SpaceX is offering AI compute as a service at significant scale,” CEO Elon Musk said. “We are in discussions with other companies to do the same. “Over time, especially with orbital data centers, we expect to serve AI at extremely high scale.”


In April, AI code editing startup Cursor announced that it would also be using space at xAI data centers – although SpaceX is set to acquire the business within 30 days of its IPO. SpaceX is expected to go public on June 12, with the company looking to raise upwards of $75 billion. IPO documents reveal that xAI spent $12.7bn on AI infrastructure in 2025, and has already invested $7.7bn in the first quarter of 2026.Alongside the first Colossus data center, xAI is developing Colossus 2. It acquired the land last March, and the data center came online in January. Despite Musk claiming it offered 1GW of capacity at launch, satellite imagery taken in January reportedly showed it had cooling equipment installed capable of managing 350MW.

The IPO document makes multiple mentions of the 1GW of data center capacity at SpaceX’s disposal, but describes it as “nameplate compute draw.” It explains this is calculated by taking “the number of GPUs installed in our data centers at the end of the period multiplied by their respective all-in power draw. According to a chart in the IPO filing, the company’s nameplate compute draw was 1GW in March 2026, up from 300MW a year before. However, it also notes that this figure “reflects installed capacity and does not represent actual power consumption or utilization.” So while the GPUs are installed, they may not yet be powered up, suggesting the company’s actual useful compute power could be significantly less than 1GW.

How much capacity at the xAI data centers is actually reserved for Grok, the company’s own generative AI effort, is unclear. The platform has seen dwindling usage, while increasing numbers of staff have left the company – including all non-Musk co-founders. SpaceX, meanwhile, plans to launch up to one million space data center satellites in the years to come.

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https://twitter.com/mamboitaliano__/status/2058575591217963296?s=20

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle May 10 2026

May 102026
 
 May 10, 2026  Posted by at 9:32 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,  46 Responses »


Douglas Percy Bliss High Noon, Windley 1951


• US Reportedly Struck 4 Iranian Oil Tankers Entering The Strait (ZH)
• Qatari LNG Tanker Transits Hormuz As U.S. Awaits Iran’s Response (ZH)
• Iran Discloses Supreme Leader’s Status For First Time: Marginally Injured (ZH)
• World Must Hear Russia’s Warning To Zelensky, Understand Importance – MFA (TASS)
• Putin Rips NATO Aggression At Scaled-Down Victory Day Parade (ZH)
• Trump: Ceasefire Between Russia, Ukraine Could Be Extended (TASS)
• Starmer’s Labour Party ‘Wiped Out’ In UK Elections (RT)
• Germany’s AfD On Verge Of Absolute Majority In Eastern Saxony-Anhalt (ZH)
• From Market To Military: Germany’s Private Sector Is Imploding (RT)
• Trump Indicates US Could Move Troops From Germany to Poland (JTN)
• Federal Judge Sets Comey Criminal Trial For July 15 In North Carolina (JTN)
• Is Marco Rubio The New Heir Apparent To Trump? (ZH)
• John Fetterman: ‘I’d Be a Terrible Republican’ (Rick Moran)
• Gerrymander Debacle in Virginia Leaves Dems with a Dangerous Agenda (Turley)

 


 

https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2052770921258143867?s=20 https://twitter.com/17QStorm/status/2053255626029961662?s=20

 


 


With my favorite photograph.

Key sentence:: “Iran Keeps US Waiting”.

• US Reportedly Struck 4 Iranian Oil Tankers Entering The Strait (ZH)

Multiple accounts across social media are reporting that four tankers were apparently struck or disabled by the U.S. forces near Iran’s Jask area. @EGYOSINT notes that satellite imagery shows one tanker on fire and extensive oil spills, including leaks from two tankers, with another spill detected about 7.4 kilometers from the anchorage site. @Merrux confirmed that US forces hit an Iranian oil tanker near the port city of Bandar Jask last night.


The vessel is currently on fire. It remains unclear if other tankers were also hit, though smoke is rising from them. The tanker is visibly ablaze, there has been no response from Iran. Presumably these are just more “love taps” and do not represent any threat to the so-called ‘ceasefire’.

Iran Keeps US Waiting On Formal Response To Peace Proposal
A state of relative calm prevailed around the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, after days of sporadic flareups, as the Trump administration continues to await a formal response from Tehran on a U.S. proposal aimed at ending the war and reopening the Hormuz chokepoint, following last week’s clashes between Iranian and U.S. naval forces in the world’s most critical waterway. As Times of Israel reports, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that Washington expected a response within hours and President Donald Trump later said it would likely be submitted “tonight.”

But a day later, there was no sign of movement from Iran on the proposal, which would formally end the war before talks on more contentious issues, including the Iranian nuclear program. With US President Donald Trump due to begin a long-awaited visit to China next week, there has been mounting pressure to draw a line under the conflict, which has thrown energy markets into turmoil and posed a growing threat to the world economy. As Tehran kept Washington waiting for its response after saying Friday it was not paying attention to “deadlines,” the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called into question the reliability of the US leadership in a call with his Turkish counterpart.

“The recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Persian Gulf and their numerous actions in violating the ceasefire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy,” he said, according to an Iranian account of the call published by the ISNA news agency. While there were no official signs of a breakthrough in negotiations as of early Saturday morning, new ship data from the Hormuz area may suggest that positive developments are ahead.

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It’s getting busy.

• Qatari LNG Tanker Transits Hormuz As U.S. Awaits Iran’s Response (ZH)

The Trump administration continues to await a formal response from Tehran on a U.S. proposal aimed at ending the war and reopening the Hormuz chokepoint, following last week’s clashes between Iranian and U.S. naval forces in the world’s most critical waterway. While there were no official signs of a breakthrough in negotiations as of early Saturday morning, new ship data from the Hormuz area may suggest that positive developments are ahead. https://twitter.com/SStapczynski/status/2053100985346925013?s=20


The tanker is fully loaded with LNG and is currently transiting the Hormuz chokepoint. We must point out that the ship did not sail through the Hormuz Island route. There is no word on whether Iran charged the vessel a transit fee, but Tehran allows ships from “friendly” nations, primarily China, India, and the UAE, to pass. On Friday, UBS energy analyst Anna Kishmariya told clients that shipping flows through the Hormuz chokepoint remain very restricted and that the global oil market is getting tighter. There is certainly urgency among the Trump administration and other nations to unfreeze Hormuz, as oil market insiders see a roughly one-month countdown to global energy chaos if the waterway remains blocked through this month.

Latest overnight headlines, courtesy of Bloomberg:

Ceasefire and Diplomatic Efforts

• The US is waiting for Iran’s response to Trump’s latest proposal to end the war, which suggests Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz while the US ends its blockade of Iranian ports over the next month

• Tehran’s response to the US proposal is “under review,” according to Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei

• Trump has changed his approach to prioritize reopening the Strait of Hormuz at all costs while leaving nuclear and ballistic missile negotiations for later

Recent Military Clashes

• The US struck Iranian military targets on Thursday after Iran fired multiple missiles, drones and small boats at three US Navy destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz, with no US assets hit

• US forces targeted missile and drone launch sites and other military assets in Iran that were responsible for attacking the US warships

• The US “disabled” two unladen Iranian-flagged oil tankers, according to US officials

• Iran seized the tanker Ocean Koi in the Gulf of Oman, which appeared to be carrying Iranian oil

Hormuz

• The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to commercial shipping since Tuesday following the US-Iran clashes

• A Qatari LNG tanker, Al Kharaitiyat, is attempting to transit the strait, which would mark Qatar’s first export from the region since the war began

• Saudi Aramco and UAE’s Adnoc have managed to move some crude cargoes through the strait despite Iran’s effective closure of the waterway

Impacts

• The world has burned through oil inventories at record speed as the Iran war throttles flows from the Persian Gulf, eating into buffers that protect against supply shocks

• Chinese energy imports fell sharply in April, with crude cargoes dropping about 20% year-on-year to 38.47 million tons and gas falling about 13% to 8.42 million tons

• Global food prices climbed to their highest level in more than three years as the Iran war disrupted supply chains, with the UN food-commodity index gaining 1.6% in April

• Iran’s record internet blackout is taking a heavy toll on private businesses, with warnings it could lead to mass layoffs and closures

International Response

• The US imposed sanctions on three Chinese firms for providing satellite imagery to Iran, enabling its military strikes on American forces in the Middle East

• The UK will deploy HMS Dragon warship to the Middle East as part of planning for a European-led mission to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz once there’s a stable ceasefire

• Iran is ramping up trade with China via rail to bypass the US blockade, with cargo trains from Xi’an to Tehran increasing from one per week to one every three or four days

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Just refuse to address him until he shows himself. Anyone can claim to be him in a letter.

• Iran Discloses Supreme Leader’s Status For First Time: Marginally Injured (ZH)

The Iranian government has for the first time officially weighed in on the health of new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was injured in the opening strikes of Trump’s Operation Epic Fury, which killed the younger Khamenei’s father and wife. “A government official claimed Khamenei, who hasn’t been seen in public since that attack, is now in good health,” The Wall Street Journal writes Saturday. He hasn’t been seen in public since the war began, and even official statements have been read aloud on state media broadcasts. There have since been conflict reports. However, according to the latest:


Yet the chief of protocol for the supreme leader’s office, Mozaher Hosseini, said on Friday that Khamenei is in “complete health,” stressing that he has only been “marginally injured” on his foot and lower back and hit by “a small piece of shrapnel had hit him behind the ear.” “The enemy is spreading all kinds of rumors and false claims. They want to see him and find him, but people should be patient and not rush. He will speak to you when the time is right,” Hosseini told a crowd in Tehran.

Prior international reports suggested he was being treated for severe burns and that he could undergo surgery, and resorts to communicating commands to lower officials via low-tech means, including written and hand delivered messages, in order to avoid Israeli or US intelligence intercepting signals related to his whereabouts. Regional and Gulf media have also summarized of the latest official Iranian description of the Ayatollah’s health, that “there were no indications of a serious deterioration in his condition.”

And, “According to Iranian media reports, the official stated that medical examinations confirmed Mojtaba Khamenei’s condition was completely stable. He added that the injury did not require complex surgery. Furthermore, he is undergoing only routine medical monitoring to ensure his well-being.” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian revealed on Thursday that he for the first time recently held a meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei, at an undisclosed location, and that the encounter was a long and productive one. State media said it was two-and-a-half hours.

“What stood out more than any other topic in the meeting was the way of dealing, the type of outlook, and the humble and deeply friendly manner of conduct by the leader of the revolution,” Pezeshkian described. He characterized the new Ayatollah’s approach as “a model based on taking responsibility, being close to the people, and truly listening to issues and problems.” Western officials and intelligence have all the while been seeking to assess just who is ultimately in charge of running the country. There have been reports of a growing split between the IRGC military apparatus and the Islamic Republic’s civilian leadership. However, none of these reports are confirmable, but it’s largely only guesswork by those far outside the country.

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Zelensky represents nazis. Victory Day commemorates the last time Russia defeated Nazis.

• World Must Hear Russia’s Warning To Zelensky, Understand Importance – MFA (TASS)

The entire world must hear Russia’s warning to Zelensky, who is threatening the Victory Day parade, and recognize the importance of the moment, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview with TASS arranged to coincide with the 81st anniversary of Victory Day.


“This (warning – TASS) was done because we understood that the collective West, this collective Western minority, is doing everything possible to once again avoid seeing the misanthropic logic and not hear the absolutely extremist, terrorist threats from Zelensky, to once again provide him with political support, to put him on the front pages in terms of information and, of course, to provide him with weapons, money, and so on. And precisely so that they would wake up and understand the seriousness of the situation, a set of appropriate measures was taken, which then had this kind of information support: clear, understandable, and, I emphasize again, responsive,” she said.

The Russian Defense Ministry declared a ceasefire for May 8-9 in honor of celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s Victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War. The ministry stated that Russia expects the Ukrainian side to follow suit. However, if the Kiev regime attempts to attack Moscow on May 9 to disrupt the celebrations, Russian troops will launch a massive retaliatory strike against central Kiev. These are not mere statements, Zakharova noted. “This is a clear warning about retaliatory steps that will be taken if Zelensky’s monstrous threats, which he voiced in Yerevan, are carried out in practice. And all of this is not just relevant,” she said.

The Russian side has warned all states and international organizations through their embassies and missions in Moscow, as well as Russian diplomatic missions in foreign countries and at international organizations, that “this is not just a matter of urgency, but that they must take concrete steps in this direction,” the diplomat stressed. These measures are a response to “the aggression that Zelensky has declared as a threat,” she added.Zakharova said earlier that Russia views Zelensky’s threat to stage a drone attack on Moscow during the upcoming Victory Day celebrations as the Kiev regime’s intent to carry out a terrorist act.

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Many if not most Russians understand that their army cannot just go kill Ukrainians.p>

• Putin Rips NATO Aggression At Scaled-Down Victory Day Parade (ZH)

By many accounts Russia’s Saturday Victory Day parade and memorial observances in Moscow’s Red Square were once again muted and somewhat scaled down compared to the immense pageantry which marked the pre-Ukraine war years. President Putin used the occasion while speaking in front of thousands of military personnel and flanked by a handful of world leaders to take swipes at NATO and the West, saying he’s fighting “just” war and called Ukraine an “aggressive force” that is being “armed and supported by the whole bloc of NATO”.


“The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today,” Putin said. “They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. And despite this, our heroes move forward.” He added: “I firmly believe that our cause is just.” The three-day Ukraine ceasefire announced and backed by President Trump appears to be holding, as no drone attacks have been registered on Moscow or other parts of the country. Large-scale drone waves were coming on a daily basis throughout last week. Massive bombardment of Ukraine has also ceased. Ukraine’s Zelensky had reportedly ordered his armed forces to adhere to the short ceasefire:

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree on Friday (May 8) ordering the Ukrainian military not to attack the parade. He also confirmed that his government would adhere to the ceasefire and the prisoner swap of 1,000 detainees from each side. n”Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be returned home,” Zelensky said, referring to the historic site in Moscow where the annual event is held.

The Kremlin has over the past days repeatedly warned that Kiev would come under immense bombing if the parade did get attacked, and went so far as to tell foreign diplomats they should evacuate the Ukrainian capital in such a scenario. Among the foreign leaders that attended Saturday V-Day included Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, Malaysia Supreme Leader Sultan Ibrahim, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The NY Times (and a lot of other Western media outlets) is reading all of this as a ‘loss’ and reputational hit for Putin, again given the scaled-down and lower key nature of everything.

“President Vladimir V. Putin has cultivated the annual Victory Day parade commemorating the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany into a cornerstone of Russian patriotic ritual,” NYT wrote. “Tanks and nuclear launchers roll across Red Square in a showcase of military prowess and righteous pride that the Kremlin has used to justify the country’s great-power posture toward the West.”But then the report underscores that “Moscow is under a heavy security presence as Ukraine rattles Russia with long-range drone and missile strikes. The Russian authorities have appeared exposed as they acknowledged that the beefed-up security was intended to protect Mr. Putin.”

It further highlighted: “The parade on Saturday included none of the usual muscle-flexing missiles and armor. Personnel from Russian military academies and other servicemen made their way through Russia’s most famous square.”

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But Zelensky’s Kiev mob needs weapons payments to skim off of.

• Trump: Ceasefire Between Russia, Ukraine Could Be Extended (TASS)

The US leader Donald Trump admitted that the ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine could be extended. “I’d love to see that war end,” he told reporters on the South Lawn in front of the White House.Trump added that he “would like to see a big extension” of ceasefire. As has been decided by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow declared a ceasefire from May 8 to 10 during the celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s Victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War.


On Friday, it was announced that telephone contacts between Russia and the United States, as well as Washington’s interactions with Kiev, had resulted in agreements on a ceasefire for May 9-11. The Russian Defense Ministry has reported a complete cessation of hostilities by Russian troops in the area of the special military operation as of midnight on May 8. The Ukrainian army continued to strike Russian military positions and civilian targets.

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“Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has hailed the results as “a complete reshaping of British politics”

• Starmer’s Labour Party ‘Wiped Out’ In UK Elections (RT)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has been decimated in parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales, as well as local elections in England. However, Starmer is refusing calls to resign. Labour was the biggest loser in Thursday’s elections. As results came in on Friday, Starmer’s party had lost more than 1,300 local council seats in England, around five seats in the Scottish Parliament, and 21 seats in the Welsh Senedd, as of 11 PM local time.

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2052921709930365100?s=20


While full results are not expected until Saturday, Starmer has already admitted that “when voters send a message like this, we must reflect and we must respond.” However, although the PM has been urged to resign by some within his own party, including Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, he has dismissed the idea, stating that he is not “going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos.”Some 5,066 out of 16,000 local council seats in England and all 129 and 96 seats in the Scottish and Welsh legislatures were up for grabs on Thursday. Labour went into the election holding 5,873 local seats, but looks set to emerge with closer to 4,000.

For the first time this century, Labour will lose control of Wales, with First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her seat and the Plaid Cymru and Reform dominating the Senedd. Labour’s loss has not been the Conservative Party’s win. While power has typically swung back and forth between both parties for more than 100 years, the Tories are on track to lose 550 council seats, plus 16 seats in Scotland and 9 in Wales.

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK was the big winner in England, picking up more than 1,200 local council seats. In some constituencies, Reform’s gains have come almost entirely at the Conservatives’ expense. Reform picked up 37 seats in Suffolk, where the Tories lost 36. Farage has spent years hammering successive Tory governments over their failure to reduce immigration and lower the cost of living, and as such has drawn the votes of dissatisfied right-wingers who once backed the Tories.

“It’s a big, big day, not just for our party, but for a complete reshaping of British politics in every way,” Farage told reporters, adding that Labour had been “wiped out.”Zack Polanski’s Green Party has also drawn votes from former Labour supporters abandoning Starmer’s party over the prime minister’s austerity policies and support for Israel. “I said that the Green Party was going to replace Labour,” Polanski told reporters, “and we’re seeing that right across the country. The new politics is the Green Party vs. Reform.” As of Friday evening, Polanski’s Greens had picked up 363 seats in England, five in Scotland, and two in Wales.

Read more …

Can they still try to ban AfD? Do they?

• Germany’s AfD On Verge Of Absolute Majority In Eastern Saxony-Anhalt (ZH)

With just one more point on election day, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is closing in on producing a political earthquake. According to a recent poll by Infratest dimap, the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt is pushing its lead even further, now at 41 percent. The poll also shows that for the CDU, establishing a government is becoming more difficult, especially since any realistic option besides the AfD appears to be a minority government. There are just four months until election day, and much could change until then, but the AfD appears to be only gaining momentum, not only in the state, but also nationwide, where it just hit a record of 28 percent in the latest Insa survey. In the “Sachsen-AnhaltTREND” survey, which was conducted by Infratest dimap on behalf of the Magdeburger Volksstimme, the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, and Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, the AfD hit 41 percent. Meanwhile, its closest rival, the CDU, lost 1 percentage point compared to the previous week and sits at 26 percent. Compared to an Infratest poll from last September, the AfD has increased its support by 2 percentage points. Following the CDU are Die Linke at 12 percent and the SPD at 7 percent. https://twitter.com/RMXnews/status/1988598925142499805?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1988598925142499805%7Ctwgr%5Ec1c41d11f941f7151318f62f1c7c460144d4d515%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fgermanys-afd-verge-absolute-majority-eastern-saxony-anhalt-just-months-election Both the Greens and the BSW are polling at 4 percent. These two parties, along with the FDP, would currently fail to enter the state parliament. The FDP, a current member of the state government with the CDU and SPD, was not listed individually in the results because of its low figures. All other parties combined represent 6 percent of the total. If all the current values of the other parties held, then just one point more for the AfD would allow the party to rule with an absolute majority. However, if other parties, such as the Greens, were to pass the 5 percent threshold on election day, this would complicate the math for the AfD. In addition, a majority of respondents are unhappy with the state government, with 62 percent stating they are only slightly or not at all satisfied. Only 33 percent expressed that they are very satisfied or satisfied with the government’s performance. Furthermore, 82 percent of people have little to no confidence that the state is generally fulfilling its duties, and the same number, 82 percent, assess the current economic situation as “less than good” or “poor.” Only 14 percent rate the economy as “very good” or “good.”
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“Public spending is coming to the rescue for an economy that is facing severe structural problems..”

Merkel has destroyed the economy so badly it now looks like the East-German economy she comes from: all is State.

• From Market To Military: Germany’s Private Sector Is Imploding (RT)

After two years of recession, it seemed that Germany’s economy had stabilized in 2025 and was even inching in the direction of a return to growth. Sure, nobody was sounding the trumpets of a full-fledged recovery, but it seemed the worst had passed. That was, admittedly, before the US-Israeli war on Iran muddied those waters. But even apart from this black swan event, what has really been going on in the German economy deserves a closer look. After all, there are different ways of generating GDP growth and not all of them have the same deeper implications.


In Germany’s case, it turns out the nascent recovery was almost entirely fueled by state spending while the private sector is in virtual free-fall. This, incidentally, goes some way toward explaining the ongoing rearmament in Germany in response to the supposed threat from Russia – a threat that very conveniently is breathing new life into unsustainable industry. This is no less than military Keynesianism, a phenomenon few expected to see in Germany. And it is being tasked to address several major structural shifts at once.


2025 marked an inflection point
The German economy broke a two-year recession, growing by 0.2% in 2025, following a 0.5% contraction in 2024. However, the growth was driven in large part by government spending. There was a late-year pickup in industrial and construction output – also government-driven – while exports continued to lag.Public spending, however, rose 5.6% in 2025 and now represents more than 50% of GDP. This number itself isn’t particularly eye-popping in a European context. Several EU countries have higher ratios.

But Germany has historically been more fiscally conservative with an economy much more oriented toward private industry and exports. Helmut Kohl, German chancellor in the 1980s and ‘90s, once called a spending ratio above 50% socialism. This is a threshold beyond which Germany would be seen as having adopted a different economic model. That different economic model is now here. But think about it from this angle: What happens when you boost public spending by over 5% and still can only barely eke out any economic growth? It means the private sector is crumbling.

Digging into the data
A widening split has opened in Germany’s economy since 2022, dividing industries more exposed to market forces from those being backstopped by public spending. Traditional sectors – especially the automotive and chemical industries – have struggled with high energy costs and global competition. This has been reflected in the share prices, which have been very sluggish, with Porsche leading the way among the declines.

The weakness is also visible in underlying demand, with domestic orders broadly declining, although amid volatility, since 2022. Last year saw periodic spikes driven by large contracts – almost certainly state-driven – whereas underlying demand remained weak. Exports were weak, so was private investment. Capital goods orders, a key gauge of private-sector investment, have been falling, pointing to continued contraction in market-driven industrial activity.


At the same time, defense contractors and state-backed industrial firms have surged on the back of government spending. Rheinmetall shares have rocketed more than 1,000% since early 2022, with its market cap rising from about €4 billion to roughly €67 billion. Hensoldt and Renk have also posted strong gains, while even adjacent players such as Infineon have nearly doubled in value. Construction and industrial groups tied to public projects – including Hochtief, Heidelberg Materials, and Bilfinger – have also rallied sharply, in some cases climbing several-fold from 2022 lows.

This has all come while the economy has been in recession and the manufacturing sector has been hemorrhaging jobs. What this points to is that Germany’s headline market gains are masking a lack of real recovery. While the country’s stock market, the DAX, has risen strongly, most of the growth is concentrated in a narrow, state-backed segment.

The contrast reflects very different operating conditions. Automakers and chemical firms compete in open global markets, where rising energy and labor costs erode competitiveness and push production to cheaper regions. Consumers can choose from many options. Defense contractors, by contrast, operate largely outside these pressures, relying on government-funded demand. Arms deals are driven by political and strategic decisions rather than market pricing, meaning input costs such as energy matter far less.

Rising costs have made large parts of Germany’s traditional industrial base less competitive. The response of the German state to that has been to shift toward sectors insulated from the market. Industry is not recovering in a conventional sense, but being redirected to where demand is state-driven rather than market-driven. This shift is already reshaping Germany’s manufacturing base. According to the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), about 17% of industrial firms are now tied to the defense supply chain, with involvement particularly high in vehicle manufacturing at 36%. Some struggling auto plants are being repurposed for military production.

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Just bring ’em home. Russia will not attack unless we attack first.

• Trump Indicates US Could Move Troops From Germany to Poland (JTN)

President Donald Trump said Friday night that the United States military could decide to relocate the troops that are currently stationed in Germany and move them to Poland. The president touted his friendship with the country’s leader, President Karol Nawrocki, who assumed office last year. The Pentagon previously indicated that the U.S. would move 5,000 troops from Germany in the next six to 12 months. Well, Poland would like that,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have a great relationship with Poland. I have a great relationship with the president. I endorsed him, and he won.


He came from way behind, and he won. He’s a great fighter, he’s a great guy. I like him a lot, so that’s possible. Germany is currently home to the largest U.S. military presence in Europe, with more than 35,000 troops currently stationed in the country, and is also viewed as crucial to the U.S.’s presence on the continent. The United Kingdom and Italy also host over 10,000 U.S. troops each. Poland currently hosts 369 permanently assigned active-duty service members and about 10,000 personnel of rotational force, according to Reuters.

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If his defence really is that he didn’t know what “86-47” means, he’s toast. But…

• Federal Judge Sets Comey Criminal Trial For July 15 In North Carolina (JTN)

A federal judge Friday scheduled former FBI Director James Comey’s upcoming criminal trial for July 15 at her court in North Carolina, after a grand jury in the state indicted him on two criminal charges. The decision comes a day after the same judge agreed to cancel Comey’s first court appearance in the state, because he had already surrendered himself to authorities and appeared in a Virginia court for the same case. His appearance was scheduled for Monday. Comey was indicted by a grand jury in North Carolina last month for posting a photo of shells on a beach last year with the inscription “86-47” that prosecutors alleged was a threat against the president.


U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan, who will oversee the trial, instructed Comey’s legal team to file all of its pretrial motions by June 5 and said Comey can make his first official appearance in her court to enter his plea on June 30. Comey’s team is expected to frame the case as a retribution campaign and will seek to toss the new indictment as selective and vindictive prosecution, according to The Hill. The former director has been officially charged with making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

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2 years to go. Is the US ready for a Latino president?

• Is Marco Rubio The New Heir Apparent To Trump? (ZH)

For months, the conventional wisdom inside Republican circles has been settled and simple: JD Vance is next. The vice president has led 2028 Republican presidential nomination polling by a country mile, averaging nearly 45.5 points in the RealClearPolitics aggregate — more than 30 points ahead of Donald Trump Jr. at 14.8% and Marco Rubio at 14%. And yet, something shifted this week. One press briefing, and the betting markets started hedging.


Rubio stepped in as White House press secretary on Tuesday, covering for Karoline Leavitt while she’s on maternity leave, and delivered what even the skeptics had to acknowledge was a polished, commanding performance. He defended the war in Iran before a press corps not exactly known for its generosity toward administration officials — and walked away with his standing improved. The room, by most accounts, was notably less adversarial than it tends to be when Leavitt or Trump takes the podium. Rubio was fluid and measured, giving the journalists little to sharpen their teeth on. Washington noticed, and Kalshi, one of the leading prediction markets, noticed too.

By Tuesday, Rubio had leapfrogged Vance to become the overall favorite to win the 2028 presidential election, coming in at 18% to Vance’s 17%. Gov. Gavin Newsom sits just behind at 16% – a reminder that the Democrats haven’t entirely vacated the field in the markets’ eyes. For Rubio, the jump is particularly striking given that he was sitting in the single digits on Kalshi earlier this year. Polymarket still has Vance in front overall – 19.6% to Newsom’s 16.7% and Rubio’s 15%. On the GOP nomination question specifically, Vance retains a meaningful edge on Polymarket (though Rubio’s odds are rising). Primary voters and general-election bettors, it turns out, are pricing these things very differently.

None of this, of course, happens in a vacuum. Trump himself has been notably careful — or deliberately noncommittal — about who carries the MAGA torch after January 2029. Weeks into his second term, Trump sat down with Fox News’s Bret Baier and declined to designate Vance as his heir apparent, saying simply that it was too early for such an endorsement. For a president who has never been shy about anointing winners and losers, that hesitation was conspicuous to say the least. He left the door ajar, and markets being markets, traders are now watching to see who walks through it.

Vance remains the favorite by most conventional metrics. His polling advantage is enormous, and he’s been the heir apparent since joining the Trump ticket in 2024. But Rubio’s trajectory is definitely worth watching to see if his stock goes higher or merely plateaus. His rise from the low single digits to within striking distance of Vance on Kalshi over just a few months could be a one-off or the opening act of a longer repositioning. For now, Vance’s commanding polling lead offers the most grounded picture of where Republican voters actually stand. But, prediction markets have a knack for capturing things polls don’t. And it will likely take some time to determine if Rubio’s rise will stick.

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“I’m sure Fetterman will find a way to anger Republicans, if only to reestablish his bona fides as a blue-collar Democrat.”

• John Fetterman: ‘I’d Be a Terrible Republican’ (Rick Moran)

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is the quintessential iconoclast. He’s a disruptor of the first order, a thorn in the side of Democrats, and the media’s go-to guy if it wants a juicy quote from a Democrat who’s likely to say something bad about his own party. But Fetterman is no Republican. He made that very clear in an op-ed he wrote for the Washington Post, published Thursday. Talking about his first race for political office in 2008, the mayor of his dying steel town of Braddock, Penn., Fetterman wrote that it “wasn’t about being a Democrat or Republican, but about making sure places such as Braddock received the benefits, focus, and investments they deserved for their contributions to this great country.”


Fetterman has sought to maintain that political identity ever since.I’d say he was an “old-fashioned” politician, looking to work with the other party to achieve mutually beneficial goals, but it wasn’t that long ago that the sort of bipartisanship Fetterman ascribes to was the dominant political identity of members of both parties.Today, the base of both parties sees that sort of bipartisanship as weak and even traitorous. This has made Fetterman a lonely figure, as much of his own party shuns him. Democrats in Pennsylvania give Fetterman a 22% approval rating, while Republicans embrace him, with 73% approving of the job he’s doing.

What Democrats object to most of all is that Fetterman doesn’t hate Donald Trump. He opposes Trump on most issues, but the visceral, hysterical hate that Democrats feel toward Trump is missing from Fetterman’s rhetoric.On some issues, he supports the president, which drives the radical left nuts. He has been a strong supporter of Trump’s policy toward Israel and Iran, and he has backed Trump’s border crackdown.My party cannot simply be the opposite of whatever President Donald Trump says. The president could come out for ice cream and lazy Sundays, and my party would suddenly hate them. Such pointless pile-ons and attacks are unproductive. The American people want us to work together to find solutions on issues they and our country face.

It wasn’t long ago when Democrats wanted a secure border. I voted on an immigration bill in 2024 to make sure an influx the size of Pittsburgh doesn’t come through the border like it did under the previous administration. I have co-sponsored legislation to stop the flow of fentanyl. I was the lead Democrat on the Laken Riley Act, and I strongly believe that someone who comes here illegally and commits a violent crime should be deported. Full stop. This support for some of Trump’s agenda has Republicans eying Fetterman for a party switch. It’s not going to happen.

Fetterman is not the vindictive type, and even if Democrats boot him off committees and support someone more radical in the primary (he’s up for reelection in 2028), he will remain a Democrat. “I remain strongly pro-choice, pro-weed, pro-LGBT, pro-SNAP, pro-labor and even pro-rib-eye over bio slop,” he wrote. None of that except preferring rib-eye sounds very “Republican” to me. Fetterman explains: “Being an independent voice that works with the other side to deliver for Pennsylvanians might put me at odds with the party that I have stayed committed to and have no plans to leave — but I will continue to put the commonwealth and the country first,” he said.

He added, “Plus, I’d be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats.” Heritage Action, the political arm of the Heritage Foundation, gives Fetterman a 0% score for the 119th Congress, indicating that from a staunchly conservative perspective, his voting record is still overwhelmingly aligned with the Democratic caucus. Fetterman says he “has no plans to leave” the Democratic Party. Some commentators, such as Aaron Blake of Politico, point out that plans can change. The first thing to note is that while some have cast this as Fetterman rejecting a party switch, he didn’t fully rule it out.

Yes, it’s significant that he even felt pressured enough to write this op-ed downplaying the prospect, and Democrats should be heartened that he did. But “no plans” is not the same as “no chance,” and politicians often use the former phrasing to keep their options open. If things were to change, Fetterman — who’s not facing reelection until 2028 — could say he truthfully wasn’t planning on switching parties, but that his plans changed because of XYZ. I’m sure Fetterman will find a way to anger Republicans, if only to reestablish his bona fides as a blue-collar Democrat. But he remains one of the more colorful politicians in a city full of black, white, and gray.

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We’ll hear a lot about this, rest assured.

• Gerrymander Debacle in Virginia Leaves Dems with a Dangerous Agenda (Turley)

“Eff around and find out”: That taunt from Hakeem Jeffries celebrating Virginia’s gerrymander did not age well. On Friday, the House minority leader found out that Virginia’s Supreme Court was not quite as gleeful as he about Democrats’ attempt to virtually eliminate Republican representation in the purple state. The court just cooked the party’s infamous lobster, a district over 100 miles long that was designed to help devour the GOP’s slender majority in the House of Representatives.mIt also cooked the ambitions of Gov. Abigail Spanberger and the Democratic establishment, which tossed aside any pretense of principle in a raw political gambit.


The resulting faceplant is nothing short of legendary: Spanberger’s Democrats have succeeded in alienating half of the state. For the governor, the court’s decision was particularly embarrassing. Before assuming power, Spanberger denounced gerrymandering as “detrimental to our democracy and weakens the individual voices that form our electorates.”She ran as a moderate, but Spanberger immediately turned sharply left once in office and called for the most extreme gerrymander in the nation. The court found that effort was not only unconstitutional, but “wholly unprecedented in Virginia’s history.” It characterized the state’s position as “a story of the tail wagging the dog that has no tail.”

While some of us had previously expressed skepticism over the rushed effort to circumvent the state constitution, the media almost exclusively relied on liberal experts who predicted the new districts would be upheld. It was a calculated risk for Democrats, who have now burned their bridges with Virginia conservative and Republican voters. As Winston Churchill said, “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.” Exhilarating and unforgettable: In a purple state where politicians often require crossover votes to prevail, the redistricting push was not just partisan but personal for voters. National Democrats will soon “find out” whether Jeffries was right to prematurely celebrate a victory that seemed to secure his anticipated elevation to Speaker of the House.

The party is facing a potentially catastrophic reversal of fortune. When Democrats declared a gerrymandering war, some of us warned that the party, with its already heavily gerrymandered blue states, had far more to lose than the GOP did. It was particularly comical when Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey pledged to join the redistricting fray, even though her state is so badly gerrymandered that it’s elected zero Republicans to the House since the 1990s. Virginia, a state long opposed to gerrymandering, has been considered the fairest state in the country, with a distribution of congressional seats that closely matches its partisan divide.

Once Spanberger sought to eradicate Republican representation, total war broke out — and now red states like Florida and Tennessee have moved forward with their own redistricting. On top of the fact that GOP states have more room for partisan gerrymandering, the Virginia Supreme Court decision comes on the heels of the US Supreme Court’s ban on racial gerrymandering. That means a dozen or more Democratic districts could now be deemed unconstitutional — and Louisiana and Mississippi are moving to redistrict in line with the Supreme Court’s decision. The result could be a dramatic shift in districts favoring the GOP.

To make matters worse for the Democratic Party, a new census in 2030 will correct the mistakes that erroneously awarded them multiple districts after the 2020 census. Those corrections, and the ongoing exodus from high-tax blue states to booming red ones, could translate into even more congressional gains for the GOP. That prospect of a political apocalypse has Democratic strategists pushing for radical changes in Washington before it’s too late. Top priority: packing the Supreme Court as soon as they retake power. As Virginia has shown, an independent court can unravel the best-laid plans.

Democratic politicians, pundits and professors have been openly pushing for expanding the high court to 13 members with four new liberal additions, in order to rubber-stamp the radical changes needed to keep the party in power. James Carville recently told Democratic politicians that they have no choice but to pack the court, declaring “F–k it . . . Just do it.” He suggested, however, that they might not want to tell the voters.

“Don’t run on it. Don’t talk about it,” he said. “Just do it.” Last week, Jeffries declared the Supreme Court “illegitimate” as he blasted its ban on racial gerrymandering. After the Virginia court’s ruling, the frustrated Democratic establishment is ever more likely to echo him — and to go beyond. Many Democrats are now “all in” with this radical agenda. With the courts declaring their redistricting efforts unconstitutional, it is the constitutional system itself that will now have to go.

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https://twitter.com/jackprandelli/status/2053052668529058006?s=20 https://twitter.com/MichaelARothman/status/2053114983098282460?s=20

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle March 20 2026

Mar 202026
 
 March 20, 2026  Posted by at 10:27 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  62 Responses »


Jean-Michel Basquiat In this case 1983


• Netanyahu Declares Iran’s Nuclear Program & Missile Production “Destroyed” (ZH)
• Iran’s Attack On Qatar’s LNG Sends Shockwaves Across Global Energy Markets (ZH)
• US Naval Escort Won’t “100% Guarantee” Tanker Safety In Hormuz (ZH)
• Iran Is Losing. Why Pretend Otherwise? (Ben Shapiro)
• Either Iran or Israel Has to Go (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Where Will The War Take Us? (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Dmitriev Calls Strike on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field Tipping Point (TASS)
• The Coroner is Guilty (John Helmer)
• DNI Tulsi Gabbard Releases 2026 Unclassified National Threat Assessment (CTH)
• Belarus Remains Trump’s Ally Despite US Mistakes — Lukashenko (TASS)
• Murphy’s Law (Jonathan Turley)
• Trump Continues to Expel MAGA’s Best Members (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Kent Tells Tucker: ‘Imminent Threat’ Was From Israel, Not Iran (ZH)
• NASA May Shrink Boeing’s Moon-Mission Role, Push SpaceX (ZH)
• When ‘I Don’t Recall’ Meets a DOJ Subpoena (David Manney)

 


 

https://twitter.com/Skint_Eastwood1/status/2034238638259904836?s=20

 


 

 


 


Just when the protests get too loud, the mission is completed.

• Netanyahu Declares Iran’s Nuclear Program & Missile Production “Destroyed” (ZH)

In a rare wartime press conference, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu opened with a jab at rumors about his condition: First of all& I m alive.” He went on to claim that Israel and the US are “protecting the entire Middle East& the entire world” – and after 20 days, he asserted: “we are winning, and Iran is being decimated.” Netanyahu further claimed that Iran’s missile and drone stockpiles are being “massively degraded” and “will be destroyed,” framing the campaign as an all-out dismantling of Tehran s capabilities. Bust most importantly he said production capability has been ended.


He further addressed claims Israel dragged the US into war, calling it “fake news” and adding: “Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Donald Trump what to do? Come on.” He praised tight US-Israel coordination: “We are achieving goals in lightning speed” – and said he and Trump “see eye to eye,” adding the world “owes a debt& to President Trump for leading this effort.” He also stated that Israel acted against Pars alone, but that he will hold off on ordering future such attacks without US consent. Netanyahu also said the war will end “much sooner than people think”. And another key aspect to his remarks:

• Iran No Longer Able to Enrich Uranium
ª Iran Lost Ability to Manufacture Missiles US
ª Israel Destroyed Iran s Fleet in Caspian Sea

“What we’re destroying now are the factories that produce the components to make these missiles and ` to make the nuclear weapons that they’re trying to produce,” Netanyahu said, however without providing evidence of the claim. Just before he spoke, Israel’s military said it anticipates the anti-Iran campaign is only half complete.

Iran through its Foreign Minister has made clear on Thursday it will show “zero restraint” if energy infrastructure is targeted again. President Trump on the same day responded to reports the US has sent more troops to the region.

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“Worse Than Nord Stream”.

• Iran’s Attack On Qatar’s LNG Sends Shockwaves Across Global Energy Markets (ZH)

Brent crude futures surged toward $120/bbl, while WTI remained muted around $96/bbl, as Wednesday marked a major escalation in the US-Iran conflict. Israeli fighter jets struck Iran’s giant South Pars gas field with air-delivered munitions, triggering a retaliatory chain reaction in which IRGC forces targeted critical energy infrastructure across the Gulf. Iranian drone and missile strikes caused heavy damage to Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG hub, while gas plants in Abu Dhabi shut down, Kuwaiti refineries were hit by drones, and Saudi refining assets were targeted. Unlike temporary shipping disruptions in the Gulf waters or the Strait of Hormuz, damage to upstream energy assets, such as production and LNG facilities, is far more serious and could take months or even years to repair, raising the risk of prolonged tight global supply.


Some 20% of global LNG exports originate from Gulf countries, and the latest round of Israeli and IRGC attacks on upstream energy assets shows how the conflict has entered an entirely new phase where energy infrastructure is being directly targeted. Disruptions at Qatar’s LNG facilities threaten to tighten the global gas market, with ripple effects quickly spreading worldwide – across Asia, Europe, and even U.S. gas prices. European natural gas benchmark futures jumped as much as 35% today, pushing prices to more than double their pre-war levels, as traders brace for what only appears to be a prolonged period of disruption from critical LNG hubs that account for a fifth of the world’s total supply.

QatarEnergy warned earlier that LNG facilities inside its Ras Laffan Industrial City were attacked by missiles, “causing sizable fires and extensive further damage.” “This could be a game changer for the LNG industry, akin to the attack on Nord Stream or possibly even worse,” Susan Sakmar, visiting assistant professor at the University of Houston Law Center, said, quoted by Bloomberg. “This is a sudden disruption, with no indication that Qatar could restart anytime soon.” Global Risk Management analyst Arne Lohmann Rasmussen warned, “LNG from Qatar could in principle be offline for months and, in the worst case, for years. For the gas market, the crisis does not end simply because the war ends and the Strait of Hormuz reopens.”

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“We are collateral damage in a conflict when the root causes have nothing to do with shipping..”

• US Naval Escort Won’t “100% Guarantee” Tanker Safety In Hormuz (ZH)

The paralyzed Hormuz chokepoint is becoming the worst disruption to global energy flows ever, as actual barrels quickly disappear from oil markets, driving prices sharply higher in Asia toward $150 per barrel and potentially setting the stage for demand destruction in the weeks ahead.


President Trump has been attempting to fast-track the reopening of Hormuz by providing naval escorts for tankers and other commercial vessels. However, there are a few problems. First, Western US partners have rejected Trump’s request to send warships to help reopen the strategic waterway, which is plagued by IRGC mines and kamikaze drones. Second, Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), told the Financial Times in an interview on Tuesday that even if naval escorts materialize in the narrow waterway, they will not provide a “100% guarantee” of tanker safety. “It reduces the risk, but the risk is still there. The merchant ships and seafarers can be affected,” Dominguez said.

The head of the IMO, which sets rules for international shipping, continued: “We are collateral damage in a conflict when the root causes have nothing to do with shipping,” adding that his organization has major concerns about commercial vessels stuck in the Gulf running out of food and supplies for crews. Sending US and allied warships into the narrow waterway, just off the Iranian coast and facing threats from drones, naval mines, and shore-to-ship ballistic missiles, seems like a suicidal mission. “The challenge is going to be dealing with the proximity of the drone launchers and the missile launchers that are going to be along the Iranian coast,” Bryan Clark, an expert in naval operations with the Hudson Institute, told The Hill.

Clark said, “The issue is that you only have a couple of minutes once the launcher comes out before the missiles are going to get on top of you, because you’re only talking about 3 or 4 miles from the shoreline to the transit lane.”mA number of top US partners, including Germany, Spain, and Italy, have no immediate plans to send warships into the waterway. This has only infuriated President Trump, as his administration has voiced frustration with some longstanding allies over their unwillingness to help reopen the strait.

The race to reopen the strait comes as Kpler oil analyst Muyu Xu warned, “The blockade is now the worst disruption to oil flows ever. Actual barrels are now disappearing from global oil markets, which could lead to demand destruction in the weeks to come.”= Three weeks into the US-Iran conflict, tanker activity on the waterway has slowed to a crawl, just about 400,000 barrels per day, compared with the pre-Hormuz-closure average of 14 million barrels per day.

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Views differ.

• Iran Is Losing. Why Pretend Otherwise? (Ben Shapiro)

Don’t fall for the propaganda. Iran is not holding its own in this conflict. It is being systematically dismantled. One by one, the senior figures of the Islamic Republic have been eliminated: generals, security chiefs and regime power brokers. The country’s leadership has been decapitated at the highest levels, leaving behind a hollowed-out command structure struggling to function.mEven the regime’s attempts at continuity appear shaky. A successor was hastily elevated, but reports suggest instability, absence and internal disarray at the very top. Whatever facade of order Tehran hoped to project has given way to uncertainty and silence.


Meanwhile, the military picture is equally stark. Iran’s command-and-control systems have been fractured. Its missile and drone capabilities — once touted as pillars of deterrence — have been severely degraded. What remains is not a coordinated campaign but sporadic, diminished retaliation.The numbers tell the story. Early volleys of hundreds of missiles have dwindled to scattered launches. Drone deployments have followed the same trajectory. Factories, infrastructure and key facilities tied to these capabilities have been destroyed or heavily damaged. What the regime is able to deploy now appears to be the remnants of what once was.

This is not simply a Western narrative. Even regional observers — some hardly aligned with U.S. interests — have acknowledged the effectiveness of the campaign. Analyses describe a deliberate, phased strategy: first neutralizing air defenses and leadership networks, then targeting the industrial backbone that sustains Iran’s military capabilities. The objective is not just to weaken but to prevent reconstruction.mAnd yet, despite this evidence, a counternarrative persists in parts of the West: that Iran is resilient, that it is outlasting its adversaries, that the outcome remains uncertain. That claim is increasingly difficult to square with reality.

Recent developments underscore the point. Senior Iranian officials once positioned as potential successors have been killed. Key internal security figures — those responsible for maintaining order and suppressing dissent — have also been eliminated. Even localized enforcement mechanisms are now under pressure. What remains of the regime’s response resembles less a strategy and more a reaction — disjointed, limited and increasingly ineffective.So the real question is not whether Iran is losing. The evidence suggests it is.The real question is why so many observers continue to insist otherwise.

Part of the answer may lie in broader geopolitical anxieties: fears of escalation, concerns over regional stability, or skepticism shaped by past conflicts. But those concerns, while understandable, do not change the facts on the ground. There are also looming questions about what comes next. Much attention has been paid to strategic chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz, though any prolonged disruption there would invite overwhelming international response. More significant, perhaps, is the internal dynamic within Iran itself.

The regime has long relied on force to suppress dissent, as seen in past protests met with lethal crackdowns. But the current moment may be different. With leadership weakened and security structures under strain, the balance between state control and public resistance could begin to shift. If that happens, the future of Iran will not be decided solely by external pressure but by the Iranian people themselves. They have risen before, at great personal risk. The difference now is that the regime they would confront appears more vulnerable than it has in decades. What happens next is uncertain. But one thing is increasingly clear: The narrative of Iranian strength no longer matches the reality.

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I llike PCR. And he has much more experience than me, and I was never in the White House. BUT: the US is not in the Middle East because of Israel, it’s -historically- there to control the price of oil.

• Either Iran or Israel Has to Go (Paul Craig Roberts)

The Iranians have demonstrated that Trump badly misjudged their capability. Trump is now calling on other countries, with little success, to send their warships to help keep open the Strait of Hormuz as the task is too big for the US Navy, and he is cutting deals, or trying to, with Putin and Modi to remove sanctions on Russian oil in exchange for the de-sanctioned oil to be sent to Europe and not to Asia. Trump, or his advisors, have come up with a scheme to invade Kharg Island, which seems more like a suicide mission.


The Iranians are holding firm on one level but without realizing it might be cracking on another. I am not convinced that the Iranians fully understand the situation. For example, Mohsen Rezaee, retired commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, now a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, said that the “presence of the US in the Persian Gulf has been the main cause of insecurity over the past 50 years.” The end of the war, he said, requires “US withdrawal from the Persian Gulf.”

It seems to me that General Rezaee misunderstands the situation. It is not the American presence per se that is the cause of insecurity. The cause is that the American bases are there to serve Israel. Moreover, the real cause of insecurity for all of the Muslim states is Israel’s Zionist agenda of Greater Israel. Once defined as “from the Nile to the Euphrates,” Israel has recently redefined Greater Israel to be from the “Nile to Pakistan.” The general does not seem to understand that removing the US from the Persian Gulf does not remove the Zionist agenda of Greater Israel. What Iran should be demanding is the disavowal of the Zionist agenda.

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, hasn’t a clue either. He says the “Only way to end this war” is to recognize Iran’s legitimate rights, payment of reparations (to Iran) and firm guarantees against future aggression.” He is badly wrong. The war might again be put on pause by Iranian officials who fail to comprehend the situation, but the only way war will end is by Israel renouncing the Zionist agenda of Greater Israel. And that Israel will not do. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has rejected the talk of peace negotiations. Trump, he says has already twice deceived and sneak-attacked Iran while engaged in negotiations, and Iran will not make the same mistake again.

