Rutte Archives - The Automatic Earth

The X Holding Company – The Anti-Alphabet

Elon appears to be marshalling his resources to compete with Google head-to-head:

1) AI on earth – xAI vs Deepmind
2) AI in space (Alphabet doesn't have a rocket company, but they will benefit from SpaceX lowering launch costs)
3)… pic.twitter.com/mFhTGdGIWE
— Cern Basher (@CernBasher) February 3, 2026

“Elon Musk is the greatest free speech warrior we have in the modern day world. Because of him, we can have these discussions on at least one of our social media platforms, and we couldn't before. And I really think that his takeover of Twitter has helped change the polling on… pic.twitter.com/I2poAvmpAS
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) February 3, 2026

“Tesla was working on free energy.”

“The FBI seized all his research, 60-80 boxes.”

“They sent it to John Trump.”

“And 20 boxes are still missing.”

AJ from The Why Files just blew Tucker Carlson’s mind with the truth about Nikola Tesla, Donald Trump’s grandfather, and… pic.twitter.com/1O9azLsXIn
— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) February 4, 2026

New START expires today. It’s the last remaining treaty. Trump wants China to sign any new deal.

• Putin Notifies Xi Of New START Status (ZH)

President Putin in his Wednesday video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping underscored that the last major nuclear treaty with the United States is on the eve of collapse. New START is set to expire on Thursday. Putin notified Xi that Washington has not yet responded. “As you know, on September 22, 2025, we proposed to the Americans to extend the key quantitative limits for one year as voluntary self-restrictions. However, we have not yet received an official response from the Americans,” Putin said, as quoted in state media.

Despite the situation with the New START Treaty, Russia remains open “to seeking negotiated ways to ensure strategic stability” – the Russian leader explained. Putin further stated his country will act “in a measured and responsible manner, based on a thorough analysis of the overall security situation.” Over several years going back to his first term, Trump has signaled a desire to forge a broader deal which would bring China into the agreement, which hearkens back to the Obama administration. Politico is meanwhile reporting that the Trump administration is preparing to “let go of arms control with Russia”:
The likely dissolution of the agreement comes at an especially fraught time. Russia and China are expanding their strategic arsenals and the Kremlin has threatened to use nuclear weapons on Ukraine. The Defense Department has held a series of internal meetings in preparation for a post-New START world, according to the two people and another person familiar — all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss internal talks — although it’s not clear what was discussed in the meetings. “We’re looking at a very uncertain path ahead,” said Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association. “Unless Trump and Putin reach some sort of understanding soon, it’s not unlikely that Russia and the U.S. will start to upload more warheads on their missiles.”
The Kremlin has made clear Russia is willing to extend it for another year, to allow more robust negotiations and for a longer deal to be finalized. But again, unless it is renewed or extended at the last minute, the landmark treaty will expire on Thursday, February 5. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the country’s Security Council, on Monday made clear that Russia’s offer to quickly extend “remains on the table, and the treaty has not even expired yet, and if the American side wants to extend it, then this can be done.” He also confirmed that Moscow has received no response on this offer from Washington:
Medvedev told the newspaper Kommersant that Moscow might have to wait until the expiry of the treaty on February 5 for a U.S. response to the Russian initiative. When contacted for comment, a White House official told Newsweek Monday: “The president will decide the path forward on nuclear arms control, which he will clarify on his own timeline.” Indeed, the Trump White House has yet to issue anything official. Of course, President Trump is also known for making key decisions at the last moment, building suspense and leverage, based on also on his notorious unpredictable decision-making style.

The New START treaty, which has contained the risk of a nuclear standoff between America and Russia, expires soon. To make matters more dangerous, there is a new player in the game—China: https://t.co/w2LZ59AbYu pic.twitter.com/xNySz54I0V
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) February 4, 2026

According to Monica Duffy Toft, professor of international politics and director of the Center for Strategic Studies at The Fletcher School, “By providing transparency into the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals, New START has lowered the risk that either side will misinterpret normal military activity as preparation for a nuclear strike.” It was signed in 2010 by Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, and limits the number of deployed strategic warheads to 1,550 per side, and caps deployed delivery systems – including of missiles, bombers, and submarines – at 700. There’s also a mutual inspection regimen, allowing each side to monitor the other’s sites.

International Law is a bummer!

• The Two Levels of EU-Sanctions Illegality (Luis Roberto Zamora Bolaños)

Pascal’s Note: A previous guest on my YouTube Channel, Luis Roberto Zamora Bolaños—the international lawyer who, back in the 2000s, forced his native Costa Rica to withdraw from George W. Bush’s Coalition of the Willing—sent me a short assessment of the legality of EU sanctions. He argues that the Eurocrats are, in fact, grossly overstepping their competencies under international law. Not only are the sanctions in breach of the law between nations, but they are also a heavy infringement on the Human Rights of the targeted people. Here is his verdict.

Unilateral Sanctions against States are Illegal.
Can states do whatever they want within their own borders and jurisdictions? On the one hand, under the Lotus Principle, states (and more generally, subjects of international law) are indeed allowed to act freely as long as they don’t contravene other rules of international law, customary rules, or peremptory norms. Nonetheless, the freedom of action of a subject of international law (IL) is limited by the rights of other States, most notably the principle of sovereignty.
While unilateral acts like sanctions are not explicitly codified in IL, that doesn’t mean they are unrecognized or exempt from scrutiny. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has dealt with them in several cases, most notably the Nuclear Tests case (also in the UK-NOR Fisheries Case). Moreover, in 2006, the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC) issued its “Guiding Principles applicable to unilateral declarations of States capable of creating legal obligations,” which should be fully applicable to other subjects of international law. Principle 9 establishes that: No obligation may result for other States from the unilateral declaration of a State. However, the other State or States concerned may incur obligations in relation to such a unilateral declaration to the extent that they clearly accepted such a declaration.
In its commentaries about this principle, the ILC indicated that: “It is well established in international law that obligations cannot be imposed by a State upon another State without its consent.” The same idea applies to sanctions, which is precisely the reason State consent in the form of jurisdiction acceptance is needed to be subject to a ruling by the ICJ. The UN Charter is less clear about the limits of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to impose sanctions. However, it has been widely accepted that the Council has that capacity. The European Union, on the other hand, as a normal subject of international law, shouldn’t have the capacity to create obligations on other subjects of international law.
The issue is further complicated if the sanctions are imposed following a proposal from a member State. Unless the proposing State abstains from voting, the principle of impartiality would be grossly violated. Additionally, it can be said that the EU, by imposing sanctions against non-member States, would be confiscating functions reserved for international adjudicatory bodies, such as the ICJ or the Permanent Court of Arbitration. It would be highly contradictory, even immoral, if the EU justified its action by pointing to the lack of jurisdiction acceptance by the sanctioned non-member States, since several EU members have not accepted compulsory universal jurisdiction before the ICJ.
Unilateral Sanctions against Individuals are Contrary to International Law
A second level is the human rights question of the people targeted by sanctions. Article 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms establishes that: 1. In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law.
Although it has been recognized that administrative bodies can impose certain types of sanctions, the right to be heard and to exercise a defense is absolute. No one can be subject to a sanction without an opportunity to exercise a defense or challenge the sanction—before the measures take effect—which doesn’t happen with EU Council sanctions. Moreover, Article 7 of the European Convention established the principle of nulla pena sine lege previa, meaning that the conduct and its sanction must be clearly established in a law before its imposition. The EU doesn’t have a “criminal code” or anything like that.
Furthermore, EU States (or any State) can create a subject of international law to avoid obligations that they would otherwise bear. This would be fraud on law. To illustrate with a case, EU member states cannot authorize the EU Council to impose the death penalty, even when the EU itself is not a party to the EU Human Rights regime. Substantively, depending on the content of the sanctions, they could violate the freedoms of thought and conscience, the right to private property, privacy, movement, and family. It could further be claimed that the conditions imposed by certain sanctions are equivalent to torture.
There is a fundamental distinction to highlight here: between rights and freedoms. Unlike rights, which require positive action by the States for their fulfillment, freedoms demand negative action. States should refrain from intervening in the enjoyment of freedoms unless a lawfully established excess has been committed. Thought and expression are freedoms, not rights, meaning that States (and the EU) should minimize their intervention and limitation, especially sine lege previa.
I think that the issue can be tackled from several fronts. Internationally, in addition to EU internal mechanisms, complaints should be submitted to the High Commissioner on Freedom of Expression and the Committee against Torture. I think this could be a particularly interesting scenario.

Never ever. Promises he knows he can’t keep. Makes you wonder why he says it regardless.

• Rutte Says Post-Ukraine Peace To Include NATO Boots By Air, Land & Sea (ZH)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the so-called “coalition of the willing” will deploy forces across Ukraine – on land, at sea, and in the air – once a peace agreement with Russia is signed, making clear that Western boots, jets, and naval assets would follow any ceasefire. Rutte said Ukraine needs binding commitments and security guarantees in order to prevent future Russian aggression. This is to include the deployment of European forces and a “crucial” US “backstop”. His words are consistent with the Western position – and specifically the European view – on what a final Ukraine peace deal would require
.
The Kremlin has as expected consistently rejected this ‘option’ as a non-starter, given this is why Russia went to war in the first place: to stop a NATO troop outpost right on its border, and constant NATO expansion. What Moscow will find doubly alarming is that Rutte issued the words directly before Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (the unicameral parliament of Ukraine). Other NATO states, Rutte laid out, would continue to assist through additional channels in a support role to Western boots on the ground.
But Russia has again warned that foreign boots on the ground in Ukraine would warrant a military response, and that they could be targets for future Russian action. All of this contradicts Russia’s ‘red lines’ for what it says is acceptable. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been even more blunt, stating that security guarantees for Ukraine based on “foreign military intervention on some part of Ukrainian territory” would be unacceptable to the level that a post-war “peacekeeping” mission would fast spiraling into the next flashpoint.
According to more of Rutte’s words, summarized via The Guardian:
• Rutte also urged for more equal “burden-sharing” as some allies “are doing a lot” and a few are “doing nothing”. He stressed the positive contributions of countries including Norway, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Canada and Sweden.
• Rutte said Russia’s full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022, was “crazy” and said its continuing assault on Ukraine is targeting civilian infrastructure, creating “chaos” for innocent civilians.
• Rutte said Ukraine is ready “to play ball” and come to a deal – acceptable to Kyiv – with the Russian side, but added that the massive Russian attack last night was a “really bad signal” ahead of future negotiations.
Yet, Russia will not “play ball” on these terms, and this signals that US-Russia negotiations continue to be stuck, going nowhere substantial, but the reality remains – at least the two sides are being candid and are communicating.

Mark Rutte in the Verkhovna Rada:

“Winter is very long, but spring will come. Stay strong. Glory to Ukraine!”

Standing ovations.

Well, no one expected such unprecedented support.
There it is — the real helping hand from our partners!

If you didn’t believe it before, just look… pic.twitter.com/YK0QWQoSON
— Marta Havryshko (@HavryshkoMarta) February 3, 2026
This represents Europe keeping up its intractable position, also as territorial concessions are a prime point of disagreement. US officials have at times signaled their view that European leaders are more hostile to peace, or even thwarting it, amid Trump’s apparent good-faith efforts to bring a resolution to the war which is about to enter its fifth year, after hundreds of thousands have perished. Still, Trump could bring pressure on Kiev – including halting all arms deliveries, and forcing it to make serious land concessions – but there’s as yet no evidence he’s done this in any meaningful way.

There are different reports about the latest meetings.

• Breaking News From Miami, Teheran (Helmer)

Nuri al-Said, the long-serving but ill-fated Iraqi prime minister of the 1940s and 1950s, once said that you can rent an Arab but you can’t buy him. On July 15, 1958, he ended up shot by an Iraqi Army coup, buried, dug up, and his corpse mutilated as it was dragged through the streets of Baghdad. His end confirmed his truth. President Vladimir Putin knows better than most that the Nuri Pasha maxim applies to American government officials up to and including the presidents — except that they don’t honour their promises, demand more bribes, and survive intact to die in bed (most of them).

Still, Putin has delegated Kirill Dmitriev, a US-educated and trained investment banker, to deliver the bribes (left, right) to President Donald Trump (extreme right) and his go-betweens, and return with what Dmitriev claims to be their promises for terms of settlement of the Ukraine war, the lifting of sanctions, and the release of about $300 billion in Central Bank of Russia (CBR) funds frozen and part-confiscated over the past four years.
Putin has done this so that he can ask the General Staff, the intelligence services, and the Security Council what they make of the deal by a show of thumbs up, thumbs down, after Dmitriev presents the costs and benefits of his proposal and the Trump administration’s response. Dmitriev was sent back to Miami last weekend. When he returned to report to the Kremlin, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “there will be no details. You’ve heard the conceptual assessments from both sides, from Dmitriev and from Witkoff. In general, these were quite positive and constructive talks.” Witkoff had tweeted the adjectives, “productive and constructive”.
Witkoff also revealed that several Americans were with him at the meeting with Dmitriev: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Jared Kushner and Joshua Gruenbaum. This is the first time Putin has authorized a single representative to meet a full US delegation. On January 22, in addition to Witkoff and Dmitriev, Kushner and Gruenbaum were matched at the Kremlin by Putin himself and Yury Ushakov, the Kremlin national security advisor. Bessent’s attendance in Miami signals the talks with Dmitriev covered terms for ending the US sanctions on Russian trade and assets, including the secondary sanctions on Indian and Chinese purchases of Russian oil. Bessent’s press office at the US Treasury has remained silent; so too his Twitter stream.
At the same time, Bessent has continued to sharpen sanctions against Iran, tweeting “the regime has chosen to squander what remains of the nation’s oil revenues on nuclear weapons development, missiles, and terrorist proxies around the world. President Trump stands with the people of Iran and has ordered Treasury to sanction members of the regime. Treasury will continue to target Iranian networks and corrupt elites that enrich themselves at the expense of the Iranian people. This includes the regime’s attempts to exploit digital assets to evade sanctions and finance cybercriminal operations. Like rats on a sinking ship, the regime is frantically wiring funds stolen from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world. Rest assured. Treasury will act.”

They try very hard to make Tulsi look bad.

• A Bigger Backstory, Vindicating DNI Tulsi Gabbard (CTH)

The Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) delivered the “read and return” intelligence report to congress that sits at the background of an anonymous whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence, DNI Tulsi Gabbard. [CBS Story] In addition to delivering the report, the ICIG also delivered a declassified letter outlining the framework of the backstory [SEE HERE]. I strongly urge pe ople to take a few minutes and read both links above, particularly the pdf of the ICIG report that frames the complaint. In essence, the same playbook the IC tried to create the impeachment narrative against President Trump (2019), they used again against DNI Tulsi Gabbard.

Now, the story gets a little weedy, so at the risk of yet another subpoena for outlining highly classified intelligence information simply by using public sourcing information and strategic brain mapping to put dots together, the easiest way to explain what has happened is to tell the big picture story of it. People opposed to President Trump inside the National Intelligence Council (NIC), which in 2025 was a sub-silo inside the CIA, wrote an analysis saying the Venezuela gang ‘Tren de Aragua” (TdA) was not officially affiliated with the Venezuela government. Therefore, when President Trump and Secretary Rubio defined TdA as an officially recognized terrorist group, the analysis was intended to separate the TdA violence from the official U.S. policy toward Venezuela.
[The NIC is the “federal agency” being described in the media reports. I suspect the report’s authors were Mike Collins and Maria Langan-Riekhof or close associates therein.]
The “highly classified” component to the analysis, the part that intentionally skewers the telling of the story, is almost certainly the sourcing for the NIC analysis.Here I would estimate with 90%+ confidence, that a CIA asset within the Venezuela government was the source of the intelligence saying TdA is not officially aligned with the Venezuelan govt. That CIA asset could be someone very close to former dictator Nicholas Maduro, or someone currently inside the transitional government. That source makes the component to the NIC analysis “highly classified.” [However, it also fulfills the goals and operational agenda of the people who want to weaponize the “whistleblower angle.]
Now, I want to break out a component here because it is directly related to the reason for anti-Trump IC to manufacture this official CIA-NIC analysis. Remember, Judge James Boasberg’s argument against deporting TdA members was based on his refusal to accept the deportees were designated terrorists. Venezuela would not take them back, so President Trump sent them to the maximum-security prison in El Salvador. This is where the policy of the Trump administration runs into the lawfare created by the manufactured CIA analysis. The IC aligns with Lawfare. Insert the familiar name Mary McCord here and you will see why momentarily, including her personal relationship with Judge James Boasberg who appointed Mary McCord as amicus curiae to the FISA Court.
The CIA analysis saying TdA is not an official agency of the Venezuela government. This becomes a hot button issue around the deportation of the TdA gang members as terrorists. Trump, Rubio, Noem and Homan using the designation to facilitate fast removal and deportation, while Lawfare operate using the technical definitions of “terrorist group” against the intentions of the administration. That’s the baseline for the construct, and that also explains why Judge James Boasberg doubles, triples and quadruples down against the DOJ on this issue.

“Ohio Democratic Attorney General candidate Elliot Forhan is running on the catchy pledge that “I will kill Donald Trump.”

• Rep. Jerry Nadler Triggers Outcry Over Violent Rhetoric Against ICE (Turley)

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D., NY) is under fire this week for joining other Democratic members in reckless rhetoric to fuel the growing threats against federal law enforcement officers. Nadler suggested that citizens could be justified in shooting masked agents, a chilling claim made earlier by other Democratic leaders. The New York Post reported the comments made in a Judiciary Committee hearing. Nadler declared: “What is really the major problem in this country today is the fascism in our streets. The attacks on American citizens, by masked hoodlums. If you were attacked by a masked person, you might think you were being kidnapped. You’d be justified in shooting the person — to protect yourself.”

The agents are wearing masks because different groups are actively publishing their identities and personal information online. The result has not only been doxxing but threats made against the families of these agents. Democratic politicians have pledged to assist in the effort to “unmask” and publish the identities of these officers as threats soar. For many, these statements suggest that they have a license under laws like Stand Your Ground to shoot at agents and claim mistaken self-defense. The continued use of such rhetoric in the face of soaring attacks and threats against officers is the worst form of demagoguery.
At the same time, members like Rep. Dan Goldman (D. NY) deny that there is evidence of a sharp increase in attacks despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.Notably, Nadler and his colleagues pushed for the impeachment of Donald Trump for what they called his inflammatory rhetoric on January 6th despite his call for the protests to remain peaceful. Other members are engaging in the same hyperbolic rhetoric to appeal to the growing mob on the left. Sen. Chris Murphy (D. Conn.) seems the most unhinged: “What is happening in Minnesota right now is a dystopia. ICE is tear gassing elementary schools. It is disappearing legal residents into cars. It is murdering American citizens.”
Aspiring Democrats are getting the message. Total Wine billionaire David Trone — who is running to recapture his Maryland congressional district from fellow Democrat Rep. April McClain-Delaney, declared this week that the federal government is “literally executing people on the streets” in “not just Minneapolis… all over the United States.” Ohio Democratic Attorney General candidate Elliot Forhan is running on the catchy pledge that “I will kill Donald Trump.” It is a race to the bottom as Democratic leaders try to take the lead in mob politics.
When combined with the rationalization for the use of lethal force against officers, this rhetoric is not just inflammatory but dangerous. We have heard these voices before in our history. As discussed in Rage and the Republic, we have a rising class of new Jacobins, politicians and pundits who are pandering to the mob. History does not bode well for these politicians seeking to ride the wave of rage when the mob turns against them..

“…personally singled out X owner Elon Musk, accusing the billionaire of spreading “disinformation” about his decision to grant amnesty to half a million illegal immigrants last week..”:”

• Spain Announces Major Social Media Crackdown (RT)

Spain will ban social media use for children under 16 and hold tech executives personally accountable for “hateful content” spread on their platforms, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Tuesday. Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Sanchez said that his administration will implement five measures to regulate social media, with sweeping consequences for free speech. “First, we will change the law in Spain to hold platform executives legally accountable for many infringements taking place on their sites,” he announced, explaining that executives who fail to remove “criminal or hateful content” will face criminal charges.

Most jurisdictions view social media sites as ‘platforms’ rather than ‘publishers’, meaning users themselves are responsible for the content they post. Sanchez’ proposed change goes beyond the scope of the EU’s Digital Services Act, which mandates fines for platforms that fail to remove “disinformation” after being alerted to it. Sanchez did not explain what constitutes “hateful content,” while the text of the DSA does not explain the term “disinformation.” Sanchez said that his government would also turn “algorithmic manipulation and amplification of illegal content” into a criminal offense, track and study “how digital platforms fuel division and amplify hate,” ban social media use for under-16s, and launch a criminal investigation into alleged offenses committed by Grok, TikTok, and Instagram.
During his speech, Sanchez personally singled out X owner Elon Musk, accusing the billionaire of spreading “disinformation” about his decision to grant amnesty to half a million illegal immigrants last week. On Sunday, Musk accused Spanish MEP Irene Montero of “advocating genocide” after she declared that she wants a “replacement of right-wingers” by migrants. Sanchez said that five other European countries, which he called a “coalition of the digitally willing,” would pass similar legislation. France passed a much narrower bill banning under-15s from social media last week, while Greece is “very close” to announcing a similar ban, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

“…the emails instead show the convicted sex offender frequently disparaging the president, calling him “stupid” and questioning his mental fitness…”:”

• ‘I Wasn’t Friendly With Epstein’ – Trump (RT)

US President Donald Trump has denied being friends with Jeffrey Epstein, accusing the late convicted sex offender of plotting against him. Last week, the US Department of Justice released the final batch of over 3 million pages, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, legislation signed by Trump in November, compelling the agency to publish data tied to federal criminal investigations into the disgraced financier. The US president’s name is mentioned in the files on at least 3,000 occasions.

The documents also show that Epstein, who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, had communication with multiple high-profile US figures, including former President Bill Clinton and billionaires Bill Gates and Elon Musk. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday that “not only wasn’t I friendly with Jeffrey Epstein but, based upon information that has just been released by the Department of Justice, Epstein and a SLEAZEBAG lying ‘author’ named Michael Wolff, conspired in order to damage me and/or my Presidency.”
“Unlike so many people that like to ‘talk’ trash, I never went to the infested Epstein island but, almost all of these Crooked Democrats, and their Donors, did,” he insisted. Trump already promised on Saturday that he would sue Wolff, a US journalist behind the 2018 unauthorized autobiography ‘Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House’. Wolff said in an Instagram message on Sunday that he wasn’t sure what had caused Trump’s anger, but acknowledged that he had encouraged Epstein to “go public with what he knew about Trump.”
The journalist featured in many of the Epstein files published by the DOJ last November. In an email from February 2016, Wolff suggested that the disgraced financier could become the “bullet” to end Trump’s first presidential campaign. The DOJ prefaced its latest release with a statement, saying the emails revealed no suggestion from Epstein that Trump “had done anything criminal or had any inappropriate contact with any of his victims.” According to the agency, the emails instead show the convicted sex offender frequently disparaging the president, calling him “stupid” and questioning his mental fitness.

Hard to surprise Homan; he’s been doing it for years.

• Tom Homan Pulls 700 Agents Out of Minnesota (Matt Margolis)

Border Czar Tom Homan is making changes in Minneapolis, and while the left may think the changes signal a retreat, they do not. It’s anything but. “Given this increase in unprecedented collaboration, and as a result of the need for less law enforcement officers to do this work in a safer environment, I have announced effective immediately, we will draw down seven hundred people effective today. Seven hundred law enforcement personnel,” Homan said.

He also said Customs and Border Protection personnel have been fully integrated into the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) team under a single, unified chain of command. “We have also fully integrated CBP personnel into the ICE ERO team structure under one unified chain of command. Not two chains of command, there’d be one chain of command here,” Homan said, adding that the approach reflects standard practice in major enforcement efforts. “Any large enforcement operation I’ve ever been involved with, there’s one chain of command, and that’s where we’re moving forward.”
Homan said ICE will return to its traditional model of targeted immigration enforcement. He noted that, “moving forward, ICE will be conducting targeted immigration enforcement operations, like ICE has traditionally done for decades, based on reasonable suspicion to question and detain.” He said those operations, along with investigations into transnational criminal organizations, will focus on national security and public safety. “ICE will conduct these operations and transnational criminal organization investigations with a focus on national security and public safety,” Homan said.
Homan emphasized that prioritizing serious threats does not mean abandoning broader enforcement. “I want to be clear, just because you prioritize public safety threats don’t mean we forget about everybody else,” he said. “We will continue to enforce the immigration laws in this country.” Some on the left may see this as a victory for their cause. Trust me, it’s not. Homan called it a “safer, smarter ICE strategy” that is only possible due to the cooperation with local authorities and a more efficient use of manpower. He said ICE now has “an unprecedented number of counties communicating with us now and allowing ICE to take custody of illegal aliens before they hit the streets,” calling the level of cooperation “unprecedented.”
In other words, the Trump administration has persuaded Walz and Frey to allow local law enforcement to assist ICE agents, making it easier and safer for them to do their jobs. “I’ll say it again, this is efficient and requires only one or two officers to assume custody of a criminal alien target, rather than eight or ten officers going into the community and arresting that public safety threat,” Homan said, adding that this model “frees up more officers to arrest or remove criminal aliens.”
He stressed that pulling agents off repetitive street operations and instead taking custody of offenders directly from jails increases overall enforcement capacity. “More officers taking custody of criminal aliens directly from the jails means less officers on the street doing criminal operations,” Homan said, adding that “this is smart law enforcement, not less law enforcement.” Homan said the strategy improves safety across the board. “It’s safer for the community, safer for the officers, and safer for the alien,” he said, and he pointed specifically to coordination in Minnesota as an example: “This coordination also makes it far more safe for the Twin Cities.” He added, “arresting a public safety threat in the safety and security of a jail is the safest thing we could do.”

“Much of the chaos in Minneapolis stems from the sanctuary state not honoring ICE detainers. ”

• Minnesota Counties Begin Cooperating With ICE (ZH)

Border czar Tom Homan revealed moments ago at a press conference in Minneapolis that an unprecedented number of counties are now coordinating with federal authorities and allowing ICE to take custody of illegal aliens before they reach the streets. As a result, Homan noted, fewer federal agents are needed in the metro area. “We currently have an unprecedented number of [Minnesota] counties communicating with us now and allowing ICE to take custody of illegal aliens before they hit the streets,” Homan said. Homan continued, “I have announced that, effective immediately, we will draw down 700 people effective today. 700 law enforcement personnel.”

At the end of last week, Homan said federal immigration officials had made “a lot of progress” with local officials in Minnesota, signaling a possible shift in enforcement tactics amid rising tensions following recent deadly shootings involving federal immigration agents. Homan’s second news conference in Minneapolis comes after he replaced Gregory Bovino as the lead of ICE operations. He recently warned that “justice is coming” for the far-left groups funding the attacks on ICE on the ground.
Much of the chaos in Minneapolis stems from the sanctuary state not honoring ICE detainers. This forced the Trump administration to surge federal agents into the Democratic-run town to retrieve illegals. Then, far-left militant groups and nonprofits unleashed a well-coordinated pressure campaign (“Signal-Gate”), which only suggests to us that the Democrats’ plan all along was in hopes of spreading revolution nationwide ahead of spring. Well played by Homan and the Trump administration in pushing for a major de-escalation now that local counties are coordinating with federal authorities on ICE detainers.
But why were ICE detainers not being honored in the first place? It’s time to rethink the sanctuary status of left-wing-controlled cities.

No love lost on Sundance’s part: “…subversive operatives are actively successful because of his incompetence…”:

• FBI Director Kash Patel Outlines Fulton County Objective (CTH)

As background for this interview, I’m going to say something that generally will not be received well by many. I have it on very good authority that FBI Director Kash Patel’s organization is currently one of the biggest impediments to successful execution of Trump administration domestic policy goals.

Specifically stated, DC operatives within the FBI are creating, manufacturing and leaking information against the goals and objectives of the White House, DOJ and other administration executive offices. In short, Kash Patel does not have his arms around the agency and subversive operatives are actively successful because of his incompetence. Accept it or disregard it, but that is the honest expressed sentiment from officials who are having to deal with the consequence.
All of that said, here is FBI Director Kash Patel appearing on Fox News to again emphasize that the agency is working in a supportive role on various domestic issues of concern. Not “lead“, “support.”

https://twitter.com/WallStreetApes/status/2019018096686616718

These files are a BOMBSHELL.

Thanks to the @JudiciaryGOP, we now have proof that the EU has been actively censoring legal content that goes against their agenda—and that they interfered in at least 8 European elections, including the Dutch elections of 2023 and 2025, by meeting… https://t.co/jM5frsaSxq pic.twitter.com/TGju1wQqPO
— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) February 3, 2026

Activist: "Every cow adds carbon to the atmosphere."
Farmer: "Only if the total number of cows is increasing."
Activist: "What?"
Farmer: "Stable populations are carbon neutral. Methane breaks down in twelve years back to CO2. Same CO2 the grass absorbed last year."
Activist: "But… pic.twitter.com/hIFigijFNQ
— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) February 3, 2026

Have A Blessed Day Everybody. You Are Loved. pic.twitter.com/opkaEHKVO8
— Axel Vasa (@SummmertC) February 27, 2025

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Debt Rattle June 26 2025

Jun 262025

June 26, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:00 am Finance Tagged with: 12-day-war, CIA, daddy, defense spending, gold, Iran, Iran nuclear sites, Israel, NATO, New York, Orban, Rutte, yapping bitches 53 Responses »

Rembrandt van Rijn Self portrait with Saskia 1636

• Trump Pushes Back On Pentagon Intel, Says Iran Nuclear Sites ‘Destroyed’ (ZH)

• Israel, CIA Agree With Trump On ‘Destruction’ Of Iran’s Nuclear Capability (ZH)

• Iran’s Stunning Admission That Proves Trump Was Right (Margolis)

• Trump Hoping for Comprehensive Peace Agreement With Iran: Witkoff (ET)

• NATO Leaders Agree To 5% Hike In Defense Spending (ZH)

• NATO Members’ Leaders Snubbing Zelensky At Key Summit – Orban (RT)

• ‘Ukraine Is Not In NATO, My Job Is To Keep It That Way: Orbán (RMX)

• Trump Denies Discussing Ceasefire With Zelensky (RT)

• ‘Yapping Bitches In Brussels A Direct Threat To Russia’ – Medvedev (RT)

• NATO Boss Calls Trump ‘Daddy’ (RT)

• ‘Ukraine Can Win’ – New NATO Commander (RT)

• Peace Dialogue With Kiev On Hold – Moscow (RT)

• Escape from New York: Democrats Embrace Socialist for New Mayor (Turley)

• Gold: The Only True Asset in A Broken Global System (Piepenburg)

The 12-day war is over.

BANNON: The big story in WaPo on Netanyahu caused a stir in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv today. It exposed Israel is a protectorate, not an ally. Important, President Trump said the war’s done. He did his duty. It’s over. For those who truly support Israel, now is the time to pay attn. https://t.co/RFkVViXLoj pic.twitter.com/lxQbhAIvfK

— Grace Chong, MBI (@gc22gc) June 25, 2025

NATO
https://twitter.com/sahouraxo/status/1937510323252285840

Bannon

BANNON: How did you, Netanyahu, conceive to start this when you had no ability to finish it even on the nuclear weapon side, but you knew you couldn’t protect your own people? Who does that? And all that upsell for a regime change. It’s outrageous and it cannot be left to stand. pic.twitter.com/RXP4ocsq2S

— Grace Chong, MBI (@gc22gc) June 24, 2025

BANNON: Netanyahu’s government is out of control, and Trump knows it.

He worked day and night to end this conflict, only to be blindsided.

That’s not how an ally acts. We need answers. pic.twitter.com/KW2yyYQITh

— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) June 24, 2025

Candace

pic.twitter.com/xw3XlhYXiU

— Ryan Dawson (@RyLiberty) June 25, 2025

OMG Candace Owens literally cooking Piers Morgan and this will melt down Zionists and Israel so hard pic.twitter.com/93UW4f8acJ

— Furkan Gözükara (@GozukaraFurkan) June 24, 2025

Tel Aviv

The ethnic cleansing Tel Aviv was created from. pic.twitter.com/DZmTZnxD3m

— Rania (@umyaznemo) June 25, 2025

We have 4 sources that say the Iran nuke sites are ‘heavily destroyed’: CIA, Trump admin, Israel and Iran. But networks like CNN will have none of it. You be the judge.

• Trump Pushes Back On Pentagon Intel, Says Iran Nuclear Sites ‘Destroyed’ (ZH)

There are two apt sayings for this current situation facing the White House in the wake of the Trump-ordered bombings against Iran’s nuclear facilities. First, what’s worse in war-time decision-making than doing the wrong thing? Doing it incompletely. Second, it is always easy to begin a war, but very difficult to stop one. And so here President Trump and his top officials find themselves, defending the ‘limited’ strikes and proclaiming the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program and enrichment capability in the face of a skeptical media. The escalation dialectic – which the mainstream media is so good at – begins… The heat is on an the NATO summit in The Hague, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters, “Of course we’re doing a leak investigation with the FBI right now because this information is for internal purposes, battle damage assessments.”

Referencing yesterday’s leaked DIA report which strongly suggests Iran’s nuclear program is “mostly intact” – he continued, “And CNN and others are trying to spin it to make the president look bad when this was an overwhelming success.” And Trump himself said, “They really don’t know.” And in response to the contrary intelligence, “I think Israel is gonna be telling us very soon because [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] is going to have people Involved in that whole situation.” “This was an unbelievable hit by genius pilots and genius people in the military, and they’re not being given credit for it because we have scum that’s in this room. And not all of you are… CNN is scum. MSDNC is scum. The New York Times is scum. They’re bad people. They’re sick,” Trump said. “And what they’ve done is they’re trying to make this unbelievable victory into something less.”

And here’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, somewhat hedging: “(Iran’s nuclear) program today has been set behind significantly from where it was a week ago. It is in far worse shape today than it was a week ago because of US actions and because some of the actions Israelis took,” Rubio told Politico. “So, the bottom line is they are much further away from a nuclear weapon today than they were before the president took this bold action,” he said, adding that “very significant, substantial damage” was done to a “variety of different components.”

Iran has meanwhile admitted that nuclear sites are ‘badly damaged’ – perhaps in hopes of giving Trump what he wants in terms of PR to ensure the bombing will stop and ceasefire will hold; however, the Iranians have also vowed to pursue their nuclear energy program without interruption and that it remains a matter of national sovereignty. To review of the leaked DIA assessment, one official had told CNN: “So the (DIA) assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops.” The White House acknowledged the existence of the report marked top secret but said they disagreed with it. Trump, Rubio, and Hegseth are in Europe proclaiming the ‘overwhelming success’ of the strikes:

https://twitter.com/Ronxyz00/status/1937816872596189379?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1937816872596189379%7Ctwgr%5E6b630d8b117c227f42c47e2d0ea17b89b3921ebd%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Ftrump-pushes-back-pentagon-intel-insists-iran-nuclear-sites-destroyed

So this appears yet another case of the White House disagreeing with its own intelligence community (IC) – in an ongoing awkward situation which has Iraq war vibes. However, without doubt the IC is still working on an overall consensus, based likely on several different intel threads, and across agencies. One obvious danger from the perspective of Western decision-makers (and Israel): if Iran was not intent on getting a bomb before, they likely are now – given their very existence is under threat.

“..was Iran’s core nuclear program really destroyed? If everyone can ‘agree’ – at least publicly for the sake of Trump’s narrative – this might mean Iran can simply continue enriching, but truly in secret this time.”

• Israel, CIA Agree With Trump On ‘Destruction’ Of Iran’s Nuclear Capability (ZH)

Israel’s military chief of staff as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have spoken up following President Trump’s words before Wednesday’s NATO summit which declared Iran’s nuclear program ‘obliterated’.The Israeli military agrees, saying that the program suffered “systemic” damage and was set back years due to both the Israeli warplane attacks, as well as the large-scale US B-2 bomber raids on three main facilities.”According to the assessment of senior officials in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) Intelligence Directorate, the damage to the nuclear program is not a pinpoint strike but a systemic one – the cumulative achievement allows us to determine that Iran’s nuclear project sustained severe, broad, and deep damage and has been set back by years,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said Wednesday.

The military further declared that IDF’s goal of the “immediate existential threat” from Iran has been met. Trump too said Wednesday, “Last weekend, the United States successfully carried out a massive precision strike on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities and it was very, very successful.” Netanyahu has also offered his agreement – at least on the Fordow site: The US’ strike on the Fordow nuclear facility in Iran has eliminated critically important infrastructure and rendered it inoperable, with attacks by the US and Israel setting back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on behalf of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC).

“The devastating US strike on Fordow destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable. We assess that the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran’s military nuclear program, has set back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years,” the statement reads. It noted that this “achievement can continue indefinitely if Iran does not get access to nuclear material.” Interestingly, the Israeli side is also confirming the use of ground commandos that breached Iran during the 12-day conflict. Commando units, along with the Israeli Air Force, carried out “deception” tactics that helped Israel gain control of Iran’s airspace as well as other strategic goals, the IDF’s Zamir revealed further. “These achievements were made possible, among other things, by the integration and deception carried out by air forces and ground commando units, which operated covertly in the enemy’s depth and granted us operational freedom of action,” he said.

Political cover? War theater? or for real? It’s not just Israel confirming it now. CIA Director John Ratcliffe issued a statement about Intelligence on Iran’s Nuclear Program: “CIA can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program has been severely damaged by the recent, targeted strikes.” But all of this again begs the question… was Iran’s core nuclear program really destroyed? If everyone can ‘agree’ – at least publicly for the sake of Trump’s narrative – this might mean Iran can simply continue enriching, but truly in secret this time.

“The Iranian foreign ministry admitted that their nuclear facilities were ‘badly damaged’ by U.S. strikes over the weekend after reports surfaced about a low-confidence U.S. intelligence assessment suggesting otherwise..”