In actual fact, Iran is making a much worse mistake. The Zionist agenda of Greater Israel is not consistent with the Existence of Muslim Iran (or Turkey and Saudi Arabia). Unless the Zionist agenda is renounced, Iran has no choice but to fight to its own death or to Israel’s death. The fact that Iran has never seized the initiative, has never used its strategic advantage, but has sat on its butt waiting, indeed inviting, an attack, suggests that Iran does not comprehend the Zionist Agenda. Neither do the Americans, the Europeans, or the media. The real cause of the war is simply not mentioned. If Iran doesn’t wise up, Iran risks being lured into another meaningless agreement.

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“Netanyahu does know what to do–nuke Iran, in order to save Israel.”

No, nuking Iran would be the end of Israel.

• Where Will The War Take Us? (Paul Craig Roberts)

I am disappointed that Trump destroyed the MAGA movement by turning it into the MIGA movement and taking America to another war in the Middle East in behalf of the Zionist agenda of Greater Israel. Using the disguise of a “war on terror,” the United States has spent the first quarter of the 21st Century using American blood and American money to destroy countries that were barriers to Greater Israel, a territory that encompasses the Muslim Middle East from the Nile to Pakistan. Iraq, Libya and Syria are no longer functioning Arab states.


Trump and Netanyahu believed that Iran would fall as easily as the others, but that has proved not to be the case. Indeed, it appears that Iran is winning. Iran is winning because Iran was better prepared. Expecting a quick and easy victory, Trump and Netanyahu went to war without sufficient missiles to continue in the combat. One consequence is the destruction of American radar and military bases in the Persian Gulf. Another is the inability of Israel to intercept incoming Iranian missiles, an inability that will intensify as Iran works its way through its older stock of missiles and begins using it’s modern hypersonic ballistic missiles. It is possible that Israel could end up looking like Gaza.

According to news reports one of the Persian Gulf oil city-states that hosts US military bases has requested that the United States depart as US presence no longer provides protection. Possibly the other hosts of American bases will make the same request, in which case the result of Trump’s war for Israel will be the removal of Washington’s presence in the Middle East and a defeat of Washington’s long-term agenda of controlling oil flows from the Persian Gulf.

Trump and Netanyahu seem to have put themselves into a difficult situation. Both face elections this year, elections unlikely to go well if Trump and Netanyahu are losing their war. The US Navy has had to move out of range of Iranian ship-sinking missiles, and Trump has had to call on other countries–China, Japan, South Korea, France, UK–to send warships to aid the US in taking control from Iran of the Strait of Hormuz. This request is a clear statement by the President of the United States of limited American military capability. Trump has had no takers. Trump’s advisors are talking about landing troops on Kharg Island, surely a suicide mission.

In other words, Trump doesn’t know what to do. Netanyahu does know what to do–nuke Iran, in order to save Israel. Aware of this possibility Iran might hold back from victory and go for a settlement in which Washington and Israel agree to normalize relations with the Iranian nation. Such a settlement would not last, because it is incompatible with the Zionist agenda of Greater Israel. Therefore, during the time for which such a settlement might last, Iran would have to develop and deploy nuclear weapons, knowing that otherwise Iran will be struck by Israeli nukes.

So, the outcome of Trump and Israel’s war could easily be nuclear proliferation and a reduction of Israeli and American power in the Middle East. This could be a good thing as both Israelis and Americans would understand that the agenda of Greater Israel has consequences too severe to justify the agenda.m If the Iranian government holds firm and learns from the experience, there could be a silver lining in Trump and Israel’s war. The Zionist agenda would be exposed as too costly and would have to be abandoned both by Israel and Washington.

The weak-willed governments in Moscow and Beijing would see that it is possible, after all, to stand up to Israeli-dominated Washington, and possibly might start standing up to Washington themselves instead of selling out their allies. If so, this would produce the multi-polar world that Russian President Putin talks so much about but negates the possibly of with his craven behavior. Perhaps XI would understand that it is better to have a determined military, such as the one he just purged, than a moderate one that encourages, as Putin does, ever more serious provocations by refusing to acknowledge them as acts of war.

The future of the world depends on whether leaders can reenter the world of reality or stay lost in a more comforting unreality in which they presently operate.

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“Trump stated that Israel would no longer strike facilities of Iran’s South Pars gas field.”

• Dmitriev Calls Strike on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field Tipping Point (TASS)

Special Representative of Russian President for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, Chief Executive Officer of Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev called the strike on facilities of the Iranian South Pars gas field, which caused a fire, a “tipping point” in a post on X. This is how he reacted to a White House publication citing statements by US President Donald Trump regarding the situation around the gas field. US President Donald Trump stated that Israel would no longer strike facilities of Iran’s South Pars gas field.


The United States knew nothing about the attack, and Qatar was not involved in it in any way or had any idea it was coming, he wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. The American leader believes the Jewish state carried out the strike out of outrage at what was happening in the Middle East. According to Trump, only a small portion of the field’s facilities were damaged. H e emphasized that Israel would no longer strike the extremely important and valuable South Pars gas field unless Iran made an unwise decision to attack a completely innocent party, Qatar in this case.

On Wednesday, the head of the Assaluyeh District administration in Iran’s Bushehr Province reported that a fire had broken out following an attack by Israel and the United States at several facilities in the South Pars gas field. In this regard, Iran’s elite military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said it would attack oil and gas sites in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar.

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New book.

• The Coroner is Guilty (John Helmer)

This is the first book to expose abuse of power by Australian coroners investigating the cause of death when there is suspicion of medical negligence in the combination of popular prescription drugs – widely used benzodiazepines with treatments for non-life threatening conditions such as vertigo, vestibular migraine, and epilepsy. The book records the evidence of the sudden death of Tatiana Vasilievna Turitsyna, my wife, and of the two years which have followed of forensic investigations to uncover the cause, the role of the treating doctor, then the delay, obstruction, and cover-up by the Coroners Court of Victoria.


Throughout the world this court is the only one of its kind to have been investigated and then prosecuted by the state for abuses of power by the coroners in charge – this is corruption in the law. In 2023 the court was found guilty, sentenced, and fined almost $400,000, but no individual was held culpable. That was the outcome of a plea bargain — a cover-up to keep the evidence secret, the individual coroners blameless, and the penalty paid out of public money from the court budget.

In a presentation that is unprecedented in the practice of Anglo-American law, in Australia and Canada, this book has become the jury book or brief of the case of suspicious, sudden drug death. It is now a model for the international public debate on corruption by the pharmaceutical companies in cahoots with government regulators, the medical profession, judges, and lawyers. This is your summons to serve on the jury.

You, the reader, are called to judge the evidence and the legal argument; and then cast your verdict, not only for the doctor and coroner but also the Supreme Court judge who conducted a trial of his own, dismissing every count of the author’s case, and endorsing the coroner’s decisions without qualification. This is also a textbook on subversion in our lives and deaths. This is how the victims of lethal combinations of drugs are blamed for dying of heart attacks that are judged to be “natural causes” when the evidence that they are nothing of the kind is buried according to the “rules-based international order”. If you are a survivor of a crime of “natural causes”, here’s how to fight for your right, and the right of the dead, to natural justice.

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The Unclassified part is not the most exciting.

• DNI Tulsi Gabbard Releases 2026 Unclassified National Threat Assessment (CTH)

In fulfilling her legislatively mandated annual report called the “National Threat Assessment,” Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, releases the combined intelligence assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community. Additionally, here is the transcript of DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s statement to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence:


[TRANSCRIPT] – “I am here today to present the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment, joined by the Directors of the CIA, DIA, FBI and NSA. This briefing is being provided in accordance with ODNI’s statutory responsibility and represents the Intelligence Community’s assessment of the threats facing U.S. citizens, our Homeland, and our interests. nAs President Trump’s National Security Strategy highlights, America is blessed with an enviable geostrategic position, unparalleled assets, resources and a military second to none. Intelligence remains among our sharpest tools in protecting our interests and informing our policymakers and decisionmakers on key national security concerns. In this assessment, we are following the structure of priorities laid out in the National Security Strategy, starting with threats to our Homeland, then shifting to global risks.

The defense of our Homeland is of utmost importance to the American people. Putting America first means committing to an unrelenting vigilance in service of our own citizens, borders, and communities. Recent efforts to bolster Homeland defense have yielded significantly positive results, but challenges persist. For example, President Trump’s strict enforcement of U.S. policies at the U.S. Mexico border and regionally has served as a deterrent and drastically reduced illegal immigration. Based on Customs and Border Patrol data, January 2026’s monthly encounters are down 83.8% compared to January 2025. Encounters declined 79% compared to 2024.

The drivers of migration are likely to continue. Potential worsening instability in countries like Cuba and Haiti risk triggering migration surges. Smugglers who often operate as transnational criminal organizations view chaos as an opportunity for profit and will look to continue to profit from illegal immigration flows. Transnational criminal organizations continue to pose a daily and direct threat to the health and safety of millions of U.S. citizens primarily by producing and trafficking in illegal drugs. Under President Trump’s leadership, fentanyl overdose deaths have seen a 30 percent decrease from September 2024 to September 2025.

Fentanyl potency has also decreased, likely due to disruptions to the production supply chain. U.S. efforts to work with China and India to halt the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals to North America are demonstrating improvement, but there is more work to be done as there are still tens of thousands of fentanyl-related deaths in America every year.] President Trump’s aggressive efforts to more directly and actively target TCOs and reduce the inflow of fentanyl precursors has already had a significant impact which is likely to continue. (continue reading – pdf) The opening statement is 8-pages in full and can be found by following the ‘continue reading’ link above.

Tulsi Gabbard is doing a solid job as DNI, against formidable opposition from all directions.]“It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.”
-Machiavelli, The Prince

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I thought he was Putin’s close(st) ally.

• Belarus Remains Trump’s Ally Despite US Mistakes — Lukashenko (TASS)

Belarus remains an ally of US President Donald Trump despite some mistakes made by the US administration, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday. “I would strongly urge you that we discuss regional problems. Not only the issues surrounding Ukraine, but also global ones. And not only the war in the Middle East,” Lukashenko was quoted by BelTA news agency during a meeting with a US delegation led by Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale at the Palace of Independence.


“I believe my perspective on global issues, especially on the situation in the Middle East, will be important for you, given that you are fighting against our friends. And I am ready to speak frankly on this topic,” the Belarusian president continued. “I would very much like you to convey my perspective to Donald Trump. Although I believe the United States has made certain mistakes, I remain a supporter of your president,” Lukashenko added. Last September, the United States lifted sanctions on the airline Belavia. The US Department of the Treasury issued a general license for financial transactions with Belavia and its subsidiaries.

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Judges doing politics. Under the guise of law.

• Murphy’s Law (Jonathan Turley)

“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” That adage, called Murphy’s Law, came to mind this week with the latest injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy in Boston. Murphy previously drew national criticism for his efforts to enjoin Trump’s immigration policies, resulting in not one but two rebukes from the Supreme Court. He is now back with an order preventing changes to vaccination policies ordered by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.


As with his earlier immigration order, the court seems to take the view that anything that can go wrong for the Trump Administration will go wrong for the Administration. At virtually every critical point, the court seems to adopt the harshest possible interpretation against the Administration. Murphy effectively halted, for now, the meeting of Kennedy’s new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP. Kennedy had replaced many members of the ACIP, including some accused of conflicts of interest. However, Murphy found that Kennedy had made arbitrary and capricious decisions in changing vaccine policies and changing the committee membership.

The Trump Administration has been aggressively fighting for executive authority over agencies, boards, and committees. This case could become one of the most significant of these appeals.Judge Murphy basically lambasts Kennedy for attacking good science and scientific methods. His criticism is laden with assumptions about the “correct” answers to questions governing vaccines. There are good-faith objections to Kennedy’s policy changes. However, the question is who is constitutionally vested with the right to make such decisions. That question is particularly prominent in the Murphy opinion. For example, the court rejects the new board members as unqualified in comparison to the prior members.

The court’s rejection of the new board members is largely conclusory. The court offers little indication of who Kennedy might appoint to meet his standards … other than the prior board members placed on the committee during the prior administration. In determining whether Kennedy had a right to reconstitute the committee, the opinion states that “[t]he Court acknowledges that many of the ACIP members have extensive expertise in their chosen fields.” However, it then questions whether they have truly “relevant” experience. The court insists that only six have relevant experience with vaccines.

The rejection of individual advisers shows how the court dismisses countervailing credentials or belittles advisers selected by the Secretary. Take Dr. Raymond Pollak who “is a surgeon, transplant immunobiologist, and transplant specialist who has published more than 120 peer-reviewed works and served as principal investigator on NIH transplant biology grants and numerous drug trials.” That would seem to be someone who could offer unique insights into vaccines and their approval. Yet, while acknowledging some experience, Murphy dismisses him as lacking sufficient experience.

Then there is Dr. Retsef Levi, Professor of Operations Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, as “a leading expert in healthcare analytics, supply chain and manufacturing analytics, risk management, and biologics and vaccine safety” and note that he has “collaborated with industry stakeholders and public health agencies to develop decision-support models to evaluate biologics and vaccine safety” and co-authored studies examining the association between mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and risks of cardiovascular disease, mortality, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.” He has also published two papers on vaccines. However, Judge Murphy brushes aside that stellar academic record and notes that “both of those [vaccine papers] were published mere months before his appointment.”

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I personally give Trump much more credit than PCR does.

• Trump Continues to Expel MAGA’s Best Members (Paul Craig Roberts)

Trump, again doing the political assassination for the Israel Lobby, is trying to drive American hero US Rep. Thomas Massie out of Congress Three new York Jewish billionaires–Henry Paulson, Miriam Adelson, and Paul Singer–have contributed an enormous war chest for unseating Massie. Trump is contributing his demonization rhetoric: “We got to get rid of this loser. This guy is bad,” Trump said at a rally in Hebron, Kentucky. “He’s disloyal to the Republican Party. He’s disloyal to the people of Kentucky, and most importantly, he is disloyal to the United States of America. And he’s got to be voted out of office as soon as possible.” https://www.unz.com/article/thomas-massie-live-by-the-sword-die-by-the-dagger/


What Trump means is that Massie is disloyal to the Israel Lobby. On Tucker Carlson’s show Massie revealed that every member of Congress has an AIPAC babysitter or handler to make certain the member votes in Israel’s interest. To please Israel, Trump turns on his strongest supporters, such as Massie, Marjorie Taylor Green, and Joe Kent. As Trump does not tolerate dissent, none of his advisers dare to tell him anything. Trump’s schooling as a Jewish-financed New York real estate developer is not leading to anything good. We have an impetuous and unpredictable president with his finger on the button who listens to no one but Zionist Israel.

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“Kent elaborated that Israel was preparing to strike, which would trigger retaliation endangering U.S. personnel – creating the cited “imminent” risk.. “

• Kent Tells Tucker: ‘Imminent Threat’ Was From Israel, Not Iran (ZH)

Joe Kent, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center who was President Trump’s principal counterterrorism advisor, appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show to explain his side of the story after stepping down from the administration. Kent announced his resignation Tuesday, citing his opposition to the ongoing U.S. war with Iran, and his belief that Iran posed “no imminent threat” to America – while asserting in his resignation letter that his wife died in “a war manufactured by Israel” in a 2019 suicide bombing in Manjbi, Syria.


In this first public interview since resigning, Kent elaborated on his reasons amid reports emerging Wednesday that the FBI is investigating him for allegedly leaking or improperly sharing classified information (a probe that sources say predates his resignation and is being handled by the FBI’s Criminal Division, per several outlets). Early on in the interview, Carlson referenced Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s justification for the strikes – that Iran posed an imminent threat because Israel was preparing to attack Iranian targets, likely prompting Iranian retaliation against U.S. forces. Carlson reframed it bluntly:

Carlson: “So, the imminent threat that the secretary of state is describing is not from Iran. It’s from Israel.” Kent: “Exactly. And I think this speaks to the broader issue: who is in charge of our policy in the Middle East?” Kent elaborated that Israel was preparing to strike, which would trigger retaliation endangering U.S. personnel – creating the cited “imminent” risk. He stated: Kent: “The Israelis drove the decision to take this action, which we knew would set off a series of events because the Iranians would retaliate.”

Kent insisted there was zero U.S. intelligence of Iran planning a direct attack, nearing a nuclear weapon, or posing an immediate homeland threat. He cited Iran’s religious fatwa against nuclear weapons (since 2004) and said the assassinated Supreme Leader Khamenei had moderated the program: Kent: “There was no intelligence that said, hey… the Iranians are going to launch this big sneak attack… There was none of that intelligence.” On nukes: “No, they weren’t [on the verge of a bomb]. They weren’t in June either. The Iranians have had a fatwa – a religious ruling – against the development of a nuclear weapon since 2004… We had no intelligence that it was being disobeyed.”

https://twitter.com/remarks/status/2034418878143484285?s=20


Kent described how dissenting views were sidelined in the lead-up to strikes. Key officials, including himself, were reportedly barred from direct briefings with Trump. He said he spoke personally with the president before resigning – a conversation he described as “very respectful” – but felt staying would mean silencing his warnings. “A good deal of key decision-makers were not allowed to come and express their opinion to the president,” Kent said, adding “There wasn’t a robust debate.”


In an emotionally charged segment, Kent discussed the September 2025 assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, whom he knew personally. Kent recounted Kirk’s last words to him in the West Wing in June: Kent (recalling Kirk): “Joe, stop us from getting into a war with Iran.” Kent said Kirk had opposed escalation and faced pressure from pro-Israel donors. He revealed the NCTC had leads on potential foreign involvement but was ordered to halt: Kent: “The investigation that the National Counterterrorism Center was a part of, we were stopped from continuing to investigate… There was still a lot for us to look into… there were still linkages for us to investigate that we needed to run down.”= The official narrative focused on lone gunman Ryan Robinson, but Kent insisted unresolved questions remained.

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We should know what happened when Boeing went from an engineers- to an accountants firm. Probe it. McDonnell Douglas.

• NASA May Shrink Boeing’s Moon-Mission Role, Push SpaceX (ZH)

President Donald Trump’s NASA chief could soon announce Boeing’s diminishing role in returning astronauts to the Moon, while leaning heavily on Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket company to do the heavy lifting. Boeing’s Space Launch System (SLS), originally the rocket backbone of the Artemis mission, would no longer carry the Lockheed Martin-built Orion crew capsule to the Moon. Under the new plan, SpaceX’s Starship would take the lead.


NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman plans to meet with the companies working on the Artemis program next Tuesday, including Boeing, SpaceX, and Blue Origin, to discuss progress and current paths forward. Sources close to the program said any significant changes could face immediate Congressional scrutiny.”NASA is committed to using the SLS architecture through at least Artemis V, which is necessary to support both human landing system providers, and their associated acceleration plans to return American astronauts to the Moon,” Isaacman said in a statement. “We’re incredibly supportive of both our HLS providers and their plans to accelerate America’s path forward to the moon,” Isaacman added.

If Isaacman does boot SLS from the core rocket during the launch of the Orion crew capsule to the moon, it would be a massive blow to Boeing, which has been mired in setbacks ranging from Starliner capsule issues to SLS launch delays. Notably, Starship still lacks a fully successful orbital flight. The effort to swap SLS for Starship shows Isaacman’s urgent push to accelerate Artemis timelines (target: 2028 landing) after years of delays and cost overruns, with SLS missions costing over $4 billion each.Isaacman has also been weighing alternatives for the HLS on the Moon from both SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin – both of which hold multibillion-dollar contracts to develop Moon landers for Artemis.

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Everyone behind the Steele dossier is walking free.

• When ‘I Don’t Recall’ Meets a DOJ Subpoena (David Manney)

James Comey is back in the spotlight with a familiar flavor. The Department of Justice has issued a subpoena tied to his role in the 2017 intelligence assessment on Russia and the 2016 election. Years passed, but the questions never went away. Now, however, they’ve returned with legal force behind them. The subpoena marks a new escalation after Fox News Digital previously reported that Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan were under criminal investigation related to the probe.Sources at the time said the investigations were examining potential wrongdoing tied to the creation of the 2017 assessment and possible false statements to Congress. Comey, as PJ Media readers know, served as FBI director at the time and played a central role in one of the most consequential investigations in recent political history.


It was an investigation that influenced public opinion, policy debates, and years of political conflict that followed. That assessment referenced the Steele dossier, which a CIA “Tradecraft Review” completed in June under CIA Director John Ratcliffe said “ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment,” according to Axios, which cited the review.Ratcliffe has since referred Comey and Brennan for possible prosecution, Axios reported. Senior officials from multiple agencies contributed to the document, including John Brennan and James Clapper. The document’s conclusion shaped the early narrative around the election and set the tone for investigations that stretched across years.

The current inquiry focuses on process and accountability. Lawmakers and investigators want clarity on how evidence was gathered, how conclusions were reached, and whether political pressure played any role. Those questions may sound procedural, but they carry serious weight; decisions made during that period affected the credibility of major institutions and the direction of national policy. Comey’s past testimony offers a preview of what may come next. During earlier hearings, he often leaned on phrases that signaled caution or distance. “I don’t recall” appeared many times, and the Fifth Amendment remains a legal option available to any witness under oath. A subpoena raises the stakes because it requires answers, even if those answers arrive carefully measured.

President Donald Trump has long argued that the original investigation carried political bias, a view that continues to shape how supporters interpret the renewed scrutiny. Meanwhile, those on the left maintain that the original findings reflected legitimate concerns about foreign interference. There’s enough daylight between those competing views to power a solar panel for minutes.The legal process will move forward step by step. Testimony, documents, and sworn statements will form the backbone of whatever comes next. Investigators will press for clarity, witnesses will weigh their words carefully, and the outcome will depend less on headlines and more on what can be established under oath.

For Comey, the moment carries both legal and personal weight. His time as FBI director placed him in the center of events that reshaped American politics. The subpoena pulls him back into that same arena, where every answer matters and every pause gets noticed. The country has seen versions of this scene before: a high-profile witness, a charged political backdrop, and a series of questions that reach back years.What happens next depends on how much clarity emerges and how much remains unreachable. In other words, wash, rinse, repeat. If we decide on a drinking game, basing a shot of Buffalo Trace on each time we hear “I don’t recall,” we’ll remember the first 15 minutes of his testimony. Regardless, second verse, same as the first verse.

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Quantum entanglement: It’s already there https://twitter.com/IslanderWORLD/status/2034396591088627889 A car in less than 5 seconds

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle September 12 2025

Sep 122025
 
 September 12, 2025  Posted by at 9:45 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  102 Responses »


Constantin Brancusi Portrait of George 1911

 

• US Is Suffering An Epidemic of Leftist Violence (Miranda Devine)
• ‘You Are the Hate’: Anna Paulina Luna Rips Dems (Salgado)
• The Day the Masks Came Off (Jamie K. Wilson)
• The Incredible Articulation of Charles James Kirk (CTH)
• Charlie Kirk Assassin Picked Spot Very Carefully (NYP)
• Musk Calls Left The ‘Party Of Murder’ After Charlie Kirk’s Shooting (RT)
• You Don’t Silence Charlie Kirk By Killing Him – Scott Ritter (RT)
• US Democratic Party is America’s Ukraine – Dugin on Charlie Kirk’s Murder (RT)
• Ukrainians Online Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Shooting Death (RT)
• Medvedev Warns MAGA Of Left-Wing Banderite Scum After Charlie Kirk Murder (ZH)
• Trump Dismisses Claims Of ‘Russian Drone Incursion‘ Into Poland (RT)
• Europe Is a Powder Keg (J.B. Shurk)
• Britain Sacks Envoy To US Over Epstein Links (RT)
• Why Did Qatar’s Air Defenses Fail During Israel’s Attack? (Sp.)
• 9/11 After 24 Years (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Vance Names Two Issues Preventing Russia-Ukraine Peace Deal (RT)

 

 

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1966139122361544817


https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1965984391168987396


https://twitter.com/JesseBWatters/status/1965944278770676128
https://twitter.com/AdamMoczar/status/1965867076989702305


https://twitter.com/TRobinsonNewEra/status/1966079530478801310

One hour
https://twitter.com/DrEliDavid/status/1965859806138478908

 

 

 

 

I like that the first three pieces today were written by women.

• US Is Suffering An Epidemic of Leftist Violence (Miranda Devine)

We are suffering through an epidemic of leftist violence. The ruthless assassination of conservative youth leader Charlie Kirk, 31, at a crowded campus event in Utah on Wednesday is the latest manifestation of the hateful rhetoric aimed at President Trump and his MAGA movement. It’s a sad irony that Kirk’s shockingly public murder happened the day before the trial begins of Ryan Routh, one of the alleged assassins who tried to rub out Trump during the 2024 campaign. Prescient as always, Kirk understood the consequences of the escalating violent rhetoric of the left, as he and Trump kept winning the hearts and minds of a new generation, especially young men, with logic and common sense.b“Assassination culture is spreading on the left,” he tweeted two months ago. “Forty-eight percent of liberals say it would be at least somewhat justified to murder Elon Musk. Fifty-five percent said the same about Donald Trump.”

In California, activists are naming ballot measures after alleged CEO-killer Luigi Mangione. “The left is being whipped into a violent frenzy. Any setback, whether losing an election or losing a court case, justifies a maximally violent response.” Contrary to the narrative pushed by left-wing media and fanned by President Joe Biden and his administration, the political violence is almost exclusively from the left. Setting the scene were the deadly BLM-Antifa riots that engulfed the country in the summer of 2020, which were tacitly encouraged by Democrats like Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as a way to destabilize then-President Trump and then project their own culpability and motivations onto the J6 Capitol riot by Trump supporters one afternoon. Then, of course, Trump was the target of two assassination attempts last year, including almost having his head blown off, but miraculously tilting it at the right moment for the bullet to nick his ear instead.

There was also the arson and vandalism against Tesla dealerships to intimidate Elon Musk and punish him for his support for Trump. A few months ago, Israeli Embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and fiancée Sarah Lynn Milgrim were assassinated, allegedly by a Palestinian activist, outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was assassinated in December 2024, allegedly by a wealthy leftist spouting left-wing critiques of corporate greed and health care inequities. There was the assassination attempt against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his Maryland home by a deranged abortion activist, and of course the leftist who shot up Republicans at a congressional baseball practice in Virginia in 2017. Even the arson attack on the home of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, which pundits like Jake Tapper try to cite as an example of bipartisan targets, was perpetrated by a left-wing, pro-Hamas, anti-Israel activist.

Charlie Kirk’s answer was civil discourse. Contrary to the lies spread by MSNBC and CNN on the day of his death, he was not “a divisive figure” and he did not engage in “hate speech.” He reached across the aisle and engaged young people respectfully in dialogue. He was never personal or nasty. He was courteous and civilized. He was kind and patient. He would tour universities under the banner “Prove Me Wrong,” encouraging students to challenge him with any question. He put forward his views calmly and with a smile — capitalism is better than socialism, there are only two sexes — and was happy and courageous enough to debate anybody in good faith. That’s why he won hearts and minds on campuses and galvanized a generation. It’s what made him such a potent political force, helping Trump win in 2024.

It’s why his political opponents had to lie that he was hateful and divisive. It’s precisely because he was neither of those things that young people listened to him. He was not afraid to be plainspoken. He didn’t sugarcoat uncomfortable facts. He told the ugly truths that America tries to bury. A protective father and husband, he was particularly exercised by the random stabbing murder of 23- year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a light rail car in Charlotte, NC. In one of his last tweets, he wrote: “If we want things to change, it’s 100% necessary to politicize the senseless murder of Iryna Zarutska because it was politics that allowed a savage monster with 14 priors to be free on the streets to kill her.” “This was one of the … coldest, most senseless murders I’ve ever seen,” he said in an interview. “This whole criminal justice reform stuff has been a complete failure.”

He knew that the lies the Democrats and the media told about George Floyd’s death in 2020 are what got Zarutska killed. The lies are what drove disastrous criminal justice reforms, like cashless bail and emptying prisons, that were predicated on systemic racism, a nonexistent problem designed to drive a wedge between black and white Americans. Kirk called out that rancid, divisive lie for what it is. He held up a mirror to Democrats and made them see themselves as they are: the party of projection, accusing others of what’s in their own hearts. When Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) proposed a prayer for Kirk on the House floor Wednesday afternoon, a dozen Democrats reportedly protested. You could hear them shout “No!” and “Pass some gun laws!”

“America will never be the same,” Kirk wrote Tuesday night in his final tweet about Zarutska. It was accompanied by a photo of the young woman, just after she was stabbed, wide-eyed, terrified, in shock as she looked around at her killer, hand to her mouth, knees pulled up in the fetal position, before she slumped to the floor and bled out. Kirk wasn’t to know that 12 hours and 35 minutes after he wrote those words, he would join her in death. No, America will never be the same. But Kirk’s death, like his life’s work, is a turning point. Look at what he accomplished in 31 years. Imagine what he might have gone on to do. In his short life, he formed a future generation of leaders who see the world as he did, clearly, logically, with reason tempered by compassion, and with faith in Jesus Christ.

In death, he may yet accomplish more than he already has. His mode was to be strong, brave and resolute. Live your values. Get married, have children, make the world a better place, with courage and grace for your fellow man. That’s his legacy, and it’s up to all Americans of goodwill to take up his mission.

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“You were too busy doping up kids, cutting off their genitals, inciting racial violence by supporting orgs that exploit minorities, protecting criminals, and stirring hate. YOU ARE THE HATE you claim to fight.”

• ‘You Are the Hate’: Anna Paulina Luna Rips Dems (Salgado)

After Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a Utah Valley University event today, Republicans tried to have an extra moment of prayer on the House floor, but Democrats objected. Following this, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna unleashed the anger that many feel against Democrats for encouraging so much hatred against conservatives. Luna is tired of pretending Democrats don’t hate our country and anyone who disagrees with them. “I am done with the rhetoric this rotten House and corrupt media has caused,” she declared. “EVERY DAMN ONE OF YOU WHO CALLED US FASCISTS DID THIS.” The congresswoman declared, “You were too busy doping up kids, cutting off their genitals, inciting racial violence by supporting orgs that exploit minorities, protecting criminals, and stirring hate. YOU ARE THE HATE you claim to fight.”

She hammered her point home: “Your words caused this. Your hate caused this. Charlie. His family. Those kids. No one deserved this. Enough is enough.” Later, she revealed yet more of the sickness inherent in the Democrat Party. “My office has been receiving calls from individuals celebrating the assassination attempt on Charlie Kirk,” she wrote on X. “I am disgusted by the level of depravity the Left has stooped to— including one caller who even demanded my location. All of this has been reported to our threats team.” These crazed leftists are no doubt happy to make every conservative afraid that he or she will be next.

Scott Presler, the indefatigable campaigner who made sure Trump could win Pennsylvania, was equally disgusted at the Left’s vitriol. “Record every single person celebrating the assassination,” he urged. “Hold them accountable. Every single one.” Kirk’s babies will never see him again, because he dared to speak truths with which others disagree. He didn’t commit any violence; he just invited people to debate him. Yet leftists immediately took to social media in high glee after he was killed, and leftist media used their coverage of the assassination to insult Kirk.

And while we don’t know who the shooter is, Luna is totally right to say that Democrats vilified Kirk, Trump, and everybody who agrees with them. They radicalize people like Robert Westman, the “transgender” mass shooter who killed children at a Minneapolis Catholic school at the end of August. But then again, Democrats have been pushing domestic terrorism for well over a century. From the caning of Charles Sumner to the Civil War to the KKK and Red Shirts to Antifa, the history of the Democrat Party is a history of politically motivated violence. How horrific that it is still claiming the lives of patriots like Charlie Kirk.

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“That imbalance shaped our politics: one side wanted to persuade, the other side wanted to destroy.”

• The Day the Masks Came Off (Jamie K. Wilson)

Charlie Kirk should be alive today. He should be at home tonight with his beautiful wife and their two little children—three bright futures entwined with his own, now stolen away forever. He should be grinning that irrepressible grin, telling stories, cracking jokes, and planning his next campus stop. Instead, he was gunned down in Utah while doing what he always did: speaking directly to anyone willing to listen. Charlie had a gift that made him unique in our movement. He carried himself like everyone’s little brother — fearless, approachable, quick with a smile. He walked into hostile rooms and faced jeers, insults, and ugly words with a kind of radiant good humor. And then, instead of lashing back, he answered with questions. He wanted to draw people out, to meet them where they stood, to turn confrontation into conversation. Often he didn’t change minds, but he left behind something just as valuable: respect.

Charlie valued all lives, regardless of color, creed, or nation of birth. But he had a special place in his heart for the smallest and most defenseless — the unborn, the voiceless, the forgotten. That conviction animated everything he did. He believed America could still be a place where truth mattered, where faith mattered, and where human dignity mattered. I don’t remember ever seeing him without a smile. Even when he was under attack, even when the words were venomous, he seemed to carry joy as a weapon. He feared nothing and no one, and he made friends wherever he went — on the right, and yes, even among some on the left who couldn’t help but like him despite their politics.

And now he’s gone.

Charlie Kirk is dead — murdered in Utah during what should have been a routine campus event. That sentence alone should be enough to unite Americans in grief and outrage. But it hasn’t. On Twitter, the progressive crowd erupted in celebration. Memes, jokes, cheers — many of the same people who preach about compassion and “our shared humanity” couldn’t resist mocking the death of a man who devoted his life to building conservative institutions and defending ordinary Americans. On MSNBC, hosts and guests blamed everyone but the shooter. In Congress, when the Speaker of the House tried to hold a moment of silence, Democrat radicals shouted him down. This was not just another tragedy. It was a revelation.

For years, conservatives have described liberals as misguided, wrong, or naïve. We thought they were mistaken but basically well-intentioned. Liberals, on the other hand, increasingly painted conservatives as evil — racist, fascist, subhuman. That imbalance shaped our politics: one side wanted to persuade, the other side wanted to destroy. But with Charlie Kirk’s murder, that asymmetry collapsed. Conservatives watched in real time as prominent voices on the Left celebrated the death of a man they despised. The mask of “tolerance” slipped, and underneath was malice. Today, conservatives are saying what we once resisted: they are not just wrong. They are evil.

That recognition is a cultural turning point. The death of Charlie Kirk is not just the silencing of a voice — it is the beginning of a new conversation on the Right. A conversation about what it means when our opponents openly cheer our destruction. A conversation about how we respond when politics ceases to be a contest of ideas and becomes, in their eyes, a war of elimination. The Left has chosen its posture. They have declared who they are. And now, conservatives must decide how to live in a country where half of our opposing political class celebrates the murders of conservatives. Charlie Kirk’s voice is gone. But the silence left behind speaks louder than words.

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“This is a remarkable exhibition of a skillset that will be exceptionally difficult to replace.”

• The Incredible Articulation of Charles James Kirk (CTH)

Sadly, I had not seen this video until after he was assassinated and it was shared on social media. That said, the intellectual capacity, the gift of articulation carried within the vessel Charlie Kirk represented, is evident in this video segment. This is a remarkable exhibition of a skillset that will be exceptionally difficult to replace.

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“..within three to five minutes of that shot going off, that person could have been in a vehicle on his way out and miles and miles away..”

• Charlie Kirk Assassin Picked Spot Very Carefully (NYP)

Charlie Kirk’s assassin appears to have picked a rooftop from where they could make a quick escape and be “miles and miles away” in mere minutes, according to a retired FBI expert. The sniper — who remains at large early Thursday — fired the single, fatal shot from the top of the Losee Center Building at Utah Valley University, some 200 yards away from where Kirk was seated in a pop-up tent speaking in front of 3,000 people, authorities have said. “If you come off that roof — and I’ve seen the drone footage of this — there’s an open-air parking lot behind that building,” retired FBI supervising agent James Gagliano told “Fox and Friends.” “So this is a big concern because this person, within three to five minutes of that shot going off, that person could have been in a vehicle on his way out and miles and miles away,” he said.

“Provo airport’s only about 45 minutes from there,” he said — suggesting that the killer could have quickly escaped Utah, too. Kirk, a 31-year-old married father of two, was fatally shot in the throat at the outdoor speaking event at the college on Wednesday, sending students screaming and running for their lives as he fell to the ground bleeding. Chilling footage recorded immediately after the gunshot rang out appears to show a small, dark shape jump up and sprint across a roof in the distance as people in the crowd ducked for cover. Another clip filmed earlier shows the dark shape lying prone on top of the rooftop from which the gunman fired as people below wondered aloud what they were looking at. Kirk was shot moments later. “People are suggesting this was a professional hit. And yet from that distance, we’re talking a little over 500 feet, just short of 200 yards, that’s not a tough shot with a rifle, if this suspect had a scope,” Gagliano said.

“It’s a very easy shot.” US Army Sergeant Nicholas Ranstad, an elite American sharpshooter, also called it an “easy shot,” suggesting there was no reason to believe the killer was a trained sniper, further complicating the hunt. Lack of security at UVU made the campus “a buffet for someone who wanted to kill someone,” Ranstad, who held the record for longest American kill in Afghanistan, told the Daily Mail. “When you have events like that, you look at the security, if you push 250, 300 yards, it’s an easy shot,” he said. “Not to mention out in the open, wind is low out in the country. It’s not like in the city, where a bullet flying past the buildings will move more,” Ranstad added. UVU Police Chief Jeff Long said his department had just six officers working Kirk’s event alongside the activist’s personal security team. Kirk was rushed to a local hospital, where he died from his wounds, leaving behind a wife and two children.

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“..an April survey by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), which found that 48% of “left of center” respondents said it would be “somewhat justified” to murder President Trump. Some 55% said the same about Musk..”

• Musk Calls Left The ‘Party Of Murder’ After Charlie Kirk’s Shooting (RT)

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has accused the radical left of fostering a climate that encourages violence against conservatives, calling it the “party of murder” following the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk. The 31-year-old activist and influencer was shot in the neck while taking questions from a crowd on the campus of Utah Valley University on Wednesday. Authorities said the suspected gunman fired from a rooftop some distance away. According to initial reports, a suspect was detained, but he has since been released. “The Left is the party of murder,” Musk wrote in a post on X, echoing broader claims from Republican allies who argue that Democratic rhetoric and media narratives have long fueled hostility toward conservative figures.

Political commentator Mike Cernovich replied: “Not only ‘the left,’ it’s people who fund them. Like Soros, Bill Gates, and Reid Hoffman. Some patsy boomer who was radicalized by agitprop is not who anyone smart considers responsible for today,” to which Musk responded, “Exactly.” Musk also endorsed another post claiming that “the left-wing mainstream media, as well as figures like Gavin Newsom claiming Trump plans to be dictator, has created a climate of hysteria against right-wing figures that could radicalize any number of unstable people to engage in political violence.”

His remarks came as leading Democrats, including former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and California Governor Gavin Newsom have issued statements condemning the attack and declaring that “political” and “gun violence” have no place in America. The growing “assassination culture” among left-leaning Americans was highlighted in an April survey by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), which found that 48% of “left of center” respondents said it would be “somewhat justified” to murder President Trump. Some 55% said the same about Musk. Earlier this year, radical activists targeted Tesla owners, accusing the billionaire of enabling “fascism” and calling for boycotts of his companies.

Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, rose to prominence through debates with liberal and progressive students. Vice President JD Vance praised him for promoting civil political discourse, noting that his events were “one of the few places with open and honest dialogue between left and right,” where he would answer any question and engage with everyone. In honor of the “truly Great American Patriot,” President Trump has ordered all American flags across the United States to be flown at half-mast until Sunday.

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“What is not okay is to demonize people to the extent that [you argue] America would be better off without these ideas being articulated.”

• You Don’t Silence Charlie Kirk By Killing Him – Scott Ritter (RT)

The assassination of a political speaker you disagree with is antithetical to American values, making Charlie Kirk’s murder a grave signal for US society, former Marine Corps intelligence officer and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter told RT. The founder of the conservative student group Turning Point USA was shot dead Wednesday at Utah Valley University by a gunman firing from a nearby rooftop. Kirk was famous for his public debates on hot-button topics, such as transgender issues or US support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

Apparently motivated by politics, the crime shows that constitutionally protected free speech in America “is no longer free,” and that some words can be met with violence rather than counterarguments, Ritter said. “In the battleground of ideas, the solution to somebody’s bad ideas isn’t to shoot the person,” he said. “The last thing you do is silence Charlie Kirk by shooting Charlie Kirk.” Ritter blamed the US government for increasingly embracing censorship of speech it considers inconvenient and for enabling intimidation by activists. He said he has personally faced harassment over his public statements, including online death threats aimed at him and his family.

“We have a poisonous environment today on social media, on the mainstream media, and in society in general, where people are physically threatened because of the words they speak,” he said. “It’s OK to be offended by people’s speech,” Ritter added. “What is not okay is to demonize people to the extent that [you argue] America would be better off without these ideas being articulated.” The gunman shot Kirk at a publicly accessible venue. Ritter warned that the attack could discourage US campuses from hosting controversial speakers since many universities cannot afford the level of security needed to prevent such violence.

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“This is very much like the beginning of a civil war. The Democratic Party is America’s Ukraine. Or vice versa..”

“Dugin’s own daughter, Darya Dugina, was assassinated in 2022 in a car bombing outside Moscow. Russian authorities blamed the killing on Ukrainian agents, a claim echoed by the US government.”

• US Democratic Party is America’s Ukraine – Dugin on Charlie Kirk’s Murder (RT)

The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has exposed a dangerous fault line in American society that could lead to civil war, Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin argued in a post on his Telegram channel. Dugin, known for his advocacy of traditional values and the concept of ‘Eurasianism’ – which seeks to unite Europe and Asia against Western liberalism – accused American leftists of fueling division and celebrating the killing of their political opponents. “After confirmation of Charlie Kirk’s death, America exploded. Trump and MAGA feel genuine pain and wild anger… Everyone in MAGA forgot their contradictions and instantly united,” Dugin wrote. By contrast, he claimed, liberals were unable to “contain their joy.” Dugin pointed to MSNBC contributor Matthew Dowd’s controversial on-air remarks and Democrats’ reported refusal to honor Kirk with a prayer in Congress.

He said liberal networks were filled with gloating reactions, with senior party figures publicly calling for unity while privately urging activists not to be too open about their jubilation. The philosopher said many in the US now fear for the lives of other conservative figures, warning that “life [is] under the crosshairs.” “This is very much like the beginning of a civil war. The Democratic Party is America’s Ukraine. Or vice versa,” Dugin wrote, adding that Kirk was shot “from 200 meters by a sniper who disappeared,” and suggesting the true perpetrators may never be identified – drawing a parallel to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Dugin’s own daughter, Darya Dugina, was assassinated in 2022 in a car bombing outside Moscow. Russian authorities blamed the killing on Ukrainian agents, a claim echoed by the US government.

In his post, Dugin argued that the killing of Kirk – like the murder of his daughter – is part of a broader campaign to silence those who reject globalist liberal ideology. “The center giving the order for our destruction, for the extermination of MAGA supporters, is one and the same,” he said. Kirk, 31, was killed by a single rifle shot during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, in what officials have described as a targeted political assassination. Authorities have located the alleged murder weapon and three unspent cartridges that reportedly bore “transgender and anti-fascist” messages. The gunman vanished from the scene and remains at large, with a $100,000 bounty offered for information leading to his arrest.

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“Kirk had branded Zelensky an “international welfare queen” and an “ungrateful petulant child who is responsible for 1 million deaths..,”

• Ukrainians Online Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Shooting Death (RT)

Ukrainian social media users have openly celebrated the shooting death of conservative US activist Charlie Kirk. Kirk, a prominent critic of Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and of the push by the administration of former US President Joe Biden to send hundreds of billions of dollars in military aid to Kiev, was killed on Wednesday during a public campus event in Orem, Utah. Though mainstream Ukrainian media reported the killing in a largely neutral tone, providing basic facts and noting Kirk’s criticisms of Kiev, numerous online posts from accounts with Ukrainian names expressed approval and even delight.

“Being pro-Trump means being stupid and primitive,” user “Olga” said on Telegram in response to a report of Kirk’s shooting by UNIAN, a leading Ukrainian news outlet. “Epic,” wrote a user named “Ruslan” about a video showing the moment Kirk was hit by a bullet. Another commenter, “Volodya Yanik,” declared: “Cool. Super shot.” “First he rooted for Russia, and now he is dead,” wrote an account under the name “Valentin Shevchenko.”

Some of the celebratory remarks were later removed by UNIAN administrators. Similar reactions spread across other Ukrainian outlets, with commenters insisting Kirk had “f*cked around and found out” and wishing for him to “rest in pieces.” Kirk had branded Zelensky an “international welfare queen” and an “ungrateful petulant child who is responsible for 1 million dead,” citing Zelensky’s refusal to consider a peace deal with Russia and his continuation of a conflict financed by Western money.

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“..urging Americans mourning Kirk’s death – and especially those in the MAGA movement – “to realize that by supporting Ukraine, they’re supporting murderers.”

• Medvedev Warns MAGA Of Left-Wing Banderite Scum After Charlie Kirk Murder (ZH)

Russian officials have been highlighting Charlie Kirk’s past commentary on Ukraine in wake of his horrific assassination on Wednesday at Utah Valley University. The Turning Point USA founder had long heaped criticism on US and Western policy of funding Ukraine’s military to the tune of billions, at one point calling out President Zelensky as “an ungrateful capricious child.” For this reason he came under severe criticism by Ukrainian and pro-Kiev pundits.

https://twitter.com/HavryshkoMarta/status/1965862781548376163?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1965862781548376163%7Ctwgr%5E3a4b9e54f50192549a3d89e31bde49cc7e81264a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fmedvedev-warns-maga-left-wing-banderite-scum-after-charlie-kirks-assassination

The Kremlin is now highlighting this soon after his death. For example, former Russian president and current deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev quickly connected Kirk’s murder to what he called “a variety of left-wing liberal scum who support Banderite” Kiev. This is a reference to Nazi Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera, who was formative in hardline Ukrainian nationalist movements in the 20th century world wars era – and deemed a national hero by the Ukrainian government. His legacy is also condemned by multiple European and human rights institutions as representing antisemitism. Medvedev issued a statement to social media urging Americans mourning Kirk’s death – and especially those in the MAGA movement – “to realize that by supporting Ukraine, they’re supporting murderers.”

“Political crimes and assassinations have been carried out lately by a variety of left-wing liberal scum who support Banderite Kiev. Fico, Kirk. Who’s next?” – he said in reference to the almost fatal May 2024 shooting of Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s chief negotiator with the Trump team and head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, reposted a video montage on X that showed leftists “in full celebration mode over Charlie Kirk getting shot.”

Dmitriev described “voices of light” cannot be silenced. He also reposted a message from Elon Musk, among a series of Kirk-related posts, stating: “The Left is the party of murder.” Musk had also in the past agreed with Kirk’s biting criticisms of US/NATO policy toward Ukraine, and the risks of WW3. Online commentators have widely speculated that Kirk could have been targeted by a foreign intelligence service, at a moment the manhunt is still underway and motive for the killing remains anything but clear. Kirk had complex and nuanced views on a host of issues ranging from Israel to Ukraine to the Epstein saga.

For example, he has said multiple times that Epstein was at the center of an intelligence operation to blackmail powerful leaders. All of this has fueled the rampant speculation and theories surrounding his death.

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Russia invades Poland, first step towards potentially starting WWII, with a handful of minor drones? Why not just fold some paper planes?

• Trump Dismisses Claims Of ‘Russian Drone Incursion‘ Into Poland (RT)

US President Donald Trump has downplayed Poland’s accusation that Russian drones intentionally violated its airspace this week, suggesting that the alleged incident “could have been a mistake.” Moscow has rejected accusations that it committed an “act of aggression” against the NATO state, after Warsaw claimed to have intercepted several drones on Tuesday night. Asked by reporters on Thursday about Warsaw’s claims, Trump responded: “Could have been a mistake… But regardless, I’m not happy about anything having to do with that whole situation. But hopefully it’s going to come to an end.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the country’s military had tracked at least 19 alleged airspace violations over a seven-hour period, with at least three drones shot down. He described the situation as “unprecedented” and accused Moscow of staging a deliberate provocation. The Russian Defense Ministry has insisted that the drones it used in strikes on Ukrainian military targets could not have flown as far as Poland, and emphasized that no targets were planned in Polish territory. With little evidence provided by the Polish side, Moscow could neither confirm nor deny the alleged violations, but stressed it was ready to hold consultations with Warsaw.

The Kremlin has accused Western leaders of issuing “daily” provocation claims without evidence, while Belarus said it had warned Poland of stray drones disrupted by electronic warfare between Russian and Ukrainian forces. European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, condemned the alleged incursion as “reckless” and expressed solidarity with Poland. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte likewise described the reported breaches as “dangerous,” though he added the bloc had not confirmed whether they were intentional and voiced doubts about Poland’s claims regarding the number of drones.

Poland has invoked Article 4 of NATO’s founding treaty, which mandates consultations if a member believes its security is threatened, and requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Friday. Last week, former Polish President Andrzej Duda recalled how Kiev tried to draw the US-led bloc into a direct confrontation with Russia in November 2022, when a Ukrainian missile landed on Polish territory but Kiev insisted it was an intentional Russian attack and called for NATO-level retaliation.

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“Eighty years after the European Union began constructing its continental empire, the “colonies” appear eager to reclaim their right to self-determination.”

• Europe Is a Powder Keg (J.B. Shurk)

Americans who don’t spend time in Europe might not fully appreciate what a powder keg the Old World has become. However bad social relations in the United States now are, they are at least an order of magnitude worse on the other side of the Atlantic. European self-hatred is dissolving traditional cultural bonds. Mass immigration is compounding age-old rivalries. Europe is one spark away from exploding. Europe is a perennial battlefield. Many of our ancestors, after all, left the old country to escape religious, economic, and cultural conflicts that had endured for centuries. Those historic grievances — always simmering in times of peace before boiling over into outright violence — are passed from one generation to the next.

Modern European nations are the product of two thousand years of shifting borders and alliances, and native Europeans trace their family lineages back to regional tribes whose ancient territories do not fit neatly within the politically drawn maps of today. If you think geographical accents in America make it tricky for a Mississippian or Minnesotan to communicate effectively with an English-speaker from the Bronx, consider that Europe is home to nearly three hundred native tongues. Switzerland has four national languages — including Romansch, which derives from the spoken Latin of the Roman Empire. The cornucopia of indigenous languages, dialects, vocabularies, and accents makes it possible for local residents of small towns to recognize “outsiders” immediately. Even more impressively, they can usually tell — just by listening — which towns a stranger’s grandparents once called home.

Two world wars — both ignited in Europe and responsible for immense European destruction — propelled a mid-twentieth-century political movement calling for the eradication of national borders. The European intelligentsia who became the founding members of the continent’s fledgling transnational bureaucracy blamed national pride for Europe’s carnage and effectively turned “nationalism” into a dirty word.

Oddly, this was also a time when crumbling empires, such as France and the United Kingdom, were at least tepidly supporting the national independence of former colonies. Likewise, it was the beginning of a half-century U.S.-led campaign to encourage national revolutions in European countries stuck behind the Soviet Union’s Iron Curtain. So Western power brokers framed nationalism as a kind of intolerable ethos on par with Mussolini’s fascism and Hitler’s national socialism while encouraging former nations or proto-nations in Central Europe, Africa, and Asia to break away from the respective empires that controlled them. While Western leaders pushed for the integration of distinct European nations into a single “Union,” they also promoted national independence movements under the rationale that all humans possess a natural right to self-determination.

In the eighty years since the project for European integration began in earnest, those latent contradictions have transformed Europe into a tinderbox with even greater potential energy for self-destruction than existed before WWI and II. While the bureaucratic ruling class has actively repressed the historic identities of native Europeans, it has flooded the continent with foreigners who are encouraged to retain their own cultural identities. In this way, a Hungarian or Pole or Dane who celebrates his country’s unique heritage is denounced as a “far-right nationalist,” while a Frenchman who insists that African and Middle Eastern immigrants assimilate to the European way of life is denounced as a “racist” and “bigot.”

This anti-European monstrosity was created deliberately. Simultaneous suppression of Europeans’ national identities and protections for foreign nationals create a kind of “multiculturalism dynamo” that converts Europeans into something alien. Stripped of their native religion, culture, and historic customs and forced to praise foreign religions, cultures, and customs taking hold in the West’s civilizational void, Europeans are effectively assimilated within their own lands. Europeans are taught to despise their own civilization and to bow down before those who seek to replicate a foreign civilization inside Europe. Europe’s bureaucratic ruling class uses foreigners to beat the Europeanness out of Europeans.

In the United Kingdom, a grassroots movement of ordinary Brits has initiated “Operation: Raise the Colors.” The strategy is simple: British citizens are encouraged to prominently display and wave the Cross of St. George and Union Jack flags. What could possibly be offensive or dangerous about raising the flags of England and the United Kingdom? Nothing. Yet the globalist Establishment is losing its collective mind. Leftists insist that the flags should be replaced with something more “multicultural” and that only “far-right racists” would stoop so low as to patriotically raise the country’s flags. Open-borders politicians are calling the flag-waving “extremist,” “hate-filled,” and “white supremacist.” In other words, the British people have forced Britain’s “elites” to acknowledge that they have no loyalty to and only antipathy for the United Kingdom.

This rather anodyne form of political speech is proving remarkably effective at exposing globalism’s suicidal contagion. In London, it is perfectly normal to see so-called “gay pride” flags, “Palestinian” flags, Pakistani flags, Iranian flags, and the flags of almost every third-world nation now offloading its citizens onto the shores of the U.K. If a British citizen were to express outrage over the fact that a panoply of foreign flags is flown brazenly throughout the capital, constables would intimidate the outspoken “offender” into silence by threatening him with prosecution for imaginary “hate speech.” Revealingly, however, these same petty tyrants throw hissy fits when native Brits dare “raise the colors” of their own nation’s historic flags.

Similar movements are picking up steam. Ten years ago, it was more common to see such patriotic displays on the streets of Balkan nations or amid independence parades in the Basque region or other areas of Europe seeking national recognition. Today it is easy to stumble into a sea of Dutch, Danish, German, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, or Greek flags when crossing borders. Eighty years after the European Union began constructing its continental empire, the “colonies” appear eager to reclaim their right to self-determination.

I think it’s fair to say that ordinary Europeans are no longer willing to remain quiet as the bureaucratic ruling class kills what’s left of Europe and hands the carcass to foreign conquerors. As an American with absolute fidelity to the millennia-long promises of Western civilization, I find these patriotic revivals timely rebuttals to a globalist Establishment that prefers our death. I cannot tell you how many times I have come across the words of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas translated into one of Europe’s many native languages. “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” show up on message boards like faint heartbeats on an EKG machine. Many in Europe don’t want to die. To live, they’ll have to fight.

Read more …

What a doofus.

• Britain Sacks Envoy To US Over Epstein Links (RT)

The UK has withdrawn Lord Peter Mandelson as its ambassador to the US after reviewing newly surfaced emails about his relationship with late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Foreign Office said on Thursday. In the emails, circulated by British media on Wednesday, Mandelson voiced his strong support for Epstein after the latter was indicted by a grand jury over his sex offenses, assuring the disgraced financier that his “friends stay with you and love you.” “The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment,” the Foreign Office said, adding that “Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information.”

The publication of the emails dealt the final blow to the Mandelson, who had already been struggling with the fallout from the Epstein 50th “birthday book” scandal. The massive bound tome was compiled by Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell and contains messages from his acquaintances and friends, including a 10-page letter from the former British ambassador. The ambiguous letter, interspersed with photographs, describes Epstein as Mandelson’s “best pal” and portrays him as an “intelligent, sharp-witted,” and “mysterious” man. “You would spend many hours just waiting for him to turn up… And often, no sooner were you used to having him around, you would suddenly be alone again… Leaving you with some ‘interesting’ friends to entertain instead,” one section reads.

Following the emergence of the “love letter,” British PM Keir Starmer strongly backed the envoy, stating that Mandelson has “played a key part” in strengthening the UK-US ties in recent months. Mandelson has repeatedly expressed regret over ever meeting Epstein, admitting after the emergence of the emails that he had carried on the ties “for far longer than I should have done” and painted himself a victim of a “charismatic criminal liar.” The ultimate downfall of the diplomat comes mere days ahead of US President Donald Trump’s scheduled state visit to the UK.

Read more …

US switched off their Patriot systems at a distance.

“Turkiye refused to purchase the Patriot specifically because the American side could disable these systems at any moment..”

• Why Did Qatar’s Air Defenses Fail During Israel’s Attack? (Sp.)

The missiles fired by Israel could have been intercepted by Qatar’s US Patriot systems. Russian military expert Yuri Knutov weighs in: the Patriots were simply turned off by the US. “The main feature of these systems is their close integration with airborne early warning and control aircraft (AWACS), satellites, and command centers that provide targeting data,” Knutov tells Sputnik. “In addition, they have a [remote] shutdown feature to prevent accidental friendly fire.” This shutdown feature is problematic: Turkiye refused to purchase the Patriot specifically because the American side could disable these systems at any moment, and therefore preferred the S-400, according to the pundit. Apart from using Patriots, Qatar hosts the US’ largest military base in the Middle East.

“According to the agreement between Qatar and the US, the Americans were, of course, supposed to defend Qatar’s airspace by opening fire on Israeli aircraft. However, this did not happen,” Knutov says. The US military knew about the incoming Israeli aircraft yet took no action, effectively allowing them to operate freely against the Hamas delegation invited to Qatar for negotiations. The US was fully aware of this. mArab countries — and not just them — should take note: wherever US Patriots are used, the US can disable them at any moment, leaving their skies completely defenseless. “This is undoubtedly a scandalous situation, given that Qatar is a close US ally and had promised to invest billions in the American economy,” Knutov says. “The Americans warned Qatar of the attack only ten minutes after it had taken place.”

Read more …

Almost forgot.

• 9/11 After 24 Years (Paul Craig Roberts)

It has been 24 years since Dick Cheney, the Zionist neoconservatives, and Israel blew up the World Trade Center and the part of the Pentagon where researchers were trying to find out what had happened to the missing Pentagon trillions of dollars in order to create the New Pearl Harbor that the neoconservatives said was necessary to justify their wars against Israel’s opponents in the Middle East. These wars succeeded in destroying 6 countries for Israel at the expense of US lives, money, and reputation. A seventh–Iran–remains in the crosshairs. The official 9/11 story was preposterous, but Americans fell for it. The US military/security complex was delighted. A new enemy had been created to take the place of the Soviet Union.

It was several years before some physicists, architects, and engineers realized that the official narrative was a hoax. But few could speak out without losing their university or government position or their engineering and architectural clients. America was determined to have “the Muslim threat” and proceeded to create Greater Israel for Israel. The 9/11 narrative is just one of a long line of false narratives, and Americans have fallen for every one of them: the murders of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, the Gulf of Tonkin, Watergate, Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, Assad’s use of chemical weapons, Russiagate, Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A black felon, George Floyd kills himself with an overdose of fentanyl. A white cop is falsely blamed for suffocating him, and Black Lives Matter with Democrat Party support loot and burn a police station and business centers in many American cities. No one was punished except the innocent white policeman. In contrast, when a few students protest Israeli’s genocide of Palestine they are expelled from university and deported if they are students from abroad. Americans have proven themselves to be suckers for obvious lies, and this paved the way for the decline in government accountability and the rights guaranteed to American citizens by the US Constitution.

Read more …

“They want confidence that if they cut a deal, the Russians aren’t going to come back in a few months or a few years asking for more.”

• Vance Names Two Issues Preventing Russia-Ukraine Peace Deal (RT)

Talks on resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine have been narrowed to two major sticking points, centering on territorial issues and security guarantees, US Vice President J.D. Vance said on Tuesday. Moscow has called for a diplomatic resolution of the conflict but warned it will continue military action until the root causes are addressed. It insists that a settlement must include Ukrainian neutrality, demilitarization, and recognition of Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions, which joined Russia following referendums, as Russian territory. In an interview with One America News Network, Vance said talks to end the conflict have “at least narrowed it to a couple of core issues.”

“One issue is territorial,” Vance stated, adding: “The Russians want about 6,000 or so square kilometers that they have not yet conquered through military force. That’s what the Russians want.” Vance said Ukraine, for its part, is pressing for security guarantees “whether from the Europeans or somebody else.” He added: “They want confidence that if they cut a deal, the Russians aren’t going to come back in a few months or a few years asking for more.” Russia has long stressed it has no intention of occupying Ukraine in full. President Vladimir Putin reiterated this when the conflict escalated in 2022, and again later when Russian troops reached Kiev but then withdrew.

Vance said negotiations have made “incredible progress,” but the key question is whether “the Russians and the Ukrainians are going to walk through that door of peace.” “We continue to work hard at it,” he added. “And I do think that eventually you’re going to come to a peaceful settlement. The question really is whether it lasts another year or another month, whether you have another 100,000 or another million, God forbid, people die in the process.” Last week, Putin struck a cautiously optimistic note about the prospects for peace, saying “there is light at the end of the tunnel” given the US shift to mediation. Putin and US President Donald Trump met in Alaska last month. Although the summit produced no breakthroughs, both sides described it as a positive step.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Luongo Armstrong

 

 

RFK

RFK MLK

Bhatta
https://twitter.com/unhealthytruth/status/1965840509449966056

NO!

Gaelic

AI
https://twitter.com/TheProjectUnity/status/1966070687262716014

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle 9/11 2025

Sep 112025
 
 September 11, 2025  Posted by at 9:40 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  72 Responses »


Charlie Kirk with his family 2025

 

• “Dark Moment For America” – Trump Addresses The Nation (ZH)
• Elon Musk Jumps In On Iryna Zarutska Mural Project (Tim O’Brien)
• “Art Must Always Tell The Truth” (CTH)
• Kremlin Responds To Polish ‘Drone Attack’ Claims (RT)
• Trump Against Economic Isolation of Russia – Vance (RT)
• ‘Russian Strike on Pension Queue’ Claims Debunked (Sp.)
• Wondering Why The EU Is So Screwed? Just Look At Its Top Diplomat (Amar)
• EU Uses Ukraine Conflict To Create ‘United States Of Europe’ – Orban (TASS)
• Brussels Pushing To Silence Dissent Among EU Members (RT)
• EU Eyes Russian Assets For Ukraine ‘Reparations Loan’ (RT)
• Gulf Cooperation Council to Support Any Action by Qatar After Israeli Attack (Sp.)
• We’ll Get Them Next Time – Israeli Envoy Rues Hamas-Qatar Strike Failure (RT)
• Unaccountable Israel (Paul Craig Roberts)
• BLS Announces 911,000 Fewer Jobs Created April ’24 through March ’25 (CTH)
• Joe Biden’s Economy Was So Much Worse Than We Thought (Margolis)
• Maduro Suggests Reason Behind Us Military Buildup Around Venezuela (RT)
• Melania, Please Talk to Donald About Epstein (Frank Miele)

 

 

Leavitt
https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/1965471159274672129
https://twitter.com/DerrickEvans4WV/status/1965484112183214339

Walsh

11


Bessent
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1965553818399044053

 

 

 

 

America has seen two violent murders in the span of one week, Iryna Zarutska and Charlie Kirk. What appears to tie the two together is the influence of what passes for a leftish world view these days. A view that made it possible for Zarutska’s killer to roam free despite countless arrests, as well as requests for psychological treatment. That guy should never have been on that train, and just about everyone who’s been in contact with him knows why. Woke society decided to set him free.

Charlie Kirk became a victim of his association with Donald Trump. If you can’t get to the boss, look at those around him. It’s very painfully ironic that Charlie lived by the word, not the sword. His favoite terrain was the dialogue, the exchange of ideas, but that’s not everyone’s favorite. Still, he wasn’t a far right wing activist or anything like it.

Violence in America comes from the left, they just about have secured a monopoly on it, while maintaining the illusion that it’s the right that is the real threat. That’s one false idea that needs urgent correction.

We’re going to let it all sink in, and read about it, and have the dialogue that Charlie loved so much, but what remains more than anything right now is the pain. As for Iryna: you’re beautiful. It breaks our hearts that we couldn’t save you.

 

 

“”I don’t know why this is affecting me so personally.” Its because in Charlie you see yourself, the most polite version of yourself, the most articulate, the most charitable to your enemies. And even that wouldn’t be enough to save you from them.”

• “Dark Moment For America” – Trump Addresses The Nation (ZH) /span>

Update (2114ET) President Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office on the senseless political assassination of Charlie Kirk at a Turning Point event at Utah Valley University, calling it a “dark moment for America.” Trump called Kirk a “martyr for truth” and vowed to crack down on the radical left… The president continued:

“My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country. I am filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah. Charlie inspired millions, tonight all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror.

From the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, which killed a husband and father, to the attacks on ICE agents, to the vicious murder of a healthcare executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and three others. Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives. Tonight, I ask all Americans to commit themselves to the American values for which Charlie Kirk lived and died, the values of free speech, citizenship, the rule of law. His legacy will live on for countless generations to come. Today, because of this heinous act, Charlie’s voice has become bigger and grander than ever before, and it’s not even close. May God bless his memory. May God watch over his family.”

Our takeaway is that the radical left, which has been funding chaos through dark-money NGOs and other groups, is about to get a major wake-up call from the Trump administration. A move to counter these rogue NGOs could be just one executive order away. Stay tuned.

Kirk made a name for himself about winning debates in “proper democratic fashion” …

https://twitter.com/Sargon_of_Akkad/status/1965869904130945521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1965869904130945521%7Ctwgr%5E9ceb77cf7b8d03814b551d89085043857317275d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fshots-reportedly-fired-charlie-kirk-event-utah-valley-university

Civil terrorism expert Jason Curtis Anderson of One City Rising states:

“The assassination of Charlie Kirk marks a dangerous escalation in America’s culture war—where the battle of ideas is now escalating into political violence against those who run organizations devoted to debate and civil discourse. Very few people grasp the gravity of this moment . Incidents like this don’t exist in isolation; they risk triggering a chain of events that can further destabilize the country. Whether it’s the anti-ICE movement, pro-Palestinian agitators, anarchist networks, or NGO-backed permanent protest groups like Indivisible, we are watching the rise of something new and deeply alarming. As Tal Fortgang wrote in City Journal, America is entering a new era of civil terrorism—where the goal is no longer peaceful protest, but intimidation, silencing, and destabilization of our democratic order.”

Like us, many are struggling to find the words to discuss this but @Merovingianus offered some useful insight:

“Among all the justifiable outrage over the years, Charlie Kirk has consistently been one the calmest and most polite among us. Someone shot him and the entire scope of the Left is celebrating. If we do not act accordingly we might as well surrender now. I’ve seen several people saying something along the lines of “I don’t know why this is affecting me so personally.” Its because in Charlie you see yourself, the most polite version of yourself, the most articulate, the most charitable to your enemies. And even that wouldn’t be enough to save you from them. It is because you are seeing that the marketplace of ideas you grew up believing as sacred is now a war zone that will get you killed and you’re struggling to reconcile the world you live in with the world you grew up in.

You are struggling to comprehend and incorporate the irrefutable evidence that this political divide isn’t one solved by polite exchange of ideas and that we are in a nation at war with itself.”

RIP Charlie.

Read more …

Let’s have 1,000 murals each all over the country for Iryna Zarutska and Charlie Kirk.

• Elon Musk Jumps In On Iryna Zarutska Mural Project (Tim O’Brien)

After George Floyd died and in the mayhem over the Black Lives Matter and Antifa riots, a cottage industry of artistic murals erupted, transforming Floyd from a common street thug into a saintly martyr. Within days of his death, a mural was painted on the site where Floyd died at the Cup Foods convenience store at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue. Shortly thereafter, a second mural was painted nearby. This sparked artists across the country and around the world to add to the contrived mythology of Floyd, creating murals in places as far away as Idlib, Syria, Barcelona, Spain, Dublin, and Berlin. The murals were one of the few purely peaceful ways Floyd was honored at the time.

Fast forward to this week, when news of the murder of Iryna Zarutska broke, and conservatives and everyday people were outraged, while the legacy media and the Left remained silent. No riots, no looting from the right, but plenty of anger. That anger, and a respect for Zarutska, appears to have inspired the CEO and founder of Intercom, Eoghan McCabe, to post on X that he’s “offering $500k in $10k grants to paint murals of the face of Iryna Zarutska in prominent US city locations.” He then provided an email address to learn more about this impromptu memorial project.

This morning, Elon Musk posted on X: “I will contribute $1M.” With momentum like this, expect to start seeing the face of Zarutska in a city near you. Who is McCabe? He’s a Berkeley-based entrepreneur who is prominent in the AI customer service sector. Earlier this week, like millions of Americans, he was outraged by the cold-blooded killing of Zarutska. He called for quick consequences for the person convicted of this crime, “I do think that rapid, public executions for crimes like this are a spiritual goal that we should point ourselves towards. I worry about Western society if we can’t react in proportion to how evil this is.” In another post on X, McCabe said, “It’s an objective fact that leftism is responsible for this[.] The leftist politicians who kept this monster free are evil, and must be very severely punished[.]”

Zarutska’s murder has outraged Americans for a number of reasons this week. The killing itself was so sudden and so gruesome on public transportation in a relatively safe city like Charlotte, that anyone who spends any time in public spaces can easily imagine something like this happening to them. The fact that the killing happened on August 22, but it only emerged in the public consciousness over a week later, and only on social media at first, is unsettling. How can such an inhuman act not make national news. Related to this is the reaction on the right. The cultural dilemma for everyone is based on trust in the news media. If the news media willfully ignores or even buries a story like this to advance its narratives, then what good is it?

Matt Margolis detailed how wretched the legacy media behaved once conservatives shamed it into covering the story. A healthy media landscape would shout this news early and often as a warning to America that something needs to be done about crime and the people who commit it. Now. Instead, through its silence and even worse, for blaming conservatives for noticing the murder, the news media has decidedly taken a stance in favor of more crime, more murder, more killings of people like Zarutska at the hands of hardened criminals like Decarlos Brown, Jr.

Read more …

A story that tells itself.

• “Art Must Always Tell The Truth” (CTH)

Popular artist Banksy created a graffiti mural in London depicting the current state of the UK censorship system using the courts to trample the rights of British citizens:

It did not take long for the authorities to cover the mural and eventually attempt to remove it.

However, what remained of the artwork was the essential core of the truth.

I particularly like the fact the govt turned the CCTV camera, so they can monitor who might visit the scene of the criminal dissent.

Apparently, the British government doesn’t quite see the irony.

Read more …

Intriguing take: “..some drones used by Ukrainian and Russian forces for mutual attacks “lost their track as a result of the impact of the parties’ electronic warfare assets.”

• Kremlin Responds To Polish ‘Drone Attack’ Claims (RT)

Moscow has dismissed Poland’s latest claim that Russian drones breached the country’s air space. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no evidence has been provided linking the UAVs to Russia. On Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that the country’s military had shot down a “huge number of Russian drones.” Warsaw has described the incident as an “unprecedented violation of Polish airspace” and an “act of aggression.” However, Peskov has dismissed the accusations, pointing out that “The EU and NATO leadership accuse Russia of provocation on a daily basis. Most often, without even trying to provide any arguments.”

He further noted that, to his knowledge, the Kremlin has not yet received any request for contact from the Polish leadership over the incident. Meanwhile, Russia’s charge d’affaires in Warsaw, Andrey Ordash, told RIA Novosti that when he was summoned to the Polish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, the Polish authorities did not provide any evidence that the downed UAVs belonged to Russia. He noted that the drones had flown into Poland from Ukraine. Tusk has claimed, however, that the aircraft came from Belarus rather than Ukraine, and characterized the incident as a Russian “provocation.” The Belarusian military had previously reported giving Poland early warning that some drones used by Ukrainian and Russian forces for mutual attacks “lost their track as a result of the impact of the parties’ electronic warfare assets.”

After announcing the alleged airspace violation, Tusk formally invoked Article 4 of NATO’s founding treaty, which provides for consultations in case one of the bloc’s members believes its security is threatened. Last week, former Polish President Andzej Duda referenced a November 2022 incident in which a Ukrainian missile landed on Polish territory. Kiev insisted it was an intentional Russian attack and called for NATO-level retaliation. Duda said that Ukrainian authorities were trying to get the US-led bloc into a direct confrontation with Russia, describing such a scenario as a “dream” for Kiev, but unacceptable for Poland.

Read more …

“.. once we get this peace settled, we could have a very productive economic relationship with both Russia and Ukraine..”

• Trump Against Economic Isolation of Russia – Vance (RT)

US President Donald Trump does not view attempts to isolate Russia economically as a sustainable strategy and believes trilateral cooperation involving Moscow, Kiev, and Washington could ensure lasting peace in Eastern Europe, Vice President J.D. Vance said on Tuesday. In an interview with One America News Network, Vance described joint ventures with Russia as “one of the carrots” the Trump administration is offering in efforts to broker an end to the Ukraine conflict. The approach contrasts with Western European leaders who have sought to dismantle Russian trade ties, arguing that past decades of energy reliance on Moscow were a strategic mistake, but in doing so they have significantly worsened their own economic situation.

“The president’s been very open with both the Europeans and the Russians that he doesn’t see any reason why we should economically isolate Russia except for the continuation of the conflict,” Vance said. He stressed that Russia possessed vast natural resources whether other parties liked it or not, and that “once we get this peace settled, we could have a very productive economic relationship with both Russia and Ukraine.” Shared economic growth, he added, could be “the best guarantee of a long-term peace.”

Vance contrasted Trump’s stance with that of the previous administration, which he said poured American resources into Ukraine without any real exit plan. He was responding to host Matt Gaetz’s claims that behind closed doors Moscow was offering to increase use of the US dollar in energy trade to help ease American domestic prices. Last week, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas accused Trump of “weakening” allies with trade tariffs and undermining Western unity. Russian officials have highlighted the benefits of renewed cooperation with the US. President Vladimir Putin said Russian businesses had both capital and technology to pursue lucrative joint projects, including gas extraction ventures in Alaska and the Arctic, if Washington is willing to give political approval.

Read more …

Like the spring 2022 Bucha false flag before it, the Yarovaya provocation looks like a fresh push to break off the peace process, and blame Russia.”

• ‘Russian Strike on Pension Queue’ Claims Debunked (Sp.)

Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of killing 24 people on line to collect pensions in the village of Yarovaya in the Ukrainian-occupied area of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Here’s why the claims don’t hold up. “The world must not remain silent,” Zelensky urged after publicizing the incident, demanding a “response” from the US and Europe. There’s just one problem: the incident bears all the hallmarks of a false flag. Here’s evidence. A Russian MoD source told Sputnik that Russian forces did not carry out any attacks in the vicinity of Yarovaya on September 9, with the last strike in the area carried out on the night of September 7, and targeting an area near the neighboring settlement of Novosyolovka on the line of contact. No reports on casualties were issues before Zelensky made his claims.

Info about the ‘Russian strike’ was immediately disseminated by Zelensky-aligned social media and immediately picked up by Ukrainian and Western media. Footage presented by the Ukrainian side shows landmarks that can be easily be determined on satellite maps, including the post office building, a local memorial and trees surrounding both. The destruction in the footage doesn’t even come close to matching the shape and size of a Russian aerial bomb (Russian 100 kg FAB-250 and 200 kg FAB-500 bombs’ destructive radius and power is incomparably greater than that shown in the video). Instead, the destruction looks more like the result of the detonation of an explosive device with the equivalent of just a few kg of TNT.

Yarovaya is one of the increasingly few areas of the DPR still under Ukraine’s control, signifying Kiev’s rejection of Russia’s negotiating position for ending the conflict, which includes full Ukrainian withdrawal from the Donbass. The provocation comes on the heels of last month’s summit meeting between Putin and Trump, during which Trump backed off on US sanctions threats. Like the spring 2022 Bucha false flag before it, the Yarovaya provocation looks like a fresh push to break off the peace process, and blame Russia.

Read more …

“..an amateurish and dim top diplomat becomes a disgrace to be ashamed of before the world, even among embarrassed friends.”

The word diplomat is losing its meaning, if it’s not already gone. A diplomat must engage in diplomacy, be diplomatic. Kallas obviously doesn’t fit that notion.

• Wondering Why The EU Is So Screwed? Just Look At Its Top Diplomat (Amar)

Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s de facto foreign minister (and former prime minister of Estonia), is unusually, grotesquely incompetent, even for an unelected EU apparatchik. Like former German Foreign Minister Annalena “360 Degrees” Baerbock – now instagraming like an excited upper-class teenager from her ill-begotten UN sinecure in New York – Kallas also displays an enormous capacity for being pleased with herself. She appears never happier than when holding a mic to her own platitudes, presented in a mortifyingly basic form of very labored English, while being obsequiously soft-balled by a fawning interviewer. In both cases, the contrast between the self-image and reality is jarring: Kallas and Baerbock’s obvious, glaring lack of intellectual ability, elementary education, and basic professional know-how should have ended their misguided career ambitions long ago.

Yet, instead, Kallas, like Baerbock, has not only rapidly fallen up the slippery ladder of career and privilege. She has done so in a particularly visible area. High officials responsible for the economy, for instance, can do – and do – enormous damage. But those in charge of foreign policy are no less dangerous, while, literally, publicly representing tens or hundreds of millions of people. A professional and intelligent foreign minister – such as, for instance, China’s Wang Yi, India’s S. Jaishankar, or Russia’s Sergey Lavrov – can enhance respect for a country or bloc even among its critics or opponents. However, an amateurish and dim top diplomat becomes a disgrace to be ashamed of before the world, even among embarrassed friends. They’re perhaps worse: a laughingstock, signaling that whoever chooses to be represented by a fool must be foolish as well.

With Kaja Kallas’s tenure as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, both cringe and ridicule are abundant. Her recent peak performances have included a truly inane take on the history of the Second World War, silly and rather racist musings on the general abilities of “the Russians” and “the Chinese,” and, of course, a preposterous attempt to blame them – plus Iran and North Korea – for disrupting our brave old world of a rules-bound order that includes the Gaza genocide, compliments of Israel and the West. Regarding what Kallas mistakes for history, the high-flyer from Estonia has opined that she was surprised by claims that Russia and China fought together in and won World War II. Of course, that’s simply a fact: Both countries were and are widely recognized as prominent members of the alliance that defeated global fascism in Europe and Asia.

Indeed, if Kallas were capable of telling an intern to Google the matter or consult the online version of the Encyclopedia Britannica, she’d find out quickly that China and Russia (then the core of the Soviet Union) are counted among the “Big Four” core of the alliance (alongside Great Britain and the US). This place was earned with rivers of blood: China and the Soviet Union were the two most brutally devastated countries in World War Two. China fought massive Japanese forces, and Russia broke the spine of Nazi Germany’s Wehrmacht. Even busy Estonian collaborators could not save the day for the Führer.

Read more …

“..using the Ukraine conflict to financially chain its member nations so that it can subjugate them and strip them of their sovereignty..”

• EU Uses Ukraine Conflict To Create ‘United States Of Europe’ – Orban (TASS)

The leadership of the European Union is using the Ukraine conflict to financially chain its member nations so that it can subjugate them and strip them of their sovereignty, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban believes. “The Brusselian elite are pushing joint indebtedness to strip nations of their sovereignty and drag us toward a United States of Europe. They want to use the war in Ukraine as the pretext to shackle us all financially. We must look beyond the battlefield to the future of the Union itself: free nations or submission to unelected bureaucrats?” he wrote on the X social network. The Hungarian Prime Minister noted that by doing this, the EU is making a last-ditch effort to preserve itself as currently formulated. Earlier, Orban said that the EU bureaucratic center had ceased to play the role of coordinator of the bloc and has turned into a “Frankenstein pursuing its own interests.”

He stressed that when the EU was created, it was agreed that power would be concentrated in the hands of individual nations, but now Brussels is trying to centralize that power. According to the politician, the leadership of the association is encroaching on the sovereignty of its participants, and failing to resolve any crises along the way. Since the very beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the Hungarian government has consistently advocated for its peaceful resolution and has called on its allies to resume dialogue with Russia. Hungary also refuses to support Ukraine’s accelerated accession to the EU, warning that this would cause serious damage to the European economy and could lead to a direct military clash with Russia.

Read more …

Raw power game.

• Brussels Pushing To Silence Dissent Among EU Members (RT)

The European Commission has announced plans to scrap consensus-based decision-making in EU foreign policy, in a step that could sideline member states resisting Brussels’ line. Brussels has long weighed replacing unanimity – a founding principle of EU foreign policy – with majority voting, arguing the change would speed up decisions and stop individual states from blocking measures such as sanctions and military aid for Ukraine. Under the current system, all 27 members must agree for decisions to pass. The proposed reform would require a qualified majority, meaning decisions would be adopted if backed by a set threshold of states. In her ‘state of the union’ address on Wednesday, Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said it was time to “break free from the shackles of unanimity,” and insisted that the bloc act “faster.”

“I believe that we need to move to qualified majority in some areas, for example in foreign policy,” she stated. The EC chief, who has repeatedly invoked the “Russian threat” to justify military aid to Ukraine, sanctions, and the push for accelerated militarization, was met with opposition from Slovakia and Hungary. Both governments have repeatedly threatened to use their veto powers to block EU actions they view as harmful to their national interests. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has warned that removing members’ veto power on foreign policy would spell the end of the bloc and could be “the precursor of a huge military conflict.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban has dismissed officials in Brussels as “bureaucrats” and argued that abandoning consensus would undermine national sovereignty, as member states could be dragged into wars without their consent. Orban said the EU is on the verge of collapse and will not survive beyond the next decade without a “fundamental structural overhaul” and disentanglement from the Ukraine conflict. Moscow has accused the West of pursuing “uncontrolled militarization” to prepare for war with Russia, while dismissing claims it intends to attack NATO or EU states as “nonsense.” Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have accused Western leaders of fearmongering to justify inflated military budgets and to cover up their economic failures, insisting that aid to Kiev only prolongs the hostilities.

Read more …

Hahaha:

“Ukraine will only pay back the loan once Russia pays for the reparations,” she said.”

• EU Eyes Russian Assets For Ukraine ‘Reparations Loan’ (RT)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed leveraging Russian assets illegally frozen in the EU for a “reparations loan” for Ukraine. Delivering a state of the union address to the EU parliament on Wednesday, the former German defense minister did not propose outright confiscation of the Russian assets, reportedly comprising some $300 billion. Moscow has condemned the asset freeze and warned that seizure would amount to “robbery” and violate international law, while also backfiring on the West. Von der Leyen introduced what she said was an urgently needed new mechanism to finance Kiev’s warchest, using Russia’s immobilized funds. Western nations ordered the freezing of the assets – some €200 billion of which is held by privately owned Brussels-based clearinghouse Euroclear – after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

The funds have accrued billions in interest, and the West has explored ways to use the revenue to finance Ukraine. ”With the cash balances associated to these Russian assets, we can provide Ukraine with a reparations loan,” von der Leyen claimed, noting that “the assets themselves will not be touched” and that the risk would have to be “carried collectively.” “Ukraine will only pay back the loan once Russia pays for the reparations,” she said. The money, von der Leyen added, would fund Kiev’s military and ensure the security of the civilian population. Von der Leyen gave no figures, while the G7 last year backed a plan to provide Kiev with $50 billion in loans to be repaid using the profits. The EU pledged $21 billion.

She also announced an initiative aimed at boosting Ukraine’s military, including through a proposed “drone alliance,” explaining that the EU would “frontload” €6 billion. The proposal stops short of confiscation, which most EU states reject due to financial and legal risks. Several countries have also dismissed the idea of a “reparations loan,” warning it could breach international law. Belgium has been especially vocal. Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said shifting those assets would endanger Belgium’s credibility as a financial hub. “Confiscating those Russian sovereign assets is really not an option,” Prevot said. “It would be a very bad signal to other countries worldwide” and could also “erode confidence and trust in the euro,” according to the minister.

Read more …

Did they miss them on purpose? Or do they just have poor aim?

• Gulf Cooperation Council to Support Any Action by Qatar After Israeli Attack (Sp.)

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stands in solidarity with Qatar and will support any response following the Israeli strikes on Doha, GCC Secretary General Jasem Albudaiwi said. “The Council states express full solidarity with the State of Qatar and support any measures it takes,” GCC Secretary General Jasem Albudaiwi said. On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had carried out strikes in Doha targeting senior officials of Palestinian movement Hamas. Eyewitnesses told Sputnik that several explosions occurred in the center of Qatar’s capital. World powers, including the United Kingdom, Germany and India, have condemned the Israeli airstrike on Hamas members in Doha and called for restraint.

“Today’s airstrike by Israel against Hamas leaders in Doha breaches international law and Qatar’s territorial integrity, and risks a further escalation of violence in the region,” the European External Action Service said in a statement. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Israel’s strike and called for “immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and a huge surge in aid into Gaza.” India is concerned about the Israeli airstrike on Doha and calls for restraint to ensure peace and security in the region are not jeopardized, the Indian Foreign Ministry noted. “The Netherlands condemns the Israeli airstrike in Doha. The sovereignty of states must be respected. Additionally, this step doesn’t bring a much needed ceasefire in the Gaza Strip any closer,” Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said on X.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul noted that the Israeli attack not only violates Qatar’s territorial sovereignty, “but also jeopardizes our efforts to free the hostages.” Wadeful urged all parties to make every effort to achieve a ceasefire and free the hostages. “Cuba expresses its strongest condemnation of the Israeli attack on the Hamas headquarters in Doha, which constitutes a new extrajudicial execution by Zionism, a flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Qatar, and a serious threat to regional security and stability,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said on X.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil also condemned “the cowardly attack by the [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu regime on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” calling the airstrike “an act of state terrorism, a flagrant violation of international law and a challenge to the principles of peaceful coexistence among nations.” On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had carried out strikes in Doha targeting senior officials of Palestinian movement Hamas. Eyewitnesses told RIA Novosti that several explosions occurred in the center of Qatar’s capital.

Read more …

An eye for an eye hands the world to the blind.

• We’ll Get Them Next Time – Israeli Envoy Rues Hamas-Qatar Strike Failure (RT)

Israel is determined to kill Hamas leaders wherever they reside and will continue its efforts until they are all dead, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter told Fox News on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Israeli airstrikes hit a residential building in Doha, Qatar, targeting senior figures of Hamas’ political wing. The group said its officials survived, while the attack has been criticized by the White House and condemned by Qatar. “If we didn’t get them this time, we’ll get them the next time,” Leiter said. The ambassador described Hamas as “enemies of Western civilization” and argued that Israel’s actions were reshaping the Middle East in ways “moderate” states understood and valued. “Right now, we may be subject to a little bit of criticism. They’ll get over it,” he said of the Arab countries.

US President Donald Trump said that while dismantling Hamas was a legitimate goal, striking a US ally undermined both American and Israeli interests. Leiter noted that Israel had “never had a better friend in the White House” and that Washington and West Jerusalem remained united in seeking the militant group’s destruction. Qatar, which hosts Hamas officials as part of its role as a mediator, said a Qatari security officer was among six people killed in the Israeli strike. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has denounced the attack as a “heinous crime” and an “act of aggression,” while Doha’s Foreign Ministry has accused Israel of “state terrorism.”

Israel has vowed to hunt down Hamas leaders, who it blames for the deadly October 2023 attack which was launched from Gaza into southern Israel. The ambassador vowed that those responsible “are not going to survive,” no matter where they are. Israel’s military response has left at least 64,000 dead in Gaza, according to local authorities. Critics have accused West Jerusalem of committing genocide by rendering the blockaded enclave uninhabitable and worsening famine conditions through restrictions on food aid.

Read more …

“Get ready for Israel’s next war–Washington’s military attack on Iran. Russia and China, by leaving Iran unprotected, have invited the attack.”

• Unaccountable Israel (Paul Craig Roberts)

The Criminal State of Israel continues to initiate acts of war against states that are not at war with Israel. The most recent was an Israeli attack on a residential building in Qatar. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry accused Israel of “state terrorism.” A residential building is a place where people reside. Israel’s criminal action managed to kill six Qatari citizens, but not the Hamas leaders Israel allegedly was targeting. Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, described Israel’s enemies as “enemies of Western civilization,” but Hamas has made no attacks on Western civilization. Leiter dismissed Israel’s critics with “they’ll get over it,” they always do. To calm the troubled waters Leiter played Israel’s US card: “Israel has never had a better friend in the White House and Washington and Israel are united in seeking the destruction of Hamas.”

Leiter summed up: “If we didn’t get them this time, we’ll get them the next time.” Qatar has joined Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and the United States if you believe those who explain that Israel was involved in the murder of President John F. Kennedy as countries that are victims of Israel’s self-righteous aggression. Yet Israel remains protected by the US, UK, EU, and the rest of the Western world, by most of what little remains of the Arab world, and by Putin. Yet Russia is demonized for protecting Russians in the Russian areas of Ukraine from massacre by neo-Nazis. How have Ukrainian neo-Nazis, financed and supported by Washington and Israel, avoided the demonization applied to Hamas? Hamas is fighting for its own country–Palestine, which has been destroyed by Israel armed with US money, weapons, and diplomatic cover.

Currently Israel and the Zionist neoconservatives who have wormed their way into US foreign policy are pressuring President Trump–“Israel’s greatest friend”–to use nuclear weapons against Iran, a country who has done nothing to the US but nevertheless is under US sanctions and threats imposed at Israel’s insistence. The “powerful American superpower” cannot even control its own foreign policy. The blustering, threatening Trump doesn’t dare threaten Israel. Get ready for Israel’s next war–Washington’s military attack on Iran. Russia and China, by leaving Iran unprotected, have invited the attack.

Let us further compare the West’s treatment of Russia compared to its treatment of Israel. Poland has asked NATO to invoke “Article Four” against Russia for allegedly violating Poland’s air space. No attack was made on Poland. Moreover, the alleged drone incursions came from Belarus, not Russia, and Belarus warned Poland in advance that some drones had “lost their track as a result of the impact of the parties’ electronic warfare assets.” “This allowed the Polish side to respond promptly to the actions of the drones by scrambling their forces on duty,” said General Pavel Muraveiko, the chief of the general staff of Belarus. So, Poland wants Article Four invoked against Russia for a non-event, but it is anti-semitic to complain of Israel’s genocide of Palestine, both the people and the country, and Israel’s military/assassination attacks on other countries. Clearly, the future of freedom does not reside in such a corrupt Western world.

Read more …

“This brings the Biden jobs overstatement to a staggering 1.5M.”

• BLS Announces 911,000 Fewer Jobs Created April ’24 through March ’25 (CTH)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted, when you add the previous Biden revision of -577,000 to the current revision of -911,000 the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) had overreported Biden’s job growth by almost 1.5 million jobs. The BLS reports today an annual revision of 911,000 fewer jobs that previously reported. These further puts President Trump’s decision to fire the head of the BLS into context.

Bessent: “Now it’s official: 2024 job gains were exaggerated by nearly 1M workers, and this is on top of an already reported 577K in downward revisions. This brings the Biden jobs overstatement to a staggering 1.5M. The truth: President Trump inherited a far worse economy than reported, and he’s right to say the Fed is choking off growth with high rates.

Read more …

“The numbers prove that Biden’s presidency was a failure even on its own terms.”

• Joe Biden’s Economy Was So Much Worse Than We Thought (Margolis)

For four years, Joe Biden bragged about presiding over the “strongest economy in history.” He propped up his narrative with the return of jobs after the COVID shutdowns and falsely claimed his policies created them. Even liberal outlets admitted he was padding the numbers, but Biden never stopped repeating the lie. Now the lie has officially collapsed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics just confirmed what President Trump has been saying all along: Biden’s “strong economy” was nothing but smoke and mirrors. On Monday, the BLS issued the largest downward revision in its history, wiping out nearly a million jobs — 911,000 to be exact. That’s not a minor correction; that’s proof Biden’s economic record wasn’t just exaggerated, but was a fraud from the start.

“Today, the BLS released the largest downward revision on record proving that President Trump was right: Biden’s economy was a disaster and the BLS is broken,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. She continued, “This is exactly why we need new leadership to restore trust and confidence in the BLS’s data on behalf of the financial markets, businesses, policymakers, and families that rely on this data to make major decisions.” She’s exactly right. This revelation comes just over a month after President Donald Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, a Biden appointee.

“I was just informed that our Country’s ‘Jobs Numbers’ are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social last month. “We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.” Many on the left claimed that action was in response to a weaker than expected jobs report, but this revelation should prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the BLS under McEntarfer had clearly become politicized, with grossly inflated jobs numbers designed to boost Biden before the 2024 election.

But the scandal goes much deeper than that. Think about how many Americans made financial choices, how many businesses planned investments, and how many policymakers made decisions based on jobs data that now turns out to have been flat-out wrong. And it’s not just one bad revision. The BLS admitted they had overstated Biden’s “job creation” by about 1.5 million. That’s no small mistake. In fact, that’s not a mistake at all. That’s actively misleading the public, and that’s why firing McEntarfer was the right move, and why Trump’s nominee to replace her, E.J. Antoni, must be confirmed. The numbers prove that Biden’s presidency was a failure even on its own terms. He flooded the labor market with illegal immigrants, pumped out trillions in reckless spending, and handed out subsidies like candy.

Even then, he couldn’t match the jobs growth from Trump’s first term. That is nothing short of humiliating. For years, the media parroted Biden’s talking point that he “created more jobs than any president in history.” Now we know the truth: those jobs were fake, inflated, or outright imaginary. Biden built his presidency on a lie, and now the lie has collapsed. The so-called “historic job growth” was never real—it was a mirage propped up by partisan bureaucrats and repeated endlessly by a complicit media desperate to protect him. Meanwhile, Trump’s warnings about Biden’s phony numbers turned out to be exactly right, just as they were about inflation, gas prices, and the border. The revision is a complete repudiation of Biden’s entire economic narrative.

Read more …

Shale. oil and gas. And gold.

• Maduro Suggests Reason Behind Us Military Buildup Around Venezuela (RT)

Washington is seeking to gain access to Venezuela’s natural resources, the Latin American nation’s President Nicolas Maduro has told RT in response to the arrival of US warships off the country’s coast in recent weeks. He dismissed Washington’s claims that it had mounted the effort to combat drug traffickers as a ruse. Last month, the US deployed at least eight Navy vessels and an attack submarine to the region, with an estimated 4,000 troops involved in the operation. Appearing on RT Spanish’s ‘Talking with Correa’ show on Tuesday, Maduro claimed that the US operation “is not about drug trafficking… they need oil [and] gas.”

He told the host, former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, that “Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves… the fourth-largest gas reserves.” He also noted that his country potentially boasts the “world’s largest gold reserves.” He lamented that Washington’s “aggression” against Caracas has surpassed anything seen in the region since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. According to Maduro, these actions toward Venezuela fit into a broader “war plan,” which is supposedly aimed at subjugating the entire world to the will of the US. “But it is impossible… We already have a multipolar world with new power centers,” such as China, Russia and India, the official argued.

Maduro dismissed US allegations that Venezuela is a major drug-producing and trafficking hub. He insisted that Venezuela has eliminated all major drug-trafficking operations on its soil, and vanquished prominent gangs, including the Tren de Aragua. Relations between the two nations have been tense for years. Washington refused to recognize Maduro’s reelection in 2018, instead backing the Venezuelan opposition and imposing sweeping sanctions on the country. Last week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that the “situation is… being unacceptably escalated” around Venezuela, with potentially far-reaching ramifications for regional and global security.

Read more …

No, Frank and countless others. Trump never called the victims’ testimonnies a hoax, of course he didn’t, he’s neither stupid nor insensitive. He called the way in which the Dems presented the story a hoax.

• Melania, Please Talk to Donald About Epstein (Frank Miele)

Last Wednesday, an extraordinary press conference was held in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol by victims of sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein. Anyone who watched these women pour out their hearts to demand justice for themselves and other victims could not help but be moved. Unfortunately, President Donald Trump did not watch, and then – almost simultaneously – dismissed the women’s heartfelt pleas for a public reckoning of Epstein’s abuse as “a Democrat hoax.” No doubt, Trump is a rhetorical genius who has been able to define issues to his own benefit for years, but this was a low point in his presidency. Much as it is understandable that Trump perceives the attention being given to Epstein’s life and mysterious death in a federal prison as a distraction, that must be weighed against the human toll that Epstein took.

Calling it a hoax belittles the pain and suffering of women who were victims of, at worst, rape and, at best, sexual abuse. And though Trump judged the women before he had even had a chance to hear them speak, they had already rejected his label: “This is not a hoax. It’s not going to go away,” said Marina Lacerda, who was a witness in Epstein’s 2019 indictment that led to his imprisonment and death. Abuse survivor Haley Robson, who introduced herself as a registered Republican, invited the president to meet her “in person so you can understand this is not a hoax. We are real human beings. This is real trauma.” After the president made his dismissive remarks, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called Trump to ask him to meet with the women at the Oval Office, but he did not accept – as of yet.

“It’s not a hoax,” Greene explained, “because Jeffrey Epstein is a convicted pedophile. That takes away the whole hoax thing. It’s not a hoax. It’s not a lie.” Greene challenged Trump to get past the political suspicions he has expressed. “I want him to be the hero and champion of this issue. And I want him to fight for these women, because I know him to be a fighter.” Indeed, President Trump has repeatedly shown a capacity for empathy in his capacity as a private individual and as president, most notably when he promised justice for the Angel Moms who had lost children as a result of the actions of illegal aliens. But in this case, Trump has conflated how his political enemies may seize upon the Epstein case as a weapon with the entirely unrelated issue of justice for the victims.

Speaking out about a “Democratic hoax” before he had ever seen the victims’ statements, or heard their perfectly reasonable demands, could prove to be one of the worst mistakes in Trump’s career, political or otherwise. It is not enough to know the names of Epstein and his procurer Ghislaine Maxwell; common decency demands that the names of all those who abetted them in abusing women be revealed. If there were powerful men in finance or politics who exploited these women, their names should be known too. And what about the officials who looked the other way? I don’t believe Trump has any culpability for his friendship with Epstein years ago. At the press conference, the women survivors said none of them knew of any evidence against Trump. But the president’s political opponents will surely seize upon his unwillingness to ensure justice for the Epstein victims, and plant seeds of doubt that could harm him and the nation – just exactly what Trump says he wants to avoid.