• Iran’s Stunning Admission That Proves Trump Was Right (Margolis)

It’s a telling moment when the world’s leading state sponsor of terror is more honest about American military success than the so-called guardians of truth in our media. Iran’s regime, notorious for its propaganda and defiance, has now publicly conceded that recent U.S. strikes “badly damaged” its nuclear facilities. “The Iranian foreign ministry admitted that their nuclear facilities were ‘badly damaged’ by U.S. strikes over the weekend after reports surfaced about a low-confidence U.S. intelligence assessment suggesting otherwise,” National Review reports. This is no minor admission — this is Tehran waving a white flag, if only for a moment, and acknowledging that American power still matters. Yet the legacy media, so quick to trumpet any narrative that undermines U.S. strength, have bent over backwards to ignore or diminish this reality.

For years, the media have clung to the delusion that Iran’s nuclear ambitions could be tamed through photo-op diplomacy and hollow gestures — or, under Barack Obama and Joe Biden, by handing over pallets of cash and granting Tehran a fast track to the bomb, all while pretending containment was possible. When President Donald Trump flipped the script with a maximum pressure campaign that crippled Iran’s nuclear trajectory, the media called it reckless. And now, after a flawlessly executed U.S. strike that wiped out key nuclear sites and brought an immediate ceasefire, they’re scrambling to downplay the results.

Rather than acknowledge a clear victory, CNN and others rushed to circulate a conveniently “leaked” intelligence report claiming the operation only set Iran back a few months. The report, conveniently classified until it became politically useful, magically appeared in the hands of CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, best known for pushing the phony Hunter Biden laptop “disinformation” narrative. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wasn’t having it. She torched the report as “flat-out wrong” and slammed CNN for laundering a smear campaign on behalf of the swamp, using an “anonymous, low-level loser” in the intel community as cover.

This isn’t journalism. It’s damage control from a media establishment that still can’t stomach a Trump victory, even when it means stopping Iran from getting the bomb. While traveling in Europe with President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio weighed in on the controversy surrounding the intelligence leak about the Iran airstrikes, calling it one of the most frustrating aspects of Washington. In an interview with Politico, Rubio made it clear that the problem isn’t just the leak itself; it’s how the leaked information gets twisted to serve an agenda.

“Well, I can’t talk to you about intelligence,” Rubio began, but he quickly pointed out how dangerous and misleading these leaks can be. “Intelligence leaks are one of the most frustrating things anywhere,” he said, noting that it’s not just about unauthorized disclosures but the way those disclosures are almost always distorted. “In these leaks, what you typically have is someone who read it and then leaks it to the media, giving it the spin and the angle they want it to have because they’ve got some purpose: embarrass the administration, they were against the action, whatever it may be.”Rubio’s comments reflect growing concerns that the so-called intelligence report CNN ran with wasn’t just a breach; it was a political hit job meant to undercut Trump’s successful strike on Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s rare admission of damage is a crushing blow to the legacy media, which cares more about downplaying American strength than reporting the truth.

“..Trump said the war between the U.S. ally and its regional rival “could have gone on for years” and “destroyed the entire Middle East” but that “it didn’t, and never will!”

• Trump Hoping for Comprehensive Peace Agreement With Iran: Witkoff (ET)

Talks between the United States and Iran resumed one day after Iran and Israel reached a Washington-brokered cease-fire agreement, Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, said on June 24, describing the discussions as promising. Witkoff made the comments in an interview on Fox News after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on June 23 that a cease-fire deal had been reached to end 12 days of fighting. Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Iran would first stop its attacks for 12 hours, after which Israel would stop its attacks. After 24 hours, there would be an official end to the war, he said. Both Iran and Israel accused each other of violating the truce shortly after it was announced.

Despite those early violations, the cease-fire appeared to be holding as of June 24, and Witkoff told Fox News that the Trump administration is hopeful of a long-term peace deal. “With regard to the Iranians, the president has said unequivocally, that he wants to see and is hopeful for a comprehensive peace agreement that goes beyond even the cease-fire. We are already talking to each other, not just directly but also through interlocutors. I think that the conversations are promising,” Witkoff said. “We are hopeful that we can have a long-term peace agreement that resurrects Iran, that brings it into the league of nations, that creates long-term prosperity for Iran, and most importantly, allows for the [Gulf Cooperation Council] to grow economically,” he said. Iran is not a member of the regional union of countries.

Witkoff said now is the time to sit down with the Iranians and “get to a comprehensive peace agreement,” adding, “I am very confident that we are going to achieve that.” Witkoff’s comments come after Israel launched an air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as part of what it said were efforts to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. The Iranian government, which has repeatedly said its uranium enrichment program is peaceful, retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites and cities. In announcing the cease-fire agreement, Trump said the war between the U.S. ally and its regional rival “could have gone on for years” and “destroyed the entire Middle East” but that “it didn’t, and never will!”

He said both nations had agreed to remain peaceful and respectful during the cease-fire, and that, assuming everything works out as it should, the “12-day war” would come to an end. Witkoff reiterated Trump’s comments to Fox News, declaring the conflict over. “Since this conflict began, we’ve been talking to [Iran] about having some sort of peaceful settlement, and Iran’s one caveat has always been that Israel had to stop its campaign,” Witkoff said. “And once Israel fulfilled its objective, which they did, and once the United States fulfilled its objective, which it did … the president was able to go to both parties and get a cease-fire done. “And by the way, the proof is in the pudding. No one’s shooting at each other. It’s over.”

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1937881850908684394

For what it’s worth. First, show us the money.

“There is an irreversible path for Ukraine to join NATO—and that remains true today, and will still be true after this summit..”

• NATO Leaders Agree To 5% Hike In Defense Spending (ZH)

As expected, NATO members have agreed to new commitment to significantly boost defense spending, aiming to raise military budgets to 5% of GDP over the next decade—more than double the current 2% benchmark—at the ongoing major annual summit being held in The Hague. The Trump-backed decision is being finalized in Netherlands this week, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte having hailed the proposal as a “quantum leap’ during a press briefing. Trump declared Tuesday that we’re with NATO “all the way”. And on Wednesday he’s expected to give a big address, as all eyes are focused on the Iran bombing and what’s next. Bloomberg notes, also as fully expected and long ago previewed, that the spending target includes 3.5% via core defense and 1.5% in related investment covering infrastructure and cybersecurity.

Rutte and officials gathered in the Netherlands have stressed that all member states must participate, highlighting that Spain’s hesitation over the steep cost—nearly $90 billion annually—will not exempt it from the pledge. “NATO doesn’t allow for opt-outs or side deals,” he has firmly stated. The increased funding is intended to dramatically scale up NATO’s military production, including building thousands of tanks and multiplying air defense systems by five, at a moment the alliance is staring down Russia amid the Ukraine war, where Moscow forces are establishing a huge buffer zone in the north and east, and actually increasing territory beyond Donetsk’s western border.

WikiLeaks meanwhile says the arms companies will continue to be the only real winners…

Trump posts message from NATO head Mark Rutte about raising military expenditure (much of which goes to arms companies) to 5% of GDP "Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win." pic.twitter.com/vJSoeS8ibz

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 25, 2025

Rutte has of course identified Russia as NATO’s “most significant and direct threat” and reiterated full support for Ukraine, despite Washington having named China has America’s ‘top pacing threat’ and long-term main miliary and economic rival. Of course, alliance has already funneled hundreds of billions of dollars into a conflict with Russia that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides, and Ukraine losing about 20% of its territory.NATO leaders as of Wednesday have vowed to keep pursuing Ukraine’s path to membership, with Rutte emphasizing that the question of accession was never ruled out, especially not before the war. “There is an irreversible path for Ukraine to join NATO—and that remains true today, and will still be true after this summit,” he has said.

Whether you like it or not: Only one person is in the spotlight at the #NATOsummit: Everyone is focused on Donald #Trump. Secretary General Rutte says: Only thanks to Trump will the European members fulfill their defense commitments to counter the threat posed by Putin. #Nato pic.twitter.com/FlTVPljII6

— Florian Harms (@FAHarms) June 25, 2025

“Orban being Orban delivered the response the Europeans did not want to hear. Trump is great. Russia is not scary. The biggest threat to the EU is their continued slide away from competitive economics. As to Zelenskyy, NATO has no business in Ukraine.”

• NATO Members’ Leaders Snubbing Zelensky At Key Summit – Orban (RT)

Several NATO members, including the US, are deliberately avoiding meeting with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky at the bloc’s key summit in The Hague, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has claimed. Speaking prior to the gathering on Wednesday, Orban noted that Zelensky would only attend the informal dinner and “will not participate in the NATO summit in any official form,” indicating that “a clear sign that the previous chapter is over.” The Hungarian prime minister went on to explain that this is a drastic change compared to previous years, stating that “the Americans, the Turks, the Slovaks, and we have made it clear that we do not want to sit at the same table with Zelensky when it comes to NATO.” He further stressed Hungary’s continued opposition to Ukraine joining NATO or the EU.

Orban has repeatedly warned that Kiev’s membership in any of the blocs would drag the West into a direct conflict with Russia. Meanwhile, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto noted that the 2025 summit would be the first since 2022 where the focus would be not on stepping up support for Ukraine, but on strengthening the bloc’s collective defense. “With Ukraine’s NATO membership off the agenda, direct confrontation with Russia has been avoided. Rationality has prevailed,” he added. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump confirmed that he would “probably” meet with Zelensky on the sidelines of the summit. At the same time, he described the Ukrainian leader as being in a “tough situation,” adding that he “should have never been there.”

In another sign of the simmering tensions between Zelensky and Trump, the Washington Post reported that NATO leaders are “tiptoeing around rifts” during the summit, trying to showcase “a veneer of unity”. The paper reported that “NATO officials are trying to keep [Trump and Zelensky] apart as much as possible in public — a recognition of Trump’s occasionally volcanic disdain for the Ukrainian leader.” In this vein, NATO organizers positioned Zelensky far from Trump during the official summit photo-op, according to footage broadcast by C-SPAN.

orban

“So, he is the man of common sense, which means that the new wars are getting shorter and the old wars are running out of fuel, which is the consequence of his activity.”

• ‘Ukraine Is Not In NATO, My Job Is To Keep It That Way: Orbán (RMX)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán voiced skepticism over proposed NATO plans to raise defense spending to 5 percent of member states’ GDP, calling the target unworkable under existing EU budgetary constraints and warning of economic consequences if Brussels doesn’t radically change its fiscal framework. “We are able to do it, it is not easy,” Orbán said at the NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday. “But the whole calculation of budget regulation of the European Union must be changed. So if we keep the regulations as it is, nobody in the European Union can fulfill 5 percent, whatever they say. We have to recalculate everything in a different method; in that case, we can do it.” Orbán’s comments reflect his broader concern that NATO is drifting into dangerous territory — both financially and geopolitically.

Rather than supporting yet another push toward militarization, the Hungarian leader emphasized that Europe’s real threat is not military in nature but economic. “The real threat is not security-wise, it is economic and losing our competitiveness in global trade,” he said. “That’s our problem.” He also reiterated his long-standing opposition to NATO involvement in Ukraine, restating Hungary’s commitment to keeping the alliance out of the war. “NATO has no business in Ukraine,” Orbán said plainly. “Ukraine is not a member of NATO, nor is Russia. And my job is to keep it as it is.” Orbán has repeatedly argued that escalating military aid and deepening Western involvement risk prolonging the war and damaging European interests. His administration has opposed further sanctions on Russia and has long expressed concern over the possibility of NATO and EU membership for Kyiv in the current climate.

On Tuesday, the Hungarian prime minister hit back at thinly veiled criticism of his administration from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — an honorary guest at the summit in the Netherlands. Zelensky suggested that it is “unfair when a single party blocks the Union’s decision,” referencing Hungarian opposition to further negotiations with Kyiv on EU membership. In response, Orbán wrote on X, “President, with all due respect: the European Union was founded to bring peace and prosperity to its member states. Accepting a country that is at war with Russia would immediately drag the EU into a direct conflict. It is unfair to expect any member state to take this risk.

”In other remarks in The Hague, Orbán further highlighted his alignment with U.S. President Donald Trump, praising what he called Trump’s “common sense” approach to foreign policy and suggesting that a shift in Washington’s leadership is already having a stabilizing effect on global conflicts. “The international order is more based on common sense,” Orbán said. “And the president of the United States is a man of common sense, as you have seen, just recently, to manage the conflict between Iran and Israel. So, he is the man of common sense, which means that the new wars are getting shorter and the old wars are running out of fuel, which is the consequence of his activity.”

He may deliver some weaponry. But other than that?

• Trump Denies Discussing Ceasefire With Zelensky (RT)

US President Donald Trump has denied discussing a Ukraine ceasefire during his meeting with Vladimir Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague, directly contradicting the Ukrainian leader’s earlier remarks. Zelensky had described the meeting as “long and substantive,” claiming the two leaders had discussed ways to “achieve a real peace.” Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump said the topic was not part of the conversation. “No, no, I just… wanted to know how he’s doing,” he said. Trump added that he planned to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of bringing the conflict to an end, though he did not specify when the conversation might take place.

When pressed on his past claim that he could end the war within 24 hours, Trump said the comment had been “sarcastic.” He acknowledged that resolving the conflict would not be easy, describing Putin as “more difficult” than anticipated and admitting he “had some problems with Zelensky” as well. Asked if the US would contribute to the $5 billion in military aid pledged to Ukraine by other NATO countries, Trump reiterated only that the conflict must end.

In another exchange, a BBC Ukraine journalist asked whether the US would sell Patriot missile systems to Ukraine. Trump replied that the systems were “very hard to get” and that the US also needed them. He noted that Washington was supplying Patriots to Israel but would “see if we can make some available.” Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly called for a negotiated settlement to the Ukraine conflict. Earlier this week, he said he hoped to reach a “deal with Russia” to stop the fighting. Moscow has maintained that it is willing to hold talks “without preconditions,” but insists that any lasting agreement must reflect the current battlefield realities and Ukraine’s neutrality.

“Brussels today is Russia’s true enemy,” he wrote. “Slowly but surely, the EU is transforming into a self-sustaining military bloc that will gradually come to compete with NATO…”

• ‘Yapping Bitches In Brussels A Direct Threat To Russia’ – Medvedev (RT)

The European Union has emerged as a hostile force to Moscow, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has claimed, accusing the bloc of arming the “neo-Nazi Kiev regime” to attack Russia. In a Telegram post on Wednesday, Medvedev stated that the old EU as an economic union has “essentially ceased to exist,” and in its current “perverted form is no less of a threat” to Russia than NATO. “Brussels today is Russia’s true enemy,” he wrote. “Slowly but surely, the EU is transforming into a self-sustaining military bloc that will gradually come to compete with NATO…” The ex-president accused “Brusselian cockroaches and narrow-minded leaders of EU countries” of advancing their militarization strategy based on an imaginary “Russia threat,” ushering in a new “era of rearmament.”

According to Medvedev, the EU’s goal is to arm the Kiev regime to the point where it becomes invulnerable to Russia, claiming Brussels is ramping up its military-industrial output and building military factories on Ukrainian soil. The EU, he said, is also sending personnel to train Ukrainian militants “so that they can kill our citizens and carry out terrorist attacks.” He also accused Brussels of “brazenly” using profits from Russia’s frozen assets to finance its “vile activities.”

“The EU, stuffed with weapons, rainbow freaks, and yapping bitches in Brussels, constitutes a direct threat to Russia,” Medvedev wrote. “This, of course, should not hinder our bilateral cooperation with individual European states.” Ukraine’s potential EU membership – which Russia had not objected to in the past – would now constitute a “danger” for Moscow. While Kiev’s NATO ambitions were always seen as a red line for Russia, Medvedev indicated the EU had now adopted a similar confrontational posture.

Ukraine made EU and NATO membership official national goals by amending its constitution in 2019. It applied to join the bloc in February 2022 and was granted candidate status later that year. Admission requires unanimous consent from all 27 EU member states. While some members voiced objections, Brussels has backed Kiev’s bid. The European Commission suggested Ukraine could join by 2029 if it made sufficient progress in areas such as political and judicial reforms, as well as in combating organized crime and corruption. In his post, Medvedev proposed two outcomes for Ukraine: “Either the EU itself realizes that it doesn’t need the Kiev quasi-state at all, or, better, there is no state left to join the EU.”

Rutte has one goal only: war with Russia. He needs Trump for that.

• NATO Boss Calls Trump ‘Daddy’ (RT)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has rushed to defend US President Donald Trump’s recent expletive-laden rant about Iran and Israel as merely “daddy” using “strong language.” Trump on Tuesday lashed out at both countries for allegedly breaching a Washington-brokered ceasefire, telling reporters before departing for the NATO summit in the Hague that West Jerusalem and Tehran have “been fighting so long and so hard that they do not know what the f**k they are doing.” The outburst came hours after he announced the truce, which was reportedly broken soon after by both Israel and Iran. Asked about the remark during a joint press conference the next day, Trump likened the two nations to “kids (fighting) in a schoolyard.” Rutte, seated beside him, added: “And then daddy has to, sometimes, use strong language.”

When a reporter later brought up the comment, Trump laughed and replied, “Daddy – you’re my daddy,” saying that the NATO chief had meant it “affectionately.” “I think he likes me, if he doesn’t, I’ll come back and hit him hard,” Trump joked. Rutte’s flattery wasn’t limited to the stage. Ahead of the summit, Trump published private text messages in which a fawning Rutte praised the US president’s “decisive action in Iran” as “truly extraordinary” and said it “makes us all safer.” He went on to tell Trump, “You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done,” and boasted that “Europe is going to pay BIG.” A NATO spokesperson later confirmed the authenticity of the exchange.

Rutte also used the summit itself to back Trump’s controversial push for NATO members to more than double their military spending to 5% of GDP. At Wednesday’s press conference, he called Trump “a good friend” and said he “deserves all the praise” for forcing the issue. Asked by a reporter whether such overt admiration made him look weak, Rutte brushed it off: “I don’t think so. I think it’s a bit of a question of taste.”

New on the job.

• ‘Ukraine Can Win’ – New NATO Commander (RT)

Ukraine can still achieve a military victory over Russia, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe and head of the US European Command, Alexus Grynkewich, said during a US Senate hearing on Tuesday. He was confirmed in his new role with the US-led military bloc earlier this month.v“I believe Ukraine can win,” he responded when asked if Kiev could still prevail despite significant casualties and waning financial support. Grynkewich also noted that Ukrainian forces are displaying a level of tenacity that is hard for outsiders to fully comprehend.vHe did not specify what form a Ukrainian victory might take, nor did he provide further detail regarding battlefield prospects.

Top NATO officials have long insisted that Ukraine should aim to defeat Russia militarily. The bloc continues to supply arms and intelligence to Kiev, even as it loses territory to Russian forces. Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive failed to achieve any meaningful breakthroughs, and a more recent attempted incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region was repelled. Meanwhile, Russian advances have continued along several sectors of the front line, including in the Donetsk and Kharkov regions. Military analysts and Western officials have increasingly questioned the viability of a Ukrainian victory. Last month, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul claimed that the military defeat of nuclear-armed Russia had been impossible “from the very beginning.” US President Donald Trump has also repeatedly expressed doubt that Ukraine could secure a military victory over Russia, instead pushing for a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

He has insisted that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” referred to Ukraine as “demolished,” and cautioned that the country may not be able to survive the conflict, even with US support. Moscow has also repeatedly insisted that its victory is inevitable and has criticized continued Western military aid to Ukraine, arguing that it only prolongs hostilities without affecting their outcome. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed that the conflict will end only when its “root causes” are resolved and his country’s security interests are taken into account. He has also accused Kiev’s foreign backers of being uninterested in actually ending the conflict and using Ukraine to achieve their own goals.

“Peskov noted that the exact date of the next round of talks with Kiev would be decided after all previous pledges are fulfilled, referring to prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of slain soldiers.”

• Peace Dialogue With Kiev On Hold – Moscow (RT)

Moscow and Kiev are currently working to fully implement the humanitarian portion of their previous agreements, and therefore no negotiations are currently underway on their respective peace roadmaps, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Speaking at a regular press briefing on Wednesday, Peskov noted that the exact date of the next round of talks with Kiev would be decided after all previous pledges are fulfilled, referring to prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of slain soldiers. Russia and Ukraine held direct talks in Türkiye last month, resuming a diplomatic process that was paused by Kiev in 2022 after it chose to seek a battlefield victory with Western assistance. During their latest meeting on June 2, the two sides agreed to exchange prisoners and the remains of deceased troops for humanitarian reasons.

Ukraine and Russia also traded draft memorandums outlining their proposed paths to peace. The return of slain soldiers was completed on Monday last week. Russia transferred 6,060 sets of remains to Ukraine and received 78 in exchange. The Russian military says it has more than 3,000 bodies it is willing to hand over. There were also several prisoner swaps, though neither side gave specific figures, unlike during previous swaps. Negotiators had suggested that Moscow and Kiev would not seek parity in numbers when returning seriously injured soldiers from captivity.

While Kiev did resume dialogue with Moscow as urged by the administration of US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian officials have claimed that Russia is not negotiating in good faith because it declined to agree to an unconditional ceasefire. Moscow said Kiev could use such a pause to regroup its military and outlined conditions for a truce in its draft memorandum. Russia said it would suspend hostilities if Ukraine either pulled troops out of Russian territories that Kiev claims, or suspended its conscription campaign and deliveries of Western arms. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky is presently set to meet Trump on the sidelines of the ongoing NATO leaders summit in The Hague.

“Real estate in Florida is about to skyrocket.”

• Escape from New York: Democrats Embrace Socialist for New Mayor (Turley)

The presumptive selection (pending the results of New York’s ranked-voting system) of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani as the Democratic nominee has sent shockwaves throughout the business and political establishment. For those calling for the party to move more to the center, New Yorkers just responded with a Bronx cheer by choosing a socialist who wants city-run grocery stores, an eleven-percent city corporate tax rate, free child care, free buses, and other far-left wish list items. Real estate in Florida is about to skyrocket. Mamdani has said that he intends to make New York a “model for the Democratic Party” by moving to the far left and embracing socialist policies. Despite being called anti-Israel, Mamdani crushed Andrew Cuomo with young college-educated voters.

He promised to pay for freezing rents, providing free child care, and other programs by “taxing the rich.” It is a return to the “eat the rich” calls of figures from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) to former mayor Bill de Blasio. Politicians have long turned to the “Eat the rich!” battle cry when things are not working out politically or economically. When struggling in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pledged a wealth tax, declaring that she was coming after “the diamonds, the yachts, and the Rembrandts too.” Then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, another Democratic contender at the time, was barely registering in the polls when he promised that “we will tax the hell out of the wealthy.”

The election also reinforces the opposition of many to the move to restore the state and local tax (SALT) deductions, which forces taxpayers in low-tax states to subsidize residents in high-tax states, such as California and New York. By allowing the deductions, politicians can assure New Yorkers that they will receive some of the money back from the rest of the country through deductions, justifying even higher tax hikes. I have long opposed SALT deductions as a uniquely bad idea. The question is whether wealthy individuals and corporations will accelerate the exit from New York in light of continued support for increasing tax burdens and public subsidies. Eric Adams could still prevail over Mamdani as an independent in the general election. Cuomo has also not ruled out an independent run. However, the results of the election show the increasing hold of socialist politics on many New Yorkers.

“At these debt levels, no one leader, ideology or policy can resolve the deficit and debt cancers spreading globally..”

• Gold: The Only True Asset in A Broken Global System (Piepenburg)

Matthew Piepenburg, Partner at VON GREYERZ, joins VRIC Media founder, Jay Martin, in a compelling conversation about the revolutionary shifts happening in the global financial system—the ramifications of which all point toward gold’s increasingly central role as THE strategic reserve asset of the present and future. Piepenburg opens with a simple theme. Namely, the risks and wide-ranging ramifications of sickening global debt levels can not be overstated enough. Everything from risk assets, currency destruction, geopolitics and social unrest to the gold price is a derivative of one simple theme: DEBT. We are also seeing revolutionary shifts from globalism to neo-mercantilism/protectionism, but as Piepenburg warns, such shifts are not surrendered easily, and that messiness in the interim is inevitable. Part of this “mess” includes rising social unrest as a direct result of the inflation and currency debasement, which failed monetary policies have directly created.

Looking ahead, as old systems, ideologies, and policies fail and new ideologies and protectionist systems rise, the transition will not be easy or smooth. Piepenburg foresees less international cooperation going forward, which means more messy wars, trade alliances and social fracturing. When asked if recent attempts to cut spending in the USA are a glimmer of hope, Piepenburg bluntly says we are way past easy solutions. At these debt levels, no one leader, ideology or policy can resolve the deficit and debt cancers spreading globally. Martin and Piepenburg also discuss the long-sighted policies of China vs. the short-sighted policies of the US to determine which nation has the most realistic options in the years ahead, while also recognising the severe challenges facing both of these economic powers. Ultimately, more cooperation would favor both nations and the world, but the chances of such policies are slim and getting slimer in this pre-Iran war recording.

In this increasingly splintered global backdrop, the conversation turns toward gold and increasingly obvious central bank demand for the same. Piepenburg certainly enjoys gold’s price action but reminds that gold, which has outperformed the S&P for more than 20 years, is nevertheless far more than a speculation asset or even a volatility hedge. Instead, gold is emerging as THE central global strategic reserve asset, as evidenced by moves taken by even the BIS, the IMF or the COMEX outflows. This is not a fable but a fact. Gold is now clearly a superior store of value than fiat currencies and sovereign IOUs of all stripes.

Statins

Dr. Leonard Coldwell on statin drugs:

"It's mass murder… It always cuts off at least 20 years of your lifespan."

"Your brain is made from cholesterol. A statin drug is a cholesterol-lowering drug. So if you want to have a brain the size of a marble, just keep on taking them."… pic.twitter.com/GZrysJwm1K

— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) June 24, 2025

Doors

The bronze doors of St John Lateran are over 2,000 years old

Interestingly, they became part of the church in the XVII century, being previoulsy part of the Roman senate building Cura Julia

Julius Caesar possibly walked through them on his way to work.pic.twitter.com/PqBTfYMDBS

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 25, 2025

Chimp
https://twitter.com/Yoda4ever/status/1937914182709686736

Strandbeest

Animaris Rex is an 18-metre-long walking 'beach animal' propelled by the wind, created by Theo Jansen as a fusion of art and engineering.pic.twitter.com/P6YsF5jLp0

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 24, 2025

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Debt Rattle May 21 2025

May 212025

May 21, 2025 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 8:40 am Finance Tagged with: AI, DOGE, illegality, Musk, Orthodox, Putin, red lines, Rubio, Rutte, Trump, UAE, USIP 39 Responses »

Pablo Picasso Portrait of Dora Maar 1939

• Putin and Trump Prove To Be the Real Power Brokers in Ukraine Peace Push (Sp.)

• Decoding Putin, Trump (Helmer)

• Every European Country Reinstituting Drafts, They Want War – Martin Armstrong

• Ukraine Has ‘One Last Chance’ – Medvedev (RT)

• Russia’s Red Lines: What Trump Heard From Putin in High Stakes Talks (Sp.)

• NATO Chief Comments On Putin-Trump Phone Call (RT)

• Trump Call Puts Brakes On West’s Diplomatic Offensive (RT)

• Russia Won’t Abandon Ukraine’s Orthodox Believers – Lavrov (RT)

• EU Quietly Complains Ukraine Is ‘All On Us Now’ – FT (RT)

• EU Forks Out $169 Bln for War Chest (Sp.)

• Ukraine Distracting West From ‘More Serious’ Issues – Rubio (RT)

• Musk Says Congress Needs To Act To Meet DOGE $2 Trillion Savings Goal (ZH)

• Federal Judge Blocks Trump Admin’s Dismantling of US Institute of Peace (ET)

• Germany’s Border Crackdown Can Only Last ‘A Few More Weeks’ – Police (RT)

• Democratic Officials Claim a Dangerous License for Illegality (Turley)

• EPIC – Senator Chris Van Hollen vs Secretary Marco Rubio (CTH)

• David Sacks’ Lieutenant Explains Trump’s AI Deal With UAE (ZH)

One of Elon Musk’s most remarkable performance ever!

pic.twitter.com/cqXonbITAO

— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) May 20, 2025

Olympics, World Cup, 250
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1924621981787295787

The Sacrificial President
Joe Biden has stage 4 cancer.
Did they lie about his physical health too?

They told us he was “vigorous.”
Now he’s terminal.
Was it elder abuse… or political malpractice?
Either way, they used him.
And the truth is just beginning to unravel. pic.twitter.com/XFNQGzw9qS

— DeepFakeQuotes (@DeepFakeQuote) May 19, 2025

Friend

“We don’t need a bigger FBI building—we need a better FBI.”@FBI Director @Kash_Patel is pushing for a new, multi-billion-dollar FBI headquarters, even bigger than the Pentagon—while distributing agents across the country. But instead of fixing the rot, whistleblowers warn this… pic.twitter.com/r1rHkwDuQt

— LindellTV (@RealLindellTV) May 20, 2025

Germany 1975: 10 mosques
Germany 2025: 2,750 mosques

This is what colonialism looks like. pic.twitter.com/n2DHiXgJlK

— Dr. Maalouf ‏ (@realMaalouf) May 19, 2025

“Putin and Trump are the only real decision-makers in this peace process. Europe is once again left out in the cold.”

• Putin and Trump Prove To Be the Real Power Brokers in Ukraine Peace Push (Sp.)

Dmitry Suslov, deputy director at Russia’s Higher School of Economics and the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, breaks down the key takeaways from Monday’s potentially historic telephone conversation between the Russian and US presidents. First and foremost, Suslov said, the US and Russia agreed that peace must be sought through direct bilateral talks between Russia and Ukraine — not an immediate ceasefire as demanded by Kiev and the Europeans. “That is Russia’s top priority, and the United States has agreed that this should be the main focus,” the observer explained. In effect, Trump essentially stepped back from his previous calls for an immediate ceasefire, and now backs negotiations aimed at a final peace agreement, with a possible ceasefire as part of the process. As for the demands by Kiev and its European patrons that Russia agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, Monday’s talks confirmed that “this will not happen,” Suslov said.

Putin in his remarks after the talks announced plans for Russia and Ukraine to start drafting a memorandum outlining the peace deal and ceasefire terms — a step toward a comprehensive settlement, not just a freeze. Suslov found it notable that Trump’s statement omitted any mention of “bone-crushing” anti-Russian sanctions threatened by the Europeans and his proxies at home. Essentially, Europe was once again sidelined and discredited, with Moscow and Washington taking the lead, the observer said. “The Europeans have once again found themselves out of the picture, once again disgraced and marginalized, given all their howling about the need for an immediate ceasefire, and demand that if Russia refuses, the United States should introduce tough sanctions on Russia.”

Another noteworthy point from Trump’s statement, according to Suslov, was his position that the need to end the conflict is “even more important than a ceasefire. “This suggests Trump has accepted, at least to a large extent, the Russian position that it’s necessary to work specifically on ending the war, not freezing it, on working on a final peace agreement, not a ceasefire as such.” Trump also expressed a desire to normalize US-Russia ties with their “limitless potential” for cooperation — clearly rejecting Europe’s posture. “This once again demonstrates Donald Trump’s reluctance to introduce anti-Russian sanctions and somehow quarrel with Russia,” Suslov said, emphasizing that the president appears fully aware “that if he introduces sanctions at this stage, he will cross out the prospects of settling the Ukrainian conflict, and the prospects of normalizing relations with Russia, and the United States will not be able to realize those ‘limitless possibilities’ which, according to Trump, are associated with Russian-American cooperation.”

Bottom Line, According to Suslov
“Putin and Trump are the only real decision-makers in this peace process. Europe is once again left out in the cold.”

“For the time being, Putin’s and Trump’s statements have put Rubio, Kellogg and the Europeans offside. Decoding the two president’s statements shows how and why.”

• Decoding Putin, Trump (Helmer)

On Monday President Donald Trump telephoned President Vladimir Putin and they talked for two hours before Trump put lunch in his mouth and Putin his dinner. On the White House schedule, there was no advance notice of the call and no record afterwards. The White House log is blank for Trump’s entire morning while the press were told he was at lunch between 11:30 and 12:30. Putin went public first, making a statement to the press which the Kremlin posted at 19:55 Moscow time; it was then 12:55 in Washington. Trump and his staff read the transcript and then composed Trump’s statement in a tweet posted at 13:33 Washington time, 20:33 Moscow time. If Secretary of State Marco Rubio and General Keith Kellogg, the president’s negotiator with the Ukraine and FUGUP (France, United Kingdom, Germany, Ukraine, Poland), were consulted during Trump’s prepping, sat in on the call with the President, or were informed immediately after the call, they have remained silent.

The day before, May 18, Rubio announced that the Istanbul-II meeting had produced agreement “to exchange paper on ideas to get to a ceasefire. If those papers have ideas on them that are realistic and rational, then I think we know we’ve made progress. If those papers, on the other hand, have requirements in them that we know are unrealistic, then we’ll have a different assessment.” Rubio was hinting that the Russian formula in Istanbul, negotiations-then-ceasefire, has been accepted by the US. What the US would do after its “assessment”, Rubio didn’t say – neither walk-away nor threat of new sanctions. Vice President JD Vance wasn’t present at the call because he was flying home from Rome where he attended Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural mass. “We’re more than open to walking away,” Vance told reporters in his aeroplane. “The United States is not going to spin its wheels here. We want to see outcomes.”

Vance prompted Trump to mention the Pope as a mediator for a new round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, first to Putin and then in public. Kellogg is refusing to go along. He tweeted on Sunday: “In Istanbul @SecRubio made it clear that we have presented ‘a strong peace plan’. Coming out of the London meetings we (US) came up with a comprehensive 22 point plan that is a framework for peace. The first point is a comprehensive cease fire that stops the killing now.” FUGUP issued their own statement after Trump’s call. “The US President and the European partners have agreed on the next steps. They agreed to closely coordinate the negotiation process and to seek another technical meeting. All sides reaffirmed their willingness to closely accompany Ukraine on the path to a ceasefire. The European participants announced that they would increase pressure on the Russian side through sanctions.”

This signalled acceptance with Trump of the Russian formula, negotiations-then-ceasefire, and time to continue negotiating at the “technical” level. The sanction threat was added. But this statement was no longer FUGUP. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was omitted; so too Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The Italian, the Finn and the European Commission President were substituted. They make FUGIFEC. Late in the Paris evening of Sunday French President Emmanuel Macron attempted to keep Starmer in Trump’s good books and preserve the ceasefire-first formula. “I spoke tonight,” Macron tweeted, “with @POTUS @Keir_Starmer @Bundeskanzler and @GiorgiaMeloni after our talks in Kyiv and Tirana. Tomorrow, President Putin must show he wants peace by accepting the 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by President Trump and backed by Ukraine and Europe.” By the time on Monday that Macron realized he had been trumped, the Elysée had nothing to say.

By contrast, Italian Prime Minister Meloni signalled she was happy to line up with Trump and accept Putin’s negotiations-then-ceasefire. “Efforts are being made,” Meloni’s office announced, “for an immediate start to negotiations between the parties that can lead as soon as possible to a ceasefire and create the conditions for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.” Meloni claimed she would assure that Pope Leo XIV would fall into line. “In this regard, the willingness of the Holy Father to host the talks in the Vatican was welcomed. Italy is ready to do its part to facilitate contacts and work for peace.” For the time being, Putin’s and Trump’s statements have put Rubio, Kellogg and the Europeans offside. Decoding the two president’s statements shows how and why.

“Comey was the man who held Armstrong in prison illegally for contempt for 7 years..”

“.. the hatred is too great on both sides.”

Hmm. Russians don’t hate Ukrainians.

• Every European Country Reinstituting Drafts, They Want War – Martin Armstrong

Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong is back with an update on his big turn toward war in Ukraine with Russia. Two weeks ago on USAW, Armstrong predicted, “After May 15, war is turning up (in Ukraine) and it will be turning up into 2026.” That prediction paid off to the exact day as peace talks between Russia and Ukraine ended on May 15 after just two hours, and neither side agreed to meet again. War is already here, and there is no stopping it with peace talks. Armstrong says, “Putin knows and understands this is not a just a war with Ukraine, this is a war with NATO. If Putin agrees to a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine, what’s that going to do? Absolutely nothing. You have every European country reinstituting drafts.

In Germany, even people 60 years old have been told to report. Poland has ordered every able-bodied man to show up for military training. They want war. Their economy is collapsing. You hear about this de-dollarization, and it’s not happening. The capitalization of just the New York Stock Exchange is worth more than all of Europe combined. That’s just the New York Stock Exchange. . . . You’ve got Macron in France, they call him the ‘Petite Napolean.’. . . Without war, Europe is going to collapse. It’s in a sovereign debt crisis . . . They have done everything against the economy.” Armstong thinks Russia will finish off Ukraine sometime in 2027 and Europe a year or two after that. And, Yes, Armstrong still thinks Ukraine will disappear from the map.

Armstrong urged his contacts in Washington to “Get the hell out of NATO.” It seems some in the US government are considering this warning as this headline breaks today: “US to Begin European Troop Withdrawal Talks, NATO Ambassador Says.” Armstrong says, “I have been told by some very influential people on Capitol Hill ‘you’re right, we agree.’ That’s what I have been told. . . . I have been complaining about this for months, and my view is Europe is committing suicide, and let’s not be part of it this time.” Is President Trump getting this message? Armstrong says, “Yes, I believe so. . . . Trump also said a peace deal does not seem likely, the hatred is too great on both sides.”

The neocons back home also want war with Russia and have wanted it for a very long time. Trump is either going to make peace or walk away and not participate. Maybe this is why former FBI Director James Comey put out his not-so-cryptic call to assassinate President Trump with his “86 47” now deleted Instagram post. Comey was the man who held Armstrong in prison illegally for contempt for 7 years. Armstrong says, “Comey has always been part of it. Just for the record, he was the US Attorney in New York. He’s the one who kept me in contempt until the Supreme Court said what the hell is going on? Then, they had to release me.”

How did Armstrong land in jail? Armstrong says, “They asked me to put in 10 billion dollars . . . to take over Russia, and I refused. It was Comey that was the US Attorney for New York, and he kept me in civil contempt, which has a maximum sentence of 18 months, and he kept me in for 7 years. He kept rolling it and rolling it and rolling it. . . . I was told if I put in $10 billion, I would get $100 billion back. They intended to have all the assets of Russia going through the trading desk of New York. All the oil, gold, diamonds, platinum, you name it, they would have it all. And I said, no, I’m out. I am not into regime change.”