In order to avoid that fate, there is perhaps one person – and one person only – who could convince the president not to view the matter through a partisan lens. That, of course, is first lady Melania Trump. Melania’s willingness to lobby for generosity of spirit was recently apparent in the letter she wrote to Russian president Vladimir Putin when he and her husband met in Alaska to discuss the Ukraine war. Although Putin has been intransigent on the possibility of a ceasefire in the war he started, Melania urged him to think about the millions of children impacted by the bloodshed and to “nurture the next generation’s hope.” A simple yet profound concept, Mr. Putin, as I am sure you agree, is that each generation’s descendants begin their lives with a purity – an innocence which stands above geography, government, and ideology. … In protecting the innocence of these children, you will do more than serve Russia alone – you serve humanity itself. Such a bold idea transcends all human division, and you, Mr. Putin, are fit to implement this vision with a stroke of the pen today. It is time.

Just as Melania called upon Putin to protect the innocence of the children of war, so too she could – and should – call on her husband to honor the lost innocence of Epstein’s victims.

She probably doesn’t need to write a letter to Trump, but since they share a residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it would make perfect sense for her to call him aside one night and sit him down for “the discussion.” The short version would go something like this: “Donald, you have enemies. We both know it. But sometimes your worst enemy is yourself. We both know that too. So I’m going to give you some advice. When women are young and pretty, rich and powerful men take advantage of them. That’s not a Democrat hoax. It’s a fact of life. Please watch these women, or better yet, meet with them. Find out what they want, and then help them get it. They don’t deserve shame because of what happened to them. They deserve our thanks for coming forward. They aren’t trying to hurt you; they are trying to help themselves and other women to make sure that powerful men are held accountable. It is time.”

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Autism
https://twitter.com/liz_churchill10/status/1965583932549927385

RFK
https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1965510416836038916


https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/1965498764992676036

Tulsi Obama
https://twitter.com/Real_RobN/status/1965469191563284869

mRNA

Ford
https://twitter.com/NicHulscher/status/1965492776998682759

Insulation

Malone

Siri
https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1965543653319004590

Stare off
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1965496058529939748

Tucker
https://twitter.com/wideawake_media/status/1965801981735502145

https://twitter.com/naturelife_ok/status/1965766187624841307

 

 

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Debt Rattle September 10 2025

Sep 102025
 
 September 10, 2025  Posted by at 9:31 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,  67 Responses »


Pierre Dumonstier II The right hand of Artemisia Gentileschi holding a brush 1625

 

• Israel Conducts Strike On ‘Hamas Leadership’ In Qatar (RT)
• Trump Condemns IDF Attack On Qatar (RT)
• France Headed For ‘Black Hole’ – Financial Expert (RT)
• Sacre Bleu Monday (Every)
• BRICS Unlikely To Last – Trump Trade Adviser Navarro (RT)
• Trump Wants EU To Slap India and China With 100% Tariffs – FT (RT)
• The Eurasia High-Speed Train Keeps-a-Rollin’ (Pepe Escobar)
• A Tectonic Shift Away from the West (Peter Koenig)
• Behind the J6 Committee Motive to Delete all Investigative Material (CTH)
• The Fed Caused High Inflation and The Current Jobs Slump (Lacalle)
• MTG Moves To Block Ukraine Aid (RT)
• EU Censors Post Describing A Dystopian Germany in 2050 (RMX)
• Democrats Messed up Their Redistricting Gamble (Margolis)
• Lisa Cook Can’t Be Fired – For Now: Judge (ZH)
• Boris Johnson Accused of Profiting From Government Contacts (RT)
• Africa’s Largest Hydropower Dam Launched (RT)
• The Truth Has No Agenda (CTH)

 

 

https://twitter.com/its_The_Dr/status/1964876079203807273

https://twitter.com/TRobinsonNewEra/status/1965127368789672163

Crime

Scott

Von Greyerz

Custody

Cruz

Elon Hamas

 

 

 

 

Some random things while reading:
1) Qatar is/was perhaps the no. 1 peace mediator in the area. Will now be Russia?!
2) The Hamas people are in Doha because the US and others told them to go there (away from Gaza).
3) So many Americans are in Qatar (huge military base) that Israel must have given the US a heads up well in advance. Can’t risk killing Americans.
4) Qatar promised to invest $1 trillion in US.
5) Neighbors, Saudi, Egypt, UAE, Turkiye etc. fear they could be next.
6) The ‘precision’ strikes didn’t hit their targets. Decision makers are still alive.

• Israel Conducts Strike On ‘Hamas Leadership’ In Qatar (RT)

Israel has conducted a “precise strike” against the “senior leadership of Hamas,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Tuesday, shortly after multiple blasts rocked the headquarters of the Palestinian militant group in Doha, Qatar. The Israeli military said it carried out the operation in coordination with the Shin Bet security agency (ISA). The IDF did not name the exact location targeted in the strike. “The IDF and ISA conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization,” the IDF said in a statement. “Prior to the strike, measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and additional intelligence.” The announcement came after at least ten blasts reportedly rocked the Hamas headquarters in Doha.

Footage circulating online shows the building was badly damaged. According to multiple media reports citing Hamas sources, the strike targeted the group’s negotiating team, which has been discussing the latest US proposal on the cessation of the hostilities with Israel. Qatar has condemned the “cowardly Israeli attack,” describing the location affected by the strike as “residential buildings housing several members of the political bureau of the Hamas movement.” It is not immediately clear whether the attack reached its intended target, conflicting media reports citing sources within the group indicate. While some suggest that several high-profile Hamas figures were killed in the attack, others claim that the group’s leadership escaped the strike unharmed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office insisted that the attack on Hamas in Qatar was a unilateral action and no other countries were involved in the operation. ”Today’s action against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation. Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility,” it said in a statement. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Israeli attack as a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.” “All parties must work towards achieving a permanent ceasefire, not destroying it,” he told reporters.

Read more …

Real condemnation, or just going through the motions? How innocent is the US?

• Trump Condemns IDF Attack On Qatar (RT)

President Donald Trump has criticized Israel’s airstrike on a Hamas compound in Doha, stressing that the decision to carry out the operation inside Qatar was made unilaterally by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and not by Washington. Around 15 Israeli warplanes fired at least ten munitions during the operation on Tuesday, reportedly killing several Hamas members, including the son of senior official Khalil al-Hayya. Hamas said its top leadership survived the attack, which it described as an attempt to assassinate negotiators working on a potential settlement. In a statement posted Tuesday on Truth Social, Trump said the Israeli bombing inside “a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States” did not “advance Israel or America’s goals.”

“I view Qatar as a strong Ally and friend of the U.S., and feel very badly about the location of the attack,” he wrote, emphasizing that the strike was “a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me.” Trump said that as soon as he was informed about the operation, he directed US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to warn Qatari officials, but noted the alert came “too late to stop the attack.” The president claimed that eliminating Hamas was a “worthy goal,” but expressed hope that “this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for PEACE.” Trump has since spoken with Netanyahu, who told him he wanted to make peace, and with Qatari leaders, whom he thanked for their support and assured that “such a thing will not happen again on their soil.”

Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, denounced the strike as an act of “state terrorism” and warned that the emirate “reserves the right to respond.” He accused Netanyahu of undermining regional stability for personal gain and said the incident had derailed ongoing US-brokered mediation efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages. The White House called the strike an “unfortunate” incident. Trump said he has directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to finalize a Defense Cooperation Agreement with Qatar, which is designated a “major non-NATO ally.”

Read more …

As black holes are wont to do, this one too sucks in all the matter around it.

Note: not long ago, investors could buy only AAA. Today, it’s apparently AA. And France can’t even hold on to that.

• France Headed For ‘Black Hole’ – Financial Expert (RT)

The French government’s failure to put a lid on the country’s growing sovereign debt together with protracted political infighting could plunge the nation into a “black hole,” a financial expert has warned. France has one of the highest debts levels in the European Union, currently standing at about 113% of GDP, a ratio that is expected to climb to 125% by 2030. Its budget deficit is projected at 5.4-5.8% of GDP this year, well above the bloc’s 3% limit. Appearing on the Tocsin podcast on Monday, financier Charles Gave said that should the Fitch credit rating agency downgrade France’s rating from AA to A, it would prompt institutional investors to sell off its government bonds.

“There are a number of institutions, [such as] central banks and insurance companies, that cannot invest in something that is below AA,” he clarified. “I know that something huge is coming,” the expert warned, predicting a “black hole” caused by the “illogical” policies pursued by successive French government over the past twenty years. “We have a real collapse in the quality of our elites” reflected in the current “lamentable political state,” Gave claimed. On Monday, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou lost a confidence vote in the National Assembly, which he had called himself to secure backing for a drastic austerity plan. The measures, which included slashing public sector jobs, curbing welfare spending, as well as axing two public holidays, were vehemently opposed by the right-wing National Rally, the Socialists, and the leftist France Unbowed.

On Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron appointed outgoing Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu as France’s new prime minister. Despite the growing budget deficit, Paris plans to increase its military spending to €64 billion in 2027, double what it spent in 2017. Macron has repeatedly invoked a supposed Russian threat as the reason for the spending hike. Russian officials have consistently dismissed such claims as “nonsense,” accusing Western leaders of fear-mongering to justify inflated military budgets and to cover up their economic failures.

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“..they have a $35 trillion currency debt, they’ll move it into the crypto cloud, devalue it, and start from scratch. That’s the reality for those who are so enthusiastic about crypto.”

• Sacre Bleu Monday (Every)

As expected, the French government collapsed yesterday, leaving the country in political chaos just as it needs to deal with massive economic and national security challenges. President Macron has ruled out a snap election. As is the way of markets –albeit helped by directionality from the US– French bond yields were lower on the day. However, markets and realpolitik have not communicated in recent years: is the second largest economy in Europe, and the only one with a nuclear trifecta, looking unable to deal with its fiscal deficit, and perhaps ungovernable, something that can be easily shrugged off?

Le Figaro English recently noted: ‘“Prices Have Literally Exploded”: Have French Restaurateurs Been Too Gluttonous for Their Own Good?”, noting “Empty terraces, silent dining rooms… Despite the heatwave, this summer has been a cold shower for restaurateurs. While the tourist season is in full swing, cafés, bistros and traditional inns are being shunned by the French.” Is this not perhaps tiptoeing towards ‘Let them eat cake’ territory? mNow ex-French PM Bayrou warned just before losing the vote, “Don’t become the UK”, and there the mood remains febrile regardless of Labour’s huge parliamentary majority. The anti-Labour Daily Mail notes ‘Desperate Starmer accused of the ‘mother of all stitch-ups’ and trying to ‘fix’ Labour’s deputy leadership contest by giving hopefuls just THREE DAYS to get the backing of 80 MPs’.

The pro-Labour Guardian says: ‘Revealed: how Boris Johnson traded PM contacts for global business deals’ (Guardian), including being paid £240,000 just after meeting Venezuelan President Maduro last year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the anti-establishment Reform Party continues to sit at the top of all opinion polls. In the US, the Wall Street Journal reports that the ‘White House Prepares Report Critical of Statistics Agency’ and ‘The Renewed Bid to End Quarterly Earnings Reports’. What, no data and no quarterly higher/lower-than games? What is a capitalist to do?! Innovate and invest in physical capital? But who wants to do that when there are assets to speculate on?

Moreover, US Treasury Secretary Bessent threatened to punch FHFA Director Pulte in the face, with additional expletives. That likely burgeoned his reputation in some circles: the man who as a young trader broke the Bank of England for Soros in 1992 arguably now wants to break the international financial architecture, and in the US’ favour. While many in DM who don’t see it, those in EM do – albeit in exaggerated form.

Putin advisor Kobyakov just stated: “The US is now trying to rewrite the rules of the gold and cryptocurrency markets. Remember the size of their debt – $35 trillion. These two sectors –crypto and gold– are essentially alternatives to the traditional global currency system. Washington’s actions in this area clearly highlight one of its main goals: to urgently address the declining trust in the dollar. As in the 1930s and the 1970s, the US plans to solve its financial problems at the world’s expense, this time by pushing everyone into the “crypto cloud.” Over time, once part of the US national debt is placed into stablecoins, Washington will devalue that debt. Put simply: they have a $35 trillion currency debt, they’ll move it into the crypto cloud, devalue it, and start from scratch. That’s the reality for those who are so enthusiastic about crypto.”

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Is Navarro seem old, or is that jut me?

• BRICS Unlikely To Last – Trump Trade Adviser Navarro (RT)

White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro has claimed that the BRICS group is unlikely to last because the members have “long hated each other.” In an interview with US President Donald Trump’s former strategist, Steve Bannon, on Monday, Navarro said none of the BRICS members could survive without selling products to the US. ”India has been at war with China for decades… and I just remembered, it was China that gave Pakistan the nuclear bomb,” Navarro told Bannon. “They have ships flying around the Indian Ocean with Chinese flags. [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi, see how you kind of work that out.” He added that China is sending illegal immigrants to Russia and has claimed territory within Russia.

“China claims they own Vladivostok, the Russian port, and they are already through massive illegal immigration into Siberia, basically colonizing Siberia, which is the biggest landmass of the Russian semi-empire.” China, however, does not claim any Russian territory, and the two countries signed the Complementary Agreement on the Eastern Section of the China-Russia Boundary in 2004 as a final resolution of their border dispute. ”I don’t see how [BRICS] stays together since historically they hate each other and kill each other,” the trade adviser added. Navarro claimed that BRICS countries are dependent on the US for trade.

“The bottom line is none of these countries can survive if they don’t sell to the United States, and when they sell to the United States, their exports, they’re like vampires sucking our blood dry with their unfair trade practices.” X posts made by the trade adviser that are critical of India have been fact-checked and have received Community Notes, for which he has accused Indian “special interests” of “trying to interfere with domestic dialogues with lies about India buying Russian oil.” A day after he called Community Notes from India “crap,” Navarro added: “India has [the] largest population in the world and all it can do is manage [a] few hundred thousand X propagandists to jerk around a poll?”

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“Talking to such partners in such a tone of voice is unacceptable.”

• Trump Wants EU To Slap India and China With 100% Tariffs – FT (RT)

President Donald Trump has urged the European Union to impose tariffs of up to 100% on imports from China and India, as part of a joint effort to pressure Moscow, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. According to the newspaper, Trump made the demand during a recent call-in to a meeting between senior US and EU officials in Washington, where strategies for raising the economic costs of the Ukraine conflict for Russia were being discussed. One US official said Washington was “ready to go, ready to go right now, but we’re only going to do this if our European partners step up with us.” “The president came on this morning and his view is that the obvious approach here is, let’s all put on dramatic tariffs and keep the tariffs on until the Chinese agree to stop buying the oil,” the source was quoted as saying. A second official added that the US was prepared to “mirror” any tariffs imposed by Brussels on Beijing and New Delhi.

EU officials had already begun debating potential secondary sanctions against China for its energy imports from Moscow, though they stressed the talks were still at an “early stage” and dependent on US support, according to an earlier FT report. India has pushed back against external demands to reduce its reliance on Russian crude. Last month, Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50%, citing its energy ties with Moscow. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman responded by calling the move “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable,” stressing that Indian oil policy is driven by domestic economic needs.

Beijing has also rejected Western pressure over its energy purchases, insisting it will “ensure its energy supply” in line with its national interests. Chinese officials have warned that “tariff wars have no winners.” Russia remains one of the largest suppliers of oil to both China and India since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. President Vladimir Putin has cautioned the West against using a “colonial tone” toward Beijing and New Delhi, saying last week that efforts to punish them are aimed at slowing their economic rise. “Countries like India – almost 1.5 billion people, and China – 1.3 billion people, boast powerful economies and live by their own domestic political laws,” Putin said. “Talking to such partners in such a tone of voice is unacceptable.”

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“China does not intend to replace Pax Americana, which always relied on the – now aptly renamed – Department of War’s gunboat “diplomacy”.

• The Eurasia High-Speed Train Keeps-a-Rollin’ (Pepe Escobar)

History will register that the first week of September 2025 propelled the advent of the Eurasia Century to a whole new level. That was the expectation ahead of three crucial intertwined dates: the SCO annual summit in Tianjin; the Victory Day parade in Beijing; and the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. Yet expectations were even surpassed considering the breath and scope of what just happened. The SCO in Tianjin solidified the Chinese push for the establishment of true Global Governance – which in practice means the unceremonious burying of the “rules-based international order” that under the new US administration has metastasized into a no-rules based international chaos: essentially an ethos of “we’ll blow up the world if we are not able to control it.”

Tianjin had not only the 10 SCO full members but also 2 observers and 15 partners – with a heavy Southeast Asian presence – discussing the finer points to be observed for peaceful development. The pic of the week, if not the year or decade, was the Putin, Xi and Modi trilateral handshake: the return of the original, Primakov-coined RIC (Russia-India-China) in full force. As Professor Zhang Weiwei of Fudan University remarked in Vladivostok, the SCO is now expanding steadily in three platforms: energy; clean industries; and AI. In parallel, Central Asia is finally being seen as a “geographical blessing”, and not “a curse”. Immediately after Tianjin, the Russia-China strategic partnership also shot up to a whole new level, as President Putin was received by President Xi at the Zhongnanhai, the official residence of the Chinese head of state, for an across-the-spectrum state of the planet recap.

The next day Beijing was resplendent under blue skies overseeing the stunning military parade celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Chinese victory over Japanese invasion and the Asian chapter of Nazi-fascism. That was a confident geoeconomic superpower showing off its military progress. On the same day the Eastern Economic Forum started in Vladivostok: an unrivalled platform for discussing the surge of pan-Eurasia business. What China has proposed, actually reiterated in Tianjin, goes way beyond the concept of wangdao, referring to an enlightened, benign power, but not a Hegemon. What could be described as the trademark motto of a Pax Sinica under Xi could be summed up as Make Trade, Not War – and for the common good, or community of a shared future”, in Beijing terminology.

SCO partners, as well as BRICS partners, fully understand that China does not intend to replace Pax Americana, which always relied on the – now aptly renamed – Department of War’s gunboat “diplomacy”. Whatever hysteria fits the West may throw – manipulating Tibet, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, South China Sea, Taiwan – won’t deviate Beijing from its civilizational inclusive path.

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“The West was absent – the “naked emperor” as well as his European puppets..”

• A Tectonic Shift Away from the West (Peter Koenig)

“No mountain or ocean can distance people who have shared aspirations,” China’s President Xi Jinping said in July 2024, addressing leaders from fellow Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states and a few other nations in Astana, Kazakhstan. It is not reaching too far, saying that this year’s 25th SCO Summit (SCO) in Tianjin, China, from 31 August to 1 September 2025, fulfilled – and more – President Xi’s vision of 2024. The summit caused a tectonic shift in the conventional world order. China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin told a news conference in Beijing, shortly before the SCO summit, that the 2025 SCO event be “One of China’s most important head-of-state and home-court diplomatic events this year”. As the Economist says, “A New Reality is Taking hold.”

The “new reality” is not anti-US or anti-West; it is just separating the western unipolar aspirations from the newly created multi-polar, or perhaps better, multi-block, world, where countries aim at a peaceful cooperation towards a joint future with shared benefits. The SCO was established in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Today the SCO consists of ten member-states with headquarters in Beijing. In addition to the founding members, SCO members have increased by India, Iran, Belarus, and Pakistan. SCO members account for 23% of the world’s GDP and for 43% of the world’s population. Further attendance included high-level government officials from Myanmar, Egypt, Cambodia, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Turkey, as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

This year’s summit made clearly the SCO the guiding light for the Global South which includes the 11 BRICS countries, plus the 10 BRICS partners, added at the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in October 2024. While even the UNSG, Mr. Guterres, was invited – while the UN was or still is (?) considered by the US and the West in general as the World Organization in the western camp – President Trump felt snubbed by China, “left out” from the world shifting SCO event in Tianjin. So, Trump invented a last-minute opportunity to leave his mark on the meeting by requesting President Xi literally on the eve of the SCO summit for “military talks,” a phone call between the two defense ministers (in the US now called War Minister, as the Ministry of Defense has been re-christened by Trump as War Ministry).

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Beijing rejected the proposal, reasoning “a lack of mutual understanding between the two countries”, asking a pertinent question: “Is there any sincerity in and significance of any communication like this?” Of course not. Trump just wanted to interfere in the SCO summit, showing his self-styled emperor head. But to no avail. The West was absent – the “naked emperor” as well as his European puppets, the (almost) defunct European Union, and especially the non-elected and every time more rejected European Commission (EC).

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“This was the database into which former NSA employee Edward Snowden was creating the search engine software..”

• Behind the J6 Committee Motive to Delete all Investigative Material (CTH)

There’s a reason why the J6 Committee deleted the records of their activity, an angle missed by most. When you understand what they hid and why they did it, you then understand why current Speaker of The House Mike Johnson will not go near the subject. The J6 Committee used interfaces with the NSA database and pre-existing portals with aligned DHS Social Media databases (including Twitter, see prior “Twitter Files”), as research and evidence gathering mechanisms for their investigations. The J6 targets were identified through a collaboration between the legislative research group and the FBI. [That’s unlawful by the way – but that’s another matter]. The FBI contracted Palantir to identify the targets using facial recognition software and private sector databases.

Once identified, the targets were then searched in the NSA database for a fulsome context of identity. All subsequent electronic metadata of the targets was retrieved and utilized in prosecution; however, no one ever discovered this was the collaborative method. That has not come out yet. Ultimately, the J6 Committee hiding and deleting their files and operational techniques was due to several issues. They really didn’t have a choice given the unknowns of an incoming republican majority. First, the collaboration with the FBI is unconstitutional. Legislative officers are not law enforcement officers. There is a separation of powers issue. Second, ultimately – and most consequentially – all of the participants did not want the American public aware of the mass surveillance techniques that were carried out as part of the ’round up.’

https://twitter.com/TRUMP_ARMY_/status/1965058356647002444

Wait to see what the next NSA compliance audit looks like. Remember, these reports are more than a year behind the activity they highlight. This is where a complete mental reset is needed. The modern application of the fifty-year-old concept around FISA as a constitutional mechanism to search the private papers (data) of American citizens, is a fraud, a complete ruse. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, FISA, represents the method used by the intelligence apparatus of the FBI to conduct surveillance. It was purposefully designed, as a method to avoid the problems with 4th amendment protections. However, the modern application of the FISA justification has no lawful basis.

CONTEXT – Beginning in/around 2012, after the Dept of Justice National Security Division was created by President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, the use of FISA warrants were extended to include electronic searches of captured information held within the National Security Agency (NSA). This was the database into which former NSA employee Edward Snowden was creating the search engine software. The capturing of information was relatively new; technology was still being developed. Rapid scale-ups of archives and data processing was underway. Various iterations of the search tools and processes were being tested and deployed. Prior to 2010/2012 we were mostly talking about emails, phone calls and text messages. However, as more and more technology was deployed, the interfaces expanded.

Today, almost every electronic interface is captured/stored within either the NSA database, or a private sector database with connections to the NSA search portals. Arguably, all of the underlying data captures were unconstitutional, and when the captures were originally discovered there was some intense conversations about fourth amendment protections and Americans privacy. To set aside the concerns and justify the existence of electronic search measures, the American government justified existence via the FISA court process, which extended to cover the new capabilities. Currently, almost every American interfaces electronically with some system that captures their data. In the private sector that data is then assembled, attributed and used for consumer product micro-targeting, i.e., all data is commercially monetized.

Local and state governments also interface with the federal government database. As a consequence, all data eventually flows to the NSA capture points where searches of the total assembly are possible. As noted in various explanations of government collaboration with social media, DHS has access to the various databases which house information inside the private sector. The lines between govt and private sector data captures are nonexistent as both public information and private information databases can be searched through the same network. This is the baseline to understand the scope of data collection.

Summary: The justification of FISA or FISA (702) as a mechanism to protect the American people from illegal searches of the NSA database IS A FRAUD. The searching of the NSA database not only continues but has factually expanded through today. There are no established limits on search use, only false claims that are fed to the public for popular consumption. The DOJ and FBI are aware of this. The OIG is aware of this. The Intelligence Community is aware of this. The NSA is aware of this. The FISA Court is aware of this. The Supreme Court, which oversees the FISA Court, is aware of this. The Legislative Branch is aware of this. We have the evidence and receipts. More soon…

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“Reducing government jobs is essential for economic recovery, and in 2025, we experienced a cut of 97,000 jobs, while the period from 2021 to 2024 saw monthly increases of 50,000 government jobs.”

• The Fed Caused High Inflation and The Current Jobs Slump (Lacalle)

Both the recent spike in inflation and the current decline in US jobs are, in a very significant way, the fault of the Federal Reserve. The Fed’s policies since 2021 reveal a nightmare “pendulum” effect: first, easy money and historic liquidity expansion fueled runaway inflation; then, rapid rate hikes hurt businesses and families as well as job creation, especially for small and medium-sized businesses and families. In 2021, the largest monetary expansion in decades caused an inflationary burst that was particularly negative for wage earners and small businesses. A massive rate hike exacerbated this negative impact.

The August jobs report exposes the Fed’s failure to balance its mandate. The Federal Reserve did not seem to read their own beige book that warned of a widespread job market weakness for months. The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book first alerted of a weak job market in April 2025 and continued to highlight the labor market challenges in May and June. The April Beige Book signalled flat economic activity and slow labor demand and highlighted weakness for new entrants such as graduates, with some regions noting slight declines in employment and business activity. However, despite the evident negative impact of high rates, the Fed decided to keep interest rates unchanged even when inflationary pressures proved to be nonexistent. Between April and July, CPI inflation and core CPI monthly figures showed no inflationary pressures from tariffs.

Only 22,000 jobs were created in August. Although the headline shows the weakest number since the pandemic recovery began, we must also consider that the figure includes a reduction in government jobs of 15,000. Reducing government jobs is essential for economic recovery, and in 2025, we experienced a cut of 97,000 jobs, while the period from 2021 to 2024 saw monthly increases of 50,000 government jobs. The unemployment rate increased to 4.3%, which is a small rise compared to Canada’s 6.9% and the euro area’s 6.2%, but it is concerning because this increase was unnecessary. The private sector—the real engine of growth—is bearing the brunt of high interest rates.

Claudio Borio of the BIS, as well as Congdon and Castaneda, have proven that the explosion of inflation from 2021 to 2023 was clearly tied to unprecedented monetary growth driven by government spending and Fed easing. The Fed’s loose policy, with ultra-low rates and trillions in asset purchases, led to a surge in the money supply far outpacing real economic activity. As Borio has shown, in high-inflation environments, there is a clear link between rapid money supply growth and price spikes. The key driver of the inflation burst came not from supply chain issues but from massive, coordinated monetary expansion and deficit monetisation.

Once inflation took hold, the Fed responded with rapid and significant rate hikes, pushing interest rates well above the estimated “neutral” rate. Studies show that for every 100-basis-point increase above the neutral rate, job growth among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) falls by 0.5 to 1.5 percentage points. SMEs, which lack the market power of large firms, are especially vulnerable: higher borrowing costs force many to freeze hiring, lay off workers, or even shut down. High rates have resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of SME jobs over the past year. The government remained unaffected by inflation and rate hikes. The Biden administration continued to increase government spending, the deficit, and public sector jobs while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were experiencing the dual negative effects of inflation and interest rate hikes. This was a clear case of crowding out of the private sector.

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Lonely voice.

• MTG Moves To Block Ukraine Aid (RT)

US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has proposed removing $600 million in Ukraine support from the draft Pentagon spending bill, arguing that Americans’ “hard-earned tax dollars” should not go to foreign aid. The Georgia Republican proposed cancelling the allocation of these funds in the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years to shift priorities toward the US. With Donald Trump back in the White House, the US has dramatically cut military aid to Kiev, pausing more than $1 billion in planned funds. In a video post on X on Tuesday, Greene said that her amendment would strike $600 million from the defense bill, money that she noted “goes to Ukraine.” She argued that the US had already sent “over $175 billion to this war” and that it was “enough of your hard-earned tax dollars.”

She described the measure as part of the America First agenda, saying US funds should not be used for “foreign wars” while the country faces a $37 trillion debt. The congresswoman stated that the US usually allocates $300 million annually but that “Speaker Johnson and Republicans are feeling so generous they’re wanting to give them 600 million this time. My amendment will take it out.” Greene said, adding she has “never voted to fund this war.” Greene introduced another amendment after learning that “another $100 million” had been earmarked for Kiev and said she wanted to remove all funding in case others in Congress felt “so giving.” Greene also put forward measures to cut aid for Israel, Syria, and Iraq adding that the money should be “kept back here at home.”

While previous President Joe Biden’s administration approved large-scale aid packages to Kiev, Trump has cut assistance but allowed some deliveries, such as Patriot air-defense systems. He has repeatedly expressed concern about possible misuse of US aid to Kiev, claiming that billions allocated under Biden may have been embezzled. In July, Trump said that any additional weapons delivered to Ukraine would have to be paid for by Europe’s NATO members. Ukraine’s European backers are pressing for more weapons as part of security guarantees, while Russia insists Western military aid is an obstacle to reaching a peace deal.

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It will be a battle.

• EU Censors Post Describing A Dystopian Germany in 2050 (RMX)

What will Germany look like in 2050? The outspoken deputy head of the German police union (DPolG), Manuel Ostermann, published an excerpt from his book on X about what he sees as the perils of mass immigration. His post described Arab clans dominating big cities in 2050, Sharia law, child marriage, grooming gangs, and a host of other ills. Now, the European Union has censored his post from being seen across the entire continent in a major escalation against a public official, one who is considered one of the leading voices of tens of thousands of German police officers, and a voice frequently appearing in major German news outlets, including Welt and Bild.

[..] Arab clans dominate the big cities “Imagine Germany in 2050. Arab clans dominate the big cities. Gangs fight each other in the fight for sovereignty in organized crime. People who don’t belong to the “right side” are murdered on the street. Even the police hardly dare to go to certain areas known as no-go areas anymore. Drug deaths hit an all-time high,” wrote Ostermann.

What exactly is the issue with the censors here? Clan crime is a major problem within German cities, and it is almost entirely derived from Muslim countries, including Lebanon, Turkey, and even Syria. There are similar problems in neighboring countries, including Moroccans and Chechens operating in France and the Netherlands, and warring over the country’s drug trade. Germany’s only public media networks routinely run articles and documentaries on the country’s growing clans and their power. In fact, a recent slickly produced ZDF documentary details how these clans have infiltrated the government and police forces to the point that fellow police officers cannot even trust each other.

“Kriminelle Clans in Deutschland” shows that criminal networks not only exercise control in some areas of large cities, but have also established their influence nationwide, right up to state institutions. Accumulating huge wealth illegally, they have built a tight network that includes law enforcement professionals. “It is a murderous and extremely criminal milieu that goes on there. And now on so many levels that we no longer know whether we can really stop it at all. Were raids betrayed, investigations manipulated and employees bought off by the authorities? There is even despair in certain police stations,” states the narrator.

As Germany’s foreign population grows, so does clan crime, or at least the potential for such crime. Just this year, 100 Lebanese clan members battled on the streets. Here is what Remix News wrote: “There was a bloodbath on the streets of Germany after two extended Lebanese family groups fought in a battle that reportedly involved 100 people in the city of Heiligenhaus. The two groups battled using machetes, knives, and other weapons, leading to a mass police operation that resulted in at least five serious injuries, including one that is life-threatening. Police made several arrests.”

Incredible violence, attacks on police, and corruption at the highest levels are already the case to a large degree in a number of European cities. In Marseilles, killings have hit a record high and foreign gangs dominate the city’s drug trade..In the Netherlands, even the royal family has been threatened by the power wielded by foreign criminals. Regarding the potential for drug overdose deaths, the situation could go many different ways, but drug overdose deaths in the EU are hovering near a peak. With the flood of synthetic opioids coming into Europe, the situation could worsen. Is there any guarantee that Germany can escape such developments? Certainly not. Osterman presents a valid prediction based on trend lines, and certainly, there are no grounds to censor his prediction.

Sharia law and women’s rights “In some districts, only Sharia law is recognized as valid law.“ Already, Austrian courts are recognizing Sharia law as valid so long as it does not contradict fundamental rights and higher state laws. However, this may be only a stepping-stone ruling. In Germany itself, there is a small but vocal minority of Muslims who are openly protesting in favor of a German caliphate in cities like Hamburg. However, this is not the most concerning development. Instead, in a major study conducted by the Criminological Research Institute (KFN), it showed that nearly half of young Muslims in Germany believe a theocracy is the best form of government.

In the same study, 67.9 percent of young Muslims said that the rules of the Quran were more important than the laws in Germany. This was also all reported by the state-run news network WDR. This also means there are hundreds of thousands of Muslims who do not hold these beliefs, but the sheer numbers are also extremely worrying. Nearly every single Muslim country on Earth is either ruled by classic Sharia law or has many elements of Sharia law incorporated into its legal system. Not every country is ruled by a strict standard, but many feature extremely harsh versions of such laws, including laws that openly target homosexuals and women. Within Germany itself, the situation is potentially explosive, with an alarming number of Muslims feeling alienated living in a Western democratic society. Many of them harbor ideas that can be considered more radical, including a willingness to turn to violence.

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“..Democrats need to win by 2.8 points. If Florida also redistricts, that margin jumps to 3.4 points. For context, Donald Trump won the 2024 popular vote by 1.5 points.

• Democrats Messed up Their Redistricting Gamble (Margolis)

The 2026 House elections are shaping up to be a nightmare for Democrats, and frankly, they have no one to blame but themselves for escalating a redistricting war they cannot win. While the left continues to whine about gerrymandering when it works against them, they conveniently forget their own history of creative map-drawing when it suits their purposes. Let’s start with Texas, where Republicans are poised to add up to five additional seats through redistricting. That’s five more reliable conservative votes in a chamber where control often comes down to a handful of seats. Meanwhile, California Democrats are scrambling to squeeze more seats from an already gerrymandered state. They’ve already maximized their redistricting potential in the Golden State, leaving little room for meaningful gains even if they pursue further changes.

The real story here isn’t just Texas, though. Red states across the map are flexing their redistricting muscles thanks to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s flex. Indiana, Ohio, and Missouri are all redrawing their congressional boundaries in ways that will favor Republicans. While Democrats clutch their pearls about the unfairness of it all, Republican strategists are doing exactly what they should be doing by fighting back against years of Democrats rigging maps in their favor. Here’s where the math gets brutal for Democrats. Even if California somehow manages to eke out additional seats through redistricting, Democrats would still need to win the national popular vote by at least 2.3 percentage points just to have a fighting chance at retaking the House majority. If California’s redistricting effort fails — and it could — but Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri move ahead with redistricting anyway, Democrats need to win by 2.8 points. If Florida also redistricts, that margin jumps to 3.4 points.

For context, Donald Trump won the 2024 popular vote by 1.5 points. Yes, midterm elections are extremely different from presidential elections, but that’s still a significant swing. So now we have a situation where the structural advantage Republicans are building through redistricting means Democrats need to consistently win the popular vote by two to three points nationally to be favored for House control, and that makes things tough. However, it’s not impossible. “A two-to-three-point structural advantage for the G.O.P. is meaningful, but pretty modest,” notes Nate Cohn at the New York Times. “With Democrats leading by four points in the national generic ballot polls today, the party would still be favored to win next year’s midterm election. The Republicans wouldn’t stand much of any chance at all of surviving a so-called ‘wave’ election, like in 2018, when Democrats won the House popular vote by seven points.”

But here’s the catch: They have virtually no margin for error. A few weak candidates, poorly timed retirements, or shifting demographics in key districts could easily hand control back to Republicans. And if the Democrats’ popular vote advantage turns out to be much less than four points, the new maps could give the Republicans the advantage. Democrats, for instance, might not be able to get away with their own version of the G.O.P.’s disappointing “red ripple” election in 2022 and still win. They might not win if 2026 is like the narrow Democratic victory from 2020, either. Indeed, each of the last three congressional elections was decided by three points or less in the national popular vote, with the winner prevailing by less than seven seats.

With margins this razor-thin, every redrawn district carries enormous weight. Republicans aren’t apologizing for playing hardball on redistricting, and why should they? Democrats have been rigging maps for years, and the GOP is finally fighting back. Of course, Republicans gerrymander too, but PJ Media readers already know that Democrats run the most aggressively gerrymandered states in the country.

That leaves Democrats in a bind. To flip the House, they would need a genuine wave like 2018, when they won the popular vote by seven points. Anything less, and they’ll likely remain in the minority. The problem is, Democrats are doubling down on deeply unpopular positions like open borders and soft-on-crime policies that make a wave election highly unlikely. I wouldn’t bet on Democrats pulling it off. When more voters start paying attention, their radical stances on immigration and crime will drag them down even further. The generic ballot will swing against them, and when the dust settles, Democrats will realize they didn’t just lose the redistricting fight; they handed Republicans the advantage for years to come.

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Pray tell, what would be cause to fire her? Murder? Or does it have to be murder of a Fed govenor?

• Lisa Cook Can’t Be Fired – For Now: Judge (ZH)

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has been granted a reprieve after her sorority-sister judge, Jia Cobb, temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from firing her – allowing Cook to remain on the job amid allegations of mortgage fraud.Cobb granted Cook’s request to continue in her role, finding that the alleged mortgage misconduct likely didn’t amount to “cause” to fire her under the Federal Reserve Act. Cobb also found that the way Cook was fired likely violated her right to due process under the Constitution. “The best reading of the ‘for cause’ provision is that the bases for removal of a member of the Board of Governors are limited to grounds concerning a Governor’s behavior in office and whether they have been faithfully and effectively executing their statutory duties,” Cobb wrote.

The ruling means that Cook will likely be able to attend an anticipated Fed policy meeting Sept. 16-17 to vote on interest rates. The DOJ is expected to quickly appeal the ruling, leaving the final say to the US Supreme Court. Abbe Lowell, Cook’s lawyer, said in a statement that tonight’s ruling “recognizes and reaffirms” the Fed’s independence from political interference. “Allowing the president to unlawfully remove Governor Cook on unsubstantiated and vague allegations would endanger the stability of our financial system and undermine the rule of law,” said Lowell.

Cook was fired last month after FHFA Director Bill Pulte released evidence that Cook had fraudulently listed two homes as her “primary residence” within weeks of each other in 2021 in order to secure more favorable terms on her loans. Pulte also revealed a third mortgage Cook had listed as a ‘secondary residence’ while actually renting it out. The fired ‘economist’ says that her ouster was politically motivated, while her lawyers claim that if there are any errors, they were accidental, and nobody was harmed – just nobody was harmed when NY AG Letitia James threw the kitchen sink at Trump over similar real estate malarkey.

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Color me surprised.

• Boris Johnson Accused of Profiting From Government Contacts (RT)

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has profited from contacts and influence he gained while in office, The Guardian alleged on Monday, citing a trove of leaked documents. The outlet said it had obtained about 2GB of files, including emails, letters, invoices, spreadsheets, speeches, and contracts, from the Office of Boris Johnson, the company that manages his post-government business dealings. Most of the material covers September 2022 to July 2024 but the trove also includes earlier records from his premiership.The Guardian highlighted four cases it described as questionable. A month after taking office in 2019, Johnson reportedly held a secret meeting with billionaire Peter Thiel, co-founder of US data giant Palantir Technologies, which was seeking UK contracts at the time.

In 2020, Johnson hosted a party for Conservative peer David Brownlow, who helped finance renovations of the prime minister’s residence – a gathering that may have violated the government’s own Covid-19 restrictions, the report said. After leaving office, Johnson allegedly lobbied Saudi officials he had met while in power, and billed a hedge fund six figures following a visit to Venezuela – money The Guardian claimed may have been payment for meeting the country’s leadership. The newspaper said it was the only UK outlet given access to the leaked files by Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoS), a US-based nonprofit transparency group that obtained the cache earlier this year.

The report argued disclosure was in the public interest because Johnson’s firm receives a government-funded annual stipend meant to cover his official duties as a former prime minister, not personal enrichment. Johnson resigned as prime minister and Conservative Party leader in September 2022 after a string of scandals, including breaches of Covid-19 lockdown rules and the appointment of an MP accused of sexual misconduct to a deputy whip position. During his tenure, Johnson played a significant role in scuttling early peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, opposing a proposed settlement deal and encouraging Kiev to pursue a military path instead.

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Understandably, Ethiopians will be proud. Everyone else will be jittery. Many wars have been fought over water.

• Africa’s Largest Hydropower Dam Launched (RT)

Ethiopia has officially inaugurated Africa’s largest hydroelectric plant, a controversial project expected to generate up to 5.15 gigawatts of power for the landlocked nation, where nearly half the population is estimated to lack access to electricity. The inauguration of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile on Tuesday went ahead despite fierce opposition from downstream Egypt and Sudan, which fear the project will disrupt vital water flows.

“To our brothers: Ethiopia built the dam to prosper, to electrify the entire region and to change the history of black people,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said as he addressed a crowd that included the presidents of Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan. The prime ministers of Eswatini and Barbados, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, and the United Nations under-secretary-general and executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa were also in attendance. “It is absolutely not to harm its brothers,” Abiy stated. In a post on X, Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie hailed the GERD as “a reward of Ethiopian people’s resilience,” declaring, “Let there be eternal light!”

Addis Ababa announced the completion of the facility, among the 20 biggest in the world, in July after a 14-year construction period. It was initially scheduled to be completed within six years on a $4 billion budget, although Ethiopian authorities now put the final cost at about $5 billion. US President Donald Trump had claimed that Ethiopia built the dam “largely” with American money, but the GERD Coordination Office dismissed the allegation as false and “destructive,” stressing that the project was entirely financed by the government and local contributions. Local media reported jubilation across Africa’s second most populous country following the “historic” opening of the plant, which authorities have long hailed as a milestone for Ethiopia’s renaissance.

https://twitter.com/fanatelevision/status/1965341413929103543?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1965341413929103543%7Ctwgr%5E37e69e7d951c388cfd50586ae27b01079d26397f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fafrica%2F624341-ethiopia-inaugurates-africa-largest-hydropower-dam-gerd%2F

According to the World Bank, only about 55.4% of Ethiopia’s population had access to electricity as of 2023, compared with universal coverage in Egypt at 100%. Egypt, which relies on the Nile for about 97% of its fresh water, has accused Addis Ababa of violating international laws and has taken the dispute to the UN Security Council.

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“Corporate media then labeled, isolated, ridiculed and marginalized anyone who dared to point out the obvious.”

• The Truth Has No Agenda (CTH)

Everything that preceded the 2020 federal election was a complex system of control by a network of ideologues, federal agencies, allies in the private sector, financial stakeholders and corrupt interests all working toward a common goal. There’s no need to go through the background of how the election was manipulated and how the government and private sector, specifically social media, worked to influence the 2020 outcome because you have all seen it. Whether it was local election officials working to control outcomes, federal agencies working to support them (CISA, FBI, DHS), financial interests working to fund them (Zuckerberg et al), or social media platforms controlling the visible content and discussion (Twitter Files, Google, Facebook etc.), the objective was all the same. It was a massive one-sided operation against the free will of the American voter.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, those same system operators, govt officials, corporate media, private sector groups and social media platforms then circled the wagons to scatter the evidence of their conduct. If you questioned anything, you were a threat. That’s the context to the dynamic that unfolded. Lawfare operatives joined forces with Democrat staffers, and allies in social media platforms all worked in concert to target the voices of anyone who would rise in opposition to the corruption that was stunningly clear in the outcome of the election process. Corporate media then labeled, isolated, ridiculed and marginalized anyone who dared to point out the obvious.

When AG Merrick Garland says this of January 6, 2021: […] “the Justice Department has conducted one of the largest, most complex, and most resource-intensive investigations in our history. We have worked to analyze massive amounts of physical and digital data. We have recovered devices, decrypted electronic messages, triangulated phones, and pored through tens of thousands of hours of video. We have also benefited from tens of thousands of tips we received from the public. Following these digital and physical footprints, we were able to identify hundreds of people.” {link} The targeting operation needs context. Do you remember on April 27, 2024, when DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz said, “more than 3.4 million search queries into the NSA database took place between Dec. 1st, 2020 and Nov. 30th, 2021, by government officials and/or contractors working on behalf of the federal government.”

The result was “more than 1 million searches of private documents and communication of Americans that were illegal and non-compliant,” and over “10,000 federal employees have access to that database.” {OIG Testimony}. Put the statement from Garland together with the statement from Horowitz, and you get an understanding of what was done. Hundreds of stakeholders in the Lawfare network joined forces with hundreds of people who became staff researchers for a weaponized Congress. Hundreds more social media background agents then poured thousands of hours into feeding private information to the DOJ, FBI, J6 Committee and all of their hired staff working on the project.

How do I know?…
…I was one of their targets.

Before telling the rest of the story, some background is needed. I am well versed in the ways of the administrative state and the corrupt systems, institutions and silos that make up our weaponized government. I can (a) see them; (b) predict their activity, and (c) know where their traps and operations are located. Traveling the deep investigative weeds of the administrative state eventually gives you a set of skills. When people ask how the outlines on this website can seem so far ahead of the sunlight that eventually falls upon the outlined corruption, this is essentially why. When you take these skills on the road, you learn to be a free-range scout, and after a long while you learn how to track the activity.

When I was outlining how the Fourth Branch of Government works, and/or Jack’s Magic Coffee Shop and the DHS system operating inside it, I wasn’t shooting from the hip. However, people will always seek to dismiss the uncomfortable truth. Sometimes you just have to wait for the evidence you know exists to surface, or for a situation to unfold that is driven by a self-fulfilling prophecy. The often uncomfy CTH predictions turn out to be the truth of the issue, because they are based on the factual evidence of the issue. That level of how the system works came in very handy when I received this subpoena from Chairman Bennie Thompson and the J6 Committee. [Warning, things could get uncomfortable if you don’t accept the scale of corruption that exists.] Pay attention to the red box on the page shown. This is essentially the probable cause that justifies the subpoena itself. I have redacted a name in the box for reasons you will see that follow.

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Debt Rattle May 17 2025

May 172025
 
 May 17, 2025  Posted by at 9:48 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  23 Responses »


Marc Chagall The painter to the moon 1917

 

• Secretary Rubio Begins the Process for a Trump and Putin Summit (CTH)
• Rubio and Trump: This Is the ‘Only Way’ to End the War in Ukraine (PJM)
• Trump Still Pressing Forward On Meeting Putin ‘As Soon As We Can’ (ZH)
• Trump Quips, ‘I Should’ve Asked For More’ After Securing $2T, Qatar jet (NYP)
• Tulsi Gabbard Calls for Jailing Comey (Victoria Taft)
• What’s Next for James Comey in Secret Service Investigation (Susan Crabtree)
• Cool? (James Howard Kunstler)
• Ukraine Conflict Could Have Ended In Weeks – Russia’s Top Negotiator (RT)
• Trump Says Zelensky ‘Pissed Away’ Ukraine Aid (NYP)
• Trump Threatens Russia With ‘Crushing’ Sanctions (RT)
• Russia Hits Out At British PM (RT)
• Trump Bashes Supreme Court For Blocking Use of Alien Enemies Act (Allen)
• The Real First 100 Days (Victor Davis Hanson)
• Conservative Holdouts Vote Down ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL (ZH)
• Biden/Hur Tapes Released: Question is, Who Was Running the Country? (CTH)
• The NY Times Runs Video of Yale Professors Fleeing to Canada (Turley)
• Rickards to Bannon: Petrodollar 2.0 Is Coming (DR)

 

 

8647 days
https://twitter.com/tehterminator/status/1923218132992393269

 

 

Trump Qatar
https://twitter.com/iAnonPatriot/status/1923369862082048228

Oren Cass

Chemtrails

We didn’t say five. We said eight.

Qatar deal
https://twitter.com/KAGdrogo/status/1923442698888892824

 

 

 

 

“There’s quite literally almost no place on the planet where President Trump and Vladimir Putin could meet without hearing the drumbeat of opposition against their assembly. Almost….”

“Keep in mind that President Trump has been speaking to Vladimir Putin directly via phone, and consequentially through his emissary Steven Witkoff. Vladimir Putin has been speaking to President Trump through the same channel.”

• Secretary Rubio Begins the Process for a Trump and Putin Summit (CTH)

A meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin brings with it the focus of the entire world. For a myriad of geopolitical reasons both domestically and abroad, there are ‘trillion-dollar’ interests who want to keep them apart. Earlier today, fearing that President Trump might actually travel to Turkey, NATO Secretary Mark Rutte and Senator Lindsey Graham quickly arranged dispatch to intercept and participate. The global intelligence apparatus wants to keep Trump and Putin apart, so too does the NATO alliance, the CIA, the U.K and every other influence agent in partial control of the USA proxy war against Russia using Ukraine.