Fast forward to today, and the powers in Europe still think they can take Russia and steal their assets to fix the extreme financial problems in Europe. Pensions, banks and bonds are in deep financial trouble in Europe. Stealing from Russia and gaining control of $75 trillion in natural resources is why they want and need war. Armstrong says, “They went to negative interest rates in 2014. I warned them. I said listen; you are out of your minds. You are syphoning money out of the bank reserves and pension finds. It’s a basket case. It really is. They have no appreciable economy. . . it’s shrinking, the number of actual businesses has shrunk in Germany. (Germany is 25% of the EU economy.) This is why they need war.” Armstrong says Europe is going to lose and lose badly in a war with Russia. Armstrong says if Trump gets out of NATO, the US will thrive and do much better financially than Europe. Let’s all hope President Trump gets us out of NATO before it’s too late.

The alter ego speaks.

“Moscow is concerned that there are currently no individuals in Ukraine that have the legal authority to sign any sort of a peace deal..”

• Ukraine Has ‘One Last Chance’ – Medvedev (RT)

Authorities in Kiev have one last opportunity to preserve some kind of statehood after the Ukraine conflict inevitably resolves, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said, urging Kiev to engage in peace talks. Speaking at an international legal forum in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, Medvedev – who serves as the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council – admitted that Moscow doesn’t like the current political regime in Kiev “at all.” Nevertheless, he suggested that Ukraine’s leaders have “one last chance to preserve, under certain conditions, after the end of military actions, some kind of statehood or, if you like, some kind of international legal personality and gain a chance for peaceful development.”

Though the Ukrainian government lacks any sovereignty and is a failed “quasi-state” in its current form, Moscow remains open to holding unconditional direct peace negotiations that would take into account the current realities on the ground and address the root causes of the conflict, Medvedev stated. Moscow is concerned that there are currently no individuals in Ukraine that have the legal authority to sign any sort of a peace deal with Russia, he noted. This concern mainly has to do with the fact that a treaty signed by the current leadership could subsequently be rejected once a new government in Ukraine is elected, he explained. Zelensky’s presidential term officially expired last year, and he has since repeatedly held off holding new elections, citing the conflict with Russia and martial law.

While Moscow has questioned Zelensky’s legitimacy as Ukraine’s leader, last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov signaled that the Russian side may overlook his status in order to resume peace negotiations. ”The interests of entering the peaceful settlement process are above all else,” Peskov said, stressing that “the primary goal is to begin this negotiation process,” while all other questions are “secondary.” Last week, delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul, marking their first direct talks since Kiev unilaterally abandoned the peace process in 2022. The head of Russia’s negotiating team in Istanbul, Vladimir Medinsky, later said the two parties had agreed to conduct a prisoner swap involving 1,000 POWs from each side, and to continue contacts once both have prepared detailed ceasefire proposals.

“One way or another, Russia will realize its aspiration, so its easier to recognize them, accept them and move forward..,”

• Russia’s Red Lines: What Trump Heard From Putin in High Stakes Talks (Sp.)

Exclusive analysis by Igor Korotchenko (Editor-in-Chief of Russian military publication “National Defense”) on the content of the two hour conversation between Presidents Putin and Trump aimed at ending the Ukrainian conflict. The Russian president came to the table with four non-negotiables, Korotchenko says. These are:
• Recognition of new territorial realities (4 new regions = Russia)
• Complete Ukrainian withdrawal from these territories
• Halt in all Western arms shipments
• Ukraine’s neutral/non-bloc, non-nuclear status

“The main thing conveyed is that Russia has a consistent policy which does not change or vacillate, is absolutely clear and consistent,” the veteran Russian military observer explained. Essentially, Putin’s message was that “everything we say, we implement and carry out.” The non-bloc status point accounts for Russia’s long-standing position on the need to address and eliminate the root causes of the conflict, namely NATO expansion, Korotchenko said.

“Most importantly,” the call was meant to convey “realism from the idea that accepting the conditions formulated by Russia and their support in the US” would allow for peace to be achieved quickly. “One way or another, Russia will realize its aspiration, so its easier to recognize them, accept them and move forward,” the observer emphasized. Korotchenko stressed that the Putin-Trump phone call had no parties trying to “dictate their will” to each other, but a respectful discussion in which each side could express their position. “I think Trump at the very least heard Putin. And crucially, he was convinced that Russia is consistent in its readiness to reach a peace agreement. But this process will not come through some unilateral concessions,” the observer summed up.

He puts on the smiley face, but this is not what he wants.

• NATO Chief Comments On Putin-Trump Phone Call (RT)

The phone call on Monday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, marks a positive development and continues to restore communication, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said. Talking to reporters on Tuesday, Rutte said it was a “good sign” that the conversation took place and welcomed Trump’s “leadership” in efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict. He added that the US president had “broken the deadlock” from “day one” since returning to office earlier this year. Rutte acknowledged there had been “no discussions with the Russians” until January, when Trump began to “open lines of communication” with Putin. Asked whether pressure on the Russian president should be increased, Rutte said, “Let’s be thankful that Americans are now taking this position, this leadership role.” He added it would not be helpful for him, as a NATO leader, to comment on every step in the process.

Both Putin and Trump described their latest call as productive and encouraging. The US president said he expected progress on the Ukraine conflict within two weeks. According to a Kremlin statement, Putin thanked Trump for “US support in resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.” Yury Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy aide, said the call was conducted in a tone of “mutual respect,” with Trump expressing support for normalizing ties between Washington and Moscow. Putin said on Monday that he and Trump agreed that the next step should be a memorandum outlining principles and a timeline for a peace settlement in the Ukraine conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the next day that “there is and cannot be a deadline” for completing the document.

Rutte’s remarks come as NATO members seek ways to militarize and produce more weapons to be delivered to Ukraine. In March, the European Commission unveiled a plan to raise €800 billion ($896 billion) to “rearm” the EU. The Trump administration has consistently demanded that European NATO states increase their annual military spending to 5% of GDP, calling the longstanding 2% target insufficient. Russian officials have condemned the steps being taken in Europe toward militarization, and dismissed claims that Moscow intends to attack either the EU or NATO. Moreover, Russia has expressed concern that, rather than supporting the US peace initiatives for the Ukraine conflict, the EU and UK are instead gearing up for war with Russia.

“Western Europe wasn’t invited to the Istanbul talks at all. No EU officials were in Türkiye. The ultimatums issued just days earlier? Ignored by both Moscow and Washington.”

• Trump Call Puts Brakes On West’s Diplomatic Offensive (RT)

In recent weeks, the focus of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has shifted noticeably from the battlefield to the diplomatic arena. Political actors on all sides have turned their attention to shaping the terms of a potential settlement – or at least the framework for future negotiations. This latest phase began with a coordinated visit by Western European leaders to Kiev and concluded, for now, with a phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on Monday. But the centerpiece of this diplomatic shift was the unexpected resumption of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul. What’s unfolding is not just a conversation about peace, but a broader contest over influence and strategic direction. Competing visions of how the conflict should end – or be managed – are colliding in real time. Western Europe is scrambling to maintain relevance,

Ukraine is caught between urgency and uncertainty, and Trump, now at the center of this geopolitical tug-of-war, is being courted by both sides. So, who’s really winning this shadow war of influence? And what happens if the diplomatic front collapses? Let’s take a closer look. On May 10, leaders from France, the UK, Germany, and Poland traveled to Kiev. Their message to Russia was blunt: Agree to a 30-day ceasefire or face new sanctions and new supplies of European weapons to Ukraine. This wasn’t surprising. Peace initiatives led by Trump and his adviser, Steve Witkoff, had stalled by early May, creating an opening for the ‘war party’ led by European globalists – figures with whom Kiev has naturally aligned for obvious reasons. But there’s a problem: Europe is out of both weapons and sanctions.

Germany still has a few symbolic Taurus missiles tucked away like heirloom jewels, but even if it decides to part with them, the numbers wouldn’t meaningfully shift the balance on the battlefield. This leaves the Western Europeans with just one real move: Convince Trump to back their agenda, boxing him into a policy that isn’t his own. That same evening, Putin made his countermove: He publicly invited Kiev to resume direct peace talks in Istanbul. With that offer, the Russian president: Set the terms of negotiation himself, signaling that Russia holds the advantage and Ukraine has more to lose by dragging this out; Sidelined Western Europe entirely, effectively discarding Witkoff’s peace plan in favor of talks not about a token ceasefire, but a lasting peace on Russia’s terms.

It was also a clear act of diplomatic trolling – inviting the Ukrainians back to the very same negotiating table they had walked away from three years ago in Istanbul, with Vladimir Medinsky once again leading the Russian delegation. Despite some trolling, Russia sent a relatively heavyweight delegation to Istanbul: The head of military intelligence, top deputies from the foreign and defense ministries, and a cadre of seasoned experts. This is the sort of team you’d expect at serious negotiations – if the parties actually shared common ground.They don’t, at least not yet. Still, the talks were more substantive than expected. Neither side stormed out, and the discussions were described as constructive. Most notably, the two sides agreed to continue talking – and to carry out the largest prisoner exchange of the conflict so far.

The exchange is structured as a one-to-one swap – 1,000 prisoners from each side: Nearly all captured Russians and roughly one-sixth of the Ukrainian POWs. The original goal was a full exchange of ‘all for all’, so the current results clearly favor Moscow. I’ve long argued that the only path to lasting peace lies in a direct Russia-Ukraine agreement. This would require Kiev to renounce its anti-Russian posture and accept Moscow’s terms. And this can only happen if Ukraine ditches its alignment with the European war lobby led by French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Just last Thursday, that seemed impossible. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky was grandstanding, demanding Putin come to Istanbul, insisting on an immediate ceasefire, and more. But curiously, Western Europe wasn’t invited to the Istanbul talks at all. No EU officials were in Türkiye. The ultimatums issued just days earlier? Ignored by both Moscow and Washington.

All of Russia’s culture will be protected, also in Ukraine.

• Russia Won’t Abandon Ukraine’s Orthodox Believers – Lavrov (RT)

Russia will not abandon Orthodox believers in Ukraine in the face of ongoing religious persecution by the authorities in Kiev, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has promised. Speaking at a Russian Foreign Ministry reception on Tuesday dedicated to Orthodox Easter, Lavrov condemned Kiev for cracking down on believers in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), calling it proof of the Ukrainian authorities’ “human-hating essence.” “The authorities in Kiev have brought [the UOC] to the brink of legal liquidation… Churches continue to be seized, vandalized, and attacked, along with priests and parishioners,” Lavrov alleged. He pointed in particular to Ukraine’s attempts to wrestle control over the iconic Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the country’s oldest monastery.

“These acts are being carried out with the connivance and even support of many European countries, where the ghosts of neo-Nazism and Satanism are again lifting their heads,” the diplomat stated. “Russia will not leave the Orthodox people of Ukraine in trouble,” Lavrov stressed, adding that Moscow “will ensure that their lawful rights are respected” and that canonical Orthodoxy regains its central place in Ukraine’s spiritual life. Ukraine has accused the UOC of maintaining ties to Russia despite the church declaring independence from the Moscow Patriarchate in May 2022. The crackdown has included numerous arrests of clergymen and church raids, one of the most notorious of which took place in the catacombs of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra where holy relics are kept.

Last year, Zelensky also signed legislation allowing the state to ban religious organizations affiliated with governments Kiev deems “aggressors,” effectively targeting the UOC. The Ukrainian leader has defended the measures, claiming they are necessary to protect the country’s “spiritual independence” amid the conflict with Russia. Meanwhile, Kiev has openly supported the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which is regarded as schismatic by both the UOC and the Russian Orthodox Church. The UN has also voiced concern about the state of religious freedoms in Ukraine, particularly regarding legislation allowing Kiev to target different institutions.

“.. he is “not ready to put greater pressure” on Russia..”

• EU Quietly Complains Ukraine Is ‘All On Us Now’ – FT (RT)

European leaders backing Ukraine were reportedly “stunned” by US President Donald Trump’s refusal to support their efforts to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin, following a phone call between the two leaders. ”He [Trump] is stepping away,” a senior European diplomat said, as cited by the Financial Times on Tuesday, describing the impression the US president produced. “Supporting and financing Ukraine, putting pressure on Russia: that’s all on us now.” The conversation between Putin and Trump on Monday was their third public engagement since Trump took office in January, with both describing it as positive. Trump reiterated his call for continued direct talks between Moscow and Kiev, and said the conflict is “a European situation” in which the US should never have been involved.

Trump personally briefed the leaders of Ukraine, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, and the European Commission on the call, and made it clear he is “not ready to put greater pressure” on Russia, an unnamed source told the FT. EU officials and European NATO members had been counting on Washington’s support to extract concessions from Moscow by leveraging threats of new sanctions and continued weapons support for Ukraine. They interpreted the perceived shift in the US posture as a diplomatic win for the Kremlin, the British newspaper said. Before direct talks between Moscow and Kiev resumed in Istanbul last week, Ukraine and its backers demanded a 30-day unconditional ceasefire from Russia as a prerequisite. Kiev agreed to take part after the US endorsed the talks, while European leaders postponed their own deadline for a truce.

Moscow has since called for a memorandum to be drafted that would set out a road map to a peace treaty, possibly including a ceasefire. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that finalizing the document would take time. Trump said following his discussion with Putin that in addition to ending the violence, a resolution of the conflict could lead to major economic benefits for the US, Russia, and Ukraine. He added that progress in the talks could be seen in a couple of weeks, but warned that a lack of results could lead Washington to reconsider its role as mediator.

The EU starts joint borrowing. Many will not like that. Ask Orban.

• EU Forks Out $169 Bln for War Chest (Sp.)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the new program a “once-in-a-generation moment’ after previously saying that the EU faces defense investment needs of approximately $565 billion over the next decade. The EU has greenlit a new $169 billion defense fund to bankroll ammo, drones, and critical infrastructure, Bloomberg reported. Financed through joint borrowing, it will give loans to EU members and countries such as Ukraine to boost the arms industry. The hiked spending is pitched as a response to Donald Trump’s scale-back of US defense in Europe.

Besides the $169 billion program, looser fiscal rules could unleash up to $904 billion in more military spending. Such loans would go to finance what Europe “lacks,” like:
• missiles
• missile defense systems
• ground capabilities.

“..whatever happens in Ukraine sets the table for what happens in the Indo-Pacific,” suggesting that an outright Russian victory could embolden China to make more assertive moves.”

• Ukraine Distracting West From ‘More Serious’ Issues – Rubio (RT)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has defended President Donald Trump’s foreign policies and priorities, including his reluctance to join the EU and UK in imposing further sanctions on Moscow or increasing arms supplies to Kiev. Following his lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Trump told journalists that the US does not want to impose additional sanctions on Russia “because there’s a chance” of progress toward a settlement of the Ukraine conflict. Secretary Rubio was grilled on this and other issues during a three-hour-long appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday. Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, claimed that “whatever happens in Ukraine sets the table for what happens in the Indo-Pacific,” suggesting that an outright Russian victory could embolden China to make more assertive moves.

“But by the same token, I would say there’s a flip side to that, and that is every minute we spend, every dollar we spend on this conflict in Europe is distracting both our focus and our resources away from the potential for a much more serious, much more cataclysmic confrontation in the Indo-Pacific,” Rubio replied. Rubio has previously stated that countering China will be central to US foreign policy during Trump’s second term. He reiterated on Tuesday that “every minute that we spend on this conflict – that cannot be won by military means – every resource that’s expended into it is money and time that’s not being spent on preventing a much more serious confrontation from a global perspective in the Indo-Pacific.”Rivalry between Washington and Beijing has intensified since Trump’s return to office, with both nations expanding their military and economic influence in the region and beyond.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth declared in February that China was America’s top defense priority, citing “stark strategic realities.” Speaking in Brussels at a gathering of Ukraine’s backers, he described Beijing as a “peer competitor” with both the capability and intent to threaten US interests in the Indo-Pacific. Washington has previously signaled that it plans to shift its military focus to Asia, while Trump has repeatedly urged the EU to take the lead in its own defense and bear the primary responsibility for future security guarantees to Kiev. Trump argued that Washington should never have intervened in Ukraine, suggesting that Kiev would be “better off” if the conflict with Moscow had remained a “European situation.”

“This is not our war… I mean, we got ourselves entangled in something that we shouldn’t have been involved in… The financial amount that was put up is just crazy,” the US president said on Monday. The Putin-Trump call was characterized as productive by both leaders. Trump said he believes Putin is interested in ending the conflict and warned that additional economic pressure could obstruct US mediation efforts. However, the EU and UK imposed new sanctions on Russia on Tuesday, escalating their campaign to pressure Moscow while ramping up support for Kiev.

“..the magnitude of the savings is proportionate to the support we get from Congress and from the executive branch of the government in general..”

• Musk Says Congress Needs To Act To Meet DOGE $2 Trillion Savings Goal (ZH)

When Elon Musk joined the Trump administration with the goal of eliminating waste, fraud and abuse through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), he set a lofty $2 trillion goal. Now, four months later, DOGE has cut roughly $170 billion – a figure much lower than projected – in no small part due to activist judges and political pushback which have stopped the Trump administration from eliminating wide swaths of government bloat. On Tuesday, Musk said it was up to Congress to make it happen. “The ability of Doge to operate is a function of whether the government, and this includes the Congress, is willing to take our advice,” Musk said while speaking at an economic forum in Qatar.

“We are not the dictators of the government. We are the advisors, and so we can, we can advise, and the progress we’ve made thus far, I think, is incredible,” Musk continued. “Doge team has done incredible work, but the magnitude of the savings is proportionate to the support we get from Congress and from the executive branch of the government in general. So we’re not the dictators we all the advisors. But thus far, for advisors. We’ve been to the George team, to their credit, has made incredible progress.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1924826040976777678

As we noted in February, it will be Congress that decides the endgame… You cut enough spending – even if it’s all grift and fraud – you eventually get a recession, guaranteed. That’s all Congress is waiting for cause then they use the “emergency” to vote through a far greater spending package (“will someone please think of all the unemployed”) one which eclipses all of DOGE’s spending cuts. What Musk is doing in trying to streamline the govt is admirable but ultimately it will be Congress that decides the endgame. And there things are as status quo as always.

In a humorous exchange, Musk said that he’s still committed to being Tesla CEO in five years’ time – unless he’s dead. A moderator asked: “Do you see yourself and are you committed to still being the chief executive of Tesla in five years’ time?” Musk responded: “Yes.” The moderator pushed further: “No doubt about that at all?” Musk added, chuckling: “I can’t be still here if I’m dead.”

Pure lawfare.

• Federal Judge Blocks Trump Admin’s Dismantling of US Institute of Peace (ET)

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell on May 19 blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from restructuring the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), replacing its leadership, and assuming control of its office building. “These unilateral actions were taken without asking Congress to cease or reprogram appropriations or by recommending that Congress enact a new law to dissolve or reduce the institute or transfer its tasks to another entity,” Howell stated in her written opinion. USIP was established by Congress in 1984 as an “independent nonprofit corporation,” which receives federal and private funding to promote peace through education and diplomacy. The matter began with a Feb. 19 Trump executive order declaring USIP “unnecessary,” and calling for the organization’s activities to “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”

Its board of directors is made up of 13 members: Ten are acting members, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The other three are “ex officio” members, meaning they hold their seats because of their placement in the federal government. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Vice Admiral Peter A. Garvin, president of the National Defense University, hold these “ex officio” seats. On March 14, Trent Morse of the Presidential Personnel Office fired USIP’s acting board members by email. That same day, its president, George Moose, was fired by the ex officio members and replaced with Kenneth Jackson, an official from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) took control of USIP’s headquarters on March 17.

On March 18, in the middle of this shake-up, USIP and several of its fired board members sued the government, naming Trump, Jackson, Hegseth, and Rubio as co-defendants. Howell initially declined to block the administration’s moves on March 19, while the case was pending before the court, because she felt the plaintiffs’ claims would not succeed on the merits. The board members and USIP president Moose protested against the firings and resisted the takeover of its Washington headquarters, but were unsuccessful. The administration eventually fired all but a handful of USIP’s staff, cancelled all of its programs. It transferred control of USIP’s headquarters to the General Services Administration and leased its office space to the Department of Labor. In her ruling, Howell sought to define USIP’s role in the federal government.

The plaintiffs had argued that USIP is a fully independent entity, and not part of the government, or at the very least, not part of the executive branch. Its statutes say the board members can only be removed by the president: “In consultation with the board, for conviction of a felony, malfeasance in office, persistent neglect of duties, or inability to discharge duties.” A board member may also be removed by a vote of eight other board members, or with a majority vote from members of the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Education and Labor, and the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Labor and Human Resources. The Trump administration had argued that it was part of the executive branch, since it performed diplomatic functions. Since it is part of the executive branch, federal attorney Brian Hudak argued, Trump was entitled to fire its board despite the statutory limitations.

Judge Howell took a middle-of-the-road view and said that USIP is part of the federal government, but not strictly part of the executive branch. “Instead, USIP supports both the executive and legislative branches as an independent think tank that carries out its own international peace research, education and training, and information services,” she stated. “Defendants’ subsequent actions that flowed from the improper removal of USIP’s leadership in March 2025 are thus also unlawful,” including the termination of its grant programs and the firing of its staff. Howell ordered the fired board members and president Moose to be reinstated and may not be fired, except in accordance with USIP’s statutes. She also declared the transfer of USIP’s headquarters illegal and has blocked the government from “trespassing” on those headquarters or maintaining control of its computer systems.

And then you open the borders again?

• Germany’s Border Crackdown Can Only Last ‘A Few More Weeks’ – Police (RT)

Germany’s new border crackdown can only be sustained for “a few more weeks,” the country’s police union has warned, citing mounting pressure on officers tasked with enforcing the policy. The warning comes two weeks after the government introduced stricter border controls to curb the number of asylum seekers entering the country. ”We can only manage this because duty rosters have been adjusted, training for the units is currently on hold, and the reduction of overtime has been halted,” Andreas Rosskopf, chairman of the Federal Police and Customs division of the German Police Union, said. He warned that the controls can only be sustained “for a few more weeks.” The measures represent a major shift in Germany’s migration stance and fulfill a key campaign promise of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who vowed to tighten the immigration laws.

The May 7 order from Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt bans asylum applications at all land borders, reversing former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2015 open-border policy. Exceptions are made for children, pregnant women, and other vulnerable groups. Up to 3,000 officers are being added to the 11,000 already stationed at Germany’s borders. The 2015 policy defined Germany’s approach to refugees, while also drawing fierce political backlash, with critics calling it “disastrous.” A week after the measures were announced, Dobrindt claimed that the number of rejections increased by almost a half. However, according to Der Spiegel, the number of asylum applications remained largely stable in the week after May 7.

As the EU’s largest economy, Germany has been the most popular destination for asylum seekers. According to official statistics, foreigners currently make up 17% of the country’s population. Migration remains a polarizing issue, with local authorities often warning that the number of asylum seekers is straining their budgets.The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is known for its strong anti-immigration stance, was designated a “confirmed extremist entity” earlier this month by the domestic intelligence agency (BfV), which said its activities could threaten Germany’s democratic order. The designation was later suspended after legal appeals and public outcry.

They’ll keep at it. There are no consequences.

• Democratic Officials Claim a Dangerous License for Illegality (Turley)

Across the country, a new defense is being heard in state and federal courtrooms. From Democratic members of Congress to judges to city council members, officials claim that their official duties include obstructing the official functions of the federal government. It is a type of liberal license that excuses most any crime in the name of combating what Minn. Gov. Tim Walz called the “modern-day Gestapo” of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The latest claimant of this license is Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), who was charged with assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement officers during a protest at Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. McIver is shown on video forcing her way into an ICE facility and striking and shoving agents in her path.

This was not a major incursion, but these state and federal officials joined a mob in briefly overwhelming security and breaching the fence barrier after a bus was allowed through the entrance. Federal officials were able to quickly force back the incursion. McIver and House Democrats insisted that McIver’s forcing her way into the facility might be trespass and assault for other citizens, but she was merely exercising “legislative oversight.” Rep. Alexandria Ocacio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) declared “You lay a finger on someone – on Bonnie Watson Coleman or any of the representatives that were there – you lay a finger on them, we’re going to have a problem.” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) even ominously warned the federal government that Democrats would bring down the house if it tried to charge McIver: “It’s a red line. They know better than to go down that road.”

Well, the red line was crossed in a big way after Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba charged McIver with a felony under Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1). The ACLU called the charge “authoritarianism” and insisted that these state and federal politicians “have every right to exercise their legally authorized oversight responsibilities for expanded immigration detention in New Jersey.” The problem with the oversight claim is that McIver’s status as a member of Congress does not allow her access into closed federal facilities. Congress can subpoena the Executive Branch or secure court orders for access. However, members do not have immunity from criminal laws in unilaterally forcing their way into any federal office or agency.

If that were the case, Rep. Alexandria Ocacio-Cortez would not have posted images of herself crying at the fence of an immigrant facility, she could have climbed over the fence in the name of oversight. Conversely, Republicans in the Biden Administration could have simply pushed their way into the Justice Department to seek the files on the influence-peddling scandal. Yet, the point of the claim is less of a real criminal defense and more of a political excuse. It is the same claim being heard this week from Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj who was shown in a video shoving and obstructing ICE officers attempting to arrest a woman on immigration charges. Two other individuals (including a Democratic candidate for a school board) were arrested, but not Haxhiaj who claimed that she was merely protecting “a constituent.” After the melee, the city manager issued an order preventing city police from assisting in any way in the carrying out of such civil immigration enforcement efforts by the federal government.

Even judges are claiming the same license. In Wisconsin, Judge Hannah Dugan has been charged with obstructing a federal arrest of an illegal immigrant who appeared in her courtroom. Duggan heard about agents waiting outside in the hallway to arrest the man and went outside to confront the agents. She told them to speak to the Chief Judge and that they needed a different warrant. The agents complied and the Chief Judge confirmed that they could conduct the arrest. In the interim, however, Dugan led the man out a non-public door and facilitated his escape (he was arrested after a chase down a public street). Judge Duggan also claimed that she was carrying out her duties even though her hearing was over, the charges were not part of state matter, and the arrest was being carried out outside of her courtroom.

Mr. Margarita has very poor manners.

• EPIC – Senator Chris Van Hollen vs Secretary Marco Rubio (CTH)

For seven straight minutes Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat and listened to criminal alien apologist Chris Van Hollen blast him for enforcing immigration laws, supporting MAGA foreign policy and revoking the guest visas for criminal protestors on college campuses. Van Hollen was trying to blast Rubio and fundraise from his far-left communist constituents. Rubio listened respectfully. Then came the moment, “may I respond” asked Rubio, and within the response Senator Van Hollen completely lost his cool, shouted angrily at Rubio despite being told his time has expired, and was forced to listen to Senator Rubio inform him that yes, Rubio not only plans to revoke the visas of the agitators, but that Rubio had just asked for an even longer list of campus protesters who were recently arrested so he could personally ensure those visas were revoked.

“…I kind of think of this like a software ecosystem play, where we now have them tied to the American AI ecosystem..”

• David Sacks’ Lieutenant Explains Trump’s AI Deal With UAE (ZH)

Sriram Krishnan, Senior White House Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence, joined the Monday edition of TBPN to explain why the U.S.-UAE AI Partnership is a strategic victory for the United States in its race to lead AI development against China, a perspective largely (and unsurprisingly) overlooked by mainstream media.

EXCLUSIVE: we asked @sriramk to break down the $600B deal announced last week by @WhiteHouse.

"We signed the first AI acceleration partnership. There are 3 critical components to this deal."

"First, this represents a large investment in US data centers and US AI infrastructure.… https://t.co/cL4RUfgTRV pic.twitter.com/8MRimP0rMg

— TBPN (@tbpn) May 19, 2025

SRIRAM KRISHAN: We signed the first AI acceleration partnership. You guys probably read about in the press, but there are probably three important components that just, I wanted to have the technology brothers have the alpha and the have the first group on that. The most important part, the first part, is that this represents a large investment in U.S. data centers and U.S. AI infrastructure. So these countries will be investing in U.S. AI infrastructure. To make them as equal, if not larger, than the data centers and infrastructure they’re building back home. So this means, obviously a large infusion of capital revenue to data centers here in America.

JORDI HAYS: That story was kind of lost. Right? I feel like a lot of the focus was on localized investment and infrastructure. JOHN COOGAN: To break it down in language that a venture capitalist could understand. This is something like what we’re seeing with Stargate where there’s a ton of capital forming and that’s coming from SoftBank, but it’s also coming from Middle Eastern investment funds and sovereign nations investing in American infrastructure. And then there’s a whole host of companies that might come in the stack to actually build a new data center. Is that right?

SRIRAM KRISHAN: Exactly. You should be doing our talking points. I would say, look, these countries have AI ambitions, right? They want to buy American AI. They wanna buy our semiconductors. They want to buy our large language model. They want to use us. And so as a part of this deal, they’re agreeing to a few things. The most important thing they’re gonna agree to is that capital, like you mentioned, right? Like, and, and this is, by the way, net new. This is not part of any existing project. Sure. These net new deals will mean infrastructure being built out physically in the US.

So for example, if they build out X megawatts of gigawatts of capacity, yep. This will mean the same X megawatts of gigawatts of capacity in the US, and this is an important point. Because some of the chatter has been, Hey, how does America maintain its lead? Well, one of the ways we maintain our lead is everything that is being built up by our allies. We get a matching deal back home. So that’s probably the number one headline.

The second headline would be that the vast majority of the GPUs that are as a part of this deal, which is gonna be, say, hosted in the UAE, will be hosted, run, operated by American hyperscaler companies, right? And so, you probably know them all, right? These would be large American companies who. They will be running it, hosting it, maintaining, and this is actually important because this represents an expansion opportunity for all of our companies. This means they would get to win market share away from competition from other countries. And obviously there’s a whole huge amount of revenue and ecosystem coming in. And so that’s the second key point, the vast majority of the GPUs are going to be run by American companies, often by a lot of our friends in these large, uh, you know, hyperscaler companies.

And the third point, and this is, again, something just lost in the chatter, is I’m sure you’ve heard questions about, Hey, how do we make sure these GPUs, you know, don’t get to somebody they don’t need to be. So there are rigorous security protocols in place, so every GPU gets shipped over. We are gonna make sure that, a., they can’t be physically diverted. These are really large boxes. You can’t hide them under your t-shirt or your tux and kind of stick them out the door. You can’t really go George Clooney Oceans 11 on them. So one is there’s going to be a large amount of physical verification and physical security protocols.

The second is remote access. We are gonna make sure through these deals, through the framework that nobody who’s not supposed to have access, especially from countries of concern, can get access. And so these three kinds of the core pillars, and here’s why this event, right? And I think everybody in your audience who’s like a technology person, a technology brother, or in the software world, here’s why they’ll understand it. What has history taught as a software industry? The company with the biggest network effect, the biggest ecosystem wins, right? We’ve all grown up with Microsoft. How did Microsoft win with the Windows and Office ecosystem? Think about this as the American AI ecosystem.

We are getting these resource-rich countries who are critical allies in very interesting geopolitical places to basically adopt the American AI stack, right? Up and down. This means they are going to be part of our ecosystem for years and decades to come, and it essentially forms a shield from them ever adopting or using technology or working closely with some people that we don’t want them to work with. In a way, I kind of think of this like a software ecosystem play, where we now have them tied to the American AI ecosystem.

Dowd

This chart is in constant dollars and no it’s not inflation. The cancer spend trend inflected in June 2022. https://t.co/g7ahaMb5ux

— Edward Dowd (@DowdEdward) May 19, 2025

Scott
https://twitter.com/liz_churchill10/status/1924578085443187024

Scott Adams gives solid words of wisdom after revealing his cancer diagnosis.

"I realize that for some of you, this is hitting you hard because you're hearing it for the first time."

"I have to say that everybody has to die, as far as I know. And it's kind of civilized that you… pic.twitter.com/g5eRulqKH8

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 19, 2025

“Here's the Scott formula
For happiness
You can't chase it
Don't chase it
But you can let it happen
By doing other things
That are right
So I would say
You want to spend
About 80% of your time
Chasing meaning”

– @ScottAdamsSays

pic.twitter.com/qbu6SXTEOx

— AKIRA THE DON (@akirathedon) May 19, 2025

Bark

He's not even barking… And still running the packpic.twitter.com/SGxNevZ2z2

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 20, 2025

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

Debt Rattle October 2 2024

Oct 022024

October 2, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 8:51 am Finance Tagged with: Assange, drone swarm battles, Duda, Iran, Israel, Kamala, Lebanon, Rutte, Vance, Walz 86 Responses »

Francis Tattegrain La ramasseuse d’épaves (The Beachcomber) 1880

• Israelis Leave Shelters After Iranian Attack (ZH)

• US Secretly Approved Lebanon Escalation – Politico (RT)

• Biden, Harris Strongly Back Israeli Killing of Nasrallah (Antiwar)

• Kamala’s Katrina Moment? (JTN)

• Biden Upset With Harris – NBC News (RT)

• ‘I’m Free Because I Pled Guilty To Journalism’ – Assange (RT)

• Assange: Plea Deal With US Precludes Appeals to Top European Rights Court (Sp.)

• Elon Musk Warns Of ‘Drone Swarm Battles’ (RT)

• Reporters Without Borders is ‘Media Wing of NATO’ (Sp.)

• Comer Subpoenas DHS For Memos With Info About Tim Walz’s China Connections (JTN)

• Federal Court Rules Against University of NM in Free Speech Case (Turley)

• Putin Is Preparing Russia’s Surrender (Paul Craig Roberts)

• Biden Could Speed Up Ukraine’s NATO Bid – FT (RT)

• Russia Accuses West, Ukraine of Preparing ‘False-Flag’ Chemical Attack (RT)

• Former Dutch PM Rutte Becomes NATO’s Secretary General (TASS)

• Polish President Sued For ‘Insulting’ His Own People (RT)

• Russia, China Settling 95% of Payments in Own Currencies (Sp.)

Elon Musk: “The outcome of the woke mind virus is very clear if you walk around the streets of downtown San Francisco. It's the end of civilization.“ pic.twitter.com/EMS6Blby0k

— ELON DOCS (@elon_docs) October 1, 2024

Debate

BREAKING: CBS Moderators just tried to get a "gotcha" by bringing up JD Vance's past comments on Trump and he NAILED IT

"I was wrong, first of all, because I believed some of the media stories that turned out to be dishonest fabrications of his record."

THAT WAS A LITERAL… pic.twitter.com/Cd2JJFigSp

— George (@BehizyTweets) October 2, 2024

Tim Walz just lost the election. There’s no recovering from this fumble. Wow. This is so bad. pic.twitter.com/VxaR0lDOi4

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 2, 2024

Extremely awkward moment for CBS as Vance fact-checks them live on national TV

Kamala is using an app to help illegal migrants obtain legal status once they cross the border

They can't hide the truth from the American people pic.twitter.com/tb105yg5X8

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 2, 2024

Women’s rights

As this video describes, Trump supports women’s rights far more than Kamala!
pic.twitter.com/dsVTeMZFV0

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2024

Watters

Democrats are showing their hand. Over the weekend, democrats revealed their three-step plan to radically transform the country:

Step 1: Reprogram your brain by taking over the media
Step 2: Tear up the Constitution
Step 3: Dissolve the Supreme Court

And they’re calling… pic.twitter.com/HDGhS6qMU5

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) October 1, 2024

Fulton

Fani Willis’s team in Fulton just getting completely called out by the judge for the amateurism and what appears to be purposeful disorganization in their presentations and arguments. pic.twitter.com/0wT5ThUdLG

— Eric CIAramella’s Dirty Whistle (@TheAndersPaul) September 30, 2024

Assange

Why is Julian Assange at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe today and how is his readaptation to the world going? pic.twitter.com/LBGXRklNYq

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 1, 2024

Ray McGovern

We’ve been through this scenario before (“we’re done unless you retaliate..”). Lots of rockets, little damage. Iran can say they avenged the death of Nasrallah. Israel can say its Iron Dome is strong.

• Israelis Leave Shelters After Iranian Attack (ZH)

Iran says its action is concluded “unless the Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation.” Prime Minister Netanyahu says Iran made a big mistake tonight and will pay for it. Common estimates show the attack on Israel involved at least 180 ballistic missiles. The Pentagon says about 200, or about twice the size of the prior April attack. The waves of launches constituted the largest missile strike on Israel by Iran in history. IRGC is claiming that 90% of missiles successfully hit their targets in Israel. There were confirmed strikes on the ground, but no official casualties reported. Israel’s emergency authorities have lifted all restrictions, and people in Tel Aviv have emerged from bomb shelters and returned to the streets. White House says Iranian attack on Israel apparently “defeated and ineffective”. Sullivan says there will be consequences for the attack, and US is consulting Israel on next steps or a potential response.

Axios’ Barak Ravid has told CNN that he expects major Israeli retaliation strikes on Iran to come within the next several hours. Iranian state TV says hypersonic Fatah missiles were used in the attack. Iran’s President on X stated he does not seek war but will face any threat from Israel firmly. Iran has said it gave no prior warning to US, but it did consult with Russia. The IDF is vowing to ‘strike powerfully’ at targets in the Middle East. IDF spox: “Iran carried out a serious act tonight and is pushing the Middle East to an escalation. We will act at the place and time of our choosing, in accordance with the guidance of the political echelon.” IDF spox: “Tonight’s event will have consequences.” Iran-backed Iraqi militias say if the US takes part in “any hostile action” then US bases will come under attack.

UN chief condemns ‘broadening Mideast conflict’ without mentioning Iran. Blinken: Iran’s missile attack on Israel ‘unacceptable,’ entire world should condemn. US says it is ready to defend Israel, with Biden ordering US military assets to confront any further inbound projectiles. At least two guided-missile destroyers in Eastern Mediterranean fired interceptors at inbound Iranian missiles. Pentagon says about a dozen interceptor missiles were fired. Pentagon refuses to say whether US will join in on future kinetic strikes against Iran.

Q: where is the Pentagon?