A decade of carefully scripted narratives against President Trump and any forward leaning Russian foreign policy sits in the background, with an almost incalculable number of opposition elements aligned against President Trump forming any positive USA-Russia relationship. There’s quite literally almost no place on the planet where President Trump and Vladimir Putin could meet without hearing the drumbeat of opposition against their assembly. Almost….

For President Trump and Vladimir Putin to join in strategic interest is to disrupt the global order of things, and I do mean everything. The military industrial complex, the global banking system, the World Economic Forum assembly, the multinational stock markets, the world trade system, the entire European continent, Asian continent, Australian continent, African continent and North American continent, as well as every conflict therein, could be impacted by joint decisions between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. To say the stakes are high, would be to understate the scale of the dynamic.

In this interview, Secretary of State Marco Rubio seems to nurture the seeds placed by President Trump in his earlier remarks about sitting down with Vladimir Putin to hammer out the details of a ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia. The entire world pretends not to know that all of the military engagement within Ukraine and around Ukraine, is essentially a proxy war between the USA and Russia. A potential meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin destroys that framework. This is heavy stuff. WATCH:

Keep in mind that President Trump has been speaking to Vladimir Putin directly via phone, and consequentially through his emissary Steven Witkoff. Vladimir Putin has been speaking to President Trump through the same channel. A face-to-face meeting was always going to happen, the only part of the dynamic we were awaiting was how the two presidents were going to coordinate the meeting of consequence, and how would President Trump ditch the U.S. control elements.

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“..we could spend it instead on creating wealth and prosperity and human development. Obviously, that’s not the way the world works, but that’s what he hopes we can achieve.”

• Rubio and Trump: This Is the ‘Only Way’ to End the War in Ukraine (PJM)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been traveling with Donald Trump to the Middle East this week. He’s currently in Turkey, working to build a stronger NATO by pushing for increased defense spending and fairer burden sharing, among other things. On Friday, he met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Ukrainian Presidential Administration Head Andriy Yermak. There have been some rumors that Vladimir Putin himself would show up in Turkey to meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky this week, but in the end, Putin declined. Both Rubio and Trump now believe there is only one way to get the two leaders together and end the war once and for all.

On Thursday night, Rubio explained the situation to Sean Hannity on Fox News who asked about the situation: “And you also went into detail – there had been some hope, maybe, in the background – was never any full commitment – that Vladimir Putin might show up at this and have a meeting with Zelensky. And then you were pretty clear today that you believe if that’s going to happen, it would take Donald Trump sitting down with Vladimir Putin. What exactly did you mean by that?” Rubio went on to explain that he believes the only way the Russia-Ukraine War will finally come to an end is if Trump and Putin sit down at a table together, face-to-face, and talk.

“Yeah, it’s my assessment and I think it’s the President’s assessment. By the way, I think he said publicly today that the only way we’re going to have a breakthrough here – nothing is going to happen at this point – given everything we know, after months of working on this, nothing is going to happen until President Trump sits across the table from Vladimir Putin and puts it on the line and puts it on the table. I think that’s the only chance we have at peace at this point given everything we’ve seen over the last few weeks. There’s been talks, there’s been negotiations, there’s been trips and meetings. But in the end, I think we’ve reached the conclusion, and rightfully so, as the President has, that the only way this is going to happen – if it has a chance to happen, the only way it happens is – is the President directly engages with Vladimir Putin. So I don’t know what the date or the place of that is yet, but that’s really the only chance at this point. And I think there are a lot of countries here that would privately share that assessment as well.”

On Friday, Trump echoed the sentiment, telling reporters in Abu Dhabi that he’s ready for the meeting “as soon as we can set it up,” adding, “I think it’s time for us to just do it.” Trump also asserted on Thursday that the reason Putin refused to meet in Turkey this week is that Trump himself wasn’t there. “Nothing is going to happen until Putin and I get together,” he said. Rubio has made it clear in recent weeks that this war will require a diplomatic solution, and as we’ve seen over the last week in the Middle East (with apologies to Rubio), there may be no better diplomat in the world than Donald Trump right now. Rubio, who called the president a “lover of peace,” seems to agree. He told Hannity:

” I think the President the other night or the other day in Saudi Arabia gave perhaps one of the most impressive speeches of his presidency and one of the most meaningful speeches by an American president overseas in decades. And in it, one of the things he talks about is how he wants to see more building and less bombing. In essence, he wants to see us building things up, not destroying things. The President, frankly, is a lover of peace. He… wants to stop wars and prevent wars and end wars. That’s what the President endeavors to do. In fact, he openly has said – and he said it in the speech – that he wishes we didn’t have to spend all this money on the military; we could spend it instead on creating wealth and prosperity and human development. Obviously, that’s not the way the world works, but that’s what he hopes we can achieve. And that’s what he’s trying to achieve here. That’s it.”

I was just asked a question by the media here about this a few minutes ago, and I said I still don’t understand why some would be critical of the President – they should be happy that the President of the most powerful nation on earth is a peacemaker who seeks to prevent wars, seeks to end wars, and seeks to stop existing wars. I think this is something we should be very proud of, that we have a President that seeks peace, seeks the end of death and destruction – in this case, in the Russia-Ukraine war which has gone on far too long, destroyed thousands and thousands of lives, and really is going to cost billions of dollars to rebuild from. ”

Meanwhile, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin also stated on Friday that Pope Leo XIV plans to offer up the Vatican as a place where Putin and Zelensky can sit down and talk. Parolin also said the fact that Putin failed to show up in Turkey this week is “tragic because we hoped that a process could be started, perhaps slow but with a peaceful solution to the conflict, and instead we are back at the beginning.” I’m not sure if that invitation would extend to Trump as well, but I hope it does. The more I hear Trump and Rubio talk, the more it sounds like a resolution to the war could be imminent.

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On Putin’s absence for the meeting, which was to be expected, Trump described, “He didn’t go, and I understand that..”

• Trump Still Pressing Forward On Meeting Putin ‘As Soon As We Can’ (ZH)

President Donald Trump said Friday as he wrapped up his four-day visit to the Middle East that the White House is still moving forward on setting up direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that this will happen as soon as possible.”I think it’s time for us to just do it,” Trump told reporters, addressing whether an in-person meeting will still happen. He added that a meeting with Putin will happen “as soon as we can set it up”. He suggested that peace will ultimately only be possible if the two leaders sit at the same table. That’s when he said, interestingly that “I would actually leave here and go” – an apparent reference to Istanbul where rare Russia-Ukraine talks are being held Friday. But he referenced his daughter Tiffany having given birth to her first child. “I do want to see my beautiful grandson,” he said.

“I don’t believe anything’s going to happen whether you like it or not, until he and I get together,” Trump said further, in reference to his Russian counterpart. “But we’re going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying.” As we reported earlier, there are no signs of any breakthrough toward peace coming from the Istanbul meeting, which lasted less than two-hours; however, each side is signaling that it could lead to more talks. On Putin’s absence for the meeting, which was to be expected, Trump described, “He didn’t go, and I understand that,” and that “We’re going to get it done. We got to get it done. Five thousand young people are being killed every single week on average, and we’re going to get it done.”But Ukraine is now trying to make the case that Putin was never interested in peace talks, and is using the process to string Washington along as its forces try to solidify greater hold over Ukraine’s east.

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1923095289654591909?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1923095289654591909%7Ctwgr%5E19687c7f83734018079e2cfa88339f0e2e9f86dd%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Ftrump-still-pressing-forward-meeting-putin-soon-we-can

One Amsterdam-based publication and Russia monitor writes of the less than prominent man Putin tapped to head Russia’s delegation–Medinsky was joined by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin and Igor Kostyukov, the head of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency. Experts have described Moscow’s revival of direct talks within the Istanbul framework as a symbolic gesture not intended to seek a real solution to the war. Meanwhile, Trump has said while en route back to the United States from the Middle East that he’ll likely phone Putin soon.

Trump later told reporters after boarding Air Force One to begin the journey back to Washington that he may call Putin soon. “He and I will meet, and I think we’ll solve it or maybe not,” Trump said. “At least we’ll know. And if we don’t solve it, it’ll be very interesting.” An actual Putin-Trump sit-down would be bad news for Kiev, which has seethed at being cut out of US-Russia bilateral engagement, given much of this engagement is related to the fate of Ukraine. With the minerals deal signed, Zelensky is attempting to reset the rocky relationship with Trump. A lot of pressure has been coming from the US administration, urging Kiev to be willing to negotiate peace, which would require some level of significant concessions.

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“They were being coaxed very strongly by China,” Trump continued. “That solves China’s fuel problems forever. “It wasn’t their preference, but they were on their way.”

• Trump Quips, ‘I Should’ve Asked For More’ After Securing $2T, Qatar jet (NYP)

President Trump joked Friday that he regretted not asking “for more” from the Gulf states during his visit to the Middle East, where he secured more than $2 trillion in US investments and even scored a potential replacement for Air Force One. “There’s never been a trip like this by any president or anybody ever before,” Trump told Fox News’ “Special Report” host Bret Baier about his four days in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president sealed deals throughout his Middle East swing, including a $600 billion investment commitment from Saudi Arabia, a $1.2 trillion economic exchange agreement and a $243.5 billion commercial and defense pact with Qatar and $200 billion in UAE commercial investment agreements. “I should’ve asked for more,” Trump said of the four-day windfall.

Ahead of his voyage — Trump’s first official foreign trip of his second term — the president was also gifted a luxuriously upgraded Boeing 747-8 worth an estimated $400 million from a member of Qatar’s royal family. Trump plans to use the so-called “flying palace” as a temporary replacement for the 40-year-old Air Force One planes currently in use after the Department of Defense makes the necessary upgrades to bring the jet up to presidential standards. The jet, currently parked in the US, was not presented to Trump by Qatar during the visit. The president has been critical of Boeing for being slow to deliver new Air Force One aircraft. “You know, until you bring this up now, I haven’t heard about it for three days,” Trump, sounding annoyed, told Baier when he brought up the jet. “I mean, we can talk about it again. You ready?”

“They’re giving it to the United States Air Force/Defense Department of the United States and not giving it to me,” the president asserted. “I made a good deal,” Trump continued. “We need a plane for a couple of years before we get the other ones, because Boeing is very late.” The president argued that previous administrations had not shown the Gulf states, which he described as “very important,” enough regard — pushing them closer to China. “It was never treated properly,” Trump said of the Middle East, “and it was certainly not treated well by Biden, who didn’t know he was alive, frankly.”

“He didn’t treat this group well,” the president continued, referring to former President Joe Biden’s handling of relations with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. “They were being coaxed very strongly by China,” Trump continued. “That solves China’s fuel problems forever. “It wasn’t their preference, but they were on their way.” Trump was adamant that under his administration, close ties between the Gulf nations and China would not happen. “We’re closer to them than ever before,” the president said of US relations with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE as he wrapped up his trip.

Full interview

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Note: Comey has a new book to sell. He needs the publicity.

• Tulsi Gabbard Calls for Jailing Comey (Victoria Taft)

Could the feds find an orange jumpsuit to fit a 6’7″ former FBI director? They may have to. FBI Director James Comey thought it would be great fun to post what appeared to be a death threat against the president of the United States, Donald Trump, on Instagram on Thursday. Federal law enforcement wasn’t laughing. It’s supposed to be bad form to issue death threats when a president is out of town. We suppose those days are over. Trump’s been overseas in Jihadi Kingdom, where one guy with C4, a vest, and ball bearings could change the course of history. The feds, however, take a dim view of death threats against a president who’s already been shot in one of three assassination plots.

The Secret Service, Trump family, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard don’t find the message to get rid of POTUS all that humorous. In fact, Gabbard is calling for the former FBI cirector to be arrested and jailed for his threat against President Trump. Yes, she said it. As I reported in “Did Former FBI Director James Comey Just Call for Trump To Be Murdered?” Comey posted on his Instagram page a collection of seashells spelling out “86 47.” Anyone above a certain IQ has heard the term 86—a call to get rid of someone—and knows that 47 refers to Trump 47. As I wrote, “The message was received loudly and clearly by the Trump family.” On Jesse Watters’ Fox News show Thursday evening, a usually serene Tulsi Gabbard showed a seldom seen anger while discussing how incredibly unfunny the former top U.S. lawman’s threat was. She also said that she wasn’t buying for one second Comey’s lame excuse that he didn’t know what it meant. Here’s how her conversation with Jesse Watters went. Read all her comments because there’s a surprise in there.

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1923180004738781466

“Gabbard: A guy who had a career out of prosecuting mobsters and gangsters; people who know and execute other humans and use this exact lingo of “86.” Comey himself admitted in his follow-on message that he knew this was a political statement. Well, the only reason he knew that, Jesse, is because a little over a month ago, a bunch of anti-Trump, anti-Elon Musk protesters were proliferating the use of this 86-47 slogan, which was a veiled call to action to murder the sitting president of the United States. So, for Comey to think, that we, the American people are so stupid as to think that as a former FBI Director, former prosecutor, and to someone who clearly pays attention to what’s going on would believe his lie that he didn’t know what this actually was calling for, the dangerousness of this, Jesse, cannot be underestimated when we have two assassination attempts on the president’s life.

When we have people who look to guys like Comey celebrated by MSNBC, the Democratic elite, CNN as the beacon of integrity, the law and order guy, the guy who tells the truth no matter what the consequences. This is the guy who is issuing a hit on President Trump, the president the American people voted for. So it’s guys like Comey and others to call the president the modern day Nazi, people who are in great positions of influence who are saying that President Trump poses an existential threat to our country. These are people who hate democracy and hate the American people and cannot stand that the people who overwhelmingly chose to elect Donald Trump and send him back to the White House, so they are seeking other means to get their way and to try to remove him from that position.

Watters: How serious is the administration taking this and what are the next steps going to be?

Gabbard: We’re taking this very seriously. As you mentioned, the Department of Homeland Security and specifically Sean Curran, the current Secret Service Director, the man who has been willing to lay down his life as the lead of President Trump’s Secret Service detail for years now, he takes this seriously and is leading the investigation into this threat. There has to be accountability for this. There was a Rutgers study that came out over a month ago, Jesse, that asked respondents their view on these calls to assassinate President Trump and over 55% of respondents felt that murdering Donald Trump would be quote, unquote somewhat justified. This is the effect of people like James Comey doing this kind of stuff. This study also pointed out that there is a quote unquote assassination culture that is starting to take over the views of what they call the extreme left. We, the American people, cannot take this lightly. Whatever your politics, we cannot allow people to get by without being held accountable for this kind of public call to assassinate the president of the United States.

Watters: Do you believe that Comey is goading you guys to come after him because he wants to be a political matyr; he wants to be set up so he can say, ‘Oh, you’re right! Donald Trump is a dictator. They’re coming after me. They’re arresting me. They’re interrogating me. I was just using my free speech.’

Gabbard: You know, whatever his intent, I will tell you that there’s a guy in Georgia issuing threats on my life about a month ago and he’s in jail today. He has been in indicted with a crime, as he should have been, and he is in jail as we speak. Whatever James Comey[‘s] intent, the rule of law is that people like him need to be held to account according to the law which is something he claims to have given his life for and stand by the rule of law. Fantastic. The rule of law says that people like him who issue direct threats against the president of the United States—essentially issuing a call to assassinate him— must be accountable under the law.

Watters: Do you think he should be in jail?

Gabbard: I do. Any other person with a position of influence that he has, people who take very seriously what a guy of his stature, his experience, and what the propaganda media has built him up to be, I’m very concerned for the president’s life. I’m very concerned about these assassination attempts. I’m very concerned for his life. And James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and should be behind bars for this.”

Lawbreaking isn’t new for James Comey. He has done far worse with his attempted blackmail and framing of Donald Trump for being a Russian secret agent in the fake Russia collusion information operation. That operation was a conspiracy between Comey’s FBI, the CIA, the Hillary Clinton campaign, the DOJ, and the Obama/Biden administration. It is the biggest scandal in American political history. Nobody’s gone to jail for it. The Secret Service has taken point on the threat investigation, but FBI Director Kash Patel weighed in on social media about it late Thursday afternoon. We are aware of the recent social media post by former FBI Director James Comey, directed at President Trump. We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director Curran. Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support. He wrote the message on X.

Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem was also fired up about the threat by a person who should have known better. This “86 47” messaging has been popular on TikTok and other social media for a while. Governor Gretchen Whitmer toyed with a version of it, “86 45,” when Trump ran for re-election in 2020. But that was before the assassination attempts. But when a president has been nearly assassinated twice, the last thing a former law man should be doing is calling for more. Comey later pretended he didn’t know what it meant and took the post down. The left worships the former FBI man as a pillar of moral rectitude. He’s a pillar of something, alright. I can’t wait for the part where the Secret Service says, “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” That should make Comey’s book tour quite entertaining.

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“These threat investigations are immediate,” he said. “There’s no delay in these types of investigations, they are going to seek to speak to him as soon as possible.”

• What’s Next for James Comey in Secret Service Investigation (Susan Crabtree)

The Secret Service may try to force former FBI Director James Comey to answer pointed questions about a social media post he issued depicting an image of “8647,” but a U.S. attorney whom President Donald Trump appointed will determine whether to prosecute Comey over the post.If Comey refuses to comply with their request for what’s known as a protective intelligence interview, the Secret Service leading the investigation into the Instagram post can apply for a subpoena through an assistant U.S. attorney. It’s that prosecutor who will determine whether the former FBI director is legally required to answer their questions and the full U.S. attorney in the office ultimately will decide whether to bring charges against him for threatening the president, Secret Service sources tell RealClearPolitics.

As an attorney and former top law enforcement official in the nation, Comey is well aware that he can decline an interview without having an attorney present, so he may refuse to cooperate with Secret Service agents’ questioning until he can hire a lawyer to represent him. On the other hand, Comey could agree to demonstrate how open and transparent he is and immediately cooperate and sit down for an interview. Top law enforcement and intelligence officials on Thursday said they were investigating Comey’s viral social media post, which many Trump supporters viewed as a threat against the president. Just hours after Comey, who Trump fired in 2017, took down the post, claiming he was unaware the message has violent connotations, Homeland Security Department Secretary Kristi Noem announced that her agency and the Secret Service are investigating “this threat and will respond appropriately.”

FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also weighed in, arguing that the FBI is ready to assist the Secret Service with “all necessary support,” while Gabbard stressed that the administration and the Secret Service are taking the incident “very seriously.” “There has to be accountability for this,” she told Fox News host Jesse Watters. “The Department of Homeland Security and Sean Curran, the current Secret Service director—a man who has been willing to lay down his life as the lead of President Trump’s Secret Service detail for years now—he takes this seriously and is leading the investigation into this threat.” The Secret Service, however, declined to disclose its exact activities. Asked if agents had already try to contact Comey or located him or had plans to do so, agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi declined to specify.

“The Secret Service vigorously investigates anything that can be taken as a potential threat against our protectees,” he said in an emailed statement. “We are aware of the social media posts by the former FBI director, and we take rhetoric like this very seriously. Beyond that, we do not comment on protective intelligence matters.”The Secret Service treats social media threats to all presidents as a top priority requiring immediate attention and have likely tried to locate Comey and may try to conduct what’s known as a protective intelligence interview to determine the motivations behind the post and whether anyone else was involved in the decision to release it on Instagram, where Comey first posted it. Charles Marino, a former Secret Service agent and national security expert, late Thursday predicted that Comey was “gonna have a very, very, very long night.”

From his experience in the Secret Service, Marino predicts the Washington field offices for the Secret Service and the FBI have already been activated and either already have or are planning to pay Comey a visit tonight to interview him about the threatening social media post against Trump. “Look, here’s the deal: They’re sending agents out, and they’re going talk to him, and he’s not going to have a choice,” Marino said. “He’s going to have to talk to them, because this stuff about, well, you know, I found this on the beach. I didn’t know what it meant. None of that makes sense.” “These threat investigations are immediate,” he said. “There’s no delay in these types of investigations, they are going to seek to speak to him as soon as possible.” Marino also noted Comey can be prosecuted for the threatening social media post under 18 USC 871, which governs threats against presidents.

The Secret Service closes out a high percentage of these investigations into online social media threats after determining that the people are either incapable of formulating an actual attack or don’t have the means to do so, according to two sources in the Secret Service community. But if the Secret Service agents investigating Comey uncover information undermining his explanation that he didn’t know that “86” has a violent connotation or evidence of a conspiracy of any kind, then they can forward their findings and recommendations to the U.S. attorney for prosecution. Because the probe is focused on a social media post with an impact across jurisdictions throughout the United States, there is more flexibility in determining which U.S. attorney to submit any evidence uncovered. Marino confirmed that Jeanine Pirro, a fiery former Fox News host whom Trump recently appointed to the position of U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., could be in the mix of potential prosecutors determining whether to charge Comey with a crime for issuing the Instagram post.

It would be the case of a lifetime for Pirro, a former New York judge and district attorney who vigorously and regularly defended Trump on Fox News. But critics would no doubt impugn her obvious bias in favor of the Trump administration should she take on the case. “Comey is going to have some ‘splainin’ to do,” Marino added. “In this current political climate …This case has to be presented to a United States attorney for acceptance of the case or declination.” Several celebrities have made threatening remarks or posted about wanting to see Trump die on social media, while only one suffered a notable career setback for doing so. Comedian Kathy Griffin faced backlash in 2017 for circulating a photo of herself holding a bloody severed Trump head. CNN fired Griffin from her long-running gig co-hosting the network’s New Year’s Eve special with Anderson Cooper, and two departments within the Justice Department investigated her for a conspiracy to assassinate the president.

Griffin argued the photo was protected speech but later apologized as the harsh criticism continued among even some fellow left-leaning comedians, including Stephen Colbert. Also in 2017, Madonna, during a surprise appearance at the anti-Trump Women’s March on Washington, said she “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.” The Secret Service opened an investigation and tried to interview Madonna, but she referred them to an attorney. Ultimately, the Secret Service did not press for a subpoena, according to one Secret Service source familiar with the case. Madonna at the time said her comment was a metaphor and was taken out of context. But for average Americans, threats to “blow up” a person’s house or a place of business are usually taken very seriously by police. At the very least, it’s commonplace for police to conduct cursory investigations of these types of comments, whether they are made publicly or privately and reported to police.

Late into Thursday night, Comey’s name was still trending on X.com as a debate raged over whether his tweet amounted to a threat to Trump, and if so, how serious it was. Meanwhile, copycat social media influencers released their own “8647” memes and defended them as free speech. Ed Krassenstein, a left-wing anti-Trump social media creator with more than a million followers, posted four billiard balls lined up to form “8647.” Therein lies the rub that makes Comey’s tweet so dangerous, according to Marino.“Do I personally think that James Comey has an intention to do harm in a physical manner to the president? No, I don’t,” he said. “Do I think that what he just posted has the ability to incite others? Absolutely.” Others on social media and cable news Thursday night questioned whether Comey was trying to gin up publicity in advance of the release of his new book “FDR Drive,” a legal thriller, which will be out May 20.

Watters asked Gabbard whether she thought Comey was trying to “goad” the Trump administration into investigating and prosecuting him to make him a legal martyr so he can regain political relevance. After two assassination attempts against Trump, it doesn’t matter, Gabbard said. She pointed out that Comey made a career out of prosecuting mobsters, who regularly use the term “86” as code for murder, and that the phrase had already been circulating among anti-Trump and anti-Elon Musk protesters as calls to assassinate the 47th president. “This is a guy issuing a hit on President Trump,” she said.

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“By the time this blog is up, officers of the Secret Service may be visiting Mr. Comey at home. No need to batter down the front door with guns drawn, though. That would be so un-cool.”

• Cool? (James Howard Kunstler)

“Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” Jim Comey, former FBI Director wrote on Instagram about the message “86 47” laid out in seashells on the sand that he came across, innocently. You’d have to ask yourself: what was “cool” about that, exactly? Especially if, as Mr. Comey claimed on X soon after, that he didn’t know what it meant. Are things that you don’t understand “cool”? Is it just “cool” to learn that you can spell stuff out with seashells? (Who knew?)

Maybe he was surprised to learn that people other than Jim Comey fans might see his cute coded clip and conclude that it wasn’t such an innocent little gag. “47,” of course, refers to Donald Trump in the cavalcade of US presidents. Among the not-strrictly-fans was DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who went on TV hours later and said that Mr. Comey should go to prison for it — in so many words. You must suppose she meant after the appropriate procedures: an FBI deposition, a grand jury, an indictment, a trial. After all that, we’d probably get to the bottom of what JC meant by “cool.”

Now, it happens that in this new milieu of memes flying around every which way, the code “86 47” is not a complete mystery. It is apparently employed casually in settings where angry citizens gather to denounce the president. “86” is a term in restaurant kitchens when there is no more of an item that a waiter just brought in an order for. “Eighty-six on the monkfish, Carla,” the line-cook might yell. Apparently, mobsters like the phrase, too, for its pithiness: “Ay, somebody, go eighty-six that stronzo Rocco Vaselino, already! He ain’t paid da vig in a munt.” Soon, there will be no more of Rocco, you see. He will be food for the hellgrammites in the soil of the Jersey pine barrens. . . .

As DNI Gabbard pointed out — in case no one noticed — there have been two recent assassination attempts on Mr. Trump. It is a fact well-known to police psychologists that would-be assassins are curiously suggestible to prompts floating around in the zeitgeist. They tend to take them as commands. Go do this. And if anyone was a commanding figure, it would be Jim Comey, towering hero of the early anti-Trump resistance. Thus, it appears that Mr. Comey called for there to be no more of Mr. Trump. Not cool.

Also, not so cool, in the grand annals of the resistance, is the new book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, by journalists (cough cough) Jake Tapper (of CNN) and Alex Thompson (Axios). The book purports to explain how the entire governance apparatus of the USA hid the mental decline of “Joe Biden,” the phantom president. Realize, please, that the news media is a vital part of that apparatus, and has been since the invention of the printing press, with its crucial role (until lately) as a regulating mechanism on the engine of public affairs.

In fact, it is precisely the role of the news media to notice things that public officials try to hide, so as to keep citizens apprised of what is really going on. And that is exactly what the news media intentionally declined to do during the four years of “Joe Biden.” But then, at least half the country, seeing “Joe Biden” in action on video, did not fail to notice his ever-worsening feeble bewilderment. Tapper and Thompson seek to shift the blame for this game of Pretend onto the gremlins behind the scenes in the White House who ran the “Joe Biden” show.

Tapper and Thompson are lying, of course, and in exactly the same brazen way as the bigwigs in the Democratic Party who sponsored this treasonous fraud. Jake Tapper, for one, stated repeatedly on-the-air from 2021 onward that “Joe Biden” was a capable and effective chief executive and denounced anybody who tried to argue otherwise. Just as Thompson, while accepting the Award for Overall Excellence at the White House Correspondents’ Annual Dinner in April, lied saying, “We, myself included, missed a lot of this story.” Really? Then what, exactly, was “excellent” about his reporting?

They also missed the story as to how the White House gremlins behind “Joe Biden” were wrecking the country with open borders, election fraud, drag queens in kindergarten, censorship, lawfare, and a colossal stream of secret grift from taxpayers through USAID-linked NGO’s to Democratic Party foot-soldiers like Stacey Abrams. The more plausible story — the truth, actually — is that the companies many reporters worked for, the old big newspapers like The New York Times and the WashPo, and the cable-news channels such as (especially) CNN and MSNBC were losing their audiences until they discovered that Trump Derangement was the only way to stave off complete failure.

Once they got going with that business model in 2016, they wrecked the news media’s credibility. And virtually everything after that has been an ongoing cover-up for their dishonorable malfeasance and the crimes of the party they fronted for. But the levers of power are in other hands now. There will be consequences for government officials who go to war against the people of this land, committing sedition and treason. Suggesting the murder of a president on social media is no light matter. By the time this blog is up, officers of the Secret Service may be visiting Mr. Comey at home. No need to batter down the front door with guns drawn, though. That would be so un-cool.

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Ukraine and Europe want us to think that Putin sent some low-level lackey. But historian/diplomat Medinsky is not that. He doesn’t need to read up or talk to people: he was there 3 years ago, in the same function.

• Ukraine Conflict Could Have Ended In Weeks – Russia’s Top Negotiator (RT)

The Ukraine conflict could have ended very quickly if Kiev had chosen to negotiate from the beginning rather than heed its Western backers and fight Russia, Vladimir Medinsky, head of Moscow’s delegation at the Istanbul talks, said in wake of the negotiations. Medinsky made the comments after nearly two hours of talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul on Friday. The two nations agreed upon a major prisoner swap involving 1,000 POWs from each side, as well as to continue contacts once each side has prepared a detailed ceasefire proposal, the Russian delegation said.After the meeting, the presidential aide and professional historian sat down for a major interview with the Russia’s Rossiya 1 broadcaster.

The hostilities between Moscow and Kiev, which have already dragged on for more than three years, could have ended in mere weeks, Medinsky believes. Ukraine just needed to stick to the arrangements it had reached with Russia during the initial rounds of peace talks in the Belarusian city of Gomel in late February, he stated. Kiev could have “agreed to a peace in late February [2022], but they did not and dragged their feet instead,” the official said. The Russian peace proposal presented at the following round of talks, which was held in Istanbul in the spring of 2022, was already less favorable to Ukraine, as it already reflected some “changes on the ground,” he added.“The Istanbul process was also regrettably disrupted because of the West’s direct involvement,” Medinsky stated, blaming then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Kiev in May of 2022 for scuttling the initial peace negotiations.

According to David Arakhamia, who headed the Ukrainian delegation at that time, Johnson told Kiev to “just fight.” Attempts by Western nations to influence other countries’ policies have historically brought catastrophic consequences to the European continent, Medinsky warned. As a vivid example, he took the Berlin Congress held in 1878, which was called by a coalition of Western countries to revise the results of the Russian-Turkish war that had ended earlier the same year. Western nations, including the UK, France, Italy, and Germany, thought the peace treaty, which led to the liberation of a host of Balkan nations from Ottoman control, was too favorable to the Russian Empire, as they thought it would give it too much clout over the Balkans.

As a result of the West’s interference, the borders of the newly-liberated states were redrawn, thus laying the foundation for the territorial disputes that ultimately triggered World War I, Medinsky said. “Unregulated problems in the Balkans led to WWI,” he stated. “This was a direct consequence of interference by Western nations.” Medinsky has dismissed Ukraine’s demand for a ceasefire as a precondition for any peace talks as unnecessary and excessive. “A war and talks are being conducted simultaneously,” he said. “Only people who know nothing about history” can claim that a ceasefire has always preceded peace talks, the official maintained. Kiev has repeatedly demanded that Moscow agree to a 30-day ceasefire before any talks take place. Russia has rejected that demand, arguing Ukraine would merely use the pause to rearm and regroup its troops.

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All the money went to the most corrupt country in the western hemisphere and you wonder where it went?!

• Trump Says Zelensky ‘Pissed Away’ Ukraine Aid (NYP)

President Trump accused his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky of having “pissed away” billions of dollars in US aid for the war-torn country. Trump, in a Friday interview with Fox News’ “Special Report” host Bret Baier, insisted that Kyiv’s management of US-provided funds bothered him more than the amount of money Washington has doled out to Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. “The money is the money,” the president said. “What bothered me — I hated to see the way it was, you know, excuse me, pissed away.” Trump vented his frustrations with Zelensky’s handling of US aid in response to a question from Baier on whether he’s considering additional sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I hated to see that checks were sent for $60 billion every time Zelensky [traveled to Washington],” he fumed. “I think he’s the greatest salesman in the world. Far better than me,” Trump said of the Ukrainian president.

“Where is all this money going?” he added. Trump continued to voice his displeasure with Kyiv even after Baier interjected, “But I’m focused on Putin.” “We send checks. We don’t always send equipment. We send — just checks. We send — just cash,” the president claimed. “Where is it?” When Trump started to argue that European nations should’ve contributed more than the US to the war effort, Baier once again tried to redirect him to his Putin question. “Wait,” Trump responded, before arguing that the US has been “treated worse” than Europe by Ukraine.“We inherited this mess, but I think it’s going to get solved.”Trump’s response comes as officials estimate that the US will have spent through all its congressionally approved funds to support Ukraine by June.

The US has approved some $175 billion in aid for Ukraine since the war broke out. The president, however, indicated that he hopes to schedule a meeting with Putin, which he believes will result in a peace agreement. “I think we’ll do it fast,” Trump said of meeting with the Russian president and hammering out a deal. “I think he’s tired of this whole thing. He’s not looking good, and he wants to look good.”

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27,000 sanctions so far, or was that 37?! Empty threat.

• Trump Threatens Russia With ‘Crushing’ Sanctions (RT)

US President Donald Trump has said Washington will impose new sanctions on Russia if it fails to reach a peace settlement with Ukraine. His remarks came shortly after the two countries held their first direct negotiations since 2022. In an interview aired on Friday, Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked Trump whether he would introduce new sanctions on Moscow. “Honestly, I will if we’re not going to make a deal,” the president said. “Nobody uses leverage better than me.” Trump added that the US would assess the outcome of Friday’s Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul. “We’ll see what happens. It will be crushing for Russia because they’re having a hard time with the economy,” he claimed. He also argued that his plan to boost domestic oil production would lower global prices, undermining Russia’s energy exports.

Trump claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “tired” from the conflict and said he would schedule a meeting with him sometime in the future. “I have a very good relationship with Putin. I think we’ll make a deal. We have to get together.”As Trump has been trying to broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine, a group of senators led by Lindsey Graham has drafted a bill to impose sanctions on Moscow and levy tariffs on countries that purchase Russian oil, gas, and uranium. The head of Russia’s negotiating team in Istanbul, Vladimir Medinsky, said the two sides had agreed upon a major prisoner swap involving 1,000 POWs from each side, as well as continuing contacts once each side has prepared a detailed ceasefire proposal.

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“Who is it unacceptable to? We are not negotiating with London.”

• Russia Hits Out At British PM (RT)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s ultimatums and sanctions threats just demonstrate that the UK wants to undermine the settlement of the Ukraine conflict, the Russian Embassy in the UK has said. Last week, the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, and Poland met in a Kiev and threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia if Moscow did not agree to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire by Monday. That date has come and gone, and no truce was agreed upon during Friday’s direct Russian-Ukrainian talks. “Now, having issued that ultimatum, we must be prepared to follow through, because if Russia won’t come to the negotiating table, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin must pay the price,” Starmer said at a security meeting in Albania on Friday. “The Russian position is clearly unacceptable, and not for the first time.”

The Russian Embassy in London has pointed out that Downing Street is not part of the talks between the belligerents. “The British Prime Minister hasty statement claiming that Russia’s position at the talks in Istanbul is unacceptable and that a response is being prepared causes outright bewilderment,” the embassy said in a statement on Friday. “The British have been behind all the escalatory moves by the West, from supplying offensive weapons to Kiev’s military and to using Western long-range missiles against civilians deep in Russian territory,” the embassy wrote. London was the first of Kiev’s Western sponsors to send domestic long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine.

“Now, such ultimatums, made against the backdrop of the negotiation process, are obviously aimed at complicating or undermining the settlement,” the statement said. “It seems Downing Street is not aware of the self-incriminating nature of its actions.” The UK has also scuttled previous peace talks, the embassy noted. “It was London that made a considerable effort to disrupt the first negotiation process in 2022, and to subsequently keep the conflict hot,” it wrote. The unsuccessful 2022 negotiations in Istanbul were torpedoed by then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who convinced Ukraine to pull out, according to the Ukrainian delegation’s top negotiator at the talks, David Arakhamia.

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This comes mere days after: “U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines in Pennsylvania has ruled that President Donald Trump validly invoked the Alien Enemies Act in March as part of an effort to deport Venezuelan gang members.”

• Trump Bashes Supreme Court For Blocking Use of Alien Enemies Act (Allen)

The Supreme Court has extended its block on the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal alien gang members from Venezuelan. “The Supreme Court has just ruled that the worst murderers, drug dealers, gang members, and even those who are mentally insane, who came into our country illegally, are not allowed to be forced out without going through a long, protracted, and expensive legal process,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday evening. In an unsigned opinion Friday, the justices sent the case back down to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and asked the lower court to determine the procedural specifics the illegal aliens are legally entitled to before they are removed.

The appeals court needs to determine “whether the Alien Enemies Act … authorizes removal of these detainees and if so, what notice is due before removal,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in his concurring opinion. Trump warned that the result of the Supreme Court’s “decision will let more criminals pour into our country, doing great harm to our cherished American public. It will also encourage other criminals to illegally enter our Country, wreaking havoc and bedlam wherever they go.”

The case before the court specifically pertains to a group of Tren de Aragua gang members who are being held in Texas. After designating Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the White House announced in March that Trump would use the powers of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to remove members of the gang from America. On April 19, the Supreme Court ordered the administration to pause the deportation of a group of criminal illegal aliens until the court could rule further. The order followed an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the illegal aliens the administration was preparing to deport.

Following the court’s ruling to extend the ban on the removal of the gang members, Trump said the Supreme Court “is not allowing me to do what I was elected to do,” referring to his campaign promise to deport criminal illegal aliens. More than 10 million illegal aliens entered the U.S. under the Biden administration, according to Customs and Border Protection, and “in order to get them out of our country, we have to go through a long and extended process,” Trump said, adding that the court’s order represents “a bad and dangerous day for America!” Trump thanked Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas for dissenting from the court’s order. The Supreme Court had “no authority to issue any relief,” Alito argued in the decant.

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“Almost everything the vast majority of Americans and their elected representatives did not want—far-left higher education, a Pravda media, biological men destroying women’s sports, an open border, 30 million illegal aliens, massive debt, a weaponized legal system, and a politicized Pentagon—became the new culture of America.”

• The Real First 100 Days (Victor Davis Hanson)

Pundits are confused about what to make of the first 100 days of the second Trump administration. Supporters talk of “flooding the zone,” believing President Donald Trump is making so many changes so quickly that his opposition is reduced to deer-in-the-headlights infancy. They must be right when the nation suffers daily Democrat pottymouth videos, vandalism of Teslas, infantile meltdowns at congressional witnesses, rioting against federal agents to protect illegal alien felons, protesting on behalf of women beaters, M-13 gangbangers, human traffickers, and assaulters, and visa-holding violent students praising Hamas terrorists. In contrast, opponents either claim that Trump’s first three months are either directionless chaos or a Hitlerian nightmare or both. But what is really happening?

One, Trump is finally addressing the problems that proverbially “cannot go on forever, and so they won’t go on.” When, if ever, would the Left have closed the southern border? After 10, 30, 50 million illegal aliens? How many more criminal illegal entrants was the Biden administration willing to allow into American neighborhoods—500,000? One million? Three million? How long was the world simply going to ignore the human destruction on the doorstep of Europe? Would former President Joe Biden or former Vice President Kamala Harris have sought a ceasefire? Or would it have taken another 1.5, 3, or even 5 million more dead, wounded, and missing Ukrainians and Russians? Nor did past administrations ever seek a solution to the massive national debt, much less the uncontrollable budget and trade deficits.

All prior presidents passed the day of judgment on to some vague future presidency, assured that their money printing would at least not blow up on their watch. All moaned that China was piling up huge trade surpluses while denying its own population the usual modern safety net. They knew Beijing’s aim was to use the trillions of dollars in trade surpluses to build a new massive military, a greater arsenal of nuclear bombs, and a new imperial Belt and Road overseas empire. Yet no administration did anything but greenlight American outsourcing and offshoring while ignoring Chinese trade cheating and technology theft. Indeed, prior presidencies appeased and enriched China on the foolish belief that such indulgence would lead to Chinese prosperity, and with such Western-style affluence, soon a globalized, democratic, and supposedly friendly China. In sum, we just witnessed all at once a 100-day, 360-degree effort to address all the existential challenges that we knew were unsustainable but were either afraid or incompetent to address.

Second, the administration apparently wants to confront the source of these crises and believes it is the progressive project. The Left maintains real political power not by grassroots popularity, but rather by unelected institutional clout. The party of democracy uses antidemocratic means to achieve its ends of perpetual control. It wages lawfare through the weaponization of the state, local, and federal courts. It exercises executive power through cherry-picked federal district and circuit judges and their state and local counterparts. The permanent bureaucracies and huge federal workforce are mostly left-wing, unionized, and weaponized by a progressive apparat. Their supreme directive is to amalgamate legislative, judicial, and executive power into the hands of the unelected Anthony Faucis, Jim Comeys, and Lois Lerners of the world—and thus to override or ignore both popular plebiscites and the work of the elected Congress.

Over 90% of the media—legacy, network, social, and state—are left-wing. Their mission is not objectivity but, admittedly, indoctrination. Academia is the font of the progressive project. Ninety percent of the professoriat are left-wing and activist—explaining why campuses believe they are above the rules and laws of the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Congress. Add into the mix the blue-chip Accela corridor law firms and the globalized corporate and revolving-door political elite. The net result is clear: Almost everything the vast majority of Americans and their elected representatives did not want—far-left higher education, a Pravda media, biological men destroying women’s sports, an open border, 30 million illegal aliens, massive debt, a weaponized legal system, and a politicized Pentagon—became the new culture of America.

So, Trump is not just confronting unaddressed existential crises but also the root causes of why, when, and how they become inevitable and nearly unsolvable. His answer is a messy, knock-down-drag-out counterrevolution to reboot the country back to the middle where it once was and where the Founders believed it should remain. His right and left opponents call such pushback chaotic, disruptive, and out of control. But the counterrevolution appears disorderly and upsetting, mostly to those who originally birthed the chaos; it certainly does not to the majority of Americans who finally wanted an end to the madness.

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Before you know it, the bill gets too big. But there’ll be another vote.

• Conservative Holdouts Vote Down ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL (ZH)

Update (1210ET): The House Budget Committee has voted down the reconciliation bill by a vote of 16-21 – with GOP Reps. Clyde, Roy, Breechen, Norman and Smucker (who flipped his vote) all voting “no”. “This bill falls profoundly short. It does not do what we say it does with respect to deficits,” said Rep. Chip Roy. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) said “I am unable to support this package in its current form, but I look forward to strengthening this bill to ensure that it does pass, so that we full all of our America First promises to the American people.” Whilst Ralph Norman (R-SC) said “Sadly, I’m a hard no until we get this ironed out.” According to Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman, Smucker likely flipped “no” to preserve the ability to reconsider the bill at a later time. House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Jody Arrington (R-TX) said after the vote “I do not anticipate us coming back today.”

* * *
A fiery intra-party fight exploded on Capitol Hill Friday as House Republicans clashed over President Donald Trump’s mammoth “One Big Beautiful Bill,” with Trump himself jumping into the fray to torch conservative holdouts as attention-hungry “grandstanders.” As the House Budget Committee met to advance the 1,116-plus-page megabill – packed with Trump’s signature proposals on taxes, Medicaid, and immigration – chaos broke out behind the scenes, and in front of the cameras, as hardline conservatives threatened to blow up the entire process. “Republicans MUST UNITE behind ‘THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!’” Trump posted on Truth Social. “We don’t need ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!”

The scorched-earth post came as the House Budget Committee met down to mark up the massive reconciliation bill, which bundles together much of Trump’s second-term policy wishlist: tax cuts, welfare reform, immigration crackdowns, and the death of Biden’s green energy subsidies. But what was supposed to be a legislative victory lap turned into a high-stakes hostage crisis, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) caught between warring GOP factions, each demanding major changes and threatening to sink the bill if they don’t get their way. Conservatives on the committee – Reps. Chip Roy, Ralph Norman, Andrew Clyde, and Josh Brecheen – signaled they were ready to vote against the bill unless major changes were made. Their demands include a faster phase-in of Medicaid work requirements, a ban on undocumented immigrants receiving federal benefits, and immediate termination of Inflation Reduction Act clean energy provisions. “If they don’t [change it], I’m gonna vote no. We’ll kill it,” Norman warned Thursday. “I don’t want to. But I will.” The vote is ongoing, with Roy and Norman both using their time during committee to voice their opposition, CNN’s Sarah Farris reports.

The tension spilled into full view Friday morning when Norman, Roy, and Clyde abruptly left the committee room moments before the markup was scheduled to begin, prompting immediate speculation they were staging a walkout. All three returned shortly afterward, saying little, but still signaling deep frustration. Norman told reporters the situation was “very disappointing,” adding “I hope they recess.” Johnson, for his part, is trying to keep the circus moving. He has pledged to make some concessions – such as speeding up work requirement timelines and possibly harmonizing those across both Medicaid and SNAP – but every adjustment risks triggering a backlash from the other side of the GOP spectrum. “If you push too hard on one side, the other side bulges out,” opines Punchbowl News. “That’s exactly what’s happening here.”

Moderates are already howling over cuts to safety net programs and demanding changes of their own. Blue-state Republicans want the SALT deduction cap raised above the $30,000 ceiling currently in the bill. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) wants to remove language that would block legal refugees from getting food aid. And Florida Republicans are furious over a provision that clamps down on provider taxes – a method states use to draw more federal Medicaid dollars. The markup itself became a theater of dysfunction – with Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT) joking about the fact that he went viral earlier this week for falling asleep during a late-night hearing. “I also appreciate that you schedule the markup during daylight hours,” he said. Chair Jodey Arrington (R-TX) fired back: “Some of the staff decided to chip in and equip your chair with an electric shocking mechanism… I hope that is also a bipartisan proposal.”

Read more …

‘sundance’ says Tony Blinken, Victoria Nuland and Samantha Power. And Susan Rice.

• Biden/Hur Tapes Released: Question is, Who Was Running the Country? (CTH)

Axios obtained the audio of former President Biden’s October 2023 interviews with special counsel Robert Hur. In the first segment below, recorded on the first day of interviews, former President Biden was questioned about where he kept documents. Biden had difficulty recalling that it was 2015 when his son Beau died. Biden also shared that President Obama discouraged him from running for president. The interview tapes reveal the scope of cognitive decline the control agents around Joe Biden were trying to keep hidden from the country. As the tapes reveal, Joe Biden was not in any capacity to be in office. The question remains, who was running the country? Listen:

Biden’s mental capacity was severely compromised. It is obvious everyone around him knew the problem. We all saw it even before he took office and the answer to the question is the same today as we discussed in 2020, 2021 and beyond. These tapes only confirm what we already knew. The State Dept was being run by Tony Blinken, Victoria Nuland and Samantha Power. The Clinton and Obama networks, along with their allies in congress and in various political organizations, were being paid and financed through various NGOs and stood up non-profits organized by the beneficiaries of the funding. All of those connections were revealed by the DOGE audits of USAID and other agencies.

Keep in mind that Susan Rice was part of the White House network up to the day Biden announced his intent to run again in 2024; so, she obviously knew his mental state. Others in the White House, again part of the Obama and Clinton networks were running the day-to-day operations. Biden was a figurehead, an avatar for the handlers operating in the background. The DOJ, Main Justice and the FBI were being run by Lisa Monaco, again an Obama operative. The job at Main Justice was to use their Lawfare strategy to protect the fake and corrupt administration, keep everyone in line and attack all of their political opposition. Obviously, Jill Biden was/is a power-hungry enabler for the entire dynamic. Sick and twisted people operate like this.

Think of all the COVID-19 nonsense this crew carried out in 2021 and 2022, including the vaccine mandate and all of the authoritarian rules that came with the “Biden” COVID response stuff. These are sick people. Congress, both parties, knew all of this. In fact, the entire Washington DC system was well aware of the cognitive state of mind behind the false presidency. Biden wasn’t in control of anything – that’s transparently obvious when you listen to the tapes.The media covered for all of it. They all knew, yet they attacked anyone who dare question the obvious. There is no one associated with the preceding four or five years around the 2020 campaign and administration that followed who did not know of the mental issues. Additionally, they all knew who was running things and they lied to the American people because these are power-hungry psychopaths.


.
There are not enough words to listen to these tapes and express the level of disgust that comes to mind. The damage done to our country is horrific. However, at the end of that review we must remember all of the economic pain and suffering that accompanied the anxiety the handlers of Joe Biden willfully delivered to our nation. These people are sick!

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“We Study Fascism…We’re Leaving the U.S.”

Don’t let the door hit you on the way.

• The NY Times Runs Video of Yale Professors Fleeing to Canada (Turley)

The New York Times continues to work tirelessly to maintain the narrative that the United States is now a fascist regime. Earlier, the Times demonstrated its view of balanced analysis by running a collection of legal opinions titled “A Road Map to Trump’s Lawless Presidency.” Now, it is featuring three Yale professors fleeing fascism for the safety of Canada, making direct references to the rise of the Nazis. The video is titled “These Yale Professors Study Fascism.” All three professors are going permanently to Canada to teach at the University of Toronto. It appears that the systemic rollback of free speech for conservatives in Canada is not a deterrent for Yale professors longing to be free. The seven-minute opinion video features the three scholars: Yale philosophy Professor Jason Stanley and history professors Marci Shore and Timothy Snyder (who are married).