• US Secretly Approved Lebanon Escalation – Politico (RT)

The US government quietly approved Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, despite publicly urging the Jewish state and militant group Hezbollah to seek a ceasefire, Politico has reported, citing insider sources. Israel has waged a week-long bombing campaign in Lebanon, assassinating most of the Hezbollah leadership, and is in the process of what it describes as a “limited incursion” into its northern neighbor. Over 1,000 people, including many civilians, have been killed and over one million displaced. Prior to the bombing and invasion, thousands of people in Lebanon were targeted by simultaneously exploding devices, which Israeli intelligence allegedly planted in preparation for an attack on Hezbollah. US President Joe Biden on Monday reiterated his public calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, telling reporters at the White House: “I’m comfortable with them stopping.”

However, Israel outlined its military strategy to Washington in broad terms in mid-September and received approval via senior US presidential advisers, Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, Politico reported on Monday, citing two Israeli and four American officials. The decision faced opposition from within the Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence community, the sources claimed. There are reportedly concerns that the hostilities could escalate into a major war, which would directly draw in the US. Violence on Israel’s northern border surged last October, after the Jewish state besieged the Palestinian enclave of Gaza in retaliation for a deadly incursion by the militant group Hamas. Hezbollah supports the Palestinians and has vowed to stop cross-border rocket attacks only after a ceasefire is reached in Gaza. Israel’s goal is to “eliminate” Hamas completely, and it has repeatedly rejected public calls from Washington for a truce.

The belief in Washington, according to Politico, is that Israel’s conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah can be “decoupled” in some way. Hostility in Lebanon would help curb the regional influence of Iran, which supports both militant movements, US officials reportedly hope. They are said to be unwilling, however, to support the Israeli campaign publicly as the strategy may backfire, meaning Washington continues to call for caution and deescalation. “Both things can be true – the US can want diplomacy and support Israel’s larger goals against Hezbollah,” Politico quoted a senior US official as saying. “There’s clearly a line that the administration is toeing, it’s just not clear what that line is.” The sources claimed that Israel has opted for a “limited” incursion in Lebanon at the request of the US, as opposed to a major ground offensive.

“..further enhance the defense posture of US military forces in the Middle East region to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader regional war..”

• Biden, Harris Strongly Back Israeli Killing of Nasrallah (Antiwar)

On Saturday, both President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris released statements strongly backing the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, which was carried out using US-provided 2,000-pound bombs. President Biden said in a statement that Nasrallah’s death was “a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.” The president said the US “fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and any other Iranian-supported terrorist groups.” Biden said that he ordered Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to send additional military assets to the region. “I directed my Secretary of Defense to further enhance the defense posture of US military forces in the Middle East region to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader regional war,” he said.

Biden claimed that he seeks de-escalation in the region, but his administration has continued to provide military aid and other types of support for Israel since it began its dramatic escalation in Lebanon. Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, released a similar statement, saying that “Hezbollah’s victims have a measure of justice.” The vice president said she has an “unwavering commitment to the security of Israel.” “I will always support Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis,” Harris added. Harris also claimed that the administration was working for a diplomatic solution.

But the day before Nasrallah was killed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a US-backed ceasefire proposal, and Israel said it secured $8.7 billion in new military aid from the US. An Israeli official told ABC News that Israel decided to kill Nasrallah because he wouldn’t separate the situation at the Israel-Lebanon border from Gaza. Hezbollah had been clear that it would stop its attacks on northern Israel if there was a ceasefire in Gaza. The Israeli airstrikes that killed Nasrallah leveled multiple residential buildings in Beirut. The attack also killed Abbas Nilforoushan, a senior commander from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Tehran is vowing his death will not go “unanswered.”

The killing of Nasrallah and other Israeli escalations in Lebanon could lead to direct US intervention since the US has vowed it would defend Israel if it faces a large-scale attack from Iran. US troops in Iraq and Syria could also come under attack from local Shia militias in response to US support for the killing of Nasrallah and the slaughtering of civilians in Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes have continued to pound Beirut and other areas of Lebanon. The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 33 people were killed and over 190 people were injured by Israeli airstrikes on Saturday. On Sunday, the ministry said at least 21 people were killed and 47 were wounded by Israeli attacks on eastern Lebanon’s Baalbek region.

100 dead, 600 missing?! And Biden and Harris are no-shows. Strongly backing Israel, but not North Carolina.

• Kamala’s Katrina Moment? (JTN)

Heading into the vice presidential debate, the public absence of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris amid Hurricane Helene and a major labor struggle could undercut Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., and put him on defense while running alongside a key player in the current White House. Walz is set to face Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, in the vice presidential debate on CBS News on Tuesday evening. Over the weekend, Hurricane Helene battered western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, prompting large-scale flooding and killing more than 100 as of Monday. Much of western North Carolina has become inaccessible by road and authorities have begun airlifting supplies to affected areas. Speaking on the “Just the News, No Noise” television show, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., indicated that, while lawmakers may eventually review the pre-planning for disaster relief, the unexpected nature of the disaster and its scale might have made adequate preparation difficult.

“I think we’ll get to looking at what happened with the pre-planning after we get people stabilized and the amount of flooding is something that is unprecedented, and I don’t know how, how people would have prepared for that,” she said. “It is something that is indeed catastrophic, but every time someone is located, we celebrate that moment, and then we go back to trying to get supplies and get things to those that are in need and help to locate these individuals.” Independent of the weather, the nation faced the prospect of the first coast-wide port strike since 1977 as the International Longshoremen’s Association has announced plans to strike all along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, beginning on Tuesday. Such a move comes amid stalled negotiations with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX). A strike could cost the U.S. economy up to $5 billion per day and affect the import and export of a wide range of goods.

President Joe Biden spent most of the weekend at his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Del., amid both crises, returning to the White House late Sunday evening. Harris, for her part, continued along her campaign tour of the West Coast, but canceled Monday events in Nevada to be briefed on the impact of the hurricane, CNN reported. The relatively minimal public appearances of either figure amid both crises and the pace of their responses have drawn scrutiny from the political right, as well as comparisons to President George W. Bush’s handling of Hurricane Katrina. Such developments are sure to feature in the Vance-Walz debate on Tuesday and could serve to keep the Democratic participant on defense.

Homes are underwater and over 120 people are dead after Hurricane Helene ravaged North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida and @joebiden and @kamalaharris didn't bother to visit. Joe hit the beach and Kamala hit up California donors instead. So, @realdonaldtrump had to pick up their… pic.twitter.com/bPAQElG1FF

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) October 1, 2024

Where is that $42 billion?

FEMA is now using Elon’s Starlink for emergency communications in the flood hit disaster areas.

The FCC has $42 billion to connect rural Americans to the internet.

Joe Biden cancelled Starlink from being able to participate in the funding.

pic.twitter.com/Zm2bAhXtXi

— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) September 30, 2024

“There wasn’t a real interest in hearing about his [Biden’s] accomplishments when he was running. That’s still the case..”

• Biden Upset With Harris – NBC News (RT)

US President Joe Biden has privately complained that he is no longer being given credit for his service, NBC News claimed on Tuesday, citing insiders. Biden is reportedly upset that the national media’s attention has switched to the Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris. Since Biden ended his campaign in the wake of a disastrous June debate with Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump, Harris has distanced herself from the US president, the report claimed. Biden “was particularly stung” by a moment during Harris’s debate with Trump last month, when she said: “Clearly, I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump. And what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country.” The remark was in response to Trump equating her with the president on policy. Harris has repeated the same message on other occasions, including a media interview.

“There wasn’t a real interest in hearing about his [Biden’s] accomplishments when he was running. That’s still the case,” a Harris campaign official told NBC News. Another source said the president “understands completely the general lack of mentioning ‘Bidenomics’ and ‘Joe Biden’” politically. But even though he wants Harris to win and offers whatever support he can to make that happen, he remains bitter about what he takes as being left behind, the report said. Prior to his decision to quit the race, the Biden campaign struggled to downplay his moments of frailty and confusion in public, which many voters perceived as signs of decline in the 81-year-old politician. Clips of such moments, used by the Republican party to attack the then-Democratic nominee, were dismissed by officials as “cheap fakes.”

Trump, 78, has had his share of mental slips on the campaign trail, but was universally described as more energetic and coherent than Biden during their June debate. Nevertheless, during an appearance on ‘The View’ program last week, Biden insisted that he could have won the race. He claimed that “the fact of the matter is my polling was about what – you know – always within the range of beating this guy” before musing about his advanced age.

“It is hard not to draw a line from the US government’s prosecution of me – its crossing the Rubicon by internationally criminalizing journalism – to the chilled climate for freedom of expression that exists now.”

• ‘I’m Free Because I Pled Guilty To Journalism’ – Assange (RT)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange urged European lawmakers to act against rising “transnational repression” of journalism by great powers during an address to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday. It was his first public appearance since being released from prison in late June. Assange spent years locked up at a high-security prison in the UK as he fought extradition to the US, which had accused him of unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified information relating to national defense. In June, he struck a plea bargain with the US Justice Department, formally acknowledging some guilt and waiving the right to legal recourse through, for example, the European Court of Human Rights, in exchange for freedom. ”I want to be totally clear. I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today, after years of incarceration, because I pled guilty to journalism,” he told members of the PACE Legal Affairs Committee in Strasbourg.

In his testimony, Assange recounted his legal predicament and what he called a “campaign of retribution” by the CIA under Director Mike Pompeo during the Donald Trump presidency. According to media reports and other materials, the agency conducted an extensive surveillance campaign against the publisher, his family, and associates. It allegedly contemplated kidnapping or killing Assange while he was being protected by political asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Assange said that, while his personal story was harrowing, others in the same situation did not enjoy the same level of publicity and international support. Meanwhile, the world has dramatically changed for the worse since he founded WikiLeaks, he added. ”I see more impunity, more secrecy, more retaliation for telling the truth, and more self-censorship,” he said.

“It is hard not to draw a line from the US government’s prosecution of me – its crossing the Rubicon by internationally criminalizing journalism – to the chilled climate for freedom of expression that exists now.” The US successfully abused European legal proceedings to retaliate against a publisher and has been emboldened to use the same playbook again, as are other countries, Assange claimed. ”When powerful nations feel entitled to target individuals beyond their borders, those individuals do not stand a chance unless there are strong safeguards in place and a state willing to enforce them. Without them, no individual has a hope of defending themselves against the vast resources that a state aggressor can deploy,” he warned. It’s up to European governments to make sure that “the freedom to speak and the freedom to publish the truth are not privileges enjoyed by a few but rights guaranteed to all,” he concluded.

Julian Assange on the criminalization of the truth:

"As I emerge from the dungeon of Belmarsh, the truth now seems less discernable. And I regret how much ground has been lost during that time period. How expressing the truth has been undermined, attacked, weakened, and… pic.twitter.com/S1NFIpMOUI

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 1, 2024

“The US government asserted a dangerous new global legal position: only US citizens have free speech rights. Europeans and others do not..”

• Assange: Plea Deal With US Precludes Appeals to Top European Rights Court (Sp.)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Tuesday that one of the conditions of his plea deal with the United States was that he would not file a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to challenge the verdict. “I eventually chose freedom over unrealizable justice, after being detained for years and facing a 175-year sentence with no effective remedy. Justice for me is now precluded, as the US government insisted in writing into its plea agreement that I cannot file a case at the European Court of Human Rights or even a Freedom of Information Act request over what it did to me as a result of its extradition request,” Assange told a hearing in Strasbourg.

“I pled guilty to journalism… to seeking information from a source… to obtaining information… to informing the public what that information was. I did not plead guilty to anything else,” said Assange while noting that “It is hard not to draw a line from the US government’s prosecution of me… to the chilled climate for freedom of expression that exists now.” The journalist gave testimony before the legal affairs committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Assange argued that all legal defense mechanisms turned out to be ineffective and only existed on paper. “The experience of isolation for years in a small cell is difficult to convey. It strips away one’s sense of self, leaving only the raw essence of existence,” he stated, adding that “none of the statements, resolutions, reports, films, articles, events, fundraisers, protests, and letters over the last 14 years should have been necessary.”

“Transnational repression cannot become the norm here… The rights of journalists and publishers within the European space are seriously threatened… The US government asserted a dangerous new global legal position: only US citizens have free speech rights. Europeans and others do not,” he stated. Assange was transferred to London’s high-security Belmarsh prison in April 2019 on bail breach charges. In the US, he faced spying charges for shedding light on war crimes and human rights violations committed by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. WikiLeaks was founded on October 4, 2006, but rose to prominence in 2010 when it began to publish large-scale leaks of classified government information, especially from the United States.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1841178423261348336

“..future wars are drone wars.” “Drone swarm battles are coming that will boggle the mind..”

• Elon Musk Warns Of ‘Drone Swarm Battles’ (RT)

American tech mogul Elon Musk has warned that battles of the future will be fought between masses of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have already emerged as one of the most prominent weapons in the Ukraine conflict. Musk’s comment came in a discussion on X (formerly Twitter) begun by Bloomberg writer Ashlee Vance on Monday, who wrote that America’s drone manufacturing capacity is dwarfed by that of China. “Drone swarm battles are coming that will boggle the mind,” Musk wrote in a thread, without elaborating further. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX previously warned on numerous occasions that drones represent the future of warfare. Commenting on X in June on the use of drones by Ukraine, Musk stated that “future wars are drone wars.”

Speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit in London last year, Musk said that “any future wars between advanced countries, or at least countries with drone capability, will be very much the drone wars.” During the Ukraine conflict, the Russian military has actively used kamikaze drones on the battlefield to destroy enemy personnel and equipment. Kiev’s forces have also used UAVs to strike targets, including those of a civilian nature, within Russia. Kiev and its Western backers have long claimed that China has been supplying military drone technology to Russia, something that Beijing has denied. According to reports in US media earlier this year, Washington supplied Ukraine with drones during the early days of the conflict, but their high cost compelled Kiev to increasingly turn to Chinese-made UAVs.

Censors.

• Reporters Without Borders is ‘Media Wing of NATO’ (Sp.)

Reporters Without Borders has published a sensationalist report on Russian media’s work in the Balkans as part of a new project known as ‘The Propaganda Monitor’, accusing Sputnik and RT of spreading “disinformation” and demanding a crackdown by the EU. Balkan affairs expert Stevan Gajic tells Sputnik why such fearmongering doesn’t work on Serbs. Reporters Without Borders’ (French acronym RSF) new ‘Propaganda Monitoring’ multimedia minisite promises to “promote reliable journalism” by exposing “the many faces and tactics behind propaganda worldwide, bolstering the public’s understanding of the information space and helping them navigate it more safely.”

Russian media, including Sputnik and RT, have become the self-anointed Paris-headquartered media watchdog’s first target, with RSF rolling out a series of articles on Russian media’s ability to find evade censorship, custom-tailor content, and in Serbia’s case, transmit so-called “Kremlin propaganda in the Balkans despite EU sanctions.” RSF wants the European Union and its members to “hold Serbia accountable for hosting Vladimir Putin’s factory of lies,” spending much of its investigation complaining about Russian media’s refusal to answer its loaded questions, whining about its successes captivating local audiences, and crying about Serbia’s receptiveness to hosting Russian outlets.

“Reporters Without Borders cannot be regarded as a reliable source because every line in this report is soaked with biased language,” Belgrade-based Balkan affairs expert and Institute of European Studies research associate Stevan Gajic told Sputnik, commenting on RSF’s report. “The motivation” behind RSF’s demands for a crackdown comes down to its status as “a media wing of NATO, a media wing of the collective West. This is a pure Freudian projection. They are accusing others of what they are doing themselves,” Gajic stressed.

“Where were Reporters Without Borders when Radio Television of Serbia was bombed in 1999 and when 16 TV staff were murdered in cold blood?” the observer asked, referencing the 78-day NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in the spring of 1999. There is no credibility from people like this who did not act when they should have,” the observer recalled. Narratives by RSF and others about Sputnik and RT being threats that need to be silenced have a clear end goal: “to nullify any kind of information coming from the other side to hush, to silence everybody who is not playing along NATO’s narrative. And this is especially a problem for NATO and for these puppet organizations, such as journalists with Reporters Without Borders, during times of war,” Gajic said.

Walz is a doofus. Deer in the headlights.

• Comer Subpoenas DHS For Memos With Info About Tim Walz’s China Connections (JTN)

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Monday subpoenaed the Department of Homeland Security seeking records related to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s China connections after whistleblowers raised concerns. Comer says his committee learned from the whistleblowers there is “serious concern” among DHS personnel “regarding a longstanding connection between the CCP and Minnesota Governor Timothy James Walz,” according to the subpoena cover letter sent Monday. Walz is now the Democratic vice presidential nominee. Comer’s committee has led a probe into the China’s efforts to infiltrate the United States, finding one method favored by the Communist Party is influencing subnational leaders, which include officials like state governors and legislators.

“The Committee’s investigation of the CCP – begun long before Governor Walz was elevated to be the vice-presidential candidate for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris – seeks to understand the extent of the CCP’s infiltration and influence campaign and to identify legislative reforms to combat CCP political warfare targeting prominent Americans for elite capture,” Comer wrote. “In particular, if a state governor and major political party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States has been a witting or unwitting participant in the CCP’s efforts to weaken our nation, this would strongly suggest that there are alarming weaknesses in the federal government’s effort to defend the United States from the CCP’s political warfare that must be urgently addressed,” he continued. According to the letter, the Oversight Committee learned of two sources that contain information about Walz’s connections to China, which first garnered public scrutiny when he was picked as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

Walz has a history with China dating back to his stint as an English teacher in 1989 just months after the Chinese government cracked down on pro-democracy protestors in the Tiananmen Square massacre. By the 1990s, Walz began organizing regular trips to China for his high school students and even took his honeymoon in the communist country when he married his wife in 1994. According to the whistleblowers, DHS personnel memorialized concerns about Walz’s connections in a Microsoft Teams group chat and several intelligence reports. “Specifically, through whistleblower disclosures, the Committee has learned of a non-classified, Microsoft Teams group chat among DHS employees – titled ‘NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync’ – that contains information about Governor Walz that is relevant to the Committee’s investigation,” Comer wrote. “The Committee has also learned that further relevant information regarding Governor Walz has been memorialized in both classified and unclassified documents in the control of DHS.”

This is the best 43-second answer in a debate that I have listened to in my lifetime.
J.D. Vance was a brilliant choice.#VPDebate2024 pic.twitter.com/6dHEkEjNjZ

— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) October 2, 2024

“Gaines has become a national figure in her campaign against biologically male students competing in women’s sports..”

• Federal Court Rules Against University of NM in Free Speech Case (Turley)

We have been discussing how colleges and universities have been using security concerns as a way to bar conservative and libertarian speakers. Another barrier has been the imposition of prohibitive security fees as a condition for such speakers to appear on campus, fees generally not required for liberal speakers. Now, in a significant free speech victory, U.S. District Judge David Urias has enjoined the University of New Mexico from imposing a $5,400 security fee for former collegiate swimmer and activist Riley Gaines after speaking on campus. UNM has a history of cancellation campaigns against conservative and libertarian speakers, as previously discussed on this blog. Gaines has become a national figure in her campaign against biologically male students competing in women’s sports. While it is a position that is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans, faculty and students have repeatedly targeted Gaines with cancel campaigns and disruptive protests.

In this case, UNM originally demanded over $10,000. The lawsuit brought by the Leadership Institute named UNM President Garnett Stokes and other UNM officials as defendants. Judge Urias was legitimately suspicious of the demand and found that it violated the First Amendment. In his 16-page order in Leadership Institute v. Stokes (D.N.M.), Judge Urias noted that Gaines travels with her own security (itself a sad statement about this Age of Rage). The court noted the rather fluid standard applied to Gaines: [T]he quote of over $10,000 was for every officer UNM employed—thirty-three officers; nearly one for every three attendees the students expected. When TP-UNM asked why Defendant Stump intended to assign every officer to the Gaines event, and whether it was because of the speaker or the inviting organization, he responded that “it’s all based on individual assessments,” that they were looking at the “individual,” and that “there is not a criteria [sic].”

He also told the students that if an organization were to screen the Barbie movie in a venue on campus, he likely would not require even a single officer because the UNM police were “not worried about the Barbie movie.” He then said that security was “consistent” in how it assessed fees “to Turning Point” in the past. He described past TP-UNM events featuring other conservative speakers that generated protests at UNM. A few times during the meeting, he reiterated that UNM assesses security fees on a “case-by-case basis.” … Notably, the court detailed how fewer than 10 protesters actually showed up and demonstrated outside of the room. Nevertheless, UNM hit Turning Point with the fee for twenty-seven officers at the event who charged for a total of 95.25 hours.

The court applied the holding in Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement (1992) in which the Supreme Court held that the government can impose extra security fees due to the controversial status of speakers or groups. In writing for a 5-4 majority, Justice Henry Blackmun held that “Nothing in the law or its application prevents the official from encouraging some views and discouraging others through the arbitrary application of fees. The First Amendment prohibits the vesting of such unbridled discretion in a government official.” Judge Urias found precisely such a barrier imposed by the UNM:

“When a policy allows “appraisal of facts, the exercise of judgment, and the formation of an opinion by the licensing authority, the danger of censorship and of abridgment of our precious First Amendment freedoms is too great to be permitted[.]” Forsyth County.… Although the question in this case is closer than that in Forsyth, the Court nonetheless finds that Plaintiffs have demonstrated the security fee policy in this case is similar enough to render it overly broad. Although the policy lists criteria for officials to consider when assessing event security, such as venue size and location, the list ultimately leaves the decision of how much to charge for security up to the whim of university officials. For example, the policy does not explain a method for determining how much more security is required for a small venue as compared to a large one, or for a daytime event as compared to a nighttime event.

Significantly, the policy states that the “basic cost of security … will be charged to all groups” based on a schedule of charges that the UNM Police Department has on its website, but despite this, the department does not actually delineate the amount of this “basic cost of security.” Though the security fee policy also states that the police department “regularly” updates the “schedule of charges based on the factors” and that “[t]he basic cost of security according to this schedule will be charged to all groups,” there is no schedule of charges. Additionally, the preamble to the policy indicates that university officials “may” assess security fees but does not provide guidance for when they may or may not assess these fees, which contributes to the problem of allowing university officials overly broad discretion. In sum, Plaintiffs have shown a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their overbreadth claim because the security fee policy does not contain limiting language that includes “narrowly drawn, reasonable and definite standards[,]” and it does not include anything to prevent UNM administrators from exercising their discretion in a content-based manner….”

I like PCR. And I like John Helmer. But in this case, I don’t know how PCR draws the conclusion that Putin wants to surrender, from Helmer’s Jan. 28 piece, “Sending A Boy To Do A Man’s Job – Vladimir Medinsky To Negotiate Istanbul-II”. I just don’t see it. Maybe you can help. I know that PDR has called Putin “weak” for a while, but not sure that’s the whole story.

• Putin Is Preparing Russia’s Surrender (Paul Craig Roberts)

From the beginning of the Ukraine conflict I have said that Putin would have to conquer Ukraine or surrender. The latest information from Moscow suggests that Putin has chosen to surrender, with surrender defined by Putin giving up enough of his goals for the Special Military Operation to get a peace agreement. How many and what they would be is not known. At first glance, if Putin has made such a choice, it is an honorable, humane decision that places the life of the planet above Russian national sovereignty. Putin, of course, will not get any credit for it. The official narrative will be a defeated Russia got the best deal it could.` But at second glance, Putin’s surrender to the West merely kicks the can down the road. Putin’s surrender could undermine his support and Russian unity and encourage Washington’s effort to breakup the Russian Federation into several small countries that lack the ability to serve as a constraint on American hegemony.

The Russian military is opposed to trading concessions for peace, and Putin has removed one of his critics. Helmer reports that one month after the Russia-Ukraine conflict began, Putin, who has no taste for war, sent a peacemaker, Vladimir Medinsky, to Instanbul to negotiate peace with Ukraine. Medinsky appears to be an Atlanticist Integrationist, who thinks Russia can build bridges to the West with cultural exhibitions, orchestral and ballet performances, and museum exhibits. Apparently, he believes this despite the Wests’s ban on any semblance of Russian culture, including Olympic athletes. The Russian military rejected the peace terms Medinsky negotiated in Turkey. Fortunately for Putin, Washington made Ukraine reject them, saving Putin from a confrontation with the Russian military.

Now approaching three years of a conflict that a real national leader would have ended in 3 weeks, Putin has his back to the wall. There is no space left to which to retreat. Faced with US/NATO missiles fired into Russia, Putin says it means World War. If Putin backs down again, Russia is finished. As Putin doesn’t want war, he is willing to make concessions for peace and has instructed Medinsky to negotiate a peace agreement. The world should thank Putin, because Russia will pay a price. The Russian military, or at least significant parts of it, are concerned that concessions will play as a defeat and have adverse effects on Russia. Fleet commander, Admiral Sergei Avakyant, removed from command by Putin, and Deputy Chairman Medvedev of the Russian National Security Council view concessions as unacceptable. Helmer speculates whether the military will remove Putin. If so, I would imagine his replacement would be a more hardlined person.

He’s crazy enough.

• Biden Could Speed Up Ukraine’s NATO Bid – FT (RT)

US President Joe Biden could expedite the status of Ukraine’s bid to join NATO before his term expires in January, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Moscow has insisted that Kiev must abandon its plans to join the US-led military bloc before any peace negotiations can start. There are “tentative signs” that Biden “might agree to advance the status of Ukraine’s NATO membership bid” before he leaves office, the FT wrote, citing a Western official briefed on Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s talks in Washington last week. Zelensky traveled to the US to present his so-called “victory plan” for the conflict with Russia, which reportedly includes requests for deliveries of advanced weapons and financial aid. American officials were unimpressed with the plan, the FT claimed.

Western security guarantees for Ukraine are said to have been another key clause of the plan that was left unanswered, along with the issue of US permission to use Western-supplied weapons for long-range strikes on Russia. Kiev has long aspired to join NATO, and reiterated its request for membership in September 2022, after four former Ukrainian regions voted to join Russia. Since the escalation of the conflict with Moscow two years ago, NATO leaders have repeatedly claimed that Kiev is on track to becoming a member, but have not announced a specific timeline for accession. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month reiterated NATO’s position that Ukraine’s path to membership is “irreversible.”

Some members of the bloc such as Hungary and Slovakia have insisted they would not agree under any circumstances to bringing Ukraine into NATO as it would mean war with Russia. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said earlier this year that promising membership to Ukraine was a “mistake” and “really why this war started.” The Russian leadership has stated that Kiev must drop its aspirations of joining NATO before any peace talks can start. Moscow has long argued that the bloc’s eastward enlargement threatens Russia’s security. When announcing the start of the military operation in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin said Russia deems the expansion of NATO into Ukraine as “unacceptable.”

In Syria.

• Russia Accuses West, Ukraine of Preparing ‘False-flag’ Chemical Attack (RT)

The secret services of several NATO member states, together with their Ukrainian counterparts, are planning to stage a false-flag chemical weapons attack in Syria, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has reported. The spy agency said that the purpose of the alleged provocation is to frame Moscow and the government in Damascus, which Russia has been supporting for years. In a press release on Tuesday, the Foreign Intelligence Service said “precisely such a provocation is currently being prepared by the special services of a number of NATO member states and Ukraine, together with terrorist groups operating in the north of Syria, in Idlib province.” The supposed Western false-flag operation could also involve the ‘White Helmets’ NGO, “which has become famous for doing dirty jobs for the British special services,” the Russian spy agency claimed.

According to the document, “the idea is to stage the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian army and the Russian contingent in Syria, and then launch a campaign to discredit Damascus and Moscow at the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.” The press release alleges that the presumed operation will likely involve Syrian militants dropping an explosive chlorine-laden canister at a time when the Syrian and Russian militaries are conducting airstrikes against terrorist groups in Idlib province. White Helmets activists on the ground will then allegedly doctor video evidence and eyewitness accounts to frame Damascus and Moscow, the press release suggests. According to the Russian spy agency, these false reports will then be sent to various international organizations.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, the US, UK and several other Western powers have repeatedly accused President Bashar Assad’s government of using chemical weapons against the armed opposition and militant groups. Under this pretext, the US military has been occupying oil-rich areas of northeast Syria since 2014. In 2018, the US, UK and France launched missile strikes against Syrian government targets following allegations peddled by the White Helmets, accusing Assad’s forces of using chemical weapons in Douma, near the Syrian capital.

The Syrian government has vehemently denied any role in the incident. Both Damascus and Moscow, whose military assisted the Assad government in regaining control over much of the territory previously lost to the militants, pointed to evidence that the attack was staged. When the OPCW accused the Syrian government of the attack, last January, Moscow’s permanent representative to the international body, Alexander Shulgin, dismissed the Investigation and Identification Team report as a political hit job riddled with inconsistencies and factual gaps.

Why would anyone want this job? You’re basically the head of a criminal gang, but you don’t even have anything to say. You just take orders from Washington.

• Former Dutch PM Rutte Becomes NATO’s Secretary General (TASS)

Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte became NATO’s 14th secretary general, taking over from Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg who has spent a record 10 years at the helm of the North Atlantic Alliance. The ceremony to mark the transition was held at NATO’s headquarters as the alliance convened a meeting with bloc ambassadors, a TASS reporter said. Stoltenberg said since he took the helm at NATO in 2014 the alliance had gone “from only providing marginal support to Ukraine <…> to now providing massive support” to it. Bidding farewell to Stoltenberg as the bloc’s chief, NATO diplomats praised his dry sense of humor and said the Norwegian was “top for his job.” Rutte pledged to prioritize moves to strengthen the alliance and provide more support to Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, outgoing President of the European Council Charles Michel and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola have already sent their greetings to the new NATO chief on X.

Mark Rutte, the man who ruined The Netherlands over the past 10+ years, got appointed Secretary General of NATO this morning.

Hope y’all are ready to be dragged into WW III, because he hasn’t even been in office for 1 day & already stated Ukraine “will become a member of NATO”. pic.twitter.com/5FvYXr2QLR

— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) October 1, 2024

‘Only pigs sit in the cinema’ “..not his words but a quote, originally associated with opposition to Nazi propaganda films shown in Poland during World War II..”

Duda doesn’t see eye to eye with the Tusk government, which is all about the EU and anti-Russia.

• Polish President Sued For ‘Insulting’ His Own People (RT)

A Polish-based NGO has filed a lawsuit against President Andrzej Duda, accusing him of insulting his own people in a comment he made about a 2023 film on migration. In a post on Sunday on X, the Center for Monitoring Racist and Xenophobic Behavior (OMZRIK) said they plan to make Duda “the first president to be brought to court by Poles.” The ‘insult’ in question was made by Duda in 2023 in a comment about the feature film ‘Green Border’ by award-winning director Agnieszka Holland, which depicts the migrant crisis on the Polish border. The film tells the story of refugees from the Middle East and Africa attempting to enter the EU through the Belarus-Poland border. The film was highly criticized in Poland, with the country’s ruling party at the time, the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS), accusing Holland of slandering Polish border guards. In an interview with public broadcaster TVP, Duda apparently called the film’s viewers “pigs.”

“The fact that Ms. Holland portrays Polish officials who are performing their duties for Polish society, for the safety of all of us and the security of Poland, I am not surprised that the Border Guard officers who watched this film used the slogan ‘Only pigs sit in the cinema,’” Duda said at the time. He later clarified that these were not his words but a quote, originally associated with opposition to Nazi propaganda films shown in Poland during World War II. OMZRiK, however, saw Duda’s words as an “insult.” “Andrzej Duda… insulted millions of Poles by calling them pigs. The Polish president called people who are citizens of his own country this… Let’s take Duda to court now,” the NGO said in their post. The NGO announced on Sunday that the District Court in Warsaw has set October 24, 2025 as the date for the first hearing of Duda’s trial. By that time, Duda’s second five-year term as president will have expired – he will hold office until August 2025, and cannot run again.

Experts say the case could result in Duda having to make an official apology or pay compensation for damages. ‘Green Border’ was an international co-production between companies in Poland, the Czech Republic, France, and Belgium. It competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival and won the Special Jury Prize. The migrant crisis on the Poland-Belarus border has been brewing since 2021. Warsaw has accused Minsk of deliberately organizing migrants from Africa and the Middle East and sending them towards the border with the goal of “destabilizing Poland and other EU member states.” Minsk has denied the claims, while accusing the Polish authorities of violent treatment of asylum seekers.

How’s that reserve currency doing?

• Russia, China Settling 95% of Payments in Own Currencies (Sp.)

Today, 95% of settlements between Russia and China are carried out without the participation of third-country currencies, Russian Ambassador to China Igor Morgulov said in an interview with Sputnik. In March-April of this year, a slight decline was observed in bilateral Russian-Chinese trade. In particular, in March, for the first time since 2022, the total export of goods from China to Russia decreased year-on-year. Many attributed this to the difficulty of mutual settlements. “As for the problem of settlements, let’s not forget that today they are already 95% carried out in rubles and yuan, that is, without the participation of third-country currencies,” Morgulov said.

Trade between China and Russia increased by 26.3% to a record $240.11 billion in 2023. Russian and Chinese leaders, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, previously set the goal of doubling trade from $100 billion a year in 2018 to $200 billion by 2024, a figure that was reached in November 2023. Russia and China celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations on October 2. The Soviet Union became the first country to recognize the People’s Republic of China the day after its proclamation.

Longshoremen
https://twitter.com/i/status/1840937618575671661

Largest

The largest Animal to have ever lived on earth spotted pic.twitter.com/ncguJcAzHW

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) October 1, 2024

Corn dog

This is Kalu. He has single-handedly changed the definition of corn dog. 13/10 a revolutionary pic.twitter.com/8CrsNXB38t

— WeRateDogs (@dog_rates) September 30, 2024

Guides
https://twitter.com/i/status/1841056479475908631

Kris

“I was in Nicaragua with the Sandinistas. I’ve argued for Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, the United Farm Workers. I’ve been a radical for a long time. I guess it’s too bad. I’d be more marketable as a right-wing redneck. But I got into this to tell the truth as I saw it”—Kris… pic.twitter.com/Gb51d95Toh

— Tom Morello (@tmorello) September 29, 2024

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

Debt Rattle June 19 2024

Jun 192024

June 19, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 8:44 am Finance Tagged with: BRICS, deepfakes, fuse, hegemon, peace proposal, red line, Rutte, stablecoin, Steve Bannon, thorny 51 Responses »

Giuseppe Leone Ragusa Sicily 1953

• The West Is Lighting the Fuse of War (Paul Craig Roberts)

• Russian Ambassador To US Outlines ‘Thorny’ Path To Peace (RT)

• Kiev Better Accept Russia’s Peace Proposal – Medvedev (TASS)

• Hegemon Orders Europe: Bet On War And Steal Russia’s Money (Pepe Escobar)

• Crossing Moscow’s Red Line ‘Permissible’ – Austria (RT)

• West Won’t Host Next Ukraine ‘Peace Conference’ – Switzerland (RT)

• Prisoners Drafted Into Ukrainian Military ‘Will Run Like Forrest Gump’ (RT)

• Steve Bannon Predicts Left Will Sentence Trump To Multiple Years In Prison (MN)

• Court Rejects Trump’s Gag Order Appeal (RT)

• Confused Biden Clips Are ‘Deepfakes’ – White House (RT)

• Mark Rutte: The Choice for NATO Secretary General? (Sp.)

• The BRICS Weigh In On Palestine (Pepe Escobar)

• US Cryptocurrency as an Offshore Banking Center (Michael Hudson)

Bannon June 17

On the 17th of June, 2024, candidate Donald Trump has officially defeated Joe Biden in the race for President.

It's over. Biden will be removed and replaced on the ticket.

Bannon lays out the final steps.pic.twitter.com/SUeCHKnFFd

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) June 17, 2024

https://twitter.com/i/status/1802823060564869567

Trump ad
https://twitter.com/i/status/1802824860328149122

Alex Tucker

Alex Jones: We're at a major crossroads. To me the dark forces spiritually manipulating controlling these minions, these failures, these fallen clown show vassals who really are just spiritual puppets, they are scared of something coming…I'm seeing a splitting, people to get… pic.twitter.com/c9Y0Uub7ZJ

— Camus (@newstart_2024) June 18, 2024

Angels
https://twitter.com/i/status/1802749048639672441

Anti-corruption bill

While you weren’t paying attention, the @JoeBiden White House was caught working behind the scenes to kill a bill that would have forced him to disclose any foreign income he and his family members have received as well as any and all business conducted on Air Force One. The… pic.twitter.com/v4KFBnHSEC

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) June 19, 2024

“Putin has made one last effort to state conditions for ending the conflict.”

• The West Is Lighting the Fuse of War (Paul Craig Roberts)

Putin’s intention after his deception by the West with the Minsk Agreement, was only to drive Ukrainian forces out of the Russian areas that have now been reincorporated into Russia. Apparently Putin did not realize the extent to which the West would involve itself and expand the war. Now that Putin faces an outbreak of a larger war, he clearly stated the conditions for ending the conflict. He said that Russian military action will cease when the remaining Ukrainian forces are withdrawn from the Russian populated areas that have been reunited with Russia and when Ukraine agrees that the country will not become a member of NATO or have foreign bases and missiles on its territory. These are reasonable and generous terms. If these terms are refused, Ukraine faces further conquest and harsher future conditions for ending the conflict.

When Ukraine was broken off from Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian provinces which Soviet leaders had attached to Ukraine should have been left in Russia. Whether or not this was a failure of foresight or malicious intent, it was a mistake that resulted in a conflict that has the potential of engulfing the world. The difference between the 20th century Cold War and the 21st century hot war is that in the Cold War era the US and Soviet leadership, understanding the fatal nature of nuclear weapons, were committed to reducing tensions and building trust, whereas in the 21st century only Russia has sought mutual understanding and mutual security. Washington has fomented conflict and raised an existential threat to Russia by expanding NATO to Russia’s borders and overthrowing governments of former Russian provinces. To avoid war Putin has accepted continuing provocations and insults.

But now faced with such reckless and irresponsible proposals as NATO troops in Ukraine and missiles hitting deep into Russia, Putin has made one last effort to state conditions for ending the conflict. The conditions are immensely better than the outbreak of conflict that would destroy Europe and the United States.The danger today is much worse than the Cuban Missile Crisis. In those days Washington recognized the danger. Today Washington does not. President John F. Kennedy realized that the US had provoked Soviet missiles in Cuba by placing US missiles in Turkey. Kennedy and Khrushchev made a mutual security agreement and both removed the missiles. Putin’s diplomatic effort during December 2021 and February 2022 for a mutual security agreement was cold-shouldered by Washington, NATO, and the EU. With the outbreak of major war looming,

Biden has still not met with Putin. Instead, Biden has provoked animosity by calling Putin the new Hitler. This is an unprecedented level or reckless irresponsibility.The question before us is: Will Putin continue to accept provocations in hope that a change in the Washington regime in the November election will permit the West to come to its senses, or is Serbian President Vucic correct that the train has left the station?As the Western world lacks a truthful media, the people might be indoctrinated with the “Russian threat.” Even if the people realize that the threat is Washington’s pressure on Russia, the people are impotent to affect government policy. Among the Western governments, public opinion is something to be manipulated, not something to which to listen. I believe the West has convinced Putin that the West intends war. Not even Putin has an endless amount of patience. Instead of recognizing the dangerous situation and sitting down with Putin to defuse the situation, the West is lighting the fuse.

Ursula
https://twitter.com/i/status/1802953077734940742

“Putin’s clear and verifiable conditions stand in stark contrast to “idle talk and failed conferences” of the West, Antonov said.”

• Russian Ambassador To US Outlines ‘Thorny’ Path To Peace (RT)

Moscow’s proposals for ending the Ukraine conflict are specific and realistic, unlike the “advertising campaign” coming from the West, Russian ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov, has said. Newsweek published an interview with Antonov on Tuesday, in which the Russian envoy elaborated on President Vladimir Putin’s statements last week, outlining the conditions for starting peace talks with Kiev. “There is a path to peace, even if it is thorny,” Antonov said. It involves “withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from four regions of Russia; confirmation of the status of Crimea, Sevastopol, [Donetsk People’s Republic], [Lugansk People’s Republic], Kherson and Zaporozhye regions as subjects of the Russian Federation; Kiev’s refusal to join NATO; Ukraine’s status as neutral, nonaligned and nuclear-free state; its demilitarization and denazification; lifting of Western sanctions; [and] ensuring the rights, freedoms and interests of Russian-speaking citizens of the republic,” the diplomat explained.

“Talks on the above-mentioned issues should be conducted without ‘imperial’ dictates and orders from the White House,” Antonov added. “It is high time the US recognized the futility of constant pursuit to enforce its will on all countries and realized that it will no longer be possible to deter the growing shift towards multipolarity.” Scary stories about Moscow plotting to attack NATO once Ukraine is defeated are simply “an embodiment of the US intentions to keep a tight rein on its satellites, primarily in Europe,” according to Antonov. “The aim is to finally turn the continent into the US ‘back yard’, which is not entitled to its own opinions nor its own history.” Such policies are actually undermining US leadership, though American policymakers “prefer not to notice” that, Antonov added.

The purpose of the peace conference in Switzerland this weekend was “purely opportunistic: to create an illusion of widespread support for the ‘peace formula’ in various capitals, but in reality, to hush up any doubts about the legitimacy of the Kiev regime, which has already been bankrupt for a long time, both politically and economically,” the ambassador said. Putin’s clear and verifiable conditions stand in stark contrast to “idle talk and failed conferences” of the West, Antonov said. The “advertising campaign” by the US and its allies intends not to stop, “but to prolong the bloody ‘project’ that the West has been implementing for more than 10 years,” since the 2014 coup in Kiev, he added.

Russia pursues dialogue and peace, and is “ready for a serious, thoughtful conversation” without any deadlines or rushed photo-ops, Antonov noted. What Moscow wants is “truly equal and indivisible security in Eurasia, based on mutual respect for one and all. ”In a new political architecture reflecting the transition to multipolarity, there would be “no place for aggressive political and economic dominance of individual nations,” or division into blocs, Antonov said. “If in response we continue to hear only Russophobic barking and calls to use more Western weapons and economic sanctions against us, global risks will only increase,” Antonov concluded. “I am sure this is not in the best interests of the citizens of the United States.”

Sachs
https://twitter.com/i/status/1802825807095853155

“..all this will not work to the benefit of the current Ukrainian authorities. So they have to hurry while they still can..”

• Kiev Better Accept Russia’s Peace Proposal – Medvedev (TASS)

Ukraine would be wise to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin’s peace proposal, otherwise Russian troops will press on and make life even more difficult for Kiev, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said. “Frankly speaking, I think that the president has said everything, I mean that the next peace proposal Russia makes will be worse for the Ukrainian authorities, no matter how we treat them. Now they have the opportunity to consider Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin’s peace proposal and at least try to make peace and end this part of the conflict,” he told reporters. Otherwise, according to Medvedev, the Russian offensive will continue. “And it will be difficult to say where the lines of the buffer zone that Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned will be. It’s very likely that all this will not work to the benefit of the current Ukrainian authorities. So they have to hurry while they still can,” he added.

However, according to the official, Kiev has already responded with a refusal at the conference in Switzerland, “rejecting any proposals from the outset, taking the discussion back to the very beginning.” “In vain. So it will be worse from now on,” he concluded. On June 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin made new peace proposals for resolving the conflict in Ukraine at a meeting with Russian diplomats. These include the recognition of the status of Crimea, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as part of Russia, the consolidation of Ukraine’s non-aligned and nuclear-free status, its demilitarization and denazification, and the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions. The Ukrainian side rejected the initiative. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky called Moscow’s proposal an ultimatum, while his adviser Mikhail Podolyak said that the new Russian initiative allegedly does not contain a “real peace proposal.”

“Russia’s real target is to create a whole new security system for the Eurasian space..”

• Hegemon Orders Europe: Bet On War And Steal Russia’s Money (Pepe Escobar)

The Swiss “peace” kabuki came and went – and the winner was Vladimir Putin. He didn’t even have to show up. None of the Big Players did. Or in case they sent their emissaries, there was significant refusal to sign the vacuous final declaration – as in BRICS members Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE and South Africa. Without BRICS, there’s absolutely nothing the collective West – as in The Hegemon and assorted vassals – can do to alter the proxy war chessboard in Ukraine. In his carefully calibrated speech to diplomats and the leadership of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Putin delineated an incredibly restrained and strategic approach to solve the Ukraine problem. In the context of the Hegemon’s escalatory green light – actually in practice for several months now – for Kiev to attack deeper into the Russian Federation, Putin’s offer was extremely generous. That is a direct offer to the Hegemon and the collective West – as the sweaty T-shirt actor in Kiev, apart from illegitimate, is beyond irrelevant.

Predictably, NATO – via that epileptic slab of Norwegian wood – already proclaimed its refusal to negotiate, even as some relatively awake members of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) started discussing the offer, according to Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin. Moscow sees the Verkhovna Rada as the only legitimate entity in Ukraine – and the only one with which would be possible to reach an agreement. Russian UN representative Vasily Nebenzya cut to the chase – diplomatically: if the generous proposal is refused, next time conditions for starting negotiations will be “different”. And “far more unfavorable”, according to Duma Defense Committee head Andrei Kartapolov. As Nebenzya stressed that in case of a refusal the collective West will bear full responsibility for further bloodshed, Kartapolov elaborated on the Big Picture: Russia’s real target is to create a whole new security system for the Eurasian space.

And that, of course, is anathema to the Hegemon’s elites. Putin’s security vision for Eurasia harks back to this legendary speech at the Munich Security Conference in 2007. Now, with the steady advance of an irreversible multi-nodal (italics mine) and multi-centric new system of international relations, the Kremlin is pressing for an urgent solution – considering the extremely dangerous escalation of these past few months. Putin once again had to remind the deaf, dumb and blind of the obvious: “Calls to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, which has the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, demonstrate the extreme adventurism of Western politicians. They either do not understand the scale of the threat they themselves create, or they are simply obsessed with the belief in their own immunity and their own exclusivity. Both can turn into a tragedy”. They remain deaf, dumb and blind.

Austria is not in NATO.

• Crossing Moscow’s Red Line ‘Permissible’ – Austria (RT)

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer does not perceive the decision by NATO nations to allow Kiev to use their weapons against Russia outside of what they consider Ukrainian territory as a cause for concern. Speaking with the NZZ media group, Neuhammer said he disagreed with Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner, who said earlier this month that the US and its allies had crossed a “red line” by granting Ukraine such permission. The interview with Nehammer was published on Monday, after his liberal-conservative Austrian People’s Party (OVP) lost convincingly to the nationalist Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) in this month’s European Parliament election. The chancellor said the debate on use of Western arms had gone “in the wrong political direction” in a shameful way. His stance is that “under international law, such attacks on Russia are permissible.”

Moscow could withdraw troops and see Western military aid to Kiev “automatically reduced,” he said. The previous restriction on Ukraine’s use of US weapons was imposed by President Joe Biden to “prevent World War III.” According to the media, Washington relaxed it and allowed limited strikes on Russia’s Belgorod Region due to Russian advances in neighboring Kharkov Region. Multiple NATO nations have made similar policy changes regarding arms that they donate to Ukraine. The Austrian foreign minister said that while she perceived that as escalatory, “as a militarily neutral state, it is not our place to judge.” Tanner added that she was happy to hear assurances by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that members of the US-led bloc will not be required to send troops to Ukraine.

Moscow has described the Ukraine conflict as part of a proxy war on Russia, in which Ukrainians serve as “cannon fodder.” Western nations are de facto participating parties due to the level of their involvement and the influence they have on Ukrainian actions, according to Russian officials. President Vladimir Putin has stated that Russia could send weapon systems similar to those provided to Ukraine to enemies of the US and its allies to be used against Western military assets. This path of escalation leads to an outcome that neither side will like, he warned. He accused his opponents of spreading “Russian narratives” about Ukraine and declared that unlike centrists, “radicals have no answers and are offering pseudo-solutions,” referring to populist forces surging across the EU.

Saudi?

• West Won’t Host Next Ukraine ‘Peace Conference’ – Switzerland (RT)

The next conference on the Ukraine conflict will not take place in the West, Swiss Ambassador Gabriel Luechinger has stated. The senior diplomat, who helped organize last weekend’s gathering at Switzerland’s Burgenstock Resort, indicated that discussions with potential hosts are already underway. In the run-up to the event, a number of nations declined to attend, with China announcing that it would not be sending representatives to Switzerland. Beijing argued that the absence of Russia at the conference would make any attempts at peace futile – an assertion echoed by several countries. Moscow stated in March that it would not attend even if invited, as it would likely be based on Vladimir Zelensky’s ‘peace formula’, which Russia considers to be unrealistic and an ultimatum.

In an interview with Swiss broadcaster SRF on Monday, Luechinger said: “What is clear is that the next peace summit will not be in Europe, and will not take place in the West.” The senior diplomat revealed that several nations had been approached at the conference regarding a potential role in organizing the next summit. “It is now up to them to decide,” he added. “In the next weeks, I think, things will start moving.” Asked whether Saudi Arabia could host a meeting, Luechinger hinted that it could be an option, without going into detail. He also stressed that “Russia should be integrated in the peace process in some way.” While Ukraine has touted the conference at the Burgenstock Resort as a success, around a dozen countries that took part in the talks did not sign the final communique, including India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the UAE, Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, Jordan, and Iraq.

The document did not include many of the key points of Kiev’s ‘peace formula’. It called for the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant to be transferred under Ukrainian control, as well as unrestricted access to ports in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, and the release of all prisoners of war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Saturday that Moscow “wants to get together next time at a more substantive and promising event.” Last Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined the conditions for a ceasefire, which include the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from all territories claimed by Moscow, as well as the renunciation of Kiev’s NATO aspirations. The Ukrainian government and its Western backers have dismissed the proposal, calling it an ultimatum.

Run away.

• Prisoners Drafted Into Ukrainian Military ‘Will Run Like Forrest Gump’ (RT)

More than 2,750 convicts have been released from prison to join the Ukrainian military and help ease manpower shortages, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. Some service members, however, have voiced concerns about the reliability of former inmates. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last month approved a bill that allows certain categories of convicts to be paroled if they agree to enlist in the military and fight Russia. Former inmates will be assigned to special high-risk assault units, although anyone convicted of crimes such as murdering more than two people, rape, terrorism, corruption, or undermining Ukraine’s national security, is ineligible for the program. According to the Washington Post, many of the convicts joining the fight were “jailed for dealing drugs, stealing phones, and committing armed assaults and murders.”

Ukrainian Justice Minister Denis Malyuska insisted to the newspaper that “the motivation of our inmates is stronger than our ordinary soldiers,” arguing that they are enlisting not only to be released, but also because they “want to protect their country and they want to turn the page.” The minister also claimed there is “competition between military commanders” to recruit from prisons as they want to address manpower shortages. Some disagree, however, and one unnamed official expressed concern about possible desertion by former inmates. “They’re all going to run like Forrest Gump,” he stated, adding that despite these misgivings, the measure is still necessary. The official noted that he would prefer to see Ukraine lower the draft age to 18, which he said would allow Kiev to fill the ranks with young and fit soldiers, rather than convicts. He admitted, however, that this measure is unlikely anytime soon.

Malyuska said he expects at least 4,000 men to join the military in the first stage of recruitment. In May, he estimated the total number of convicts ready to enlist at between 10,000 to 20,000. However, the Strana.ua outlet cast doubt on those figures, pointing out that there are a total of 28,000 inmates in Ukraine, including women and those unfit for service. The outlet also claimed, citing its own poll, that very few are actually willing to volunteer. Kiev has tried to address acute manpower shortages by passing two bills this spring, one of which lowered the draft age from 27 to 25, while the other significantly tightened mobilization rules. Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin estimated Ukraine’s monthly combat losses at 50,000 soldiers.

“They don’t care about this election, they don’t care how many votes we get. They’re gonna fight us every step of the way..”

• Steve Bannon Predicts Left Will Sentence Trump To Multiple Years In Prison (MN)

Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon has warned that the left will stop at nothing to prevent Trump from regaining the White House and that they plan to sentence him to “multiple years in prison” next month. Speaking at Turning Point Action’s “The People’s Convention” in Detroit, Bannon warned “You know on the 11th of July, they’re gonna sentence him for multiple years in prison. You understand that, right?” “They don’t care about this election, they don’t care how many votes we get. They’re gonna fight us every step of the way,” Bannon further proclaimed. He added, “Winning in November is just the first step. From November fifth to the sixth, Jamie Raskin is going to try to steal the election on January 6th. They’re already talking about it right now.” “They’re already going to say, ‘President Trump’s an insurrectionist and we will never certify an election of an insurrectionist,” Bannon further predicted.

Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon has warned that the left will stop at nothing to prevent Trump from regaining the White House and that they plan to sentence him to "multiple years in prison" next month. Full report here: https://t.co/XnBsKluaQ0 pic.twitter.com/Jy9vknTihn

— m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) June 17, 2024

Elsewhere during the speech, Bannon stated that Trump’s inner circle is planning to go after those who are currently weaponising the justice system against him. “We’re going to get every single receipt. And to the fullest extension of the law, you’re going to be investigated, prosecuted, and incarcerated,” Bannon vowed, adding “This has nothing to do with retribution. It has nothing to do with revenge… this has to do with justice.” Bannon’s comments come in the wake of a Rasmussen poll last week that found a whopping two-thirds of Americans believe the outcome of the 2024 US presidential election will be affected by cheating. The survey found that of those two thirds, 40 percent are ‘very concerned,’ and only thirty-one percent aren’t concerned, including just 14 percent who said they are ‘not at all concerned’ about cheating in the election.

“..The appeals court has ruled that “no substantial constitutional question is directly involved..”

“.. Joe Biden is making Trump’s conviction a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign and will most likely bring it up at the first presidential debate, scheduled for later this month – while his Republican rival won’t be able to respond.”

• Court Rejects Trump’s Gag Order Appeal (RT)

Former US President Donald Trump remains banned from speaking about his criminal case in Manhattan, even after the jury’s verdict, the New York Court of Appeals said on Tuesday. Judge Juan Merchan imposed the gag order on Trump during his trial on 34 counts of “falsifying business records,” which District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged had somehow violated campaign finance laws and improperly influenced the 2016 election. The jury found the former president guilty on all counts at the end of May. Trump’s lawyers have protested the gag order from the start, pointing out that it directly impacts his 2024 presidential campaign. The appeals court has ruled that “no substantial constitutional question is directly involved,” so the order can stay in place.

“The Gag Order wrongfully silences the leading candidate for President of the United States, President Trump, at the height of his campaign,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said on Tuesday, adding that the president’s attorneys will “continue to fight” against the “unconstitutional” measure. According to the campaign, the gag order “violates the First Amendment rights of President Trump and all American voters, who have a fundamental right to hear his message.” The First Amendment of the US Constitution prohibits the government from censoring speech and the press. Trump has called his prosecution politically motivated and a “witch hunt” by Biden and his administration.

The former president’s lawyers have pointed out that President Joe Biden is making Trump’s conviction a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign and will most likely bring it up at the first presidential debate, scheduled for later this month – while his Republican rival won’t be able to respond. Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential ticket, which will be formally announced at the national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin next month. However, Merchan has scheduled the sentencing hearing for July 11, just days before the convention is scheduled to start.

Anything we don’t like is now deepfake.

• Confused Biden Clips Are ‘Deepfakes’ – White House (RT)

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has claimed that recent videos showing US President Joe Biden looking confused at public events have been manipulated, describing them as “cheap fakes.” Jean-Pierre’s comments come after several videos of Biden have gone viral on social media in recent weeks. In one clip, the president could be seen having trouble sitting down during a D-Day memorial event in France. A number of commenters suggested that the US leader was “completely lost” or having “some kind of episode.” Another video showed Biden standing together with G7 leaders in Italy watching a skydiving demonstration. At one point, the US president turned away and wandered off from the group, before Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took him by the hand to guide him back to the other members.

In another clip from an LA fundraising event with former President Barack Obama and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, Biden appeared to freeze up as he was waving goodbye to the crowd. Obama could then be seen taking Biden by the hand and patting him on the back while leading him off stage. A clip from a White House Juneteenth concert also appeared to show the 81-year-old president awkwardly frozen as everyone around him danced to the music.
Speaking to reporters during a White House Press event on Monday, Jean-Pierre stated that “we are seeing these deepfakes, these manipulated videos, and it is again, done in bad faith.” The press secretary claimed that reports on these incidents are “attacks” on Biden that demonstrate the “desperation” of Republicans who refuse to acknowledge the president’s achievements.

Asked to comment specifically on the incidents with Meloni and Obama, who appeared to give Biden “stage directions,” Jean-Pierre insisted that these were “cheap fakes” and that “this did not happen, in the sense of what people were saying they were seeing or what was being falsely reported.” She also dismissed claims that Biden had frozen during the Juneteenth concert, suggesting the president simply didn’t want to dance. “Excuse me, I did not know that not dancing was a mental health issue. That is a weird thing to flag,” Jean-Pierre said. According to multiple recent polls, Biden’s mental health has been a longstanding concern among American voters, many of whom believe he is mentally and physically unfit for office. A recent Wall Street Journal report also claimed that aside from his frequent public mental gaffes, Biden has shown “signs of slipping” in closed-door meetings with US lawmakers.

Only good NATO boss is someone who doesn’t want the job.

• Mark Rutte: The Choice for NATO Secretary General? (Sp.)

As NATO stands on the brink of appointing a new Secretary General, the spotlight falls on Dutch PM Mark Rutte. Recent developments suggest that Rutte, who has served as the Netherlands’ PM since 2010, is now the frontrunner to succeed Jens Stoltenberg, following the removal of Hungary’s veto and the anticipated withdrawal of Romania’s opposition. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking at a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, praised Rutte as a “strong candidate” and hinted at an imminent decision on his successor. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s endorsement, conditioned on Rutte’s commitment to Hungary’s non-involvement in NATO operations in Ukraine, has been pivotal in removing the last significant obstacle to his appointment.

Rutte’s potential ascension to NATO’s top post has elicited varied reactions, with some expressing cautious optimism while others remain deeply skeptical. Mikael Valtersson, a former officer of Swedish Armed Forces/Air Defence, former defence politician and chief of staff with Sweden Democrats, provides a perspective on Rutte’s suitability for the role. Valtersson argues that Rutte’s tenure as Prime Minister has been marked by a rigid stance on military support to Ukraine, trait that does not bode well for a role that requires diplomatic finesse and a balanced approach to global security challenges. Rutte’s critics contend that his leadership could exacerbate existing tensions rather than foster dialogue and de-escalation. Rutte’s track record reflects a staunchly pro-Ukrainian and anti-Russian stance. Under his leadership, the Netherlands has committed substantial financial aid to Ukraine, including €3 billion annually for 2024 and 2025. The Netherlands has also been at the forefront of supplying Ukraine with military hardware, notably the F-16 fighter jets, reinforcing Rutte’s hawkish posture.

In March 2024, Rutte signed a significant security treaty with Ukraine, a move that underscores his commitment to Ukraine’s defense but also raises questions about the appropriateness of such actions by a caretaker government. This treaty, signed despite the electoral victory of right-wing Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, highlights Rutte’s prioritization of support for Ukraine over the potential policy shifts anticipated from the new government. Critics argue that Rutte’s actions indicate a preference for military solutions over diplomatic engagement. His strong backing for Ukraine and consistent alignment with NATO’s hardline stance against Russia suggest that his leadership would likely continue Stoltenberg’s pro-Ukraine policies without exploring avenues for peace or compromise.

Valtersson and other critics suggest that Rutte’s appointment represents a missed opportunity for NATO to choose a leader who could steer the alliance towards a more nuanced and peaceful approach to the Ukraine conflict and broader global tensions. “All this shows that Mark Rutte will not be someone who will try to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine… It’s a pity that NATO didn’t take the opportunity to choose a more peaceful new General secretary,” stated Valtersson. The concern is that Rutte’s leadership will perpetuate a cycle of military escalation rather than fostering diplomatic resolutions. As NATO prepares to finalize its decision, it must take into consideration, that, while Rutte’s candidacy has garnered support from key NATO members, his track record and recent commitments raise legitimate concerns about his capacity to lead the alliance towards a more balanced and peaceful global strategy.

“..never underestimate the power of a genocide committed in broad daylight, on video..”

• The BRICS Weigh In On Palestine (Pepe Escobar)

Something of extraordinary magnitude happened in Moscow on 23 May. Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa personally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help organize a peace conference on Palestine, at which Russia would be the first non-Arab nation invited. Al-Khalifa and Putin had two rounds of discussions – one of them closed – during which the main focus was always Palestine. The Bahraini monarch noted that in a rare show of unity, the Arab world had finally come together in agreement to end the war in Gaza. It was implied that Russia was subsequently chosen as the most reliable mediator to end the brutal conflict. Bahrain – and the Arab League – recognize that the Russian position centers around what Putin had previously defined as the “UN formula”: an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. That happens to be the position of the BRICS-10 nations and virtually the whole Global Majority.

Crucially, it is also the common position of China and the Arab world, reaffirmed in Beijing only one week after the Russia-Bahrain meeting. The problem is how to implement the “formula” when the US hegemon, Israel’s unconditional ally, has a virtual stranglehold on the United Nations. By 2020, as Tel Aviv was openly announcing the inevitable annexation of the West Bank, the Abraham Accords were smashing a major Arab taboo on openly supporting Israel, via the normalization agreements signed in Washington DC by Bahrain, the UAE, Morocco, and Sudan. Nine months ago, Palestine was virtually isolated, and destined to extinction via quiet Israeli policies to incrementally force expulsion. But never underestimate the power of a genocide committed in broad daylight, on video. Today, the Russia-China strategic partnership, BRICS, and the Global Majority have been mobilized to enshrine Palestine as a sovereign state – faithful to the recent super-majority UN General Assembly vote to accept Palestine as a UN member.

It will be a long, winding, and thorny road that has the potential to split the world in two. The St. Petersburg forum last week offered three crucial messages to the Global Majority, focused around BRICS. The crux of the sessions may have been geoeconomics, but a now-unavoidable message of support to Palestine crept into the sidelines. After a panel ostensibly debating the supply and demand of oil and gas, and which touched upon the principled role of Yemen in the Red Sea directed against the Gaza genocide, support for Palestine, amidst friendly smiles (but off the record), was emphatic from everyone – from OPEC secretary-general Haitham al-Ghais to the UAE’s Minister of Energy Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei. Same on a Russia-Oman panel, coming from Minister of Commerce Qais bin Mohammed bin Moosa al-Yousef.

Earlier this week, the Palestine tragedy was addressed in detail – on points 34 and 35 – in the joint statement of the BRICS 10 Ministers of Foreign Affairs, who sat at the same table for the first time in Nizhny Novgorod, preparing for the extremely important annual BRICS summit next October in Kazan, under the Russian presidency. Three very important points were made there: First, the Ministers “reaffirmed their rejection of any attempt aiming at forcefully displacing, expelling or transferring the Palestinian people from their land.” Second, they collectively “expressed serious concern at Israel’s continued blatant disregard of international law, the UN Charter, UN resolutions and Court orders.” And third, the ten foreign ministers:

“Reaffirmed their support for Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations and reiterated their unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution based on international law including relevant UNSC and UNGA resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative that includes the establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine in line with internationally recognized borders of June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital living side by side in peace and security with Israel.” This is BRICS speaking with one voice – including, crucially, representatives of major Muslim-majority states: Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE. and Egypt.

“If the stablecoin fund was a country, it would be in “the top ten of countries holding Treasuries..”

• US Cryptocurrency as an Offshore Banking Center (Michael Hudson)

The Wall Street Journal ran a revealing op-ed today (June 14, 2024) by Paul D. Ryan, “Crypto Could Stave off a U.S. Debt Crisis.” Mr. Ryan, libertarian Republican House Speaker 2015-2019 and now at the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, writes that: “Stablecoins backed by dollars provide demand for U.S. public debt and a way to keep up with China.” He reports that “According to the Treasury Department and DeFi Llama, a cryptocurrency analytics site, dollar-based stablecoins are becoming an important net purchaser of U.S. government debt.” If the stablecoin fund was a country, it would be in “the top ten of countries holding Treasuries – smaller than Hong Kong but larger than Saudi Arabia.” So the result of officially promoting them “would be an immediate, durable increase in demand for U.S. debt.”Ryan says that “bipartisan support in Congress … would help dramatically expand the use of digital dollars at a given critical time.”

Here’s the real logic. I’ve written before about how c. 1966 or ’67, I was Chase Manhattan’s balance-of-payments economist, and a bank officer, apparently having joined from the State Dept., asked me to review a memo proposing to make the United States “the new Switzerland,” that is, a haven for the world’s drug money and other criminal money laundering, for kleptocrats and tax evaders in order to help stem the U.S. balance-of-payments deficit that resulted entirely from foreign military spending in Southeast Asia and elsewhere around the world. Today, as foreign countries de-dollarize their trade – for instance, when Russia and China trade for oil and industrial products in each others’ currencies – U.S. financial strategists worry about what this will mean for the dollar’s exchange rate. Actually, transacting such foreign trade in non-dollar currencies has no effect on the U.S. balance of payments. It does not appear in the trade balance or even in foreign investment, although de-dollarization may deprive U.S. banks of currency-trading commissions to handle such transactions

What does affect the demand for dollars is conversion of assets denominated in foreign currency into the dollar. This king of confidential banking is what pressed up the Swiss franc so much in the 1970s and ‘80s that it priced Swiss manufactures out of foreign markets. Companies like Ciba-Geigy had to move their production across the border to Germany to prevent the rising franc’s valuation from making them uncompetitive. (When that company brought me over in 1976, I found that the price of a coke was over $10, and a regular meal cost $100.) The U.S. is seeking to protect the dollar’s high value, not lower it, so it sees acting as the destination for world’s tax avoiders, criminals and others as a positive national strategy. (“Kleptocracy is us.”) The plan is not to condemn tax crime and more violent criminal activities, but seeking to profit for being the banker for these functions. The logic is, “As the world’s leading free-market democracy, we’re providing a secure for the world’s capital, however it may be ‘earned’ or otherwise obtained.”

I should have added the real kicker. Stablecoins don’t pay interest. So buyers will get the equivalent of a US Treasury security — but NOT the interest (now in the high 4% range). The Stablecoin company will get that. This is a HUGE bonanza for them — and a correspondingly huge foregone income by Stablecoin holders. Why don’t they simply buy US Treasury bills, notes or bonds themselves? The answer must be ideology (imagining Stablecoins to be anti-government when the money is lent to governments), ignorance, and SECRECY. They pay a huge opportunity cost for hiding their identity and the source of their money.

Reflex

Animals that have crazy reflexes! pic.twitter.com/Brtji3sPEi

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) June 17, 2024

Panda
https://twitter.com/i/status/1803038703184728401

Dachs
https://twitter.com/i/status/1803224285646835847

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Debt Rattle February 24 2024

Feb 242024

February 24, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:41 am Finance Tagged with: Assange, Axis of Asymmetry, Catherine Herridge, F16, Fani Willis, Letitia James, Maidan, Rutte 36 Responses »

Grete Stern Sueño No. 1: Artículos eléctricos para el hogar 1949

• The Dark and the Light (Kunstler)

• New Cell Phone Records Prove DA Willis Affair (Techno Fog)

• CBS Causes Uproar After Seizing the Notes of Investigative Reporter (Turley)

• NATO Will Allow Ukraine To Attack Inside Russia With F-16s – Stoltenberg (RT)

• Zelensky Promises ‘New Counteroffensive’ (RT)

• Europe Has ‘Dim, Lackluster Technocrats’, Not Strong Leaders – Medvedev (TASS)

• Why Won’t The West Admit That The Maidan Coup Was Based On A Lie? (RT)

• Kiev’s Sponsors Should Hold ‘Discreet’ Talks With Moscow – Ukraine Envoy (RT)

• How Russia Could Respond to West’s Potential Frozen Asset Seizure (Sp.)

• Dutch PM Has No Right to Sign 10-Year Ukraine Security Agreement – Musk (Sp.)

• The Elites Versus The Rest Of Us (Utter)

• The Axis of Asymmetry Takes On The ‘Rules-Based Order’ (Pepe Escobar)

• Ukraine, Gaza Conflicts Isolate US, Europe (Sp.)

• Censors Who Rigged The 2020 Election Are Now Stealing 2024 (Fed.)

• Julian Assange Faces ‘A Living Death Sentence’ In A Concrete Coffin Cell (DM)

Scott McNealy’s famous ‘What were you thinking?’ rant to investors for bidding Sun Microsystems’ stock price up to 10x sales during the DotCom bubble Keep in mind that $nvda is now trading at over 40x sales…

Every American should watch this video of Letitia James, in her own words.

This is third-world stuff.

Our country is done if these are the kinds of people in charge of making prosecutorial decisions.pic.twitter.com/bfPSlsRGVg

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) February 22, 2024

December, 2018. NBC breaks the "news" that incoming Attorney General Letitia James, who hadn't even been sworn in yet, was planning to investigate every part of Trump and his family's lives.

It's surreal watching this because this isn't supposed to happen in America.

Even… pic.twitter.com/mVCKL3QYLM

— MAZE (@mazemoore) February 22, 2024

Informant

HUNTER BIDEN: Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) nails it, says, "The same prosecutor who got busted for cooking up Hunter’s sweetheart plea deal arrested the FBI informant who reported that Joe and Hunter Biden took bribes from Ukraine. Then that prosecutor accused the informant of… pic.twitter.com/TvjCVx0KDq

— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) February 23, 2024

Watters AI

Google’s flagship Gemini large language model paused its image generation of people after it was criticized for poor handling of race. This time, the affront was against Caucasians.
When asked to generate images of Vikings and German World War II troops – historically held by… pic.twitter.com/kXI4lgguMk

— Camus (@newstart_2024) February 23, 2024

Walsh

Worth watching
pic.twitter.com/CtDis8nPCK

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 23, 2024

“Mr. Trump volunteered to play role of exorcist in this grand psychodrama. Whatever else you make of him, he has shown a lot of fortitude..”

• The Dark and the Light (Kunstler)

The poison killing our country is pervasive untruth. Every institution we have relied on to run the public interest has become a factory churning out lies, evasions, and misdirection — not unlike the way mRNA “vaccines” turned the cells in your bodies into tiny generators of spike proteins destroying your organs. Likewise, half the population, apparently, thinks this is a good thing, that we need more lawfare — the perversion of law by attorney perverts — and that we need ever more lies, evasions, and misdirection (just as the degenerates who run Harvard declare their student body needs more mRNA boosters to remain in school). Since the doctors have all failed — miserably and dishonorably — America needs an exorcism. The poisons in our system are actual persons carrying out their programmed assignments, just as the spike proteins in the bodies of millions act as individual agents of destruction in your body.

What possible invocation can drive out the likes of Mayorkas, Christopher Wray, Avril Haynes, William Burns, Merrick Garland, Lisa Monaco, Marc Elias, Norm Eisen, Jack Smith, Jake Sullivan, Marc Zuckerberg, Mandy Cohen, Rachel Maddow, Daniel Sachs Goldman, Jamie Raskin, Mitch McConnell, Charles “Chuck” Schumer, “Joe Biden” (the remnant of a person, after all), and a thousand others in high places behaving in a way indistinguishable from demons? What explains their devotion to untruth? What motivates them? Can it possibly be the mere perqs and comforts of their positions? Are they answering a call? And who is issuing that call? Or are they just trapped by their many years of lying continually, fearful of getting cast into prison? Are you asking yourselves: what will satisfy these maniacs? Anything short of the ruin of our country? What will their coveted power be worth in a ruined country? Mr. Trump volunteered to play role of exorcist in this grand psychodrama. Whatever else you make of him, he has shown a lot of fortitude.

Eight years ago, when he came on the scene, he appeared to not know that his opponents were actually demons seeking to wreck the country; rather just low persons sunk in the most common venial corruption, and others mere zealots steeped in futile utopian fantasies of perfecting the flawed human condition. He learned eventually the that the situation was more dire than he ever imagined. His opponents came after him hard from the get-go and keep coming at him. Russia is the knout they use in the attempt to flay him alive. “Russia Russia Russia” has been one long, elaborate lie. They’re going at it again, pretending that Mr. Trump seeks Russian help interfering in the fall election, despite the plain fact that all previous invocations of “Russia Russia Russia” were revealed to be untrue, and maliciously so — and that all the actual election interference originated with the gang shouting “Russia Russia Russia.” It looks like more than half the country is refusing to fall for it this time. Thus, the resort to lawfare, the five cases (so far) designed to bankrupt Mr. Trump and gain a felony conviction for objecting to the election shenanigans of 2020.

Something tells me we’re not talking about the smartest folk here..

• New Cell Phone Records Prove DA Willis Affair (Techno Fog)

The lawyers for President Trump have Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade’s cell phone records. And it’s bad for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The official story from the Fulton County DA and her former lover Nathan Wade, made through sworn filings and sworn testimony, was that their “personal relationship” started in 2022. In a February 2, 2022 filing, DA Willis submitted Wade’s affidavit to the Court which stated: “In 2022, District Attorney Willis and I developed a personal relationship.” DA Willis and Wade both testified that the relationship started sometime in early 2022. But Wade’s cell phone records disprove their official story. In a filing this morning from President Trump’s attorneys, records indicate that the “relationship” between DA Willis and Wade was romantic well-before Wade’s November 1, 2021 appointment by Willis as Special Prosecutor.

Trump’s attorneys were able to obtain, by subpoena to AT&T, Wade’s cell phone records from 1/1/2021 through 11/30/2021. Wade’s location data was analyzed by an investigator hired by the attorneys – an analytical tool which generated geolocation data that pinpointed Wade’s presence at DA Willis’s South Fulton Condo during that time period. Here are the highlights:

• Wade and Willis exchanged “over 2000 voice calls and just under 12,000 texts messages” from January 1, 2021 through November 30, 2021.

• Geolocation data indicates Wade was at DA Willis’s condo “at least 35 occasions”. The data revealed he was “stationary” at the condo “and not in transit.”

• Wade’s visits to DA Willis’s condo were corroborated by texts and phone calls. According to the report: On November 29, 2021, “following a call from Ms. Willis at 11:32 PM, while the call continued, [Wade’s] phone left the East Cobb area just after midnight and arrived within the geofence located on the Dogwood address [the condo] at 12:43 AM on November 30, 2021. The phone remained there until 4:55 AM.”

• On September 11, 2021, Wade arrived at the condo address at approximately 10:45 PM. He left the address at 3:28 AM and arrived at his Marietta residence at 4:05 AM. He then texted DA Willis at 4:20 AM.

It’s important to note that Trump’s investigator is under a serious time constraint, due to the nature of the proceedings before Judge Scott McAfee, and wasn’t able to analyze all of the Wade/Willis data, which he described as voluminous. The two visits listed above – those are just a small fraction of the 35+ trips that Wade made to DA Willis’s condo. If his review continues, then more revelations will follow. The extensive communications between DA Willis and Wade – the thousands of calls and tens of thousands of texts – indicate something more than what they described as a friendship. And combined with the late-night visits, with Wade appearing at her apartment for a few hours before heading home, this is definitive proof that their romantic relationship started long before what they told the Judge.

It looks like Fani Willis and Nathan Wade are caught red handed.

Charge them with perjury! pic.twitter.com/9EtCfxuLt8

— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) February 23, 2024

Beck Fani

There are signs of perjury all over the testimony of Fani Willis and her special prosecutor "friend." In Georgia, the penalty for JUST ONE case of perjury is a fine of up to $1000 and/or prison for 1-10 years. So, let's see if there's still justice in America. pic.twitter.com/YOV6XgSeG5

— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) February 23, 2024

Watters Fani

Just as Primetime suspected, Fani Willis and Lover Boy were hiding more than they led us to believe. And it looks like Lover Boy’s, “You up?” texts might just be what sinks them. pic.twitter.com/BF0iQkr5Lg

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) February 24, 2024

I bet this is about finding out what she has on Biden and Hunter. Then they’ll return (most of) her notes.

• CBS Causes Uproar After Seizing the Notes of Investigative Reporter (Turley)

There is trouble brewing at Black Rock, the headquarters of CBS, after the firing of Catherine Herridge, an acclaimed investigative reporter. Many of us were shocked after Herridge was included in layoffs this month, but those concerns have increased after CBS officials took the unusual step of seizing her files, computers and records, including information on privileged sources. The position of CBS has alarmed many, including the union, as an attack on free press principles by one of the nation’s most esteemed press organizations. I have spoken confidentially with current and former CBS employees who have stated that they could not recall the company ever taking such a step before. One former CBS journalist said that many employees “are confused why [Herridge] was laid off, as one of the correspondents who broke news regularly and did a lot of original reporting.”