Shore insisted that the United States is now a fascist country replicating the Nazi takeover. Indeed, she mocks those of us who believe that our constitutional system has proven itself for centuries as a guarantor of civil liberties, including our system of checks and balances. Shore dismisses such assurances while suggesting that the American people are a virtual ship of fools in not recognizing the fascists all around them: “The lesson of 1933 is that you get out sooner rather than later.” She added that Americans are“like people on the Titanic saying, ‘Our ship can’t sink.’ We’ve got the best ship. We’ve got the strongest ship. We’ve got the biggest ship. Our ship can’t sink,” she said. “And what you know as a historian is that there is no such thing as a ship that can’t sink.” Professor Snyder declared that Americans are deluding themselves:

“If you think there is this thing out there called ‘America,’ and it’s exceptional, that means that you don’t have to do anything. Whatever is happening, it must be freedom. Soon, you are using the word freedom, what you are talking about is authoritarianism.” The New York Times splices in ominous images of migrants being detained, children crying, and anti-Israel protesters being arrested. It also shows the image of Elon Musk’s alleged Nazi salute, a ridiculous claim fostered by the media.

Previously, Snyder did interviews claiming an oligarchic conspiracy led by Musk:“we’re shifting from a democracy, which had some pretty heavy oligarchical streaks running through it, toward something like an oligarchy, in which I think it’s fair to say that it’s not Trump who’s the most important person. It’s Musk. Trump has debts. Musk has money. Trump has debts specifically to Musk for getting him elected. And I think the burden of proof is actually on Trump to show that he has any room for maneuver in this system. And it’s going to be interesting to see how congressional Republicans react, because what this particular oligarch wants is to break the federal government. And whatever their views might be, not — many of them don’t actually want the United States of America to cease to exist so that oligarchs can pick up the pieces.”

That is who the New York Times featured in its latest apocalyptic diatribe. What is interesting about one interview is how Snyder predicts Trump will engage in censorship through litigation, noting that it will not involve direct censorship barred by the First Amendment. He entirely ignores the massive censorship system of conservatives fostered by the Biden Administration on social media. That was apparently not something that you would speak out against, let alone leave the country over. Professor Stanley’s past contributions to the political debate include his condemnation of “the right-wing hateosphere” in a diatribe that he later reaffirmed: I am really, truly, embarrassed by the fact that my mild comment ‘F[**]k those assholes’ is being spread. This wildly understates my actual sentiments towards homophobic religious proponents of evil like Richard Swinburne, who use their status as professional philosophers to oppress others with less power. I am SO SORRY for using such mild language.

In the New York Times video, Stanley clinically explains that “you know you’re living in a fascist society when you’re constantly going over in your head the reasons why you’re safe. What we want is a country where none of us have to feel that way.” It is a curious statement. Most of us fight to preserve our civil liberties to maintain a country that remains the longest, most stable, and most successful constitutional system in history. We do not dramatically pick up our things and stomp out of the country in a self-aggrandizing huff. Losing elections can certainly make some “feel that way,” but for the rest of the country, it seemed like democracy at work. In the meantime, our courts are sorting out challenges to Trump executive orders, with many judges, including Trump appointees, ruling against the Administration. Those are the pesky “checks and balances” that Professor Shore blissfully dismissed in the New York Times video.

What is truly striking is that even Yale (which has purged virtually all conservatives from its faculty ranks) is not sufficiently “safe” for these three academic émigrés. They are going to the University of Toronto and Ontario to feel truly safe. Of course, Ontario is not viewed as a safe space for many conservatives or contrarians. It proved hardly protective for University of Toronto professor emeritus Jordon Peterson when he was ordered to take mandatory training classes to curb his controversial writings. That order was upheld by successive Canadian courts. So now these three academics will relocate to Toronto to teach Canadian students about fascism. They may, however, want to tread lightly on the subject of free speech.

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“The U.S., by strengthening its relationship with Saudi Arabia, and creating Petrodollar 2.0, puts the pressure on China to reduce their tariffs and meet Trump’s requirements. Otherwise they don’t have a source of dollars.”

• Rickards to Bannon: Petrodollar 2.0 Is Coming (DR)

Our friend and colleague Jim Rickards was on Steve Bannon’s War Room show Tuesday, and it may be the most important interview Jim has done this year. In this fascinating discussion, Jim starts with the history of the original petrodollar system. And he knows the subject well, having helped create it. The premise of the 1974 petrodollar agreement was that Saudi Arabia would only sell oil in dollars, which would stimulate demand for greenbacks as a reserve currency. Here’s Jim explaining the basics to Steve Bannon’s audience: “We had a carrot and stick approach. Bill Simon, who was Secretary of the Treasury, went to the Saudis and said ‘everybody in the world needs oil, and if you price oil in dollars, then everybody needs dollars.’ And that basically underpins the role of the dollar today as the world’s reserve currency.

The stick was, if you don’t do it we’re going to invade Saudi Arabia and take over oil production. The carrot was, if you price oil in dollars, we’ll give you a security umbrella. It’s rare to hear such candor coming from someone who was directly involved in the formation of the petrodollar system. Needless to say, the petrodollar system was successful and led to a resurgence in the American dollar as the world’s key reserve currency (despite Nixon ditching the gold standard just 3 years earlier). At this point, Steve Bannon interrupted with an insightful question (paraphrased): “Wait, you say the petrodollar system is still in place, but the Saudis are now selling oil to China for yuan. Aren’t cracks showing in the petrodollar system?”

Jim responded that yes, cracks are starting to show in the system, and that’s why Trump was in Saudi Arabia, to seal a “Petrodollar 2.0” agreement. Jim also points out that, at least for now, the amount of oil Saudi Arabia is selling for yuan and other currencies is miniscule compared to dollar-based sales. Jim proceeds to lay out the purpose of Petrodollar 2.0: “The U.S., by strengthening its relationship with Saudi Arabia, and creating Petrodollar 2.0, puts the pressure on China to reduce their tariffs and meet Trump’s requirements. Otherwise they don’t have a source of dollars.” This time around, Trump is using a strictly carrot-based approach. He’s on a charm offensive and looking to build strong, lasting ties with Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East. This is a smart approach and we expect it will bear fruit in the near future. Had President Trump taken a threatening approach to Saudi Arabia, it almost certainly would have driven the country into China’s waiting arms. And America can’t afford to let that happen.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeadon

Statins

Gold

Ice

Smell
https://twitter.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1923334642423173150

Freedom
https://twitter.com/TheFigen_/status/1923360725621244351

Dogs

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle May 15 2025

May 152025
 
 May 15, 2025  Posted by at 9:16 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,  41 Responses »


Kazemir Malevich Floor polishers 1912

 

• Why China Will Win The Arms Race (Wolfgang Münchau)
• Russian Delegation Will Be Waiting For Ukrainians In Istanbul – Kremlin (RT)
• Zelensky Claims Ban On Russia Talks Doesn’t Apply To Him (RT)
• Zelensky’s Regime Only Stable When At War – Former Senior UN Official (RT)
• Rubio and Witkoff Will Travel To Istanbul On Friday – Reuters (RT)
• Trump Envoy Kellogg Reveals NATO Troop Deployment Plans For Ukraine (RT)
• US Opposes Zelensky Attendance At NATO Summit (RT)
• The Unraveling of The Old World Order And The Role of Russia (Bordachev)
• Russia Doesn’t Need Western Approval To Shape Global History (Lukyanov)
• Trump Shocks the World – Again (Spencer)
• Qatar Commits To “Largest Order Of Jets In The History Of Boeing” (NYP)
• Every Anti-Trump Economic Narrative Is Collapsing (Margolis)
• Trump Economy Defies ‘Gloom And Doom’ Expectations (Whedon)
• Federal Judge Says Trump’s Invocation of Alien Enemies Act Was Legal (ET)
• Average Americans Poised for Double-Digit Tax Cuts In 2027 (ZH)
• Court Rules On Von Der Leyen’s Secret Covid Vaccine Deal Messages (RT)
• Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Signed Oath to Conceal COVID Info (YN)
• A New False Tribunal Is In The Making (Stephen Karganovic)

 

 

 

 

Tulsi

Assange

1940

Alex

“Russia. Kremlin. Putin. 25 years”

Tucker Carlson interviews Ed Martin

 

 

 

 

“..a swarm of AI-powered drones..”

• Why China Will Win The Arms Race (Wolfgang Münchau)

When Donald Trump visits the Middle East this week, he will bump into some familiar people. Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Fink and Sam Altman will also be in Riyadh. I doubt they will spend much time talking about Gaza, or Iran. They are all there for the same reason: to talk about AI. The stock markets have currently put a high price on these tech companies. But AI is also commanding a high price from America’s foreign and security policy community: it will change the nature of warfare more profoundly than any other innovation we have experienced in our lifetimes. Ronald Reagan’s infamous Strategy Defence Initiative, also known as Star Wars, failed because the old technology could not deliver the precision that was needed. But AI could make it a reality and America’s concern is that China might get there first.

But America also worries that they are leading the charge with AI-powered drones. We think of drones as modern, but those used in the Russia-Ukraine war still need an operator. Imagine, then, if one side had AI-powered drones at their disposal? The West and Nato may be comfortable in their current — swiftly dating — military capabilities. But AI warfare is a completely new game. And China is already forging ahead in the two areas that will prove critical. The first is the supply of energy — which is vital to power large AI data centres. The West should be concerned by the sheer scale of the expansion of China’s energy capacity. China has a renewable capacity target of 2,461 gigawatts by 2030. The corresponding numbers for the EU and US are respectively 1,100 and 500 gigawatts.

For the Chinese, the heavy lifting will come from renewable sources, such as the world’s largest hydropower plant in Tibet, which will have an energy capacity roughly the size of Germany’s capacity today. Just from one single dam. This dam is not even included in China’s target number. AI is furiously energy-hungry. As the car industry has only recently found out, the electric car is not just an evolution — it is a different product. The same applies to anything reliant on AI. Germany’s Rheinmetall is a formidable producer of ammunition and tanks. They make the best tanks in the world. But they are old-school — the heavy-metal version of defence manufacturing. You don’t want to be in one of them when being attacked by a swarm of AI-powered drones.

And so, as China marches ahead, Europe’s absurd data protection regulations and AI regulation effectively criminalise the 21st century’s most important evolving business sector. The Financial Times reported that British soldiers were prevented from using signal jamming on the grounds that it violated GDPR. Europeans have, in general, no idea what damage they are inflicting upon themselves with their absurd data protection obsession. And no clue what it does to their security. In the gilded foreign policy salons of Europe’s capitals, you will not hear much about AI-drones, or satellite-based AI-missiles systems. It is as though AI has yet to be invented in the Western foreign policy universe.

China, meanwhile, has more energy than we do, puts serious money into AI, and is not regulating itself to death. Take 5G. While we Europeans struggle with it, the Chinese are already developing 6G — the technology which is needed to handle the communications for next generation manufacturing. This is the second critical area in which China is excelling: high-tech manufacturing. In the US and the UK, the prevailing view is that sophisticated countries should move into services and leave the shop-floor economy to upstarts like China. This is a story we have been telling ourselves for too long. And it is one that economists, in particular, don’t understand.

They think it is more efficient to let China do all the manufacturing, for the US to specialise in high tech and finance, and to let Europe be a museum. They are simultaneously oblivious to those voters who want real jobs, to the nature of 21st-century manufacturing, and to security concerns. The irony here is that the US understands the AI-service economy like no one else. And it still just about leads the world in research. But China has been able to catch up because all the new technology is open-source. As an anonymous employee at Google candidly admitted: “We have no moat, and neither does OpenAI.” Nor does the US. This is not a world of secret algorithms, or of industrial patents. The costs of entry are low — all you need is a bunch of desktop computers with a good graphics card. Anyone can join in. In the old world, the technology leadership meant that the US was years ahead of the competition. No more.

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They should have arrived as I write this. Wonder what they talk about 🙂

• Russian Delegation Will Be Waiting For Ukrainians In Istanbul – Kremlin (RT)

Moscow will be sending a delegation for direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday and expects Kiev to do the same, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to resume direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev to find a lasting settlement to the conflict between the two countries. After his proposal was supported by US President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, who had previously ruled out any talks with Moscow, also expressed his readiness. Kiev earlier stated that the only official Zelensky would talk to is Putin. The Russian president has so far made no indication that he is planning to travel to Istanbul.

When asked by journalists on Wednesday if the talks in Türkiye were still on the cards, Peskov replied by saying: “Indeed, the Russian delegation will be waiting for the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul on Thursday, May 15, that is – tomorrow.” “I can confirm once again that everything that the president said in his statement on May 11… remains relevant,” he stressed. Peskov declined to reveal the lineup of the Russian delegation that will travel to Istanbul. It will be announced “when we receive instructions from the president. So far, there have been no such instructions,” he explained.

On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that, during potential talks, Moscow wants to discuss “a sustainable settlement of the situation, first of all, by addressing the very roots of this conflict, resolving issues related to the denazification of the Kiev regime, ensuring recognition of the realities that have developed recently, including the entry of new territories into Russia.” Ryabkov refrained from making any forecasts on the outcome of discussions, but stressed that Moscow is committed to negotiating “seriously and responsibly.”

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“The Ukrainian Constitution bars elections during wartime and requires that presidential authority pass to the speaker of parliament if no legal successor is chosen..”

• Zelensky Claims Ban On Russia Talks Doesn’t Apply To Him (RT)

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that a law he signed banning negotiations with Russia does not apply to him personally, after calling for a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky intends to travel to Türkiye later this week, where direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are expected to resume for the first time since Kiev suspended talks in 2022. He has insisted that Putin must attend the talks in person to prove that Moscow has a genuine interest in peace. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Zelensky rejected claims that his outreach contradicts Ukrainian law. A September 2022 decree, endorsed by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council and signed by Zelensky, prohibits negotiations with Russia while Putin remains in office. The law was introduced as Kiev pursued a military victory in the conflict.

”It’s a Russian narrative that I cannot speak with Putin,” Zelensky said. “Nobody but me can conduct negotiations on sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, on our course.” Zelensky claimed in January that the ban was intended to prevent unauthorized negotiations by other Ukrainian officials, particularly to curb separatist influences and “shadow” negotiation channels. Russian officials have pointed to the law as evidence that Kiev is unwilling to engage diplomatically. The Ukrainian Constitution bars elections during wartime and requires that presidential authority pass to the speaker of parliament if no legal successor is chosen. Zelensky’s presidential term expired last year, yet he remains in power, dismissing opponents as Kremlin sympathizers for questioning his legitimacy.

Moscow has described Zelensky’s political status as an internal Ukrainian matter but cautioned that any treaties he signs could be challenged for lacking legitimacy. US President Donald Trump, whose administration has offered to broker a peace deal between Kiev and Moscow, has described Zelensky as “a dictator without elections.” The US has conducted multiple rounds of talks with Moscow and Kiev, promoting trust-building measures such as a 30-day moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure. Russia says its forces adhered fully to the plan, while accusing Ukraine of violating the partial ceasefire multiple times. US officials have called direct talks the next logical step in the Ukraine peace process. Senior American negotiators will reportedly observe the meeting in Istanbul. Kiev has urged its Western supporters to impose additional sanctions on Russia, should Putin decline to attend. Moscow has yet to confirm its delegation.

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Interesting view.

“..should a peace accord be reached during the negotiations, “I don’t know how long the Zelensky regime will [last]. It may fall apart.”

• Zelensky’s Regime Only Stable When At War – Former Senior UN Official (RT)

Vladimir Zelensky’s regime enjoys relative stability only because of the conflict with Russia, and so may be reluctant to seal a peace agreement with Moscow, former director-general of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Sergey Ordzhonikidze, has told RT. The untrustworthiness of the Ukrainian leadership will loom large for the Russian delegation during an expected meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Thursday, the veteran diplomat predicted on Tuesday. The talks were originally proposed last week by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who offered to resume direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev without any preconditions to reach a lasting settlement to the Ukraine conflict.

Zelensky has expressed his readiness to engage in dialogue with the Russian side, but has insisted that it be preceded by an unconditional 30-day ceasefire – a demand Moscow has repeatedly rejected. Zelensky has also said that he would only come to the meeting in Istanbul if Putin attends in person. Ordzhonikidze told RT that should a peace accord be reached during the negotiations, “I don’t know how long the Zelensky regime will [last]. It may fall apart.” “He obviously will have many internal problems because… he has some Nazi, fascist organizations that would [convict] him of betrayal,” he predicted, claiming that “it’s not a stable regime in the sense that it can be stable only during war.” The seasoned Russian diplomat also predicted that once Western leaders see Zelensky as a liability, they will get rid of him without a second thought.

History shows that months and in some cases even years of “homework” have underpinned successful negotiations. While overnight breakthroughs have also happened, much is determined by the level of trust between the parties concerned, Ordzhonikidze stressed. Ukrainian authorities have a poor track record in this respect, he told RT, citing the 2014-2015 Minsk agreements, which were supposed to grant Donetsk and Lugansk regions special status within the Ukrainian state, but were never implemented. ”Obviously, we need a country that would act like a… guarantor of the… possible agreement, if any at all,” Ordzhonikidze stated, noting that even if some nation, most likely the US, assumes the role, there is not much room for optimism as to whether Kiev would honor any agreement.

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“The first direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years..”

• Rubio and Witkoff Will Travel To Istanbul On Friday – Reuters (RT)

US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff has said he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Istanbul on Friday, according to Reuters. Earlier this week, Trump announced that US officials would take part in the upcoming talks on the Ukraine conflict. The first direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years are set to take place in the Turkish city on May 15. On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to resume dialogue to find a lasting settlement to the ongoing conflict that would address its root causes. Witkoff made the remarks on Wednesday while speaking to reporters in Doha, where he and Rubio are accompanying Trump on a state visit to Qatar as part of a broader Middle East trip.

Trump said on Tuesday that Rubio and other US officials would join the talks in Istanbul. A White House spokesman later clarified to reporters that Rubio, Witkoff and US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg would attend the negotiations. Trump, who had previously suggested he might attend in person, told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Qatar that his schedule would not allow it. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would be sending a delegation and expected Ukraine to do the same. Kiev stated previously that Vladimir Zelensky would only talk directly to the Russian president. On Wednesday evening, the Kremlin named its delegation for the talks, to be led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who also headed the Russian side during negotiations in Istanbul in 2022.

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Kellogg’s an fool. Dump him. “Russia has rejected the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine in any form..” And look at what Kellogg talks about: NATO troops in Ukraine. He’s like the anti-Witkoff.

• Trump Envoy Kellogg Reveals NATO Troop Deployment Plans For Ukraine (RT)

Washington is in talks with its European NATO allies about deploying military contingents to Ukraine as part of a possible post-conflict settlement, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Keith Kellogg, has said. A group of European NATO member states has for months been seeking to muster a force to be deployed to Ukraine as part of a so-called “coalition of the willing,” purportedly in a post-conflict peacekeeping role. Russia has repeatedly warned it would treat any foreign troops on Ukrainian soil as legitimate targets, saying such a move could escalate the conflict. Speaking to Fox Business on Tuesday, Kellogg said troops from France, Germany, the UK, and Poland could be part of what he described as a “resiliency force.” “This is a force referred to as the E3, but it’s actually now the E4 – when you include the Brits, the French, and the Germans, and in fact, the Poles as well,” he said.

Kellogg added the troops would be positioned west of the Dnieper River, placing them “outside the contact zone.” “And then to the east you have a peacekeeping force, and what it would look like with a third party involved with that. So, you can actually monitor a ceasefire; we have this thing pretty well planned out,” he said. The remarks come as preparations are underway for possible direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul. Kellogg and Steve Witkoff, another senior envoy for US President Donald Trump, are reportedly expected to attend. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed conducting negotiations without preconditions in Türkiye on May 15. Vladimir Zelensky said he was ready to meet Putin on Thursday, but insisted that any talks should be preceded by the start of a 30-day ceasefire.

Moscow has repeatedly ruled out this suggestion, saying such a pause would give Kiev an opportunity to regroup militarily and renew hostilities. On Monday, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the UK, along with the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas, issued a joint statement after talks in London. They pledged “robust security guarantees for Ukraine,” including “exploring the creation of a coalition of air, land, and maritime reassurance forces that could help create confidence in any future peace and support the regeneration of Ukraine’s armed forces.” Russia has rejected the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine in any form. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said it would pose a direct threat to Russia. Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu has warned it could trigger World War III, potentially involving nuclear weapons.

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He has no business there at all.

• US Opposes Zelensky Attendance At NATO Summit (RT)

The US is against inviting Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to the NATO summit in The Hague next month, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous diplomatic sources. Kiev has long sought membership in the US-led military bloc – something Russia considers a fundamental threat to its national security. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly described the prevention of such a scenario as one of Moscow’s top objectives in the Ukraine conflict. Since assuming office in January, US President Donald Trump has on multiple occasions ruled out Ukraine’s accession to NATO in the foreseeable future. In its article, ANSA reported that “for now… a NATO-Ukraine Council at the level of leaders is not planned,” adding, however, that no final decision has been made yet.

According to the publication, Kiev could participate in some of the meetings on June 24-25, but only at the level of foreign and defense ministers. The Italian outlet reported that for the time being the only non-member states that have received invitations are Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. ANSA also reported that “at the moment, a very concise program is expected at the summit, in contrast to what has happened in recent years, to avoid possible friction with Donald Trump.” Zelensky joined NATO leaders for sessions of the NATO-Ukraine Council at the 2023 Vilnius Summit and the 2024 Washington Summit.

Also on Wednesday, Bloomberg quoted unnamed diplomats familiar with the matter as saying that membership for Ukraine will not be on the agenda during the upcoming gathering in the Netherlands, with the main focus expected to be on ramping up defense spending. The outlet similarly reported that the NATO summit in June will likely be shorter than the previous meetings.Speaking during a press conference last Friday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that “we never agreed that, as part of a peace deal, there would be guaranteed NATO membership for Ukraine.” He emphasized that Ukraine’s accession to the bloc had been agreed upon by its members, but “for the longer term, not for the peace negotiations ongoing at the moment.” Rutte noted, however, that NATO maintains close cooperation with Kiev with respect to military aid and personnel training.

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“Western Europe, once a central pillar of global diplomacy, appears to be in the final phase of its strategic decline – a region now better known for procedure than power.”

• The Unraveling of The Old World Order And The Role of Russia (Bordachev)

The day is not far off when the very notion of “international order” will lose its former meaning – just as happened with the once-theoretical concept of “multipolarity.” Originally conceived in the mid-20th century as a way to balance power among great states, multipolarity now bears little resemblance to what its originators had in mind. The same is increasingly true of international order. In recent years, it has become commonplace to say that the global balance of power is shifting and that previous leaders are no longer able to maintain their dominant positions. This much is obvious. No group of states today is capable of enforcing its vision of justice or order upon the rest of the world. Traditional international institutions are weakening, and their functions are being re-evaluated or hollowed out. Western Europe, once a central pillar of global diplomacy, appears to be in the final phase of its strategic decline – a region now better known for procedure than power.

But before we join the chorus, lamenting or celebrating the end of one era and the start of another, it is worth asking: what exactly is “international order”? Too often, this concept is treated as a given, when in fact it has always been a tool – one used primarily by states with both the means and the will to coerce others into accepting certain rules of the game. Historically, “international order” has been imposed by dominant powers capable of enforcing it. But today, emerging players outside the Western sphere – nations like China and India – may not be particularly interested in taking up that role. Why should they invest their resources in a vague, abstract idea that primarily served the interests of others?

The second traditional purpose of international order has been to prevent revolutionary upheaval. In the current strategic environment, this function is largely fulfilled not by institutions or diplomacy but by the simple fact of mutual nuclear deterrence. The handful of states with major nuclear capabilities – Russia, the United States, China, and a few others – are enough to keep general war at bay. No other powers are capable of truly challenging them in an existential way. For better or worse, that is what guarantees relative global stability.It is therefore naive to expect new great powers to be enthusiastic participants in building a new international order in the traditional sense. All past orders, including the current UN-centered one, emerged from intra-Western conflicts. Russia, while not a Western country in the cultural or institutional sense, played a decisive role in those conflicts – especially the Second World War – and was central to the global architecture that followed.

In fact, one could argue that the current international order, such as it is, was a product of Russia’s intervention in a Western civil war. It’s no coincidence that at the 1815 Congress of Vienna, Tsar Alexander I behaved not as one of many European leaders, but as a figure set apart – an “arbiter of Europe.” Russia has always seen itself this way: too large, too sovereign, and too independent to be just another node in someone else’s system. This is a key distinction. For Russia, participation in international order has never been an end in itself, but a means to preserve its own unique position in world affairs. That is something it has pursued with remarkable persistence for over two centuries.

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“..Russia has a far more productive engagement with many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America than with most in Europe.”

• Russia Doesn’t Need Western Approval To Shape Global History (Lukyanov)

The 9th of May Victory Day celebrations in Moscow once again captured international attention – despite the many other global events vying for the headlines. This wasn’t simply about pageantry or military symbolism. The Red Square parade was, as always, a statement: a public expression of one country’s position in the evolving global environment. Whether critics will admit it or not, events like this provoke reactions – and that in itself signals relevance. Eighty years after the end of the Second World War, the memory of that conflict is being viewed through new lenses. It was, undeniably, a world war – its consequences reshaped the international order. The creation of the United Nations was its most formal legacy, but the broader historical impact extended far beyond. The war marked the beginning of the end for the colonial system.

From the late 1940s onward, decolonization accelerated rapidly. Within three decades, colonial empires had all but disappeared, and dozens of new states emerged across Africa, Asia, and elsewhere. Their paths varied, but they fundamentally changed the structure of global politics. Looking back from 2025, one could argue that this wave of decolonization – driven by the global South – was no less historically important than the Cold War or the bipolar superpower confrontation. Today, the role of the so-called “global majority” is expanding quickly. These nations may not dominate the international system, but they increasingly form a vibrant, influential environment in which all global actors must operate. The presence of guests from Asia, Africa, and Latin America at this year’s parade in Moscow was a symbolic confirmation of that shift.

It signaled that the world has definitively moved beyond the Cold War structure, which framed international life around a North Atlantic-centric axis. Equally important was the fact that this reconfiguration was highlighted in Moscow – through Russia’s own initiative. It reflected not just commemoration, but transformation. A similar event is expected in Beijing in September to mark the end of the war in the Pacific theater. Together, these ceremonies highlight how the geopolitical center of gravity is gradually shifting away from its traditional Western base. As time distances us from the largest war in human history, its meaning doesn’t diminish. On the contrary, it reappears in new forms. Like it or not, memory has become a political force. It increasingly defines which community a country belongs to. Each nation has its own version of the war – and that’s to be expected. This isn’t revisionism. It’s the natural result of different historical experiences shaped under different conditions.

There will never be a single unified narrative of the past, and attempts to impose one are not only unrealistic but dangerous. The focus should be on finding compatibility between differing interpretations, not enforcing uniformity. Using memory as a political weapon erodes the foundations of peaceful international coexistence. This issue is particularly relevant for the global majority, which may one day voice its own historical claims more loudly – especially against former colonial powers in the West. In this context, the growing divergence between Russia and Western Europe over the legacy of the Second World War cannot be ignored. Efforts to preserve and defend Russia’s interpretation of the conflict are vital – not to convince others, but for domestic coherence and national identity. Other countries will write their own histories, shaped by their own interests. That cannot be controlled from the outside. The real issue is whether differing historical narratives can coexist. And on this front, it turns out that Russia has a far more productive engagement with many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America than with most in Europe.

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“Just two-months ago, Ahmad al-Sharaa remained designated as an al-Qaeda terrorist by the United States Government, there was a $10 million-dollar bounty on his head. Yesterday, as Syria’s interim President, Ammad al-Sharaa shook hands with President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia.”

• Trump Shocks the World – Again (Spencer)

Trump has done it again. That much is clear. He has outmaneuvered and out-thought everyone else, and did what many others assumed to be impossible. But what exactly has he done? On Wednesday morning, during his trip to Saudi Arabia, Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who from 2017 until January of this year, was known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani. Al-Sharaa was the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the “Syrian Liberation Group,” a Sunni jihad group that had been linked to al-Qaeda and was working to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In January 2025, HTS finally attained its goal. Assad fled to Russia. Al-Julani took control in Damascus and announced that he was establishing a regime that would respect the rights of all Syrians. He insisted that he had broken with al-Qaeda years before, and to signify that he was a new man, he shed his nom de guerre and reverted to his birth name. He trimmed his beard, took off his fatigues, and donned a suit.

Yet almost immediately, al-Sharaa’s attempts to construct a new image for himself foundered upon harsh reality. His forces were involved in mass killings of members of the Alawite sect. Since Bashar Assad was an Alawite, this sect was associated with the old regime. As recently as March 7, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that al-Sharaa was behind it: “Al-Julani took off his galabiya, put on a suit, and presented a moderate facade. Now, he has removed the mask, revealing his true face: a jihadist terrorist from the Al-Qaeda school, committing atrocities against the Alawite civilian population.” Al-Sharaa, however, condemned the killings and vowed to punish those responsible, even if they were his own men, saying: “Syria is a state of law. The law will take its course on all. We fought to defend the oppressed, and we won’t accept that any blood be shed unjustly, or goes without punishment or accountability, even among those closest to us.”

How since is al-Sharaa? Is he still a jihadist, practicing Muhammad’s dictum, “War is deceit”? Or does he genuinely wish to establish a regime in Syria that will ensure the rights of all people? Donald Trump is giving him a chance to put up or shut up. Trump made it clear throughout the 2024 presidential campaign: he was determined to end the cycle of endless wars and establish a new era of peace. He repeatedly made it clear that this would involve challenging what the foreign policy establishment has long held to be unquestionable truths, and finding new ways to reach accords with previously hostile entities based on common interests. In many ways, Trump’s meeting with al-Sharaa is as momentous, and could be more momentous, than his first-term overtures to Kim Jong Un. The two meetings come from the same wellsprings: Trump is attempting to break longstanding logjams and end the status quo that the foreign policy establishment, both inside the U.S. and elsewhere, had come to take for granted.

NBC News reported Wednesday that Trump announced: “We are currently exploring normalizing relations with Syria’s new government, as you know, beginning with my meeting with President Ahmed al-Sharaa.” Yet he is not proceeding without asking certain things of al-Sharaa as well. NBC reported that he “encouraged Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to recognize Israel’s statehood.”Trump explained to al-Sharaa that he had “a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country.” The president “urged the Syrian leader to sign on to the Abraham Accords.” He “also advised Sharaa to tell foreign terrorists to leave Syria, deport Palestinian terrorists, help the U.S. prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State and assume responsibility for Islamic State detention centers in Syria’s northeast.” Trump declared that he wanted to give Syria “a chance at greatness.”

So Trump wants to make peace with old foes based on mutual economic interests. He is giving al-Sharaa a chance to demonstrate that he really is no longer a jihadi and wants to build a stable and prosperous Syria. It could happen. The global jihad, although it is ignored everywhere, continues nevertheless. It never goes away. Individuals and states, however, can and do put it aside for considerable periods in order to pursue other interests. A reminder of how difficult this will be, however, came in the fact that, as NBC noted, “Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was also present and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined by phone.” The presence of Erdogan on the phone was a reminder that al-Sharaa has been propped up by Turkish forces, and that many see his forces in Syria as a tool of Erdogan’s interests in restoring the Ottoman caliphate.

This is a matter Trump may well have to deal with before too long. Whether or not al-Sharaa is sincere in renouncing jihad, Erdogan seems to be moving in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, Trump’s attempt to create peace based on common interests and move beyond the present logjam is as welcome as it is audacious. Once again, Trump appears to be way ahead of everyone else, as he was when he established the Abraham Accords even as John Kerry was confidently telling the world that such a thing was impossible. The establishment will howl at Trump’s meeting; that’s only to be expected. The president, meanwhile, is moving ahead with astonishing vision, immense confidence, and considerable imagination. The peace and stability of the Middle East, and of the entire world, are riding upon his success.

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Orders: $200 billion. Qatar GDP: $200 billion. “Qatar and the US also signed a commitment to generating $1.2 trillion worth of economic exchange..”

• Qatar Commits To “Largest Order Of Jets In The History Of Boeing” (NYP)

President Trump announced Wednesday that the Qatari government had committed to the “largest order of jets in the history of Boeing” — touting the transaction despite trashing the American company earlier this week for its slowness in delivering a new Air Force One. Trump said the oil and gas-rich monarchy, which has offered to provide the US president with a luxury “palace on wings,” committed to spending $160 billion on the planes as part of a broader $243.5 billion economic pledge. “We’re going to see some of it in action tomorrow…. it’s going to be an air fair,” Trump said during a meeting with the country’s leaders shortly after he arrived in the ultramodern capital on the shores of the Persian Gulf. Wednesday evening, at a state dinner in Trump’s honor, the president said that the investments could ultimately generate $1.2 trillion in economic activity.

“Working together, we can help the entire region unlock its potential,” Trump told his host, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. “You have unbelievable potential here, such great, such rich land, such beautiful, magnificent — it’s just a magnificent place, and you’re unlocking its potential.” Moments earlier, the emir had said Trump’s decision to visit Qatar on the first major overseas trip of his second term “was no mystery.” “Yes, the United States is a superpower, boosting the largest economy and military force in history,” al-Thani said. “Meanwhile, Qatar is one of the smallest countries with one of the smallest populations, and as the Americans in the room know, DC is almost 7,000 miles away from here, but my friends, small nations have their own superpowers, resilience, nimbleness, and we are a powerful agent for peace precisely because of our size.”

A White House fact sheet describing the new business deals said that “Boeing and GE Aerospace secured a landmark order from Qatar Airways, a $96 billion agreement to acquire up to 210 American-made Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft powered by GE Aerospace engines.” The release described the transaction as “Boeing’s largest-ever widebody order and largest-ever 787 order. This historic agreement will support 154,000 U.S. jobs annually, totaling over 1 million jobs in the United States during the course of production and delivery of this deal.” The reason for the discrepancy between the topline plane-sale figures cited by Trump and the fact sheet was not immediately clear. Trump hailed what he called a “very special relationship” with Qatar, even likening one royal to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, calling both men “tall handsome guys.”

Qatar, which hosts more than 10,000 US military forces at Al Udeid Air Base just outside Doha, has forged a close relationship with Trump dating to his first term, when American advisers helped broker a deal to end a Saudi-led blockade of the peninsular nation. Qatar has offered to give Trump a luxuriously upgraded Boeing 747-8 worth an estimated $400 million, drawing bipartisan pushback. That jet, currently parked in the US, won’t be presented during the visit, the White House says. Trump has repeatedly defended the proposed transaction, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Tuesday night: “We’re the United States of America – I believe that we should have the most impressive plane.” “Some people say, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t accept gifts for the country.’ My attitude is, why wouldn’t I accept a gift?” the president added. “We’re giving to everybody else, why wouldn’t I accept a gift? Because it’s going to be a couple of years, I think, before the Boeings are finished.”

On Monday, Trump told reporters at the White House that he was “very disappointed” in the timetable for the delivery of two US-made jets, currently set for 2027 and 2028. “They’re way behind,” he said. “They were way behind, another mess that I inherited from Biden, and it’s going to be a while before we get them.” Qatar and the US also signed a commitment to generating $1.2 trillion worth of economic exchange in the years to come, without specifying details. Massachusetts-based Raytheon will receive $1 billion from Doha for access to the company’s counter-drone capabilities, making Qatar the first in the world to obtain Raytheon’s Fixed Site – Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aerial System Integrated Defeat System (FS-LIDS), dedicated to attacking unmanned aircraft.

Qatar will also pay San Diego-based General Atomics nearly $2 billion deal to acquire the company’s MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft system. The two countries also outlined future potential security deals amounting to $38 billion, according to a White House readout.“These new agreements and instruments aim to drive the growth of the U.S.-Qatar bilateral commercial relationship, create thousands of well-paying jobs, and open new trade and investment opportunities for both countries over the coming decade and beyond,” the administration said. On Tuesday, Trump signed deals securing $600 billion worth of investments with Saudi Arabia — with more agreements expected when the president visits the UAE for the final stop of his trip.

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“The anti-Trump economic narratives haven’t just failed; they’ve completely collapsed.”

• Every Anti-Trump Economic Narrative Is Collapsing (Margolis)

Remember how the liberal media and Democrats warned that Donald Trump’s economic policies would bring about financial armageddon? How many times have they been proven wrong? I haven’t been keeping track, but they’ve been proven wrong once again. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. When Trump was president from 2017 to 2021, we experienced one of the strongest economies in our nation’s history until COVID hit. The liberal media spent four years trying to convince us that Barack Obama deserved credit for Trump’s economic success, and then it spent the last three years insisting that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris deserved credit for the post-COVID recovery. The media’s latest effort was to convince the public that Trump’s tariffs were going to cause prices to soar and send us into a recession. Even the liberal media has had to admit that that just ain’t happening.

“Prices climbed at an unexpectedly slow pace last month, offering a boost to President Donald Trump, whose aggressive trade policies have sparked fears of a resurgence in inflation,” Politico reported on Tuesday. “The Labor Department on Tuesday reported that prices rose at an annual rate of 2.3 percent, the smallest increase since early 2021. While price growth in so-called core sectors of the economy — which exclude volatile food and energy costs — remained elevated at 2.8 percent, April’s Consumer Price Index contained only scant evidence that Trump’s tariffs have meaningfully driven up the cost of living.” Even though tariff rates have fallen since the administration negotiated a temporary détente with China, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said Monday that the administration’s new taxes on imports are still “pretty high” and that she expects inflation to rise and growth to slow soon.

So far, that hasn’t happened. Few economists had expected that overall inflation surged last month. But there was broad anticipation that Trump’s levies on Chinese imports, steel and aluminum and certain Canadian and Mexican products had caused prices for apparel, electronics and other consumer goods to spike. If anything, the opposite occurred: The cost of clothing and new cars — two areas that were highly exposed to Trump’s initial levies — both fell. Similarly, inflation hit its lowest level since 2021. It certainly pained CNN to report that. And remember that recession experts told us was totally happening this year? JP Morgan is no longer predicting that it will happen. Of course, Politico was not only disappointed that the bad predictions of the Trump economy didn’t pan out, but it also lamented how this will embolden Trump.

“The CPI report will likely bolster the administration’s claims that grim forecasts for the economy have been overblown,” the paper groaned. The report will also amplify Trump’s calls for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates. Powell and other Fed policymakers have warned that the rapid escalation of import costs may soon cause consumer prices to spike and that the central bank needs to keep inflation at bay.n And many economists still expect inflation to rebound in the coming months. Analysts at Citi say they expect the personal consumption expenditures index — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — to climb by 3 percent by the end of the year. While that is less than their previous forecast for 3.5 percent inflation, it’s still well above the Fed’s annual target of 2 percent. The anti-Trump economic narratives haven’t just failed; they’ve completely collapsed.

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Trump just announced a tariff deal offer from India. The big ones first, the rest will follow.

• Trump Economy Defies ‘Gloom And Doom’ Expectations (Whedon)

With April’s inflation report coming in below forecasts, the Trump economy appears to be defying analysts’ and politicians’ predictions of collapse in the wake of his “Liberation Day” tariffs and subsequent trade negotiations. As Trump adds more notches to his belt in deals with key trade partners, the stock market has rebounded to pre-tariff levels, even while many tariffs remain largely in place on major economies such as China and the UK. In April of this year, former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the developments of Trump’s tariffs point to “a loss of confidence in U.S. economic policy” and called the tariffs “the worst self-inflicted policy wound I’ve ever seen in my career inflicted on our economy […] they are “doing immense damage.” Trump, on April 2, announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on nearly every nation, imposing a “reciprocal” rate calibrated to address the American trade deficit with each nation.

The tariffs far exceeded what analysts had expected, and the stock market was sent reeling for days. Trump himself reshared a video suggesting that he deliberately crashed the market to force an interest rate cut to allow the government to refinance its debt at a lower rate. Bond markets bucked at the move and Trump ultimately announced a 90-day pause on most tariffs to pursue trade agreements, though he left in place a 10% baseline and kept China’s above 100%. Markets gradually recovered, and major indices have since exceeded their April 1 closes. Boosting some of that movement have been trade deals with the United Kingdom and China, two of the biggest American trading partners. Both deals resulted in lower import tariffs on American goods and higher import tariffs on goods from those nations, marking net gains for the U.S. in Trump’s bid to rebalance trade.

Read together, multiple indicators suggest that the Trump economy defied expectations and that the trade policies did not adversely damage the nation’s overall economic health. If the trend continues, Trump will have fulfilled what politicians call “dinner table” issues for millions of Americans. Inflation fell to an annualized rate of 2.3% in April, down from the March figure of 2.4%. Analysts had expected it to hold steady. January’s inflation rate stood at 3.0%, and the figure has marked a steady decline since Trump took office. Inflation reached a high of 9.1% in July 2022 in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the issue was a leading factor in driving down President Joe Biden’s approval rating in subsequent years. Trump campaigned extensively on the issue, saying he would bring inflation down through energy production.

[..] After more than a month of negotiations, Trump confirmed last week that he had reached an agreement on trade with the United Kingdom, marking the first substantive deal since Liberation Day. “The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come,” Trump said on Truth Social ahead of the formal agreement. The agreement left in place the 10% reciprocal tariff and subjected imported vehicles from the UK to a 25% tariff after the first 100,000. In 2024, UK automakers only exported 106,000 cars to the United States. In turn, the UK lowered its tariff rates on U.S. goods from 5.1% to 1.8%. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made a phone cameo at the announcement, saying “there are no two countries that are closer than our two countries that now we take this into new and important territory by adding trade and the economy to the closeness of our relationship.”

The most aggressive — and widely reported — trade standoff came with China, as Trump left high tariffs in place even as he paused those on most other nations for 90 days. Boosting market sentiment, this week Beijing and Washington reached an agreement to substantially lower their tariffs, with the U.S. setting its rate at 30% for imported Chinese goods and the Chinese dropping theirs to 10%. “This initiative aligns with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries and serves the interests of both nations as well as the common interests of the world,” the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement republished by PBS. PBS added that “The ministry called the agreement an important step for the resolution of the two countries’ differences and said it lays the foundation for further cooperation.”

“The consensus from both delegations this weekend is neither side wants a decoupling,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the time. “And what had occurred with these very high tariffs … was an embargo, the equivalent of an embargo. And neither side wants that. We do want trade.” Trump on Tuesday signed an agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and secured $600 billion in investment pledges during his trip to that nation. Another possible indicator of economic vibrancy is the pace of U.S. vacation travel. The American Automobile Association (AAA) this year expects a record 45.1 million Americans to travel for Memorial Day, according to a press release. The organization also predicted a 2% hike in air travel over the weekend.

Since January 2025, the U.S. economy has also steadily added jobs, including a gain of 143,000 in January and 177,000 in April. The unemployment rate has remained steady at 4.2%, with the Department of Labor reporting that the economy added 177,000 jobs in defiance of expectations. In March, the economy added 228,000 jobs. Bloomberg News reported that JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Tuesday dropped its recession call for 2025, saying “[t]he administration’s recent dialing down of some of the more draconian tariffs placed on China should reduce the risk that the US economy slips into recession this year.” JPMorgan’s Chief US Economist Michael Feroli was optimistic but guarded, saying “We believe recession risks are still elevated, but now below 50%.”

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21 days’ notice, in English and Spanish. For gang members?

• Federal Judge Says Trump’s Invocation of Alien Enemies Act Was Legal (ET)

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that President Donald Trump validly invoked the Alien Enemies Act in March as part of an effort to deport Venezuelan gang members. More specifically, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines held that the gang—Tren de Aragua (TdA)—was engaging in the type of “predatory incursion” that the Alien Enemies Act mentions. In an opinion issued on May 13, Haines noted that TdA has been designated a foreign terrorist organization. That designation, she said, “heavily supports the conclusions … that TdA is a cohesive group united by a common goal of causing significant disruption to the public safety of the United States.”Three other district court judges have ruled against the Trump administration, finding that a proclamation Trump issued in March misapplied the law. Each of those judges disagreed with Trump’s description of TdA as engaging in an invasion or predatory incursion.

Trump invoked the law in March, stating that TdA gang members had infiltrated the Venezuelan regime and invaded the United States, justifying their expedited removal. “Evidence irrefutably demonstrates that TdA has invaded the United States and continues to invade, attempt to invade, and threaten to invade the country; perpetrated irregular warfare within the country; and used drug trafficking as a weapon against our citizens,” Trump’s March 15 proclamation reads. In a federal court in New York City, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein disagreed. On May 6, he found that TdA members “do not seek to occupy territory, to oust American jurisdiction from any territory, or to ravage territory. “In April, the Supreme Court intervened twice in related cases, but without ruling on whether the administration had properly invoked the Alien Enemies Act.

Instead, it halted some deportations in a brief order on April 19, and told the administration on April 7 that it must provide suspected gang members with notice that they are subject to removal, as well as an opportunity to challenge their detention. It specified that “the notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief,” which is a legal avenue for challenging one’s detention. Haines also issued an order on May 13 that stated the administration had provided insufficient notice to detainees. She said that the administration couldn’t remove a Venezuelan national who had brought the lawsuit in Pennsylvania unless it provided 21 days’ notice, among other things. Her order also required that the notice be provided in English and Spanish.

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Too complex for senators and congress(wo)men.

• Average Americans Poised for Double-Digit Tax Cuts In 2027 (ZH)

A sweeping Republican tax overhaul proposal, estimated to deliver double-digit percentage reductions in tax bills for average-income Americans, is drawing mounting opposition in the Senate over its accompanying cuts to health care and clean energy programs – underscoring the internal divisions complicating Republican efforts to advance a unified economic agenda. According to a new analysis from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), households earning between $30,000 and $80,000 would see their federal taxes drop by approximately 15 percent in 2027 under the House GOP plan. Americans earning between $15,000 and $30,000 would see an even steeper 21 percent decline – at least initially. But those same low-income earners would see their tax bills rise sharply in later years unless extended, with increases of 12 percent in 2029 and 20 percent in 2030, the JCT found.

The report attributed some of those changes to proposed reforms of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a benefit for low-income workers that Republicans argue is vulnerable to improper payments. While the report’s topline numbers have fueled Republican claims that the proposal is middle-class focused, Democrats seized on the overall distribution of tax cuts in dollar terms, Politico reports. Taxpayers earning more than $500,000 are slated to receive an aggregate cut of about $170 billion in 2027 – nearly triple the $59 billion going to households earning $30,000 to $80,000. The proposal has already provoked heated exchanges in the House Ways and Means Committee, where lawmakers debated the fairness and sustainability of the tax package. Democrats derided the bill as a boon to the wealthy, while Republicans pointed to new breaks for tips, overtime, and seniors as evidence of its broader appeal.

The report is not a complete picture of winners and losers under Republicans’ plans. It doesn’t include a potential deal among lawmakers to further increase the SALT cap, beyond a proposed $30,000 limit. The report also only looks at the tax side of Republican plans, and does not account for changes in spending programs, like Medicaid. -Politico. “It’s a trick,” said Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI). “You do it temporarily so you can get through the 2026 election” and “then these benefits for children and elders and workers disappear, while the tax benefits for the ultra-wealthy soar.” Yet beyond the debate over tax cuts, the House plan is facing stiff resistance in the Senate for how it proposes to offset some of the revenue losses: by slashing Medicaid and rolling back key clean energy incentives passed under the Biden administration.

A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate found that the House bill’s Medicaid reforms could result in 8.6 million people losing health care coverage, largely due to new work requirements, cost-sharing mandates, and restrictions on how states finance their Medicaid programs. Several Senate Republicans voiced concern over the health care implications, especially for rural areas. “These are working people in particular who are going to have to pay more,” said Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), referring to new cost-sharing rules. He warned that changes to provider taxes – which states use to draw federal Medicaid dollars – could reduce coverage in his state and strain rural hospitals. “I continue to maintain my position we should not be cutting Medicaid benefits,” Hawley said. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), said the proposed treatment of provider taxes “would be very harmful to Maine’s hospitals,” echoing concerns raised by other senators from rural and Medicaid-reliant states.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), also pointed to the disproportionate burden that Medicaid cuts would place on states like hers, calling the issue a key sticking point in ongoing Senate discussions. In addition to health care, some senate Republicans are also wary of the House’s aggressive plans to unwind tax credits for clean energy and hydrogen development, incentives championed in the Inflation Reduction Act and credited with bringing manufacturing investments and jobs to red and purple states alike. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), who faces a competitive reelection race next year, expressed concern over quickly ending climate initiatives – suggesting that the House language on energy tax rollbacks would need to be revised. “You can’t shock the markets by doing it all at once,” Tillis said of the proposed clean energy phaseouts. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) also flagged potential impacts to her state’s clean hydrogen initiatives, saying she would review the House’s plan to eliminate the 45V hydrogen production credit, which could affect nearly $1 billion in planned federal support for the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub.

The House GOP plan is expected to pass narrowly along party lines, but Senate Republicans made clear this week that the legislation will require significant changes to win broader support in the upper chamber. “We are coordinating very closely with our House counterparts,” said Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota. “We know they have to get 218 votes… but it’s likely we’ll have a Senate substitute.” As Republican leaders try to reconcile competing priorities — delivering tax relief, restraining federal spending, and maintaining political support in swing states — the path forward for the legislation remains uncertain. “How we navigate this,” said Murkowski, “is something we’re all trying to wander through.”