That has led to concerns about the source of the pressure. He added that he had never seen a seizure of records from a departing journalist, and that the move had sent a “chilling signal” in the ranks of CBS. A former CBS manager, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that he had “never heard of anything like this.” He attested to the fact that, in past departures, journalists took all of their files and office contents. Indeed, the company would box up everything from cups to post-its for departing reporters. He said the holding of the material was “outrageous” and clearly endangered confidential sources. [..] A source within the the union, SAG-AFTRA, confirmed that it has raised this controversy with CBS and remains extremely concerned about the effect of this action on journalistic practices and source confidentiality. The union believes this is “very unusual” and goes far beyond this individual case. “It is a matter of principle,” a union spokesperson added. “It is a matter of serious concern. We are considering all of our options.”

For full disclosure, I was under contract twice with CBS as a legal analyst. I cherished my time at the network. I have also known Herridge for years in both legal and journalistic capacities. CBS is one of the world’s premier news organizations, with a legendary history that includes figures from Murrow to Walter Cronkite to Roger Mudd. That is why the hiring of Herridge was so welcomed by many of us. The network was at risk of becoming part of the journalistic herd, an echo-chamber for Democratic and liberal narratives. It had been mired in third place for ages, and it was moving in the wrong direction by alienating half of the country. Herridge had been a celebrated investigative reporter at Fox News. An old-school investigative journalist, she is viewed as a hard-driving, middle-of-the-road reporter cut from the same cloth as the network’s legendary figures.

The timing of Herridge’s termination immediately raised suspicions in Washington. She was pursuing stories that were unwelcomed by the Biden White House and many Democratic powerhouses, including the Hur report on Joe Biden’s diminished mental capacity, the Biden corruption scandal and the Hunter Biden laptop. She continued to pursue these stories despite reports of pushback from CBS executives, including CBS News President Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews. Given the other layoffs and declining revenues, the inclusion of Herridge was defended by the network as a painful but necessary measure. But then something strange happened. The network grabbed Herridge’s notes and files and informed her that it would decide what, if anything, would be turned over to her. The files likely contain confidential material from both her stints at Fox and CBS. Those records, it suggests, are presumptively the property of CBS News.

Deliberate escalation.

“..the F-16 is capable of delivering B61 gravity bombs. “So, if one of those planes takes off from a NATO nation – what would that be? An attack on Russia. I shall not describe what could happen next..”

• NATO Will Allow Ukraine To Attack Inside Russia With F-16s – Stoltenberg (RT)

Once Ukraine receives F-16 fighter jets it will be free to use them against military targets inside Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has told American state-run media. Stoltenberg was speaking to RFE/RL for an interview which is scheduled to air on Friday. According to snippets released in advance, the NATO head has argued that Ukraine has the right to self-defense against Russian “aggression,” which would include “striking legitimate Russian military targets outside Ukraine.” As to when the government in Kiev might actually receive the promised jets, Stoltenberg would not say. Each NATO member that has pledged to deliver them has different policies and will decide themselves, he explained.

While some of Ukraine’s backers want the jets in action as soon as possible, they will have a stronger impact if the pilots are well-trained and there are enough maintenance and support crews on hand, according to Stoltenberg. “So, I think we have to listen to the military experts exactly when we will be ready to or when allies will be ready to start sending and delivering the F-16s,” he said. “The sooner the better.” Ukraine has long demanded the F-16 as a way to combat Russian air superiority. Denmark and the Netherlands have both pledged to contribute some of their jets, with President Vladimir Zelensky putting the total number at 42. The first Ukrainian pilots training in the West finished their classes in the UK in December.

The way the US-made jet is designed means it might have difficulties operating from Ukrainian runways, sparking speculation that they could be flown from Poland, Romania or the Baltic states instead. Russia has repeatedly warned such a deployment would be an escalation of the conflict and may even risk nuclear war, as the F-16 is capable of delivering B61 gravity bombs. “So, if one of those planes takes off from a NATO nation – what would that be? An attack on Russia. I shall not describe what could happen next,” Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and deputy head of Russia’s National Security Council, said in an interview on Thursday.

“..if Kiev loses its soldiers, it “will lose everything..”

Bit late perhaps?

• Zelensky Promises ‘New Counteroffensive’ (RT)

Ukraine is planning a new counteroffensive against Russia despite a string of recent setbacks including the failure to break through Moscow’s defenses last year and the loss of the strategic city of Avdeevka in Donbass, President Vladimir Zelensky has said. In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Zelensky acknowledged that some Western backers have expressed impatience with Kiev and the perceived lack of progress, asking him “when we will finish the war, when will we win.” The Ukrainian leader stressed that his utmost priority is to avoid heavy casualties, and that if Kiev loses its soldiers, it “will lose everything,” even if the West provides it with the most advanced weapons. “To defend [is] the task number one and then to continue our successful story on the Black Sea” he said, adding that Russia is preparing certain “surprises” in the region, without elaborating further.

The “south is very important,” he continued, noting that Kiev’s other priority is to hold the line in Donbass, and that “of course, we will prepare a new counteroffensive, a new operation.” Zelensky cautioned that the ultimate plan depends on many factors, and declined to give a possible timeframe for a new push. Ukraine attempted a large-scale offensive early last summer but failed to make any substantial progress despite being reinforced with a massive amount of Western military hardware. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has said Kiev suffered colossal losses in the campaign, with more than 215,000 troops lost in 2023 alone.

Last week, Russian troops took full control of the heavily fortified city of Avdeevka, which was frequently used as a launch ground for attacks on Donetsk, many of which have targeted civilians. The Russian Defense Ministry said the Ukrainian troops left their positions in a “disorderly retreat,” losing some 1,500 soldiers in the process. The New York Times, citing sources, has suggested that Moscow may have captured up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers during the rout. Commenting on the retreat, Zelensky called the decision to leave Avdeevka “absolutely logical,” saying its goal was to spare the lives of Ukrainian troops.

“..They would tear him to pieces and say: ‘We will be attacked instantly, Cossacks will be galloping around Paris again, and the world will simply collapse!'”

• Europe Has ‘Dim, Lackluster Technocrats’, Not Strong Leaders – Medvedev (TASS)

The current leaders of European countries are mostly “dim, lackluster technocrats” who are engaged in pursuing “Euro-Atlantic ideals” instead of resolving national problems, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Russian media, including TASS. “In Europe, as I have said many times, all the true leaders are gone. A generation of dim, lackluster technocrats has arrived, who endorse only Euro-Atlantic ideals. Instead of dealing with their national problems, they follow instructions from Washington,” he said. Medvedev explained that there are exceptions among European leaders, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, or Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, “but this only confirms the rule.”

“And all the rest are people who do not have their own position,” the politician stated. In his opinion, the previous generation of European figures had the inner strength to raise objections when issues were important to their countries. But this does not mean that they took Russia’s side or abandoned any European ideals, the politician noted. “No, but they could object. To the extent that during the period when de Gaulle was the French president, France suspended its participation in the military component of NATO, and considered it the right thing to do. Can you imagine anyone even mentioning that now? They would tear him to pieces and say: ‘We will be attacked instantly, Cossacks will be galloping around Paris again, and the world will simply collapse!'” Medvedev surmised.

Because the story is too sordid.

• Why Won’t The West Admit That The Maidan Coup Was Based On A Lie? (RT)

Political scientist Ivan Katchanovski – of the University of Ottawa – revealed last year, in a paper, that the February 2014 massacre of Ukrainian protesters by sniper fire, a defining moment of the Western-backed Maidan coup, was not published by an academic journal for “political reasons.” In a lengthy Twitter thread, Katchanovski first laid out the circumstances behind the rejection of his article, and the bombshell evidence included in it. The paper was initially accepted with minor revisions after peer review, and the journal’s editor offered a glowing appraisal of his work, writing: “There is no doubt that this paper is exceptional in many ways. It offers evidence against the mainstream narrative of the regime change in Ukraine in 2014… It seems to me that the evidence the study produces in favour of its interpretation on who was behind the massacre of the protesters and the police during the ‘Euromaidan’ mass protests on February 18-20, 2014, in Ukraine, is solid. On this there is also consensus among the two reviewers.”

As the editor noted, the massacre was a “politically crucial development,” which led to the “transition of powers in the country” from the freely elected Viktor Yanukovich to the illegitimate and rabidly nationalistic administration of Aleksandr Turchinov, a former security services chief. It was endlessly cited in Western media as a symbol of the brutality of Ukraine’s government and an unprovoked attack on innocent pro-WesternMaidan protesters, who allegedly sought nothing more than democracy and freedom. Rumors that the killings were a false flag intended to inflame tensions among the vast crowds filling Maidan, and provoke violence against the authorities, began circulating immediately. No serious investigation into what happened was ever conducted by the Western media, with all claims that the sniper attacks were an inside job dismissed as Kremlin “disinformation.” However, even NATO’s Atlantic Council adjunct admitted in 2020 that the massacre was unsolved and that this “cast a shadow over Ukraine.”

It may not remain unsolved for much longer though, due to an ongoing trial of policemen at the scene on the fateful day. The legal action has been unfolding for well over a year and has received no mainstream news attention at all outside Ukraine. Katchanovski drew heavily on witness testimony and video evidence that has emerged over the course of the trial in his suppressed paper. For example, 51 protesters wounded during the incident testified at the trial that they were shot by snipers from Maidan-controlled buildings, and/or witnessed snipers there. Many spoke of snipers in buildings controlled by Maidan protesters shooting at police. This is consistent with other evidence collected by Katchanovski, such as 14 separate videos of snipers in protester-controlled buildings, 10 of which clearly feature far-right gunmen in the Hotel Ukraina aiming at crowds below.

In all, 300 witnesses have told much the same story. Synchronized videos show that the specific time and direction of shots fired by the police not only didn’t coincide with the killings of specific Maidan protesters, but that authorities aimed at walls, trees, lampposts, and even the ground, simply to disperse crowds. Among those targeted by apparently Maidan-aligned snipers were journalists at Germany’s ARD. They weren’t the only Western news station in town at the time – so too were Belgian reporters, who not only filmed Maidan protesters screaming towards Hotel Ukraina for snipers not to shoot them, but also participants being actively lured to the killing zone. This incendiary footage was never broadcast.

Very few people in Ukraine could call for this. But Melnik is the person who “..called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz an “offended liver sausage” and told Elon Musk to “f**k off”..”

• Kiev’s Sponsors Should Hold ‘Discreet’ Talks With Moscow – Ukraine Envoy (RT)

Kiev’s foreign backers should contact Russia behind the scenes to find out its conditions for peace with Ukraine, former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany Andrey Melnik, who now represents the country in Brazil, has said. In an interview with the German newspaper Tagesspiegel, Melnik was asked to comment on a poll which revealed that, given the failure of Ukraine’s counteroffensive last year and gains by Russian forces in recent months, 64% of Germans now believe that Kiev has lost the conflict with Moscow. The diplomat called the results of the survey “bitter” and acknowledged that “our partners have the right to say: ‘okay, we tried, we helped, but now it doesn’t work anymore.’” However, he insisted that Ukraine’s defeat would “be a threat to Germany’s security.”

According to Melnik, Berlin must now focus on what else it can do to help Kiev, including supplying “Taurus [missiles], fighter jets, more anti-aircraft defenses and ammunition.” The ambassador suggested that considering how things stand at the moment, “it would at least be wise if our allies could discreetly contact Moscow to find out whether there’s real willingness to compromise. Under what conditions and guarantees, for example, would the Russians be ready to withdraw from the occupied territories.” “It’s not about lazy compromises or restoring a false calm on the global stage, but about leaving no stone unturned,” he said, adding that “conducting exploratory talks doesn’t mean giving up one’s interests.” At the same time, Melnik claimed “the Russians have done everything they can to destroy trust.

From Ukraine’s point of view, it is impossible to forge a deal.” “Nevertheless, our partners, including in the Global South, should use their diplomacy to end the war this year,” he stressed. Melnik was removed from the post of Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany in summer 2022 after a series of scandals. Notably, he called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz an “offended liver sausage” and told Elon Musk to “f**k off” on social media. “I might’ve been able to do my job less passionately from time to time so as not to offend some people,” he acknowledged. The diplomat explained that his harsh tone was justified by the need to put pressure on the government in Berlin to provide more aid to Ukraine in the first month of the conflict with Russia.

“..with a negative effect on the US balance of trade, hence on US inflation and economic growth, all of which could increase unemployment, poverty and fiscal deficits in the United States.”

• How Russia Could Respond to West’s Potential Frozen Asset Seizure (Sp.)

A group of international law experts and practitioners from Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US are seeking to bolster the legal case for seizing frozen Russian Central Bank assets, Bloomberg news agency has reported. In a letter obtained by Bloomberg, the experts argue that such actions are allegedly allowed under international law, citing the ongoing Ukraine conflict as a pretext. The letter, however, did not elaborate on what legal mechanism (if any) these experts could use for possible a seizure. Shortly after the start of Russia’s special military operation, Western countries slapped comprehensive sanctions on Russia, including the freezing of about €260 billion ($280 billion) in securities and cash, with more than two-thirds of the sum immobilized in the EU.

“I do not think that it is possible on legal grounds to confiscate frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank, even though these assets are held in some Western countries such as the US, the UK, Germany or France,” Sergio Rossi, professor of macroeconomics and monetary economics at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, told Sputnik. Touching upon potential ramifications, he suggested that speculation about the possibility of confiscating the assets on a legal basis “could induce a number of European or US stakeholders to seize these assets held in their own countries in order to give them to Ukraine, so as to reduce the expenditures of their own governments in support of Ukraine.” This may, in turn, “give rise to some reputational risks at international level, since these countries might be considered less trustworthy in managing foreign financial capital, which is thereby subject to confiscation in a not-too-distant future, particularly in view of the existing huge geopolitical tensions, notably between China and the United States, in the Middle East or in the Red Sea,” according to Rossi.

When asked what countermeasures one should expect from Moscow if the US and the EU take action in this regard, the pundit suggested that the Russian government could sell “a relevant share of its Western assets, particularly US and European bonds and equities.” Russia then “could invest this capital in a number of economic activities across the so-called ‘Global South’ countries, particularly in the BRICS+, namely, Brazil, India, China, South Africa, and some other countries whose economy is emerging in the currently multi-polar globalization,” per the expert. Similarly, he did not rule out that Russia could sell “huge amounts of US dollars across the foreign exchange market, thereby inducing a relevant depreciation of the greenback, with a negative effect on the US balance of trade, hence on US inflation and economic growth, all of which could increase unemployment, poverty and fiscal deficits in the United States.” He also indicated that others may follow the Russian move, “thereby impacting on Western economies negatively, in a period when both the US and the EU already have their own economic and social problems to address properly and for the common good,” Rossi concluded.

All that to get the NATO job.

• Dutch PM Has No Right to Sign 10-Year Ukraine Security Agreement – Musk (Sp.)

US entrepreneur Elon Musk said outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte does not have the legal authority to sign a security treaty with Ukraine for ten years. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO made the statement in response to a post by political commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek on social network X regarding the Netherlands’ ten-year military assistance agreement with Ukraine. Vlaardingerbroek said “the opinion of the Dutch People” had not been asked. “Doesn’t seem like he [Rutte] has the legal authority to do this,” Musk wrote in response. The Dutch Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that the Netherlands would sign a security agreement with Ukraine for the next 10 years. It said the deal means the Netherlands will help Ukraine defend itself and achieve further integration into the EU and NATO.

Ukraine earlier signed similar agreements with the UK, France, Germany and Denmark. Reports also said a similar document could be signed with Italy in the near future. Russia has been conducting a special military operation in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. President Vladimir Putin has said the operation aims to “protect people subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.” According to the president, the ultimate goal of the operation is to liberate Donbass and create conditions that guarantee Russia’s security. Russia earlier sent a note to NATO because of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia.

“..In a sort of reverse Genesis, these would-be deities seek to save the earth from humanity..”

• The Elites Versus The Rest Of Us (Utter)

Far too many unelected, bureaucratic pencil-pushers in Washington and Brussels have been granted nearly complete control over those they are supposedly to serve, due to the cravenness of their elected “bosses.” These duplicitous diplomats and sanctimonious “servants” sneer self-righteously at those who they derisively say cling to their God and their guns, as they arouse themselves by marinating in their own supposed superiority. The West and its signature values of limited representative government, respect for the individual, free will, free markets, discipline, work ethic, and reasoned faith led the world out of the Dark Ages. Bizarrely and remarkably, the truth of the matter is that elites in the Western media, government, entertainment, and academia are now revolting against the same values that changed the world so much for the better. Progressive?

In America, the Biden administration is putting the kibosh on gas stoves and, now, all new liquid natural gas export approvals, ostensibly to fight climate change — but, some believe, more likely just to piss off political opponents. Mindbogglingly, various Western governments are essentially declaring war on farmers, or at least farming, again purportedly to combat global warming. So what will 8 billion people eat? The elites say, “Let them eat bugs!” Indeed, you will eat ze bugs…and be happy! The globalists at the WEF have taken it upon themselves to plan our subjugation. In a sort of reverse Genesis, these would-be deities seek to save the earth from humanity. At the 2024 Forum, the global aristocracy vowed to ramp up censorship of dissenting opinion.

If they can successfully implement broad-based censorship of those with whom they disagree, there is no hope for the rest of us to throw off our shackles. Period. That is why the American Founders wrote — and enshrined — the First Amendment to the Constitution. The elites believe they know what’s best for everyone else, and the planet at large. But in reality, they are far more concerned with what’s best for them — and their image as virtue-signaling champions of a supposedly utopian future. It is up to us to ensure that their assault on logic, morality, and sanity does not succeed — no matter the consequences.

“Yemen’s fight for “our people” in Gaza is a matter of humanistic, moral, and religious solidarity – these are foundational tenets of the rising eastern “civilizational” powers..”

• The Axis of Asymmetry Takes On The ‘Rules-Based Order’ (Pepe Escobar)

The Axis of Asymmetry is in full swing. These are the state and non-state actors employing asymmetrical moves on the global chessboard to sideline the US-led western rules-based order. And its vanguard is the Yemeni resistance movement Ansarallah. Ansarallah is absolutely relentless. They have downed a $30 million MQ-9 Reaper drone with just a $10k indigenous missile. They are the first in the Global South ever to use anti-ship ballistic missiles against Israel-bound and/or -protecting commercial and US Navy ships. For all practical purposes, Ansarallah is at war with no less than the US Navy. Ansarallah has captured one of the US Navy’s ultra-sophisticated autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV), the $1.3 million Remus 600, a torpedo-shaped underwater drone able to carry a massive payload of sensors. Next stop: reverse engineering in Iran? The Global South eagerly awaits, ready to pay in currencies bypassing the US dollar.

All of the above – a maritime 21st-century remix of the Ho Chi Minh trail during the Vietnam War – spells out that the Hegemon may not even qualify as a paper tiger, but rather as a paper leech. Into the Big Picture – linked to the relentless ongoing genocide perpetrated by Israel in Gaza – steps a true leader of the Global South, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula spoke in the name of Brazil, Latin America, Africa, BRICS 10, and the overwhelming majority of the Global South when he cut to the chase and defined the Gaza tragedy for what it is: a genocide. No wonder the Zionist tentacles across the Global North – plus its Global South vassals – went bonkers. The genocidals in Tel Aviv declared Lula as persona non grata in Israel. Yet Lula did not assassinate 29,000+ Palestinians – the overwhelming majority of whom were women and children. History will be unforgiving: it’s the genocidals that will eventually be judged as personae non grata to all of humanity.

What Lula said represented BRICS 10 in action: this was obviously cleared before with Moscow, Beijing, Tehran, and, of course, the African Union. Lula spoke in Addis Ababa, and Ethiopia is now a BRICS 10 member. The Brazilian president was extremely smart in timing his Gaza fact-check to be on the table during the G20 meeting of Foreign Ministers in Rio. Way beyond BRICS 10, what’s happening in Gaza is a consensus among the non-Western G20 partners – who are actually a majority. No one, though, should expect any serious follow-up inside a divided G20. The heart of the matter remains in the facts on the ground. Yemen’s fight for “our people” in Gaza is a matter of humanistic, moral, and religious solidarity – these are foundational tenets of the rising eastern “civilizational” powers, both domestically and in international affairs. This convergence of principles has now created a direct link – extrapolating to the moral and spiritual spheres – between the Axis of Resistance in West Asia and the Slavic Axis of Resistance in Donbass.

Extreme attention should be paid to the timescale. The Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) forces and Russia have spent two hard-fought years in Novorossiya just to arrive at the stage where it becomes clear – based on the battlefield and cumulative facts on the ground – that “negotiations” mean only the terms of Kiev’s surrender. In contrast, the job of the Axis of Resistance in West Asia has not even started. It’s fair to argue that its strength and full sovereign involvement have not been deployed yet (think Hezbollah and Iran). Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, with his proverbial subtlety, has hinted there’s, in fact, nothing to negotiate on Palestine. And if there would be a return to any borders, these would be the 1948 borders. The Axis of Resistance understands that the whole Zionist Project is unlawful and immoral. But the question remains how to throw it, in practice, into the dustbin of History?

“The US failed in its goal to isolate and divide Russia but did succeed in its unstated goal of deindustrializing Europe..”

• Ukraine, Gaza Conflicts Isolate US, Europe (Sp.)

The US failed in its goal to isolate and divide Russia but did succeed in its unstated goal of deindustrializing Europe, war correspondent and analyst Elijah Magnier told Sputnik’s The Critical Hour on Thursday. “The world is changing indeed, not only because of the war on Russia in Ukraine but also the war in Gaza […] the Development of the BRICS countries [and] the increase of the Shanghai Cooperation. All these indications lead to one reality, the beginning of the end of US hegemony.” “Fifty nations gathered to defeat Russia and they failed… Ukraine has been defeated and Europe is defeated,” Magnier added, noting later that Russia’s economy is doing much better than Europe’s. In addition, the conflict in Gaza has wiped out any remaining pretense of Western moral superiority.

“We are confronted [with] the war on Gaza, where none of [that] moral ground is translated into punishment of those who are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. This is where, today, the Americans are completely isolated, along with their European partners.” America can only survive through wars, Magnier argued, resulting in NATO threatening war with China when it cannot handle much weaker adversaries. “The US and UK are failing in front of non-state actors in the Red Sea [like] the Ansar Allah Houthis… So how can we understand that the Americans are ready to start a war against Russia and then against China?” Co-host Wilmer Leon brought up what he believes to be the “unstated” goal of the war in Ukraine, “the de-industrialization of Europe” which, unlike the stated goal of defeating Russia, “seems to be doing quite well.”

Magnier agreed and expressed shock that Germany has seemingly declined to react. “The Nord Stream II pipeline was blown up and the Germans refused to investigate the terrorist act,” noting that energy prices are rising throughout Europe, even though there are still some European countries buying Russian gas. “When energy is unaffordable… there is a migration of European industry to the United States where energy is cheaper.” “This is [how] the Americans succeeded in putting the Europeans, literally, on the floor, and this is something that Europeans understand, realize, [and] are fully aware of, but, surprisingly, they’re not really reacting and stopping all this useless war that is [leading] them nowhere but to the destruction of the European industry and economy.”

I’ve posted the Mike Benz interview(s) before.

• Censors Who Rigged The 2020 Election Are Now Stealing 2024 (Fed.)

If you didn’t see Tucker Carlson’s interview last week with Mike Benz, you need to take an hour and watch the whole thing. In a mind-bending narrative about the emergence of what Benz calls “military rule” through an online censorship industry in the U.S., he lays out in startling detail just how corrupt and tyrannical the U.S. defense and foreign policy establishment has become. Most importantly, Benz, the executive director of the Foundation For Freedom Online, explains how a constellation of federal agencies and publicly funded institutions, under the pretext of countering “misinformation,” rigged the 2020 election and are right now smothering the First Amendment and rigging the 2024 election through massive state-sponsored censorship online. The 2020 election and the Covid-19 pandemic, says Benz, were the “two most censored events in human history.” And 2024 is shaping up to be the same, thanks to the emergence of a federal censorship-industrial complex.

The problem here is profound, with deep historical roots that go back to the aftermath of World War II and the creation of the CIA along with a host of U.S.-funded international institutions. But for our purposes, it suffices to understand the problem in its two most recent stages: the period from 1991 to 2014, and from 2014 to the present. At the outset of internet privatization in 1991, free speech online was seen as an instrument of statecraft. At that time, says Benz, internet free speech was championed by the U.S. foreign policy and defense establishments as a way to support dissident groups around the world in their efforts to overthrow authoritarian or disfavored regimes. It allowed the U.S. to conduct what Benz calls “insta-regime change operations,” in service of the State Department’s foreign policy agenda. The plan worked really well. Among other things, free speech on the internet allowed U.S.-backed groups to assert control over state-run media in foreign countries, making it much easier to overthrow governments.

The high-water mark of this way of deploying free speech online, Benz explains, was the Arab Spring in 2011 and 2012, when governments the Obama administration considered problematic — Egypt, Tunisia, Libya — all began falling in so-called Facebook and Twitter revolutions. During that time, the State Department worked closely with these social media companies to keep them up and running in those countries, to be used as tools for protesters and dissident groups that were trying to circumvent state censorship. But all of that changed in 2014 after the U.S.-backed coup in Ukraine toppled the government of Viktor Yanukovych and there was an unexpected pro-Russia counter-coup in Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine. Later that same year, says Benz, when the people of Crimea voted to be annexed into the Russian Federation, “that was the last straw for the concept of free speech on the internet in the eyes of NATO.”

Thereafter, NATO, the CIA, and the State Department, together with the intelligence agencies of our European allies, did an about-face on internet free speech. They began instead to engage in what amounted to hybrid or information warfare to censor what they saw as Russian propaganda online. These efforts quickly spread beyond Ukraine and Eastern Europe to include the censorship of populist groups on the right that were emerging across the EU as a response to the Syrian migrant crisis. By the time Brexit emerged in the summer of 2016, explains Benz, NATO and the foreign policy establishment felt there was a real crisis afoot; the problem was spreading west from Central and Eastern Europe, and it had to be stopped. If it wasn’t, then Brexit might trigger the collapse of the entire EU, along with NATO and the entire constellation of supranational institutions that relied on NATO. The entire postwar architecture of institutions might come crashing down, all because the hearts and minds of the people were being swayed. So went the thinking, anyway.

As far as the national security establishment was concerned, citizens were being swayed by Russian and far-right propaganda, and we can’t have that. Under these circumstances, free speech was the last thing that could be allowed to flourish online. Censorship became the order of the day. As Carlson put it, these NATO and EU leaders identified their new enemy as democracy within their own countries — their own voters, in other words: “They feared that their people, the citizens of their own countries, would get their way. And they went to war against that.” And then Trump was elected. From that moment — and indeed, as we know from the Russia-collusion hoax, even before Trump was elected in November 2016 — the U.S. foreign policy and defense establishments, which had done so much to censor and weaponize the internet overseas, turned their attention to American citizens.

Ep. 75 The national security state is the main driver of censorship and election interference in the United States. "What I’m describing is military rule," says Mike Benz. "It’s the inversion of democracy." pic.twitter.com/hDTEjAf89T

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 16, 2024

Chilling. Bone.

• Julian Assange Faces ‘A Living Death Sentence’ In A Concrete Coffin Cell (DM)

Just days from now, Wikileaks boss Julian Assange could be standing shackled on a British airfield preparing to board a plane to the US. Once he disembarks and the sound-proofed door of a supermax prison cell closes behind him, the man who’s made himself America’s most wanted will – finally – be silenced. Lawyers fear the 52-year-old could be confined alone in a ‘concrete coffin’, a 12ft by 7ft chamber – with a window 3ft high but just four inches wide, designed to ensure that the inmate has no view other than sky or wall. Inside it, his bed, desk and stool will be made of poured concrete too. Under this regime, meals are passed through a slot in the door and inmates use a stainless steel sink, toilet and shower inside their cell, meaning they don’t even leave to eat or wash. Once every 24 hours, they are allowed out for an hour to exercise in a small, individually caged space, often sunken, like an empty swimming pool, to prevent them getting any sense of their bearings within the prison complex.

The CIA plan to kill Julian Assange in London

The CIA plan to kill Julian Assange in London #FreeAssange pic.twitter.com/puJi8Y4eZY

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 23, 2024

A 2012 class-action lawsuit brought against America’s Federal Bureau of Prisons revealed how a sentence in this sort of facility tests the sanity of the toughest inmates. They ‘interminably wail, scream and bang on the walls of their cells. Some mutilate their bodies with razors, shards of glass, sharpened chicken bones, writing utensils, and whatever other objects they can obtain. A number swallow razor blades, nail clippers, parts of radios and televisions, broken glass, and other dangerous objects’. Security is, of course paramount. Both prisoners and their cells, which are constantly monitored by CCTV, are searched frequently. Outside, 12ft high walls topped with razor wire, turreted guard towers, floodlights, motion censors and dog patrols mean the likelihood of escape is minute.

Most notorious of all is ADX Florence, an institution in Colorado nicknamed the Alcatraz of the Rockies, which was memorably described by one former warden as ‘a clean version of hell’. It was the possibility of Assange being entombed there, under what are known as special administrative measures (solitary confinement and the severest restrictions), that temporarily halted his extradition back in 2020. Now it’s back on and in its endgame following two climactic days of hearings in London’s High Court this week. Two judges, Dame Victoria Sharpe and Mr Justice Johnson, yesterday reserved their judgment pending further submissions from both sides. They are expected to rule on whether the extradition, originally agreed by former home secretary Priti Patel in 2022, can go ahead, or whether Assange has the right to another appeal, some time next month.

Elephant Hat

Elephant pretends to eat her hat but gives it back
pic.twitter.com/GyQTif2rCF

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) February 23, 2024

Henry

Henry was born in 1900 in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, he survived two world wars and has been a resident at the Crocworld conservation Centre in Scottburgh, Kwazulu Natal for the past 30 years. pic.twitter.com/99dSVN52Gd

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) February 23, 2024

Victims
https://twitter.com/i/status/1760820473925927120

Garra rufa

The Garra rufa fish, also known as doctor fish used in spa treatments for conditions such as psoriasis, the treatment is not curative
pic.twitter.com/twmpWueBey

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) February 22, 2024

Gray whale

Curious whale close enough to hug
pic.twitter.com/Oi0249MgzG

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) February 23, 2024

Bathtubs

Epoxy resin and wood bath tub

What do you think?
pic.twitter.com/U2t0mEqsBu

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) February 23, 2024

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Debt Rattle February 23 2024

Feb 232024

February 23, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:45 am Finance Tagged with: Assange, Biden dogs, Grand Inquisitor, Kiev, Lara Trump, NATO, Navalny, Odessa, Rutte, weaponized 62 Responses »

Jean-Michel Basquiat Aboriginal 1984

• Julian Assange’s Grand Inquisitor (Chris Hedges)

• Totally Corrupt Weaponized Law Used As a Weapon (Paul Craig Roberts)

• Kiev and Odessa Are Ours – Medvedev (RT)

• Arming Ukraine With F-16s Could Trigger Nuclear War – Medvedev (RT)

• Biden Disgraced US With Putin Insult – Kremlin (RT)

• Seize Frozen Russian Assets In Navalny’s Name – German MP (RT)

• Give Us All Your Heavy Weapons, Kiev’s Security Chief Tells EU (RT)

• ‘Almost Nobody’ Believes Ukraine Will Win – Orban (RT)

• Von der Leyen’s Foreign Policy Subordinates Europe to US (Sp.)

• Biden Backs Dutch PM Rutte for Top NATO Job (Sp.)

• Red Lines: Will Iran Enter The Regional War? (Cradle)

• Will Netanyahu Bring Down Biden? (Jeffrey Sachs)

• Lara Trump Vows Largest-Ever Legal ‘Ballot Harvesting’ Operation (ET)

• What the Left Has Bequeathed Us (Victor Davis Hanson)

• Biden Dogs Accused of Dozens of Additional Attacks at White House (Turley)

Tucker Trump

If goons like Fani Willis and Letitia James can rig a presidential election, then obviously we're done. But what can we do about it? pic.twitter.com/A22mrWDmeR

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 22, 2024

Fitton

RUSSIA HOAX: Obama knew. Clinton knew. Biden knew. Comey knew. Brennan knew. McCabe knew. Strzok knew.Clapper knew.Schiff knew.FBI knew.DOJ knew. Mueller knew. They all knew Trump was innocent but they smeared and spied on him. Worse than Watergate. Trump is a crime victim! pic.twitter.com/rjgtoKNRco

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) February 22, 2024

Fani Willis should be subject to civil and criminal investigations. @BennyJohnson @JudicialWatch pic.twitter.com/AdDn0dC0mD

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) February 22, 2024

Tulsi
https://twitter.com/i/status/1760862233418985952

Vivek

Vivek predicts Democrat Presidential nominee:

"I personally think it's going to be Michelle Obama." pic.twitter.com/dMVjTojpBb

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 22, 2024

Tucker immigration
https://twitter.com/i/status/1760666547813589148

UN Nada

This speech by @Tarbush_Nada at a @UN conference yesterday will go down in history.

In front of a room filled with states from around the world, she exposes the racist ideology that underpins Western support for Israel.

What is the purpose of continuing to send arms to Israel,… pic.twitter.com/LsLG5aRQy2

— Ousman Noor (@ousmannoor) February 22, 2024

“Julian contacted the US government, as Summers told the court, and spoke to them at length, in an attempt to prevent the unredacted cables from being published. In the end, the U.S. State Department chose not to act. ”

• Julian Assange’s Grand Inquisitor (Chris Hedges)

Kangaroo Courtship by Mr. Fish

The prosecution for the U.S., which is seeking to deny Julian Assange’s appeal of an extradition order, begun by the Trump administration and embraced by the Biden administration, grounded its arguments on Wednesday in the dubious affidavits filed by a U.S. federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, Gordon Kromberg. The charges articulated by Kromberg — often false — to make the case for extradition did not fly with the two High Court judges, Jeremy Johnson and Dame Victoria Sharp, who are overseeing Julian’s final appeal in the British courts. The prosecuting attorneys, under questioning from the judges, were knocked off balance when challenged about the veracity of several of the claims which Kromberg made in support of the indictment against Julian. This was especially the case when the attorneys argued that the classified documents Julian released in 2010 — known as the Iraq and Afghan war logs — were not redacted.

These unredacted documents, they told the court, jeopardized the lives of those named in the documents and caused some to “disappear.” As defense lawyers Edward Fitzgerald KC and Mark Summers KC made clear, and the judges seemed to acknowledge, the documents were indeed redacted by Julian as he worked with media partners, such as The Guardian and The New York Times, when WikiLeaks published classified military documents concerning the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, along with U.S. State Department cables. The unredacted versions were first published by the website Cryptome after two reporters from The Guardian published a book with the passcode to the documents, leading to their publication by other online organizations. Julian contacted the US government, as Summers told the court, and spoke to them at length, in an attempt to prevent the unredacted cables from being published. In the end, the U.S. State Department chose not to act.

U.S. officials have sheepishly admitted they have no evidence of anyone named in the documents being harmed. Other allegations — such as that Julian tried to help Chelsea Manning, who leaked the documents, decode a password hash to access documents or protect her identity, or that he sought to conspire with computer hackers — have also been debunked. A report provided to Judge Baraitser by a U.S. military forensic expert found that even if Manning was able to decode the password hash (which neither she nor anyone at WikiLeaks ever did) it would not have provided access to documents, it would not have provided her with anonymity and it would not have given her access to documents which she did not already have. The expert also described that someone with Manning’s technical knowledge, skill and experience, as well as her lawful access to Top Secret materials, would have known this. But these Kromberg-inspired canards are all the U.S. has, so it uses them.

By the end of the day, it seemed likely that, probably by April, since requested written briefs have to be turned into the judges in March, the two judges will permit an appeal on at least a few of the points. This will, conveniently for the Biden administration — which I expect does not want to take on the contentious issue of extraditing Julian while fueling the genocide in Gaza — mean that any extradition would occur after the election. The two-day hearing was Julian’s last chance to request an appeal of the extradition decision made in 2022 by the then British home secretary, Priti Patel and of many of the rulings of District Judge Vanessa Baraitser in 2021. If Julian is denied an appeal he can request the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for a stay of execution under Rule 39, which is given in “exceptional circumstances” and “only where there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm.” But it is possible the British court could order Julian’s immediate extradition prior to a Rule 39 instruction or decide to ignore a request from the ECtHR to allow Julian to have his case heard by the court.

Jen Robinson

Lawyer Jen Robinson @suigenerisjen on this weeks' Julian Assange court hearing: "We are very concerned about the use of the death penalty" #FreeAssange #FreeAssangeNOW pic.twitter.com/Tt83bo6nmF

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 22, 2024

“This is America today. Law has no meaning. It is nothing but a weapon. We can have zero confidence it its application and zero confidence in its outcomes..”

• Totally Corrupt Weaponized Law Used As a Weapon (Paul Craig Roberts)

The Democrats appear to be the New Stalinist Party. My conclusion is based on how they abuse law. President Trump has suffered eight years of legal abuse from Democrats and their corrupt prosecutors and judges. It began with Russiagate led by the CIA, Justice (sic) Department, and FBI. It was a total orchestration long since disproved. Then there were a series of concocted nonsense allegations–strippergate, documents gate, insurrection gate and two concocted and failed impeachment attempts. The Democrats then rescued their failed attempts by rolling them into indictments, which the Democrat controlled corrupt United States Justice (sic) Department and Soros-implanted Trump-hating Democrat state attorneys generals and district attorneys leveled against Trump. Some of these fake charges are falling apart, because the black female prosecutors are so stupid and incompetent that they have disqualified themselves and should actually face indictment for perjury.

As US Senator J.D. Vance recently said, “It’s like every other two-minute clip I watch of this Fani Willis interview she admits to committing another felony.” Of all the indictments, the most absurd is the one presided over by what must be the most corrupt judge in human history–New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron. The Trump-hating NY Attorney General, apparently another Soros implant, charged on her own with no civil complainants against Trump that he damaged unidentified people by overstating the value of his properties in his loan applications. She has zero evidence for the charge. Indeed, all of the lenders and every real estate valuation expert said that there was nothing wrong with Trump’s valuations. Lenders said they didn’t care about the valuations, they just wanted Trump’s business. Regardless, the ideological black woman implanted into NY “justice” by Soros’ money indicted Trump for civil fraud.