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“The so-called “Pfizergate” decision comes as a major embarrassment for the EU chief..”

Like she cares. In reality, she’s now free to do it again.

• Court Rules On Von Der Leyen’s Secret Covid Vaccine Deal Messages (RT)

The European Commission wrongly denied the media access to secret text messages between its president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the CEO of pharma giant Pfizer, exchanged during negotiations of a multi-billion dollar Covid-19 vaccine deal, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Wednesday. The so-called “Pfizergate” decision comes as a major embarrassment for the EU chief, who has responsibility for transparency and rule of law issues in the bloc. The case centers on a 2021 interview von der Leyen gave to the NYT in which she claimed she had been negotiating a deal for 900 million COVID vaccine shots with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla via sms messages. The NYT subsequently filed an access request for the messages, to which the EC claimed the texts, which have never been released, were not in its possession.

The court ruled that the EC “cannot merely state that it does not hold the requested documents but must provide credible explanations enabling the public and the Court to understand why those documents cannot be found.” It also criticized the Commission for failing to justify why the texts were not retained and to clarify how they were deleted. In response, the EC said it recognized the need for greater transparency and promised to issue a new decision with more detailed reasoning. It did not, however, commit to releasing the messages in question. The ruling can be appealed to the European Court of Justice. A similar CJEU judgment last July found that the EC lacked transparency in how it negotiated vaccine contracts with Pfizer and AstraZeneca. The deals, signed in 2020 and 2021 and worth approximately €2.7 billion ($3 billion), were shielded from disclosure to European Parliament members on the grounds of protecting commercial interests.

https://twitter.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/1922564484838609364

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Can’t make Trudy look bad!

• Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Signed Oath to Conceal COVID Info (YN)

Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, and nearly 30 senior federal health officials signed a confidential oath during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, pledging not to release information that could “embarrass” the Trudeau cabinet, according to internal records obtained through Access to Information requests. The oath, revealed by Blacklock’s Reporter, was part of a broader secrecy policy within the Public Health Agency and other government departments including Health, Industry, Foreign Affairs, and National Defence. Internal communications from 2020 show that vaccine supply manager Alan Thom voiced concern about the widespread requirement for federal managers to sign non-disclosure agreements, noting, “at a certain point the Department of Public Works determined individual non-disclosure agreements were no longer needed… as we are all covered through our responsibilities as public servants.”

The confidentiality agreement emphasized that any “unauthorized disclosure of confidential information… may result in embarrassment, criticism or claims against Canada and may jeopardize Canada’s supplier relations and procurement processes.” Managers acknowledged their ongoing obligations under the Values And Ethics Code For The Public Sector, according to the documents. The oaths were signed shortly after the Trudeau administration secured billions in COVID-19 vaccine contracts with companies including Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson, Medicago, and Sanofi. Dr. Tam, a longtime proponent of mass vaccination, oversaw public messaging during the rollout. The first mRNA vaccine to be approved in Canada was Pfizer’s BioNTech shot, authorized on December 9, 2020, followed closely by Moderna’s vaccine.

The approvals came after the Trudeau government granted vaccine manufacturers legal immunity from liability for adverse effects. Parliamentarians requesting to review those contracts were denied access. In response to growing reports of vaccine-related injuries, Canada launched its Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) in late 2020. As reported by LifeSiteNews, the program was created after legal protections were granted to pharmaceutical companies. A memo from Canada’s Department of Health now warns that VISP payouts are set to exceed the program’s original $75 million budget, prompting the federal government to allocate an additional $36 million. Despite dwindling public demand, the government continues to purchase new doses, even as its own statistics show widespread rejection of booster injections by Canadians. Compounding concerns, an inhalable mRNA vaccine—developed using fetal cell lines and funded by Ottawa—has now entered Phase 2 clinical trials.

Data from Statistics Canada also indicates that post-vaccine rollout, deaths attributed to COVID-19 and “unspecified causes” significantly increased, raising further questions about the long-term safety and effectiveness of the vaccine campaign. LifeSiteNews has compiled an extensive archive of research linking COVID mRNA injections to adverse events such as myocarditis, blood clots, and fertility issues. Additional findings highlight risks in children, while all currently available COVID shots have ties to abortion-derived fetal cell lines. With growing scrutiny over vaccine safety and government transparency, the revelation that Canada’s top public health officials signed agreements to avoid reputational harm to federal leadership adds another layer of controversy to the country’s pandemic response.

Oath

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“..European puppet leaders are planning to establish a “special tribunal” within the framework of the Council of Europe to judge Russia for “aggression” and other alleged crimes in Ukraine..”

• A New False Tribunal Is In The Making (Stephen Karganovic)

Kaja Kallas’ delusional and laughably ill-timed announcement, made the day after Russia’s 9 May Victory Day triumph in Moscow, that European puppet leaders are planning to establish a “special tribunal” within the framework of the Council of Europe to judge Russia for “aggression” and other alleged crimes in Ukraine jogs some memories from the Hague. ICTY, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, is located there, as the new Tribunal Kallas has mentioned will also be. This writer had spent some of the most interesting years of his life there. An enduring memory is former Serbian and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was abducted by the vassal regime installed in his country after the October 2000 colour revolution and sent to the Hague to be put on trial. During his initial appearance in the courtroom, addressing the judges and Prosecutor Carla del Ponte, Milosevic referred to the court as a “false tribunal.”

That phrase stuck in my mind. Milosevic’s English was adequate, but it was not flawless. Hence the picturesque turn of phrase he used. Had he been more fluent in idiomatic English he would have called it a “phony” or “bogus” tribunal. Instead he translated what he meant to say directly from his native Serbian with a result that was more amusing than academically precise. But no harm was done. In fact, under the circumstances the glaringly unidiomatic locution made his profound point even stronger. Regrettably, Kaja Kallas has not disclosed technical details about the projected Tribunal which should be made available before the credibility of this venture can be properly assessed. There are several parameters that must be established before any such “court” can be taken seriously.

The first of these is a clear definition of the new judicial body’s mandate. It is not enough merely to say that it shall deal with war crimes and crimes against humanity arising from the conflict in the Ukraine since February 2022. Whose crimes will be the subject of the court’s investigation and ultimately judgment? Kallas’ rationale behind the creation of this court raises serious issues in that regard. She refers exclusively to “Russian crimes,” a reference also echoed by EU Commission President Ursula van den Leyen and EU Rule of Law Commissioner Michael McGrath. Has no one else been observed committing crimes in Ukraine during the period under consideration, or perhaps going back a bit further, to 2014? If there are any lingering doubts concerning this matter, which directly impacts the Tribunal’s objectivity, they were settled by the clarification on the European Commission posted on its website:

“The Tribunal will have the power to investigate, prosecute and try Russian political and military leaders, who bear the greatest responsibility for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.”

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Plandemic

Ed Dowd: If this is true in humans we have a potential gigantic demographic time bomb globally. Just halt the jabs and investigate.

https://twitter.com/NicHulscher/status/1922329204336541772

Florida

Party

Cats
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1922379741539017148

Owl

Otomati

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle May 14 2025

May 142025
 
 May 14, 2025  Posted by at 10:00 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  53 Responses »


Marc Chagall Blue lovers 1914

 

• China Sent Secret Delegation To Washington 3 Weeks Ago To Negotiate Deal (ZH)
• Trump Not Going To Istanbul, Kremlin Downplays Direct Ukraine Peace Talks (ZH)
• Trump’s Top Officials Going To Türkiye For Russia-Ukraine Talks – Reuters (RT)
• Russia Continues To Prepare For May 15 Talks in Istanbul – Kremlin (Sp.)
• Not Talking To Putin Illogical – Witkoff (RT)
• How Our Country and Its History Were Stolen from Us (Donald Jeffries)
• Trump Can Still Lead Without a Third Term (Victor Davis Hanson)
• Trump Administration Is Exposing the Hubris of Institutional DEI (Stepman)
• EU Investigating MEPs Over Moscow Visit – Lawmaker (RT)
• Trump Torches Neocons, Emphasizes ‘Peace Through Strength’ Deal-Making (ZH)
• Netanyahu Blasts Media ‘Spin’, Says Trump Ties ‘Excellent’ (Cradle)
• Supreme Court Set to End Era of Nationwide Judicial Injunctions (Margolis)
• Here’s the Truth About the Qatar Jumbo Jet Story (Margolis)
• Labour and Tories are ‘Two Cheeks of the Same Backside’ – George Galloway (Sp.)
• UK PM Starmer Mercilessly Dragged For Telling Immigrants To Speak English (MN)
• US Pressure May Have Forced Germany To Drop Surveillance On AfD (RMX)
• Donald Trump Helped Ancient Russians Defeat Space Lizards (RT)

 

 

 

 

RT’s editor in chief erases Kellogg, says he needs a holiday. She’s right.

Debt based

New
https://twitter.com/FriendOfRussia/status/1921829503132663987

MacG

Why Trump offers asylum to white South Africans.
https://twitter.com/realMaalouf/status/1922044936406323432

Imran
https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/1922229596012921088

 

 

Macron, Merz, Starmer, Zelensky:
“Russia is desperate for a ceasefire”
… 5 minutes later…
“We suggest a 30 day unconditional ceasefire and we will continue to arm Ukraine in the meantime.”
… 5 minutes later …
“We demand that Russia accept the ceasefire”
… 5 minutes later …
“It’s Russia who is losing and is desperate to rearm.
… 5 minutes later …
“Why is Russia ignoring our ceasefire demand?”

 

 

 

 

“While Vowing It Would “Never Talk To Trump”.

• China Sent Secret Delegation To Washington 3 Weeks Ago To Negotiate Deal (ZH)

Recall that on April 25 we reported something which no other US media outlet carried, namely that a “Chinese Delegation Spotted Entering Treasury Department” in a meeting shrouded in secrecy as China “Demanded All Photos Be Deleted.” Naturally, we suggested that this was an overture to China offering an olive branch to the Trump admin on US soil in hopes of reaching a trade deal, a speculation which the TDS-crowd fumed over. It turns out we were right, and as the FT writes, “the first meeting to break the US-China trade deadlock was held almost three weeks ago in the basement of the IMF headquarters, arranged under cover of secrecy.”

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who was attending the IMF spring meetings in Washington, met China’s finance minister Lan Fo’an to discuss the near complete breakdown in trade between the world’s two biggest economies, according to people familiar with the matter. The previously unreported encounter was the first high-level meeting between US and Chinese officials since Donald Trump’s inauguration and the launch of his tariff war. The Treasury declined to comment on the secret meeting. The talks culminated this weekend in Geneva with Bessent and He Lifeng, China’s vice-premier, agreeing a ceasefire that would slash respective tariffs by 115 percentage points for 90 days. All of the above is correct, except that the encounter was “previously unreported” – we reported here first on April 25 that on April 24 the Chinese were seen entering the Treasury department under a shroud of secrecy. :

The date April 24 is interesting for another reason: that’s the day Chinese state media vowed that it would not engage in trade talks without complete tariff surrender, with Yahoo News reporting that “China Slams the Door on Trump: No Trade Talks Without Total Tariff Surrender.” …

and at the same time also lying that there are “no negotiations with the Trump administration over tariffs”: And yet, amid all this propaganda, Beijing was secretly negotiating with the US just a few hundred feet from the White House, and the outcome would be the Geneva tariff deal which sent stocks soaring…. although anyone who had read our report and had put on a bullish trade long ago, would have made an absolute killing. Then again, one didn’t need the FT to confirm what we first reported three weeks ago: we could just listen to Chuck Schumer’s latest installment in his endless tirade of lies, and flip it…

https://twitter.com/Jules31415/status/1922125798414147706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1922125798414147706%7Ctwgr%5E9e8434e4e35c0c33b0b8d94eda5fe8670580952f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fmarkets%2Faaaaand-its-gone

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Zelensky is in the way.

• Trump Not Going To Istanbul, Kremlin Downplays Direct Ukraine Peace Talks (ZH)

The Kremlin on Tuesday affirmed that “the Russian side continues to prepare for the negotiations that are scheduled to take place on Thursday.” This after on Sunday Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to resume direct negotiations with Kiev, and proposed the Istanbul talks. Ukrainian President Zelensky then made a performative gesture – likely more meant to prove to the White House that he’s ‘willing’ – saying he’s ready to fly to Istanbul in person and urged Putin to do the same. Putin spokesman Dimitry Peskov when grilled by reporters on Tuesday downplayed the whole event, describing that direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul later this week are merely “still possible”. As for revealing the line-up for the Russian delegation, and who is expected lead, Peskov said “we will announce it as soon as the president [Putin] deems it necessary.”

Despite some sensational recent headlines and statements, one thing we can be sure will not happen is President Putin’s personal presence. And per the latest from Reuters, President Trump is not going to be there in Turkey either (after on Monday he actually floated the possibility). “All of us in Ukraine would appreciate it if President Trump could be there with us at this meeting in Turkey. This is the right idea. We can change a lot,” Zelensky had said. And Trump had responded by saying he was “thinking about actually flying over” – which would have to happen immediately on the heels of his big Gulf visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE. Zelensky has meanwhile insisted that any talks should be preceded by the start of a 30-day ceasefire – which Washington appears to be backing, but which the Kremlin has already rejected.

Really, all the talk of pushing to get Putin in Istanbul to negotiate in person was about generating mainstream media headlines like the following: Moscow worries that such a lengthy pause in fighting would only be used by Ukrainian forces to rearm and regroup along the front lines, at a moment they are exhausted and steadily losing ground. Peskov told reporters further, “[Western] Europe is, after all, entirely on Ukraine’s side. It cannot claim to have an unbiased approach… Its approach is not balanced, it is rather pro-war, aimed at continuing the fighting, which is in sharp contrast to the approach demonstrated, for example, by Moscow or Washington,” according to Russian media.

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Take out Zelensky -and the Europeans- and you can get a Putin-Trump meeting.

• Trump’s Top Officials Going To Türkiye For Russia-Ukraine Talks – Reuters (RT)

US President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to send Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg to Türkiye this week to attend the potential talks between Moscow and Kiev, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources. The talks, which are expected to be held in Istanbul on Thursday, were originally proposed last week by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who offered to resume direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev without any preconditions in order to reach a lasting settlement to the Ukraine conflict. Vladimir Zelensky has expressed his readiness to engage in dialogue with the Russian side, but has insisted that it be preceded by an unconditional 30-day ceasefire – a demand Moscow has repeatedly rejected. Zelensky has also said that he would only attend the meeting in Istanbul if Putin comes in person.

Trump has also supported the proposal to renew talks between Moscow and Kiev. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday ahead of his Middle East tour, the US President stated that he might even personally attend the negotiations in Türkiye, especially if Putin decides to attend. “I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen,” Trump said. “Don’t underestimate Thursday in Turkey,” he added. Moscow has not commented on the possibility of Putin traveling to Istanbul. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also has yet to confirm who would be representing Moscow during the talks, stating that the Russian president’s decision on the matter will be announced in due time.

According to Reuters, regardless of whether Putin, Zelensky or Trump decide to take part in the talks, Kellogg and Witkoff have been ordered to go to Istanbul on Thursday to attend the meeting. The outlet noted that the two senior advisers will not actually take direct part in the negotiations and will only play the role of observers. While it’s still unclear if the talks will actually take place and in what form, Peskov has stated that preparations for Thursday’s negotiations are underway. He has also ruled out the possibility of any of Kiev’s Western European backers taking part in the process, arguing that they are “entirely on Ukraine’s side” and “rather pro-war,” which excludes them from being considered “unbiased.”

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Oh, they’ll be ready. Just not to give in.

• Russia Continues To Prepare For May 15 Talks in Istanbul – Kremlin (Sp.)

Russia continues to prepare for negotiations with Ukraine scheduled for May 15 in Istanbul, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. “The Russian side continues to prepare for the talks, which are scheduled to take place on Thursday,” Peskov told reporters. The Kremlin will announce who will represent Russia at the Istanbul talks as soon as Russian President Vladimir Putin deems it necessary to announce this, the official added. Europe is entirely on Ukraine’s side and cannot claim a balanced approach in the negotiation process, Peskov added. “I suggest once again that you focus on the statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin. If we talk in general about Europe’s participation in such a key negotiating process, then since Europe is entirely on Ukraine’s side, it cannot claim an unbiased approach, a balanced approach,” Peskov told reporters when asked whether there is a place for European leaders at the negotiating table in Turkiye.

Europe’s approach to Ukraine is aimed at continuing the conflict and contrasts with the approach of Moscow and Washington, the official added. Russia does not accept biased conclusions made regarding the MH17 crash case, Kremlin spokesman said. On Monday, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Council named Russia as responsible for the downing of flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The Dutch cabinet said that the issue of compensation will be considered in the near future. “Our position is well known. You know that Russia was not a country that took part in the investigation of this incident. Therefore, we do not accept any biased conclusions,” Peskov told reporters.

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“There is no deal without President Putin’s sign-off.”

• Not Talking To Putin Illogical – Witkoff (RT)

Isolating Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to help resolve the Ukraine conflict, senior US negotiator Steve Witkoff has said, calling the approach lacking in logic. Western nations have attempted to marginalize Moscow diplomatically since the escalation of the conflict in 2022, but Witkoff, speaking to Breitbart News last week, criticized that approach. He emphasized the necessity of including all major players in the dialogue. ”We need to talk to any stakeholders in this conflict,” Witkoff said in the section of the interview published Monday. “There is no deal without President Putin’s sign-off.” US President Donald Trump’s special envoy added that he found it difficult to “understand the logic” of those who oppose direct engagement with the Russian leader.

The Trump administration’s current stance is that Russian and Ukrainian officials must be brought together physically so that the US can “show them that the alternatives to a peaceful resolution here are bad for everybody.” The Trump administration’s current stance is that Russian and Ukrainian officials must be brought together physically so that the United States can “show them that the alternatives to a peaceful resolution here are bad for everybody.” Putin last week reiterated Moscow’s call to resume negotiations that Kiev abandoned in 2022, proposing that talks be held again in Istanbul. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and several European NATO members have insisted that Russia first agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, warning that failure to do so will result in further sanctions. Russian officials say such a pause would give Kiev an opportunity to regroup militarily and renew hostilities.

Putin has offered to restart negotiations as early as Thursday. Zelensky has said he will go to Istanbul that day and expects Putin to come too. Witkoff emphasized that the US could step back from its mediating role if progress is not made. “The president has issued an ultimatum to both sides” to begin direct talks, he said. ”I think if the US pulls back from this conflict… that’s a bad result for everybody,” he added. “It’s bad for the Europeans. It’s bad for the Ukrainians. I don’t think it’s good for the Russians. I think the Russians actually do want a peaceful settlement.” Moscow has urged a comprehensive agreement that addresses what it sees as the root causes of the conflict, including a promise by NATO to eventually admit Ukraine and discriminatory policies by Kiev toward ethnic Russians.

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Paul Craig Roberts posted this piece on the popular statues of obese black women. I guess I have the author and title right, but I can’t be sure.

• How Our Country and Its History Were Stolen from Us (Donald Jeffries)

Recently, there has been a veritable epidemic of statues suddenly popping up all over the globe, depicting overweight Black females. This is decidedly odd, as the figures don’t represent a particular person of historical significance, but rather a modern “Woke” phenomenon of a brand of human being; the loud and proud Black woman.

[..] In New York City, there is now a twelve foot statue of an obese Black woman- sporting the distinctive hands on hip stance that has made them so beloved in America 2.0. The statue is nonsensically called “Grounded in the Stars.” As someone once said, if you want to gauge the health of a nation, look at its art. The statue provides a startling dose of “diversity,” in contrast to the statues of boring dead White guys Father Francis Duffy and songwriter George M. Cohan. This is the same New York City, of course, who over the past few years took down statues of Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson. The message is; an anonymous Black woman is more culturally and historically significant to this country than the most brilliant of our Founding Fathers, who wrote the Declaration of Independence. If that isn’t a slap in the face to the millions who are still asleep, I don’t know what would be.

The first question that should be asked is; why this curious campaign to install statues of fictional Black women? Who started it? Who is behind it? I seriously doubt that leaders in Italy and the Netherlands abruptly determined, independent of each other, that homage should be paid to a demographic group that has zero historical ties to either country. Now, the motivation is obvious. To further promote Black people. Well, any Black people who aren’t questioning the disproportionate power of a certain ethnic/religious group, that is. And to further diminish the historical greatness of formerly hallowed White leaders. And what about the White women? Why doesn’t Pakistan erect a statue of a fictional girl in a bikini? You could have her staring at her cell phone if you want. Nonwhite countries need cultural “diversity,” too, don’t they? Where are the statues of antiwar icon Jeanette Rankin, our greatest historical figure who identified as female?

It’s hard to tell how many Black female statues there are. A few years back, there were reports of them springing up in Roanoke, Virginia, and South Boston. There were already at least six statues of Harriet Tubman scattered across this country. I doubt that there are six statues of White women collectively in America. The most featured female on U.S. statues is the Indian squaw (yeah, I know- that’s probably “hate speech”) Sacagawea, who has an impressive sixteen of them. I guess statues are kind of like presidential candidates; only nonwhite women need apply. And yet White women can’t stop applauding. They may well like fat Black statues even more than transgender athletes. Roanoke, Virginia, which featured Virginia Dare, the first child born in America, vanished without a trace. The city still exists, and despite being on the edge of nearly all-White Appalachia, its only two statues are of Black figures.

The statue of Robert E. Lee that stood in the U.S. Capitol was scheduled to be replaced by a 2021 decree, in favor of a sixteen year old girl named Barbara Johns, who led a student walkout in Prince Edward County in 1951. It was something to do with racism, which they tell us was all the rage back then. One thing you know for sure is that Johns was Black. Virginia has a statue of Mary Todd Lincoln’s Black dressmaker Elizabeth Keckly, but not of Honest Abe’s overly emotional wife. So this explosion of Black female statues is not really new. They were already overrepresented. As one typically absurd “Woke” spokesperson put it, this is an effort to “confront preconceived notions of identity and representation.” It’s inevitable that one or more statues of Black women with suitably fat asses will pop up somewhere, to memorialize the fine art of twerking. We would not want future generations to forget that.

This well organized campaign comes on the heels of laughable propaganda that “Black women built this country.” What? I can’t think of any group that had less to do with building this country. Well, maybe Hispanics. After all, they weren’t here then. The very term had yet to be invented. Or Muslims. No, it was almost exclusively White males who built this country, backed by hearty and supportive frontier wives, mothers, and daughters. But it’s “racist” to even say that. And on top of that, there is the even more head shaking “Shut up! A Black woman is speaking!” This ridiculous expression is parroted most enthusiastically by self-loathing White women. This kind of insidious programming goes well beyond conventional Stockholm Syndrome. White women are not literally being held captive by Black women. This is just one of the reasons why I maintain at least 1/3 of White women today are clinically insane.

If they expand their horizons, there are plenty of worthy flesh and blood candidates to consider. Queen Latifah is certainly fat enough, and at least has displayed her lack of acting skills in a good number of IMDB credits. Stacy Abrams? She lost an election and is still complaining about it. And I don’t have to tell you that they don’t come any obesier in the Black community than her. Oprah? Imagine how excited the White women would be! Their “girlfriend,” who manipulated them to high ratings, and then dropped their racial and sexual comrade Hillary like a hot potato when Barack Obama declared for the presidency. It would take some skill to get the majesty and scope of Oprah’s giant behind just right, kind of like the Venus de Milo from a dark universe. And if you want to be inclusive of non-obese Black women, there’s Kamala. Perhaps Jasmine Crockett. And Michelle Obama can represent….well, you know.

Read more …

He just can’t be elected.

• Trump Can Still Lead Without a Third Term (Victor Davis Hanson)

You know, one of the most popular topics in the media is President Donald Trump is now a lame duck, even though he has basically a full term of four years. But if you read The Washington Post, even The Wall Street Journal, but especially The New York Times, the question is, can MAGA survive after Trump steps down? In other words, if I were to decode that, it was, “Please, please let’s end these crazy MAGA people because Trump won’t be around.” There’s arguments on both sides whether a popular movement can survive its creators. Obviously, the tea party from which MAGA drew a lot of its ideas as well as the candidacy of Ron Paul—the three candidacies, I should say—did not survive. Or it was incorporated or absorbed into MAGA. But it didn’t survive because it didn’t have a leader.

And when you look back at presidents of a party that have their own brand—Reaganism, for one example—they usually do not survive the tenure of the original president, even if the same party continues the administration. Ronald Reagan, he had a particular conservative strain of Republicanism that when he ran on two prior occasions, they said he wouldn’t be elected. He’s too conservative. Yet, when he stepped down, he proved that Reaganism was a very effective political ideology. And what happened? His handpicked successor, George H.W. Bush, almost as soon as he came into power, he said, “Read my lips. No new taxes.” And he raised taxes. And then you remember what he said? He said, “I want a kinder, gentler nation.” Nancy Reagan, the first former first lady, said, “Kinder and gentler than whom? Us?” So he didn’t really continue Reaganism.

Bill Clinton hit upon—I think partly with the input of Mark Penn, Dick Morris, Doug Schoen—a centrist Democratic way of government. Maybe it wasn’t as centrist as we think but it was pretty left-wing. But they were able to pass it off as centrist. It was a winning formula. Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 to succeed him. And what did Barack Obama do? He repudiated Clintonism and the Democratic Leadership Council. And he went hard to the Left. And the result of that is we got a destroyed or an irrelevant Democratic Party. So, when Trump steps down, there’s all of these arguments, pro and con, that MAGA will or will not survive. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a very effective governor. He had a sweeping victory in 2022. He embraced the MAGA agenda. And his argument was, “You can have MAGA but without the Trump legal liabilities.” But he wasn’t able to capture the popular imagination.

I’ll leave you with one last thought. Donald Trump has been trolling the media. In March he said—they asked him, “Would you like a third term?” “Uh, no. You know, you can’t do it. But my lawyers are working on it. They’re looking at it.” What he meant was the 22nd Amendment that was passed in 1951, right before the ascension of Dwight Eisenhower—no president shall be elected for more than two terms. No president shall be elected twice. That was a Republican reaction. They controlled the Congress for two of the four terms of FDR. It’s kind of ironic because Dwight Eisenhower would’ve been elected a third time probably and beat John F. Kennedy if he could have run a third time. But his party had precluded that idea right before he became president.

A lot of presidents think about it. Every successful president, the topic comes up. It came up with Reagan. It came up with Clinton. Obama, remember, said, “I’d like to phone in a third term, if I didn’t have to do the work.” He also said he was lazy. He confessed to that. Maybe that was why. But here’s my point. Trump was not serious at the time. He just wanted to either troll the press and media or he wanted to dispel the idea that he was a lame duck and just throw it out there that maybe he could be president a third time. Because if you look at the language of the 22nd Amendment, it doesn’t say you can’t hold office twice. It says you can’t be elected. Perhaps he could get a vice president—he could run as vice president. The president could resign.

And then, he would take over and hold office three times but not be elected. That was all fantasy. He was never going to do that. No voter would vote for a president to step down. Here’s my point, again. Donald Trump was trolling and he knows what makes the Left angry and confuses. And the worst thing that they fear is a third term. But just this May—just recently he was asked that question again. He said, “Of course I’m not gonna run for a third term. And who’s going to be the standard-bearer? I don’t know. I don’t wanna pick them. But we have an obvious vice president who’s a firm believer in MAGA. And we have Marco Rubio, a successful secretary of state, who could also serve.”

But the point, again, is he raised the question, “Will this MAGA doctrine continue after I leave? Will there be sunshine after the sun is gone?” In other words, to use a simile. And he’s saying, “I’m gonna be around. I’m gonna be a senior statesman. I’m going to endorse somebody. And I’m gonna ensure that that person, by the force of my ex-presidency and influence, shall abide by MAGA doctrines.” So no, Donald Trump is not going to seek a third term. And yes, I think the MAGA ideology of the Republican Party will stay with us for the near future.

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“This is the global elite smart set’s version of the gangbanger who sticks up a business and later posts pictures of himself on social media holding the gun in front of all the stolen goods..”

• Trump Administration Is Exposing the Hubris of Institutional DEI (Stepman)

Harvard University was likely in violation of civil rights law in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the school practically said so, proudly, on its public website. Now it is under federal investigation. The Washington Free Beacon’s Aaron Sibarium reported Monday that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency created to enforce civil rights law, launched an investigation into Harvard in late April over whether the school was (or continues to be) unlawfully hiring based on race and sex. It reportedly discovered this information based not on some deep investigation into the workings of the school, but from Harvard’s own public website.

“In public documents now deleted from Harvard’s website but still publicly available on web archives, Harvard admitted that in a span of ten years, it went from 59% of ‘all ladder faculty’ being white men to 49%, comparing that decrease in white men to an increase in the ‘total women, nonbinary, and faculty of color’ (i.e., all faculty other than white men) from 41% in 2013 to 51% in 2023,” the EEOC reported. It wasn’t just a case of apparent discrimination in its recent hiring practices, the EEOC claims. According to the report, “Harvard touted its success in changing its faculty demographics, noting in 2023 that its numbers of women and ‘people of color’ tenured was up 24% and 33% over ten years, with the percentage of each group tenured since 2022 (just one year) at 46%.” The report included a long list of potentially discriminatory student training programs too.

The EEOC noted that these practices didn’t come to an end in 2023. Again, why does it think this? Harvard straight up said so on its website. This is the global elite smart set’s version of the gangbanger who sticks up a business and later posts pictures of himself on social media holding the gun in front of all the stolen goods. Harvard has some ‘splainin’ to do. And it couldn’t come at a worse time as the Trump administration has not only put a hold on billions of dollars in federal grant money over civil rights violations but has even threatened to pull the university’s tax-exempt status. The Daily Signal reached out to Harvard for comment about the investigation. A spokesperson for the school pointed to a statement by Harvard President Alan Garber. “Employment at Harvard is similarly based on merit and achievement. We seek the best educators, researchers, and scholars at our schools,” Graber said.

“We do not have quotas, whether based on race or ethnicity or any other characteristic. We do not employ ideological litmus tests. We do not use diversity, equity, and inclusion statements in our hiring decisions.” What’s remarkable about this investigation is how unremarkable Harvard’s actions were. For the last decade at least, elite institutions of all kinds have been leaning into diversity, equity, and inclusion to the point of openly saying this is a key metric for hiring decisions. This trend only accelerated during the George Floyd riots and the Great Awokening. Besides a few outlets like The Daily Signal, there was relatively little criticism of this practice by the legacy media. The Biden administration seemed to outright encourage it as it engaged in its own, vast federal DEI initiatives and hiring practices.

Apparently, few institutions questioned whether this was strictly legal and assumed the federal government would always support discriminatory hiring in the name of racial justice. Even law firms were apparently unconcerned about the potential repercussions of DEI hiring. The EEOC on Monday, according to The Federalist, launched a complaint against nearly 50 of the country’s top law firms, accusing them of discriminating against white applicants to a summer fellowship program in the name of diversity. Again, this didn’t come from any kind of deep investigation. It came from a public website where Sponsors for Educational Opportunity bragged that it was “the nation’s only summer internship program for pre-law students of color.”

The Trump administration made it clear virtually from Day One that it considered these practices illegal and that the Justice Department would investigate “unlawful discrimination related to ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) in the workplace.” That produced a counterrevolution overnight. Many businesses were quick to drop DEI the moment they thought it was safe to do so. The study that provided the foundation for most DEI hiring practices has already been soundly debunked. The advantage DEI gave businesses is that it kept well-funded left-wing activists and the federal government off their backs. Remove those fears and add to it the potential for lawsuits and it’s easy to see why Big Business has been quietly extinguishing DEI.

Big Business was quickest to bail out when it became clear the political winds were changing. That process became a stampede after President Donald Trump was elected as even the wokest companies have begun dropping DEI quotas after openly touting them for years. Higher education is a special case, especially the most elite universities. They don’t just embrace DEI as an ideology to stay on the good side of a regime. They are the originators of the idea, the home of the true believers who would rather find increasingly clever ways to discriminate rather than follow the law.

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Q: who does the EU use for such investigations? They have no secret service.

• EU Investigating MEPs Over Moscow Visit – Lawmaker (RT)

A member of the European Parliament claims he and other lawmakers who recently traveled to Moscow are facing an EU investigation over their diplomatic outreach to Russia. Independent Cypriot MEP Fidias Panayiotou visited the Russian capital with other lawmakers during Victory Day celebrations, where he met with the chairman of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin. In a video posted to X on Monday, Panayiotou said his trip “was not liked at all in the European Parliament, and they have already started an investigation against us. ”Panayiotou has openly criticized the EU’s combative stance on Russia and the Ukraine conflict. He argues that Brussels should prioritize diplomacy over supplying weapons to Kiev.

During last Saturday’s meeting, Volodin lauded international dialogue that allows officials “understand each other and come up with decisions important for their peoples and states,” according to the State Duma’s website. Other guests at the Russian parliament reportedly came from Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Serbia. The Moscow visit coincided with Russia’s Victory Day commemorations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. The event drew 28 foreign leaders, including Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic – both of whom ignored threats from Brussels should they go.

“I consider today’s trip to Moscow to be extremely successful,” Fico said, noting he held talks with senior officials from Brazil, China, and other countries on the sidelines of the event.Vucic, speaking from Moscow’s Red Square, said he was proud to represent Serbia – an EU candidate – at the ceremony, even though he expected to face personal consequences from the EU for his attendance. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised visiting foreign leaders who attended Victory Day celebrations, calling them “leaders not through their office, but through strength of character, convictions, and readiness to defend those convictions.”

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“Trump also proclaimed that he ordered the cessation of US-Houthi hostilities in the Red Sea, after the Pentagon flexed its military might.”

There are different versions of that story. Some call it a humiliation.

• Trump Torches Neocons, Emphasizes ‘Peace Through Strength’ Deal-Making (ZH)

Some highlights of President Trump’s lengthy speech before the US-Saudi Investment Forum, wherein he frequently praised his Saudi host crown prince Mohammad bin Salman and advanced peace through deal-making…

Markets Rocking The stock market is “gonna go a lot higher.” He said “People should have listened. We’ve never had anything like this,” and he cited the “explosion of investment and jobs.” Business executives “weren’t that happy when they saw me,” a month ago, but changed their tune as markets rose,” Trump added. “We are rocking: The United States is the hottest country, with the exception of your country,” Trump said, pointing to MbS in the front row before him.

Saudi Arabia as Global Business/Tech Hub “Mohammed do you sleep at night? How do you sleep?” he said, addressing the crown prince. “Critics doubted it was possible, what you’ve done, but over the past eight years, Saudi Arabia has proved the critics totally wrong.” “…Instead, the birth of a modern Middle East has been brought by the people of the region themselves, the people that are right here, the people that have lived here all their lives, developing your own sovereign countries, pursuing your own unique visions and charting your own destinies in your own way.”

Silence befell the crowd as Trump said that it was his “fervent wish” that Saudi Arabia “will soon be joining the Abraham Accords” – but he ultimately conceded that the kingdom will do it in “it’s own time”. “It will be a special day in the Middle East, with the whole world watching, when Saudi Arabia joins us. And you’ll be greatly honoring me, and you’ll be greatly honoring all of those people that have fought so hard for the Middle East. And I really think it’s going to be something special — but you’ll do it in your own time. And that’s what I want, and that’s what you want, and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

Iran put on Notice “In the case of Iran, I have never believed in having permanent enemies. I am different than a lot of people think. I don’t like permanent enemies. Sometimes you need enemies to do the job, and you have to do it right. Enemies get you motivated,” Trump said. He continued, “I want to make a deal with Iran. I can make a deal with Iran. I’ll be very happy if we’re going to make your region and the world a safer place.” He offered a “much brighter future” if Tehran will do a deal. “If Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch and continues to attack their neighbors, then we will have no choice but to inflict massive, maximum pressure … and take all action required to stop the regime from ever having a nuclear weapon. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

Lifting Sanctions on Syria “Syria, they’ve had their share of travesty, war, killing in many years. That’s why my administration has already taken the first steps toward restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in more than a decade,” Trump said. “The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important — really an important function — nevertheless, at the time. But now it’s their time to shine,” he added. So I say, ‘Good luck, Syria.’ Show us something very special.” “Oh what I do for the crown prince,” Trump said [..]

Blasted NeoCons & Liberal Interventionists “In the end, the so-called ‘nation-builders’ wrecked far more nations than they built—and the interventionists were intervening in complex societies they did not understand,” Trump said. “The gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation-builders, neo-cons, or liberal non-profits like those who spent trillions failing to develop Kabul and Baghdad.” “In Syria, which has seen so much misery and death, there is a new government that we must all hope will succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace.”

Gaza, Yemen “The people of Gaza deserve a much better future,” Trump said. “But that will or cannot occur as long as their leaders choose to kidnap, torture and target innocent men, women and children for political ends.” Trump also proclaimed that he ordered the cessation of US-Houthi hostilities in the Red Sea, after the Pentagon flexed its military might.

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Bibi watches Trump in Riyadh and it makes him nervous.

BTW: I read Edan Alexander refused to meet with Netanyahu, but I see no details.

• Netanyahu Blasts Media ‘Spin’, Says Trump Ties ‘Excellent’ (Cradle)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that he has approved a negotiating delegation to travel to Qatar on Tuesday to participate in US-led prisoner exchange talks. The decision was announced after the embattled premier met with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Ambassador Mike Huckabee earlier in the day and spoke over the phone with US President Donald Trump. “I thanked President Trump for his assistance in the release of IDF soldier Edan Alexander. President Trump, for his part, reiterated his commitment to Israel and his desire to continue close cooperation with me,” Netanyahu wrote on social media.

“In my meeting with Envoy Witkoff and Ambassador Huckabee, we discussed the last-ditch effort to implement the outline for the release of the hostages presented by Witkoff, before the fighting escalates. To this end, I have instructed that a negotiating delegation be sent to Doha tomorrow,” Netanyahu added. He also said he had informed his US allies “that negotiations would only take place under fire.” Netanyahu’s announcement came a few hours after he rejected reports that a rift exists between him and Trump, calling his relationship with the US president “excellent.” “These spins – most of them are born here [in Israel.] They’re born in a certain media outlet that’s trying to promote a certain candidate. And in order to promote him, they need to say: ‘Trump and Netanyahu are no longer,'” Netanyahu said in a video posted on his X account.

https://twitter.com/IhabHassane/status/1922014395682488515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1922014395682488515%7Ctwgr%5E60727b8b582f72661326eb65488d00e38dbab088%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Fnetanyahu-blasts-media-spin-says-trump-ties-excellent-dispatches-hostage-negotiators

This comes as Israeli-US captive Edan Alexander was released by Hamas on Monday evening. Officials from Washington reportedly informed Tel Aviv that his release will kickstart a new round of prisoner exchange talks. Alexander’s release reportedly prompted a partial stop in Israeli army operations inside Gaza. “A significant number of military operations have indeed been halted. There are no airstrikes in Gaza, aside from a few attacks, and no drone reconnaissance flights over the Gaza Strip,” Israeli Army Radio had reported Monday morning.

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Set for Thursday. Not a done deal.

• Supreme Court Set to End Era of Nationwide Judicial Injunctions (Margolis)

The days of rogue district court judges hijacking executive authority may finally be numbered. On Thursday, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a consolidated case, Trump v. CASA, which challenges lower court rulings that blocked President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants. Despite the constitutional authority granted to the executive branch on immigration matters, three district judges issued sweeping nationwide injunctions halting the order. Now, the highest court may have the chance to rein in judicial overreach and restore balance between the branches of government. Since President Trump began his second term, liberal judges have weaponized nationwide injunctions against his administration an astonishing 17 times in just the first few months — and that’s only counting through late March 2025. This is nothing new, of course.

Even Newsweek seems to believe that the court will side with the Trump administration. “In recent years, some justices have expressed criticism of universal injunctions. Justice Neil Gorsuch, one of the court’s conservatives, argued in a 2020 concurring opinion that injunctions are “meant to redress the injuries sustained by a particular plaintiff in a particular lawsuit.” He said the “routine issuance of universal injunctions is patently unworkable, sowing chaos for litigants, the government, courts, and all those affected by these conflicting decisions” and that the court must address them. He also noted that nationwide injunctions mean that plaintiffs can shop around for the judge that is most likely to be sympathetic to their cause.”

“Because plaintiffs generally are not bound by adverse decisions in cases to which they were not a party, there is a nearly boundless opportunity to shop for a friendly forum to secure a win nationwide,” Gorsuch wrote. Even Justice Elena Kagan, one of the Court’s three liberal justices, has criticized broad nationwide injunctions and the blatant judge-shopping tactics used by plaintiffs to game the system.This shouldn’t be a partisan issue because Joe Biden’s outgoing Solicitor General, Elizabeth Prelogar, also filed a brief in December 2024 asking the Supreme Court to limit these broad orders despite knowing Trump would benefit from the decision. “In the Trump years, people used to go to the Northern District of California, and in the Biden years, they go to Texas,” Kagan said in 2022. “It just can’t be right that one district judge can stop a nationwide policy in its tracks and leave it stopped for the years that it takes to go through the normal process.”

Let’s be honest: Nationwide injunctions were never about judicial oversight. They’ve been the left’s go-to tool for blocking President Trump’s agenda through activist judges. With just one ruling, any of the hundreds of district court judges in the country can nullify federal policy they don’t like. Now, the left is panicking. Without these judicial shortcuts, they’ll have to argue their cases on the merits instead of in front of cherry-picked friendly judges. Even Vox admitted these injunctions were “the core of the resistance.” But that era may be ending. The Supreme Court looks poised to rein in this abuse of power and restore constitutional balance. For anyone who believes in law, not lawfare, this moment can’t come soon enough.

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“Qatar is offering the jet to the US military, not Donald Trump..”

• Here’s the Truth About the Qatar Jumbo Jet Story (Margolis)

The Democrats have been desperate to find a scandal to pin on Trump, and their latest attempt may be the stupidest yet.It was recently reported that the Trump administration is gearing up to accept a high-end Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the Qatari royal family—a luxury aircraft that will serve as a temporary Air Force One during President Trump’s second term. Naturally, the left is already losing its mind, but here’s the reality: this is a win for taxpayers. In the wake of media hysteria over the offer from Qatar to provide the United States with an aircraft, Buzz Patterson, a retired Air Force pilot, White House military aide, and carrier of the nuclear football, has stepped in to inject a dose of reality—and firsthand experience—into the conversation. While critics scramble to paint the move as some kind of scandal involving President Trump, Patterson makes clear this is nothing new or scandalous, and absolutely nothing that warrants the breathless outrage.

“I’m going to try one last time,” Patterson began in a post on X. “The Qatar B-747 was built in the US by Boeing. They are offering a newer 747 to replace one of the two current AF-1s that have been flying for 40 years. Which are tired and need to be replaced.”That last point is key. The current Air Force One planes are aging relics that first entered service when Ronald Reagan was in the White House. Replacing them has been a long, slow, and—thanks to bureaucratic delays—frustrating process. Patterson, who served as a military aide during the Clinton administration and has flown on Air Force One over a hundred times, says the Qatar aircraft would simply help fill the gap until Boeing completes new replacements—something that won’t happen for years.

“This AF-1 will serve the sitting president, whether they be Republican or Democrat until Boeing gets their s—t together to complete the new, upcoming improved 747s that started under Obama, was renegotiated under Trump, and was completely ignored by the Biden administration,” he explained. “It’s looking like 2029 to 2030 for delivery at the soonest.” Critics have tried to turn this into a personal gift to Trump, but that’s not even remotely accurate. “Qatar is offering the jet to the US military, not Donald Trump,” Patterson explained. And the idea that this somehow jeopardizes national security is also off base. “They will get the aircraft and perform all of the security and the installation of the systems that AF-1 requires to safely move our president around the world. Not the Qatari’s,” Patterson explained. “And you and I will pay for that but not the $400 million the 747 would normally cost.”

In other words, the U.S. is saving money and getting a newer, U.S.-made aircraft to bridge the gap until Boeing finally delivers the long-overdue replacements. And contrary to the media’s alarmist tone, this sort of arrangement isn’t unprecedented. “The wing based at Andrews has also purchased aircraft from other countries in the past which are currently flying our VP and senior government officials. This is NOT new,” Patterson said. As for the predictable online conspiracies? Patterson dismissed them with a knowing smirk. “I love X but sometimes the ‘sky is falling’ conspiracy crap grows tiresome. A little knowledge goes a long way. Having flown on the current AF-1s 100 hundred [sic] times, I have intimate knowledge.” In short, the critics are wrong, the facts are clear, and the manufactured outrage is little more than partisan noise drowning out a perfectly rational, cost-saving move for the country.

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“It’s like that moment in Orwell’s Animal Farm when the animals looked from man to pig and pig to man and they could no longer tell the difference..”

• Labour and Tories are ‘Two Cheeks of the Same Backside’ – George Galloway (Sp.)

Imagine that for a second — freezing your own pensioners while funding someone else’s war. This is the UK’s reality now, and no one from either of the two major British political parties is speaking up against this. “The Labour minister’s talk is indistinguishable from the Conservative ministers’ talk. It’s like that moment in Orwell’s Animal Farm when the animals looked from man to pig and pig to man and they could no longer tell the difference,” the former British parliamentarian George Galloway told Sputnik.

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“Reform UK’s rise isn’t just a warning shot; it’s a referendum on Labour’s betrayal of the working class..”

Isn’t it treason to let your country be overrun?

• UK PM Starmer Mercilessly Dragged For Telling Immigrants To Speak English (MN)

In a jaw-dropping display of political hypocrisy, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared Monday that it is “common sense” that migrants should speak English, posting on X that “If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English.” This from the same Labour leader whose government has overseen the harassment and even arrest of Brits for expressing similar sentiments, branded as potential “hate crimes” under draconian speech laws.

While ordinary citizens face police scrutiny for daring to question unchecked immigration or cultural integration, Starmer now parrots the very rhetoric he once condemned, revealing a spineless opportunism that prioritizes political survival over principle. The irony is thicker than London fog: the man who championed open borders and vilified Brexit voters as xenophobes now postures as a defender of national cohesion, all while his Home Office fails to stem the tide of illegal Channel crossings.

This brazen pivot comes as no surprise given the political earthquake shaking Starmer’s Labour Party. The recent local elections saw Nigel Farage’s Reform UK surge, capturing councils and seats with a platform unapologetically slamming mass immigration and woke orthodoxy. Reform’s gains, including a stunning Runcorn byelection upset, have sent Labour into a tailspin, with Starmer’s approval ratings tanking as voters flee to Farage’s turquoise tidal wave.

Polls show Reform’s favourability spiking, particularly among working-class Britons fed up with Labour’s elitist disconnect. Starmer’s sudden tough talk on immigration—complete with promises to slash net migration and impose stricter English language rules—smacks of a desperate bid to claw back voters defecting to Reform. But his words ring hollow, a cynical rebrand from a man who, as shadow Brexit secretary, campaigned for a second EU referendum and scoffed at concerns about immigration’s impact on communities.

The stench of Starmer’s double standards is suffocating. While he now preaches “integration” and “fair rules,” his government continues to coddle a system where dissenters are silenced and borders remain porous. Brits who’ve lost jobs, homes, or safety to the strains of mass migration watch as Starmer plays both sides—cracking down on free speech while failing to deport illegals. Reform UK’s rise isn’t just a warning shot; it’s a referendum on Labour’s betrayal of the working class.Starmer’s English language edict isn’t common sense—it’s a calculated flip-flop from a man terrified of Farage’s shadow, and it won’t fool a public fed up with two-faced elites.

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“Germany often relies on external partners to spy on its own citizens, as Germany features very strict privacy laws. The NSA is thought to be especially active watching Germans.”

• US Pressure May Have Forced Germany To Drop Surveillance On AfD (RMX)

Germany’s domestic spy agency has suspended authoritarian surveillance methods of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, and U.S. pressure may have played a role. The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country’s powerful domestic spy agency, had labeled the AfD a “confirmed far-right organization” before suspending this designation last week. The main reason presented was that the AfD is appealing the designation in court and the agency would wait until this appeal is concluded to decide whether to keep the designation. However, Germany’s ally, the United States, immediately criticized the designation in some of the harshest language possible, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling it “tyranny in disguise.” That was not all, though.

U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the powerful U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, then asked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard (DNI) to suspend intelligence cooperation between the United States and Germany. According to Cotton, the German authorities’ politically motivated surveillance activities resemble methods used by dictatorships that are unbecoming of a democratic ally. “Rather than trying to undermine the AfD using the tools of authoritarian states, Germany’s incoming government might be better advised to consider why the AfD continues to gain electoral ground,” he wrote. This would have represented a drastic break between the two allies and even a threat to Germany’s national security, which raised the stakes in Germany’s authoritarian move to stifle the political opposition. Currently, the AfD is the largest opposition party in the country and for the first time ever, polled in first place last month.

The developments have also caused a major stir in Germany. Alice Weidel, co-chair of the AfD, said American pressure was behind the BfV’s withdrawal of its designation label on the AfD. In addition, Joachim Steinhöfel, a lawyer defending freedom of speech, told NIUS that the move by the BfV is “a complete surrender by the German domestic intelligence service.” He also noted that U.S. influence was vital. “We also have to thank the Americans for exerting massive pressure,” he added. Germany often relies on external partners to spy on its own citizens, as Germany features very strict privacy laws. The NSA is thought to be especially active watching Germans. As a result, any U.S. withdrawal from intelligence sharing could have been disastrous for Germany.

The temporary removal of the designation was warmly welcomed by the AfD, as it gives the party breathing room. For one, a vote on the ban of the party has little chance of moving forward without the designation. Second, the designation offered the BfV the legal means to surveil the entire party and its membership without a warrant, including reading emails and chats, as well as flood the party with informants. Now, German intelligence is being forced to rethink its surveillance policy as political divisions grow. However, if the appeal court agrees with the BfV that the AfD can be labeled right-wing extremist, the same issue may rear its head again. It is unclear how long this appeals process will take, whether months or even years; however, there is a growing chorus from Germany’s left, as well as the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), to ban the entire AfD party. If that happens, tensions between the U.S. and Germany could soar to new heights.

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“This led to a wave of commercial spinoffs.”

• Donald Trump Helped Ancient Russians Defeat Space Lizards (RT)

Heroic Slavic warriors triumph over evil reptilian invaders to pounding phonk beats. These surreal showdowns have racked up millions of views and spawned a wave of spin-offs, including video games, comic books, and tabletop RPGs. What started as a mock academic lecture quickly turned into a full-blown cultural phenomenon – fueled in part by some deep-rooted medieval nostalgia. One of the most well-known stories in the Ancient Rus vs. Lizards mythos is ‘The tale of how the Russian hero Danila Trumpov drove the accursed Lizards from the Slavic States of America’. In this fictional legend, a Russian version of Donald Trump defeats a shadowy alliance of humanoid lizards, who are supposedly aided by Bill Gates. Trumpov wields imaginative techniques like the “Republican Egg Squeeze” and the “Texas Burger Bomb,” and even manages to sabotage the lizard lobbyists by replacing the dollar with the ruble.

In the end, the forces of Slavic justice prevail, and the Lizards are forced to retreat to the distant planet of Nibiru. This is just one installment in a sprawling fan-fiction universe created as a joke, but which has grown far beyond its origins. What began as light-hearted parody has developed into a full-fledged narrative world that mixes satire, absurdity, and pseudo-history – while also poking fun at the cult of Russia’s supposed ancient supremacy. In March 2023, a strange YouTube video appeared, starring an AI-generated character introduced as “Professor and four-time historian Alexey Sergeyevich Bagirov.” Speaking with an air of authority, the professor unveiled what he described as the long-suppressed truth of Russian history: that the ancient Rus civilization once stretched across nearly the entire Earth.

Bagirov’s lecture combined several familiar conspiracy tropes – claims of lost civilizations with advanced technology, an ancient war between humans and shape-shifting lizards, divine interventions by pagan gods, and secret documents allegedly hidden from the public. His arguments leaned heavily on loose word associations and “secret documents,” while the visuals featured intentionally janky PowerPoint slides with exaggerated animations, accompanied by loud, distorted background music. But the creators went further than simply remixing old conspiracies. They built a whole new mythological framework. According to Bagirov, the ancient Rus not only coexisted with dinosaurs – they were actually friends. He explains that the word dinosaur supposedly derives from the Old Slavic root dino, meaning “child,” and that the name of the Slavic pagan god Zavra identifies him as the “divine ancestor” of all dinosaurs.

In a follow-up video, Bagirov adds a central stylistic twist to the saga: the Slavic reinterpretation of all names and terms. He describes how dinosaurs played an important role in the daily lives of the Rus. Brachiosaurus Brachislav helped build houses and studied astronomy; Styracosaurus Stavrislav took part in mammoth hunts; and a pterodactyl named Pterodimir flew children to school. In the third video, Bagirov introduces the main villains: the Lizards from the planet Nibiru – an idea familiar to fans of post-Soviet conspiracy lore. In this universe, the Lizards are jealous of the glory of the Rus and want to destroy it. Their weapon is deception: they try to seduce the Rus with fake sciences – especially mathematics. To that end, they dispatch agents such as Euclid, Archimedes, Democritus, Plato, and others, each programmed with 2G radiation, to infiltrate the ancient region of Russo-Greece.

Through all this, Bagirov satirizes the genre of amateur pseudo-historians who emerged in the post-Soviet space – those who claim access to secret truths, reject mainstream science, and lean heavily on unverifiable legends or misreadings of historical texts. These theorists rarely seek real evidence, but often captivate audiences with promises of lost national grandeur and sinister enemies. Though clearly absurd, the videos resonated with viewers. The fictional characters were so outrageous, and the tone so deliberately ridiculous, that the series became far more popular than anyone had expected – perhaps even more than the creators intended.

The characters of the Rus and the Lizards soon found a second life in short-form video content. These clips featured AI-generated visuals, voiceovers in mock-serious tones, and of course, pounding phonk soundtracks. The volume of content rapidly multiplied, and the Rus vs. Lizards universe continued to evolve, layering in more absurdist and satirical details. In these stories, the source of the Rus’ supernatural vitality is the water of Lake Baikal – an intentional nod to the lake’s revered status in Russian culture and to pseudo-scientific beliefs about the mystical power of “charged water.” The Rus are portrayed as a global civilization, and this is reflected in the fictional renaming of countries: Australorussia, Egyptoslavia, the Slavic States of America, and more. These names parody pseudo-historians who try to rewrite history to suggest that Russia once ruled the entire planet.

Religion in the Ancient Rus universe is a hybrid of Orthodox Christianity and revived paganism. On the one hand, characters shout catchphrases like “You fiends, at least fear the Lord!”; on the other, they perform bizarre rituals to Perun and other old Slavic deities. This mashup reflects the worldview of certain fringe groups who, in recent decades, attempted to revive pre-Christian Slavic faiths – often blending them with nationalist ideology and pseudoscience. Aside from the irony and satire, the meme’s success was also driven by how visually compelling the characters were. They looked cool. Their armor, weapons, and over-the-top powers appealed to a younger audience, especially in meme format. This led to a wave of commercial spinoffs.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

AI Theft
https://twitter.com/mrddmia/status/1922091193439228017

Musk
https://twitter.com/teslaownersSV/status/1921957388762112467

Musk

Makary

Giraffe

Duck pool
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1922276219703181770

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle December 23 2024

Dec 232024
 
 December 23, 2024  Posted by at 10:24 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  68 Responses »


René Magritte Meditation 1936

 

• Depression, Debt, Default & Destruction in 2025 -Martin Armstrong (USAW)
• Inaction Over Ukraine Would Have Been A ‘Crime’ – Putin (RT)
• Trump Suggests Zelensky Consider Ceding Territories – El Pais (RT)
• Ukraine Has Had Its Fill (SCF)
• Western Aid Covers Nearly 90% of Ukraine’s Spending in 2022-2024 (Sp.)
• Kremlin Assesses Chances Of Trump-Putin Meeting (RT)
• Trump Threatens To Take Back Panama Canal (ZH)
• Trump Resurrects Idea Of Buying Greenland (RT)
• Make Europe Great Again (David P. Goldman)
• Germany Is Heading For Irreversible Decline (Amar)
• Germany: Effort To Ban AfD Party Faces Major Setback (RMX)
• Romanian Presidential Frontrunner Funded By Pro-Western Party – Media (RT)
• Qatar Warns EU That Tough New Regulations Put Gas Supplies at Risk (Sp.)
• British Armed Forces Shrinking – Telegraph (RT)
• Has Disney Finally Learned What ‘Go Woke, Go Broke’ Means? (Sp.)
• Supreme Court Unanimous Ruling May Pave Way For Mass Deportation (JTN)
• US Could Quit WHO On Trump’s First Day – FT (RT)
• Roll Out The Barrel For The New Year – That’s Diogenes’s Barrel (Helmer)

 

 

 

 


https://twitter.com/i/status/1870900227898507348
https://twitter.com/i/status/1870901510319833540

 

 

 

 

‘I’m sorry, Trump is not going to have a blissful administration, and he’s not going to prevent the economic decline.’

• Depression, Debt, Default & Destruction in 2025 -Martin Armstrong (USAW)

Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong is back with a new round of predictions, and they are not going to make life easy for President Elect Trump. Armstrong says, “Our computer has been projecting that we are going into a depression in some areas and a recession in other areas. A depression most likely in Europe and a recession in the United States up until 2028. . . . At my November conference, everybody was celebrating after Trump won. I stood up and told my clients, ‘I’m sorry, Trump is not going to have a blissful administration, and he’s not going to prevent the economic decline.’ (Please remember, Armstrong predicted Donald Trump would win in a landslide many months before the November 2024 Election.)

Armstrong goes on to say, “We have a serious, serious problem on a global scale. . . . The sovereign debt crisis is really going to start percolating in 2025. It’s probably going to reach a major crisis by 2026 and 2027. Why? They have dictated all these banks and pension funds . . . 70%, generally, must be invested in government bonds. . . . They say it’s ‘safe,’ but it’s the worst debt possible. . . . So, if the government goes into a sovereign default, what happens? You wipe out the banking system and the pensions.”

Does Armstrong think the governments around the world are going to go into a sovereign default? Armstrong says, “Oh yeah. How does a government default? We are in this Ponzi Scheme. They have to keep selling new debt to pay off the old debt. . . . When you can’t sell the new debt, that’s when the default happens because you can’t pay off the old debt.”

What should the average guy do now? Does Armstrong think people should get to the bank and get cash? Armstrong says, “Yes, cash, physical paper money. We just had two hurricanes here in Florida. This idea of Bitcoin and CBDCs are very nice, but what’s the reality? The internet was down for 10 days. A credit card did not work. You wanted something, it was cash only. It was the same in Canada when they froze all the accounts of the truckers. They could not even buy food. Unless you had cash, you were dead in the water. This is why I am saying to have cash in this point in time.” Armstrong still likes physical gold, too.

Armstrong says the digital currencies that are getting a lot of attention lately are only a control mechanism. Armstrong contends digital money will stop bank runs. Armstrong still thinks the world will be at war by April or May of 2025. Armstrong says watch Turkey with its huge conventional army. Armstrong says Jordan and Lebanon may also be taken over, and like Syria, Turkey will be orchestrating this move. Armstrong says the Middle East is setting up for a major conflict starting in 2025, and there will be destruction. Armstrong also predicts Europe will be on the losing end of the next world war.

In closing, Armstrong says, “They can’t stop Trump from taking office, but they can delay him with martial law. Martial law has been enacted 60 times in the United States. . . . The neocons are scared to death of Trump and really want to trap him in war before he takes office.”

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“..we should have acted more decisively and swiftly, should have prepared for this and chosen the right moment to start..”

• Inaction Over Ukraine Would Have Been A ‘Crime’ – Putin (RT)

Russia should have launched its military campaign against Kiev earlier, after realizing that neither Ukraine nor its Western backers were committed to a peaceful settlement of the Donbass crisis, President Vladimir Putin has said. In an interview with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Sunday, Putin acknowledged that while it is difficult to give the ideal date for the special military operation in hindsight, Russians “should have gotten our bearings earlier and understood that our opponents are not going to implement the Minsk agreements, that they are simply leading us by the nose, misleading us.” A crime, Putin continued, can result from either action or inaction. “Our inaction would have been a crime against the interests of Russia and those of her people,” the president stressed.

The now-defunct Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014 and brokered by Germany and France, were intended to give the Donetsk and Lugansk regions a special status within the Ukrainian state. However, former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.” After the conflict escalated in 2022, the same sentiment was echoed by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Francois Hollande. The Western leaders were doing their best to prepare Kiev for a further fight with Russia, Putin stressed. “And if they gave them the opportunity to prepare for future military actions, it means they were counting on them.

With this in mind, we should have acted more decisively and swiftly, should have prepared for this and chosen the right moment to start [the campaign], without waiting for the moment when it was no longer possible to sit on our hands,” he added. Russia has said that it sent troops to Ukraine to protect the people of Donbass from recurring Ukrainian strikes and cited Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, while Ukraine has insisted that the attack was completely unprovoked. Moscow has also consistently opposed Kiev’s aspirations to join NATO, viewing the expansion of the US-led bloc as an existential threat. In the autumn of 2022, the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye regions voted overwhelmingly to join Russia in public referendums.

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“You look at some of these cities and there is not a single building in good condition left. So, when you say “restore the country,” restore what? This is a 110-year reconstruction..”

• Trump Suggests Zelensky Consider Ceding Territories – El Pais (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has sent a message to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, asking him to start thinking about a ceasefire and to abandon the territories that are currently under control of Russia, El Pais reported on Sunday. Trump has repeatedly pledged to end the Ukraine conflict within a day of taking office, but has yet to elaborate on how he plans to achieve this. His vows have raised concerns in Kiev that it may be facing not only a decline in aid but also an audit of the billions of dollars it has received from the White House under President Joe Biden. “You look at some of these cities and there is not a single building in good condition left. So, when you say “restore the country,” restore what? This is a 110-year reconstruction,” the Spanish newspaper cited Trump as saying in a “message” to Zelensky from his Florida golf club this week.

Earlier this month, Trump called on both Ukraine and Russia to reach an immediate ceasefire. He posted the call on his social media platform Truth Social after meeting in Paris with Zelensky and President Emmanuel Macron.
The Wall Street Journal reported in early December, citing officials, that Trump had said Western Europe should deploy its troops to Ukraine to monitor a potential ceasefire. He reportedly added that the EU should play the main role in defending and supporting Kiev, while Washington could support the effort without sending troops.

Speaking at his end-of-year press conference on Thursday, Russian president Vladimir Putin reiterated that Moscow remains open to negotiating with Kiev without any preconditions, except those that had already been agreed upon in Istanbul in 2022, which envisaged a neutral, non-aligned status for Ukraine, as well as certain restrictions on deploying foreign weaponry. He also noted that such talks would have to respect the realities on the ground that have developed since that time.

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Ukrainians will need to revolt.

• Ukraine Has Had Its Fill (SCF)

The Russian armed forces are now less than two miles away from overwhelming the city of Pokrovsk. The conquest of that city will have three major consequences for Ukraine. The first is that Pokrovsk is a key logistical hub, the loss of which would threaten the Ukrainian armed forces’ ability to supply their troops in the Donbas. The second is that, beyond Pokrovsk, Russian troops may find mostly undefended fields as they continue their march west across the Donbas. The third is that Pokrovsk is home to Ukraine’s only coking coal mine. Coking coal is essential in the manufacture of steel. The loss of Pokrovsk would affect not only Ukraine’s economy, but its ability to obtain steel for its military manufacturing industry. As the tide of Russian troops rushes toward Pokrovsk, the coking mine has been forced to shut down 50 percent of its operating capacity. If the remainder is lost, Ukraine’s steel production could plummet by 60-75 percent.

The battlefield reality is changing rapidly. Russian forces captured over 1,500 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory in October and November, and that pace has quickened in December. And it is not just land, but key logistical and heavily fortified cities that are falling. Perhaps more importantly, troops and weapons are being exhausted. Deaths, injuries and desertions are horrifically high; morale is desperately low. On December 18, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky conceded that Crimea and the Donbas are lost to Ukraine. “De facto,” he said, “these territories are now controlled by the Russians. We don’t have the strength to bring them back.” Once again making the important distinction between de facto recognition and formal recognition, Zelensky said that Ukraine would rely, not on the Ukrainian military, but on “diplomatic pressure from the international community” to reacquire its lost territory.

But it is not only military change that is rapidly happening in Ukraine. Political change is following rapidly in its wake. The sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko, research associate at the Institute of East European Studies, Freie Universität Berlin, says that there is no longer any enthusiasm, or that that enthusiasm is confined to a much smaller group of people than at the beginning of the war: “When the situation deteriorated and hopes that Ukraine could win the war diminished, support for negotiations increased, while support for, and trust in, Zelensky decreased.” The eclipsing of support for fighting by support for negotiating has been dramatic as Ukrainians suffer the prolonged devastation of the war. The most recent Gallup poll, conducted in August and October 2024, shows that the 73 percent of Ukrainians who believed at the start of the war that Ukraine should continue fighting until it wins has now shrunk to a mere 38 percent.

At the start of the war, in February 2022, only 22 percent felt that Ukraine should negotiate an end to the war as soon as possible. In 2023, that number still sat at only 27 percent. Today, that number has swelled to a majority for the first time, with 52 percent saying yes. Since the poll excluded the people in Russian-controlled regions, the numbers are likely even more telling. In any case, support for the war has dropped below 50 percent in all regions of Ukraine. Support for Zelensky, who succumbed to Western pressure by turning away from a possible early negotiated settlement and promising victory and the return of all Ukrainian land, including even Crimea, has dropped off even faster. Once lionized as a war leader and enjoying approval ratings in the stratosphere, by October 2023, those who strongly approved of Zelensky’s performance had dropped from 58 percent to 42 percent.

And things have gotten worse since then. The Economist reports that “if elections were held tomorrow, Mr Zelensky would struggle to repeat the success of the landslide win he secured in 2019.” The Economist has seen internal polling that shows that “he would fare badly in a run-off against Valery Zaluzhny,” the general who served as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for most of the war. And it is not only Zaluzhny, the war hero, that could challenge Zelensky. Ishchenko told me that some readings of polls show that he would probably also lose to Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. Though Ukrainian’s changing views on negotiating an end to the war and on Zelensky have received some attention in the mainstream media, their changing views on America have not.

While the Western media reported on Gallup’s findings on Ukrainian support for diplomacy, it did not report on the findings on Ukrainian views of the United States. The polling suggests an erosion in trust for the United States. While 70 percent of those who favor negotiations want to see the European Union “play a significant role” in peace negotiations with Russia, and 63 percent wanted to see the United Kingdom play a significant role, only 54 percent wanted to see a Harris-led U.S. and only 49 percent want to see a Trump-led U.S. play a significant role.

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It’s not an actual country.

• Western Aid Covers Nearly 90% of Ukraine’s Spending in 2022-2024 (Sp.)

Russia has repeatedly warned that the US and its Western sponsors’ assistance to the Kiev regime will only prolong the Ukraine conflict. Western financing of Ukraine reached a whopping $238.5 billion from February 2022 to the beginning of December 2024, which approximately corresponds to 87% of the country s budget expenses, Sputnik s research based on information from the Ukrainian Finance Ministry, the University of Kiel, and open data has shown. The expenses of the Ukrainian budget in 2022-2023 amounted to $193.3 billion, while in 2024 the figure is expected to stand at $81.3 billion. It means that over the past three years, the expenses have increased to $274.6 billion, according to the analyzed data.

The volume of financial aid sent by Western countries to Ukraine amounted to $106 billion, whereas the West’s military assistance reached $132.5 billion within the aforementioned period. At the same time, the total volume of Western aid is 43% less than the $416 billion the West promised to Kiev, per the analysis. The US remains Ukraine s largest donor, having sent $95.2 billion to the Kiev regime in the past three years. Two-thirds of the sum was military aid, while one-third went towards budget financing. EU member states transferred financial and military aid to Ukraine worth $94.2 billion, with Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands being the bloc’s largest donors with $11.9 billion, $7.5 billion, and $6.3 billion, respectively.

The UK sent $13.4 billion, Canada $7.8 billion, and Japan $6.7 billion. During the December 19 Direct Line and year-end press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that Ukraine can fight and exist only with the support of its Western donors. The statement came after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Washington’s financial aid to Kiev will not change the situation on the battlefield and will lead to “new victims among Ukrainians.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for his part, recalled earlier that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasizes that continued aid to Ukraine is a guarantee of creating new jobs in the United States. “As if he is not speaking about financing a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in Ukraine, but a lucrative business project,” Lavrov stressed. This followed Peskov warning that the EU’s hefty sums to Ukraine are “allocated to the detriment of EU economies which are already going through difficult times.” For example, Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is facing a second year of zero growth, in what comes as more Germans oppose Berlin’s excessive financial assistance to the Kiev regime, according to a recent opinion poll conducted by the ARD news channel.

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“..Moscow could immediately declare a ceasefire and start peace talks as soon as Ukraine leaves all Russian territory, including Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions.”

• Kremlin Assesses Chances Of Trump-Putin Meeting (RT)

No preparations have yet been made for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. On Sunday, Trump reiterated that he wanted to resolve the Ukraine conflict, signaling that he would not rule out a sit-down with the Russian leader to stop the bloodshed. “President Putin said that he wants to meet with me as soon as possible. So we have to wait for this, but we must end that war,” Trump said. Asked by TASS on Monday whether the two could meet face-to-face before Trump is sworn in at the end of January, Peskov replied that “there has been no real impetus at this point.” He previously stated that Russia has had no contact with the Trump team on settling the Ukraine conflict.

The remarks came after Putin last week suggested that “there will be plenty to discuss” with Trump. “Of course, I’m ready to talk anytime; I will be ready to meet with him if he wishes,” the Russian leader said at his annual Q&A session. Putin noted, however, that he did not know when the first contact could begin, recalling that he had not spoken with Trump since the president-elect’s first term. Trump has repeatedly vowed to put a swift end to the Ukraine conflict while urging the belligerents to conclude a ceasefire. Earlier this month, he met with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, later claiming that Kiev “would like to make a deal.” Ukraine, however, has ruled out any territorial concessions to Russia while demanding security guarantees.

According to several media reports, one potential peace plan being considered by Trump would include the freezing of the conflict along the current front line without recognizing Russia’s sovereignty over territories claimed by Ukraine while suspending Kiev’s NATO membership ambitions. While Russia has designated Ukraine’s neutrality as one of its key goals, it has repeatedly ruled out the freezing of the conflict, arguing that this would only enable the West to rearm Kiev. Putin has also suggested that Moscow could immediately declare a ceasefire and start peace talks as soon as Ukraine leaves all Russian territory, including Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions.

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“2025 is gonna be so lit”..

• Trump Threatens To Take Back Panama Canal (ZH)

Donald Trump warned that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal that the United States “foolishly” ceded to its Central American ally, contending that shippers are charged “ridiculous” fees to pass through the vital transportation channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. “The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US,” Trump wrote. “This complete ‘rip-off’ of our Country will immediately stop.” “The Panama Canal is considered a VITAL National Asset for the United States, due to its critical role to America’s Economy and National Security” Trump wrote adding that “if the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question.”

He ended by warning “the Officials of Panama, please be guided accordingly!” Panama’s conservative president José Raúl Mulino, who was elected in May on a pro-business platform, roundly rejected the notion as an affront to his country’s sovereignty. The president-elect’s comment came during his first major rally since winning the White House on Nov. 5. Addressing supporters at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Arizona, Trump pledged that his “dream team Cabinet” would deliver a booming economy, seal U.S. borders and quickly settle wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

“I can proudly proclaim that the Golden Age of America is upon us,” Trump said. “There’s a spirit that we have now that we didn’t have just a short while ago.”

Trump also suggested that the canal was in danger of falling into the wrong hands, saying the canal isn’t China’s to manage. China is its second-biggest customer of the canal after the US. In response, Elon Musk, whom liberals now accuse of being Trump’s puppetmaster having seemingly vanquished Putin in this alleged task, responded that “2025 is gonna be so lit”, which it of course will be if Trump pulls a Russia and decides that it is indeed time to annex the Panama canal.

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“Controlling the world’s largest island is an “absolute necessity” for the US, the president-elect has said..”

“..it is rich in gold, silver, copper and uranium and the ocean shelf below its territorial waters is believed to have vast oil reservoirs.”

So how much will the US pay? $1 trillion, 2,3?

• Trump Resurrects Idea Of Buying Greenland (RT)

US President-elect Donald Trump has said that it is essential for Washington from a national security standpoint to take ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. During his first term, Trump repeatedly voiced his intention to buy Greenland, calling the possible purchase “a large real estate deal.” He argued that the Danish government would be eager to part with the world’s largest island as providing funding for it hurts them “really badly.” However, the authorities in both Denmark and Greenland outright rejected the sale, to which the then-US president reacted by canceling his state visits to Copenhagen in 2019. Trump, however, returned to the idea of the US acquiring the autonomous territory in a post on his TruthSocial platform on Sunday. “For purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world, the US feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” he wrote.

In the same message, the US president-elect named PayPal co-founder Ken Howery as his pick for Washington’s ambassador to Denmark. He described Howery as “a world-renowned entrepreneur, investor, and public servant,” who had performed “brilliantly” during his tenure as US envoy to Sweden between 2019 and 2021. “Ken will do a wonderful job in representing the interests of the US,” Trump insisted. Despite spanning an area of 2,166,086 sq km (about six times the size of Germany), Greenland is home to fewer than 57,000 people, as 80% of the island is covered with ice. However, it is rich in gold, silver, copper and uranium and the ocean shelf below its territorial waters is believed to have vast oil reservoirs.

The island, which is part of the continent of North America, has access to the Arctic, where competition for dominance over natural resources and strategic routes between the world powers has been intensifying in recent years. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned in September that Washington’s “desire for globalization and self-legitimization, to assert itself as a world policeman… is also extending to the Arctic region.” Moscow has taken notice of how the US-led NATO bloc is “stepping up exercises related to possible crises in the Arctic,” he said. “Our country is fully prepared to defend its interests in military, political and military-technical terms,” Lavrov insisted.

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“Led by the bumbling, malapropism-prone Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the Greens act like the German branch of the Biden State Department.”

• Make Europe Great Again (David P. Goldman)

My advice to President Trump on how to deal with the mess in Ukraine is simple: you should pull the plug on the Biden Administration’s flailing European peanut gallery. Your friends and allies in Europe want to shoulder the burden of their own defense, but they don’t want to pour money down the drain and risk World War III in Ukraine. Get an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, a war which no sane European wants to fight, and let the sovereigntist parties of the New Right mop up the globalist Left. They believe in their countries and will fight to protect them, unlike the Brussels liberals cowering behind the skirts of Mother America. Ending the war won’t happen without an agreement to keep Ukraine neutral and out of NATO. The Deep State will try to convince you that NATO can’t afford to back down on eventual Ukraine membership, and that Russia is bleeding out and ready to fold.

But the opposite is true: Europe’s willingness to defend itself depends on a revival of nationalism and the ascent of the sovereigntist parties on the Right. Freeze the fighting and deliver a political victory to European patriots whose watchword is “Make Europe Great Again.” A recent poll found most Germans probably wouldn’t fight to defend their country, and that two-fifths wouldn’t fight under any circumstances. Most striking is the breakdown by party affiliation. Only 9% of supporters of Germany’s Green Party—the most extreme backer of the Ukraine War—said they would personally take up arms to defend their country, the lowest of any group by party affiliation. Led by the bumbling, malapropism-prone Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the Greens act like the German branch of the Biden State Department.

The highest proportion of individuals ready to fight for their country came from supporters of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), the conservative upstart party now polling at 20% of the national vote. In a more recent poll, 68% of AfD members said they would defend their country “with a weapon in their hand” if Germany were attacked, compared to just 22% of Green Party supporters. The Washington Blob confuses the “let’s you and him fight” war party with the sovereigntists who are ready to defend their country, but want nothing to do with the Blob’s failed adventure in Ukraine. The European war party pledged neither their lives nor their sacred honor (they don’t have any), but rather their reputations, foundation grants, fellowships, and consulting gigs on the Ukraine War.

They made their careers on the twin premise of expanding NATO to the Russian border and arrogating governance to European rather than national institutions. European liberals were battered by the populist wave that began last year with Geert Wilders’s surprise election victory in the Netherlands. It continued through last September’s state elections in Germany, the local elections in the Czech Republic, the Freedom Party’s first-place finish in Austria, and the collapse of the French government. But even so, the continent’s liberals will fight to the last Ukrainian to keep their political privileges. If their proxy war collapses, European liberals know their figurative heads will roll. They have no plan except to keep the war going as long as possible.

And they are doing this by trying to gaslight Americans through a targeted campaign of misinformation. The British Ministry of Defense and the Pentagon, for example, allege that Russia has taken 600,000 casualties in the Ukraine War, and is losing 1,000 to 2,000 soldiers a day in the present fighting. The spurious 600,000 figure even found its way into a Trump social media post last week. The most comprehensive database on Russian casualties, Mediazona, counts 82,000 Russian dead, which it calculated by scraping information from death announcements and social media posts. A statistical estimate of excess deaths would bring the number to 120,000. Assuming three wounded for every soldier killed, Russian casualties are likely somewhere between 246,000 and 360,000.

A retired senior U.S. officer who tracks Ukraine war casualties observes: “Ukrainian casualties from independent sources are not as diligently tracked as are Russian casualties, but counts on graves, and anecdotal reporting, suggests it is higher than the figures released by Kyiv, London, or Washington, D.C. Estimates run between 105,000 and 160,000 KIA (killed in action). Using the same ratios for KIA to WIA, this places total Ukrainian casualties at between 105,000 KIA, and 365,000 WIA (wounded in action), or 470,000 total casualties, to 160,000 KIA and 640,000 WIA, or 800,000 total casualties.” Russia has had about 9,000 desertions in the course of the war. More than 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers face official charges of desertion, and the actual number is double that.

Forty-thousand Ukrainians have been killed or wounded defending an incursion into Russian territory near Kursk, according to NATO intelligence sources—and the country has already lost half of the territory it gained in the August 2024 raid. Europe’s sovereigntist parties know this and want to stop the war now. The AfD wants to stop weapons deliveries to Ukraine and advocates a negotiated solution. It is excoriated by the establishment press as a neo-Nazi throwback, and quarantined by legacy parties with a fraction of its voter base. The Greens, represented by Annalena Baerbock and Economics Minister Robert Habeck, are ironically Germany’s most vociferous war hawks. Though they won’t fight for their own country, they want to fight the war to the last Ukrainian.

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“Germany is not merely in a mess; it also has a dysfunctional non-elite that is in total denial about how to fix that mess..”

• Germany Is Heading For Irreversible Decline (Amar)

Oops, he’s done it again: Tech mogul, richest man in the world, and also now new bestie of American President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk has used his massive social media clout – as owner of X and a personal account with more than 200 million followers – to post about politics. And here we don’t mean his unhelpful recent intervention in how Americans – barely – keep their rickety government contraption from stuttering to a halt for lack of cash. Nope, this is about Germany: With regard to Europe’s Sick Man on the Spree (there is another one on the Seine, of course), in his first post Musk waltzed in, guns blazing to support the right-wing AfD (Alternative for Germany) party in the run-up to the snap elections on February 23. Only the AfD, he pronounced with typical modesty, can “save Germany.” In a second post, a few days later, Musk reacted to a murderous attack on a German Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg. This time, he called Germany’s lame-duck Chancellor Olaf Scholz “an incompetent fool” who should resign forthwith.

Some Germans are aghast. How dare Musk, an American, intervene in our elections? Deeply unpopular German minister of health Karl Lauterbach, for instance, went almost comically Victorian with his performance of righteous ire for public display, calling Musk’s statements “undignified and highly problematic.” Shocking, shocking indeed! Interestingly enough, most of the same Germans still have no problem with Joe Biden, also an American, having helped Ukraine blow up their vital energy infrastructure and then mightily promoting the de-industrialization of Germany and the EU as a whole by subsidizing companies which move to produce in the US. Others think it’s totally normal that German politicians, such as Michael Roth – head of the German parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, no less – massively interfere in the politics of, say, Georgia, not only by messing with its elections but also trying to literally instigate a coup. Judge not, lest ye be judged…

So, let’s cut out the daft pearl-clutching: I am German, and I find it very objectionable when Musk fails to post about the genocide in Gaza, instead taking the side of the Israeli perpetrators. But I could not be less concerned about him stating his opinion – it’s not more than that – about what party would be best for Germany, even thought I do not agree at all. As to calling Scholz what he actually is, go ahead Elon. There, I am even on your side. Once we dispense with the huffy-puffy theatrics, what is really at stake here? And why would it even matter so much to some Germans what Musk has to say about their politics? It’s not complicated: Musk has hit a very sore spot. And the name of that very sore spot is Germany. Yes, all of it, or at least, everything that has to do with its tanking economy and, frankly, delusional politics. Here’s how:

On December 16, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in the German parliament. That was no surprise but the plan from the beginning. Or to be precise, since November 6, when the former governing coalition of Greens, Free Democrat market liberals, and Scholz’s own Social Democrats imploded with a nasty bang. After that, the no-confidence vote – even if it came with some predictable yet pretty fake drama and backbiting – was merely a formality on the way to snap elections, scheduled for February 23. On the face of it, the above may look like a minor politics-as-usual hiccup: Sometimes coalitions don’t work out and a country needs new elections to – hopefully – start over with a new government. In postwar Germany (the Cold War Western version and the post-unification one together), this procedure – based on article 68 of the constitution – is not unprecedented; it has been used 5 times before.

But this is not that sort of case. Rather, the snap elections are only one small symptom of a much deeper, all-pervasive malaise: By regularly reading the news about Germany, you could easily come to feel that Europe’s former economic locomotive and political first-among-not-so-equals is now a very unhappy country, economically in severe, persistent decline and politically – to put it kindly – badly disoriented. And you would be right. Except things are even worse, and I write that, let me remind you, as a German. For what’s really gloomy – indeed, quite literally hopeless – about the current German doom is that no one with even a remote chance at political power in Berlin is prepared to honestly face the root causes of the country’s misery. Germany is not merely in a mess; it also has a dysfunctional non-elite that is in total denial about how to fix that mess. But before we get to that elephant in the misery room that almost all German politicians fail to acknowledge, with stereotypical thoroughness, let’s look at the wasteland their failure has made.

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European version of lawfare.

• Germany: Effort To Ban AfD Party Faces Major Setback (RMX)

A motion to ban the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is unlikely to move forward, as there is less than a week left to vote on such a ban in this legislative period, and sources involved with the effort say there is no majority in place for such a move. The motion, originally put forward by CDU MP Marco Wanderwitz, who previously said he would retire after this term, will definitely not be put forward this term, co-signer Carmen Wegge (SPD) told the Rheinische Post. As Remix News previously reported, it appeared as if a ban procedure would almost certianly move forward just a month ago, with 105 MPs voicing cross-party support, including from MPs like Claudia Roth and Katrin Göring Eckardt from the Greens, and Ralf Stegner and Helge Lindh from the SPD, just to name a few. The motion will only move forward if there is a majority, but so far, the CDU and the SPD have spoken out against it.

There are grave worries that such a ban procedure could take years, and in any case, with elections expected to take place in February, it could lead to a substantial boost for the AfD. Currently, the SPD and CDU also see no success with the Constitutional Court, which has the final say in such a ban procedure. So far, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and CDU leader Friedrich Merz do not back the ban, although both have hinted that they may support such a procedure in the future. Notably, politicians involved in the ban procedure are once again resorting to claims of protecting democracy by banning what is currently the second-largest party in the country. “Due to the early elections, it is not yet clear whether we can put our motion to a vote in this legislative period,” said Wegge. “The AfD represents the greatest threat to our democracy.”

She claims the party’s goal is to abolish democracy, despite the AfD actually putting forward motions for direct democracy in the country, which would allow the country to make decisions via nationwide referendums — undoubtedly a purer form of democracy than what currently serves as democracy in Germany. Meanwhile, as Remix News previously reported, the Greens are working on an alternative ban procedure which would be more gradual but which MPs of the party, and other parties, believe would have a better chance of succeeding. Efforts to ban the AfD are certainly not helped by the fact that it is the second most popular party in the country at the moment, routinely polling between 18 and 20 percent. A move to outright ban the party would be seen as a catastrophic blow to democracy.

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He opposes sending aid to Ukraine, so he is pro Russian.

• Romanian Presidential Frontrunner Funded By Pro-Western Party – Media (RT)

An investigation launched by Romanian authorities has discovered that the social media campaign that contributed to last month’s surprise first-round win by independent candidate Calin Georgescu in the country’s presidential election was not funded by Russia but rather by the pro-Western National Liberal Party (PNL), the media outlet Snoop has reported. A critic of NATO and the EU and a staunch opponent of sending aid to Ukraine, Georgescu topped the first-round vote in Romania with 22.94%, beating other liberal leftist and democrat candidates. However, Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the results ahead of the second-round vote, declaring the process would repeat itself at a later date. It cited declassified intelligence documents which have allegedly found irregularities in Georgescu’s performance.

They claimed his candidacy was improperly promoted online, including on TikTok, by paid influencers and extremist right-wing groups, and that his campaign may have benefited from Russian interference – an allegation that Moscow has denied as “absolutely groundless.” According to Snoop, Romania’s tax authorities analyzed financial flows and discovered that the campaign that promoted Georgescu on TikTok was in fact paid for by the PNL and run by Kensington Communication, a company which provides political marketing services, as well as online campaigns. The briefs delivered to influencers were aimed at promoting “a responsible attitude and a mature choice” among Romanians that would help the country continue its “democratic path,” wrote Snoop.

Influencers were reportedly given a script to describe the qualities of a future president without giving a name. Some of them however left comments below the videos, providing Georgescu’s name. “It is a shock to everyone that the public money that taxpayers had provided to the PNL was used to promote another candidate,” one expert involved in the investigation told the publication. Kensington Communication has issued a statement alleging that its campaign had been “hijacked” or “cloned” and said it would file a criminal complaint.

The leak came on Friday, a day before the expiration of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis’ term, and just days before the supreme court is scheduled to hear the case initiated by Georgescu. Iohannis himself had earlier refused to leave office, citing the country’s legislation. Georgescu, who was labelled “pro-Russian” by his critics, filed a lawsuit with the supreme court to challenge the annulment of the election results. The candidate’s lawyer described the situation as “a flagrant violation of the constitution” and “a coup d’état.” The first hearing is scheduled for December 23.

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“If I lose 5 percent of my generated revenue by going to Europe, I will not go to Europe… I’m not bluffing..”

• Qatar Warns EU That Tough New Regulations Put Gas Supplies at Risk (Sp.)

One of the world’s largest suppliers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Qatar, has warned the European Union that it may halt vital gas exports if the bloc enforces its new corporate due diligence directive. The legislation, which seeks to align companies with the EU’s net-zero goals, includes penalties of at least 5 percent of a company’s global annual revenue for non-compliance. Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told the Financial Times that such penalties would be unacceptable for QatarEnergy, a state-owned company with extensive global operations. “If I lose 5 percent of my generated revenue by going to Europe, I will not go to Europe… I’m not bluffing,” Kaabi stated, adding that the legislation imposes impractical requirements on energy producers.

Europe’s reliance on Qatari gas has grown significantly since the bloc decided to phase out Russian gas supplies. Countries like Germany, France, and Italy have signed long-term LNG contracts with QatarEnergy to secure energy supplies. Europe’s decision to cut ties with Russian gas has exacerbated its energy crisis, making alternative sources like Qatari LNG increasingly critical. Kaabi emphasized that QatarEnergy would not breach existing contracts but could explore legal challenges or halt new shipments if penalties are enforced. While hinting at possible compromises, he warned that Europe’s stringent regulations risk disrupting an already fragile energy supply chain.

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Soldiers are quitting by the thousands despite a 6% pay raise. Europe has no serious armies left.

• British Armed Forces Shrinking – Telegraph (RT)

Over 15,000 British soldiers left the Armed Forces in November 2023 through October 2024, The Telegraph reported on Saturday. The resignations continue to come despite the government’s attempt to stem the recruitment crisis with a record pay raise. The newspaper noted that more than half of 15,119 people who left the country’s military forces during the specified time-frame had resigned voluntarily. However, during the same period, they reportedly recruited some 12,000 personnel, resulting in a net shrinkage of the military. In July, the Ministry of Defense announced a 6% pay raise, the largest in more than two decades, in an effort to tackle the raging recruitment crisis. The Telegraph noted that the move, however, failed to alter the current predicament, with new recruits to the forces remaining among the worst-paid public servants in the UK.

Inflation-adjusted pay for army privates has reportedly increased only 1.9% since 2011, versus the 13.39% and 10.14% increases recorded for new junior doctors and train drivers, correspondingly.In May, satisfaction with the basic rate of pay in the military hit the lowest level on record, according to an armed forces survey, as quoted by the newspaper. The poll, conducted prior to the government’s raises, showed that only 32% of respondents said they were happy with their remuneration packets. Earlier this month, Alistair Carns, the defense minister and former Royal Marine, claimed that the regular British army could be wiped out in as little as six months if forced to fight a war on the scale of the Ukraine conflict.

As of October 2024, there were 181,550 members of the country’s armed forces, including total full-time trained and untrained UK service personnel, according to the latest Ministry of Defence (MoD) figures. This marks a decrease of 2% since October 1, 2023. In November, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense said that the current government “inherited” a recruitment crunch, adding that targets had been missed annually for the past 14 years. “We have already given personnel the largest pay raise in decades and scrapped 100 outdated policies that block and slow down recruitment,” the ministry stressed.

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Woke costs dearly.

• Has Disney Finally Learned What ‘Go Woke, Go Broke’ Means? (Sp.)

In a move that may seem out of place in the ‘woke’ US today, Disney has ordered the removal of a transgender storyline from Pixar’s “Win or Lose” animated series, according to the Hollywood Reporter. This isn’t the first instance of Disney removing ‘woke’ bits from its works recently, which may or may not suggest that the studio might realize that pandering to the ‘woke’ crowd might not be the best recipe for a good film. Last month, the “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” animated series episode that focused on a transgender character also got shelved from the Disney Channel, with artists who worked the series claiming it was “because of which party that won the recent election,” Polygon noted.

These developments occurred after a number of Disney’s productions that were deemed ‘woke’ by a not-inconsiderable portion of the audience flopped, with the company’s losses being estimated at around $900 million last year. Some of Disney’s more notable box office failures included Strange World and Lightyear, two animated series that both featured same-sex romance and relationships.

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“The petitioners, illegal border crossers from El Salvador, India and Mexico, demanded they had rights to stay despite court orders requiring their deportation..”

• Supreme Court Unanimous Ruling May Pave Way For Mass Deportation (JTN)

A unanimous ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court may pave the way for challenges to a federal deportation plan under the incoming Trump administration to be defeated. The ruling was issued in a “sham marriage” case after an American citizen applied with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to obtain a visa for her noncitizen Palestinian husband to receive permanent legal residence status. Under the law, USCIS “shall … approve” a visa petition if it’s been determined “that the facts stated in the petition are true” and the noncitizen is the petitioner’s spouse. If the noncitizen previously sought or received an immigration benefit “by reason of a marriage determined by the Attorney General to have been entered into for the purpose of evading the immigration laws” – known as the sham-marriage bar – USCIS is required to deny it.

The petition was initially approved but two years later was revoked because USCIS argued there was “evidence suggesting that her husband had previously entered into a marriage for the purpose of evading immigration laws,” which the couple denied. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed the revocation, affirming that USCIS’s determination that the husband had entered into a prior sham marriage that would have prevented the initial visa approval. The couple sued, a federal district court dismissed the case, arguing federal courts don’t have jurisdiction over certain discretionary agency decisions. The couple appealed and the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the lower court’s decision. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which in a 9-0 vote affirmed both lower court rulings. “Section 1155 is a quintessential grant of discretion,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a President Joe Biden appointee, wrote in the decision.

“The Secretary ‘may’ revoke a previously approved visa petition ‘at any time’ for what the Secretary deems ‘good and sufficient cause.’ Congress did not impose specific criteria or conditions limiting this authority, nor did it prescribe how or when the Secretary must act.” The ruling was issued after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled earlier this month that the federal government has the authority to deport illegal foreign nationals over the objection of local authorities, The Center Square reported. In June, the Supreme Court also ruled in favor of federal deportation policies in three consolidated cases on appeal before the Fifth and Ninth circuits, where the courts issued conflicting rulings.

The lawsuits were brought by illegal foreign nationals deemed “inadmissible” under federal law and given Notice to Appear (NTA) documents stating they must appear before an immigration court at a future date and time. Each of the plaintiffs didn’t show up to their hearings, and federal immigration judges ordered their removal in absentia in accordance with federal law established by Congress. The illegal foreign nationals sued, demanded their removal orders be rescinded, claimed they didn’t receive proper written notification, challenged the definitions of the word “change” in the order they received, and made other technical arguments. The petitioners, illegal border crossers from El Salvador, India and Mexico, demanded they had rights to stay despite court orders requiring their deportation. In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court disagreed, ruling against them.

The ruling established precedent for potential future cases that could be brought after the Biden administration began issuing NTAs with court dates three to four years in the future, The Center Square first reported. The ruling could also have a bearing on roughly 200,000 deportation cases that were thrown out by immigration judges because the Department of Homeland Security didn’t file paperwork with the courts in time for scheduled hearings. The rulings are likely to have the most impact on those who attempt to fight a deportation plan by the incoming Trump administration to reverse a policy through which the Biden administration released millions of illegal foreign nationals into the country contrary to federal law.

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How could you not? Look at the damage they did.

• US Could Quit WHO On Trump’s First Day – FT (RT)

The transition team of US President-elect Donald Trump hopes to pull the country out of the World Health Organization (WHO) the first day of the new administration, thus cutting one of the agency’s major cash flows, the Financial Times (FT) has reported, citing health experts. Members of Trump’s team told the experts that they intend to announce a withdrawal from the global health body on inauguration day, January 20, the FT wrote on Sunday. Some in the team reportedly want the US to stay in the WHO but push to reform it. However, another group, which hopes to cut ties, is reportedly winning the argument. The transition team wants Trump to withdraw from the WHO on the first day because of the “symbolism” of reversing Joe Biden’s own inauguration-day move, FT wrote, citing Ashish Jha, former White House Covid response coordinator to the US President.

On January 20, 2021, Biden restarted relations with the UN body, after his then-predecessor Trump initiated a withdrawal process in line with his criticism of the WHO’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. ”America is going to leave a huge vacuum in global health financing and leadership. I see no one that is going to fill the breach,” Lawrence Gostin, professor of global health at Georgetown Law told FT. The plan to withdraw “on day one” would be “catastrophic”, he added. The WHO is a UN body that acts as a coordinating authority on international health issues. The agency gets its funding from dues-paying member states as well as voluntary contributions. The US has been one of the organization’s largest donors for decades, and, according to its data, is currently the second-largest contributor among its member states.

In 2020, Trump accused the WHO of being under China’s control amid the coronavirus pandemic. The president claimed that Beijing had pressured the organization to “mislead the world” about the virus and pledged to direct US funds to other global public health charities instead. Under a 1948 Congressional resolution, the US can withdraw from the WHO but must give a year’s notice and should pay outstanding fees. The Trump team, however, did not comment directly on the potential withdrawal, noted FT. In November, Trump nominated long-time vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy to become US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). RFK Jr. was among the vocal critics of the WHO-recommended Covid-19 response measures imposed by governments around the world, namely strict lockdowns and the introduction of rapidly developed vaccines. Kennedy’s nomination has yet to be approved by the Senate.

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“..living in a barrel, sleeping rough, going naked in the street, and declaiming rude jokes about the rulers and institutions of Athens, the state in which he lived.”

• Roll Out The Barrel For The New Year – That’s Diogenes’s Barrel (Helmer)

Diogenes of Sinope, the still famous philosopher of ancient Greece, had an unusually long and exceptionally miserable life between 412 and 323 BC. There’s no telling whether he inherited the profits of his father’s money manipulation business, but by the time he was captured by pirates, enslaved, and then put up for sale, he had nothing with which to pay the ransom. He was not the first crooked banker’s son to end up in poverty. He was the first, and possibly the last crooked banker’s son to make a virtue of poverty, and to demonstrate this in his lifestyle – living in a barrel, sleeping rough, going naked in the street, and declaiming rude jokes about the rulers and institutions of Athens, the state in which he lived.

There is some dispute over whether Diogenes’s barrel was in fact a large wine or oil storage jar; and whether the cause of his death was suicide by self-suffocation, gastroenteritis from raw octopus, or manslaughter by a hungry dog. There is no dispute over the fame Diogenes continues to enjoy for his subversion of the powerful, wealthy, and gullible of his society, and for the wit of his apothegms. They are all hearsay; next to nothing Diogenes wrote has survived.In the truth and in truth-telling, it’s certain that Diogenes was a believer. But excepting himself, towards truth-tellers in particular – journalists, lawyers, University of Chicago professors, and veterans of the US Marine Corps and CIA – Diogenes was more than cynical. He illustrated this point with his habit of walking about in the bright sunshine with a lighted lantern. Asked what he was doing, he quipped that he was looking for an honest man.

Let’s celebrate in Diogenic style and with his two convictions — that pursuing the truth is no laughing matter, and that pursuing the truth in hope of making money, power and celebrity is a joke: those who do so are masturbating in public as Diogenes used to do but for an altogether different, selfless reason. For the coming 2025 I wish you, dear reader, will catch a glimpse of the truth – enough to keep us in good spirits until the Moscow office reopens in mid-January; and then to slow down our arrival at the destination Diogenes recognized as inevitable for all truth-tellers – the empty barrel.

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Hornets

 

 

Cats&dogs
https://twitter.com/i/status/1870573708621779169

 

 

Sharks
https://twitter.com/i/status/1870485469726969997

 

 

Bros
https://twitter.com/i/status/1870777334392820166

 

 

Cat camera
https://twitter.com/i/status/1870834476361683086

 

 

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