The trial was arranged to go to Engoron, who would not be satisfied if Trump were drawn and quartered in public view on the courthouse steps. Engoron has made the most stupid rulings based on nothing but his own hatred 0f Trump. The corrupt fool stupidly ruled without evidence that Trump’s real estate was worth a small fraction of what independent real estate evaluators place as the value of the properties. He simply ignored the facts in order to rule as he wanted. Engoron issued an order cancelling the Trump Organization’s business certificates. Apparently, he couldn’t make it stick. So now he has imposed a $350 million fine on Trump and his executives despite the fact that the NY Attorney General Letitia James, who is also busy at work trying to destroy a well-read website that documents the overrunning of the United States by recruited immigrant-invaders, has not a shred of evidence to support her hate-driven charge.

The American presstitute media hate Trump as much as Letitia and Engoron and have already ruled that Trump is guilty. So again we have an American convicted, just like Derick Chauvin, despite the fact that all of the evidence shows that he is innocent. This is America today. Law has no meaning. It is nothing but a weapon. We can have zero confidence it its application and zero confidence in its outcomes. American prisons are full of innocent people like the “insurrectionists” who could not afford to strand trial and who knew that if they did stand trial they would be punished for doing so. The way American “criminal justice” (sic) works is that a defendant, innocent or guilty, admits to a lessor offense, that is he admits to a crime that never happened, in order to avoid trial for a crime that he did not do, but conviction for which his sentence would be much longer.

“Law and Order Conservatives” have never caught on. Indeed, it was their outrage over “liberal judges” who let criminals off too easily that helped to produce a system in which everyone is guilty by accusation alone and self-incrimination. Where are all these liberal judges in Trump’s case, in the case of the 1,000 American patriots in prison because they attended a political rally in support of the President of the United States?

Haven’t heard that for a while. And now it comes from Putin’s alter ego.

“Kiev is a Russian city, and a threat to the existence of the Russian Federation emanates from it..”

• Kiev and Odessa Are Ours – Medvedev (RT)

Russia will have to continue fighting Ukraine until it takes Kiev and the coastal city of Odessa, former President Dmitry Medvedev has claimed. Both cities have “Russian roots” but are being run by US-led enemies of Moscow, meaning they present an existential threat, according to the senior official, who currently serves as deputy head of Russia’s National Security Council. The remarks were extracts from an interview that Medvedev gave to Russian media, which he shared on social media on Thursday. “Where should we stop? I don’t know,” he said, adding that a lot of “serious work” lies ahead. “Will that be Kiev? Probably. This should be Kiev too. If not now, then sometime later. There are two reasons. Kiev is a Russian city, and a threat to the existence of the Russian Federation emanates from it,” he said.

In a separate video, Medvedev addressed the southern Ukrainian port of Odessa, urging it to “return home.” “We in the Russian Federation have long been waiting for Odessa, if only because of its history and what kind of people live there and what language they speak. It is our Russian city,” he claimed. In May 2014, 42 pro-Russia supporters were burned to death in Odessa, a predominantly Russian-speaking city, having been trapped by a mob that supported the Western-backed protests in Kiev that would later overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine. Medvedev identified the source of the threat to the existence of Russia as an “international brigade of the opponents of Russia, led by the US,” who he claimed are in control of Kiev.

“..The doomsday clock “is ticking” and has “sped up considerably..”

• Arming Ukraine With F-16s Could Trigger Nuclear War – Medvedev (RT)

Supplying Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets poses a risk of triggering a nuclear conflict, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has warned. NATO member states are currently training Ukrainian pilots to operate F-16s ahead of the expected transfer of the aircraft. Kiev has been asking for the Western fighter jets for months, saying they were needed to combat Russian air superiority. ”An accidental, unintentional outbreak of a nuclear conflict is not something to be discarded, which is why all those machinations around Ukraine are dangerous,” Medvedev said in an extensive interview with Russian journalists, as quoted by TASS on Thursday.

The deputy head of Russia’s National Security Council cited the US-designed aircraft as a possible trigger, noting that Kiev wants them despite having no ground infrastructure to operate them. ”So if one of those planes takes off from a NATO nation [on a Ukrainian mission] – what would that be? An attack on Russia. I shall not describe what could happen next,” he said. “Such a development may not be even sanctioned by the NATO leadership and the US.” nRussian officials previously warned that delivering F-16s to Ukraine would be highly problematic, considering that the jets can deploy nuclear gravity bombs.

Medvedev said Russia’s standoff with the US and its allies was not at a stage that would force people to hide in a nuclear shelter, but described it as worse than the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The doomsday clock “is ticking” and has “sped up considerably,” he added. The doomsday clock – a representation of the likelihood of a global catastrophe maintained by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists – is currently 90 seconds to midnight, having advanced 10 seconds last year. The clock was first launched in 1947, when it was set at 23:53. Its most optimistic time was in the 1990s, when it was 17 minutes to midnight. Its current time is the closest it has ever been to midnight or ‘doomsday.’

“.. The spokesman suggested that Biden was emulating a “Hollywood cowboy” to appeal to domestic audiences..”

• Biden Disgraced US With Putin Insult – Kremlin (RT)

Americans should be ashamed of their leader after their president reportedly called Russia’s Vladimir Putin a “crazy S.O.B.” during a public event, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Joe Biden’s alleged name-calling occurred during a fundraiser on Wednesday. According to US media, Biden singled out the Russian president while arguing that climate change was a worse threat for humanity than a nuclear conflict. Officials in Washington have claimed that Putin resorted to “nuclear blackmail” when discussing the Ukraine conflict. Moscow has denied this characterization. “This is a great disgrace for [the US],” Peskov said on Thursday, when asked about the reported incident. “If the president of that nation uses that kind of language, that is shameful.” The spokesman suggested that Biden was emulating a “Hollywood cowboy” to appeal to domestic audiences. Such remarks “can hardly hurt any foreign head of state, let alone President Putin,” Peskov added.

Biden has in the past used the same insult that he reportedly directed at Putin on Wednesday. During a press briefing in 2022, he exclaimed “what a stupid son-of-a-bitch,” after a member of the press corps asked him about inflation. In 2018, he resorted to the same language while bragging at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, about pressuring Kiev to fire its prosecutor general. He threatened to withhold a credit line. “I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.’ Well, son of a bitch, he got fired,” Biden recalled of events in 2016, when he served as vice president. Last week, media reported that Biden had called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an “a**hole” on three different occasions in private conversations with other people, including with Democratic Party donors. He was said to have been venting frustration over Israel’s refusal to follow US suggestions on how it should prosecute its military campaign in Gaza.

It’s still theft.

• Seize Frozen Russian Assets In Navalny’s Name – German MP (RT)

Russia’s assets that remain frozen in the West should be confiscated in response to the death of opposition activist and anti-corruption campaigner Alexey Navalny, German parliament member Norbert Rottgen has said. This money should be used to provide more arms to the Ukrainian military for use in the conflict with Russia, Rottgen suggested in his speech to the Bundestag on Wednesday. Legislation that would allow the confiscation of an estimated $300 billion in assets owned by the Russian central bank, which were blocked by the US and the EU after the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022, should be named “Navalny Laws,” he added. Navalny died last Friday in a Russian prison, where he had been serving a lengthy sentence stemming from the violation of the terms of his earlier fraud sentence and his “extremist activities.” The opposition figure had denied any wrongdoing, describing the charges as politically motivated.

According to the prison authorities, Navalny suddenly “felt ill” after a walk and collapsed, with efforts to resuscitate him failing. The cause of the 47-year-old’s death remains unclear, but a source has told RT that it may have been the result of a blood clot. An investigation is ongoing. Rottgen was quick to blame the Russian president for Navalny’s passing, saying: “this murder was of course a matter for the boss. [Vladimir] Putin is the perpetrator.” The lawmaker from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) also insisted that Germany’s deliveries of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine must “now be ramped up.” Frank Schwabe from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is part of the ruling coalition, also blamed Putin for the activist’s death. “We demand further sanctions for the Russian regime and must do everything we can to help Ukraine win,” he said.

Omid Nouripour, the leader of the Greens, another member of the ruling coalition, suggested that the Russian president bears “at least political” responsibility for what had happened to Navalny. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier said it was “completely unacceptable” for Western politicians to make “outrageous statements” regarding Navalny’s death while the investigation into the case is still ongoing. Moscow has repeatedly said that the seizure of its funds by the US and the EU would be tantamount to “theft” and would trigger a response. Russian officials have also warned that such an “illegal” move could further undermine global trust in the Western financial system.

“.. the “Kiev regime” is an accomplice in this Western scheme and a threat to the Ukrainian people themselves..”

• Give Us All Your Heavy Weapons, Kiev’s Security Chief Tells EU (RT)

The EU should donate all its heavy weapons to Kiev, Ukrainian national security council chief Aleksey Danilov has said, claiming that the arms will in any case be useless in future conflicts. Discussing the perceived threats to the EU, Danilov told national media on Wednesday that the bloc is facing the potential rise of ultra-right forces, but suggested that nobody can predict what the security situation will be in two or three decades’ time. “This issue needs to be tackled now. We have great experience, and we understand that Europe will not need those guns, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and other hardware for its next war,” he declared. “They urgently need to donate them all to us, as Denmark did.” The Danish government has decided to give all its artillery systems to Ukraine, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced last week.

”We have weapons, we have ammunition, we have air defense, that we don’t have to use ourselves at the moment, that we should deliver to Ukraine,” she added, referring to all EU states. Danilov argued that in the future, current weapons will effectively be “scrap,” claiming that Kiev would have defeated Russia already if it had been given enough arms. Ukraine remains determined to prevail in the conflict, the official insisted, suggesting that with more Western arms donations, Kiev would ensure Moscow is not a “threat” to European NATO members. ”We are prepared to achieve the task of destroying the Russian Federation,” he stated. Moscow perceives the Ukraine conflict as a US-led proxy war against Russia, in which Ukrainian troops are being used as cannon fodder. Russian officials have claimed that the “Kiev regime” is an accomplice in this Western scheme and a threat to the Ukrainian people themselves.

“..the immediate future is bleak for the European Union due to the way the Ukraine conflict is unfolding..”

• ‘Almost Nobody’ Believes Ukraine Will Win – Orban (RT)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said the immediate future is bleak for the European Union due to the way the Ukraine conflict is unfolding. He made the comments during a Fidesz-KDNP parliamentary faction conference behind closed doors on Wednesday, according to media reports. Orban, who is a prominent critic of the bloc’s policies and has opposed its funding of Kiev’s conflict against Russia, predicted a major victory for conservative parties in the European Parliament elections in June. ”The war will not end. Europe’s burden will become heavier, because financial support for Ukraine will decrease due to disputes in the US amid the presidential election,” he told the conference, according to the newspaper Magyar Nemzet. ”Supporting the Ukrainians has a huge political price. Farmers are revolting all over Europe, and almost nobody believes in the victory of the Ukrainians,” Orban added.

There may be a change in policy from Brussels after the elections, and Washington could also alter its course following the presidential election later this year, he suggested. Orban’s prediction regarding the outcome of the Ukraine conflict appears to be consistent with the views of citizens in 12 EU member states who were surveyed recently by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). The results of the opinion poll were released on Wednesday and showed that only 10% of respondents believed Ukraine would beat Russia on the battlefield. Twice as many believed Russia would prevail, while 37% said a compromise settlement was the most likely outcome. Hungarians were the most pessimistic about a Ukrainian victory, with just 5% considering that this was the likely result of the conflict. A total of 31% predicted that Russia would win.

17 year old Ukr

17 year old boys in Ukraine being trained to send into the meat grinder when they turn 18.

The $60 billion they are trying to send to Ukraine will guarantee that they will all be gone within a few months.

And nothing will change in the stalemate.

pic.twitter.com/uXpvkJIcey

— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) February 22, 2024

“..if Russia continues to be treated as the ultimate Other, to be excluded from the European security architecture and treated as a pariah, Europe’s demise will be accelerated and its recovery difficult to envisage.”

• Von der Leyen’s Foreign Policy Subordinates Europe to US (Sp.)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s foreign policy has failed to strategically weaken Russia, created a perception of eroding the sovereignty of member states and made Europe more subordinate to the United States than at any point during the Cold War, experts told Sputnik. Earlier in the week, von der Leyen confirmed that she would run for reelection as EU Commission chief. She also announced a new European defense strategy to be unveiled in three weeks. The strategy will consist of four main points: spending more, spending better, spending “more European” by investing billions of European taxpayers’ money, and using the experience of the conflict in Ukraine to “outsmart Russia” on the battlefield.

“Facts on the ground suggest that the EU’s foreign policy, or lack thereof, has failed to strategically weaken Russia or bring an end to the conflict in Ukraine. Rather, the narrative surrounding Russia serves as a pretext to consolidate power within the EU,” Adriel Kasonta, a London-based political analyst, said, adding that “the war in Ukraine, once seen as a rallying point for European unity, is now perceived as a smokescreen for a broader agenda of centralization.” The expert noted that von der Leyen’s vision for the EU has been criticized for making the bloc more federalist and dominated by unelected bureaucrats. “The foreign policy trajectory represented by von der Leyen is marked by a push towards increased militarization and defense spending. A looming specter of a unified EU army has fueled fears that member states will witness a gradual erosion of sovereignty,” Kasonta explained.

In the latter part of her term, von der Leyen has reportedly forged a strong relationship with US President Joe Biden, who is also up for reelection later this year, due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and Biden’s vocal internationalist stance, in contrast to his predecessor Donald Trump. Nevertheless, as Washington turns more attention to Asia, a trend that began during the Barack Obama administration, Europe is grappling with what it means for the continent. “As Washington pivots towards Asia to counter China, Europe finds itself urged to continue the proxy war on behalf of its transatlantic ally. This has translated into a recalibration of priorities, with more focus on military might and less emphasis on climate discussions. The EU’s trajectory, it seems, is bending towards aligning itself with American interests, even at the expense of its original environmental commitments,” Kasonta said, while also noting that growing discontent with the EU’s green policies also pushed von der Leyen “towards a shift in priorities.”

Srdja Trifkovic, the foreign affairs editor of the paleoconservative magazine Chronicles, pointed to von der Leyen’s close ties to the US foreign policy establishment. “Thanks to the war in Ukraine, von der Leyen has managed to bring Europe under American control more firmly than it had been at any time during the Cold War,” Trifkovic said. He also observed that the anti-Russian sentiment displayed by van der Leyen and people like her goes beyond a simple antipathy to the government of President Vladimir Putin and instead constitutes “loathing all things Russian,” as Trifkovic put it. “There is a remarkable mixture of hostility and repulsion that is primarily culturally motivated, rather than geopolitically driven,” Trifkovic continued, adding that “if Russia continues to be treated as the ultimate Other, to be excluded from the European security architecture and treated as a pariah, Europe’s demise will be accelerated and its recovery difficult to envisage.”

Rutte is as much an American lackey as von der Leyen is. But still, who wants to head a club so much in decline?

• Biden Backs Dutch PM Rutte for Top NATO Job (Sp.)

US President Joe Biden is supporting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to replace Jens Stoltenberg as the next NATO secretary general, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing a US official. The support of the president of the United States is likely to sway more allies to get on board with Rutte’s nomination, the report said. Politico reported earlier on Wednesday that two-thirds of NATO countries are now backing the Dutch prime minister’s nomination to become the next leader of NATO this year, but the decision requires unanimity among all NATO member states.

The report also cited NATO officials as saying that Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins are not in the mix of potential candidates since they have not put forward their candidacies. Stoltenberg’s term as NATO secretary general was due to expire in October 2022, but it was extended for another year, until September 30, 2023, against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis. In July, the alliance extended his term for another year, meaning that Stoltenberg will remain in the post until October 1, 2024. He is the second-longest serving NATO secretary general after former Dutch Foreign Minister Joseph Luns, who held the post from 1971 to 1984.

Tucker NATO
https://twitter.com/i/status/1760677195377451359

“Tehran’s approach is to apply pressure on Washington via non-aggressive methods – without entering the war..”

• Red Lines: Will Iran Enter The Regional War? (Cradle)

On 14 October 2023, Iran issued a stern public ultimatum to Israel, cautioning that unless it ceases its genocidal assault on Gaza, significant repercussions will ensue, likening them to “a huge earthquake.” Tehran’s envoy to the UN later clarified that the Islamic Republic would only intervene in the Gaza war if the occupation state were to jeopardize Iranian interests or citizens. Given the events of the past four months, this raises the question: What are Iran’s red lines, and at what point would Tehran opt for direct confrontation? To grasp Iran’s motivations and reactions, it’s critical to understand its red lines—those non-negotiable boundaries it staunchly defends. At the heart of this lies the survival of the Islamic Republic itself, which recently celebrated its 44th anniversary. Any encroachment on Iran’s territorial integrity or vital interests triggers a defensive response to deter potential threats.

Foremost among these red lines are any broad attacks on Iran’s maritime assets, energy infrastructure, and strategic interests. Assaults on vital economic nodes like oil refineries or shipping lanes will likely prompt swift and resolute reactions from Iran’s leadership, signaling a readiness to safeguard national assets at any cost. Previously, the Iranian government denied involvement in the Hamas-led resistance Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. While ideologically aligned with Palestinian resistance factions, Tehran insists on their autonomy, wary of direct involvement that could destabilize its domestic front. Nevertheless, support for other allies in the Axis of Resistance like Hezbollah remains unwavering, serving as a deterrent against external aggression targeting Iran’s strategic depth. So far, Tehran has moved to influence Israel’s war in Gaza on the level of diplomacy, demanding the immediate cessation of killings, the lifting of the blockade on humanitarian aid, and the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip. The key aims of the Iranians are to prevent a serious blow to the Palestinian resistance and its military capabilities and to prevent another mass displacement of Palestinians from their lands.

From Iran’s perspective, resistance against Israel and the US represents a cornerstone of the Islamic Republic’s strategic vision – part of its wider anti-imperialist struggle in West Asia, and ambition to force the US out of the region. Many in Tehran believe the Gaza war is orchestrated in Washington, with the US serving as Israel’s primary advocate in global arenas like the UN Security Council. As such, Iran aims to undermine US influence by exacerbating divisions between Washington and Tel Aviv. Despite Israel’s resolve to continue its campaign of ethnic cleansing, Iran’s strategy hinges on exploiting this discord, using diplomatic channels to influence US policy without resorting to direct confrontation. In essence, Tehran’s approach is to apply pressure on Washington via non-aggressive methods – without entering the war.

“Netanyahu pursues the religious ideology of 7th century BC in the 21st century..”

• Will Netanyahu Bring Down Biden? (Jeffrey Sachs)

The cabinet of Israel’s Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is filled with religious extremists who believe that Israel’s brutality in Gaza is at God’s command. According to the Book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible, dated by scholars to the 7th century BC, God promised the land to the Jewish people and instructed them to destroy the other nations living in the promised land. This text is used by extreme nationalists in Israel today, including by many of the 700,000 or so Israeli settlers living in occupied Palestinian lands in violation of international law. Netanyahu pursues the religious ideology of 7th century BC in the 21st century. Of course, the vast majority of the world today, including the vast majority of Americans, are certainly not in line with Israel’s religious zealots. The world is far more interested in the 1948 Genocide Convention than in the genocides supposedly ordained by God in the Book of Joshua. They don’t accept the Biblical idea that Israel should kill or expel the people of Palestine from their own land.

The two-state solution is the declared policy of the world community, as enshrined by the UN Security Council, and of the U.S. government. President Joe Biden is therefore caught between the powerful Israel Lobby and the opinion of American voters and of the world community. Given the power of the Israel lobby, and the sums it expends in campaign contributions, Biden is trying to have it both ways: supporting Israel but not endorsing Israel’s extremism. Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken hope to entice the Arab countries into yet another open-ended peace process with the two-state solution as the distant goal that is never reached. Israeli hardliners would of course block every step of the way. Biden knows all of this but wants the fig leaf of a peace process. Biden also hoped until recently that Saudi Arabia could be lured into normalizing relations with Israel in return for F-35 fighter jets, access to nuclear technology, and a vague commitment to an eventual two-state solution… someday, somehow.

Carter
https://twitter.com/i/status/1760420339421413464

The Saudis will have none of it. They made this clear in a declaration on February 6, stating: The Kingdom calls for the lifting of the siege on the people in Gaza; the evacuation of civilian casualties; the commitment to international laws and norms and international humanitarian law, and for moving the peace process forward in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council and the United Nations, and the Arab Peace Initiative, which aims to find a just and comprehensive solution and establish an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as capital. Domestically, Biden confronts AIPAC (the innocuously named American Israel Public Affairs Committee), the lead organization of the Israel lobby. AIPAC’s long-running success is to turn millions of dollars of campaign contributions into billions of dollars of U.S. aid to Israel, an amazingly high return. Currently, AIPAC aims to turn around $100 million of campaign funding for the November election into a $16 billion supplemental aid package for Israel.

So far, Biden is going along with AIPAC, even as he loses younger voters. In an Economist/YouGov poll of January 21-23, 49% of those aged 19-29 held that Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinian civilians. Only 22% said that in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, their sympathies are with Israel, versus 30% with Palestine, and the remaining 48% “about equal” or unsure. Only 21% agreed with increasing military aid to Israel. Israel has utterly alienated younger Americans. While Biden has called for peace based on the two-state solution and a reduction of violence in Gaza, Netanyahu has brazenly brushed Biden aside, provoking Biden to call Netanyahu an asshole on several occasions. Yet it is Netanyahu, not Biden, who still calls the shots in Washington. While Biden and Blinken wring their hands at Israel’s extreme violence, Netanyahu gets the U.S. bombs and even Biden’s full backing for the $16 billion with no U.S. red lines.

China ICJ

At the International Court of Justice China points out that armed resistance against occupation is enshrined in international law and is not terrorism.

A point that is rarely if ever heard in our mainstream media. pic.twitter.com/wudMcxbFxb

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) February 22, 2024

“‘Hey, I just clicked on this to donate to the president … [and] I think it goes to the RNC, I don’t know if I trust that,’” she said. “That’s a problem.”

• Lara Trump Vows Largest-Ever Legal ‘Ballot Harvesting’ Operation (ET)

Lara Trump says efforts of “historic” proportions are needed to ensure that Republicans, including her father-in-law, former President Donald Trump, win the Nov. 5 election. Ms. Trump says she is ready to take on that challenge if she becomes co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), as President Trump has recommended. In an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times before a Feb. 21 campaign stop, Ms. Trump declared: “We need to have the biggest legal ballot harvesting operation this country has ever seen.” Ballot harvesting, which is legal in many states, allows people to deliver other voters’ absentee or mail-in ballots to election officials. Some fear this practice facilitates election fraud. Republicans have long frowned upon it; Democrats have taken advantage of it. “Whether or not they [Democrats] do it legally, that’s up for discussion,” Ms. Trump said.

In any case, Ms. Trump says it’s time for Republicans to start “attacking the game differently.” Ms. Trump’s remarks to The Epoch Times, and later, to supporters, provided new insights about her vision for a revamped and reinvigorated RNC. “It feels, for a long time, like the Democrats have been playing chess and we’ve been playing checkers,” she said. Her goal is for the Republican Party “to be the opposite, to be steps ahead of them, and on our toes, and ahead of the game, and facing forward the whole time.” Ms. Trump, the wife of President Trump’s son, Eric, also advocates two other efforts that she says would be unprecedented. Republicans need to be urged to vote early, not just on election day, as they typically have preferred, she said. She also wants to see the RNC’s program for training poll watchers expanded nationwide.

“They don’t just stand in the background and kind of keep an eye out and look around for things,” Ms. Trump said. “They physically can count how many ballots are coming in, and how many ballots are going out.” Such measures are needed “to reassure people in a time like we’re in right now, where they really feel like there wasn’t something quite right about the 2020 election, and people still have a lot of unanswered questions,” she said. Ms. Trump said that the RNC, which is suffering from depleted coffers and anemic fundraising, must restore trust among Republican donors. “I’ve had family members of mine call me and say, ‘Hey, I just clicked on this to donate to the president … [and] I think it goes to the RNC, I don’t know if I trust that,’” she said. “That’s a problem.”

Lara Trump (@LaraLeaTrump) says she believes "Donald Trump was made for such a time as this," says without the help of GOD, no one else would be able to withstand attacks against him, not only withstand them, but face them, and keep moving forward. WATCHpic.twitter.com/VFm7nCMUVM

— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) February 21, 2024

“..welcome 8-million illegal aliens to “surge” into America on the premise a new constituency might support agendas that American citizens do not..”

• What the Left Has Bequeathed Us (Victor Davis Hanson)

The Left has created new rules for national politics. Here are 20 some precedents they now have established for America in the future:

1) When in control of the Senate, demand the end of the filibuster; when not, don’t.

2) Call for the end of the Electoral College–but only if it appears to recently favor the candidate of the opposition.

3) In an election year, change any state balloting laws deemed unhelpful through administrative fiat or court order to favor your political candidate.

4) Seek to flip electors from voting in accordance with the popular vote count in their states; indict as an insurrectionist any of the opposition who dare do the same.

5) Raid the home of any opposition ex-president who removed classified files; exempt any sitting president of your party who did the same.

6) Swarm the private homes of, and then bully and intimidate any, Supreme Court officials, politicians, or citizens you oppose.

7) Appoint two special counsels: one to go after the current chief presidential opponent in an election year; the other to exempt and excuse the sitting president for the very crimes charged against his rival.

8) Lobby to remove any oppositional president through the 25th Amendment; smear any one as ageist who suggests a cognitively challenged sitting resident of your party should be subject to similar invocations of the 25th Amendment.

9) Exempt thousands of arrested rioters from charges of 120 days of arson, looting, injuring 1,500 law enforcement officers, and assault—but only if they are radical supporters of your party.

10) Excuse any demonstrator or rioter for desecrating public monuments and cemeteries or shutting down bridges and freeways, or swarming and disrupting the Capitol Rotunda—but only if they agree with you and/or are pro-Hamas. Otherwise, ensure the charged face lengthy prison sentences.

11) Try to pack the Supreme Court—but only if justices you don’t like are in a majority.

12) Seek in an election year to remove a presidential opponent off state ballots for crimes for which he has never been charged, much less convicted of.

13) First target a presidential opponent, and then change, warp, or redefine laws to convict him. Weaponized prosecutors should always indict their political opponents in jurisdictions where they are guaranteed like-minded justices and jury pools.

14) Violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (the prohibition of “excessive fines”) by having sympathetic judges level multimillion-dollar fines to bankrupt the opposition candidate during a presidential campaign. The more there is no victim of a crime, the higher fines should be leveled for “damages”.

15) Open the border by destroying all the protocols and executive orders of a predecessor president. Then welcome 8-million illegal aliens to “surge” into America on the premise a new constituency might support agendas that American citizens do not. Then call the nonexistent border “secure,” while blaming a predecessor president for having left it secure.

16) Have local prosecutors invent criminal acts of an opposition national presidential candidate in efforts to make it impossible for him to campaign for the presidency.

17) Use the FBI to hire out social media auditors to censor any news deemed problematic for the correct presidential candidate.

18) Hire a foreign national to concoct a smear dossier about one’s opposition political nominee. Ensure the FBI also uses and pays the foreign national to spread untruths among the media and administrative state.

19) On the eve of any major national or midterm election, ensure a president drains the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gasoline prices.

20) On the eve of any major national or midterm election, ensure a president promises to cancel billions of dollars in contracted federal student loans.

“..I have never come across a case with such a long history of dog attacks from multiple animals in one family..”

• Biden Dogs Accused of Dozens of Additional Attacks at White House (Turley)

We have been writing about alarming record of the dogs of the Bidens attacking staff and Secret Service agents through the years. At first, the story was a humorous distraction as some of us wondered if the First Family had a vicious dog. It then became more alarming as each of the dogs were found to be attacking staff and had to be eventually removed. Even. more worrisome was the response of the White House and President Joe Biden, who dismissed a Secret Service agent’s account and brushed off the incidents. Now, a report indicates that Commander is responsible for at least 24 attacks. The record shows not only a lack of concern by the Bidens for staff, but a bizarre litany of vicious German Shepherds in their care. We began our discussion of these incidents with Major, who continued to attack staff until the press finally reported on the complaints from staff. Only when it became a public embarrassment did the Bidens send Major to Delaware.

Major was adopted in November 2018 from an animal shelter. Then, after the coverage died down, the Bidens simply brought Major back to the chagrin of the Secret Service. He then proceeded to continue to bite agents and staff. It was then discovered that their other dog, Champ, was also chomping on staff and agents. Again, the White House dismissed the concerns. First lady Jill Biden’s press secretary Michael LaRosa told CNN: “Yes, Major nipped someone on a walk. Out of an abundance of caution, the individual was seen by WHMU and then returned to work.” The difference between “nipped” and “bitten” is that you are bitten by other people’s dogs. Your dog however only nips, which is somewhere on the spectrum between a lick and a complete devouring. Then a book came out that detailed these attacks and the President himself seemed to attack an agent.

The book, “The Fight of His Life,” by author Chris Whipple details Biden’s continued mistrust of the Secret Service and his alleged avoidance of saying anything in front of agents. Biden has long had tense relations with the Secret Service, particularly after female agents complained about his exposing himself to them by insisting on swimming in the nude. The book claims that Biden has his own “deep state” conspiracy theories. Biden reportedly views the Secret Service as essentially the enemy within, suggesting that it is populated by “MAGA sympathizers” due to the fact that the service “is full of white ex-cops from the South who tend to be deeply conservative.” However, this is a major escalation in that reportedly strained relationship. In one eight-day period, agents were bitten every day. Indeed, outside of the White House, the Biden dogs would qualify for strict liability under the common law as displaying a vicious disposition.

After prior incidents, White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the injury as “minor” and insisted that Major was just “getting acclimated and accustomed to their surroundings and new people.” He was then sent away to Delaware with Champ. It was the equivalent of a politician going into “treatment” at the height of a scandal. Major was later returned to the White House but proceed to “acclimate” himself on the limbs of Secret Service agents. The White House failed to disclose the incidents and only partially confirmed past attacks when pressed by the media. Joe Biden was then quoted as saying that he does not trust the Secret Service and believes that one agent is outright lying about one attack by Major. The President is quoted as saying “Look, the Secret Service are never up here. It didn’t happen.”

The incident was reported by the agent and photos were taken to document that attack. The President’s denial of the location ignored the confirmed attack itself. Other agents complained about the disregard of the agents by the Bidens in the repeated attacks, including one agent who reportedly insisted that the president personally pay to repair a ripped coat after one attack on March 6, 2021. Then Commander was brought in to replace Major. Commander then started to bite people. Again, neither the Bidens nor the White House seemed particularly concerned for the staff and brushed off questions. It now turns out that the attacks increased but the press were not informed . . . again. According to new internal USSS documents obtained by CNN, that does not even include additional incidents that were previously reported involving executive residence staff and other White House workers.

[..] I have taught torts for three decades, including animal liability. In that time, I have never come across a case with such a long history of dog attacks from multiple animals in one family. There is no question that the Bidens would be strictly liable in these attacks, but have been allowed to escape such liability due to the fact that this is the official residence. Under the common law, the Bidens could claim that Major and Commander were entitled to “one free bite.” They are well beyond that threshold. The “one free bite rule” is a commonly misunderstood torts doctrine — suggesting that you are not subject to strict liability until after the first time your dog bites someone. In fact, you are subject to strict liability whenever you know or have reason to know of the vicious propensity of your animal. That can be satisfied by conduct such as frequent snapping or aggressive behavior.

Bad dog

The dog deserves an Oscar for this acting pic.twitter.com/il4hd6dYb4

— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) February 22, 2024

Lifeguard
https://twitter.com/i/status/1760545343861608457

Staircase

Magnificent staircase designs made of wood.pic.twitter.com/lsyx18rOVb

— Figen (@TheFigen_) February 21, 2024

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Assisted Suicide

Jul 022023

July 2, 2023 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 12:22 pm Finance Tagged with: assisted suicide, Macgregor, Milley, peace talks, Ritter, Rutte, Ukraine, Ukrainians, Zelensky 22 Responses »

Caravaggio The raising of Lazarus 1609

A Dutch paper tells me that PM Mark Rutte is “very disappointed” that Switzerland has decided not to deliver 96 more tanks, that belong to Swiss “defense company” Ruag, and which Germany, Holland and Denmark wanted to purchase, to send to Ukraine. The 96 would have come on top of another 100 they also apparently bought for the same purpose. Neither would make any difference for the outcome of the battle. 100 tanks is nothing. The only thing we know for sure is that 96 more tanks will kill 96xY more people. But of course Rutte is not the only EU and NATO “leader” who thinks the way he does. They all do, except Orban and perhaps Serbia’s Vucic. But Biden, Blinken, Macron, Scholz, you name them, they all say the same thing: we must deliver more guns, tanks, jet fighters. US “top general” Mark Milley chimes in:

Ukrainian Counteroffensive Will Be Long And ‘Very Bloody’

Ukraine’s counteroffensive will be “very difficult” and achieving significant gains could take a long time, a top US military officer has warned, Report informs, citing Yahoo. Army general Mark Milley told the National Press Club in Washington that the counteroffensive was “advancing steadily, deliberately working its way through very difficult minefields … 500 meters a day, 1,000 meters a day, 2,000 meters a day, that kind of thing”. Mr Milley said he was unsurprised progress was slower than some people predicted.

He said: “War on paper and real war are different. In real war, real people die. Real people are on those front lines and real people are in those vehicles. Real bodies are being shredded by high explosives.” Mr Milley added: “What I had said was this is going to take six, eight, 10 weeks, it’s going to be very difficult. It’s going to be very long, and it’s going to be very, very bloody. And no one should have any illusions about any of that.”

My problem with this is they all know very well that some 400,000 young Ukrainians have already died in the conflict, with many more severely injured, and many many more will be killed and maimed if these tanks are delivered to Kiev and the “counteroffensive” continues. Not Rutte’s Dutch young people, or Biden and Milley’s Americans or Macron’s French, no, just young Ukrainians. And some Russians, at about a 1 to 10 count. But if they don’t care about young Ukrainians, they sure care less about young Russians.

Where does this attitude come from? What makes it acceptable to help kill more young people, anywhere in the world? Young men who have mothers, fathers, girlfriends, wives, who should have children or already have them? Who are “leaders” like Rutte to knowingly send them to their deaths? For what reason? So they can beat Russia and save Ukraine’s “democracy”? Ukraine has no elections, no political parties, no free press, and Zelensky is selling its land to BlackRock et al as we speak. And that’s what these promising young lives have to be cut short for? For Zelensky’s and BlackRock’s profits?

Majority Of Americans Back Weapons Deliveries To Ukraine

Some 65% of Americans support continued military aid to Ukraine, up from 46% in May, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday. Other surveys, however, show a fall in support for President Joe Biden’s promise of unlimited weapons for Kiev. Conducted earlier this week, the poll found bipartisan support for arming Ukraine, with 81% of Democrats and 56% of Republicans in favor. This result mirrors the situation in Congress, where Biden’s Democrats are almost unanimous in backing arms deliveries, while the GOP is split between an establishment that backs the weapons shipments and a pro-Trump, isolationist wing in opposition.

First, send young Dutch, American, French, boys -and girls -to die on the Ukraine battlefields. Then see how the homefront reacts. And tell them that Ukraine and NATO have no chance in hell of beating Russia. But yes, I know, the propaganda never stops. And then you get surveys like this. Putin is the antichrist and Zelensky is Churchill. If you dumb people down enough, anything goes. But still, Rutte, Milley, Biden, Blinken et al are murdering young Ukrainians. You can’t blame Putin, or Russia for this. Your voters may believe it, but the world at large, outside of your propaganda field, will not.

These people want you to believe, and maybe they still believe it themselves, that Ukraine can beat Russia. Over the past 16 months, there has been nothing that points to that, Ukraine has lost anything and everything, but EU and NATO still want to send more weapons into the meat grinder. Weapons, but not their children. Why do 65% of Americans, and “leaders” like Rutte, Blinken, Macron, want the killing to continue? Because their voters have no problem with 400,000 dead young Ukrainians. And their media will blame everything on Putin. The same media tells them they will win. But there is no indication that this is even remotely realistic. Unfortunately, NATO doesn’t care about realistic: losing to Russia is not in their dictionary. Having a million Ukrainians killed, is.

NATO is the past. Its power has waned. The US alone spends more than 10 times more on its defense budget than Russia, but is lagging way behind in weapons development. And it’s not going to make up for that disadvantage anytime soon. Certainly not in time to turn the Ukraine conflict around. And still guys like Rutte and Milley want to send more tanks into the battlefield. These people need psychiatric assistance. As do the next tranches of Ukraine cannon fodder. What we, the collective west, are providing Ukraine with, is not a chance at winning a war, but a mind boggingly huge assisted suicide program. And we, NATO citizens, should ask ourselves if we want to be part of that. If you live in NATO/EU territory, this is now on your conscience. No escaping anymore. They speak and act in your name. You can no longer claim innocence.

How many more young Ukrainians are left for you to kill? The “400,000 dead young Ukrainians” number comes from US military veterans like Scott Ritter and Douglas Macgregor. Maybe it’s “only” 350,000. But that included all their most experienced and trained soldiers. Their replacements are nowhere near as good. How many of those? I’d guess 100,000, 200,000 at best. While Russia just finished properly training 300,000 over an 8-month period, Kiev picked up kids and 65-year olds from the street, gave them a 2-week crash course, and dumped them at a frontline.

But you know what’s the worst thing here, and that I haven’t even mentioned? Nobody on the US/NATO/Kiev side, when confronted with those numbers among Ukrainians, ever mentions peace talks. No-one. The reason is that they would have to admit Russia’s won and NATO lost. Not just Ukraine lost, but NATO. And that is unthinkable. Consider what that would mean for the close to $1 trillion a year US arms industry, Raytheon, Boeing etc. They would never -voluntarily- admit it. Hey, they make more profit than they have in decades… What’s another 100,000 Ukrainian assisted suicides? I grew up thinking that every human life matters.

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A Winter of Anger

Aug 062022

August 6, 2022 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 12:28 pm Finance Tagged with: anger, Civil War, cold, EU, farmers, hunger, overreach, peace, Rutte, Trudeau, Zelensky 31 Responses »

Vincent van Gogh Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather 1882

It is very simple: if you’d ask most citizens of whichever EU country if they are willing to risk being unable to feed and heat their children in order to support Ukraine and Zelensky, they would say NO. Hell no! But that is what they’re all being pushed towards. Food prices look to at least double from here, after they’ve doubled once already, while energy prices are set to triple or worse. And there’s no logical reason for it.

This is not due to some inevitable market mechanism, it’s because the west decided to halt all Russian imports after the latter’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine. All western leaders found that reason enough to cut all, or nearly all, imports from Russia. Gas, oil, fertilizer, food. Essentials. They could have been sitting around a negotiating table, but chose not to. Which only works as long as things remain sort of affordable. And then, it does not.

Problem is, they had and have no alternative to the Russian supplies of these goods (and there’s many more). See, this is how we know they don’t make their own decisions. Those are made in Brussels and Davos, and then the “leaders” have to carry out the preconceived programs, and they will.

No elected official on his/her own would risk to destroy their own country’s energy or food safety, with elections coming up every few years. But their WEF/Davos connections have changed that “logic”. The WEF makes sure no western leader gets elected who is not a member of their club. There’s only one path to power these days.

But these people grossly underestimate the effect that hunger and cold -will- have on their citizens. The first signs of that are visible in the protests of truckers and farmers, but that’s just a start. You just wait till the cold sets in, and the running blackouts, and the hunger. Wait till people have to feed their kids scraps from a bare table in a cold dark home.

That’s when you will see who people really are. People in the west are overfed, and lazy, and not too sharp, but wait till their kids, and their families, are truly suffering. They’ve seen the example of the farmers and truckers. Wait for people to see the link between their own lives, and the farmers; then you will see who they really are.

“Leaders” like Trudeau and Rutte think they have this under control, that they can make the farmers do what their governments say they must, if need be with assistance from police or even the army. But you cannot send cops and soldiers against your farmers, because 1) they make your food, 2) the people support them, 3) they have a centuries-old democratic right to be farmers, and 4) they don’t take no sh*t for an answer.

This goes back 100s of years, much longer than the right of any politician to tell them what to do. The Dutch farmers on Friday told Rutte to prepare for the hardest actions yet, and they’re still not joking. My guess would be this time they will paralyze the country. Not because they are crazy; 10,000 of them would need to close shop if Rutte gets what he wants, and they won’t let that happen. Farmers will not idly stand by while their neighbor is forced out of business.

No, they are not crazy. They refuse to talk to Rutte, in a sign a of how much they trust him. He assigned a mediator, from his own political club, and all farmer org’s but one refused to talk to him too. The one that did, found the talk useless. Rutte wants the 10,000 scalps no matter what, but it’s just not going to happen. He is shown the limits of his power. Having been PM for 12 years, that’s a bit of a shock.

Obviously, this is all strongly connected to the past 2,5 years of measures and mandates and all. The political class got a taste of power that they did not have before, and got carried away. Well, they went too far this time. One telling number was that of US parents letting their youngest kids be vaxxed: what was it, 0.45%?! And 220 million adult Americans have either never been vaxxed or never boosted. No connection to the farmers? You wait and see.

The game is over. People’s patience with their politicians is ending. But the politicians themselves don’t see that; how could they when they censor all discontent and reports from doctors and scientists who don’t follow the “official” line? They’ve lost touch with the very world they’re supposed to represent. All they get to see is the info that is left after their own “norms” have censored the rest. They see only what they like to see.

In Europe, the Germans and Dutch will manage to be sort of OK, but only at the expense of poorer EU countries. And that won’t even be their main problem; that problem will be at home; their own farmers will come for them. And their poorest. Countries will leave the EU (and the euro). Hungary first to go?! In Greece, there’s already talk of rolling blackouts this winter, and they get most of their electricity from hydro. Italy is a shambles. How many present “leaders” will still be in place January 1 2023? How about June? After a winter of great discontent?

And they’re all telling you that “we” have to win in Ukraine first, and everything will be alright. But “we” have already lost in Ukraine, we did on February 24, and “we” should be talking to, and making peace with, Russia. Why are we not? Because we don’t want food and energy? The folks in Brussels and Davos will not be hungry and cold. But in other EU places they will be. And they will come to balance this thing out.

As for the US, I’m scared there too. Energy prices may not get as bad as in Europe, but food will be real bad (and how about housing?!). And there’s this fight between two factions going on, that starts to feel like what went on before the Civil War. I hope I’m wrong, but I feel it everywhere: Overreach.

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Debt Rattle July 30 2022

Jul 302022

July 30, 2022 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 8:27 am Finance Tagged with: Azov, depression, diplomacy, Gazprom, HIMARS, Meta, plunder, POWs, Rutte, war economy, WEF 54 Responses »

Claude Monet Impression, sunrise 1872

• Europe Hypnotized Into War Economy (Vilches)

• Russia Claims Ukraine Had A Reason To Kill Its Own POWs (RT)

• Russia and Ukraine Trade Blame Over Prison Blast (BBC)

• Ukraine and Russia Trade Blame For Attack Killing Mariupol Prisoners (WaPo)

• Ukraine Is ‘Shooting Blind’ – Top Official (RT)

• A Panicking Biden Administration Seeks Talks With Russia (MoA)

• West Prepares To Plunder Post-war Ukraine (MP)

• Gazprom Explains Gas Flow Reduction To EU (RT)

• American Diplomacy as a Tragic Drama (Michael Hudson)

• Playing Chicken with the Fates (Kunstler)

• David Lynch Tells ‘Zelensky’ To Have A Beer With Putin (RT)

• Trump Warns Something Worse Than Recession Is Coming (ET)

• Health Care Workers Settle COVID Shot Mandate for $10.3 Million (Bridle)

• Triathlete, 27, Becomes 5th Toronto Area Doctor To Die In July (TSun)

• Meta from 5th Most Valuable Stock to 11th In 10 Months. $647 Billion Lost (WS)

Read at least twice.

Winter is coming
https://twitter.com/i/status/1552787710187917312

Share of countries with 6%+ CPI

Bro Bridle
https://twitter.com/i/status/1552918465312342017

CannoneerMarine thread

@imetatronink @mpsmithnews @thinkdefence @sovietarmyfan @realGonzaloLira @TamrikoT From the August, 2022 USMC Gazette. Marinus is the pseudonym of a senior Marine officer who regularly writes on warfare. The Russians are fighting a ‘revolutionary’ war. pic.twitter.com/p3QWyWwW5p

— CannoneerMarine (@CannoneerMarine) July 27, 2022

Jorge Vilches has it exactly right. Europe is shedding infrastructure and deals for which they have zero replacement: “without which Europe as we know it will cease to exist.”

• Europe Hypnotized Into War Economy (Vilches)

Thirty two years ago Germans enthusiastically took down the Berlin wall. Now, captured by cunning Anglo-Saxon global elites, Germans are helping other European “useful idiots” to erect a much higher and thicker wall to cut themselves off from Russia leading them into a war economy. But as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has warned… “the approach has clearly failed — sanctions have backfired — and our car now has 4 four flat tires” … Question: vehicles don´t carry more than 2 spare tires on them, do they? So, one quick and innocent way to explain such unfathomable European miscalculation is to assume the EU leadership is immersed in a deep hypnotic trance and just blindly following US-UK instructions under Stoltenberg-Johnson war-mongering policies.

The supply lines that up to 2022 successfully linked Europe and Russia took decades of very hard work to develop. This now means that almost all of such over-abundant contracts necessarily have no effective substitute because (a) no other vendors have such high quality at low price plus decades of vetting and proven experience + (b) the un-replaceable short freight distance and shipping time from nearby Russia. So, by definition, both (a) + (b) mean that today no equivalent supply lines could ever be found no matter how much Europe tried simply because it would be either too soon or too far …and always too hard and too pricey. So short cuts will be taken and corners rounded-off…. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

The impact of the above cannot be overstated though as the now-broken Euro-Russian supply lines were essential for the Just-In-Time strategy that Europe and world markets still require and cannot wait years to develop and iron out. Logistics 101: proven experience and performance with excellent price plus quick delivery from nearby sources cannot be substituted fast enough, or possibly ever. On purpose, Europe´s worst enemies couldn´t have inflicted worse harm than what a US-UK mesmerized Europe (what else ?) is doing to itself. So EU sanctions are now cutting off dozens of key and highly varied Russian produce without which Europe as we know it will cease to exist. This involves foodstuffs, minerals of every sort, energy re oil & gas & coal & refined products thereof, etc., etc., plus key technologies and products from space rocket engines to nuclear fuels.

It’s quite simple. If the attack was done with HIMARS, it’s the Ukraine. WaPo fantasizes that Russians transported HIMARS pieces from elsewhere to the crime scene, but Ukraine was shelling this site for months. Only now, they have the HIMARS to do it with.

• Elena Evdokimova @elenaevdokimov7· May 17!!
Ukrainian artillery has been shelling the DPR village of Elenovka with BM-21 Grad. It is the settlement, where the prisoners have been transported from Azovstal. Looks like the deliberate attempt to destroy their own surrendered units.

• Azov POWs are extremely high value assets to Kremlin propagandists. Capturing Azov neo-Nazis & putting them on trial to justify Russia’s invasion has been a top propaganda priority from start. It’d be bizarre for RU to bomb & eliminate their prized pr assets before show trials.

• So they’re really going with the theory that Russia shelled a prison on DPR territory to kill Azov militants whom they could have just as easily publicly hanged to the thunderous applause of virtually everyone in Russia & half of Ukraine?!

• Russia Claims Ukraine Had A Reason To Kill Its Own POWs (RT)

Kiev’s forces shelled a detention center holding Ukrainian POWs early Friday morning to “threaten” their own troops who may want to surrender, the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed. “A large number of Ukrainian servicemen are voluntarily laying down their arms, and know about the humane treatment of prisoners by the Russian side,” the ministry said, calling the attack “outrageous.” Authorities in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said that the death toll in the missile strike has grown to 53, while 75 were wounded. DPR Deputy Information Minister Daniil Bezsonov posted a graphic video on his Telegram channel, which shows multiple mutilated and charred bodies inside the destroyed building. According to Russia’s Defense Ministry and local authorities, Ukrainian troops used US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers to strike the detention center near the village of Yelenovka.

The ministry said the facility held members of Ukraine’s Azov Battalion, whose fighters surrendered to Russian and Donbass forces during the siege of the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol. The battalion is notorious because it includes fighters with nationalist and neo-Nazi views. Speaking to Russia’s TV Channel One, DPR head Denis Pushilin claimed that the Ukrainians “deliberately” targeted the detention center in order to kill Azov members who had been providing testimonies about possible war crimes by their commanders. The Ukrainian military released a statement on Friday, accusing Russian troops of shelling Yelenovka. Moscow destroyed the prison in order to pin the blame on Kiev, as well as to “hide the torture of prisoners and executions,”the statement alleged.

HIMARS
https://twitter.com/i/status/1552948606214225920

“Russia accuses Ukraine of being willing to massacre its own prisoners of war, saying Kyiv insisted that prisoners from the Azov Battalion be housed in this particular warehouse.”

• Russia and Ukraine Trade Blame Over Prison Blast (BBC)

Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for a rocket attack that killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the occupied part of Donetsk region. Ukraine says the prison was targeted by Russia in an effort to destroy evidence of torture and killing. For its part, Russia said the prison camp in Olenivka was hit by Ukrainian precision rockets. Unverified Russian video footage of the aftermath shows a tangle of wrecked bunk beds and badly charred bodies. An adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky said the scene looked like arson, and that a missile strike would have scattered the bodies. Those detained are said to have included members of the Azov battalion, who were the last defenders of Mariupol and whom Russia has sought to depict as neo-Nazis and war criminals.

Ukraine’s new Prosecutor-General Andriy Kostin said he had opened a war crimes investigation into the blast. His office added that it believed about 40 people were killed in the strike and 130 were injured. Daniil Bezsonov, a spokesperson for the Russian-backed separatist Donetsk People’s Republic, said the strike had been a “direct hit on a barracks holding prisoners” and the number killed might increase. Russia’s defence ministry said the strike had been carried out with US-made Himars artillery and it accused Ukraine of a “deliberately perpetrated” provocation. The ministry produced fragments of what it said were rockets fired by the Himars system.

HIMARS
https://twitter.com/i/status/1552992046402658311

I include the BBC and WaPo takes mostly to illustrate how they have manipulated the perceived views.

The neo-nazis are now “the famed Azov Regiment” …“whom Russia has sought to depict as neo-Nazis and war criminals.” , and the HIMARS systems “are helping shift the tide of the war in Ukraine’s favor”.

• Ukraine and Russia Trade Blame For Attack Killing Mariupol Prisoners (WaPo)

Dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war from the famed Azov Regiment were killed Friday in a strike against their detention center in the Russian-occupied eastern region of Donbas, but it was unclear how the attack happened or who carried it out. At least 53 POWs were killed and 75 injured in the strike, according to Darya Morozova, an official for the Donetsk People’s Republic, the pro-Russian breakaway region where the prison is located. Ukraine and Russia traded blame for the strike, with each saying the other had carried it out to silence the prisoners. All or most of the POWs were members of the Azov Regiment who had surrendered when Russian troops captured the city of Mariupol in May after a two-month siege. Their fate had been the focus of fraught prisoner-exchange negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.

Russia’s Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of carrying out the attack using U.S.-supplied HIMARS — High Mobility Artillery Rocket System — launchers, which are helping shift the tide of the war in Ukraine’s favor. The ministry framed the incident as “a bloody provocation” intended to discourage Ukrainian soldiers from surrendering. Russian media commentators suggested that Ukraine hit the detention center to stop the prisoners from providing testimony to interrogators about war crimes committed by Ukrainian forces. Ukraine denied any involvement and accused Russian forces of carrying out the attack, which it called a war crime. Ukraine did not conduct any shelling or artillery strikes Friday in the vicinity of Olenivka, the town where the detention center is located, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a post on its Facebook page.

Rather, the General Staff said, it was Russia that staged the attack and used it “to accuse Ukraine of committing war crimes as well as to cover up the torture and execution of prisoners.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in a posting on his Twitter account, called on the world to condemn what he called a “petrifying war crime” and a “brutal violation of international humanitarian law.” Ukrainian officials also questioned whether the incident had been caused by an artillery strike at all. Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, tweeted that explosives specialists who had examined images of the burned-out detention center believe that the destruction may have been caused by an explosion or fire “inside the building itself, rather than the result of shelling.”

Videos of the aftermath of the blast broadcast by Russian media outlets show a tangle of twisted, burned metal bunks inside a blackened warehouse-like structure with a large hole in its roof. Charred bodies and body parts are strewn around the wreckage Russian media outlets also posted photos showing what they claimed were fragments of HIMARS rockets found at the scene. It wasn’t immediately possible to verify that the shards had been fired by HIMARS launchers, but a senior Defense Department official in Washington pointed out that Russia could have gathered them from attacks elsewhere. “The Russians have a lot of pieces of HIMARS. The Ukrainians have been sending a lot of HIMARS their way,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to brief the media. He cautioned against reaching any conclusions on the limited information available.

Yelenovka

Reportedly, debris from the HIMARS munitions that hit the POW detention facility in Yelenovka last night pic.twitter.com/rwCsl44YXv

— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) July 29, 2022

“..Kiev needed about 50 HIMARS for effective defense, and a least 100 for “an effective counteroffensive.”

• Ukraine Is ‘Shooting Blind’ – Top Official (RT)

US-made HIMARS are “a good first step,” but Kiev needs the means to take accurate shots, a senior Ukrainian official has said The deliveries of US-made HIMARS rocket systems are “a good first step”, but the West did not provide Kiev with the necessary technologies to accurately hit targets, a high-ranking Ukrainian official complained in an interview published on Thursday. “HIMARS and heavy artillery are a good first step, but if we do not have the technology to find and correct targets for artillery strikes, then we’re just shooting blind,” Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser at the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, told Newsweek magazine.

Earlier this month, Vadim Skibitskiy, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Directorate of Intelligence at the Ministry of Defense, claimed that Kiev views the Crimean Peninsula as a legitimate target for long-range weaponry, including US-made M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS, supplied by Western powers. His words were echoed by Alexey Arestovich, a top aide to President Vladimir Zelensky, who said that the Ukrainian military would target the Crimean Bridge as soon as Kiev obtains the capability to carry out such a strike. Russia pushed back on these threats, with Mikhail Sheremet, an MP who represents the region in the Russian parliament, warning Kiev that retaliation will be so harsh that Ukraine will never be able to recover from it. In his telling, the would-be strike will be followed by “a crushing blow to decision-making centers in Kiev, military infrastructure and arms-supply logistics channels.”

[..] On Friday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense and DPR authorities accused Kiev of having used HIMARS to target a prison holding POWs, killing 53 and wounding scores more. Ukraine rejected the claim and pinned the blame on Russian troops. According to the Pentagon, as of July 22, the US has provided Ukraine with 16 M142 HIMARS systems, while the UK has provided another three launchers capable of firing the same munitions. Earlier this month, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov said that Kiev needed about 50 HIMARS for effective defense, and a least 100 for “an effective counteroffensive.”

“..Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov was too busy to talk with Mr. Blinken now.”

They did talk yesterday. But Blinken is not very important.

• A Panicking Biden Administration Seeks Talks With Russia (MoA)

The New York Times reports of a potential prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia: “[T]he Biden administration has proposed trading the merchant of death for the imprisoned basketball player as well as a former marine held in Russia on what are considered trumped-up espionage charges. In the harsh and cynical world of international diplomacy, prisoner exchanges are rarely pretty, but unpalatable choices are often the only choices on the table. Whether the swap would go through remained unclear. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken made the offer public in part to reassure the families of Brittney Griner, the basketball player, and Paul N. Whelan, the former marine, that the administration is doing all it can to free them. Russian officials, who have long sought the release of the arms trafficker Viktor Bout, confirmed the discussion on Thursday but said Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov was too busy to talk with Mr. Blinken now.”

Typically prisoner swaps are not talked about publicly before they happen: “Some veteran hostage negotiators were perplexed that Mr. Blinken made the offer public. “It is baffling why the U.S. would announce this proposal in the midst of the negotiations,” said Rob Saale, the former head of the F.B.I.-led Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell. “If you’re in sensitive negotiations why would you want to air this out publicly? It makes me wonder if the Russians haven’t already declined the deal.” Mr. Saale suspicion was justified as the Washington Post now reports:

“The Biden administration disclosed publicly that the United States had made “a substantial offer” to Russia to secure the release of two American prisoners because closed-door negotiations had stalled, an administration official said Thursday. The administration hopes public pressure will lead Moscow to engage in negotiations resulting in basketball star Brittney Griner and security consultant Paul Whelan being released from Russian prison, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations. U.S. officials say they have tried for weeks to broker the releases of Griner and Whelan. But the lack of progress, and the prospect of Griner soon facing conviction and sentencing on drug charges, prompted the administration this week to make the negotiations public.”

I do not understand why the administration had started such negotiations even before the Griner court case has been closed. In general such prisoners will only be pardoned and released to the other side after they have been sentenced. Anything else would raise accusations of executive interference in the judicial process. The Brittney Griner case, over admitted smuggling of cannabis oil, is still in court. The Russian government will obviously refrain from doing anything about her before the judicial process has ended. One suspects that the prisoner exchange is much more about Paul Whelan, who likely is a CIA asset.

They’ll have to settle for what Russia leaves them. And that’s not what they counted on.

• West Prepares To Plunder Post-war Ukraine (MP)

While the United States and Europe flood Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars of weapons, using it as an anti-Russian proxy and pouring fuel on the fire of a brutal war that is devastating the country, they are also making plans to essentially plunder its post-war economy. Representatives of Western governments and corporations met in Switzerland this July to plan a series of harsh neoliberal policies to impose on post-war Ukraine, calling to cut labor laws, “open markets,” drop tariffs, deregulate industries, and “sell state-owned enterprises to private investors.” Ukraine has been destabilized by violence since 2014, when a US-sponsored coup d’etat overthrew its democratically elected government, setting off a civil war. That conflict dragged on until February 24, 2022, when Russia invaded the country, escalating into a new, even deadlier phase of the war.

The United States and European Union have sought to erase the history of foreign-sponsored civil war in Ukraine from 2014 to early 2022, acting as though the conflict began on February 24. But Washington had sent large sums of weapons to Ukraine and provided extensive military training and support over several years before Russia invaded. Meanwhile, starting in 2017, representatives of Western governments and corporations quietly held annual conferences in which they discussed ways to profit from the civil war they were fueling in Ukraine. In these meetings, Western political and business leaders outlined a series of aggressive right-wing reforms they hoped to impose on Ukraine, including widespread privatization of state-owned industries and deregulation of the economy.

On July 4 and 5, 2022, top officials from the US, EU, Britain, Japan, and South Korea met in Switzerland for a so-called “Ukraine Recovery Conference.” There, they planned Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction and performatively announced aid commitments – while salivating over a bonanza of potential contracts. New NATO candidates Finland and Sweden committed to assure reconstruction in Lugansk, roughly 48 hours after Russia and separatist forces announced the region had fallen fully under their control. But the Ukraine Recovery Conference was not new. It had been renamed to save the expense of a new acronym. In the previous five years, the group and its annual meetings were instead referred to as the “Ukraine Reform Conference” (URC).

Siemens has eliminated no more than a quarter of the identified malfunctions at the Nord Stream turbines. Correspondence regarding the repair of engines will be made public via media.
– Deputy Chairman of Gazprom Markelov

• Gazprom Explains Gas Flow Reduction To EU (RT)

Gazprom has published some of its correspondence with Siemens as it blames the German company for a reduction in gas flow Russia had to reduce its gas flow to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline due to turbine malfunctions, Gazprom Deputy Chief Executive Vitaly Markelov said on Friday. The issues are due to Germany’s Siemens company – which produces the turbines – failing to fulfill its commitments, he told the Rossiya 24 TV Channel.
Siemens has so far eliminated only one-fourth of the total number of discovered malfunctions affecting its turbines, Markelov said. On Wednesday, the Nord Stream 1 operator Gascade reported that gas flow through the pipeline had been reduced to one-fifth of its maximum capacity. A day before that, Gazprom warned that it would have to stop the operation of its second Siemens turbine for an overhaul.

After the switch-off, gas flow through Nord Stream 1 was not expected to exceed 33 million cubic meters per day. The move came as the energy giant was still waiting for another turbine for the pipeline that was due to arrive from Germany after undergoing maintenance in Canada. “Our European partners accuse us of reducing gas supply to Europe without sufficient reasons. Yet, nothing can be further from the truth,”Markelov said, adding that it was the company’s Western partners who “fail to fulfill their obligations – contractual obligations – for the compressor station maintenance.” According to an earlier report by business daily Kommersant, several turbines at the Portovaya compressor station located on Russia’s Baltic coast are in need of servicing.

The current licensing agreement allows Siemens Energy to accept five more turbines for maintenance work before the end of 2024. “We call on our partners to resolve their own issues as soon as possible,” the deputy CEO said, adding that the gas supply to Europe would then “go back to normal in no time.”Markelov added that his company planned to release part of its correspondence with its Western partners to the public. Some documents were published hours later. The reduction of supply from Russia has led to a spike in gas prices in Europe, which rose by more than 20% to over $2,500 per thousand cubic meters on Wednesday. European leaders then blamed Russia for the gas price hikes.

“What is euphemized as U.S.-style democracy is a financial oligarchy privatizing basic infrastructure, health and education.”

• American Diplomacy as a Tragic Drama (Michael Hudson)

As in a Greek tragedy whose protagonist brings about precisely the fate that he has sought to avoid, the US/NATO confrontation with Russia in Ukraine is achieving just the opposite of America’s aim of preventing China, Russia and their allies from acting independently of U.S. control over their trade and investment policy. Naming China as America’s main long-term adversary, the Biden Administration’s plan was to split Russia away from China and then cripple China’s own military and economic viability. But the effect of American diplomacy has been to drive Russia and China together, joining with Iran, India and other allies. For the first time since the Bandung Conference of Non-Aligned Nations in 1955, a critical mass is able to be mutually self-sufficient to start the process of achieving independence from Dollar Diplomacy.

Confronted with China’s industrial prosperity based on self-financed public investment in socialized markets, U.S. officials acknowledge that resolving this fight will take a number of decades to play out. Arming a proxy Ukrainian regime is merely an opening move in turning Cold War 2 (and potentially/or indeed World War III) into a fight to divide the world into allies and enemies with regard to whether governments or the financial sector will plan the world economy and society. What is euphemized as U.S.-style democracy is a financial oligarchy privatizing basic infrastructure, health and education. The alternative is what President Biden calls autocracy, a hostile label for governments strong enough to block a global rent-seeking oligarchy from taking control. China is deemed autocratic for providing basic needs at subsidized prices instead of charging whatever the market can bear.

Making its mixed economy lower-cost is called “market manipulation,” as if that is a bad thing that was not done by the United States, Germany and every other industrial nation during their economic takeoff in the 19th and early 20th century. Clausewitz popularized the axiom that war is an extension of national interests – mainly economic. The United States views its economic interest to lie in seeking to spread its neoliberal ideology globally. The evangelistic aim is to financialize and privatize economies by shifting planning away from national governments to a cosmopolitan financial sector. There would be little need for politics in such a world. Economic planning would shift from political capitals to financial centers, from Washington to Wall Street, with satellites in the City of London, the Paris Bourse, Frankfurt and Tokyo.

“Turns out that Agent Brian Auten was also involved in favorably vetting the Steele Dossier when it was used to justify FISA court warrant..”

• Playing Chicken with the Fates (Kunstler)

How is it that the Hunter Biden laptop, stuffed with incriminating memoranda of bribery, treason, and diverse felonies, and in the FBI’s possession for two-and-a-half years now, just sat gathering dust in some sub-sub-basement cubby-hole — while “Joe Biden,” the putative president (or, more likely, the enigmatic claque behind him) was allowed to carry out a demolition of America’s economy and culture? The answer is one Brian Auten, FBI Senior Analyst, who engineered a scheme to label Hunter’s laptop “Russian disinformation,” which allowed FBI Director Christopher Wray to throw a switch that turned off any further inquiry in the matter beginning in August before the 2020 presidential election.

In turn, other senior FBI officials had all the documents pertaining to the decision process on that matter locked up in a special file that would never see the light of day. Auten’s action led to the release of a letter signed by “fifty former intelligence officials” labeling the laptop as a Russian disinfo op — which became the basis for social media to conspire to censor any discussion of the laptop and its contents. And so it was that a political puppet deeply in the pay of foreign interests got shoehorned into the White House. Well, that and widespread election fraud. Turns out that Agent Brian Auten was also involved in favorably vetting the Steele Dossier when it was used to justify FISA court warrants against figures in Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign, part of the RussiaGate operation that disordered and disabled President Trump’s entire four-year term. Well now you know. Perhaps Special Counsel John Durham knows this, too. (If he didn’t before, he must now.)

Lynch is not as crazy as Stephen King.

• David Lynch Tells ‘Zelensky’ To Have A Beer With Putin (RT)

Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky should have a beer with his Russian counterpart Putin and talk peace, American filmmaker David Lynch insisted in an “interview” with Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus. The first fragment of the interview was published on the Russian video hosting website RuTube on Thursday, while the full-length version is expected to be released in the coming days.= Speaking to whom he thought was the Ukrainian leader, the Twin Peaks director insisted that the only way to end the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine was through peace. Lynch said it was his “job”to inform Zelensky about “technologies” that exist for achieving a lasting peace and that these methods were far more effective than “war and murder,” referring to letters he had previously sent to the Ukrainian president.

“Now is the time for peace, and the technology to achieve true peace exists. You need to use them and form such groups of experts on a peaceful settlement in the interests of Ukraine,”he noted. Vovan and Lexus, posing as Zelensky, asked the filmmaker whether he thought there should be direct talks with Putin in the interest of reaching peace, to which Lynch emphatically replied “Yes!”, stressing that there were a number of ways to do so, such as an ordinary telephone call or a virtual dinner with a couple of beers. Lynch insisted that during the conversation over beer and dinner the two presidents could come to a mutual realization that they are both human beings and would be able to discuss the problems between their countries.

“Think peace, think friendship” urged the filmmaker, calling on Zelensky to “stop” the current crisis, talk to Putin, and think about how to get along and help each other. The conversation with Lynch comes a week after the duo’s prank with American horror writer Stephen King, whom they also tricked into believing he was talking with Zelensky. During the call, King praised WWII-era Nazi collaborator and war criminal Stepan Bandera as a “great man” and compared him to US founding fathers Washington and Jefferson. The writer later admitted that he was pranked and claimed that he didn’t actually know who Bandera was or what he had done.

Depression.

• Trump Warns Something Worse Than Recession Is Coming (ET)

Former President Donald Trump has warned that America’s economy is on track for a bigger disaster than a recession, with his remarks coming shortly before government statistics showed GDP printing negative for the second consecutive quarter, which is a rule-of-thumb definition for a recession. “Where we’re going now could be a very bad place,” Trump said at a rally in Arizona last week. “We got to get this act in order, we have to get this country going, or we’re going to have a serious problem.” The former president singled out the collapse in Americans’ real wages, a historically depressed labor force participation rate, and the Democrat push for the Green New Deal that he said would crush economic growth.

“Not recession. Recession’s a nice word. We’re going to have a much bigger problem than recession. We’ll have a depression,” the former president said. Trump’s remarks came several days before the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released data showing that real U.S. GDP fell by an annualized 0.9 percent in the second quarter after contracting 1.6 percent in the first quarter. Two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth are a common rule-of-thumb definition for a recession, although recessions in the United States are officially declared by a committee of economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) using a broader definition than the two-quarter rule.

[..] In his remarks, Trump also took aim at President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy, blaming him for soaring inflation. “Biden created the worst inflation in 47 years. We’re at 9.1 percent, but the actual number is much, much higher than that,” Trump said. While the former president didn’t provide his own estimate for the true rate of inflation, an alternative CPI inflation gauge developed by economist John Williams, calculated according to the same methodology used by the U.S. government in the 1980s, puts the figure at 17.3 percent, a 75-year high. Trump also said that persistently high inflation combined with an economic slowdown has put the country “on the verge of a devastating” spell of stagflation, which is a combination of accelerating prices and slowing economic growth.

Inflation is “going higher and higher all the time,” Trump said, adding that it’s “costing families nearly $6,000 a year, bigger than any tax increase ever proposed other than the tax increase that they want to propose right now.” In Trump’s first full month in office in February 2017, the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation gauge came in at 2.8 percent in annual terms. While the CPI measure fluctuated during his tenure, the highest it ever reached was 2.9 percent in July 2018, while in his final month in office, January 2021, inflation clocked in at 1.4 percent. Under Biden, inflation has climbed steadily, soaring 9.1 percent year-over-year in June 2022, a figure not seen in more than 40 years.

$25,000 each. Hmm. Still, this may spread like wildfirre.

• Health Care Workers Settle COVID Shot Mandate for $10.3 Million (Bridle)

Today, Liberty Counsel settled the nation’s first classwide lawsuit for health care workers over a COVID shot mandate, for more than $10.3 million. The class action settlement against NorthShore University HealthSystem is on behalf of more than 500 current and former health care workers who were unlawfully discriminated against and denied religious exemptions from the COVID shot mandate. The agreed upon settlement was filed today in the federal Northern District Court of Illinois. As a result of the settlement, NorthShore will pay $10,337,500 to compensate these health care employees who were victims of religious discrimination, and who were punished for their religious beliefs against taking an injection associated with aborted fetal cells.

This is a historic, first-of-its-kind class action settlement against a private employer who unlawfully denied hundreds of religious exemption requests to COVID-19 shots. The settlement must be approved by the federal District Court. Employees of NorthShore who were denied religious exemptions will receive notice of the settlement, and will have an opportunity to comment, object, request to opt out, or submit a claim form for payment out of the settlement fund, all in accordance with deadlines that will be set by the court. As part of the settlement agreement, NorthShore will also change its unlawful “no religious accommodations” policy to make it consistent with the law, and to provide religious accommodations in every position across its numerous facilities. No position in any NorthShore facility will be considered off limits to unvaccinated employees with approved religious exemptions.

In addition, employees who were terminated because of their religious refusal of the COVID shots will be eligible for rehire if they apply within 90 days of final settlement approval by the court, and they will retain their previous seniority level. The amount of individual payments from the settlement fund will depend on how many valid and timely claim forms are submitted during the claims process. If the settlement is approved by the court and all or nearly all of the affected employees file valid and timely claims, it is estimated that employees who were terminated or resigned because of their religious refusal of a COVID shot will receive approximately $25,000 each, and employees to were forced to accept a COVID shot against their religious beliefs to keep their jobs will receive approximately $3,000 each.

The 13 health care workers who are lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit will receive an additional approximate payment of $20,000 each for their important role in bringing this lawsuit and representing the class of NorthShore health care workers. Liberty Counsel will receive 20 percent of the settlement sum, which equals $2,061,500, as payment for the significant attorney’s fees and costs it has required to undertake to sue NorthShore and hold it accountable for its actions. This amount is far less than the typical 33 percent usually requested by attorneys in class action litigation.

Not sure if No. 6 is also from Toronto.

“In all four cases, their hospitals made it clear their deaths “were not related to the COVID-19 vaccine.” Made it clear how? Where are the autopsies?

• Triathlete, 27, Becomes 5th Toronto Area Doctor To Die In July (TSun)

The fifth GTA doctor to die in July “radiated positivity” and “lived a vibrant and active life.” But what the world lost in the sudden and tragic death of Dr. Candace Nayman was a woman who had dedicated her life to the health of children. The 27-year-old, who was a resident doctor at McMaster Children Hospital in Hamilton, collapsed while swimming as she competed in a triathlon on Sunday. She subsequently died on Thursday. Friends kept an around-the-clock prayer vigil for the much-loved Nayman who lost her fight and, at her request, had her organs donated to help others.She was “the loving daughter of Nicole and Gary, and the sister of Lauren, her twin, and Maurice, as well as partner to Seth Kadish,” reads an obituary on the Benjamin’s Park Memorial Chapel.

A triathlete, Dr. Nayman routinely commented on social media about her love of training and racing. “Candace Brooke Nayman passed away Thursday, July 28, 2022 competing and doing what she loved,” her obituary states. Family, friends and peers gathered Thursday for her funeral, which has not only shaken her family but rocked the already shaken medicine fraternity. “Everyone in the pediatrics department here at McMaster University and McMaster Children’s Hospital is devastated by the loss of Dr. Candace Nayman.” said Dr. Angelo Mikrogianakis, the chief of pediatrics at Hamilton Health Sciences’ McMaster Children’s Hospital and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. “Candace was an aspiring pediatrician who exemplified hard work, radiated positivity, lived a vibrant and active life, and had a positive impact on her fellow residents, colleagues, faculty and patients.”

[..] Four other local doctors have died this summer. Trillium Partners staff physicians Dr. Jakub Sawicki, Dr. Stephen McKenzie and Dr. Lorne Segall died last week, just days after the tragic death of North York General Hospital’s Dr. Paul Hannam, an Olympian who died during a run at 50 years old. In all four cases, their hospitals made it clear their deaths “were not related to the COVID-19 vaccine.”

6 Canadian doctors

6 Canadian Doctors Dead "Suddenly" Within 2 Weeks…

Name and date of death:

Dr. Paul Hannam, July 16
Dr. Lorne Segall, July 17
Dr. Stephen McKenzie, July 18
Dr. Jakub Sawicki, July 19
Dr. Shariar Jalali Mazlouman, July 23
Dr. Candace Nayman, July 28

-hollywoodlanews pic.twitter.com/qRmHp4Fc0m

— Dr. James E. Olsson (@DrJamesOlsson) July 29, 2022

Zuckerbucks.

• Meta from 5th Most Valuable Stock to 11th In 10 Months. $647 Billion Lost (WS)

Despite the rally on Friday, the shares of Meta Platforms lost more ground, falling 1.0% to $159.10 at the close, and more after-hours, same price where the shares had first been on July 13, 2017. Five years of nothing, with an exciting roller-coaster-ride in between. Four years and two months up, 10 months down. Since the peak in September 2021, the shares have plunged 59%. Meta still doesn’t qualify for my growing list of Imploded Stocks, for which the minimum requirement is a 70% plunge from the peak, but it’s working hard to get there (data via YCharts):

The market value plunged from $1.077 trillion in September to $431 billion today. So, $647 billion have vanished in 10 months. This is no biggie obviously because people who bought the shares at the IPO for $38, and thereby participated in the biggest tech IPO in US history at the time, still made 318% at today’s price, and the shares could fall another 50%, and they’d still make a ton of money. Those who bought in 2021, OK, win some, lose some. And this dump in market cap caused something else to happen over the past two days: While other stocks surged, Meta fell out of the top 10 most valuable companies in the US, into 11th place, behind Visa (data via YCharts):

Back in September 2021, Meta, with a market cap of $1.077 trillion, was the fifth most valuable stock by market cap in the US. Easy come, easy go (data via YCharts):

Despite the summer rally, the Nasdaq composite is still down 23.6% from the peak in November, and lots of stocks slid, skidded, and plunged, and this re-arranged the deck a little among the top 11, but left the top four in the same position. There are a host of reasons for Meta’s plunge, including that the shares should have never shot up in this crazy manner in the first place. But hey, this was the pandemic, the Fed was printing money hand over fist, the Fed’s interest rates were near 0% even as inflation had begun to rage, and nothing mattered, everything shot higher. To the moon!

Tamara Lich

Lawyer for Canadian Convoy organizer jailed by tyrant Trudeau talks to Tucker pic.twitter.com/ITBp6KzFyx

— Wittgenstein (@backtolife_2023) July 29, 2022

Dutch farmer

Dutch Farmer…
Source: https://t.co/IQvTclpi8D pic.twitter.com/2eLtYkwZZ1

— Wittgenstein (@backtolife_2023) July 29, 2022

Holland

Fires, motorway blocks with hay bales, stones, tires and manure. Dutch farmers' protest becomes more and more incisive in the Netherlands. pic.twitter.com/ZWK9SDjQKg

— RadioGenova (@RadioGenova) July 29, 2022

It would be good if the farmers, or someone else, can keep the WEF forum out of Holland.